Epithalamion

An epithalamion is a wedding poem, falling in line with a poetic tradition going back to ancient Greek poets. Literally, the word is Greek for "upon the bridal chamber". Wikipedia's article is fairly insightful and gives a good background history of the form. This afternoon I read Edmund Spenser's poem Epithalamion, enjoying it thoroughly, and took notes on Spenser's literary techniques, as I may in fact be writing one for my own wedding (I don't think that's usually done!), possibly to be set to music composed by Ashley's roommate Janelle.