Here begins the Canterbury Tales.

Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote, 
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,

And bathed every veyne in swich licóur

Of which vertú engendred is the flour;

Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth

Inspired hath in every holt and heeth

The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne

Hath in the Ram his halfe cours y-ronne,

And smale foweles maken melodye,

That slepen al the nyght with open ye,

So priketh hem Natúre in hir corages,

Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,

And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,

To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;

And specially, from every shires ende

Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,

The hooly blisful martir for to seke,

That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.

We have the small birds making melodies, the chickadees at least, and the goldfinches and a few red wing blackbirds. March, however, was not a dry month. No. And we have a lot of snow not goon yete up here, although the town is pretty bare, bar a few piles from ploughing. 

We were longen to wend - not to a straunge stronde but in fact to the city and the book store - but got stopped short by illness. Oh well, it will all still be there when the Ram has run his full course. 

I love hearing this with the right pronunciation, as I still remember it from a class more than half a century ago. And I love looking at the language and wondering things like how we got from soote and swete to sweet. Do not mutter about umlaut and ablate shifts and all that. I wrote a test on that stuff, passed it and promptly erased it from my memory.

Yes, indeed. Going slightly nuts here. Waiting for the mud to stiffen up and the grader to make our road at least passable.

For those of you who were educated in a less hidebound school than mine, 

      Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote

                  When April with its sweet-smelling showers        

      The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,

                 Has pierced the drought of March to the root,

        And bathed every veyne in swich licour

                 And bathed every vein (of the plants) in such liquid        

    Of which vertu engendred is the flour;

                 By which power the flower is created;

        Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth

                 When the West Wind also with its sweet breath,

        Inspired hath in every holt and heeth

                 In every wood and field has breathed life into

        The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne

                 The tender new leaves, and the young sun

        Hath in the Ram his half cours yronne,

                 Has run half its course in Aries,

        And smale foweles maken melodye,

                 And small fowls make melody,

         That slepen al the nyght with open ye

                 Those that sleep all the night with open eyes

         (So priketh hem Nature in hir corages),

                 (So Nature incites them in their hearts),

      Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,

                 Then folk long to go on pilgrimages,

        And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,

                 And professional pilgrims to seek foreign shores,

       To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;

                 To distant shrines, known in various lands;

        And specially from every shires ende

                 And specially from every shire's end

      Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende,

                 Of England to Canterbury they travel,

         The hooly blisful martir for to seke,

                 To seek the holy blessed martyr,

        That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.

                 Who helped them when they were sick.

Mind you, soote could also be 'soft', in context. 

Thinking about the men of Sodom - Genesis 19.

 A Facebook friend recently posted a discussion of this Bible story. And I sat shaking my head because I had never put the pieces together. So, here is a response.

Sodomy (/ˈsɒdəmi/) or buggery (British English) is generally anal or oral sex between people, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal (bestiality), but it may also mean any non-procreative sexual activity. Originally, the term sodomy, which is derived from the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Book of Genesis, was commonly restricted to anal sex. Wikipedia

Explanation of Definition from Wikipedia.

Two angels are invited by Lot to take refuge with his family for the night. The men of Sodom surround Lot's house and demand that he bring the messengers out so that they may "know" them (the expression includes sexual connotations). Lot protests that the "messengers" are his guests and offers the Sodomites his virgin daughters instead, but then they threaten to "do worse" with Lot than they would with his guests.

King James Version of Genesis 19

 4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: 5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, 7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. 8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them.

 New International Version

 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”

6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.”

 

More than you ever wanted to know? A lot more than I knew. I do not remember when I learned that the term ‘sodomy’ meant anal sex.  But here’s the weird bit. I did not associate the term with why, in the Bible story of the destruction of Sodom, the action of the men of Sodom was a demand for homosexual activity. Yes, I knew that the term ‘to know’ generally meant sexual activity. But for some reason, I never put the pieces together. Just as a final comment. It amuses me that the men are described as asking for the angels to ‘have sex with them’. But the daughters have never ‘slept with a man’. Euphemism weirdly applied. At least King James is evenly translated.