Many a servant you have put out of grace. In 1378, Richard II sent Chaucer as an envoy (secret dispatch) to the Visconti and to Sir John Hawkwood, English condottiere (mercenary leader) in Milan. Their beauty shakes me who was once serene; Copyrighted poems are the property of the copyright holders. In the City Hustings Roll 110, 5, Ric II, dated June 1380, Geoffrey Chaucer refers to himself as me Galfridum Chaucer, filium Johannis Chaucer, Vinetarii, Londonie' . He became a member of the royal court of Edward III as a varlet de chambre, yeoman, or esquire on 20 June 1367, a position which could entail a wide variety of tasks. Life Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London sometime around 1343, though the precise date and location of his birth remain unknown. This reference was later edited out of Gower's Confessio Amantis and it has been suggested by some that this was because of ill feeling between them, but it is likely due simply to stylistic concerns. No major works were begun during his tenure, but he did conduct repairs on Westminster Palace, St. George's Chapel, Windsor, continue building the wharf at the Tower of London, and build the stands for a tournament held in 1390. Truth is put down: reason is held a fable; That all is lose for lack of steadfastness. Works Chaucer's first major work, The Book of the Duchess, was an elegy for Blanche of Lancaster (who died in 1369). Seventeenth and eighteenth century writers, such as John Dryden, admired Chaucer for his stories, but not for his rhythm and rhyme, as few critics could then read Middle English and the text had been butchered by printers, leaving a somewhat unadmirable mess. The famous Plowman's Tale did not enter Thynne's Works until the second, 1542, edition. So greet beautee, that no man may atteyne. He was granted an annual pension of twenty pounds by Richard II in 1394. Modern English is somewhat distanced from the language of Chaucer's poems owing to the effect of the Great Vowel Shift some time after his death. GEOFFREY CHAUCER The Canterbury Tales and Other Poems MISCELLANEOUS POEMS A GOODLY BALLAD OF CHAUCER 1> MOTHER of nurture, best belov'd of … Your two great eyes will slay me suddenly; And that, all his works almost, if they be thoroughly advised, will testify (albeit done in mirth, and covertly); and especially the latter end of his third book of the Testament of Love ... Wherein, except a man be altogether blind, he may espy him at the full: although in the same book (as in all others he useth to do), under shadows covertly, as under a visor, he suborneth truth in such sort, as both privily she may profit the godly-minded, and yet not be espied of the crafty adversary. His Parlement of Foules, The Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde all date from this time. Pitee, that me ne availeth not to pleyne; For Daunger halt your mercy in his cheyne. It is also the first edition to offer descriptions of the manuscripts of Chaucer's works, and the first to print texts of 'Gamelyn' and 'The Tale of Beryn', works ascribed to, but not by, Chaucer." （The British poets : including translations, 5-6） Press of C. Whittingham, 1822 Chaucer vol.5, Spenser vol. Only your word will heal the injury And therefore the bishops, belike, taking his works but for jests and toys, in condemning other books, yet permitted his books to be read." Speght's "Life of Chaucer" echoes Foxe's own account, which is itself dependent upon the earlier editions that added the Testament of Love and The Plowman's Tale to their pages. John Chaucer married Agnes Copton, who, in 1349, inherited properties including 24 shops in London from her uncle, Hamo de Copton, who is described in a will dated April 3, 1354 and listed in the City Hustings Roll as "moneyer"; he was said to be moneyer at the Tower of London. 1396) became the third wife of John of Gaunt. You cannot love a half-year in one place. A likely source dictates it was probably a 'redaction of Guillaume de Machaut's 'Dit dou lyon,' a story about courtly love, a subject about which Chaucer frequently wrote.