Book picks similar to
The Prioress' Prologue and Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer
classics
medieval
poetry
chaucer
Perceval, or, The Story of the Grail
Chrétien de Troyes
Paralyzed by his first glimpse of the Grail, Perceval fails to save the ailing king. Distraught, the knight begins a new quest for the Grail, a journey on the road of penitence and faith. Perceval's venture, the true test of his knighthood, ends without conclusion; the death of author Chrétien de Troyes left unsaid and undetermined the success of Perceval's quest.
The Portable Dante
Dante Alighieri - 1947
The scope and fire of Dante's genius in a single volume.Includes "The Divine Comedy," "The New Life," and other selected poems, prose, and letters accompanied by biographical and introductory sections.
Beowulf
Gareth Hinds - 2007
Grendel’s black blood runs thick as Beowulf defeats the monster and his hideous mother, while somber hues overcast the hero’s final, fatal battle against a raging dragon. Speeches filled with courage and sadness, lightning-paced contests of muscle and will, and funeral boats burning on the fjords are all rendered in glorious and gruesome detail. Told for more than a thousand years, Beowulf’s heroic saga finds a true home in this graphic novel edition.
Sonny's Blues
James Baldwin - 1957
This collects "Sonny's Blues", "The Rockpile" and "Previous Condition", all taken from Going to Meet the Man (Penguin, 1991).
I Wander'd Lonely as a Cloud
William Wordsworth - 1807
These beautiful images create a parallel story accessible to children: Lonely little Robot doesn't have much to be happy about, working all day in the factory. One day while sadly walking by himself, he follows a bird over a hill, where he finds a field of daffodils. After dancing with them, his spirit is filled with joy. Children will observe the contrast between the dreary, metallic robot world, and the lively, colorful world of the daffodils and nature. They will cheer little Robot for sharing the power of nature with the others, bringing happiness to the once dismal factory. In an effort to have children understand the basic themes of the poem, easily recognizable characters such as robots and animated flowers are used to act out the poetic verse. Bold illustrations and easy-to-read text lend themselves to lap-reading and group story time. Children will relate to the basic emotions (sadness, loneliness, happiness) of the robots, and can be encouraged to think about what cheers them up when they are sad, and to talk about how nature makes them feel. This is the first book in the new Lobster Press series, “Read Me a Poem,” in which classic poetry is given a contemporary artistic twist.
The Canterbury Tales: A Retelling
Peter Ackroyd - 2009
A retelling of The Canterbury Tales
Happy Endings
Margaret Atwood - 1983
The names of characters recur throughout the stories, and the stories reference each other (for example, "everything continues as in 'A'"), challenging narrative conventions. In addition, the story explores themes of domesticity, welfare, and success.
The Knight of the Burning Pestle
Francis Beaumont - 1613
Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
The Romance of Tristan
Béroul
Alan S. Fredrick summarizes missing episodes and includes a translation of 'The Tale of Tristan's Madness.'One of the earliest extant versions of the Tristan and Yseut story, Beroul's French manuscript of The Romance of Tristan dates back to the middle of the twelfth century. It recounts the legend of Tristan, nephew of King Mark of Cornwall, and the king's Irish wife Yseut, who fall passionately in love after mistakenly drinking a potion. Their illicit romance remains secret for many years, but the relentless suspicion of the king's barons and the fading effects of the magic draught eventually lead to tragedy for the lovers. While Beroul's work emphasizes the impulsive and often brutal behaviour of the characters, its sympathetic depiction of two people strug1150gling against their destiny is one of the most powerful versions of this enduringly popular legend.
Paradise Lost
John Milton - 1667
It tells the story of the Fall of Man, a tale of immense drama and excitement, of rebellion and treachery, of innocence pitted against corruption, in which God and Satan fight a bitter battle for control of mankind's destiny. The struggle rages across three worlds - heaven, hell, and earth - as Satan and his band of rebel angels plot their revenge against God. At the center of the conflict are Adam and Eve, who are motivated by all too human temptations but whose ultimate downfall is unyielding love.Marked by Milton's characteristic erudition, Paradise Lost is a work epic both in scale and, notoriously, in ambition. For nearly 350 years, it has held generation upon generation of audiences in rapt attention, and its profound influence can be seen in almost every corner of Western culture.
Joseph Andrews / Shamela
Henry Fielding - 1742
Fielding's far more spirited and sexually honest heroine, by contrast, merely uses coyness and mock modesty as techniques to catch a rich husband. Joseph Andrews, Fielding's first full-length novel, can also be seen as a response to Richardson, as the lascivious Lady Booby sets out to seduce her comically chaste servant Joseph, (himself in love with the much-put-upon Fanny Goodwill). As in Tom Jones, Fielding takes a huge cast of characters out on the road and exposes them to many colourful and often hilarious adventures.