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Livy,. The Pardoner's Prologue. The proper ufe of the Prejozag in this work. The outline of The Pardoner's Tate in the Gento Novelle Antiche, 30 Reafons for transferring to the Shipman a Prologue which has ufually been prefixed to The Tale of the Squier. The Shipinan's Tale probably borrowed from fome French fablecur older than Boccace, 31. be Priore's Prologue and alr, 32. Chaucer called upon for his Tale. His Rhyme of Sire Thopas a ridicule upon the old metrical romances, 3 His other Tale of Melibee in profe a tranf lation from the French, 34. The Monke's Tale, upon the plan of Boccace's work De Cafbus virorum illuftrium, 35. The Tair of the Nonne's Pret. The ground-work borrowed from a fable of Marie, a French poeteis, 36 The Nonne's Tale not connected with any preceding Tale: tranfiated from the life of St. Cecilia in the Golden Legende: originally compofed as a feparate work, 37. The Tale of the Charon's Tenian a fatire against the alchymifts, 38. The Manciple's Prologue. The Pilgrims advanced to a place called Peb-up-and-down. The Manciple's Tale the fable of Coronis in Ovid, 39. The poem called The Placeman's Tale why omitted in this edition t, 40. The Pefon's Prologue. The time of the day. The Perfon's Tale a treatife on penance, 47. Remarks upon what is commonly called the Re tractation at the end of the Perfon's Tale. Conclufion, & 42.

Mr. Tyrwhitt here fpeaks of his own edition-this contains the whole omitted Tales, viz. The Plowman's Tale, Tale of Gamelyn, Adventure of Pardoner and Tapener, and The Marchant's Secund Tale. Sce yol. VI.

SITHE dramatick form which Boccace gave to his collection of tales or novels about the middle of the 14th century (1) must be allowed to have been a ca

(1) The action of The Decameron being fuppofed in 1348, the year of the great peftilence, it is probable that Beccace did. not fet about his work till after that period. How foon he completed it is uncertain. It should feem from the introduction to the fourth day that a part (containing perhaps the three first days) was published feparately, for in that introduction he takes pains to answer the cenfures which had been patted upon him by feveral perfons who had read his novels. One of the cenfures is," that it did not become his age to write for the "anifement of women," &c. In his anfwer he feems to allow the fact that he was rather an old fellow, but endeavours to juftify himself by the examples of Guido Cavalcanti et

ital improvement of that fpecies of amufing compotion. The Decameron in that respect (not to menon many others) has the fame advantage over the ento Novelle Antiche, which are fupposed to have preeded it in point of time, that a regular comedy will eceffarily have over an equal number of fingle unonnected scenes. Perhaps indeed there would be ro great harm if the criticks would permit us to confier The Decameron, and other compofitions of that kind, in the light of comedies not intended for the tage; at least we may venture to affume that the clofer any fuch compofition fhall copy the most effential forms of comedy, the more natural and defined the plan fhall be, the more the characters shall be diverfified, the more the tale fhall be fuited to the characters, so much the more confpicuous will be the fkill of the writer, and his work approach the nearer to perfection.

$2. The Canterbury Tales are a work of the fame nature with The Decameron, and were in all probability compofed in imitation of it, though upon a dif

Dante Alighieri gia vechi et Messer Cino da Piftoria vecchif Jimo. It appears from a passage in the Laberinto d'Amore [eð. 122, t. iii. page 24,] that Boccace confidered him felf as an elderly man when he was a little turned of forty, and therefore the publication of the fift part of The Decameron may very well have been, as Salviati has fixed it, [V. Manni A. del De cam. p. 144] in 1353, when Boccace was juft forty years of age. If we confider the nature of the work, and that the author in his conclufion calls it repeatedly lunga fatica, and fays that molto tempo had paffed between the commencement and completion of it, we can hardly, I think, fuppofe that it was fit.thed in lefs than ten years, which will bring the publication of the entire collection of novels (as we now have it) down to 1358.

ferent and (in my opinion an improved plan. It would be eafy to fhew that in the feveral points above-mentioned Chaucer has either been more judicious or more fortunate than his master Boccace; but (waving for the prefent (2) that difquifition) I fhall proceed to the immediate object of this Difcourfe, which is, in the firft place, to lay before the reader the general plan of The Canterbury Tales, as it appears to have been originally defigned by Chancer, and, fecondly, to give a particular review of the fcveral parts of that Work which are come down to us as they are published in this edition.

$3. The general plan of The Canterbury Tales may be learned in a great meafure from the Prologue which Chaucer himfelf has prefixed to them. He fup

(2) I will only juft mention what appear to me to be fundamental defects in The Decameron. In the first place, the action is indefinite, not limited by its own nature, but merely by the will of the author. It might, if he had been so pleased, have as well comprehended twenty or'a hundred days as ten, and therefore though fome frivolous reafons are affigned for the return of the company to Florence,we fee too plainly that the truereafon was that the budget of novels was exhaufted; not to mention that every day after the first may properly be confi dered as containing a new action, or, what is worse, a repetition of the action of the former day. The fecond defect is the characters, which are fo nearly refembling to each other in age, rank, and even natural difpofition, that if they had been ftrictly supported their converfation mutt have been incapable of that variety which is neceñary to carry the reader through fo long a work. The third defect has arifen from the author's attempt to remedy the fecond. In order to diverfify and enliven his narrations he has made a circle of virtuous ladks and polite gentlenen hear and relate in their turns a number of fteries which cannot with any degree of probability be fuppo fed to have been fuffered in fuch an affembly.

ofes there that a company of pilgrims going to Canerbury affemble at an inn in Southwark, and agree hat for their common amufement on the road each them fhall tell at least one Tale in going to Canury, and another in coming back from thence, and hat he who fhall tell the beft Tales fhall be treated by the rest, with a fupper upon their return to the fame inn. This is fhortly the fable. The characters of the pilgrims are as various as at that time could be found in the feveral departments of middle life; that is, in fact, as various as could with any probability be brought together foastoform one company, the highest and the lowest ranks of fociety being neceflarily excluded. It appears further that the defign of Chaucer was not barely to recite the Tales told by the pilgrims, but alfo to defcribe their journey, And all the remenant of their pilgrimage, v. 726, including, probably, their adventures at Canterbury as well as upon the road. If we add that the Tales, befides being nicely adapted to the characters of their refpecive relators, were intended to be connected together by fuitable introductions, and interfperfed with diverting epifodes, and that the greatest part of them was to have been executed in verfe, we fhall have a tolerable idea of the extent and difficulty of the whole undertaking; and admiring, as we muft, the vigour of that genius which in an advanced age (3) could begin fo vaft a work, we shall rather

(3) Chaucer was born in 1328, and it is most probable, I think, that he did not begin his Canterbury Tales before 1382 at the parliett. My reafon is this. The queen, who is mentioned in The Legende of Good Women, v. 496, was certainly Anne of Bohemia, the first queen of Rich. II.; fhe was not married to Richard till the beginning of 1,382, fo that The Legende cannot poffibly be fuppofed of an earlier date than that year. In The Legende [ver. 3-9-332, per. 417-430,] Chaucer

lament than be surprised that it has been left imperfect.

§ 4. In truth, if we compare thofe parts of The Canterbury Tales of which we are in poffeffion with the sketch which has been just given of the intended whole, it will be found that more than one half is wanting. The Prologue we have perhaps nearly complete, and the greatest part of the journey to Canterbury, but not a word of the tranfactions at Canterbury, or of the journey homeward, or of the Epilogue which we may fuppofe was to have concluded the work, with an account of the prize-fupper and the feparation of the company. Even in that part which we have of the journey to Canterbury it will be neceffary, in the following review, to take notice of certain defects and inconfiftencies which can only be accounted for upon the fuppofition that the work was never finished by the Author.

$5. Having thus itated the general plan of The Canterbury Tales, I fhail now, according to my promife, enter upon a particular review of thofe parts of them which are published in this edition, beginning with The Prologue.

It feems to have been the intention of Chaucer, in

has enumerated, I believe, all the confiderable works which he had then compofed. It was to his purpose not to omit any. He not only does not mention The Canterbury Tales, but he exprefsly names the flory of Palamon and Arcite, and the Life of Saint Cecilia, both which now make part of them, as feparate compofitions. I am perfuaded therefore that in 1382 the work of The Canterbury Tales was not begun; and if we look further, and confider the troubles in which Chaucer was involved for the five or fix following years by Lis connections with John of Northampton, we can hardly fuppofe that it was much advanced before 1399, the fixty-firl year of the Author's age.

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