JOHN GOWER: THE MINOR LATIN WORKS: NOTES

ABBREVIATIONS: CA: Gower, Confessio Amantis; CB: Gower, Cinkante Ballades; Cronica: Gower, Cronica Tripertita; CT: Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales; CVP: Gower, Carmen super multiplici viciorum pestilencia; IPP: Gower, In Praise of Peace; Mac: Macaulay edition; MO: Gower, Mirour de l'Omme; TC: Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde; Thynne: William Thynne, printer, The Works of Geffray Chaucer (1532) [prints IPP from Tr]; Traitié: Gower, Traitié pour essampler les amantz marietz; VC: Gower, Vox Clamantis.

All biblical citations are to the Vulgate text, and, unless otherwise noted, all biblical translations are from the Douai-Rheims. For a list of manuscript abbreviations, please see Manuscripts in the Introduction.

1. DE LUCIS SCRUTINIO: NOTES

The marginal Latin glosses, identified by a capital L in the left margin next to the text, are transcribed and translated in the notes and can be accessed by clicking on the L at the corresponding line.

De lucis scrutinio: Probably written ca. 1392-95 (see note to lines 79-80 below). The poem presents, albeit in truncated form, a critique of the Estates familiar from MO and VC; however, here the central metaphor of Light (i.e., the light of Christ's teaching, example, and divine grace) everywhere engulfed in darknesses of sin and ignorance (compare Aquinas, Summa Theologica II.i.Q.112.Art.5) intensifies the poet's anger at the state of the world. As Rigg (in Echard and Fanger, Latin Verses, p. xix) has noted, metaphor so sustained is uncommon in English Latin poetry, and here lends a poignancy to Gower's expressions of heartfelt sorrow not often encountered in earlier poems by other hands. Stockton (Major Latin Works, p. 36) has pointed out Gower's apparent agreement here with the Lollards on the need for kings to end the schism of the Church. (See note to line 4, below.) The form is Leonine hexameter (except the final line, a pentameter), rhyming disyllabically throughout, irregularly including unisonant couplets most frequent toward the end. Lines 102-03 are distichs (Carlson, "Rhyme").

The text presented here is based on S (lines 1-92) and C (lines 93-103). Other versions survive in E, H, and L.

Prose: "Qui ambulat in tenebris nescit quo vadat." John 12:35. The quote provides the context for Gower's poem. On Palm Sunday Jesus speaks to the crowd in response to the question, "Who is this Son of Man?": "Jesus therefore said to them: Yet a little while, the light is among you. Walk whilst you have the light, that the darkness overtake you not. And he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. Whilst you have the light, believe in the light, that you may be the children of light" (John 12:35-36).

suffocarunt. So Mac, emending from C, E, H, and L. S: suoffocarunt.

1 ff. Latin marginalia in S: Nota quod eorum lucerna minime clarescit quos in ecclesia per antipapam avaricia promotos ditescit. ("Note that the light of them is least bright, who grow rich in the Church through the Anti-Pope promoting avarice.")

3 Si Romam pergas. By "Rome," Gower means the Church itself; like Englishmen generally, he did not recognize the Avignon papacy (see following note).

4 Rome sunt duo pape. The so-called Great Schism (1378-1453) began with the election of Urban VI in Rome and Clement VII in Avignon. Gower attacks Clement specifically in VC III.x.955-56, and in the Latin marginalia to CA Prol. 194-99. Outrage at the schism, as the source of heresies such as Lollardy, is common in his work. (See CA, ed. Peck, vol.1, p. 294.)

6 Sub modio . . . lucerna reiecta. Compare Matthew 5:15: "neque accendunt lucernam, et point eam sub modio" ("neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house"). Compare note to line 100, below.

6 ff. Latin marginalia in S: Nota de luce prelatorum et curatorum ("Note: On the light of prelates and curates").

8 Simonis. A Samaritan and erstwhile magician known for that reason as Simon "Magus," who as recorded in Acts 8:18-24 offered the disciples money for the power to command the presence of the Holy Ghost. From his offer and name was the sin of simony derived -- commonly the buying and selling of Church benefits. Those wearing his bulla (technically a medallion or amulet, often of gold, worn by Roman boys during the Empire to indicate free status) would thus be in the service of Simon, i.e., simoniacs, whom Dante (Inferno 19) relegates to the eighth circle of Hell, as a type of Fraud. On the contemporary political resonances of wearing of a medallion indicative of allegiance, see note to lines 27-28, below. There is also a clear pun on papal "bulls" (edicts), so named because the leaden seals they bore assuring the document's papal authenticity resembled the bullae of Roman boys. Gower's imagination is frequently Dantesque: compare simoniacs, here identified by papal seals/medallions around their necks, and Inferno 17, where usurers are told apart only by the "tasca" -- money-bag bearing coat of arms of families, but also therefore of banking houses -- each wears around his neck. Compare also VC III.xii.1005-64 and CA Prol. 204-41.

11 de membris nil fore purum. See note to line 19, below.

13 ff. Latin marginalia in S: De luce ordinis professi ["On the light of those professing holy orders"]

13-38 Compare Gower's discussions of clerical orders in MO, lines 18421-21780, and VC III and IV.

19 lucerne, iocus, ocia, scorta, taberne. The "dark light" of present-day prelates encourages bodily pleasures -- "joking, 'leisure,' feasting, and prostitutes"; compare line 11, above, where the "caput obscurum" ["dark mind"] produces "nothing pure from the limbs" ["de membris nil fore purum"].

20-22 velamen . . . turbida templum / Nebula perfudit. For velamen ("veil"), see Exodus 34:30-33, where Moses after receiving the Commandments from God on Sinai dons a "velamen" to prevent the reflected glory of his face from driving away the people, who at first flee his brightness; and 2 Corinthians 13-16, where Paul interprets Moses' action as preventing the people from receiving a true (i.e., unmediated) vision of the Lord: "sed usque in hodiernum diem, cum legitur Moyses, velamen positum est super cor eorum. Cum autem conversus fuerit ad Dominum, auferetur velamen" ("But even until this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. But when they shall be converted to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away"); and, further, Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, and Luke 23:45, who describe the veil of the Temple torn asunder the moment Christ dies. Luke, who makes a point of the rending as attended by darkness, is especially relevant: "Et obscuratus est sol et velum temple scissum est medium" ("And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the Temple was rent in the midst"). For the "stormy cloud" engulfing the Temple, see 3 Kings (1 Kings) 8:10-13, describing the descent of the Lord into the newly finished Temple of Solomon: "et non poterant sacerdotes stare et ministrare propter nebulam: impleverat enim gloria Domini domum Domini" ("And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord"). Gower's complex metaphor depends upon a reversal of these passages, the last particularly (i.e., the only cloud in the Temple nowadays is not glorious but dark -- it is true darkness, not an excess of light, which prevents today's priests from ministering); the key is line 21, Sic perit exemplum lucis, where the "model of light" is Christ, at whose execution by the unenlightened the veil of the temple was torn, and darkness descended -- although paradoxically (like "Good" Friday) it is a darkness which should lead to conversion, and the taking-away (or rending) of the "veil upon their heart." See following notes to lines 23 and 24.

23 Sic vice pastorum quos Cristus. The metaphor of lines 20-22 is continued through an allusion to Vulgate Psalm 79:2: "Qui pascis Israel, ausculta, Qui ducis velem gregem Ioseph" ("Give ear, O shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a sheep" -- trans. mine); and 79:4: "Deus, restitue nos, Et serenum praebe vultum tuum, ut salvi simus" ("Convert [i.e.,"restore"] us, O God, and shew us thy face: and we shall be saved"), where the echoes of Exodus 34:30-33 and 2 Corinthians 16 are intentional.

24 chorum statuit iam mundus. For the new "chorus of the world" compare Vulgate Psalm 137:4-5: "Confiteantur tibi, Domine, omnes reges terrae, Quia audierunt omnia verba oris tui; Et cantent in viis Domini, Quoniam magna est gloria Domini" ("May all the kings of the earth give glory to thee: for they have heard all the words of thy mouth. And let them sing in the ways of the Lord: for great is the glory of the Lord"). The allusion develops out of the associative commonality in the psalms of shepherds (see note to line 23) and music; here present conditions are in stark contrast to the chorus, invoked by the psalmist, of kings whose singing glorifies God. The reference provides a transition to the following passage, where attention is turned to secular rulers and the Church in relation to them.

25 ff. Latin marginalia in S: Nota quod, si regum lucerna in manu caritatis devocius gestaretur, ecclesia nunc divisa eorum auxilio discrecius reformaretur, eciam et incursus paganorum a Cristi finibus eorum probitate eminus expelleretur. ["Note that if the light of kings was borne in the hand of the most devoted charity, their church that now stands divided would restore more distinguished help, yet the assault of those pagans upon the countries of Christ expels honesty at a distance."]

26 de guerra. Possibly an allusion to the Hundred Years' War, but probably a generic response to the violence of the times.

27-28 Ne periant . . . mater. The schism divided kingdoms as well as prelates, e.g., France and most of the Spanish states supporting Clement VII, Portugal, the Holy Roman Empire, and England upholding Urban VI. ("Rome" here is generic for the Roman church.) Royal support would ensure authority for the "laws" (leges) of whichever pope a kingdom recognized. Line 28 is difficult; pater likely alludes to the pope, mater to the church (compare IPP, lines 239-41). The line could be understood "So that [each] pope might know which church [i.e., Rome or Avignon] believes his claim," with the "might makes right" implication from line 27 that the strength of partisan earthly kings, rather than God's will, decides papal "credibility" in a world so fallen.

29-30 Scisma . . . viderent. Suggests the "Two Swords," i.e., authority over men properly divided between the Holy Roman Emperor and the papacy: ideally, one should balance the other, but with the emperor now "asleep" (see MO, lines 22201-12), kings must act in unison to make matters right (compare IPP, lines 379-83).

33Teste paganorum bello. Not a war of pagan deity against pagan deity, but of pagan believers against Christ: compare IPP, lines 190-96.

38 Lumina namque David . . . titulavit. Depending on the intention of titulavit: if understood as "appointed," perhaps a reference to 2 Kings (2 Samuel) 15, on David's confidence in, and betrayal by, Absolom and Achitiphel; if taken as "invoked," more probably Psalm 2. If the former, since the referent is "regentis" (line 36), probably an allusion to Richard's "evil counselors"; compare VC VII.vii. 567-636, with variants (although these lines were written much earlier); if the latter, the reference cloaks an admonition to Richard.

39 ff. Latin marginalia in S: De luce procerum. ["On the light of the nobles."]

39-48 Compare MO, lines 23209-592, on the estate of the nobility.

42 Nemo . . . de turbine grando. Resonant of Osee 8:7: "Quia ventum seminabunt, Et turbinem metent" ("For they shall sow wind and reap a whirlwind"); "they" refers to "princes" ["principes"] in 8:4: "Ipsi renaverunt, et non ex me; Principes exstiterunt, et non cognovi; Argentum suum et aurum suum fecerunt sibi idola, Ut interirent" ("They have reigned, but not by me: they have been princes, and I knew not: of their silver and their gold they have made idols to themselves, that they might perish" -- italics mine).

49 ff. Latin marginalia in S: De luce militum et aliorum qui bella sequntur. ["On the light of the knights and others who wage war."]

49-54 Compare VC V.viii and MO, lines 23593-24180, on the estate of knights and men-at-arms.

55 ff. Latin marginalia in S: De luce legistarum. ["On the light of the law."]

55-62 Compare MO, lines 24181-25176, and VC VI.i-v, on the estate of men of law.

57 Mammona. Aramaic: "riches," worldly goods. See Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13 and 16:9.

63 ff. Latin marginalia in S: De luce mercatorum. ["On the light of the merchants."]

63-72 Compare MO, lines 25177-26604, on the estate of merchants.

65-66 Contegit usure . . . similatum. The portrait of "usure" is traditional of avarice (see, e.g., Piers Plowman B.5.187-97); hence, "quem diues habet similatum" can be read: "the avaricious are all alike under the skin." See VC V.xii.703-834 and MO, lines 7213-7344 on Usury, the third daughter of Avarice.

67 Si dolus . . . sigilla. That is, "if documents could be falsified successfully."

73 ff. Latin marginalia in S: De luce vulgari, que patriam conseruat. ["On the light of the people, which should save the country."]

74-78 Nam via vulgaris . . . turbidiores. Compare Vulgate Psalm 118, which celebrates (or proclaims: "Praeconium legis divinae") the divine law, especially 118:105: "Lucerna pedibus meis verbum tuum, Et lumen semitis meis" ("Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths") and 118:1-5: "Beati immaculati in via, Quia ambulant in lege Domini. Beati qui scrutantur testimonia eius, In toto corde exquirunt eum. Non enim qui operantur iniquitatem In viis eius ambulaverunt. Tu mandasti mandata tua Custodiri nimis. Utinam dirigantur viae meae Ad custodiendas iustificationes tuas!" ("Blessed are the undefiled in the way [path]: who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that search his testimonies: that seek him with their whole heart. For they that work iniquity have not walked in his ways [paths]. Thou hast commanded thy commandments to be kept most diligently. O that my ways [paths] may be directed to keep thy justifications!" -- my additions). The emphasis here is on lawlessness by the unreasoning commons; compare VC I.ix-x.

79-80 Sunt et conducti . . . rescisa. Depending on the exactitude of assisa (line 80), whether figurative, for courts generally, or specifically limited to assizes. If the latter, it perhaps alludes to Richard II; but more likely the former: compare Vulgate Psalm 118:85-86; and similar complaints against nobility who take kickbacks from "communs baratours" (MO, lines 23317-28); "hedgerow knights" ("chivaler de haie") who rig court sessions (MO, lines 23725-36); manipulated judges (MO, lines 24625-816); jurors (MO, lines 25009-128); and "Covoitise" in the courtroom (MO, lines 6205-28). Assisa also completes Leonine rhyme with rescisa (line 80). See also note to CVP, lines 246-65, below.

88 orbis iter sine luce. Compare Vulgate Psalm 118:29 ("viam iniquitatis," "the path of iniquity") and note to line 96, below.

89 ff. Latin marginalia in S: Hic in fine tenebras deplangens pro luce optinenda Deum exorat. ["Here in the end, mourning the darkness, he pleads for the light of God to prevail."]

92 Cecos . . . tango. Compare Vulgate Psalm 118:82: "Defecerunt oculi mei in eloquium tuum" ("My eyes have failed for thy word") and 118:123: "Oculi mei defecerunt in salutare tuum" ("My eyes have fainted [failed] after your salvation" -- my addition). Assuming composition ca. 1392, Macaulay rightly notes that Gower must be speaking figuratively; though he might have begun losing his eyesight "we must not assume that the author is referring to any physical blindness" (4.418).

93-103 The text of S ends at line 92, where a leaf is missing. The remainder of the text given here is from C.

96 Nunc iter attendo. Compare Vulgate Psalm 118:30 ("viam veritatis," "the path of truth") and the repetition of iter here from lines 88 and 94.

97 Tu . . . creasti. Compare Genesis 1-5.

98 Crimina . . . dones. Compare Vulgate Psalm 118:130: "Declaratio sermonem tuorum illuminat" ("The declaration of thy words giveth light") and 118:132-33: "Aspice in me, et miserere mei, Secundum iudicium diligentium nomen tuum, Gressus meos dirige secundum eloquium tuum, Et non dominetur mei omnis iniustitia" ("Look upon me and have mercy on me: according to the judgment of them that love thy name. Direct my steps according to thy word: and let no iniquity have dominion over me").

100 Confer candelam. Compare note to line 6, above; i.e., Christ as "candle" of faith: compare line 103.

102 adhibit. So C, H. Mac reads adibit.