The Portable Chaucer

by Geoffrey Chaucer, Theodore Morrison (Editor)

Both The Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Cressida are presented complete in this anthology, in fresh modern translations by Theodore Morrison that convey both the gravity and gaiety of the Middle English originals. The Portable Chaucer also contains selections from The Book of Duchess, The House of Fame, The Bird's Parliament, and The Legend of Good Women, together with short poems. Morrison's introduction is vital for its insights into Chaucer as man and artist, and as a product of the Middle Ages whose shrewdness, humor, and compassion have a wonderfully contemporary ring.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Fiction, Literature, Medieval, Geoffrey Chaucer

611 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1949

About the author

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for The Canterbury Tales. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He was the first writer to be buried in what has since come to be called Poets' Corner, in Westminster Abbey. Chaucer also gained fame as a philosopher and astronomer, composing the scientific A Treatise on the Astrolabe for his 10-year-old son, Lewis. He maintained a career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier, diplomat, and member of parliament.
Among Chaucer's many other works are The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Legend of Good Women, and Troilus and Criseyde. He is seen as crucial in legitimising the literary use of Middle English when the dominant literary languages in England were still Anglo-Norman French and Latin. Chaucer's contemporary Thomas Hoccleve hailed him as "the firste fyndere of our fair langage" (i.e., the first one capable of finding poetic matter in English). Almost two thousand English words are first attested to in Chaucerian manuscripts. As scholar Bruce Holsinger has argued, charting Chaucer's life and work comes with many challenges related to the "difficult disjunction between the written record of his public and private life and the literary corpus he left behind". His recorded works and his life show many personas that are "ironic, mysterious, elusive [or] cagey" in nature, ever-changing with new discoveries.

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not going to sit here and claim that I am even remotely worthy of reviewing Chaucer. I’ll simply say that I enjoyed The Canterbury Tales a bit more than Troillus and Cressida, and that I’m sorry I waited this long to read these works.

[Gabriela Teixeira · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a bit hard to review, because it contains 3 parts, that are very different from each other.
The first part is the Canterbury Tales, which are very nice. The tales are funny and witty, they have a good rhythm and rhymes. I enjoyed that part a lot, and even regretted a bit having waited so long to read them (I have this book for over 10 years on sitting on my shelf.
Then the second part is Troillus and Cressida, which I must admit I forced myself to finish. I wasn't able to relate to any of the characters, Troillus is very annoying, Pandarus is a pimp, even if he claims not to, and the rhyme and rhythm are not there.
The last and smaller part is a collection of short poems or parts of other stories. This part was also very enjoyable, with some poems that are very current, and again Chaucer shows us his funny and witty rhymes.

[Emily D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

For writing in the 1300's, Chaucer's tales are very interesting and funny even today. A few years ago or so I read The Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English and that was a challenge, but also fun once I got a ways into it. I had wanted to re-read his tales in modern English to more fully enjoy the stories, so this "portable Chaucer" was a good choice. I liked Troilus and Cressida in here too, as well as the smaller poems included.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

For I am culturally deprived.
Chaucer's lot, I have but ne'er before espied
I never bothered because, well,'tis said "it is old hat".
What is old hat comes round again. And that is that.
Nothing really is quite new under the sun.
But now this task has just begun
This poet of yore, I yet ignore?
There is an interest, and he's no more the bore.
Perchance to read, perchance to befriend-
More to say when we get to the end.
And so we have, endured to book
This note on Chaucer of which I betook
The edition is but somewhat truncated
You'd hope fuller but had been authenticated.
Onward I trudge with heavy heart
This most earthy poet with whom I should now part
Has led me to see indeed possessed
Liveliness and wisdom, both expressed.
And so we go, to find again
A worthy edition of this tale but told more plain.

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't have anything new to say about Chaucer, but I'm gonna write about it anyway.

First, a lot depends on the translation and the opinions of the translator. This guy, Theodore Morrison, has a clear point of view on Chaucer and what makes him great and therefore what to prioritize. He likes Chaucer's earthiness (farts and wenching and "real" people living their lives) and he says that Chaucer was not a social critic (but what about the church corruption stuff? Or the implicit suggestion in the Wife of Bath's tale that women have it rough?). So his translation is going to make sure to include that. He likes Chaucer's use of language and has some clear ideas about when/where his best stuff occurs, so he'll write things like, "The rest of this story isn't as well-plotted or well-rhymed, so we're skipping ahead to the next thing." So he gives some stories complete, some fragments that he acknowledges are fragments, and then some excerpts that he chooses to edit down. I'll have to take his word on Chaucer's rhymes and rhythms--the translators says he can't capture everything with a translation. Of course this is true, but this also sounds like an expert going, "I know this so well and I wish you knew it as well because then we'd agree how great Chaucer is." So he SAYS Chaucer is great, but the translation has to skip over things. It's a performance of expertise that results in praise for Chaucer but requires the reader to trust the author on the basis of his (and Chaucer's) reputation. So my point is: reading the intro and the translator's prefaces was fascinating if not illuminating.

I think the structure of The Canterbury Tales is great: lots of room to have different characters interact, tell stories, with an overarching theme of pilgrimage. As for the stories themselves. Meh. I think what comes through is the sense of propriety and morality--the assumptions of how people should behave--alongside the reality of people doing more what they want. And a mishmash of historical and literary allusions around the edges.

I had never read a version of Troilus and Cressida. It sucks. Poor Cressida. Troilus and her uncle WILL NOT LEAVE HER ALONE. Chaucer basically calls the uncle a pimp, even though the uncle is like, "Nah, man, I'm NOT a pimp because I LOVE you [Troilus, not so much Cressida]." So they cajole her into accepting his friendship, then spending time together, then sleeping in the same room, all with deceptions and emotional blackmail along the way ("I'm going to die if you don't love me!"). THEN she gets ransomed to the Greeks and immediately falls for Diomedes, who ALSO will not leave her alone and uses deception and constant pressure to get her to submit. Chaucer spends NO time on that conversion--she just submits. So I think there's a reading here in which Chaucer is saying "LEAVE WOMEN ALONE! If you pressure them one way and the other, you can't be surprised when they fall prey to other pressurers." He seems to feel bad for her, but mostly it's Troilus whose suffering we hear about. Giant sigh of meh.

[Starre 🇵🇸 🍉]

end of the quarter and I wrote at least 3 papers on this book but I still have no idea what happened 🤪🤪

[J.E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is difficult to write this review
because I have found two sides to my view:

1. Chaucer's poetry-Because of the constant rhythm and rhyme, I found "Canterbury Tales" had far more in it than was necessary, and much seemed to have no point other than to keep the rhyme scheme working properly. However, some of the other works in this collection I really enjoyed.

2. The collection itself-Morrison did something with this collection that I really enjoyed. There are notes before, inside, and after many poems that explain more of what brought chaucer to write them, what he did not finish, and what he had hoped to do with them. I probably would have given the collection three stars if not for this. Definitely a great book for those who read poetry for more than just enjoying the simple sound and imagery of the writing.

[Julia Waters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Upon reading this I was not surprised to discover its rapey elements. What I was surprised about is the scarce scholarship on this point...and that what I did find was astoundingly dismissive and flippant. I am by no means a Chaucerian scholar, but as a human and a woman I was turned off not by the work itself, but by the long history of Chaucerian scholars excusing both Chaucer himself and the culture of rape in medieval Europe.

This is not to say that we need to hold medieval people to today’s standards, but that scholars ignoring the world of implications here, and the many blatant (and intellectually flaccid) attempts to minimize the instances of rape were frustrating enough for me that it has changed my view of Chaucer forever. If anyone knows of thoughtful examinations of rape in Chaucer’s life and works please make me aware.

[Rock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. It was a very smart move to put "The Canterbury Tales" before "Troilus and Cressida", and I didn't mind at all the translator's abridgements. Definitely worth reading. I got this book for twenty cents at a thrift store and couldn't be happier.

The low points are simple: there are abridgements, so a "complete" Canterbury Tales is missing, and Troilus and Cressida has been condensed for space and interest. So some readers may feel like they are missing out on a complete work.

I'm not an expert on Chaucer and poetry is rarely my first choice, but this book is definitely both readable and enjoyable throughout.

[Kevin Kizer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty thorough overview of Chaucer. I had heard the Canterbury Tales was "bawdy" but didn't realize how, um, free the characters are -- lots of sex, some group action and a lot of anti-religious sentiment. "Troilus and Cressida" was incredibly boring and the translator's notes admit as much. But there are lots of "gems" throughout the book and Chaucer perfectly crystalized why I read (aside from being a writer):
"My reading, as I hope, may sometime light/On something that will profit me at need,/And so, year in, year out, I still shall read." Word up.

[Alicia]

Didn't finish, but got 1/3 through. I may pick it up again after I'm less tired of seeing it laying around my house, but that may take a while... Clever insights into human nature, and entertaining descriptions, but the rhyming? Sigh. Not my cup of tea.

[Matt]

It's considered a classic...might as well have been written by Henry Miller for a dollar a word.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this in a college lit class and enjoyed it.

[BK Blue]

I just bought this at the local Goodwill store. The copy I have is from 1975, so it is older than I am. It has notes from previous owners in it. This is awesome.