TheBasicElementsofAppreciatingEnglishPoetry1.Whatispoetry?PoetryistheexpressionofImpassionedfeelinginlanguage.“Poetryisthespontaneousoverflowofpowerfulfeelings:ittakesitsoriginfromemotionrecollectedintranquility.”“Poetry,inageneralsense,maybedefinedtobetheexpressionoftheimagination.”Poetryistherhythmicalcreationofbeauty.Poetryistheimageofmanandnature.“詩言志，歌詠言?！?虞書“詩言志之所以也。在心為志，發(fā)言為詩。情動于中而行于言，言之不足，則嗟嘆之；嗟嘆之不足，故詠歌之；詠歌之不足，不知手之舞之，足之蹈之也。情發(fā)于聲；聲成文，謂之音?！?詩大序“詩是由詩人對外界所引起的感覺，注入了思想與情感，而凝結(jié)了形象，終于被表現(xiàn)出來的一種完成的藝術?！?艾青：詩論2.TheSoundSystemofEnglishPoetrya.TheprosodicfeaturesProsody(韻律)-thestudyoftherhythm,pause,tempo,stressandpitchfeaturesofalanguage.Chinesepoetryissyllable-timed,Englishpoetryisstress-timed.Stress:TheprosodyofEnglishpoetryisrealizedbystress.Onestressedsyllablealwayscomestogetherwithoneormoreunstressedsyllables.eg.Tiger,/tiger,/burning/brightInthe/forest/ofthe/night,Whatim/mortal/handor/eyeCouldframethy/fearful/symme/try?-W.BlakeLength:itcanproducesomerhetoricalandartisticeffect.eg.Thecurfewtollstheknellofpartingday,Thelowingherdwindslowlyoerthelea,ThePloughmanhomewardplodshiswearyway,Andleavestheworldtodarknessandtome.-ThomasGrayLongvowelsanddiphthongsmakethepoemslow,emotionalandsolemn；shortvowelsquick,passionate,tenseandexciting.Pause:itservesfortherhythmandmusicalityofpoetry.b.Meterormeasure(格律)poem-stanza/strophe-line/verse-foot-arsis+thesis；Meterormeasurereferstotheformationwayofstressedandunstressedsyllables.Fourcommonmeters:a)Iambus；theiambicfoot(抑揚格)eg.Shewalks/inbeau/ty,like/thenightOfcloud/lessclimes/andstar/ryskies；Andall/thatsbest/ofdark/andbrightMeetin/heras/pectand/hereyes.-Byronb)Trochee；thetrochaicfoot（揚抑格）eg.Never/seekto/tellthy/love,Lovethat/never/toldcan/be.-Blakec)Dactyl；thedactylicfoot（揚抑抑格）eg.Cannonto/rightofthem,Cannonto/leftofthem.Cannonin/frontofthem,Volleydand/thunderd.-Tennysond)Anapaest；theanapesticfoot（抑抑揚格）eg.Break,/break,/break,Onthycold/greystones,/Osea!AndIwould/thatmytongue/couldutterThethought/thatarise/inme.-Tennysonc)OthermetersAmphibrach,theamphibrachicfoot(抑揚抑格)；Spondee,thespondaicfoot(揚揚格)；Pyrrhic,thepyrrhicfoot(抑抑格)；d)Actalecticfoot(完整音步)andCactalecticfoot（不完整音步）eg.Richthe/treasure,Sweetthe/pleasure.(actalecticfoot)Tiger,/tiger,/burning/bright,Inthe/forest/ofthe/night.(cactalecticfoot)e)Typesoffootmonometer(一音步)dimeter（二音步）trimeter（三音步）tetrameter（四音步）pentameter（五音步）hexameter（六音步）heptameter（七音步）octameter（八音步）Wehaveiambicmonometer,trochaictetrameter,iambicpentameter,anapaestictrimeter,etc.,whenthenumberoffootandmeteraretakentogetherinapoem.C.RhymeWhentwoormorewordsorphrasescontainanidenticalorsimilarvowelsound,usuallystressed,andtheconsonantsoundsthatfollowthevowelsoundareidenticalandprecededbydifferentconsonants,arhymeoccurs.Itcanroughlybedividedintotwotypes:internalrhymeandendrhymeInternalrhymea)alliteration:therepetitionofinitialidenticalconsonantsoundsoranyvowelsoundsinsuccessiveorcloselyassociatedsyllables,esp.stressedsyllables.eg.Thefairbreezeblew,thewhitefoamflew,Thefurrowfollowedfree.-ColeridgeIslip,Islide,Igloom,Iglance,Amongmyskinningswallows.-TennysonWhereatwithblade,withbloodyblamefulblade,Hebravelybroachedhisboilingbloodybreast.-Shakespeare“Consonantcluster”(輔音連綴)“internalorhiddenalliteration”(暗頭韻)asin“Hereinthelongunlovelystreet”(Tennyson)TheScian&theTeianmuse,Theherosharp,theloveslute,Havefoundthefameyourshoresrefuse.-Byronb)Assonance(腹韻/元音疊韻/半諧音)：therepetitionofsimilaroridenticalvowelsoundsinalineendingwithdifferentconsonantsounds.eg.DonotgogentleintothatnightOldageshouldburnandraveatcloseofday.Rage,rageagainstthedyingofthelight.Thoughwisemenattheirendknowdarkisright,BecausetheirwordshaveforkednolightningtheyDonotgogentleintothatnight.c)Consonance(假韻):therepetitionoftheendingconsonantsoundswithdifferentprecedingvowelsoftwoormorewordsinaline.eg.AtonceavoicearoseamongThebleaktwigsoverheadInafull-heartedevensongOfjoyillimited.-HardyEndrhyme:linesinapoemendinsimilaroridenticalstressedsyllables.a)PerfectrhymePerfectrhyme(intwoormorewords)occursinthefollowingthreeconditions:identicalstressedvowelsounds(lie-high,stay-play)；thesameconsonantsaftertheidenticalstressedvowels(park-lark,fate-late)；differentconsonantsprecedingthestressedvowels(firstburst)；followswallow(perfectrhyme)b)imperfect/halfrhyme:thestressedvowelsintwoormorewordsarethesame,buttheconsonantsoundsafterandprecedingaredifferent.eg.fernbird,fazelate,likerightc)Masculineandfemininerhymeeg.SometimeswhenImlonely,Dontknowwhy,KeepthinkingIwontbelonelyByandby.-HughesThecomradeofthywanderingsoverHeaven,Asthen,whentooutstripthyskieyspeedScarceseemdavision；Iwouldneerhavestriven-ShelleyRhymescheme(韻式)a)Runningrhymescheme(連續(xù)韻)twoneighbouringlinesrhymedinaabbccdd:eg.Tiger,tiger,burningbrightIntheforestsofthenight,WhatimmortalhandoreyeCouldframethyfearfulsymmetry?InwhatdistantdeepsorskiesBurntthefireofthineeyes?Onwhatwingsdareheaspire?Whatthehanddareseizethefire?b)Alternatingrhymescheme(交叉韻)rhymedeveryotherlineinababcdcd:eg.ShallIcomparetheetoasummersday?Thouartmorelovelyandmoretemperate:RoughwindsdoshakethedarlingbudsofMay,Andsummersleasehathalltooshortadate:-Shakespearec)enclosingrhymescheme(首尾韻)Inaquatrain,thefirstandthelastrhymed,andthesecondandthethirdrhymedinabba:eg.Whenyouareoldandgrayandfullofsleep,Andnoddingbythefire,takedownthisbook,Andslowlyread,anddreamofthesoftlookYoureyeshadonce,andoftheirshadowsdeep；-W.B.YeatsD.Formofpoetry(stanzaicform)a)couplet:astanzaoftwolineswithsimilarendrhymes:eg.Alittlelearningisadangerousthing；Drinkdeep,ortastenotthePierianSpring.b)heroiccouplet:arhymingcoupletofiambicpentameter:eg.OcouldIflowlikethee,andmakethystreamMygreatexample,asitismytheme:-DenhamThensharethypain,allowthatsadrelief；Ah,morethanshareit,givemeallthygrief.-Popec)Triplet/tercet:aunitorgroupofthreelines,usu.rhymedeg.Heclaspsthecragswithcrookedhands；Closetothesuninlonelylands,Ringedwiththeazureworld,hestands.Thewrinkledseabeneathhimcrawls:Hewatchesfromhismountainswalls,Andlikeathunderbolthefalls.-Tennysond)quatrain:astanzaoffourlinesrhymedorunrhymed.eg.Omyluveislikeared,redrose,ThatsnewlysprunginJune；OmyluveislikethemelodieThatssweetlyplaydintune.Asfairartthou,mybonielass,SodeepinluveamI；AndIwillluvetheestill,mydear,Tillatheseasgangdry.-Burnse)Sonnet:afixedverseformofItalianoriginconsistingof14linesthatarecharacteristicallyiniambicpentameter:ThePetrarchan/Italiansonnet(FrancescoPetrarch):twoparts:octave,askingquestion,presentingaproblem,orexpressinganemotionaltensionrhymingabbaabba；whilethesestet,solvingtheproblemrhymingcdecde,cdecde,orcdcdcd.Shakespearean/Englishsonnet:arrangedusuallyintothreequatrainsandacouplet,rhymingababcdcdefefgg.Thefirstquatrainintroducesasubject,thesecondexpands,andoncemoreinthethird,andconcludesinthecouplet.Spenseriansonnet:threequatrainsandacoupletrhymingababbcbccdcdee；Miltonicsonnet:simplyanltaliansonnetthateliminatesthepausebetweentheoctaveandsestet.f)Blankverse:theunrhymediambicpentametereg.Tobe,ornottobe:thatisthequestion:WhethertisnoblerinthemindtosufferTheslingsandarrowsofoutrageousfortune,Ortotakearmsagainstaseaoftroubles,Andbyopposingendthem?Todie:tosleep；-Shakespeareg)Freeverse:poetrythatisbasedonirregularrhythmiccadenceoftherecurrence,withvariations,ofphrases,imagesandsyntacticalpatternsratherthantheconventionaluseofmeter.eg.DaysWhataredaysfor?Daysarewherewelive.Theycome,theywakeusTimeandtimeover.TheyaretobehappyinWherecanwelivebutdays?Ah,solvingthatquestionBringthepriestanddoctorIntheirlongcoatsRunningoverthefields.-PhilipLarkin3.ThesemanticsystemofEnglishpoetrya.ThemeaningofpoetryPoetryis“theonepermissiblewayofsayingonethingandmeaninganother”.(Frost)Themeaningofapoemusuallyconsistsofthreelevels,thatis,theliteral(thelowest),thesensory(themedium)andtheemotional(thehighest).b.Image-thesoulofthemeaninginpoetrya)Definition:“l(fā)anguagethatevokesaphysicalsensationproducedbyoneormoreofthefivesenses-sight,hearing,taste,touchandsmell.”(KirsznerandMandell)Aliteralandconcreterepresentationofasensoryexperienceorofanobjectthatcanbeknownbyoneormoreofthesenses.b)TypesofimagesIntermsofsenses：visualimage(視覺意象)auditoryimage（聽覺意象）olfactoryimage（嗅覺意象）tactileimage（觸覺意象）gustatoryimage（味覺意象）kinaestheticimage（動覺意象）eg.Spring,thesweetspring,istheyearspleasantking,Thenbloomseachthing,thenmaidsdanceinaring,Colddothnotsting,theprettybirdsdosing:Cuckoo,jug-jug,pu-we,to-witta-woo!-ThomasNasheIntermsoftherelationbetweentheimageandtheobject:Literal(字面意象)andfigurativeimage（修辭意象）Theformerreferstotheonethatinvolvesnonecessarychangeorextensionintheobviousmeaningofthewords；ortheoneinwhichthewordscallupasensoryrepresentationoftheliteralobjectorsensation.Thelatteristheonethatinvolvesaturnontheliteralmeaningofthewords.eg.LetuswalkinthewhitesnowInasoundlessspace；Withfootstepsquietandslow,Atatranquilpace,Underveilsofwhitelace.-ElinorWylieIntermsofthereaders:fixedandfreeimage（穩(wěn)定意象和自由意象）Byfixedortiedimage,itistheonesoemployedthatitsmeaningandassociationalvalueisthesameornearlythesameforallreaders.Byfreeimage,itistheonenotsofixedbythecontextthatitspossiblemeaningsorassociationalvaluesarelimited,itistherefore,capableofhavingvariousmeaningsorvaluesforvariouspeople.eg.SnakeIsawayoungsnakeglideOutofthemottledshadeAndhanglimponastone:Athinmouth,andatongueStayed,inthestillair.Itturned；itdrewaway；Itsshadowbentinhalf；Itquickenedandwasgone.Ifeltmyslowbloodwarm.Ilongedtobethatthing,Thepure,sensuousform.AndImaybe,sometime.-TheodoreRoethkec)Thefunctionofimage:tostimulatereaderssenses；toactivatereaderssensoryandemotionalexperience；toinvolvethereadersinthecreationofpoetrywithpersonalandemotionalexperience；tostrikearespon