The Canterbury Tales, and Other Poems

Name: The Canterbury Tales, and Other Poems
Author: Chaucer, Geoffrey

Chaucer, Geoffrey

Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400; Christian pilgrims and pilgrimages -- Poetry; English poetry -- Middle English, 1100-1500

Their meeke prayer and their piteous cheer
Made the marquis for to have pity.
“Ye will,” quoth he, “mine owen people dear,
To that I ne’er ere* thought constraine me.                      *before
I me rejoiced of my liberty,
That seldom time is found in rnarriage;
Where I was free, I must be in servage!*                      *servitude

“But natheless I see your true intent,
And trust upon your wit, and have done aye:
Wherefore of my free will I will assent
To wedde me, as soon as e’er I may.
But whereas ye have proffer’d me to-day
To choose me a wife, I you release
That choice, and pray you of that proffer cease.

“For God it wot, that children often been
Unlike their worthy elders them before,
Bounte* comes all of God, not of the strene**                  *goodness
Of which they be engender’d and y-bore:                    **stock, race
I trust in Godde’s bounte, and therefore
My marriage, and mine estate and rest,
I *him betake;* he may do as him lest.                   *commend to him

“Let me alone in choosing of my wife;
That charge upon my back I will endure:
But I you pray, and charge upon your life,
That what wife that I take, ye me assure
To worship* her, while that her life may dure,                   *honour
In word and work both here and elleswhere,
As she an emperore’s daughter were.

“And farthermore this shall ye swear, that ye
Against my choice shall never grudge* nor strive.                *murmur
For since I shall forego my liberty
At your request, as ever may I thrive,
Where as mine heart is set, there will I live
And but* ye will assent in such mannere,                         *unless
I pray you speak no more of this mattere.”

With heartly will they sworen and assent
To all this thing, there said not one wight nay:
Beseeching him of grace, ere that they went,
That he would grante them a certain day
Of his espousal, soon as e’er he rnay,
For yet always the people somewhat dread*         *were in fear or doubt
Lest that the marquis woulde no wife wed.

He granted them a day, such as him lest,
On which he would be wedded sickerly,*                        *certainly
And said he did all this at their request;
And they with humble heart full buxomly,*                *obediently <3>
Kneeling upon their knees full reverently,
Him thanked all; and thus they have an end
Of their intent, and home again they wend.

And hereupon he to his officers
Commanded for the feaste to purvey.*                            *provide
And to his privy knightes and squiers
Such charge he gave, as him list on them lay:
And they to his commandement obey,
And each of them doth all his diligence
To do unto the feast all reverence.

*Pars Secunda*                                             *Second Part*

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

The Canterbury Tales, and Other PoemsChaucer, Geoffrey

ReligionChristian

The Canterbury Tales, and Other Poems

Chaucer, Geoffrey

Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400; Christian pilgrims and pilgrimages -- Poetry; English poetry -- Middle English, 1100-1500

Their meeke prayer and their piteous cheer
Made the marquis for to have pity.
“Ye will,” quoth he, “mine owen people dear,
To that I ne’er ere* thought constraine me.                      *before
I me rejoiced of my liberty,
That seldom time is found in rnarriage;
Where I was free, I must be in servage!*                      *servitude

“But natheless I see your true intent,
And trust upon your wit, and have done aye:
Wherefore of my free will I will assent
To wedde me, as soon as e’er I may.
But whereas ye have proffer’d me to-day
To choose me a wife, I you release
That choice, and pray you of that proffer cease.

“For God it wot, that children often been
Unlike their worthy elders them before,
Bounte* comes all of God, not of the strene**                  *goodness
Of which they be engender’d and y-bore:                    **stock, race
I trust in Godde’s bounte, and therefore
My marriage, and mine estate and rest,
I *him betake;* he may do as him lest.                   *commend to him

“Let me alone in choosing of my wife;
That charge upon my back I will endure:
But I you pray, and charge upon your life,
That what wife that I take, ye me assure
To worship* her, while that her life may dure,                   *honour
In word and work both here and elleswhere,
As she an emperore’s daughter were.

“And farthermore this shall ye swear, that ye
Against my choice shall never grudge* nor strive.                *murmur
For since I shall forego my liberty
At your request, as ever may I thrive,
Where as mine heart is set, there will I live
And but* ye will assent in such mannere,                         *unless
I pray you speak no more of this mattere.”

With heartly will they sworen and assent
To all this thing, there said not one wight nay:
Beseeching him of grace, ere that they went,
That he would grante them a certain day
Of his espousal, soon as e’er he rnay,
For yet always the people somewhat dread*         *were in fear or doubt
Lest that the marquis woulde no wife wed.

He granted them a day, such as him lest,
On which he would be wedded sickerly,*                        *certainly
And said he did all this at their request;
And they with humble heart full buxomly,*                *obediently <3>
Kneeling upon their knees full reverently,
Him thanked all; and thus they have an end
Of their intent, and home again they wend.

And hereupon he to his officers
Commanded for the feaste to purvey.*                            *provide
And to his privy knightes and squiers
Such charge he gave, as him list on them lay:
And they to his commandement obey,
And each of them doth all his diligence
To do unto the feast all reverence.

*Pars Secunda*                                             *Second Part*

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Canterbury Tales, and Other Poems

The Canterbury Tales, and Other Poems

No reviews yet