Geoffrey Chaucer was commissioned by Gaunt to write a poem after Blanche's death which was titled The Book of the Duchess. The poem tells the story of the poet’s dream. Wandering a wood, the poet discovers a knight clothed in black, and inquires of the knight’s sorrow. The knight, meant to represent John of Gaunt, is mourning a terrible tragedy, which mirrors Gaunt's own extended mourning for Blanche.
Read more about this topic: Blanche Of Lancaster
Famous quotes containing the words book and/or duchess:
“I saw three ships come sailing by,
Come sailing by, come sailing by,
I saw three ships come sailing by,
On Christmas Day in the morning.”
—Unknown. As I Sat on a Sunny Bank. . .
Oxford Book of Light Verse, The. W. H. Auden, ed. (1938)
“That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call”
—Robert Browning (1812–1889)