English 115b: The Canterbury Tales (Nicholas Watson, BC 214 nwatson@fas.harvard)

1. English 115b: The Canterbury Tales(Nicholas Watson, BC 214nwatson@fas.harvard.edu)

2. Chaucer’s General Prologue Whan that Aprill with his shouressoote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veyne in swichlicour Of which vertuengendred is the flour; WhanZephirus eek with his sweetebreeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth Tendrecroppes, and the yongesonne Hath in the ram his halve coursyronne, And smalefowelesmakenmelodye, That slepen al the nyght with open ye (So priketh hem nature in hircorages); Thannelongen folk to goon on pilgrimages, And palmeres for to sekenstraungestrondes, To fernehalwes, kowthe in sondrylondes; And specially from every shires ende Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende, The hoolyblisfulmartir for to seke, That hem hath holpenwhan that they were seeke.

3. Structural Irony Levels: The tale (itself often a retelling of a known tale) (The tale’s relationship with other tales: “quiting”) The teller (a “Canterbury Pilgrim”) The “inscribed” audience (the pilgrims in general; the Host in particular; sometimes specific pilgrims) The scribe who inscribes them (Chaucer the pilgrim) The author of the poem (Chaucer the author) The poem’s reader (us; also, in a real sense, God)

4. Tales as Voiced Story Collection • The Tales involve a double structure of tellers and listeners: there are two tellers, Chaucer and his pilgrims, and two audiences, the pilgrims and us, the readers. This leads to a formal schema in which the tales themselves are multiply distanced from us, as they are from Chaucer himself. Chaucer takes care to emphasize this distance (e.g., GP 725-46). • All this allows for a number of ways of looking at each tale. For example,: • A) The tale can be “about” the teller in an important way (Wife of Bath), or not; • B) The tale can responsd to another tale or tales (Miller, Reeve, Cook, Summoner) or not • C) The tale can be linked to its predecessor by congruity or, more usually, contrast (e.g. Monk’s Tale, Nun’s Priest’s Tale; Second Nun’s Tale, Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale); or, again, not • D) Tales can be linked by genre (especially fabliau), or by theme (especially marriage

5. “Chaucer’s” Disclaimer Now have I toold you soothly, in a clause, Th' estaat, th' array, the nombre, and eek the cause Why that assembled was this compaignye In Southwerk at this gentilhostelrye That highte the Tabard, faste by the Belle. But now is tyme to yow for to telle How that we baren us that ilkenyght, Whan we were in that hostelriealyght; And after wol I telle of our viage And al the remenaunt of oure pilgrimage. But first I pray yow, of yourecurteisye, That ye n' arette it nat my vileynye, Thogh that I pleynlyspeke in this mateere, To telle yow hirwordes and hircheere Ne thogh I spekehirwordesproprely. For this ye knowen al so wel as I, Whoso shaltelle a tale after a man, He moot reherce as ny as evere he kan Everich a word, if it be in his charge, Al speke he never so rudeliche and large, Or ellis he moot telle his tale untrewe, Or feynethyng, or fyndewordesnewe. He may nat spare, althogh he were his brother; He moot as welseye o word as another. Cristspakhymselffulbrode in hooly writ, And wel ye woot no vileynye is it. Eek Plato seith, whoso that kanhymrede, The wordesmoote be cosyn to the dede. Also I prey yow to foryeve it me, Al have I nat set folk in hir degree Heere in this tale, as that they sholdestonde. My wit is short, ye may welunderstonde.

6. Caxton’s Tales: The Knight

7. Route of Pilgrimage

8. Blasphemy as Poetic Glue Ourehoostelough and swoor, so moot I gon, This gooth aright; unbokeled is the male. Lat se now who shaltelle another tale; For trewely the game is welbigonne. Now telleth ye, sir monk, if that ye konne Somwhat to quite with the knyghtes tale. The millere, that for dronken was al pale, So that unnethe upon his hors he sat, He noldeavalen neither hood ne hat, Ne abyde no man for his curteisie, But in Pilates voys he gan to crie, And swoor, by armes, and by blood and bones, I kan a noble tale for the nones, With which I wol now quite the knyghtes tale. Ourehoostesaugh that he was dronke of ale, And seyde, abyd, Robyn, my leeve brother; Sombettre man shaltelle us first another. Abyd, and lat us werken thriftily. By Goddessoule, quod he, that wolnat I; For I wolspeke, or elles go my wey. Ourehoostanswerde, tel on, a develwey!

9. MineHost Greet chiere made ourehoost us everichon, And to the sopersette he us anon. He served us with vitaille at the beste; Strong was the wyn, and wel to drynke us leste. A semely man ourehooste was withalle For to han been a marchal in an halle. A large man he was with eyen stepe -- A fairer burgeys is ther noon in chepe -- Boold of his speche, and wys, and welytaught, And of manhodhymlakkede right naught. Eek therto he was right a myrie man, And after soperpleyen he bigan, And spak of myrtheamongesotherethynges, Whan that we haddemaadourerekenynges, And seyde thus: now, lordynges, trewely, Ye been to me right welcome, hertely; For by my trouthe, if that I shalnat lye, I saughnat this yeer so myrie a compaignye Atones in this herberwe as is now. Faynwolde I doon yow myrthe, wiste I how. And of a myrthe I am right now bythoght, To doon yow ese, and it shalcostenoght.

10. Host • 3. Host in the OED • HOST 1. An armed company or multitude of men; an army. Now arch. and poet • HOST 2. A. A man who lodges and entertains another in his house: the correlative of guest. A man who lodges and entertains for payment; a man who keeps a public place of lodging or entertainment; the landlord of an inn. Often in archaic phr. mine (my) host = the landlord of such and such an inn. • HOST 3. A place of lodging or entertainment; a hostel, inn. • HOST 4. A victim for sacrifice; a sacrifice (lit. and fig.): often said of Christ. Obs. The bread consecrated in the Eucharist, regarded as the body of Christ sacrificially offered; a consecrated wafer.

11. The Host: I Corinthians, Chapter 12 • 12 For as there is one body, and hath many members, and all the members of the body when those be many, be one body, so also Christ. • 13 For in one Spirit all we be baptized into one body, either Jews, either heathen, either servants, either free; and all we be filled with drink in one Spirit. • 14 For the body is not one member, but many. • 15 If the foot shall say, For I am not the hand, I am not of the body; not therefore it is not of the body. • 16 And if the ear saith, For I am not the eye, I am not of the body; not therefore it is not of the body. • 17 If all the body is the eye, where is hearing? and if all the body is hearing, where is smelling? • 18 But now God hath set members, and each of them in the body, as he would. • 19 And if all were one member, where were the body? • 20 But now there be many members, but one body.

12. The Pardoner With hymther rood a gentil pardoner Of rouncivale, his freend and his compeer, That streight was comen fro the court of rome. Fulloude he soong com hider, love, to me! This somonour bar to hym a stifburdoun; Was neveretrompe of half so greet a soun. This pardoner haddeheer as yelow as wex, But smothe it heeng as dooth a strike of flex; By ounces henge his lokkes that he hadde, And therwith he his shuldresoverspradde; But thynne it lay, by colponsoon and oon. But hood, for jolitee, wered he noon, For it was trussed up in his walet. Hymthoughte he rood al of the newe jet; Dischevelee, save his cappe, he rood al bare. Swicheglarynge eyen hadde he as an hare. A vernyclehadde he sowed upon his cappe. His walet lay bifornhym in his lappe, Bretful of pardoun, comen from rome al hoot. A voys he hadde as smal as hath a goot. No berdhadde he, ne neveresholde have; As smothe it was as it were late shave. I trowe he were a geldyng or a mare. But of his craft, fro berwyk into ware, Ne was therswich another pardoner For in his male he hadde a pilwe-beer, Which that he seyde was oure lady veyl:

13. (The Pardoner) He seyde he hadde a gobet of the seyl That seint peter hadde, whan that he wente Upon the see, tiljhesucristhymhente. He hadde a croys of latounful of stones, And in a glas he haddepigges bones. But with thiserelikes, whan that he fond A povre person dwellynge upon lond, Upon a day he gat hymmooremoneye Than that the person gat in monthestweye; And thus, with feynedflaterye and japes, He made the person and the peple his apes. But trewely to tellenattelaste, He was in chirche a noble ecclesiaste. Welkoude he rede a lessoun or a storie, But alderbest he song an offertorie; For wel he wiste, whan that song was songe, He mostepreche and welaffile his tonge To wynne silver, as he fulwelkoude; Therefore he song the murierly and loude.