The Merchant’s Tale: Prologue
“Weeping and wailing, care and other sorrow,I have enough, on even and on morrow,”Quoth the Merchant, “and so have other mo’,That wedded be; I trow that it be so;For well I wot it fareth so by me.I have a wife, the worste that may be,For though the fiend to her y-coupled were,She would him overmatch, I dare well swear.Why should I you rehearse in specialHer high malice? she is a shrew at all.There is a long and large difference everything wickedBetwixt Griselda’s greate patience,And of my wife the passing cruelty.Were I unbounden, all so may I the,I woulde never eft come in the snare.We wedded men live in sorrow and care;Assay it whoso will, and he shall findThat I say sooth, by Saint Thomas of Ind,As for the more part; I say not all, —God shielde that it shoulde so befall.Ah! good Sir Host, I have y-wedded beThese moneths two, and more not, pardie;And yet I trow that he that all his lifeWifeless hath been, though that men would him riveInto the hearte, could in no mannereTelle so much sorrow, as I you hereCould tellen of my wife’s cursedness.”
“Now,” quoth our Host, “Merchant, so God you bless,Since ye so muche knowen of that art,Full heartily I pray you tell us part.”“Gladly,” quoth he; “but of mine owen sore,For sorry heart, I telle may no more.”
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- wedded a.
- Joined in wedlock; married.
- trow v. i.
- To believe; to trust; to think or suppose. [OE. trowen, AS.treówan to trust, believe, fr. treów trust, treówe true, faithful. See True.]
- overmatch v. t.
- To be more than equal to or a match for; hence, to vanquish.
- betwixt prep.
- In the space which separates; between. [OE. betwix, bitwix, rarely bitwixt, AS. betweox, betweohs, betweoh, betwih; pref. be- by + a form fr. AS. twa two. See Between.]
- whoso pron.
- Whosoever. Piers Plowman.
- 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,]
- sooth a.
- True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
- pardie adv.
- Certainly; surely; truly; verily; -- originally an oath. [F. pardi, for par Dieu by God.]
- wifeless a.
- Without a wife; unmarried.
- tellen n.
- Any species of Tellina.
- cursedness n.
- The state of being under a curse or of being doomed to execration or to evil.
- gladly adv.
- Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Merchant’s Tale: 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, The Merchant’s Tale: Prologue, in The Canterbury Tales (1400), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2383, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/canterbury-tales/the-merchant-s-tale-prologue.html, id L15856.
Form and metre
The Merchant’s Tale: Prologue is 32 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 56% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.8 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% 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 AABBCC-DEE---CDDFFEEC------ sorrowA · morrowA · moB · soB · meC · beC · were · swearD · specialE · allE · wicked · patience · cruelty · theC · snareD · careD · findF · indF · allE · befallE · beC · pardie · life · rive · mannere · here · cursedness
- 2 -AABB bless · artA · partA · soreB · moreB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “Weeping and wailing, care and other sorrow, | 11 | /˘·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| I have enough, on even and on morrow,” | 11 | ··˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| Quoth the Merchant, “and so have other mo’, | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| That wedded be; I trow that it be so; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| For well I wot it fareth so by me. | 10 | ·········· |
| I have a wife, the worste that may be, | 9 | ········· |
| For though the fiend to her y-coupled were, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| She would him overmatch, I dare well swear. | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Why should I you rehearse in special | 9 | ····˘/·/˘ |
| Her high malice? she is a shrew at all. | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| There is a long and large difference everything wicked | 13 | ······/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Betwixt Griselda’s greate patience, | 8 | ˘/····/˘ |
| And of my wife the passing cruelty. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Were I unbounden, all so may I the, | 10 | ·········· |
| I woulde never eft come in the snare. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| We wedded men live in sorrow and care; | 10 | ·/˘···/˘·· |
| Assay it whoso will, and he shall find | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| That I say sooth, by Saint Thomas of Ind, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| As for the more part; I say not all, — | 9 | ········· |
| God shielde that it shoulde so befall. | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Ah! good Sir Host, I have y-wedded be | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| These moneths two, and more not, pardie; | 9 | ········· |
| And yet I trow that he that all his life | 10 | ·········· |
| Wifeless hath been, though that men would him rive | 10 | /˘········ |
| Into the hearte, could in no mannere | 10 | ·········· |
| Telle so much sorrow, as I you here | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Could tellen of my wife’s cursedness.” | 9 | ·/˘···/˘˘ |
| “Now,” quoth our Host, “Merchant, so God you bless, | 10 | ··/·/˘···· |
| Since ye so muche knowen of that art, | 10 | ·········· |
| Full heartily I pray you tell us part.” | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| “Gladly,” quoth he; “but of mine owen sore, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| For sorry heart, I telle may no more.” | 9 | ·/˘······ |
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