{"id":5429,"date":"2013-07-12T16:55:50","date_gmt":"2013-07-12T20:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/?p=5429"},"modified":"2015-08-11T12:25:55","modified_gmt":"2015-08-11T16:25:55","slug":"chaucers-troilus-and-criseyde","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/chaucers-troilus-and-criseyde\/","title":{"rendered":"Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

<\/g><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"TroilusAfter reading the play<\/a> by Shakespeare last week<\/strong>, I decided to tackle Chaucer’s epic 8,000-line poem about the Trojan lovers, Troilus and Cressida (or Criseyde as Chaucer writes it). It’s a long, somewhat meandering piece that begins<\/a>,\u00a0in the Online Medieval Classical Library version:<\/p>\n

The double sorwe of Troilus to tellen,
\nThat was the king Priamus sone of Troye,
\nIn lovinge, how his aventures fellen
\nFro wo to wele, and after out of Ioye,
\nMy purpos is, er that I parte fro ye.
\nThesiphone, thou help me for tendyte
\nThise woful vers, that wepen as I wryte!<\/p>\n

To thee clepe I, thou goddesse of torment,
\nThou cruel Furie, sorwing ever in peyne;
\nHelp me, that am the sorwful instrument
\nThat helpeth lovers, as I can, to pleyne!
\nFor wel sit it, the sothe for to seyne,
\nA woful wight to han a drery fere,
\nAnd, to a sorwful tale, a sory chere.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Okay, that’s the Middle English original. Not everyone’s cup of tea. But don’t give up yet. Read it aloud. Slowly. Pronounce each vowel as you would in Spanish or Italian. Sorwe becomes sor-weh. Parte is par-teh. You will at least hear, and perhaps feel, the rhythm in his words, the rhyming scheme.<\/p>\n

You can hear how Chaucer would have pronounced his words on the Harvard Chaucer site<\/a>. Or listen to parts of or the entire poem at Librivox<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can also take several online courses in Chaucer that will help teach his language and style, like this one at Harvard U<\/a>. The site also offers a handy interlinear translation<\/a>\u00a0of several fragments (although not complete poems) where the Middle English line is followed by a modern version. I have a paperback edition of the Canterbury Tales like that and it’s very helpful and quite readable.<\/p>\n

Here’s the same two initial verses translated by Kline:<\/p>\n

Troilus\u2019s double sorrow for to tell,
\nhe that was son of Priam King of Troy,
\nand how, in loving, his adventures fell
\nfrom grief to good, and after out of joy,
\nmy purpose is, before I make envoy.
\nTisiphone, do you help me, so I might
\npen these sad lines, that weep now as I write.<\/p>\n

I call on you, goddess who does torment,
\nyou cruel Fury, sorrowing ever in pain:
\nhelp me, who am the sorrowful instrument
\nwho (as I can) help lovers to complain.
\nSince it is fitting, and truth I maintain,
\nfor a dreary mate a woeful soul to grace,
\nand for a sorrowful tale a sorry face.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Somewhat easier to understand, don’t you think?<\/p>\n

I personally prefer the Morrison translation<\/a>\u00a0found in The Portable Chaucer:<\/p>\n

The double sorrow of Troilus to tell,
\nWho was the son of Priam, King of Troy,
\nThe fortunes of his love, and how he fell
\nFrom woe to weal, and then again from joy,
\nThis is my purpose; you, Tisiphone,
\nhelp me compose these lines that grieve me so
\nI write them sadly, weeping as I go.<\/p>\n

To you I call, you goddess of torment,
\nYou cruel Fury, sorrowing ever in pain,
\nHelp me, who am the the sorrowful instrument
\nThat, as I can, help lovers to complain.
\nFore well it suits – the old saying is not vain –
\nA sorry man to have a sorry mate,
\nAnd a sad tale to go with a sad gait.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Chaucer wrote the poem in \u00a0“rhyme royal<\/a>” verse, which may feel a bit stodgy today. Wikipedia describes it thus:<\/p>\n

The rhyme royal stanza consists of seven lines, usually in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is a-b-a-b-b-c-c. In practice, the stanza can be constructed either as a tercet and two couplets (a-b-a, b-b, c-c) or a quatrain and a tercet (a-b-a-b, b-c-c). This allows for variety, especially when the form is used for longer narrative poems. Along with the couplet, it was the standard narrative metre in the late Middle Ages.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some of the archaic words in the original have become familiar as I read them, but not all. I find Middle English difficult because of the unknown or archaic words<\/a> – clepen? That one I know: it means “speak, call; call by name; summon, invite.” Wight is a creature (it’s still used sometimes in fantasy novels).\u00a0But tendyte? Hmm.<\/p>\n

A U Michsite<\/a> renders this as<\/p>\n

The double sorwe of Troilus to tellen
\nThat was the kyng Priamus sone of Troye,
\nIn louynge how his auentures fellen
\nffro wo to wele, and after out of ioie,
\nMy purpos is, er that I parte fro ye.
\nThesiphone, thow help me for tendite
\nThise woful vers that wepen as I write.<\/p>\n

To the clepe I, thow goddesse of torment,
\nThow cruwel furie, sorwynge euere in peyne,
\nHelp me that am the sorwful instrument
\nThat helpeth loueres, as I kan, to pleyne;
\nffor wel sit it, the sothe for to seyne,
\nA woful wight to han a drery feere,
\nAnd to a sorwful tale a sory chere.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some subtle differences between the two versions. The use of u for v in words like loueres (“lovers”) and auentures (adventures).<\/p>\n

Tendyte becomes tendite, which in the Riverside Chaucer<\/a> is t’endite. And it’s the same in the Librarius version<\/a> online (this version has many uncommon or archaic words helpfully hyperlinked to an online glossary).<\/p>\n

Endite is a verb meaning to “write, compose; dictate (poems); prescribe rules.” Ah, now I understand.<\/p>\n

So while I attempt it in the original, I tend to lose the story in the words. I usually head to a modern English version for clarity, or a version with copious notes.<\/p>\n

I have a glossary of Chaucer’s English, as well as a couple of textbooks on Middle English that help. There are other glossaries online<\/a>, but not much help when I’m reading this in bed or on the deck.<\/p>\n

Some words are just spelled differently and it takes a second or two, usually while pronouncing them aloud or silently, to recognize them. Peyne (pain), for example. Sone (son) is another.<\/p>\n

The Northern Virginia Community College<\/a> site describes the poem thus:<\/p>\n

Perhaps the greatest medieval romance is the fourteenth century English poem, Troilus and Criseyde, by Geoffrey Chaucer. While Homer focused on the impact of passion (both love\/lust and rage) on war, Chaucer puts love and loss in the foreground, with a background of war and the unavoidable destruction of Troy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Chaucer’s Criseyde is more feminine, more vulnerable, less calculating than Shakespeare’s. And the story ends differently. Shakespeare clearly was inspired by Chaucer, but made the tale his own, as he was wont to do. Over the ages, the tale has been told in many iterations, some sympathetic to Troilus, others to Cressida. It’s even been rewritten as a modern feminist opera by Alice Shields<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Anyway, enough for now. I’m enjoying it, so far. Time to head outside, chair on the porch, book in hand, cup of tea in t’other,\u00a0dog by my side, to read some more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/div>\n

<\/g><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

After reading the play by Shakespeare last week, I decided to tackle Chaucer’s epic 8,000-line poem about the Trojan lovers, Troilus and Cressida (or Criseyde as Chaucer writes it). It’s a long, somewhat meandering piece that begins,\u00a0in the Online Medieval Classical Library version: The double sorwe of Troilus to tellen, That was the king Priamus sone of Troye, In lovinge, how his aventures fellen Fro wo to wele, and after out of Ioye, My purpos is, er that I parte fro ye. Thesiphone, thou help me for tendyte Thise woful vers, that wepen as I wryte! To thee clepe I, \u2026…… click below for more \u2193<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6,8,73,263],"tags":[406,74,294,75,76,134],"class_list":["post-5429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts","category-books","category-language-grammar","category-writing-2","tag-books-reviews","tag-chaucer","tag-english","tag-language","tag-poetry","tag-writing"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":21226,"today_views":0},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5429"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14950,"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5429\/revisions\/14950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}