Poetry: Parlement of Foules (Parliament of Fowls)

Overview

Geoffrey Chaucer's Parlement of Foules (Parliament of Fowls), composed about 1382, frames a witty and lyrical dream-vision in which a gathering of birds convenes to choose mates. The poem opens in the familiar spring setting of April, with the narrator falling asleep and being guided by a dream to a temple of Venus where Nature presides over the rites of courtship. The central action is an elaborate parliamentary scene in which birds of different ranks plead, compete, and counsel before love and choice are settled.
The poem blends courtly love conventions with comedic observation, moving effortlessly between elevated philosophical argument and playful satire. The dream setting allows Chaucer to stage debates about desire, reason, and social order while retaining a light, rhapsodic tone that celebrates springtime renewal and the pleasures, and frustrations, of love.

Narrative and Structure

The poem is cast in the medieval dream-vision tradition: a grieving narrator seeks solace in literature, drops into sleep, and experiences an allegorical encounter. Chaucer uses regular stanzaic form and smooth, songlike rhythms to carry the narrative, alternating description, dialogue, and rhetorical flourish. The scene in the garden of Venus culminates in a formal "parliament, " complete with a presiding authority, advocates, and judgment.
Chaucer arranges the voices of the birds so that social distinctions and rhetorical types emerge naturally. A noble eagle makes an eloquent claim for a particular female, while other birds, common or comically grotesque, offer objections, counsel, or bawdy commentary. The dream breaks at the end, leaving the narrator to wake with the ambiguous sense of love's irresolution.

Major Characters and Debate

Nature and Venus function as institutional authorities who set the rules for mating and preside over the assembly, providing a moral and ceremonial frame. The noble eagle stands as a paragon of courtly devotion, arguing in a high style for his chosen mate and invoking ideals of honor and lineage. Other birds, such as geese, cranes, and various fowl, fill the roles of petitioners, jurors, and hecklers, their speeches revealing a spectrum of motives from lofty love to crude appetite.
The rhetorical contest raises questions about choice, merit, and free will. Is love determined by status, fortune, or individual affection? Should the assembly enforce social hierarchies or defer to personal inclination? Chaucer stages these tensions without delivering a neat verdict, letting satire and sympathy coexist in the proceedings.

Themes and Imagery

The poem centers on love and choice, exploring how desire is shaped by social rank, rhetorical persuasion, and the natural season. Springtime imagery, blossoms, birdsong, and the renewing power of April, underscores the poem's celebration of courtship, while legal and political metaphors (assembly, judgment, petition) give love an institutional cast. Allegory operates on multiple levels: birds easily stand for human types, but they also allow Chaucer to interrogate human folly and wisdom with comic distance.
Chaucer's language is rich in rhetorical play: mock-legal diction, learned allusions, and sly burlesque appear alongside genuine lyric warmth. The poem's humor is humane rather than merely derisive, and its vivid natural scenes remain among Chaucer's most affecting evocations.

Political Resonances and Legacy

Beyond romance and comedy, the poem has political undertones. The model of parliamentary deliberation and the question of legitimate authority invite readings that link the fable to contemporary governance and the tensions of Chaucer's time. Whether intended as direct commentary or as a subtle backdrop, the political coloration enriches the poem's balance of civic and amorous themes.
Parlement of Foules became influential for its imaginative fusion of dream-vision and civic satire and for popularizing the association of St. Valentine's Day with romantic choice. Its blend of irony, rhetorical skill, and compassionate observation secures its place among Chaucer's most approachable and enduring poems.