What time is it?

The basis of the Canterbury Tales, as you may know, is the journey of a fascinating group of pilgrims who travel from London to Canterbury. The travelers are given a night's bed and board in "the Tabard" before they set out. Chaucer puts himself into the story as one of the pilgrims. He is alone in the Tabard and anticipating his journey to Canterbury when, as if by coincidence, a large group arrives.

At night was come into that hostelry
Well nine-and-twenty in a company,
Of sundry folk, by chance come together
In fellowship, and pilgrims were they all,
That toward Canterbury would ride.   (A 23-27)

In lines of the General Prologue, Chaucer gives an account of the arrival. He tells us it was late when the nine-and-twenty companions appeared. He takes immediate interest in these folks. By sunset, he has spoken with every one of them. He says this with one information-packed sentence:

Shortly, when the sun had gone to rest
I had spoken with everyone of them
So that I was of their fellowship immediately    (A 30-32)

This is followed directly by a plan for the morning.

And we agreed early to rise
To make our way, as I will describe to you.    (A 33-34)

What seems a heading-for-sleep is not. Instead, Chaucer tells us that he will take this opportunity--as if time stands still--to describe each member of the company, and proceeds to set forth an entertaining cast of characters the like of which had never been seen (or heard) in English literature before. With many intimate details, we will come to know these pilgrims. More about that later.

But before thinking of the pilgrims, I am confused and flip the page back and then forward again to make sure that line A 23 says they arrived at night, and seven lines later it says that when the sun had gone to rest (that is, by the time the sun had set), Chaucer had spoken to each of the travelers. If we agree that "night" means night, the indications of time are backwards. On the other hand, if we explain that "night," in this case, really means evening, we have the amazing accomplishment of the poet speaking to, and becoming acquainted with, each of the twenty-nine individuals within minutes. The time elapsed would be the brief period between evening and the moment when the sun disappears below the horizon.
     My feeling is that "night" means night, and the references to time are actually given in reverse order--night and then sunset. We will find that Time, in this adventure, will never be what we expect. Chaucer will soon see to it that the whole idea of time will be a blur.

The efficiency with which the poet gets to the heart of his subject, the economy of words used to reach their time of departure, is remarkable--but misleading.
     Chaucer makes the acquaintance of each traveler and all agree to rise early next morning. We would expect that the venture would begin immediately following "we agreed early to rise to make our way, as I will describe to you." But our expectation of the progress of linear time is side-stepped once again. In spite of this quickly-to-bed-and-early-to-rise impression, what was originally said in two lines (A 31-32) will now be expanded to six hundred seventy-one lines. Chaucer, while he has "time and space" (A 35), is ready to tell us all about his new-found friends.
     The narrator's extended monologue is some of the most entertaining reading in the English language. But while we are being entertained, a problem is developing: We have been cut adrift. Is this the same night? Or is Chaucer speaking from a time in the future looking back? Is he talking to us from the Tabard, or telling us recollections of bygone days? It's no longer clear. We are losing touch with when or where we are.
     And, his ultimate time trick, when the 600 some lines telling what he knows of the travelers is finished, the Host enters to serve their meal. We are once more at the arrival scene. The owner of the Tabard has just made his initial appearance!
     The poet makes time expand, contract, invert, or even stand still. He surrounds us with the conviviality of the Tabard, or immerses us in the adventures of the road. Within a few lines, we are no longer functioning in any specific time or space. And we accept the fantasy--the uncertainty--without objection.