Studies in English Literature Author:Michael W. Smith Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: PROLOGUE TO THE CANTERBURY TALES. Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veyne in swich l... more »icour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour; 5 Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth Enspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne, And smale foweles maken melodye 10 That slepen al the nyght with open eye,— So priketh hem nature in hir corages:— Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages, And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes, To feme halwes kouthe in sondry londes; 15 And specially, from every shires ende Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende, The hooly blisful martir for to seke, That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke. Bifel that, in that seson on a day, 20 In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay, Redy to wenden on my pilgrymage To Caunterbury with devout corage, At nygbt were come into that hostelrye Wel nyne and twenty in a compaignye 25 Of sondry folk, by aventure yfalle In felaweshipe, and pilgrimes were they alle, That toward Caunterbury wolden ryde. The chambres and the stables weren wyde, And wel we weren esed atte beste. 30 And shortly, whan the sonne was to reste, So hadde I spoken with hem everychon, That I was of hir felaweshipe anon, And made forward erly for to ryse, To take oure wey ther as I yow devyse. 35 But nathelees, whil I have tyme and space, Er that I ferther in this tale pace, Me thynketh it accordaunt to resoun To telle yow al the condicioun Of ech of hem, so as it seined me, 40 And whiche they weren, and of what degree; And eek in what array that they were inne: And at a knyght, than, wol I first bigynne. A Knyght ther was, and that a worthy man, That fro the tyme that he firs...« less