Project Gutenberg 2005-05-01 Public domain in the USA. 98 Rowlands, Samuel Potter, Alfred Claghorn 1867 1940 The Bride Produced by David Starner, Phil Petersen, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team "The Bride" by Samuel Rowlands is a poem written in the early 17th century, specifically around 1617. It is primarily a dialogue poem that explores themes related to marriage, virginity, and women's roles in society. Through the voices of various characters, it addresses the contrasting lifestyles and responsibilities of married women versus unmarried maidens, providing insight into the social dynamics of the time. The narrative unfolds in a dialogue form where the Bride advocates for the joys and virtues of marriage, challenging the hesitant maidens who express their preference for single life. In response, the maidens voice various concerns about fidelity and the nature of men. The poem references the legendary birth of Merlin to illustrate the consequences of pride and disempowerment through single life. Ultimately, the Bride articulates eight key duties of wives in nurturing harmonious marriages, emphasizing loyalty and partnership. While it may not reach great poetic heights, Rowlands' work offers a glimpse into the societal expectations and gender roles prevalent in the early 17th century. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 57.4 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read. en English poetry PR Text Category: Poetry Category: British Literature 79724 2025-07-04T05:02:11.712063 text/html 79545 2025-01-11T02:42:37.113777 text/html 89541 2025-07-04T05:02:15.640041 application/epub+zip 88353 2025-07-04T05:02:13.201057 application/epub+zip 88353 2025-07-04T05:02:12.227062 application/epub+zip 152617 2025-07-04T05:02:17.298017 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 141658 2025-07-04T05:02:15.075058 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 115348 2022-09-04T09:22:29.716912 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 60881 2025-07-04T05:02:11.477077 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 60672 2012-10-19T19:44:38 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17187 2025-07-04T05:02:17.420053 application/rdf+xml 9221 2025-07-04T05:02:12.709047 image/jpeg 2520 2025-07-04T05:02:12.470049 image/jpeg 24010 2012-10-19T19:48:24 application/octet-stream application/zip 86427 2025-07-04T05:02:11.719081 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia