Chaucer’s Tale of Melibœus: Prologue
“No more of this, for Godde’s dignity!”Quoth oure Hoste; “for thou makest meSo weary of thy very lewedness,That, all so wisly God my soule bless,Mine eares ache for thy drafty speech.Now such a rhyme the devil I beteche:This may well be rhyme doggerel,” quoth he.“Why so?” quoth I; “why wilt thou lette meMore of my tale than any other man,Since that it is the best rhyme that I can?”“By God!” quoth he, “for, plainly at one word,Thy drafty rhyming is not worth a tord:Thou dost naught elles but dispendest time.Sir, at one word, thou shalt no longer rhyme.Let see whether thou canst tellen aught in gest,Or tell in prose somewhat, at the least, narrativeIn which there be some mirth or some doctrine.”“Gladly,” quoth I, “by Godde’s sweete pine,I will you tell a little thing in prose,That oughte like you, as I suppose,Or else certes ye be too dangerous.It is a moral tale virtuous,All be it told sometimes in sundry wiseBy sundry folk, as I shall you devise.As thus, ye wot that ev’ry Evangelist,That telleth us the pain of Jesus Christ,He saith not all thing as his fellow doth;But natheless their sentence is all soth,And all accorden as in their sentence,All be there in their telling difference;For some of them say more, and some say less,When they his piteous passion express;I mean of Mark and Matthew, Luke and John;But doubteless their sentence is all one.Therefore, lordinges all, I you beseech,If that ye think I vary in my speech,As thus, though that I telle somedeal moreOf proverbes, than ye have heard beforeComprehended in this little treatise here,T’enforce with the effect of my mattere,And though I not the same wordes say enforceAs ye have heard, yet to you all I prayBlame me not; for as in my sentenceShall ye nowhere finde no differenceFrom the sentence of thilke treatise lite,After the which this merry tale I write.And therefore hearken to what I shall say,And let me tellen all my tale, I pray.”
Words in this poem 19
- godde v. t.
- To treat as a god; to idolize.
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- ache n.
- A name given to several species of plants; as, smallage, wild celery, parsley. Holland. [F. ache, L. apium parsley.]
- doggerel a.
- Low in style, and irregular in measure; as, doggerel rhymes. [OE. dogerel.]
- lette v. t.
- To let; to hinder. See Let, to hinder.
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- tellen n.
- Any species of Tellina.
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- gest n.
- A stage in traveling; a stop for rest or lodging in a journey or progress; a rest. Kersey. [Cf. Gist a resting place.]
- gladly adv.
- Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]
- certes adv.
- Certainly; in truth; verily. [F. certes, for à certes, fr. L. certus. See Certain.]
- virtuous a.
- Possessing or exhibiting virtue. Specifically: -- (a) Exhibiting manly courage and strength; valorous; valiant; brave. [OE. vertuous, OF. vertuos, vertuous, F. vertueux, fr. L. Virtuous. See Virtue, and cf. Virtuoso.]
- sundry a.
- Several; divers; more than one or two; various. [OE. sundry, sondry, AS. syndrig, fr. sundor asunder. See Sunder, v. t.]
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- evangelist n.
- A bringer of the glad tidings of Church and his doctrines.
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- somedeal adv.
- In some degree; somewhat. [Written also sumdel, sumdeale, and sumdele.]
- nowhere adv.
- Not anywhere; not in any place or state; as, the book is nowhere to be found. [AS. nahwær. See No, and Where.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chaucer’s Tale of Melibœus: Prologue is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Canterbury Tales, Project Gutenberg ebook #2383; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Geoffrey Chaucer, Chaucer’s Tale of Melibœus: Prologue, in The Canterbury Tales (1400), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2383, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/canterbury-tales/chaucer-s-tale-of-melib-us-prologue.html, id L15874.
Form and metre
Chaucer’s Tale of Melibœus: Prologue is 48 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 71% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.8 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 --AABBCCDDEEFF--GGHH--IIJJKK--LL--MMNNOO----PPQQ dignity · me · lewednessA · blessA · speechB · betecheB · heC · meC · manD · canD · wordE · tordE · timeF · rhymeF · gest · narrative · doctrineG · pineG · proseH · supposeH · dangerous · virtuous · wiseI · deviseI · evangelistJ · christJ · dothK · sothK · sentence · difference · lessL · expressL · john · one · beseechM · speechM · moreN · beforeN · hereO · mattereO · enforce · pray · sentence · difference · liteP · writeP · sayQ · prayQ
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| “No more of this, for Godde’s dignity!” | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| Quoth oure Hoste; “for thou makest me | 9 | ········· |
| So weary of thy very lewedness, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| That, all so wisly God my soule bless, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Mine eares ache for thy drafty speech. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Now such a rhyme the devil I beteche: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| This may well be rhyme doggerel,” quoth he. | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| “Why so?” quoth I; “why wilt thou lette me | 9 | ········· |
| More of my tale than any other man, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Since that it is the best rhyme that I can?” | 10 | ·········· |
| “By God!” quoth he, “for, plainly at one word, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thy drafty rhyming is not worth a tord: | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Thou dost naught elles but dispendest time. | 9 | ········· |
| Sir, at one word, thou shalt no longer rhyme. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Let see whether thou canst tellen aught in gest, | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| Or tell in prose somewhat, at the least, narrative | 11 | ····//···/˘ |
| In which there be some mirth or some doctrine.” | 10 | ········/˘ |
| “Gladly,” quoth I, “by Godde’s sweete pine, | 9 | /˘······· |
| I will you tell a little thing in prose, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That oughte like you, as I suppose, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Or else certes ye be too dangerous. | 10 | ··/˘···/˘˘ |
| It is a moral tale virtuous, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘˘ |
| All be it told sometimes in sundry wise | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| By sundry folk, as I shall you devise. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| As thus, ye wot that ev’ry Evangelist, | 11 | ·······˘/˘˘ |
| That telleth us the pain of Jesus Christ, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| He saith not all thing as his fellow doth; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But natheless their sentence is all soth, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And all accorden as in their sentence, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| All be there in their telling difference; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| For some of them say more, and some say less, | 10 | ·········· |
| When they his piteous passion express; | 10 | ···/˘˘/˘˘/ |
| I mean of Mark and Matthew, Luke and John; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But doubteless their sentence is all one. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Therefore, lordinges all, I you beseech, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| If that ye think I vary in my speech, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| As thus, though that I telle somedeal more | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Of proverbes, than ye have heard before | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Comprehended in this little treatise here, | 11 | ·˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| T’enforce with the effect of my mattere, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| And though I not the same wordes say enforce | 10 | ········˘/ |
| As ye have heard, yet to you all I pray | 10 | ·········· |
| Blame me not; for as in my sentence | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Shall ye nowhere finde no difference | 10 | ··/····/˘˘ |
| From the sentence of thilke treatise lite, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| After the which this merry tale I write. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And therefore hearken to what I shall say, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And let me tellen all my tale, I pray.” | 10 | ···/˘····· |
Notes from the edition 1
Glosses from the Purves edition of 1870, printed beside the lines (Project Gutenberg #2383).
- stupidity, ignorance · surely · worthless · commend to · prevent · know · wastest · in gest,: by way of · suffering · please · fastidious · although it be · passion · true · meaning · with which to · this **little
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.