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1、TheIntroductionofGeoffreyChaucerFrom1066onwards,thelanguageisknowntoscholarsasMiddleEnglish.IdeasandthemesfromFrenchandCelticliteratureappearinEnglishwritingataboutthistime,butthefirstgreatnameinEnglishliteratureisthatofGeoffreyChaucer(1343-1400)whowasanEnglishauthor,poet,p
2、hilosopher,bureaucrat,anddiplomat.Chaucerintroducestheiambicpentameterline,therhymingcoupletandotherrhymesusedinItalianpoetry.SomeofChaucer'sworkisproseandsomeislyricpoetry,buthisgreatestworkismostlynarrativepoetry,whichwefindinTheCanterburyTales.Asanauthor,heisconsideredas
3、“thefatherofEnglishpoetry”.Chaucer'swritingsvalidatedEnglishasalanguagecapableofpoeticgreatness,andintheprocessinstitutedmanyofthetraditionsofEnglishpoesythathavecontinuedtothisday.Hewasalso,forawriterofhistimes,capableofpowerfulpsychologicalinsight.EzraPoundfamouslywroteth
4、at,althoughShakespeareisoftenconsideredthegreat"psychologist"ofEnglishverse,"DonGeoffreytaughthimeverythingheknew."Chaucerwasbornaround1343.HisfatherandgrandfatherwerebothLondonwinemerchantsandbeforethat,forseveralgenerations,thefamilyhadbeenmerchantsinIpswich.AlthoughtheCh
5、aucer’swerenotofnoblebirth,theywereextremelywell-to-do.TheCanterburyTalesChaucerisalmostcertainlybestknownforhislongpoem,TheCanterburyTales.Thepoemconsistsofacollectionoffourteenstories,twoinproseandtherestinverse.Thetales,someofwhichareoriginal,arecontainedinsideaframetale
6、toldbyagroupofpilgrimsontheirwayfromSouthwarktoCanterburytovisittheshrineofSaintThomasàBecket'satCanterburyCathedral.Thepoemisinstarkcontrasttootherliteratureoftheperiodinthenaturalismofitsnarrativeandthevarietyofthepilgrimsandthestoriestheytell,settingitapartfromalmostanyt
7、hingelsewrittenduringthisperiod.Thepoemisconcernednotwithkingsandgods,butwiththelivesandthoughtsofeverydaypersons.Manyofthe3storiesnarratedbythepilgrimsseemtofittheirindividualcharactersandsocialstanding,althoughsomeofthestoriesseemill-fittingtotheirnarrators,probablyrepres
8、entingtheincompletestateofthework.Chaucer'sexperienceinmedievalsocietyaspage,soldi
