WHY  GEOFFRRY CHAUCER IS CALLED AS THE FATHER OF ENGLISH LITERATURE?

Geoffrey Chaucer is the first person to write well known poems and stories in the language of the common people of his time.

HIS LIFE: (c. 1340-c. 1400)

From the records of his time it is found, his name is mentioned with some references and remarks. These references and remarks in his poems are sum of what we know about his life. His birthdate is unclear. But from some documents it is accepted as 1340. He was born in London. He entered the household of the wife of the Duke of Clarence and saw military service and caught there. He is often mentioned as the person of royal pensions and bounties and was confirmed in his offices and pensions. In 1386 he was sent to Italy on one of his diplomatic missions. He was the first poet to be buried in poet’s corner in Westminster Abbey.

HIS POEMS:

The poems of Chaucer poems cannot be confirmed with certainty, but from interval evidence they can as a rule approximately dated.His poems are divided into French, the Italian and the English stages.

The poems of French stage are modelled upon French originals. The style is clumsy and immature. The longest poem is The Romaunt of the Rose, a lengthy allegorical poem written in octosyllabic couplets and based upon Le Romaunt de la rose of Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meung. This poem is only a fragment of 8000 lines. The Italian stage shows advancement than the first. Handling of the meters, the technical ability is greater. The Hous of fame, a poem in octosyllabic couplets, is one of the dream allegory type. The Legend of Good Women is the first known attempt in English to use the heroic couplet, which is handled with great skill and freedom. The English group contains work of the greatest individual. The Canterbury Tales is one of his achievements. Chaucer draws together twenty nine pilgrims including himself. The journey of the pilgrim is to tell two tales in the outward journey, and two on the return. Chaucer’s own Tale of Melibeus and The Parson’s Tale are composed in powerful and versatile species of the heroic couplet.

The first thing that strikes the eye is the unique position that Chaucer’s work occupies in the literature of the age. He was the man of the world, mixing freely with all types of mankind and he used his opportunities to observe the little peculiarities of human nature. Chaucer’s best descriptions of men, manners, and places are the first rank in their beauty, impressiveness and humour.

The bisy larke, messages of day,

Salueth in her song the morwe gay,

And firy phoebus riseth up so brighte

That all the orient laugheth with the lighte.

-The knight’s Tale

The prologue contains generous material to illustrate Chaucer’s power in describing his fellow men. In the literature of his time, the humour of Chaucer is healthy and delightful. As a story teller his narrative posses a curious stealthy speed. In poetical technique, English literature owes much to Chaucer. Chaucer is no great lyrical poet but in some of his, he shows a skill that is as good as the very best apparent in the contemporary poems. He stands alone, and for nearly two thousand years none dare claim equality with him.

This experimentation by many critics, authors, literariness etc, left a lasting mark upon English poetry is a contribution of Chaucer’s that is also cause for considering him the father of English poetry. He also one of the persons to contribute new words to English language.