prothalamion

[ proh-thuh-ley-mee-on, -uhn ]

noun

, plural pro·tha·la·mi·a [proh-th, uh, -, ley, -mee-, uh].

1. a song or poem written to celebrate a marriage.

prothalamion

/ ˌprəʊθəˈleɪmɪən /

noun

1. a song or poem in celebration of a marriage

Word History and Origins

Origin of prothalamion¹

Coined by Edmund Spenser in 1597; pro- ² + (epi)thalamion;

Word History and Origins

Origin of prothalamion¹

C16: from Greek pro- before + thalamos marriage; coined by Edmund Spenser, on the model of epithalamion

Example Sentences

Shepherd's Calendar, Mother Hubbard's Tale, Amoretti, Epithalamion, and Prothalamion are the best of his minor poems.

From Project Gutenberg

He remarked this in those two delicious pieces, “The Prothalamion,” a spousal hymn on the double marriage of two ladies, personated as two swans in these harmonious lines— ——————Two swans of goodly hue, Came softly swimming down along the Lee;1— and “The Epithalamium” on the poet’s own nuptials, or, as the poet notes— Song made in lieu of many ornaments, With which my Love should duely have been deck’d.

From Project Gutenberg

But five years afterwards the poet still remains the same querulous court-suitor; the miserable man wasting his days and his nights; for then he tells us in his “Prothalamion,” how on a summer’s day he Walk’d forth to ease his pain, Along the shore of silver-streaming Thames.

From Project Gutenberg

Britain's Poet Laureate John Masefield, 69, who takes his job seriously,* turned out a little 25-line prothalamion on the approaching marriage of Princess Elizabeth and Philip.

From Time Magazine Archive

In his exquisite "Prothalamion" Spenser alludes to the Temple as if he had sketched it from the river, after a visit to his great patron, the Earl of Essex,— "Those bricky towers, The which on Thames' broad, aged back doe ride, Where now the studious lawyers have their bowers, There whilom wont the Templar Knights to bide, Till they decayed through pride."

From Project Gutenberg