The Vox Clamantis [The Voice of One Crying] (hereafter the Vox) by John Gower (d. 1408) is one of the poet’s three major works, alongside the Mirour de l’Omme and Confessio Amantis. This entry includes information on both the Vox and Gower’s Cronica tripertita [A Chronicle in Three Parts] (hereafter Cronica), which is often included as an addendum to the Vox in critical editions. Composed c. 1380–82, the Vox is a long poem, with over 10,000 lines denouncing the sins of fourteenth-century England. Seven books act as estates satire (a late-medieval genre which criticises various social groups). The poem’s composition was not linear: what is now the first book of the Vox was written after the remaining six books of the poem, in the wake of the Uprising of 1381
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Citation: Menmuir, Rebecca. "Vox Clamantis". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 February 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8659, accessed 24 November 2024.]
