英语诗歌基础知识.docx

英语诗歌基础知识.docx

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英语诗歌基础知识

Ⅰ.DefinitionofPoetry

Poetry,formofliterature,spokenorwritten,thatemphasizesrhythm,otherintricatepatternsofsoundandimagery,andthemanypossiblewaysthatwordscansuggestmeaning.TheworditselfderivesfromaGreekword,poesis,meaning“making”or“creating.”Whereasordinaryspeechandwriting,calledprose,areorganizedinsentencesandparagraphs,poetryinitssimplestdefinitionisorganizedinunitscalledlinesaswellasinsentences,andofteninstanzas,whicharetheparagraphsofpoetry.Itisimportanttokeepinmindthedistinctionbetweenverseandapoem.Thewordversehastwomeanings:

one,torefertoalineasaunitofpoetry;theother,torefertoanyworkthatusesrhythmandrhyme.Workingfromthesecondmeaning,onecandistinguishbetweenverseandapoem.Thoseworksthatfallintoacategorycontaininglimericks,jingles,andthelike,wecallverse;worksofhighandlastingqualitywecancallpoems.

Forcenturiespeoplehavetriedtodefineandcharacterizepoetryinmanydifferentways.Thefollowingquotationsmaysuggestpartofthefeaturesofpoetry,whicharepresentedbysomeestablishedpoetsandcritics.

“Poetryisalanguagethattellsus,throughamoreorlessemotionalreactions,somethingthatcannotbesaid.”

------EdwinArlingtonRobinson

“Poetryprovidestheonepossiblewayofsayingonethingandmeaninganother.”

------RobertFrost

“Theartofunitingpleasurewithtruthbycallingimaginationtothehelpofreason.”

------SamuelJohnson

“Theimaginativeexpressionofstrongfeelingsusuallyrhythmical…thespontaneousoverflowofpowerfulfeelingscollectedintranquility.”

------WilliamWordsworth

“Thebestwordsinthebestorder.”

------SamuelTaylorColeridge

“Musicalthought.”

------ThomasCarlyle

Poetryuseslanguageandituseslanguageinadifferentmanner.Thepracticaluseoflanguageistocommunicateinformationandtokeepthecommunicationchannelsopen,whilepoetryuseslanguagetocommunicateexperiencethatismuchwiderthanmereinformationandknowledge.Theverydifferencebetweenpoetryandotherliteratureisthatpoetryisthemostcondensedandcompactedformofliterature,sayingmostinthefewestnumberofwords.Besides,thelanguageofpoetryismulti-dimensional.Practicallanguagewhichaimstocommunicateinformationisonlydirectedatthelistener’sunderstanding,butpoetry,whichisusedtocommunicateexperience,hasatleastfourdimensions.Itinvolvesthereader’swholefaculties:

hisintelligence,hissenses,hisemotionsandhisimagination,notmerelyhisunderstanding.Therefore,poetryisaliterarygenrethatcommunicateexperienceinthemostcondensedform.

Ⅱ.DevelopmentofPoetry

Itisimpossibletodatethefirstpoemorpoetintheworld,sincepoetryoriginatedinatimebeforewrittenlanguageswereborn.Theoriginsofpoetrycanbefoundinthecommunalexpression,probablyoriginallytakingtheformofdance,ofreligiousspirit.Thiscanbeprovedbythefactthatthedancerhythmcouldbemarkednotonlybyclapping,stamping,orrhythmiccries,butalsobychantingorotherwiseintoningorsingingwords.Songs（worksongs,lullabies,andplaysongs）aretheprogenitorofpoetry.Religioussongsalsoplayaveryimportantroleinthedevelopmentofpoetry.

Narrativeversemighthaveoriginatedinthereligiousimpulse.Theearliestnarrativesongs,orepicstellthestoriesofthecreationofmankindandthemythsofthegods.Epicsoflatertimesrelatethelivesofgodlikeheroes;andstilllateronesdealwiththelivesofhistoricalheroes.AmongtheearliestepicsaretheGreekIliadandOdysseyofHomer,andtheAnglo-SaxonBeowulf.

Whilemuchearlypoetrydealtwiththelivesofheroesandgodsinanelevatedstyle,poetshavealsoturnedtotheflawedlivesofordinarypeople,inparticularbawdyorsexualscenes,sinceveryearlytimes.TheEnglishpoetGeoffreyChaucerrecordedthelustyadventuresofless-than-piouspilgrimsinTheCanterburyTales.

Onechangeincompositionofpoetryshouldbementioned.Atfirst,poetrygrewoutofmusic,sosoundeffectwasmuchemphasizedandspellingdidnotcount.Forexample,inEnglish“poet”and“knowit”wereconsideredtorhyme.Butwhenpoetrybegantoappearinthewrittenform,spellingtookovertheprecedence.Theexamplesabovewereconsiderednonstandard.Wordslike“word”and“lord”,“mer”and“aimer”wereconsideredasrhymed.

Poetryinthelastfewcenturieshasturnedincreasinglytoordinary,day–to-dayconcerns,withacorrespondinginterestinbringingliterarylanguageclosertonaturalspeech.EnglishpoetWilliamWordsworth,inhis1802prefacetotheLyricalBallads,railedagainstartificialpoeticdictionanddeclaredhisintentiontowrite“inaselectionoflanguagereallyusedbymen.”Inpart,hewasreactingagainsttheexcessivelystylizedpoemsof18th-centuryAugustanwriterssuchasJohnDrydenandAlexanderPope.

Similarly,inthe20thcentury,thecelebrationoftheordinarycameinpartfromareactionagainstoutdatedformsofexpression.Earlyinthecentury,poetsofthemovementknownasimagism–includingAmericansEzraPound,H.D.（HildaDoolittle）,AmyLowell,andWilliamCarlosWilliams–turnedfromideastothings,andtheimpersonaldescriptionofobjectsintheworld,astylewhichcouldactuallyproduceaprofoundemotionalresponseinthereader.Williamswentsofarastodeclare,“Noideasbutinthings.”DeeplyinfluencedbyChineseandJapanesepoets,hewrotepoemsinwhichthepresenceofanobjecttookcentralplace.

OpenformisaconceptdevelopedbyAmericanpoetCharlesOlsonin1950.Opposingittosuchso-called“closedforms”asthesonnet,Olsonproposedanewpoetrythatgaveitselfovertomomentarysensationsandassociations,inwhichtheprocessofthepoem'scomposition,ratherthanbeingconcealedbeneathanordered,finishedsurface,madeitselffeltthroughshifts,leaps,hesitations,andfragmentation.

Ⅲ.TheComponentsofPoetry

Usually,apoemhasatitle,yetitdoesn’tmeanthateachpoemmusthaveatitle.Thetitleoftensuggeststhecentralmeaning（theme）ofthepoem.Poetryiswritteninsentencesjustasproseis,andthepunctuationindicateallgrammaticalpauses.Thelinesinapoemendintwoways:

END–STOPPEDandRUN–ON.Anend-stoppedlineisoneinwhichthegrammaticalunit,aclauseorsentence,isfinishedintheline:

O,myluveislikearedredrose,

ThatisnewlysprunginJune,

O,myluveislikethemelodie,

That’ssweetlyplayedintune.

（RobertBurns,ARed,RedRose）

Arun-online（sometimescalledanenjambedline）,ontheotherhand,isalineinwhichthegrammer,andthusthesense,isleftunfinishedattheendoftheline.Theclauseorsentencemayrunononeortwomorelines,asinBrowning’sMyStar:

AllthatIknow

Ofacertainstar

Is,itcanthrow

Liketheangledspar.

Run-onlinesgenerallycreatepleasurablefeelingsofexpectationasthereaderhastolookfurtherforthefullsenseofwhatisbeingsaid;andintheend-stoppedlines,heacquiressatisfactioninfindingthelineandthesenseendtogether.

ASTANZAisagroupoflinesofverseformingoneoftheunitsordivisionsofapoem.Itisusuallyrecurrent,characterizedbyaregularpattern,withrespecttothenumberoflines,andthearrangementofmeterofrhyme（rhymescheme）.Rhymeistherepetitionofsoundsintwoormorewordsorphrasesthatappearclosetoeachotherinapoem,whichareusuallylabeledwithlettersalphabetically,likeA,B,CorD.

Commonstanzaformsincludethecouplet,thetriplet,andthequatrain.

A.Couplet:

twosuccessiverhyminglines.ThecoupletisoneofthemainverseunitsinWesternliterature.Thecoupletcomposedoftwoiambicpentameterlinesiscommonlyknownastheheroiccouplet.

B.Triplet:

astanzaofthreelinesoranindividualpoemofthreelines.Therearespecifictripletforms,withspecificnames:

tercet,terzarima.Terzarimaisaseriesofinterlockingtripletsinwhichthesecondlineofeachonerhymeswiththefirstandthethirdlinesoftheonesucceeding,thus:

ABA,BCB,CDC,…TerzarimawasadoptedfirstbyDante,thenusedbyPetrarchandBoccaccio.

C.Quatrain:

astanzaoranindividualpoemoffourlinesrhymedorunrhymed.ItoccursasthecommonestofallstanzaicformsinEasternandWesternpoetries,andlendsitselftowidevariationinmeterandrhyme.

Ⅳ.BasicElementsofPoetry

A.Rhyme

Rhymeschemeisthemostobviouscharacteristicofapoem.Rhymeistherepetitionofthestressedvowelsoundandallsucceedingsounds:

gay,day,play,may;orwall,fall.

1.NumeralTypesofRhyme

a.Singlerhyme,orMasculineRhymeistherepetitionofonevowel,eitherasinglevoweloradiphthong:

Aheavyweightofhourshaschainedandbowed

Onetoolikethee:

tameless,andswift,andproud.

（P.B.Shelley,OdetotheWestWind）

b.DoubleRhyme,orFeminineRhymeistherepetitionoftwovowels:

ThushaveIhadtheeasadreamdothflatter,

Insleep,aking:

butwaking,nosuchmatter.

（W.Shakespeare,Sonnet87）

c.TripleRhyme,orMultipleRhymeistherepetitionofthreeormorethanthreevowelsinwords,orinphrases.

2.PositionalTypesofRhyme

Onthebasisoftheposition,therhymefallsintoseveraltypes.

a.EndRhyme

Iftherhymingwordsoccurattheendsoflines,itiscalledendrhyme.

Womanmuchmissed,howyoucalltome,calltome,

Sayingthatnowyouarenotasyouwere

Whenyouhadchangedfromonewhowasalltome,

Butasatfirst,whenourdaywasfair.

（ThomasHardy,TheVoice）

Endrhymeisthecommonestandmostconsciouslysought-aftersoundrepetitioninEnglishpoetry.

b.InternalRhyme

Internalrhymeoccurswithinthever