CHAUCER. chesi•r. GgoSrtlEv le.1 34 0- 1 400 ) . The first great English poet. The son of John Chaucer. a London vintner, he was born in Lon don shout 1310, or possibly a years earlier. Of the poet's life few trustworthy details have come 110W11 to us; the usual biography is a fah rieation. But certain are contained in the odieial (14)(411)1(1ns of the time. amt. besides this, Chaucer sometimes speaks•of himself. In 1357 he was in the service of the Countess of Ulster, wife of Lionel, the son of Edward III. His po sition was most likely that of at page. Ile was in the army of his King. who invaded France in 1359 O. Ile was taken prisoner. but was ransomed on March I of the Is tier year. Chau cer is not mentioned again until 13(37. when lie received from the King a pension of 20 marks under the title of 'valet.' From this tnne on Chaucer may he followed more elosely, his name oceurring frequently in public documents. Front valet lie rose to the rank of squire in the King's household. Chaucer was soon sent till several important foreign missions to Flanders, France, and Italy. His first Italian journey was in 1372-73, when he went to Genoa and Florence, and, as many believe. to Padua, where lie learned from Tetrarch the story of the Patient Griselda, the tale told by the Clerk of Oxford, one of the Canterbury pilgrims. in 137S lie again went to Italy, returning early the next, y-ear. In 1374 was appointed comptroller of the eustonts for wool, skins, ell*, at the port (4 London, and in 1:3S2 eouiptriiller of petty eustoms—of wine. eau dles, and other small articles. Both these posi tions he lost in hut in that year lie was elected to Parliament from Neut. Three years later he was appointed clerk of the King's works at Westminster the Tower of Loudon, and va rious rural manors. and in 1300 clerk of the works for saint 1:corge*, Chapel. Windsor. Dur ing 1301 he lost these positions. probably be valis• the repairs were completed. .11 about this time lie became forester of North Petherton Park. Somersetshire. This appointment he held until his death. .1fter l3S0 choicer was at various times in financial trouble. It is not to he suptlosed that lie was inetlieient as an expen live officer: he was rather a sufferer from the ups and downs of polities. During the reign of Richard II. 11377-991 there were two parties, one led by John of Gaunt and the other by the Duke of Gloucester. Chaucer belonged to the first and shared in its reverses, ‘Chen Hews' Bolingbroke gained the throne as Henry IV. (1390), Chaucer was plaeed in better eircum stances, lint he did not live to enjoy his good fortune. )le died on October 25, 1400, and was buried in 'Westminster Abbey. Chancier was married sonic time before 1374, probably as early as 1366. The surname of his wife is un certain, but her Christian name was Philippa. She seems to have died in 1387. The fifth cen tenary of Chatteer's death was observed on oe tober 25, 1900, when the Poet. Laureate unveiled a memorial window to him in Saint Saviour's Church, Southwark.
Chaucer was thus a man of affairs as well as a poet. The exact date of composition cannot lie fixed for his various poems. In grouping them, it has been customary to assign those that show a knowledge of Italian literature to a period fol lowing the first visit to Italy. But this proce dure is not quite eonvineing. In the prologue to the "Legend.. of id Women," written about 13S5. Chaucer mentions his most important poems down to that date—"Troylus and Cry scyde." "'Hie Ilon,se of Fame," "Bake of the Duch
the "Assembly of Forties," "Palamon and of saint last Iwo were incorporated into the Canterbury Tales) :11111 many ballades, and these Illellli0/1111 by name are very beautiful., Of them, "I'rovhus 8111.1 Cryseyde," founded on the mediaeval Troy legend, is by far the longest. It was a favorite with Dante Ros setti; and Chaucer is indeed most subtle here in has In nitwit of the work cited above, Chaucer was to some extent a translator. He did not, however, follow Boccaccio and his other originals slavishly. hut rather made use of them in a broad and free way. greatest work is the t'ante•bur Tales. Ilene l'haueer brings together at the Tabard Inn men and women of every degree, from the knight to the cook, and plans to have each tell shales on the way to Canterbury and on the return. Of this scheme he lived to yatty out only a part. The stories were intended to represent the types current in his day, such as the romance of chiv alry, the legend. and the fabliau, or fable, and they were to he in harmony with the (iameters sketched so delightfully in the prologue. Of this prologue, Dryden Wrote the famous passage: "Tis sufficient to say, according to the proverb, that here is God's plenty. 'We have our forefa thers and great-grandames all before us, as they were in Chaucer's day; their glmeral characters are still remaining in mankind. and even in England, though they are called by other names than those of monks, and friars, and canons, and lady abbesses. and mins; for mankind is ever the same, and nothing lost out of nature, though everything is altered." Chaucer wrote several minor poems, among which are the "Complaint to Pity" and the "Complaint to His Purse." Wine it is agreed that Chaucer translated "The Romance of the Pose," there is disagreement as to whether the extant version is wholly his. Indeed, it has been argued. though not very stweessfully, that it is thrtaigliont the work of another hand. "The Court of Love." "The Flower and the Leaf." and certain other poems that have been attributed to him en Iles no longer accept as his. Chaucer also translated the work of Boiithins entitled De Consolations Philosophic', a favorite book of the Middle Ages. and one of which we have a version by King Alfred. No better than his con temporaries: in prose, Chaucer rises far above them all in verse. At a time when English poetry was dull and without art. he wrought as a craftsman of the very first rank. Ile invented the seven-line stanza and the couplet em ployed by Dryden, Pope. and a host of other poets. lie was indeed the father of English poetry.
The first competent editor of Chaucer was Thomas Tyrwhitt, whose edition of the Canter bury Tales appeared in 1775, a glossary being added three years later. An admirable edition of the Complete Works. by Waiter \V. Skeet, in seven volumes, was published at Oxford in 1894-97. A convenient edition in one volume is the Globe (London and New York. 1S9S). The most exhaustive work on Chaucer is by 1'. R. Lounsbury: Studies in Chaucer (3 vols., New York. 1892). Indispensable to the Chaucer student are the publications of the Chaucer Society, founded in Isti7 by F. J. Furnivall. Consult also: Ten Brink. chauerr: Studien _ter arsehiehte seiner Sehrif ten I:1111114er. I 870 : Chaucer: Sprache and Ferskanst (Leipzig, 1884 ) ; and skeat. Thr Iteer ('nano (Oxford. II1001.