Chaucerian Moral and Social Commentary in the Canterbury Tales As the first great English poet, Geoffrey Chaucer has etched out a tradition of English literary brilliance. From stem to Stern, Chaucer’s cheerful and diverse poetry stands apart from other British writers. Between colorful and humorous verse and tale, Chaucer creates a picture of man in his society. The Canterbury tales, Chaucer’s defining work, integrates Chaucerian whit, paradox and color into a quilt of medieval social strata. Chaucer played not the part of the poet Baird but of the watchful investigator. The Canterbury Tales represent Chaucer’s investigation into the social and moral cont