From line 1 to line 11, Chaucer describes the time of the year when the Pilgrimage takes place: an April day in spring time. As April with the sweet showers
brings new life to nature
, the pilgrimage brings new life to the soul of man.
When April comes and with its showers sweet?
When the sweet showers of April have pierced The drought of March, and pierced it to the root, And every vein is bathed in that moisture Whose quickening force will engender the flower; And when the west wind too with its sweet breath Has given life in every wood and field To tender shoots, and when the stripling sun …
When in April the sweet showers fall that pierce March’s drought to the root and all and bathed every vein in liquor that has power to generate therein and sire the flower?
When the sweet showers of April have pierced The drought of March, and pierced it to the root, And every vein is bathed in that moisture Whose quickening force will engender the flower; And when the west wind too with its sweet breath Has given life in every wood and field To tender shoots, and when the stripling sun …
What do the first 18 lines of the Canterbury Tales mean?
The first eighteen lines of the General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales describe the setting and the basic blot of the poem’s frame story:
in the springtime, as nature reawakens, people of England are drawn to go on pilgrimages to the town of Canterbury to pay respects to Saint Thomas Becket.
What does April bring about Canterbury Tales?
April
Sweet Showers
As April comes, in the period of rain and rebirth of nature, while Zephyrus brings nature back to life and birds are making melodies, twenty-nine people make a pilgrimage toward Canterbury, to visit the tomb of Thomas Becket, the most venerated of English Saints.
What is Chaucer saying about April?
In the prologue, Chaucer says that,
when April comes into full bloom “and smale foweles maken melodye
,” “so priken hem Nature in hir corages / Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages.” Chaucer is saying that when Nature comes into full bloom in spring, this stirs in people a desire to go on pilgrimages.
What does April Chaucer mean?
According to Chaucer, April is
when most pilgrims start their pilgrimage to visit the shrine of St. Thomas
. It is a time of rebirth, with new life returning to the land after the winter’s cold and the March droughts.
What does the narrator think of the monk?
The narrator has a low opinion of the Monk because while he vowed to serving God and helping other people, he is
obsessed with personal image and materialistic pass-times
.
Why is the Wife of Bath important?
The Wife of Bath is one of the most popular characters in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. The primary reasons for her popularity is
her expression of her feelings regarding marriage and the expectations of women during medieval times
.
Who had five husbands at the church door apart from other company in youth?
Bold
was her face, handsome, and red in hue. She’d five husbands, all at the church door, Apart from other company in youth; No need just now to speak of that, forsooth.
What two things does Chaucer promise to tell the reader?
What 3 things did Chaucer promise he would tell about each pilgrim?
Their professions, their social ranks and their appearances
.
Why does the narrator join the 29 pilgrims at the inn?
He is planning to travel as well
. He joins the group traveling. He offered to go as judge and settle any disputes.
Who is the plowman’s brother?
The Plowman is just as holy and virtuous as his
brother the Parson
. Living a simple life of hard labor, the Plowman has to do the dirtiest jobs of the medieval world, like load carts full of cow manure.
Why did the prioress go on the pilgrimage?
She also tells her own tale,
begging the Virgin Mary to help her tell it properly in order to honor God
. We can assume, then, that the prioress is going on a pilgrimage out of genuine religious devotion. The second nun is supposed to be a chaperone to the first.
How does Chaucer describe the prioress?
Chaucer’s Prioress: Simple and Conscientious, … It is what her tale says about her, however, that is at the core of Chaucer’s intent in her depiction:
she is shallow, unworldly, un-Christian, and childish of character
, and this is what Chaucer wants the reader to understand about her.
How many tales will each pilgrim tell on the journey?
He lays out his plan: each of the pilgrims will tell
two tales
on the way to Canterbury and two more on the way back. Whomever the Host decides has told the most meaningful and comforting stories will receive a meal paid for by the rest of the pilgrims upon their return.
