Word Count : 1339

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Edmund Spenser, one of the most celebrated poets of the Elizabethan age, composed *Epithalamion* and *Prothalamion* as two remarkable wedding songs, yet their themes, tones, and purposes stand in sharp contrast. Both poems belong to the traditional genre of nuptial poetry, which was a well-established literary form in Renaissance England. A comparative study of these two works highlights not only Spenser’s mastery of lyric poetry but also his personal engagement with the genre, transforming it from an idealized classical form to a deeply subjective medium of expression. While *Epithalamion* emerges as a jubilant hymn celebrating the poet’s own marriage, *Prothalamion* becomes a more restrained and reflective meditation on marriage, tinged with personal disillusionment and social commentary. Thus, the two poems, though structurally aligned as wedding songs, offer very different poetic experiences and reveal two facets of Spenser’s creative spirit. *Epithalamion*, written in 1595, is a marriage song dedicated to Spenser’s own wedding with Elizabeth Boyle. It is personal, autobiographical, and celebratory. The poem follows the traditional structure of an epithalamium, a form originating in ancient Greece, composed to celebrate the nuptials of a bride and groom and often sung outside the bridal chamber on the wedding night. Spenser adopts this classical form but also invests it with Elizabethan sensibilities and Christian symbolism. The poem begins with the poet calling upon the Muses to aid him in glorifying his bride and to ensure that the marriage day becomes sanctified. The morning of the wedding is presented as an auspicious moment in harmony with nature itself: birds sing joyfully, rivers murmur softly, and the sun appears to shine with special radiance. The bride is described with conventional imagery of beauty, purity, and virtue, combining classical mythology with Christian moral undertones. The progress of the day is marked meticulously in *Epithalamion*. Each hour brings a new stage in the ritual: the arrival of the bride, the procession to the church, the exchange of vows, the prayers for fertility and prosperity, and finally, the anticipation of the wedding _____ __________ ______ _________ ____ _________ ________ _____ __________ ___ ________ ___.
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