Synopses & Reviews
"The characters of Chaucer's pilgrims," said William Blake, "are the characters which compose all ages and nations." In The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer found an original way of combining characters and anecdotes to produce a portrait of a burgeoning medieval society. His characters, finely drawn representatives of the religious and secular institutions of their time, are also individuals whose appeal has survived the six centuries since their conception. The tales range from rich exotica to crude humor, form lives of saints to the demise of scoundrels. Throughout, we are conscious of Chaucer's irony, humanity, curiosity, and sheer enjoyment of life. In this new verse translation, the first in over thirty years, poet and writer David Wright has made The Canterbury Tales accessible to all, while preserving the wit and vivacity of Chaucer's Middle English classic.
Review
"David Wright's new verse translation of the poems from the Canterbury Tales is lively, readable...it should lead many delighted readers to Chaucer."--Manuscripta
"Indeed the best translation I have seen and will replace the version I had been using. The binding appears able to withstand constant use, and the price is fine for student budgets. This text, with Kane's biography and the Chaucer Glossary will make a fine course!"--The College of Staten Island, City University of New York
"With Wright's translation in print, there is no excuse for withholding Chaucer from any class offering an introduction to literature."--Anthony Ugolnik, Franklin and Marshall College
"I have found this translation to be the most thorough and easily read. I will recommend it to all my students as a companion to our main text."--Paul R. Lehman, University of Central Oklahoma
"I reviewed all the versions of Canterbury Tales in print and yours was by far the most lucid translation--real resonances of the original."--Dean Rader, SUNY, Binghamton
Synopsis
David Wright's new translation of The Canterbury Tales into modern verse--the first to appear in over thirty years--makes one of the greatest works of English literature accessible to all readers while preserving the wit and vivacity of Chaucer's original text.
Table of Contents
Wilde the writer
The journalist
'Of making many books'
The dramatist
The Bodley Head
Post-prison and posthumous works
The writer at work
Appendix: Wilde's books
Select Bibliography
Index