literary terms韵律 RHYME
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1.Ballad:In more exact literary terminology, a ballad is a narrative poem consisting of quatrains of iambic tetrameter altering with iambic trimeter. Common traits of the ballad are that: the beginning is often abrupt; the story is told through dialogue and action; the language is simple or "folksy"; the theme is often tragic; the ballad contraints a refrain repeated several times. The ballad became popular in England in the late 14th century and was adopted by many writers. rhyme: abcb2.Romance(传奇文学): was the most prevailing kind of literature of the upper class in feudal England in the Medieval Ages. It is a long composition in verse or in prose which describes the life and chivalric adventures of a noble hero. The central character of romances is the knight, a man of noble birth skilled in the use of weapons. Some romances also deal with legendary, supernatural, or amorous subjects and characters.3.Humanism:Humansim suggests a devotion to those studies supposed to promote human culture most effectively---in particular, those dealing with the life, thought, language, and literature of ancient Greece and Rome;It proclaimed that man is the most important noble creature in the world; the goal of life is to enjoy oneself in this present world instead afterlife;According to humanists, both man and world are hindered only by externalchecks from infinite improvement;Man could mould the world according to his desires, and attain happiness by removing all external checks by the exercise of reason;4.Renaissance: The word means rebirth or revival;It is commonly applied to the movement or period in western civilization, which marks the transition from the medieval to the modern world;It first sprang up in Italy in the 14th century and gradually spread all over Europe;The Renaissance indicates a revival of classical arts and sciences after the dark ages of medieval obscurantism;They held their cheif interest no in ecclesiastical knowledge, but in man, his environment and doings and his brave fight for the emancipation of man from the tyranny of the church and religious dogmas;Because in the ancient Greek and Roman mythology were found the ideas of universal love, respect to human beings and approval of man's power, ability and knowledge;In short, man became the center of the world instead of God as upheld in the Middle Ages;The movement is a great revolution carried out in the 14th to the middle 17th century Europe.It broke the chain and bondage of feudal and theological ties and brought human wisdom and capacity into full play.5.Enlightenment:also called the neoclassic movement, thephilosophical and artistic movement growing out of the Renaissance and continuing until the 19th century. The Enlightenment was an optimistic belief that humanity could improve itself by applying logic and reason to all things.It rejected untested beliefs, superstition, and the "barbarism" of the earlier medieval period, and embraced the literary, architectural, and artistic forms of the Greek-Roman world.Enlightenment thinkers were enhanced by the perfection of geometry and mathematics, and by all things harmonious and balanced. Typically, these Enlightenment writers would use satire to ridicule what they felt were illogical errors in government, social custom, and religious belief.6.Romanticism:The term refers to the literary and artistic movement of the late 18th and early 19th century. Romanticism rejected the earlier philosophy of the Enlightenment, which stressed that logic and reason were the best response humans had in the face of cruelty, stupidity, superstition and barbarism. Instead, the Romantics asserted that reliance upon emotion and natural passions provided a valid and powerful means of knowing and a reliable guide to ethics and living. The Romantic movement typically asserts the unique nature of the individual, the privileged status of imagination and fancy, the value ofspontaneity over "artifice" and "convention," the human need for emotional outlets, the rejection of civilized corruption, and a desire to return to natural primitivism and escape the spiritual destruction of urban life. Their writings are often set in rural, or Gothic settings and they show an obsessive concern with "innocent" characters---children, young lovers and animals.7.Sonnet: a poem consisting of 14 lines, with rhymes arranged according to one or other of certain definite schemes, of which the Petrarchan and the Elizabethan are the principal, namely: ①abba abba, followed by two, or three, other rhymes in the remaining six lines, with a pause in the thought after the octave;②abab cdcd efef gg. The sonnets of Shakespeare are in the latter form;The sonnet was introduced to England by Wyatt and developed by Surry and was thereafter widely used. Most of them are amatory in nature, and contain a certain narrative development.。
Literary Terms1.Renaissance: As an artistic movement, Renaissance refers to a period inEuropean history between 14th and 17th centuries during which the discovering and reading of ancient Greek and Roman classics led to the flowering of painting, sculpture, architecture and so on. It first started in Italy and then spreaded all over Europe.2.Sonnet:The term “sonnet” derives from the Latin sonitus (meaning “sound”,“song”) The ordinary sonnet consists of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameters with considerable variations in rhyme scheme. There are three basic sonnet forms: The Italian or the Petrarchan Sonnet , The Spencerian sonnet and The English or the Shakespearean sonnet.3. English Romanticism: English literary romanticism is believed to date fromthe publication of Wordsworth and Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads (1798). In the preface to the second edition of that influential work (1800), Wordsworth stated his belief that poetry results from “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”It focuses on the individual self, on the writer’s personal reaction to life.Other Representatives include such poets as G. Byron, P.Shelley, R. Burns, Keats, Robert Southey, and prose writers as C. Lamb, and W. Hazlitt, etc..3.Stream of consciousness :Stream of consciousness is a narrative techniquethat presents thoughts as if they were coming directly from a character’s mind.Lacking chronological order, the events are presented from the character’s point of view, mixed in with the character’s ongoing feeling and memories, 4.Realism: It is a mode of writing that gives the impression of recording orreflecting faithfully an actual way of life. The term refers, both to a literary method based on detailed accuracy of description and to a more general attitude that rejects idealization, escapism, and other extravagant qualities of romance in favor of recognizing soberly the actual problems of life.5.Gothic novel : It is a type of prose fiction. The writers of this type of fictionsmostly set their stories in the medieval period and in a Catholic country. The locale was often a gloomy castle or house. This type of fictions made bountiful use of ghosts, mysterious disappearances, and other supernatural occurrences.6.Symbol: Generally speaking, a symbol is a sign which suggests more than itsliteral meaning. Literary symbols are of two broad types: the conventional ones and the occasionally-coined ones. For instance, roses symbolizes love;spring symbolizes life.7.Modernism: It is the name of the major artistic movement that attempted todevelop a response to the sense of social breakdown occurring the aftermath of World War I. It was an international movement shared by many art forms. As far as literature is concerned, it reflects the impact upon literature of the psychology of Freud.8. Enlightenment: It appeared in Europe and it lasted until the FrenchRevolution in 1789. It was closely associated with some new ideas such as liberty, democracy and rights of individuals which embodied the ideology of the rising middle class in Europe at that time.9. Puritanism:Puritans were the name given in the 16th century to the moreextreme Protestants within the Church of England who thought the English Reformation had not gone far enough in reforming the doctrines and structure of the church; they wanted to purify their national church by eliminating every shred of Catholic influence. They believed in the seven deadly sins: greed (avarice), envy, loath, gluttony, wrath, luxury and pride. Human beings are permanent sinners. Once it entered your life, there was no way to avoid it.It’s difficult to live a good life. But after sin, we can go to a paradise. They believed in after-world life. Strict puritans even regarded drinking, gambling and participation in theatrical performances as punishable offences.。
英国文学Alliteration:押头韵repetition of the initial sounds(不一定是首字母)Allegory:寓言a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning.Allusion:典故a reference in a literary work to person, place etc. often to well-known characters or events. Archetype:原型Irony:反讽intended meaning is the opposite of what is statedBlack humor:黑色幽默Metaphor: 暗喻Ballad: 民谣about the folk logeEpic:史诗in poetry, refers to a long work dealing with the actions of gods and heroes.Romance: 罗曼史/骑士文学is a popular literary form in the medieval England./ChivalryEuphuism: 夸饰文体This kind of style consists of two distinct elements. The first is abundant use of balanced sentences, alliterations and other artificial prosodic means. The second element is the use of odd similes and comparisons.Spenserian stanza: It refers to a stanza of nine lines, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter and the last line in iambic hexameter. 斯宾塞诗节新诗体,每一节有9排,前8排是抑扬格五步格诗,第9排是抑扬格六步格诗。
Literary terms (2)SonnetA lyric poem consisting of a single stanza of fourteen iambic pentameter lines linked by an intricate rhyme schme. There are two major patterns of rhyme in sonnets written in the English language: (1) the Italian or Petrarchan sonnet; (2) the English or Shakespearean sonnet. Shakespear wrote 154 sonnets in all, of which Sonnet 18 is the most well-known one.Blank verseBlank verse consists of lines of iambic pentameter (five-stress iambic verse) which are unrhymed—hence the term “blank”. It has been more frequently and variously used than any other type of versification.EuphuismA conspicuously formal and elaborate prose style which had a vogue in the 1580s in drama, prose fiction, and probably also in the conversation of English court circles. It takes its name from the moralistic prose romance Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit, which John Lyly wrote in 1578. The style is sententious (that is, full of moral maxims), relies persistently on syntactical balance and antithesis, reinforces the structural parallels by heavy and elaborate patterns of alliteration and assonance, exploits the rhetorical question, and is addicted to long similes and learned allusions which are often drawn from mythology and the habits of legendary animals. Metaphysical poetsThe metaphysical poets appeared in England at about the beginning of the 17th century. The major members of this group are John Donne, George Herber, among others. The works of these poets are characterised by mysticism in content and fantasticality in form. Metaphysical poetry is marked by arresting and original images and conceits, wit, ingenuity, dexterous use of colloquial speech, considerable felxibility of rhythm and metre, complex themes, a liking for paradox and dialectical argument, a direct manner, and a distinguished capacity for elliptical thought and tersely compact expression.ElegyElegy denotes any poem written in elegiac meter (alternating hexameter and pentameter lines). The term is also used to refer to the subject matter of change and loss frequently expressed in the elegiac verse form, especially in complaints about love.ConceitOriginally meaning a concept or image, “conceit” came to be the term for figures of speech which establish a striking parallel, usually ingeniously elaborate, between twovery idssimilar things or situations.Didactic poetryDidacitc poetry refers to poetry intended to give instruction or designed to expound a branch of knowledge, or else to emboy, in imaginative or fictional form, a moral, religious, or philosophical doctrine or theme. The main purpose of such poetry is to enhance the appeal of the doctrine they embody, rather than give artistic pleasure to an audience.。
英语诗歌中的韵律和在翻译中的处理(⼀)英语诗歌中的韵律和在翻译中的处理(⼀)最近在我的《博客》中,曾有⽹友问及英语诗歌的押韵问题,也有⽹友和我讨论关于英语诗歌韵律在翻译中的处理问题。
下⾯先对英语诗歌中的韵律作⼀个介绍,然后谈谈我对英诗韵律在翻译中处理的看法。
(⼀)英语诗歌中的韵律诗⼈⽐其他的作家更注重语⾔的⾳乐性,他们常常通过语⾔的⾳乐性来烘托或加强他们所要表达的思想内容。
诗歌中语⾔的⾳乐性包括语⾳(sound)和节奏(rhythm)两⼤要素,其中的韵属于语⾳因素。
请读下⾯的诗节:The curfew tolls the knell of parting d ay,The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the l ea,The ploughman homeward plods his weary w ayAnd leaves the world to darkness and to m e.(from Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray)这⼀诗节中1、3⾏和2、4⾏分别押韵,幽长的⾳韵和缓慢的节奏,⼤⼤加强了这⾸诗低沉、幽思和哀婉的⽓氛,诗⼈⼀开始就以⾳义结合⾮常紧密的⾳乐性突出了全诗哀婉的主题。
什么是韵?押韵的语⾔是⼀种特殊的语⾔,尽管现代诗歌不太讲究押韵,但诗歌中的韵毕竟是区分诗和其他⽂学品种的重要标志之⼀,也是诗歌⾳乐性的重要因素之⼀。
“韵”是和谐之⾳,⼴义⾔之,英语中的“韵”就是任何两个相同的⾳的重复,包括元⾳或辅⾳的重复。
狭义⾔之,英语中的“韵”是诗⾏末尾⼏个单词⾳节读⾳的⼀致。
在英语中,“韵”指的是单词相同的发⾳,⽽不是单词的拼写,如“calm—arm”,“light—height”, “time—rhyme”,“no—know”,“hay—sleigh”,这四对词,尽管每对词拼写不⼀样,但每⼀对词中的元⾳或元⾳后⾯辅⾳的发⾳都相同,所以它们都分别押韵。
Literary terms:1. Epic: long narrative poem, majestic both in theme and style. Epics deal with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance, involving action of broad sweep and grandeur. Most epics deal with the exploits of a single individual, thereby giving unity to the composition. Commonplace details of everyday life may appear, but they serve as background for the story and are described in the same lofty style as the rest of the poem.2. Blank Verse: in literature, unrhymed poetry, typically in iambic pentameter, and, as such, the dominant verse form of English dramatic and narrative poetry since the mid-16th century. Blank verse was adapted by Italian Renaissance writers from classical sources; and English playwright William Shakespeare transformed blank verse into a supple instrument, uniquely capable of conveying speech rhythms and emotional overtones. According to the English poet John Milton, only unrhymed verse could give English the dignity of a classical language. As he explained in the preface to his epic Paradise Lost, one of the greatest of all poems in blank verse:3.Sonnet:lyric poem of 14 lines with a formal rhyme scheme, expressing different aspects of a single thought, mood, or feeling, sometimes resolved or summed up in the last lines of the poem. Originally short poems accompanied by mandolin or lute music, sonnets are generally composed in the standard meter of the language in which they were written—for example, iambic pentameter in English, and the Alexandrine in French (see Versification).The two main forms of the sonnet are the Petrarchan, or Italian, and the English, or Shakespearean. The former probably developed from the stanza form of the canzone or from Italian folk song. The earliest known Italian sonneteer was Guittone d'Arezzo.4. soliloquy (from Latin: "talking by oneself") is a device often used in drama when a character speaks to himself or herself, relating thoughts and feelings, thereby also sharing them with the audience. Other characters, however, arecharacters; an aside is a (usually short) comment by one character towards the audience.Soliloquies in ShakespeareThe plays of William Shakespeare feature many soliloquies, the most famous being the "To be or not to be" speech in Hamlet. In Richard III and Othello, the respective villains use soliloquies to entrap the audience as they do the characters on stage. Macbeth's "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" speech and Juliet's "O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" are other famous examples of Shakespearean soliloquies. (Juliet's speech is overheard by Romeo, but because she believes herself to be alone, her speech is still considered a soliloquy.) There are also a few in Macbeth "is this a dagger I see before me?" is one of the many.mental thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address anotherpoetry. Monologues share much in common with several other literary devicesbetween each of these devices.6. Couplet:, in poetry, term applied to two successive lines of verse that form a single unit because they rhyme; the term also is often used for lines that express a complete thought or form a separate stanza. Couplets in English are usually written in ten-syllable (decasyllabic) lines, a form first used by the14th-century poet Geoffrey Chaucer. This evolved into the so-called heroic couplet popular in the 17th and 18th centuries. The heroic couplet, two rhyming iambic pentameter lines, is also called a closed couplet because the meaning and the grammatical structure are complete within two lines. John Dryden and Alexander Pope employed this form with great effect,7. Romanticism: (literature), a movement in the literature of virtually every country of Europe, the United States, and Latin America that lasted from about 1750 to about 1870, characterized by reliance on the imagination and subjectivity of approach, freedom of thought and expression, and an idealization of nature. The term romantic first appeared in 18th-century English and originally meant “romancelike”—that is, resembling the fanciful character of medieval romances.The preface to the second edition of Lyrical Ballads (1800), by English poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge was also of prime importance as a manifesto of literary romanticism. Here, the two poets affirmed the importance of feeling and imagination to poetic creation and disclaimed conventional literary forms and subjects. Thus, as romantic literature everywhere developed, imagination was praised over reason, emotions over logic, and intuition over science—making way for a vast body of literature of great sensibility and passion. This literature emphasized a new flexibility of form adapted to varying content, encouraged the development of complex and fast-moving plots, and allowed mixed genres (tragicomedy and the mingling of the grotesque and the sublime) and freer style.8. Realism (art and literature), in art and literature, an attempt to describe human behavior and surroundings or to represent figures and objects exactly as they act or appear in life. Attempts at realism have been made periodically throughout history in all the arts; the term is, however, generally restricted to a movement that began in the mid-19th century, in reaction to the highly subjective approach of romanticism.In general, the work of these writers illustrates the main tenet of realism, that writers must not select facts in accord with preconceived aesthetic or ethical ideals but must set down their observations impartially and objectively. Concerned with the faithful representation of life, which frequently lacks form, the realists tended to downplay plot in favor of character and to concentrate on middle-class life and preoccupations, avoiding larger, more dramatic issues.9. Naturalism(literature), in literature, the theory that literary composition should be based on an objective, empirical presentation of human beings. It differs from realism in adding an amoral attitude to the objective presentation of life. Naturalistic writers regard human behavior as controlled by instinct, emotion, or social and economic conditions, and reject free will, adopting instead, in large measure, the biological determinism of Charles Darwin and the economic determinism of Karl Marx.Naturalism was first prominently exhibited in the writings of 19th-century French authors, especially Edmond Louis Antoine de Goncourt, his brother Jules Alfred Huot de Goncourt, and Émile Zola.10. Stream of consciousness is often confused with interior monologue, but the latter technique works the sensations of the mind into a more formal pattern: a flow of thoughts inwardly expressed, similar to a soliloquy. The technique of stream of consciousness, however, attempts to portray the remote, preconscious state that exists before the mind organizes sensations. Consequently, the re-creation of a stream of consciousness frequently lacks the unity, explicit cohesion, and selectivity of direct thought.Stream of consciousness, as a term, was first used by William James, the American philosopher and psychologist, in his book The Principles of Psychology (1890). Widely used in narrative fiction, the technique was perhaps brought to its highest point of development in Ulysses (1922) and Finnegans Wake (1939) by the Irish novelist and poet James Joyce11.elegy originally, in classical Greek and Roman literature, a poem composed of distichs, or couplets. Classical elegies addressed various subjects, including love, lamentation, and politics, and were characterized by their metric form. Ancient poets who used the elegiac form include the Alexandrian Callimachus and the Roman Catullus. In modern poetry (since the 16th century) elegies have been characterized not by their form but by their content, which is invariably melancholy and centers on death. The best-known elegy in English is Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard (1751), by the English poet ThomasGray, which treats not just a single death but the human condition as well.12. Lyric, short poem that conveys intense feeling or profound thought. In ancient Greece, lyrics were sung or recited to the accompaniment of the lyre. Elegies and odes were popular forms of the lyric in classical times. The lyric poets of ancient Greece included Sappho, Alcaeus, and Pindar; the major Roman lyric poets included Horace, Ovid, and Catullus. Lyrical poetry was also written in ancient India and China; and the Japanese verse called haiku is a lyric.13. Enlightenment, Age of, a term used to describe the trends in thought and letters in Europe and the American colonies during the 18th century prior to the French Revolution. The phrase was frequently employed by writers of the period itself, convinced that they were emerging from centuries of darkness and ignorance into a new age enlightened by reason, science, and a respect for humanity.The precursors of the Enlightenment can be traced to the 17th century and earlier. They include the philosophical rationalists René Descartes and Baruch Spinoza, the political philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, and various skeptical thinkers in France such as Pierre Bayle. Equally important, however, were the self-confidence engendered by new discoveries in science and the spirit of cultural relativism encouraged by the exploration of the non-European world.14.Modernist literature has its origins in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly in Europe and North America. Modernism is characterized by a self-conscious break with traditional styles of poetry and verse. Modernistsmaxim to "Make it new." The modernist literary movement was driven by a conscious desire to overturn traditional modes of representation and expressFormal/Stylistic characteristicsJuxtaposition, irony, comparisons, and satire are important elements found in modernist writing. Modernist authors use impressionism and other devices to emphasize the subjectivity of reality, and they see omniscient narration and fixed narrative points of view as providing a false sense of objectivity. They also employ discontinuous narratives and fragmented plot structures. Modernist works are also often reflexive and draw attention to their own role as creator. Juxtaposition is used for example in a way to represent something that would be oftentimes unseen, for example, a cat and a mouse as best friends. Irony and satire are important tools used by the modernist writer to comment on society.Thematic characteristicsFor the first-time reader, modernist writing can seem frustrating to understand because of the use of a fragmented style and a lack of conciseness. Furthermore the plot, characters and themes of the text are not always presented in a linear way. The goal of modernist literature is also not particularly focused on catering to one particular audience in a formal way. In addition modernist literature often forcefully opposes, or gives an alternative opinion, on a social concept. Common concerns of modernism are: the breaking down of social norms, rejection of standard social ideas, and traditional thoughts and expectations, rejection of religion and anger against the effects of the world wars. As well, modernists tend to reject history, social systems, and emphasize alienation in modern urban and industrial societies. 期末考试范围,考查以下作家含教材中作品 1. Shakespeare4. Defoe 8. Shelley 9.Wordsworth 10. Keats 11. Jane Austen 12. Charlotte Bronte 13. Dickens 18. D. H. Lawrence以下作家(不含教材里的作品)2. Bacon 3. Milton6. Blake 5. Swift 7. Byron 14 .Hardy 15. George Bernard Shaw 16. T.S. Eliot 17. Joyce 19. William Golding 20. Doris Lessing。
Alliteration: also known as “head rhyme” or “initial rhyme,” is a verse form which means the repetition of the same sounds, usu. initial consonants of words or of stressed syllables in any sequence of neighboring words, e.g. “lord of language.” Alliterativ e verse is a verse in which the chief principle of repetition is alliteration rather than rhyme.Epic: a long narrative poem celebrating the great deeds of one or more legendary heroes in a grand ceremonious style, who was usually protected or descended from gods, performed supernatural exploits in battle or in marvelous voyages in saving or founding a nation.Heroic couplet:Heroic couplet is a rhymed pair of iambic pentameter lines such as:Let Observation with extensive ViewSurvey Mankind, from China to Peru (Samuel Johnson)It is named from its use by John Dryden and others in the heroic drama of the 17th century, the heroic couplet had been established much earlier by Chaucer as a major English verse-form for narrative and other kinds of non-dramatic poetry: it dominated English poetry of the 18thcentury before declining in importance in the early 9th century.Meter:Meter refers to the pattern of measured sound-units recurring more or less regularly in lines of verse. Poetry may be composed according to one of four principal metrical systems:▪Quantitative meter(used in Greek and Latin): the pattern is a sequence of long and short syllables counted in groups known as feet;▪Syllabic meter (as in French and Japanese): the pattern comprisesa fixed number of syllables in the line;▪Accentual meter(or “strong-stress meter”), found in Old English and in later English popular verse, the pattern is a regular number of stressed syllables in the line or group of lines, regardless of the number of unstressed syllables; and▪Accentual-syllabic meter: the pattern consists of a regular number of stressed syllables appropriately arranged within a fixed total number of syllables in the lines (with permissible variations including feminine endings), both stressed and unstressed syllables being counted.The fourth system----accentual-syllabic meter----is the one found in most English verse in the literary tradition since Chaucer; some flexibleuses of it incline toward the accentual system. However, the descriptive terms most commonly used to analyse it have, confusingly, been inherited from the vocabulary of the very different Greek and Latin quantitative system. Thus the various English meters are named after the classical feet that their groupings of stressed and unstressed syllables resemble, and the length of a metrical line still often expressed in terms of the number of feet it contains: a dimeter has two feet, a trimester three, a tetrameter four, a pentameter five, a hexameter six, and a heptameter seven. A simpler and often more accurate method of description is to refer to lines either accentual or accentual-syllabic meter according to the number of syllables: thus an English tetrameter is a four-stress line, and a pentameter a five-stress line.English accentual-syllabic meters fall into two groups, according to the way in which stressed (/) and unstressed (×)syllables alternate: in duple meters, stressed syllables alternate more or less regularly with single unstressed syllables, and so the line is traditionally described as a sequence of disyllabic (2-syllable) feet; while in triple meters, stressed syllables alternate with pairs of unstressed syllables, and the line is seen as a sequence of trisyllabic (3-syllable) feet.Of the two duple meters, by far the more common in English is the iambic meter, in which the stressed syllables are for the most part perceived as following the unstressed syllables with which they alternate(×/×/×/ etc.) although some variations on this pattern are accepted. The other duple meter, used in English less frequently than the iambic, is the trochaic meter, in which the iambic pattern is reversed so that the stressed syllables are felt to be preceding the unstressed syllables with which they alternate (/×/×/×, etc.). It is common, though, for poets using trochaic meter to begin and end the line on a stressed syllable, as in Blake’s line:Tiger, tiger, burning brightThe triple meters are far less common in English, although sometimes found. In the dactylic meter, named after the dactyl (/××), the stressed syllables are felt to precede the intervening pairs of unstressed syllables:Cannon in front of them (Tennyson: dactylic dimeter) In the anapaestic meter, named after the anapaest (××/), the pattern is reversed:Of your painting, dispirited race(Arnold: anapaestic trimester)Dactylic and anapaestic verse is not usually composed purely of dactyls and anapaests: other feet or additional syllables are frequently combined with or substituted for them.Rhyme:Rhyme means the identity of sound between syllables or paired groups of syllables, usually at the ends of verse lines. Normally the last stressed vowel in the line and all sounds following it make up the rhyming element: this may be a monosyllable (love / above ---- known as “masculine rhyme”), or two syllables (wh ether / together ---- known as “feminine rhyme” or double rhyme), or even three syllables (gl amorous / amorous, known as “triple rhyme”). Thes e rhymes are all examples of “full rhyme” (or “true rhyme”). Departures from this norm take three forms: (i) rime rhyme, in which the consonants preceding the rhyming elements are also identical even if the spellings and meanings of the words differ (made / maid); (ii) eye rhyme, in which the spellings of the rhyming elements match, but the sounds do not (love / prove); and (iii) half-rhyme or “slant rhyme,” where the vowel sounds do not match ( love / have, or with rich consonance, love / leave). Half-rhyme is known by several other names: imperfect rhyme, near rhyme, etc. Although rhyme is most often used at the ends of verse lines, internal rhyme between syllables within the same line is also found. In English rhyme finally replaced alliteration (also kno wn as “head rhyme” or “initial rhyme”: the repetition of the same sounds ---- usually initial consonants of words or of stressed syllables ---- in any sequence of neighboring word as in “lord of language”) as the usual patterning device of verse only in th e late 14th century.Rhyme scheme:Rhyme scheme refers to the pattern in which the rhymed line-endings are arranged in a poem or stanza. This may be expressed as a sequence of recurrences in which each line ending on the same rhyme is given the same alphabetical symbol, such as aabb ccdd, etc. Rhyme schemes may follow a fixed pattern, as in the sonnet and several other forms, or they may be arranged freely according to the poet’s requirements.。
Literary TermsAlliteration[ə,lɪtə'reɪʃn]头韵The repetition of consonant sounds in words that are close to one another. Alliteration occurs most often at the beginning of words, as in ―rough and ready.‖ But consonants within words sometimes alliterate, as in ―baby blue.‖The echoes that alliteration creates can increase a poem’s rhythmic and musical effects and make its lines especially memorable. Alliteration is an essential feature of Anglo-Saxon poetry; in most lines, two or three of the four stressed syllables alliterate.Frame StoryAn introductory narrative within which one or more of the characters proceed to tell a story.Perhaps the best-known example of stories contained in a frame story is the Persian collection called The Thousand and One Nights. In English literature, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales uses a frame story involving a group of people on a pilgrimage; within the narrative frame, each of the pilgrims then tells his or her own story. Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron contains another notable example of the frame-story device.Couplet['kʌplɪt]对句, 对联Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme. The couplet has been widely used since the Middle Ages, especially to provide a sense of closure. A couplet that presents a completed thought is called a closed couplet. Shakespeare used closed couplets toend his sonnets, as in Sonnet 18.A couplet written in iambic pentameter is called a heroic couplet. Although the heroic couplet has been used in English literature since Chaucer, it was perfected during the eighteenth century.CharacterAn individual in a story or play. A character always has human traits, even if the character is an animal, like the March Hare in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in wonderland; or a god, as in the Greek and Roman myths; or a monster, as in Beowulf.A character may also be a godlike human, like Superman. But most characters are ordinary human beings, like Geoffrey Chaucer’s colorful pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales.Characterization[‚kærəktəraɪ'zeɪʃn]特性描述; 性格描述The process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character is called characterization. A writer can reveal a character in the following ways:1. By telling us directly what the character is like: humble, ambitious, impetuous, easily manipulated, and so on2. By describing how the character looks and dresses3. By letting us hear the character speak4. By revealing the character’s private thoughts and feelings5. By revealing the character’s effect on other people –showing how othercharacters feel or behave toward the character6. By showing the character’s actionsThe first method of revealing a character is called direct characterization. The other five methods of revealing a character are known as indirect characterization.Classification of CharactersCharacters can be classified as static or dynamic. A static character is one who does not change much in the course of a story. A dynamic character, on the other hand, changes in some important way as a result of the story’s action. Characters can also be classified as flat or round. Flat characters have only one or two personality traits. They are one-dimensional –they can be summed up by a single phrase. In contrast, round characters have more dimensions to their personalities –they are complex, solid, and multifaceted, like real people.End-stopped and Run-on LinesAn end-stopped line is one in which the grammatical unit, be it clause or sentence, is coterminous with the line. Thus, there is the satisfaction of finding the line and the sense ending together.A run-on line (sometimes called an enjambed line) is where the grammar, and thus the sense, is left unfinished at the end of the line.Run-on lines create pleasurable feelings of expectation, as the reader has to lookfurther for the full sense of what is being said.Oxymoron ['ɒksɪ'mɔːrɒn]矛盾修饰法A figure of speech that combines apparently contradictory or incongruous ideas.“Bitter sweet,‖ ―cruel kindness,‖ and ―eloquent silence‖ are oxymorons. The classic oxymoron ―wise fool‖ is almost a literal translation of the term from the Greek –oxys means ―sharp‖ or ―keen,‖ and moros means ―foolish.‖A famous oxymoron in literature is John Milton’s description of Hell in Paradise Lost:A dungeon horrible, on all sides roundAs one great furnace flamed; yet fromthose flameNo light, but rather darkness visible. . .Soliloquy [sə'lɪləkwɪ]独白A long speech in which a character who is usually alone onstage expresses his or her private thoughts or feelings.The soliloquy is an old dramatic convention that was particularly popular in Shakespeare’s day. Perhaps the most famous soliloquy is the ―To be or not to be‖ speech in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.A soliloquy can be public, in which case the character directly addresses the audience, or private, in which case the audience overhears the character talking to himself or herself.In Shakespeare, soliloquies are usually only given to important character.For instance, Hamlet has a number of private soliloquies, and Iago a number of public ones.Characters very rarely tell lies in soliloquies, so you should pay particular attention to them."O brawling love, O loving hate,O anything of nothing first create!O heavy lightness, serious vanity,Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms,Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health,Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is!"—This love feel I, that feel no love in this. Romeo, Act I Scene IPoetic ComparisonsPoetic comparisons may take a variety of forms: simile, metaphor, conceit, synecdoche, metonymy, and juxtaposition.Each form of comparison, however, serves the same basic set of purposes.Poets generally use comparisons to express abstract ideas in imagisticlanguage,thereby stimulating the reader’s imagination, providing additional information, and opening up endless opportunities for entertainment and persuasion.In the poem ―The Flea‖ the speaker tries to seduce a young woman by comparing theconsequences of their lovemaking with those of an insignificant flea-bite.ConceitA fanciful and elaborate figure of speech that makes a surprising connection between two seemingly dissimilar things.Although a conceit may be a brief metaphor, it usually forms the framework of an entire poem.One of the most important kinds of conceits is the metaphysical conceit, so called because it was widely used by the seventeenth century metaphysical poets.Eg.《金缕衣》(The Gold-Threaded Robe)To the Virgins, to Make Much of TimeUnfortunate CoincidenceOn My First Son_ by Ben Jonson-----Background:This poem is about Jonson’s son, Benjamin, who died of the plague on his seventh birthday. (Jonson and his wife also lost a daughter, Mary, in infancy.)The name Benjamin in Hebrew means ―a child of the right hand‖ and, ironically, connotes ―a lucky, clever child.‖Dr. Johnson and Dryden on the Metaphysical PoetsJohnson: “Their courtship was void of fondness and their lamentation of sorrow.”(他们的求婚缺乏爱情,他们的悼亡缺少悲伤。
PoetryPoetry is one of the three major types or genres of literature, the others being prose and drama. Poems are often divided into lines and stanzas. Many poems employ regular rhythmical patterns or metres. However, some are written in free verse. Most poems make use of highly concise, musical and emotionally charged language. Many also use imagery, figurative language and devices of sound like rhyme. Types of poetry include narrative poetry such as ballads, epics, metrical romances; dramatic poetry like dramatic monologues and dramatic dialogues; lyrics such as sonnets, odes, elegies and love poems.Sonnet 十四行诗A sonnet is a fourteen-line lyric poem with a single theme, usually written in iambic pentameter.2 kinds of sonnet:The Petrarchan or Italian sonnet:an 8-line octave and 6-line sestet with the octave rhyming abba abba , the sestet cde cde. The octave raises a question, states a problem and the sestet answers the question, solves the problem.The Shakespearean or English sonnet : 3 4-line quatrains anda 2-line couplet rhyming abab cdcd efef gg. Each of the three quatrains usually explores a different variation of the main theme. The couplet presents a summarizing or concluding statement.Ode 颂词A lyric poem of some length that honors an individual, a thing or a trait dealing with a lofty theme in a dignified manner. The English odes are of three types.Ode to the West Wind is of the horatian type: with stanza of uniform length and arrangement. It consists of five 14-lined stanzas of iambic pentameter, each of the stanza containing four tercets and a closing couplet. The rhyme scheme is aba, bcb, cdc, ded, ee.史诗EpicA.An extended narrative poem with a heroic or superhumanprotagonist engaged in an action of great significance in a vast setting (often including the underworld and engaging the gods).B.Examples: Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, JohnMilton's Paradise Lost, William Wordsworth's The Prelude,and T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land.Elements of poetryPoetry stresses on rhythm, imagery, emotion and imagination.1. Meter 韵律A fixed arrangement of accented and unaccented syllables in a foot。
主要有The iamb抑扬格/trochee扬抑格, anapest抑抑扬格, dactyl扬抑抑格Foot 音步指诗歌保持节奏的不断重复的音节组合。
The number of feet:Monometer 1 footDimeter 2 feetTrimeter 3 feetTetrameter 4 feetPentameter 5 feetHexameter 6 feetHeptameter 7 feetOctameter 8 feet五步抑扬格Iambic pentameterIambic pentameter is a meter in poetry. It has an unrhymed line with 5 iambs or feet. Iambic means the stress is on the secondsyllable, an example is the word repeat. Pentameter shows us that a line has 5 feet or clusters of two syllables adding up to 10 syllables a line. These feet are marked like this Hello/hello/hello/hello/hello.2. Rhyme压韵Rhyme is the identity of sound between words of verse lines.A rhyme begins in an accented syllable. From the accented vowel of that syllable to the end, the words intended to rhyme must be identical in sound, but the letter or letters preceding the accented vowel may be unlike in sound e.g. save, grave.End rhyme occurs when rhyming words appear at the ends of lines. Internal rhyme occurs when rhyming words fall within a line. Exact rhyme is the use of identical rhyming sounds, as in love and dove. Approximate, or slant rhyme, is the use of sounds that are similar but not identical, as in prove and glove.韵脚RHYME SCHEMEA rhyme scheme is a regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem or stanza. To indicate a rhyme scheme, assign each final sound in the poem or stanza a different letter. In other words, it is the pattern of end rhymes or lines. The following lines fromCharlotte Bronte’s on the death of Anne Bronte have been marked:There’s little joy in life for me, aAnd little terror in the grave ; bI’ve lived the parting hour to see aOf one I would have died to save bThe rhyme scheme of this stanza is abab.3. 头韵AlliterationAlliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words. eg: sweet smell of success; “Now B eowulf b ode in the b urg of the Scyldings, L eader be l oved, and l ong he ru l ed”4. 诗节STANZAA stanza is a group of lines in a poem, seen as a unit. Many poems are divided into stanzas that are separated by spaces. Stanzas often function like paragraphs in prose. Each stanza states and develops one main idea.Stanzas are commonly named according to the number or lines found in them, as follows:1. couplet: a two-line stanza2. tercet: a three-line stanza3. quatrain: a four-line stanza4. cinquain: a five-line stanza5. sestet: a six-line stanza6. heptastich: a seven-line stanza7. octave: an eight-line stanza5. Blank verse 无韵诗(素体诗)Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter lines.6. Free verse 自由诗Poetry not written in a regular rhythmical pattern or meter.。