Misplaced Pages

#694305

106-467: Vox Clamantis ("the voice of one crying out") is a Latin poem of 10,265 lines in elegiac couplets by John Gower (1330 – October 1408) . The first of the seven books is a dream vision giving a vivid account of the Peasants' Rebellion of 1381 . Macaulay described the remaining books: "The general plan of the author is to describe the condition of society and of the various degrees of men, much as in

212-445: A double-reed wind instrument . Archilochus expanded use of the form to treat other themes, such as war, travel, and homespun philosophy. Between Archilochus and other imitators, the verse form became a common poetic vehicle for conveying any strong emotion. At the end of the 7th century BCE, Mimnermus of Colophon struck on the innovation of using the verse for erotic poetry. He composed several elegies celebrating his love for

318-533: A care for my future reputation. I shall enter the recent misfortunes that my country has exhibited, for it is a worthy labor to report the deeds of one's native land. Wickert made several comments about the Prologue and Chapter 1. This is followed by a twelve line passage with several references to tears. The passage is emotional but only in the antepenultimate line does the word timor (fear) appear. "Thus Gower establishes an important coupling of sorrow and fear for

424-566: A cathedral in 1905 when the Church of England Diocese of Southwark was created. The nearby early-18th-century church of St Thomas became the new cathedral's chapter-house. The cathedral stands in an area heavily damaged by German bombing during the Second World War . The total number of bombs dropped on Southwark between 7 October 1940 to 6 June 1941 alone was 1,651 High Explosive Bombs and 20 Parachute Mines. On 20 February 1941 it

530-437: A circle under Tibullus' patron Messalla . Notable in this collection are the poems of Sulpicia , thought to be the only surviving work by a Classical Latin female poet. The six elegiac poems of Lygdamus in the collection are thought by some to be an anonymous early work by Ovid, though other scholars attribute them to an imitator of Ovid who may have lived in a much later period. Through these poets—and in comparison with

636-584: A contributor to the Authorized Version of the Bible , was buried in a small chapel at the east end that afterwards became known as the "Bishop's Chapel". After the destruction of the chapel in 1830, his tomb was moved to a new position, immediately behind the high altar. It was from the tower of St Saviour's that the Czech artist Wenceslas Hollar drew his Long View of London from Bankside in 1647,

742-435: A direct translation of Callimachus' Lock of Berenice . His 85th poem is famous: Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris? Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior. I hate and I love. Why do I do this, perhaps you ask? I know not, but I feel it happen and am tormented. To read it correctly it is necessary to take account of the three elisions : Cornelius Gallus , an important statesman of this period,

848-484: A ferry across the Thames she had inherited from her parents. Later it was converted into a college of priests by " Swithen , a noble lady". Finally in 1106 it was refounded as an Augustinian priory . The tale of the ferryman's daughter Mary and her benefactions became very popular, but later historians tried to rationalise Linsted's story. Thus the author of an 1862 guidebook to the then St Saviour's Church suggested it

954-551: A live fish, and the monastery is the right home for a monk." Contrast with description of the Monk in General Prologue 177-81: Knights, peasants and town-dwellers are discussed here. The first chapter looks back to past when a knight performed his deeds for justice rather than for fame. Several chapters condemn knights who are dominated by love for single women. Condemnation of courtly love which Gower considers adulterous

1060-399: A lower retrochoir or Lady chapel , the form of which can also be interpreted as group of four chapels with separate gabled roofs, two opening from the choir, and two from each aisle. There was a chapel dedicated to Mary Magdalen , for the use of the parishioners, in the angle between the south transept and the choir, and another chapel was later added to the east of the retrochoir. This

1166-500: A more direct passage for the line. The churchyard was closed to burials in 1853 (an exception being made in 1856 for Gwilt). In 1910, on behalf of the cathedral chapter, the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association 's landscape gardener Madeline Agar renovated the south-west corner of the churchyard. That garden was restored in 2001. The collegiate parish church of St Saviour was designated as

SECTION 10

#1732772784695

1272-409: A panorama which has become a definitive image of the city in the 17th century. By the early 19th century the fabric of the church had fallen into disrepair. All the medieval furnishings were gone, and the interior was as Francis Bumpus later described it, "pewed and galleried to a fearful extent." Between 1818 and 1830, the tower and choir were restored by George Gwilt Jun . In his efforts to return

1378-458: A rather pessimistic view of lawless, quarrelsome Britain. Wickert offers several reasons for abandoning the Troy metaphor. Most obvious is that Aeneas and his descendant Brutus came to a much better end than did the city of Troy . She supplies other examples of the ship as metaphor for the state especially the poem "Seldom seen is soon forgot" In this poem Edward III and his son steer the ship,

1484-651: A rose window, survives in Clink Street . The Priory was dedicated to the Virgin Mother as 'St Mary' but had the additional soubriquet of "Overie" ("over the river") to distinguish it from the many churches in the City of London (on the opposite bank of the Thames) with the same name. Some fragments of 12th-century fabric survive. The church in its present form, however, dates to between 1220 and 1420, making it

1590-669: A seasonal concert of music each term. It also sings for livery companies in the City of London and for other organisations. In 2006 it performed as part of the Queen's Christmas Broadcast , which was recorded at the cathedral. The choir is named after the Tudor composer John Merbecke (1510–1585) who wrote one of the most popular settings of the Book of Common Prayer communion service. In 1543, Merbecke and three other companions were tried for heresy in

1696-604: A social revolution is also a rebellion against a divine institution. The rebels are possessed by demons and thus condemned to eternal damnation. "Gower is not writing a class critique, ... but a harsh condemnation which divinely sanctions every action against the peasantry. This is understandable ... but in no way accords with the attitude that Gower adopts in the following books of the Vox Clamantis and in Mirrour de l'Omne . The legend of Britain's founding by Brutus of Troy

1802-513: A stray looking for food and shelter. She later made the cathedral her permanent home and was often found curled up beneath a radiator or prowling the aisles. Dean Colin Slee named the cat as a joke reference to prominent atheist Richard Dawkins . Doorkins became known as a local celebrity and met both the Mayor of London and Queen Elizabeth II on formal visits to the cathedral. She is the subject of

1908-404: A thing to be noted, because if the author, when describing (for example) the vices of monasteries, is found to be merely quoting from Alexander Neckam, we cannot attach much value to his account as a picture of the manners of his own time." In addition to the major sources listed above, Pouzet believes other material found in the library of the priory St Mary Overie may have influenced Gower. Gower

2014-575: A true witness and authority in this case. Paul Beichner identified several passages which were taken from the Aurora. Macaulay also found borrowings "from the poem of Alexander Neckam De Vita Monachomm , from the Speculum Stultorum , or from the Pantheon , so that in many places the composition is entirely made up of such borrowed matter variously arranged and combined. This is evidently

2120-437: A war theme, apparently for a Spartan audience. Theognis of Megara vented himself in couplets as an embittered aristocrat in a time of social change. Popular leaders were writers of elegies— Solon the lawgiver of Athens composed on political and ethical subjects—and even Plato and Aristotle dabbled with the meter. A famous example of an elegiac couplet is the epitaph composed by Simonides of Ceos which Herodotus says

2226-521: A young King Richard ; the corresponding B-text condemns "the king's corrupt and corrupting young associates." There is a unique manuscript (MS Laud (Misc) 719 SC10601) which omits the Visio and numbers the books I–VI. Fisher calls this the a-version. Both Wickert and Fisher agree that the existence of this manuscript is strong evidence that the bulk of Vox was written before the Peasants' Revolt. Book One

SECTION 20

#1732772784695

2332-515: Is "much more legalistic". The remedy is to subject the clergy to the laws of laymen. Book IV deals with the failings of various religious orders including monks, Canons regular , nuns, and mendicant friars. Hodgson observes that Chaucer's Friar Huberd in GP 208-269 manages to commit all the sins described by Gower in Chapters 16–23. Chapter 5 begins with the commonplace: "The sea is the proper habitat of

2438-524: Is a dream-vision. Galloway claims the Gower's use of dream-vision contributed to the demolition of the form. He cites only two instances of dream-vision in the fifteenth century. "Gower's reassessment of the dream-vision form throughout his career progressively and caustically dissolve its claims to revealing suprahuman powers, while using the form to explore the connections between human thought and interpretation and human needs and appetites." Most critics cite

2544-532: Is a time for war and a time for peace” , love is a king's best weapon: “Omnia vincit amor, amor est defensio regis” . The original version (A-text) of Book VI held the boy king blameless for the problems of the kingdom. Gower uses the phrase "high court" which Fisher interprets as a reference to Arundel and the Suffolk . When Chronica Tripertita was added in 1397, the introduction and the conclusion were extensively revised. "The King always had an obdurate heart"

2650-538: Is an inclusive community where LGBTi+ people are welcomed and affirmed. The clergy would be delighted to help you to prepare prayerfully for your Civil Partnership." The cathedral is used by London South Bank University for its annual honorary degree ceremony, by Regent's College for its graduation ceremonies, and by King's College London for its medical and dental degree ceremonies, an association stemming from its merger with Guy's and St Thomas' teaching hospitals, St Thomas' having started as an infirmary attached to

2756-633: Is commemorated by the Harvard Chapel in the north transept, paid for by Harvard University alumni resident in England. His father, Robert, a local butcher and inn-holder, was a business associate of Shakespeare's family and a parochial, school, and church officer with the playwright's colleagues. The connection with the bishops of Winchester continued after the Reformation. Lancelot Andrewes , bishop of Winchester until his death in 1626, and

2862-419: Is deferred to Book VII. Chapter 6 begins with a paragraph in praise of good women but segues into a long condemnation of bad women. Chapters 7 and 8 return to praise of the good knight who defends other classes and acts for honor rather than love, money or fame. Agricultural workers are criticized in Chapters 9 and 10 as lazy, greedy and complaining. Stockton notes Gower reworked Genesis 3:19 to obtain "O sinner,

2968-959: Is known for critically acclaimed performances as Miles in Britten's The Turn of the Screw at the East London Theatre on Well Street (now Ensign Street) and as one of the three Child-Spirits in Mozart's The Magic Flute at the London Coliseum . Young performed Harry in Britten's Albert Herring , Paris in Tippet's King Priam , and John (silent role) in Britten's Peter Grimes . Rollo Armstrong also used Young's recorded vocals for Dusted's single Always Remember to Respect and Honour Your Mother , which reached no. 19 in

3074-591: Is more sympathetic to the peasants than was Gower. She observes that the revolt was predicted in Book Five, Chapter 9. Some other chroniclers of the Revolt such as Froissart and Henry Knighton gave voice to the rebels. Wat Tyler "speaks out of character, as an enemy to his own cause" in Chapter 9. "Gower cannot enter into their characters any more than he can write a speech for a pig or a goose." Wickert summarized

3180-509: Is not particularly safe as it is beset by violent storms. The description of the storm and the panic of the captain draws heavily upon the account of Ceyx and Alycone told in Ovid's Metamorphoses , A Christian prayer follows which is answered in the next chapter. Chapter 19 describes the bloody end of Wat . In Chapter 20, the drifting ship finally arrives in a harbor which is "more oppressive than Scylla ". The dreamer meets an old man who has

3286-539: Is presumed to be the oldest Greek form of epodic poetry (a form where a later verse is sung in response or comment to a previous one). Scholars, who even in the past did not know who created it, theorize the form was originally used in Ionian dirges , with the name "elegy" derived from the Greek ε, λεγε ε, λεγε —"Woe, cry woe, cry!" Hence, the form was used initially for funeral songs, typically accompanied by an aulos ,

Vox Clamantis - Misplaced Pages Continue

3392-405: Is strikingly inadequate and can in no way stand as a solution to the problem.". The dreamer awakens, he thanks God and Mary. The revolting oxen of Chapter 3 have returned to their yokes. Further revolts are predicted. The dreamer apologizes for the length of the dream and says he is compelled to write it all down. Macaulay observes this is a short prologue to the following books. Gower argues that

3498-418: Is that the rabble are transformed into rebellious domestic animals. These animals neglect their normal role of pulling a plow or pursuing a stag. There are usually references to classical animals of that species such as the bulls of Colchis and Minos . There may be one especially fearsome individual such as fire-breathing boar of Chapter 4. The animals have insatiate hunger and terrify people. Exodus 8 supplied

3604-524: Is the mother church of the Diocese of Southwark . It has been a place of Christian worship for more than 1,000 years, but the church was not raised to cathedral status until the creation of the diocese of Southwark in 1905. Between 1106 and 1538, it was the church of an Augustinian priory , Southwark Priory , dedicated in honour of the Virgin Mary (St Mary – over the river, 'overie'). Following

3710-459: Is the foundation of the revisions. The king is accused of erratic application of the law. This sermonizing summary of the preceding five books begins with a reinterpretation of Nebuchadnezzar 's dream of a statue (Daniel 2:31-44) comprising gold, brass, iron and clay segments. In Chapter 2 Gower associates the iron of the statue with misers. A rich man who lacks charity is condemned. The Chapter 3 associates clay with lechery. Stockton observes this

3816-598: Is the only place where courtly love (a major theme in Confessio) is mentioned in Vox. Chapter 8 introduces an idea which Fisher considers a major theme. Man as a " microcosm whose sin taints the cosmos" can be traced back to fourth Lateran Council . This theme first appears in Mirour . Chapters 9-17 associate different aspects of the decay of a corpse with the seven deadly sins. The mediation on death which occurs in chapters 9-19

3922-410: Is unusual in medieval literature. Wickert knows of only one other example. The personal and social benefits of righteousness are discussed in Chapters 21 & 22. Chapter 23 summarizes this treatise on the worldly estates. Gower's "deep love for England" is displayed in Chapter 24. He laments the nations's decay due to sin. Chapter 25 is the author's apology. The contents are attributed to the "voice of

4028-536: The Duke of Lancaster is the hull and the common people provide the mast. Chapter 18 introduces a monster worse than Scylla and Charybdis . The dreamer reflects that his sufferings were caused by his own sin. Wickert observes that this is the Augustinian view of the prodigal son . The City of God Book XI section 28 expresses this view. Wickert observes: "The idea of peace as the unrealized and unrealizable longing of

4134-590: The Gospel of John 1:22–23 (where the voice is that of John the Baptist ), quoting the Book of Isaiah 40:3 . The account of this sermon in Luke 3:1-14 provided the outline for Gower's original Vox Clamantis (without Visio ). Elegiac couplet Each couplet consists of a dactylic hexameter verse followed by a dactylic pentameter verse. The following is a graphic representation of its scansion : The form

4240-519: The dissolution of the monasteries , it became a parish church , with a dedication to the Holy Saviour (St Saviour). The church was in the diocese of Winchester until 1877, when the parish of St Saviour's, along with other South London parishes, was transferred to the diocese of Rochester . The present building retains the basic form of the Gothic structure built between 1220 and 1420, although

4346-580: The Appellants model Englishmen." The second part skips to 1397 where Richard exacted his revenge. The final parts describes the events of 1399 when Henry supplanted Richard as king. "Gower ... approaches his material directly, with no allegory in his way." Vox Clamantis in Deserto ("A voice of one crying in the wilderness") alludes to the Vulgate translation of the Gospel of Mark 1:1–3 and of

Vox Clamantis - Misplaced Pages Continue

4452-540: The Beast Vision: Both the individuality and the limitation of Gower's talent are shown in the Beast Vision. Describing the Peasants' Revolt as an animal uprising could have been a significant artistic achievement. Only the rebelling peasants become animals. The free men do not. For this and other reasons this vision is not a beast allegory. Man without reason sins against the divine and natural order; thus

4558-583: The Conqueror 's half-brother, Bishop Odo of Bayeux . The Old English minster was a collegiate church serving an area on the south side of the Thames . In 1106, during the reign of Henry I it became an Augustinian priory , under the patronage of the Bishops of Winchester, who established their London seat Winchester Palace immediately to the west in 1149. A remaining wall of the palace refectory, with

4664-745: The Priory of St Mary. The cathedral also hosts the London Nautical School 's annual Christmas Carol Service. There are two other cathedrals in Southwark: the Roman Catholic St George's Cathedral Southwark and the Greek Orthodox St Mary's at Camberwell New Road. The cathedral is known for having a resident cat. The first such cat Doorkins Magnificat, a brown female cat who began visiting in 2008 as

4770-732: The Renaissance, more skilled writers interested in the revival of Roman culture attempted to recapture the spirit of the Augustan writers. The Dutch Latinist Johannes Secundus , for example, included Catullus-inspired love elegies in his Liber Basiorum , while the English poet John Milton wrote several lengthy elegies throughout his career. This trend continued down through the Recent Latin writers, whose close study of their Augustan counterparts reflects their general attempts to apply

4876-558: The UK single charts. In 2004 the cathedral founded the Southwark Cathedral Merbecke Choir. It is intended to be the place both for boys and girls who leave the cathedral choirs and also other young singers who wish to maintain their sight-reading skills acquired as choristers and explore a wide range of repertoire under expert tuition. The choir sings Compline on the fourth Sunday of each month and performs

4982-414: The advice is a conventional catalog of virtues. The damage to a kingdom which can be inflicted by a wicked leader is discussed in Chapter 7. The pleas for justice lacks conceptual clarity and is permeated with ideas from the Bible and Cicero 's De re publica Bad counsel from elders given to the boy king was condemned in the first version. The final version blames youthful comrades instead. Ayers asserts

5088-418: The agricultural worker, be he bound or free, in a country squire of the time -- even before the Peasants' Revolt." Subsequent chapters decry the sins of urban workers and money lenders. Novak counted fifty chapters discussing faults of the clergy versus five chapters on workers. Chapter 15 begins with a condemnation of a mayor who "kindles malice among his fellow citizens". John Northampton who "was popular with

5194-400: The base of which is an alabaster statue representing the playwright reclining, holding a quill. Two dramatists, John Fletcher and Philip Massinger were buried in the church. Along with Edward Alleyn they were officers and benefactors of the parish charities and of St Saviour's Grammar School . John Harvard was born in the parish and was baptised in the church on 29 November 1607. He

5300-691: The borrowed lines "do not express any experience or sentiment taken from Ovid. ... The quotations come from such a variety of contexts and are so tailored to fit their position that if the passage [in the Vox] has any meaning, it must be that of the immediate author". Most of the borrowings in Vox appear in Visio Anglie . Fisher counted 327 lines borrowed or adapted from a total of 2150 for a ratio of about one in seven. Gower acknowledged one source: " Peter of Riga wrote what I have written in his Aurora, and he will be

5406-633: The cathedral shop, and his own social media accounts. The Cathedral Choir is supported financially by the St Olave's & St Saviour's Schools Foundation, which stems from the two parochial schools set up in the 1560s which still hold their commemoration and annual services at the cathedral as their 'foundation' church. As the cathedral does not have a choir school, the boys and girls of the Cathedral Choir are drawn from schools throughout London and surrounding areas. Girls are usually admitted to

SECTION 50

#1732772784695

5512-521: The children's book Doorkins the Cathedral Cat , and in 2018 was immortalised with a stone gargoyle inside the cathedral. Doorkins retired from the cathedral and was adopted by one of the cathedral staff in October 2019. The death of Doorkins was reported on 2 October 2020. A memorial service was held at the cathedral on 27 October 2020, something apparently unprecedented for a cat and reported in

5618-769: The choir at Trinity College, Cambridge , and Chuka Umunna , former Member of Parliament for Streatham and formerly Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills . Ernest Lough , who later made a celebrated recording of O for the Wings of a Dove with the choir of the Temple Church under George Thalben-Ball , auditioned unsuccessfully for a position as chorister at Southwark Cathedral. Both Alan Young and Jonathan Darbourne, Hammerstein Chanters (head choristers) between 1999 and 2000, were also trebles at English National Opera . Darbourne, in particular,

5724-764: The choir between the ages of ten and eleven, and boys between the ages of seven and ten. There are six Lay Clerks in the Cathedral Choir and up to six Choral Scholars. Three of the Lay Clerks are supported by endowments from The Ouseley Trust, the Vernon Ellis Foundation, and the Friends of Cathedral Music . The Cathedral Choir performed the music for the television series Mr. Bean . Former choristers of Southwark Cathedral include David Gedge , who served as Organist of Brecon Cathedral from 1966 until 2007, Richard Marlow , who subsequently directed

5830-479: The church that this dates from the 13th century. If so then this is one of the oldest such memorials and some credence can be given to the suggestion by its lack of heraldic emblems. In around 1520 the Bishop of Winchester , Richard Foxe , carried out a programme of improvement, installing a stone altar screen, a new west doorway with a window above and a new window in the east gable of the choir. Along with all

5936-435: The church to its thirteenth-century appearance, Gwilt removed the early sixteenth-century windows at the east end of the choir and, lacking firm evidence as to the original design, substituted an elevation of his own invention, with three lancet windows, and a circular one in the gable above. The transepts were restored, less sympathetically, by Robert Wallace. The Bishop's Chapel and parochial chapel were removed, but plans for

6042-409: The collapse of the stone ceiling in 1469. Some of the carved bosses from the vault (destroyed in the 19th century) are preserved in the cathedral. The 14th-century poet John Gower lived in the priory precinct and is entombed in the church, with a splendid memorial, with polychrome panels. There is also a recumbent effigy of a knight in timber (rather than brass or stone) and it is suggested by

6148-451: The conjecture that Gower was a lawyer. He condemns them uncompromisingly." Meindl argues that Gower only condemns false lawyers. Fisher observes that Gower "emphasizes legal justice and regal responsibility". What Wickert calls the "Mirror for a Prince" runs from Chapter 7 to Chapter 18. Much of the advice is created from contemporary truisms and thus not need a systematic foundation. The king must govern himself and be governed by law. Much of

6254-482: The conversion of Wessex in the mid-7th century, or the foundation of the "burh" c. 886. There is no proof for suggestions that a convent was founded on the site in 606 nor for the claim that a monastery was founded there by St Swithun in the 9th century. The earliest reference to the site was in the Domesday Book of 1086, when the " minster " of Southwark seems to have been under the control of William

6360-580: The cultural and literary forms of the ancient world to contemporary themes. Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral ( / ˈ s ʌ ð ər k / SUDH -ərk ), formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie , is a Church of England cathedral in Southwark , London, near the south bank of the River Thames and close to London Bridge . It

6466-474: The demolition of the retrochoir were averted, and it was restored by Gwilt in 1832. At a vestry meeting held in May 1831 it was decided to remove the nave roof, which had become unsafe, leaving the interior open to the weather, and to hold all future services in the choir and transepts. In 1839, the roofless nave was demolished to within seven feet of the ground, and rebuilt to a design by Henry Rose. The new nave

SECTION 60

#1732772784695

6572-579: The earlier Catullus—it is possible to trace specific characteristics and evolutionary patterns in the Roman form of the verse: Although no classical poet wrote collections of love elegies after Ovid, the verse retained its popularity as a vehicle for popular occasional poetry . Elegiac verses appear, for example, in Petronius ' Satyricon , and Martial 's Epigrams uses it for many witty stand-alone couplets and for longer pieces. The trend continues through

6678-592: The educated classes for gravestone epitaphs; many such epitaphs can be found in European cathedrals. De tribus puellis is an example of a Latin fabliau , a genre of comedy which employed elegiac couplets in imitation of Ovid. The medieval theorist John of Garland wrote that "all comedy is elegy, but the reverse is not true." Medieval Latin had a developed comedic genre known as elegiac comedy . Sometimes narrative, sometimes dramatic , it deviated from ancient practice because, as Ian Thompson writes, "no ancient drama would ever have been written in elegiacs." With

6784-449: The entire vision". Chapter One begins with a description of a spring day and seques into darkness where the dream begins. The daylight start is in the literary tradition of early Chaucer and others. In Biblical tradition, bad news tends to arrive at night. Therefore, Gower was obliged to dream by night. The revolting peasants are transformed into asses, oxen, swine, dogs, cats, foxes, birds, flies and frogs. The typical model in Chapters 2–6

6890-408: The first Gothic church in London. The church was severely damaged in the Great Fire of 1212 . Rebuilding took place during the thirteenth century, although the exact dates are unknown. In its reconstructed state – the basic layout of which survives today – the church was cruciform in plan, with an aisled nave of six bays , a crossing tower, transepts , and a five bay choir. Beyond the choir stood

6996-418: The flute girl Nanno , and though fragmentary today, his poetry was clearly influential in the later Roman development of the form. Propertius , to cite one example, notes Plus in amore valet Mimnermi versus Homero —"The verse of Mimnermus is stronger in love than Homer ". The form continued to be popular throughout the Greek period and treated a number of different themes. Tyrtaeus composed elegies on

7102-436: The foundation of the supposed original nunnery to "about the year 606", although he provided no evidence to support the date. Although recent guidebooks are more circumspect, referring only to "a tradition", an information panel at the east end of the cathedral still claims that there had been "A convent founded in 606 AD" and "A monastery established by St Swithun in the 9th century". It is unlikely that this minster pre-dated

7208-419: The frogs and flies. Chapters 9 and 11 associate specific animals, such as the jackdaw , with the leaders of the revolt. Chapter 10 predicts universal ruin. The rebellious peasants are equated to the companions of Ulysses who were transformed to beasts by Circe . Isaiah is incorrectly cited as the source of Gog and Magog , rather than Ezekiel . The arms borne by the rebels are detailed in Chapter 12. Novak

7314-437: The great Elizabethan dramatists . William Shakespeare 's brother, Edmund , was buried there in 1607. His grave is unmarked, but a commemorative stone was later placed in the paving of the choir. The cathedral instituted a festival to commemorate this cultural history in the 1920s which endured into the late 20th century. There is a large stained glass window dedicated to William Shakespeare, depicting scenes from his plays, at

7420-418: The initiative of Anthony Thorold , Bishop of Rochester, the nave was once again rebuilt between 1890 and 1897 by Arthur Blomfield , in a manner intended to recreate its 13th-century predecessor as accurately as possible, and to preserve the few surviving mediaeval fragments. In 1895 an appeal was issued to complete the restoration, with some £8000 required to restore the choir and tower. The church's treasurer

7526-463: The introduction of civil partnerships and, later, of civil marriage for same-sex couples in England, the cathedral announced that "same sex couples are welcome to approach the clergy with regard to preparation and prayers when entering a Civil Partnership and for continuing support and counsel within their relationship ... couples approaching the clergy should expect a warm welcome and affirmation". The cathedral now says, "Southwark Cathedral

7632-523: The inventions of Walsingham and Froissart appear tame." Wickert divides Book I into three sections: Gower provides a traditional prologue by stating the author, subject and purpose. Wickert traced this back to Honorius of Autun 's commentary on the Song of Solomon. The author is identified by a cryptogram . Purpose and subject are covered by: For I shall write nothing in order that I might be praised, and my performance does not intend that I should have

7738-523: The latter portion of the Speculum Meditantis ." Fisher concludes that books II-V were written in the 1370s while the author was writing similar passages in Mirour de l'Omme . Wickert divides the manuscripts into two groups: A-text (Macaulay's "initial version," Fisher's "b-version") and B-text (Macaulay's "final version," Fisher's "c-version"). The A-text for Book VI condemns the advisors of

7844-549: The manuscripts of Wickert's B-text. Fisher summarizes the content as "Lancastrian propaganda under the guise of history." Three parts deal with different historical events. The first part treats the events of 1387-88 ( Merciless Parliament ). "Instead of calling his historical personages by name, Gower follows the literary convention of using heraldic terms, especially those based upon the names of birds and animals." "the King's party are throughout called greedy, treacherous plotters, and

7950-488: The mid-to-late first century BCE who are most commonly associated with the distinctive Roman form of the elegiac couplet. Catullus, the first of these, is an invaluable link between the Alexandrine school and the subsequent elegies of Tibullus , Propertius and Ovid . He shows a familiarity with the usual Alexandrine style of terse epigram and a wealth of mythological learning, as in his 66th poem, Coma Berenices ,

8056-404: The national press. The cathedral made plans to acquire a new cat in 2020, due to mouse problems in the building and a feeling that Doorkins' presence was missed. Hodge, a black and white tuxedo cat, was formally adopted from a rescue organisation in 2020, coincidentally on the day of Doorkins' death. Like Doorkins, Hodge has become a celebrity in his own right with various souvenirs available in

8162-467: The nave is a late 19th-century reconstruction. The 16th-century London historian John Stow recorded an account of the origins of the Southwark Priory of St Mary that he had heard from Bartholomew Linsted, who had been the last prior when the priory was dissolved. Linsted claimed it had been founded as a nunnery "long before the [Norman] Conquest " by a maiden named Mary, on the profits of

8268-548: The old monastic one, with a refectory, shop, conference centre, education centre and museum. In 2002, these Millennium buildings received an award for being one of the best new buildings of the year. On 16 November 1996 the cathedral became a focus of controversy when it hosted a twentieth-anniversary service for the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement . Jeffrey John , the openly gay Dean of St Albans and former bishop-elect of Reading, had been Canon Theologian of Southwark. After

8374-482: The other religious houses in England, the priory was dissolved by Henry VIII , being surrendered to the Crown in 1540. The receiver in charge of dissolving St Marie Overie was William Saunders . In that year St Mary Overie received the new dedication of St Saviour and became the church of a new parish, which combined those of St Mary Magdalen (the attached parochial chapel) and the nearby church of St Margaret, which

8480-485: The people" rather than the author's ideas. The A-text ended with: The B-text replaces this couplet with a prose transition to Cronica Tripertita . Macaulay observed that conclusion has been altered to be a fitting form of introduction for the Chronica Tripertita which comes in as an appendix added in later years. Chronica Tripertita is a 1,062 line Latin poem in leonine hexameter . It was published in

8586-471: The poet suffuses the entire Visio . It is expressed by pax, concodia, amor . The dreamer yearns for peace but a celestial voice advises him to stoically accept perpetual strife on this world. This yearning for peace cannot be satisfied because for the Christian author the soul can never find peace in this world. Not can he find peace in the sense of John 14:27 and 16:33. What Gower has the heavenly voice say

8692-619: The poorer classes" is the most probable object of Gower's disapprobation. The final chapter censors the talebearer who "utters many slanders in abuse of people". The first three chapters are a condemnation of lawyers. Stockton observed: "Chapter 2, which is written with real feeling, ironically places Gower on the same side as the peasants, who hated lawyers and attacked them in the Great Revolt." Scholars are divided on how Gower obtained his legal knowledge. His translator observed: "The first four chapters of Book VI should effectively dispose of

8798-428: The pope is criticized. Priests are also accused of misconduct. Of the 29 chapters only Chapter 27 states that some priests have honour. Fisher made two comments on Book Three. The fact that the shortcomings of the clerics themselves receive such disproportionate attention in the Vox is merely another evidence of its clerical audience. Fisher compared the criticism of Book III with similar passages in Mirour . The tone here

8904-657: The praise of the Black Prince 's foreign exploits in Chapter 13 contradicts the notion of Gower as a pacifist follower of Christ. Fisher takes a more balanced view than Ayers. The account of the earlier English successes on the Continent takes on a heroic ring, but Gower concludes that the Black Prince's real accomplishment was that he kept the peace at home: “The land was quiet under that great prince; no sword terrorized those whom his hand protected” . So, while “there

9010-494: The problems of the day are the result of sin rather than fortune. Man should have faith and accept its divine order. Hodgson observed the complaints presented in Books III through V are not original. Wyclif and others made these complaints about the three estates throughout the 14th century. Chaucer, William Langland and Gower presented stock material in poetic form. The conduct of various clergymen especially prelates including

9116-410: The progressive thinkers of this day, is his emphasis upon legal justice and regal responsibility for all the estates, defined in terms of "le biencoomue," "bonus communi," or "the common good," depending on the language in which be happened to be writing" Wickert asks the rhetorical question: "Did Gower achieve his goal?" Mirour included a call for soul-searching. Vox attempted to explain the signs of

9222-459: The rapacity of the peasants. There is some exaggeration particularly when Gower falsely claims: "in their madness they reckoned a church and a brothel as one and the same.". Chapter 17 introduces the ship as a metaphor for the Tower where the royal party had sought refuge. Wickert observed that the prayer to Christ is a substitute for a classical invocation to Neptune when starting a voyage. The ship

9328-431: The rebels are condemned. Gower recounts the events of the revolt in "the form of a personal nightmare". Both Visio and Chronica "represent a thorough re-creation of historical events, reordered and recombined so as to fulfill the poet's own artistic vision and political purpose." Cornelius remarked that " Visio Anglie is distinguished from [other] chronicles, however, by Gower's unbridled fictive imagination, beside which

9434-557: The remainder of the empire; short elegies appear in Apuleius 's story of Cupid and Psyche and in the minor writings of Ausonius . After the fall of the empire, one writer who produced elegiac verse was Maximianus . Various Christian writers also adopted the form; Venantius Fortunatus wrote some of his hymns in the meter, while later Alcuin and the Venerable Bede dabbled in the verse. The form also remained popular among

9540-568: The remaining books as an example of estate satire where the author complains about various problems in society. "This universal voice, the voice of the Old Testament prophets, is the mode of perception and expression that distinguishes medieval complaint from classical satire." Wickert disagrees and argues that these books have the form of a medieval sermon described in Luke 3:7-9. Fisher summarizes: "What distinguishes Gower's views from those of many of his contemporaries, and places him among

9646-430: The retrochoir at Southwark. He was found guilty and condemned to death, but his sentence was commuted by Stephen Gardiner , Bishop of Winchester, who decided that, as a mere musician, Merbecke "knew no better". The Thursday Singers are made up of people from the local community. There is no audition. They sing for festival Eucharists which fall on a weekday. They also sing one service of Choral Evensong most terms and lead

9752-658: The singing at the cathedral's Carol Sing-In before Christmas. Hubert Chesshyre was a lay clerk of Southwark Cathedral from 1971 until 2003. He was also a member of the British Royal Household , serving as Clarenceux King of Arms and Secretary of the Order of the Garter. Because of his connections with both the Royal Household and the cathedral choir, Chesshyre saw through a grant of a coat of arms to

9858-466: The singular medium for short epigrams . The founder of this school was Philitas of Cos . He was eclipsed only by the school's most admired exponent, Callimachus ; their learned character and intricate art would have a heavy influence on the Romans. Like many Greek forms, elegy was adapted by the Romans for their own literature. The fragments of Ennius contain a few couplets, but it is the elegists of

9964-512: The sweat and toil of the world be thine; in them shalt thou eat thy bread." Gower argues for divinely ordained labour as alternative to the popular verse: Chapter 9 contains the passage which foreshadows the Revolt of 1381. The unruly serf is compared to a weed in a field of grain. "Unless it is struck down first, the peasant race strikes against freemen, no matter what nobility or worth they possess.". Like weeds they should be removed. Wickert observes: "Of course, one does not expect sympathies for

10070-476: The times. The poem did not cause changes in society. "After the removal of the immediate danger, the homilist exhorted deaf ears." Several scholars have remarked on the quantity of quotations and adaptions from other authors in Vox . Macaulay observed "His knowledge of Ovid seems to have been pretty complete, for he borrows from almost every section of his works with the air of one who knows perfectly well where to turn for what he wants". Fisher observes that in Vox

10176-409: Was Sir Frederick Wigan . The main railway viaduct connecting London Bridge station to Blackfriars , Cannon Street and Charing Cross stations passes only eighteen metres from the southeast corner of the cathedral, blocking the view from the south side. This was a compromise when the railway was extended along this viaduct in 1852; the alternative was to demolish the building completely to allow

10282-546: Was also regarded by the ancients as a great elegist, but, except for a few lines, his work has been lost. The form reached its zenith with the collections of Tibullus and Propertius and several collections of Ovid (the Amores , Ars Amatoria , Heroides , Tristia , and Epistulae ex Ponto ). The vogue of elegy during this time is seen in the so-called 3rd and 4th books of Tibullus. Many poems in these books were clearly not written by Tibullus but by others, perhaps part of

10388-414: Was at a higher level than the surviving mediaeval eastern part, and closed off from it by a glazed screen. It had a plaster vault carried on iron columns, and a wooden gallery around three sides. It was widely criticised, notably by Pugin who wrote "It is bad enough to see such an erection spring up at all, but when a venerable building is demolished to make way for it, the case is quite intolerable." On

10494-508: Was deconsecrated. The parishioners leased the priory church and rectory from the Crown until 1614, when they purchased the church outright for £800. During the reign of Queen Mary heresy trials were held in the retrochoir. In January 1555, six high-ranking clergymen, including the former Bishop of Gloucester , John Hooper , were condemned to death there. As the parish church for the Bankside area, St Saviour's had close connections with

10600-533: Was familiar with Brunetto Latini 's Li Livres dou Trésor . Shrank suggests that portraying the rebels as lower forms was derived from Cicero 's claims about civilized societies in De Inventione . All books are divided into chapters. Each chapter is preceded by a prose heading which summarizes the chapter. Three books have prologues. The Visio has 2150 lines describing the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. The horrors of 1381 are described in allegorical form and

10706-466: Was felt by the ancients to contrast the rising action of the first verse with a falling quality in the second. The sentiment is summarized in a line from Ovid's Amores I.1.27 — Sex mihi surgat opus numeris, in quinque residat — "Let my work rise in six steps, fall back in five." The effect is illustrated by Friedrich Schiller 's couplet translated into English by Samuel Taylor Coleridge as: and by Alfred, Lord Tennyson , as: The elegiac couplet

10812-525: Was inscribed on a stone to commemorate those who died at the battle of Thermopylae in 490 BC: Cicero translates it as follows ( Tusc. Disp. 1.42.101), also using an elegiac couplet: By the Hellenistic period , the Library of Alexandria made elegy its favorite and most highly developed form. They preferred the briefer style associated with elegy in contrast to the lengthier epic forms, and made it

10918-469: Was known to Gower's readers. Three important people are hidden behind Trojan figures ( Queen Mother = Hecuba ; Richard II = Priam ; Archbishop Simon Sudbury = Helenus ). Gower suggests that New Troy (Britain) might share the fate of the historic Troy. Chapter 14 contains an accurate description of the beheading of the Archbishop of Canterbury . The Trojan image is abandoned in Chapter 15 which emphasizes

11024-426: Was probable that the "noble lady" Swithen had in fact been a man – Swithun , Bishop of Winchester , from 852 or 853 until his death in 863. In the 20th century this identification was accepted by Thomas P. Stevens, succentor and sacrist , and later honorary canon , of Southwark Cathedral, who wrote a number of guidebooks to the cathedral, and a history that was revised and reprinted many times. He went on to date

11130-464: Was reported (after being unrestricted by the ministry of information) that the cathedral had been damaged by a bomb. Shrapnel damage is still visible on the outside of the building to this day. There are memorials to Isabella Gilmore and the victims of the Marchioness disaster and monuments to Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu . In 2001 Mandela opened a new northern "cloister" on the site of

11236-427: Was to become known as the "Bishop's chapel" as it was the burial place of Lancelot Andrewes . In the 1390s, the church was again damaged by fire, and in around 1420 the Bishop of Winchester , Henry Beaufort , assisted with the rebuilding of the south transept and the completion of the tower. During the 15th century the parochial chapel was rebuilt, and the nave and north transept were given wooden vaults following

#694305