Canterbury Tales and Middle English.doc

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer(the first 18 lines of the Prologue)1)Whan that April with his showres sooteWhen that April with his sweet showers2)The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,The drought of March had pierced to the root3)And bathed every veyne in swich licourAnd bathed every vein in such liquor4)Of which vertu engendred is the flour;Of which virtue engendered is the flower5)When Zephirus eek with his sweete breethWhen Zephyr also with his sweet breath6)Inspired hath in every holt and heethHas inspired in every grove and aheath7)Tendre croppes, and the yonge sonneTender crops, and the young sun8)Hath in the Ram his halve cours yronne,Has run half way in the Ram9)And smale foweles maken melodye,And small birds make melody10)That slepen al the nyght with open yeThat sleep all the night with open eye11)(so priketh hem nature in hir corages):So nature pricks them in their courage12)Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,Then people long to go on pilgrimages13)And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,And palmer to seek foreign strands14)To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;To distant saints, made holy in sundry lands15)And specially from every shires endeAnd specially from every shires end16)Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende,Of England to Canterbury they went17)The hooly blisful martir for to seke,In order to seek the holy blissful martyr18)That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.That has helped them when they were sick.(and some lines about the Knight)1)A Knyght ther was, and that a worthy man,There was a knight, and that a worthy man,2)That fro the tyme that he first biganThat from the time when he first began3)To riden out, he loved chivalrie,To ride out, he loved chivalry,4)Trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisie.Truth and honour, freedom and courtesy.5)Ful worthy was he in his lordes werre,Fully worthy was he in his lords wars,6)And thereto hadde he riden, no man ferre,And he had ridden to them, no man further,7)As wel in christendom as in hethenesse,Both in Christian and in heathen places,8)And evere honoured for his worthynesse.And ever honoured for his worthiness.The Canterbury Tales some explanatory commentsGeoffrey Chaucer was born in London around 1340. He worked for the English government, both in (and near) London and as a diplomat who travelled to France and Italy. In addition to English, he probably could speak French and some Italian, and he could probably read Latin (which schoolboys had to learn).The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is one of the most famous books in English literature, and certainly the most famous in Middle English.It is a collection of stories written by Chaucer and published in the 1380s, after Middle English had been developing for about three centuries. The stories are supposedly told by pilgrims who travel from all parts of England (from many shires of that country) to Canterbury in south-eastern England. The were to visit the famous cathedral in Canterbury and especially the shrine of Archbishop of Thomas Becket, who had been murdered there in the year 1170. They believed that he was a martyr whose spirit had helped them become well again when they were sick.It is very easy to see much French influence in the text.You will recognize many words in the text. Sometimes the words which came from French are easier to recognize than the words which came from Old English, but not always!examples of words from Old English: whan, that, with, his, showres, soote, worthy, manexamples of words from French: April, March, perced, veyne, licour, vertu, flourOf course, many (or most!) English words were spelled differently in the 14th century from how they are spelled today! Do not let that discourage you. Look at words carefully, and you can recognize many of them, even if the spelling is a little different.Please notice that the lines rhyme (for example, “soote” and “roote”).Zephirus is the name of the ancient Greek god for the west wind.The Ram refers to astrology (the position of the stars).Inspired is a poetic way of saying “breathed into”. It goes back to a French and Latin verb.The word croppes here means the very new, young green plants appearing in