The Canterbury Tales – General Prologue

The Canterbury Tales is considered the first true literary work in English literature. It is a long narrative poem written by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400, the year of the author’s death. Its main source of inspiration is Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron: indeed, its structure closely resembles that of the Italian author’s collection of tales. The various stories are framed within a narrative structure that serves as a link, creating a unified whole. The major difference from the Decameron is, of course, that The Canterbury Tales is written in verse, specifically in rhyming decasyllables. The meter itself is particularly interesting, as it can be regarded as a precursor to blank verse, the fundamental meter of English poetry in the following centuries.

The frame narrative is simple: twenty pilgrims, including the narrator, are gathered at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, which at that time was a separate town from London (then confined to the north of the Thames) but is now an integral part of the city. They are about to set out for Canterbury, the most sacred place for the Church in England, to venerate the relics of Archbishop Thomas Becket, who was murdered by the king’s assassins in 1170. The host proposes that, to pass the time, each pilgrim should tell two stories on the way there and two on the way back. At the end of the journey, a vote would determine the best tale, and the winner would receive a free dinner upon their return to London.

These are the opening verses of the poem (source: Towson University):

When April with his showers sweet with fruit

The drought of March has pierced unto the root

And bathed each vein with liquor that has power

To generate therein and sire the flower;

When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath,

Quickened again, in every holt and heath,

The tender shoots and buds, and the young sun

Into the Ram one half his course has run,

And many little birds make melody

That sleep through all the night with open eye

(So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)—

Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage,

And palmers to go seeking out strange strands,

To distant shrines well known in sundry lands.

And specially from every shire’s end

Of England they to Canterbury wend,

The holy blessed martyr there to seek

Who helped them when they lay so ill and weak.

There are at least a couple of reasons why this work is particularly significant. The first concerns the narrative content itself: the setting plays a crucial role. From the very first lines, Chaucer tells us that it is springtime — the season when nature awakens from winter’s sleep and is reborn into new life. It is no coincidence that Easter, the feast celebrating the resurrection of Christ, is celebrated during this period and coincides with ancient pagan festivals devoted to nature’s renewal. It is also no coincidence that this is the time of year when pilgrimages traditionally begin in England, since after the hardships of winter, roads become passable once again.

The second major point of interest is linguistic. The text quoted above is a modern translation of the Prologue and clearly illustrates the evolution of the English language. Reading the first verses is enough to notice how language has changed over time. As mentioned, The Canterbury Tales is composed of rhyming couplets, yet comparison with the original version reveals several fascinating linguistic and phonetic details:

Whan that Aprille with his shoures sote

The droghte of Marche hath perced to the rote,

And bathed every veyne in swich licour,

Of which vertu engendred is the flour;

Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth

Inspired hath in every holt and heeth

The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne

Hath in the Ram his halfe cours y-ronne,

And smale fowles maken melodye,

That slepen al the night with open yë,

(So priketh hem nature in hir corages):

Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages

(And palmers for to seken straunge strondes)

To ferne halwes, couthe in sondry londes;

And specially, from every shires ende

Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,

The holy blisful martir for to seke,

That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seke.

Compared to Beowulf, the language here is much closer to Modern English. The main differences lie in spelling and orthography, but once these are understood, the text becomes relatively easy to follow. This linguistic evolution, however, also involves changes in pronunciation. For example, lines 9–10 in Middle English rhyme (melodye / yë), whereas in the modern version (melody / eye) they no longer do. This shift demonstrates how the sound system of English evolved over time: as pronunciation changed along with spelling, Chaucer’s original rhymes and rhythms began to diverge from those perceived by later readers.