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The metrical form followed by Chaucer in his Prologue is Iambic
pentameter couplets, skilfully varied.
A few English poets influenced by Chaucer were Emund Spenser, Milton, Dryden, Tennyson, Browing, Swinburne and John Masefield.
G K Chesterton, the great critic of the Victorian Age, has called Chaucer the ‘Father of English Novel’.
Assessment of Chaucer’s poetry in the present age : Chaucer’s poetry being realistic, ahs wide appeal to the present-day
reader. The character sketches of Chaucer are three-dimensional and they are valid at all times.
Main characteristics of Chaucer’s poetry :
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Preponderance of French words
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Phonetic in spelling and pronunciation
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Most of the verbs ending with the vowel ‘e’.
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Roman De La Rose is the French poem that inspired Chaucer and was translated by him into English.
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William Blake’s assessment of Canterbury Tales : "of Chaucer’s characters as described in Canterbury Tales, some of the
names and title are altered by time, but the characters themselves even remain unaltered."
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Different dialects used in the middle English period were East Midland, Southern, North Umbrian and Kentish. The East Midland
dialect spoken in the London area, which was used by Chaucer for his poetical composition came to be accepted as the King’s language
and in course of time it emerged as the Standard English.
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Lollard is a Dutch term meaning mumbler – one who speaks indistinctively. In the 14th century, it meant the
followers of Wycliff, who were denounced as heretics. Old Castle, the leader of the movement was burned to death as a heretic.
Further Reading:
The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Canterbury Tales and Other Poemsby Geoffrey Chaucer.
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