Page 117 - DENG405_BRITISH_POETRY

British Poetry

Notes Italian story, however, combines elements of the romance (joyful ending, noble characters) with the
promise, the magic, and the testing which characterize a folktale. However, the tale is probably intended
to be considered an exemplum with its strong moral lesson and its perfect character, Griselda. The
hearer is to marvel at Griselda’s faithfulness but is never expected to imitate it; rather, he is at all costs
to avoid behaving as Walter did in applying cruel and irrational tests to the loyalty of those he loves.
The Merchant’s Tale is another example of fabliau with its deceiving, tricking, and making a fool of a
foolish man. The elements of the romance (i.e., the knight, the rituals, the gardens, the palace) are
inserted to add humor and contrast to the tale of an earthy young woman who determines to enjoy
her young lover and gets away with it. As with many of the tales, the material for this story is drawn
from many sources: Italian, German, and French literature, as well as English oral tradition. The
theme of blindness dominates this tale. January is too blind to see his foolishness in marrying such a
young woman. After the marriage, his love and his desire to be happy blind him to May’s infidelity.
His physical blindness reinforces the theme.

13.1 The Clerk’s Tale

13.1.1 Prologue to the Clerk’s Tale

The Host remarks that the Clerk of Oxford sits as coyly and quietly as a new-married bride, and tells
him to be more cheerful: “Telle us som myrie tale!” (“tell us a merry tale”). The Host continues to
argue that, when someone is entered into a game, they have to play by the rules of that game; and
adds that he doesn’t want a tale told in “heigh style”, but spoken “pleyn”.
The clerk replies kindly that the Host has the “governance” over the company (is “in charge” of the
company) and says that he will tell a tale which he learned from a worthy clerk, Francis Petrarch,
who is now dead and nailed into his coffin. He then praises the renowned Petrarch for his sweet
rhetoric and poetry; though warns the company, before he begins, that Petrarch wrote a poem in a
“high style” exalting the Italian landscape.

13.1.2 The Clerk’s Tale Text

(I) The tale begins with the description of Saluzzo, a region at the base of Mount Viso in Italy. There
was once a marquis of this region named Walter. He was wise, noble and honorable, but his mind
was always on seeking immediate pleasures–turning aside more worthy pastime, and even refusing
to marry.
The people of his realm confronted him about his steadfast refusal, pleading with him to take a
wife, so that his lineage could continue (and so that his son could continue his work in the event of
his death). They offer to choose for him the most noble woman in the realm for his wife. He agrees
to marry, but makes this one condition: he will marry whomever he chooses, regardless of birth,
and his wife shall be treated with the respect accorded to an emperor’s daughter, no matter her
origin.
He set the day on which he would be married; his people thanked him on their knees, and returned
home.
(II) Not far from the marquis’ honorable palace, among the poor people, lived a man named Janicula,
who had a daughter Griselde, who was exceedingly virtuous, courageous and charitable. While
hunting, the marquis caught sight of Griselde and, recognizing her virtue, immediately decided
that this exemplary woman should be his wife.
On the day of the wedding, Walter had not revealed to the public the woman he would marry, and
the populace wondered whether he might, in fact, not marry at all. Walter had, however, already

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