The Visioner's Tale facts for kids

The Visioner's Tale is a special, lesser-known story written by Geoffrey Chaucer. He was a famous English poet from the 14th century. Unlike his very popular work, The Canterbury Tales, only parts of "The Visioner's Tale" survived over time. Because it's incomplete, you usually won't find it in modern books of Chaucer's stories.

What is The Visioner's Tale?

"The Visioner's Tale" is a poem that was never finished. It's like finding only a few pages of a book. Historians and scholars have worked to put together the pieces that were left. One person from Denmark studied these parts and tried to create the story as it might have been.

Who Was Geoffrey Chaucer?

Geoffrey Chaucer lived a long time ago, from about 1343 to 1400. He is one of the most important figures in English literature. He helped make English a respected language for writing, instead of Latin or French. His most famous work is "The Canterbury Tales." This is a collection of stories told by a group of pilgrims traveling to Canterbury.

Why is This Tale Little-Known?

Many old writings can get lost or damaged over hundreds of years. For "The Visioner's Tale," only fragments remained. This means we don't have the full beginning, middle, or end. Because it's so incomplete, it's not as famous as Chaucer's other works. It's a bit like a puzzle with many missing pieces.

A Glimpse of the Poem

Even though it's incomplete, the surviving parts of "The Visioner's Tale" give us a peek into Chaucer's writing style. Here is a small part of the poem, as it was put together from the remaining pieces:

My lady's touch upon the lute is light,
yet she weaves the streams of melody,
with such profound synchicity,
that the river of time spills into dream,
into that ocean of unspoken promise,
where lives primordial the memory of future things,
here vision and voice and sound,
and meaning emerge at last as one.

This small section shows how Chaucer used beautiful language. It talks about music, dreams, and deep thoughts. It makes us wonder what the full story might have been about.