The Squire’s Tale: Prologue
“HEY! Godde’s mercy!” said our Hoste tho,“Now such a wife I pray God keep me fro’.Lo, suche sleightes and subtilitiesIn women be; for aye as busy as beesAre they us silly men for to deceive,And from the soothe will they ever weive,As this Merchante’s tale it proveth well.But natheless, as true as any steel,I have a wife, though that she poore be;But of her tongue a labbing shrew is she;And yet she hath a heap of vices mo’.Thereof no force; let all such thinges go.But wit ye what? in counsel be it said,Me rueth sore I am unto her tied;For, an’ I shoulde reckon every viceWhich that she hath, y-wis I were too nice;And cause why, it should reported beAnd told her by some of this company(By whom, it needeth not for to declare,Since women connen utter such chaffare),And eke my wit sufficeth not theretoTo tellen all; wherefore my tale is do.Squier, come near, if it your wille be,And say somewhat of love, for certes yeConne thereon as much as any man.”“Nay, Sir,” quoth he; “but such thing as I can,With hearty will, — for I will not rebelAgainst your lust, — a tale will I tell.Have me excused if I speak amiss;My will is good; and lo, my tale is this.”
Words in this poem
- godde v. t.
- To treat as a god; to idolize.
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- tellen n.
- Any species of Tellina.
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- squier n.
- A square. See 1st Squire.
- certes adv.
- Certainly; in truth; verily. [F. certes, for à certes, fr. L. certus. See Certain.]
- conne v. t.
- To know; to understand; to acknowledge. [AS. cunnan to know, be able, and (derived from this) cunnian to try, test. See Can, v. t. & i.]
- thereon adv.
- On that or this. [AS. . See There, and On.]
- 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.]
- rebel a.
- Pertaining to rebels or rebellion; acting in revolt; rebellious; as, rebel troops. [F. rebelle, fr. L. rebellis. See Rebel, v. t.]
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Squire’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 Squire’s Tale: Prologue, in The Canterbury Tales (1400), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2383, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/canterbury-tales/the-squire-s-tale-prologue.html, id L15858.
Form and metre
The Squire’s Tale: Prologue is 30 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 67% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.6 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 27% 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--BBC-DDAA--EED-FF--DDGGCCHH thoA · froA · subtilities · bees · deceiveB · weiveB · wellC · steel · beD · sheD · moA · goA · said · tied · viceE · niceE · beD · company · declareF · chaffareF · thereto · do · beD · yeD · manG · canG · rebelC · tellC · amissH · thisH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “HEY! Godde’s mercy!” said our Hoste tho, | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| “Now such a wife I pray God keep me fro’. | 10 | ·········· |
| Lo, suche sleightes and subtilities | 8 | ········ |
| In women be; for aye as busy as bees | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| Are they us silly men for to deceive, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| And from the soothe will they ever weive, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| As this Merchante’s tale it proveth well. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| But natheless, as true as any steel, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I have a wife, though that she poore be; | 9 | ········· |
| But of her tongue a labbing shrew is she; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And yet she hath a heap of vices mo’. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Thereof no force; let all such thinges go. | 9 | ········· |
| But wit ye what? in counsel be it said, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Me rueth sore I am unto her tied; | 9 | ········· |
| For, an’ I shoulde reckon every vice | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Which that she hath, y-wis I were too nice; | 10 | ·········· |
| And cause why, it should reported be | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And told her by some of this company | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| (By whom, it needeth not for to declare, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Since women connen utter such chaffare), | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And eke my wit sufficeth not thereto | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| To tellen all; wherefore my tale is do. | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| Squier, come near, if it your wille be, | 9 | /˘······· |
| And say somewhat of love, for certes ye | 10 | ··//···/˘· |
| Conne thereon as much as any man.” | 9 | ·˘/···/˘· |
| “Nay, Sir,” quoth he; “but such thing as I can, | 10 | ·········· |
| With hearty will, — for I will not rebel | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Against your lust, — a tale will I tell. | 9 | ········· |
| Have me excused if I speak amiss; | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| My will is good; and lo, my tale is this.” | 10 | ·········· |
Notes from the edition 1
Glosses from the Purves edition of 1870, printed beside the lines (Project Gutenberg #2383).
- then · truth **swerve, depart · chattering · moreover · no force;: no matter · counsel: know **secret, confidence · an’: if · certainly **foolish · done · know about it · pleasure
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