Analysis of Truth

Geoffrey Chaucer 1343 (London) – 1400 (London)



Fle fro the pres, and dwelle with sothefastnesse,
Suffise thin owen thing, thei it be smal;
For hord hath hate, and clymbyng tykelnesse,
Prees hath envye, and wele blent overal.
Savour no more thanne the byhove schal;
Reule weel thiself, that other folk canst reede;
And trouthe schal delyvere, it is no drede.

Tempest the nought al croked to redresse,
In trust of hire that tourneth as a bal.
Myche wele stant in litel besynesse;
Bywar therfore to spurne ayeyns an al;
Stryve not as doth the crokke with the wal.
Daunte thiself, that dauntest otheres dede;
And trouthe shal delyvere, it is no drede.

That the is sent, receyve in buxumnesse;
The wrestlyng for the worlde axeth a fal.
Here is non home, here nys but wyldernesse.
Forth, pylgryme, forth! forth, beste, out of thi stal!
Know thi contré! loke up! thonk God of al!
Hold the heye weye, and lat thi gost the lede;
And trouthe shal delyvere, it is no drede.

[L'envoy.]
Therfore, thou Vache, leve thine olde wrechednesse;
Unto the world leve now to be thral.
Crie hym mercy, that of hys hie godnesse
Made the of nought, and in espec{.i}al
Draw unto hym, and pray in general
For the, and eke for other, hevenelyche mede;
And trouthe schal delyvere, it is no drede.


Scheme ababbcC ababbcC ababbcC xababbcC
Poetic Form
Metre 11010111 111011111 1111011 1110111 1111011 111110111 01111111 10011111 0111011101 111011 1111111 111101101 111111 01111111 1011101 01101101 11111111 111111111 111111111 1011011101 01111111 110 1111111 100111111 111011111 101100111 1101010100 100111011 01111111
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,202
Words 222
Sentences 18
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 7, 7, 7, 8
Lines Amount 29
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 236
Words per stanza (avg) 55
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

1:06 min read
293

Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer, known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey. more…

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