Epithalamium

Epithalamium, a species of poem which it was the custom among the Greeks and Romans to sing in chorus near the bridal-chamber (Gr. thalamos) of a newly-married pair. Sappho, Anacreon, Stesichorus, and Pindar composed poems of this kind, but only scanty fragments have been preserved. The epithalamium of Peleus and Thetis by Catullus is one of the finest specimens of Latin poetry extant; but probably the most splendid epithalamium in all literature is that of our own poet Spenser. Latin examples are extant by Statius, Ausonius, Claudianus, and other poets. A collection of Latin epithalamia is to be found in Wernsdorf's Poetæ Latini Minores (4th vol. part 2, Helmst. 1789).