Stanza 5
Summary
The groom now addresses his bride
directly (even if she is not present) to urge her to awaken. Sunrise is long
since gone and Phoebus, the sun-god, is showing "his glorious hed."
The birds are already singing, and the groom insists their song is a call to
joy directed at the bride.
Analysis
The mythical figures of Rosy
Dawn, Tithones, and Phoebus are here invoked to continue the classical motif of
the ode. Thus far, it is indistinguishable in content from a pagan
wedding-song. That the groom must address his bride directly demonstrates both
his impatience and the ineffectiveness of relying on the muses and nymphs to
summon forth the bride.
Stanza 6
Summary
The bride has finally awakened,
and her eyes likened to the sun wit their "goodly beams/More bright then
Hesperus." The groom urges the "daughters of delight" to attend
to the bride, but summons too the Hours of Day and Night, the Seasons, and the
"three handmayds" of Venus to attend as well. He urges the latter to
do for his bride what they do for Venus, sing to her as they help her dress for
her wedding.
Analysis
There is a second sunrise here as
the "darksome cloud" is removed from the bride's visage and her eyes
are allowed to shine in all their glory. The "daughters of delight"
are the nymphs, still urged to attend on the bride, but here Spenser introduces
the personifications of time in the hours that make up Day, Night, and the
seasons. He will return to this time motif later, but it is important to note
that here he sees time itself participating as much in the marriage ceremony as
do the nymphs and handmaids of Venus.
Stanza 7
Summary
The bride is ready with her
attendant virgins, so now it is time for the groomsmen and the groom himself to
prepare. The groom implores the sun to shine brightly, but not hotly lest it
burn his bride's fair skin. He then prays to Phoebus, who is both sun-god and
originator of the arts, to give this one day of the year to him while keeping
the rest for himself. He offers to exchange his own poetry as an offering for
this great favor.
Analysis
The theme of light as both a sign
of joy and an image of creative prowess begins to be developed here, as the
groom addresses Phoebus. Spenser refers again to his own poetry as a worthy
offering to the god of poetry and the arts, which he believes has earned him
the favor of having this one day belong to himself rather than to the sun-god.
Stanza 8
Summary
The mortal wedding guests and
entertainment move into action. The minstrels play their music and sing, while
women play their timbrels and dance. Young boys run throughout the streets
crying the wedding song "Hymen io Hymen, Hymen" for all to hear.
Those hearing the cries applaud the boys and join in with the song.
Analysis
Spenser shifts to the real-world
participants in the wedding ceremony, the entertainment and possible guests. He
describes a typical (if lavish) Elizabethan wedding complete with elements
harking back to classical times. The boys' song "Hymen io Hymen,
Hymen" can be traced back to Greece, with its delivery by Gaius Valerius
Catullus in the first century B.C.
Stanza 9
Summary
The groom beholds his bride
approaching and compares her to Phoebe (another name for Artemis, goddess of
the moon) clad in white "that seemes a virgin best." He finds her
white attire so appropriate that she seems more angel than woman. In modesty,
she avoids the gaze of the myriad admirers and blushes at the songs of praise
she is receiving.
Analysis
This unusual stanza has a
"missing line"-- a break after the ninth line of the stanza (line
156). The structure probably plays into Spenser's greater organization of lines
and meter, which echo the hours of the day with great mathematical precision.
There is no aesthetic reason within the stanza for the break, as it takes place
three lines before the verses describing the bride's own reaction to her
admirers.
The comparison to Phoebe, twin
sister of Phoebus, is significant since the groom has essentially bargained to
take Phoebus' place of prominence this day two stanzas ago. He sees the bride
as a perfect, even divine, counterpart to himself this day, as Day and Night
are inextricably linked in the passage of time.
Stanza 10
Summary
The groom asks the women who see
his bride if they have ever seen anyone so beautiful in their town before. He
then launches into a list of all her virtues, starting with her eyes and
eventually describing her whole body. The bride's overwhelming beauty causes
the maidens to forget their song to stare at her.
Analysis
Spenser engages the blason
convention, in which a woman's physical features are picked out and described
in metaphorical terms. Unlike his blasons in Amoretti, this listing has no
overarching connection among the various metaphors. Her eyes and forehead are
described in terms of valuable items (sapphires and ivory), her cheeks and lips
compared to fruit (apples and cherries), her breast is compared to a bolw of
cream, her nipples to the buds of lilies, her neck to an ivory tower, and her
whole body compared to a beautiful palace.
Best Regards
K.K SINGH
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