The Canterbury Tales: The Miller'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. codger
    an eccentric elderly man
    Some time ago there was a rich old codger
    Who lived in Oxford and who took a lodger.
  2. brooch
    a decorative pin
    Her collaret revealed
    A brooch as big as boss upon a shield.
  3. skittish
    unpredictably excitable, especially of horses
    She gave a spring, just like a skittish colt
    Boxed in a frame for shoeing, and with a jolt
    Managed in time to wrench her head away
  4. proffer
    present for acceptance or rejection
    Then Nicholas began to plead his cause
    And spoke so fair in proffering what he could
  5. surplice
    a loose-fitting ecclesiastical vestment with wide sleeves
    In a jacket of light blue,
    Flounced at the waist and tagged with laces too,
    He went, and wore a surplice just as gay
    And white as any blossom on the spray.
  6. saucy
    alluring or suggestive in a playful or pert way
    There was no public-house in town, or bar,
    He didn’t visit with his merry face
    If there were saucy barmaids round the place.
  7. paramour
    a lover, especially a secret or illicit one
    That evening, when the moon was shining bright
    He ups with his guitar and off he tours
    On the look-out for any paramours.
  8. proxy
    a person authorized to act for another
    He lay awake all night, and all the day,
    Combed his thick locks and tried to pass for gay,
    Wooed her by go-between and wooed by proxy,
    Swore to be page and servant to his doxy
  9. earnest
    devout or heartfelt
    She looked upon him as her private ape
    And held his earnest wooing all a jape.
  10. asperity
    harshness of manner
    The carpenter supposed it was despair
    And caught him by the shoulders mightily,
    Shook him and shouted with asperity:
    ‘What, Nicholas! Hey! Look down! Is that a fashion
    To act? Wake up and think upon Christ’s passion.
    I sign you with the cross from elves and sprites!’
  11. prevail
    prove superior
    And so if good advice is to prevail
    I undertake with neither mast nor sail
    To save her yet, and save myself and you.
  12. abate
    become less in amount or intensity
    The waters will abate and flow away
    Round nine o’clock upon the following day.
  13. victuals
    a stock or supply of foods
    When you have finished doing what I said
    And stowed the victuals in them overhead,
    Also an axe to hack the ropes apart,
    So, when the water rises, we can start,
    And, lastly, when you’ve broken out the gable,
    The garden one that’s just above the stable,
    So that we may cast free without delay
    After the mighty shower has gone away,
    You’ll float as merrily, I undertake,
    As any lily-white duck behind her drake.
  14. beseech
    ask for or request earnestly
    Go, save our lives for us, as I beseech you.
  15. perturbation
    an unhappy and worried mental state
    How fancy throws us into perturbation!
    People can die of mere imagination
  16. doleful
    filled with or evoking sadness
    He wept and wailed, his features were all set
    In grief, he sighed with many a doleful grunt.
  17. trough
    a long narrow shallow receptacle
    He victualled tub and trough, and made all snug
    With bread and cheese, and ale in a large jug,
    Enough for three of them to last the day
  18. clamber
    climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling
    And shortly, up they clambered, all the three,
    Silent and separate.
  19. travail
    use of physical or mental energy; hard work
    The carpenter, with all the work he’d seen,
    Fell dead asleep—round curfew, must have been,
    Maybe a little later on the whole.
    He groaned in sleep for travail of his soul
    And snored because his head was turned awry.
  20. awry
    turned or twisted to one side
    The carpenter, with all the work he’d seen,
    Fell dead asleep—round curfew, must have been,
    Maybe a little later on the whole.
    He groaned in sleep for travail of his soul
    And snored because his head was turned awry.
  21. revel
    unrestrained merrymaking
    Down by their ladders, stalking from on high
    Came Nicholas and Alison, and sped
    Softly downstairs, without a word, to bed,
    And where this carpenter was wont to be
    The revels started and the melody.
  22. casement
    a window framework that is hinged on one side
    He began to roam
    Towards the carpenter’s; he reached their home
    And by the casement window took his stand.
  23. malady
    any unwholesome or desperate condition
    His malady was cured by this endeavour
    And he defied all paramours whatever.
  24. wretched
    characterized by physical misery
    The neighbours all came running up in heat
    And stood there staring at the wretched man.
    He lay there fainting, pale beneath his tan;
    His arm in falling had been broken double.
  25. rafter
    one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof
    They told the town
    That he was mad, there’d got into his blood
    Some sort of nonsense about ‘Nowel’s Flood’,
    That vain imaginings and fantasy
    Had made him buy the kneading-tubs, that he
    Had hung them in the rafters up above
    And that he’d begged them both for heaven’s love
    To sit up in the roof for company.
Created on Wed Mar 30 13:44:35 EDT 2022 (updated Tue May 14 12:50:14 EDT 2024)

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