Lost sheep: Metaphor and simony in John Gower’s Latin poetry

Abstract

ABSTRACT Almost all of John Gower’s very last writings are in Latin verse and politically inflected. Lost sheep and negligent shepherds (pastores) wander through a remarkable number of these poems. Drawing on biblical imagery and on his own earlier poetic treatment of pastoral misdirection in Vox clamantis, Gower found in lost sheep an enabling metaphor for his moral, satirical, and self-reflexive poetic project. In particular, Gower systematically associates the metaphor of lost sheep with simony (the selling of church privileges) and the hypocrisy of the secular clergy. This essay traces this figure of thought through Vox clamantis, De lucis scrutinio, Presul ovile regis, and Cultor in ecclesia.