美国文学简史常耀信版讲义5

I. His life:
Robert Frost was a great poet who was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, California. When Frost was two years old, his mother fled to Lawrence, Massachusetts, to get away from her husband, who was a drunkard. She stayed there until her second baby was born, Jeannie, Robert's sister. Then they went back to San Francisco on a train. A few years later, Robert's father died, so they took the body to Lawrence to be buried in the family cemetery. By the time he was 11, Robert Frost had crossed the U.S. three times.
Two important factors that made this period different : the First World War, and the sense of life being dislocated and fragmented.
The war was the biggest event that had a profound impact on the period.
Chapter Five
The Modern Period Section 1 The 1920s
Introduction The 1920s is a flowering period of American literature. It is
considered “the second renaissance” of American literature. The nicknames for this period: (1) Roaring 20s – comfort (2) Dollar Decade – rich (3) Jazz Age – Jazz music
Affected by the postwar disillusionment and loss of faith， the poets employ meaningless destruction of young lives in the war and the bankruptcy of the rotten civilization as themes.
After this rough beginning, Robert went on to become a great poet. He married Elinor White and had 2 kids. Robert never in truth had any jobs, except being a poet, but he published many poems in his lifetime.
America has become “spiritual wasteland”.
The Major Writers
Robert Frost (1874-1963) Carl Sandburg (1878－1967) Gertrude Stein (1874-1946)
T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) Ezra Pound (1885-1972) William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)
the loss of faith, which began noticeably with Darwin’s theories of evolution and was intensified by the development of modern science, continued with a greater intensity into this century.
Modern poetry
Robert Frost (1874-1963) T. S. Eli1963)
--- an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed themes from the early 1900s rural life in New England, using the setting to examine complex social and philosophical themes. A popular and often-quoted poet, Frost was honored frequently during his lifetime, receiving four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry.
American poetry experimenting
The new age demanded proper literary expression.
Between 1912 and 1922 there came a great poetry boom in which about 1000 poets published over 1000 volumes of poetry. Indeed, to express the modern spirit, the sense of fragmentation and dislocation.