_An Epithalamion, or Marriage Song, &c._ 'In February following, the Prince Palatine and that lovely Princess, the Lady Elizabeth, were married on Bishop Valentine's Day, in all the Pomp and Glory that so much grandeur could express. Her vestments were white, the Emblem of Innocency; her Hair dishevel'd hanging down her Back at length, an Ornament of Virginity; a Crown of pure Gold upon her Head, the Cognizance of Majesty, being all over beset with precious Gems, shining _like a Constellation_; her Train supported by Twelve young Ladies in White Garments, so adorned with Jewels, that her passage looked like a Milky-way. She was led to Church by her Brother Prince Charles, and the Earl of Northampton; the young Batchelor on the Right Hand, and the old on the left.' Camden, _Annales_. A full description of the festivities will be found in Nichol's _Progresses of King James_, in Stow's _Chronicle_, and other works. In a letter to Mrs. Carleton, Chamberlain gives an account of what he saw: 'It were long and tedious to tell you all the particulars of the excessive bravery, both of men and women, but you may conceive the rest by one or two. The Lady Wotton had a gown that cost fifty pounds a yard the embroidery.... The Viscount Rochester, the Lord Hay, and the Lord Dingwall were exceeding rich and costly; but above all, they speak of the Earl of Dorset. But this extreme cost and riches makes us all poor.' _Court and Times of James I_, i. 226. The princess had been educated by Lord and Lady Harington, the parents of Donne's patroness, the Countess of Bedford. They accompanied her to Heidelberg, but Lord Harington died on his way home, Lady Harington shortly after her return. Donne had thus links with the Princess, and these were renewed and strengthened later when with Lord Doncaster he visited Heidelberg in 1619, and preached before her and her husband. He sent her his first printed sermon and his _Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, &c._ (1624), and to the latter she, then in exile and trouble, replied in a courteous strain. PAGE =128=. Compare with the opening stanzas Chaucer's _Parliament of Foules_ and Skeat's note (_Works of Chaucer_, i. 516). Birds were supposed to choose their mates on St. Valentine's Day (Feb. 14). l. 42. _this, thy Valentine._ This is the reading of all the editions except _1669_ and of all the MSS. except two of no independent value. I think it is better than 'this day, Valentine', which Chambers adopts from _1669_. The bride is addressed throughout the stanza, and it would be a very abrupt change to refer 'thou' in l. 41 to Valentine. I take 'this, thy Valentine' to mean 'this which is thy day, _par excellence_', 'thy Saint Valentine's day', 'the day which saw you paired'. But 'a Valentine' is a 'true-love': 'to be your Valentine' (_Hamlet_, IV. v. 50), and the reference may be to Frederick,--Frederick's Day is to become an era.