2 live poems · Middle English
Geoffrey Chaucer, born about 1343 in London and dead on 25 October 1400, stands at the beginning of the English literary tradition not because he was the first poet to write in English, but because he revealed on an unprecedented scale what English could do. In his poems, the language accommodates courtly elegance, religious meditation, philosophical argument, vulgar comedy, domestic quarrel, public satire, and intim…
“Now wol I preie mekely every discret persone that redith or herith this litel tretys, to have my rude enditing for excused.”
Neighbourhood:
Ancient & Classical Poets, Light Verse Poets, Love Poets, Medieval Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Sensuality, Wonder
Francesco Petrarca, known in English as Petrarch, was born on 20 July 1304 in Arezzo, Tuscany, and died during the night of 18–19 July 1374 at Arquà, near Padua. He stands among the decisive makers of European literary culture: a poet whose Italian lyrics established an enduring language of desire; a Latin author who sought to restore the prestige and moral seriousness of classical letters; a tireless correspondent a…
“The greater part of our troubles are imaginary, and we suffer more in apprehension than in reality.”
Neighbourhood:
Italian Renaissance Poets, Love Poets, Medieval Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Tenderness, Sensuality
