[文学]How to Read English Literature.doc

How to Read English Literature 1. Information of historical and intellectual background is essential for understanding literary works. For instance, John Donne’s short poem “Song: Go and Catch a Falling Star” has much to do with his times. Song Go and catch a falling star, Get with child a mandrake root, Tell me where all past years are, Or who cleft the Devil’s foot, Teach me to hear mermaids singing, And find What wind Serves to advance an honest mind. If thou be’st born to strange sights, Things invisible to see, Ride ten thousands days and nights, Till age snow white hairs on thee, Thou, when thou return’st, wilt tell me All strange wonders that befell thee, And swear Nowhere Lives a woman true, and fair. If thou findst one, let me know, Such a pilgrimage were sweet. Yet do not; I would not go, Though at next door we might meet; Though she were true, when you met her, And last, till you write your letter, Yet she Will be False, ere I come, to two, or three. Comments: John Donne lived in the 17th century when England witnessed a turbulent period. Everything was thought to be uncertain. This short poem elucidates the gloomy atmosphere of that transitional age. 2. Linguistic capacity is also necessary for students of literature Comments: The verbs of the present tense in the imperative mood are actions impossible to carry out; the verbs of the past tense in the conditional sentence are actions impossible to happen. What is more, from the Chinese explanations below, it can be seen that some particular words convey a sense of spacial uncertainty which has something to do with John Donne’s transitional period. 多恩《歌》（去，捉一颗陨落的星辰）的空间： 歌：去抓住那颗陨落的星辰》空间叙述的时代背景： 十六世纪的哥白尼 (Nicolaus Copernicus, 1473-1543) “日心说”产生了重大的空间认知转向。“日心说”出现之前，托勒密 (Claudius Ptolemy, about 85—about 165) “地心说”构成了西方传统宇宙论的核心内容，宇宙空间被普遍认为是有限的，柏拉图认为宇宙是八重天，中世纪神学家则认为是十重天。哥白尼的“日心说”则揭示了宇宙空