Henry Peacham's Conclusion to Minerva Britanna is a crucial portion of the piece, as it encompasses the meaning of the book as a whole, namely, Britain's greatness as a world power. The phrase Minerva Britanna is an allusion to the belief in the similarity of Minerva, the ancient Roman goddess of strategic war and wisdom, to Britain, itself.

Peacham begins the Conclusion by setting the scene for his extended metaphor. He begins by using Roman mythological figures metonymically such as Aurora, Phoebus, Zephyr, Harlot and Philomel, which represent, respectively, dawn, the sun, wind, flowers and the nightingale. He adds woods, waters, beasts and birds to these figures in order to establish a metaphorical setting for the piece (Bathe, p. 91). Peacham writes:

When I as other taking rest,

Was shew'd (me thought) a goodlie plaine.

From these verses, the reader can gather that Peacham has begun to dream.

The next few stanzas of the piece describe in great detail a couple aspects of nature that Peacham valued as significant aspects of his book. These particular foci include (in the order that they are analyzed) trees of various species, birds, and then a woman, seemingly Minerva Britanna, as Peacham calls her "Empresse of the Isles" (Bathe, p. 91). Peacham gives a detailed regal depiction of the woman, a symbol of Great Britain, in two full stanzas recounting her garb and her physical appearance. Her surroundings are also described in immense detail, as they are important in showing just how great this woman as Britain is. Some of the elements in the background include trophies, victorious spoils of war, Pagan standards obtained from Holy Wars, helmets, bowes, armor, and finally, shields.

Peacham then describes the shields, which are, in fact, Impresas depicting heraldic images representative of knights, then women and then men, in order of description (Bathe, p. 91). In the next two stanzas Peacham accounts in for detail specific elite men of monarchical descent. "Eliza" is mentioned in the following stanza with great laud and honorific language denoted to her name. "Eliza" is the name of the queen that reigned during the time that Peacham wrote his book. She is associated with the Phoenix in the latter stanza with all of its majesty. When the narrator (Peacham) looks at the Phoenix, it instantly disappears and the dream is over.

The end of the Conclusion sums up the main point of the whole book, which is the idea of chivalry. Peacham writes:

Oh God I said! where may be found

These Patrones now of Chivalry.

Peacham is upset that his dream has ended and thus, cries out to the figures of the past he saw earlier in his dream to come back. Peacham showed how great a historical figure Britain has been in the past and desires for the people of his present-day Britain to feel a sense of nationalism and chivalry in order to keep the "Empresse of the Isles" in her position of superiority. Peacham finishes with:

Now what they were, on every Tree,

Devises new, as well as old

Of those brave worthies, faithfullie,

Shall in another Booke be told.

In other words, Peacham believes that more books will be written about devises and emblems that show the greatness of Britain as it continues to grow. He makes an allusion to the fact that there are more works for his readers to expect in the future.

Works Cited

Bath, Michael. Speaking pictures : English emblem books and Renaissance culture. New York, Longman Publishing, 1994.