The Temple of Glas

Thought to be written in the first quarter of the fifteenth century, when the Benedictine monk and poet John Lydgate had relative freedom from his monastic duties, the Middle English Temple of Glas takes the form of a dream vision written for a dedicated, mystery-loving audience. The poem’s deceptively simple plot follows a woman’s desires for a man she cannot have and Venus’s advice to wait until an obstacle is removed before the couple can consummate their love. The unclear nature of the obstacle is the basis for much literary debate regarding the freedoms of women during that time. The poem is thought to be inspired by Chaucer’s House of Fame and features some Chaucerian influence, although Lydgate builds upon Chaucerian imagery to create a narrative with its own merit and novelty. A widely popular poem, The Temple of Glas exemplified the beginning of Lydgate’s lengthy literary career.