On English Poetry 英语论文.doc

On English Poetry ? 1.????? Poetry and Versification 2.????? A Brief History of the English Poetry 3.????? Basic Poetic Concepts 4.????? Application and Exemplification of these Concepts ? 1.???? Poetry and Versification Any composition in a certain language can be generally classified into two families, namely prose and poetry (or verse). Both have rhythm. But the rhythm of prose tends towards variety, and that of poetry toward regularity. However, there’s no definite dividing line. It’s quite hard to give an accurate definition of poetry. Everyone could have his own standard for judging what belongs to poetry. In this light, it would be a good idea to introduce a vague and empirical definition rather than a precise and scientific one. Here I make bold to adopt the famous saying concerning western poetry by Clement Wood, a contemporary poet and rhetorician--- Occidental Poetry, in its usual form, is the expression of thoughts which awake the higher and nobler emotions or their opposites, in words whose rhythm tends towards uniformity or regularity, rather than towards variety. Poetry proceeded prose in the history. As writing was unknown to early man, poetry was far better adapted to be retained in the mind. However, rigidity is always a concomitant with regularity. So when men were able to write, prose began to prevail over poetry, for there was no need for men to learn all by heart. Anyway poetry, as the most concentrated and emotional expression of the soul of man, still should have its place in the lyric outbursts, the songs, of man. ? 2.???? A Brief History of the English Poetry Though girdled by waters, the British islands are far away from tranquility and peacefulness. On the contrary they saw even more migrations and devastations than their continental counterparts. a. The Anglo-Saxon Period The British islands were originally inhabited by the Celts and were annexed to the Roman Empire, when the Roman Empire reached its fullest sway at around the beginni