“What should I more say but this miller
    He would his words for no man forbear,
    But told his churls tale in his manner. 
    Me thinketh that I shall rehearse it here;
    And therefore every gently wight I pray,
    For Goddes love deem not that I say
    Of evil intent, but for I might rehearse
    Their tales all, be they better or worse,
    Or else falsen some of my matter: 
    And therefore, who so listeth it not to hear,
    Turn over the leaf and choose another tale;
    For he shall find enow, both great and small,
    In storial thing that toucheth gentlesse,
    And eke morality and holiness,—­
    Blame not me if that ye choose amiss. 
    This miller is a churl ye know well,
    So was the Reeve, and many more,
    And wickedness they tolden both two. 
    Advise you, put me out of blame;
    And eke men shall not make earnest of game.”

If Chaucer had written all the tales that he meant to write, there would have been one hundred and twenty-four in all.  But the poet died long before his work was done, and as it is there are only twenty-four.  Two of these are not finished; one, indeed, is only begun.  Thus, you see, many of the pilgrims tell no story at all, and we do not know who got the prize, nor do we hear anything of the grand supper at the end of the journey.

Chaucer is the first of our poets who had a perfect sense of sound.  He delights us not only with his stories, but with the beauty of the words he uses.  We lose a great deal of that beauty when his poetry is put into modern English, as are all the quotations which I have given you.  It is only when we can read the poems in the quaint English of Chaucer’s time that we can see truly how fine it is.  So, although you may begin to love Chaucer now, you must look forward to a time when you will be able to read his stories as he wrote them.  Then you will love them much more.

Chaucer wrote many other books beside the Canterbury Tales, although not so many as was at one time thought.  But the Canterbury Tales are the most famous, and I will not trouble you with the names even of the others.  But when the grown-up time comes, I hope that you will want to read some of his other books as well as the Canterbury Tales.

And now, just to end this long chapter, I will give you a little poem by Chaucer, written as he wrote it, with modern English words underneath so that you may see the difference.

This poem was written when Chaucer was very poor.  It was sent to King Henry IV, who had just taken the throne from Richard II.  Henry’s answer was a pension of twenty marks, so that once more Chaucer lived in comfort.  He died, however, a year later.

THE COMPLAYNT OF CHAUCER TO HYS PURSE