The Canterbury Tales
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Best translation?
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Thomas
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Jun 01, 2012 02:51PM

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You might be better off reading the original and sort of working out what it means. Get a Sparknotes thing or something.




Surely it is much preferable to follow the original text. Yet, modern translations could also be fun.


http://machias.edu/faculty/necastro/c...

(Original):
But, lord crist! whan that it remembreth me
Upon my yowthe, and on my jolitee,
It tikleth me aboute myn herte roote.
Unto this day it dooth myn herte boote
That I have had my world as in my tyme.
(Coghill):
But Christ! Whenever it comes back to me,
It fairly warms the cockles of my heart!
This very day I feel a pleasure start,
Yes, I can feel it tickling at the root.
Lord, how it does me good! I've had my fruit,
I've had my world and time, I've had my fling!
Alisoun's line, "it dooth myn herte boote / That I have had my world as in my tyme" is a glorious thanksgiving of being alive in your moment, thankful that you have been alive in your time and no other; it is woefully diminished by Coghill's "I've had my fruit, / I've had my world and time, I've had my fling!" Dreadful. :(

Agreed! Go with the original. Translations loose so much from the original.

As for the translation, I have to agree with Patrick, uh8myzen and Mark: go with the original. It's not so far from modern English that it's tough to read, and with Chaucer (as with Shakespeare) the use of language is half of the point.


http://machias.edu/faculty/necastro/c..."
Thank you for the link. I read The Canterbury Tales in translation, but I've got Troilus and Criseyde in the original as well as Piers Plowman, so it will be useful to have some help when I read them.
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