Today's posts

 

The poem this week is ‘The Step’.    This is a short poem and the situation it describes is also short, a decision taken in a moment.

 

Today we begin “Dorigen”.  This is loosely based on Chaucer’s “The Franklin’s Tale” from “The Canterbury Tales”. Chaucer’s source was a story which, like so many stories, came from the east. The rash promise of a lady to an unwanted lover in an unguarded moment has parallels in Sanskrit, Burmese and Persian traditions. 

Mine is a free adaptation with some changes from the original though whenever Chaucer’s rhymes were crying out to be kept, I have respected their wishes.

The Franklin, by the way, was a fairly well-off landowner and a man of some importance. He had held various public offices and had been the Member of Parliament for his district. He also loved the good things of life, enjoyed fine food and was generous in his hospitality.

Here is Part 1: ‘Dorigen and Roderick’.