A Review of The Canterbury Tales: The Parson's Prologue

 

 Shortly after The Manciple's Tale was told, the Parson was told by the host to tell a new one. In response to this request, the parson agreed to these terms: 

This Parson him answered all at ones;

''Thou gettest fable none y-told for me, 

For Paul, that writeth unto Timothy, 

Reproveth them that weive sooffastness, 

And telle fables, and such wretchedness. ''

Early on, the parson makes clear the religiosity of his tale: 

I would full fain at Christe's reverence 

Do you pleasance lawful, as I can. 

But, truste well, I am a southern man, 

I cannot gest, rom, ram, ruf, by my letter;

And, God wot, rhyme hold but little better. 

And therefore if you list, I will not glose, 

I will tell you a little tale in prose, 

To knit up all this feast, and make an end. 

And Jesus for his grace wit me send

To shewe you the way, in this voyage,

Of thilke perfect glorious pilgrimage, 

that high Jerusalem celestial. 

Later, the parson said that he did not know how others will receive his tale. The host however, encouraged him on. 

Alas, I approach the last of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. For the last two years, I have summarized various aspects of The Canterbury Tales in my own posts. With the completion of these posts coming near, it allows me new opportunities to write about other works of Mediaeval literature from the past. Furthermore, and more importantly, my finishing of these analyzing posts on this great classic will allow me to return to my novels and spend more time writing. I have learned more about Mediaeval literature in the last two years than I learned about it before then. Indeed, I feel that my studying of the literature of the Middle Ages has better equipped me as a writer and novelist with a greater confidence to write stories set during Mediaeval Times.