An Invite from Geoffrey
30 March 2007 - 12 ניסן 5767 by Huw
Mr Chaucer invites us to remember that Sunday is that day when April with its sweet showers shall pierce the drought of March to the root. In celebration whereof, he most humbly adds:
Ich am nat oon to tooten myne owen horne, but this week-ende ich wolde asken yow to declaymen my tales. To yowrselves, to yowr frendes, or simplye in the marketplace or churchyarde. For charitees sake, ye coulde declaymen them to beggares, leperes, or humorlesse rogues who studien engineerynge. Wherever ye proclaymen them thogh, do yt so in loude voyse and cleere, for yt is only fooles who think a poeme lith on the page aloone.
Yf thou knowst nat this maner of Englyssh, be nat ashamed. Yf thou kanst reden thys blogge, thou kanst reden myn Englisshe. Talke to yt slowlie, as if it were an olde relative whom thou lovest verie muche, and yt shal talke back to thee.
What’s more: we’ve an open invitation to share his works on the internet and to let him know:
I, Galfridus Chaucer, do invite all my rederes to poost yower contribuciouns as comments to this poost - ye maye make videoes for ye-tube of redynges of myn werkes or of adaptaciouns, ye maye poost linkes to mp3s, or to events, or to peyntures or animaciouns or what-evir ye wolde present to the othir rederes of myn blog to celebrate this joyous moneth.
This weekend always brings back fond memories of learning the Canterbury Tales - memorising the first 18 lines - in the Fall Semester of my Freshman Year at The Kings College (1982) in June Steffensen Hagen’s English Lit 101 class. Dr Hagen was also very helpful and pastoral in other, personal matters. In that vein, yer host shall endeavour to produce a video for YeTube.
(A timely confession: I think there’s something funny about Palm Sunday happening on April Fools day… think about it. “Hosanna!” Pause. “April Fools!”)
