Gower. John Gower, 1320 (?)-1408, the contemporary and friend of Chaucer, was not equal to the latter in genius, or in the influence which he exerted on English literature. He was far, however, from lacking either genius or influence, and his name is constantly coupled with that of Chaucer in all the earlier authors or writers who have written of either. Gower and Chaucer. Not only are the two names coupled in this way, but in so quoting them, it is observable that the name of Gower uniformly precedes that of Chaucer, from which it has been inferred that Gower was the senior. แ Gower, that first garnished our English rude; And maister Chaucer, that nobly enterprised How that Englishe myghte freshely be ennewed." — Skelton. "As moral Gower, whose sentencious dewe Adowne reflareth, with fayre golden beams; And after, Chaucer's all abroad doth shewe." — Hawes. "Those of the first age were Gower and Chaucer." — Sir Philip Sidney. The date of Gower's birth has not been ascertained, but it has been placed by conJecture at 1320. Personal History. -Gower was the personal friend of Chaucer. This is evident from the manner in which the brother poets speak of each other. Thus Gower, in one of his poems, represents Venus as saying: "And greet well Chaucer when ye meet, As my disciple and my poete." And again Chaucer, in one of his early poems, makes the following dedication to Gower: "O moral Gower! this boke I direct To thee, and to the philosophical Strode." His writings show him to have been a man of learning, and his will, lately brought to light, shows him to have had considerable possessions. He was married, but appears not to have had any children; and a few years before his death he became blind. The bulk of his property was left to the rebuilding of a conventual church in Southwark, where his monument is still to be seen. Bank as a Poet. The term "moral," applied by Chaucer, has stuck to Gower ever since, and is supposed to convey the idea that he was more concerned for the moral correctness of his writings than for their elegance or taste. Certain it is, that he lacks those qualities of imagination, fancy, and humor, which mark so strongly his great contemporary. Gower forms a sort of connecting link between the dying minstrelsy of the troubadours and the young and vigorous growth of an independent native literature. Besides some smaller poems, Gower wrote three large works, Speculum Meditantis (The Mirror of Meditation), in French; Vox Clamantis (The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness), in Latin; and Confessio Amantis (The Confessions of a Lover), in English. History of these Works. - The Speculum Meditantis has not been seen in modern times, and has probably perished. The Vox Clamantis remained in manuscript until 1850, when it was printed for the Roxburghe Club. The Confessio Amantis has been frequently printed. Vox Clamantis.-This is in Latin Elegiacs, of which there are seven books. The whole partakes very much of the character of an historical and moral essay. Confessio Amantis.-This, being in English, is the work by which Gower is chiefly known. It is of immoderate length, -extending to more than thirty thousand lines. It was once much read, though few would now undertake so formidable a task. Plan of the Poem. -The Confessio Amantis is in the form of a dialogue between a lover and his confessor, who is a priest of Venus. The lover, unable to gain the favor of his lady-love, seeks information and instruction on the subject from his priest. Thus the dialogue is supposed to begin. The argument is to this effect.* As every vice is in its nature unamiable, it ought to follow that immorality is invariably punished by the indignation of the fair sex; and that every fortunate lover is of necessity a good man and a good Christian. On this presumption, the confessor passes in review all the defects of human character, and carefully scrutinizes the heart of his penitent with respect to each. And whereas example is more impressive than precept, he illustrates his injunctions by a series of apposite tales, with the morality of which the lover professes to be highly edified. Being more addicted to learning than lovers generally are, he gives his instructor an opportunity of initiating him into all the mysteries of the Aristotelian philosophy and of alchemy. Thus the author goes on through the whole encyclopædia of ancient erudition, drawing not from nature and the workings of his own mind, which is the only sure way of interesting the minds of others, but from his commonplace work, and making an immense patchwork of most grave and learned morality, having in it nothing that comes home to men's "business and bosoms," and about as interesting, for a work of the imagination, as a table of contents, or a chronological chart! He appears to have aimed, not so much to please the imagination of his readers, as to astonish them by the array of his learning. He has therefore laid under contribution all the learning of the age, such as it was, and to have cast it into the mould required by the frigid conceits of the Courts of Love of the Provençal and the early English romances. See Ellis's Early English Poets. Piers Plowman. Another work of great celebrity and value, belonging to this period of our literary history, is one commonly known as Piers Plowman. It was completed about the same time as The Canterbury Tales, but is in many respects in striking contrast with that great work. Piers Plowman is an allegorical and satirical poem, in the form of a series of visions, or dissolving views, in which the various characters and occupations of men pass under review. The Name. So little is known of the author of this work that in referring to it, or quoting from it, writers more frequently speak of Piers Plowman, which is the name commonly given to the poem, than of Langland, which was probably the name of the author. The full and proper title of this work is, The Vision of William concerning Piers the Plowman. The Author.-The true name of the poet, the dreamer who had this vision concerning the Plowman, is not certainly known. The poem has, however, been very generally ascribed to one Langland, whose Christian name has been variously given as William, Robert, and John. Yet of the Christian name we are sure. It is written William invariably in the MS. copies, and the author in various passages calls himself Wille. History of the Author. - William Langland, so far as can be ascertained, appears to have been born about 1332, and to have died about the year 1400. He was born in moderate circumstances, but was sent to school, and acquired some knowledge of books. He was not, however, an accomplished scholar, like Chaucer and Wyckliffe, nor did he move like them in the higher circles of social life. He saw life rather among the poor and lowly, and is to be accepted as the true interpreter of their thoughts and feelings. History of the Poem.· -The work in its first form appeared in 1362, when the author was about thirty years old. It was, however, at that time, only a rough sketch, containing not more than 2,567 lines. Fifteen years later, in 1377, roused by the troubles which ensued upon the death of the Black Prince, the author revised and greatly enlarged his work. Later still, probably about 1380, he gave still another revision, extending it to about 15,000 lines. Manuscript copies exist in all these varying forms, and hence some confusion in the accounts given of the work, some explorers having examined it in one form, and some in another. ENGLISH LITERATURE. The Contents. Though the whole work is called after the "Plowman," who figures in it more largely than any one else, there are really two poems, the latter containing a series of Visions about Dowel, Dobet, and Dobest (Do-Well, Do-Better, DoBest). It is divided into twenty sections, or Passus, each Passus forming a distinct vision. Form of the Poem. - The old Saxon poetry had a form peculiar to itself. It was neither metrical, like the classic poetry, nor rhyming, like the modern, but was distinguished by a peculiar consonantal alliteration. The lines had no fixed length, but had usually about fourteen syllables, and were divided into two distinct parts about the end of the eighth; and the words were so selected and arranged that at least two leading words in the first section, and at least one word in the second section, began with the same letter. Thus: Ac now is religion a rider, a roamer about, Sometimes printed thus: Ac now is religion a rider, A roamer about, A leader of love-days, And a lond-buyer. But in the old manuscript copies, it is always found written in the long lines, with a mark of some kind to show the division into sections. The author of the Vision concerning Piers Plowman, either from an admiration of this form of verse, or from a strong national feeling, and a belief that a poem, in the form known and dear to their ancestors in the bright days of Alfred the Great, might have greater power to stir the national heart, made a resolute effort to revive this old Saxon alliteration. So popular was his work in its other features, that he was wellnigh successful in this, and the question as to what should in future generations be the type of English verse seemed for a time to hang in the balance. But in truth the English people had at that time pretty much forgotten the Anglo-Saxon verse. The national ear, from the first beginnings of the new life, after the blending of Saxons and Normans, had been trained to the rhyming verse introduced by the Norman troubadours. More than all, while the Vision was in the height of its popularity, and the question between the old and the new seemed still hanging in the balance, the sweet rhymes and cadences of Chaucer turned the scale decisively, and the decision has never been reversed. The Prologue. In the Prologue, the author describes how, weary of wandering, he sits down to rest upon the Malvern Hills, and then falls asleep and dreams. In his vision, the world and its people are represented to him by a field full of folk, busily engaged in their avocations. There were ploughmen and spendthrifts, anchorites, merchants, jesters, beggars, pilgrims, hermits, and friars. There also were lawyers, burgesses, tradesmen, laborers, and taverners, touting for custom. In the description of all these is much biting satire. "Chaucer describes the rich more fully than the poor, and shows us the holidaymaking, cheerful, genial phase of English life; but Langland pictures the homely poor in their ill-fed, hard-working condition, battling against hunger, famine, injustice, oppression, and all the stern realities and hardships that tried them as gold is tried in the fire. Chancer's satire often raises a good-humored laugh; but Langland's is that of a man who is constrained to speak out all the bitter truth, and it is as earnest as is the cry of an injured man who appeals to Heaven for vengeance." — Skeat. Piers Plowman's Creed. - About the year 1394, a poem called Piers Plowman's Creed appeared. It is alliterative, like the preceding, and has often been attributed incorrectly to the same author. Its real authorship is unknown. Origin. The author evidently aimed to take advantage of the popularity of the other work, and chose his title accordingly. The poem, however, is very different in spirit and tone from the original, being marked throughout with harshness and asperity. Wyckliffe. John Wyckliffe, 1324-1384, known among Protestants as "The Morning Star of the Reformation," may almost be styled also the Father of English Prose, as his contemporary, Chaucer, is the Father of English Poetry. Wyckliffe was at least one of the earliest writers who in plain and vigorous prose addressed the common people in words familiar to the hearths and homes of England. Wyckliffe wrote many treatises: some learned, addressed to scholars and the higher orders, and some in homely phrase, addressed to the common people. But his chief literary work was A Translation of the Holy Bible. The First English Version. - Separate portions of the Holy Scriptures had been translated into English before this time. But Wyckliffe's was the first translation of the whole Bible into English. It was completed in 1382, and revised in 1388. Coadjutors.- -In making this version, Wyckliffe had several coadjutors, -men who were disciples of his, and sympathized in his views. The New Testament was translated chiefly by Wyckliffe himself, and the Old Testament by Nicholas de Hereford. After the death of Wyckliffe, the whole work was revised by another disciple, Richard Purvey. Wyckliffe was the animating and directing soul of the movement, and himself executed no small part of the work, and the whole is popularly known as Wyckliffe's Version. The more exact term, however, is The Wyckliffite Versions, meaning by that phrase the earlier Version of 1382, which was mainly the work of Wyckliffe and Hereford, and the Revision of 1388, which was the work of Purvey. Character of the Version.- Wyckliffe's translation was made directly from the Latin Vulgate, not from the original Hebrew and Greek. It is extremely literal, and is marked by great homeliness of style, studiously avoiding the language of scholars and of courtly people. In the Revision by Purvey, the extreme literalness of the first issue is to some extent avoided, and more freedom of translation is used. Influence. Wyckliffe's Version was much used in his own day, and for some generations following, and it had great influence both upon English speech and reli |