Ywympled wel, and on hir heed an hat
As brood as is a bokeler or a terge;
A foot-mantel aboute hir hipes large,
And on hir feet a paire of spores sharpe.
In felaweshipe wel koude she laughe
and carpe.
Chaucer's Wife of Bath seems as rosy and real—and surprising—a person to most readers as a vaudeville queen in a broken-down daisy chain. Last week the lusty Wife and all her fellow travelers went on exhibition in a Manhattan gallery.
The Pilgrims, painted by Polish miniaturist Arthur Szyk for a forthcoming edition of the Canterbury Tales (Heritage Press; $5), seemed a little...
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