Name: ______________________________
Mrs. Petrunak
12CP English
Period: ____ Date: _______________
For this activity, you will memorize the first 12 lines of The Canterbury Tales in Middle English.
Throughout our study of the medieval period, you will randomly be called upon to recite these lines in the
front of the class. You will be assessed on the accuracy of your speech/pronunciation, and you will be
graded on a pass/fail basis. Therefore, as you listen to the recording, make phonetic notes for yourself. Be
ready! For 5 bonus points, memorize the first 18 lines. (20 points)
Here bygynneth the Book of the Tales of Caunterbury:
1. Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
When fair April with his showers sweet,
2. The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
Has pierced the drought of March to the root
3. And bathed every veyne in swich licour
And bathed each vein in such liquid,
4. Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
The strength of which creates the flower;
5. Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
When the West Wind, with his sweet breath,
6. Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
Has breathed life into every copse and heath,
7. The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Into each tender shoot, and the young sun
8. Hath in the Ram his half cours yronne,
Has moved halfway through the house of Aries,
9. And smale foweles maken melodye,
And small birds sing their songs,
10. That slepen al the nyght with open ye
Those birds who sleep all night with open eye
11. (So priketh hem Nature in hir corages),
(For nature stirs up their spirits),
12. Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,
Then folk long to go on pilgrimages,
13. And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,
And “professional” pilgrims to seek strange strands,
14. To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
And distant shrines, famous in foreign lands,
15. And specially from every shires ende
And specially from every shire's end
16. Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende,
Of England to Canterbury they went,
17. The hooly blisful martir for to seke,
The holy blessed martyr there to seek,
18. That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.
Who watched over them when they were sick.
For help with pronunciation, click “Listen to the Medieval Version” at the following website (you will need Windows
Media Player to listen): http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/medieval/chaucer/generalcanter.htm
The Middle English text is from Larry D. Benson., Gen. ed., The Riverside Chaucer,
Houghton Mifflin Company
Name: ______________________________
Mrs. Petrunak
12CP English
Period: ____ Date: _______________
The Canterbury Tales’ General Prologue: Pronunciation Help
Whan that Aprille with his shoores soote
Wan thot A'prill with his sure-es so-tuh
The drought of March hath perced to the roote
The drewgt of March hath pear-said to the row-tuh
And bathed every vein in swich liquor
And ba-thed every vane in sweech lee-coor
Of which vertu engendred is the flour
of wheech ver-too en-jen-dred is the flu-er
When Zephyrus eek with his sweete breeth
When Zeph-er-us ache with his sway-tuh breath
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
In-spear-ed hath in every holt and heth
The tendre croppes and the yonge sun
The tawn-dray crop-pays and the young-gay soan
Hath in the ram his halve cours yronne
Hath in the rahm his hall-vey coors e-rown
And smale fowles maken melodye
And smal-ay foe-lays mock-en mel-oh-dee-uh
That slepen all the night with open eye
That slep-en all the neekdt with open ee-ah
So priketh hem nature in hir courages
So prick-eth him nah-tour in hear core-ahj-ez
Thanne longen folke to goon pilgrimages
Thah-nay lon-gen folk to goen-on pilgrim-ahj-ez
And palmeres for to seeken stronge straundes
And palm-ers for to sake-en stroan-jay stroan-days
To ferne halwes couth in sondry londes
To fair-nay hallways kouth in soan-dray loan-days
And specially from every shires ende
And specially from every shear-ez end-uh
Of Engelond to Canterbury they wende
Of Eng-gal-ond to Khan-ter-bury they wend-uh
The hooly blissful martyr for to seeke
The holy blissful martyr for to sake-uh
That hem hath holpen whan that they were sike
That hem hath holp-en whan that they were seek-uh