Complete Works of Geoffrey ChaucerIt is impossible to overstate the importance of English poet GEOFFREY CHAUCER (c. 1343 c. 1400) to the development of literature in the English language. His writings which were popular during his own lifetime with the nobility as well as with the increasingly literate merchant class marked the first celebration of the English vernacular as a tongue worthy of literary endeavor, most notably in his unfinished narrative poem The Canterbury Tales, the format and structure of which continues to be imitated by writers today. But the impact of Chaucer s work was felt even into the 16th and 17th centuries, when the first major collections of his writings set a high standard for how authors should be presented to the reading public. This widely esteemed seven-volume set first published in the 1890s by British academic WALTER WILLIAM SKEAT (1835 1912), Erlington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Cambridge University is based solely on Chaucer s original manuscripts and the earliest available published works (with any significant variations or deviations between versions highlighted in the extensive notes), and comes complete with Skeat s informative commentary on many passages. Volume IV features all extant material for The Canterbury Tales, including: The Knightes Tale The Milleres Tale The Cokes Tale The Prioresses Tale The Monkes Tale The Tale of the Wyf of Bathe and all the rest. |
Contents
1 | |
GROUP B INTRODUCTION TO THE MAN OF LAWS PROLOGUE | 130 |
THE PRIORESSES TALE | 181 |
PROLOGUE TO SIR THOPAS | 189 |
PROLOGUE TO MELIBEUS | 197 |
THE MONKS PROLOGUE | 241 |
THE PHISICIENS TALE | 290 |
THE WIFE OF BATHS PROLOGUE | 320 |
GROUP E THE CLERKS Prologue | 389 |
GROUP F THE SQUIERES TALE | 461 |
GROUP G THE SECONDE NONNES TALE | 509 |
GROUP H THE MANCIPLES PROLOGUE | 555 |
GROUP I THE PARSONS PROLOGUE | 567 |
APPENDIX TO GROUP A The Tale of Gamelyn | 645 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
agayn allas alwey anon answerde biforn broghte certes certeyn comth conseil coude dede deeth dere doghter doon dooth doun drede dryve entente fader felawe freendes Gamelyn goddes gode goon greet grete hath heer heigh herte hevene hise hond hous housbonde Iesu Crist in-to Iohn Ioye kepe knight litel loke lord maken manere no-thing noght noon oghte peple peyne preest preye prively Prologe quod rest omit saugh seith seith seint Senek seyde seye seyn shal sholde shul sinne sith sone sorwe spak speke swich tale tellen thanne thee ther therfore Theseus thilke thing thise thogh thou shalt thurgh thyn toun trewe trouthe tyme un-to up-on verray werkes whan Wher-as whyl wight wikked with-outen wol nat wolde womman woot wroot wyse ye shul yeve yonge