Geoffrey Chaucer, Father Of English Poetry

Chaucer is rightly regarded as the father of English Poetry. He may also be described as the first modern writer in english. He made a considerable contribution to the development of various poetic forms. The Canterbury Tales, in particular the general prologue is valuable. Chaucer is also a great storyteller as well as a prominent humorist. Chaucer takes the material for his poems wherever he can find it. He borrows profusely from latin French and Italian literature. But whatever he borrows, he makes entirely his own.His originality consists in giving an old story some present human interest making it express the life and ideals of his own age. The knight's tale is noteworthy. its name belongs to an ancient civilisation but its characters are the men and women of the English nobility as Chaucer knew them. this is perhaps his finest work as a narrative poet. it is heroic in subject, chivalrous in sentiment, and romantic in tone. Nominally, it is a tale of the heroic age of Greece, but everything in it is medievalised. It may be regarded as an idealised picture of the middle Ages. its account of the tournament, its presentation of the principle of knightly ethics, and its vivid portrayal of the chivalrous conception of love give it a distinctly medieval flavour.

It was mainly Chaucer with whom the English language and English literature grew at a Bound to full maturity. No other middle English writer has his skill, his range, his complexity, his large human Outlook. unfortunately, the english language was still in the process of rapid change, and the major shifts in pronunciation and accentuation were to occur in the following century and a half. this meant that Chaucer’s achievement in establishing English as a fully developed language could not be adequately lighted by his immediate successor. it was not long before readers were unable to scan him properly. This fact helps to emphasis Chaucher’s loneliness. His followers lack both his technical brilliance and his breadth of vision , leaving him the only undisputed master in medieval English literature.