THAT Geoffrey Chaucer's 'drasty rhyming is nat worth a toord' (his 'dirty rhyming isn't worth a turd'), the Host's pungent dismissal in Chaucer's best-known, but incomplete poem The Canterbury Tales, is a verdict that, with good reason, posterity has ignored. More than six centuries after his death in 1400, Chaucer remains the best-loved and most-read surviving voice of medieval England. His claim to be a 'grete philosopher', profound in his understanding of human nature, is as persuasive now as when first articulated by 15th-century printer William Caxton. He has consistently been celebrated for his trailblazing literary wizardry, assimilating and reinventing diverse storytelling traditions: the writer, Caxton marvelled, who outstripped all others and 'enbelysshed, ornated, and made faire our englisshe', supplementing the language with words borrowed from Latin and French. Within a dozen years of his death, Chaucer was hailed as the first discoverer of English and the pre-eminent poet of our native tongue: 'The first fyndere of our faire langage.'
According to the narrator of The Manciple's Tale, a word is spoken or written and forth it goth'. Now, a new exhibition at Oxford's Bodleian Library charts Chaucer's life and 600 years of readers' responses to his work. Exhibits range from the oldest surviving Chaucer manuscript, the Hengwrt Chaucer of about 1400, to recent Chaucer-inspired writing by Windrush-generation poets. Clearly, the great man's words continue to go forth, crackling with life, to resonate forcefully with new generations. Described by fellow poet John Dryden in 1700 as 'the Father of English Poetry' (and, on account of his bawdy humour, as a rough diamond'), Chaucer emerges from the current exhibition as a towering figure, inspiring writers from Edmund Spenser to Zadie Smith, alongside calligraphers, illustrators, amateur and professional artists, film-makers and even puppeteers.
Denne historien er fra January 03, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra January 03, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery