THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN GOWER

G. C. MACAULAY

* * * THE ENGLISH WORKS

HENRY FROWDE, M.A.

PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND NEW YORK

THE COMPLETE WORKS

OF

JOHN GOWER

EDITED FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS WITH INTRODUCTIONS, NOTES, AND GLOSSARIES

BY

G. C. MACAULAY, M.A. FORMERLY FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

* * * THE ENGLISH WORKS

(Confessio Amantis, Lib. V. 1971—Lib. VIII; and In Praise of Peace)

O gentile Engleterre, a toi j’escrits.

Oxford AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1901

Oxford PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS BY HORACE HART, M.A. PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY

CORRIGENDA ET ADDENDA

[Pg 1]

CONFESSIO AMANTIS

(Liber Quintus).

[Pg 123]

[Pg 140]

[Pg 145]

Explicit Liber Quintus.

FOOTNOTES:

E ... B₂ (was of L)

H₁ ... B₂ (driuen in a while L)

(to þe briddes R)

S ... ΔΛ

(wiþ om. all except E)

[Pg 167]

Incipit Liber Sextus

Explicit Liber Sextus.

FOOTNOTES:

[Pg 233]

Incipit Liber Septimus.

Explicit Liber Septimus.

FOOTNOTES:

[Pg 386]

Incipit Liber Octavus.

FOOTNOTES:

S ... Δ

1882Epistola super huius opusculi sui complementum Iohanni Gower a quodam philosopho transmissa.

1883Quia1884 vnusquisque, prout a deo accepit, aliis impartiri tenetur, Iohannes Gower super hiis que deus sibi sensualiter1885 donauit villicacionis sue racionem, dum tempus instat,1886 secundum aliquid alleuiare cupiens,1887inter labores et ocia ad aliorum noticiam tres libros doctrine causa forma subsequenti propterea composuit.

[Pg 480]

Primus liber Gallico sermone editus in decem diuiditur partes, et tractans de viciis et virtutibus,1888 necnon et de variis huius seculi gradibus,1889viam qua peccator transgressus ad sui creatoris agnicionem redire debet, recto tramite docere conatur. Titulusque1890 libelli istius Speculum Meditantis1891 nuncupatus est.

1892Secundus enim liber sermone latino metrice compositus tractat de variis infortuniis tempore Regis Ricardi Secundi in Anglia contingentibus. Vnde non solum regni proceres et communes tormenta passi sunt, set et ipse crudelissimus rex suis ex demeritis ab alto corruens in foueam quam fecit finaliter proiectus est. Nomenque voluminis huius Vox Clamantis intitulatur.

1893Tercius iste liber qui ob reuerenciam strenuissimi domini sui domini Henrici de Lancastria, tunc Derbeie Comitis, Anglico sermone conficitur, secundum Danielis propheciam super huius mundi regnorum mutacione a tempore regis Nabugodonosor vsque1894 nunc tempora distinguit.1895 Tractat eciam secundum Aristotilem1896 super hiis quibus rex Alexander tam in sui regimen1897 quam aliter1898eius disciplina edoctus fuit. Principalis tamen huius operis1899 materia1900 super amorem et infatuatas amantum passiones fundamentum habet. Nomenque sibi appropriatum Confessio Amantis specialiter1901 sortitus est.

FOOTNOTES:

Secundus liber versibus exametri et pentametri sermone latino componitur, tractat de variis infortuniis tempore regis Ricardi secundi in Anglia multipliciter contingentibus, vbi pro statu regni compositor deuocius exorat. Nomenque voluminis huius, quod in septem diuiditur partes, Vox clamantis intitulatur BTΛ

[Pg 481]

TO KING HENRY THE FOURTH1902

IN PRAISE OF PEACE1903

Explicit carmen de pacis commendacione, quod ad laudem et memoriam serenissimi principis domini Regis Henrici quarti suus1979 humilis orator Iohannes Gower composuit.1980 Et nunc sequitur epistola in qua idem Ioannes pro statu et salute dicti domini sui apud altissitmum deuocius exorat.

FOOTNOTES:

[Pg 495]

NOTES

LIB. V. (continued)

1980. F has a stop after ‘Avarice,’ but see note on l. 3966.

1982 ff. The meaning seems to be that they make no distinction of day or night when there is work of this kind to be done.

2004. overhippeth, i. e. leaps over or omits something, so that he has not all that he desires. The word is used in Piers Plowman, xv. 379, of omitting passages in the services of the Church.

2015 ff. Cp. Mirour de l’Omme, 6253 ff.,

2031 ff. The tale of Virgil’s Mirror is from the French prose Roman des Sept Sages, as published by Le Roux de Lincy. It might easily be shown that Gower did not follow either the French metrical version or the Latin Historia Septem Sapientum. The English metrical version published by Weber is from a source similar to that of Gower’s story, but it differs in some points. Gower seems to be responsible for the introduction of Carthage and Hannibal.

2099. slepende a nyht, i. e. while they slept.

2101. Cp. Prol. 182.

2115. he his oghne body, i. e. ‘he himself.’

2150 f. This point is omitted in the English metrical version.

2157 f. The English metrical version is very similar, ‘We schulle the ymage so undersette, That we ne schal hit nothing lette.’

2168. That is, the timber having been set up.

2198 ff. This about Hannibal is introduced here as if taken from a different source, ‘For this I finde,’ &c.

2238f. Cp. Mirour, 10651, ‘Plus que gaigners son augst attent.’

2273 ff. The tale of the Two Coffers is essentially the same story as that which we have in Boccaccio Decam. x. i, and essentially different from that which is told in Vit. Barlaam et Josaphat, cap. vi, as a sequel to the story of the Trump of Death. The story which we have here and in Boccaccio is not at all connected with the idea of choosing[Pg 496] by the outward appearance. The coffers are exactly alike, and the very point of the situation lies in the fact that the choice is a purely fortuitous one. The object was to show that they who complained were persons who had fortune against them, and that this was the cause of their having failed of reward, and not any neglect on the part of the king. I cannot say what the source was for Gower; certainly not Boccaccio, whose story is altogether different in its details.

2391 ff. With this story may be compared that in the Gesta Romanorum, 109, where by a choice between three pasties, one containing money, a decision is come to as to whether it is God’s will that a certain sum shall be restored to its owner, who is a miser.

2476. tall, i. e. comely, elegant.

2481. Cp. Chaucer, Cant. Tales, D 259.

2507. His thonkes, ‘of his own good will’: cp. Chaucer, Cant. Tales, A 1626, &c.

2543 ff. See Hist. Alexandri Magni de Preliis, f 1, ed. Argent. 1489.

2547 ff. Rom. de Troie, 23283 ff.

2563. Cp. ii. 2025.

2587. ‘If men shall estimate her value.’ The reading of the text is also that of S.

2643 ff. This story is to be found in the Roman des Sept Sages. Gower follows the same French prose version as before, 2031 ff.

2677. it stod. In this kind of expression the verb is usually subjunctive, as Prol. 481, i. 991, iv. 182, &c.

2752. a weie. This is also the reading of S.

2815 f. A rather more violent displacement than usual of the conjunction, ‘And fled away with all the haste,’ &c. Cp. l. 3947.

2835. hele seems here to mean ‘profit,’ in a worldly sense.

2872. According to the New Engl. Dict. this is the same as the Dutch ‘heepe,’ ‘heep,’ meaning a pruning-hook. ‘As there is no cognate word in O. E., its appearance in Gower, and this apparently in a proverbial phrase, is not easy to account for.’ In any case the phrase here seems equivalent to ‘by hook or by crook.’

2937. F has punctuation after ‘dai,’ but this is clearly a case of the inverted order of the conjunction: cp. note on Prol. 155, and below on l. 3966.

2961 ff. The story is probably taken from Statius, Achill. i. 197 ff., where however it is told at much greater length. For Gower’s acquaintance with the Achilleis, cp. iv. 1968 ff.

3002 ff. Cp. Achill. i. 338 ff.

3004 f. That is, howsoever his behaviour might be watched.

3082. Protheüs. According to Statius, Achill. i. 494 ff., Protesilaus rebuked Calchas for not having discovered Achilles, upon which Calchas revealed the truth. Perhaps the mention of Protesilaus suggested to Gower the idea of Proteus, of whom he had heard as one who could change his form at will, see l. 6672, and perhaps as[Pg 497] having prophesied the birth and greatness of Achilles (Ovid, Metam. xi. 221 ff.).

3119. topseilcole, see note on viii. 1890.

3138 f. Cp. Achill. i. 812 ff.

3247 ff. The first part of the story of Jason and Medea (ll. 3247-3926) is taken from Benoît (Rom. de Troie, 703-2062), and not from Guido, as may be easily shown by comparison of the texts. For example, Guido tells all the conditions of the enterprise, about the fire-breathing bulls, the serpent’s teeth and so on, at the beginning of the story, whereas Benoît more dramatically introduces them into the instructions given to Jason by Medea (Rom. de Troie, 1337-1374, 1691-1748), and in this he is followed by Gower (3505-3540). Guido says nothing about the sleeplessness of the serpent (Rom. de Troie, 1357 f., Conf. Am. v. 3514), nor about repeating the charm ‘contre orient’ (Rom. de Troie, 1700), nor does he mention the thanksgiving which Jason is to offer up to the gods after his victory and before he takes the fleece (Rom. de Troie, 1735 f., Conf. Am. v. 3626 ff.). The sleep of Jason after leaving Medea is omitted by Guido (Rom. de Troie, 1755 ff., Conf. Am. v. 3665 ff.), and also the bath which he took after his adventure (Rom.

de Troie, 1999, Conf. Am. v. 3801). There is no need to multiply instances, which will be observed by every careful reader. We have seen on other occasions that Gower prefers Benoît to Guido, and not without excellent reasons. Guido indeed makes this story even more prosaic than usual, and combines it with matter-of-fact discussions about the magic powers of Medea and the virtues of the various stones which she used.

Gower, however, does not follow Benoît in a slavish manner. He omits or alters the details of the story very happily at times, and he adds much of his own. Thus he omits all mention of the evil motives of Peleus (or Pelias), and makes the proposal to seek the golden fleece come from Jason; he passes over the story of the dispute with Laomedon, which was necessary to the Roman de Troie, but not to the story of Jason taken separately; he adds the discourse of Jason with Oëtes on his arrival; he omits the details about Medea’s hair and eyes, her arms and her chin (Rom. de Troie, 1254 ff.), and dwells rather upon the feelings which the two lovers had for one another at first sight (3376 ff.). When they are together at night, it is Medea, according to our author, and not Jason, who suggests that it is time to rise and to speak of what has to be done (3547 ff.); and Gower adds the scene of parting (3634-3659), the description of Jason’s return over the sea and of Medea’s feelings meanwhile upon her tower, and the sending of

the maid to inquire how he did. Finally, he much improves the story by making the flight take place at once, instead of prolonging Jason’s stay for a month.

Chaucer, who tells the story in a rather perfunctory manner, follows Guido (Leg. of Good Women, 1396 ff.).

3291. And schop anon, &c. This might be understood of Peleus,[Pg 498] who, according to the original story, gave orders for the building of the ship; but better perhaps of Jason, ‘And schop’ for ‘And he schop,’ cp. l. 4590 and vi. 1636.

3376. herd spoke: cp. 4485, ‘I have herd seid.’

3388. That is, ‘they took heed each of other.’ For the plural verb cp. 3439.

3416. That is, ‘he took St. John as his pledge’ of a good issue, ‘he committed himself to the care of St. John.’ The expression was often used in connexion with setting out on a journey: cp. Chaucer, Compl. of Mars, 9.

3422. Cp. iv. 3273, vi. 2104. The expression in vi. 1621 f., ‘to ful age, That he can reson and langage,’ that is, ‘till he is of full age and knows reason,’ &c., is much of the same kind.

3488. dede him helpe. We must take this second ‘helpe’ as a substantive, otherwise the rhyme would not be good. The rule is that words identical in form can only be combined in rhyme when they have some difference of meaning.

3509. to thyle. The idea was that the golden fleece was guarded in a small island adjacent to the larger ‘isle of Colchos.’ See Rom. de Troie, 1791 ff.,

3533. dethes wounde, ‘deadly wound’: cp. iii. 2657, ‘And smot him with a dethes wounde,’ and also the genitives ‘lyves’ for ‘living’ and ‘worldes’ for ‘worldly,’ i. 1771, iv. 382, &c.

3573. hold, i. e. let him hold: cp. viii. 1128, 1420.

3579 ff. According to Benoît Medea gave him first the magic figure, ‘une figure Fete par art et par conjure’ (cp. 3580), then the ointment and the ring, and after that a writing, the words of which he was to repeat three times when he came to the place. Gower changes the order of things, and combines the writing with the ‘hevenely figure,’ describing it as written over with names which he is to repeat in the manner mentioned.

3632. That thanne he were, &c., that is, she prayed that he would soon be gone.

3654. ‘It shall not be owing to any sloth of mine if I do not,’ &c.

3665 ff.

‘undren hih’ is in the French ‘halte tierce.’

[Pg 499]

3681. recorde, ‘take note of.’

3688. The reading of X here, ‘And forth with all his wey he fongeth,’ is also that of GOAd₂.

3707. scherded: perhaps the word is suggested by Benoît’s expression, ‘Les escherdes hérice’ (Rom. de Troie, 1905).

3711. A literal translation of Rom. de Troie, 1906, ‘Feu et venin gitot ensenble.’ With the lines that follow cp. Rom. de Troie, 1911 ff.

3731 ff. The picturesque elements here are perhaps partly suggested by Rom. de Troie, 1869 ff.

3747. That he ne were, expressing a wish: cp. iv. 3414, ‘Helas, that I nere of this lif,’ equivalent to ‘why ne were I,’ l. 5979.

3781 f. ‘leyhe’ seems to be modified in form for the sake of the rhyme, the usual form in Gower being ‘lawhe.’

3786. naght, in rhyme for ‘noght’: cp. ‘awht,’ ‘auht,’ i. 2770, v. 6073.

3789. So Ovid, Metam. vii. 144 ff.,

but it is also in Benoît, Rom. de Troie, 1991 f.

3793 ff. The sending of the maid, with the pretty touch in l. 3800, is an addition by Gower.

3890. Cp. i. 1516.

3904. this was conseil, ‘this was a secret’: cp. iii. 778, vi. 2326; so Chaucer, Cant. Tales, C 819, ‘Shal it be conseil?’ cp. D 966, E 2431.

3927 ff. Benoît tells no more of Jason’s life after his return to Greece, saying that Dares relates no more, and he does not wish to tell stories that may not be true, ‘N’en velt fere acreire mençonge.’ From this point then Gower follows Ovid, Metam. vii. 159-293, and it must be understood that the illustrative quotations in the notes are from this passage.

3947. ‘And prayed her that by the magic art which she knew,’ &c. For the order of words cp. 2815 f.

3957 f. Ovid makes it full moon, l. 180, but afterwards, l. 188, says ‘Sidera sola micant.’

3962 ff.

The comparison to the adder in l. 3967 is Gower’s own.

3966. F has a stop after ‘specheles,’ there being a natural tendency even in the best copies to treat ‘and’ or ‘for’ as the beginning of a new clause: so (to take examples from the fifth book only) v. 231, 410, 444, 2318, 2937, 5096, in all which places F has apparently wrong punctuation in connexion with this kind of inverted order.

3971 ff.

[Pg 500]

3981. The punctuation is that of F, but perhaps we ought rather to read,

3986. help. For this use of the imperat. sing, (with ‘helpeth’ just above) see Introduction, p. cxviii.

3994.

Gower very naturally understood this to mean that Medea visited Crete, and hence the confusion of geography. He could not be expected to know that Othrys and Olympus were mountains of Thessaly, and hence that the ‘Creteis’ or ‘cretis’ of his manuscript was probably a corruption.

4000 f.

4005. Eridian, i. e. Apidanus.

4006.

4011. the rede See. Perhaps Gower read ‘rubrum mare’ for ‘refluum mare’ in Metam. vii. 258.

4031 ff.

4039. ‘verbenis, silvaque incinxit agresti,’ 242. Gower took ‘silva agrestis’ as the name of a herb and ingeniously translated it into ‘fieldwode.’

4052 f. ‘Umbrarumque rogat rapta cum coniuge regem,’ 249. Our author is able to supply the names correctly.

4064-4114. This picturesque passage is for the most part original.

4127 ff. ‘Nec defuit illic Squamea Cinyphii tenuis membrana chelydri,’ 272. Gower understood this to mean ‘the scales of Cinyphius (or Cimphius) and the skin of Chelidrus.’

4134. ‘novem cornicis saecula passae,’ 274.

4137. Ovid speaks of the entrails of a werwolf, ‘Ambigui prosecta lupi,’ &c.

4156. For omission of relative cp. l. 4205 and note on i. 10.

4175 ff. The story here is only summarized by Ovid, Metam. vii. 394-401. Gower of course knew it from other sources.

4219. ‘intrat Palladias arces,’ Metam. vii. 398. This means Athens, but it is misunderstood by Gower.

4251. Philen, i. e. Nephele. Hyginus tells this story much as it is told here (except that it was the mother of the children who provided the ram), but he gives the name in its Latin form, as ‘Nebula.’ Note the mistake as to this name in the margin, appearing in all MSS. except SΔΛ.

[Pg 501]

4299 ff. Note the confused construction of the sentence: cp. note on i. 98.

4391. The metaphor of hunting is still kept up: the gain which they pursue is started like a hare and driven into the net.

4399. Outward, that is, when he gives things out, cp. ‘withinne’ below.

4452. I were a goddeshalf. This seems to mean, ‘I should be content,’ that is, I should be ready to say ‘In God’s name let it be so.’ For the expression cp. l. 5016, ‘Thanne a goddes half The thridde time assaie I schal.’ In the New Engl. Dict. (‘half’) it is said to be used ‘to add emphasis to a petition, command, or expression of consent or resignation’: cp. Chaucer, Book of the Duchess, 370, 757.

4455. I biede nevere ... Bot, ‘I demand only.’ In this expression ‘biede’ and ‘bidde’ have been confused, as often. Thus we have ‘I bidde nevere a betre taxe,’ i. 1556, ‘That I ne bede nevere awake,’ iv. 2905, in the latter of which ‘bede’ may be either pret. subj. of ‘bidde,’ or pres. ind. equivalent to ‘biede,’ and vi. 1356, ‘He bede nevere fare bet’ where ‘bede’ is apparently pret. subj. of bidde; while in the English Rom. of the Rose, 791, we have ‘Ne bode I nevere thennes go,’ in which ‘bode’ must be pret. subj. of ‘biede.’

4465. lete: see note on i. 3365.

4549 ff. Cp. i. 42 ff.

4557 f. ‘No law may control him either by severity or by mildness.’ For the use of ‘compaignie’ in the sense of ‘friendliness’ cp. i. 1478, and below, l. 7759.

4583 ff. Ovid, Metam. iii. 362 ff., but the circumstances are somewhat modified to suit Gower’s purpose. According to Ovid Echo’s fault was that she talked too much and diverted Juno’s attention, and her punishment was that her speech was confined to a mere repetition of what she heard. Here the crime is rather that she cunningly concealed in her speech what she ought to have told, and the punishment is that she is obliged to tell everything that comes to her ears.

4590. ‘And through such brocage he was untrue,’ &c. For the omission of the pronoun see note on i. 1895.

4623. maken it so queinte, ‘be so cunning’: cp. iv. 2314, where however ‘queinte’ has a different meaning.

4642. hire mouth ascape, i. e. escape being repeated by her mouth.

4661. The aspiration of ‘hem,’ so as to prevent elision, is very unusual: cp. Introduction, p. cxxv.

4668 ff. ‘I shall arrange in their due order those branches of Avarice on which no wealth is well bestowed,’ that is, those which make no return for what is bestowed upon them, viz. Usury and Ingratitude.

4708. of som reprise, i. e. ‘of some cost,’ cp. i. 3414,

that is, it costs nothing.

[Pg 502]

4724. with ydel hand, ‘with empty hand,’ that is, without a lure. This seems to be the original meaning of the adjective: see New Eng. Dict. ‘idle.’

4731. the gold Octovien. The treasures of Octovien (or Octavian) were proverbial: cp. Rom. de Troie, 1684 f.,

and again 28594,

The expression here seems to be in imitation of the French form without preposition, as in the latter of the above quotations.