English Literature

CHAPTER IV. THE AGE OF CHAUCER (1350-1400)

O blisful light, of whiche the bemes clere

Adorneth al the thridde hevene faire!

O sonnes leef, O Joves doughter dere,

Plesaunce of love, O goodly debonaire,

In gentil hertes ay redy to repaire!

O verray cause of hele and of gladnesse,

Y-heried be thy might and thy goodnesse!

In hevene and helle, in erthe and salte see

Is felt thy might, if that I wel descerne;

As man, brid, best, fish, herbe and grene tree

Thee fele in tymes with vapour eterne.

God loveth, and to love wol nought werne;

And in this world no lyves creature,

With-outen love, is worth, or may endure.^74

The third meter is the eight-syllable line with four accents,
the lines riming in couplets, as in the "Boke of the Duchesse":

Thereto she coude so wel pleye,

Whan that hir liste, that I dar seye

That she was lyk to torche bright,

That every man may take-of light

Ynough, and hit hath never the lesse.

Besides these principal meters, Chaucer in his short poems
used many other poetical forms modeled after the French,
who in the fourteenth century were cunning workers in ev-
ery form of verse. Chief among these are the difficult but
exquisite rondel, "Now welcom Somer with thy sonne softe,"
which closes the "Parliament of Fowls," and the ballad, "Flee
fro the prees," which has been already quoted. In the "Monk’s
Tale" there is a melodious measure which may have fur-
nished the model for Spenser’s famous stanza.[85] Chaucer’s
poetry is extremely musical and must be judged by the ear

(^74) Troilus and Criseyde, III.