Marriage Poem , বিয়ের পদ্য

 

Poems written by relatives and friends of the bride or the bridegroom commemorating the day of marriage. Written or printed on a colourful piece of cloth or paper along with some motif related to the ritual of the marriage. These were distributed amongst the guests attending the occasion. 

 These biyer padya or marriage poems are full of  regional and cultural essences typically related to Bengal.However, a  comparison, although a bit far-fetched, can be drawn to an ancient form called Epithalamium. (Latin form of Greek ἐπιθαλάμιον epithalamion from ἐπί epi "upon," and θάλαμος thalamos nuptial chamber) is a poem written specifically for the bride on the way to her marital chamber. This form continued in popularity through the history of the classical world; the Roman poet Catullus wrote a famous epithalamium, which was translated from or at least inspired by a now-lost work of Sappho. According to Origen, Song of Songs might be an epithalamium on the marriage of Solomon with Pharaoh’s daughter.- Wikipedia)

The Epithalamium was a poem sung by youths, or virgins, or both; when the bride was brought to the bridegroom, and placed in the tbalamum, or bridal bed... Apollo was said to have written the first Epithalamium, among the Greeks, on the marriage of Peleus and Thetis. The 18th Idyllium of Theocritus, imitated, as some pretend, from Stesichorus, is a beautiful Greek Epithalamium, inscribed to Helen; and supposed to be sung by twelve Spartan girls.

Catullus, Gaius V, and John Nott. The Poems of Caius Valerius Catullus, in English Verse: with: With Latin Text Revised and Classical Notes. Prefixed Are Engravings of Catullus, and His Friend Cornelius Nepos. London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1795, pg 158