Excerpt from Selections From the Poetical Works of Geoffry Chaucer, Vol. 1: With a Concise Life of That Poet, and Remarks Illustrative of His Genius If our reading pnblic - we do not merely mean those who gorge them selves with an unlimited number of Novels and Tales per annum; nor that fastidious circle who lisp the monthly twaddle of our magazine literature - if these but knew of the many rare gems that might here be had, not by patient delving in the coarse and flinty earth, but for the mere plucking from fair trees, from whose bonghs they hang in rich and tempting clusters; if they knew that Nature never set forth the earth in so rich tapestry as divers old poets have done; neither with so plea sant rivers, fruitful trees, sweet-smelling dowers, nor whatsoever may make the too-much loved Earth more lovely z! Then perhaps the eager rush for possession and enjoyment would be an amlale apology for the present apathetic ignorance. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.