Song Meaning
The lyrics plunge us into a vibrant, almost overwhelming street celebration. Minstrels begin to "shrill aloud" with their "merry music," quickly drawing in a "trembling Crowd." It's a scene of immediate, intense communal joy, echoing from afar.
The celebration thrives on a fascinating tension between individual chaos and collective harmony. The music is described as both piercing and joyful, and the crowd's "trembling" somehow ensures everything "well agree[s] withouten breach or jar." This suggests a powerful, almost primal energy that nonetheless coalesces into perfect accord.
The language choice intensifies this feeling of ecstatic abandon. Damsels "smite" their timbrels, a forceful verb for a joyful act, and their performance is so captivating it "ravish[es] quite" all the senses. The boys' "strong confusèd noise" paradoxically becomes "one voice," shouting "Hymen," revealing the unifying, almost ritualistic nature of the revelry.
These lyrics effectively immerse the reader in a scene of intoxicating, unified celebration. The vivid, almost aggressive verbs like "shrill," "smite," and "ravish" combine with the underlying harmony to create a powerful sense of communal abandon. The repeated chant of "Hymen" anchors this wild joy in a specific, perhaps matrimonial, context, making the collective ecstasy feel both ancient and intensely present.
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