Analysis of The Merchant's Tale
Geoffrey Chaucer 1343 (London) – 1400 (London)
'Weeping and wailing, care and other sorrow,
I have enough, on even and on morrow,'
Quoth the Merchant, 'and so have other mo',
That wedded be; I trow* that it be so; *believe
For well I wot it fareth so by me.
I have a wife, the worste that may be,
For though the fiend to her y-coupled were,
She would him overmatch, I dare well swear.
Why should I you rehearse in special
Her high malice? she is *a shrew at all.* *thoroughly, in
There is a long and large difference everything wicked*
Betwixt Griselda's greate patience,
And of my wife the passing cruelty.
Were I unbounden, all so may I the,* *thrive
I woulde never eft* come in the snare. *again
We wedded men live in sorrow and care;
Assay it whoso will, and he shall find
That I say sooth, by Saint Thomas of Ind,
As for the more part; I say not all, -
God shielde* that it shoulde so befall. *forbid
Ah! good Sir Host, I have y-wedded be
These moneths two, and more not, pardie;
And yet I trow* that he that all his life *believe
Wifeless hath been, though that men would him rive* *wound
Into the hearte, could in no mannere
Telle so much sorrow, as I you here
Could tellen of my wife's cursedness.'* *wickedness
'Now,' quoth our Host, 'Merchant, so God you bless,
Since ye so muche knowen of that art,
Full heartily I pray you tell us part.'
'Gladly,' quoth he; 'but of mine owen sore,
For sorry heart, I telle may no more.'
Whilom there was dwelling in Lombardy
A worthy knight, that born was at Pavie,
In which he liv'd in great prosperity;
And forty years a wifeless man was he,
And follow'd aye his bodily delight
On women, where as was his appetite,
As do these fooles that be seculeres.
And, when that he was passed sixty years,
Were it for holiness, or for dotage,
I cannot say, but such a great corage* *inclination
Hadde this knight to be a wedded man,
That day and night he did all that he can
To espy where that he might wedded be;
Praying our Lord to grante him, that he
Mighte once knowen of that blissful life
That is betwixt a husband and his wife,
And for to live under that holy bond
With which God firste man and woman bond.
'None other life,' said he, 'is worth a bean;
For wedlock is so easy, and so clean,
That in this world it is a paradise.'
Thus said this olde knight, that was so wise.
And certainly, as sooth* as God is king, *true
To take a wife it is a glorious thing,
And namely* when a man is old and hoar, *especially
Then is a wife the fruit of his treasor;
Then should he take a young wife and a fair,
On which he might engender him an heir,
And lead his life in joy and in solace;* *mirth, delight
Whereas these bachelors singen 'Alas!'
When that they find any adversity
In love, which is but childish vanity.
And truely it sits* well to be so, *becomes, befits
That bachelors have often pain and woe:
On brittle ground they build, and brittleness
They finde when they *weene sickerness:* *think that there
They live but as a bird or as a beast, is security*
In liberty, and under no arrest;* *check, control
Whereas a wedded man in his estate
Liveth a life blissful and ordinate,
Under the yoke of marriage y-bound;
Well may his heart in joy and bliss abound.
For who can be so buxom* as a wife? *obedient
Who is so true, and eke so attentive
To keep* him, sick and whole, as is his make?** *care for **mate
For weal or woe she will him not forsake:
She is not weary him to love and serve,
Though that he lie bedrid until he sterve.* *die
And yet some clerkes say it is not so;
Of which he, Theophrast, is one of tho:* *those
*What force* though Theophrast list for to lie? *what matter*
'Take no wife,' quoth he, 'for husbandry,* *thrift
As for to spare in household thy dispence;
A true servant doth more diligence
Thy good to keep, than doth thine owen wife,
For she will claim a half part all her life.
And if that thou be sick, so God me save,
Thy very friendes, or a true knave,* *servant
Will keep thee bet than she, that *waiteth aye *ahways waits to
After thy good,* and hath done many a day.' inherit your property*
This sentenc
Scheme | AAABCCDEXXFGCXXEXFXXCFBHAXX XIIJJ FBCCKKGXXXLLCCMMNNOOXXPQCAEEKXCCXAGECXRFHHSXRXXXAXD XGGMMXSPCQ |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10010101010 11011100110 1010011101 110111111101 111111111 110101111 1101101100 111011111 111101010 01101101111000 1101011001010 011110 011101010 011111101 11101100101 1101101001 101110111 1111111011 110111111 1111110101 1111111101 1110111 011111111101 1111111111 01011011 111101111 111111100 11101101111 11111111 1100111111 1011111101 110111111 1111001 010111111 0111010100 010101111 0101110001 110111110 1111111 011111101 011100111 110111011010 111110101 1101111111 1101111101 1010111111 11111101 1101010011 0111101101 111110101 1101111101 111110011 101111010 111111111 01001111111 11011101001 0101011101010 110101111 1111011001 1111010111 0111010010101 01110101 1111100100 0111110100 011111110101 110110101 11011101 111111111 111101110110100 0100010101101 0101010101 1011001 100111011 1111010101 11111101010100 1111011010 1111011111111 1111111101 1111011101 1111101111 011111111 111111111 11111111110 1111111001 11110111 011011100 1111111101 1111011101 0111111111 1101101110 111111111111 101101110010101100 11 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 4,406 |
Words | 797 |
Sentences | 26 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 27, 5, 51, 10 |
Lines Amount | 93 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 12 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 762 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 284 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 20, 2023
- 3:57 min read
- 106 Views
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"The Merchant's Tale" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/14659/the-merchant%27s-tale>.
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