and spellings associated with the then-emergent Chancery Standard. In modern prose: When April with its sweet showers has pierced March's drought to the root, bathing every vein in such liquid by whose virtue the flower is engendered, and when Zephyrus with his sweet breath has also enlivened the tender plants in every wood and field, and the young sun is halfway through Aries, and small birds that sleep all night with an open eye make melodies (their hearts so goaded by Nature), then people long to go on pilgrimages, and palmers seek faraway shores and distant saints known in sundry lands, and especially they wend their way to Canterbury from every shire of England to seek the holy blessed martyr, who helped them when they were ill. Gallery of the pilgrims References External links Modern Translation of the General Prologue and Other Resources at eChaucer "Prologue to The Canterbury Tales" – a plain-English retelling for non-scholars. General Prologue Canterbury Tales Canterbury Tales, The