Why Geoffrey Chaucer Is Known As The Father Of English Poetry 

Chaucer is the eminent principal as well as he is worldwide known to be one of the best poet in the history of poetry. Chaucer being a father of poetry, his skills and view points on human perspectives are such that no other writer can compete him. His works are such that it have more effect even to these days as his distinction are actively based upon the ability of notifying and accounts are remarkable as he is the man of poetry. His modern poems are practically distinguished which are determined through the spectator of middle English. “If Shakespeare stands apart as our greatest, then it is John Milton who must dispute with Chaucer the honour of the second place. ” ( Apperson, 1954)

Through his experiences, Chaucer was able to represent society as a whole where not many authors could not match up his level and it was many years before Shakespeare came and was able to represent society like Chaucer. Chaucer was a civil servant and he served several jobs which made him too busy to even have time for his family but still he found time to write his master pieces. Fourteen century was a century where many disastrous events and social changes took place in various ways and it changed England drastically but surprisingly Chaucer mostly passed these events in his writings. He lived through a clamorous times. Chaucer was among those writers whose popularity in English literature continued throughout fourteen to twenty-first century. ( Boitani, 2003)Chaucer produced several master pieces among which “ The Canterbury Tales” was the best known in the English literature in his times as well as to this modern world. This tale portrays a story with his poetic skills. The story is about pilgrimage in which pilgrims pay homage to Thomas Becket at a place called Canterbury. This story contains stories within stories. The inside stories are about individual travellers. (Stephen, 2014) He also produced many other texts which are no less famous than Canterbury tales. Some of his other works are ‘ The Book of Duchess’, ‘The Parliament of Fouls’, ‘ Troilus and Criseyde’ and ‘Roman de la Rose’ to mention a few, Chaucer made countless contribution in English literature. Chaucer wrote many poems at the same time he wrote scientific as well as philosophical thesis. Chaucer had been buried under ‘Poet’s Corner’ as he was the greatest writer during his time in the medieval period.

There are certain reasons for calling him as the father of English poetry and out of which one reason could be that in Chaucer’s era, England got no specific language to communicate rather they spoke different native dialects, which made it difficult for them to communicate. Even with difficult situation he did not fail to write in his own style and language. With his popularity and the increase in the usage of his language, today people use the updated version of Chaucer’s dialect. He shaped an English literature giving a global claim in this modern era of today as well. His poem ‘The Canterbury Tales’ was his time as well as in the greatest to his delineate situations and persona as well as the historical precision and social outlook of the individual person. This poem not only includes humorous romance but also provide us with viewpoint about the way of living of middle age society. Chaucer was renowned poet for all times because he wrote dramas, stories and poems based on way of life during his time instead of having his travellers narrate stories. He is also known as world’s first short story writer. His stories showcased different aspects of his personalities which included the blue Chaucer, literary Chaucer and funny Chaucer. His stories were mostly based on his moods and personalities which brought up many well written poems and stories. Likewise, he invented character in such a way that they are nasty, foolish, arrogant and funny to make his folk tales more realistic and legit. He also developed form of rhyming in his stories and poems which also inspired Shakespeare and was adopted centuries later. Chaucer was a man with realistic experiences as he served three kings, lived through times of war and also survived plagues ( Black death) and various political and social mayhems. Because of all these experiences, he was able to contribute several literary pieces in the field of English literature which gave him the title ‘ Father of English Poetry’.

No other writer was known for perfect variety and substantial amount of work as much as Geoffrey Chaucer does in the English literature. Chaucer skilfully utilized his life experience and intelligence to depict the picture of life in it’s entirety which only few writer dare to challenge it. He was authority to both written and spoken aspects of English literature as he was grown up with it. Chaucer’s fame in poetry was limitless and expansive. It has travelled far beyond his own time and even vibrant till this day.