ABSTRACT
The Parliament of Fowls opens with one of the best-known lines from Chaucer’s work: ‘The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne’ (PF 1). In the original Latin it had meant essentially that life passes quickly and is gone before we have time truly to master any part of it. However, Chaucer has a very specific kind of ‘craft’ in mind: https://www.niso.org/standards/z39-96/ns/oasis-exchange/table">
Th’assay so hard, so sharp the conquerynge,
attempt
The dredful joye alwey that slit so yerne:
fearful; slides away; eagerly
Al this mene I by Love, that my felynge
by this I mean; consciousness
Astonyeth with his wonderful werkynge
stuns; work
(PF 2–5)
