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1、英语诗歌赏析英语诗歌赏析广东海洋大学外国语学院广东海洋大学外国语学院 康翠琴康翠琴A A BriefBrief IntroductionIntroduction toto GeorgeGeorge HerbertHerbert andand HisHis VirtueVirtue1. IntroductionIntroductionThis thesis aims to introduce a Metaphysical poet George Herbert and one of his poem Virtue in which virtue is sung highly of.There a
2、re two parts in the main body of the thesis. The first part gives readers a brief introduction of George Herbert, his family and his writing styles. In the second part, the poem Virtue is analyzed in two aspects: musicality and image, added by an appreciation of the poem as an accompaniment. In the
3、end of the thesis, what have been mentioned are brought to a conclusion to reveal George Herberts values toward life.2. GeorgeGeorge HerbertHerbert andand HisHis VirtueVirtueGeorge Herbert lived in the period of Renaissance in the Great Britain, influenced by John Donne, the representative of the Me
4、taphysical school, also by the religion of Anglicanism, most of his works praised highly of the God and beauty, which can be found in one of his poem Virtue. 2.1George Herbert and His FamilyGeorge Herbert, (3 April 1593 1 March 1633) was a Welsh poet, orator and priest. Being born into an artistic a
5、nd wealthy family, he received a good education which led to his holding prominent positions at Cambridge University and Parliament. 1 His mother was a patron and friend of John Donne and other poets and one of his brothers was an important poet and philosopher, often regarded as “the father of Engl
6、ish deism” which give little George an intellectual environment that is full of arts. 2.2George Herberts Writing Style George Herbert was a religious poet as well as one of the Metaphysical poets. 2 His poems are characterized by “a precision of language, a metrical versatility, and an ingenious use
7、 of imagery or conceits that was favored by the metaphysical school of poets”. 3 Great talent can been found in his teenage hood. When at the age fifteen, George created his first two sonnets in which he expressed the theme of “the love of God is more honorable than that of a woman”. Since then he h
8、ad made up his mind to devote all his life to the God. 4 His works The Temple, published in 1633, mainly sang the praises of the greatness of the God and conveyed his sincere devotion. Under the influence of Metaphysical poetry in which a primary Platonic concept can be found of the idea that “the p
9、erfection of beauty in the beloved acted as a remembrance of perfect beauty in the eternal realm”, 5 such beauty-advocating theme can be also found in George Herberts writings. 2.3General Analysis of VirtueThe poem Virtue, by three simple demonstrations of however cool, calm and bright, sweet day be
10、ing replaced by the night; however angry and brave, sweet rose is bound to die; no matter how much sweet days and roses, sweet spring will gone finally, illustrates the eternal natural truth of everything will meet its end. However in the last stanza, the poet indicated that “only a sweet and virtuo
11、us soul” (virtue) can survive forever, which makes a bright contrast with the previous natural truth to highlight the theme of the poem.2.3.1 MusicalityMusicality is embodied in two aspects of meter and rhyme.2.3.1.1 Meter 6In poetry, meter is the specific pattern in which stressed and unstressed sy
12、llables are put together The Virtue has the beauty of rhythm, especially in the first and the last stanzas.In the first stanza, as listed as follow, the bold capital letters stand for stressed syllables or arsis while the lowercase letters stand for unstressed syllables or thesis. And the punctuatio
13、n of slash”/” divides different foots in each verse:sweet DAYDAY/ so COOLCOOL/ so CALMCALM/ so BRIGHTBRIGHT!,the BRIDABRIDAl/ of the EARTHEARTH /and SKYSKY:the DEWDEW/ shall WEEPWEEP/ thy FALLFALL/ to-NIGHTNIGHT;for THOUTHOU/ must DIEDIE. Generally speaking, in the above stanza there is a unstressed
14、 syllable followed by an stress syllable, this stanza belongs to the Iambic Foot. This arrangement forms a kind of clear and vivid rhythm.In the last stanza, the poet applied another different meter:only a SWEETSWEET/ and virtuous SOULSOUL,like seasoned TIMBERTIMBER/ never GIVESGIVES;but THOUGHTHOUG
15、H/ the whole WORLDWORLD/ turn to COALCOAL,then chiefly LIVESLIVES.This stanza mainly has the characteristics of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable, which agrees with the usage of the Anapaestic Foot. This arrangement makes an emphasis of the uniqueness of virtue and the winding
16、 melody of the pronunciation. 2.3.1.2 Rhyme A rhyme is “a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words and is most often used in poetry and songs”. 7 And a rhyming scheme is “the pattern of rhyming lines in a poem or song”. 8George Herbert used the poetic technique of End Rhyme, more exactly: Perfect Rhyme and Alternating Rhyme Scheme (ABAB-CBCB-DBDB-EFEF) in his Virtue to cause a particular effect as analyzed as follow:Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so brightbright! A AThe bridal of the eart
