"Povert ful ofte, whan a man is lowe, Maketh his god and eek him-self to knowe. Povert a spectacle is, as thinketh me, Thurgh which he may his verray frendes see."

"Jesu Crist us sende Housbondes meke, yonge, and fresshe a-bedde, And grace toverbyde hem that we wedde. And eek I preye Iesu shorte hir lyves That wol nat be governed by hir wyves; And olde and angry nigardes of dispence, God sende hem sone verray pestilence."

"Lyk an aspen leef he quook."

"This Frere bosteth that he knoweth helle, And god it woot, that it is litel wonder; Freres and feendes been but lyte a-sonder. For pardee, ye han ofte tyme herd telle, How that a frere ravisshed was to helle In spirit ones by a visioun; And as an angel ladde him up and doun, To shewen him the peynes that ther were, In al the place saugh he nat a frere; Of other folk he saugh y-nowe in wo. Un-to this angel spak the frere tho: “Now, sir,” quod he, “han freres swich a grace That noon of hem shal come to this place?” “Yis,” quod this angel, “many a millioun!” And un-to Sathanas he ladde him doun. “And now hath Sathanas,” seith he, “a tayl Brodder than of a carrik is the sayl. Hold up thy tayl, thou Sathanas!” quod he, “Shewe forth thyn ers, and lat the frere see Wher is the nest of freres in this place!” And, er that half a furlong-wey of space, Right so as bees out swarmen from an hyve, Out of the develes ers ther gonne dryve Twenty thousand freres in a route, And thurgh-out helle swarmeden aboute; And comen agayn, as faste as they may gon, And in his ers they crepten everichon. He clapte his tayl agayn, and lay ful stille."

"For though we slepe or wake, or rome, or ryde, Ay fleeth the tyme, it nil no man abyde."

"And though your grene youthe floure as yit, In crepeth age alwey, as stille as stoon, And deeth manaceth every age, and smit In ech estaat, for ther escapeth noon: And al so certein as we knowe echoon That we shul deye, as uncerteyn we alle Been of that day whan deeth shal on us falle."

"Thus with hir fader, for a certeyn space, Dwelleth this flour of wyfly pacience, That neither by hir wordes ne hir face Biforn the folk, ne eek in hir absence, Ne shewed she that hir was doon offence."

"O stormy peple! unsad and ever untrewe!"

"Be ay of chere as light as leef on linde, And lat him care, and wepe, and wringe, and waille!"

"A doghter hadde this worthy king also, That yongest was, and highte Canacee."

"The Pegasee, The hors that hadde winges for to flee."

"As many hedes, as many wittes ther been. They murmureden as dooth a swarm of been."

"The Canterbury Tales, trans. Nevill Coghill (Penguin Books, 1952)"

"Fy on possessioun But-if a man be vertuous with-al."

"A hadde he, and servaunts namo At that tyme, for him liste ryde so; And he was clad in cote and hood of grene."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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 him ther was his sone, a yong , A lovyere, and a lusty bacheler, With lokkes crulle, as they were leyd in presse. Of twenty yeer of age he was, I gesse. Of his stature he was of evene lengthe, And wonderly deliver, and greet of strengthe."

"He was a verray parfit gentil knight."

"And born him wel, as of so litel space, In hope to stonden in his lady grace. Embrouded was he, as it were a mede Al ful of fresshe floures, whyte and rede. Singinge he was, or floytinge, al the day; He was as fresh as is the month of May."

"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."

"Short was his goune, with sleves longe and wyde. Wel coude he sitte on hors, and faire ryde."

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

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

"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."

"Secret guilt by silence is betrayed."

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

"Possess your soul with patience."

"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 coude songes make and wel endyte."

"Jealousy, the jaundice of the soul."

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

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

"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?"

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

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

"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."

"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."

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

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

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

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