1. Printable Version
2. Download PDF
3. Ask a Question

The Five Guildsmen

A haberdasher and a carpenter,
An arras-maker, dyer, and weaver
Were with us, clothed in similar livery,
All of one sober, great fraternity.
Their gear was new and well adorned it was;(5)
Their weapons were not cheaply trimmed with brass,
But all with silver; chastely made and well
Their girdles and their pouches too, I tell.
Each man of them appeared a proper burgess
To sit in guildhall on a high dais.(10)
And each of them, for wisdom he could span,
Was fitted to have been an alderman;
For chattels they’d enough, and, too, of rent;
To which their good wives gave a free assent,
Or else for certain they had been to blame.(15)
It’s good to hear “Madam” before one’s name,
And go to church when all the world may see,
Having one’s mantle borne right royally.

• craftsmen organized themselves into guilds; see glossary
• hat-maker
• curtain
• uniform
• citizen of a town
• platform
• local official

1. Notes
2. Reading Pointers for Sharper Insights
3. The General Prologue
   1. The General Prologue
   2. The Knight
   3. The Squire
   4. The Yeoman
   5. The Prioress
   6. The Monk
   7. The Friar
   8. The Merchant
   9. The Clerk
   10. The Five Guildsmen
   11. The Cook
   12. The Salior
   13. The Physician
   14. The Wife of Bath
   15. The Parson
   16. The Plowman
   17. The Miller
   18. The Manciple
   19. The Reeve
   20. The Summoner
   21. The Pardoner
4. The Knight’s Tale
5. The Miller’s Prologue
6. The Miller’s Tale
7. The Wife of Bath’s Prologue
8. The Tale of the Wife of Bath
9. The Pardoner’s Tale
10. The Nun’s Priest’s Prologue
11. The Nun’s Priest’s Tale
12. Copyright