The epithalamion is a challenging, even problematic, form today. Originally a poem to “celebrate” the bride on her way to the bridal chamber, the ancient forms  (written by folks like Catullus and Sappho) were quasi-religious, ironic in this thin veiling of voyeurism and libertinism, especially with the Romans. But more modern eras have not lost their attraction: Spenser, Jonson, Donne, Tennyson, and cummings have all taken turns at this, and we can’t forget Wagner’s “Bridal Chorus” from Lohengrin or Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

Here, the “sacred tradition” continues with a contemporary spin.

Upon This Night We Sing; per nozze

 

I. Votio

No soft praise we bring this blessed day
No mere idyll of quiet devotion
No common faith for influence
But a crossing of celestial threshold

          Hymen o Hymenaee!
          Oh Aputure and Elinchrom!
          May Erato bless our moment and our song!
          Let Venus reveal herself in you
          And Olympus capture your affection!

May they honor our moment
Grant their holy sanction
Stir the world’s arousal
Anoint these delicate words

 

II. Exhortatio

And let now our neighbors be welcomed
Your scrolling labor set apart
Our bride in preparation
To each she asks your eyes and heart

          Hymen o Hymenaee!
          Oh Aputure and Elinchrom!

Your time is now to look you on
And find here Love in highest form
Share our day with friends anon
Raise your praise to heat from warm

 

III.  Laudes Nuptiales

Too rare a bride who opens life
Too scarce a maid of silken right
Who too reveals her heart to all
That we might find our hope through sight

Such beauty can’t be measured, true
And yet with awe we look prolonged
In polished curve we find delight
Round samite fine our ardor throngs

          Let Venus reveal herself in you
          And Olympus capture your affection!

Both you and we are now engaged
And trade zeal’s coin for grace
Time spent is time we’ll not regret
While channeled in this place

Such sacred alms we offer now
In humble certitude
May each bless’d moment be unlocked
Be private by us viewed

 

IV. Adornatio

Hymen o Hymenaee!

In tease and clip
In smudgen lens
In cut and pan
In velvet dens

Her look askance
A curl of lip
Abashed, her cheek
The tug of slip

A preview dropped
A train pursued
A trailer now
A hint of lewd

 

 

V. Sacra

Click through, click through
These weights and terms
Oaths and vows
These legal worms

 

VI.  Vesper (Dimissio Convivae)

And so, O Hesperus, thou bringest all good things
The guests are sent aside
And the Evening Star rises to embrace

At last! We bow as converts to this path
Consummates and consumers
We swipe through bedding and philters

Our silent anticipation in prayer
Affiliated endowments
The dowry long settled

Only the fans resist the growing heat this cool night
The chamber awaits
May Erato bless our moment and our song

 

VII. Thalamos (the poet alone)

I see you now, young lovers at this chamber door
Promised this holy carnal rite 
Private authenticity I alone might measure
Here as confidante or maven
Unions across ages, coition by a click
Munificent purity, transparent intimacy
Afforded to—    And lo, a key!
A curated leak, a subdomain, a spree . . . .

 

(Unnumbered.)  Spectaculum Secreti 

Venereal.
And yet
I do not look away.

 

IX. Votum pro Progenie

          Hymen o Hymenaee!
          Oh Aputure and Elinchrom!

Creation and procreation
Longevity and life
May they be progeny evergreen
Fertile space for legacy

Surrendered, all, to the generations
The mirror the product
The story the sale
Graviditas! Puerum exspectare!

And the long-form tales which follow
Apportions for proclamation
Promiscuity by promise
Solitude surrendered
Control by compromise
Career by concession and confession

          And Olympus capture your obeisance!

 

X. Clausula

Executive Summary: Key trends for the quarter were strong, with a notable 15% increase in overall engagement and a 20% growth in our follower base across all platforms. 

KPI: A noticeable uptrend in CTR on most channels averaging 24% following the Nozze Campaign of September 17-25 yielding an ROI of 354% based upon the $55,000 nozze budget figures. However, this is additionally supplemented in three areas:

• OM System Affiliated Links: Minimum $6,500 (final figure released March)
• Telegram “Leaks” Channel royalties: $4,822 for current quarter
• Follow-up and Universe Expansion campaigns: estimate similar figures