The complete works of John Gower, volume 1 : $b The French worksGower, John
General
The complete works of John Gower, volume 1 : $b The French works
Gower, John
Poetry
‘Primus liber Gallico sermone editus in decem diuiditur partes, et
tractans de viciis et virtutibus, necnon et de variis huius seculi
gradibus, viam qua peccator transgressus ad sui creatoris agnicionem
redire debet recto tramite docere conatur. Titulus (que) libelli istius
Speculum hominis (_al._ meditantis) nuncupatus est.’
We are here told that the book is in French, that it is divided into
ten parts, that it treats of vices and virtues, and also of the various
degrees or classes of people in this world, and finally that it shows
how the sinner may return to the knowledge of his Creator.
The division of our _Mirour_ into ten parts might have been a little
difficult to make out from the work itself, but it is expressly
indicated in the Table of Contents prefixed:
‘Cy apres comence le livre François q’est apellé Mirour de l’omme, le
quel se divide en x parties, c’est assavoir’ &c.
The ten parts are then enumerated, six of them being made out of the
classification of the different orders of society.
The contents of the _Mirour_ also agree with the author’s description
of his _Speculum Hominis_. After some prefatory matter it treats of
vices in ll. 841-9720 of the present text; of virtues ll. 10033-18372;
of the various orders of society ll. 18421-26604; of how man’s sin is
the cause of the corruption of the world ll. 26605-27360; and finally
how the sinner may return to God, or, as the Table of Contents has
it, ‘coment l’omme peccheour lessant ses mals se doit reformer a dieu
et avoir pardoun par l’eyde de nostre seigneur Jhesu Crist et de sa
doulce Miere la Vierge gloriouse,’ l. 27361 to the end. This latter
part includes a Life of the Virgin, through whom the sinner is to
obtain the grace of God.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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