The Canterbury Tales cf坎特伯雷故事集 CF.edliostatic.pptVIP

Middle English Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne, And smale foweles maken melodye, That slepen al the nyght with open eye- (So priketh hem Nature in hir corages); Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes; Modern English When in April the sweet showers fall That pierce Marchs drought to the root and all And bathed every vein in liquor that has power To generate therein and sire the flower; When Zephyr also has with his sweet breath, Filled again, in every holt and heath, The tender shoots and leaves, and the young sun His half-course in the sign of the Ram has run, And many little birds make melody That sleep through all the night with open eye (So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage) Then folk do long to go on pilgrimage, And palmers to go seeking out strange strands, To distant shrines well known in distant lands. Poetry versus Prose Most of The Canterbury Tales are composed in verse, or poetry. However, two of the tales are told in prose, or short story-style writing. Chaucer’s Poetry The Canterbury Tales are written in Iambic Pentameter. Iambs are poetic feet that are an unstressed syllable, followed by a stressed syllable. An example would be: “Come live/with me/my Love” Pentameter is a line of poetry with five metrical feet. The Tales The Canterbury Tales are told in a Frame Narrative. This means that the main story is written to organize several smaller stories within the work. Essentially, the main story frames the tales of the travelers within. The Tales The Tales are made up of the stories of several pilgrims traveling to Canterbury. These pilgrims make up both upper and lower c