The Canterbury Tales Prologue in Middle English

Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (Prologue, lines 1-14)

Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour,
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halve cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open ye
(so priketh hem Nature in hir corages),
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;

When April with his showers sweet with fruit
The drought of March has pierced unto the root
And bathed each vein with liquor that has power
To generate therein and sire the flower;
When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath,
Quickened again, in every holt and heath,
The tender shoots and buds, and the young sun
Into the Ram one half his course has run,
And many little birds make melody
That sleep through all the night with open eye
(So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)-
Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage,
And palmers to go seeking out strange strands,
To distant shrines well known in sundry lands.

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[ishtarg8]

I had always thought the opening of Canterbury Tales was a celebration of spring, and the coming of new life; not an invocation to summon the hordes of Midian to begin their assault on the worlds of Man.

[Notemug]

@ishtarg8 Heh, right. But, you know, I wanted to try a different approach to the obvious, traditional, birds and bees, flowers and trees one. :D

[CatBATd4rklycu73]

Darth Sidious reads Chaucer...I love it.

[Madix3]

@ishtarg8 It actually is soft porn. It sets the tone for the entire book with it's sexual undertones. Man dat Chauster.

[Bunuggets17]

A DEVIL! A DEVIL!

[VigisKane]

orgasmic

[98bigbutt]

The voice sounds like he's being possessed by the devil.

[jeabo0adhd]

Are you a Goth?

[HistoryLubber]

Why is the Pope reading Chaucer?

[maria12345666]

@_@

[Goldhelmriel]

The Black Death has evidently struck again....run from the Black Plague!!!