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Sarah WaterhouseAn exploration of Chaucer’s “A Complaint to his Lady” and it’s adherence to the tradition of courtly love, and the sophistication of his later writing.

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ContentsIntroduction: “To what extent can A Complaint to his Lady be considered a poem adhering to the courtly love tradition?”..........................................................................................................................3

Part One: In what ways does the poem A Complaint to his Lady follow the courtly love tradition?.....4

Part Two: To what extent does the poem diverge from the courtly love tradition, and why does this happen?.................................................................................................................................................9

Conclusion: “To what extent can A Complaint to his Lady be considered a poem adhering to the courtly love tradition?”........................................................................................................................14

Appendix.............................................................................................................................................15

The Tradition of Courtly love...........................................................................................................16

Rhyme Royal....................................................................................................................................18

Terza Rima as a Poetic Form............................................................................................................19

The Petrarchan Sonnet....................................................................................................................21

The Spenserian Stanza.....................................................................................................................23

Courtly love Annotations.................................................................................................................24

Semantic Annotations.....................................................................................................................28

Structural Annotations....................................................................................................................32

Chaucer’s Life: A Timeline................................................................................................................36

Chaucer’s Works..............................................................................................................................38

Bibliography.........................................................................................................................................39

Introduction: “To what extent can A Complaint to his Lady be considered a poem adhering to the courtly love tradition?”

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The courtly love tradition is a form of literature that has fascinated scholars for centuries; Shakespeare, Petrarch, Boccaccio and Edmund Spenser are among some of the most celebrated writers of the tradition. The history of the style is fascinating, exploring ideas about morality and religion from a barely documented period of history. For this reason, the poem A Complaint to his Lady seemed rich in content and style and therefore extremely interesting to research further. The entire history of the courtly love dates back to the Knights and Ladies of the tenth century; folklore and the heroism dominated story telling and poetry, and this formed the basis of courtly love; the idea of heroism created the idea of the lady in distress, and becoming this lady’s saviour was an extremely appealing idea to many men of aristocratic creed.

Chaucer himself was very much a part of the aristocracy; he was wealthy and due to his various employers, such as Elizabeth de Burgh, he managed to mix with those who would assist him. He was able to enjoy a rich career in literature partly due to the money he made in his youth, which gave him the freedom to write, much later, works such as Troilus and Criseyde and The Canterbury Tales. When he first began writing however, he lacked the style that he later developed; A Complaint to his Lady was written in 1368, around fifteen years before the bulk of The Canterbury Tales. His youth becomes apparent in reading the poem, however in terms of development, it is extremely fascinating to analyse and compare with what he later created.

Within the body of the essay, the tradition of courtly love itself will be examined, and then considered in relation to the poem itself. The structure of the poem, as well as the implications this has for content of the poem, will also hopefully prove to be revealing about the mindset behind various elements of the text. In examining semantic fields, the poem may assume a wider meaning than what is strictly spoken. The comparison with later texts will also be extremely useful in gauging how Chaucer’s literary style changed and became more sophisticated over the years, and thus how the poem fits into Chaucer’s career as a writer.

The analysis therefore will establish the features of courtly love in the poem, and establish where divergence occurs; a number of aspects will be considered, creating an overall impression: is the poem, an example of the courtly love tradition, and if so, to what extent?

Part One: In what ways does the poem A Complaint to his Lady follow the courtly love tradition?

Chaucer’s literature was spread across many different spheres of interest throughout his life, often focussing on society and religion. A observer of his own social group, he wrote satirical interpretations of those surrounding him, subverting the traditional writing styles

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of Beowulf (900AD-1100AD), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (14th century) and even Petrarch (1304-1374), into something that was almost similar to social commentary. Chaucer’s relationship with the courtly love tradition is interesting to examine because of its fluctuating nature; his attitude to courtly love in his earlier writing is very different to the presentation of courtly love in The Canterbury Tales1. The woman presented in A Complaint to his Lady2 is very different for instance to the woman of The Miller’s Tale (who arguably is not so much a heroine of courtly love) in that she is very distant, and rebuts his advances, whilst Alison in The Miller’s Tale is open to the men’s proposals to gain her affections. Therefore one can assume Chaucer’s intentions in writing the poem are ambiguous at best; it is challenging to decide whether Chaucer uses a satirical presentation of courtly love, or whether he is genuinely adhering to the concept of both courtly love and the chivalric tradition.

The tradition of courtly love3 is based around five elements, which define the relationship between the two participants. The love was primarily a relationship between aristocratic men and women, and was often adulterous. The relationship would be conducted in secret and would often involve the ritualistic exchange of gifts. The final defining element of the affair was the flouting of rigid courtly marriage, which was often only formed for political and financial reasons. Glorification of this kind of extramarital affair was found in songs of gallant knights and their fair ladies, and led to the spread of this kind of relationship in the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The poem itself represents the prescribed courtly love heroine; however its adherence to the protocol of the tradition is variable.

The portrait of the traditional courtly love heroine can be found in Prologue of The Canterbury Tales In the description of the prioress, we are told her ‘nose was elegant, her eyes glass-grey; Her mouth was very small, but soft and red, Her forehead, certainly, was fair of spread…’. This represents her noble features, and her eyes are a metaphor for her treatment of her lover; the courtly love heroine rarely acknowledged the advances of her lover and instead, gives only the merest hint that she shares his feelings. The ‘glassy’ nature of the heroine’s eyes shows a degree of superficiality in the relationship between the man and woman; perhaps even an emptiness of character, even a lack of personality where the heroine becomes a mechanism for the man to project his idealistic feelings upon.

A Complaint to his Lady is a poem written from a man directly to a woman whom he clearly adores, detailing his struggle for her affections, and how she is causing him a considerable amount of torment. For example the line ‘so desepaired I am from alle bliss,’ shows an almost self pitying lamentation that continues until the beginning of part III. The third part of the poem sees the narrator confessing that ‘I can but love hir best, my swete fo;’ which symbolises a sweetness previously absent, a sweetness connected to his love for her, which changes the tone of the poem. The poem takes the form of a monologue; whilst he appears to be talking to his lady, it becomes obvious that she is not there, or is at least unresponsive, and therefore one can presume he is alone. The main element of the poem is distance and suffering, created by this woman, regardless of his devotion to her. Chaucer here represents love as a kind of poison, shown by his statement ‘Thus am I slayn with Loves fyry dart!’, and subsequently leaving the protagonist unable to understand her treatment of him; ‘love hath taught me no more of his art’.

The perspective of the protagonist changes as the poem progresses, beginning with establishing the circumstances in which he is in love with her, and then moving on to describe the manner in which she treats him. The quotation ‘The more I love, the more she doth me smerte’ represents the paradoxical effect of the courtly love; the woman will appear to grow more distant. At the beginning of part III, the protagonist describes his woman as ‘Faire Rewtheless’; this is revealing about her mannerisms and ‘Rewtheless’ 1 The Canterbury Tales were written from 1387-1400. 2 A Complaint to his Lady was written in 13733 See appendix B, page 2 for further details on the tradition of courtly love.

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represents a cold attitude, is very similar to the eyes of the prioress which are described as ‘eyes glass-grey’. The fourth section of the poem is the longest, and represents the efforts of the protagonist to glean some kind of response from his woman. He compares his own shortcomings with her ‘gentileness and debonairtee’, and almost sarcastically states that he is not worthy of her service. Chaucer states that ‘Thogh that I be unconnyng and unmete, To serve, as I coude best, ay your hynesse,’ says that even though he is uncouth and unkempt, he would serve the woman as best as he could. This over exaggerated display of emotion implies that the poem could be satirical; however because there is no comparative character, or change of theme, one cannot be sure of Chaucer’s intention regarding the poem. It is interesting that he refers to the lady as a queen, therefore of higher status than himself reinforcing the idea that she has become almost demigod-like, given it is likely that they would have belonged to the same social strata. Part of the attraction of courtly love was the extravagance and exaggeration of action; for women of this period, they would have been repressed for most of their lives, constantly adhering to rules enforced by the crown, or perhaps their own family, and this affair was a rebellion against normality for them, almost a liberating experience. The final stanza of the poem, the protagonist proposes an ultimatum of sorts; to grant him some kind of pity, (i.e. respond in some way to his advances), otherwise nothing, no bliss, nor hope will dwell in his troubled heart. From a modern day point of view, the poem becomes repetitive, and the concept appears false; however at the time of writing, this level of extravagance was not uncommon and therefore from a historical perspective, the poem is likely to be a good example of typical courtly love poetry, such as that of Petrarch and Boccaccio.

The presentation of the heroine in this poem is comparable with other courtly love heroines in Chaucer’s tales, in particular Alison, from the Miller’s Tale, Pertelote, The Nun’s Priests Tale, The Prioress, The Prologue and Criseyde, Troilus and Criseyde. Criseyde is very similar to the Prioress in many ways; however is assertive in her role as a courtly love heroine, playing an active part in the poem, demonstrated by book III, verse 115. She states ‘Alas, I would have though, whoever told, such tales of me, my sweetheart would not hold, Me false so easily’, showing perhaps a more effective, realistic heroine than the woman in A Complaint to his Lady.

In contrast, courtly heroes often use hyperbole to attempt to convey the depth of the affection they feel towards their women, for example when Chaucer’s protagonist says ‘But I, my lyf and deeth, to yow obeye’ (My life and death, to you obey). This essentially states that she has total control over his heart; a fairly typical declaration within courtly love poetry; Boccaccio used many similar assertions in his novel Elegia di Madonna Fiammetta4. The courtly love hero is often of a noble disposition, as demonstrated by book I, verse 27 of Troilus and Criseyde. The knightly element of courtly love can be exemplified by earlier literature, such as the description of King Arthur in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written in the fourteenth century, around the same time as A Complaint to his Lady. The nobleness of the courtly gentleman is described in Lines 85-88 of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, when the author describes Arthur himself, as ‘Bot Arthure wolde not ete til al were served, He was so joly of his joyfness and sumquat childgered, His lif liked hym light, he lovied the lass’ (Line 85-88). Paraphrased, the above means “But Arthur would not eat until all were served. He was so youthfully gay and somewhat boyish, he liked an active life5.” The general sense of courtly love therefore is a noble relationship outside convention, between a lady and gentleman; the woman is typically more distant while the man ritualistically tries to ‘woo’ her, using any means necessary, and in the case of A Complaint to his Lady, suffers immensely due to the depth of his love for her.

4 Elegia di Madonna Fiammetta is a novel written by Giovanni Boccaccio in 1343-44. The novel is a first person confessional monologue of Fiammetta’s (a woman) love for Panfilio, a merchant from Florentine. The tradition of courtly love is inverted in this novel, to show a woman’s perspective, and became an important humanist text as well as being interesting for examining a woman’s idea of courtly love. It is also credited with being the first psychological novel to emerge from western literature. 5 Translation from a translated copy of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

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Throughout A Complaint to his Lady, the protagonist changes his opinion concerning who is to be blamed for his affliction; in the first two stanzas, he blames himself for becoming so attached, but then unsatisfied with this, blames the emotion of love itself for his sadness. Eventually however he reaches the conclusion that it is her ruthlessness, described as ‘thogh ye never wil upon me rewe, I moste yow love and been ever as trewe’, that causes him so much pain. Chaucer here portrays a hero who will eagerly fall in ‘love’ with a woman, however will be unable to control his own emotions. This degree of instability coupled with obvious exaggeration of his feelings causes us to question whether he is a satirical figure, but also if the nature of this love is genuine as opposed to merely a whim. His status as a courtly love hero is also questionable, because he is portrayed as an ineffectual character as opposed to a gallant, noble member of the court.

Assuming there are five main elements of courtly love, many of those should be found in the poem. The most prominent element of courtly love in the poem is the aspect of aristocracy, presented by the protagonist’s placement of himself in servitude to the woman. On numerous occasions he places himself below her, begging her not to ‘from your service dryve’. There is very little in the way of ritualism in the poem to suggest that the couple share gifts or even any kind of relationship at all; Chaucer uses language in such a way that it infers she barely is aware of his existence. This presents the reader with a quandary especially regarding the purpose of the poem. Secrecy of their affair is not alluded to at any point in the poem; this perhaps represents the ambiguity of what has thus far occurred between them, and perhaps therefore it does not follow the tradition in that the relationship (if it can be defined as such) is not adulterous, as far as we can tell. In order to establish this, it may be useful to examine Chaucer’s own life, and his personal situation at this point6.

In 1368, Chaucer was married to Philippa Roet, a lady in waiting to the Queen, and was an esquire to the house of Edward III. He had also had a son, named Thomas, born in 1367. This information is useful in terms of a biographical perspective on the poem. Chaucer was still a young man at the point of writing A Complaint to his Lady (aged 24) and it is conceivable that the poem was written on a personal basis, detailing some kind of affair he himself was having at the time. This knowledge is useful, because therefore if the poem is autobiographical, the lady he is speaking of is obviously not his wife, thus fulfilling the extramarital nature of a courtly love relationship as presented in the poem. Without any biographical knowledge however there is no mention of any other relationship, which causes the reader to question the very essence of ‘fine love’ in that we can find very little evidence for it from the poem alone. There are however some isolated elements of the tradition found in the poem, however whether they culminate in a traditional courtly love ritual poem is dubious.

The structure of the poem is revealing in terms of the intention behind its writing; the changing forms, and inconsistency present the reader with an almost unfinished poem, sufficiently unrefined to justify this assertion. There are three main changes of form; parts I and II are written in rhyme royal. Part II however does not strictly adhere to the concept of rhyme royal and contains elements of terza rima. Part III sees the complete transition from rhyme royal to terza rima; iambic tercets make the poem sound more rhythmic than it had been previously. After part III however the form of the poem turns into decasyllabic lines, with stanzas being largely ten lines long, with the exception of stanzas eight and nine, which are nine and eight lines long respectively. The final part of the poem is the least rigidly formatted, and has an irregular rhyme scheme. One of the main rhyme patterns of the final section is AABAABCDDC, however not all stanzas follows this pattern. This inconsistency therefore is important in ascertaining the writer’s literary capability, almost the level of sophistication his work had reached at the time he’d written the poem. If one were only to examine the structural cohesion of the poem, then one could conclude he was still very much a developing poet.

6 Full timeline of Chaucer’s life, Appendix K, page 22

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The rhyme scheme of parts I-III is fairly regular because it adheres to two poetic forms, rhyme royal7 and terza rima8. The use of rhyme royal was a fairly common pattern to use during this period, and often was used in less sophisticated rhyming poetry of the time. Chaucer’s use of terza rima however allows the reader insight into the influence of the courtly love tradition on the poem in that in order to use the form, Chaucer would have had to be exposed to it, in its original format by its patrons, at some point during his missions to Europe. In Italy at this point, Petrarch and Boccaccio especially were writing poetry that was very heavily focussed on the tradition of courtly love, experimenting with terza rima; exposure to this may have prompted Chaucer to write A Complaint to his Lady, and to view the poem as an experiment would add credibility to the idea that Chaucer was still developing as a poet, and therefore his ideas were still unrefined, thus explaining the poem’s content. Why Chaucer did not choose to finish the poem in this manner is unknown.

There was usually no prescribed rhyme scheme used in the courtly love tradition, except the obvious assumption that it should rhyme. From the composition of the poem one can assume that Chaucer’s influences were mixed; his travels to Italy influenced his work, as demonstrated by the use of terza rima and the protocols he follows when addressing his lady. Another influence of folklore becomes apparent through the emotions he claims to feel regarding her, and the influence of the knightly tales as demonstrated by the noble tone of ‘For neither pitee, mercy, neither grace’. The structure of this poem in comparison with later works shows more of an experimental motivation; for instance, in The Miller’s Tale the structure is simple; rhyming couplets and one long, extended stanza. This structure therefore adds far more focus to the plot as opposed to the intricacies of rhyme. The Canterbury Tales were also intended for an audience, to be performed verbally; whether A Complaint to his Lady was intended for public consumption may affect whether the tradition of courtly love actually forms the basis of the poem, because usually, poems written for personal courtship would not be shared with the wider public. The lack of aural consideration in the poem creates the impression that the poem was not supposed to be performed for the general public, even though the concept of ‘fine love’ was very popular in folklore of the time. The Canterbury Tales were however written to be performed verbally; several paintings of Chaucer performing his poetry exist, including “Chaucer at the Court of Edward III”9.

Graphological interpretation of the poem is difficult because by modern standards, it is fragmented and inconsistent; however, there are some features of the poem that define certain elements. For example, Chaucer frequently uses commas, which adds to the internal monologue effect he uses, causing the reader to feel as though we are entering conversation with him. This presents a paradox in terms of stylistic quality because the reader almost feels intrusive, whilst being ‘spoken’ to at the same time. ‘This hevy lif I lede, lo, For your sake’ for example is paradoxical because Chaucer is apparently addressing his lady, and yet appears to be addressing the reader in a simplistic sense because of the use of the second person, personal pronoun of ‘you’. There are also several questions used in the poem, which again engages the reader, making it more accessible to an audience. An example of this is ‘Allas, whan shal that harde wit amende?’ which is a kind of ponderous question. It includes no specific address however invites the reader to respond in some way.

In terms of language and lexical choices, the poem is far easier to comprehend than when considering grammar. Broadly, the poem uses three semantic fields; that evolving around the tradition of courtly love, beauty and other such finery, one of religion based ideas, and one of servitude and self deprecation. These are of course very broad spectrums. The field of courtly love is the central theme of the poem, as demonstrated the assertion of ‘gentilnesse and your debonairtee?’ The language used is obviously connected to the overriding theme of the poem. The use of religious imagery is perhaps more interesting; it represents a deep rooted relationship with the social values of the 7 For more detail on rhyme royal, see Appendix E, Page 88 For more detail on terza rima, see Appendix D, page 6.9 http://www.preraphaelites.org/the-collection/1927p356/chaucer-at-the-court-of-edward-iii-watercolour-version/

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period and perhaps the element of Christianity that was undoubtedly present in the courtly love tradition. The demigod-like presentation of the woman only serves to enhance the enchanting aura that appears to surround the woman in Chaucer’s poem, and because of the depth of religious focus10 at the time, this was a very powerful feeling to manipulate within poetry itself. The comparison however with the godlike features of the woman, such as his idealisation of her, as in “Myn hertes lady and hool my lyves queen”, with the position of servitude he finds himself in is bizarre because from a historical point of view, a man is wholly authoritative over a woman. In modern literature, the woman is often seen rejecting the idealisation of the opposite sex due to love, and instead is becoming more internally directed by her own thoughts and emotions. The semantic field of servitude is one common across much of the courtly love poetry experienced; Petrarch, for example regularly wrote so that the role of the man and the woman were reversed; servitude moved from the role of the woman to that of the man, thus subverting tradition and therefore making the concept almost strange to read, if one is in the contextual mindset as the poem demands.

The significance of connotation is surprisingly small in this poem because Chaucer was not a great user of metaphor, especially in his earlier poetry; the emergence of figurative language emerged during the age of prescriptivism, from around 1450, some years after his death. Chaucer does use figurative language in some of The Canterbury Tales, however in terms of The Nun’s Priests Tale, the idea of anthropomorphism is more prevalent than metaphor per se. Chaucer’s meaning is very much found at face value; there are wider implications of what he says, however there is little linguistic subtext, in comparison for example with William Shakespeare. There is however much more contextual connotation, in his exploration of the woman and her role in his life, and the religious connections this has.

Overall, the poem follows many aspects of the tradition of courtly love, however investigations into form and Chaucer’s personal life may be more revealing about the motivations of the poem; whether the poem was intended for public consumption is unclear, however since the poem appears to be intensely personal, it seems unlikely. Contextually however, rambling tombs of poems dedicated to one’s ‘true love’ were not uncommon; exaggerated gestures of undying love were commonplace particularly in the aristocratic circles in which Chaucer placed himself, and therefore he may have been persuaded to write in this manner by a variety of ‘peer pressure’. The differences between the tradition of courtly love and the poem will be further explored in Part Two, as well as Chaucer’s personal life which may have influenced the degree to which the poem adheres to tradition, and how far it diverges in comparison with The Canterbury Tales.

Part Two: To what extent does the poem diverge from the courtly love tradition, and why does this happen?

10 The Catholic character of Virgin Mary was extremely influential in creating the ‘perfect’ woman; women were supposed to be ‘true’ and pure, certainly only having sex for procreation. A woman was also always subservient to a man, and took care of family and community.

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The allure of courtly love was very much the idealistic opportunity for the emotional relationship it presented. In the period (14th century) in which Chaucer was writing, marriage was not for love, often not even for friendship. Instead it was an issue of practicality; marriage between a man and wife was usually financially motivated, or politically influenced. Marriage therefore was almost a form of social networking, similar to today; for example in corporate environments, partnerships are formed because they are mutually beneficial; the same was true of marriage in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Part of the allure of courtly love therefore was the extravagance and exaggeration which was often missing in more practical aspects of life; religion dominated society, and day to day survival was of paramount importance. The depth and intensity of relationships and human feeling was not deemed important, especially by the vaguely puritanical church; the essence of humanity was different from the modern perception, and strength of feeling found in descriptions of courtly love seems exaggerated because we are surrounded by intimate relationships from adolescence; as a society, we are almost ‘used’ to being emotionally close to other human beings. People of Chaucer’s society, fourteenth century aristocracy, in particular were not accustomed to such things, leading to the explosive emotion found in Petrarch, Boccaccio, Chaucer, and later, Shakespeare. The intensity and declarations found in courtly love poetry could potentially be faintly adolescent; the voice of the inexperienced in love is certainly prominent in A Complaint to his Lady. Demands of society completely overshadowed the possibility for meaningful relationships in the aristocratic circle; interestingly, the lower classes were far more able to marry for love than practicality, because there were fewer social demands placed upon them, and less family power for example, meant there was less placed at risk by marrying ‘the wrong sort’.

The poem could potentially be interpreted as a mere exclamation of adolescent-like emotion; an outpouring of uncontrolled and misunderstood feeling. This removes the idealism and romance of the poem, and of that associated with the courtly love tradition, because this reading trivialises the depth of emotion it attempts to convey. It appears false to the modern day reader, however it would no doubt have been plausible; at the time of writing, Chaucer has just been married to Phillipa La Roet; he was still fairly young, and his first son, Thomas, had just been born. In terms of his literary career, he was certainly inexperienced, and the brilliance of The Canterbury Tales had not begun to develop from his poetry as yet. Therefore it’s possible to believe that he wrote this to a woman who was not his wife; possibly he was infatuated with a woman he came into contact with in Europe, during his travels to France and Italy, or even with a woman within his own court. It is impossible to know for certain to what extent the poem is based on his personal experience, because there is very little documentation surrounding it’s writing.

The traditional courtly love heroine is classically defined in a number of ways; Thomas Mallory’s L’Morte d’Arthur defined the courtly love heroine within the character Guinevere, who is Arthur’s queen, however famously had an affair with Sir Lancelot. Criseyde, from Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, also has features of the courtly love heroine; Troilus describes his lady as ‘I have never known one of her position, So generous, so happy in her mood, So friendly in her speech and disposition, Or one that had more grace in doing good…Compared to such as she is, kings are wretches.’11 This certainly summarises her personality, while the text from the Prologue of the Canterbury Tales describes the stereotypical beauty of the courtly love heroine. Her ‘nose was elegant, her eyes glass-grey; her mouth was very small, but soft and red, Her forehead, certainly, was fair of spread…’ This description begins to explore the physical characteristics of the Prioress. Interestingly however, she should not have been viewed in such a way, because she is a nun; therefore this subverts the social conventions she would have been subjected to in favour of a more sexualised image of womankind. In comparison with A Complaint to His Lady, the woman described is not physically described in detail; this perhaps enforces the idea that the poem was more personal, especially if his love for this woman was adulterous (which it undoubtedly would have been). Her personality however is explored only to the extent that it affects the 11 Troilus and Criseyde, Penguin Classics, Nevill Coghill translation. Page 34, Book One, stanza 127

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protagonist; this is shown in ‘Hir name is Bountee set in womanhede, Sadnesse in youthe and Beautee prydelees, And Plesaunce under governaunce and drede’. This description does not show her physical characteristics, only really her aristocratic ones which would likely come from her upbringing. Later, ‘my right lady swete’ implies more tender feelings towards her, and yet from the overall descriptions of both characters, that is to say the protagonist and his lady, it becomes obvious that actually the focus of the poem, is the protagonist, focussing on his own internal conflict as opposed to his feelings towards the woman in her own right.

Therefore the courtly love heroine in the poem is present, however in a far less intricate manner than in Chaucer’s later poetry; there are features, of her almost shadowlike existence, however it is trivialised by the need of the protagonist to focus entirely upon himself, which is inevitably what happens when Chaucer uses the concept of servitude and to a certain extent, the reversal of gender roles, to place his existence physically below her own. The heroine therefore is superfluous to the purpose of the poem, i.e. to try to express a modicum of confused emotion.

The typical courtly love hero has a tendency to be gallant and brave, and is very similar to Sir Gawain12, of the Arthurian legends. He is a defender of the poor, loyal to his king, extremely brave, and has some medical knowledge. He is also very handsome, with chiselled features, and is very courteous and chivalrous. This example of courtly love hero can be contrasted with the protagonist in the poem; he makes no mention of his own appearance, however proclaims his total loyalty to his lady. Fundamentally, he does not appear chivalrous because of his selfishness which is depicted through his attitude to his lady. Chaucer asks ‘Why lyketh yow to do me al this wo?’ showing an almost needy disposition, begging for attention of the lady almost as a child would. The constant use of first person personal pronouns such as ‘I’ and the use of lexemes such as ‘despaire’ and ‘wo’, does not provoke the reader to feel empathy for his apparent suffering, because it is reminds the reader of a whining, needy character. This particular feature shows divergence from the courtly love tradition very strongly.

The protagonist does however show some characteristics of the hero, largely due to the language he uses in relationship to him, towards his woman; he wishes to fulfil every need, and wishes that ‘ne shul me from your servyce dryve’. Without contextual background, this appears very insincere, and again contributes to the idea that the poem was never meant for public consumption, and indeed was a juvenile experiment of Chaucer’s youth. The protagonist is only again, a shadow of the courtly love hero, in the same way that the lady is also a shadow of the heroine. The poem is therefore an undeveloped exploration of courtly love, and is slightly under structured in terms of concept.

If indeed the protagonist is Chaucer, then it is interesting to note certain characteristics of Chaucer himself. He travelled in aristocratic circles and was connected to John of Gaunt and various kings. He was wealthy, having a number of annuities granted to him for life. He was married twice and had a child upon the writing of A Complaint to His Lady. He was very well connected and experienced French, Italian, and Spanish culture first hand on his travels through Europe on diplomatic missions13. He would have been a courtly gentleman; however very little is known about the man himself. If one was to assume the poem was autobiographical however, he would have painted himself in an unflattering light; thus reinforcing the idea that the poem is intensely personal, or perhaps written objectively, perhaps about a friend or a relationship he had witnessed in the courts at the time. At the time he wrote the poem, he had just returned from an excursion to Italy and France, and most certainly he was influenced by their aristocracy and therefore would have been influenced by the literary culture of these countries.

12 Sir Gawain is most famous for his appearance in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight written by an anonymous writer. Here he challenges the Green Knight for his life, and his bravery creates an example of the man most aristocratic men would have aspired to be. 13 For more information on Chaucer, see Appendix K, Page 26.

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The structure of The Canterbury Tales as opposed to A Complaint to his Lady is continuous prose, rhyming either in couplets or alternating couplets throughout the poem. For the purposes of comparison, The Nun’s Priest’s Tale and the Miller’s Tale are interesting to compare with the poem itself. Both of these tales are written in continuous rhyming prose, in nine to eleven syllabic lines. The structure of both is very formal, and appears much planned, unlike in A Complaint to his Lady. As explored in Part one, the structure of the aforementioned is fractured, and does not have any regular pattern. Arguably, the beginning three parts of the poem do follow a variety of structures, however the final part, part IV, is disorganised, using decasyllabic lines, however in varying stanza length. In comparison with Miller’s Tale, which has many elements of courtly love, albeit ironically, the poem appears very youthful and unrefined, perhaps showing that Chaucer himself had not yet reached the point in his literary career where he could make a poem structurally coherent. An interesting point to note is that he had been exposed to the works of Dante and Boccaccio in Italy whilst travelling, however at this point, aside from the use of terza rima14, very little of this influence appeared to come through into his work.

The divergence of A Complaint to his Lady from the tradition of courtly love is potentially not a literary device used to separate the poem from the tradition, as opposed to sheer inexperience of Chaucer himself. The poem in fact diverges from most poetic protocols as followed at the time, and this is common throughout Chaucer’s earlier poetry. During the 1380’s however Chaucer’s skill in poetry appeared to grow exponentially, exemplified by works such as Parliament of Fowls and Troilus and Criseyde. The latter is widely renowned as one of the most beautiful works of poetry in the English language, something supported by its translator, Nevill Coghill15. Therefore if one created a graph of Chaucer’s development, a peak would be reached between 1380 and 1398, showing a significant improvement in his ability to structure verse, and indeed communicate concept through language.

Potentially the turbulence in the poem, such as mixed emotions and the fragmented structure reflects a psychoanalytical reading of Chaucer’s poem; it could have been very closely autobiographical, potentially attempting to capture the emotions of courtly love whilst his domestic demands created internal conflict. His age and status at this point (1373), is very important to consider; he was thirty one years old, and had been married for seven years. In a modern context, a thirty one year old male is usually fairly mature in terms of developing relationships, however if, as Chaucer was, he is sheltered throughout childhood and perhaps accustomed following demands of others, he may be emotionally immature. When examining the language of A Complaint to his Lady, his naivety becomes very obvious, due to the raw quality of his writing; there is a lack of refinement which is found in later love poetry, including Troilus and Criseyde. An example of this is the rigidity of the structure of the aforementioned. The poem follows the stanza pattern of seven lines, with rhyme scheme ABABBCC, following the rhyme royal pattern throughout. The adherence to such tradition makes the reader feel almost secure in the understanding and coherence of the poem; this sense is lost in A Complaint to his Lady.

Chaucer’s use of irony is extremely important in many of his later works, especially in The Canterbury Tales. The use of irony in any context is an interesting development in terms of the complexity of the English language as a whole because before Middle English came into existence, ironic and figurative language had been almost non existent. As the linguistic complexity of Middle English developed, a change in syntax and change in inflection allowed sarcasm and irony to develop throughout literature. For example, Beowulf is largely regarded as the first English text; throughout, it follows protocols of chivalric tradition, and shows adherence to the ideas of Arthurian legends. As literature developed, ideas of satire developed also; the use of satire becomes 14 See Appendix D, page 615 Nevill Coghill is perhaps the most astute translator of Chaucer’s works. He held many appointments at Oxford University, in Merton and Exeter colleges, and served in the Great War. He takes particular interest in Shakespearian drama and the works of Chaucer.

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apparent in The Canterbury Tales however is far less obvious, or indeed does not exist, in earlier poetry. Later poems however such as Lak of Stedfastnesse show considerable use of irony, and thus the subversion of the meaning of the text. Across society, satire began to develop due to dissatisfaction with state and religion, most particularly in the fifteenth century, just after Chaucer’s death, and famously in works such as Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

In relationship to the poem, Chaucer’s later use of irony seems irrelevant; there is no sign that the poem itself is a mockery of ‘romantic’ poetry of the period, or indeed that he is laughing even slightly. The poem is very serious; as opposed to being slightly amusing, or read with a lighter tone, it is conceptually stale in that it is repetitive in message, and shows little progression of ideas. For example ‘So desepaired I am from alle blisse’ (line 7) sends much the same message as’ For elles may me laste no blis ne hope, Ne dwelle within my trouble careful herte’ (Final two lines). Interestingly however, it is phonetically extremely passionate, using fricatives and many –e suffixes, showing the influence of French and Italian on English; however instead of provoking the reader’s emotional response, it alienates, because it seems so profoundly false (especially to a modern reader). The likelihood that Chaucer is genuinely committed to his lady is probably quite low, due to the nature of courtly love and what we know of its existence; tumultuousness in the relationship, coupled with intense infatuation led men to engage in affairs, however divorce, and leaving one’s wife, was never a possibility. Owing to what we know of Chaucer’s personal life, there could have been many women about whom this was written; details of his extramarital affairs are almost non existent, however due to his position of power in the courts and the fact he travelled extensively, it is highly likely he would have had a mistress; perhaps several across Europe.

Therefore, if one were to compare stylistically Chaucer’s A Complaint to his Lady with The Miller’s Tale and The Nun’s Priest’s Tale, there would be massive literary progression; in The Canterbury Tales, the poet uses metaphor and figurative language, such as ‘Three hefty sows-no more- were all her showing’; this use of metaphor would later be regarded as the foundation of modern literature; he uses various characters, for example the Monk, from Prologue to convey much wider ideas about religion and moreover, the supposed nature of women. In contrast, A Complaint to his Lady appears to be superficial, and the character of the woman herself is hardly developed which allows the reader very little scope to establish their own interpretation of her, or indeed imply further meaning beyond what the author expressly tells us. The structural aspects of the writing, such as grammatical style and orthography change very little throughout Chaucer’s literary career; his ability to structure poetry improves significantly, alongside his ability to communicate ideas, which inevitably improves the quality of his writing.

The poem changes its form as it progresses; from rhyme royal to terza rima, and then decasyllabic rhyming lines16 (although these are not strictly adhered to). It is unlikely that these changes show any kind of deeper significance because they seem to have no correlation with the message of the poem; it is however likely that they are more culturally significant, regarding the progression of English Literature, in this period, and symptomatic of the fact that French, Italian and Spanish arts heavily influenced British culture. The king of England had only recently been restored to English speaking; Middle English itself shared many features of orthography with French, as well as inflections and vowel pronunciation. This can be linked on a microcosmic level, in that Chaucer reflected (extremely well) the influence of French culture on a person, because he himself travelled often, experiencing other forms of literature. This happened on a much wider scale, but Chaucer’s personal life certainly introduced him to the idea of subversion and irony.

The courtly love tradition therefore is typified by the extravagance of the courts; an interesting analogy therefore is that the poetry of this form of affection is the literary equivalent of high society and aristocracy at the time. When considered contextually, the poem seems very unlikely to be deliberately structurally fragmented, because there 16 For more information on structure, see Part One (page ii) and appendices C-F, pages 4-9.

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appears to be no reason for it to; the message of the poem does not change. Although from a very different literary period, Fyodor Dostoevsky17 changes the structure of prose depending on the mental state of the character in question. Raskolnikov of Crime and Punishment suffers changes his mental wellbeing frequently, and the prose reflects this by using grammatical devices, such as changing sentence functions and clause structures to change the pace of reading, thus creating atmosphere which heavily involves the reader. Fundamentally therefore, structure evolves depending on the character’s own evolvement; something we do not experience in A Complaint to his Lady. This could reflect the author’s immaturity in creating characters, something which again improves upon reading The Canterbury Tales.

In many ways, the poem does diverge from the courtly love tradition; however it shares some superficial characteristics with the genre. Semantically it is almost obsessively adherent to the chivalric protocols of the time, whilst structurally, it could be considered experimental, perhaps even disorganised. In terms of content, the poem seems to be circular, continually exploring the same idea, of infatuation certainly; whether the poem represents accurate feelings of love is debatable; however this then poses the question: “what exactly is love?” Chaucer here leaves us with little more than an elegy of infatuation for a woman whom we’ve never met, and whom we can barely identify with; the ending of the poem is extremely unsatisfying and is open ended; there is no resolution, and again, this lack of satisfaction is representative of Chaucer’s lack of sophistication as a writer at this point in his career.

Conclusion: “To what extent can A Complaint to his Lady be considered a poem adhering to the courtly love tradition?”

Broadly speaking, A Complaint to his Lady can be evaluated from the perspective of the courtly love tradition; the poem can be examined by looking at the degree to which the poem adheres to the tradition; and then examining features of divergence from the tradition. Part one of the project explores which features of the poem are adherent to the courtly love tradition. Part Two of the project explores the degree of divergence from the tradition and subsequently why this occurs. This therefore creates an interpretation of

17 Fyodor Dostoevsky was a Russian author who wrote between 1846-80. His novels are very much politically and socially influenced. He introduced one of the first psychological novels (Crime and Punishment) and later went on to publish Devils and The Idiot. Devils is widely renowned as his best work of fiction. Dostoevsky is regarded by literary critics such as Will Durant as one of the founding fathers of the existentialism movement.

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the poem which is largely based on context and actual linguistic meaning, whilst also considering factors such as structure and the technical aspects of language.

On a superficial level, the poem does adhere to the tradition because of its content, and actual meaning; a man is infatuated with a woman, and declares his undying devotion to her, because perhaps, this is the culture Chaucer himself was accustomed to; the protagonist, or Chaucer himself, was of course influenced heavily by his culture, and certainly would have aspired to be a courtly love hero. Unfortunately, other aspects of the tradition are inconsistent; for example the structure of the poem varies considerably from part I to part IV; and moreover there appears no poetic reasoning behind the decision to vary in such a way. It is perhaps this rather striking feature of this particular poem that creates the impression that Chaucer is using the poem as an experiment, of both ideas and change in form.

In comparison with Chaucer’s later poetry, A Complaint to his Lady is very ‘obvious’ in meaning, especially when compared with the later sophistication of The Canterbury Tales, which use satire in such a way that much wider ideas, especially on morality and religion are communicated; as an example, Chaucer’s presentation of Alison, from The Miller’s Tale explores women, and whilst it condemns her for her lack of morality, it also portrays the foolishness of men for chasing such a woman in this way. Therefore this simple comparison shows a huge transition from A Complaint to his Lady, which was extremely experimental, to the much deeper experience of The Canterbury Tales. Much of Chaucer’s work was socially focussed; particularly on religion and the impact that this has on society, and particularly on social boundaries such as those he would have witnessed across the European aristocratic courts. Interestingly, there seems to be little sarcasm or irony in the poem, which suggests its meaning was not subverted at all; in fact, the poet seems entirely genuine towards the woman throughout the poem, and fundamentally, leads the reader to believe that he is honestly infatuated with the woman whom he speaks about. Unlike later poetry, there seems to be little depth of emotion portrayed through the poem, which would potentially add to the authenticity of the piece. This depth of emotion is for example present in the poem Troilus and Criseyde in lines 862-868. The cohesive nature of love and tragedy in this later example of poetry creates a paradox which shows immense emotional sophistication which is very much more developed than A Complaint to his Lady.

Overall, the poem certainly could be an example of a primitive courtly love poem, however in no way does it match the beauty and quality of later poetry of the same theme, such as Troilus and Criseyde, which is widely renowned as being the most beautiful poem of love and tragedy in the English language. Conceptually, the poem is adherent to the chivalric protocol in many ways, although ideas regarding his lady change as the poem progresses; she becomes more mythical as development of the character occurs, because she assumes more control over the protagonist, or so it appears, as we near the end of the poem. The poem is certainly based on the idea of courtly love, however whether it successfully becomes an example of such a tradition is difficult to understand, owing to the variety in features it has, and the styles it thus spans.

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Appendix

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The Tradition of Courtly love

The importance of the tradition of courtly love in this poem is such that an explanation of it is included in the appendix to assist the reader in understanding the exploration of the poem itself. Courtly love was indeed an element of the chivalric style however because of the social significance of this; it became almost a cult of its own, focussing on medieval courtly relationships. The emergence of this tradition was perhaps one of the defining features of the middle ages [certainly the latter part] and many poems were written following this protocol.

Before this, romantic passion had been almost non existent, to the extent that the medieval population appear to have invented it. The lack of social framework upon which to place frivolous, sometimes blasphemous passion affected the literature of earlier Middle Ages, from around 500AD until approximately 1100AD; as a result of this, poems such as Beowulf contained very little reference to romance. Relationships in the aforementioned are based heavily upon kinship, honour and family, and the structure thereof. Beowulf is usually regarded as having been written between 900AD and 1200AD. Therefore, one can make the assertion that romance was created, certainly in literature, in perhaps the late 13th century.

The lack of romance previously was possibly due to the church’s massive influence on society; at this point, the Crusades, or Hundred Years War were raging, and the practice of pilgrimage (upon which The Canterbury Tales, 1387-1400, are based) provided people with a new sense of faith against issues they often had no control over. People were encouraged to live simple lives, avoiding sin such as adultery and lust. An interesting contrast to the religious boundaries of the Middle Ages however is the juxtaposed progressive society of the Roman and Byzantine empires, where the some of the great epic poems were set; The Aeneid contains scenes of lust, however love, in the sense of agape18 that we find in Chaucer’s A Compleynte to His Lady and later in Shakespeare’s sonnets, did not emerge until the late Middle Ages.

The nature of love in this period was the tradition of courtly love that emerged the chivalric tradition; there were a number of characteristics defining the concept.

- AristocracyMost importantly perhaps, the practice of courtly love was confined to the nobility; the poor were excluded because they couldn’t afford such luxuries as the ritual presents that the procedure demanded.

- RitualisticMany gifts were exchanged as part of the affair; however the woman barely needed to acknowledge the relationship. The man would bestow flowers, jewels and other items symbolic of beauty on a woman and her merest hint of approval would be sufficient for him to be allowed to continue.

- SecretThe secrecy of the affair was undoubtedly the most appealing part of it; in the courts there was little privacy or control over one’s own affairs and therefore secrecy appealed to the couple. Many formed their own worlds with their own protocols, something many would never have experienced before having been raised in the court, where every move was politically motivated. Couples created their own places, rituals and codes.

- AdulterousThe charm of ‘fine love’ was that it was far away from the rigidity of noble marriage, as suggested above. Many marriages were politically motivated and served a

18 Agape is selfless love for others, defined by complete, unconditional devotion to a person or object.

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purpose, or economically suited to enhance the potential for some kind of allegiance of finance and business.

- LiteraryCourtly love was introduced in the songs and tales of gallant knights, whisking away their adored ladies, and this inspired the theme of courtly love in bourgeois courts and the nobility especially of England and France. The popularity of courtly love grew as more writers began describing it, especially in the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 19

There are also however two other elements of courtly love; that is to say the nature of the man and woman between whom the affair is being conducted. The most interesting person included in the relationship was the woman; she was revered and became almost a demigod in the eyes of her lover. This was fascinating in terms of social structure of the period, where women were very much subservient to men, and had few rights of their own. This ‘heroine’ featured in many of Chaucer’s poems, especially in The Canterbury Tales, The Nun’s Priest’s Tale and the Prioress, featured in Prologue, The Canterbury Tales20. Many women of nobility aspired to be heroines of this kind of romance, interestingly despite its adulterous nature.

The man involved in this relationship was often an extravagant, often effeminate man, usually affluent due to his position in the courts. He would pursue his lady with relentless gestures and presents and the lady was often extremely dismissive of his efforts; however often the merest hint that she revelled in his affections allowed the relationship to continue. These two personas are examined in the essay as a mechanism of looking at the ways in which the poem followed protocol, or whether Chaucer had already begun trying to subvert meaning and use satire in his work as early as 1373.

Due to the nature of the poem, one is led to believe that the woman Chaucer is referring to is not his wife, due to the untouchable perspective he places upon her. The love he explores was possibly for a lover, or a woman upon whom he had set his sights. At this point in time, men had many mistresses, outside marriage and therefore often had illegitimate children. Despite the prominence of the church, men were placed highly above women and therefore it was more than likely that Chaucer had several mistresses, or at least encounters with other ladies, especially abroad.

Whether his encounters became encounters of courtly love is unknown, however the references to her “For neither pitee, mercy, neither grace/ Can I nat fynde, and yit my sorwful herte…” suggest that she is detached from her suitor, as was the custom of the period. His pledge to ‘But I, my lyf and deeth, to yow obeye’ suggests the chivalric tradition influenced Chaucer in the construction of the poem in message and ideas. It shows little self interpretation of chivalry; his interpretative voice became his defining feature in later poetry, especially in The Canterbury Tales which are renowned for their subvergence of the genre of courtly love and social themes of the period and as a result, were written for performance purposes, and performance humour.

19 Dodd, William George. "The System of Courtly love." 1913.

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Rhyme Royal

Rhyme royal was a poetic form commonly used by Chaucer, especially in his longer works, and is used in A Complaint to his Lady. It takes the form of seven lines of iambic pentameter and follows the rhyme scheme ABABBCC. A good example of this is the first part of the above poem.

The longe nightes, whan every creatureShulde have hir rest in somwhat by kynde,Or elles ne may hir lif nat longe endure,Hit falleth most into my woful mynde How I so fer have broght myself behyndeThat, sauf the deeth, ther may nothyng me lisse,So desepaired I am from alle blisse.

As you can see, the stanza follows the prescribed form exactly. Chaucer was however influenced by other poets, especially the Petrarchan sonnet, and Boccaccio. Like the Spenserian stanza, Chaucer found influence from Italian forms such as ottava rima and the French ballad tradition. As well as using the form in A Complaint to his Lady, he also used it in Troilus and Criseyde and Parliament of Fowls.

King James I of Scotland began to use rhyme royal in his Chaucerian poems, and as such, Chaucerian poetry often followed the rhyme royal structure. It is also a straightforward pattern to follow and the subsequent poetic forms that emerged, such as Shakespearian sonnet and the Spenserian stanza. Connected to rhyme royal is ballad royal, the collection of rhyme royal stanzas into one longer piece of work. More recently, Wordsworth used the form of rhyme royal in Resolution and Independence, and whilst the form is widely regarded as archaic, continues to be used today, albeit less frequently than in the period of Middle English.

Terza Rima as a Poetic Form

Terza Rima is an interesting poetic form because of its origins in Dante’s Divina Commedia; the form is hendecasyllabic, with lines forming tercets according to the rhyme scheme. The very nature of the form is such that it may have developed from an

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Old Provencal poetic form used by troubadours, and often contained themes of either praise or personal abuse. The idea that the poetic form was restricted to typically rhyme rich Italian before Chaucer experimented with it, suggests that he was exposed to Dante’s literature during his many excursions to Europe, and likely came into direct contact with the manuscripts themselves, as mainstream publishing had not yet begun; Johann Gutenberg invented the modern day printing press in 1449, beginning the printing revolution. Before this, people were condemned to read original manuscripts in order to read the work of one’s peers.

The form of terza rima looks as follows: ABABCBCDCDEDEFEFGF

Boccaccio and Petrarch were also enthusiasts of terza rima; both were Italian poets, part of the renaissance movement in Europe. In England, after Chaucer, Byron and Shelley became users of the form, as shown in poems such as The Prophecy of Dante, Byron, and Ode to the West Wind, Shelley. The terza rima sonnet later emerged, changing from the above by ending the final stanza in a rhyming couple, in a similar way to the Shakespearian sonnet.

Terza rima saw a resurgence in popularity in the twentieth century, in Acquainted with the Night by Robert Frost, or The Sow by Sylvia Plath. In The Sow Plath uses fifteen interlocking tercets, however not all of them rhyme. Frost’s poem however adheres to the rhyme scheme more rigidly, making it an almost unexpected example of modern day poetry, fitting to an Old Italian form.

Acquainted with the NightRobert Frost

I have been one acquainted with the night.I have walked out in rain--and back in rain.I have outwalked the furthest city light

I have looked down the saddest city lane.I have passed by the watchman on his beatAnd dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feetWhen far away an interrupted cryCame over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-by;

As you can see, the structure in rhyming tercets, and in Divina Commedia lines are eleven syllables long. Interlocking tercets make the poem almost soothing and extremely rhythmic. When written in English however, the lines tend to be in iambic pentameter and decasyllabic.

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and further still at an unearthly heightOne luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.I have been one acquainted with the night.

As you can see from the above, the poem keeps to interlocking tercets, decasyllabic lines and iambic pentameter. For the modern reader, the poem is an excellent example of the application of terza rima to English. It is widely acknowledged that English is a language which is hard of rhyming, as opposed to the romanticism of Italian.

The Petrarchan Sonnet

The Petrarchan sonnet is more commonly known as the ‘Italian sonnet’ and emerged from Italy in the 13th century; it was named after Petrarch, the poet, perfected the rhyming form, which later became widely used across Europe in the period before, and indeed after the renaissance.

The Petrarchan sonnet takes for form of a fourteen line poem divided into two parts; an octave [eight lines] with a rhyme scheme of abbaabba, and a sestet [six lines] with rhyme scheme cdecde. In any Petrarchan sonnet, there can be only five rhymes. The division between the octave and the sestet leads to an interesting reconciliation of the subject of the poem however; the octave tends to present the problem whilst the sestet will resolve. The two parts therefore work to complement each other. 21

21 Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, J.A Cuddon, Third Edition, Penguin

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The Petrarchan sonnet22 was arguably the most precise existing structural form in Chaucer’s era, and therefore his influence certainly began to show through into his work and poetry. Exposure to other Italian works, such as those of Dante and Boccaccio, also influenced Chaucer’s poetry [especially Dante’s Divina Commedia, in the case of A Complaint to His Lady and the use of Terzia Rima]. The foundation that the Petrarchan sonnet lay formed the foundation for the Shakespearian sonnet and the Spenserian stanza, in particular formed the basis for a two part poem. In a Shakespearian sonnet, one also finds the presentation of subject or problem, and then in the final sestet, the resolution. A Shakespearian sonnet typical of this is ‘Sonnet XL’.

Sonnet 40, ShakespeareTake all my loves, my love, yea, take them all; What hast thou then more than thou hadst before?No love, my love, that thou mayst true love call; All mine was thine before thou hadst this more. Then if for my love thou my love receivest, I cannot blame thee for my love thou usest; But yet be blamed, if thou thyself deceivest By wilful taste of what thyself refusest. I do forgive thy robbery, gentle thief, Although thou steal thee all my poverty; And yet, love knows, it is a greater grief To bear love's wrong than hate's known injury. Lascivious grace, in whom all ill well shows, Kill me with spites; yet we must not be foes23.

As you can see from the above, the poem is resolved in the final sestet [highlighted red] in that the man involved in this courtship, ‘forgives’ his lady for the problem he finds himself in. Petrarch lay the foundation for this kind of restoring of balance, [a theme later explored further in Todorov’s narrative theory24]. This poem is very strongly reminiscent in fact of A Complaint to His Lady because of the chivalric protocol it used.

An interesting element of Petrarch’s legacy is the introduction of humanism and a deep rooted Christian belief system within his poetry. Chaucer did not use Petrarch’s form as standard; however he did subvert elements of it for his own interpretation. Profound Christianity however did not play a particularly significant part in A Complaint to My Lady; spirituality is more included, possibly likening itself to humanism as established by Petrarch.

22 Chaucer and the French Tradition, Charles Muscatine23 Text from http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/40.html24 Todorov’s narrative theory was that a novel, or any kind of story line, can be broken down into five stages; a state of equilibrium, disruption to this by action or crisis, the characters recognition of that, the character’s attempt to resolve this problem and finally reinstatement to the old or redefined equilibrium.

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The Spenserian Stanza

The Spenserian stanza emerged in the Early Modern period of English literature, and took the form of eight lines of iambic pentameter, followed by a single Alexandrine [a twelve syllable iambic line]. The final line usually has a caesura after the first three iambic feet.

The Spenserian stanza is based on not only Shakespearian influences, but those of Chaucer too, in his use of rhyme royal. The French ballad form almost certainly had some input into the construction of the form. Another possible influence of this is ottava rima, another Italian form similar to terza rima and consisting of eight lines of iambic pentameter, with rhyme scheme ABABABCC. Spenser’s best example of this form is The Faerie Queen 1590.

The Spenserian stanza fell into disuse in the seventeenth century however saw resurgence with Shelley’s poetry, and that of Sir Walter Scott. Shelley was the most notable writer to use Spenserian stanza after Spenser himself, using it for example in Adonais. The form did however fall into disuse again, and has rarely been used since the time of Scott and Shelley. Twentieth century use of the form is rare, and the only notable use outside of the English Language was Willem Kloo’s Dieper Levensinkijk, in Dutch.

The Faerie Queen, Canto I, Book I

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Lo, I the man, whose Muse whilome did maske,As time her taught, in lowly Shepheards weeds,Am now enforst a far vnfitter taske,For trumpets sterne to chaunge mine Oaten reeds,And sing of Knights and Ladies gentle deeds;Whose prayses hauing slept in silence long,Me, all too meane, the sacred Muse areedsTo blazon broad emongst her learned throng:Fierce warres and faithfull loues shall moralize my song.

As you can see from the above, The Faerie Queen 1590, canto one, is a perfect example of the Spenserian stanza. There are eight lines of alternate rhyming couplets, in iambic pentameter, and the final line, highlighted in pink, is an alexandrine, which represents the very end of the canto.

Chaucer’s ‘A Complaint to his Lady’Courtly love Annotations

1368The longe nightes, whan every creatureShulde have hir rest in somwhat by kynde,Or elles ne may hir lif nat longe endure,Hit falleth most into my woful mynde How I so fer have broght myself behyndeThat, sauf the deeth, ther may nothyng me lisse,So desepaired I am from alle blisse.

This same thoght me lasteth til the morweAnd from the morwe forth til hit be eve;Ther nedeth me no care for to borwe,For both I have good leyser and good leve;Ther is no wyght that wol me wo bereveTo wepe ynogh and wailen al my fille; The sore spark of peyne now doth me spille.

This Love, that hath me set in such a placeThat me desir [he] nevere wol fulfille,For neither pitee, mercy, neither graceCan I nat fynde, and yit my sorwful herte

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For to be deed I can hit nought arace,The more I love, the more she doth me smerte,Thourgh which I see withoute remedyeThat from the deeth I may no wyse asterte.

Now sothly what she hight I wol reherse:

Hir name is Bountee set in womanhede,Sadnesse in youthe and Beautee prydeleesAnd Plesaunce under governaunce and drede;Hir surname is eek Faire RewthelessThe Wyse, yknit unto Good Aventure,That, for I love hir, she sleeth me giltelees.

Hir love I best, and shal, whyl I may dure,Bet than myself an hundred thousand deel,Than al this worldes richesse or creature.Now hath not Love me bestowed weelTo love ther I never shal have part?Allas, right thus is turned me the wheel,Thus am I slayn with Loves fyry dart!I can but love hir best, my swete fo;Love hath me taught no more of his artBut serve alwey and stinte for no wo.*** IV

In my trewe [and] careful herte ther isSo moche wo and [eek] so litel blisThat wo is me that ever I was bore;For al that thyng which I desyre I mis And al that ever I wolde not ywis, That finde I redy to me evermore;And of al this I not to whom me pleyne.For she that mighte me out of this bryngeNe reccheth nought whether I wepe or synge,So litel rewthe hath she upon my peyne.

Allas! Whan slepyng-tyme is than I wake,Whan I shulde daunce, for fere, lo, than I quake.This hevy lif I lede, lo, For your sakeThogh ye therof in no wyse hede take, Myn hertes lady and hool my lyves quene.For trewly durste I seye as that I fele,Me semeth that your swete herte of steleIs whetted now ageynes me to kene.

My dere herte and best beloved fo, Why lyketh yow to do me al this wo?What have I doon that greveth yow or sayd,

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But for I serve and love yow and no mo?And while I lyve I wol ever do so,And therefor, swete, ne beth nat yvel apayd.For so good and so fair as ye be Hit were right gret wonder but ye hadde Of all servantes, bothe of goode and badde;And leest worthy of alle hem, I am he.

But nevertheles, my righte lady swete,Thogh that I be unconnyng and unmeteTo serve, as I coude best, ay your hynesse,Yit is ther noon fayner, that wolde I hete,Than I, to do yow ese, or elles beteWhat so I wiste that were to youre hevynesse;And hadde I myght as good as I have wille, Than shulde ye fele wher it were so or noon;For in this world livyng than is ther noon That fayner wolde your hertes wil fulfille.

For bothe I love and eek drede yow so sore, And algates moot, and have doon yow, ful yore,That bettre loved is noon ne never shal;And yit I wolde beseche yow of no more,But leveth wel and be not wrooth therfore,And lat me serve yow forth; lo, this is al.For I am not so hardy ne so wood,For to desire that ye shulde love me,For wel I wot-allas-that wil nat be;I am so litel worthy and ye so good.

For ye be oon the worthiest on-lyveAnd I the most unlykly for to thryve,Yit for al this, witeth ye right weleThat ye ne shul me from your servyce dryveThat I ne wil ay, with alle my wittes fyve,Serve yow trewly, what wo so that I fele.For I am set on yow in such manereThat, thogh ye never wil upon me rewe, I moste yow love and been ever as treweAs any man can, or may, on-lyve [here].

But the more that I love yow, goodly free,The lasse fynde I that ye loven me;Allas, whan shal that harde wit amende?Wher is now your womannly pitee,Your gentilnesse and your debonairtee?Wil ye nothyng therof upon me spende?And so hool, swete, as I am youres al,And so gret wil as I have yow to serve, Now certes, and ye lete me thus sterve,Yit have ye wonne theron but a smal.

26 | P a g e

For at my knowyng I do nought why,And this I wol beseche yow hertely,That ther every ye fynde, whyles ye lyve, A trewer servant to yow than am I, Leveth thanne and sleeth me hardely,And I my deeth to yow wol al foryive.And if ye fynde no trewer verrayly,Wil ye suffre than that I thus spilleAnd for no maner gilt but my good wille?As good were thanne untrewe as trewe to be.

But I, my lyf and deeth, to yow obeyeAnd with right buxom herte hooly I preyeAs is your moste plesure, so doth by me;Wel lever is me liken yow and deyeThan for to anythyng or thynke or seyeThat yow myghte offende in any tyme.And therfor, swete, rewe on my peynes smerte,And of your grace graunteth me som drope,For elles may me laste no blis ne hope,Ne dwelle within my trouble careful herte.

27 | P a g e

Chaucer’s “A Complaint to his Lady”Semantic Annotations

This same thoght me lasteth til the morwe And from the morwe forth til hit be eve;Ther nedeth me no care for to borwe,For both I have good leyser and good leve;Ther is no wyght that wol me wo bereveTo wepe ynogh and wailen al my fille;The sore spark of peyne now doth me spille.

This Love, that hath me set in such a placeThat me desir [he] nevere wol fulfille,For neither pitee, mercy, neither graceCan I nat fynde, and yit my sorwful herteFor to be deed I can hit nought arace,The more I love, the more she doth me smerte,Thourgh which I see withoute remedyeThat from the deeth I may no wyse asterte.

Hir love I best, and shal, whyl I may dure,Bet than myself an hundred thousand deel,Than al this worldes richesse or creature.Now hath not Love me bestowed weelTo love ther I never shal have part?Allas, right thus is turned me the wheel,Thus am I slayn with Loves fyry dart!I can but love hir best, my swete fo;Love hath me taught no more of his artBut serve alwey and stinte for no wo.

28 | P a g e

*** IV

My dere herte and best beloved fo, Why lyketh yow to do me al this wo?What have I doon that greveth yow or sayd,But for I serve and love yow and no mo?And while I lyve I wol ever do so,And therefor, swete, ne beth nat yvel apayd.For so good and so fair as ye be Hit were right gret wonder but ye hadde Of all servantes, bothe of goode and badde;And leest worthy of alle hem, I am he.

For bothe I love and eek drede yow so sore, And algates moot, and have doon yow, ful yore,That bettre loved is noon ne never shal;And yit I wolde beseche yow of no more,But leveth wel and be not wrooth therfore,And lat me serve yow forth; lo, this is al.For I am not so hardy ne so wood,

29 | P a g e

For to desire that ye shulde love me,For wel I wot-allas-that wil nat be;I am so litel worthy and ye so good.

But the more that I love yow, goodly free,The lasse fynde I that ye loven me;Allas, whan shal that harde wit amende?Wher is now your womannly pitee,Your gentilnesse and your debonairtee?Wil ye nothyng therof upon me spende?And so hool, swete, as I am youres al,And so gret wil as I have yow to serve, Now certes, and ye lete me thus sterve,Yit have ye wonne theron but a smal.

30 | P a g e

Chaucer’s ‘A Compaint to his Lady’Structural Annotations

This same thoght me lasteth til the morweAnd from the morwe forth til hit be eve;Ther nedeth me no care for to borwe,For both I have good leyser and good leve;Ther is no wyght that wol me wo bereveTo wepe ynogh and wailen al my fille;The sore spark of peyne now doth me spille .

This Love, that hath me set in such a placeThat me desir [he] nevere wol fulfille,For neither pitee, mercy, neither graceCan I nat fynde, and yit my sorwful herteFor to be deed I can hit nought arace ,

31 | P a g e

The more I love, the more she doth me smerte,Thourgh which I see withoute remedyeThat from the deeth I may no wyse asterte.

Hir love I best, and shal, whyl I may dure,Bet than myself an hundred thousand deel ,Than al this worldes richesse or creature.Now hath not Love me bestowed weelTo love ther I never shal have part?Allas, right thus is turned me the wheel,Thus am I slayn with Loves fyry dart!I can but love hir best, my swete fo;Love hath me taught no more of his artBut serve alwey and stinte for no wo.***

My dere herte and best beloved fo, Why lyketh yow to do me al this wo?

32 | P a g e

What have I doon that greveth yow or sayd,But for I serve and love yow and no mo?And while I lyve I wol ever do so,And therefor, swete, ne beth nat yvel apayd.For so good and so fair as ye be Hit were right gret wonder but ye hadde Of all servantes, bothe of goode and badde;And leest worthy of alle hem, I am he.

For bothe I love and eek drede yow so sore, And algates moot, and have doon yow, ful yore ,That bettre loved is noon ne never shal;And yit I wolde beseche yow of no more,But leveth wel and be not wrooth therfore,And lat me serve yow forth; lo, this is al.For I am not so hardy ne so wood,For to desire that ye shulde love me,For wel I wot-allas-that wil nat be;I am so litel worthy and ye so good.

But the more that I love yow, goodly free,The lasse fynde I that ye loven me;Allas, whan shal that harde wit amende?Wher is now your womannly pitee,

Your gentilnesse and your debonairtee?Wil ye nothyng therof upon me spende?And so hool, swete, as I am youres al,And so gret wil as I have yow to serve,

33 | P a g e

Now certes, and ye lete me thus sterve,Yit have ye wonne theron but a smal.

34 | P a g e

Chaucer’s Life: A Timeline

Date Event1342 Birth of Geoffrey Chaucer.

1349 Chaucer’s mother, Agnes Copton, inherits 24 shops in London, making the family much wealthier.

1357 Chaucer becomes a page in Elizabeth de Burgh’s house, the Countess of Ulster.

1359 Chaucer serves in the war against France in Prince Lionel’s retinue.

March 1360

Chaucer is captured at the siege of the Reims and ransomed for 16 pounds.

October 1360

Peace negotiations are arranged, and Chaucer begins diplomatic service. For some years, Chaucer travels around Europe.

1366 Chaucer marries Philippa de Roet. May have studied law in the Inner Temple at this time. Chaucer’s father dies.

20th June 1367

Chaucer becomes a member of Edward III’s royal court as an esquire.

1367 Birth of Chaucer’s son, Thomas.Chaucer begins translating ‘Romaunt of the Rose’.

1368 Chaucer writes ‘The Book of the Duchess’ and ‘The ABC’.

1369 Chaucer again travels to France and serves in the army of his patron, John of Gaunt. Writes ‘A Complaint unto Pity’.

1370 Writes poetry in French. Travels to the continent again on the king’s service.

1372 Chaucer writes ‘Second Nun’s Talde’ and ‘Monk’s Tale’ that will be later be adapted and used as part of ‘The Canterbury Tales’. Chaucer goes on a diplomatic mission to Genoa.

1373 Writes ‘A Complaint to his Lady’.

1374 Chaucer becomes Controller of Customs in London Port. Granted a pitcher of wine a day for life by the king. John of Gaunt grants £10 annuity for life.

1375 Chaucer and Otho de Graunson receive artistic grants from John of Gaunt.

1378 Chaucer travels to Italy on a diplomatic mission.Richard II confirms previous annuity of £20 for life, and adds his own annuity of a further £20 annuity for life (bringing total yearly annuity to £50 for life). Writes ‘St. Celia’, and ‘Palaman and Arcite’ (later changed to ‘The Knight’s Tale’. Also writes ‘The Complaint of Mars’.

1379 Writes ‘The House of Fame’.

1380 Accused and acquitted of the rape of Cecily Champain.

35 | P a g e

Birth of Chaucer’s son Lewis. Chaucer writes ‘Parliament of Fowls’.

1381 Death of Chaucer’s mother, Agnes Copton.Chaucer writes ‘Boece’, ‘Troilus and Criseyde’ and ‘Anelida and Arcite’.

1385 Writes ‘Chaucer’s Wordes unto Adam, His Owne Scriveyn’.

1386 Becomes member of Parliament for Kent. Writes ‘The Legend of Good Women’ which will later be revised.

1387 Death of Philippa de Roet. Chaucer begins writing ‘The Canterbury Tales’.

1389 Appointed Clerk of the Works at Westminster.

1391 Chaucer retires from Clerkship and instead takes up a forestership.

1392 Chaucer finishes ‘Treatise of the Astrolabe’ and will add more later.More of the ‘Canterbury Tales’ are written including ‘The Marriage Group’.

1393 Chaucer awarded £10 by the king for services rendered. Writes ‘L’envoy de Chaucer a Scogan’ and ‘The Complaint of Venus’.

1394 Chaucer granted annuity of £20 for life by the king (bringing total annuity to £70 a year.)

1395 Chaucer’s son marries heiress Maud Burghersh Writes ‘Lak of Stedfastnesse’.

1396 An envoy to Bukton leads to Chaucer performing ‘The Wife of Bath’. Writes more of the ‘Canterbury Tales’ including ‘The Nun’s Priest’s Tale’. Writes ‘L’envoy de Chaucer a Bukton’.

1397 Chaucer granted 252 gallons of wine a year by the king.

1399 Henry IV confirms financial rights and privileges and adds his own £40 annuity (£110 per year). Gains a lease on a tenement in the garden of the Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey.

1400 Writes ‘The Complaint of Chaucer to his Purse’.

October 1400

Chaucer dies and is buried in Westminster Abbey. In the fifteenth century his remains are moved to Poets Corner, making him the first to be buried there.

Chaucer’s WorksMajor works 25 (

- Translation of Roman de la Rose, possibly extant as The Romaunt of the Rose [1367]

- The Book of the Duchess [1368]

- The ABC [1368]- The Complaint unto Pity [1369]

25 http://books.mirror.org/gb.chaucer.html, The Works of Chaucer, Globe Edition 1906

36 | P a g e

- A Complaint to His Lady [1373]

- The Complaint of Mars [1378]

- The House of Fame 1379]

- Parliament of Foules [1380]

- Troilus and Criseyde [1380-85]

- Anelida and Arcite [1381]

- Chaucer’s Wordes unto Adam, His Owne Scriveyn [1385]

- The Legend of Good Women [1386]

- The Canterbury Tales [1387-1400]

- Treatise on the Astrolabe [1391]

- L’envoy de Chaucer a Scogan [1393]

- The Complaint of Venus [1393]

- Lak of Stedfastnesse [1395]

- L’envoy de Chaucer a Bukton [1396]

Other Undated Works

o The Complaint of Chaucer to his Purse; suspected as being a part of ‘A Complaint to His Lady’

o The Former Age o Fortune o Translation of Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy as Boece o Gentilesse o Proverbs o To Rosemounde o Truth o Womanly Noblesse

Bibliography

(1) Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, Translated by Nevill Coghill, Penguin Classics

37 | P a g e

(2) Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, Translated by Nevill Coghill, Penguin Classics(3) The Study of Chaucer's Vocabulary, Walter S. Phelan, Page 61 of 61-70, JSTOR(4) Chaucer and the French Tradition, Charles Muscatine, 1970(5) The Works of Chaucer, Globe Edition 1906(6) Love visions: The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Parliament of

Fowls, The legend of Good Women. Translated with an introduction and notes by Brian Stone

(7) Collected Poems: Sylvia Plath. Edited with an introduction, Ted Hughes(8) http://www.jstor.org/stable/2909706?

&Search=yes&term=Rima&term=Terza&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DTerza%2BRima%26wc%3Don%26acc%3Don&item=3&ttl=1299&returnArticleService=showFullText

(9) Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Wordsworth Classics(10) Devils, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Wordsworth Classics(11) The Modern Language Review, Vol. 92, No. 4 (Oct., 1997), pp. 817-831(12) Methusen’s Study Aids: Note’s on Chaucer’s The Prologue to the

Canterbury Tales(13) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Photocopy translation(14) Programme from the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Adaptation of the

Canterbury Tales(15) http://www.uncg.edu/~htkirbys/meters.htm (16) http://english.edgewood.edu/chaucer-poems/cl_intro.htm (17) http://english.edgewood.edu/chaucer-poems/cl_text.htm (18) http://www.public.asu.edu/~aarios/formsofverse/reports2000/page4.html (19) http://www.public.asu.edu/~aarios/formsofverse/reports2000/page7.html (20) http://www.english.emory.edu/classes/Handbook/Spenserian.html (21) http://www.blank-verses.com/ (22) http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7026/is_2_99/ai_n28245637/ (23) http://www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/medieval/love.html (24) http://www.primary-film-focus.co.uk/narrative.html (25) http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5794(26) http://www.gradesaver.com/the-canterbury-tales/study-guide/section21/(27) http://www.gradesaver.com/the-canterbury-tales/study-guide/section1/(28) http://www.gradesaver.com/the-canterbury-tales/study-guide/section3/(29) http://www.jstor.org/pss/2871877 (30) Donne's "Parody" of the Petrarchan Lady, Silvia Ruffo-Fiore, Comparative

Literature Studies, Vol. 9, No. 4 (Dec., 1972), pp. 392-406 (31) The Aesthetic of the Petrarchan Sonnet, Norman C. Stageberg, The Journal

of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Dec., 1948), pp. 132-137 (32) The Romantic Imagination, C.M Bowra, 1961.

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