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in seven diplomatic missions, three of which (in 1372, 1374, and 1378) carried him to Italy, where he visited the brilliant courts at Genoa, Milan, and Florence, and came in contact with the more refined and elegant productions of the Italian poets. But being allied by political and religious sympathy, as well as by marriage, with the Duke of Lancaster, Chaucer, on the fall of the Lancastrian party, was dismissed from office in 1386, and to escape his troubles, which had been augmented by the death of his wife in 1387, he fled to the Continent. His reverses were, however, of brief duration; and under Richard II., who seized the reins of government in 1389, the Lancastrian party were restored to favor, and Chaucer was appointed Clerk of the Royal Works-an office which he resigned at the expiration of two years, and retired into private life.

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Last Years and Death. The poet probably devoted the last years of his life to the continuation and revision of "The Canterbury Tales." He died in 1400, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. About 1555 Mr. Nicholas Brigham, a student at Oxford, erected at his own expense the present tomb.

Descendants.-Chaucer had two sons, Thomas and Lewis. The latter died young, but the former figured prominently for many years at court, and left an only child, Alice Chaucer, who was married to the Duke of Suffolk, beheaded in 1450. Her grandson, the Earl of Lincoln, was declared by Richard III. to be the rightful heir to the throne, in case the Prince of Wales should die without issue; but the death of the earl himself took place in 1487, and the family is now believed to be extinct.

CHAUCER'S HOMES.

Of Chaucer's birthplace, further than that it was in London, as he himself tells us in the "Testament of Love," nothing is known. . . . Where, during his abode in London, he took up his residence we have no knowledge. During the troubles of the court, and during his own, he is said to have retreated to his favorite Woodstock. This house

he had engaged originally, because the court was then much at Woodstock, and he was obliged to be in constant attendance on the king. It became his favorite abode. It was a square stone house, near the Park gate, and long retained the name of Chaucer's House. Many of the rural descriptions in his works have been traced to this favorite scene of his walks and studies. Every trace of it has long been swept away. It is generally supposed to be at Woodstock that he wrote his "Canterbury Tales," where he also is said to have written his "Treatise on the Astrolabe," for the use of his son Lewis.... The other residence which has acquired fame from connection with Chaucer is Donnington Castle, in Berkshire. Tyrwhitt doubts whether it ever really belonged to him. Notwithstanding all this cloud of uncertainty, the belief will always prevail that Donnington was the residence of Chaucer. Evelyn tells us that there was an oak in the park which tradition asserted to have been planted by Chaucer, and which was still called Chaucer's Oak. As his house at Woodstock is gone, so his castle here is a mere ruin. . . . The remains now consist of the east entrance, with its two round towers, and a small part of the east wall. The gateway is in good preservation, and the place for the portcullis may still be seen. A staircase winds up the south tower to the summit of the castle, which commands a beautiful view of the Hampshire hills and the intermediate country.HOWITT'S Homes and Haunts of the British Poets.

FRIENDS.

Ralph Strode.-The philosophical Strode, to whom, jointly with Gower, Chaucer dedicated his poem "Troilus and Cresseide," was probably Ralph Strode, of Merton College, Oxford, whom research has discovered to have been an illustrious scholar and traveller, as well as a poet, theologian, and philosopher.

John Gower.-A close friendship united these two poets during the greater part of their lives. They praised each other in their writings. Gower complimented Chaucer in

the first edition of the "Confessio Amantis," and Chaucer inscribed to him his “Troilus and Cresseide." [See "Characteristics of the Age of Chaucer."]

Henry Scogan.-The person to whom Chaucer addressed his lines entitled "Envoy to Scogan" was, according to tradition, a graduate of Oxford, a Master of Arts, and jester to King Henry IV. Shakespeare, in the second part of "Henry IV.," act 3, speaks of Scogan as a mere buffoon, but Ben Jonson has given a more dignified account of him :

Mere-fool. Skogan? what was he?

Johphiel. O, a fine gentleman and master of arts
Of Henry the fourth's time, that made disguises
For the king's sons, and writ in ballad-royal

Daintily well.

Mere-fool. But wrote he like a gentleman?

Johphiel. In rhime, fine tinkling rhime and flowand verse, With now and then some sense; and he was paid for 't, Regarded and rewarded; which few poets

Are now-a-days.-Masque of the Fortunate Isles.

John Lydgate.-Though still a young man at the time of Chaucer's death, Lydgate had doubtless acquired some reputation as a poet. He professed himself a disciple of Chaucer, whose influence is perceptible throughout his works. [See "Characteristics of the Dark Age."]

Occleve. This disciple and admirer of Chaucer, whose pencil has furnished us with the best authentic likeness of the great poet, has also gained for himself a secure place in the annals of English literature, by the pathetic lament in which he bewails his master's death:

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But wel away! so is mine hertè wo

That the honor of English tongue is dede,

Of which I wont was have counsel and réde!

'O mayster dere and fadir reverent,

My mayster Chaucer, floure of eloquence,
Mirrour of fructuous endendement,

O universal fadir in sciènce,

Alas that thou thine excellent prudence

In thy bed mortel mighteste not bequethe!

What eyled Death? Alas! why would he sle the?"

Petrarch. The question whether Chaucer visited Petrarch, the most distinguished poet of his age, during any of his diplomatic missions to Italy will ever remain a point of query and dispute. There are no historical facts to elucidate the matter; but from the probabilities of the case, and from certain passages in the poet's works, most critics are inclined to believe that such a meeting occurred, and that Chaucer speaks in his own person when he makes the Clerk of Oxford say of the tale which he is about to

narrate:

I

"The which that I

Lerned at Padowe of a worthy clerk, As preved by his wordes and his werk. He is now ded, and nailed in his cheste, pray to God so yeve his soule reste. Fraunceis Petrark, the laureat poete, Highte this clerk, whos rethorike swete Enlumined all Itaille of poetrie, . . But forth to tellen of this worthy man, That taughte me this tale, as I began." Prologue to The Clerkes Tale. [For Petrarch, see "Age of Chaucer: Characteristics of Contemporary Literatures-Italy."]

Froissart.-Tradition asserts that Chaucer met the famous French chronicler at Milan; but there is no reference made to such an interview in his works. [For Froissart, see "Age of Chaucer: Characteristics of Contemporary Literatures-France."]

URRY'S CHARACTERIZATION OF CHAUCER, FOUNDED ON AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ALLUSIONS IN HIS POEMS.

[See "Canterbury Tales:" Prologue to The Rhyme of Sir Thopas, lines 6, 7; Prologue to The Man of Lawes Tale, lines 47-88; House of Fame, book ii., lines 106-152; Prologue to The Legend of Good Women, lines 29-207; Court of Love, stanzas I, 2; Goodly Ballad of Chaucer, stanza 7; The Cuckoo and the Nightingale, stanzas 8-18; The Parliament of Foules, stanzas I-4.]

As to Chaucer's temper, he had a mixture of the gay, the modest, and the grave. The sprightliness of his humor was more distinguished by his writings than by his

appearance; which gave occasion to Margaret, Countess of Pembroke, often to rally him upon his silent modesty in company, telling him that his absence was more agreeable to her than his conversation, since the first was productive of agreeable pieces of wit in his writings, but the latter was filled with a modest deference and a too distant respect. We see nothing merry or jocose in his behavior with his pilgrims, but a silent attention to their mirth, rather than any mixture of his own. When disengaged from public affairs, his time was entirely spent in study and reading; so agreeable to him was this exercise, that he says he preferred it to all other sports and diversions. He lived within himself, neither desirous to hear nor busy to concern himself with the affairs of his neighbors. His course of living was temperate and regular; he went to rest with the sun, and rose before it; and by that means enjoyed the pleasures of the better part of the day, his morning walk and fresh contemplations. This gave him the advantage of describing the morning in so lively a manner as he does everywhere in his works. The springing sun glows warm in his lines, and the fragrant air blows cool in his descriptions; we smell the sweets of the bloomy haws, and hear the music of the feathered choir, whenever we take a forest walk with him. The hour of the day is not easier to be discovered from the reflection of the sun in Titian's paintings than in Chaucer's morning landscapes. ... His reading was deep and extensive, his judgment sound and discerning. . . . In one word, he was a great scholar, a pleasant wit, a candid critic, a sociable companion, a steadfast friend, a grave philosopher, a temperate economist, and a pious Christian.

PRINCIPAL SOURCES FROM WHICH CHAUCER DREW MATERIAL IN HIS WORKS.

1. The Latin poets-especially Ovid and Statius. 2. The Troubadours and Trouvères of the Romance literature. Chaucer began his literary career by translating the celebrated French poem, "The Romaunt of the Rose."

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