John Gower was an English poet, a contemporary of William Langland and the Pearl Poet, and a personal friend of Geoffrey Chaucer. He is remembered primarily for three major works—the Mirour de l'Omme,
John Gower shooting the world, a sphere of earth, air, and water (from a manuscript of his works ca. 1400). The text reads: Ad mundum mitto mea iacula dumque sagitto At ubi iustus erit nulla sagitta ferit Sed male viventes hos vulnero transgredientes Conscius ergo sibi se speculetur ibi (As I shoot I send at the world these my bolts And where the just shall be no arrow may hit But those living wicked lives, the transgressors I aim to harm Thus may in this work those conscious amongst you observe themselves as they truly are)
The caves at Wetton Mill, near Leek, Staffordshire, have been identified as a possible inspiration for the "Green Chapel" in Gawain and the Green Knight, given the author's dialect and the geography indicated in the poem.