"Ther was also a Nonne, a , That of hir smyling was ful simple and coy; Hir gretteste ooth was but by Sëynt Loy; And she was cleped madame Eglentyne."

"A ther was, and that a worthy man, That fro the tyme that he first bigan To ryden out, he loved chivalrye, Trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisye. Ful worthy was he in his lordes werre, And therto hadde he riden (no man ferre) As wel in Cristendom as hethenesse, And ever honoured for his worthinesse."

"Bifel that, in that seson on a day, In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay Redy to wenden on my pilgrimage To Caunterbury with ful devout corage, At night was come in-to that hostelrye Wel nyne and twenty in a companye."

"And of his port as meke as is a mayde."

"Whan that Aprille with his shoures sote The droghte of Marche hath perced to the rote, And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halfe cours y-ronne, And smale fowles maken melodye, That slepen al the night with open yë, (So priketh hem nature in hir corages): Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages."

"For those whom God to ruin has designed, He fits for fate, and first destroys their mind."

"And specially, from every shires ende Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende, The holy blisful martir for to seke, That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seke."

"He was a verray parfit gentil knight."

"Ful wel she song the service divyne, Entuned in hir nose ful semely; And Frensh she spak ful faire and fetisly, After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe, For Frensh of Paris was to hir unknowe."

"To abhor the makers, and their laws approve, Is to hate traitors, and the treason love."

"Let the guiltless person throw the stone."

"Secret guilt by silence is betrayed."

"For present joys are more to flesh and blood, Than a dull prospect of a distant good."

"Jealousy, the jaundice of the soul."

"By education most have been misled; So they believe, because they so were bred. The priest continues what the nurse began, And thus the child imposes on the man."

"Possess your soul with patience."

"Either be wholly slaves, or wholly free."

"When the cause goes hard, the guilty man Excepts, and thins his jury all he can."

"War seldom enters but where wealth allures."

"Much malice, mingled with a little wit, Perhaps may censure this mysterious writ."

"That men may err was never yet denied."

"That desperate cures must be to desperate ills applied."

"She leet no morsel from hir lippes falle, Ne wette hir fingres in hir sauce depe. Wel coude she carie a morsel, and wel kepe, That no drope ne fille up-on hir brest. In curteisye was set ful muche hir lest."

"As long as words a different sense will bear, And each may be his own interpreter, Our airy faith will no foundation find, The word's a weathercock for every wind."

"And leaves the private conscience for the guide."

"Eternal house, not built with mortal hands!"

"Too black for heaven, and yet too white for hell."

"Of all the tyrannies on human-kind, The worst is that which persecutes the mind."

"Reason to rule, but mercy to forgive; The first is law, the last prerogative."

"Who can believe what varies every day, Nor ever was, nor will be at a stay?"

"And kind as kings upon their coronation day."

"And doomed to death, though fated not to die."

"For truth has such a face and such a mien, As to be loved needs only to be seen."

"My thoughtless youth was winged with vain desires; My manhood, long misled by wandering fires, Followed false lights; and, when their glimpse was gone, My pride struck out new sparkles of her own. Such was I, such by nature still I am; Be thine the glory, and be mine the shame! Good life be now my task; my doubts are done; What more could fright my faith, than Three in One?"

"A milk-white Hind, immortal and unchanged, Fed on the lawns, and in the forest ranged; Without unspotted, innocent within, She feared no danger, for she knew no sin."

"She was so charitable and so pitous, She wolde wepe, if that she sawe a mous Caught in a trappe, if it were deed or bledde."

"With all this bulk there's nothing lost in Og, For every inch, that is not fool, is rogue; A monstrous mass of foul corrupted matter, As all the devils had spewed to make the batter. When wine has given him courage to blaspheme, He curses God, but God before curst him; And if man could have reason, none has more, That made his paunch so rich, and him so poor."

"For you may palm upon us new for old; All, as they say, that glitters, is not gold."

"Rhyme is the rock on which thou art to wreck."

"All have not the gift of martyrdom."

"Him of the western dome, whose weighty sense Flows in fit words, and heavenly eloquence."

"The court he practised, not the courtier's art: Large was his wealth, but larger was his heart."

"Of ancient race by birth, but nobler yet In his own worth."

"Swift was the race, but short the time to run."

"Yet, grant our lords, the people, kings can make, What prudent men a settled throne would shake? For whatsoe'er their sufferings were before, That change they covet makes them suffer more. All other errors but disturb a state; But innovation is the blow of fate. If ancient fabrics nod, and threat to fall, To patch their flaws, and buttress up the wall, Thus far 'tis duty: but here fix the mark; For all beyond it is to touch the ark. To change foundations, cast the frame anew, Is work for rebels, who base ends pursue; At once divine and human laws controul, And mend the parts by ruin of the whole."

"Gulled with a patriot's name, whose modern sense Is one that would by law supplant his prince; The people's brave, the politician's tool; Never was patriot yet, but was a fool."

"For whatsoe'er their sufferings were before, That change they covet makes them suffer more. All other errors but disturb a state; But innovation is the blow of fate."

"What politician yet e'er 'scaped his fate, Who saving his own neck not saved the state?"

"A man so various, that he seemed to be Not one, but all mankind's epitome; Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong, Was every thing by starts, and nothing long; But, in the course of one revolving moon, Was chemist, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon."