The Canterbury Rap

The BBC reports that a rap artiste has translated the works of 14th century writer Geoffrey Chaucer into hip-hop.

I haven’t heard it yet, but I can imagine it sounds something like this:

Yo yo this is gangsta author Mr Jeff C
Wanta tell you about all my homies
Da Miller, Da Wife and the Prioress
And others who wanted God ta bless

It all started in April
That lovely spring
With showers so sweet
You could almost sing

We each told a story
Some more, some less
Some good, some poor,
Some better and best

I never really got to complete my tale
But that’s cool, like 2Pac and B.I.G.
Cos I’m already dead
But my works live on, all in ya heads.

Yes, I loved being a Lit student…

Update: To read the Tales in the original Middle English and Modern English, try this site. The website of the rap artiste has exceeded its bandwidth (a happy problem) so I guess we’ll try again later.