Analysis of Confessio Amantis, Book III
John Gower 1330 (Kent) – 1408 (London)
Appolinus his lev{.e} tok,
To God and al the lond betok
With al the poeple long and brod,
That he no lenger there abod.
The king and queen{.e} sorw{.e} mad{.e},
Bot yit somdiel thei weren glad{.e}
Of such thing as thei herden tho:
And thus betwen the wel and wo
To schip he goth, his wif with child{.e},
The which was ever{.e} meke and myld{.e}
And wold{.e} noght departe him fro,
Such lov{.e} was betwen hem tuo.
Lichorida for hire offic{.e}
Was tak{.e}, which was a norric{.e},
To wend{.e} with this yong{.e} wif,
To whom was schape a woful lif.
Withinne a time, as it betidd{.e},
Whan thei were in the see amidd{.e},
Out of the north they sihe a cloud{.e};
The storm aros, the wynd{.e}s loud{.e}
Thei blewen many a dredful blast,
The welkn{.e} was al overcast,
The derk{.e} nyht the sonne hath under,
Ther was a gret tempeste of thunder:
The mone and ek the sterr{.e}s both{.e}
In blak{.e} cloud{.e}s thei hem cloth{.e},
Wherof here briht{.e} lok thei hyd{.e}.
This yong{.e} ladi wepte and crid{.e},
To whom no confort myhte avail{.e};
Of child{.e} sche began travail{.e},
Wher sche lay in a caban clos:
Hire woful lord fro hire aros,
And that was longe er eny morw{.e},
So that in anguisse and in sorw{.e}
Sche was deliver{.e}d al be nyht{.e}
And ded in every mannes syht{.e};
Bot nath{.e}les for al this wo
A maid{.e} child was bor{.e} tho.
Appolinus whan he this knew,
For sorwe a swoune he overthrew,
That noman wiste in him no lif.
And whanne he wok, he seide, "Ha, wif,
Mi lust, mi joi{.e}, my desir,
Mi welthe and my recoverir,
Why schal I live, and thou schalt dy{.e}?
Ha, thou fortune, I thee deffi{.e},
Nou hast thou do to me thi werst{.e}.
Ha, hert{.e}, why ne wolt thou berst{.e},
That forth with hire I myht{.e} pass{.e}?
Mi pein{.e}s weren wel the lass{.e}."
In such wepinge and in such cry
His ded{.e} wif, which lay him by,
A thousend sith{.e}s he hire kist{.e};
Was nevere man that sih ne wist{.e}
A sorwe unto his sorw{.e} lich;
For evere among, upon the lich
He fell swounende, as he that soght{.e}
His oghn{.e} deth, which he besoght{.e}
Unto the godd{.e}s alle abov{.e}
With many a pitous word of lov{.e};
Bot such{.e} word{.e}s as tho wer{.e}
Yit herd{.e} nevere mannes er{.e},
Bot only thilk{.e} whiche he seid{.e}.
The maister schipman cam and preid{.e}
With othr{.e} suche as be therinn{.e},
And sein that he mai nothing winn{.e}
Ayein the deth, bot thei him red{.e},
He be wel war and tak hied{.e},
The see be weie of his natur{.e}
Receiv{.e} mai no creatur{.e}
Withinne himself as forto hold{.e},
The which is ded: forthi thei wold{.e},
As thei conseilen al about{.e},
The ded{.e} body casten out{.e}.
For betre it is, thei seiden all{.e},
That it of hir{.e} so befall{.e},
Than if thei scholden all{.e} spill{.e}.
The king, which understod here will{.e}
And knew here conseil that was trew{.e},
Began ayein his sorw{.e} new{.e}
With pitous herte, and thus to sei{.e}:
"It is al reson that ye prei{.e}.
I am," quod he, "bot on al on{.e},
So wolde I noght for mi person{.e}
There fell{.e} such adversité.
Bot whan it mai no betr{.e} be,
Doth thann{.e} thus upon my word,
Let make a cofr{.e} strong of bord,
That it be ferm with led and pich."
Anon was mad a cofr{.e} sich,
Al redy broght unto his hond;
And whanne he sih and redy fond
This cofr{.e} mad and wel enclow{.e}d,
The ded{.e} bodi was besow{.e}d
In cloth of gold and leid therinn{.e}.
And for he wolde unto hir winn{.e}
Upon som cooste a sepultur{.e},
Under hire heved in aventur{.e}
Of gold he leid{.e} somm{.e}s gret{.e}
And of jeueals a strong beyet{.e}
Forth with a lettre, and seid{.e} thus:
"I, king of Tyr Appollinus,
Do all{.e} maner men to wit{.e},
That hiere and se this lettr{.e} writ{.e},
That help{.e}les without{.e} red
Hier lith a king{.e}s doghter ded:
And who that happeth hir to find{.e},
For charité tak in his mynd{.e},
And do so that sche be begrav{.e}
With this tr{.e}sor, which he schal hav{.e}."
Thus whan the lettr{.e} was full spok{.e},
Thei have anon the cofr{.e} stok{.e},
And bounden it with yren fast{.e},
That it may with the waw{.e}s last{.e},
And stoppen it be such a wei{.e},
That it schal be withinn{.e}
Scheme | AABBCCDDCCDBCCEECCCCFFGGCCCCCCHXCCCCDD IIEEXGCCCCCCJJCCKKCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC CCCCCCCBCXBKKBXCCCCCCCCX HCCXBCCCCCCCCCC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111 1101011 1101101 1111011 010111111 1111111 1111111 0110101 111111111 0111011011 0111111 1111111 111011 11111011 11111111 1111011 1011111 11000111 110111011 0110011111 1110011 0111110 011101110 11011110 0101011111 0111111111 11111111 11111011 11111011 111101011 11100101 101111010 01110111 11010011 11010111111 010100111 11111111 01111111 11111 1101101 1110111 01111111 11111101 11011 111101111 11101111 111111111 111111111 1111011111 111111011 0110011 11111111 0111111011 11111111 01101111 11010101 11111111 11111111 100111111 110011111 1111111111 1111101 110111111 0111011 11111111 011111011 10111111 11110111 01111111 111111 1011111 01111111 1111011 011101011 111111011 111111011 11111111 0111111 01111111 01111111 11101111 11111111 111111111 111111101 11111 11111111 11110111 11011111 11111101 1110111 1111011 0111011 111101111 011101111 01110111 011110111 0111011 10101011 1111111111 0110111 11010111 11111 111101111 110111111 11110111 101011111 01111111 1110111 01111111 1111111111 110111111 11101111 0111111 1111011111 01111011 111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 4,254 |
Words | 869 |
Sentences | 155 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 38, 39, 24, 15 |
Lines Amount | 116 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 718 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 182 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 4:19 min read
- 29 Views
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"Confessio Amantis, Book III" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22801/confessio-amantis%2C-book-iii>.
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