Chaucer.—Read the Prologue and if possible also the Knightes Tale (Liddell's, or Morris-Skeat's, or Van Dyke's, or Mather's edition). Good selections may be found in Bronson, I.; Ward, I.; P. and S., and Oxford Treasury, I. Skeat's Complete Works, 6 vols., is the best edition. Skeat's Oxford Chaucer in one volume has the same text. The Globe Edition of Chaucer, edited by Pollard, is also a satisfactory single volume edition. Root's The Poetry of Chaucer, 292 pp., is a good reference work in connection with the actual study of the poetry.
Give a clear-cut description of the six of Chaucer's pilgrims that impress you most strongly. How has the Prologue added to our knowledge of life in the fourteenth century? Give examples of Chaucer's vivid pictures. What specimens of his humor does the Prologue contain? Do any of Chaucer's lines in the Prologue show that the Reformation spirit was in the air, or did Wycliffe and Langland alone among contemporary authors afford evidence of this spirit? Compare Chaucer's verse with Langland's in point of subject matter. What qualities in Chaucer save him from the charge of cynicism when he alludes to human faults? Does the Prologue attempt to portray any of the nobler sides of human nature? Is the Prologue mainly or entirely concerned with the personality of the pilgrims? Has Chaucer any philosophy of life? Are there any references to the delights of nature? Note any passages that show special powers of melody and mastery over verse. Does the poem reveal anything of Chaucer's personality? In your future reading see if you can find another English story-teller in verse who can be classed with Chaucer.
FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER II:
[Footnote 1: The Tempest, V., I.]
[Footnote 2: For the location of all the English cathedral towns, see the Literary Map, p. XII.]
[Footnote 3: and.]
[Footnote 4: April.]
[Footnote 5: little.]
[Footnote 6: in her language.]
[Footnote 7: Spring.]