U THE DOVER ROAD 



in the blessings that radiated from Becket's resting- 

 place in Canterbury Cathedral. From such varied 

 ranks of society are Chaucer's pilgrims drawn. A knight 

 whose manhood had been spent in battle at home or in 

 Palestine is at their head. He had been present at the 

 taking of Alexandria ; had fought with the Germans 

 against Russia, and had campaigned in Granada 

 against the Moors. Yet his is a meek and Christian-like 

 deportment, and he is in truth a very perfect, gentle 

 knight. With him is his son, the squire, a boy of 

 twenty, who had already made one campaign against 

 the French, and had borne himself well, both in battle 

 and in the tourney. Love deprives him of his sleep, 

 and for love he writes sonnets and attires himself in 

 smart clothes, broidered over with flowers like a May 

 meadow. In attendance on this love-lorn swain is a 

 yeoman clad in Lincoln green and bristling with arms. 

 Sword and buckler, a dagger in his belt, with bow and 

 arrows complete his equipment. Following upon 

 these comes firstly Madame Eglantine, a lady prioress 

 whose noble birth is seen both in her appearance and 

 in the nicety with which she eats and drinks. With a 

 sweet, if rather nasal, tone she chants portions of the 

 Liturgy, and speaks French by preference ; but it is 

 the French, not of Paris, but of " Stratford-atte-Bow." 

 So high-strung is her sensibility that she would weep 

 if she was shown a mouse in a trap, or if her little dog 

 was beaten with a stick. She wears — somewhat 

 inconsistently, considering her religious profession — a 

 brooch bearing the inscription. Amor vincit omnia. 



Next this dainty lady comes a fat monk of the 

 Benedictine Order, whose shaven crown and red 

 cheeks are as smooth as glass, and whose eyes shine 

 like burning coals, both by reason of lust and good 

 living. He is dressed in a fashion no holy monk 

 should affect, for the sleeves of his robe are trimmed 

 with the finest fur, and a golden love-knot pin holds 

 his hood in place. Clearly ring the bells on his horse's 

 bridle ; hare-hunting and a feast off a fat swan are 



