Venus' Owne Clerk: Chaucer's Debt to the Confessio Amantis

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Venus' Owne Clerk: Chaucer's Debt to the "Confessio Amantis" will appeal to all those who value a bit of integration of Chaucer and Gower studies. It develops the unusual theme that the Canterbury Tales were signally influenced by John Gower's Confessio Amantis, resulting in a set-up which is entirely different from the one announced in the General Prologue. Lindeboom seeks to show that this results from Gower's call, at the end of his first redaction of the Confessio, for a work similar to his - a testament of love. Much of the argument centres upon the Wife of Bath and the Pardoner, who are shown to follow Gower's lead by both engaging in confessing to all the Seven Deadly Sins while preaching a typically fourteenth-century sermon at the same time. While not beyond speculation at times, the author offers his readers a well-documented and tantalizing glimpse of Chaucer turning away from his original concept for the Canterbury Tales and realigning them along lines far closer to Gower.

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Contents

Two Towards Composing a Testament of Love
45
Three The Sergeant and Man of Law as Gower
123
Four The Testament of Love
147
Five Confession Sin and the Wife of Bath
227
Six The Pardoners Confession of Sin
295
Seven The Wife of Baths Sermon
319
Eight The Pardoners Double Sermon
395
Conclusion
437
Reference
461
Register
475
Copyright

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Page 376 - Till a dart strike through his liver ; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
Page 385 - I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich ; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Page 91 - And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
Page 4 - And which of yow that bereth hym best of alle, That is to seyn, that telleth in this caas Tales of best sentence...
Page 188 - O dronke man, disfigured is thy face, Sour is thy breeth, foul artow to embrace, And thurgh thy dronke nose semeth the soun As though thou seydest ay 'Sampsoun, Sampsoun'; And yet, god wot, Sampsoun drank never no wyn.
Page 297 - Thus kan I preche agayn that same vice Which that I use, and that is avarice. But though myself be gilty in that synne, Yet kan I maken oother folk to twynne From avarice, and soore to repente; But that is nat my principal entente.
Page 409 - Now have I dronke a draughte of corny ale, By God, I hope I shal yow telle a thyng That shal by reson been at youre likyng. For though myself be a ful vicious man, A moral tale yet I yow telle kan, 460 Which I am wont to preche for to wynne. Now hoold youre pees; my tale I wol bigynne.
Page 130 - Beatus vir qui non abiit in consilio impiorum et in via peccatorum non stetit et in cathedra pestilentiae non sedit 2. sed in lege Domini voluntas eius et in lege eius meditabitur die ac nocte 3.
Page 364 - My lady and my love, and wyf so deere, I put me in youre wise governance; Cheseth youreself which may be moost plesance, And moost honour to yow and me also. I do no fors the wheither of the two ; For as yow liketh, it suffiseth me.
Page 420 - Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God : I am the LORD.