elementsaboutEnglishPoetry.doc

English Poetry The Basic Elements of Appreciating English Poetry 1.What is poetry? Poetry is the expression of Impassioned feeling in language. Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility. Poetry, in a general sense, may be defined to be the expression of the imagination. Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty. Poetry is the image of man and nature. 诗言志，歌咏言。 ---《虞书》 诗言志之所以也。在心为志，发言为诗。情动于中而行于言，言之不足，则嗟叹之；嗟叹之不足，故咏歌之；咏歌之不足，不知手之舞之，足之蹈之也。情发于声；声成文，谓之音。 ---《诗·大序》 诗是由诗人对外界所引起的感觉，注入了思想与情感，而凝结了形象，终于被表现出来的一种‘完成’的艺术。 ---艾青：《诗论》 2.The Sound System of English Poetry a. The prosodic features Prosody (韵律)---the study of the rhythm, pause, tempo, stress and pitch features of a language. Chinese poetry is syllable-timed, English poetry is stress-timed. eg. 故人/西辞/黄鹤楼， 烟花/三月/下扬州。 孤帆/远影/碧空尽， 唯见/长江/天际流。 ---李白：《黄鹤楼送孟浩然之广陵》 Stress: The prosody of English poetry is realized by stress. One stressed syllable always comes together with one or more unstressed syllables. eg. Tiger, /tiger, /burning /bright In the /forest /of the/ night, What im/mortal /hand or /eye Could frame thy/ fearful /symme/try? ---W. Blake Length: it can produce some rhetorical and artistic effect. eg. The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea, The Ploughman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me. ---Thomas Gray Long vowels and diphthongs make the poem slow, emotional and solemn; short vowels quick, passionate, tense and exciting. Pause: