Canterbury Tales and Other Poems, Geoffrey Chaucer [good fiction books to read txt] 📗

rue, take pity And at the laste made their accord. reconciliation All* found they Danger** for a time a lord, although *disdain Yet Pity, through her stronge gentle might, Forgave, and made mercy pass aright

Through Innocence, and ruled Courtesy.

But I ne call not innocence folly

Nor false pity, for virtue is the mean, As Ethic <9> saith, in such manner I mean.

And thus these fowles, void of all malice, Accorded unto Love, and lefte vice

Of hate, and sangen all of one accord, “Welcome, Summer, our governor and lord!”

And Zephyrus and Flora gentilly

Gave to the flowers, soft and tenderly, Their sweete breath, and made them for to spread, As god and goddess of the flow’ry mead; In which me thought I mighte, day by day, Dwellen alway, the jolly month of May, Withoute sleep, withoute meat or drink.

Adown full softly I began to sink,

And, leaning on mine elbow and my side The longe day I shope* to abide, *resolved, prepared For nothing elles, and I shall not lie But for to look upon the daisy;

That men by reason well it calle may

The Daye’s-eye, or else the Eye of Day, The empress and the flow’r of flowers all I pray to God that faire may she fall!

And all that love flowers, for her sake: But, nathelesse, *ween not that I make do not fancy that I In praising of the Flow’r against the Leaf, write this poem*

No more than of the corn against the sheaf; For as to me is lever none nor lother, I n’am withholden yet with neither n’other.<10>

Nor I n’ot who serves Leaf, nor who the Flow’r; nor do I know

Well brooke they their service or labour! may they profit by

For this thing is all of another tun, <11>

Of old story, ere such thing was begun.

 

When that the sun out of the south gan west, And that this flow’r gan close, and go to rest, For darkness of the night, the which she dread; dreaded Home to my house full swiftly I me sped, To go to rest, and early for to rise,

To see this flower spread, as I devise. describe And in a little arbour that I have,

That benched was of turfes fresh y-grave,* <12> *cut out I bade men shoulde me my couche make;

For dainty* of the newe summer’s sake, *pleasure I bade them strowe flowers on my bed.

When I was laid, and had mine eyen hid, I fell asleep; within an hour or two,

Me mette* how I lay in the meadow tho,* dreamed **then To see this flow’r that I love so and dread.

And from afar came walking in the mead The God of Love, and in his hand a queen; And she was clad in royal habit green; A fret* of gold she hadde next her hair, band And upon that a white corown she bare, With flowrons small, and, as I shall not lie, *florets <13>

For all the world right as a daisy

Y-crowned is, with white leaves lite, small So were the flowrons of her crowne white.

For of one pearle, fine, oriential,

Her white crowne was y-maked all,

For which the white crown above the green Made her like a daisy for to see’n, look upon Consider’d eke her fret of gold above.

Y-clothed was this mighty God of Love

In silk embroider’d, full of greene greves, boughs In which there was a fret of red rose leaves, The freshest since the world was first begun.

His gilt hair was y-crowned with a sun, lnstead of gold, for* heaviness and weight; to avoid Therewith me thought his face shone so bright, That well unnethes might I him behold; And in his hand me thought I saw him hold Two fiery dartes, as the gledes red; *glowing coals And angel-like his winges saw I spread.

And *all be* that men say that blind is he, although

Algate* me thoughte that he might well see; *at all events For sternly upon me he gan behold,

So that his looking *did my hearte cold. made my heart And by the hand he held this noble queen, grow cold*

Crowned with white, and clothed all in green, So womanly, so benign, and so meek,

That in this worlde, though that men would seek.

Half of her beauty shoulde they not find In creature that formed is by Kind; Nature And therefore may I say, as thinketh me, This song in praising of this lady free: “Hide, Absolon, thy gilte* tresses clear; *golden Esther, lay thou thy meekness all adown; Hide, Jonathan, all thy friendly mannere, Penelope, and Marcia Catoun,<14>

Make of your wifehood no comparisoun;

Hide ye your beauties, Isoude <15> and Helene; My lady comes, that all this may distain. outdo, obscure “Thy faire body let it not appear,

Lavine; <16> and thou, Lucrece of Rome town; And Polyxene, <17> that boughte love so dear, And Cleopatra, with all thy passioun,

Hide ye your truth of love, and your renown; And thou, Thisbe, that hadst of love such pain My lady comes, that all this may distain.

 

“Hero, Dido, Laodamia, y-fere, together And Phyllis, hanging for Demophoon,

And Canace, espied by thy cheer,

Hypsipyle, betrayed by Jasoun,

Make of your truthe neither boast nor soun’; Nor Hypermnestr’ nor Ariadne, ye twain; My lady comes, that all this may distain.”

 

This ballad may full well y-sungen be, As I have said erst, by my lady free;

For, certainly, all these may not suffice *T’appaire with* my lady in no wise; surpass in beauty For, as the sunne will the fire distain, or honour

So passeth all my lady sovereign,

That is so good, so fair, so debonair, I pray to God that ever fall her fair!

For n’hadde comfort been of her presence, had I not the I had been dead, without any defence, comfort of

For dread of Love’s wordes, and his cheer; As, when time is, hereafter ye shall hear.

Behind this God of Love, upon the green, I saw coming of Ladies nineteen,

In royal habit, a full easy pace;

And after them of women such a trace, train That, since that God Adam had made of earth, The thirde part of mankind, or the ferth, fourth *Ne ween’d I not* by possibility, I never fancied

Had ever in this wide world y-be; been And true of love these women were each one.

Now whether was that a wonder thing, or non, not That, right anon as that they gan espy This flow’r, which that I call the daisy, Full suddenly they stenten* all at once, stopped And kneeled down, as it were for the nonce, And sange with one voice, “Heal and honour To truth of womanhead, and to this flow’r, That bears our aller prize in figuring; that in its figure bears Her white crowne bears the witnessing!” the prize from us all*

And with that word, *a-compass enviroun all around in a ring*

They sette them full softely adown.

First sat the God of Love, and since* his queen, afterwards With the white corowne, clad in green; And sithen all the remnant by and by, then As they were of estate, full courteously; And not a word was spoken in the place, The mountance of a furlong way of space. *extent <18>

 

I, kneeling by this flow’r, in good intent Abode, to knowe what this people meant, As still as any stone, till, at the last, The God of Love on me his eyen cast,

And said, “Who kneeleth there? “and I answer’d Unto his asking, when that I it heard, And said, “It am I,” and came to him near, And salued* him. Quoth he, “What dost thou here, *saluted So nigh mine owen flow’r, so boldely?

It were better worthy, truely,

A worm to nighe* near my flow’r than thou.” *approach, draw nigh “And why, Sir,” quoth I, “an’ it liketh you?”

“For thou,” quoth he, “art thereto nothing able, It is my relic,* dign** and delectable, emblem <19> *worthy And thou my foe, and all my folk warrayest, molestest, censurest And of mine olde servants thou missayest, And hind’rest them, with thy translation, And lettest* folk from their devotion *preventest To serve me, and holdest it folly

To serve Love; thou may’st it not deny; For in plain text, withoute need of glose, comment, gloss Thu hast translated the Romance of the Rose, That is a heresy against my law,

And maketh wise folk from me withdraw; And of Cresside thou hast said as thee list, That maketh men to women less to trust, That be as true as e’er was any steel.

Of thine answer *advise thee right weel; consider right well*

For though that thou *renied hast my lay, abjured my law As other wretches have done many a day, or religion*

By Sainte Venus, that my mother is,

If that thou live, thou shalt repente this, So cruelly, that it shall well be seen.”

 

Then spake this Lady, clothed all in green, And saide, “God, right of your courtesy, Ye mighte hearken if he can reply

Against all this, that ye have *to him meved; advanced against him*

A godde shoulde not be thus aggrieved, But of his deity he shall be stable,

And thereto gracious and merciable. merciful And if ye n’ere* a god, that knoweth all, *were not Then might it be, as I you telle shall, This man to you may falsely be accused, Whereas by right him ought to be excused; For in your court is many a losengeour, deceiver <20>

And many a *quaint toteler accusour, strange prating accuser <21>*

That tabour* in your eares many a soun’, *drum Right after their imaginatioun,

To have your dalliance,* and for envy; pleasant conversation, These be the causes, and I shall not lie, company Envy is lavender of the Court alway, *laundress For she departeth neither night nor day <22>

Out of the house of Caesar, thus saith Dant’; Whoso that go’th, algate* she shall not want. at all events And eke, parauntre, for this man is nice,* peradventure **foolish He mighte do it guessing* no malice; *thinking For he useth thinges for to make; compose poetry Him *recketh naught of what mattere he take; cares nothing for*

Or he was bidden *make thilke tway compose those two*

Of* some person, and durst it not withsay; by **refuse, deny Or him repenteth utterly of this.

He hath not done so grievously amiss,

To translate what olde clerkes write,

As though that he of malice would endite, write down *Despite of* Love, and had himself it wrought. contempt for

This should a righteous lord have in his thought, And not be like tyrants of Lombardy,

That have no regard but at tyranny.

For he that king or lord is naturel,

Him oughte not be tyrant or cruel, <23>

As is a farmer, <24> to do the harm he can; He muste think, it is his liegeman,

And is his treasure, and his gold in coffer; This is the sentence* of the philosopher: *opinion, sentiment A king to keep his lieges in justice,

Withoute doubte that is his office.

All* will he keep his lords in their degree, — although As it is right and skilful that they be, *reasonable Enhanced and honoured, and most dear,

For they be halfe* in this world here, — *demigods Yet must he do both right to poor and rich, All be that their estate be not y-lich; alike And have of