Question: Any of releted to Geoffrey Chaucer!!!!!!

Geoffrey Chaucer (1340s – 1400) was an English author and poet, most known for his The Canterbury
Tales.He had a career in the civil service as a bureaucrate,courtier,diplomat,and the member of
parliament .He is regarded as the first successful poet of the middle ages with no competitor for
hundreds of years to challenge his position. This does not mean that there was no poet or poetry in
England before him. There were other poets also in his time. But their poetry is little read and enjoyed.
But the poetry of Chaucer is famous all over the world According to john Dryden Chaucer is the father of
English poetry because English literature and English language received full maturity with Chaucer.
Chaucer was the first writer to be buried in the Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey.

The term ‘representative poet’ means a poet who epitomizes his contemporary society, art, philosophy,
and religion. In every age there is someone, poet or Author who represents in his poetry, the very spirit
of that age. Thus Chaucer in his poetry expresses the very spirit of his age (representative poet).

Chaucer successfully observed the world of man and reflected it in his works. He became a painter of life
in words.Chaucer's literary production is vast, gigantic, comprehensive and impressive. It is not merely
profile in bulk, but also unique in his creative power and originality. In fact, when his literary production
is studied against the background of his age, none, but Shakespeare, seems to have surpassed his
creative originality and novelty.

The poetic career of Chaucer was divided into three periods. These three periods are the French, Italian,
and English.

In his first period, he was influenced by French literature. His poems are modeled upon the French
originals. “The Romaunt of the Rose” is one of the most notable of them. It is a lengthy allegorical poem
based on Roman de la Rose (a love poem).

In his second period, he was influenced by Italian literature. Petrarch, Boccaccio, and Dante, these 3
poets influenced him deeply. The Italian period of Chaucer’s poetic career suggests his profound and
serious study of the Italian masters. “Troilus and Criseyde” is the finest complete work of the poet. It is
over eight thousand lines in length. It is written in stanzas of Rime Royal.”The Knight’s Tale” and “Troilus
and Criseyde” both of them deal with the romance of love and adventure with the spirit of heroism and
the sense of devotion.

In his third period, he was influenced by English literature. It was his most important period because his
masterpiece ” The Canterbury Tales “, one of the greatest poems in all literature was written. “The
Canterbury Tales” is the crowning achievement.It is a collection of twenty-four stories of the
contemporary English life. In this, he tells the stories of a group of pilgrims, thirty-one including Chaucer
himself. Canterbury Tales, his original work of seventeen thousand lines, is a picture-gallery of
fourteenth century England.

From our discussion, we may conclude saying that each phase or period of Chaucer's poetic career is
significant. He is a great master in his treatment of the French model, the Italian ideal, or English
realism.

Chaucer is memorable for his art of characterization. His works presents not merely a band of men and
women, but some individuals with certain special characteristics. They well represented the then English
society. The Prologue to the “Canterbury Tales” is a picture-gallery of fourteenth century England. Here
he presents the different characters from the various classes of the then English society. In it we find
such character as the dignified feudal lords, the guildsmen, the peasant class, the professionals like the
doctor and the lawyer. He, thus painted his society in a realistic manner.(What picture….in Canterbury
Tale)

Chaucer stands triumphantly in his power of story telling. He is, in fact, the first great English story-teller
in verse. The modern age of English literature is greatly indebted to him In this respect. His descriptions
of the pilgrims in The Prologue or his narrative about the cock and the hen in the “Nun’s Priest’s
Tale”exemplify his skills in telling story.

In the Age of Chaucer most of the poets used to compose allegorical poetry which had almost no
relationship with the reality of the time. Chaucer realized that and wrote The Canterbury Tales which
deals directly with life as it was in his age. Chaucer does not underrate or exaggerate any character. He
describes every character in its true color.

Chaucer is the first to show the poetic possibilities of English language. He is the creator of the modern
English versification. He is the first poet who introduced a stanza of seven lines which is now known as
“Rhyma Royal” or the “Chaucerian stanza” (ab ab bcc). He also used “Terza Rhyma” for his works.
Indeed, Chaucer is not only a great meterist but also an absolute master of rhyme.

In conclusion, we can say that Chaucer is rightly called the father of English poetry. He is the earliest
moderns and no one climbs equally with him for hundreds of year. He is really the morning star in
English literature. Chaucer represents the Middle Ages as Alexander Pope represents the 18th
century and Tennyson represents the Victorian Era. He is the spokesman of his age. His poetry reflects
the 14th century not in fragments but as a complete whole. To conclude we can say that Chaucer is
rightly called the representative poet of his age. (representative poet).