Голос вопиющего: Латинская поэма Джона Говера

Latin poem by John Gower

Vox Clamantis ("the voice of one crying out") is a Latin poem of 10,265 lines in elegiac couplets by John Gower (1330 – October 1408) The first of the seven books is a dream vision giving a vivid account of the Peasants' Rebellion of 1381. Macaulay described the remaining books: "The general plan of the author is to describe the condition of society and of the various degrees of men, much as in the latter portion of the Speculum Meditantis." Fisher concludes that books II V were written in the 1370s while the author was writing similar passages in Mirour de l'Omme.

Wickert divides the manuscripts into two groups:A text (=Macaulay initial version= Fisher b version) and B text (=Macaulay final version= Fisher c version). The A text for Book VI condemns the advisors of a young King Richard; the corresponding B text condemns "the king's corrupt and corrupting young associates." There is a unique manuscript (MS Laud (Misc) 719 SC10601) which omits the Visio and numbers the books I VI. Fisher calls this the a version. Most critics cite the remaining books as an example of estate satire where the author complains about various problems in society. "This universal voice, the voice of the Old Testament prophets, is the mode of perception and expression that distinguishes medieval complaint from classical satire." Macaulay also found borrowings "from the poem of Alexander Neckam De Vita Monachomm, from the Speculum Stultorum, or from the Pantheon, so that in many places the composition is entirely made up of such borrowed matter variously arranged and combined. This is evidently a thing to be noted, because if the author, when describing (for example) the vices of monasteries, is found to be merely quoting from Alexander Neckam, we cannot attach much value to his account as a picture of the manners of his own time." Gower was familiar with Brunetto Latini's Li Livres dou Trésor. Shrank suggests that portraying the rebels as lower forms was derived from Cicero's claims about civilized societies in De Inventione.

All books are divided into chapters. Each chapter is preceded by a prose heading which summarizes the chapter. Three books have prologues.

This sermonizing summary of the preceding five books begins with a reinterpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a statue (Daniel 2:31 44) comprising gold, brass, iron and clay segments. In Chapter 2 Gower associates the iron of the statue with misers. A rich man who lacks charity is condemned. The Chapter 3 associates clay with lechery. Stockton observes this is the only place where courtly love (a major theme in Confessio) is mentioned in Vox. Chapter 8 introduces an idea which Fisher considers a major theme. Man as a "microcosm whose sin taints the cosmos" can be traced back to fourth Lateran Council. This theme first appears in Mirour.

Chapters 9 17 associate different aspects of the decay of a corpse with the seven deadly sins. The mediation on death which occurs in chapters 9 19 is unusual in medieval literature. Wickert knows of only one other example. The personal and social benefits of righteousness are discussed in Chapters 21 & 22. Chapter 23 summarizes this treatise on the worldly estates.

Chronica Tripertita is a 1,062 line Latin poem in leonine hexameter. It was published in the manuscripts of Wickert's B text. Fisher summarizes the content as "Lancastrian propaganda under the guise of history. Three parts deal with different historical events. The first part treats the events of 1387 88 (Merciless Parliament). "Instead of calling his historical personages by name, Gower follows the literary convention of using heraldic terms, especially those based upon the names of birds and animals." "the King's party are throughout called greedy, treacherous plotters, and the Appellants model Englishmen." The second part skips to 1397 where Richard exacted his revenge. The final parts describes the events of 1399 when Henry supplanted Richard as king. "Gower approaches his material directly, with no allegory in his way."

Vox Clamantis in Deserto ("A voice of one crying in the wilderness") alludes to the Vulgate translation of the Gospel of Mark and of the Gospel of John (where the voice is that of John the Baptist), quoting the Book of Isaiah The account of this sermon in Luke 3:1 14 provided the outline for Gower's original Vox Clamantis (without Visio).