Geoffrey Chaucer As a Poet

Geoffrey Chaucer As a Poet

Chaucer as a Poet has the following features:

Language and Versification

Chaucer as a poet is one of the first three greatest poets of English literature, the other two being Shakespeare and Milton. He was a great innovator and creator. When he started writing there was no standard English. Four dialects were spoken in different parts of England. He chose the East-Midland dialect which had been newly formed and had never before been used in poetry. Chaucer, for the first time, showed the possibilities of this language as a medium for great poetry. Chaucer put his first language into the mould of rhyme and French metres. He used the language which had the freshness of spring and took inspiration from a literature which had the maturity of autumn. For matter he kept his eyes and ears open the life around him. Thus be became the first to write great poetry in the English language and he used, for the first time metres which later English poets have adopted.

Truth to Life

The earlier poets of England, France and Italy used to look at life through the medium of dreams and allegories. Chaucer followed them in the beginning. But by the time began his Canterbury Tales he started looking straight at life. Poetry was freed from the bond of fiction and imagination and became, in the true sense, “a criticism of life”. Chaucer’s work is true to nature and to human life.

Value of Character

Chaucer was the first great poet to emphasize the value of human character. In the Canterbury Tales he portrays men and women truthfully without exalting or disparaging them. He created living beings and made them act and talk as they would in real life, according to their nature.

Universal Appeal

Hudson called him a court poet who was indifferent to the sufferings of the poor. It is true that Chaucer is not a poet of the people in a political sense. He did not agitate for the grievances of the people against the Government. Nor did he side with the king and the aristocrats against the people. Although he was brought up as a page boy in the court, he did not shun with all classes of people. He is everyone’s friend. He has sympathy for all his fellow men. He does not divide men into “good” and “bad”. He did not deal with local issues or the problems of the day. If he had done so, he would have been of interest only to historians. He dealt with various aspects of human nature which has remained the same for ages. That is why Chaucer has a universal appeal.

Restraint

In dealing with his material Chaucer shows the marks of civilization. His expression is marked by restraint and balance and poise. His praise does not rise to flattery, nor does his satire descend to invective. His pathos is so restrained that it does not lead to weeping and lamentation. His humour creates smile and does not lead to guffaws of laughter. His emotions are all restrained because his passions are tempered by his intellect.

Not Didactic

Chaucer does not adopt the superior moralising tone. His sense of humour saves him from that. He presents scoundrels but he makes us laugh not only at them but also with them. With all their faults they are human beings For instance, a moralist would have condemned a doctor who exploited the poor people at the time of the pestilence to become rich himself. But Chaucer tells us that the Doctor loved gold in special for gold in medicine is a tonic, invigorating to the heart. He had a wide sympathy. He had no bitterness or rancour against anyone. He is not our teacher but our friend. His aim was not to guide men or to reform them. To depict men as they are, was h aim and he achieved his aim in poetry which is superb.

The Conversational Tone

Chaucer, for the first time, introduce the conversational tone poetry. His pilgrims talk and laugh, interrupt each other’s stories and sometimes even quarrel, with each other. Unfortunately, drama ha been developed in that age, otherwise Chaucer, with his grip over human nature and his mastery over dialogue and action, would have been a great dramatist.

Poetic Artist

Chaucer is a pure poetic artist. There is sweet music in his verse if it read with the proper accent and intonation. He introduced as many as thirteen metres into English verse. Spenser called him “our well of English undefiled”. Chaucer is among the best. As a story- teller in verse he is superb. His words exactly express his thoughts and feelings. His precept, “the words moot be cosyn to the dede” was fully practised by him.

Father of English Poetry

Chaucer modern English Poetry was born. He created the literary language which, in all its fundamentals, is the King’s English of today. No one, except Milton, added so much to the craft and technique of poetry writing. In visualizing human nature and presenting a realistic view of life no poet excels him except Shakespeare. He demonstrated that graceful and charming poetry be written in the English Language. This “poet of the dawn, therefore, fully deserves to be called the “Father of Poetry.”

RELATED QUESTIONS

Q: What are the salient features of Chaucer’s style? Illustrate from the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales.

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