The Canterbury Tales: The Prologue

Anna
This famous collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the late 14th century, depicts a group of pilgrims journeying to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury. Each pilgrim tells a tale, showcasing a diverse range of characters and narratives that offer insights into medieval English society. Its significance lies in its portrayal of social commentary, religious themes, and the evolution of the English language, making it a cornerstone of English literature and a timeless work that continues to captivate readers centuries later. These were translated into Modern English by Nevill Coghill.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. engender
    call forth
    When in April the sweet showers fall
    And pierce the drought of March to the root, and all
    The veins are bathed in liquor of such power
    As brings about the engendering of the flower
  2. hallowed
    worthy of religious veneration
    Then people long to go on pilgrimages
    And palmers long to seek the stranger strands
    Of far-off saints, hallowed in sundry lands
  3. wend
    direct one's course or way
    And specially, from every shire’s end Of England,
    down to Canterbury they wend
    To seek the holy blissful martyr, quick
    To give his help to them when they were sick.
  4. sundry
    consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds
    At night there came into that hostelry
    Some nine and twenty in a company
    Of sundry folk happening then to fall
    In fellowship, and they were pilgrims all
    That towards Canterbury meant to ride.
  5. array
    an impressive display or assortment
    It seems a reasonable thing to say
    What their condition was, the full array
    Of each of them, as it appeared to me,
    According to profession and degree,
    And what apparel they were riding in
  6. boorish
    ill-mannered and coarse in behavior or appearance
    He never yet a boorish thing had said
    In all his life to any, come what might;
    He was a true, a perfect gentle-knight.
  7. stature
    the height of a standing person
    He was some twenty years of age, I guessed.
    In stature he was of a moderate length,
    With wonderful agility and strength.
  8. solicitous
    full of anxiety and concern
    As for her sympathies and tender feelings,
    She was so charitably solicitous
    She used to weep if she but saw a mouse
    Caught in a trap, if it were dead or bleeding.
  9. glib
    artfully persuasive in speech
    In all Four Orders there was none so mellow,
    So glib with gallant phrase and well-turned speech.
  10. accrue
    come into the possession of
    But anywhere a profit might accrue
    Courteous he was and lowly of service too.
  11. arbitrate
    act between parties with a view to reconciling differences
    He was ever prompt
    To arbitrate disputes on settling days
  12. estimable
    deserving of honor and respect
    This estimable Merchant so had set
    His wits to work, none knew he was in debt
  13. screed
    a long, tedious piece of writing
    He could dictate defences or draft deeds;
    No one could pinch a comma from his screeds
  14. sanguine
    confidently optimistic and cheerful
    A sanguine man, high-coloured and benign,
    He loved a morning sop of cake in wine.
  15. gentry
    the most powerful members of a society
    As Sheriff he checked audit, every entry.
    He was a model among landed gentry.
  16. livery
    a uniform, especially worn by servants and chauffeurs
    A Haberdasher, a Dyer, a Carpenter,
    A Weaver and a Carpet-maker were
    Among our ranks, all in the livery
    Of one impressive guild-fraternity.
  17. obstinate
    refusing to change one's mind or ways; difficult to convince
    His business was to show a fair behaviour
    And draw men thus to Heaven and their Saviour,
    Unless indeed a man were obstinate
  18. repine
    express discontent
    And, as the gospel bade him, so did he,
    Loving God best with all his heart and mind
    And then his neighbour as himself, repined
    At no misfortune, slacked for no content
  19. arrears
    the state of being behind in payments
    He had been under contract to present
    The accounts, right from his master’s earliest years.
    No one had ever caught him in arrears.
  20. cavalcade
    a procession of people traveling by foot, horse, or vehicles
    He rode the hindmost of our cavalcade.
  21. prevarication
    the deliberate act of deviating from the truth
    In one short day, in money down, he drew
    More than the parson in a month or two,
    And by his flatteries and prevarication
    Made monkeys of the priest and congregation.
  22. alight
    settle or come to rest
    And now the time has come for me to tell
    How we behaved that evening; I’ll begin
    After we had alighted at the Inn,
    Then I’ll report our journey, stage by stage,
    All the remainder of our pilgrimage.
  23. victual
    any substance that can be used as food
    Our Host gave us great welcome; everyone
    Was given a place and supper was begun.
    He served the finest victuals you could think,
    The wine was strong and we were glad to drink.
  24. burgess
    a citizen of an English borough
    A very striking man our Host withal,
    And fit to be a marshal in a hall.
    His eyes were bright, his girth a little wide;
    There is no finer burgess in Cheapside.
  25. entreaty
    earnest or urgent request
    Of course we all agreed, in fact we swore it
    Delightedly, and made entreaty too
    That he should act as he proposed to do,
    Become our Governor in short, and be
    Judge of our tales and general referee
Created on Wed Mar 30 10:31:17 EDT 2022 (updated Tue May 14 12:49:24 EDT 2024)

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