His coomb was redder than the fyn coral,
And batailled as it were a castel wal;
His byle was blak, and as the jeet it shoon;
Lyk asure were his legges and his toon;
His nayles whitter than the lylye flour,
And lyk the burned gold was his colour.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Nun’s Priest’s Tale. The magnificent rooster Chauntecleer is quite the dandy. In his physical description the same words could be used to describe a noble knight or warrior. We get splendid similes like "batailled as it were a castel wal," "fyn coral," "asure," "burned gold," "lily flour, "as the jeet it shoon." The vain and handsome Chauntecleer is brilliantly detailed: fine coral comb battlemented like a castle wall, azure legs, lily white spurs, bill shining like jet stone, and plumage of burnished gold. He is the very image of a royal rooster.