Happy Hallowe’en, or How did I miss this?

Let this be a lesson to us all (especially me)—this is what happens when you don’t blog for a month or more & people stop checking. I missed “Chaucer”’s enthusiastic post on the Middle English version of Twilight, or rather Vespers:

Sure, the prose kynd of maketh Dives et Pauper look lyk George Orwelle, but the storie pulleth me yn….

In this fyne book of sparklie vampyres, Bella Cygne moveth from Essex to Yorkshyre to lyve with her fathir, who ys a sheriff and escheator. At a scole ful of recentlie coyned stereotypes, she witnesseth the fayre skyn and fashion-sprede slow-mocioun hotenesse of the Cu Chulainn clan, the which have all eaten long ago of the magical Irisshe Salmon of Really Good Hair (oon byte of this magical salmon and ye shal have good hair for evir). Aftir Bella doth see the hottest of the clan, Edward, stop a wagon wyth hys bare handes, fight off twentie churles, and brood so much he did make Angel look lyk Mister Rogeres, she doth realise that the Cu Chulainns are vampyres. But they are good vampyres, who drinke wyne. Ther is considerablie moore sexual tensioun than in Piers Plowman.

We are amused. Also amusing: Castle’s many Whedon-allusions in the Hallowe’en episode. (For some reason WP is not allowing me to embed video today.)

My resolution for November: to post more frequently. Much more frequently. You’ll see.

Chaucer returns, sort of

Just in time for the annual medieval studies conference in Kalamazoo, MI, “Geoffrey Chaucer” returns to post in Middle English at Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog. This entertaining and educational blogspot was apparently overtaken by “rebels” last September, who notified readers that “Chaucer” had gone to Las Vegas, and then nothing further was posted.

Sure, the archives were filled with uproarious posts worthy of the master himself, such as the review of that 14th century dramatic masterpiece, Serpentes on a Shippe and—now it can be told!—Chaucer’s original plan for a poem about Canterbury. Oh, that old thing! But after nearly nine months without a new post, I was just about to move it from the “blogroll” to the “links” section today, only to discover new posts yesterday and today.

Today’s post is full of praise for BABEL, a group of scholars who like to write a lot. This makes me wonder whether some of them are involved now. Well, if it improves the frequency and interest of GCHaB, more power to them. Just one question—where was “Chaucer” all spring when I was teaching his poetry and both I and my students could have used the amusement?

Obligatory Shakespeare’s birthday post

Thanks to my excellent sister, the Cordelia of younger sisters, for sending me the link to CNN’s story on Talk Like Shakespeare Day. As they point out:

It isn’t as difficult as it sounds. After all, Shakespeare single-handedly contributed more than 1,700 words and phrases to the English language — everything from “foul play” to “monumental” to, of course, “all’s well that ends well.”

If you want to really get revenge while sounding learned rather than crude, the Shakespeare insult generator is lots of fun, too.

Some scholars (Mersand, Cannon) have argued that Chaucer contributed over 1100 words to English. And he had to bring them in from French and Italian. Just saying.

My English teachers–George Kane (continuing series)

Recently I learned that one of my grad. school professors, George Kane, died on December 27; his funeral was held today in England. He was probably  best-known as editor/co-editor (with E. Talbot Donaldson and George Russell) of William Langland’s monumental 14th c. allegorical poem of social and spiritual commentary, The Vision of Piers Plowman, as well as a great scholar of Middle English literature in general, including Chaucer. I had the privilege and challenge of taking three courses with him while I was working on my PhD—Middle English, Chaucer, and a seminar on Piers.  He not only led us into deeper understanding and appreciation of  the authors and literary texts we studied, but also insisted that we all learn to pronounce Middle English and read it aloud, as well as comprehend and analyze the material intelligently. Those who were in his classes during his last years of teaching still joke with a mix of pride and fear that we bear “the mark of Kane.” He did not suffer fools. “Look at the shape of the words!” was one of his admonitions.

The introduction to Medieval English Studies Presented to George Kane (the festschrift in honor of his retirement) notes:

George Kane fostered … enthusiasm [for medieval studies] both in and out of the classroom. Both as a teacher and as a senior colleague to junior faculty, he balanced frank advice and insistence on hard work with needed encouragement and support. Although busy with teaching, scholarship, and other departmental and university duties, he generously devoted a great deal of time to helping his students and colleagues. (xii-xiii)

He and his wife Bridget graciously held an annual “sherry” for the medieval studies graduate students, where we’d be sure a good meal, not just frou-frou finger food.

In a recent post on the transition from one year to the next, Tony Esolen, (who also studied under Professor Kane) points out that reflecting on our past and present is a constant of human nature:

It is natural even for pagan man not only to remember those whom he has loved, who have passed — like old King Scyld in his funeral boat at the beginning of Beowulf — into the great beyond, “no man knows where,” but to expect to be remembered in turn.  We rebel against the notion that we should live our few years on earth and then be forgotten; it is an expectation founded in our own gratitude for those who came before us….

I’m sure that other students and former colleagues of Dr. Kane will have their own tributes, people who knew him better and who have achieved more than I. I know that I will be teaching Chaucer this coming semester with extra snap in grateful memory of Dr. Kane.

Still in business

In fact, “busy”-ness is the word for the way things have been going around here since the last post, with teaching overloads all around and more. But enough about me! The exuberant “extreme” Chaucerian bloggers have a new post. Spot the Middle English allusion to a work by Joss Whedon and win…extra credit, if you’re one of my students. Otherwise, just consider yourself amazingly culturally literate.

Peasants revolt at Chaucer’s blog!

There seems to have been a revolution at what was “Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog”! It is now being run by several other people calling themselves “A GLOBAL TEAME OF CREATIFS AND TRENDSETTIRS ASSEMBLID IN FELAWESHEP WYTH MUCH COFFEE” and re-titled “Geoffrey Chaucer Hath an Extreme Blog: Go England! It ys Rad!” “Chaucer,” it seems, is on vacation (or possibly on a quest) in Las Vegas.

The new team promise

Ywis, we Lords Appellant haue re-branded and re-concepted thys blog. We haue replaced Chaucer wyth a top team of new media specialistes. This is nowe a blog that ys dedicated to bringing yow the hottest and moost up to date content about the worldes of entertaynment, political societee, hangings, filmes, culture, quarterings, and defense of the of the noble realme of Engelonde.

They request all readers to sign a loyalty oath in the comments

to assuren us that ye aren nat Frensshe spyes or folk who wolde overturn the gret proceedings of the moost recent Parliament.

And in exchange, the editor assures us that “chaunge ys good.” But some things will not change:

11. Will all the old posts stay up? Indefinitely?

Of course thei shall. What maniacal and sadistic power do ye thinke doth control this blog? Joss Whedon?

What to think about a bunch of 14th century noblemen who follow the career of Joss Whedon?! But I hope Chaucer gets back from Las Vegas soon.

Poetry, and about time, too

April is National Poetry Month. I have many favorite poets, but among those who immortalized April, we must acknowledge Geoffrey Chaucer, who reminds us (via the mysterious ChaucerBlogger) that

Bifor Aprille was the cruellest moneth (whatever that meneth!), it was a moneth of coloures and cries, and pilgrymages.

Hear! Hear! Or as Chaucer would have said (perhaps), “Oyez, oyez!”

One of my favorite poems by Chaucer, read aloud in Middle English:

“Truth” or the “Ballad of Good Counsel”

During April, the Academy of American Poets will e-mail you a Poem a Day. I make no representations to the value or appropriateness of said poems, but you can check out those that have been sent so far this month.

It’s all connected–Chaucer and Whedon

Recently I somehow managed to compare medieval studies definitions of literary sources and analogues, specifically Chaucerian sources and analogues, with some ways contemporary TV shows function as sources and analogues. So perhaps I was still thinking along those lines when I came across Joss Whedon’s take on a rhetorical scheme Chaucer uses frequently (which he learned from any number of other authors), the inexpressibility topos (among several stylistic devices). Here, with Whedon’s peculiar combination of poignant and laugh-out-loud funny, he shows us how NOT to describe the saddest song in the world. Genius is where you find it, I say. Or else, possibly, poetry is poetry.

Chaucer’s blog makes me happy

In this post, after telling about his new job as clerk of the works, “Geoffrey” gets silly with the pilgrims’ portraits from the Ellesmere Manuscript. I covet the Chaucer portrait disclaiming his reincarnation as Springsteen.

Poetry out loud

I’m a longtime fan of reading poetry aloud. The earliest “literature” wasn’t written, it was spoken. Hearing a poem transforms it–for good or ill. A good poem becomes better. A poor poem reveals its poverty.

Last week, the poets laureate of the United Kingdom and the United States, Andrew Motion and Donald Hall, gave three dual poetry readings–probably a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Since none of us will be attending those readings, we can console ourselves any time with the modern/contemporary poetry mp3’s at PENNsound (including Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, and some Chaucer read by David Wallace–fairly well). Or the Academy of American Poets also has a lot of poetry audio-clips online.