Metaphysical Poets and Cavalier Poets (2)
Comparison of Cavalier and Metaphysical poetry
Comparison of Cavalier and Metaphysical poetryEnglish poets of the early seventeenth century are divided into two major schools Cavaliers poets and metaphysical poets. Cavalier poets are a broad from the classes that supported King Charles I during the English Civil War. Therefore their poems reflected royalist values. The metaphysical poets were a loose group of British lyric poets who shared an interest in metaphysical concerns and a common way of investigating them, and whose work was characterized by inventiveness of metaphor. I will analyze the similarity and difference between the two schools of poems in this essay.The similarity is that Cavalier and Metaphysical poetry both share the theme of Carpe Diem .Carpe diem ('seize the day') is a phrase from a Latin poem by Horace that has become an aphorism. It is translated as "seize the day". In Robert Herrick’s To the Virgins, to much of Time, the poet Carpe diem expresses a philosophy that recognizes the brevity of life and therefore the need to live for and in the moment. In To His Coy Mistress‘the speaker argued that in loving each other with passion they will make the most of the short time they have to live.Cavalier and Metaphysical poetry differ in form. Meter and rhythm are strict in Cavalier poems, for instance, the foot of the firststanzas of Robert Herrick’s To the Virgins, to much of Time is abab cbcb dede .Conversely, Metaphysical poetry is free in form , the rules of rhythm and meter are not strictly followed.Another difference is in the style of two schools. Cavalier is characterized by directness as Robert Herrick outspokenly called for the virgins “Then be not coy, but use your time and while ye may, go marry”. Metaphysical poems, on the other hand, are more argumentative.To His Coy Mistress‘s sharp contrast between hypothesis and reality forcefully argued that people should enjoy the precious time.The third difference can be found in image. Cavalier Poetry employs clear-cut expressions and images. The strength of Cavalier poetry was in its shortness and directness. It was understandable to the readers and doesn’t confuse readers with intricate imagery and deep meaning. For example, in To the Virgins, too much of Time While metaphysical poetry uses complicated metaphors and imagery.The Metaphysical seems to have a more in-depth study of meaningful literature than the Cavalier. The Metaphysical style was characterized by wit and metaphysical conceits—far-fetched or unusual similes or metaphors. The primary Platonic concept found in metaph ysical poetry is the idea that the “perfection of beauty inthe beloved acted as a remembrance of perfect beauty in the eternal realm”. In this sense, Metaphysical is more philosophical. On the contrary, the Cavalier Poets felt that life was much too enjoyable to attempt to understand and study deep and meaningful literature. They focused on things that were meaningful to them such as day-to-day humanity and activities. To me their focuses are , to some degree, trivial.。
英国玄学诗歌英语简介
Critical opinion
Critical opinion of the school has been varied. Johnson claimed that "they were not successful in representing or moving the affections" and that neither "was the sublime more within their reach."[8] Generally, his criticism of the poets' style was grounded in his assertion that "Great thoughts are always general," and that the metaphysical poets were too particular in their search for novelty. He did concede, however, that "they...sometimes stuck out unexpected truth" and that their work is often intellectually, if not emotionally stimulating.[9] The group was to have a significant influence on 20th-century poetry, especially through T. S. Eliot, whose essay The Metaphysical Poets (1921) praised the very anti-Romantic and intellectual qualities of which Johnson and his contemporaries had disapproved, and helped bring their poetry back into favour with readers.[10]
英国文学史期末复习重点
英国文学史Part one: Early and Medieval English LiteratureChapter 1 The Making of England1. The early inhabitants in the island now we call England were Britons, a tribe of Gelts.2. In 55 B.C., Britain was invaded by Julius Caesar.The Roman occupation lasted for about 400 years.It was also during the Roman role that Christianity was introduced to Britain.And in 410 A.D., all the Roman troops went back to the continent and never returned.3. The English ConquestAt the same time Britain was invaded by swarms of pirates(海盗). They were three tribes from Northern Europe: the Angles, Saxons and Jutes.And by the 7th century these small kingdoms were combined into a United Kingdom called England, or, the land of Angles.And the three dialects spoken by them naturally grew into a single language calledAnglo-Saxon, or Old English.4. The Social Condition of the Anglo-SaxonTherefore, the Anglo-Saxon period witnessed a transition from tribal society to feudalism. 5. Anglo-Saxon Religious Belief and Its InfluenceThe Anglo-Saxons were Christianized in the seventh century.Chapter 2 Beowulf1. Anglo-Saxon PoetryBut there is one long poem of over 3,000 lines. It is Beowulf, the national epic of the English people. Grendel is a monster described in Beowulf.3. Analysis of Its ContentBeowulf is a folk lengend brought to England by Anglo-Saxons from their continental homes. It had been passed from mouth to mouth for hundreds of years before it was written down in the tenth century.4. Features of BeowulfThe most striking feature in its poetical form is the use of alliteration, metaphors and understatements.Chapter 3 Feudal England1) The Norman Conquest2. The Norman ConquestThe French-speaking Normans under Duke William came in 1066. After defeating the English at Hastings, William was crowned as King of England.The Norman Conquest marks the establishment of feudalism in England.3. The Influence of the Norman Conquest on the English LanguageBy the end of the fourteenth century, when Normans and English intermingled, English was once more the dominant speech in the country.3) The Romance1. The Content of the RomanceThe most prevailing kind of literature in feudal England was the romance.4. Malory’s Le Morte D’ArthurThe adventures of the Knights of the Round Table at Arthur’s courtChapter 5 The English Ballads2. The BalladsThe most important department of English folk literature is the ballad. A ballad is a story told in song, usually in 4-line stanzas, with the second and fourth lines rhymed.Of paramount importance are the ballads of Robin Hood.3. The Robin Hood BalladsChapter 6 Chaucer1. LifeGeoffrey Chaucer, the founder/father of English poetry.3. Troilus and CriseydeTroilus and Criseyde is Chaucer’s longest complete poem and his greatest artistic achievement.But the poet shows some sympathy for her, hitting that her fault springs from weakness rather than baseness of character.4. The Canterbury TalesThe Canterbury Tales is Chaucer’s masterpiece and one of the monumental works in English literature.6. His LanguageChaucer’s language, now called Middle English, is vivid and exact.Chaucer’s contribution to English poetry lies chiefly in the fact that he introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types, especially the rhymed couplet of 5 accents in iambic meter (the “the heroic couplet”) to English poetry, instead of the old Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse.The spoken English of the time consisted of several dialects, and Chaucer did much in making dialect of London the standard for the modern English speech.Part Two: The English RenaissanceChapter 1 Old England in Transition1. The New MonarchyThe century and a half following the death of Chaucer was full of great changes.And Henry 7, taking advantage of this situation, founded the Tudor dynasty, a centralized monarchy of a totally new type, which met the needs of the rising bourgeoisie and so won its support.2. The ReformationProtestantismThe bloody religious persecution came to a stop after the church settlement of Queen Elizabeth.3. The English BibleWilliam TyndallThen appeared the Authorized Version, which was made in 1611 under the auspices of James I and so was sometimes called the King James Bible.The result is a monument of English language and English literature.The standard modern English has been fixed and confirmed.4. The Enclosure Movement5. The Commercial ExpansionChapter 2 More1. LifeThomas More2. UtopiaUtopia is More’s masterpiece, written in the form of a conversation between More and Hythlody, a returned voyager.The name “Utopia” comes from two Greek words meaning “no place”.3. Utopia, Book OneBook One of Utopia is a picture of contemporary England with forcible exposure of the poverty among the laboring classes.4. Utopia, Book TwoIn Book Two we have a sketch of an ideal commonwealth in some unknown ocean, where property is held in common and there is no poverty.Chapter 3 The Flowering of English Literature3. Edmund Spenser1) LifeThe Poet’s Poet of the period was Edmund Spenser.In 1579 he wrote The Shepher’s Calendar, a pastoral poem in twelve books, one for each month of the year.2) The Faerie Queene (masterpiece)Spenser’s greatest work, The Faerie Queene (published in 1589-1596), is a long poem planned in 12 books, of which he finished only 6.iambic feet Spenserian Stanza4. Francis Bacon (father/founder of English essay)the founder of English English materialist philosophyBacon is also famous for his Essays. When it included 58 essays.Bacon is the first English essayist.Chapter 4 Drama7. The PlaywrightsThere was a group of so-called “university wits” (Lyly, Peele, Marlowe, Greene, Lodge and Nash).Chapter 5 Marlowe1. LifeThe most gifted of the “university wits” was Christopher Marlowe.2. WorkMarlowe’s best includes three of his plays, Tamburlaine, The Jew of Malta and Doctor Faustus.3. Doctor FaustusMarl owe’s masterpiece is The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.5. Marlowe’s Literary AchievementMarlowe was the greatest of the pioneers of English drama.It is Marlowe who first made blank verse (rhymeless iambic pentameter) the principal instrument of English drama.Chapter 6 Shakespeare1. LifeWilliam Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, in Stratford-on-Avon.After his death, two of his above-mentioned fellow-actors, Herminge and Condell, collected and published Shakespeare’s plays in 1623. To this edition, which has been known as the First Folio.4. The Great ComediesA Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It and Twelfth Night have been called Shakespeare’s “great comedies”.6. The Great TragediesShakespeare created his great tragedies, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth.7. Hamletthe son of the Renaissance9. The Poems1) Venus and Adonis2) The Rape of Lucrece3) Shakespeare’s Sonnets10. Features of Shakespeare’s DramaShakespeare and the Authorized Version of the English Bible are the two greatest treasuries of the English language.Shakespeare has been universally acknowledged to be the summit of the English Renaissance.Part Three: The Period of the English Bourgeois RevolutionChapter 1 The English Revolution and the Restoration5. The Bourgeois Dictatorship and the Restorationin 1688 Glorious Revolution6. The Religious Cloak of the English RevolutionPuritanism was the religious doctrine of the revolutionary bourgeoisie during the English Revolution. It preached thrift, sobriety, hard work and unceasing labour in whatever calling one happened to be, but with no extravagant enjoyment of the fruits of labour.Chapter 2 Milton1. Life and WorkParadise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes.2. Paradise Lost1) Paradise LostParadise Lost is Milton’s masterpiece.blank verse.Chapter 3 Bunyan1. LifeThe Pilgrim’s Progress was published in 1678.2. The Pilgrim’s Progress1)The Pilgrim’s Progress is a religious allegory.Chapter 4 Metaphysical Poets and Cavalier Poetsa school of poets called “Metaphysical” by Samuel Johnson.by mysticism in content and fantasticality in formJohn Donne, the founder of the Metaphysical school of poetry.Chapter 6 Restoration Literature2. John DrydenThe most distinguished literary figure of the Restoration Period was John Dryden.Dryden was the forerunner of the English classical school of literature in the next century.Part Four: The Eighteenth CenturyChapter 1 The Enlightenment and Classicism in English Literature1. The Enlightenment and 18th Century England2) The Enlightenment in EuropeThe 18th century marked the beginning of an intellectual movement in Europe, known as the Enlightenment, which was, on the whole, an expression of struggle of the bourgeoisie against feudalism. The enlighteners fought against class inequality, stagnation, prejudices and other survivals of feudalism.3) The English EnlighternersThe representatives of the Enlightenment in English literature were Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, the essayists, and Alexander Pope, the poet.Chapter 2 Addison and Steele1. Steele and The TatlerRichard SreeleIn 1709, he started a paper, The Tatler, to enlighten, as well as to entertain, his fellow coffeehouse-goers.His appeal was made to “coffeehouses,” that is to say, to the middle classes, for whose enlightenment he stood up.“Issac Bickerstaff”2. Addison and The SpectatorThe general purpose is “to enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality.”They ushered in the dawn of modern English novel.Chapter 3 Pope1. LifeAlexander Pope, the most important English poet in the first half of the 18th century.3. Workmanship and LimitationPope was an outstanding enlightener and the greatest English poet of the classical school in the first half of the 18th century.Pope is the most important representative of the English classical poery.But he lacker the lyrical gift.Chapter 4 Swift3. Bickersta f f Almanac (1708)Swift wrote his greatest work Gulliver’s Travels in Ireland.Chapter 5 Defoe and the Rise of the English Novel1. The Rise of the English Novelthe realistic novel: Defoe, Swift, Richardson and FieldingSwift’s world-famous novel Gulliver’s Travel sDefoe’s Robinson Crusoe (the forerunner of the English realistic novel)Richardson: Pamela, Clarissa and Sir Charles GrandisonFielding was the real founder of the realistic novel in England.The novel of this period … spoke the truth about life with an uncompromising courage.”The novelists of this period understood that “the job of a novelist was to tell the truth about life as he saw it.” (Ibid.) This explains the achievement of the English novel in the 18th century. 4. Robinson Crusoe1) Today Defoe is chiefly remembered as the author of Robinson Crusoe, his masterpiece. Chapter 6 RichardsonSamuel RichardsonPamela was, in fact, the first English psycho-analytical novel.After Pamela, Richardson wrote two other novels: Clarissa Harlowe and Sir Charles Grandison.Clarissa is the best of Richardson’s novel.Chapter 7 Fielding (the father of English novel)1. LifeHis first novel Joseph Andrews was published in 1742.His Jonathan Wild appeared in 1743. It is a powerful political satire.In 1749, he finished his great novel Tom Jones.Amelia was his last novel. It is inferior to Tom Jones, but has merits of its own.3. Joseph Andrews4. Tom Jones1) The StoryFielding’s greatest work is The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling.6. Summary2) Fielding as the Founder of the English Realistic NovelAs a novelist, Fielding is very great. He is the founder of the English realistic novel and sets up the theory of realism in literary creation.He has been rightly called the “father of t he English novel.”Chapter 10 Johnson1. LifeSamuel Johnson, lexicographer, critic and poet.2. Johnson’s DictionaryIn 1755 his Dictionary was published.His Dictionary also marked the end of English writers’ reliance on the patronage of noblemen for support.Chapter 13 Sentimentalism and Pre-Romanticism in Poetry1. LifeThomas Gray2. Pre-RomanticismIn the latter half of the 18th century, a new literary movement arose in Europe, called the Romantic Revival.Pre-Romanticism was ushered in by Percy, Macpherson and Chatterton, and represented by Blake and Burns.Chapter 14 Blake1. LifeWilliam Blake2. Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience4. Blake’s Position in English LiteratureFor these reasons, Blake is called a Pre-Romantic or a forerunner of the Romantic poetry of the 19th century.Chapter 15 Burns1. LifeHis Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect were printed. (masterpiece)The Scots Musical Museum and Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs2. The Poetry of Burns1) Burns is remembered mainly for his songs written in the Scottish dialect on a variety of subjects.3. Features of Burns’ PoetryBurns is the national poet of Scotland.Part Five: Romanticism in EnglandChapter 1 The Romantic Periodthe Industrial Revolution the French RevolutionAmid these social conflicts romanticism arose as a new literary trend. It prevailed in England during the period 1798-1832.These were the elder generation of romanticists, sometimes called escapist romanticists, including Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey, who have also been called the Lake Poets. Active romanticists represented by Byron, Shelley and Keats.The general feature of the works of the romanticists is a dissatisfaction with the bourgeois society, which finds expression in a revolt against or an escape from the prosaic, sordid daily life, the “prison of the actual” under capitalism.Poetry, of course, is the best medium to express all these sentiments.The only great novelist in this period was Walter Scott.Scott marked the transition from romanticism to the period of realism which followed it. Chapter 2 WordsworthColeridgeIn 1798 they jointly published the Lyrical Ballads.The publication of the Lyrical Ballads marked the break with the conventional poetical tradition of the 18th century, i.e., with classicism, and the beginning of Romantic revival in England.The Preface of the Lyrical Ballads served as the manifesto of the English Romantic Movement in poetry.Wordsworth, Colerid ge and Southey have often been mentioned as the “Lake Poets” because they lived in the Lake District in the northwestern part of England.His deep love for nature runs through such short lyrics as Lines Written in Early Spring, To the Cuckoo, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, My Heart Leaps Up, Intimations of Immortality and Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey. The last is called his “lyrical hymn of thanks to nature”.Wordsworth’s poetry is distinguished by the simplicity and purity of his language. Chapter 3 Coleridge and Southey1. ColeridgeColeridge’s best poems, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.Chapter 4 Byron1. LifeChilde Harold’s PilgrimageHe finished Childe Harold, wrote his masterpiece Don Juan.2. Childe Harold’s PilgrimageThis long poem contains four cantos. It is written in the Soenserian stanza.3. Don JuanByron remains one of the most popular English poets both at home and abroad.Chapter 5 Shelley4. Promethus UnboundShelley’s masterpiece is Promethus Unbound, a lyrical drama in 4 acts.6. Lyrics on Nature and LoveOde to the West WindChapter 6 Keats2. Long PoemsKeats wrote five long poems: Endymion, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, Lamia and Hyperion.5) The unfinished long epic Hyperion has been regarded as Keat’s greatest achievement in poetry.3. Short Poems1) His leading principle is: “Beauty in truth, truth in beauty.”3) Ode to Autumn, Ode on Melancholy, Ode on a Grecian Urn and Ode to a Nightingale Chapter 10 Scott2. His Historical NovelsScott has been universally regarded as the founder and great master of the historical novel. According to the subjet-matter, the group on the history of Scotland, the group on English history and the group on the history of European countries.In fact, Scott’s literary career marks the transition from romanticism to realism in English literature of the 19th century.Part Six: English Critical RealismChapter 2 DickensCharles Dickens critical realismDickens: Pickwick Papers, American Notes, Martin Chuzzlewit and Oliver Twist4) Dickens has often been compared Shakespeare for creative force and range of invention. “He and Shakespeare are the two unique popular classics that England has given to the world, and they are alike in being remembered not for one masterpiece but for creative world.”David CopperfieldChapter 3 Thackeray2. Vanity Fair: A Novel Without a HeroVanity Fair is Thackeray’s masterpiece. characters: Amelia Sedley and Rebecca (Becky) SharpThackeray can be placed on the same level as Dickens, as one of the greatest critical realists of 19th-century Europe.Chapter 4 Some Women Novelists1. Jane Austen (1775-1817)She herself compared her work to a fine engraving made upon a little piece of ivory only two inches square.Jane Austen wrote 6 novels: Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma and Persuasion.2. The Bronte SistersCharlotte’s maiden attempt at prose writing, the novel Professor, was rejected by the publisher, but her next novel Jane Eyre, appearing in 1847, brought her fame and placed her in the ranks of the foremost English realistic writers. Emily’s novel Wuthering Heights appeared in 1847.Anne: Agnes Grey4. George EliotMary Ann Evansthree remarkable novels: Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss and Silas Marner3) Silas Marner:Critical realism was the main current of English literature in the middle of the 19th century.Part Seven: Prose-Writers and Poets of the Mid and Late 19th Century Chapter 1 Carlylethe Victorian AgeChapter 3 Tennysonthe Victorian Age prose especially the novel1. Tennyson’s Life and CareerAlfred Tennyson, the most important poet of the Victorian Age.In the same year (1850) he was appointed poet laureate in succession to Wordsworth. Chapter 7 Literary Trends at the End of the Century1. NaturalismNaturalism is a literary trend prevailing in Europe, especially in France and Germany, in the second half of the 19th century.2. Neo-RomanticismStevenson was a representative of neo-romanticism in English literature.Treasure Island (masterpiece)3. AestheticismAestheticism began to prevail in Europe at the middle of the 19th century. The theory of “art for art’s sake” was first put forward by the French poet Theophile Gautier.The two most important representatives of aestheticists in English literature are Walter Pater and Oscar Wilde.2) Oscar Wilde dramatistLady Windermere’s Fan, 1893; A Woman of No Importance, 1894; An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895The Importance of Being Earnest is his masterpiece in drama.Part Eight: Twentieth Century English Literature(Modernism)Chapter 2 English Novel of Early 20th Century3. Henry JamesHe is regarded as the forerunner of the “stream of consciousness” literature in the 20th century.Chapter 3 Hardy1. Life and WorkAmong his famous novels, Tess of the D’Urbervillies and Jude the Obscure.2. Tess of the D’Urbervilliescharacters: Tess, Alec D’Urbervillies and Angel ClareChapter 6 Bernard ShawChapter 8 Modernism in Poetry1. ImagismEzra PoundThe two most important English poets of the first half of 20th century are W. B. Yeats and T. S. Eliot.2. W. B. YeatsThe Wild Swans at Coole, Michael Robartes and the Dancer, The Tower and The Winding StairT. S. E liot has referred to Yeats as “the greatest poet of our age-certainly the greatest in this(i.e. English) language.”3. T. S. EliotThe Waste Land (1922) is dignifying the emergence of Modernism.T. S. Eliot was a leader of the modernist movement in English poetry and a great innovator of verse technique. He profoundly influenced 20th-century English poetry between World Wars 1 and 2.Chapter 9 The Psychological Fiction1. D. H. LawrenceSons and Lovers (1913), the first of Lawrence’s important novel s, is largely autobiographical.This shows the influence of Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis, especially that of the “Oedipus complex.”The Rainbow, Women in Love and Lady Chatterley’s Lover3. James JoyceUlysses (1922)June 16, 1904character: Leopold BloomJames Joyce was one of the most original novelists of the 20th century.His masterpiece Ulysses has been called “a modern prose epic”.His admirers have praised him as “second only to Shakespeare in his mastery of the English language.”4. Virginia Woolf“high-brows”the Bloomsbury GroupVirginia Wolf’s first two novels, The Voyage Out and Night and Day.Jacob’s Room, Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse and OrlandoPart Nine: Poets and Novelists Who Wrote both before and after the Second World War Chapter 5 E. M. ForsterEdward Morgan Forster the Bloomsbury Groupfour novels: Where Angels Fear to Tread, The Longest Journey, A Room with a View and Howards EndA Passage to India, published in 1924, is Forster’s masterpiece.In 1927, Forster published a book on the theory of fiction, Aspects of the Novel.Chapter 10 William GoldingWilliam Gerald GoldingHis first novel Lord of the FliesChapter 11 Doris LessingGolden Notebook。
cavalier poets名词解释
Cavalier poets是17世纪英国文学史上一个重要的文学流派，下面我将从以下几个方面对这个词进行详细解释：一、Cavalier poets的历史背景Cavalier poets这一术语主要出现在17世纪英国文学史中，它指代了一裙在英国内战期间（1642-1651）活跃的文学家。
这一时期是英国文学蓬勃发展的时期，而Cavalier poets的兴起正好发生在这个时候。
二、Cavalier poets的特点和风格Cavalier poets的作品在风格和主题上有着明显的特点。
他们的诗歌风格优雅、奢华，对形式和语言的运用非常讲究，注重音乐性和节奏感。
Cavalier poets的作品大多描绘优美的风景、爱情和生活，反映出他们对生活的享乐主义态度和对高贵生活的向往。
三、Cavalier poets的代表作家及作品Cavalier poets的代表作家包括Robert Herrick、Thomas Carew、John Suckling等人。
他们的作品主要集中在诗歌领域，以短诗和抒情诗为主。
其中，Robert Herrick的《Hesperides》、Thomas Carew 的《Poems》和John Suckling的《Fragmenta Aurea》都是Cavalier poets的代表作品。
四、Cavalier poets对英国文学的影响Cavalier poets虽然在英国文学史上的地位不及其它流派那样显赫，但他们对后世的英国文学产生了一定的影响。
他们的诗歌形式和风格对后来的英国诗人如亚历山大·蒲柏、约翰以及亚伦·洛瑞等都产生了一定的影响。
五、Cavalier poets与Metaphysical poets的比较Cavalier poets与Metaphysical poets是17世纪英国文学中两个重要的文学流派。
Cavalier poets的诗歌以优美、奢华的风格著称，聚焦于爱情和生活的美好；而Metaphysical poets的作品则更加注重探讨理性、宗教和形而上学的问题。
英国文学史及作品选读习题集(3)-推荐下载
3 English Literature in the 17th CenturyⅠ. Essay questions.1. Give supporting reasons for the statement: Samson in Samson Agonistes is John Milton the author himself.2. Analyze the character of Satan in John Milton’s Paradise Lost.Ⅱ. Define the following terms.1. Elegy 9. Pastoral2. Pamphlet 10. Diction3. Assonance 11. Epithalamion4. Stanza 12. Dream vision (Dream allegory)5. Folktale 13. Metaphysical poetry6. Hyperbole 14. Fable7. Prose poems 15. Parable8. Conceit 16. Masques (Masks)Ⅲ. Fill in the blanks.1. One school of poetry prevailing in the 17th century is that of __________, who were sided with the King against the Parliament and Puritans.2. Though as __________, the characters in The Pilgrim’s Progress impress the readers like real persons. The places in it are English scenes, and the conversations which enliven his narratives vividly repeat the language of the writer’s time.3. The poems of John Donne belong to two categories: the _________, and the later________.4. John Donne is the founder of the school of __________. His works are characterized by mysticism in content and fantasticality in form.5. Because of the success of Paradise Lost, John Milton produced in 1671 another epic, _________.6. John Milton’s Paradise Lost opens with the description of a meeting among the fallen angels, and ends with the departure of _______and ________from the Garden of Eden.7. George Herbert, “the saint of the Metaphysical school,” sometimes resorts to tricks of typographical layout to express his religious piety, as shown by “_________”: “A broken Altar, Lord, thy servant rears…”8. The most distinguished literary figure of the Restoration Period was John Dryden, poet, ________, and playwright.9. Paradise Lost is a long epic. The stories are taken from __________.10. The Pilgrim’s Progress tells of the spiritual pilgrimage of Christian, who flies form City of Destruction, and finally comes to the Delectable Mountains and the __________.11. Sir Thomas Browne and Jeremy Taylor have been thought to be tworepresentative_________ prose writers in English literature for their elaborate and magnificent style.Ⅳ. Choose the best answer.1. John Dryden’s tragedy All for Love deals with the same story as ________’s Antonym and Cleopatra.A. William ShakespeareB. John MiltonC. Christopher MarloweD. John Bunyan2. In John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Adam and Eve are forbidden to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of _________.A. Love and HateB. Good and EvilC. Faith and BetrayalD. Scene and Sensibility3. ________ is shown in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.A. UtopianismB. IdealismC. RealismD. Puritanism4. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan is often said to be concerned with the search for ________.A. Material wealthB. spiritual salvationC. Universal truthD. self-fulfillment5. “To wage by force or guile eternal war, Irreconcilable to our grad Foe.” (John Milton, Paradise Lost) By what means were Satan and his followers to wage this war against God?A. By planting a tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden.B. By turning into poisonous snakes to threaten man’s life.C. By removing God from His throne.D. By corrupting man and woman created by God.6. By making the truth-seeking pilgrims suffer at the hands of the people of Vanity Fair, John Bunyan intends to show the prevalent political and religious _______of his time.A. PersecutionB. improvementC. prosperityD. disillusionment7. “Areopagitica” is John Milton’s best-known______.A. ProseB. epicC. novelD. drama8. ______ is one of the most remarkable passages in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.A. Holy LivingB. Holy DyingC. Vanity FairD. Lycidas9. The only love poem of John Milton is “__________”.A. LycidasB. On His Deceased WifeC. On MarriageD. Areopagitica10. Metaphysical poets and Cavalier poets share a similar awareness of _________in their poetry.A. MortalityB. sensualityC. destinyD. joyⅤ. Short-answer questions.1. Analyze the relation between John Milton’s works and the English Revolutions.2. What are the contributions of John Dryden to the English neoclassical school of literature?3. List no less than five characters in The Pilgrim’s Progress.4. Illustrate with an example that John Milton is a great stylist.Ⅵ. Answer the questions according to the following passage.Passage 1Judge: thou runagate, heretic, and traitor, hast thou heard what these honest gentlemen have witnessed against thee?Faithful: May I speak a few words in my own defense?Judge: Sirrah, sirrah! Thou deservest to live no longer but to be slain immediately upon the place: yet, that all men may see our gentleness towards thee, let us hear what thou, vile runagate, hast to say.Questions:1. Which work is the passage quoted from?2. Who is the author of the work?3. Summarize the story of the passage.Passage 2“…Knowledge forbidden?Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their LordEnvy them that? Can do they only standBy ignorance, is that their happy state,The proof of their obedience and their faith?…Hence I will excite their mindsWith more desire to know, and to rejectEnvious commands, invented with designTo keep them low whose knowledge might exaltEqual with gods…Questions:4. Which epic are these two stanzas quoted from?5. Who is the author of the epic?6. Who is the image, “I”?7. What is the possible theme of the epic?KeysⅠ. Essay questions.1. (1) Samson Agonistes is a poetical drama modeled on the Greek tragedies. It dealswith the story of Samson from the “Book of Judges” in the Old Testament.Samson is an athlete of the Israelites. He stands as the champion fighting for the freedom of his country. But he is betrayed by his wife Dalilah and blinded by his enemies the Philistines. Led into the temple to make them sport, he wreaks his vengeance upon his enemies by pulling down the temple them and upon himself in a common ruin.(2) There is much in common between Samson and John Milton. Like Samson,Milton had also been embittered by an unwise marriage, persecuted by his enemies, and suffered from blindness. And yet he was unconquerable.(3) Samson’s miserable blind servitude among his enemies, his agonizing longingfor sight and freedom, and the last terrible triumph all strongly suggest Milton’s passionate longing that he too could bring destruction down upon the enemy at the cost of his own life. There fore, Samson in the drama is Milton himself in life.2. (1) In John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Satan, like a conquered and banished giant,remains obeyed and admired by those who follow him down to hell. He is firmer than the rest of angels. It is he who, passing the guarded gates obstacle, makes man revolt against God.(2) Satan is the spirit of questioning the authority of God. When he gets to theGarden of Eden, he believes in no reason why Adam and Even should not taste the fruit of tree of Knowledge.(3) Though defeated, Satan prevails, since he has won from God a third part of hisangels, and almost all the son of Adam. Though wounded, he triumphs, for the thunder which hits upon his head leaves his heart invincible. Though feebler in force, he remains superior in nobility, since he prefers independence to happy servility, and welcomes his defeat and his torments as a glory, a liberty, and a joy. In conclusion, the finest thing in Paradise Lost is the description of hell.And Satan is the real hero of the poem.Ⅱ. Define the following terms.1. Elegy: In Greek and Roman times, the term elegy was used to refer to any poem composed in elegiac meter. Since the 17th century, elegy has typically been used to refer to reflective poems that lament the loss of something or someone, or loss or death more generally, although in Elizabethan times it was also use to refer to certain love poems. Elegies written in English frequently take the form of the pastoral elegy.2. Pamphlet:Originally a pamphlet was a sort of treatise or tract. It then came to mean a short work written on a topical subject on which an author feels strongly. Many outstanding writers have used the pamphlet to express vigorous political or religious views.3. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of identical or similar vowels-especially in stressed syllables-in a sequence of nearby words.4. Stanza: A stanza is a grouping of the verse lines in a poem, often set off by a space in the printed text. Usually the stanzas of a given poem are marked by a recurrent pattern of rhyme and are also uniform in the number and length of the componentlines.5. Folktale: Folktale, strictly defined, is a short narrative in prose of unknown authorship which has been transmitted orally; many of these tales eventually achieve written form. The term, however, is often extended to include stories invented by a known author which have been picked up and repeatedly narrated by word of mouth as well as in written form.6. Hyperbole:It is bold overstatement, or the extravagant exaggeration of fact or possibility.7. Prose poems: Prose poems are densely compact, pronouncedly rhythmic, and highly sonorous compositions which are written as a continuous sequence of sentences without line break.8. Conceit: From the Italian concetto(meaning idea or concept), it refers to an unusually far-fetched or elaborate metaphor or simile presenting a surprisingly apt parallel between two apparently dissimilar things or feeling. Poetic conceits are prominent in Elizabethan love sonnets and metaphysical poetry. Conceits often employ the devices of hyperbole, paradox and oxymoron.9. Pastoral: the originator of the pastoral was the Greek poet Theocritus, who in the third century B.C. wrote poems representing the life of Sicilian shepherds. (Pastor is Latin for “shepherd.”) It is a deliberately conventional poem expressing an urban poet’s nostalgic image of the peace and simplicity of the life of shepherds and other rural folk in an idealized natural setting.10. Diction: The term diction signifies the types of words, phrases, and sentence structures, and sometimes also of figurative language, that constitute any work of literature. A writer’s diction can be analyzed under a great variety of categories, such as the degree to which the vocabulary and phrasing is abstract or concrete, Latin or Anglo-Saxon in origin, colloquial of formal, technical or common.11. Epithalamion:Epithalamion, or in the Latin form epithalamium, is a poem written to celebrate a marriage. The term in Greek means” at the bridal chamber,” since the verses were originally written to be sung outside the bedroom of a newly married couple. The form flourished among the Neo-Latin poets of the Renaissance, who established the model that was followed by writers in the European vernacular languages.12. Dream vision (Dream allegory): It is a mode of narrative widely employed by medieval poets: the narrator falls asleep, usually in a spring landscape, and dreams the events he goes on to relate; often he is led by a guide, human or animal, and the events which he dreams are at least in part an allegory.13. Metaphysical poetry: A term that can be applied to any poetry that deals with philosophical or spiritual matters but that is generally limited to works written by a specific group of 17th century poets are linked by style and modes of poetic organization. Common elements include the following: (1) an analytical approach to subject matter; (2) colloquial language ;( 3) rhythmic patterns that are often rough or irregular, and (4) the metaphysical conceit, a figurative device used to capture though and emotion as accurately as possible.14. Fable: A fable is also called an apologue. It is short narrative, in prose or verse,which exemplifies an abstract moral thesis or principle of human behavior; usually, at its conclusion, either the narrator or one of the characters states the moral in the form of an epigram.15. Parable: A parable is a very short narrative about human beings presented so as to stress the tacit analogy, or parallel, with a general thesis or lesson that the narrator is trying to bring home to his audience. The parable was one of Jesus’ favorite devices as a teacher.16. Masques (or Masks):The masque was inaugurated in Renaissance Italy andflourished in England during the reigns of Elizabeth Ⅰ. It was an elaborate form of court entertainment that combined poetic drama, music, song, dance, splendid costuming, and stage spectacle. A plot—often slight, and mainly mythological and allegorical—served to hold together these diverse elements. The speaking characters, who wore masks (hence the title), were often played by amateurs who belonged to courtly society. The play concluded with a dance in which the players doffed their masks and were joined by the audience.Ⅲ. Fill in the blanks.1. Cavalier poets2. Allegory3. Youthful love lyrics, sacred verses4. Metaphysical poetry5. Paradise Regained6. Adam; Eve7. The Altar8. Critic9. The Old Testament10. Celestial City11. BaroqueⅣ. Choose the best answer.1. A2. B3. B4. B5. D6. A7. A8. C9. B 10. AⅤ. Short-answer questions.1. John Milton defended the English Commonwealth with his pen. His epic Paradise Lost and his pamphlets played an active part in pushing on the revolutionary cause. For example, the image of Satan embodies the political passions of the persecuted Republicans after Restoration.2. Following the standards of Classicism, John Dryden established the heroic couplet as one of the principal English verse form, clarified the English prose and made it precise, concise and flexible, and raise English literary criticism to a new level. He was the forerunner of the English neoclassical school of literature in the 18th century.3. Christian, Faithful, Envy, Mr. Badman and Judge Hate-good.4. John Milton is famous for his grand style, which is the result of his life-long classical and biblical study. It is an art attained by definite and conscientious rhetorical devices. For example, he likes to use Latinisms proper names of resonance and color to create an elevated and dignified effect.Ⅳ. Answer the questions according to the following passages.Passage 11. It is quoted form The Pilgrim’s Progress.2. The author is John Bunyan.3. The passage is entitled Vanity Fair. Christian and Faithful come to Vanity Fair. As they refuse to buy anything but Truth, they are beaten and put in a cage, and then taken out and led in chains up and down the fair, and at length brought before a court. Judge Hate-good summons three witnesses: Envy, Superstition and Pick thank, who testify against him. The case is given to the jury, composed of Mr. Badman, Mr. No-good, Mr. Malice, etc. each gives verdict against Faithful, who is presently condemned. Here Bunyan intends to satirize the estate trials in the reactionary reigns of Charles Ⅱ and James Ⅱ, which are merely forms preliminaryto hanging, drawing and quartering.Passage 24. They are quoted from Paradise Lost.5. It is an epic written by John Milton.6. “I” in the two stanzas refers to Satan.7. On appearance, the epic is to justify the ways of God to man, i.e., to advocate submission to the Almighty. But actually the theme of the epic is a revolt against God’s authority because in the poem God is no better than a selfish despot, seated upon a throne with a chorus of angels about him eternally singing his praises. He is cruel and unjust in his struggle against Satan. What Milton actually intends to appraise is Satan, who in the author’s eyes is a real hero. He amid so many dangers makes man revolt against God.。
王守仁《英国文学选读》（第4版）配套题库-章节题库-第4、5单元【圣才出品】
王守仁《英国⽂学选读》（第4版）配套题库-章节题库-第4、5单元【圣才出品】第4单元17世纪英国诗⼈Ⅰ. Fill in the blanks.1. In the Revolution Period _____ towers over his age as William Shakespeare towers over the Elizabethan Age and as Chaucer towers over the Medieval Period.【答案】John Milton【解析】在英国资产阶级⾰命期间，约翰·弥尔顿可与伊丽莎⽩时代的莎⼠⽐亚和中世纪的乔叟相媲美。
2. The poems of John Donne belong to two categories: the _____ and the later _____. 【答案】youthful love lyrics；sacred verses【解析】受⽣活经历的影响，约翰·多恩的诗歌可分为两部分：年轻有活⼒的爱情诗和庄严的宗教诗。
3. In 1637 Milton wrote the finest pastoral elegy in English, _____, to memorize the tragic death of a Cambridge friend.【答案】Lycidas【解析】Lycidas是英国诗⼈⽶尔顿年轻时为溺海夭亡的剑桥同学⾦（Edward King）写的⼀⾸悼诗。
4. About the beginning of the 17th century appeared a school of poets called “ _____” by Samuel Johnson, the 18th century writer.【答案】Metaphysicals【解析】⾸先⽤“⽞学派”这名词的是18世纪英国诗⼈、批评家德莱顿。
3.metaphysical poets
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.
IV. Other poets
1. George Herbert (1593-1633)
He wrote his poems by drawing comparisons from the Bible and the liturgy. His poems have been characterized by a deep religious devotion, linguistic precision, metrical agility, and ingenious use of conceit. The Temple (1633), which contained Herbert’s best poems, is hugely influential and widely imitated.
3. Special features
英国文学简史 (刘炳善著 河南人民出版社)笔记part3-4
Part three the period of the English bourgeois revolution Chaper 1 the English revolution and the Reatoration1 the weakening of the tie between monarchy and bourgeoise2 the clashes between the king and parliament3 the outburst of the English revolution:4 the split with the revolution camp5 the bourgeois dictatorship and the restoration6 the religious cloak of the English revolution:Also called the puritan revolution.Puritanism is the religious doctrine7 literature of the revolution periodChapter 2 John Milton约翰•弥尔顿1608~1674（诗人、政论家;失明后写《失乐园》、《复乐园》、《力士参孙》。
）①Epics: <Paradise Lost>失乐园: written in blank verseIn the poem god is no better than a despot. God is cruel and unjust. Adam and Eve embody Milton's belife in the powers of man.The desription of hell, Satan is the real hero of the poem. Satan is the spirit questioning the authority of God.<Paradise Regained>复乐园②Dramatic poem: < Samson Agonistes>力士参孙:A poetical drama.③<Areopagitica>论出版自由: as a declaration of people's freedom of the press, has been a weapon in the later democratic revulotion struggles.<The Defence of the English People>为英国人民声辩: as the spokesman of the revolution.④<On His Blindness>我的失明This sonnet is written in iambic pentameter rhymed in abba abba cde cde, typical of Italian sonnet.Its theme is that people use their talent for God, and they serve him best sho can endure the suffering best.Milton:1 he was a political in both his life and his art. He was a militant pamphleteer of the English Revolution, and the greatest English revolutionary poet in 17th century2 wrote the greatest epic in English literature. He and Shakespeare have always been regarded as two patterns of English verse3 he first used blank verse in non-dramatic works. In paradise lost, he acquires an absolute mastery of the blank verse.4 he is a great stylist, grand style.5 his sublimity of thought and majesty of expression.Chapter 3 John Bunyan约翰•班扬1628~1688（代表作《天路历程》，宗教寓言，被誉为“具有永恒意义的百科全书”，是英国文学史上里程碑式著作。
MetaphysicalPoetsandCavalierPoets(2)解读
Donne`s Love Lyrics
Two Groups：
A negative attitude --- a cynical tone to satirize women`s inconstancy, as found in "Go and Catch a Falling Star". A positive attitude --- expresses his geniune sentiments of love; sanctifies love as something holy.("The Canonization" and "A Valediction: Forbiding (1572-1631)
The founder of the metaphysical school of poetry, who lived and wrote in the succeeding reigns of Elizabeth I, James I and Charles I. His early life was passed in dissipation and roguery, but he later turned a saintly divine and ended as the illustrious Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. Two categories: the youthful love lyrics published posthumously as Songs and Sonnets in 1633, and the later sacred
Themes: love/death/religion. With a rebellious spirit, they tried to break away from the conventional, out-fashioned of Elizabethan love poetry. All things in the universe, no matter how dissimilar they are to each other, are closely unified in God. John Donne--- the chief representative of the Metaphysicals. Others include Henry Vaughan, Andrew Marvell, John Cleveland, and Abraham Cowley as well as, to a lesser extent, George Herbert and Richard
The Comparison between Cavalier Poems and Metaphysical Poems
The Comparison between Cavalier Poe ms and Metaphysical Poe ms1. Introduction“Cavalier Poets”is a broad description of a school of English poets of the 17th century, who came from the classes that supported King Charles I during the English Civil War. Much of their poetry is light in style, and generally secular in subject. They were marked out by their lifestyle and religion from the Roundheads, who supported Parliament and were often Puritans (either Presbyterians or Independents).The best known of the Cavalier poets are Ben Jonson, Robert Herrick, Richard Lovelace, Thomas Carew, and Sir John Suckling.The “Metaphysical Poets” is a term coined by the poet and critic Samuel Johnson to describe a loose group of British lyric poets of the 17th century, who shared an interest in metaphysical concerns and a common way of investigating them, and whose work was characterized by inventiveness of metaphor (these involved comparisons being known as metaphysical conceits). These poets were not formally affiliated; most of them did not even know or read each other. Their poetry was influenced greatly by the changing times, new sciences and the new found debauched scene of the 17th century.The best known of the Metaphysical poets are John Donne, George Herbert and Andrew Marvell.2. AnalysisI find mainly four differences between Cavalier poems and Metaphysical poems.2.1Cavalier poems are strictly coherent to forms, meters, rhymes etc. when Metaphysical poems are intentionally irregular in forms, meters, rhymes etc. The following poem is from Cavalier poems.To CeliaBen JohnsonDrink to me only with thine eyes,And I will pledge with mine;Or leave a kiss but in the cupAnd I’ll not look for wine.The thirst that from the soul doth riseDoth ask a drink divine;But might I of Jove’s nectar sup,I would not change for thine.I sent thee late a rosy wreath,Not so much honouring theeAs giving it a hope that thereIt could not wither’d be;But thou thereon didst only breatheAnd sent’st is back to me;Since when it grows, and smells, I swear,Not of itself but thee!This poem is a graceful metrical verse. Its basic rhythm is iambic. Every single-line has four feet while a couplet has three feet. Its rhyme is abcbabcb which is popular in English Renaissance.While in Metaphysical poems, Donne forms spondee by many monosyllable verbs in poems, such as Holy Sonnet XIV: Batter my heart, to convey the poets’hope for God to save them and let them reborn.Holy Sonnet XIV: Batter my heartJohn DonneBatter my heart, three-personed God; for Y ouAs yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;That I may rise and stand, o’erthrow me, ′and bendY our force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.I, like an usurped town, t o′another due,Labor to′admit Y ou, but O, to no end;Reason, Y our viceroy′in me, me should defend,But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.Y et dearly′I love Y ou, ′and would be loved fain,But am betrothed unto Y our enemy.Divorce me, ′untie or break that knot again;Take me to Y ou, imprison me, for IExcept Y ou′enthrall me, never shall be free,Nor ever chaste, except Y ou ravish me.2.2As for Cavalier poems, the images are directly connected with life. As for Metaphysical poems, it is marked by irony, paradox, and striking comparisons of dissimilar things. It’s harder to understand the latter’s images as its images are conceit. The following poem is an example from Metaphysical poems.A Valediction: Forbidding MourningJohn Donne…If they be two, they are two soAs stiff twin compasses are two;Thy sou l, the fix’d foot, makes no showTo move, but doth, if the’ other do.And though it in the centre sit,Yet when the other far doth roam,It leans, and hearkens after it,And grows erect, as that comes home.Such wilt thou be to me, who mustLike th’ othe r foot, obliquely run;Thy firmness makes my circle just,And makes me end, where I begun.There are totally nine stanzas in this poem. The poet uses the image of compass in the last three stanzas to symbolize the spiritual love of a pair of lovers. The metaphor is bold, fantastic. The poet compares the love with the two indivisible feet of a compass. Only “the fix’d foot” stays still, “the’ other” can draw a complete circle. The wife is “the fix’d foot” and the poet is “the’ other”. Just as the poem says “Thy firmness makes my circle just, a nd makes me end, where I begun.” Though the lovers are forced to leave each other, their love fuses into their souls and would not be parted.The next poem is from Cavalier poems.To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time(Robert Herrick)Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,Old Time is still a-flying;And this same flower that smiles today,Tomorrow will be dying.The glorious lamp of heaven, the Sun,The higher he’s a-getting.The sooner will his race be run,And nearer he’s to setting.That age is best which is the first,When youth and blood are warmer;But being spent, the worse, and worstTimes, still succeed the former.Then be not cry, but use your time;And while ye may, go marry;For having lost cut once your prime,Y ou may forever tarry.In the first stanza, the poet uses “rose” to describe the youth. The life of rose is short as the youth is flying. In the second stanza, the poet uses “sun”to show the characteristic of youth----no matter how the youth is wonderful the youth sooner or later will end as the sun falls.2.3In the aspect of language, Cavalier poems are lyrical, innocent, devoted, sentimental and sugar-sweet. Metaphysical poems are conversational, dialectical, witty (witticism), paradoxical, cynical and full of conceits. The following poem is from Metaphysical poems.To His Coy MistressAndrew MarvellHad we but world enough, and time,This coyness, Lady, were no crimeWe would sit down and think which wayTo walk and pass our long love's day.Thou by the Indian Ganges' side…But at my back I always hearTime's wingèd chariot hurrying near;And yonder all before us lieDeserts of vast eternity.…Now therefore, while the youthful hueSits on thy skin like morning dew,And while thy willing soul transpiresAt every pore with instant fires,Now let us sport us while we may,And now, like amorous birds of prey,Rather at once our time devourThan languish in his slow-chapt power.Let us roll all our strength and allOur sweetness up into one ball,And tear our pleasures with rough strifeThrough the iron gates of life:Thus, though we cannot make our sunStand still, yet we will make him run.The poem is written in iambic tetrameter and rhymes in couplets. The first stanza ("Had we...") is ten couplets long, the second ("But...") six, and the third ("Now therefore...") seven. The logical form of the poem runs: if... but... therefore.... In the first stanza, the poet puts forward a hypothesis by “Had we but world enough, an time, This coyness, Lady, were no crime”. In the second stanza, the hypothesis is denied by “But at my back I always hear Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near”. In the third stanza, the conclusion is made that beauty is mortal someday and don’t be shy and enjoy the life.Cavalier poems are full of passions. In Henry Vaughan’s Peace, “O my soul, awake!”shows a strong will to sake soul. The poet conveys his sincere hope to the peace of the soul.Peace（Henry V aughan）MY soul, there is a countryFar beyond the stars,Where stands a winged sentryAll skilful in the wars:There, above noise and danger,Sweet Peace sits crown’d with smiles,And One born in a mangerCommands the beauteous files.He is thy gracious Friend,And—O my soul, awake!—Did in pure love descendTo die here for thy sake.If thou canst get but thither,There grows the flower of Peace,The Rose that cannot wither,Thy fortress, and thy ease.Leave then thy foolish ranges;For none can thee secureBut One who never changes—Thy God, thy life, thy cure.2.4The attitude towards morality in Cavalier poems is passionate, sad, sorrowful while in Metaphysical poems is melancholy, jocund.Here is a metaphysical poem below.Death Be Not Proud(John Donne)Death be not proud, though some have called theeMighty and dreadful, for, thou art not soe,For, those, whom you think’st, thou dost overthrow,Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill mee;From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,And soonest out best men with thee doe goe,Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,And dost with poison, warre, sickness dwell,And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,And better then thy stroake; why swell’st thou then?One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.The attitude of poet toward mortality is paradoxical. In one aspect, he hopes the death. In another, he rejects the death. He thinks the mortality brings the soul the internal state and renews the soul so he welcomes the death. We can find evidence in this poem- ＂One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally＂．3. ConclusionAfter searching some information and comparing some aspects of Cavalier Poems and Metaphysical Poems, we know some differences between these two schools. But we cannot come to the conclusion about whether one is better than another or not. The very characteristics of each school’s poems are always charming.。
英国文学期末复习资料
1,Old English Literature (A.D.600-about A.D.1100)Poetry:Beowulf 《贝尔伍夫》: the author is unknown （Secular literature世俗文学）1, Hrothgar胡鲁斯加王, King of the Danes, and Beowulf, a brave young man,2, the first great English literary work, the national epic of the Anglo-Saxons passed from mouth to mouth for hundreds years, was written down in the 10th century, Features:1, Each half line has two main beats.2,There is no rhyme. Instead, each half line is joined to the other by alliteration头韵. 3,Things are described indirectly and in combinations of words.4, As is known, the Anglo-Saxons were Christianized by the end of the 7th century. Major themes:1.This epic presents a vivid picture of how the primitive people wage heroic struggles against the hostile forces of the natural world represented by Grendel, his mother and the fire-breathing dragon under the wise and mighty leader.2.The poem conveys a hope that the righteous will triumph over the evil. Beowulf stands for all that is good, brave and proper, while the monsters stand for evil. Prose:Anglo-Saxon Chronicle盎格鲁-撒克逊编年史1,written under the encouragement and supervision of King Alfred the Great (849-899)阿尔弗雷德大帝2,an early history of the country which begins with Caesar’s conquest凯撒征服and is a monument不朽的作品of Old English Prose.Aelfric埃尔弗里克（mostly religious)：His prose style is the best in Old English. And he uses alliteration头韵to join his sentences together.2，Middle English Literature (from about 1100 to about 1500) Norman Conquest(1066): the English VS the Norman armies place:near Hastings黑斯廷斯Result: the leader of English, Harold, was killed, English lost decisive battle William, the Conqueror, became the King of England1. Politically, a feudalist system封建制度was established in England.（feudalism）2. Religiously, the Roman Catholic Church had a much stronger control over the country.3. Great changes took place in the English language.4. The conquest opened up England to the whole European continent, so that with the introduction of the culture and literature of France, Italy and other European countries a fresh wave of Mediterranean civilization came into England.Three languages co-existed in England during this period.：French (the official language): King, Norman lordsLatin (the principal tongue of church affairs): clergymen and scholarsEnglish: common peopleGreat events in this period:The Hundred Years’ War(1337-1453)英法百年战争The Black Death(1348-1350) 黑死病Literature：strongly reflects the principles of the medieval中世纪Christian doctrines基督教教义, which are primarily concerned with the issue of personal salvation自我拯救.The romance传奇文学;Geoffrey of Monmouth蒙茅斯的杰弗里：英国历史学家History of the Kings of Britain (in Latin Prose)(不列颠诸王记)Layamon莱亚门：英国诗人Brut《布鲁特》Thomas Malory马洛礼：Mort D’Arthur(in English prose)《亚瑟王之死》Sir Gawain and the Green Knight（anonymous匿名的，无名的, in English verse)《高文爵士和绿衣骑士》Major themes of 《高文。
浙江大学英国文学史考试要点
浙江大学英国文学史考试要点听课笔记1、it is “Beowulf”,the national epic of the English people.《贝奥武夫》（Beowulf），又译贝奥武甫，完成于西元八世纪，约750年左右的英雄叙事长诗，长达3000行。
故事的舞台位于北欧的斯堪的纳维亚半岛。
是以古英语记载的传说中最古老的一篇，在语言学方面也是相当珍贵的文献。
贝奥武夫（Beowulf）乃现存古英文文学中最伟大之作，也是欧洲最早的方言史诗。
该诗中并未提及英国，但学者相信该诗约於西元七二五年左右在英国完成。
全诗凡三千一百八十二行，以斯堪地那维亚的英雄贝奥武夫的英勇事迹构成主要内容。
虽然历史上并未证实确有贝奥武夫其人，但诗中所提及的许多其他人物与事迹却得到印证。
Features of “Beowulf”:The most striking feature in its poetical form is the use of alliteration. Other features of “Beowulf” are the use of metaphors and of understatements.本诗原以西撒克逊方言写成，押头韵而不押尾韵，用双字隐喻而不用明喻。
全诗内容分为两部分：第一部分描叙丹麦霍格国王（King Hrothgurs）宏伟的宫殿，在前后十二年中，半人半魔的妖怪格兰戴（Grendel）每晚出没捉食霍格的战士。
此时恰巧瑞典南部济兹（Geats）王子贝奥武夫率家臣来访，协助除害。
国王当晚设宴款待，熟料妖怪格兰戴又复出现，捉食一名济兹战士，贝奥武夫与之格斗，贝氏扭断其臂，妖怪落荒而逃，因受重伤致死。
第二天晚上，格兰戴的母亲前来为其子复仇，其后贝氏把她在一湖泊的洞穴中杀死。
第二部分描叙贝奥武夫返国，被拥为王，前后五十年，举国大治。
最后贝奥武夫以垂老之年，杀一喷火巨龙，但其个人亦因而身受重创，终於身死。
刘炳善《英国文学简史》完整版笔记(汇编)
英国文学简史完全笔记Part one：early and medieval english literatureChapter 1: the making of england1 the Briton2 the Roman Consequent3 the English Consequent4 the social condition of the Anglo-SaxonsChapter 2: Beowulf<Beowulf>贝奥武夫:the national epic of the Anglo-SaxonsEpic: long narrative poems that record the adventures or heroic deeds of a hero enacted in vast landscapes. The style of epic is grand and elevated.e.g. Homer’s Iliad and OdysseyArtistic features:1 Using alliteration2 Using metaphor and understatementDefinition of alliteration: a rhetorical device, meaning some words in a sentence begin with the same consonant sound（头韵）Some examples on P5Definition of understatement: expressing something in a controlled way Understatement is a typical way for Englishmen to express their ideasChapter 3 : Feudal England1 the Norman Conquest:①the Danish invasionKing Alfred: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle②the Norman Conquest:Marks the establishment of feudalism in England\2 Feuda EnglandSocial features of the Feuda England：Two classes（landlord and peasant）The miseries of the peasant：Black DeathThe raising of 13813 the Romance: knightFamous three:King ArthurSir Gawain and the Green KnightBeowulfChapter 4 William LanglandPiers The Plowman耕者皮尔斯:a picture of feudal England①the exposure of the ruling classes②the story of the Cat and Rats③the marriage of lady Meed④the condition of the peasants⑤the search for truth⑥a representative of the most oppressed section of the peasantryArtistic features:It is written in the form of a dream visionUsing symbolismChapter 5 the English Bllads民谣Oral literatureBallad: is a story told in song, usually in 4-line stanzas, with the second and fourth lines rhymed.The Robin Hood BalladChapter 6 Geoffery Chaucer英国文学史上首先用伦敦方言写作。
安徽三联学院英语专业《综合英语》复习资料(专升本)
安徽三联学院专升本《综合英语》复习资料填空题Ben Johnson---Volpone--the greatest writer of comedy after ShakespeareJohn Donne---the father of Metaphysical Poetry-----代表作《The Flea》John Milton---Paradise LostMilton divides the universe into four major regions:glorious Heaven,dreadful Hell,confusing Chaos,and a young and vulnerable Earth in between.Francis Bacon----《Of studies》John Bunyan--《The Pilgrim’s Progress》《Vanity Fair》Alexander Pope--《the Rape of the Lock》---early18th century has been named after him as “The Age of Pope”.---Blake summarized him as“elegant formalism”，heroi-comical poem Thomas Gray---Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard-----an elegiac stanza挽歌诗节Jonathan Swift----A Modest Proposal名词解释1）Metaphysical poets玄学派诗人About the beginning of the17th century appeared a school of poets called“Metaphysicals”by Samuel Johnson,the18th century writer.The works of the Metaphysical poets are characterized, generally speaking,by mysticism(神秘)in content and fantasticality（变化无常）in form.The most representative poet is John Donne.(a complex,highly intellectual verse filled with intricate (difficult)and far-fetched metaphors)2）Cavalier Poets保王党派诗人Another school of poetry prevailing in the17th century was Cavalier Poetry.Cavalier poets are, more often than not,knights and squires,who side with the king against the parliament and the puritans in the English Revolution.They mostly deal in short songs on the flitting joys of the day, but underneath their lightheartedness lies some foreboding of impending doom.The leading Cavalier poets were Robert Herrick,Richard Lovelace and Sir John Suckling.3)Metaphysical conceit:It is a paradoxical（似是而非的）metaphor causing a shock to the mind by the unlikeliness of the association.At its best,this kind of image unites disparate(不同的,不相关的)experiences in a single impact on the imagination,but often it is only an exhibition of ingenuity（精巧）.4）The18th Century EnglandAfter the stormy years of the17th century,England entered a period of comparatively peaceful development in the18th century.The upper classes,wanted no religious enthusiasts and revolutionaries.They believed in reason.This rational approach to social and literary problems have given it the title of“The Age of Reason”,while the desire for perfect form which resulted in adaptations of Greek and Latin models has caused it to be called“The Neoclassic Age.”1）The Glorious Revolution(1688)2)After that England gradually became a constitutional monarchy,and power passed from the king to the parliament and the cabinet.3）Religious Conflicts4）The Rapid Expanding of the British Empire5）The Industrial Revolution6）Two-Party Politics(The Tory and the Whig)7）The American War of Independence and the French Revolution(1789-1794)5）Enlightenment启蒙运动It was a progressive intellectual movement throughout Western Europe in the18th and Russia in the19th centuries.The movement was an expression of the struggle of the bourgeoisie against feudalism，it considered the chief means for the betterment of the society was the“enlightenment”or“education”of the people.6）Neo-Classicism新古典主义Neoclassicism was a reaction against the intricacy and occasional obscurity,boldness and the extravagance of European literature of the late Renaissance,and in favor of simplicity,clarity, restraint,regularity and good sense.Chief characteristics of Neoclassic literatures a strong traditionalism,The neoclassic believed that literature was primarily an“art”,which must be perfected by long study and practice.In versification诗律,the age was famous for its“closed heroic couplet”7）The Mock-Epic讽刺史诗A mock-epic is a type of satire;it treats petty humans or insignificant occurrences as if they were extraordinary or heroic,like the great heroes and events of Homer's two great epics.8）Heroic Quatrain英雄体四行诗A stanza with the above-mentioned characteristics—four lines each stanza,iambic pentameter in each line,and an abab rhyme scheme each stanza—is often referred to as a heroic quatrain.9）Anaphora首语重复法Repetition of a word,phrase,or clause at the beginning of word groups occurring one after the other10）A satirea literary work that attacks or pokes fun at vices,abuses,stupidity,and/or any other fault or imperfection.Satire may make the reader laugh at,or feel disgust for,the person or thing satirized，The main weapon of the satirist is verbal irony文学赏析1）Volpone---Ben JohnsonTone:Satiric Ben Johnson al,ironic in the main ploThemes:Greed---greed that extends not just to money but also to all objects of human desire-; the power of stagecraft;parasitism(寄生)---everyone tries to live off the wealth or livelihood of others,without doing any"honest toil"of their own,thus portrayed,is not a form of laziness or desperation,but a form of superiority.Motifs:Disguise,deception and reality;"gulling";the sacred and the profaneSymbols:Venice;animalia--There is a"fable"running throughout the play,through the associations the characters'names create with animals.The animal imagery emphasizes the theme of"parasitism"in the playCharacter:volpone----This lack of rational forethought（事先的考虑）and commitment to his own sensual（肉体的）impulses,He is a creature of passion,an imaginative hedonist（快乐主义者）continually looking to find and attain new forms of pleasure,whatever the consequences may be.Mosca---the ultimate master of disguise,a clinging（执着的）,servile parasite,Mosca himself is possessed by greed,and he attempts to move out of his role as parasite—a harmless fly, circling around a great beast—to the role of great beast himself.Celia---seem more weak than strong.But she has an inner moral sense。
The Comparison between Metaphysical Poets and Cavalier Poets
The Comparison between Metaphysical Poets and Cavalier Poets Metaphysical poets and Cavalier poets were both very famous poem schools in England in the 17th century. Though both of them represented the characteristic of the English literature at that time, many differences lie between them.First, the background was different. The Metaphysical poets were, in their own time, modern and revolutionary. This group of poets tried to break away from the conventional, old-fashioned, and worn out fashion of Elizabethan love poetry. And the Cavalier poets were always from common people while the Cavalier poets were from the upper class and many of them were knights and cavaliers, who were fighting for the King. For example, “War, which was before horrid, now appears. Lovely in you, brave Prince of Cavaliers! A deal of courage in each bosom springs by your access; (O you the best of Kings!)Ride on with all white omens, so, that where y our standard's up, we fix a conquest there” are the sentences from Herrick’s well-known poem For the King, who is one of the “little masters” of the Cavalier poets. The poem expressed poet’s wild worship for hero and victory, they enjoyed fighting for the king.Second, they expressed different themes. The background decided on their themes in some degree. Cavalier poets emphasized almost all on love, palace life and the glory of war’s victory while Metaphysical poets involved with love, religion, belief and life experience. For example, Herrick’s Gather Ye Rose Buds while Ye May described upper class women’s life and express the point that one should seize the day and catch happiness. And on the other side, John Donne who was the most famous Metaphysical poets wrote in his Holly Sonnet 10 ,“Poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me”. It expressed his consideration about death, showing his scorn to death. Besides, some other of his works also related to religion, such as The Alter and Devotions upon Emergent Occasions.Third, their ways to express their emotions and opinions are different, too. In John Donne’s The Flea, flea is used to express, love to lover, “it sucked me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be. Thou now’s that this cannot be said A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead”. Flea is common to see in our daily life and people seldom use flea to express love. The Metaphysical poets are always good at expressing their emotions in a fancy and unexpected way by using ordinary things in people’s life. They often used debate to show their views. In general, their expressional ways are more realistic and unexpected. In Cavalier pomes, their methods of description are more graceful, beautiful and lyric. In To Da f fodils, He wrote “Fair Daffodils, we weep to see, you haste away so soon. As yet the early-rising sun has not attained his noon. Stay, stay, until the hasting day has run. But to the even-song; and, having prayed together”These are the differences I find between the two schools. I prefer the Metaphysical poets better for Metaphysical poets were more relevant to the common people, the description was more interesting, simpler and more intelligent. Metaphysical poets could always find an extraordinary way to express what they want to say, which I think we can imitate in our English writing.。
metaphysicalpoetry
metaphysicalpoetrymetaphysical poetryIntroduction:The term "metaphysical poetry" is commonly used to name the work of the17th-century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne(1572-1631).With a rebellious spirit,the metaphysical poets tried to break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabethan love poetry.The diction is simple as compared with that of the Elizabethan or the Neoclassic periods,and echoes the words and cadences of common speech.The imagery is drawn from the actual life. Metaphysical poetry is full of knowledge and, compared with traditional poetry, it is an innovation in many aspects. It is not fettered by traditional forms and meters; its spoken language contributes to the histrionic feature and striking images create an original harmony; secularity and divinity combine in the theme of love.The form is frequently that of an argument with the poet's beloved,with God,or with himeself.Donne and his followers,due to the change of the taste,were rarely read during the 18th and early 19th centuries.However,the late 19th and early 20th centuries witnessed a renewed interest in Donne and other metaphysical poets.This new recognition has arisen from a realization of the seriousness of their art,an interest in their spirit of revolt,their realism,and other affinities with modern interests,as well as from the fact that they produced some fine poetry .T.S.Eliot ,John Ransom, and Allen Tate are examples of modern poets who have been mostly affected by the metaphysical influence.John Donne is the leading figure of the "metaphysical school.His poems give a more inherently theatrical impression by exhibiting a seemingly unfocuseddiversity of experiences and attitudes,and a free range of feelings and moods.The mode is dynamic rather than static,with ingenuity of speech,vividness of imagery and vitality of thythms,which show a notable contrast to the other Elizabethan lyric poems which are pure,serene,tuneful,and smooth-running.The most striking features of Donne's poetry is precisely its tang of reality,in the sense that it seems to reflect life in a real rather than a poeticalworld.Herbert,Vaughan,Crashaw,Marvell and Cowley are also considered to be metaphysical poets.·John Donne约翰·邓恩/多恩the leading figure of the metaphysical school·Song: Go and catch a falling starThis poem chiefly concernsthe lack of constancy in women.The tone taken is one ofgentle cynicism, and mocking.Donne asks the reader to do the impossible, which he compares with finding a constant woman, thus insinuating that such a woman does not exist.There are mainly two kinds of love poems in Donne’s poetry. One is to deny love between men and women; the other is to affirm love. This poem belongs to the first type.·Prejudice against Females我得知有等妇人，比死还苦；她的心是罗网，手是锁链，凡蒙神喜悦的人，必能躲避她；有罪的人，却被她缠住了。
Metaphysical_Poets_and_Cavalier_poets修改
Cruel and sudden, hast thou since Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence? Wherein could this flea guilty be, Except in that drop which it suck'd from thee? Yet thou triumph'st, and say'st that thou Find'st not thyself nor me the weaker now. 'Tis true ; then learn how false fears be ; Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me, Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee.
Metaphysical Poets and Cavalier poets
English poets of the early seventeenth century are crudely classified by the division into Cavaliers and metaphysical poets.
‘… the metaphysical poets were men of learning, and to show learning was their whole endeavor.”
From The Lives of the English Poets by Samuel Johnson
The Flea
MARK but this flea, and mark in this, How little that which thou deniest me is ; It suck‗d me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be. Thou know‘st that this cannot be said A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead ; Yet this enjoys before it woo, And pamper‗d【古语】 饱餐美味swells with one blood made of two ; And this, alas ! is more than we would do. O stay, three lives in one flea spare, Where we almost, yea, more than married are. This flea is you and I, and this Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is. Though parents grudge, and you, we‘re met, And cloister‗d in these living walls of jet. Though use make you apt to kill me, Let not to that self-murder added be, And sacrilege渎圣, three sins in killing three.
英国文学---邓恩Donne
Cavalier Poets
refer to group of 17th-century English lyric 17thpoets, associated with the Royalists. They side with the king against the parliament and the puritans in the English revolution. Their poetry were marked by courtliness, brevity and polish . The chief representative of the school was Ben Jonson. (famous for his Comdies of Humors)
-
-
Conceit is an elaborate, often extravagant metaphor making an analogy between totally dissimilar things. Love is a spider which dropped into the wine of life, turns it to poison. a cannon-ball: By him, as by chain’d shot, cannonchain’ whole ranks do die;
多么残忍，你毫无犹豫 用无辜的鲜血染红自己的指甲？ 它不过吸了你一滴血 罪不至死啊？ 你却以胜利者的口吻说 你我并没有因失血而有些虚弱； 的确，担心不过是虚惊一场： 接受我的爱， 你的名誉不会有丝毫损失， 就象跳蚤之死不会让你的生命有所损失。
gave up his Catholic faith and took orders in the Anglican Church in 1615 After his wife’s death in1617, he devoted wife’ all his time and efforts to his religious duties. In 1621, he was appointed the Dean of St. Paul’ Paul’s Cathedral.
- 1、下载文档前请自行甄别文档内容的完整性，平台不提供额外的编辑、内容补充、找答案等附加服务。
- 2、"仅部分预览"的文档,不可在线预览部分如存在完整性等问题,可反馈申请退款(可完整预览的文档不适用该条件!)。
- 3、如文档侵犯您的权益，请联系客服反馈,我们会尽快为您处理(人工客服工作时间：9:00-18:30)。
Other Characteristics
Metaphysical conceit — (complicated metaphors, far-fetched but very sophisticated) Metaphysical wit — comparison of apparently quite different objects of concepts and the discovery that they are after all similar. Roughness of meter and irregular rhyme.
Donne`s Love Lyrics
tude --- a cynical tone to satirize women`s inconstancy, as found in "Go and Catch a Falling Star". A positive attitude --- expresses his geniune sentiments of love; sanctifies love as something holy.("The Canonization" and "A Valediction: Forbiding Mourning")
如果你渴望看到奇特的景色， 看到别人没有见过的东西， 那么你不妨骑马出游，一万个日夜， 直到双鬓染霜， 当你归来之时，你会对我讲起 你见到的所有奇观， 然后发誓 美丽而忠贞的女子 这世上没有。
If thou find'st 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. 如果你能找到一个这样的女子，请告诉我， 那样的旅程一定很美好； 可惜不会有那样的旅程，我也不会离开这里， 也许我的隔壁就住着一个这样的女子， 也许你遇到她的时候，她美丽而且忠贞， 一直到你离家给她写信为止，她都是如此， 但是她 不等我归家，准已哄骗了 二三个男人。
Cavalier Poets
Cavalier Peots
Royalists, as well as lyrical poets, whose poetry was marked by courtliness, urbanity, and polish. The common factor that binds the cavaliers together is their use of direct and colloquial language express of a highly individual personality, and their enjoyment of the casual, the amateur, the affectionate poem written by the way. Influenced by the metaphysical poets.
Jhon Donne (1572-1631)
The founder of the metaphysical school of poetry, who lived and wrote in the succeeding reigns of Elizabeth I, James I and Charles I. His early life was passed in dissipation and roguery, but he later turned a saintly divine and ended as the illustrious Dean of St. Paul‟s Cathedral, London. Two categories: the youthful love lyrics published posthumously as Songs and Sonnets in 1633, and the later sacred verses, published in 1624 as Devotions upon Emergent Occasions.
Donne`s Views
1.R e le g io u s b e lie f: questioned the grounds of his faith when young; gave his total services to the English Church when old. 2.W o rld vie w : the world was sick, harmony was gone, proportion was gone, beauty was gone, order was gone, there was little to do but wait for final dissolution. 3.V ie w o f lo v e : when young, love is an animal affair, a matter of flesh and sensation; when old, the nature of love is a perfect union of body and mind; 4.V ie w o f p o e try : a blend of emotion intellectual ingenuity, characterized by conceit of “wit”.
If thou be'st born to strange sights, Things invisible to see, Ride ten thousand 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 No where Lives a woman true, and fair.
Metaphysical Poets
Jhon Donne
Ben Jonson
Cavalier Poets
Metaphysical Poets
Metaphysical Poetry
---a school of highly intellectual poetry
Commonly used to designate the work of the 17thcentury poets who wrote under the influence of John Donne. Not only intellectual, analytical, psychological, disillusioning and bold, but also absorbed in thoughts of death, physical love, and religious devotion.
Andrew Marvell (1621-1678). Another metaphysical poet, was a Puritan who served as Milton‟s assistant in the Commonwealth. Poems on nature. But the haunting awareness of mortality as shown in Donne‟s religious poems also finds expression in Marvell‟s “To His Coy Mistress”:
Cavalier Poets
Themes of love and the theme of "carpe diem" Their poetry flourished in the early and the middle periods of the 17th century at the court and reflected the extravangance and moral looseness of court life. Much of their poetry is light in style, and generally secular in subject. The best-known of the cavalier poets are Ben Jonson and Robert Herrick.
Themes: love/death/religion. With a rebellious spirit, they tried to break away from the conventional, out-fashioned of Elizabethan love poetry. All things in the universe, no matter how dissimilar they are to each other, are closely unified in God. John Donne--- the chief representative of the Metaphysicals. Others include Henry Vaughan, Andrew Marvell, John Cleveland, and Abraham Cowley as well as, to a lesser extent, George Herbert and Richard Crashaw.