Geoffrey Chaucer ( /ˈtʃɔːsər/; c. 1343 – 25 October 1400), known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey. While he achieved fame during his lifetime as an author, philosopher, alchemist and astronomer, composing a scientific treatise on the astrolabe for his ten year-old son Lewis, Chaucer also maintained an active career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Among his many works, which include The Book of the Duchess, the House of Fame, the Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde, he is best known today for The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer is a crucial figure in developing the legitimacy of the vernacular, Middle English, at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were French and Latin.
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Famous quotes by geoffrey chaucer:
“Heaven froze above, severe; the clouds congeal,
And through the crystal vault appeared the standing hail.”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)
“in that seson on a day
In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay
Redy to wenden on my pilgrymage
To Caunterbury with ful devout corage,
At nyght was come into that hostelrye
Wel nyne and twenty in a compaignye”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)
“Madame Pertelote, my worldes bliss,
Harkneth these blissful birdes how they sing,
And see the freshe flowers how they spring;
Full is mine heart of revel and solace!’
But suddenly him fell a sorrowful case,
For ever the latter end of joy is woe.”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)
“Ther nis no werkman, whatsoevere he be,
That may bothe werke wel and hastily.”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340–1400)
“And thou shalt kisse the relikes everychon,
Ye, for a grote! Unbokele anon thy purs.’”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)