Information
In Book lV of Spenser’s great heroic romance ‘The Faerie Queene’ (1590-1596) he describes the marriage of the Thames and the Medway and calls on the muse of History to help him enumerate the guests who include all the rivers of England and Ireland. Some literary critics have felt that the river-marriage could symbolise the union of England to Queen Elizabeth l where the Medway and its towns, representing the heart of the country’s naval operations at the gateway to the capital, make a fitting partner for a strong sovereign. All the tributaries of the Thames are included in the bridegroom’s party, amongst them the Darent, which flows through Dartford. Although much of its drainage basin is now urbanised, nearer to its source the Darent flows through rural settings and can still be recognised from Spenser’s description.
Quotations
And round about him many a pretty Page
Attended duely, ready to obay;
All little Riuers, which owe vassallage
To him, as to their Lord, and tribute pay:
…
And the still Darent, in whose waters cleane
Ten thousand fishes play, and decke his pleasant streame.
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| Dartford | In Book lV of Spenser’s great heroic romance ‘The Faerie Queene’ (1590-1596) he describes the marriage of the Thames and the Medway and calls on the muse of History to help him enumerate the guests who include all the rivers of England and Ireland... |
