英國文學史Lecture 3 William Wordsworth(II)概要1

1、Lecture 3 William Wordsworth(II) 華茲華斯 (17701850)William Wordsworth (1775-1850)華茲華斯William Wordsworth is a celebrated Romantic poet in England and the best-known of the Lake Poets. He was made poet laureate in 1843.I. Comments on Wordsworth and his literary writings1. Wordsworth is the representative

2、 of the first generation of Romantic poets, who expressed the deepest aspirations of English Romanticism. He saw nature and man with new eyes. His whole work is an attempt to communicate that new vision.2.Wordsworths poetry is distinguished by the simplicity and purity of his language. It was his th

3、eory that the language spoken by the peasants when purified from its defects, was the best of all. His theory and practice in poetical creation started from a dissatisfaction with the social reality under capitalism, and hinted at the thought of “back to nature” and “back to the patriarchal system o

4、f the old time”.3. Wordsworth proclaimed the natural flow of strong emotions. “ emotion immediately expressed is as raw as wine newly bottled”, “ tranquil contemplation of an emotional experience is like the refining of old wine. 4. William Wordsworths theory, as stated in his Preface to the second

5、edition of the Lyrical Ballads, serves as a manifesto of Romanticism. The poet takes the direct experience of the senses as the sources of poetic truth for poetry comes from the emotion recollected in tranquility. (Poetry is “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings, which originates in emotion

6、 recollected in tranquility.”)His poetic practice is what his theory implies, for the joys and sorrows of the common people are his themes in many of his poems such as the Lucy poems 5. He is best in descriptions of mountains and rivers; flowers and birds; children and peasants; reminiscences of his

7、 own childhood and youth. = nature.Discussion:Try to analyse the poem I wandered lonely as a cloud with Wordsworths poetry composition theory :(Poetry is “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquility.”)The poets wandering and discovery of a field of daffodils by a lake, t

8、he memory of which pleases him and comforts him when he is lonely, bored or restless. II. The Solitary reaper- William WordsworthRead the poem and talk about the following quetions:Genre:Structure:Rhyme Scheme:metre:Theme:lyric poem 抒情詩four 8-line stanzas共四節(jié) 每節(jié)八句ababccdd (except lines 1 & 3 in stanz

9、as 1 and 4)iambic tetrameter四音步抑揚格 The Glorification of the commonplace. The poet is fascinated with a Scottish peasant girls beautiful song.Stanza 1: The poet heard a Scottish girl singing while reaping in the wheat field.1Behold her, single in the field, 2Yon solitary Highland Lass! 3Reaping and s

10、inging by herself; 4Stop here, or gently pass! vt. look at=yonder: overthere蘇格蘭西北部高原5Alone she cuts and binds the grain, 6And sings a melancholy strain; 7O listen! for the Vale profound 8Is overflowing with the sound.哀傷的曲調(diào)=valley=girlHer voice is like water.捆the line is either warning the speaker hi

11、mself notto disturb the girl, or it iseven said to the readers.Note first the recurrence of the same meaning in different words, and the repetition of the common words from daily language!Stanza 2: The poet is surprised to hear such a beautiful song in so remote a place.1No Nightingale did ever chau

12、nt 2More welcome notes to weary bands 3Of travellers in some shady haunt, 4Among Arabian sands =chant歌唱可愛的音符groupoasis綠洲where travellers take a restunder the trees.deserts in most of the ArabianPeninsula 半島nightingale夜鶯a bird good at singing5A voice so thrilling neer was heard 6In spring-time from t

13、he Cuckoo-bird, 7Breaking the silence of the seas 8Among the farthest Hebrides 動人的=neverherald 信使of spring, comingin April andleaving inAugustcuckoo杜鵑鳥In Spring people on the Hebrides are excited to hear the cuckoossong after a long winters silence.Pay special attention to the two comparisons in thi

14、s stanza!How do you interpret this stanza?The song of a nightingale is so rare and exciting for the travellers in the Arabian Deserts to hear, so it is with the song of the cuckoo bird; but more exciting is to hear the singing of the solitary reaping girl here on the Highland.Stanza 3: The poet does

15、nt understand her song but knows it is about something sad.1Will no one tell me what she sings? 2Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow 3 For old, unhappy, far-off things, 4And battles long ago: sad音符notesare about(Her song is like water.), echoing the word overflowing in stanza one.long time ago5Or is

16、it some more humble lay, 6Familiar matter of to-day? 7Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain, 8That has been, and may be again? a folk songsuch as the natural death of her parentsthe girl is singing in Erse, which is not familiar to the poet.In this stanza, the poet begins to probe into the contents and

17、 subject matter of the girls song: it seems not important for the poet or even the readers what the song is literally about-sorrowful things happened either in the past or today or in the future? It is this association that immensely enriches the girls song, making it an elegy ever sung by men. Thus

18、 comes the following enlightening ideas.Stanza 4: The poet was so moved by her song that he could never forget it.1Whateer the theme, the Maiden sang 2As if her song could have no ending; 3I saw her singing at her work, 4And oer the sickle bending;girl鐮刀=whatevercf.余音繞梁，三日不絕The poet was carried away

19、 by her song and almost forgot his journey.5I listend, motionless and still; =overlistening attentively6And, as I mounted up the hill, 7The music in my heart I bore, 8Long after it was heard no more.登上I bore the music in my heart.我把那支樂曲牢記心頭。The girl sang over her work.The solitary reapers song left

20、an unforgetableimpression on the poets mind.FIGURES OF SPEECH反襯 用夜鶯和杜鵑反襯少女歌聲的優(yōu)美通感 聲音在作者眼中 變?yōu)橛行蔚氖挛锖粽Z BEHOLD HER /O LISTEN反復 同源詞反復類比 少女的歌聲與夜鶯和杜鵑的歌唱 詩人與旅人 及赫布里群島象征 MOUNT UP THE HILL 象征著人生的旅途反問contrast(foil),synaesthesia,apostrophe,repetition,analogy, symbol, rhetorical question. 語言特點語言十分簡樸，詩意明白易懂，但它清新自

21、然，意境優(yōu)美，如一幅畫，一幅有聲有色的畫 意象 意象，就是對我們的感覺能起刺激作用的具體形象 視覺意象(visual image)：single in the field，motionless and still，oer the sickle bending等；動覺意象(kinaesthetic image)：reaping and singing，stop here or gently pass，cuts and binds，breaking the silence，mounted up the hill等聽覺意象(auditory image)，如：sings a melancholy s

22、train，overflowing with the sound，welcome notes， plaintive numbers flow，humble lay，song，music等 Try to summarize the main idea of this poem.George Gordon, Lord ByronThe most colorful of the English romantic poets, Lord Byron embodied the romantic hero in his own quixotic lifestyle.Ranked with Shelley

23、and Keats as one of the great Romantic poets, Byron became famous throughout Europe as the embodiment of romanticism. His good looks, his lameness, and his flamboyant life style all contributed to the formation of the Byronic legend. By the mid-20th century his reputation as a poet had been eclipsed

24、 by growing critical recognition of his talents as a wit and satirist.ContentsI. Byrons LifeII. Major Literary WorksIII. Features of Byrons PoetryIV. More about His WorksAt ten at schoolBornBorn in an impoverished noble family in London in 1788.His early years was unhappy.At ten ,the boy was made Lo

25、rd Byron. Then he studied at Harrow and Cambridge.When he was a student ,Byron published his first collection of poems, entitled Hours of Idleness. I. Byrons Life2 years later In 1815In 1809Byron triumphantly set sail for Europe. This tour which last two years, proved fruitful.On his return to Engla

26、nd, Byronembarked on his political career. He also wrote lyrical pieces.Byron married Miss Milbank. It proved a most unhappy marriage. I. Byrons LifeThe result of this trip were the first two cantos of Childe Harolds Pilgrimage, with their famous descriptions of romatic scenery.I. Byrons LifeIn 1816

27、,he set sail for Europe ,never to return. He went to Switzerland, where he made acquaintance with Shelley.From Switzerland he went to Italy, where he lived from the end of 1816 to 1823. On April 19,1824,he died in Greece.Byron at his death bed (died of fever) Byrons Character1. Sensitive: born lame(

28、or crippled for maltreat from his mother)2. Intelligent: spared little time in study but possessed talent in history and speech.3. Versatile: swimming, speech, writing, leadership4. determined: persisted in his ambition5. Isolated: due to his life experience and embodied in his poems.A. Long Poems 1

29、. Childe Harolds Pilgrimage 恰爾德.哈羅德游記 2. Don Juan 唐璜B. Byrons Short Lyrics ( nature, love and political aspiration ) 1. She Walks in Beauty 2. When We Two Parted 3. Hebrew Melodies 4. Sonnet on Chillon II. Major Literary WorksHours of Idleness (1807): his first volume of poems懶散的時刻English Bards and

30、Scotch Reviewers (1809): a vigorous onslaught upon his critics英國詩人和蘇格蘭評論家Manfred (1817): a Faustian poetic drama reflecting his sense of guilt, remorse and frustration曼弗雷德Cain (1821)該隱C. Other WorksIII. Features of Byrons PoetryPersistent attacks on “cant (偽善的) politics, religions, and morals”;Novel

31、ty of oriental scenery;Romantic character of Byronic hero;Free, copious (豐富的) and vigorous diction and simple, fresh descriptions;Glowing imagination;Employment of the Ottava Rima (八行體) (Octava Stanza, an 8-line iambic pentameter stanza with the rhyme scheme abababcc) from Italian mock-heroic poetry

32、. What is Byronic hero?As a leading Romanticist, Byrons chief contribution is his creation of the “Byronic hero”, a proud, mysterious rebel figure of noble origin. With immense superiority in his passions and powers, this Byronic hero would carry on his shoulders the burden of righting all the wrong

33、s in a corrupt world, and would rise single-handedly against any kind of tyrannical rules either in government, in religion, or in moral principles with unconquerable wills and inexhaustible energies.Such a hero appears first in Childe Harolds Pilgrimage, then further developed in Manfred, Don Juan,

34、 etc. in different guises.The figure is, to some extent, modeled on the life and personality of Byron himself, and makes Byron famous both at home and abroad.拜倫式英雄是拜倫筆下的一類人物形象，最早萌芽于恰爾德哈洛爾德。在東方敘事詩中重點塑造了這類形象，他們是悲劇性的孤傲的反抗社會制度的叛逆者，是高傲而倔強，憂郁而孤獨，神秘而痛苦，與社會格格不入從而對之進行徹底反抗的叛逆者燙烙著拜倫思想個性氣質(zhì)的深刻印記。Byronic hero (Co

35、n.)The literary history of the Byronic hero in English can be traced from Milton, especially Miltons interpretation of Lucifer as having justified complaint against God. Byrons influence was manifested by many authors and artists of the Romantic movement during the 19th century and beyond. An exampl

36、e of such a hero is Heathcliff from Emily Bronts Wuthering Heights.Byronic hero:The figure of the Byronic hero pervades much of Byrons work, and Byron himself is considered to epitomise many of the characteristics of this literary figure. Scholars have traced the literary history of the Byronic hero from John Milton, and many authors and artists of the Romantic movement show Byrons influence during the 19th century and beyond, including Charlotte and Emily Bront.(With Women)Byron had always been susceptible to women and attractive to themThe young bachel