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مصاحبه استاد ما در رشته (ادبیات انگلیسی )جناب آقای علیرضا مهدی پور رو برای مطالعه آزاد دوستان می ذارم:

تصویر  استاد ما جناب آقای مهدی پور

عليرضا مهدي پور؛ مترجم «حکايت هاي کانتربري» در گفت وگو با خراسان:

 

چاسر بعدازشکسپيربزرگترين شاعرانگلستان است

 

دانشجويان رشته ادبيات انگليسي به خوبي مي دانند که در قرن ۱۴ ميلادي شاعري در انگلستان مي زيست که امروز شهرتش دست کمي از شکسپير ندارد؛ «جفري چاسر». اما شهرت چاسر در ايران تنها به محيط هاي دانشگاهي محدود مي شود. شاهکار اين شاعر بزرگ « حکايت هاي کانتر بري» گرچه پيش از اين به نثر ترجمه شده بود اما ترجمه منظوم عليرضا مهدي پور اتفاقي در ادبيات ترجمه است. مهدي پور پروژه اي را آغاز کرده که معتقد است ترجمه اش آغازي بر چاسر شناسي در ايران خواهد بود. عليرضا مهدي پور در مهرماه سال ۱۳۴۱ در تبريز به دنيا آمد. کارشناسي زبان و ادبيات انگليسي را از دانشگاه تبريز در سال ۷۱ و کارشناسي ارشد همان رشته را در سال ۷۴ از دانشگاه تهران گرفت و به تدريس در دانشگاه هاي تبريز، آزاد مرند و اروميه پرداخت و هم اکنون عضو هيئت علمي دانشگاه اروميه است. علاقه او بيشتر به داستان کوتاه است و تاکنون دو کتاب به زبان انگليسي در اروپا منتشر کرده است: (Reading between the Paragraphs )کتابي درباره تدريس داستان کوتاه توسط ناشر آلماني VDM Verlag منتشر شده و مجموعه داستان هاي کوتاه به نام کابوس بيداري (Waking Nightmares) توسط Authorhouse در انگليس و آمريکا به چاپ رسيده است. داستان ها و قطعات طنزي هم به فارسي نوشته و ترجمه کرده که هنوز موفق به انتشار آن ها در ايران نشده، از جمله مجموعه داستان کابوس بيداري. ترجمه حکايت هاي کانتربري اثر جفري چاسر به شعر فارسي را تقريبا از ۱۰ سال پيش آغاز کرده و تاکنون دو کتاب از آن مجموعه را توسط نشر چشمه به چاپ رسانده و کتاب سوم نيز زير چاپ است.

جايگاه جفري چاسر در ادبيات انگلستان چگونه است و چرا در ايران چندان توجهي به اين نويسنده بزرگ نمي شود؟

جفري چاسر بزرگترين شاعر انگلستان بعد از شکسپيرمحسوب مي شود و حتي به دلايلي از او هم بهتر است و در موضوعاتي که هر دو شاعر به آن ها پرداخته اند چاسر از شکسپير بهتر بوده است. چاسر را به حق پدر شعر انگليسي ناميده اند و تاريخ ادبيات انگليس معمولا با او آغاز مي شود. اين شاعر دو قرن پيش از شکسپير مي زيسته و به قدري ادبيات انگليس را تحت الشعاع خود قرار داده که تا يک و نيم قرن بعد از خود شاعر بزرگ و مطرحي ظهورنکرده و شعرا مقلد او بودند. ابداعات و ابتکارات او در فرم شعري، فنون و صناعات و مضامين بکر و متنوع بي نظير است، نظير معرفي قافيه درشعر انگليسي که در زمان او رايج نبود، و پيوند دادن ادبيات انگليسي با ميراث فرهنگي ادبي اروپا، به ويژه فرانسه و ايتاليا و حتي مشرق زمين. اما اهميت والاي چاسر براي انگليسي ها در اين است که او در زماني که هم وطنان معاصر او به لاتين يا فرانسه شعر مي گفتند، او به زبان انگليسي مردم آن زمان شعر گفت و انگلوساکسون را زنده کرد.

پس چرا در ايران چندان توجهي به چاسر نمي شود؟

ناشناخته بودن چاسر در ايران براي من هم سوال است و براي پاسخ به آن به فرضيه متوسل شده ام. وقتي ناصرالملک نمايشنامه اتللوشکسپير رابه فارسي ترجمه مي کند، ترجمه اي که هنوز يکي از شاهکارهاي زبان فارسي به حساب مي آيد، چرا به چاسر توجه نداشته است. با توجه به اين که ناصرالملک سال ها در انگليس و فرانسه اقامت داشت. شايد تغيير زبان انگليسي و گنگ بودن متن چاسر بوده که بعدها با ترجمه چاسر به زبان انگليسي مدرن اين مشکل رفع مي شود. آن وقت چرا بعدها کسي به ترجمه چاسر همت نگماشت؟ فرضيه ديگري که دارم و پرداختن به آن خود مي تواند موضوع مقاله اي چالش برانگيز باشد، اين است که با احتياط مي گويم که شعر چاسر در ترجمه به نثر ملاحت خود را از دست مي دهد و کساني که چاسر را خوانده بودند اين را مي دانستند.

اگر در ايران به چاسر توجهي نمي شود، به دليل معرفي نشدنش بود. حتم دارم بعد از اين با ترجمه هاي من و ديگران چاسر جاي خود را بين مردم باز خواهد کرد.

 

چاسر را با رودکي، ويرجيل و هومر مقايسه مي کنند. وجه شباهت اين شخصيت ها در چيست؟

چاسر با شعراي بزرگ و حتي حماسه سرا قابل مقايسه است. او را با رودکي مقايسه کرده اند، به دليل اين که هر دو به زبان هاي مادري خود خدمت بزرگي کرده اند او با شعراي عهد کلاسيک مثل ويرجيل هم قابل مقايسه است چرا که هر دو از هومر اقتباس کرده اند و آثار بزرگي چون انه ايد (ويرجيل) و ترويلوس پديد آورده اند. اما چاسر را نمي توان در طبقه و تراز هومر دانست. هومر يک حماسه پرداز افسانه اي و حتي اسطوره اي است و حتي در اين که وجود داشته و يا يک نفر بوده ترديد وجود دارد. اما چاسر شاعري است که علاوه بر حماسه تقريبا در هر نوع شعر رايج آن زمان دست داشته و آثارش بسيار متنوع هستند.

چاسر معاصر حافظ و عبيد زاکاني است. با عبيد قابل مقايسه است و حتي با شعراي قبل از خودش، سعدي و مولوي، از نظر شعرهاي روايي، و من در ترجمه چاسر مقايسه هايي انجام داده ام.

در حکايت هاي کانتربري با گونه هاي ادبي گوناگوني روبه رو مي شويم؛ اين کتاب متعلق به چه نوع ادبياتي است؟

حکايت هاي کانتربري آخرين اثر چاسر است و شاهکار او به شمار مي رود. در اين کتاب گونه هاي متعدد ادبي رايج در قرون وسطي که چاسر در آن دوره مي زيست آورده شده اند. حماسه، رمانس، افسانه، موعظه، فابل، لطيفه هاي بلند و نه چندان لطيف و محترمانه و ... اين نوع نگارش در قرون وسطي مرسوم بود، درست مثل مثنوي معنوي مولوي يا هزار و يک شب خودمان، که ملغمه اي از همه نوع داستان در فرهنگ ماست.

ترجمه ديگري از اين کتاب به نثر وجود دارد که شايد بر نظريه ترجمه ناپذيري شعر تاکيد داشته باشد.

بله کار آقاي محمد اسماعيل فلزي است، که ترجمه کل کتاب به نثر است و ترجمه بسيار خوبي است. دست مريزاد بايد گفت به مترجم و ناشر. معرفي چاسر چون در ابتداي راه است هر قدر بيشتر و به صورت هاي مختلف ترجمه شود ديد بهتري پيدا مي کنيم. مثل شکسپير که ترجمه هاي گوناگوني از آن شده و مي شود و به هيچ وجه زائد نيستند. در دیباچه ی کتاب آقای فلزی نظریه ای مبنی بر ترجمه ناپذیری شعر مطرح شده، از طرف مارک وان دورن، که می گوید مدت هاست به این نتیجه رسیده که ترجمه شاهکارهای شعری به شعر بزرگ ترین لطمه ها را به آن ها وارد می کند. این نظریه همیشه در همآیش ها و چالشهای مربوط به ترجمه مطرح می شود . مثالهای فراوانی از ترجمه ناپذیری در شعر معرفی می شود. ولی ترجمه ای که من کرده ام یک اتفاق شگفت انگیز بوده و برای خود من هم جای تعجب است. منظور خودستایی نیست. اگر مرگ مولف را بپذیریم، باید مرگ مترجم را هم بپذیریم و قبول کنیم که مترجم فقط ترمینالی است که اثر در زبان مبدا و اثر در زبان مقصد در ذهن او ارتباط برقرار می کنند. آن چه این ترجمه را شگفت انگیز کرده، و به باور من بزرگان و استادان ترجمه سرانجام آن را خواهند خواند و به آن اذعان خواهند کرد، (آن چنان که در امریکا و اروپا حتی پیش از چاپ کتاب خبرش را پخش کرده اند و تشویق نامه هایی فرستاده اند و انجمن چاسر New Chaucer Society در خبرنامه اش این ترجمه را معرفی کرده)، قابلیت و امکانات فراوان زبان و ادبیات فارسی در شعر و نیز ویژگی جهانشمول و عمق جفری چاسر بوده و نه توانایی مترجم. و گرنه من نه شاعرم و نه طبع روان دارم و به قول خودم:

نیستم شاعر، زبانم از سرودن قاصر است

آن چه گفتم ترجمان طبع جفری چاسر است.

 این که تا به حال شعری نسروده ام (به جز این بیت) خود گواه مطلب است.

 من فکر می کنم نظریه ی ترجمه ناپذیری شعر در تئوری درست است اما گاهی پیش می آید و ترجمه ی من یک پیشآمد بوده است. در مورد وفادار بودن باید بگویم که اصرار من به درج زبان مبدا در کنار زبان مقصد با انگیزه ی نشان دادن میزان وفاداری بوده، و جاهایی که محدوديت های  اجتناب ناپذیر زبانی بوده، با پانوشت ها تکمیل کرده ام. در بازنویسی يک متن کهن و تاريخی پانوشت لازم است، چه برسد به این که این متن ترجمه از زبانی دیگر باشد.

 چقدر به متن اصلي وفادار بوده ايد؟

بايد بگويم که اصرار من به درج زبان مبدا در کنار زبان مقصد با انگيزه نشان دادن ميزان وفاداري بوده و جاهايي که محدوديت هاي اجتناب ناپذير زباني بوده، با پانوشت ها تکميل کرده ام. در بازنويسي يک متن کهن و تاريخي پانوشت لازم است، چه برسد به اين که اين متن ترجمه از زباني ديگر باشد.

در برخي از قسمت ها، اثر خيلي فارسي به نظر مي رسد. هدفتان جلب مخاطب بوده؟ يا به قول معروف قافيه به تنگ آمده بود؟

زحمت دادن به ناشر براي چاپ دو زبانه کتاب و تحميل هزينه  اضافي به خاطر همين بود که خواننده متن اصلي را ببيند و خود درباره امانت در ترجمه قضاوت کند. جالب اين که يکي از ناشرين به همين دليل که اثر رنگ و بوي انگليسي نمي دهد آن را رد کرده بود. اين نقطه قوت ترجمه است نه نقطه ضعف، و اين گونه خرده گرفتن نشان دهنده آن است که ناشر مزبور به متن انگليسي توجه نکرده و همچنين قابليت هاي زبان فارسي را ناديده گرفته بود.

به نظر مي رسد فاصله اي بين  ترجمه و چاپ وجود دارد از طرفي بسياري از حكايت ها  بي پروا روايت و ترجمه شده اند. نقش مميزي در انتشار كتاب چه بود؟

تاریخ ترجمه ی کتاب خود ماجرایی دارد که می تواند یک حکایت مستقل باشد و می ترسم از حوصله ی این گفتگو بيرون باشد. به هر حال، من خیلی خوشحال شدم که آخر سر چاپ این اثر به دست نشر چشمه انجام شد. نشر چشمه با سعه ی صدر و صبر و حوصله تمام شرایط را رعایت کرد، به ویژه مسئله ی دو زبانه بودن کتاب که جزو روال کار این نشر نبود و مشکلات خودش را داشت. دستشان درد نکند. به ویژه این که کتاب ها در سال پر تب و تاب 88 چاپ شدند. به محض این که من از ویرایش های بی پایان دست برداشتم، آنها هر دو کتاب را چاپ کردند. هر چند کتاب اول ديرتر از کتاب دوم به بازار آمد و خوانندگان و کتابفروشی ها را کمی  دچار سردرگمی و تردید کرد و منتظر کتاب اول ماندند، و بعد که کتاب اول با تاخیر روانه ی بازار شده بود ديگر از دهن افتاده بود! اما باید بدانیم که این کتاب ها مستقل از هم هستند، و کتاب سوم هم که اکنون دست همین ناشر هست، همین طور. خود جفری چاسر حکایت های کنتربری را در چند مجلد مستقل از هم نوشته بود.       

  وظیفه ی من ترجمه ی امانتدارانه بود و وظیفه ی ممیزان بررسی آن. دست ممیزان هم درد نکند که در بررسی کتاب سلیقه و سعه ی صدر به خرج دادند. و اگر حکایت ها بی پروا روایت شده اند بی گمان تقصیر خود جناب چاسر بوده است. مولوی در بعضی جاها از چاسر هم بی پرواتر است.

 و براي ترجمه و انتشار ديگر حکايت هاي کانتربري چه برنامه اي داريد؟

کتاب سوم حکايت هاي کانتربري شامل سه حکايت را چند ماه است که به ناشر داده ام و منتظرم. کتاب شامل حکايت هاي شهسوار، آسيابان، داروغه و حکايت ناتمام آشپزباشي است. در حال حاضر روي کتاب چهارم کار مي کنم، البته اگر وسوسه نوشتن رمان بگذارد که به کارم برسم. اگر بخواهيم کل حکايت ها را چاپ کنيم شش هفت کتاب مي شود. هنوز درباره ترجمه کل حکايت ها ترديد دارم. بعضي از آن ها به نثرند و بعضي ها خيلي جالب نيستند. ديباچه کلي حکايت ها و پنج حکايتي که چاپ شده اند ، به علاوه سه حکايتي که در دست انتشارند جزو زيباترين و مهم ترين بخش هاي کتابند و در اين که هر که آن ها را بخواند نظرش جلب خواهد شد و لذت خواهد برد ترديدي نيست. اما ترجمه کل کتاب شايد از نظر به اصطلاح آکادميک و تاريخي قابل توجيه باشد.

 (قسمت هاي قرمز رنگ در نسخه منتشر شده در "خراسان" چاپ نشدند.)

 

     جناب آقای مهدی پور استاد ما در درسهای(درآمدی بر ادبیات ۱و۲  و نیز  شعر ساده و  متون نثر ساده انگلیسی) در پیام نور نقده بودند و از کتابهای ایشون یکی در آلمان و یکی در انگلستان در باب داستان کوتاه چاپ و منتشر شده است .دست مریزاد استاد مسلم در ادبیات بویژه داستان کوتاه بود و  به خاطر قدردانی از این استاد عزیز مصاحبه ایشون رو آوردم) ما در پیام نور نقده استادان خوبی در رشته زبان انگلیسی داشتیم و بعضی از اونا دانش آموخته دانشگاه شیراز بودند 

 

جفری چاوسر (به انگلیسی: Geoffrey Chaucer) ( ۱۳۴۳ میلادی - ۲۵ اکتبر ۱۴۰۰) شاعر، نویسنده، فیلسوف و سیاست‌مدار انگلیسی بود . او متولد لندن بود هرچند به طور دقیق محل و زمان تولد او در دست نیست . وی نخستین نویسنده برجسته انگلیسی پس از سلطه نرمن‌ها بود . نام او فرانسوی و به معنی «کفاش» است.

ار چه از وی آثار زیاد نام‌آوری برجای مانده‌است، اما او را با کتاب سترگش افسانه‌های کنتربری می‌شناسند که اثر زیادی بر زبان‌آوران و سرایندگان پس از وی نهاد.

سیارکی به افتخار چاوسر به نام چاوسر ۲۹۸۴ نامیده شده‌است.

زندگانی و مرگ

جفری چاوسر در حدود سال ۱۳۴۰ میلادی در لندن متولد شد . در کودکی مدتی نوکر و غلام همسر لیونل، دوک کلارنس بود . به سال ۱۳۵۹ در نهضتی که در فرانسه پدید آمد، شرکت جست و دستگیر گردید، ولی سال بعد آزاد شد . در ۱۳۶۶ با فیلیپا روت ازدواج کرد، سپس به مدت ده سال در ماموریتی سیاسی در ایتالیا، فلاندر (در بلژیک امروزی)، فرانسه و لمبادی خدمت کرد و با بوکاچیو, پترارک و دانته آلیگیری آشنا شد . در ۱۳۷۴ مقرری مخصوصی از طرف ادوارد سوم و جان گانت برای وی معین شد.

پس از اینکه چاوسر مدتی دیگر وقت خود صرف کارهای دولتی کرد، روی به جانب ادبیات آورد. وی در اثر پیش آمدهای مختلف مدتی را در فقر و بدبختی به سر برد و با ناملایمات بسیاری از جمله مرگ همسرش مواجه شد، تا اینکه ریچارد دوم و هنری چهارم توجهی به او مبذول داشتند و زندگی نسبتا آرامی برایش تهیه دیدند.

چاوسر در سال ۱۴۰۰ درگذشت و جسدش در محل مخصوص شعرا در کلیسای وست مینستر مدفون شد.

 

چاوسر زایر، برگرفته از پایگاه طومارهای Ellesmere

به طور کلی می‌توان آثار چاوسر را به سه دسته تقسیم کرد:

• دوران نفوذ فرانسه (۱۳۷۲-۱۳۵۹ م.) که از خصوصیاتش ابیات هشت هجایی است. از این دوران آثاری ماندد ترجمه داستان گل سرخ، کتاب گمشده‌ای به نام کتاب شیر، کتاب دوشش و اشعار کوچکی به جا مانده است.
• نفوذ ایتالیا (۱۳۸۶-۱۳۷۲ م.) که خصوصیت آن قطعات رزمی و مدحی و سیاسی ۷ خطی موزون می‌باشد. اشعار خانه شهرت، پارمان فولس، قطعه منثور تسلیت بوئیتوس، افسانه پالامون و آرسیته، افسانه زن نیک از جمله آثار وی در این برهه زمانی می‌باشد.
• دوره انگلیس (۱۴۰۰-۱۳۸۶ م.) که خصوصیت ابیات حماسی است . کتاب افسانه‌های کانتربوری شامل ۲۳ داستان از زائرین مجتمع در میکده تابارد واقع در ساوت وارک است.

 

 

 

 

 

متن انگلیسی شو هم داشته باشین (از ویکی پدیا)

"Chaucer" redirects here. For other uses, see Chaucer (disambiguation).

Geoffrey Chaucer. 1343 – 25 October 1400), 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. While he achieved fame during his lifetime as an author, philosopher, alchemist and astronomer, composing a scientific treatise on the astrolabe for his ten year-old son Lewis, Chaucer also maintained an active career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Among his many works, which include The Book of the Duchess, the House of Fame, the Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde, he is best loved today for The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer is a crucial figure in developing the legitimacy of the vernacular, Middle English, at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were French and Latin.

Life

Chaucer as a pilgrim from the Ellesmere manuscript

Chaucer was born in London sometime around 1343, though the precise date and location of his birth remain unknown. His father and grandfather were both London vintners; several previous generations had been merchants in Ipswich. (His family name derives from the French chausseur, meaning "shoemaker".^[1]) In 1324 John Chaucer, Geoffrey's father, was kidnapped by an aunt in the hope of marrying the twelve-year-old boy to her daughter in an attempt to keep property in Ipswich. The aunt was imprisoned and the £250 fine levied suggests that the family was financially secure - bourgeois, if not elite.^[2] 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; in the City Hustings Roll 110, 5, Ric II, dated June 1380, he refers to himself as me Galfridum Chaucer, filium Johannis Chaucer, Vinetarii, Londonie' .

While records concerning the lives of his contemporary poets, William Langland and the Pearl Poet are practically non-existent, since Chaucer was a public servant, his official life is very well documented, with nearly five hundred written items testifying to his career. The first of the "Chaucer Life Records" appears in 1357, in the household accounts of Elizabeth de Burgh, the Countess of Ulster, when he became the noblewoman's page through his father's connections.^[3] He also worked as a courtier, a diplomat, and a civil servant, as well as working for the king, collecting and inventorying scrap metal.

In 1359, in the early stages of the Hundred Years' War, Edward III invaded France and Chaucer travelled with Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, Elizabeth's husband, as part of the English army. In 1360, he was captured during the siege of Rheims. Edward paid £16 for his ransom,^[4] a considerable sum, and Chaucer was released.

After this, Chaucer's life is uncertain, but he seems to have travelled in France, Spain, and Flanders, possibly as a messenger and perhaps even going on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Around 1366, Chaucer married Philippa (de) Roet. She was a lady-in-waiting to Edward III's queen, Philippa of Hainault, and a sister of Katherine Swynford, who later (ca. 1396) became the third wife of John of Gaunt. It is uncertain how many children Chaucer and Philippa had, but three or four are most commonly cited. His son, Thomas Chaucer, had an illustrious career, as chief butler to four kings, envoy to France, and Speaker of the House of Commons. Thomas' daughter, Alice, married the Duke of Suffolk. Thomas' great-grandson (Geoffrey's great-great-grandson), John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, was the heir to the throne designated by Richard III before he was deposed. Geoffrey's other children probably included Elizabeth Chaucy, a nun at Barking Abbey.^[5][6] Agnes, an attendant at Henry IV's coronation; and another son, Lewis Chaucer.

Chaucer probably studied law in the Inner Temple (an Inn of Court) at this time. 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. His wife also received a pension for court employment. He travelled abroad many times, at least some of them in his role as a valet. In 1368, he may have attended the wedding of Lionel of Antwerp to Violante Visconti, daughter of Galeazzo II Visconti, in Milan. Two other literary stars of the era were in attendance: Jean Froissart and Petrarch. Around this time, Chaucer is believed to have written The Book of the Duchess in honour of Blanche of Lancaster, the late wife of John of Gaunt, who died in 1369.

Chaucer travelled to Picardy the next year as part of a military expedition, and visited Genoa and Florence in 1373. Numerous scholars such as Skeat, Boitani, and Rowland^[7] suggested that, on this Italian trip, he came into contact with Petrarch or Boccaccio. They introduced him to medieval Italian poetry, the forms and stories of which he would use later.^[8] The purposes of a voyage in 1377 are mysterious, as details within the historical record conflict. Later documents suggest it was a mission, along with Jean Froissart, to arrange a marriage between the future King Richard II and a French princess, thereby ending the Hundred Years War. If this was the purpose of their trip, they seem to have been unsuccessful, as no wedding occurred.

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. It has been speculated that it was Hawkwood on whom Chaucer based his character the Knight in the Canterbury Tales, for a description matches that of a fourteenth-century condottiere.

A 19th century depiction of Chaucer

A possible indication that his career as a writer was appreciated came when Edward III granted Chaucer "a gallon of wine daily for the rest of his life" for some unspecified task. This was an unusual grant, but given on a day of celebration, St George's Day, 1374, when artistic endeavours were traditionally rewarded, it is assumed to have been another early poetic work. It is not known which, if any, of Chaucer's extant works prompted the reward, but the suggestion of him as poet to a king places him as a precursor to later poets laureate. Chaucer continued to collect the liquid stipend until Richard II came to power, after which it was converted to a monetary grant on 18 April 1378.

Chaucer obtained the very substantial job of Comptroller of the Customs for the port of London, which he began on 8 June 1374.^[9] He must have been suited for the role as he continued in it for twelve years, a long time in such a post at that time. His life goes undocumented for much of the next ten years, but it is believed that he wrote (or began) most of his famous works during this period. He was mentioned in law papers of 4 May 1380, involved in the raptus of Cecilia Chaumpaigne. What raptus means is unclear, but the incident seems to have been resolved quickly and did not leave a stain on Chaucer's reputation. It is not known if Chaucer was in the city of London at the time of the Peasants' Revolt, but if he was, he would have seen its leaders pass almost directly under his apartment window at Aldgate.^[10]

While still working as comptroller, Chaucer appears to have moved to Kent, being appointed as one of the commissioners of peace for Kent, at a time when French invasion was a possibility. He is thought to have started work on The Canterbury Tales in the early 1380s. He also became a Member of Parliament for Kent in 1386. There is no further reference after this date to Philippa, Chaucer's wife, and she is presumed to have died in 1387. He survived the political upheavals caused by the Lords Appellants, despite the fact that Chaucer knew some of the men executed over the affair quite well.

On 12 July 1389, Chaucer was appointed the clerk of the king's works, a sort of foreman organising most of the king's building projects.^[11] 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. It may have been a difficult job, but it paid well: two shillings a day, more than three times his salary as a comptroller. Chaucer was also appointed keeper of the lodge at the King’s park in Feckenham, which was a largely honorary appointment.^[12]

In September 1390, records say that he was robbed, and possibly injured, while conducting the business, and it was shortly after, on 17 June 1391, that he stopped working in this capacity. Almost immediately, on 22 June, he began as deputy forester in the royal forest of North Petherton, Somerset. This was no sinecure, with maintenance an important part of the job, although there were many opportunities to derive profit. He was granted an annual pension of twenty pounds by Richard II in 1394.^[13] It is believed that Chaucer stopped work on the Canterbury Tales sometime towards the end of this decade.

Not long after the overthrow of his patron, Richard II, in 1399, Chaucer's name fades from the historical record. The last few records of his life show his pension renewed by the new king, and his taking of a lease on a residence within the close of Westminster Abbey on 24 December 1399.^[14] Although Henry IV renewed the grants assigned to Chaucer by Richard, Chaucer's own The Complaint of Chaucer to his Purse hints that the grants might not have been paid. The last mention of Chaucer is on 5 June 1400, when some monies owed to him were paid.

He is believed to have died of unknown causes on 25 October 1400, but there is no firm evidence for this date, as it comes from the engraving on his tomb, erected more than one hundred years after his death. There is some speculation—most recently in Terry Jones' book Who Murdered Chaucer? : A Medieval Mystery—that he was murdered by enemies of Richard II or even on the orders of his successor Henry IV, but the case is entirely circumstantial. Chaucer was buried in Westminster Abbey in London, as was his right owing to his status as a tenant of the Abbey's close. In 1556, his remains were transferred to a more ornate tomb, making Chaucer the first writer interred in the area now known as Poets' Corner.

Works

Chaucer's first major work, The Book of the Duchess, was an elegy for Blanche of Lancaster (who died in 1369). It is possible that this work was commissioned by her husband John of Gaunt, as he granted Chaucer a £10 annuity on 13 June 1374. This would seem to place the writing of The Book of the Duchess between the years 1369 and 1374. Two other early works by Chaucer were Anelida and Arcite and The House of Fame. Chaucer wrote many of his major works in a prolific period when he held the job of customs comptroller for London (1374 to 1386). His Parlement of Foules, The Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde all date from this time. Also it is believed that he started work on The Canterbury Tales in the early 1380s. Chaucer is best known as the writer of The Canterbury Tales, which is a collection of stories told by fictional pilgrims on the road to the cathedral at Canterbury; these tales would help to shape English literature.

The Canterbury Tales contrasts with other literature of the period in the naturalism of its narrative, the variety of stories the pilgrims tell and the varied characters who are engaged in the pilgrimage. Many of the stories narrated by the pilgrims seem to fit their individual characters and social standing, although some of the stories seem ill-fitting to their narrators, perhaps as a result of the incomplete state of the work. Chaucer drew on real life for his cast of pilgrims: the innkeeper shares the name of a contemporary keeper of an inn in Southwark, and real-life identities for the Wife of Bath, the Merchant, the Man of Law and the Student have been suggested. The many jobs that Chaucer held in medieval society—page, soldier, messenger, valet, bureaucrat, foreman and administrator—probably exposed him to many of the types of people he depicted in the Tales. He was able to shape their speech and satirise their manners in what was to become popular literature among people of the same types.

Chaucer's works are sometimes grouped into first a French period, then an Italian period and finally an English period, with Chaucer being influenced by those countries' literatures in turn. Certainly Troilus and Criseyde is a middle period work with its reliance on the forms of Italian poetry, little known in England at the time, but to which Chaucer was probably exposed during his frequent trips abroad on court business. In addition, its use of a classical subject and its elaborate, courtly language sets it apart as one of his most complete and well-formed works. In Troilus and Criseyde Chaucer draws heavily on his source, Boccaccio, and on the late Latin philosopher Boethius. However, it is The Canterbury Tales, wherein he focuses on English subjects, with bawdy jokes and respected figures often being undercut with humour, that has cemented his reputation.

Chaucer also translated such important works as Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy and The Romance of the Rose by Guillaume de Lorris (extended by Jean de Meun). However, while many scholars maintain that Chaucer did indeed translate part of the text of Roman de la Rose as The Romaunt of the Rose, others claim that this has been effectively disproved. Many of his other works were very loose translations of, or simply based on, works from continental Europe. It is in this role that Chaucer receives some of his earliest critical praise. Eustache Deschamps wrote a ballade on the great translator and called himself a "nettle in Chaucer's garden of poetry". In 1385 Thomas Usk made glowing mention of Chaucer, and John Gower, Chaucer's main poetic rival of the time, also lauded him. 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.

One other significant work of Chaucer's is his Treatise on the Astrolabe, possibly for his own son, that describes the form and use of that instrument in detail. Although much of the text may have come from other sources, the treatise indicates that Chaucer was versed in science in addition to his literary talents. Another scientific work discovered in 1952, Equatorie of the Planetis, has similar language and handwriting compared to some considered to be Chaucer's and it continues many of the ideas from the Astrolabe. Furthermore, it contains an example of early European encryption.^[15] The attribution of this work to Chaucer is still uncertain.

Influence

Linguistic

Portrait of Chaucer from a manuscript by Thomas Hoccleve, who may have met Chaucer

Chaucer wrote in continental accentual-syllabic meter, a style which had developed since around the twelfth century as an alternative to the alliterative Anglo-Saxon metre.^[16] Chaucer is known for metrical innovation, inventing the rhyme royal, and he was one of the first English poets to use the five-stress line, a decasyllabic cousin to the iambic pentameter, in his work, with only a few anonymous short works using it before him.^[17] The arrangement of these five-stress lines into rhyming couplets, first seen in his The Legend of Good Women, was used in much of his later work and became one of the standard poetic forms in English. His early influence as a satirist is also important, with the common humorous device, the funny accent of a regional dialect, apparently making its first appearance in The Reeve's Tale.

The poetry of Chaucer, along with other writers of the era, is credited with helping to standardise the London Dialect of the Middle English language from a combination of the Kentish and Midlands dialects.^[18] This is probably overstated; the influence of the court, chancery and bureaucracy—of which Chaucer was a part—remains a more probable influence on the development of Standard English. 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. This change in the pronunciation of English, still not fully understood, makes the reading of Chaucer difficult for the modern audience, though it is thought by some^[who?] that the modern Scottish accent is closely related to the sound of Middle English. The status of the final -e in Chaucer's verse is uncertain: it seems likely that during the period of Chaucer's writing the final -e was dropping out of colloquial English and that its use was somewhat irregular. Chaucer's versification suggests that the final -e is sometimes to be vocalised, and sometimes to be silent; however, this remains a point on which there is disagreement. When it is vocalised, most scholars pronounce it as a schwa. Apart from the irregular spelling, much of the vocabulary is recognisable to the modern reader. Chaucer is also recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary as the first author to use many common English words in his writings. These words were probably frequently used in the language at the time but Chaucer, with his ear for common speech, is the earliest manuscript source. Acceptable, alkali, altercation, amble, angrily, annex, annoyance, approaching, arbitration, armless, army, arrogant, arsenic, arc, artillery and aspect are just some of the many English words first attested in Chaucer.

Literary

Widespread knowledge of Chaucer's works is attested by the many poets who imitated or responded to his writing. John Lydgate was one of the earliest poets to write continuations of Chaucer's unfinished Tales while Robert Henryson's Testament of Cresseid completes the story of Cressida left unfinished in his Troilus and Criseyde. Many of the manuscripts of Chaucer's works contain material from these poets and later appreciations by the romantic era poets were shaped by their failure to distinguish the later "additions" from original Chaucer. 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.^[19] It was not until the late 19th century that the official Chaucerian canon, accepted today, was decided upon, largely as a result of Walter William Skeat's work. One hundred and fifty years after his death, The Canterbury Tales was selected by William Caxton to be one of the first books to be printed in England.

English

Chaucer is sometimes considered the source of the English vernacular tradition and the "father" of modern English literature. His achievement for the language can be seen as part of a general historical trend towards the creation of a vernacular literature after the example of Dante in many parts of Europe. A parallel trend in Chaucer's own lifetime was underway in Scotland through the work of his slightly earlier contemporary, John Barbour, and was likely to have been even more general, as is evidenced by the example of the Pearl Poet in the north of England.

Although Chaucer's language is much closer to modern English than the text of Beowulf, it differs enough that most publications modernise his idiom. Following is a sample from the prologue of "The Summoner's Tale" that compares Chaucer's text to a modern translation:

این هم از چاسر (شاعر بزرگ انگلستان)