SUMMERS, KAREN CRADY, Ph.D. Reading Incest - The University ...

23
The werres ben so general
Among the cristene overal,
That every man now secheth wreche,
And yet these clerkes alday preche
And sein, good dede may non be
Which stant noght upon charite: Pr. 891-902
The root of all man’s woes is thus identified as lack of love; the microcosm can be torn
apart when any one of the estates shirks its responsibilities, as the poet has demonstrated
that they have done.
The solution is moderate, appropriate, sound love; the Prologue ends with a wish
that God provide a king that could weave a song of harmony like Arion did on his harp. 5
With the king leading the nation in concord the lion and the hart, the sheep and the wolf,
and the hare and the hound (Pr. 1059-61) live in peace, and
Als wel the lord as the schepherde,
He broghte hem alle in good acord;
So that the comun with the lord,
And lord with the comun also,
He sette in love bothe tuo
And putte awey malencolie.
Pr. 1063-9
Most importantly, this kind of love can pacify the wildest beasts—a theme that will
become increasingly apparent as the Confessio Amantis progresses.
After the Prologue’s lament for the social division of England, book one seems to
go in an entirely new direction by turning to the individual and personal with the
5 Arion was famous for his musical/poetic compositions, so harmonious that fighting ceased and storms
calmed. He is often depicted riding a dolphin because of the myth that dolphins rescued him from the sea
after he was kidnapped by pirates.