英美诗歌选读复习内容概要1.docxVIP

名词解释1、Epic:A long and narrative poem written in an elevated style that recounts the adventures of a hero, who often embodies the traits of a nationor people. The earliest epic tales survived for centuries as oral traditions before they were finally written down.Epics typically share a wide variety of characteristics: 1) the?protagonist is a hero of great stature and significance;2) the setting is vast in scope, often involving more than one nation; 3) the action requires noble, fantastic, and even superhuman actions;?4) the theme reflects timeless values, such as courage and honor, and encompasses universal ideas, such as good and evil or life and death; Beowulf is the oldest surviving epic poem in English.2、SonnetA?sonnet?is a poetic form which originated in?Italy. In the 13th century, sonnet refers to a 14-line lyric poem with a complicated rhyme scheme and a defined structure, usually written in iambic pentameter. Sonnet can be divided into 3 types according to different structures:Petrarchan sonnet. It was derived from the great Italian poet Petrarch;Shakespearean sonnet. The shakespearean sonnet form contains 3 quatrains and a heroic couplet. The rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg. The most famous sonneteer is William Shakespeare;Spenserian sonnet. It was introduced in Britain by Sir Thomas Wyatt. It contains 3 quatrains and a couplet. What is unique to the Spenserian sonnet is the interlocking rhyme scheme:abab bcbc cdcd ee.3、PastoralA pastoral is a poem that presents shepherds in idealized rural settings. Renaissance poets like Marlowe and Raleigh used the pastoral form to express their feelings and thoughts about love and other subjects. Shepherd in pastoral tend to use courtly speech. The poems usually have metrical patterns and rhyme schemes that help give them a musical or songlike quality. The imagery derives from commonplace country settings.4、Metaphysical poetryMetaphysical poetry is term adopted by Samuel Johnson to describe a school of highly intellec