Gower's Light: The Ecology of "De Lucis Scrutinio."
- Author/Editor
- Grinnell, Natalie.
- Title
- Gower's Light: The Ecology of "De Lucis Scrutinio."
- Published
- Grinnell, Natalie. "Gower's Light: The Ecology of 'De Lucis Scrutinio'." In Studies in the Age of Gower: A Festschrift in Honour of R. F. Yeager. Ed. Susannah Mary Chewning. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2020. Pp. 161-71.
- Review
- Grinnell uses this little studied poem, written towards the end of Gower's career, to argue that "Gower's light is penetrative, both physically and morally, highlighting the nature of medieval optical theory and evoking an ecology of light somewhat in concord with contemporary radiation theory" (161). Grinnell begins by evoking the contradictory nature of light in medieval thought, characterized physically at times as extra-transmissional and at times as intra-missional, and riven also in ethical thought between an association with the dangerous carnality of the senses and a contradictory association with the scriptural identification of light and God himself. Similarly, Grinnell reads Gower's poem as one far removed from his earlier stance of visionary revelation in the "Vox Clamantis." In this short lyric, Gower is no prophet, but an individual contemplating the interplay of shadow and light both in the fallen world and in his own existence, ending the poem with a prayer for a single candle to light his way. [EK. Copyright. The John Gower Society eJGN 40.1]
- Date
- 2020
- Gower Subjects
- Minor Latin Poetry
Vox Clamantis