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1、1 Epic: It is, originally, an oral narrative poem, majestic both in theme and style. Epics deal with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance, involving action of broad sweep and grandeur. Typically, an epic includes several features: the introduction of supernatural forc
2、es that shape the action; conflict in the form of battles or other physical forces combat; and stylistic conventions such as an invocation to the Muse, and set speeches couched in elevated language. They summarize and express the nature or ideals of an entire nation at a significant or crucial perio
3、d of its history. Eg: Iliad 伊利亚特，Odyssey奥德赛 Paradise Lost 失乐园，The Divine Comedy神曲。 2 Romance: The romance was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, describing the life and adventures of a noble hero. The medieval romances were tales of chivalry or amorous adventure occurring in
4、 King Arthurs court. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an example of a medieval romance.3 Ballad: It is a story in poetic form, often about tragic love and usually sung. Ballads were passed down from generation to generation by singers. The medieval ballads are ballads of Robin Hood. Coleridges The
5、 Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a 19th century English ballad. 4 Heroic couplet: They are poetry composed in iambic pentameter. In this form of poetry, lines consisting of five iambic feet rime together in pairs. The rime scheme :aa bb cc . 5 Renaissance: Renaissance marks the transition from the me
6、dieval to the modern world. It first started in Italy in the 14th century and gradually spread all over Europe. The word “Renaissance” means rebirth or revival. In essence, it is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers and scholars made attempts to get rid of those old feudalist
7、ideas in medieval Europe and introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie, and to lift the restriction in all areas placed by the Roman Catholic Church authorities. Two features of renaissance: It is a thirsting curiosity for the classical literature. People learned to
8、admire the Greek and Latin works as models of literary form. It is the keen interest in the activities of humanity.6 Sonnet: A lyric poem of fourteen lines whose ryhme scheme is fixed. The rhyme scheme in the Italian form as typified in the sonnets of Petrarch is abbaabba cdecde. The Petrarchian son
9、net has two divisions: the first is of eight lines (the octave), and the second is of six lines (the sestet). The rhyme scheme of the English, or Shakespearean sonnet is abab cdcd efef gg. The change of rhyme in the English sonnet is coincidental with a change of theme in the poem. The meter is iamb
10、ic pentameter. 7 Blank verse: A poem written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.8 Spenserian Stanza: Spenser invented a new verse form for his poem. The verse form has been called Spenserian Stanza since his day. Each stanza has nine lines, each of the first eight lines is in iambic pentameter form, and
11、the ninth line is an iambic hexameter line. The rhythm scheme is abab bcbc c. 9 Enlightenment : The Enlightenment was a progressive intellectual movement throughout Western Europe in the 18th century. It was an expression of struggle of the bourgeoisie against feudalism. The enlighteners fought agai
12、nst class inequality, stagnation, prejudices and other survivals of feudalism. They thought the chief means for bettering the society was enlightenment or education for the people. The English enlighteners were bourgeois democratic thinkers. They set no revolutionary aim before them and what they st
13、rove for was to bring it to an end by clearing away the feudal ideas with the bourgeois ideology.10 Classicism: A movement or tendency in art, music, and literature to retain the characteristics found in work originating in classical Greece and Rome. It differs from Romanticism in that while Romanti
14、cism dwells on the emotional impact of a work, classicism concerns itself with form and discipline. 11 Sentimentalism: Sentimentalism appeared in the middle of the 18th century, as a reaction against commercialism and the cold rationalism. Sentimentalists emphasize “the human heart” and show sympath
15、y to the poor. This trend marks the transition form neoclassicism to romanticism in English poetry. Thomas Gray is one of the models. Another sentimentalist poet is Oliver Goldsmith (The Disserted Village). The most outstanding figure of English sentimentalism is Laurence Sterne.12 Pre-romanticism:
16、The Romantic Movement was marked by a strong protest against the bondage of Classicism, by a renewed interest in medieval literature. In England, this movement showed itself in the trend of Pre-romanticism in poetry. It was represented by Blake and Robert Burns. They struggled against the neoclassical tradition of poetry. 13 Romanticism : Romanticism was in effect a revolt of the English imagination against the neoclassic
