An original poetic work that brings alive Chaucer’s great love story, illuminating the psychological drama at its heart. The captivating love story of ill-fated Troilus and Criseyde, first popularized by Chaucer’s poem in the 1380s, is one of the most enduring stories of the English language. In A Double Sorrow, award-winning poet Lavinia Greenlaw breathes fresh life into the medieval tale through a series of seven-line stanzas, which mimic the form of Chaucer’s original poem. Set during the siege of Troy, A Double Sorrow is the story of the Trojan hero Troilus and his beloved Criseyde, whose traitorous father defects to the Greeks and persuades them to ask for his daughter in an exchange of prisoners. Troilus suggests that Criseyde flee with him, but she knows she will be universally condemned and instead pretends to submit to the exchange while promising Troilus that she will find a way to return to him within ten days. But once in the company of the Greeks, she soon realizes the impossibility of her promise to Troilus and in despair succumbs to another. In this series of skillfully crafted poetic vignettes, Greenlaw illuminates each small but irrevocable step as these characters argue each other and themselves into and out of love. The result is a breathtaking and shattering read, contemporary and timeless.

Chaucer's masterpiece and one of the greatest narrative poems in English, the story of the lovers Troilus and Criseyde is renowned for its deep humanity and penetrating psychological insight. This new translation into modern English by a major Chaucerian scholar includes an index of the names relating to the Trojan War and an Index of Proverbs.

Chaucer's masterpiece and one of the greatest narrative poems in English, the story of the lovers Troilus and Criseyde is renowned for its deep humanity and penetrating psychological insight. This new translation into modern English by a major Chaucerian scholar includes an index of the names relating to the Trojan War and an Index of Proverbs. - ;`Now listen with good will, as I go straight to my subject matter, in which you may hear the double sorrows of Troilus in his love for Criseyde, and how she forsook him before she died' Like Romeo and Juliet, or Tristan and Iseult, the names of Troilus and Criseyde will always be united: a pair of lovers whose names are inseparable from passion and tragedy. Troilus and Criseyde is Chaucer's masterpiece and was prized for centuries as his supreme achievement. The story of how Troilus and Criseyde discover love and how she abandons him for Diomede after her departure from Troy is dramatically presented in all its comedy and tragic pathos. With its deep humanity and penetrating insight, Troilus and Criseyde is now recognized as one of the finest narrative poems in the English language. This is a new translation into contemporary English of Chaucer's greatest single poem which can be read alongside the Middle English original, or as an accurate and readable version in its own right. -

The editor's lucid introduction, marginal glosses, and explanatory annotations make Troilus and Criseyde easily accessible to students with no prior knowledge of Chaucer or Middle English. Also included is Robert Henryson's Testament of Cresseid, the poignant "sequel" to Troilus and Criseyde from fifteenth-century Scotland. "Criticism" includes ten essays by a diverse group of distinguished Chaucerians, among them C. S. Lewis, E. Talbot Donaldson, Karla Taylor, Lee Patterson, and Jill Mann, that illuminate the major scholarly issues raised by this complex and challenging poem. A Glossary and Selected Bibliography are also included

Chaucer's epic poem of 8,239 lines recounts the tragic love storybetween Troilus and Criseyde during the Siege of Troy. In this regard, some consider this work to be a 'courtly romance' since Homer's original character of Troilus had been developed, during medieval times, to become that of a lover. However, that transformation was not of Chaucer's invention. The elaboration of Troilus' character had first appeared in the twelfth century in Beno�t's de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie - which was the source for Boccaccio's Il Filostrato written in the late 1330s. Nevertheless, Chaucer's adaptation of those source materials was so extensive that Troilus and Criseyde is regarded as a completely new poem.Chaucer's epic is divided into five books. This volume contains Book 4 -in which Troilus and Criseyde are separated.Although suitable for all readers, this edition is designed to meet the particular needs of high school and college/ university students. Here, each odd-numbered page contains Chaucer's original Middle English text printed in a large font. Alongside, there is plenty of room in the wide margin for readers to write brief notes or produce a glossary to define unfamiliar words. Immediately opposite, there are blank ruled pages for students to write their own translation or to make more detailed notes.This volume contains the complete and unabridged text (with line numbers) and a personal study or translation workbook - which means it offers excellent value for money.