John Gower

Five Fascinating Facts about John Gower

by

Fun facts about the life and work of an overlooked medieval English poet

1. John Gower appears as the Chorus to Shakespeare’s Pericles. In Pericles, Prince of Tyre, written by William Shakespeare and (probably) George Wilkins, ‘Gower’ appears at the start of the play to introduce the scene. When Shakespeare (and his collaborator) wrote Pericles, John Gower (c. 1330-1408) was slightly better known: throughout the fifteenth century and arguably later, he was seen as one of the twin pillars of great English poetry, along with Chaucer – an important founding figure of poetry written in English. But where Chaucer’s reputation has lasted, Gower has suffered relative neglect.

Read more

A Short Introduction to Confessio Amantis

by

A brief overview and summary of Confessio Amantis, John Gower’s medieval poem

The most famous English poem of the entire fourteenth century is Geoffrey Chaucer‘s The Canterbury Tales, a vast collection of stories borrowed from European medieval and classical sources. But there is another English poem from the fourteenth century, which is also a collection of stories told in verse, which is not as well known as Chaucer’s great work. It was written by Chaucer’s friend and rival poet, John Gower (c. 1330-1408), and its title is Confessio Amantis.

Read more