November 27th, 2008

Pryme temps full of frostes whit, And May devoide of al delit.
-Geoffrey Chaucer

I realise I got the time of year wrong for Chaucer's quote: "Pryme temps" as in "printemps" as in French for "Spring"—definitely not late November. But I read those Middle English words and they rang so beautifully in my mind.

Actually, come to think of it, I'm not even of the same mind as Chaucer when it comes to the frost and a barren Spring being devoid of delight. Truth be told, I'm very much of the mind that a sunny warm day is not instantly a beautiful day and the cold wet or snowy (drizzly, slushy, or grey) day is instant misery.

The changing of the seasons is my delight. I enjoy the sun when I haven't seen it for a day or two, and I enjoy the rain when it hasn't dropped in a few days too. It's the variation and change that attracts me. I'm not instantly drawn to the sun, and people interpret that as my being a miserly, grumpy, misanthropic stick in the mud. The idea being that if you aren't forcing a smile onto your face in knee-jerk reaction to sunny weather, you are weird and different and don't belong on the beach with the rest of the sun worshippers.

But that's not how I read this line of Chaucer at all. Consider the times: It was the Middle Ages when people didn't have well-made warm clothes and central heating. Rain meant getting wet, not simply needing to remember the umbrella. Snow meant getting that serious kind of cold that compromises the quality and duration of life.

Chaucer's was a time quite connected to the weather, and I suppose that is why this line appealed to me so much: When it is "whit" and "devoide of al delit", I put on my heavy coat and turn up the heat in my car. Chaucer and co. got cold and miserable walking through the mud and slush. Those lines point out to me the great difference, and the understanding of that difference carries me to another time—his time. I don't pine for it, I am transported back to the Middle Ages. A little window into Chaucer's world.

Not bad for twelve words.

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