Spenser’s Epithalamion versus Solomon’s Song of Songs

In both Spenser’s Epithalamion and Solomon’s Song of Songs, each author writes about a wedding. However, both have different purposes. Solomon’s Song of Songs intertwines different types of love poetry, while all Spenser’s Epithalamion is is a poem celebrating a wedding. Spenser’s Epithalamion is a more endearing and personal poem on a wedding, making it more real and relatable because it idolizes the bride, and the author of the poem is the groom.

In Spencer’s Epithalamion, the author praises the bride throughout the entire poem. In the ninth stanza, the author describes her walking down the aisle as, “Clad all in white, that seemes a virgin best. So well it her beseemes that ye would weene, Some angell she had beene.” Giving the bride this type of love and idolization makes this poem more heartwarming for the audience. It gives the readers the real experience of the wedding and allows them to feel more present in the scenario. On the other hand, although the author does praise his bride, it is not throughout the entire poem, and is not as personal of a connection. In the Song of Solomon, the author describes her as, “My love is like a roe or a young hart,” which is not a very detailed or sentimental description. It does not give the audience the same feeling as Epithalamion because it does not create the same bond between bride and groom, only talking about their relationship from a third person perspective. 

Also, the author of the Song of Solomon tells the story from multiple points of view, instead of just one person’s perspective. For example, in chapters seven and eight of Song of Solomon, the author jumps from the perspective among the bride, the groom, and others attending the wedding. This may give the audience a greater perspective on the wedding itself, because we are hearing things that some of the characters don’t know, but this also takes away from the raw, genuine feelings of each character, because we can not focus on just one. In Epithalamion, we hear the perspective of just the groom, who gushes over his new bride, and describes in great detail each event that comes to pass throughout the wedding. This allows the audience to connect more with the groom and appreciate everything that is happening at the wedding. Therefore, Epithalamion gives the audience a more personal experience, making the poem a more real and powerful poem on a wedding compared to the Song of Solomon.