Gower's Vulgar Tongue: Ovid, Lay Religion, and English Poetry in the Confessio Amantis

Why did Gower choose to write his most famous poem in English? New insights into his purpose and the context and tradition of the poem are presented here.

After establishing his reputation as a literary author by means of his French and Latin verse, Gower came to recognize the possibilities which English held for serious poetry only in the 1380s. This book gives sustained attentionto the implications of this language choice for the form, readership, religious position, and lay authority of h...