THE PILGRIM SQUIRE

The Pilgrim Squire

The Pilgrim Squire

The invocation of spring with which General Prologue begins is lengthy and formal compared to language of rest of Prologue. The first lines situate story in the particular time and place, but speaker does this in cosmic and cyclical terms, celebrating vitality and richness of spring. This approach gives opening lines the dreamy, timeless, unfocused quality, and it is therefore surprising when narrator reveals that he's going to describe the pilgrimage that he himself took rather than telling the love story. (Treadgold 1997) A pilgrimage is the religious journey undertaken for penance and grace. ...