Viper 2284 (Black Water Book 1)

Roger C. Campbell

---

Lung, Pan Coiled Dragon , Ancient. Lung, Pan Coiled Dragon , Juvenile. Lung, Shen Spirit Dragon , Adult. Lung, Shen Spirit Dragon , Ancient. Lung, Shen Spirit Dragon , Juvenile. Lung, T'ien Celestial Dragon , Adult. Lung, T'ien Celestial Dragon , Ancient. Lung, T'ien Celestial Dragon , Juvenile. Lung, T'ien Celestial Dragon , Old. Lung, T'ien Celestial Dragon , Wyrm. Mephistopheles, Lord Of The Eighth.

Epic Level Handbook Manual of the Planes. Dungeon Fiendish Codex I. Naga Adolescent, Elven Forest Water. Naga Hatchling, Elven Forest Water. Pazuzu, Prince of the Lower Aerial Kingdoms. Sea Serpent, Crested, Mature Adult. Sea Serpent, Crested, Young Adult.

The translation presented for the enigmatic and crucial phrase naturatus amor is informed by Winthrop Wetherbee's discussion of this phrase , pp. Wetherbee remarks that Gower's phrase "conveys a sense of scholastic authority that is belied by close scrutiny" p. Then [Aristotle] has declared that that on account of which, having been [specifically] instantiated [ naturata ], Nature acts, is seen to be the soul [or: The teleological and instantiating freight of the medieval Aristotelian tradition of natura naturata has at least indirectly influenced Gower's Latin, and perhaps more pervasively his historical and ethical outlook on nature and love, available to Gower in the works of the thirteenth-century popular purveyers of medieval Aristotelianism, Brunetto Latini, Giles of Rome, and Bartholomeus Anglicus, although none of these uses the phrase natura naturata or, less surprisingly, naturatus amor Brunetto Latini comes close to the former when he defines Nature as "double: Significantly, elsewhere Gower novelly adapted the Latin verb naturare to English, evidently to mean "to give a species specific traits": He is the only writer attested before the sixteenth century to have used this word in English.

The syntax is perfectly ambiguous, so the diametrically opposed alternate meanings have been printed in the translation itself. Line 3 Huius enim mundi Princeps. White Nature, Sex, and Goodness , p. In the context of the CA , the two terms of the phrase resist reconciliation as few other pairings might. Postquam in Prologo tractatum hactenus existit, qualiter hodierne condicionis diuisio caritatis dileccionem superauit, intendit auctor ad presens suum libellum, cuius nomen Confessio Amantis nuncupatur, componere de illo amore, a quo non solum humanum genus, sed eciam cuncta animancia naturaliter subiciuntur.

Et quia nonnulli amantes ultra quam expedit desiderii passionibus crebro stimulantur, materia libri per totum super hiis specialius diffunditur. And since some lovers are often goaded by the passions of desire beyond what is appropriate, the matter of the book throughout is set forth for these especially. See White, Nature, Sex, and Goodness , pp. Loves lawe line 18 here equates with that cupiditas that Boethius says is born into all creatures that could lead to the true good but seldom does De cons.

Hic quasi in persona aliorum, quos amor alligat, fingens se auctor esse Amantem, varias eorum passiones variis huius libri distinccionibus per singula scribere proponit. From this point on, Gower projects a persona who is not simply a moral commentator on society but an embodiment of human stresses, a dramatic component of his "proof" see line In the Prologue he had announced that he would provide a "Mirour of ensamplerie" Prol.

In defining a new dramatic function for his persona Gower likewise provides a dramatic role for his audience. Compare love tropes in Usk, Chaucer, and the Gawain -poet pp. On the philosophical premises of Gower's use of examples for instruction, see notes to Prol. Compare le jolif mal sanz cure of Gower's Cinkante Balades 13, line The courtly phrase is a favorite. See also CA 6. Latin proverbs often list powerful or wise men deceived by women; see Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, lines , for a Middle English rendition of this tradition.

Gower's passage resembles the longer discussion of lust's power in the Architrenius , where Hercules, rare in other Latin proverbs of this kind, appears along with Sampson, Solomon, and Ulysses as a victim of Venus 7. Hic declarat materiam, dicens qualiter Cupido quodam ignito iaculo sui cordis memoriam graui vlcere perforauit, quod Venus percipiens ipsum, vt dicit, quasi in mortis articulo spasmatum, ad confitendum se Genio sacerdoti super amoris causa sic semiuiuum specialiter commendauit.

But this is not to say that he is "awake," either. As Olsson so aptly puts it, "The lover, though 'awake,' does not know he lives in a dream" Structures of Conversion , p. The brackets indicate speech markers that do not appear in the MS but have been added to the edition for clarity.

O thou Cupide, O thou Venus. For discussion of Gower's use of these amorous deities, see Tinkle, Medieval Venuses and Cupids , especially pp. The important thing to notice here is that ideas appear as visual personifications to the lover. See the Latin gloss on sight and hearing as doors of the mind preceding 1. See also footnotes in the Introduction. The situation is similar in ways to Chaucer's Prol.

Chaucer's queen is Alceste, rather than Venus, but in neither instance is Cupid presented as blind. MED glosses the term as the seat of the passions, or the vital center of life. Exactly what the anatomical designations might be is unclear. Conceivably the herte rote may extend even to that depth. This pattern seems evident in CA 1. Similarly The Prose Salernitan Questions c. See the Introduction, pp. The "wound" of love line 4 is a topos reaching far back in medieval and classical writing.

A widely influential classical instance is Dido in Aeneid 4. At the end of CA , Gower revisits the same issues in English 8. Simpson Sciences and the Self , pp. Simpson sees Genius and Amans as two aspects of a single person, with Genius as a figure of imagination and Amans as the will in an unstable relationship richly informed with Ovidian irony and what Gower calls elsewhere "double speche" 7. Hic dicit qualiter Genio pro Confessore sedenti prouolutus Amans ad confitendum se flexis genibus incuruatur, supplicans tamen, vt ad sui sensus informacionem confessor ille in dicendis opponere sibi benignius dignaretur.

Sermo Genii sacerdotis super confessione ad Amantem. The buried coin, fossa talenta line 4 , recalls the Gospel parable of the talents where the sinful servant takes the talent his lord has given him and buries it in the earth Matthew Hic incipit confessio Amantis, cui de duobus precipue quinque sensuum, hoc est de visu et auditu, confessor pre ceteris opponit. These two senses enable man to perceive the numbers, motions, harmonies, and rhythms of the universe, whereby the soul is illuminated.

Plato ignores the other three senses entirely as agencies for illuminating the soul, although later 61dd he discusses all five senses as part of man's physical mechanism for understanding physical phenomena. Plato's premises constitute one basis for medieval preoccupations with vision and harmony see the Latin verses after CA 1. They also explain why Genius exorcizes only these two of the Lover's five senses. They are the doors to his soul, which Genius hopes to restore. See Introduction, notes 25 and 26, for citation of medieval medical treatises linking the eye to the frontal lobe of the brain, where Imagination and Fantasy reside.

Genius omits from the story Acteon's companions and his friendly gesture of giving them the rest of the day off, the account of Diana's disrobing, the efforts of the nymphs to hide their mistress from the eyes of the intruder, the throwing of water on Acteon to distract him, the catalog of hounds, Acteon's efforts to speak, and the debate of the gods on the justice of Diana's revenge.

Genius adds the detail of Acteon's pride 1. Ovid puts the blame on Fortune, but Genius implies that Acteon might have turned his eye away had he chosen to do so 1. The conventional romance description of his entering the forest 1. Amans fares better, thanks to Genius, and, ultimately, accepts the trials of old age. Hic narrat Confessor exemplum de visu ab illicitis preseruando, dicens qualiter Acteon Cadmi Regis Thebarum nepos, dum in quadam Foresta venacionis causa spaciaretur, accidit vt ipse quendam fontem nemorosa arborum pulcritudine circumuentum superueniens, vidit ibi Dianam cum suis Nimphis nudam in flumine balneantem; quam diligencius intuens oculos suos a muliebri nuditate nullatenus auertere volebat.

Vnde indignata Diana ipsum in cerui figuram transformauit; quem canes proprii apprehendentes mortiferis dentibus penitus dilaniarunt. Wherefore Diana, indignant, transformed him into the form of a stag, whom his own dogs caught and tore to pieces with their deadly teeth. Gower is apparently using additional sources, however. Hic ponit aliud exemplum de eodem, vbi dicit quod quidam princeps nomine Phorceus tres progenuit filias, Gorgones a vulgo nuncupatas, que uno partu exorte deformitatem Monstrorum serpentinam obtinuerunt; quibus, cum in etatem peruenerant, talis destinata fuerat natura, quod quicumque in eas aspiceret in lapidem subito mutabatur.

Et sic quam plures incaute respicientes visis illis perierunt. Set Perseus miles clipeo Palladis gladioque Mercurii munitus eas extra montem Athlantis conhabitantes animo audaci absque sui periculo interfecit. For these, when they had come to maturity, nature had been destined in such ways that whoever should look at them was suddenly turned into a stone. And thus all those who incautiously glanced at them died at the sight. But Perseus, a knight furnished with the shield of Pallas and the sword of Mercury, with a bold spirit and without any danger to himself killed them as they were dwelling beyond Mount Athlans.

Macaulay notes that Mercury's sword is not mentioned by Ovid or Boccaccio 2: The legend of Aspidis derives from Psalm Hic narrat Confessor exemplum, vt non ab auris exaudicione fatua animus deceptus inuoluatur. Et dicit qualiter ille serpens, qui aspis vocatur, quendam preciosissimum lapidem nomine Carbunculum in sue frontis medio gestans, contra verba incantantis aurem vnam terre affigendo premit, et aliam sue caude stimulo firmissime obturat.

And he says how the serpent who is called Aspis, carrying a certain most precious stone, Carbuncle by name, in the middle of its forehead, protected himself against the words of an enchanter by pressing down one ear and fixing it to the ground, and closing off the other most firmly with the point of its tail.

Gower follows Guido delle Colonne, Hist. Aliud exemplum super eodem, qualiter rex Vluxes cum a bello Troiano versus Greciam nauigio remearet, et prope illa Monstra marina, Sirenes nuncupata, angelica voce canoras, ipsum ventorum aduersitate nauigare oporteret, omnium nautarum suorum aures obturari coegit. Et sic salutari prouidencia prefultus absque periculo saluus cum sua classe Vluxes pertransiuit. When approaching those seaside monsters called the Sirens, singers with angelic voices, he was forced to sail against the winds, and he ordered the ears of all his sailors to be stopped up.

And thus assisted by a saving providence and safe from danger, Ulysses with his vessel passed through. Hic loquitur quod septem sunt peccata mortalia, quorum caput Superbia varias species habet, et earum prima Ypocrisis dicitur, cuius proprietatem secundum vicium simpliciter Confessor Amanti declarat.

Hic tractat Confessor cum Amante super illa presertim Ipocrisia, que sub amoris facie fraudulenter latitando mulieres ipsius ficticiis credulas sepissime decipit innocentes. See also CA 1. Precisely what chronicle Genius alludes to is unclear. Quod Ipocrisia sit in amore periculosa, narrat exemplum qualiter sub regno Tiberii Imperatoris quidam miles nomine Mundus, qui Romanorum dux milicie tunc prefuit, dominam Paulinam pulcherrimam castitatisque famosissimam mediantibus duobus falsis presbiteris in temple Ysis deum se esse fingens sub ficte sanctitatis ypocrisi nocturno tempore viciauit.

Vnde idem dux in exilium, presbiteri in mortem ob sui criminis enormitatem dampnati extiterant, ymagoque dee Ysis a templo euulsa vniuerso conclamante populo in flumen Tiberiadis proiecta mergebatur. Wherefore the same duke was condemned to exile, and the priests to death on account of the enormity of their crime, while the image of the goddess, pulled from the temple with universal approval by the people, was thrown into the Tiber river and sunk. An analogue to the Tale of Mundus and Paulina may be found in the Hebrew Tales of Alexander the Macedonian found in a compilation of the eleventh-century Chronicles of Jerahmeel.

The surviving MS, now in the Bodleian Library, dates from about A very beautiful woman, the fairest on earth, goes once a month to the temple of the god Atzilin to offer sacrifice. At midnight he enters to perform his rites, but the maid slips into the room to watch. After he has exhausted his strength and rises to leave, the maid strikes him on the head with a statue of Atzilin, killing him.

The beautiful woman is scandalized by the deception and insists on telling her husband, who goes to the king. He then asks to see the woman himself, and, amazed at her beauty, demands that she be given to him. She gives birth to a son whom he names Alexander. Alexander builds a mausoleum for his horse and son, then consoles his wife, who conceives a second child. She dies in childbirth. Augustine's three steps toward virtue visio, contemplatio, actio mark also the three steps toward sin.

In both instances the process begins with the eye's response to beauty or the desirable, which in turn stimulates the will and desire. The process is one, though the ends are different. See all cupidinous lovers who are first struck through the eye by Cupid's first arrow — beauty. See RR , lines ff.

See notes to Prol. But there are instances in which it simply functions as a negative adverb: As Olsson observes, Gower presents Paulina in an entirely positive light: Of persons or their hearts, honest signifies virtuousness or chastity MED. A wife is said to be chaste if she has to do only with her husband in a seemly manner. When Pauline learns "Now I defouled am of tuo" line , she fears that she can no longer claim that honor. On tensions between communal honor and manipulative deceit, see Craun, Lies, Slander, and Obscenity , pp. Hic vlterius ponit exemplum de illa eciam Ypocrisia, que inter virum et virum decipiens periculosissima consistit.

Et narrat, qualiter Greci in obsidione ciuitatis Troie, cum ipsam vi comprehendere nullatenus potuerunt, fallaci animo cum Troianis pacem vt dicunt pro perpetuo statuebant: And he tells how the Greeks in the siege of the city of Troy, although they were not able to take it by any means of force, with a false spirit established peace with the Trojans, in perpetuity, as they say.

And in addition to this, fashioning a certain horse of miraculous size made from brass for sacrificing in the temple of Minerva, under such hypocrisy of sanctity they entered the said city, and threatening it along with its inhabitants with fire and the sword they utterly and permanently destroyed it. But once he is made a Trojan who betrays the city and claims the return of his daughter in exchange for Antenor, his treachery becomes a key component of all retellings.

An unusual detail, given the prominence of the wooden horse myth in Virgil. Perhaps Gower found the forging of a brass horse, as in Guido see note to lines ff. Hypocrites are forgers lines , not carpenters. Brass horses are not unknown in romance literature.

See Chaucer's Squire's Tale. The name Epius i. In Homer's Odyssey 8. On Antenor's deceit see Chaucer's TC 4. Latin verses vi before line The reference in line 2 is to Ecclesiasticus Hic loquitur de secunda specie Superbie, que Inobediencia dicitur: In cuius materia Confessor Amanti specialius opponit. In this matter the Confessor particularly questions the Lover. Macaulay compares CA 6. See also CA 4. The gloss "engagement of service" is Macaulay's, who compares Balades 8.

See Simpson, Sciences and the Self , pp. Hic loquitur de Murmure et Planctu, qui super omnes alios Inobediencie secreciores vt ministri illi deseruiunt.

Are You an Author?

Hic contra amori inobedientes ad commendacionem Obediencie Confessor super eodem exemplum ponit; vbi dicit quod, cum quedam Regis Cizilie filia in sue iuuentutis floribus pulcherrima ex eius Nouerce incantacionibus in vetulam turpissimam transformata extitit, Florencius tunc Imparatoris Claudi Nepos, miles in armis strenuissimus amorosisque legibus intendens, ipsam ex sua obediencia in pulcritudinem pristinam mirabiliter reformauit.

Gower has shifted the location of some portions of the story from the Celtic Arthurian world found in Irish loathly lady narratives to the continent with its emperour. They could be the western marches of England, though not necessariy, given the fact that their location is unspecified. But see MED leir n. Clearly, the phrase is meant to be derogatory. Given the root of the word gemaene: See also MED mon n. Used here as a sign of ugliness. Latin verses viii before line On the importance of self-knowledge in Gower and its medieval tradition, see Simpson, Sciences and the Self , pp.

Hic loquitur de tercia specie Superbie, que Presumpcio dicitur, cuius naturam primo secundum vicium Confessor simpliciter declarat. Hic tractat Confessor cum Amante super illa saltem presumpcione, ex cuius superbia quam plures fatui amantes, cum maioris certitudinis in amore spem sibi promittunt, inexpediti cicius destituuntur. His story is told in Statius, Thebaid 3. Hic ponit Confessor exemplum contra ilos, qui de suis viribus presumentes debiliores efficiuntur. Et narrat qualiter ille Capaneus, miles in armis probatissimus, de sua presumens audacia inuocacionem ad superos tempore necessitatis ex vecordia tantum et non aliter primitus prouenisse asseruit.

Vnde in obsidione Ciuitatis Thebarum, cum ipse quodam die coram suis hostibus ad debellandum se obtulit, ignis de celo subito superveniens ipsum armatum totaliter in cineres combussit. And he tells how that Capaneus, a knight most tested in arms, presuming on his boldness, asserted that a vow to the gods at a time of need proceeded only from madness and nothing else. Wherefore in the seige of the city of the Thebans, when he himself on a certain day threw himself into fighting before his enemies, a fire descending from heaven suddenly burned him, fully armed, to ashes.

Hic loquitur Confessor contra illos, qui de sua sciencia presumentes aliorum condiciones diiudicantes indiscrete redarguunt. Et narrat exemplum de quodam principe Regis Hungarie germano, qui cum fratrem suum pauperibus in publico vidit humiliatum, ipsum redarguendo in contrarium edocere presumebat: And he offers an instructive example concerning a certain prince, the brother of the king of Hungary, who when he saw his brother abase himself in public to paupers, by rebuking him presumed to instruct him to the contrary.

But the king, preeminent in every wisdom, punished more gently than terrible providence does the one presuming so incautiously, so that he would remember humility. See also the explanatory note to 1. Genius alters the conclusion to suit his heterosexual vision. Hic in speciali tractat Confessor cum Amante contra illos, qui de propria formositate presumentes amorem mulieris dedignantur. Et narrat exemplum qualiter cuiusdam Principis filius nomine Narcizus estiuo tempore, cum ipse venacionis causa quendam ceruum solus cum suis canibus exagitaret, in grauem sitim incurrens necessitate compulsus ad bibendum de quodam fonte pronus se inclinauit; vbi ipse faciem suam pulcherrimam in aqua percipiens, putabat se per hoc illam Nimpham, quam Poete Ekko vocant, in flumine coram suis oculis pocius conspexisse; de cuius amore confestim laqueatus, vt ipsam ad se de fonte extraheret, pluribus blandiciis adulabatur.

Set cum illud perficere nullatenus potuit, pre nimio languore deficiens contra lapides ibidem adiacentes caput exuerberans cerebrum effudit. Et sic de propria pulcritudine qui fuerat presumptuosus, de propria pulcritudine fatuatus interiit. And he narrates an instructive example about how a son of a certain prince, Narcissus by name, during the springtime, when hunting alone with his hounds he pursued a certain stag, and running with severe thirst, compelled by necessity to drink from a certain stream, he lowered himself flat to the ground.

There, perceiving in the water his own most beautiful face, he thought instead that he was regarding that nymph whom poets call Echo, in the river before his eyes. Instantly snared by love of her, in order that he might draw her out from the stream he wooed her with many seductions. But when he could not at all achieve that, growing weak from too great an illness, he struck his head against stones lying around in that same place, pouring out his brains.

And thus he who had been presumptuous about his own beauty died infatuated by his own beauty.

Compare Sir Orfeo , in Laskaya and Salisbury, eds. Compare Celtic fairy motifs in the Tale of Florent. The application of the story to the fact that the narcissus blooms in early spring 1. Hic loquitur de quarta specie Superbie, que Lactancia dicitur, ex cuius natura causatur, vt homo de seipso testimonium perhibens suarum virtutum merita de laude in culpam transfert, et suam famam cum ipse extollere vellet, illam proprio ore subvertit.

Set et Venus in amoris causa de isto vicio maculatos a sua Curia super omnes alios abhorrens expellit, et eorum multiloquium verecunda detestatur. Vnde Confessor Amanti opponens materiam plenius declarat. But Venus, abhorring above all others those stained by this vice in the cause of love, expells them and, ashamed of their blabbing, execrates them. Whence the Confessor, querying the Lover, declares the matter more fully. Daunger personifies the woman's aloofness in courtly relationships.

In RR he is presented as a somewhat churlish figure who perpetually thwarts the aggressions of male desire. See also Godfrey of Viterbo, Pantheon , Hic ponit Confessor exemplum contra istos, qui vel de sua in armis probitate, vel de suo in amoris causa desiderio completo se iactant. Et narrat qualiter Albinus primus Rex Longobardorum, cum ipse quendam alium Regem nomine Gurmundum in bello morientem triumphasset, testam capitis defuncti auferens ciphum ex ea gemmis et auro circumligatum in sue victorie memoriam fabricari constituit: Vnde ipso Albino postea coram sui Regni nobilibus in suo regali conuiuio sedente, dicti Gurmundi ciphum infuso vino ad se inter epulas afferri iussit; quem sumptum vxori sue Regine porrexit dicens, "Bibe cum patre tuo.

Quo facto Rex statim super hiis que per prius gesta fuerant cunctis audientibus per singula se iactauit. Regina vero cum talia audisset, celato animo factum abhorrens in mortem domini sui Regis circumspecta industria conspirauit; ipsumque auxiliantibus Glodesida et Helmege breui subsecuto tempore interfecit: Set et huius tocius in infortunii sola superbie iactancia fomitem ministrabat.

And he narrates how Albinus, the first king of the Lombards, when he himself was triumphant over a certain other king dying in battle, Gurmund by name, carried away the top of the dead man's skull and caused a goblet, bound with gems and gold, to be fabricated from it, in memory of his victory.

In addition to this, he captured the daughter of this same Gurmund, Rosemund, and coupled her to himself as a spouse in the marital bedchamber. Wherefore when this Albinus was later sitting before the nobles of his kingdom at his royal banquet, amidst the feasting he ordered the goblet of the said Gurmund to be brought filled with wine to him. When he had received it, he offered it to his wife the queen, saying, "Drink with your father," which indeed she, ignorant of a piece of work of this kind, unknowingly did.

Once done, the king immediately boasted to all those listening about those things that he had formerly accomplished, one by one. But when the queen had heard such things she, abhorring in her concealed thoughts his deed, conspired the death of her lord the king by a circumspect endeavor, and with Glodesida and Helmege helping her, she killed him a short while after. The duke of Ravenna later revenged his death on the bodies both of the said queen and of her helpers.

But indeed of this whole misfortune a single boasting of pride furnished the kindling-wood. See also MED unkynde 6a and 4d. That the duke of Ravenna quietly poisons Rosemund 1. See note to 1. Macaulay observes that Gower winds the story up abruptly. Latin verses x before line Obviously the symbolism of the curry-comb in both events was clear to many without any specific literary source see Walsingham, St. Albans Chronicle , ed. See Bakalian, Aspects of Love , pp. Hic loquitur de quinta specie superbie, que Inanis gloria vocatur, et eiusdem vicii naturam primo describens super eodem in amoris causa Confessor Amanti consequenter opponit.

Probably the lizard but not necessarily. The MED cites Gower's line here to signify a creature of diverse colors and notes various references in Gower's contemporary, John Trevisa, where the chameleon is "a litel beste of dyverse coloures" like a stellio gecko or the lusardis ; or an evete lizard, salamander, or newt ; or "a flekked beste" like a leopard or basilisk. Trevisa also uses the word to indicate a giraffe, while Mandeville uses the word for "a lytill best as a Goot. Amictus eius annunciat de eo. Based on Daniel 4: The story was a popular exemplum of pride e.

Hic ponit Confessor exemplum contra vicium inanis glorie, narrans qualiter Nabugodonosor Rex Caldeorum, cum ipse in omni sue maiestatis gloria celsior extitisset, deus eius superbiam castigare volens ipsum extra formam hominis in bestiam fenum comedentem transmutauit. Et sic per septennium penitens, cum ipse potenciorem se agnouit, misertus deus ipsum in sui regni solium restituta sanitate emendatum graciosius collocauit.

And thus making penance for seven years, when this one acknowledged him to be more powerful, God took pity and graciously placed him again on the soil of his kingdom, freed from blemish and with his health restored. No specific source has been identified for "The Tale of Three Questions. Hic narrat Confessor exemplum simpliciter contra Superbiam; et dicit quod nuper quidam Rex famose prudencie cuidam militi suo super tribus questionibus, vt inde certitudinis responsionem daret, sub pena capitalis sentencie terminum prefixit.

Primo, quid minoris indigencie ab inhabitantibus orbem auxilium maius obtinuit. Secundo, quid maioris valencie meritum continens minoris expense reprisas exiguit. Tercio, quid omnia bona diminuens ex sui proprietate nichil penitus valuit. Quarum vero questionum quedam virgo dicti militis filia sapientissima nomine patris sui solucionem aggrediens taliter Regi respondit. Ad primam dixit, quod terra nullius indiget, quam tamen adiuuare cotidianis laboribus omnes intendunt. Ad secundam dixit, quod humilitas omnibus virtutibus prevalet, que tamen nullius prodegalitatis expensis mensuram excedit.

Ad terciam dixit, quod superbia omnia tam corporis quam anime bona deuastans maiores expensarum excessus inducit. Et tamen nullius valoris, ymmo tocius perdicionis, causam sua culpa ministrat. Of these questions, however, a certain most wise virgin daughter of the said knight, advancing a solution in the name of her father, responded thusly to the king. To the first, she said that the earth has need of nothing, but all strive to help it with daily labors. To the second, she said that humility is worth more than all virtues, but it does not exceed any expense of prodigality. To the third, she said that pride devastating all good things both of the body and the soul induces excessive expenses.

And nonetheless its guilt furnishes the source of no value but instead of total loss. His usage was not followed by other writers. See also the comment on the Latin reprisa above. Notes to Book 8 Notes to Latin verses i before line 1. While unusual in other Latin writers, "is useful" is a regular sense of confert for Gower e. This grammatically understood object "us" has been the implied target of much of the poem, in view from the first line on.

Macaulay imagines that Gower "had some embarrassment as regards the subject [incest] of his eighth book" 3: Postquam ad instanciam Amantis confessi Confessor Genius super hiis que Aristotiles Regem Alexandrum edocuit, vna cum aliarum Cronicarum exemplis seriose tractauit, iam vltimo in isto octauo volumine ad confessionem in amoris causa regrediens tractare proponit super hoc, quod nonnulli primordia nature ad libitum voluptuose consequentes, nullo humane racionis arbitrio seu ecclesie legum imposicione a suis excessibus debite refrenantur.

Vnde quatenus amorem concernit Amantis conscienciam pro finali sue confessionis materia Genius rimari conatur. He proposes to discourse about that matter which some, voluptuously following at their will the initial order of nature, do not refrain from by any judgment of human reason or statute of ecclesiastical law. About this insofar as it pertains to love, as the final portion of his confession, Genius tries to probe the Lover's conscience. Medieval popular histories of creation commonly begin with the fall of the angels, Lucifer being the brightest and second only to God.

That fall makes way for the creation of humankind as replacement for the angelic failure. Compare the sequence of events in Cursor Mundi or in the mystery plays. Perhaps Gower has a similar scheme in mind as he speaks of the fall of Lucifer through deadly pride, then jumps to the sixth day and Adam's creation.

user login

The nombre of angles. That the numbers of creation, disrupted by the fallen angels, would be restored with the creation and redemption of mankind was commonplace in fourteenth-century thought. As a patristic source for the idea, see St. Augustine, Enchiridion , ch. The issue of incest, soon to come, qualifies the regulation of desire.

On the history of Ecclesiastical Law regarding marriage of kin, see Donavin's discussion of the meaning of incest in the Middle Ages Incest Narratives , pp. Mirour , lines ff. Olsson draws interesting parallels between Antiochus' incestuous behavior and Amans' shortsightedness in love. See also Peck, Kingship and Common Profit , p. Hic loquitur contra illos, quos Venus sui desiderii feruore inflammans ita incestuosos efficit, vt neque propriis Sororibus parcunt. Et narrat exemplum, qualiter pro eo quod Gayus Caligula tres sorores suas virgines coitu illicito opressit, deus tanti sceleris peccatum impune non ferens ipsum non solum ab imperio set a vita iusticia vindice priuauit.

Narrat eciam aliud exemplum super codem, qualiter Amon filius Dauid fatui amoris concupiscencia preuentus, sororem suam Thamar a sue virginitatis pudicicia inuitam deflorauit, propter quod et ipse a fratre suo Absolon postea interfectus, peccatum sue mortis precio inuitus redemit. And he narrates an instructive example how, because Gaius Caligula assaulted his three virgin sisters in illicit coitus, God, not tolerating the sin of so great a crime to be unpunished, by just vindication not only deprived him of imperial rule, but of life. He narrates also another instructive example on the same matter, how Amon the son of David, overwhelmed by lust of fatuous love, sexually violated his unwilling sister Tamar, deflowering her modest virginity, on account of which he, later being killed by his brother Absolon, also unwilling, repaid his sin with the price of his death.

Gower's source is Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars 4. Higden's Polychronicon , Bk. Neither Suetonius nor Higden attribute the cause of his death to incest, however. That seems to be Genius' insight. The story of Amon's incestuous rape of Tamar and Absolon's jealous revenge may be found in 2 Kings [2 Samuel] Hic narrat, qualiter Loth duas filias suas ipsis consen-cientibus carnali copula cognouit, duosque ex eis filios, scilicet Moab et Amon, progenuit quorum postea generacio praua et exasperans contra populum dei in terra saltim promissionis vario grauamine quam sepius insultabat.

See Kelly, Love and Marriage , pp. Diane Watt suggests that although Amans claims he is not guilty of incest 8. Gower thinks of history as a process L. See MED proces 3a, c, and f. See Archibald, Apollonius of Tyre , Appendix 1: The eleventh-century Latin prose version, Historia Apollonii Tyrii , a version which Godfrey used as his source, was most likely known by Gower as well. It includes details found in Gower which do not occur in Godfrey. See notes to lines ff. Hic loquitur adhuc contra incestuosos amantum coitus. Et narrat mirabile exemplum de magno Rege Antiocho, qui vxore mortua propriam filiam violauit: Super quo veniens tandem discretus iuuenis princeps Tyri Appolinus questionem soluit; nec tamen filiam habere potuit, set Rex indignatus ipsum propter hoc in mortis odium recollegit.

Vnde Appolinus a facie Regis fugiens, quamplura, prout inferius intitulantur, propter amorem pericla passus est. And he narrates a miraculous instructive example about the great king Antiochus, who after his wife had died violated his own daughter. And because he wanted to prevent the marriage of his daughter with any others, such an edict went forth from him, that if anyone should seek her as a wife, unless he first accurately solved a certain problem of a puzzle which the king himself had proposed, he would receive capital punishment.

Whereupon a shrewd youth, Apollinus the ruler of Tyre, arriving, solved the puzzle. Yet he was not able to have the daughter; instead the king, indignant, conceived against him because of this a mortal hatred. Wherefore Apollonius, fleeing from the king's presence, suffered very many dangers, as are described below. See Whiting D78, D On incest as cannibalism see Donavin, Incest Narratives This unkinde fare. See Donavin, Incest Narratives , pp. De aduentu Appolini in Antiochiam, vbi ipse filiam Regis Antiochiin vxorem postulauit.

Scelere vehor, materna carne vescor, quero patrem meum, matris mee virum, vxoris mee filium. Quero patrem meum matris mee uirum uxoris mee filiam, nec inuenio. The riddle closely resembles riddles from ancient through late medieval times about the cyclical generation of water and ice, which invariably use an incestuous metaphor: The riddle in the story of Apollonius, of course, has a literal incestuous meaning, and thus is almost not a riddle at all.

But the story presumes that an audience including previous suitors would first consider the riddle metaphorically like other ancient and medieval riddles. See entries in Nicholson Annotated Index , pp. Gower regularly celebrates the individual who can reason well and think problems through step-by-step. Indignacio Antiochi super responsione Appolini. De recessu Appollini ab Antiochia. De fuga Appolini per mare a Regno suo. Nota qualiter Thaliartus Miles, vt Appolinum veneno intoxicaret, ab Antiocho in Tyrum missus, ipso ibidem non inuento Antiochiam rediit. Macaulay notes Gower's variation from the source here, objecting that the change takes away Apollonius' motive for fleeing to Tarsus 3: Qualiter Appolinus in portu Tharsis applicuit, vbi in hospicio cuiusdam magni viri nomine Strangulionis hospitatus est.

He makes an offer to Strangulio to sell his wheat at cost price to the citizens, if they will conceal his presence among them.

Galactic empire

The money which he receives as the price of the wheat is expended by him in public benefits to the state, and the citizens set up a statue of him standing in a two-horse chariot biga , his right hand holding forth corn and his left foot resting upon a bushel measure. Qualiter Appolinus portum Tharsis relinquens, cum ipse per mare nauigio securiorem quesiuit, superueniente tempestate nauis cum omnibus preter ipsum solum in eadem contentis iuxta Pentapolim periclitabatur.

Earlier, Apollonius was a food supplier as he brought grain to Mittelene. Confederate States Ships by Roger C. Eiswein by Roger C. Viper Black Water 9 Apr Stone Fleet 4 Apr Landliqsta Crystaline Book 1 9 Apr Home At Last 1 Apr Previous Page 1 2 3 Next Page. Provide feedback about this page. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations.

• Describing Ourselves: Wittgenstein and Autobiographical Consciousness
• Rollo in Holland - Illustrated Childrens Classic Novel
• Teach Yourself VISUALLY Outlook 2007 (Teach Yourself VISUALLY (Tech))
• Major Donors: Finding Big Gifts in Your Database and Online
• Fehltritte im Isaan - Ein Dorf im Nordosten Thailands (German Edition)
• Tut-Ankh-Amen: The Living Image of the Lord
• Homesteading on the Kenai