VI When can their glory fade? All the world wondered. Noble six hundred! MILTON (ALCAICS) O MIGHTY-MOUTH'D inventor of harmonies, Milton, a name to resound for ages; Charm as a wanderer out in ocean, CROSSING THE BAR SUNSET and evening star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home. Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark; For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crost the bar. 5 ΙΟ 15 NOTES GEOFFREY CHAUCER Now Welcom Somer. 2. overshake, shaken off. 5. smale foules, little birds. 9. make, mate. What form of lyric does this exemplify? See Johnson's Forms of English Poetry, pp. 302–304. How does the verse form affect the apparent spontaneity of the poem? The Prologue. 11. corages, hearts. 14. ferne halwes, distant shrines. 16. Caunterbury. Where is Canterbury? 17. holy blisful martir, Thomas à Becket. 20. Southwerk. Where is this? 42. wol I first biginne. Why does Chaucer begin with the Knight? 51-66. Alisaundre, Alexandria; Pruce, Prussia; Lettow, Lithuania ; Ruce, Russia; Gernade, Grenada; Algezir, Algeciras, in Spain; Belmarye, a town in Africa; Lyeys, Satalye, Tramissene, Palatye, towns in Asia Minor; Grete See, Mediterranean. 75. gipoun, shirt. 76. bismotered with his habergeoun, stained by his coat of mail. 81. sëynt Loy, St. Eligius, the patron saint of goldsmiths. Why should she invoke this saint? 93. lest, pleasure. 95. coppe, cup. 85. fetisly, skillfully. 112. wimpel, face cloth. 113. tretys, well-formed. 120. A peire of bedes, gauded, etc., a string of beads, of which every eleventh was a large green one. Why did she carry these? 127. venerye, hunting. 134. seint Maure . . . seint Beneit. The reule (rule) of St. Maur and that of St. Benedict were the oldest and strictest forms of monastic discipline. 145. wood, insane. 147. swinken, work. 148. As Austyn bit. St. Augustine made his cathedral clergy live strictly, like the monks. 150. pricasour, hard rider. 154-155. purfiled . . . with grys, edged with gray fur. 162. stepe, large. 166. for-pyned, wasted. 163. forneys of a leed, cauldron. 169. Clerk, university student. 174. overest courtepy, outer short coat. 180. fithele, or gay sautrye, musical instruments. 181. philosophre. The word is used in a double sense - alchemist and philosopher. Explain the humor. 194. scathe, harm. 198. offring, an allusion to the custom on 'Relic Sunday,' when the congregation went up to the altar to kiss the relics. 213-214. At Rome, etc. These were all famous shrines. 216. Gat-tothed, with teeth set far apart. 233. sythes, times. 261. So that the wolf, etc. Cf. Lycidas, ll. 116–129. 294. Chepe, Cheapside. 326. avys, consideration. The metrical form is original with Chaucer. employed it, and in what poems ? 305. herberwe, inn. 335. whylom, formerly. What other poets have Does Chaucer fulfill the promise contained in lines 36-40? Illustrate from the introductory lines what is meant by saying that Chaucer is the first great poet who really loved outward nature as the source of conscious pleasurable emotion.' Chaucer has been called the most literal of poets. Does he portray life accurately? Are the personages he describes types or individuals? Would it be correct to call them individualized types? With which of the characters does he seem most in sympathy? What lines seem most satiric, most ironical? Is Chaucer ever cynical? When Chaucer describes anything, it is usually by one of those simple and obvious epithets or qualities that are so easy to miss. Select a few of the best examples of character portrayal. Which one of the Pilgrims disproves the truth of Leigh Hunt's remark that the Knight is the only character in Chaucer that seems faultless'? Note the importance in the portrayal of each character of the last lines of the description. |