Ah, poetry...so melodic, but also so wordy! I can already tell that it's going to take a lot more concentration and time for me to read this oh so lovely tale. I'm diving into this world of middle English and I'm not necessarily hating it, but I don't exactly love it; I find that medieval English is actually a little bit fun to read (even if it takes me 4 times to understand what the words are actually saying), the words just flow so nicely together...plus the pronunciation of
every single letter
makes it more fun (I guess)!
Anyways, to begin with, Chaucer's elaboration on the details kind of reminds me of my experience with George Orwell's
1984 rambling, except this is more pleasing. I like that the elaboration by Chaucer is used to create an image of the scene that he's setting; he talks for 18 lines about the setting before he actually introduces his own character. With these descriptions of singing birds and the sprouting plants, he successfully paints a lovely picture of spring and how it fosters opportunity.
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| This is an actual gif of Chaucer himself splashing in the puddles made from the "shoures sote" |
Once the scene/mood is set, Chaucer now proceeds to elaborate on the people that he is introducing, starting generally with the fellow people that also want to go on a pilgrimage to Canterbury, and then zooming in on them each (beginning with a knight). And considering that Chaucer had just met t
he guy, he sure seemed to know a heck of a lot about his character and how he held himself. Which leads me to believe that Chaucer was a great listener if he had to sit and hear all about this special knight...although, being a poet, he probably greatly enjoyed listening to everything everyone had to say. His description of the squyer had me all over the place though, I was imaging multiple different characters from the movie
Ever After (which is a totally fluffy chick flick, but so good too).
Basically, I'm entertained by middle English and its strange musical flow. Plus Chaucer seems cool too.
I love the sound of Middle English. It sounds like Latin like I’m talking to the Pope or someone from Italy. However, it is English, and in those days I guess they were Catholic. This was before Henry the Eighth had as many wives as possible and killed the lot of them for a son. Yet, I don’t know. This language to me is very flowery and dull. It is boring like someone was sitting by their window with their hair let down from the tower waiting for their prince charming. It isn’t as strong or powerful as the dialect of the ancient old English with its German and Scandinavian influence. I loved listening to that language. It made me happy. I can get into this read, and find what is subtle about love and friendships because there are all these little stories within the story about how people interacted within this society without fighting dragons. There are so many E’s in this book. I mean E is a nice letter but to me I find that the E is in the middle of the word, not at the end of a word because to me it leaves the word open and breathy. It leaves it open for interpretation. It also does not sound as strong, nor delicate. It is just there. I also see that they don’t use it as much in ancient english. But, I keep reading all these posts and I find that everyone loves this book. It is a great book, and I guess that is why everyone liked to read it. I remember I thought it was great the first time I read the book. I read the translation. It was good because there was an intellectual side to it that was deep in thought as if someone sat down and thought about this book like modern authors do. There was this storytelling element to Beowulf that made it seem as if old men were sitting around the campfire telling tales.
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Alex Cooper
Alexander Stephen Cooper
This is my first encounter with Chaucer, and my second encounter with Middle English (Beowulf was my first), so I am by no means experienced with the language. But I must admit, it adds a layer of excitement when reading the text. I enjoyed listening to the recorded readings of the prologue; it almost sounds like an entirely different language. I also found myself repeating lines, and at some point, my mother actually asked what language I was speaking, which I found humorous. I took pride in explaining it was actually English. I even showed her a few lines from the text and showed her how upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that it is, in fact, English, and not as intimidating as initially perceived. I am glad to be reading the text in its original form and not a modernized English version.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely that this book is hard and fun to read. I really enjoyed your comparisons to "1984" and "Ever After", not only because of the interesting parallels but because I think it's cool how literature can span from Chaucer's era to current times and we're able to understand and appreciate both!!
ReplyDeleteAlso, Alex's depiction of Middle English as flowery and dull really seemed interesting to me as well. I can totally see the Repunzel looking out her window longingly reciting lines of Middle English.
I kind of like the way he writes. I know it will take more time to understand it but it is beautiful to read.
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