The Canterbury Tales of Geoffrey Chaucer

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1847 Excerpt: ...of Mirth as, --Shod, with grete maislrie, With shone decopid and with lace. It may be observed, however, that this is a literal translation from the French original, decoupe. 3322.--Instead of this line, Tyrwhitt reads, --Ful faire and thicke ben the pointes set. Goth with a senser on the haly day, 3340 Sensing the wyves of the parisch fast; And many a lovely look on hem he cast, And namely on this carpenteres wyf: To loke on hire him thought a mery lyf, Sche was so propre, sweete, and licorous. I dar wel sayn, if sche had ben a mous, And he a cat, he wold hir hent anoon. This parisch clerk, this joly Absolon, Hath in his herte such a love longyng, That of no wyf ne took he noon offryng; 3350 For curtesy, he seyde, he wolde noon. The moone at night ful cleer and brighte schoon, And Absolon his giterne hath i-take, For paramours he seyde he wold awake. And forth he goth, jolyf and amerous, Til he cam to the carpenteres hous, A litel after the cok had y-crowe, And dressed him up by a schot wyndowe, That was under the carpenteres wal. He syngeth in his voys gentil and smal; 336 "Now deere lady, if thi wille be, I praye yow that ye wol re we on me," 3358.--schot wyndowc. I am not satisfied with the explanations of this term hitherto given. It would seem rather to mean a window pro. jecting from the wall, from which the inmates might shoot upon any one who attempted to force an entry into the house by the door, and from which therefore it would be easy for a person within to expose any part of his body in the manner expressed in the sequel of the story. 3361.--Tyrwhitt observes that this and the following line, comprising Absolon's song, appear to consist of four short lines, all rhyming together. Ful wel acordyng to his gyternyng. This carpenter awook, ...