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 Cha