the 17th century English literature.ppt

The 17th Century English Literature ACHIEVEMENT considered the greatest of the metaphysical poets and one of the greatest writers of love poetry. The poetry of Donne is characterized by complex imagery and irregularity of form. He frequently employed the conceit, an elaborate metaphor making striking syntheses of apparently unrelated objects or ideas. Conceits: far-fetched comparisons (unexpected, surprising, striving for the novelty) The content of his love poetry, often both cynical and sensuous, represents a reaction against the sentimental Elizabethan sonnet The metaphysical school玄学诗派 Critics place Donne, along with English poets George Herbert, Henry Vaughan, and Richard Crashaw, in the metaphysical school of poets. American-born English poet T. S. Eliot: these poets “engaged in the tasks of trying to find the verbal equivalent for states of mind and feeling.” Donne applies this technique in “A Valediction: Of Weeping” (1590?), which uses an irregular form and elaborate metaphors to express the strong emotions of the poem. THE FLEA …It suckd me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be.Thou knowst that this cannot be said…O stay, three lives in one flea spare,Where we almost, yea, more than married are.This flea is you and I, and thisOur marriage bed, and marriage temple is. (No man is an island, entire of itself every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were any man‘s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls it tolls for thee.没有人能自全，?没有人是孤岛，?每人都是大陆的一片，?要为本土应卯?那便是一块土地，?那便是一方海角，?那便是一座庄园，?不论是你的、还是朋友的，?一旦海水冲走，?欧洲就要变小。?任何人的死亡，?都是我的减少，?作为人类的一员，?我与生灵共老。?丧钟在为谁敲，?我本茫然不晓，?不为幽明永隔，?它正为你哀悼。?李敖 译) Death Be Not Proud John Donne expressed his belief in life after death. Death is compared to rest or sleep.