Upton Sinclair, ed. (1878–1968).
The Cry for Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest. 1915. | | | The Preacher
(From “The Canterbury Tales”) |
By Geoffrey Chaucer |
(Early English poet, c.1340–1400) |
| | | THAN peyne I me to strecche forth my necke, | |
| And est and west upon the people I bekke, | |
| As doth a pigeon, syttyng on a loft; | |
| Myn hondes and my tonge move so oft, | |
| That it is joye to see my busynesse. | 5 |
| Of avarice and of suche cursedness | |
| Is al my preching, for to make hem free | |
| To give their pence, and namely unto me.… | |
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| Therfor my theem is yit, and ever was, | |
| The root of evils is cupidity. | 10 |
| Thus can I preche agayn the same vice | |
| Which that I use, and that is avarice. | |
| But though myself be gilty in the same, | |
| Yit can I maken other folks to blame. | | | | |
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