Selections from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales: (Ellesmere Text) |
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Common terms and phrases
agayn ageyn Allas anon Arcite biforn bigan Canacee Canterbury Tales chanoun Chaucer compaignye courser Crist Custance daunce deeth doon dooth doun dryve Emelye eyen fader felawe freend fressh gentil gentillesse Geoffrey Chaucer gold goon gooth greet grene haddė hath heed heere heigh herte hevene hire hise hond kepe koudė kyng leet litel lord lordės maad maken manere moore moost moot myghte namoore noght noon nyght oldė oother Palamon preest quod rede saugh Seint seith seyde seye seyn shal sholde shul sire Skeat sorwe spak speke subj swerd swich syde taak Tabard tale tellen Thanne thee ther therfore Theseus thise thou thurgh thyng toun tweye tyme unto Wel koude weren weye whan wight withouten wol nat wolde wole wommen woot wordės wyde yeer
Popular passages
Page 2 - A knyght ther was, and that a worthy man, That fro the tyme that he first bigan To riden out, he loved chivalrie, Trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisie.
Page 105 - Lo, swich it is for to be recchelees, And necligent, and truste on flaterye. But ye that holden this tale a folye, As of a fox, or of a cok and hen, Taketh the moralitee, good men.
Page 30 - Than is the lylie upon his stalke grene, And fressher than the May with floures newe — For with the rose colour stroof...
Page 96 - graunt mercy of youre loore, But nathelees, as touchyng Daun Catoun, That hath of wysdom swich a greet renoun, Though that he bad no dremes for to drede, By God, men may in olde bookes rede Of many a man moore of...
Page 15 - To speke of phisik and of surgerye; For he was grounded in astronomye.
Page xxiii - And saveour, as doun in this worlde here, Out of this toune help me through your might, Sin that ye wole nat been my tresorere ; For I am shave as nye as any frere.
Page 93 - And batailled as it were a castel wal; His byle was blak, and as the jeet it shoon; Lyk asure were his legges and his toon; His nayles whiter than the lylye flour, And lyk the burned gold was his colour.
Page 11 - Ther was also, ful riche of excellence. Discreet he was and of greet reverence — He semed swich, his wordes weren so wise.
Page 122 - That highte Dant speken in this sentence. Lo, in swich maner rym is Dantes tale: 'Ful selde up riseth by his branches smale Prowesse of man, for God of his goodnesse Wole that of hym we clayme oure gentillesse.' 1130 For of oure eldres may we no thyng clayme But temporel thyng that man may hurte and mayme.
Page lii - But the excellence and dignity of it were never fully known till Mr. Waller taught it; he first made writing easily an art; first showed us to conclude the sense most commonly in distichs, which, in the verse of those before him, runs on for so many lines together that the reader is out of breath to overtake it.