Classical Poetry PDF EPUB

The Temple of Glass

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About this book

A troubled sleeper dreams his way into a shining glass temple, where images of famous lovers cover the walls and petitioners bring their sorrows to Venus. John Lydgate's poem draws on classical stories and the world of Chaucer to present love through complaints, prayers and promises of loyalty. The visitors speak of absence, jealousy, poverty and the pressure of marriages chosen by others, giving the dream a broad range of human concerns.

A man's appeal in the poem asks the goddess to help him win compassion from the woman he serves. His repeated pledges turn private longing into a formal expression of devotion. Readers interested in medieval verse will find an elaborate dream setting, mythological references and the language of courtly love. This text retains old spellings and abbreviated forms; its introductory note identifies the early printing by William Caxton and the later facsimile reproduced here.

About the author

John Lydgate

John Lydgate (1370-1450), also called John Lydgate of Bury, was an English monk and poet born in Lidgate, near Haverhill in Suffolk. He worked as a writer and translator, and his surviving titles include "The Temple of Glass".

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