红色字为我的注解O(∩_∩)O~ Walt Whitman (1819-1892) 1.简介
? A part of the transition between Transcendentalism and Realism ? The father of free verse
Free verse is a form of poetry that refrains from meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern.
Although free verse requires no meter, rhyme, or other traditional poetic techniques, a poet can still utilize them to create some sense of structure. For example, Walt Whitman repeats certain phrases and uses commas to create both a rhythm and structure. ? Contribution
1. He believes the American poets would create both new forms and new subjects matter for poetry.
2. In terms of poetic form, he advocated a completely new and completely American
form of expression----free verse.
3. In terms of contents, most of his poems are about man and nature, especially
common people and ordinary Americans. He wanted his poetry to be for the common people ? Features of Whitman’s poetry 1. The use of a certain pronoun “I” 2. Two principles
A. Parallelism or a rhyme of thought
B. Phonetic recurrence ( the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of the
line, in the middle or at the end)
3. The adopt of “free verse”---poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme 4. The use of colorful words and vivid images (example) ? Major works Leaves of Grass Song of Myself
I hear America Singing
2. 草叶集
课文中出现的 ONE’S-SELF I SING, Among the Multitude, When I Peruse the Conquer’d Fame, A Noiseless Patient Spider 都是出自草叶集。 Leaves of Grass: A collection of Whitman’s poems and his lifelong achievement
Whitman experimented in his works with new poetic form of free verse and oral lg. Thus, Leaves of Grass has become landmark in American literary history, which represents the poet, the people, and the nation in the 19th America and celebrates the future of the nation and the ideals of equality, democracy, dignity, self-reliant spirit and joy of common people.
It marked the birth of truly American poetry, which changed Whitman from a conventional, undistinguished man into one of American’s greatest and most original poets. It has attained almost universal acceptance as America’s greatest book of poems. It has been praised as “Democratic Bible”(共和圣经) and as American Epic. The most famous pieces are: Song of myself, there was a child went fort, etc.
3. 赏析
ONE’S-SELF I SING 当时他对处于上升阶段的资本主义美国充满信心, 对美国的民主抱有幻想。他所体现的主旨和基本内容就是“个性”和“自我”。诗人认为一切之“中心”的个性及其代表者就是“我自己”, 是像“草叶”一样平凡的人和事物。诗人一方面把自己描写成为一个普通的美国人, 另一方面又赋予自己超人的能力。选自草叶集，主题中心思想参照草叶集即可
Alliteration 头韵(simple & separate; passion & pulse & power; free & form’d)
Phonetic recurrence 重复(“I sing”四次; “alone”两次; “of”两次; “worthy”和“worthier”) 突出主题的关键词的头一个字母大写 (Self; Democratic; En-masse; Form; Female; Male;
Life; Modern Man)
翻译：
我歌唱人本身
我歌唱人本身, 一个独特的、纯粹的人,
不过要说出“民主的”这个词, 道出“大众”这个词的声音。
我全心全意地歌唱人的生成,
不仅容貌, 不仅头脑, 而整个形体更值得歌颂。 我歌唱男性, 同样也歌唱女性。
我歌唱现代的人,
那饱含激情、生命旺盛和活力无限的巨大生命, 快乐地采取天赋权利的自由行动。
I Hear America Singing A: Diction (the choice and use of words in literature)
Nouns such as: mechanics, mason, work, deckhand, shoemaker, hatter, woodcutter, ploughboy, and mother. ---- Images of the working class society
Verbs: measure, make, singing, sit, stand, sewing, washing ---- a moving picture of people performing their different jobs B: Main idea
It presents the picture of the Americans who from all occupations are singing for their cheerful and creative work and their dream through out American. Themes:
An eulogy (颂词) to thriving American nation, the laboring people, the poet’s optimistic attitude toward the world and life. C: Tone
Cheerful, happy, optimistic D: Language
Simple and even rather crude; Have a tendency to oral English
E: Parallelism and phonetic recurrence
Edwin Arlington Robinson (1860-1935) 1. 简介
Edwin Arlington Robinson was regarded as the leading American poet-the equal of Frost and Stevens. Robinson was a major poet and a pivotal figure in the course of modern American literature.
Edwin Arlington Robinson was a poet of transition. He lived at the time following the Civil War when America was rebuilding and changing rapidly and when the dominant values of the country seemed to be growing increasingly materialistic. Robinson's poetry was transitional, evaluating the present by using traditional forms and by including elements of transcendentalism and puritanism.
He was the first to write about ordinary people and events-an honest butcher consumed by grief, a miser with \goods store measuring out their days like bolts of cloth. In simple yet powerful rhetoric, he explored the interior worlds of the people around him.
Major Themes： Historical Perspectives, and Personal Issues
1. 2. 3. 4.
God is no longer caring.
Men suffer from frustrations and want of mutual understanding. Life is in general futile and meaningless.
By demonstrating the tragic vision in step with the modern spirit, he suggests a despairing courage to seek out the meaning of life. 悲观下的执着
Robinson is a \poet,\writing almost exclusively about individuals or individual relationships rather than on more common themes of the nineteenth century. He exhibits a curious mixture of irony and compassion toward his subjects--most of whom are failures--that allows him to be called a romantic existentialist.
Significant Form, Style, or Artistic Conventions：
Although Robinson's subject matter and philosophical stance differ markedly from that of his predecessors', his form is unremittingly traditional. He considered movies, prohibition, and free verse \to read, he was not surprised there was so much of it.