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1、American Literature,Robert Frost (p.134),Main content,Robert Frost His poem “ The Road not Taken”,About Robert Frost,Poet and playwright,His Life,Born in San Francisco in 1874 and died in Boston in1963 At 11 years old, his father died and his mother took him to Massachusetts Attended high school in
2、Mass, entered Dartmouth College, but remained less than one semester. In 1895, he got married. In order to support the family, he did odd jobs: teaching school and working in a mill and as a newspaper reporter,From 1897 to 1899,attended Harvard College as a special student but left without a degree.
3、 Over the next ten years he wrote (but rarely published) poems, operated a farm in Derry, New Hampshire, and supplemented his income by teaching at Derrys Pinkerton Academy.,His Writing,Robert Frost was the most popular American poet from 1914 to his death. His verse: at first terrifying later fille
4、d with more sunshine Frosts achievement was fantastic. Frosts poems are New England in the setting, and are characterized by the familiar speaking voice. The subjects come from daily life of ordinary people. Frost wrote rural poetry in the pastoral tradition as a way to understand modern life.,Featu
5、res,Profound meanings are hidden underneath the plain language and simple form. (1) His poems mostly wrote about nature (influence from Wordsworth and Emerson) and New England landscape. (2) Deceptively simple style (reason for popular) (3) Symbolism (show his poems deep meaning) (4) He was likely t
6、o choose traditional forms for his poem, but the themes of his poems are mostly modern. (In his poems, traditional elements and modern elements mingle together.),Thematic concerns,Generally Frost is considered a regional poet whose subject matters mainly focus on the landscape and people in New Engl
7、and. These thematic concerns include the terror and tragedy in nature, as well as its beauty, and the loneliness and poverty of the isolated human being. Frost wrote many poems that investigate the basic themes of mans life: the individuals relationships to himself, to his fellow-man, to world, and
8、to his God.,The Modern Period in American Literature,Strictly speaking, the modern period of American literature starts with the WWI, stretches through the Great Depression and ends with WWII.,The 20th century began with a strong sense of social breakdown. The two World Wars, especially the First Wo
9、rld War (1914-1918), became the emblem of all wars in the 20th century, which means violence, devastation, blood and death, and made a big impact on the life of the American people and their literary writings.,With all these wars the whole world had undergone a dramatic social change, a transformati
10、on from order to disorder. America in this period was characterized by economic boom and material prosperity but social chaos, spiritual waste and moral decay.,The impact of Marxism, Freudianism and European modern art on American modern literature: Between the mid-l9th century and the first decade
11、of the 20th century, there had been a big flush of new theories and new ideas in both social and natural sciences, as well as in the field of art in Europe, which played an indispensable role in bringing about modernism and the modernistic writings in the United States.,Frosts poetic theory,He empha
12、sized on the dramatic qualities of poetry. He believed that all poetry is essentially metaphorical. He insisted that poetry cannot be forced into being. He thought that poetry serves as a means of giving patterns to mans existence.,The Road Not Taken 一条未走的路 又译为 未选择的路,From his collection of poems Mou
13、ntain Intervel,Introduction,This is a much quoted poem of Frost. It was included in Mountain Interval, the first collection of poems published after Frost returned to America. Actually it was written in February, 1915, just before he was about to go back. He has already won a high reputation in Lond
14、on whereas his friend, Edward Thomas, was involved in the first World War. Frost was very sorrowful and thus recalled his experience four years age in a New Hampshire forest.,Masculine mskjln 从押韵的诗行是以重读音节还是非重读音节结尾，英语诗歌的尾韵 还可分为阳韵（masculine rhyme) 和阴韵(feminine rhyme)两类. 阳韵：互相押韵的诗行都是以重读音节的词或单音节词结尾。 阳韵在
15、英语诗歌中最为常见。 阴韵： 当押韵的诗行以非重读音节结尾时，即为阴韵 Syllable slbl n. 音节 Iambic ambk n. 抑扬格 Tetrameter tetrmt n. 四音步,Stanza 1,1. diverge dav:d vi. 分开，叉开; =separate, go in different directions 2. undergrowth ndgr n. 矮树丛，灌木丛 =bush,Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, 黄色的树林里分出两条路 And sorry I could not travel both 可惜我不能
16、同时去涉足 And be one traveler, long I stood 我在那路口久久伫立 And looked down one as far as I could 我向着一条路极目望去 To where it bent in the undergrowth; 直到它消失在丛林深处,Stanza 2,1. Fair adj. 公平的; 合理的; 晴朗的; 美丽的 2. claim=saying,Then took the other, as just as fair, 但我却选择了另外一条路 And having perhaps the better claim, 它荒草萋萋，十分幽寂 Because it was grassy and wanted wear;显得更诱人，更美丽 Though as for that the passing there 虽然在这两条小路上 Had worn them really about the same, 都很少留下旅人的足迹 or re
