英国文学 讲义.docVIP

The Romantic Period General features of Romanticism 1. An emphasis on feeling, imagination, intuition, that is emphasis on subjectivism. 2. A love for nature 3.A belief in individuality and freedom 4.The glorification of the commonplace 5. An interest in the past, the unusual, the unfamiliar, the bizarre or the picturesque 6.A feeling of loneliness All in all, Romanticism is a revolt against authority and tradition. .Representative poets: Pre-Romanticists: Blake, Burns, The most prominent Romanticists: Wordsworth, Coleridge, Lord Byron,Shelley,Keats, Robert Burns The life Burns, sometimes known as the ploughman poet, was the eldest son of a poverty-stricken farmer. He was born at Alloway, near Ayr, on January 25, 1759. Robert, who had been to school since the age of six, and was also educated at home by a teacher, had, by the age of fifteen, already become the farms chief labourer. He had also acquired a reading knowledge of French and Latin and had read Shakespeare, Dryden, Milton and the Bible. After his fathers death, he and his brother continued farming together, working now at Mossigiel. The poverty of Burns early life, though far from being overcome, had produced in him a supporter of the French Revolution and a rebel against the social order of his time. His rebellious nature soon became evident in his acts. His first love, Nelly Kirkpatrick inspired him to try his hand at poetry, a song entitled O, once I lovd a bonnie lass. Burns spread his affections freely, and the next decade saw 8 illegitimate children born to him through 5 different women. One of these, Jean Armour, became Mrs. Burns in 1788. The first published work of poetry by Robert Burns was Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect which saw the light of day on 31 July 1786. He was unable to find a patron to support his writing, but publisher James Johnson gave him work editing a collection of Scottish folk songs. This work, titled The Scots Musical Museum, was published in 5 volumes