“Truth” is a short poem by the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Often referred to as the father of English literature, Chaucer is best known today for The Canterbury Tales, a sequence of tales told by pilgrims fleeing the plague. However, during his life, “Truth” may have been one of his most widely read works. The poem survives in 26 separate manuscripts. Given that the majority of medieval manuscripts have been lost, we can assume that there were many more copies circulating. In contrast, another now-famous poem by Chaucer, “To Rosamond,” survives in only one copy.
Chaucer was born c. 1342 and died in 1400 in London. Beyond that, we can’t know for sure when “Truth” was written. One scribe who coped “Truth” claimed it was written on Chaucer’s deathbed, but scholars have questioned the veracity of this statement; the scribe may have simply wished to make the poem he was copying appear more important. The poem is addressed to Sir Philip de la Vache, a nobleman, and the son-in-law of Chaucer’s friend Sir Lewis Clifford. La Vache lost his offices between 1386 and 1389, but then returned to royal favor. It’s possible that the poem was written in those difficult years—it advises the nobleman not to despair—but it may also be retrospective, instructing the nobleman to learn from his experiences and avoid trusting in the fickle court.
The poem advises the nobleman not to become fixated on his worldly fortune. It argues that attempting to climb his way to the top of the hierarchy will make him a worse person, and that working to change the system itself is futile. Instead, he should see himself as a visitor on earth whose true home is heaven. He should thus turn to God for help, rather than relying on himself or other noblemen for assistance in this life. Although written to an individual, the poem addresses universal problems of truth, injustice, and success, and as such also appeals to a broader audience. Indeed, even when the poem was first written, Chaucer probably had a general audience in mind, as indicated by the poem’s lack of specific allusions to Philip’s circumstances, and its widespread reproduction during the Middle Ages and later.
