Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,…
So do the Pilgrimaes go afoote
No really, that isn’t how it goes but that is how my addled brain remembered it the other day. The real Canterbury Tales: Prologue (just in case you have misplaced your compliation of Middle English tales) can be found online at Bartleby.com.
My memory isn’t what it used to be.
I think I remember close approximations of things – and my mind fills in the blanks – usually with silly or irreverent placeholders. It may be a habit I picked up from a wonderful book called Shrinklits. Still gives me the giggles. “Beowulf: Monster Grendel’s tastes are planish. Breakfast? Just a couple Danish.” I get the essence of the thing – it’s just that the details are a bit fuzzy.