7© JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS. 



his tale ; and the Sir Thopas tale — Chaucer's own — in metrical 

 romance style, made the Host's ears ache so that he cried '■' no 

 more of this " ; and nine of the party for reasons unknown told 

 no tales. The company when under way, without the host, 

 appears to have numbered thirty -one or two, a slight addition 

 to the twenty-nine first mentioned. There was also departure 

 from the intention for each pilgrim to tell two stories on the 

 Avay out, and two retarning ; but whether that is proof the 

 poem is a fragment, or is only a little artifice to whet the curi- 

 osity of the reader, each one determines for himself. 



Such is the frame of this famous picture ; as for the picture 

 itself, its consideration falls beyond the scope of this paper. It 

 may be fitting to add, that motives for the work were taken 

 from every available source ; some from popular stories told 

 in the gloaming, around the peasant's hearth, most of them 

 tales of Latin, Italian and French writers, one or two of which 

 tales have been traced from Buddhist Jatakas, through all sorts 

 of highways and byways of literature. A few of these stories 

 are coarse and repellant ; the author says, had they been other- 

 wise they would have been false to the life depicted. It may 

 be added that Chaucer's low comedv is told after the modern 

 dramatic fashion by pairs, not to offend the rest ; and all rude- 

 ness and selfishness is made to inspire disgust, and beget 

 esteem and reverence for the purity and unselfishness of the 

 nobler characters of the poem. It was an act of poetical daring 

 on the part of Chaucer to transfer the musical work of the 

 Italian poets into the untried ten syllabic metre of his native 

 tongue ; but he attempted, and successfull^y accomplished his 

 task. Swinburne, a past master in the art of melody, says : 

 " Chaucer, with Teutonic accent through English lips, speaks 

 ^' not only with more vigor, but actually with more sweetness 

 " than the tongues of his teachers." For the rest, let the clos- 

 ing words of introduction by Mi". Pollard to his recent edition 

 of Chaucer sufiice : " As a poet Chavicer needs to-day no one 

 " to praise him. He has been praised already wisely and well 

 "by many clever writers. All that is now needed is that the 

 ■" praise shall no longer be taken contentedly on trust ; but 



