英美文学.docx

英美文学.docx

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英美文学

HighlightsinEnglishLiterature

TheearliestliteratureoftheEnglishpeople,likethatofmanyotherpeoples,originatedfromthecollectiveeffortsofthepeople,usuallywhentheywereworkingorrestingfromtheirlabors.Storiesbasedonhistoryorlegendorcontemporaryeventswerenarratedorallyandoftensungduringfestivitiesandotheroccasions,chieflyforentertainment.Someofthemoreinterestingofthesenarrativeswerepassedfrommouthtomouthandfromgenerationtogeneration,andastheyweretoldandsungbydifferentsingersatdifferenttimes,additionsweremadetothemordeletionsweretakenfromthem.

ThemostmonumentalliteraryworkinEnglishliteratureintheOldEnglishorAnglo-Saxonperiod（fromthe5thcenturyto1066）isBeowulf.Itistheonlyimportantsinglepoemhandeddowninthewrittenformandispreservedintact.Probablyexistinginoralforminthe6thcentury,itisbelievedtohavebeenwritteninthe7thor8thcenturyalthoughitsmanuscriptextantnowcanbedatedbacktothe10thcentury.Composedof3183linesofalliterativeverse（Alliteration,alsoknownas“headrhyme”or“initialrhyme,”isaverseformwhichmeanstherepetitionofthesamesounds,usu.initialconsonantsofwordsorofstressedsyllablesinanysequenceofneighboringwords,e.g.“lordoflanguage.”Alliterativeverseisaverseinwhichthechiefprincipleofrepetitionisalliterationratherthanrhyme）,itisthelongestoftheearlyEnglishpoemspreservedtoday.

Beowulfisanepic,tellingthestoryofBeowulf,anationalhero,whowenttofightagainsttheenemiesindefenseofhiscountry.

Anepicisalongnarrativepoemcelebratingthegreatdeedsofoneormorelegendaryheroesinagrandceremoniousstyle,whowasusu.protectedordescendedfromgods,performedsupernaturalexploitsinbattleorinmarvelousvoyagesinsavingorfoundinganation.

Aromanceisaversenarrativethatsingsofknightlyadventuresorotherheroicdeeds,andusu.emphasizesthechivalricloveoftheMiddleAgesEurope.

Althoughromanceswerestillwritteninthesecondhalfofthe14thcenturytocelebratetheknightlydeedsofthepast,chivalrywasrapidlylosingitsglamour.TheearlyfloweringoftheRenaissance,whichbeganfirstinItalyinthe14thcentury,soonspreadtoFranceandbytheendofthe14thcenturythewritingsof（FrancescoPetrarca）Petrarch（1304-74,poetandscholar）and（Giovanni）Boccaccio（1313-75,writer）alreadystartedtoexerttheirinfluenceonmanyEnglishwriters.SuperstitionprevalentthroughtheMiddleAgeswasbeginningtolosegroundinthemindsofthepeoplewiththegradualdawningofscienceinEurope.Thesecondhalfofthe14thcenturymarkedthedeteriorationanddeclineoffeudalisminEnglandandthegreateconomicandpoliticalchangeshadtheirimpactonliterature,andEnglishliteratureflourishedafterthreecenturiesofcomparativelull.

WilliamLanglandiswellrememberedforhiswork,PiersthePlouman,（whichhebeganprobablyin1362andwaspreoccupiedinhislasttwentyyears）whichcanbedividedintotwoparts:

thevisionofPiersthePloumanandthevisionofDo-wel,Do-bet,andDo-best.“PiersthePlouman”containstwothemes:

theexposureofthecorruptionoftheCourtandtheChurch（therulingclass）andtheexpressionofthemiseryoftheexploitedandoppressed（theruledclass）,andthusholdsupamirrortoEnglandinLangland’stime.

GeoffreyChaucerwasthegreatestwriterinthesecondhalfthe14thcentury.Bornofawine-merchant’sfamily,heservedasacourtpagein1357.HewasintheEnglisharmyfightinginFrancein1359,andafterbeingtakenprisoner,hewasreleasedandreturnedtoEnglandin1360.HetookeducationattheInnerTemplewherehereceivedtrainingforacareeratthecourtfrom1361to1367.HeenteredtheserviceofKingEdwardIIIandwenttotheEuropeanContinentninetimesonsomediplomaticerrandsfrom1367to1377.HejourneyedtoGenoaandFlorenceinItalyfromDecembertoMay1373andwasmadeControllerofCustomsandSubsidyofWools,SkinsandHidesintheportofLondonin1374.HewasappointedControllerofthePettyCustomsonWinesandothermerchandisein1382andbecameoneofthejusticesofthepeaceforKentin1385andwaselectedM.P.forKentin1386.Hediedin1400andwasburiedinthePoet’sCornerofWestminsterAbbey.Chaucerservedinhislifetimeinagreatvarietyofoccupations,workingascourtier,office-holder,soldier,ambassadorandlegislator.Hehadbroadandintimateacquaintancewithpeoplehighandlowinallwalksoflifeandknewwellthewholesociallifeofhistime.Hisvariedcareerhaditsimpactonhiswriting,whichisquiteevidentinhismasterworkTheCanterburyTales.

Chaucer’sgreatestcontributiontoEnglishliteratureliesinthefactthatheintroducedtheheroiccouplet（tworhymedlinesofiambicpentameter）intoEnglishliterature.

TermsConcerningthePoem

Heroiccouplet:

Heroiccoupletisarhymedpairofiambicpentameterlinessuchas“LetObservationwithextensiveView/SurveyMankind,fromChinatoPeru.”ItisnamedfromitsusebyJohnDrydenandothersintheheroicdramaofthe17thcentury,theheroiccouplethadbeenestablishedmuchearlierbyGeoffreyChaucerasamajorEnglishverse-formfornarrativeandotherkindsofnon-dramaticpoetry:

itdominatedEnglishpoetryofthe18thcenturybeforedeclininginimportanceintheearly19thcentury.

Meter:

Meterreferstothepatternofmeasuredsound-unitsrecurringmoreorlessregularlyinlinesofverse.Poetrymaybecomposedaccordingtooneoffourprincipalmetricalsystems:

Quantitativemeter（usedinGreekandLatin）:

thepatternisasequenceoflongandshortsyllablescountedingroupsknownasfeet;Syllabicmeter（asinFrenchandJapanese）:

thepatterncomprisesafixednumberofsyllablesintheline;Accentualmeter（or“strong-stressmeter”）,foundinOldEnglishandinlaterEnglishpopularverse,thepatternisaregularnumberofstressedsyllablesinthelineorgroupoflines,regardlessofthenumberofunstressedsyllables;andAccentual-syllabicmeter:

thepatternconsistsofaregularnumberofstressedsyllablesappropriatelyarrangedwithinafixedtotalnumberofsyllablesinthelines（withpermissiblevariationsincludingfeminineendings）,bothstressedandunstressedsyllablesbeingcounted.

Thefourthsystem----accentual-syllabicmeter----istheonefoundinmostEnglishverseintheliterarytraditionsinceChaucer;someflexibleusesofitinclinetowardtheaccentualsystem.However,thedescriptivetermsmostcommonlyusedtoanalyseithave,confusingly,beeninheritedfromthevocabularyoftheverydifferentGreekandLatinquantitativesystem.ThusthevariousEnglishmetersarenamedaftertheclassicalfeetthattheirgroupingsofstressedandunstressedsyllablesresemble,andthelengthofametricallinestilloftenexpressedintermsofthenumberoffeetitcontains:

adimeterhastwofeet,atrimesterthree,atetrameterfour,apentameterfive,ahexametersix,andaheptameterseven.Asimplerandoftenmoreaccuratemethodofdescriptionistorefertolineseitheraccentualoraccentual-syllabicmeteraccordingtothenumberofsyllables:

thusanEnglishtetrameterisafour-stressline,andapentameterafive-stressline.

Englishaccentual-syllabicmetersfallintotwogroups,accordingtothewayinwhichstressed（/）andunstressed（×）syllablesalternate:

induplemeters,stressedsyllablesalternatemoreorlessregularlywithsingleunstressedsyllables,andsothelineistraditionallydescribedasasequenceofdisyllabic（2-syllable）feet;whileintriplemeters,stressedsyllablesalternatewithpairsofunstressedsyllables,andthelineisseenasasequenceoftrisyllabic（3-syllable）feet.

Ofthetwoduplemeters,byfarthemorecommoninEnglishistheiambicmeter,inwhichthestressedsyllablesareforthemostpartperceivedasfollowingtheunstressedsyllableswithwhichtheyalternate（×/×/×/etc.）althoughsomevariationsonthispatternareaccepted.Theotherduplemeter,usedinEnglishlessfrequentlythantheiambic,isthetrochaicmeter,inwhichtheiambicpatternisreversedsothatthestressedsyllablesarefelttobeprecedingtheunstressedsyllableswithwhichtheyalternate（/×/×/×,etc.）.Itiscommon,though,forpoetsusingtrochaicmetertobeginandendthelineonastressedsyllable,asinBlake’sline“Tiger,tiger,burningbright.”

ThetriplemetersarefarlesscommoninEnglish,althoughsometimesfound.Inthedactylicmeter,namedafterthedactyl（/××）,thestressedsyllablesarefelttoprecedetheinterveningpairsofunstressedsyllables“Cannoninfrontofthem.”Intheanapaesticmeter,namedaftertheanapaest（××/）,thepatternisreversed:

“Ofyourpainting,dispiritedrace.”Dactylicandanapaesticverseisnotusuallycomposedpurelyofdactylsandanapaests:

otherfeetoradditionalsyllablesarefrequentlycombinedwithorsubstitutedforthem.

Rhyme:

Rhymemeanstheidentityofsoundbetweensyllablesorpairedgroupsofsyllables,usuallyattheendsofverselines.Normallythelaststressedvowelinthelineandallsoundsfollowingitmakeuptherhymingelement:

thismaybeamonosyllable（love/above----knownas“masculinerhyme”）,ortwosyllables（whether/together----knownas“femininerhyme”ordoublerhyme）,oreventhreesyllables（glamorous/amorous,knownas“triplerhyme”）.Theserhymesareallexamplesof“fullrhyme”（or“truerhyme”）.Departuresfromthisnormtakethreeforms:

（i）rimerhyme,inwhichtheconsonantsprecedingtherhymingelementsarealsoidenticalevenifthespellingsandmeaningsofthewordsdiffer（made/maid）;（ii）eyerhyme,inwhichthespellingsoftherhyming