Confessio Amantis by John Gower
"Confessio Amantis" is a significant work of narrative poetry by John Gower, composed in the late 14th century. This approximately 33,000-line poem is notable for its use of octosyllabic couplets in the London dialect, marking a transition in English poetry from traditional alliterative verse to structured syllabic forms. The poem presents a dialogue between the protagonist Amans, a love-struck lover, and his Confessor, Genius, who questions him about his sins, particularly as they relate to the concept of love and the seven deadly sins. Gower’s work reflects the societal issues of his time, addressing the moral decline of England and the behavior of different social classes—nobility, clergy, and laborers.
"Confessio Amantis" intertwines themes of courtly love and Christian morality, exploring the complexities of desire and sin while also providing moral instruction. The poet crafts narratives drawn from diverse sources, including classical and biblical tales, to illustrate his points. Despite its romantic focus, the poem ultimately emphasizes the superiority of divine love over earthly passions, promoting a balanced view of human nature within the framework of Christian ethics. Gower's exploration of these themes and the innovative structure of his poetry contribute to the rich tapestry of medieval literature and its evolution towards Modern English.
Confessio Amantis by John Gower
First published: 1386-1390
Edition used:The English Works of John Gower, edited, with introduction, notes, and a glossary by G. C. Macaulay. London: Early English Text Society, 1900-1901
Genre(s): Poetry
Subgenre(s): Morality tales; narrative poetry
Core issue(s): Confession; contemplation; love; morality; sin and sinners
Principal characters
Amans , the persona of poet John Gower, a lover who seeks relief from unrequited loveConfessor/Genius , the priest of Venus who hears the confession
Overview
Although little is known about the life of John Gower, records indicate that he was born between 1327 and 1330 into a landholding, Kentish family, associated with the royal court while living near London, and died in 1408 as a respected poet. Gower also had a documented friendship with another well-known London poet, Geoffrey Chaucer.
The works of John Gower as well as those of Chaucer initiated a new tradition of vernacular English poetry relying on a syllabic verse structure. Confessio Amanitis is approximately thirty-three thousand lines, most of which are octosyllabic couplets rhymed aa bb cc in the London dialect of Chaucer. Prior to the Norman Conquest of England (1066), Old English poetry depended on a four-stress, alliterative line as its primary organizing device. With French as the official language between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries, the English language and its poetic forms changed dramatically. When English again gained literary currency in the late 1300’s, continental influences produced in the works of Gower and Chaucer a type of poetry that employed set syllable counts and rhyme patterns. The dialect used by these two poets became the basis for Modern English.
Confessio Amanitis is the last of Gower’s long works and the only one written in English. Gower’s two other long works are Mirour de l’Omme (1376-1379; mirror of mankind), written in French, and Vox Clamantis (1379-1382; the voice of one crying out), written in Latin. He began work on Confessio Amantis around 1386 and published the first recension dedicated to Chaucer and Richard I in 1390. Gower published a new version of Confessio Amantis known as the third recension in 1392, this one dedicated to Henry of Lancaster. There is also an intermediate version that demonstrates a limited return to the original form. Of the forty-nine known manuscripts, thirty-one follow the first recension. Gower most likely oversaw the corrections to his manuscripts.
In the lengthy prologue to Confessio Amantis, Gower announces his intention to write a book in English that gives both pleasure and instruction to his audience. Gower uses his prologue to convey an urgent message about the present state of society, which has declined from a golden age of wealth, honor, and peace, a common theme in medieval English literature. Gower divides his complaint among the three estates of medieval society—the nobility, the clergy, and the laborers. It is clear that the lessons that follow in the body of the poem—warning against wrath, greed, and sloth, for example—apply as much to England and English society as to the lover.
In the body of the poem, the voice of the poet changes from the moralizing Gower to the love-struck Amans (“the lover”) who begs Venus, the goddess of love, and her son Cupid for relief from the woe of unrequited love. Venus asks first that Amans confess his sins against love to her priest Genius, the Confessor. Amans and the Confessor engage in a dialogue that lasts through the eight books of the poem. In each book, the Confessor questions Amans about his guilt in one of the seven deadly sins (pride, envy, wrath, sloth, avarice, gluttony, and lechery) as they pertain to love. Each sin is personified and subdivided into five attendants, or aspects, of the sin. Genius typically offers one or two exempla, or stories, to illustrate the dangers of each aspect of the sin. Book 7 addresses “The Education of a King” and includes lessons—also illustrated through exempla—valuable to both rulers and lovers. The tales are drawn from contemporary, historical, biblical, and classical sources, significantly Ovid’s Metamorphoses (c. 8 c.e.; English translation, 1567). However, in his presentation of the tales, Gower does not merely recite them as they appear in his sources but adapts his exempla from their original form, and using rhetoric, he guides the audience’s response to his poem. The Confessor’s questions and admonitions along with the lover’s denials, admissions, and explanations offer a glimpse of medieval life similar to though less boisterous than that found in Chaucer.
At the end of book 8, Genius finally advises Amans to follow the path of truth, give up vain pursuits, and trade love for reason. The lover writes a letter to Venus with his tears, asking that either his lady ascent to his wooing or that Cupid remove his arrow from the man’s heart. The voice of Gower returns as Genius delivers Gower’s petition and he waits for a reply. Arriving before Gower, Venus declares that she acquits him of being a false lover but condemns him as an old man past the age of love. Though the revelation of Gower’s age seems to come as a shock, some critics argue that the medieval audience would have known this all along because of their knowledge of Gower’s life, the moralizing tone of the prologue, or Cupid’s scorn for the lover. Gower immediately loses his desire for the lady and sees two processions, one of Youth and the other of Age. A debate ensues as to whether Gower is to blame for his condition or needs help. Ultimately, Cupid removes his arrow, and Venus anoints the wound, gives Gower a rosary and a final warning, and departs. After again reviewing the condition of England, Gower concludes his poem with an apology for any lack of artistry and a call for divine rather than earthly love.
Christian Themes
Confessio Amantis is not an overtly Christian poem and does not always seem to present tales that accord with a Christian sense of morality. English medieval society, however, was intensely religious, so this work cannot be dismissed as lacking in any significant treatment of Christianity.
Gower organizes his conventional courtly love poem around the seven deadly sins of Christianity. The warning to avoid behavior that falls into the category of these sins is sound Christian advice; however, the Confessor advises Amans that they will deal only with his sins as they apply to love.
Many critics view the poem as a psychomachia with the dialogue of the poem taking place between two competing aspects of Gower’s consciousness, Amans and Genius, or love and reason. Throughout the confession, it becomes apparent that the sexual love found in nature does not conform to either rationality or Christian doctrine. There is an ultimate movement to subordinate the natural impulse of sex to the Christian standards of reason.
The figure of Genius as a priest of both Venus and orthodox Christianity provides tension in the morality of the poem. This dual identity puts the Confessor in the precarious position of defending incest against Christian belief as in the story of Canace and Machaire and virginity against the interest of the goddess Venus. The priest represents the opposition between the body and soul, the earthly and divine that confronts each human. In this way, the poem deals with the medieval theme of the role of Christianity within a Christian world that is still of this world. There is a mixing of the sexual and the spiritual so that natural impulses are satisfied within Christian limits. The morality that emerges is a middle ground between the extremes of nature and reason.
Ultimately, the poem concludes with a more traditionally Christian recognition by Gower that only divine love brings true and unwavering bliss to the heart that possesses it.
Sources for Further Study
Baker, Denise N. “The Priesthood of Genius: A Study of the Medieval Tradition.” Speculum 51 (1976): 277-291. Considers Genius’s dual role in the poem as both a Christian priest and a priest of Venus in the context of contemporary literature.
Echard, Siân, ed. A Companion to Gower. Cambridge, Mass.: D. S. Brewer, 2004. A collection of essays analyzing Gower’s life and work. Includes a chronology of Gower criticism from 1778 to 2003 and an index.
Gower, John. Confessio Amantis. Translated by Terence Tiller. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1963. A translation into modern English with both verse and prose summary to condense the poem into a manageable form and length for nonspecialists. Includes an informative introduction.
Mitchell, J. Allan. Ethics and Exemplary Narrative in Chaucer and Gower. Cambridge, Mass.: D. S. Brewer, 2004. This book examines Chaucer and Gower’s use of exemplary rhetoric in the context of medieval narrative ethics. Includes bibliography and index.