I think you’d like to lock me in your chest!

wives our vices hide Till we are married, then we show them well; 290 That is a scoundrel’s proverb, let me tell!

Benedicite!

They all loved me so well, by God above, I never did set value on their love!

I bear no malice to virginity; Let such be bread of purest white wheat-seed, 150 And let us wives be called but barley bread;

That they were made for passing out, as known, Of urine, and our two belongings small Were just to tell a female from a male,

marriage.

He has not every vessel all of gold; Some are of wood and serve well all their days.

Out of permission; there’s no shame should grieve In marrying me

virginity;

I understand he had more wives than one; And now would God it were permitted me

God bade us to increase and multiply;

I never should have married more than once.

And all were worthy men in their degree.

And grant that summoners good men become!

And you shall come to hell with me tonight,

The Devil,” said she, “take him alive today, 365 And pan and all, unless he will repent!”

I have been sick, and that for many a day.

crone

yet God knows I know of her no vice.

The peasant said one thing, but thought another. 305 Let us go forth upon our travellers’ way;

“God knows, never a bit. It is not his intention, trust to it.

And if that either of us gets more than other, 270 Let him be true and share it with his brother.

My loyalty will I preserve to my dear brother, As I have sworn, and each of us to other, 265 That we will be true brothers in this case;

bailiff,

And sometimes we are servants unto man, As to that old archbishop, Saint Dunstan, And to the apostles servant once was I.”

And sometimes have we power of both, you know, That is to say, of soul and body too.

No kind of conscience for such things have I.

extortion

My lord is harsh to me and niggardly, My job is most laborious, you see;

140 And they struck hands and made their solemn oath

He dared not, no, for very filth and shame, 130 Say that he was a summoner, for the name.

He wore a short coat of the Lincoln green

And was a thief, just such a thief was he. His master got but half of every fee.

He could protect of lechers one or two To learn of four and twenty more, mark you.

summoner

And payers of short tithes to shame descended.

That of a summoner may no good be said; I pray that no one will be angry made.

Up rose our host, and acting as our cock, He gathered us together in a flock,

That each of you, as if to shorten the day, Shall tell two stories as you wend your way

Strong was the wine and pleasant to each guest. A seemly man our good host was, withal,

To gain some silver, preferably from the crowd; Therefore he sang so merrily and so loud.

his eyes were narrow As hot he was, and lecherous, as a sparrow;

They were afraid of him as of the death.

REEVE

layman

But never did he fail, for rain or thunder, 495 In sickness, or in sin, or any state,

Bold was her face, and fair, and red of hue. She’d been respectable throughout her life, Married in church, husbands she had five,

Her stockings were of the finest scarlet red,

He knew the cause of every sickness,

Nice conscience was a thing he never kept. And if he fought and got the upper hand,

He sadly rode a carthorse,

Were with us, clothed in the same livery,

A pleasing live was the custom he’d won,

in his company;

And every law he knew entirely by rote.

Nowhere a man so busy of his class, And yet he seemed much busier than he was.

Not one word spoke he more than was necessary;

Of Aristotle and his philosophy

But, to tell the truth, his name I can’t recall.

.

rote.

Very many excellent horses had he in stable:

Then pity ruled her

forester

And at one side a sword and a buckler, And at the other side a dagger bright,

He was as fresh as is the month of May.

Though so strong and brave, he was very wise And of temper as meekly as a maid.

and what a gentleman, Who, from the moment that he first began 45 To ride about the world, loved chivalry, Truth, honour, freedom and all courtesy.

pilgrimage,

Round Table, and he that had it was honoured,

sojourned

‘I hold it happily made whole, the harm that I had; You are confessed so clean, cleared of your faults,

in good faith,

and if you offer another I’ll readily requite you and yield it you swiftly again – of that be you sure – as foe. But one stroke to me here falls; the covenant stated so,

He menaces him mightily, but touches him not, swiftly withholding his hand ere it might hurt.

‘You are not Gawain,’ quoth the man, ‘held so great, that was never afraid of the host by hill or by vale, for now you flinch for fear ere you feel harm. Such cowardice of that knight have I never heard.

as if he were no way cowed;

Strike but the one stroke, and I shall stand still and offer no hindrance, come work as you like, I swear.

Sir Gawain the man did greet, he bowed to him

Well wild was the way where they by woods rode, till it was soon time that the sun in that season does rise. They were on a hill full high, the white snow lay beside; the man that rode him by bade his master abide.

This castle to Christ I commend: May he grant it good chance!’

his steed to be brought he bade.

.

thrice,

there is no man under heaven might hew him, for he may not be slain by any sleight upon earth.

‘I’ll no gifts, before God, my dear, at this time; I have none to give you, nor naught will I take.’

unless you have a leman, a lover, that you like better,

“third time pays all,”

The lord persuaded him not to, pressed him to linger,

the brave knight said, nor such flanks on a swine he’d not seen before.

that the baron and boar were both in a heap, in the white water.

froth foamed from his mouth foul at the corners, and he whet his white tusks.

hunts the ill-fated swine

to a young thing, to yearn to show and teach some tokens of true love’s craft What! Are you ignorant

knows not how to manage his manners in company,

The lady did not forget, to come to greet him too;

‘How does this sport please you? Have I won praise? Have I won thanks, thoroughly served by my craft?’

Then sheared out the shoulders with their sharp knives, hauled them through a little hole, left the sides whole. Then they slit up the breast and broke it in twain.

he had failed in forms of politeness.

yet the knight held to his guard, and acted full fair.

the knight with speeches clear answered her every case.

Your are welcome to my body, Your pleasure to take all; I must by necessity your servant be, and shall.’

and then chat with my knight whom I have caught;

It was the lady, the loveliest to behold, that drew the door after her full silent and still, and bent her way to the bed; and the knight ashamed,

What screaming and bleeding, by banks they lay dying, and ever the hounds in a rush hard on them followed,

deer drove for the dales, darting for dread, hied to the high ground, but swiftly they were stayed by the beaters, with their stout cries.

now achieved is my goal, I shall at your will dwell here, and do what else you deem fit.’

Dwell until New Year’s Day, and rise and ride on then. You shall be shown the way; it is not two miles hence.’

The green chapel upon ground grieve for no more;

with clean courteous chat, closed from filth, their play surpassed every princely game with which it compares.

They crave his acquaintance, and he quickly asks to be their sworn servant, if they themselves wished.

She was the fairest in feature, in flesh and complexion, and in compass and colour and ways, of all others, and fairer than Guinevere, as the knight thought

He rode as he prayed, And cried for his misdeeds;

and guide him to some home.

if they had heard any word of a knight in green, on any ground thereabout, of the green chapel; and all met him with nay, that never in their lives saw they ever a sign of such a one, hued in green.

dukedom

Now geared was Gawain gay, lifted his lance right there, and gave them all good day – as he thought, for evermore.

five wounds that Christ caught on the cross

Gringolet

with rich coat armour,

what can men do but suffer?’

‘Why should I falter? Such destinies foul or fair what can men do but suffer?’

All this courtly company came the king near, for to counsel the knight, with care in their hearts.

.

Both ground and groves green is their dress, birds begin to build and brightly sing they the solace of the soft summer ensuing after on bank;

This gift of adventure

.

Full well they whiled that day till it worked its end on land

that folk flailed it with their feet,

I am the weakest, I know, and of wit feeblest.

Gawain, that sat by the queen, to the king he did incline: ‘I beseech in plain speech that this mêlée be mine’

Horseman

If he had stunned them at first, stiller were then all the host in the hall, the high and the low.

head of this house, I, Arthur am named.

and all engraved with green in gracious workings;

for a rider and his horse to own such a hue as grew green as the grass and greener it seemed,

holly branch, that is greatest in green when groves are bare,

it seemed that no man might his mighty blows survive.

with knots full many plaited in thread of gold about the fair green, here a thread of the hair, and there of gold.

There good Gawain was graced by Guinevere beside

he liked his life lively, he loved the less either to long lie idle or to long sit,

joyous a youth, and somewhat boyish

rich run forth to render presents, yelled their gifts on high, yield them to hand, argued busily about those same gifts. Ladies laughed out loud, though they had lost, while he that won was not wrath, that you’ll know.

Christ Himself

With all that’s well in the world were they together

with many lovely lords, of leaders the best,

Christmas

ever was Arthur highest, as I have heard tell. And so of earnest adventure I aim to show,

King demanded the judgment of the Court, according to the accusation and the answer.

Every day they came to his chamber, to know of his meat and drink, for much they feared that presently he would become mad.

He would have been set in prison, but Gawain came first to offer himself as his surety, and with him, all the knights of his fellowship

“Lady,” answered the knight, “grant me leave to go, for this grace is not for me. I am the King’s man, and dare not break my troth. Not for the highest lady in the world, not even for her love, will I set this reproach upon my lord.”

Launfal bestowed rich gifts.

In his heart he doubted that it was but a dream

, there is naught that you may bid me do—right or wrong, evil or good—that I will not do to the utmost of my power.

whose day shall be so filled with riches and with mirth as yours.”

I bring you my love.

No King on earth might have so sweet a shelter, not though he gave in fee the value of his realm.

t pavilion of silk

Right glad was the knight to do the bidding of the maidens. He gave no heed to his horse, but left him at his provand in the meadow.

e, attended by neither servant nor squire.

Arthur bestowed honours and lands on all his servants—save only on one.

This lord, who was forgotten and misliked of the King

Thereat he gave many rich gifts to his counts and barons,

King Arthur—that fearless knight and courteous lord—removed to Wales, and lodged at Caerleon-on-Usk, since the Picts and Scots did much mischief in the land.

Every good harper is welcome For my lord’s sake Sir Orfeo

For very joy the people wept That he was come so safe and sound; For very joy they danced and leapt;

steward

To hear thy lips lie thus to me! So, sir, my boon, as thou art king!

Each thus was stolen out of life, For such the fairies seize and keep

Amid the land a castle tall And rich and proud and wondrous high Uprose, and all the outmost wall Shone as a crystal to the eye. A hundred towers lit up the sky, Of diamond all battled stout; And buttresses rose up near by Arched with red gold and broad about.

dispel

The wildest creatures hidden there For very joy about him played, And all the birds from everywhere Came forth and heard;

On dainty dishes and sweet fruits, Now must he dig to find a small Repast of herbs and bitter roots.

turreted

In poverty he left the town

Forth must I fare on woeful quest To dwell where never man may be, Of beasts and birds to be the guest. And when ye know my soul has rest, Call then yourselves a parliament, And choose a king as seems you best. Do all as this my testament.”

king

wo gallant horsemen, young and fair, Rode to my feet, and bent the knee,   ” And bade me come with haste and speed To parley with their lord the king. But I replied I durst not heed,

Would have deemed his spirit were Housed in Heaven, such melody Was it, and such joy to hear.

minstrelsy

Orfeo most of any king Loved a harper and his lay

Christian

mirth

featly

Increase Font Size Toggle Menu HomeReadSign in Search in book: Search Contents Introduction: An Open Companion The ProjectAdditional Information:AUTHORS: Accessibility Statement Pressbooks’ Accessibility Policy:Contact us with any Accessibility Issues: I. The Middle Ages (ca. 476-1485) 1. Introduction: Caedmon's Hymn Bede: Biography2. Dream of the Rood 3. Introduction: Beowulf: Parts I & II Introduction: BeowulfStory SummaryThemesHistorical BackgroundLiterary StyleDiscussion Questions: Further Resources for Students:Reading: Beowulf Part II4. Beowulf: Part III 5. Judith X.XI.XII.6. The Wanderer7. Wulf and Eadwacer8. The Wife's Lament9. The Ruin 10. Selection of Old English Riddles I. A StormII. A StormIII. A StormV. A ShieldVII. A SwanVIII. A NightingaleXIV. A HornXXIII. A BowXXVI. A BibleXLV. DoughXLVII. A BookwormLX. A Reed II. Irish Literature 11. Cúchulainn’s Boyish Deeds  Introduction: Cúchulainn’s Boyish Deeds III. Introduction: Anglo-Norman Literature 12. Selections: The Myth of Arthur's Return 13. Tristan and Iseult IntroductionSTORY SUMMARYLITERARY THEMESDiscussion Questions:Further Resources for Students:14. From: Guide for Anchoresses (Ancrene Wisse) 15. Romances of Marie de France IntroductionBiographyInfluencesWriting StyleDiscussion Questions:Further Resources for Students: 16. Sir Orfeo IV. Middle English Literature in the 14th and 15th Century 17. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (ca. 1375-1400) 18. Sir Gawain: Parts I & II IntroductionBackground:The Character of Sir Gawain: Story Summary: Themes:Discussion Questions:Further Resources for Students: 19. Sir Gawain: Parts III & IV20. Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales21. Canterbury Tales: General Prologue 22. Canterbury Tales: The Knight's Tale lines 1-34: About Duke Theseus, lord of Athens, and his achievementslines 35-93: Women complain that they have lost their husbands in battlelines 117-146: The achievement of revengelines 147-174: Two knights, Arcita and Palamon, are captured and imprisonedlines 175-233: Emily walks in the garden and is seen by the two prisonerslines 234-264: Arcita compares Emily with Venuslines 265-293: Palamon claims Emily to be his lady and lovelines 294-328: Arcita rejects Palamon’s claimlines 329-350: Arcita is ransomedlines 351-360: The conditions of the ransomlines 361-416: Arcita is released from prison and regrets losing the sight on Emily 23. Canterbury Tales: Miller's Prologue and Tale Introduction: The Miller’s TaleStory SummaryReading: The Miller’s PrologueThe Miller’s Tale 24. Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale Introduction: The Wife of BathStory Summary:Reading: The Wife of Bath’s PrologueWife of Bath’s Tale 25. The Canterbury Tales: The Friar's Prologue and Tale The Friar’s PrologueThe Friar’s Tale 26. Canterbury Tales: The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale Introduction: The PardonerStory Summary:Reading: Pardoner’s PrologueThe Pardoner’s Tale 27. Canterbury Tales: The Nun's Priest's Tale Introduction: The Nun’s Priest’s TaleStory Summary:Reading: The Nun’s Priest’s Tale: PrologueThe Nun’s Priest’s Tale28. Chaucer's Retraction to Canterbury Tales 29. From: The Vision of Piers Plowman by William Langland From: The PrologueFrom: Passus IFrom: Passus 5Passus 6From: Passus 7From The C-Text30. Julian of Norwich: Revelations of Divine Love (Selections) 31. Margery Kempe: Excerpts from The Book of Margery Kempe IntroductionReading: The Birth of Her First Child and Her First Vision (excerpt)Her Pride and Attempts to Start a Business (excerpt)Margery and Her Husband Reach a Settlement32. The Wakefield Second Shepherd's Play33. Middle English Lyrics34. Robert Henryson: The Cock and the Jasp35. Everyman 36. Thomas Malory: Le Morte d'Arthur Introdution: Le Morte d’ArthurReading: Selection from Morte d’Arthur  V. The Sixteenth Century 37. Sir Thomas More: Utopia UTOPIA38. From: The Book of Common Prayer39. From: The Schoolmaster by Roger Ascham 40. WOMEN IN POWER: Selected Readings Mary I (Tudor): IntroductionMary Tudor: BiographyLady Jane GreyIntroductionMary Queen of Scots: IntroductionElizabeth I: IntroductionBiography41. Edmund Spencer: the Faerie Queene (Book I) 42. Sir Walter Raleigh: Poems and From: The Discovery of the Large, Rich and Beautiful Empire of Guiana Sir Walter Raleigh: IntroductionBiography: Sir Walter RaleighPoems43. Sir Philip Sidney: From Astrophil and Stella 44. THE WIDER WORLD: Selected Readings The Wider World: Selected Readings Richard Hakluyt: BiographyReading: Hakluyt’s Dedicatory Epistle to The Principal Navigations, 1589Leo Africanus: BiographyReading: Leo Africanus on the North Africans, 1526An English Traveller’s Guide to the North Africans, 1547Voyage to the Arctic, 1577, with Reflections on Racial DifferenceAmadas and Barlowe’s Voyage to Virginia, 1584Introduction: Thomas HariotHariot’s Report on Virginia, 1585General History of the Turks, 1603Introduction: Thomas DallamReading: A Gift for the Sultan 45. Christopher Marlowe: Hero and Leander Hero and Leander 46. Christopher Marlowe: Doctor Faustus The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus 47. William Shakespeare: Introduction Biography  48. William Shakespeare: Selected Sonnets Introduction: Shakespeare’s SonnetsNotable Themes and SummariesReading: Selected Sonnets 49. William Shakespeare: Taming of the Shrew Introduction: Taming of the ShrewExtended OverviewReading: THE TAMING OF THE SHREW VI. Early Seventeenth Century 50. John Dunne: Selections Songs and SonnetsA Selection of Holy SonnetsFrom: Devotions upon Emergent Occasions51. Aemilia Lanyar: Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum 52. Ben Jonson: Epigrams and Poetry EpigramsPoemsFrom: Underwood 53. Selections by Mary Wroth From: The Countess of Montgomery’s Urania SongFrom: Pamphilia to AmphilanthusFrom: A Crown of Sonnets Dedicated to Love  54. GENDER RELATIONS: Conflict and Counsel From: The Arraignment of Lewd, Idle, Froward, and Unconstant Women: Or the Vanity of Them Choose you WhetherRachel Speght: From A Muzzle for Melastomus William Gouge: From Domestical Duties55. Francis Bacon: Essays56. Margaret Cavendish: The Blazing World 57. George Herbert: The Temple The Temple 58. CRISIS OF AUTHORITY Readings Crisis of Authority: The Beheading of Charles IFrom: King Charles, His Trial (1649)From: A Perfect Diurnal of Some Passages in Parliament, no. 288Crisis of Authority: Political WritingsRobert Filmer: From Patriarcha Introduction: John Milton’s Political WritingsReading: From The Tenure of Kings and MagistratesGerrard Winstanley: From A New Year’s Gift Sent to the Parliament and ArmyThomas Hobbes: From LeviathanCrisis of Authority: Writing the SelfLucy Hutchinson: From Memoirs of the Life of Colonel John HutchinsonEdward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon: From The History of the RebellionLady Anne Halkett: From The Memoires 59. John Milton: Poems and Sonnets IntroductionReadings: John Milton’s Selected PoemsLycidasSonnets 60. John Milton: Paradise Lost (Books 1-3) BOOK 1BOOK 2BOOK 3 61. John Milton: Paradise Lost (Books 4-6) BOOK 4BOOK 5BOOK 6 62. John Milton: Paradise Lost (Books 7-9) BOOK 7BOOK 8BOOK 9 63. John Milton: Paradise Lost (Books 10-12) BOOK 10BOOK 11BOOK 12 VII. The Eighteenth Century 64. Oroonoko by Aphra Behn Oroonoko: Or, the Royal Slave 65. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift Gulliver’s Travels  Appendix An Open Companion for British Literature I 16 Sir Orfeo An introduction for this reading has not yet been written.  Reading: Sir Orfeo Adapted from the Middle English by Edward Eyre Hunt, 1909. We often read with new delight The lays that clerks would have us know, For lays there are that sing aright Each wondrous thing of long ago: Some are of weal, and some of woe, And some of joy and gentle mirth, And some of guile and treacherous foe, And some the strangest haps of earth;   Some are of jests and ribaldry, And some there are of fairy lore; But most of all, as men may see, They sing of love and trials sore. In Britain in the days of yore The harpers writ that men should praise The gallant deeds that were before Of such the Britons made their lays.

marvelous death.

That Beowulf is dead. In days gone by When our warriors fell and we were undefended He kept our coffers and our kingdoms safe. He worked for the people, but as well as that He behaved like a hero.

Dead from knife-wounds.

That I have been allowed to leave my people So well endowed on the day I die

standard

Broke ranks and ran for their lives To the safety of the wood. But within one heart Sorrow welled up: in a man of worth 2600 The claims of kinship cannot be denied.

When Beowulf fought and fate denied him Glory in battle

And racing toward its fate. Yet his shield defended 2570 The renowned leader’s life and limb For a shorter time than he meant it to

bereft

sensing his own death

He was a good king

So the war-king planned and plotted his revenge.

Then Beowulf was given bad news, A hard truth: his own home, The best of buildings, had been burnt to a cinder, The throne-room of the Geats.