The Complete Works of John Gower, Vol. 2

Nota, qualiter Sibeles Dearum1580 Mater et origo nuncupatur.

So as Saturne is soverein

Of false goddes, as thei sein,

So is Sibeles of goddesses

The Moder, whom withoute gesses

The folk Payene honoure and serve,

As thei the whiche hire lawe observe.1581

Bot forto knowen upon this

Fro when sche cam and what sche is, 1140

Bethincia the contre hihte,

Wher sche cam ferst to mannes sihte;

And after was Saturnes wif,

Be whom thre children in hire lif

Sche bar, and thei were cleped tho

Juno, Neptunus and Pluto,

The whiche of nyce fantasie

The poeple wolde deifie.

And for hire children were so,1582

Sibeles thanne was also 1150

P. ii. 166

Mad a goddesse, and thei hire calle

The moder of the goddes alle.

So was that name bore forth,

And yit the cause is litel worth.

Iuno Dea Regnorum et diuiciarum.1583

A vois unto Saturne tolde

Hou that his oghne Sone him scholde1584

Out of his regne putte aweie;

And he be cause of thilke weie,

That him was schape such a fate,

Sibele his wif began to hate 1160

And ek hire progenie bothe.

And thus, whil that thei were wrothe,

Be Philerem upon a dai

In his avouterie he lai,

On whom he Jupiter begat;1585

And thilke child was after that

Which wroghte al that was prophecied,

As it tofore is specefied:

So that whan Jupiter of Crete

Was king, a wif unto him mete 1170

The Dowhter of Sibele he tok,

And that was Juno, seith the bok.1586

Of his deificacion

After the false oppinion,

That have I told, so as thei meene;

And for this Juno was the queene1587

Of Jupiter and Soster eke,

The foles unto hire sieke,

And sein that sche is the goddesse

Of Regnes bothe and of richesse: 1180

P. ii. 167

And ek sche, as thei understonde,

The water Nimphes hath in honde

To leden at hire oghne heste;

And whan hir list the Sky tempeste,

The reinbowe is hir Messager.

Lo, which a misbelieve is hier!

That sche goddesse is of the Sky

I wot non other cause why.

Minerua Dea sapienciarum.

An other goddesse is Minerve,

To whom the Greks obeie and serve: 1190

And sche was nyh the grete lay

Of Triton founde, wher sche lay

A child forcast, bot what sche was

Ther knew noman the sothe cas.

Bot in Aufrique sche was leid

In the manere as I have seid,

And caried fro that ilke place

Into an Yle fer in Trace,

The which Palene thanne hihte,1588

Wher a Norrice hir kepte and dihte. 1200

And after, for sche was so wys1589

That sche fond ferst in hire avis

The cloth makinge of wolle and lyn,1590

Men seiden that sche was divin,

And the goddesse of Sapience

Thei clepen hire in that credence.

Pallas Dea bellorum.1591

Of the goddesse which Pallas

Is cleped sondri speche was.

On seith hire fader was Pallant,

Which in his time was geant, 1210

P. ii. 168

A cruel man, a bataillous:

An other seith hou in his hous

Sche was the cause why he deide.

And of this Pallas some ek seide

That sche was Martes wif; and so

Among the men that weren tho

Of misbelieve in the riote

The goddesse of batailles hote

She was, and yit sche berth the name.

Now loke, hou they be forto blame. 1220

Ceres dea frugum.1592

Saturnus after his exil

Fro Crete cam in gret peril

Into the londes of Ytaile,

And ther he dede gret mervaile,

Wherof his name duelleth yit.

For he fond of his oghne wit

The ferste craft of plowh tilinge,

Of Eringe and of corn sowinge,

And how men scholden sette vines

And of the grapes make wynes;1593 1230

Al this he tawhte, and it fell so,

His wif, the which cam with him tho,1594

Was cleped Cereres be name,

And for sche tawhte also the same,

And was his wif that ilke throwe,

As it was to the poeple knowe,

Thei made of Ceres a goddesse,

In whom here tilthe yit thei blesse,1595

And sein that Tricolonius

Hire Sone goth amonges ous 1240

P. ii. 169

And makth the corn good chep or dere,

Riht as hire list fro yer to yeere;

So that this wif be cause of this

Goddesse of Cornes cleped is.

Diana Dea Moncium et Siluarum.1596

King Jupiter, which his likinge

Whilom fulfelde in alle thinge,

So priveliche aboute he ladde

His lust, that he his wille hadde

Of Latona, and on hire that

Diane his dowhter he begat 1250

Unknowen of his wif Juno.

And afterward sche knew it so,1597

That Latona for drede fledde1598

Into an Ile, wher sche hedde

Hire wombe, which of childe aros.

Thilke yle cleped was Delos;1599

In which Diana was forthbroght,

And kept so that hire lacketh noght.

And after, whan sche was of Age,

Sche tok non hiede of mariage, 1260

Bot out of mannes compaignie

Sche tok hire al to venerie1600

In forest and in wildernesse;

For ther was al hire besinesse

Be daie and ek be nyhtes tyde

With arwes brode under the side

And bowe in honde, of which sche slowh

And tok al that hir liste ynowh

Of bestes whiche ben chacable:

Wherof the Cronique of this fable 1270

P. ii. 170

Seith that the gentils most of alle

Worschipen hire and to hire calle,

And the goddesse of hihe helles,

Of grene trees, of freisshe welles,

They clepen hire in that believe,

Which that no reson mai achieve.

Proserpina Dea Infernorum.

Proserpina, which dowhter was

Of Cereres, befell this cas:

Whil sche was duellinge in Cizile,1601

Hire moder in that ilke while 1280

Upon hire blessinge and hire heste

Bad that sche scholde ben honeste,

And lerne forto weve and spinne,

And duelle at hom and kepe hire inne.

Bot sche caste al that lore aweie,

And as sche wente hir out to pleie,1602

To gadre floures in a pleine,1603

And that was under the monteine

Of Ethna, fell the same tyde

That Pluto cam that weie ryde,1604 1290

And sodeinly, er sche was war,

He tok hire up into his char.

And as thei riden in the field,

Hire grete beaute he behield,

Which was so plesant in his ÿe,

That forto holde in compainie

He weddeth hire and hield hire so1605

To ben his wif for everemo.

And as thou hast tofore herd telle

Hou he was cleped god of helle, 1300

P. ii. 171

So is sche cleped the goddesse

Be cause of him, ne mor ne lesse.

Confessor.

Lo, thus, mi Sone, as I thee tolde,

The Greks whilom be daies olde

Here goddes hadde in sondri wise,

And thurgh the lore of here aprise

The Romeins hielden ek the same.

And in the worschipe of here name1606

To every godd in special

Thei made a temple forth withal, 1310

And ech of hem his yeeres dai

Attitled hadde; and of arai

The temples weren thanne ordeigned,

And ek the poeple was constreigned

To come and don here sacrifice;

The Prestes ek in here office

Solempne maden thilke festes.

And thus the Greks lich to the bestes1607

The men in stede of god honoure,

Whiche mihten noght hemself socoure, 1320

Whil that thei were alyve hiere.

And over this, as thou schalt hiere,

Nota, quod dii Montium Satiri vocantur.

The Greks fulfild of fantasie

Sein ek that of the helles hihe

The goddes ben in special,

Bot of here name in general

Thei hoten alle Satiri.

Oreades Nimphe Montium.

Ther ben of Nimphes proprely

In the believe of hem also:

Oreades thei seiden tho 1330

P. ii. 172

Attitled ben to the monteines;1608

Driades Siluarum.

And for the wodes in demeynes

To kepe, tho ben Driades;1609

Naiades fontium.

Of freisshe welles Naiades;

And of the Nimphes of the See

Nereides Marium.1610

I finde a tale in proprete,

Hou Dorus whilom king of Grece,

Which hadde of infortune a piece,—

His wif forth with hire dowhtres alle,1611

So as the happes scholden falle, 1340

With many a gentil womman there

Dreint in the salte See thei were:

Wherof the Greks that time seiden,

And such a name upon hem leiden,

Nereïdes that thei ben hote,

The Nimphes whiche that thei note

To regne upon the stremes salte.

Lo now, if this believe halte!

Bot of the Nimphes as thei telle,1612

In every place wher thei duelle 1350

Thei ben al redi obeissant

As damoiselles entendant

To the goddesses, whos servise1613

Thei mote obeie in alle wise;

Wherof the Greks to hem beseke

With tho that ben goddesses eke,

And have in hem a gret credence.

Manes dii mortuorum.1614

And yit withoute experience

Salve only of illusion,

Which was to hem dampnacion, 1360

P. ii. 173

For men also that were dede

Thei hadden goddes, as I rede,

And tho be name Manes hihten,

To whom ful gret honour thei dihten,

So as the Grekes lawe seith,

Which was ayein the rihte feith.

Thus have I told a gret partie;

Bot al the hole progenie

Of goddes in that ilke time

To long it were forto rime. 1370

Bot yit of that which thou hast herd,

Of misbelieve hou it hath ferd,

Ther is a gret diversite.

Amans.

Mi fader, riht so thenketh me.

Bot yit o thing I you beseche,

Which stant in alle mennes speche,

The godd and the goddesse of love,

Of whom ye nothing hier above

Have told, ne spoken of her fare,

That ye me wolden now declare 1380

Hou thei ferst comen to that name.1615

Mi Sone, I have it left for schame,

Be cause I am here oghne Prest;1616

Qualiter Cupido et Venus deus et dea amoris nuncupantur.1617

Bot for thei stonden nyh thi brest1618

Upon the schrifte of thi matiere,

Thou schalt of hem the sothe hiere:

And understand nou wel the cas.

Venus Saturnes dowhter was,

Which alle danger putte aweie

Of love, and fond to lust a weie; 1390

P. ii. 174

So that of hire in sondri place

Diverse men felle into grace,

And such a lusti lif sche ladde,

That sche diverse children hadde,

Nou on be this, nou on be that.

Of hire it was that Mars beyat

A child, which cleped was Armene;

Of hire also cam Andragene,

To whom Mercurie fader was:

Anchises begat Eneas 1400

Of hire also, and Ericon

Biten begat, and therupon,

Whan that sche sih ther was non other,

Be Jupiter hire oghne brother

Sche lay, and he begat Cupide.1619

And thilke Sone upon a tyde,

Whan he was come unto his Age,

He hadde a wonder fair visage,

And fond his Moder amourous,

And he was also lecherous: 1410

So whan thei weren bothe al one,

As he which yhen hadde none

To se reson, his Moder kiste;

And sche also, that nothing wiste

Bot that which unto lust belongeth,

To ben hire love him underfongeth.

Thus was he blind, and sche unwys:

Bot natheles this cause it is,

Why Cupide is the god of love,

For he his moder dorste love. 1420

P. ii. 175

And sche, which thoghte hire lustes fonde,

Diverse loves tok in honde,

Wel mo thanne I the tolde hiere:1620

And for sche wolde hirselve skiere,

Sche made comun that desport,

And sette a lawe of such a port,

That every womman mihte take

What man hire liste, and noght forsake

To ben als comun as sche wolde.1621

Sche was the ferste also which tolde 1430

That wommen scholde here bodi selle;

Semiramis, so as men telle,

Of Venus kepte thilke aprise,

And so dede in the same wise

Of Rome faire Neabole,

Which liste hire bodi to rigole;

Sche was to every man felawe,

And hild the lust of thilke lawe,1622

Which Venus of hirself began;

Wherof that sche the name wan, 1440

Why men hire clepen the goddesse

Of love and ek of gentilesse,

Of worldes lust and of plesance.

Se nou the foule mescreance

Of Greks in thilke time tho,

Whan Venus tok hire name so.

Ther was no cause under the Mone1623

Of which thei hadden tho to done,

Of wel or wo wher so it was,

That thei ne token in that cas 1450

P. ii. 176

A god to helpe or a goddesse.

Wherof, to take mi witnesse,

Nota de Epistola Dindimi Regis Bragmannorum Alexandro magno directa, vbi dicit quod Greci tunc ad corporis conseruacionem pro singulis membris singulos deos specialiter appropriari credunt.

The king of Bragmans Dindimus1624

Wrot unto Alisandre thus:

In blaminge of the Grekes feith

And of the misbelieve, he seith

How thei for every membre hadden

A sondri god, to whom thei spradden

Here armes, and of help besoghten.

Minerve for the hed thei soghten, 1460

For sche was wys, and of a man

The wit and reson which he can

Is in the celles of the brayn,

Wherof thei made hire soverain.

Mercurie, which was in his dawes

A gret spekere of false lawes,

On him the kepinge of the tunge

Thei leide, whan thei spieke or sunge.

For Bachus was a glotoun eke,

Him for the throte thei beseke, 1470

That he it wolde waisshen ofte

With swote drinkes and with softe.

The god of schuldres and of armes

Was Hercules; for he in armes

The myhtieste was to fihte,

To him tho Limes they behihte.1625

The god whom that thei clepen Mart1626

The brest to kepe hath for his part,

Forth with the herte, in his ymage

That he adresce the corage. 1480

P. ii. 177

And of the galle the goddesse,

For sche was full of hastifesse1627

Of wraththe and liht to grieve also,

Thei made and seide it was Juno.

Cupide, which the brond afyre1628

Bar in his hond, he was the Sire1629

Of the Stomak, which builleth evere,

Wherof the lustes ben the levere.

To the goddesse Cereres,1630

Which of the corn yaf hire encress 1490

Upon the feith that tho was take,

The wombes cure was betake;

And Venus thurgh the Lecherie,

For which that thei hire deifie,

Sche kept al doun the remenant1631

To thilke office appourtenant.

[Origin of Idol-worship.]

Thus was dispers in sondri wise

The misbelieve, as I devise,

Nota de prima ydolorum cultura, que ex tribus precipue Statuis exorta est; quarum prima fuit illa, quam in filii sui memoriam quidam princeps nomine Cirophanes a sculptore Promotheo fabricari constituit.

With many an ymage of entaile,

Of suche as myhte hem noght availe; 1500

For thei withoute lyves chiere

Unmyhti ben to se or hiere

Or speke or do or elles fiele;

And yit the foles to hem knele,

Which is here oghne handes werk.

Ha lord, hou this believe is derk,

And fer fro resonable wit!

And natheles thei don it yit:

That was to day a ragged tre,

To morwe upon his majeste 1510

P. ii. 178

Stant in the temple wel besein.

How myhte a mannes resoun sein

That such a Stock mai helpe or grieve?

Bot thei that ben of such believe

And unto suche goddes calle,

It schal to hem riht so befalle,

And failen ate moste nede.1632

Bot if thee list to taken hiede

And of the ferste ymage wite,

Petornius therof hath write1633 1520

And ek Nigargorus also;

And thei afferme and write so,

That Promotheüs was tofore

And fond the ferste craft therfore,

And Cirophanes, as thei telle,

Thurgh conseil which was take in helle,1634

In remembrance of his lignage1635

Let setten up the ferste ymage.

Of Cirophanes seith the bok,

That he for sorwe, which he tok 1530

Of that he sih his Sone ded,

Of confort knew non other red,

Bot let do make in remembrance

A faire ymage of his semblance

And sette it in the market place,1636

Which openly tofore his face

Stod every dai to don him ese.

And thei that thanne wolden plese

The fader, scholden it obeie,

Whan that they comen thilke weie. 1540

P. ii. 179

Secunda Statua fuit illa, quam ad sui patris Beli culturam Rex Ninus fieri et adorari decreuit. Et sic de nomine Beli postea Bel et Belzebub ydolum accreuit.

And of Ninus king of Assire

I rede hou that in his empire

He was next after the secounde

Of hem that ferst ymages founde.

For he riht in semblable cas

Of Belus, which his fader was

Fro Nembroth in the rihte line,

Let make of gold and Stones fine

A precious ymage riche

After his fader evene liche; 1550

And therupon a lawe he sette,

That every man of pure dette

With sacrifice and with truage

Honoure scholde thilke ymage:

So that withinne time it fell,

Of Belus cam the name of Bel,

Of Bel cam Belzebub, and so

The misbelieve wente tho.

Tercia Statua fuit illa, que ad honorem Apis Regis Grecorum sculpta fuit, cui postea nomen Serapis imponentes, ipsum quasi deum Pagani coluerunt.

The thridde ymage next to this

Was, whan the king of Grece Apis 1560

Was ded, thei maden a figure

In resemblance of his stature.

Of this king Apis seith the bok

That Serapis his name tok,

In whom thurgh long continuance

Of misbelieve a gret creance

Thei hadden, and the reverence

Of Sacrifice and of encence

To him thei made: and as thei telle,

Among the wondres that befelle, 1570

P. ii. 180

Whan Alisandre fro Candace

Cam ridende, in a wilde place

Undur an hull a Cave he fond;1637

And Candalus, which in that lond

Was bore, and was Candaces Sone,

Him tolde hou that of commun wone

The goddes were in thilke cave.

And he, that wolde assaie and have1638

A knowlechinge if it be soth,

Liht of his hors and in he goth, 1580

And fond therinne that he soghte:

For thurgh the fendes sleihte him thoghte,

Amonges othre goddes mo

That Serapis spak to him tho,

Whom he sih there in gret arrai.

And thus the fend fro dai to dai

The worschipe of ydolatrie

Drowh forth upon the fantasie

Of hem that weren thanne blinde

And couthen noght the trouthe finde. 1590

Thus hast thou herd in what degre

Of Grece, Egipte and of Caldee

The misbelieves whilom stode;1639

And hou so that thei be noght goode

Ne trewe, yit thei sprungen oute,

Wherof the wyde world aboute

His part of misbelieve tok.

Til so befell, as seith the bok,

That god a poeple for himselve

Hath chose of the lignages tuelve, 1600

P. ii. 181

Wherof the sothe redely,

As it is write in Genesi,

I thenke telle in such a wise

That it schal be to thin apprise.

[iv. Belief of the Jews.]

De Hebreorum seu Iudeorum Secta, quorum Sinagoga, ecclesia Cristi superueniente, defecit.

After the flod, fro which Noë

Was sauf, the world in his degre

Was mad, as who seith, newe ayein,

Of flour, of fruit, of gras, of grein,

Of beste, of bridd and of mankinde,

Which evere hath be to god unkinde: 1610

For noght withstondende al the fare,

Of that this world was mad so bare

And afterward it was restored,

Among the men was nothing mored

Towardes god of good lyvynge,

Bot al was torned to likinge

After the fleissh, so that foryete

Was he which yaf hem lif and mete,

Of hevene and Erthe creatour.

And thus cam forth the grete errour, 1620

That thei the hihe god ne knewe,

Bot maden othre goddes newe,

As thou hast herd me seid tofore:

Ther was noman that time bore,1640

That he ne hadde after his chois

A god, to whom he yaf his vois.

Wherof the misbelieve cam

Into the time of Habraham:1641

Bot he fond out the rihte weie,

Hou only that men scholde obeie 1630

P. ii. 182

The hihe god, which weldeth al,

And evere hath don and evere schal,

In hevene, in Erthe and ek in helle;1642

Ther is no tunge his miht mai telle.

This Patriarch to his lignage

Forbad, that thei to non ymage

Encline scholde in none wise,

Bot here offrende and sacrifise

With al the hole hertes love

Unto the mihti god above 1640

Thei scholden yive and to no mo:

And thus in thilke time tho

Began the Secte upon this Erthe,1643

Which of believes was the ferthe.

Of rihtwisnesse it was conceived,

So moste it nedes be received1644

Of him that alle riht is inne,1645

The hihe god, which wolde winne

A poeple unto his oghne feith.

On Habraham the ground he leith, 1650

And made him forto multeplie

Into so gret a progenie,

That thei Egipte al overspradde.1646

Bot Pharao with wrong hem ladde

In servitute ayein the pes,

Til god let sende Moïses

To make the deliverance;

And for his poeple gret vengance

He tok, which is to hiere a wonder.

The king was slain, the lond put under, 1660

P. ii. 183

God bad the rede See divide,

Which stod upriht on either side1647

And yaf unto his poeple a weie,

That thei on fote it passe dreie1648

And gon so forth into desert:

Wher forto kepe hem in covert,

The daies, whan the Sonne brente,1649

A large cloude hem overwente,

And forto wissen hem be nyhte,

A firy Piler hem alyhte. 1670

And whan that thei for hunger pleigne,

The myhti god began to reyne

Manna fro hevene doun to grounde,

Wherof that ech of hem hath founde

His fode, such riht as him liste;

And for thei scholde upon him triste,

Riht as who sette a tonne abroche,

He percede the harde roche,1650

And sprong out water al at wille,

That man and beste hath drunke his fille: 1680

And afterward he yaf the lawe

To Moïses, that hem withdrawe

Thei scholden noght fro that he bad.

And in this wise thei be lad,

Til thei toke in possession1651

The londes of promission,

Wher that Caleph and Josuë

The Marches upon such degre

Departen, after the lignage

That ech of hem as Heritage 1690

P. ii. 184

His porpartie hath underfonge.

And thus stod this believe longe,

Which of prophetes was governed;

And thei hadde ek the poeple lerned

Of gret honour that scholde hem falle;

Bot ate moste nede of alle

Thei faileden, whan Crist was bore.

Bot hou that thei here feith have bore,1652

It nedeth noght to tellen al,

The matiere is so general: 1700

Whan Lucifer was best in hevene

And oghte moste have stonde in evene,

Towardes god he tok debat;

And for that he was obstinat,

And wolde noght to trouthe encline,

He fell for evere into ruine:

And Adam ek in Paradis,

Whan he stod most in al his pris

After thastat of Innocence,

Ayein the god brak his defence 1710

And fell out of his place aweie:

And riht be such a maner weie

The Jwes in here beste plit,1653

Whan that thei scholden most parfit

Have stonde upon the prophecie,1654

Tho fellen thei to most folie,

And him which was fro hevene come,

And of a Maide his fleissh hath nome,

And was among hem bore and fedd,

As men that wolden noght be spedd 1720

P. ii. 185

Of goddes Sone, with o vois

Thei hinge and slowhe upon the crois.

Wherof the parfit of here lawe

Fro thanne forth hem was withdrawe,

So that thei stonde of no merit,

Bot in truage as folk soubgit

Withoute proprete of place

Thei liven out of goddes grace,

Dispers in alle londes oute.

And thus the feith is come aboute, 1730

That whilom in the Jewes stod,

Which is noght parfihtliche good.

To speke as it is nou befalle,

Ther is a feith aboven alle,

In which the trouthe is comprehended,

Wherof that we ben alle amended.