The Wife of Bath
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455 | A worthy woman from beside Bath city |
Was with us, somewhat deaf, which was a pity. | |
In making cloth she showed so great a bent | |
She bettered those of Ypres and of Ghent.° | |
In all the parish not a dame dared stir | |
460 | Towards the altar steps in front of her, |
And if indeed they did, so wrath was she | |
As to be quite put out of charity. | |
Her kerchiefs were of finely woven ground;° | |
I dared have sworn they weighed a good ten pound, | |
465 | The ones she wore on Sunday, on her head. |
Her hose were of the finest scarlet red | |
And gartered tight; her shoes were soft and new. | |
Bold was her face, handsome, and red in hue. | |
A worthy woman all her life, what’s more | |
470 | She’d had five husbands, all at the church door, |
Apart from other company in youth; | |
No need just now to speak of that, forsooth. | |
And she had thrice been to Jerusalem, | |
Seen many strange rivers and passed over them; | |
475 | She’d been to Rome and also to Boulogne, |
St. James of Compostella and Cologne, | |
And she was skilled in wandering by the way. | |
She had gap-teeth,° set widely, truth to say. | |
Easily on an ambling horse she sat | |
480 | Well wimpled° up, and on her head a hat |
As broad as is a buckler or a shield; | |
She had a flowing mantle that concealed | |
Large hips, her heels spurred sharply under that. | |
In company she liked to laugh and chat | |
485 | And knew the remedies for love’s mischances, |
An art in which she knew the oldest dances. |