Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Poetry Month

from The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales *

Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his half cours y-ronne;
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open yƫ--
So priketh hem Nature in hir corages--
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
And specially from every shires ende
Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for to seke,
That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seke.
--Geoffrey Chaucer
_________
* translation here

No comments: