1

General Prologue to Prioress’ tale

118 Ther was also a Nonne, a PRIORESSE,
There was also a Nun, a PRIORESS, (poverty, obedience and chastity)
119 That of hir smylyng was ful symple and coy;
Who was very simple and modest in her smiling;
120 Hire gretteste ooth was but by Seinte Loy;
Her greatest oath was but by Saint Loy;
121 And she was cleped madame Eglentyne.
And she was called Madam Eglantine. (Englentine)
122 Ful weel she soong the service dyvyne,
She sang the divine service very well,
123 Entuned in hir nose ful semely;
Intoned in her nose in a very polite manner;
124 And Frenssh she spak ful faire and fetisly,
And she spoke French very well and elegantly,
125 After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe,
In the manner of Stratford at the Bow,
126 For Frenssh of Parys was to hire unknowe.
For French of Paris was to her unknown.
127 At mete wel ytaught was she with alle;
At meals she was well taught indeed;
128 She leet no morsel from hir lippes falle,
She let no morsel fall from her lips,
129 Ne wette hir fyngres in hir sauce depe;
Nor wet her fingers deep in her sauce;
130 Wel koude she carie a morsel and wel kepe
She well knew how to carry a morsel (to her mouth) and take good care
131 That no drope ne fille upon hire brest.
That no drop fell upon her breast.
132 In curteisie was set ful muchel hir lest.
Her greatest pleasure was in good manners.
133 Hir over-lippe wyped she so clene
She wiped her upper lip so clean
134 That in hir coppe ther was no ferthyng sene
That in her cup there was seen no tiny bit
135 Of grece, whan she dronken hadde hir draughte.
Of grease, when she had drunk her drink.
136 Ful semely after hir mete she raughte.
She reached for her food in a very seemly manner.
137 And sikerly she was of greet desport,
And surely she was of excellent deportment,
138 And ful plesaunt, and amyable of port,
And very pleasant, and amiable in demeanor,
139 And peyned hire to countrefete cheere
And she took pains to imitate the manners
140 Of court, and to been estatlich of manere,
Of court, and to be dignified in behavior,
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141 And to ben holden digne of reverence.
And to be considered worthy of reverence.
142 But for to speken of hire conscience,
But to speak of her moral sense,
143 She was so charitable and so pitous
She was so charitable and so compassionate
144 She wolde wepe, if that she saugh a mous
She would weep, if she saw a mouse
145 Kaught in a trappe, if it were deed or bledde.
Caught in a trap, if it were dead or bled.
146 Of smale houndes hadde she that she fedde
She had some small hounds that she fed
147 With rosted flessh, or milk and wastel-breed.
With roasted meat, or milk and fine white bread.
148 But soore wepte she if oon of hem were deed,
But sorely she wept if one of them were dead,
149 Or if men smoot it with a yerde smerte;
Or if someone smote it smartly with a stick;
150 And al was conscience and tendre herte.
And all was feeling and tender heart.
151 Ful semyly hir wympul pynched was,
Her wimple was pleated in a very seemly manner,
152 Hir nose tretys, hir eyen greye as glas,
Her nose well formed, her eyes gray as glass,
153 Hir mouth ful smal, and therto softe and reed.
Her mouth very small, and moreover soft and red.
154 But sikerly she hadde a fair forheed;
But surely she had a fair forehead;
155 It was almoost a spanne brood, I trowe;
It was almost nine inches broad, I believe;
156 For, hardily, she was nat undergrowe.
For, certainly, she was not undergrown.
157 Ful fetys was hir cloke, as I was war.
Her cloak was very well made , as I was aware.
158 Of smal coral aboute hire arm she bar
About her arm she bore of small coral
159 A peire of bedes, gauded al with grene,
A set of beads, adorned with large green beads,
160 And theron heng a brooch of gold ful sheene,
And thereon hung a brooch of very bright gold,
161 On which ther was first write a crowned A,
On which there was first written an A with a crown,
162 And after Amor vincit omnia.
And after "Love conquers all."
.
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(the two sections below are not prescribed for the study. However, you may read the two sections
below to have a better understanding of the general prologue)

The Prologue of The Prioress's Tale

Domine dominus noster

Oh lord, our lord
453 O Lord, oure Lord, thy name how merveillous
Oh Lord, our Lord, how marvelous thy name
454 Is in this large world ysprad -- quod she --
Is spread in this large world -- said she --
455 For noght oonly thy laude precious
For not only thy precious praise
456 Parfourned is by men of dignitee,
Is performed by men of dignity,
457 But by the mouth of children thy bountee
But by the mouths of children thy goodness
458 Parfourned is, for on the brest soukynge
Is made known, for on the breast sucking
459 Somtyme shewen they thyn heriynge.
Sometimes they show thy praise.
460 Wherfore in laude, as I best kan or may,
Therefore in praise, as I best know how or can,
461 Of thee and of the white lylye flour
Of thee and of the white lily flour
462 Which that the bar, and is a mayde alway,
That bore thee, and is a maid always,
463 To telle a storie I wol do my labour;
To tell a story I will do my labor;
464 Nat that I may encressen hir honour,
Not that I may increase her honor,
465 For she hirself is honour and the roote
For she herself is honor and the root
466 Of bountee, next hir Sone, and soules boote.
Of goodness, next to her Son, and soul's remedy.
467 O mooder Mayde, O mayde Mooder free!
Oh mother Maiden, Oh generous maiden and Mother!
468 O bussh unbrent, brennynge in Moyses sighte,
Oh bush unburned, burning in Moses' sight,
469 That ravyshedest doun fro the Deitee,
That ravished down from the Deity,
470 Thurgh thyn humblesse, the Goost that in th' alighte,
Through thy humility, the Ghost that alighted in thee,
471 Of whos vertu, whan he thyn herte lighte,
By whose power, when he illuminated thy heart,
472 Conceyved was the Fadres sapience,
The Father's Wisdom was conceived,
473 Help me to telle it in thy reverence!
Help me to tell it in thy reverence!
474 Lady, thy bountee, thy magnificence,
Lady, thy goodness, thy magnificence,
475 Thy vertu and thy grete humylitee
Thy virtue and thy great humility
476 Ther may no tonge expresse in no science;
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There can no tongue express in (the language of) any science;
477 For somtyme, Lady, er men praye to thee,
For sometimes, Lady, ere men pray to thee,
478 Thou goost biforn of thy benyngnytee,
Thou goest before because of thy kindliness,
479 And getest us the lyght, of thy preyere,
And gettest us the light, by thy prayer,
480 To gyden us unto thy Sone so deere.
To guide us unto thy Son so dear.
481 My konnyng is so wayk, O blisful Queene,
My ability is so weak, Oh blissful Queen,
482 For to declare thy grete worthynesse
To declare thy great worthiness
483 That I ne may the weighte nat susteene;
That I can not sustain the weight;
484 But as a child of twelf month oold, or lesse,
But as a child of twelve months old, or less,
485 That kan unnethes any word expresse,
That can hardly express any word,
486 Right so fare I, and therfore I yow preye,
Right so I do, and therefore I pray to you,
487 Gydeth my song that I shal of yow seye.
Guide my song that I shall say of you.

_______________________________
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The Prioress' Tale

Heere bigynneth the Prioresses Tale.
488 Ther was in Asye, in a greet citee,
There was in Asia, in a great city,
489 Amonges Cristene folk a Jewerye,
Among Christian folk a Ghetto,
490 Sustened by a lord of that contree
Sustained by a lord of that country
491 For foule usure and lucre of vileynye,
For foul usury and shameful profits,
492 Hateful to Crist and to his compaignye;
Hateful to Christ and to his company;
493 And thurgh the strete men myghte ride or wende,
And through the street men might ride or go,
494 For it was free and open at eyther ende.
For it was free and open at either end.
495 A litel scole of Cristen folk ther stood
A little school of Christian folk there stood
496 Doun at the ferther ende, in which ther were
Down at the farther end, in which there were
497 Children an heep, ycomen of Cristen blood,
A good many children, descended from Christian blood,
498 That lerned in that scole yeer by yere
That learned in that school year by year
499 Swich manere doctrine as men used there,
Such sort of doctrine as men used there,
500 This is to seyn, to syngen and to rede,
This is to say, to sing and to read,
501 As smale children doon in hire childhede.
As small children do in their childhood.
502 Among thise children was a wydwes sone,
Among these children was a widow's son,
503 A litel clergeon, seven yeer of age,
A little schoolboy, seven years of age,
504 That day by day to scole was his wone,
Whose custom was day by day to go to school,
505 And eek also, where as he saugh th' ymage
And in addition, moreover, where he saw the image
506 Of Cristes mooder, hadde he in usage,
Of Christ's mother, he had the practice,
507 As hym was taught, to knele adoun and seye
As was taught to him, to kneel down and say
508 His Ave Marie, as he goth by the weye.
His `Hail Mary,' as he goes by the way.
509 Thus hath this wydwe hir litel sone ytaught
Thus this widow has taught her little son
510 Oure blisful Lady, Cristes mooder deere,
Our blissful Lady, Christ's dear mother,
511 To worshipe ay, and he forgat it naught,
To worship always, and he forgot it not,
512 For sely child wol alday soone leere.
For an innocent child will always quickly learn.
513 But ay, whan I remembre on this mateere,
But always, when I think about this matter,
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514 Seint Nicholas stant evere in my presence,
Saint Nicholas stands ever in my mind,
515 For he so yong to Crist dide reverence.
Because he so young did reverence to Christ.
516 This litel child, his litel book lernynge,
This little child, learning his little book,
517 As he sat in the scole at his prymer,
As he sat in the school at his primer,
518 He Alma redemptoris herde synge,
He heard `Gracious (mother) of the Redeemer' being sung,
519 As children lerned hire antiphoner;
As children learned their antiphonal hymns;
520 And as he dorste, he drough hym ner and ner,
And as he dared, he drew him nearer and nearer,
521 And herkned ay the wordes and the noote,
And listened always to the words and the notes,
522 Til he the firste vers koude al by rote.
Until he knew the first verse entirely by heart.
523 Noght wiste he what this Latyn was to seye,
He knew not what this Latin meant,
524 For he so yong and tendre was of age.
For he was so young and tender of age.
525 But on a day his felawe gan he preye
But on one day he did pray his fellow
526 T' expounden hym this song in his langage,
To explain to him this song in his language,
527 Or telle hym why this song was in usage;
Or tell him why this song was in regular use;
528 This preyde he hym to construe and declare
This he prayed him to translate and explain
529 Ful often tyme upon his knowes bare.
Very frequently upon his bare knees.
530 His felawe, which that elder was than he,
His fellow, who was older than he,
531 Answerde hym thus: "This song, I have herd seye,
Answered him thus: "This song, I have heard tell,
532 Was maked of our blisful Lady free,
Was composed about our generous blissful Lady,
533 Hire to salue, and eek hire for to preye
To salute her, and also to pray her
534 To been oure help and socour whan we deye.
To be our help and succour when we die.
535 I kan namoore expounde in this mateere.
I can explain no more of this matter.
536 I lerne song; I kan but smal grammeere."
I learn song; I know but little grammar."
537 "And is this song maked in reverence
"And is this song composed in reverence
538 Of Cristes mooder?" seyde this innocent.
Of Christ's mother?" said this innocent.
539 "Now, certes, I wol do my diligence
"Now, certainly, I will do my best efforts
540 To konne it al er Cristemasse be went.
To learn it all before Christmas is gone.
541 Though that I for my prymer shal be shent
Though I for my primer shall be punished
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542 And shal be beten thries in an houre,
And shall be beaten thrice in an hour,
543 I wol it konne Oure Lady for to honoure!"
I will learn it to honor Our Lady!"
544 His felawe taughte hym homward prively,
His fellow privately taught him (as they went) homeward,
545 Fro day to day, til he koude it by rote,
From day to day, until he knew it by heart,
546 And thanne he song it wel and boldely,
And then he sang it well and boldly,
547 Fro word to word, acordynge with the note.
From word to word, in harmony with the tune.
548 Twies a day it passed thurgh his throte,
Twice a day it passed through his throat,
549 To scoleward and homward whan he wente;
When he went toward school and homeward;
550 On Cristes mooder set was his entente.
On Christ's mother his mind was set.
551 As I have seyd, thurghout the Juerie
As I have said, throughout the Ghetto
552 This litel child, as he cam to and fro,
This little child, as he came to and fro,
553 Ful murily than wolde he synge and crie
Very merrily then would he sing and cry
554 O Alma redemptoris everemo.
Always `O Gracious (mother) of the Redeemer'
555 The swetnesse his herte perced so
So pierced his heart the sweetness
556 Of Cristes mooder that, to hire to preye,
Of Christ's mother that, to pray to her,
557 He kan nat stynte of syngyng by the weye.
He can not stop singing by the way.
558 Oure firste foo, the serpent Sathanas,
Our first foe, the serpent Satan,
559 That hath in Jues herte his waspes nest,
That has his wasp's nest in Jews' hearts,
560 Up swal, and seide, "O Hebrayk peple, allas!
Swelled up, and said, "Oh Hebraic people, alas!
561 Is this to yow a thyng that is honest,
Is this a thing that is honorable to you,
562 That swich a boy shal walken as hym lest
That such a boy shall walk as he pleases
563 In youre despit, and synge of swich sentence,
In scorn of you, and sing of such a subject,
564 Which is agayn youre lawes reverence?"
Which is against your law's (due) reverence?"
565 Fro thennes forth the Jues han conspired
From thenceforth the Jews have conspired
566 This innocent out of this world to chace.
To drive this innocent out of this world.
567 An homycide therto han they hyred,
For this they have hired a murderer,
568 That in an aleye hadde a privee place;
Who in an alley had a secret place;
569 And as the child gan forby for to pace,
And as the child began to pass by,
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570 This cursed Jew hym hente, and heeld hym faste,
This cursed Jew seized him, and held him tightly,
571 And kitte his throte, and in a pit hym caste.
And cut his throat, and cast him in a pit.
572 I seye that in a wardrobe they hym threwe
I say that they threw him in a privy
573 Where as thise Jewes purgen hire entraille.
Where these Jews purge their entrails.
574 O cursed folk of Herodes al newe,
Oh cursed folk of new Herods,
575 What may youre yvel entente yow availle?
What may your evil intent avail you?
576 Mordre wol out, certeyn, it wol nat faille,
Murder will come out, certainly, it will not fail,
577 And namely ther th'onour of God shal sprede;
And especially where the honor of God shall spread;
578 The blood out crieth on youre cursed dede.
The blood cries out on your cursed deed.
579 O martir, sowded to virginitee,
Oh martyr, firmly united to virginity,
580 Now maystow syngen, folwynge evere in oon
Now canst thou sing, following continuously
581 The white Lamb celestial -- quod she --
The white celestial Lamb -- said she --
582 Of which the grete evaungelist, Seint John,
Of which the great evangelist, Saint John,
583 In Pathmos wroot, which seith that they that goon
In Pathmos wrote, who says that they that go
584 Biforn this Lamb and synge a song al newe,
Before this Lamb and sing a song all new,
585 That nevere, flesshly, wommen they ne knewe.
(Are) those who never, in a carnal way, knew women.
586 This poure wydwe awaiteth al that nyght
This poor widow waits all that night
587 After hir litel child, but he cam noght;
For her little child, but he came not;
588 For which, as soone as it was dayes lyght,
For which, as soon as it was daylight,
589 With face pale of drede and bisy thoght,
With face pale from dread and intense thought,
590 She hath at scole and elleswhere hym soght,
She has sought him at school and elsewhere,
591 Til finally she gan so fer espie
Until finally she got so far as to discover
592 That he last seyn was in the Juerie.
That he was last seen in the Ghetto.
593 With moodres pitee in hir brest enclosed,
With mother's pity enclosed in her breast,
594 She gooth, as she were half out of hir mynde,
She goes, as if she were half out of her mind,
595 To every place where she hath supposed
To every place where she has supposed
596 By liklihede hir litel child to fynde;
Most likely to find her little child;
597 And evere on Cristes mooder meeke and kynde
And ever on Christ's meek and kind mother
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598 She cride, and atte laste thus she wroghte:
She cried, and at the last thus she acted:
599 Among the cursed Jues she hym soghte.
Among the cursed Jews she sought him.
600 She frayneth and she preyeth pitously
She asks and she prays piteously
601 To every Jew that dwelte in thilke place,
To every Jew that dwelt in that same place,
602 To telle hire if hir child wente oght forby.
To tell her if her child at all went by there.
603 They seyde "nay"; but Jhesu of his grace
They said "nay"; but Jesus of his grace
604 Yaf in hir thoght inwith a litel space
Gave it in her thought within a short while
605 That in that place after hir sone she cryde,
So that she cried for her son in that place,
606 Where he was casten in a pit bisyde.
Where he was cast in a pit near by.
607 O grete God, that parfournest thy laude
Oh great God, who performest thy praise
608 By mouth of innocentz, lo, heere thy myght!
By mouths of innocents, lo, here is thy power!
609 This gemme of chastite, this emeraude,
This gem of chastity, this emerald,
610 And eek of martirdom the ruby bright,
And also the bright ruby of martyrdom,
611 Ther he with throte ykorven lay upright,
Where he with throat carved lay on his back,
612 He Alma redemptoris gan to synge
He `Gracious (mother) of the Redeemer' began to sing
613 So loude that al the place gan to rynge.
So loud that all the place began to ring.
614 The Cristene folk that thurgh the strete wente
The Christian folk who went through the street
615 In coomen for to wondre upon this thyng,
Came in to wonder upon this thing,
616 And hastily they for the provost sente;
And hastily they sent for the magistrate;
617 He cam anon withouten tariyng,
He came quickly without tarrying,
618 And herieth Crist that is of hevene kyng,
And praises Christ who is king of heaven,
619 And eek his mooder, honour of mankynde,
And also his mother, honor of mankind,
620 And after that the Jewes leet he bynde.
And after that he had the Jews bound.
621 This child with pitous lamentacioun
This child with piteous lamentation
622 Up taken was, syngynge his song alway,
Was taken up, singing his song always,
623 And with honour of greet processioun
And with the honor of a great procession
624 They carien hym unto the nexte abbay.
They carry him unto the nearby abbey.
625 His mooder swownynge by his beere lay;
His mother swooning lay by his bier;
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626 Unnethe myghte the peple that was theere
The people that were there could hardly
627 This newe Rachel brynge fro his beere.
Bring this new Rachel from his bier.
628 With torment and with shameful deeth echon,
With torment and with shameful death for each one,
629 This provost dooth thise Jewes for to sterve
This magistrate had these Jews put to death
630 That of this mordre wiste, and that anon.
Who knew of this murder, and that immediately.
631 He nolde no swich cursednesse observe.
He would not tolerate any such cursedness.
632 "Yvele shal have that yvele wol deserve";
"Evil shall have what evil will deserve";
633 Therfore with wilde hors he dide hem drawe,
Therefore with wild horses he had them torn apart,
634 And after that he heng hem by the lawe.
And after that he hanged them by the law.
635 Upon this beere ay lith this innocent
Upon this bier always lies this innocent
636 Biforn the chief auter, whil the masse laste;
Before the chief altar, while the masse lasted;
637 And after that, the abbot with his covent
And after that, the abbot with his convent
638 Han sped hem for to burien hym ful faste;
Have hurried to bury him very quickly;
639 And whan they hooly water on hym caste,
And when they cast holy water on him,
640 Yet spak this child, whan spreynd was hooly water,
Yet spoke this child, when holy water was sprinkled,
641 And song O Alma redemptoris mater!
And sang `O Gracious (mother) of the Redeemer!'
642 This abbot, which that was an hooly man,
This abbot, who was a holy man,
643 As monkes been -- or elles oghte be --
As monks are -- or else ought to be --
644 This yonge child to conjure he bigan,
He began to entreat this young child,
645 And seyde, "O deere child, I halse thee,
And said, "Oh dear child, I beseech thee,
646 In vertu of the hooly Trinitee,
By power of the holy Trinity,
647 Tel me what is thy cause for to synge,
Tell me what is thy cause to sing,
648 Sith that thy throte is kut to my semynge?"
Since thy throat is cut as it seems to me?"
649 "My throte is kut unto my nekke boon,"
"My throat is cut unto my neck boon,"
650 Seyde this child, "and as by wey of kynde
Said this child, "and in the natural course of events
651 I sholde have dyed, ye, longe tyme agon.
I should have dyed, yea, a long time ago.
652 But Jesu Crist, as ye in bookes fynde,
But Jesus Christ, as you find in books,
653 Wil that his glorie laste and be in mynde,
Desires that his glory should last and be in mind,
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654 And for the worship of his Mooder deere
And for the worship of his Mother dear
655 Yet may I synge O Alma loude and cleere.
Yet can I sing `O Gracious (mother)' loud and clear.
656 "This welle of mercy, Cristes mooder sweete,
"This well of mercy, Christ's sweet mother,
657 I loved alwey, as after my konnynge;
I loved always, according to my ability,
658 And whan that I my lyf sholde forlete,
And when I had to lose my life,
659 To me she cam, and bad me for to synge
She came to me, and told me to sing
660 This anthem verraily in my deyynge,
This anthem truly as I was dying,
661 As ye han herd, and whan that I hadde songe,
As you have heard, and when I had sung,
662 Me thoughte she leyde a greyn upon my tonge.
It seemed to me that she laid a grain upon my tongue.
663 "Wherfore I synge, and synge moot certeyn,
"Therefore I sing, and must sing certainly,
664 In honour of that blisful Mayden free
In honor of that blissful generous Maiden
665 Til fro my tonge of taken is the greyn;
Until the grain is taken off my tongue;
666 And after that thus seyde she to me:
And after that thus she said to me:
667 `My litel child, now wol I fecche thee,
`My little child, at that time I will fetch thee,
668 Whan that the greyn is fro thy tonge ytake.
When the grain is taken from thy tongue.
669 Be nat agast; I wol thee nat forsake.'"
Be not afraid; I will not forsake thee.'"
670 This hooly monk, this abbot, hym meene I,
This holy monk, this abbot, I mean him,
671 His tonge out caughte, and took awey the greyn,
His tongue pulled out, and took away the grain,
672 And he yaf up the goost ful softely.
And he gave up the ghost very gently.
673 And whan this abbot hadde this wonder seyn,
And when this abbot had seen this wonder,
674 His salte teeris trikled doun as reyn,
His salt tears trickled down like rain,
675 And gruf he fil al plat upon the grounde,
And face-down he fell all flat upon the ground,
676 And stille he lay as he had ben ybounde.
And still he lay as if he had been bound.
677 The covent eek lay on the pavement
The convent also lay on the pavement
678 Wepynge, and herying Cristes mooder deere,
Weeping, and praising Christ's dear mother,
679 And after that they ryse, and forth been went,
And after that they rise, and forth are gone,
680 And tooken awey this martir from his beere;
And took away this martyr from his bier;
681 And in a tombe of marbul stones cleere
And in a tomb of clear marble stones
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682 Enclosen they his litel body sweete.
They enclose his sweet little body.
683 Ther he is now, God leve us for to meete!
There he is now, God grant us to meet!
684 O yonge Hugh of Lyncoln, slayn also
Oh young Hugh of Lincoln, slain also
685 With cursed Jewes, as it is notable,
By cursed Jews, as it is well known,
686 For it is but a litel while ago,
For it is but a little while ago,
687 Preye eek for us, we synful folk unstable,
Pray also for us, we sinful folk unstable,
688 That of his mercy God so merciable
That of his mercy God so merciful
689 On us his grete mercy multiplie,
Multiply his great mercy on us,
690 For reverence of his mooder Marie. Amen
For reverence of his mother Mary. Amen
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The Status of Middle English

Geoffrey Chaucer probably spoke French from his earliest age, for when he was born, the custom was
still as Ranulph Higden (died 1364) described it a few years earlier:
Children in school, contrary to the usage and custom of other nations, are compelled to drop
their own language and to construe their lessons and other tasks in French, and have done so
since the Normans first came to England. Also, gentlemen's children are taught to speak
French from the time that they are rocked in their cradles and can talk and play with a
child's toy; and provincial men want to liken themselves to gentlemen, and try with great
effort to speak French, so as to be more thought of. (Polychronicon Ranulphi Higden
monachi Cestrensis . . . ed. Rev. Joseph Rawson Lumby, [Liechtenstein] Krause Reprint, 1965
[Widener: Br 98.86.1].)

This unusual situation, in which the common people spoke one language, and the aristocrats another,
was due to the Norman Invasion in 1066. Robert of Gloucester, a late 13th-century chronicler (fl.
1260-1300; his Chronicle ends in 1271) tells how this came about:
Much sorrow has been often in England,
As you may hear and understand,
Of many battles that have been and men have conquered this land.
First, as you have heard, the emperors of Rome.
Then the Saxons and Angles with battles strong,
And then those of Denmark that held it so long,
At last those of Normandy that be yet here Won it and hold it yet;
I will you tell in what manner:
When William the Bastard heard tell of Harolds' treachery.
How he had made him king and with such falsehood,
For that land was given to him, as Harold well knew
...
Thus came -- lo! -- England into Norman's hands,
And the Normans could not speak anything except their own speech,
And spoke French as they did at home, and their children did also teach,
So that high men of this land that of their blood come Hold to all that speech that they took of
them;
For unless a man knows French, men think little of him.
But low men hold to English and to their own speech yet.
I suppose there be none in all the countries of the world
That do not hold to their own speech, save for England alone,
But yet it is well for a man to know both,
For the more a man knows the more he is worth.
(Tr. from The metrical chronicle of Robert of Gloucester, ed. William Aldis Wright.
[Liechtenstein] Kraus Reprint, 1965 [Widener: Br 98.41].)

Chaucer was of the gentle classes and he clearly spoke French from an early age and probably first
wrote poems in French, the language of the courts in which he served first as a page in the court of the
Countess of Ulster and then as squire in the courts of Prince Lionel and Kings Edward III and Richard
II.

The situation was changing in Chaucer's lifetime -- or rather, changes that had been operating since
the thirteenth century were beginning to have an obvious effect. The aristocracy used French but most
used English as well. King Edward I knew English and even enjoyed English poetry. However, French
continued its cultural dominance: The court of King Edward III was French in culture and cultivated
French poetry, with French poets such as Jean Froissart and Otho de Graunson, whom Chaucer knew,
helping to set the tone. Furthermore the court began speaking Parisian French, an acquired skill,
rather than Anglo-Norman, the variety of French used in England, to which earlier nobles had been
 14
born. By the time Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales the form of speech brought over by the
Normans was still spoken only in the provinces, a source of gentle satire in the portrait of the Prioress:
And Frenssh she spak ful faire and fetisly,
After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe,
For Frenssh of Parys was to hire unknowe.
(General Prologue, I.124-26)

By this time, English had replaced French as the language of instruction in the elementary schools.
John of Trevisa, who translated Higden's Polychronicon, quoted above, says that now, at the time of
his writing (1385), the situation has greatly changed:
This manner [of instruction in French in elementary schools] was much
used before the first plague [1348] and is since somewhat changed. For
John Cornwal. a master of grammar, changed the teaching in grammar
school and the construing of Latin into French into English; amd Richard
Pencrych learned that manner of teaching from him, and other men from
Pencrych. so that now, the year of our lord one thousand three hundred
four score and five, of the second King Richard after the Conquest nine, in
the grammar schools of England children leave French and construe and
learn in English, and they have advantage on one side and disadvantage
on another. Their advantage is that they learn their grammar in less time
than they were accustomed to do. The disadvantage is that now children
of grammar school know no more French than their left heel, and that is
harmful for them if they should pass the sea and work in strange lands,
and in many other cases. Also gentlemen have now much left off teaching
their children French. (Tr. from the edition cited above.)

English was also becoming the language of government; in 1362 Parliament was opened with a speech
by the Chief Justice in English (and by the Chancellor in the next two parliaments), the first time since
the Conquest the native language was so used. Also in the Parliament of 1362 the Statute of Pleading
was enacted. It provided that
All pleas which shall be pleaded in his [the King's] courts whatsoever,
before any of his justices whatsoever . . . shall be pleaded, shewed,
defended, answered, debated, and judged in the English tongue.

Though the statute also specified that the records of pleas were to be kept in Latin (and the
parliamentary speeches were recorded in French), by this time English was coming to be regarded as a
language suitable for aristocratic literature. In the early fourteenth century English writers aimed for
audiences that knew no French. Robert Manning began his Story of England (finished 1338) with:

1. Lordinges that be now here,

If ye will, listen and lere learn
Al the story of Ingland history
As Robert Mannying written it fand found
5 And on Inglysch has it schewed,
Not for the lerned but for the lewd
For tho that in this lande wone dwell
That th elatin ne frankys cone know no latin or french
…[he lists his sources]
71 As thai haf written andsayd
In simple speche, as I couthe, could
That is lightest in mannes mouthe easiest

Robert Manning wrote specifically for the "lewed," the unlearned. His contemporary, the author of the
early fourteenth-century Arthour and Merlin claims to write for even a noble audience:
 15
French use these gentlemen,
But everone understands English;
Many a noble I have seen
That could speak no French.

By the later fourteenth century a demand for English had developed, and literary works in English
were wanted not because their audience had no French but because they preferred English. John
Gower wrote works in Latin, French, and English -- the latter, his Confessio Amantis, written at the
request of King Richard himself.

Chaucer, as noted above, probably wrote his earliest poems in French, but none have survived1 He was
known rather as an English poet, the most respected of the time, and the respect he received is a
measure of the respect English had gained as a literary medium.

Nevertheless, Chaucer remained very much aware of the problem of writing sophisticated poetry in
English; it demanded a new form of the language -- a literary language, shaped largely by French and
Latin models -- the high style -- and with a heavy use of borrowings from Latin and French but built
upon the old popular tradition that Chaucer knew as a boy (and fondly pokes fun at in Sir Thopas) and
on a keen awareness of actual speech, which forms the basis of his dramatic style.

1
(unless those poems marked with the cryptic "Ch" in the Pennsylvania MS are Chaucer's: see Wimsatt,
James I. (ed), Chaucer and the poems of "Ch" in University of Pennsylvania MS French 15, Cambridge,
[Cambridgeshire]: Brewer ;Totowa, N.J., USA: Rowman & Littlefield, 1982 [PR1911.W56 1982].)
 16

Middle English Dialects

Fourteenth-century English was spoken (and written) in a variety of dialects. Middle English speakers
recognized three distinct dialects -- Northern, Midlands, and Southern:\\

Also, English though they had from the beginning three manner of speech -- Southern, Northern,
and Middle speech in the middle of the land, as they come from three manner of people in Germany
[i.e., Angles, Saxons, and Jutes]. [Tr. from John of Trevisa, as above.]

Modern scholars distinguish five dialects (see map).

The clerks in the Reeve's Tale are from Strother, in the Northern dialect area (north of the river
Humber, which divides the Northern from the East Midland dialect area). The Reeve himself is from
Norfolk, in the northern East Midlands.

Chaucer is from London. on the Thames, which divides the Kentish and East Midlands dialect areas; it
is a distinct area on its own.
The Parson says he is a "Southern man," from the area south of the Thames; but he speaks in the
London Dialect. He claims he can not even understand the alliterative poetry common in the North --
he uses nonsense syllables to describe it:
I kan nat geeste `rum, ram, ruf,' by lettre, (Parson's Prologue, X.43).
He may have shared John of Trevisa's attitude toward Northern Speech:
 17
All the language of the Northumbrians, and specially at York, is so sharp,
piercing, rasping, and unshapely that we Southern men can hardly
understand that language. I suppose this is because they are nigh to
foreign men [i.e., Scots ] and aliens who speak strangely, and also because
the kings of England dwell always far from that country.

The dialect of London, the commercial, intellectual, and political center of power, was becoming the
prestige dialect. The idea of "the King's English" underlies Trevisa's comment on the Northern dialect,
and it appears directly in Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe for the first time:
God save the king, that is lord of this langage [(Astr Pro.56-57)]

By the fifteenth century, London English was firmly established as the dialect spoken by the denizens
of power, a fact used for comic effect in The Second Shepherds' Play.

The literary language that Chaucer fashioned become the standard written language of elegant writers
and the language of London became the written standard for all formal English.2 In the late fifteenth
century, the printer William Caxton, who greatly influenced what is now Standard Written English
complained about the changes in the language since earlier times and its diverse dialects:

[I] took an old book and read therein, and certainly the English was so rude and
broad that I could not well understand it. And also my lord Abbot of Westminster had
shown to me recently certain evidences written in old English for to translate it into
our English now used. And certainly it was written in such a manner that it was more
like Dutch than English. I could not translate it nor bring it to be understood.

And certainly our language now used varies far from that which was used
and spoken when I was born. For we Englishmen are born under the
dominination of the Moon, which is never steadfast but ever wavering,
waxing one season, and wanes and decreases another season
And that common English that is spoken in one shire varies from another.
Insomuch that in my days happened that certain merchants were inb a
ship in the Thames, for to have sailed over the sea into Zeeland, and for
lack of wind they tarried at foreland and went to land for to refresh
themselves. And one of them named Sheffelde, a mercer, came into a house
and asked for food; and especially he asked for eggs. And the good wife
answered that she could speak no French.

And the merchant was angry, for he also could speak no French, but
wanted to have had eggs, and she understood him not. And then at last
another said that he woulkd have "eyren." Then the good wife understood
him well.

Lo, what should a man in these days now write, "eggs" or "eyren"?
[Tr. from the preface to Enydos Caxton's Eneydos, 1490. Englisht from the
French Liure des Eneydes, 1483. Ed. by the late W. [read M.] T. Culley ...
and F.J. Furnivall, London, a EETS, 1890 [Widener: 11473.57].
Caxton solved the problem by using London English and thus set the standard that other
printers would follow.

His puzzlement over the changes English had undergone in his lifetime will stir the sympathy of
students first encountering Chaucer's language. But the problem is not all that difficult. The fifteenth

2
(It is, of course, more complicated than this; for an advanced discussion see: John H. Fisher, "Chancery
and the Emergence of Standard Written English in the Fifteenth Century," Speculum, Vol. 52, No. 4. (Oct.,
1977), pp. 870-89.)
 18
century was the time of The Great Vowel Shift, which accounts for the greatest difference between
Modern English and Chaucer's English, the pronunciation of the "long vowels.
 19
Chaucer's Romance Borrowings
Until Chaucer's time French and Latin were the languages of sophisticated literature (See the section
on The Middle English Language in the pages on Language and Linguistics). In his lifetime English
displaced French as the language of aristocratic literature. Chaucer's own works had a powerful
influence on this development, so much so that later writers, such as Spenser, regarded him as the
founder of the language itself, the "well of English undefiled." Browsing through the Oxford English
Dictionary (which lists the first recorded uses of its entries) might convince one that Spenser was
right; scores and scores of words "borrowed" from Latin or French are recorded as first appearing in
Chaucer's works.

However, scholars now recognize that the language we speak today would have developed pretty much
as it did if Chaucer had never written. But Chaucer did have an important influence on the language of
English literature; he shaped the language of aristocratic literature for the poets who followed (and
often revered) him.

He greatly expanded the language of poetry -- partly because he greatly extended its subject matter,
bringing into poetic discourse philosophy, science (alchemy and astrology), trade (mainly as
represented by the pilgrims), and everyday life (drawing upon everyday language of the sort that had
never been used in English literature).

So far as his admirers and imitators were concerned, Chaucer's greatest contribution to the literary
language was his invention of the High Style. This style is characterized by a heavy use of "borrowings"
from the romance (Latin and French) languages, and in his works many romance words appear in
English for the first time