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Three Periods in Chaucer’s poetic Career

Chaucer’s poetic career is divided into three parts

1. The French Period.

2. The Italian Period.(1372- 1384)

3. The English Period (1384-1390) 

The French Period

Chaucer was influenced by French poetry. He composed a lot of love poems in his youth. It is supposed that ABC a prayer to the Virgin is the first of his extant poems. Roman de la Rose, the famous French work , from this work he translated some portion. He learnt following things from French poetry:

I – fluent simplicity,

II- complete correspondence of words and thought

III- Constant restraint in the expression of emotion and satire.

The Book of Duchessee , john of Gaunt’s wife an allegory , he wrote this in 1369 .

The Italian Period

He used variety and new technical innovations in this age, visited Italy . he read Dante’s Divine Comedia, petrarch’s Sonnets and Boccaccio’s Decameron.  He saw dawn of renaissance and it influenced him to the great extent. In this period he wrote these works:

1- The House of Fame – a dream allegory, influenced by Dante, Diction- lofty thought and homely language,

2- the Parliament of Fowls, Troylus and Cryseyde - 

3- the legend of Good woman -  1385, unfinished, planned for 19 tales.

4- Troylus and Cryseyde-  founded on Boccaccio’s filostrato.

The English Period

Some Poems along with his monumental work “ Canterbury Tales”

Poems

1- Former Age

2- Fortune

3- Truth

4- Gentilesse

5- Lak of Stedfastnesse

His master piece

Canterbury Tales

( check out other posts for details about Canterbury Tales.)

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