The Canterbury Tales: The Knight's Tale

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. iniquity
    absence of moral or spiritual values
    The Lord of Thebes, grown cruel in his age
    And filled with foul iniquity and rage,
    For tyranny and spite as I have said
    Does outrage on the bodies of our dead
  2. accoutrement
    accessory or supplementary item of clothing
    Crawling for ransack among heaps of slain
    And stripping their accoutrements for gain,
    The pillagers went busily about
    After the battle on the field of rout.
  3. descry
    catch sight of
    And the sad prisoner Palamon had risen,
    With licence from the jailer of the prison,
    As was his wont, and roamed a chamber high
    Above the city, whence he could descry
    The noble buildings and the branching green
    Where Emily the radiant and serene
    Went pausing in her walk and roaming on.
  4. compunction
    a feeling of deep regret, usually for some misdeed
    All man-made law, all positive injunction
    Is broken every day without compunction
    For love.
  5. beatitude
    a state of supreme happiness
    Yes, we can all say that, and so can I,
    In whom the foolish notion had arisen
    That if I only could escape from prison
    I should be well, in pure beatitude,
    Whereas I am an exile from my good,
    For since I may not see you, Emily,
    I am but dead and there’s no remedy.
  6. conclave
    a confidential or secret meeting
    O cruel Gods, whose government
    Binds all the world to your eternal bent,
    And writes upon an adamantine table
    All that your conclave has decreed as stable
  7. bereft
    lacking or deprived of something
    Meat, drink and sleep—he lay of all bereft,
    Thin as a shaft, as dry, with nothing left.
  8. largesse
    liberality in bestowing gifts
    And every fiery passion that belongs
    To those that suffer love, the long-endured,
    Their taken oaths, their covenants assured,
    Pleasure and Hope, Desire, Foolhardiness,
    Beauty and Youth, Lasciviousness, Largesse,
    Philtres and Force, Falsehood and Flattery,
    Extravagance, Intrigue and Jealousy
  9. aquiline
    curved down like an eagle's beak
    Aquiline nose and eyes with lemon light
    And rounded lips he had, his colour bright,
    With a few freckles sprinkled here and there,
    Some yellow and some black.
  10. gambol
    play or run boisterously
    Many a lion tame and spotted pard
    Gambolled about this king of stern regard.
  11. orison
    reverent petition to a deity
    When Palamon had done his orison
    He then did sacrifice with woe-begone
    Devotion and with ceremonial rite
  12. edifice
    a structure that has a roof and walls
    Now in the hour of Mars next after this
    Arcite rose up and sought the edifice
    Of fiery Mars, to do beneath his banner
    His sacrifice, as was the pagan manner
  13. hauberk
    a long tunic of chain mail formerly worn as defensive armor
    At last the frame
    Of mighty Mars began to shake and ring
    Its hauberk, and he heard a murmuring,
    Low-voiced and dim, that answered ‘Victory’
  14. retinue
    the group following and attending to some important person
    Bright shields and trappings, headpieces and charms,
    Great golden helmets, hauberks, coats of arms,
    Lords on apparelled coursers, squires too
    And knights belonging to their retinue
  15. panoply
    a complete and impressive array
    Throned in a window giving on a pleasance
    Sat Theseus like a god in panoply,
    And all the people crowded there to see
    The Duke and offer him their reverence
    And hear what orders he might issue thence.
  16. faction
    a dissenting clique
    And should the principal of either faction
    Be taken to the stake, or killed in action,
    All fighting shall determine thereupon.
  17. truncheon
    a short stout club used primarily by police officers
    Another on his feet with truncheon pound
    Hurtles a rider and his horse to ground
  18. partisan
    an enthusiastic supporter of some person or activity
    ‘Ho! Stop the fight! No more, for it is done!
    I will be true judge and no partisan.
    The Theban Prince Arcita is the man
    And shall have Emily, won by Fortune’s grace.’
  19. founder
    stumble and nearly fall
    Arcita’s horse in terror danced a pattern
    And leapt aside and foundered as he leapt,
    And ere he was aware Arcite was swept
    Out of the saddle and pitched upon his head
    Onto the ground, and there he lay for dead
  20. exhortation
    a communication intended to urge or persuade to take action
    On top of this he said a great deal more
    To this effect, with wisest exhortation,
    Heartening the people in their tribulation.
  21. bier
    a stand to support a corpse or a coffin prior to burial
    He laid him, bare his face, upon the bier,
    And wept upon him, pity was to hear.
    And that his body might be seen by all
  22. unwonted
    out of the ordinary
    Nor shall I say how in the sudden light
    Of the unwonted sun the dell took fright
  23. pall
    burial garment in which a corpse is wrapped
    Nor how Arcita lay among it all,
    Nor of the wealth and splendour of his pall,
    Nor yet how Emily thrust in the fire
    As custom was and lit the funeral pyre
  24. visage
    the appearance conveyed by a person's face
    Then with a sober visage and the still
    Sound of a sigh, he thus expressed his will
  25. eschew
    avoid and stay away from deliberately
    Then hold it wise, for so it seems to me,
    To make a virtue of necessity,
    Take in good part what we may not eschew,
    Especially whatever things are due
    To all of us; his is a foolish soul
    That’s rebel against Him who guides the whole
Created on Wed Mar 30 12:00:32 EDT 2022 (updated Tue May 14 12:49:38 EDT 2024)

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