Chaucer and Langland as Religious Writers

L and Chaucer, though both poets of religious experience, are very different as religious writers. Chaucer is an affective poet, a master of pathos, interested in miracles, pilgrimages, saints, and all human religious reactions, somewhat distanced from his audience. L is a witty poet, probing the central Christian mysteries through Bible and liturgy and drawing his audience into the poem. Both see the church as a community of sinners called to redemption; both value the poor and see earthly life as temporary, between heaven and hell. [SMCD]