Whitehead, Christiania. “Middle English Religious Lyr-
ics.” In A Companion to the Middle English Lyric, edited by
Thomas G. Duncan, 96–119. Woodbridge: Brewer, 2005.
Karolyn Kinane
VIRTUES There are two sets of virtues that are
important to medieval culture: the cardinal virtues,
which are complemented by and often combined with
the theological virtues; and the capital virtues, which
stand in opposition to the SEVEN DEADLY SINS.
The four cardinal virtues—prudence/wisdom, tem-
perance, justice, and fortitude/courage—are “natural”
virtues that can be achieved through human effort. These
virtues as specifi c concepts can be traced all the way back
to Plato’s Republic, but in the Middle Ages they were fur-
ther developed by Christian theologians, particularly St.
Thomas Aquinas, and associated with the three theologi-
cal virtues—faith, hope, and charity—which can only be
achieved through the intervention of Grace. According to
Thomas Aquinas, Prudence, the faculty that helps deter-
mine what is best and how best to achieve it, arises from
the intellect; it serves as a guide with respect to the other
cardinal virtues. Justice represents the desire to provide
both to God and to humans what is their due. Temper-
ance helps the will control human instinct, moderating
the attraction or temptation of pleasures. Fortitude, or
courage, helps humans strengthen their resolve to resist
temptation and to conquer fear.
The second set of medieval virtues, the capital vir-
tues, are directly opposed to the seven deadly sins.
Thus, in this list, humility stands opposite pride, liber-
ality against avarice, fellowship versus envy, meekness
in opposition to wrath, chastity in confl ict with lust,
temperance as counter to gluttony, and diligence
against sloth. In the Middle Ages, the virtues and vices
were common fi gures of ALLEGORY in such texts as the
morality play Everyman and EDMUND SPENSER’s The
FAERIE QUEENE.
FURTHER READING
Houser, R. E., trans. The Cardinal Virtues: Aquinas, Albert
and Philip the Chancellor. Toronto: Pontifi cal Institute of
Mediaeval Studies, 2004.
Woodford, Archer. “Medieval Iconography of the Virtues: A
Poetic Portraiture.” Speculum 28, no. 3 (1953): 521–524.
Carol E. Harding
VISION OF PIERS PLOWMAN, THE See
PIERS PLOWMAN.VOLTA Volta means “turn” in a number of Italic
languages, and in poetry the volta is the place where a
distinct turn of thought occurs. A common character-
istic of ITALIAN (PETRARCHAN) SONNETs, the volta in
these usually occurs in line 9, between the OCTAVE
and the SESTET, marking both the rhyme change and
the move toward resolution. ENGLISH SONNETs often
exhibit a volta as well, though it may occur between
any quatrain.“VULCAN BEGAT ME” SIR THOMAS WYATT
(1557) The answer to this translation by SIR THOMAS
WYATT of a Latin riddle is handily provided in TOTTEL’S
MISCELLANY, as it bears the legend “discripcion of a
gonne [gun].” However, this poem is more than merely
descriptive; it is also contemplative regarding the
explosive nature of fi rearms—and of love.
The poem begins with the gun’s parentage: Vulcan,
the divine Roman blacksmith and god of fi re, is named
as the father, while Wyatt’s pun on Mother Nature
(“Nature my mother,” l. 2) confi rms maternity. How-
ever, interposing between the father and mother is the
gun’s tutor, Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom
and war. Thus, the gun is crafted by the blacksmith
out of natural materials and put to use not only by the
user’s knowledge of its handling but also by the con-
text of warfare.
As with any infant, the amount of nutritional input
is disproportionate to the waste output, and so the
“Three bodies” which “are my food” (l. 3)—namely,
the sulphur, charcoal, and saltpeter which together
make gunpowder—produce four “children dear” of
the weapon’s own: “Slaughter, wrath, waste and noise”
(l. 4). The reference to the gun’s “strength” being “in
nought” by extension must refer to the gaping mouth
of the barrel, which consumes and produces the above.
The introduction to this “infant” is followed by a ques-
tion (ll. 5–6): Who would wish to be friends with a
monster? The closing COUPLET answers this by giving
the reader power: We may be either “friend,” in which
case “I may thee defend,” or “enemy,” whereby “I may
thy life end” (l. 8).452 VIRTUES