The Canterbury Tales (Modern Library) by
Geoffrey Chaucer, John Miles Foley, and Burton Raffel
(Modern Library: Random House) It would be impossible to
overstate the influence of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury
Tales. A work with one metaphorical foot planted in the
Florentine Renaissance literary tradition of Boccaccio’s
Decameron and the other in works ranging from John Bunyan,
Voltaire, and Mark Twain to the popular entertainments of our own
time, The Canterbury Tales stands astride the cultures of
Great Britain and America, and much of Europe, like a benign
colossus.
The Canterbury Tales (original-spelling Middle English edition)
by Geoffrey Chaucer and Jill Mann
(Penguin Classics)
Beyond its importance as a cultural touchstone and literary work of
unvarnished genius, Chaucer’s unfinished epic poem is also one of
the most beloved works in the English language–and for good reason:
It is lively, absorbing, perceptive, and outrageously funny–an
undisputed classic that has held a special appeal for generations of
readers. Chaucer has gathered twenty-nine of literature’s most
indelible archetypes–from the exalted Knight to the bawdy Wife to
the besotted Miller to the humble Plowman–in a vivid group portrait
that captures the full spectrum of late-medieval English society and
both informs and expands our discourse on the human condition.
Presented in these pages in a new unabridged translation by the
esteemed poet, translator, and scholar Burton Raffel–whose
translation of Beowulf has sold more than a million copies–this
Modern Library edition also features an Introduction by the
well-known and widely influential medievalist and author John Miles
Foley that discusses Chaucer’s work as well as to his life and
times.
Despite the brilliance of Geoffrey Chaucer’s work, the continual
evolution of our language has rendered his words unfamiliar to many
of us. Burton Raffel’s magnificent new translation brings Chaucer’s
poetry back to life, ensuring that none of the original’s wit,
wisdom, or humanity is lost to the modern reader.
Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400), often referred to as “the
grandfather of English literature,” is invariably ranked with
Shakespeare and Milton as one of the three greatest poets of the
English language. His masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, has
been a touchstone for English-language poetry for more than half a
millennium and is one of the most widely read works in the Western
canon.
Burton Raffel is a translator, poet, and scholar whose major
translations include Beowulf, Don Quijote, The Red and the Black,
and Gargantua and Pantagruel. He has also annotated several
Shakespeare plays for Yale University Press. He was the
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Arts and Humanities and emeritus
professor of English at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
until 2003. He lives in Louisiana.
John Miles Foley is a leading Chaucer scholar specializing in
medieval studies, epics, and the oral tradition. A professor at the
University of Missouri, he is the director of the Center for Studies
in Oral Tradition and has written or edited eighteen books. He lives
in Columbus, Missouri.
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