Chaucer

My specific emphasis will be on the opening paragraph's "sets of symbols" (an important, though unfortunately, not much discussed topic). There are three sets: 1) creation, 2) divisions and connections in creation, and 3) renewal of creation. For your convenience, here is the text.

Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote

The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,

And bathed every veyne in swich licour

Of which vertu engendred is the flour;

Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth

Inspired hath in every holt and heeth

Tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne

Hath in the ram his halve cours yronne,

And smale foweles maken melodye,

That slepen al the nyght with open ye

(so priketh hem Nature in hir corages);

Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,

And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,

To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;

And specially from every shires ende

Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende,

The hooly blisful martir for to seke,

That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.

To begin with we have, though in a general way only, a Biblical parallel in the set of shoures, Zephirus, holt and heeth, and yonge sonne: water, wind (the breath or spirit of God), land, and light. Foweles and folk, representing, respectively, animals and humanity, are next, thus completing the Christian creation sequence.

Note well that there is a division in this group between shoures, Zephirus, holt and heeth, yonge sonne, and fowles, on the one hand, and folk, on the other. Chaucer signals this separation by the sentence "(so priketh hem Nature in hir corages)", and "Thanne...".

The point here is that, on the Christian view, there is a strict division of creation: the environment (including natural processes, the Earth, plants, and animals) being one realm or order of existence, while humanity is something quite different. And this difference is crucial: Christian doctrine holds that only humanity is endowed with soul and freewill. The classic expression of these ideas in late medieval philosophy are found in Descartes.

Thus, on the Christian view, the defining difference between humanity and Nature is that the former possesses soul; the common ground of the two realms, however, is that of physical sensation. Note the series melodye, ye, and corages, connoting, respectively, sound, sight, and heart. These three symbols form the bridge or point of connection between the natural (lines 1-11) and human (lines 12-18) realms.

Next, we have the idea that both physical and spiritual being have the necessity of renewal. The essential characteristic of the natural world is physical, and is thus refreshed by physical processes (i.e., water, wind, and sun); whereas humanity is defined by soul, which must be redeemed by spiritual means (for example, a pilgrimage). 

Furthermore, if this section is examined carefully, we find here two wonderful indications of Chaucer's humanism. First, the pilgrimage, although primarily a spiritual endeavor, is also physical (in the sense of an arduous journey). Second, that this opening paragraph concludes with "That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke" again stresses recognition of humanity's physical nature.

In sum, then, in this opening paragraph, Chaucer subtly moves from Nature to humanity, from physical to spiritual, and while doing so gives the connections and differences between the two. Not only are these lines of a high technical level, but also show Chaucer as a forerunner of the English Renaissance.

Robert T. Tuohey
jadedragon61@hotmail.com
http://jadedragon.250x.com/welcome.htm