"Lordings, quoth he, now hearken for the best, Right at mine own cost, and will be your guide." L. 790, et seq. This proposal of the host's was assented to by the whole party, who proceeded on their journey the following morning, escorted by their new companion. They decided the order of the tales by lot, and it fell to the Knight to relate the first. Of the Knight's tale Dryden thus speaks." I prefer in Chaucer, far above his other stories, the noble poem of Palamon and Arcite, which is of the epic kind, and perhaps not much inferior to the Ilias or the Æneis: the story is more pleasing than either of them, the manners as perfect, the diction as poetical, the learning as deep and various, and the disposition full as artful, only it includes a greater length of time, taking up ten years at least." The story was taken by Chaucer from an old Italian author, for Boccacio refers to it in his seventh Giornata. I think Dryden, in his great zeal to praise his favourite author, has said more than the poem in question will warrant, especially when he talks of the manners being perfect, since Chaucer has strangely enough jumbled together the customs and practices of chivalry with the times and persons of remote antiquity. However, it is certainly a proof of the great and intrinsic excellence of the poem, that we acquiesce in this incongruity, and find ample amends for it in the interest of the story, and the vivid colouring of the poetry. The Knight having finished his tale, the Miller, the Reve, the Cook, the Man of Law, the Squire, the Mer chant,and the rest of the party in turn, each relates a story. The prologue prefixed to each contains the observations of the company on the preceding narrative, many of which are highly descriptive of the manners and the temper of the times. The Friar having inveighed against the bribery and corruption of the spiritual courts, the Sompnour * retaliated very severely on the Friar by relating in his tale an instance of their fraud and hypocrisy. After the Prioress had related her story of the murder of a Christian child by the Jews, who, notwithstanding his throat had been cut, sang, to the amazement of the beholders, "both loude and clere," it came to Chaucer's turn to tell his story. "When said was this miracle, every man As sober was, as wonder was to see, And speaking thus-" What man art thou," quoth he, "Thou lookest as thou wouldest find a hare, For ever on the ground I see thee stare. "Approach more near, and look up merrily, Now ware you, Sirs, and let this man have place; This were a puppet in arms to embrace "Say something now, since other folks have said, For other tale of certain can I none, Chaucer then begins to relate "The Rime of Sir Thopas" in a metre and style quite different from the rest, as if he was not the author, but merely the reporter of the tales. This story, however, does not at all please "mine host," who interrupts Chaucer, after he had related about two hundred lines, "No more of this, for God his dignity," Quoth then our host Thou dost nought else but to dispend our time ; In which there may be some mirth or doctrine.?? Chaucer accordingly obeys, and tells his story in "plain, * The Sompnour was an inferior officer, whose business it was to summon delinquents before the ecclesiastical courts. simple prose." The Parson, whose turn was last, excuses himself from telling a story, but offers to give them an exhortation, as more suitable to the gravity of his character. This is agreed to on the part of the company, and with his discourse the tales finish, for we are not informed what befel the company on their arrival at Canterbury, nor whether they journeyed home together. Oct. 30, 1808. E. D. NELL GWYNN, - [WITH A PORTRAIT,] WAS, at her first setting out in the world, a plebeian of the lowest rank, and sold oranges at the playhouse. Some affirm that she was born in a night-cellar; certain. it is, that she rambled from tavern to tavern, entertaining the company with her songs. As early as the year 1667, she was admitted in the Theatre-royal, and was mistress to Hart, to Lacy, and to Buckhurst. She became eminent in her profession as an actress, and performed the most spirited parts with admirable address, The pert prattle of the orange-wench by degrees refined into a wit, which pleased our Charles the Second, She ingratiated herself into her sovereign's affection, in which she retained a place to the time of her death, Dryden was very partial to her, and greatly assisted her in her rise at the Theatre; in return, when possessed of the power, she distinguished the poet by particular marks of gratitude. Many benevolent actions are recorded of her; and perhaps she was the only one of the King's mistresses who was never guilty of any infidelity towards him. It is ludicrous, perhaps, but it is nevertheless true, that Madam Gwynn (for so she was latterly called) piqued herself on her attachment to the Church of England. She was low in stature, and careless of her dress; but her pictures represent her as handsome, She died in 1687. |