EXPLANATION WITH REFERENCE TO THE

CONTEXT: THE PROLOGUE TO THE CANTERBURY

TALES BY CHAUCER
SAMPLE ANSWERS - CLASSICAL POETRY

QUESTION NO. 1

(a) That of hir smylyng .......... cleped Madam Eglentyne.

REFERENCE
(i) Poem: The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales
(ii) Poet: Geoffrey Chaucer
CONTEXT
(i) Occurrence: The Prioress (Lines 119-121/858)
(ii) Content: It is the month of April in circa 1390. A group
of twenty-nine pilgrims gathers at a tavern in Southwark
called Tabard Inn. The goal of their journey is the shrine of
St. Thomas a Becket in Canterbury. The narrator, Chaucer,
encounters them there and becomes one of their company.
The narrator seeks to describe their 'condition', 'array' and
'degree'. The Host at the Inn proposes the story-telling
contest among the pilgrims.
EXPLANATION
In these lines the poet has described three characteristics
of the Prioress; her smile, faith and nick name. The smile of
the Prioress is very simple. It is easy to understand,
presenting no difficulty. Her smile also makes a pretence of
shyness and modesty which intends to be alluring. Thus she
is a coquettish woman. Secondly, she has a firm faith in
Saint Eloy who was the patron saint of goldsmiths, other
metalworkers, and coin collectors. This saint worked for
twenty years to convert the pagan population of Flanders to
Christianity. Thirdly, she has a romantic name, Madam
Eglantine. Eglantine is, in fact, a wild rose native to Eurasia
having prickly stem, fragrant leaves, bright pink flowers,
and scarlet hips. In Madam Eglantine, Chaucer depicts
charm without substance. Thus Chaucer has described the
nun in the opposite way to show us, how the nun Prioress
had all the characteristics that a nun should not have.

(b) And theron heng .......... Amor Vincit Omnia.

REFERENCE
(i) Poem: The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales
(ii) Poet: Geoffrey Chaucer
CONTEXT
(i) Occurrence: The Prioress (Lines 160-162/858)
(ii) Context: As Above
EXPLANATION
In these lines the poet has portrayed the Prioress's gold
brooch and its motto. A brooch is a decorative jewelry item
designed to be attached to garments by a pin or clasp, often
to hold them closed. It is worn at or near the neck. The
brooch, the Prioress is wearing, is dominated by the letter
"A" which stands for Amor i.e. love. Some critics also
assume the the brooch is in the shape of the letter "A".
However, the most striking quality of the brooch is the
Latin inscription on it: "Amor vincit omnia" which means
"Love conquers all." This quote is from "Eclogue X" by
Virgil. This Virgilian motto is very ambiguous. If it refers
to celestial, heavenly love, then the brooch is an acceptable
article to be found on the person of a nun. But it represents
earthly love between a man and a woman which is absent
in nuns. In short, the brooch is a symbol of the Prioress's
unchristian character, her connection to laymen and the
peasantry, rather than to any religious vocation.

(c) Therefore he was .......... no cost wolde he spare.

REFERENCE
(i) Poem: The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales
(ii) Poet: Geoffrey Chaucer
CONTEXT
(i) Occurrence: The Monk (Lines 189-192/858)
(ii) Content: As Above
EXPLANATION
In these lines the poet describes the Monk's favourite
pastimes; riding horses and hunting hares. A monk is a
member of religious community of men typically living
under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. However,
Chaucer's Monk is corrupt. He does not follow the rules of
the monastery which say that monks should not hunt. This
Monk prefers to go hunting. He has many galloping horses
and coursing greyhounds. The greyhounds are as fast as
birds in flight. They can run at a speed of 64 kilometers per
hour. He uses these greyhounds to track his preys. He
usually hunts hares which are very innocent animals. This
shows the Monk's cruel nature. To ride the horses and hunt
the hares was a source of pleasure for him. He would do it
whatever the cost. In short, he is a "monk out of his
cloister" who is not "worth an oyster".
(d) Full wel biloved .......... wommen of the toun;

REFERENCE
(i) Poem: The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales
(ii) Poet: Geoffrey Chaucer
CONTEXT
(i) Occurrence: The Friar (Lines 215-217/858)
(ii) Content: As Above
EXPLANATION
In these lines the poet describes the Friar's intimacy with
the franklins of his country and noblewomen of his town.
The main duty of a friar is to live among the poor, to beg on
their behalf and to give his earning to aid their struggle for
livelihood. However, Chaucer's Friar is corrupt. He has
acquaintance with franklins; the landowners of free but not
noble birth. Moreover, he has familiarity with the
noblewomen of the town because he has the power of
confession. He is highly liked by these opulent people. In
short, the Friar likes to hang out with wealthy people
instead of living the life that St. Francis, the first friar,
prescribes, he would spend time with the poor and sick.

Prologue to canterbury tales

Explaination
1 - 12 lines
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 halve cours yronne,
And smale fowles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open ye
(So priketh hem nature in hir corages),
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages.
(General Prologue, 1–12)
These are the opening lines with which the narrator begins
the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales. The
imagery in this opening passage is of spring’s renewal and
rebirth. April’s sweet showers have penetrated the dry earth
of March, hydrating the roots, which in turn coax flowers
out of the ground. The constellation Taurus is in the sky;
Zephyr, the warm, gentle west wind, has breathed life into
the fields; and the birds chirp merrily. The verbs used to
describe Nature’s actions—piercing (2), engendering (4),
inspiring (5), and pricking (11)—conjure up images of
conception.

The natural world’s reawakening aligns with the narrator’s

similarly “inspired” poetic sensibility. The classical (Latin
and Ancient Greek) authors that Chaucer emulated and
wanted to surpass would always begin their epic narrative
poems by invoking a muse, or female goddess, to inspire
them, quite literally to talk or breathe a story into them.
Most of them begin “Sing in me, O muse,” about a
particular subject. Chaucer too begins with a moment of
inspiration, but in this case it is the natural inspiration of
the earth readying itself for spring rather than a
supernatural being filling the poet’s body with her voice.
After the long sleep of winter, people begin to stir, feeling
the need to “goon on pilgrimages,” or to travel to a site
where one worships a saint’s relics as a means of spiritual
cleansing and renewal. Since winter ice and snow made
traveling long distances almost impossible (this was an age
not only before automobiles but also before adequately
developed horse-drawn carriages), the need to get up,
stretch one’s legs, and see the world outside the window
must have been great. Pilgrimages combined spring
vacations with religious purification.

The landscape in this passage also clearly situates the text

in England. This is not a classical landscape like the Troy
of Homer’s Iliad, nor is it an entirely fictionalized space
like the cool groves and rocky cliffs of imaginary Arcadia
from pastoral poetry and romances. Chaucer’s landscape is
also accessible to all types of people, but especially those
who inhabit the countryside, since Chaucer speaks of
budding flowers, growing crops, and singing birds