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第11单元维多利亚时代的诗人Alfred TennysonThe Eagle1.Make a list of adjectives which can describe your impression of the eagle. Key:Powerful,brave,free,strong,majestic,violent,fierce,sharp-eyed,mighty and aggressive.2.Does Tennyson use many adjectives to describe the eagle?Why?Key:No,he doesn’t.Because Tennyson wants to put emphasis on the posture and movements of the eagle so that it can highlight the eagle’s remarkable characteristics in a different way.3.Why is the word“crawls”employed to describe the sea?Key:Because the poet wants to make comparison between the speed of the lightning eagle and the sea.By using the word“crawls”,we can imagine how slow the sea is and how rapid the eagle is.Here,the sea serves as a foil to the eagle.Break,Break,Break1.Why does the poet describe the stones as“cold”and“gray”?Key:Because the stones do not know about the feelings of the poet and areindifferent to him.To the poet,they are unfeeling and cold.The weaves of the sea carry on breaking the rocks along the seashore without pausing even for a moment.2.What effect do the joyful scenes in the second stanza bring to the whole poem? Key:The joyful scenes in the second stanza can highlight the sorrows in the poet’s heart.It is a strong comparison between the carefree children,the happy sailor and the heart-breaking poet,which makes the themes of the poem clearer and more touching.3.Whose is the“voice that is still”?Key:The poet’s friend’s“voice that is still”.Robert Browning1.Why does the Duke want to show his guest his art collection?Key:Because the Duke wants to show off his social status and his taste for arts. And,he wants to tell the matchmaker what kind of wife he wants to have and also wants to get more dowries.2.Why is the Duke dissatisfied with his last Duchess?What can you say about the Duchess’personality from the Duke’s monologue?Key:Because the Duke thinks that the Duchess lacks the air of the noble and isvery easy to be pleased.The Duchess is friendly to others,which was regarded by the Duke as trifling.Besides this,the Duchess does not take the Duke’s status and family name as seriously as he wants.All this cause the dissatisfaction of the narrow-minded and self-centered Duke to the Duchess.From the monologue we can see that the Duchess was a lively,innocent, friendly,bubbly and open-minded woman.3.The Duke hints that his commands have something to do with the death of his last Duchess.Why does he give his guest such a clue?Key:The Duke wants to show off his power to end one’s life.Here,he gives a warning to the matchmaker and wants the new Duchess does what he wants.Matthew Arnold1.Is it the sea that brings the eternal sadness to the poet?Or is it the poet who brings the sadness to the sea?Key:It is the poet who brings the sadness to the sea.The poet is very sad and gloomy,but the sea is emotionless.So,when he stands on the beach,he thinks the sea in front of him is also full of desolation and turbulence.2.In what ways does the sea resemble Faith?Key:The poet uses the ebbs and flows of the sea to resemble the crisis of people’s Faith.In different time and periods,different Faiths dominatepeople’s thoughts.Both the sea and the faith are all full and around the earth and human beings’life.3.What is the suggested cure for the faithless world in the poem?Key:The poet suggests that people should show love and be true to each other in the faithless world.Having love,people won’t feel helpless or upset,and they can get help,support and understanding from each other,which can help people pull through.。
灰色三部曲英语
“灰色三部曲”（The Grey Trilogy）是英国作家E.L. James创作的一部畅销小说系列。
这个系列以情感激情和情欲戏剧著称，主要讲述了主人公安娜·斯蒂尔（Anastasia Steele）与富豪克里斯蒂安·格雷（Christian Grey）之间的复杂而充满情欲的关系。
系列的三部曲包括：
1. 《五十度灰》（Fifty Shades of Grey）：讲述安娜·斯蒂尔和克里斯蒂安·格雷之间充满情欲的爱情故事，克里斯蒂安展现了他的控制欲和独特的性癖好。
2. 《五十度更黑》（Fifty Shades Darker）：继续讲述安娜和克里斯蒂安之间的关系，揭示了克里斯蒂安过去的一些秘密，并且他们之间的感情面临更多的考验。
3. 《五十度飞》（Fifty Shades Freed）：故事达到高潮，安娜和克里斯蒂安之间的关系受到各种挑战，他们必须共同努力才能克服障碍，实现彼此的爱情和幸福。
这个系列引起了广泛的讨论和争议，因为它涉及到了情欲、性爱和权力等敏感话题，但也吸引了大量读者并成为了全球畅销书之一。
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《英国文学史及选读》第一册复习要点1. Beowulf: national epic of the English people; Denmark story; alliteration, metaphors and understatements （此处可能会有填空，选择等小题）2. Romance （名词解释）3. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”: a famous roman about King Arthur’s story4. Ballad（名词解释，歌谣，民谣）5. Character of Robin Hood6. Geoffrey Chaucer: founder of English poetry; The Canterbury Tales (main contents; 124 stories planned, only 24 finished; written in Middle English; significance; form: heroic couplet)7. Heroic couplet (名词解释,英雄偶句诗)8. Renaissance（名词解释）9.Thomas More——Utopia10. Sonnet（名词解释）11. Blank verse（名词解释）12. Edmund Spenser “The Faerie Queene”13. Francis Bacon “essays” esp. “Of Studies”（推荐阅读，学习写正式语体的英文文章的好参照，本文用词正式优雅，多排比句和长句，语言造诣非常高，里面很多话都可以引用做格言警句，非常值得一读）14. William Shakespeare四大悲剧比较重要，此外就是罗密欧与朱立叶了，这些剧的主题，背景，情节，人物形象都要熟悉，当然他最重要的是Hamlet这是肯定的。
启蒙时期文学（17世纪后期—18世纪中期）1688年的“光荣革命”推翻复辟王朝，确定了君主立宪制，建立起资产阶级和新贵族领导的政权，英国从此进入一个相对安定的发展时期。
18世纪初，新古典主义成为时尚。
新古典主义推崇理性，强调明晰、对称、节制、优雅，追求艺术形式的完美与和谐。
亚历山大·蒲柏（Alexander Pope, 1688-1744）是新古典主义诗歌的代表，他模仿罗马诗人，诗风精巧隽俏，内容以说教与讽刺为主，形式多用英雄双韵体，但缺乏深厚感情。
18世纪英国散文出现繁荣，散文风格基本建立在新古典主义美学原则之上。
理查德·斯梯尔（Richard Steele, 1672-1729）与约瑟夫·艾迪生（Joseph Addison, 1672-1719）创办《闲谈者》（Tatler）与《观察者》（Spectator）刊物，发表了许多以当时社会风俗、日常生活、文学趣味等为题材的文章，他们清新秀雅、轻捷流畅的文体成为后人模仿的典范。
乔纳森·斯威夫特（Jonathan Swift, 1667-1745）是英国文学史上最伟大的讽刺散文作家，他的文风纯朴平易而有力。
斯威夫特的杰作《格列佛游记》（Gulliver's Travels）是一部极具魅力的儿童故事，同时包含着深刻的思想内容。
作者通过对小人国、大人国、飞岛国、慧马国等虚构国度的描写，以理性为尺度，极其尖锐地讽刺和抨击了英国社会各领域的黑暗和罪恶。
塞缪尔·约翰逊（Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784）是18世纪英国人文主义文学批评的巨擘，《莎士比亚戏剧集序言》（The Preface to Shakespeare）和《诗人传》（Livesof the Poets）是他对文学批评作出的突出贡献。
他从常识出发，在某些方面突破了新古典主义的框框，不乏真知灼见。
约翰逊的散文风格自成一家，集拉丁散文的典雅、气势与英语散文的雄健、朴素于一体。
英国⽂学源远流长，经历了长期、复杂的发展演变过程。
在这个过程中，⽂学本体以外的各种现实的、历史的、政治的、⽂化的⼒量对⽂学发⽣着影响，⽂学内部遵循⾃⾝规律，历经盎格鲁-撒克逊、⽂艺复兴、新古典主义、浪漫主义、现实主义、现代主义等不同历史阶段。
下⾯对英国⽂学的发展过程作⼀概述。
⼀、中世纪⽂学（约5世纪-1485） 英国最初的⽂学同其他国家最初的⽂学⼀样，不是书⾯的，⽽是⼝头的。
故事与传说⼝头流传，并在讲述中不断得到加⼯、扩展，最后才有写本。
公元5世纪中叶，盎格鲁、撒克逊、朱特三个⽇⽿曼部落开始从丹麦以及现在的荷兰⼀带地区迁⼊不列颠。
盎格鲁-撒克逊时代给我们留下的古英语⽂学作品中，最重要的⼀部是《贝奥武甫》（Beowulf），它被认为是英国的民族史诗。
《贝奥武甫》讲述主⼈公贝尔武甫斩妖除魔、与⽕龙搏⽃的故事，具有神话传奇⾊彩。
这部作品取材于⽇⽿曼民间传说，随盎格鲁-撒克逊⼈⼊侵传⼊今天的英国，现在我们所看到的诗是8世纪初由英格兰诗⼈写定的，当时，不列颠正处于从中世纪异教社会向以基督教⽂化为主导的新型社会过渡的时期。
因此，《贝奥武甫》也反映了7、8世纪不列颠的⽣活风貌，呈现出新旧⽣活⽅式的混合，兼有⽒族时期的英雄主义和封建时期的理想，体现了⾮基督教⽇⽿曼⽂化和基督教⽂化两种不同的传统。
公元1066年，居住在法国北部的诺曼底⼈在威廉公爵率领下越过英吉利海峡，征服英格兰。
诺曼底⼈占领英格兰后，封建等级制度得以加强和完备，法国⽂化占据主导地位，法语成为宫廷和上层贵族社会的语⾔。
这⼀时期风⾏⼀时的⽂学形式是浪漫传奇，流传最⼴的是关于亚瑟王和圆桌骑⼠的故事。
《⾼⽂爵⼠和绿⾐骑⼠》（Sir Gawain and the Green Knight，1375-1400）以亚瑟王和他的骑⼠为题材，歌颂勇敢、忠贞、美德，是中古英语传奇最精美的作品之⼀。
传奇⽂学专门描写⾼贵的骑⼠所经历的冒险⽣活和浪漫爱情，是英国封建社会发展到成熟阶段⼀种社会理想的体现。
名词解释Heroic Couplet: a couplet consisting of two rhymed lines of iambic pentameter, and written in an elevated style.1．Renaissance: a revival or rebirth of the artistic and scientific revival which originated in Italy in the 14th century and gradually spread all over Europe. It has two features: a thirsting curiosity for the classical literature and keen interest in activities of humanity.2．Sonnet: 14-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter.3．Blank verse: poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.4．Neoclassicism: the Enlightenment brought about a revival of interest in Greek and Roman works. This tendency is known as Neoclassicism.5．Sentimentalism: it was one of the important trends in English literature of the later decades of the 18th century. It concentrated on the free expression of thoughts and emotions, and presented a new view of human nature which prized feeling over thinking, passion over reason. 6．Romanticism: imagination, emotion and freedom are certainly the focal points of romanticism. The particular characteristics of the literature of romanticism include: subjectivity and an emphasis on individualism; freedom from rules; solitary life rather then life in society; the beliefs that imagination is superior to reason; and love of and worship of nature. 7．LakePoets: the English poets who lived in and drew inspiration from the Lake District at the beginning of the 19th century.8．Byronic Heroes: a variant of the Romantic heroes as a type of character( enthusiasm, persistence, pursuing freedom), named after the English Romantic Poet Gordon Byron. 9．Realism: seeks to portray familiar characters, situations, and settings in a realistic manner. This is done primarily by using an objective narrative point of view and through the buildup of accurate detail.10．Aestheticism: an art movement supporting the emphasis of aesthetic values more than socio-political themes for literature, fine art, music and other arts.11．Stream-of-Consciousness: it is a literary technique that presents the thoughts and feelings of a character as they occur without any clarification by the author. It is a narrative mode. 12．Dramatic Monologue: a kind of narrative poem in which one character speaks to one or more listeners whose replies are not given in the poem.13．Iambic Pentameter: a poetic line consisting of five verse feet, with each foot an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, that is, with each foot an iamb.14．Epic: a long narrative poem telling about the deeds of a great hero and reflecting the values of the society from which it originated.15．Elegy: a poem of mourning, usually over the death of an individual; may also be a lament over the passing of life and beauty or a meditation of the nature of death; a type of lyric poem. 16．Canto: a section of a long poem. The cantos can be a great poem17．Ode: a complex and often lengthy lyric poem, written in a dignified formal style on some lofty or serious subjects. Odes are written for a special occasion, to honor a person or a season or to commemorate an event.Spenserian Stanza: a nine-line stanza made up of 8 lines of iambic pentameter ending with an Alexandrine. Its thyme scheme is ababbcbcc. This stanza was common to travel literature. 18．Metrical Pattern: a lyric poem of five 14-lined stanzas containing four tercets and a closing couplet. The rhyme scheme is aba bcb cdc ded ee.文学史中古时期1.Beowulf?贝奥武甫?: the natural epic of the English people; Denmark story, alliteration, metaphor, understatements2.Sir Gawain and Green Knight?高文爵士和绿衣骑士?3.Geoffrey Chaucer(杰弗里乔叟〕：the Father of English Poetry; The Canterbury Tales?埃特伯雷故事集?〔24stories)文艺复兴时期1.Thomas More: Utopia?乌托邦?- the communication between more and the traveler which just came back from Utopia.2.Francis Bacon: the first English Essayist; Essays?随笔集?- Of Studies, Of Truth (philosophical and literary works)3.Thus Wyatt: first to introduce the sonnet into English literature.4.Edmund Spenser: Poet's poet; The Fairy Queen?仙后?(to Queen Elizabeth I)5.William Shakespeare:Sonnet 18(Shall I compare thee to a summer's day)17世纪英国文学1.John Donne: the leading poet of Metaphysical school of poetry; A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning?别离：莫忧伤?2.John Milton: Paradise Lost?失乐园?〔a revolt against God's authority), Paradise Regained?复乐园?〔how Christ overcame Santa) ——stories were taken from Bible3.John Bunyan: the son of Renaissance; Pilgrim's Progress?天路历程?(imagination, shadowing, realistic religious allegory)18世纪英国文学Novel：1.the age of reason, classicism, sentimentalism and romanticism (novels, prose, dramas, poetry)2.Daniel Defoe: representative of English realistic novel; Robinson Crusoe?鲁滨逊漂流记?(the development of a young man from a naive and artless youth to a clever and hardened man)3.Jonathan Swift: Gulliver's Travels?格列佛游记?(fictional, satirical- human nature, the European Government, the differences between religions, whole English state system)4.Henry Fielding: the Father of English novel; The History of Tome Jones, a Foundling ?汤姆琼斯?，satiricPoetry：5.Thomas Gray: Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard?墓园挽歌?6.Alexander Pope: perfected in heroic couplet; An Essay on Criticism?论批评?7.William Blake: pre-romantic; Songs of Innonce?天真之歌?，Songs of Experience?经历之歌?-London, The Tiger8.Robert Burns: A Red Red Rose?一朵红红的玫瑰?Drama:9.Richard Brinsley Sheridan:Master of Comedy of manners;The School for Scandal?造谣学校?浪漫主义时期1798-18321.William Wordsworth: the Lake Poets; The Prelude?序曲?；I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud?我似流云天自游?；The Solitary Reaper?孤寂的割麦女?；features: poet of nature and human heart2.Samuel Taylor Coleridge: the first critic of the Romantic school; The Rime of the Ancient Mariner?古舟子咏?3.George Gordon Byron: vigorous, strong and beautiful; Childe Harold's Pilgrimage?恰尔德哈罗尔德游记?(spenserian stanza, fights for liberty); Don Juan?唐璜?(a broad critical picture of European life); When We Two Parted?昔日依依别?；She Walks in Beauty?她走在美的光影中?；The Isles of Greece?哀希腊?4.Percy Bysshe Shelley: Ode to the West Wind?西风颂?-赞颂西风，希望与其严密相连; Prometheus Unbound?解放了的普罗米修斯?(the victory for man's struggle against tyranny and oppression)5.John Keats: sensuous, colorful and rich in imagery; Ode to a Nightingale?夜莺颂?；Ode on a Grecian Urn?希腊古瓮颂?6.Walter Scott: Father of Historical Novel; combine historical fact and romantic imagination7.Jane Austen: wit, dry humour, subtle irony,realistic; Pride and Prejudice?傲慢与偏见?(Elizabeth and Darcy)；Sense and Sensibility?理智与情感?；Emma?爱玛?8.Charles Lamb: Poor Relations?穷亲戚?; Dream-children?童年梦幻?; A Reverie?梦想曲?维多利亚时期1.summit：realistic novel2.Charles Dickens: critical realist writer; humour, wit, happy endings; A Tale of Two Cities?双城记?(London & Paris, where there is oppression, there is revolution); David Copperfield?大卫科波菲尔?；Oliver Twist?雾都孤儿?；Hard Time?困难时世?；Great Expectations?远大前程?；Dombey and Son?董贝父子?；Pickwick Papers?匹克威克外传?3.William Makepeace Thackeray: Vanity Fair?名利场?(to satirize the social more, decadence and corruption of his time; to criticize the values measured by wealth)4.George Eliot: novelist, her novels are celebrated for their realism and psychological insights; Adam Bede?亚当比德?(social inequality)；The Mill on the Floss?弗洛斯河上的磨坊?；Silas Marner?织工马南?5.Alfred Tennyson: succeeded Wordsworth as Poet Laureate in 1850; Break, Break, Break?拍吧，拍吧，拍吧?；Crossing the Bar?过沙洲?6.Robert Browning: dramatic monologues; My Last Duchess?我已故的公爵夫人?7.The Bronte Sisters:Charlotte: Jane Eyre?简爱?：简·爱是一个心地纯洁、善于思考的女性，她生活在社会底层，受尽磨难。
英国文学主要分为六个时期一Old and Medieval English Literature（中古英国文学）。
Old English: 450-1066头韵体诗歌（alliteration）<Beowulf>《贝奥武甫》the national epic of the Anglo-SaxonsMedieval English：1066-14世纪中期1、Geoffrey Chaucer乔叟：英国诗歌之父t he father of English poetry<The Canterbury Tales>坎特伯雷故事集首创英雄双韵体first time to use 'heroic couplet'2、William Langland 威廉·兰格伦：< Piers the Plowman>《农夫皮尔斯》二The Renaissance Period（文艺复兴时期（伊丽莎白时代）14-16世纪，始于意大利，核心是人文主义Humanism）Most famous dramatists: Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson1、Thomas More-Utopia 托马斯.莫尔《乌托邦》2、Edmund Spenser: 埃德蒙·斯宾塞被人称为the poets' poet “诗人中的诗人”代表作《仙后》（The Farie Queene）被誉为英国文艺复兴时期―最杰出的史诗‖。
他的诗歌包含了民族主义（nationalism）、人文主义（humanism）和清教徒主义（puritanism）等思想。
Spenserian stanza斯宾塞诗节：在其代表作《仙后》(The Faerie Queene)中首先使用这种诗体，遂以他的名字命名作品：<The Shepherdes Calender>牧羊人日历<The Faerie Queene>仙后3、Christopher Marlowe克里斯托夫·马洛– representative of ―University Wits‖, the pioneer of English drama英国戏剧先驱马洛是“大学才子派”―University Wits‖中最杰出的剧作家在英国文学中，素体诗blank verse是在马洛手里成为英诗中最富有表现力和最雄伟的格律形式的。
Part One: Early and Medieval English Literature1. Beowulf: national epic of the English people; Denmark story; alliteration, metaphors and understatements （此处可能会有填空，选择等小题）2. Romance （名词解释）3. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”: a famous roman about King Arthur’s story4. Ballad（名词解释）5. Character of Robin Hood6. Geoffrey Chaucer: founder of English poetry; The Canterbury Tales (main contents; 124 stories planned, only 24 finished; written in Middle English; significance; form: heroic couplet)7. Heroic couplet (名词解释)Part Two: The English Renaissance8. The Authorized Version of English Bible and its significance（填空选择）9. Renaissance（名词解释）10.Thomas More——Utopia11. Sonnet（名词解释）12. Blank verse（名词解释）13. Edmund Spenser“The Faerie Queene”; Amoretti (col lection of his sonnets)Spenserian Stanza（名词解释）14. Francis Bacon “essays” esp. “Of Studies”（推荐阅读，学习写正式语体的英文文章的好参照，本文用词正式优雅，多排比句和长句，语言造诣非常高，里面很多话都可以引用做格言警句，非常值得一读）15. Christopher Marlowe (“Doctor Faustus” and his achievements)16. William Shakespeare可以说是英国文学史中最重要的作家，一定要看熟了。
英国文学最全名词解释名词解释1、Alliteration(头韵) It refers to a repeated initial consonant to successive words and it is the most striking feature in its poetic form. In alliterative verse, certain accented words in a line begin with the same consonant sound. It usually have a caesura in the middle and two stresses (or accents) in each half. The number of unstressed syllables in the two halves may vary. Yet, the same consonant is repeated at the beginning of the accented syllables, either twice in the first half of the verse line and once in the second half, or vice versa. Or we can say there are generally 4 accents in a line, three of which show alliteration, and it is the initial sound of the third accented syllable that normally determiners the alliteration. Alliteration makes Anglo-Saxon poetry very musical in sound and acts almost the same part that rhyme plays in later poetry. English poets till today still love to use alliteratione.g. “True is the tale (caesura) I tell of my travels,/ Sing of my seafaring (caesura) sor rows and woes.2、Blank verse无韵诗，素体诗（不押韵的五音步诗行）: also called unrhymed poetry, has been the dominant verse form of English drama and narrative poetry since the mid-sixteenth century. In 1540, from Italy, this verse form was brought into English literature by the poet Henry Howard (Earl of Surrey), who first used it in his translation of The Aeneid.Unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter. It is a very flexible English verse form which can attain rhetorical grandeur while echoing the natural rhythms of speech. It was first used by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and soon became a popular form fornarrative and dramatic poetry.E.g. Paradise Lost by Milton3、Comedy of humours: The comedy of humours is a genre of dramatic comedy that focuses on a character or range of characters, each of whom exhibits two or more overriding traits or 'humours' that dominates their personality, desires and conduct. the English playwrights Ben Jonson and George Chapman popularized the genre in the closing years of the sixteenth century. In the later half of the seventeenth century, it was combined with the comedy of manners in Restoration comedy.In which the prevailing eccentricities and ruling passions of character are exposed to ridicule and satireE.g. Every Man in His HumourEvery Man out of His Humour4、Dramatic monologue：a kind of poem in which a single fictional or historical character other than the poet speaks to a silent ‘audience’of one or more persons. Such poems reveal not the poet‘s own thoughts; this distinguishes a dramatic monologue from a lyric，while the implied presence of an auditor distinguishes it from a soliloquy.E.g. My Last Duchess by Browning5、Epic (史诗)appeared in the the Anglo-Saxon Period It is a narrative of heroic action, often with a principal hero, usually mythical in its content, grand in its style, offering inspiration and ennoblement within a particular culture or national tradition. A long narrative poem telling about the deeds of great hero and reflecting the values of the society from which it originated. Epic is an extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, like Homer’s Iliad & Odyssey. It usually celebrates the feats of one or more legendary or traditional heroes. The action is simple,but full of magnificence. Today, some long narrative works, like novels that reveal an age & its people, are also called epic.E.g. Beowulf ( the pagan异教徒secular(非宗教的) poetry)Iliad 《伊利亚特》Odyssey《奥德赛》Paradise Lost 《失乐园》The Divine Comedy《神曲》6、Gothic Novels tales of macabre, fantastic and supernatural happenings, set in haunted castles, graveyards, ruins and wild landscapes and often with a weak or innocent heroine going through some horrible experiences. Derives its name from similarities to Medieval(中古的,中世纪) Gothic architecture.A thriller designed not only toterrify or frighten the audience, but to convey a sense of moral failure or spiritual darkness. The Gothic in England begins with The Castle of Otranto in 1760, by Horace Walpole, which emphasized the supernatural mixed with the grotesque in a medieval setting.E.g. Anne Radcliffe in Mysteries of UdolphoFrankenstein(1817) by Mary Shelley7、Heroic Couplet(英雄双韵体)Heroic couplet refers to the rhymed couplet in iambic pentameter Heroic couplets are lines of iambic pentameter that rhyme in pairs (aa, bb, cc). The Heroic Couplet: 1) It means a pair of lines of a type once common in English poetry, in other words, it means iambic pentameter rhymed in two lines. 2) The rhymeis masculine. 3) Use of the heroic couplet was first pioneered by Geoffrey Chaucer.E.g. Cooper's Hillby by John Denham(德纳姆)8、Iambic pentameter: a verse lines of feet of the iambic rhythmIambic(adjective of iambus): a metrical foot consisting of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one. (cf. Trochaic/trochee: a metrical foot consisting of one stressedsyllable followed by an unstressed one)Pentameter: a verse line of 5 feet.E.g. sonnet 18 by Shakespeare9、Ode：a poem intended or adapted to be sung in the ancient time, but a rhymed lyric poem often of an address in the modern times, with dignified and exalted or simple and familiar subjects. a long lyric poem, serious and dignified in subject, tone and style, sometimes with an elaborate stanzaic structure, often written to commemorate or celebrate an event or individual. Representative poets: Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats Representative：Ode to Psyche, Ode to a Nightingale10、Romance: a medieval tale based on legend, chivalric love and adventures, or a prose narrative treating imaginary characters involved heroic, adventurous, or mysterious events remote in time and place. It became a popular form of literature. The plots of romance tend to be complex, with uprising and even magical actions common.e.g. The Tempest by Shakespeare11、Sonnet：a poem consisting of 14 lines of 10 syllables each in English (11 syllables in Italian and12 syllables in French)The English sonnet: a sonnet of 14 iambic pentameter lines divided into an octave and sestet rhyming abba abba cde cde (or other rhymes in the sestet)The Shakespearian sonnet: a sonnet of 14 iambic pentameter lines divided into a 12-line unit followed by a 2-line conclusion rhyming abab cdcd efef ggE.g. sonnet 18 by Shakespeare12、Three unities （三一律）: referring to the rules set by Aristotle for tragedy which are observedin Greek tragedies and Neoclassic drama, that is a tragedy must have one single action which takes place within one day and in one place. It required that the events of a play not exceeda single day (time), be confined to a single location or to several locations within a small area (pla ce), and not have subplots (action). It is term given by Aristotle and strictly adhered in 17th Franc e and then over Europe.e.g. Cid by Pierre Corneille13、Topographical poetry: a local poetry focusing on the presentation of landscapes and praising particular parks, estates and gardens. The emergence of this kind of poetry of which can be traced to the 1730s and was defined by Dr Johnson as “local poe try, of which the fundamental object is some particular landscape.e.g. The Seasons by James Thomson14、Graveyard Poets: This group of poets mainly comprises Thomas Parnell, Edward Young, Robert Blair and Thomas Gray. They wrote melancholy poems, often with the poet meditating on human mortality problems at night or in a graveyard. Gray is the most representative and successful among them and his poem Elegy written in a Country Church-yard is partly responsible for this group to be named graveyard poets.15、Metaphysical Poetry: Metaphysical poetry is defined as poetry dating from the 17th century in Britain that has an abstract and ethereal style. Such poetry used a variety of form and structures, but employed similar styles. The term was first coined by John Dryden in 1693 when he described a poem by John Donne as affecting “the metaphysical.” It was later popularized by Samuel Johnson in 1781.e.g. The flea by John Donne16、Allegory A tale in verse or prose in which characters, actions, orsettings represent abstract ideas or moral qualities. An allegory is astory with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning.Allegory is generally treated as a figure of rhetoric, but an allegory does nor have to be expressed in language: it may be addressed to teh eye, and is often found in realistic painting, sculpture or some other form of mimetic, or represent are.The etylmological meaning of the word is broader than the common use of the word. Though it is similar to other rhetorical comparisons. An allegory is sustained lnger and more fully in its details than a metaphor, and appeals to imagination, while an analogy appeals to reason or logical. The fable or parable is a short allegory with one definite moral.E.g. The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan。
B J T U‟sC o u r s e T h e s i sF o rH i s t o r y a n d A n t h o l o g y o f E n g l i s h L i t e r a t u r eReaction to the poemReading of Thomas Gray’s Elegy Written in a CountryChurchyardInstitute:SOLACSMajor:EnglishStudent:Li GenReg. No. 11321007Tutor:Dr. Zhang JunxueJanuary 9, 2013Brief Introduction of the Author<1>Famil yThomas Gray, born in Cornhill, London, was the son of an exchange broker and a milliner. He was the fifth of twelve children, and the only child of Philip and Dorothy Gray to survive infancy.(1) Gray lived with his mother after she left his father.<2>WritingIn 1742, Thomas Gray began to write poems, and this was the time that his close friend Richard West died. He became one of the most knowledgeable men in his time after his hard-working in literary study. Gray spent most of his life as a scholar. Although he was one of the least productive poets, he is regarded as the foremost English-language poet of the mid-18th century. In 1757, he was offered the post of Poet Laureate, which he refused, which showed us his attitude to the reputation.He always said that he was a lazy man(2) but undoubtedly he was the greatest. What made Gray came to be known as “Graveyard poets” of the 18th century was his poem Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.<3>Graveyard poetsThe "Graveyard Poets”, also termed “Churchyard Poets”(3)or "the Bone yard Boys(4)were a number of pre-Romantic English poets of the 18th century characterized by their gloomy meditations on mortality, 'skulls and coffins, epitaphs and worms'(5) in the context of the graveyard. In the 18th Century they became more about just the lament of a death, their purpose was rarely sensationalist. Added, by later practitioners, was a feeling for the 'sublime' and uncanny, and an interest in ancient English poetic forms and folk poetry.(6) Major works in this literary style are Thomas Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard (1750), James Thomson's The Seasons (1726 - 1730) and Edward Young's Night Thoughts (1742 - 1745).The characteristics and style of Graveyard poetry is not unique to them, and the same themes and tone are found ballads and odes.The poem Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard<1> Original poetry and my feelingsELEGY WRITTEN INA COUNTRY CHURCH-YARD"The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea,The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,And leaves the world to darkness and to me.Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, And all the air a solemnstillness holds,Save where the beetlewheels his droning flight,And drowsy tinklings lullthe distant folds:Save that from yonderivy-mantled towerThe moping owl does tothe moon complainOf such as, wanderingnear her secret bower,Molest her ancientsolitary reign.Beneath those ruggedelms, that yew-tree'sshade,Where heaves the turf inmany a mouldering heap,Each in his narrow cellfor ever laid,The rude Forefathers ofthe hamlet sleep.The breezy call ofincense-breathing morn,The swallow twitteringfrom the straw-built shed,The cock's shrill clarion,or the echoing horn,No more shall rouse themfrom their lowly bed.For them no more theblazing hearth shall burn, Or busy housewife ply her evening care:No children run to lisp their sire's return,Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share,Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke; How jocund did they drive their team afield! How bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy stroke!Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smileThe short and simple annals of the Poor.The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,Awaits alike th' inevitablehour:-The paths of glory leadbut to the grave.Nor you, ye Proud,impute to these the faultIf Memory o'er theirtomb no trophies raise,Where through thelong-drawn aisle andfretted vaultThe pealing anthemswells the note of praise.Can storied urn oranimated bustBack to its mansion callthe fleeting breath?Can Honour's voiceprovoke the silent dust,Or Flattery soothe thedull cold ear of Death?Perhaps in this neglectedspot is laidSome heart oncepregnant with celestialfire;Hands, that the rod ofempire might havesway'd,Or waked to ecstasy theliving lyre:But Knowledge to theireyes her ample page,Rich with the spoils oftime, did ne'er unroll;Chill Penury repress'dtheir noble rage,And froze the genialcurrent of the soul.Full many a gem ofpurest ray sereneThe dark unfathom'dcaves of ocean bear:Full many a flower isborn to blush unseen,And waste its sweetnesson the desert air.Some village-Hampden,that with dauntless breastThe little tyrant of hisfields withstood,Some mute ingloriousMilton here may rest,Some Cromwell,guiltless of his country's blood.Th' applause of list'ning senates to command, The threats of pain and ruin to despise,To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land,And read their history in a nation's eyes,Their lot forbad: nor circumscribed alone Their growing virtues, but their crimes confined; Forbad to wade through slaughter to a throne, And shut the gates of mercy on mankind,The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide, To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame,Or heap the shrine of Luxury and PrideWith incense kindled at the Muse's flame. Far from the maddingcrowd's ignoble strife,Their sober wishes neverlearn'd to stray;Along the coolsequester'd vale of lifeThey kept the noiselesstenour of their way.Yet e'en these bones frominsult to protectSome frail memorial stillerected nigh,With uncouth rhymes andshapeless sculpturedeck'd,Implores the passingtribute of a sigh.Their name, their years,spelt by th' unletter'dMuse,The place of fame andelegy supply:And many a holy textaround she strews,That teach the rusticmoralist to die.For who, to dumbforgetfulness a prey,This pleasing anxiousbeing e'er resign'd,Left the warm precinctsof the cheerful day,Nor cast one longinglingering look behind?On some fond breast theparting soul relies,Some pious drops theclosing eye requires;E'en from the tomb thevoice of Nature cries,E'en in our ashes livetheir wonted fires.For thee, who, mindful ofth' unhonour'd dead,Dost in these lines theirartless tale relate;If chance, by lonelycontemplation led,Some kindred spirit shallinquire thy fate, --Haply somehoary-headed swain maysay,"Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn Brushing with hasty steps the dews away,To meet the sun upon the upland lawn;"There at the foot of yonder nodding beech That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high. His listless length at noontide would he stretch,And pore upon the brook that babbles by."Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn, Muttering his wayward fancies he would rove; Now drooping, woeful wan, like one forlorn,Or crazed with care, or cross'd in hopeless love."One morn I miss'd him on the custom'd hill, Along the heath, and nearhis favourite tree;Another came; nor yetbeside the rill,Nor up the lawn, nor atthe wood was he;"The next with dirges duein sad arraySlow through thechurch-way path we sawhim borne,-Approach and read (forthou canst read) the layGraved on the stonebeneath yon aged thorn."The EpitaphHere rests his head uponthe lap of EarthA youth to Fortune and toFame unknown.Fair Science frowned noton his humble birth,And Melacholy markedhim for her own.Large was his bounty,and his soul sincere,Heaven did a recompenseas largely send:He gave to Misery all hehad, a tear,He gained from Heaven('twas all he wish'd) afriend.No farther seek his meritsto disclose,Or draw his frailties fromtheir dread abode(There they alike intrembling hope repose),The bosom of his Fatherand his God.By Thomas Gray (1750).(7)The impression after reading this poem:In the beginning of the poem, Gray painted a such a picture for us, a death bell sounding, a knell, the lowing of the cattle, the droning of beetle in flight, the tinkling of sheep-bells, which make readers feel sad. With the sight of the narrator, we can glimpse the general trait of eighteenth-century humanity. The poem was written for his friend who was dead but it was not only for just one person. It is written for the man who was not so rich and had no high status in his period but lived a hard life and supported his family with his hands and could only be buried in the churchyard after his death. For such a man, he would never see his family, his off springs and his home, but there was the land, the land he spent all his life working on accompanied him lasting forever. In the poem Gray showed his sympathy for all the Toiling in the 18th century. The poem ends with the narrator turning towards his own fate, accepting his life and accomplishments. The poem, like many of Gray's, incorporates a narrator who is contemplating his position in a transient world that is mysterious and tragic. In the poem, the poet tried to discover what success is and what failure is, what is temporary and what is everlasting. When it comes to the philosophical problem, I will think of a piece of a song, blowing in the wind, written by Bob Dylan. The poem of Gray gives me the same feelings. He never gave his reader a fixed answer but let them find according to their own experiences of life. It is fantastic but a little bit desolate. Here is a comment on Gray “These colored his efforts at original composition. At the same time, his knowledge of human nature and his sympathy with the world were varied and profound…and in his almost monastic cell his heart vibrated to the finest tones of humanity.” (8)The influence of the poem:Gray provided a model for later poets wishing to describe England and the English countryside. His choice of language, words, and feelings that connected to rural Englandserved as the model for Oliver Goldsmith's and William Cowper's works during thesecond half of the 18th century.(9) Gray's Elegy was highly influential and provoked aresponse from the Romantic poets. When William Wordsworth wrote the preface toLyrical Ballads he responded to Gray's techniques and to the Elegy with his "Intimationsof Immortality" ode. As a whole, the Romantics believed that Gray represented the poetic orthodoxy they were rebelling against in that he did not try to overcome death in his poem, but they used Gray's ideas when attempting to define their own beliefs(10) Gray'sinfluence lasted throughout the Victorian and Modern periods. P.B.Shelly (11), RobertBrowning (12), Thomas Hardy (13), T.S.Eliot (14) were all influenced by Gray. At last, Ilist some of Gray‟s honors:∙John Penn "of Stoke" had a memorial to Gray installed in the churchyard and engraved with the "Elegy".∙ A plaque in Cornhill marks his birthplace.∙Gray's biographer William Mason erected a monument to him, designed by John Bacon the Elder, in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey in 1778(15)References:(1)John D. Baird, …Gray, Thomas (1716–1771)‟, Oxford Dictionary of NationalBiography (Oxford University Press, 2004) Accessed 21 Feb 2012(2)Gilfillan, George , dissertation in The Poetical Works of Johnson, Parnell, Grayand Smollet 1855, kindle ebook ASIN B004TQHGGE(3)"Graveyard Poets". Evade Mecum: A GRE for Literature Study Tool. Duke./~tmw15/graveyard%20poets.html. Retrieved 8 December 2012(4)V oller, Jack. "The Graveyard School". The Literary Gothic./Topics/graveyard_school.html. Retrieved 12/07/2012.(5)Blair: The Grave 23(6)From Wikipedia on the internet: /wiki/Graveyard_poets(7)Letter, dated 12 June 1750, in which Gray sent the completed poem to HoraceWalpole. Thomas Gray website(8)Robert Chambers.Cyclopaedia of English Literature.(vol.1)shalabh BookHouse1989.P835(9)Griffin, Dustin (2002), Patriotism and Poetry in Eighteenth-Century Britain,Cambridge University Press(10)M ileur, Jean-Pierre (1987), "Spectators at Our Own Funerals", in Harold Bloom,Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, New York: Chelsea House(11)B ieri, James (2008), Percy Bysshe Shelley, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UniversityPress(12)R yals, Clyde de L. (1996), The Life of Robert Browning, Oxford: Blackwell(13)T urner, Paul (2001), The Life of Thomas Hardy, Oxford: Blackwell(14)W right, George (1976), "Eliot Written in a Country Churchyard: The Elegy andthe Four Quartets", ELH42 (2 (Summer 1976)): 227–243(15)From Wikipedia on the internet: /wiki/Thomas_Gray#。
