英国文学问答练习题.docVIP

英国文学问答练习题： Part One Old and Middle English Literature Summarize Chaucer’s literary career and the representative works of each period. His literary career is usually divided into three periods: the French period, the Italian period and the English period. The French period refers to the period of French influence (1359-1372). During the period Chaucer wrote his earliest works: The Romaunt of the Rose, a free translation of a French poem and his first important original work: The Book of the Duchess. The Italian period refers to the period of Italian Influence(1372-1386), especially of Dante and Bocaacio. During this period, he mainly wrote three longer poems using the heroic stanza of seven lines: The House of Fame, Troilus and Crisyede, The Legend of Good Women. The English period is his mature period, during which time his masterpiece The Canterbury was produced in which the heroic couplet was used. Answer the question according to the following passage When April with its sweet-smelling showersHas pierced the drought of March to the root,And bathed every vein (of the plants) in such liquidBy which power the flower is created;When the West Wind also with its sweet breath,In every wood and field has breathed life into The tender new leaves, and the young sunHas run half its course in Aries,And small fowls make melody,Those that sleep all the night with open eyes(So Nature incites them in their hearts),Then folk long to go on pilgrimages,And professional pilgrims to seek foreign shores,To distant shrines, known in various lands;And specially from every shires endOf England to Canterbury they travel,To seek the holy blessed martyr,Who helped them when they were sick. Questions: What is expressed in these opening lines of The Canterbury Tales? How does the author emphasize the transition from nature to divinity? Comment on Chaucer’s contribution of rhymed stanzas. Answers: 1. This part is a superb expression of a double view of the Canterbury pi