Best Selling Books by Geoffrey Chaucer

A collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century that follows a group of pilgrims who are traveling to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket in Canterbury and decide to tell each other stories to pass the time.

The classic collection of beloved tales, both sacred and profane, of travelers in medieval England.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Chaucer''s ''Parliament of Fowls'' is a story about love, lust, honour, nature . . . and ducks. Simon Webb''s highly accessible modern English verse translation conveys the humour and colour of Chaucer''s original, and Simon''s introduction explains why the poem is now considered to be the work that first introduced the idea of Valentine''s Day as we know it. With introduction, glossary and further reading.

Troilus and Cressida - Geoffrey Chaucer. A complete modernisation by A. S. Kline published with selected illustrations. Troilus and Criseyde is a re-telling, in the Middle English vernacular, of the legendary tale of Troilus and Cressida, which is set during the Trojan War. Chaucer composed the poem in rime royale, probably in the 1380''s and the finished and highly polished work is often considered his finest achievement. The narrative appears to have been based by Chaucer on the tale Il Filostrato in Boccaccio''s Decameron, and though a tragedy in essence Chaucer introduced elements of humour, while drawing a sensitive portrait of Troilus as the deserted lover, and Criseyde as the unfortunate betrayer. Classed as a courtly romance, the poem helped to bring the Medieval Renaissance to English literature, with a subtle blend of classical story, medieval courtliness and English character depiction. The eloquent and cynical Pandarus who leads Criseyde astray (hence the obsolete term ''pandar'' for a pimp or procurer), is a type that recurs in later literature, for example as the Shakespearean characters Iago in Othello and Iachimo in Cymbeline. This version aims to provide a readable and accessible modernisation of the poem while preserving Chaucer''s rhymes and diction wherever possible, at the same time eliminating all archaic words which would require marginal notes to explain. This and other texts available from Poetry in Translation (www.poetryintranslation.com).