ABSTRACT
Medieval audiences, in any case, would seem to have been interested chiefly in the story and less in the personality of its poet. The interactions of Geoffrey Chaucer public and poetic career are more intangible. Chaucer, therefore, had to memorize, but even so his memory was clearly remarkable, and it served him in good stead throughout his poetic career. From 1370 to 1386, therefore, Chaucer was a successful diplomat and civil servant, and in his poetry new Italian influences supplemented the French conventions noticeable from the beginning of his writing. A manuscript of Trotlus and Criseyde, at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, has a frontispiece showing Chaucer reading his poetry to what looks like a courtly audience. In poetry meant for oral delivery, on the other hand, the poet is one of themselves as he gradually unfolds his tale to his listeners.
