PAGE =127=. The dates of the two chief Marriage Songs are: the
Princess Elizabeth, Feb. 14, 1613; the Earl of Somerset, Dec. 26,
1613. The third is an earlier piece of work, dating from the years
when Donne was a student at Lincoln's Inn. It is found in _W_,
following the _Satyres_ and _Elegies_ and preceding the _Letters_,
being probably the only one written when the collection in the first
part of that MS. was made.
While quite himself in his treatment of the theme of this kind of
poem, Donne comes in it nearer to Spenser than in any other kind.
In glow and colour nothing he has written surpasses the Somerset
Epithalamion:
First her eyes kindle other Ladies eyes,
Then from their beams their jewels lusters rise,
And from their jewels torches do take fire,
And all is warmth and light and good desire.
_An Epithalamion, or Marriage Song, &c._ 'In February following, the
Prince Palatine and that lovely Princess, the Lady Elizabeth, were
married on Bishop Valentine's Day, in all the Pomp and Glory that so
much grandeur could express. Her vestments were white, the Emblem of
Innocency; her Hair dishevel'd hanging down her Back at length,
an Ornament of Virginity; a Crown of pure Gold upon her Head, the
Cognizance of Majesty, being all over beset with precious Gems,
shining _like a Constellation_; her Train supported by Twelve young
Ladies in White Garments, so adorned with Jewels, that her passage
looked like a Milky-way. She was led to Church by her Brother Prince
Charles, and the Earl of Northampton; the young Batchelor on the Right
Hand, and the old on the left.' Camden, _Annales_.
A full description of the festivities will be found in Nichol's
_Progresses of King James_, in Stow's _Chronicle_, and other works.
In a letter to Mrs. Carleton, Chamberlain gives an account of what he
saw: 'It were long and tedious to tell you all the particulars of the
excessive bravery, both of men and women, but you may conceive the
rest by one or two. The Lady Wotton had a gown that cost fifty pounds
a yard the embroidery.... The Viscount Rochester, the Lord Hay, and
the Lord Dingwall were exceeding rich and costly; but above all, they
speak of the Earl of Dorset. But this extreme cost and riches makes us
all poor.' _Court and Times of James I_, i. 226. The princess had been
educated by Lord and Lady Harington, the parents of Donne's patroness,
the Countess of Bedford. They accompanied her to Heidelberg, but
Lord Harington died on his way home, Lady Harington shortly after her
return. Donne had thus links with the Princess, and these were renewed
and strengthened later when with Lord Doncaster he visited Heidelberg
in 1619, and preached before her and her husband. He sent her his
first printed sermon and his _Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, &c._
(1624), and to the latter she, then in exile and trouble, replied in a
courteous strain.
PAGE =128=. Compare with the opening stanzas Chaucer's _Parliament
of Foules_ and Skeat's note (_Works of Chaucer_, i. 516). Birds were
supposed to choose their mates on St. Valentine's Day (Feb. 14).
l. 42. _this, thy Valentine._ This is the reading of all the editions
except _1669_ and of all the MSS. except two of no independent value.
I think it is better than 'this day, Valentine', which Chambers adopts
from _1669_. The bride is addressed throughout the stanza, and it
would be a very abrupt change to refer 'thou' in l. 41 to Valentine.
I take 'this, thy Valentine' to mean 'this which is thy day, _par
excellence_', 'thy Saint Valentine's day', 'the day which saw you
paired'. But 'a Valentine' is a 'true-love': 'to be your
Valentine' (_Hamlet_, IV. v. 50), and the reference may be to
Frederick,--Frederick's Day is to become an era.
ll. 43-50. The punctuation of these lines requires attention. That of
the editions, which Chambers follows, arranges them thus:
Come forth, come forth, and as one glorious flame
Meeting Another growes the same,
So meet thy Fredericke, and so
To an unseparable union goe,
Since separation
Falls not on such things as are infinite,
Nor things which are but one, can disunite.
You'are twice inseparable, great, and one.
In this it will be seen that the clause 'Since separation ... can
disunite' is attached to the _previous_ verb. It gives the reason
why they should 'go to an unseparable union'. In that which I have
adopted, which is that of several good MSS., the clause 'Since
separation ... can disunite' goes with what _follows_, explains 'You
are twice inseparable, great, and one.' This is obviously right. My
attention was first called to this emendation by the punctuation of
the Grolier Club editor, who changes the comma after 'goe' (l. 46) to
a semicolon.
l. 46. _To an unseparable union growe._ I have adopted 'growe' from
the MSS. in place of 'goe' from the editions. The former are unanimous
with the strange exception of _Lec_. This MS., which in several
respects seems to be most like that from which _1633_ was printed,
varies here from its fellows _D_ and _H49_, probably for the same
reason that the editor of _1633_ did, because he did not quite
understand the phrase 'growe to' as used here, and 'goe' follows
later. But it is unlikely that 'goe' would have been changed to
'growe', and