The18thCenturyTheEnlightenmentPeriod.pptVIP

Lecture outline 1.Pope, the person and his main works 2.Pope’s poetics 1) term: neo-classicism 2) term: Enlightenment 3) distinction between Neo-classicism and Renaissance 4) epigrams by Pope 3.Pope’s position in British literature 4.Pope’s limitation Pope’s life and career weak and crippled from childhood; Little regular schooling and no university Self-taught with the help of dictionaries and grammar books Widely read and translated Latin, French, Italian and Greek poets Pope’s Works (1) Pastorals (2) Essay on Criticism a didactic poem in heroic couplets (3) The Rape of the Lock the masterpiece, which is worth reading for its description and satire of the dull court life of England of that time Pope’s Works (4) Translations, in heroic couplet The Iliad of Homer The Odyssey of Homer (half-translated) (5)The Works of Shakespeare an edition of Shakespeare’s plays and recognition of Shakespeare’s greatness. Pope’s Works (6) “The Dunciad” “愚人志” a satirical poem. (7) “Moral Essays” “道德论” a philosophic poem. (8) “An Essay on Men” “人论” a philosophic poem.  Pope’s poetics Some to conceit alone their taste confine, And glitt’ring thoughts struck out at every line; Pleased with a work where nothing’s just or fit; One glaring Chaos and wild heap of wit. Poets like painters, thus, unskill’d to trace That naked Nature and the living grace, With gold and jewels cover every part, And hide with ornaments their want of art. True Wit is Nature to advantage dress’d, What oft was thought, but ne’er so well express’d; --------from Alexander Pope’s An Essay on Criticism Question 1 What does Pope criticize in this excerpt? Metaphysical poets and their peculiar conceit an evidence to prove the marginized position of the school Question 2 What’s the feature of the end rhyme in