John Gower
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Ad mundum mitto mea iacula dumque sagitto
At ubi iustus erit nulla sagitta ferit
Sed male viventes hos vulnero transgredientes
Conscius ergo sibi se speculetur ibi
John Gower (c. 1330 – 1408) was an English poet who wrote in English, French and Latin. His most famous work is the Confessio Amantis.
Quotes
[edit]- For whan men wene best to have achieved,
Ful ofte it is al newe to beginne:
The werre hath no thing siker, thogh he winne.- "In Praise of Peace", line 117.
Confessio Amantis
[edit]- Quotations are taken from the third recension of the poem, unless otherwise stated.
- Bot for men sein, and soth it is,
That who that al of wisdom writ
It dulleth ofte a mannes wit
To him that schal it aldai rede,
For thilke cause, if that ye rede,
I wolde go the middel weie
And wryte a bok betwen the tweie,
Somwhat of lust, somewhat of lore.- Prologue, line 12.
- But in proverbe I have herde say,
That who that wel his werk beginneth,
The rather a good end he winneth.- Prologue (First recension), line 86.
- For loves lawe is out of reule.
- Bk. 1, line 18.
- It hath and schal ben everemor
That love is maister wher he wile.- Bk. 1, line 34.
- He hath the sor which no man heleth,
The which is cleped lack of herte.- Bk. 4, line 334.
- O fol of alle foles,
Thou farst as he betwen tuo stoles
That wolde sitte and goth to grounde.- Bk. 4, line 625.
- The beauté faye upon her face
Non erthly thing it may desface.- Bk. 4, line 1321.
- Nevere yit
Was non, which half so loste his wit
Of drinke, as thei of such thing do
Which cleped is the jolif wo.- Bk. 6, line 31.
- What is a lond wher men ben none?
What ben the men whiche are alone
Withoute a kinges governance?
What is a king in his ligance,
Wher that ther is no lawe in londe?
What is to take lawe on honde,
Bot if the jugges weren trewe?- Bk. 7, line 2695.
- So goth the world, now wo, now wel
- Bk. 8, line 1738.
Criticism
[edit]- O moral Gower!
- Geoffrey Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, Bk. 5, line 1856.
- In the content of his work it is interesting to notice that he is profoundly English. His romanticism, and his choice of the theme of Time and Age – both these look back to the Anglo-Saxons and forward to the nineteenth century. Yet his form is French. The heart is insular and romantic, the head cool and continental: it is a good combination.
- C. S. Lewis, The Allegory of Love (1975 [1936]), p. 222.