Notes to the Prologue to The Man of Law's Tale
De par dieux jeo asente: “by God, I agree”. It ischaracteristic that the somewhat pompous Sergeant of Lawshould couch his assent in the semi-barbarous French, thenfamiliar in law procedure.
The Saintes Legend of Cupid: Now called “The Legend ofGood Women”. The names of eight ladies mentioned here arenot in the “Legend” as it has come down to us; while those oftwo ladies in the “legend” — Cleopatra and Philomela — are heromitted.
Words in this poem
- couch
- submit, shrink
- saintes
- martyrs for love
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Notes to the Prologue to The Man of Law's Tale 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, Notes to the Prologue to The Man of Law's Tale, in The Canterbury Tales (1400), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2383, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/canterbury-tales/notes-to-the-prologue-to-the-man-of-law-s-tale.html, id L20724.
Form and metre
Notes to the Prologue to The Man of Law's Tale is 9 lines in 2 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
See 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.
- 2 ABAB- ofA · areB · ofA · herB · omitted
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 |
|---|---|---|
| De par dieux jeo asente: “by God, I agree”. It is | 13 | ·········˘/·· |
| characteristic that the somewhat pompous Sergeant of Law | 14 | ·˘/˘··///˘/˘·· |
| should couch his assent in the semi-barbarous French, then | 13 | ···˘/··/˘/˘·· |
| familiar in law procedure. | 8 | ˘/˘··˘/˘ |
| The Saintes Legend of Cupid: Now called “The Legend of | 13 | ··/˘·/˘···/˘· |
| Good Women”. The names of eight ladies mentioned here are | 13 | ·/˘····/˘/˘·· |
| not in the “Legend” as it has come down to us; while those of | 15 | ···/˘·········· |
| two ladies in the “legend” — Cleopatra and Philomela — are her | 18 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/˘··˘/˘·· |
| omitted. | 3 | ˘/˘ |
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.