The Oxford companion to Chaucer

the long version

"Nicknamed the Father of English Poetry, Geoffrey Chaucer has long inspired great writers, including Shakespeare. He continues to connect with contemporary audiences through his surprisingly modern depections of human behavior. Articles, such as those on emotion, memory, men, and women, explore how well he knew what made his characters tick. Distinguished scholars writing for readers from high school on up clarify Chaucer's literary devices, language, versification, cultural contexts, and other hurdles to understanding in over 2,000 entries."--"Reference that rocks," American Libraries, May 2005.