The Nun’s Priest’s Tale: Prologue
“Ho!” quoth the Knight, “good sir, no more of this;That ye have said is right enough, y-wis,And muche more; for little heavinessIs right enough to muche folk, I guess.I say for me, it is a great disease,Where as men have been in great wealth and ease,To hearen of their sudden fall, alas!And the contrary is joy and great solas,As when a man hath been in poor estate,And climbeth up, and waxeth fortunate,And there abideth in prosperity;Such thing is gladsome, as it thinketh me,And of such thing were goodly for to tell.”
“Yea,” quoth our Hoste, “by Saint Paule’s bell.Ye say right sooth; this monk hath clapped loud;He spake how Fortune cover’d with a cloudI wot not what, and als’ of a tragedyRight now ye heard: and pardie no remedyIt is for to bewaile, nor complainThat that is done, and also it is pain,As ye have said, to hear of heaviness.Sir Monk, no more of this, so God you bless;Your tale annoyeth all this company;Such talking is not worth a butterfly,For therein is there no sport nor game;Therefore, Sir Monke, Dan Piers by your name,I pray you heart’ly, tell us somewhat else,For sickerly, n’ere clinking of your bells,That on your bridle hang on every side,By heaven’s king, that for us alle died,I should ere this have fallen down for sleep,Although the slough had been never so deep;Then had your tale been all told in vain.For certainly, as these clerkes sayn,Where as a man may have no audience,Nought helpeth it to telle his sentence.And well I wot the substance is in me,If anything shall well reported be.Sir, say somewhat of hunting, I you pray.”
“Nay,” quoth the Monk, “I have no lust to play;Now let another tell, as I have told.” jestingThen spake our Host with rude speech and bold,And said unto the Nunne’s Priest anon,“Come near, thou Priest, come hither, thou Sir John,Tell us such thing as may our heartes glade.Be blithe, although thou ride upon a jade.What though thine horse be bothe foul and lean?If he will serve thee, reck thou not a bean;Look that thine heart be merry evermo’.”
“Yes, Host,” quoth he, “so may I ride or go,But I be merry, y-wis I will be blamed.”And right anon his tale he hath attamedAnd thus he said unto us every one,This sweete priest, this goodly man, Sir John.
Words in this poem 16
- 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.]
- heaviness n.
- The state or quality of being heavy in its various senses; weight; sadness; sluggishness; oppression; thickness.
- 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.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- gladsome a.
- Pleased; joyful; cheerful.
- goodly a.
- Pleasant; agreeable; desirable. [OE. godlich, AS. g. See Good, and Like.]
- 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.]
- sickerly adv.
- Surely; securely.
- alle conj.
- Although; if. See All, conj.
- 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,]
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- glade n.
- An open passage through a wood; a grassy open or cleared space in a forest. [Prob. of Scand. origin, and akin to glad, a.; cf. also W. golead, goleuad, a lighting, illumination, fr. goleu light, clear, bright, goleu fwlch glade, lit., a ]
- blithe a.
- Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful; as, a blithe spirit. [AS. bli blithe, kind; akin to Goth. blei kind, Icel. bli mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. blidi kind, blithe.]
- reck v. t.
- To make account of; to care for; to heed; to regard. [AS. reccan, remccan, to care for; akin to OS. rokian, OHG. ruochan, G. geruhen, Icel. rækja, also to E. reckon, rake an implement. See Rake, and cf. Reckon.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Nun’s Priest’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 Nun’s Priest’s Tale: Prologue, in The Canterbury Tales (1400), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2383, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/canterbury-tales/the-nun-s-priest-s-tale-prologue.html, id L15877.
Form and metre
The Nun’s Priest’s Tale: Prologue is 54 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 52% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 13% 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 AA--BB-BCC--- thisA · wisA · heaviness · guess · diseaseB · easeB · alas · solasB · estateC · fortunateC · prosperity · me · tell
- 2 -AA--BBCC--DD--EEFFBB--GG- bell · loudA · cloudA · tragedy · remedy · complainB · painB · heavinessC · blessC · company · butterfly · gameD · nameD · else · bells · sideE · diedE · sleepF · deepF · vainB · saynB · audience · sentence · meG · beG · pray
- 3 -----AABB- play · jesting · bold · anon · john · gladeA · jadeA · leanB · beanB · evermo
- 4 -AA-- go · blamedA · attamedA · one · john
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “Ho!” quoth the Knight, “good sir, no more of this; | 10 | ·········· |
| That ye have said is right enough, y-wis, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And muche more; for little heaviness | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Is right enough to muche folk, I guess. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| I say for me, it is a great disease, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Where as men have been in great wealth and ease, | 10 | ·········· |
| To hearen of their sudden fall, alas! | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| And the contrary is joy and great solas, | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| As when a man hath been in poor estate, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And climbeth up, and waxeth fortunate, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| And there abideth in prosperity; | 10 | ··/˘˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Such thing is gladsome, as it thinketh me, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And of such thing were goodly for to tell.” | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| “Yea,” quoth our Hoste, “by Saint Paule’s bell. | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Ye say right sooth; this monk hath clapped loud; | 10 | ········˘· |
| He spake how Fortune cover’d with a cloud | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| I wot not what, and als’ of a tragedy | 11 | ········/˘˘ |
| Right now ye heard: and pardie no remedy | 11 | ········/˘˘ |
| It is for to bewaile, nor complain | 10 | ········˘/ |
| That that is done, and also it is pain, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| As ye have said, to hear of heaviness. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Sir Monk, no more of this, so God you bless; | 10 | ·········· |
| Your tale annoyeth all this company; | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| Such talking is not worth a butterfly, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| For therein is there no sport nor game; | 9 | ········· |
| Therefore, Sir Monke, Dan Piers by your name, | 9 | ········· |
| I pray you heart’ly, tell us somewhat else, | 10 | ·······//· |
| For sickerly, n’ere clinking of your bells, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That on your bridle hang on every side, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| By heaven’s king, that for us alle died, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| I should ere this have fallen down for sleep, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Although the slough had been never so deep; | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Then had your tale been all told in vain. | 9 | ········· |
| For certainly, as these clerkes sayn, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Where as a man may have no audience, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Nought helpeth it to telle his sentence. | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| And well I wot the substance is in me, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| If anything shall well reported be. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Sir, say somewhat of hunting, I you pray.” | 10 | ··//·/˘··· |
| “Nay,” quoth the Monk, “I have no lust to play; | 10 | ·········· |
| Now let another tell, as I have told.” jesting | 12 | ··˘/˘·····/˘ |
| Then spake our Host with rude speech and bold, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| And said unto the Nunne’s Priest anon, | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| “Come near, thou Priest, come hither, thou Sir John, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Tell us such thing as may our heartes glade. | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Be blithe, although thou ride upon a jade. | 10 | ·········· |
| What though thine horse be bothe foul and lean? | 9 | ········· |
| If he will serve thee, reck thou not a bean; | 10 | ·········· |
| Look that thine heart be merry evermo’.” | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| “Yes, Host,” quoth he, “so may I ride or go, | 10 | ·········· |
| But I be merry, y-wis I will be blamed.” | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| And right anon his tale he hath attamed | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| And thus he said unto us every one, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| This sweete priest, this goodly man, Sir John. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
Notes from the edition 4
Glosses from the Purves edition of 1870, printed beside the lines (Project Gutenberg #2383).
- Stanza 1 of a surety · source of distress, annoyance · delight, comfort
- Stanza 2 talked · were it not for the
- Stanza 3 no lust to play;: no fondness for · gladden
- Stanza 4 unless · attamed: commenced
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