Page 167 - DENG405_BRITISH_POETRY

British Poetry

Notes There are a number of conditions to penitence, including the intensity of the sin committed, the
haste to contrition and the number of times the sin was committed. The fruit of this penitence is
goodness and redemption in Christ. Following this short return to the subjects of penitence (and
satisfaction), the final lines seem to suggest, by way of images of the sun and the morning, a vision
of Paradise: bodies which were foul and dark become brighter than the sun, the body, formerly sick
and feeble, becomes immortal and whole, and in a place where no-one feels hunger, thirst or cold,
but is replenished by the perfect knowledge of God. This paradise, the final lines of the tale conclude,
is only attainable through spiritual poverty and by avoiding sin.
Retraction: “Heere taketh the makere of this book his leve”
The narrator, speaking in the first person, prays to everyone that reads this “litel tretys” (little treatise
– probably the Parson’s tale) that, if they like anything they read in it, they thank Jesus Christ.
If they find anything that displeases them, moreover, they are to put it down to the narrator’s
ignorance, and not to his will–he would have written better, if only he had the cunning.

At what stage of the journey is the parson’s tale presented?
The narrator then asks the reader to pray for him that Christ has mercy on his sins and forgives him
in his trespasses, and particularly of his translations of worldly vanities: the book of Troilus, the
book of Fame, the book of the twenty-five ladies, the book of the Duchess, the book of the Parliament
of Birds, and the tales of Canterbury–those that “sownen into synne” (tend toward sin).
However, the narrator thanks Christ for his translation of the Boece and other books of saint’s legends
and homilies, hoping that Christ will grant him grace of penitence, confession and satisfaction,
through the benign grace of the King of Kings, so that he may be “oon of hem at the day of doom
that shulle be saved” (one of them at the day of doom who shall be saved).

The book ends with a short Latin prayer and Amen, before announcing that the
book “of the tales of Caunterbury, compiled by Geffrey Chaucer” has ended,
adding “of whos soule Jhesu Crist have mercy”.

Analysis
One of the biggest questions about the Tales as a whole is precisely how they end. Throughout his
works, and even within the Tales (look, for example, at the interruptions of Sir Thopas and the
Monk’s tales) Chaucer proves that he knows how to create a false ending, a trick ending, which
ends by not ending, by not concluding. The Canterbury Tales ends on a decidedly pious and religious
note, first with the Parson’s lengthy sermon, and then with a retraction written as “Chaucer”.
The Parson’s sermon, a translation from a medieval work designed to advise clergy in the salvation
of souls, would be a plausible medieval sermon–there seems nothing in it that is ironic: it is a perfect
example of its genre.

Self Assessment

Short Answer Type Questions:
8. What kind of story were the Host and the pilgrims expecting from the Parson?
9. Why does the Parson refuse to tell a fable?
10. In what genre is the Parson’s tale written?

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