TEMPORAL

SPATIAL

STANZA #

DRAMATIC/THEMATIC

Date: June 11, 1594; Feast of St. Barnabus

1

Poet’s “own song”

Landscape

2

3

4
 

Invocation of semi-deities;

Muses, Hymen, Nymphs

Time:

24 hours, from dawn to dawn represented by 24 stanzas (23 + envoi)

Bride’s Room

5

6

7

8
 

Awakening and preparation

Season: summer solstice, first day of summer, longest day of year — in Ireland, this means 16+ hours of daylight

Procession through town

9

10

11

External qualities, internal perfections of bride

Central event/center of poem: Lines 216-217: “The sacred ceremonies . . . which do endless matrimony make"

Church/

Temple

12

13

Wedding ceremony: human anthem and angelic choir

Town Festival

14

15

16

Wedding feast and dance — presided over by Bacchus

line 300: “now night is come”

Bridal Chamber

17

18

19

20
 

Marriage further consecrated, then consummated

365 long lines = days of year

68 short lines = sum of major divisions of year: 4 (seasons) + 12 (months) + 52 (weeks)

Evening Sky

21

22

23

Invocations of higher powers: Moon (chastity), Juno and Genius (fertility), heavenly spheres, saintly home

Eternity: achieving an “endlesse moment”

24

(envoi)

Song as her “goodly ornament”