Troilus and Cressida [Paperback]

Often called the first great English novel,Troilus and Cressida, a tragic love story set during the siege of Troy, is Chaucer’s masterpiece. Troilus, a valiant warrior, is scornful of love until he catches a glimpse of Cressida. With the help of his friend and her uncle Pandarus, Troilus wins Cressida over. But their happiness is destroyed when, summoned to a Greek camp, Cressida seeks the protection of one Diomede and ultimately betrays Troilus.“Chaucer’s greatest poem.”—C. S. LewisGeorge Philip Krapp(1872–1934) was a renowned authority on Anglo-Saxon.

Peter G. Beidleris a professor of English at Lehigh University and editor ofThe Wife of Bathand, with Elizabeth Biebel,Chaucer’s Wife of Bath’s PrologueandTale: An Annotated Bibliography.

Cindy Vittois a professor of English at Rowan University and author ofThe Virtuous Pagan in Middle English Literatureand the co-editor ofThe Rusted Hauberk: Feudal Ideals of Order and Their Decline.Book I

The Temple Door

The double sorrow of Troilus to tell,

Unhappy son of Priam, king of Troy,

And how he fared, when first in love he fell,

From woe to weal, then back again from joy,

Until we part my time I shall employ.

Tisiphone, now help me to endite

These woful lines, that weep e'en as I write!

On thee I call, Goddess malevolent,

Thou cruel Fury, grieving ever in pain!

Help me, who am the sorrowful instrument10

That lovers use their sorrows to complain;

For truly this is not a saying vain,

A gloomy man should have a gloomy mate,

And faces sad, those who sad tales relate.

For I to serve Love's servants ever try,

Yet dare not seek, for my unlikeliness,

The aid of Love, although for love I die,

So far am I from prospect of success.

But yet if this may make thel#A