Geoffrey Chaucer

1340-1400

Modern poetry begins with Geoffrey Chaucer, a diplomat, a soldier, a scholar. He was a bourgeois who understood the court and had a keen eye for the ordinary man, and he was a reader who had studied most of literature available at his time. Chaucer was the first who broke away from medieval forms and cleared the way for realism.

Geoffrey Chaucer was born in 1340 in London, soon after the Hundred Years' War broke out. His father was a London wine merchant. His parents were far from wealthy and he received education his parents were able to give him in that town. Many people think he must have been educated at Oxford or Cambridge because he was a poet, but nothing is known about that.

His father who had connections with the court hoped for a courtier's career for his son, and at 17 Geoffrey was a page to a lady at the court of Edward III. He was a favourite with the royal family.

At 20, Chaucer was in France serving as an esquire (arms-bearer to a knight) and was then taken prisoner by the French. All his friends helped to ransom him (to be ransomed means to be sat at liberty as soon as money is paid for the prisoner). Even Edward III contributed 16 pounds towards his ransom.

On his return to England, Chaucer passed into attendance on John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth son of the king. At court he met travellers and men of law who came to England from other countries, and the realities of life had taught him more about the world than did all the absurdities of the Middle Ages when the printing of books had not yet been invented. [11]

Chaucer met a young lady at court named Philippa. They were married in i 366. Chaucer wrote his first poems at this time but he never wrote a single line of poetry to his young wife. The marriage was probably not a romantic one.

THREE PERIODS IN CHAUCER'S WRITING

The French period: Chaucer's earliest poems were written in imitation of the French romances. Chaucer spoke French well and was fond of French poetry. It had taught him rhyme and rhythm. He liked the metric principle of French verse. He translated from French a famous allegorical poem of the 13^th century, "The Romance of the Rose".

The Italian period: The second period of Chaucer's writings was that of the Italian influence. To this period belong the following poems: "The House of Fame", "The Parliament of Birds", and "The Legend of Wood Women". Chaucer was well read in the old Roman authors. Italian literature taught him the meaning of national literature. Chaucer is so justly called the last writer of the Middle ages and the first of the Renaissance.

The English period: the third period of Chaucer's creative work begins from the year 1384 when he left behind the Italian influence and became entirely English. It was at this time that he wrote his masterpiece, the "Canterbury Tales".

The "Canterbury Tales" are a series of stories written in verse. The framework which serves to connect them is a pilgrimage to Canterbury. The pilgrims agree to tell stories to shorten a tiresome for-days' trip. The distance from London to Canterbury is 60 miles, but in those days there was no straight road to go by.

Pilgrimages of every kind were extremely common in Chaucer's time. Such journeys were no doubt very valuable as a means to break up the monotony of life in days when there were no newspapers and no printed books nor any theatres. Many people looked forward to them as to pleasant holiday excursions. As you know, spring is the best season of the year in the British Isles, And no wonder April and May were the months for these pilgrimages. [12]

The most famous English pilgrimage was to Canterbury. Second to Canterbury was the town of Chester where people could see Bible stories performed in the churches. Pilgrimage towns were crowded with inns and churches. Bells were constantly ringing. Some churches had relics and people believed these had the miraculous power to cure diseases which physicians could not cure. Other people were attracted by the beautiful monuments.

Chaucer may have had the idea of a collection of stories from Boccaccio's "Decameron", but he borrowed little more than the initial idea. He keeps the whole poem alive by interspersing the tales themselves with the talk, the quarrels and the opinions of the pilgrims.

The "Canterbury Tales" sum up all types of stories that existed in the Middle Ages; some of these stories were known only in Norman-French before Chaucer. He also used the writings of his near contemporaries as well as the works of the writers of ancient times and distant lands.