Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 7.djvu/57

 GEOFFREY CHAUCER 31 trived to get introduced at Court, where his winning face and tongue quickly brought him into favor with the royal family. John of Gaunt, King Edward's third son, who was then not the "time-honored Lancaster" of after-days, but a gay young prince, took a special fancy to Chaucer. Prince and subject were, without doubt, well agreed in the way they liked to amuse themselves, and prob- ably they carried on many a wild frolic together. This early intimacy ripened into a solid friendship, which lasted throughout their lives. After a while John of Gaunt determined to become a steady married man. A rich bride was found for him in Blanche, the heiress of Lancaster. She was a gentle lady, who yielded up readily to her princely husband the revenues and the other privileges which were hers as a countess in her own right ; and who, after a few years of quiet married life, spent chiefly at her northern castle, passed away softly from the earth, without dreaming that her son was to be the future king of England, and that her family title was in after-days to become the watch- word on many a bloody field of civil strife. In honor of Prince John's marriage, Chaucer wrote "The Parliament of Fowls," and in memory of Blanche's death " The Book of the Duchess." Chau- cer seems to have had a true reverence and affection for the sweet household virtues and the wifely truth of this lady. The remembrance of her may perhaps have first suggested to him the image of Griselda. These two poems, connected as they were with the royal family, confirmed Chaucer's reputation as a writer of verse ; and men and women began to point him out to each other and talk about him. In those days, however, it was quite impossible for any man to make lit- erature his profession, and all his life, therefore, he could only take poetry as the business of his leisure hours. Then, no doubt, he really worked at it more than at the employment by which he lived ; and no doubt, also, as he went about through the world, he was always learning something for his art. If this had not been the case, the name of Chaucer would not be what it now is in English literature. At about this period Edward the Third set off for one of his many warlike expeditions into France. Young Chaucer, who was ready for everything, and who perhaps thought he should like to see a little of a soldier's life, entered the army and followed the king. But the young soldier's experiences were not to be all of nights spent beneath clear starlit skies, and cheery communing with his comrades, and the eager glow of battle. Through an unlucky chance of war Chaucer was taken prisoner. His prepossessing manners, and his knowledge of the French language and customs, gained during his stay in Paris probably, made his captivity a very easy one. But he had to sit still with folded hands while his countrymen were fight- ing, and in this season of forced inactivity he had time to repent past follies and to make good resolves for the future. At length, through an exchange of pris- oners, the poet was set free. After that he never tried a soldier's life again, hav- ing most likely had quite enough of it. Soon after his return to England, he got an appointment about the Court which brought him a settled income. He now began to think of making him-