1、The Romantic Period (1798-1832),Historical Background,Politically: the French Revolution “Declaration of Rights of Man“ (1791-2), Thomas Paine “Inquiry concerning Political Justice“ (1793), William Godwin “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman“ (1792), Mary Wollstonecraft,IdeologicallyThe principle o
2、f Ration was giving way to an individualized, free, liberal, imaginative attitude towards life; a tendency to turn or escape from the tumultuous and confusing Here and Now,Economically: the great Industrial Revolution Continued fast changes took place both in the country and in the cities; Many farm
3、hands driven out of land rushed into the city;,Women and children were employed as cheap labor; New machines were set up, rendering many out of work; Disparity was growing between the rich and the poor; Expansion abroad continued: ( America), Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, the West Indies an
4、d other nations.,Romanticism / the Romantic Movement,an attitude or intellectual orientation that characterized many works of arts in Western civilization over a period from the late 18th to the mid-19th century. a rejection of the precepts of order, calm, harmony, balance, idealization, and rationa
5、lity a reaction against the Enlightenment and against 18th-century rationalism and physical materialism in general. emphasizing the individual, the subjective, the irrational, the imaginative, the personal, the spontaneous, the emotional, the visionary, and the transcendental.,Characteristic attitud
6、es,a deepened appreciation of the beauties of nature; a general exaltation of emotion over reason a turning in upon the self and a heightened examination of human personality and its moods and mental potentialities;,creative spirit over strict adherence to formal rules and traditional procedures;an
7、emphasis upon imagination an obsessive interest in folk culture, national and ethnic cultural origins, and the medieval era; and a predilection for the exotic, the remote, the mysterious,Literature,Poetry: the Age of Poetry,Differences between 18 th-century and 19 th-century ( between Neoclassicism
8、and Romanticism) reason vs passion reason vs imagination commercial vs natural industrial vs pastoral present vs past society vs individual order and stability vs freedom decorative expression vs simple and spontaneous expression,New poetic features,language: simple, everyday life speech, common voc
9、abulary and accent dialect e.g. Blake, Wordsworth form: lyrics(sonnet, ode), narrative (ballad) purpose: emotional, confessional and visionary/prophetic principles: imagination,subject: nature the rural/pastoral the past/historical the alien/exotic, oriental the supernatural/ mysterious (dreams or d
10、ream-like) the personal the common/low class the revolutionary the patriotic,Schools of Romantic Poets,Pre-romantic poets William Blake: mysterious, philosophical, visionary Songs of InnocenceSongs of ExperienceMarriage of Heaven and Hell Robert Burns: Scottish dialect, ballads,Lake Poets: Wordswort
11、h, Coleridge, Southey, 2 Poet Laureate: radical youth; conservative old age; long life William Wordsworth: nature, country, poor people, anti-industrialization e.g. Lyrical Ballads (Prelude); Nature and country poems Samuel Coleridge: mysterious/demonic, dreamy, oriental, visionary e.g. The Rime of
12、Ancient Mariner and “Kubla Khan“,Satanic school: rebellious, revolutionary, romantic, short life George Gordon Byron: romantic, revolutionary, satiric, proud and angry e.g. Don Duan, Childe Harolds Pilgrimage and Manfred Percy Bysshe Shelley: revolutionary, prophetic, optimistic e.g. Prometheus Unbo
13、und and “Ode to the West Wind“ John Keats: melancholy, a genius propounding on truth and beauty e.g. “Ode to the Nightingale“, “Ode on a Grecian Urn“, “Ode to Psyche“ and “Ode to Melancholy“,Prose,familiar essays of journals and newspapers e.g. Charles Lamb, Lee Hunt, de Quincey literary criticism/r
14、eviews as authority Charles Lamb, Lee Hunt, de Quincey novelists e.g. Jane Austen, the realist and Walter Scott, the 1 st historical novelist/romantic poet,William Wordsworth(1770-1850),Life,Family: Mother died when he was eight and Father died when he was 13 Separated from his sister, Dorothy, in 1
15、778 and did not see her again until 1787 Greatly affected by his brothers death in 1805,Early experience: Attended Hawkshead Grammar School in 1778 Attended Cambridge from 1787-1791 but failed to graduate Visited France in 1790 and influenced by the turmoil of the French Revolution Left college in 1
16、791 in order to return to France and support the Revolution,Residence in the Lake District Dove Cottage in Grasmere: Lyrical Ballads and the “Lake Poets” Rydal Mount: spent his later years; turned to be conservative;,Major Works,Lyrical Ballads in 1798 with Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Prelude - Long
17、 autobiographical poem written between 1798-1805 523 sonnets,Subjects,Poems on nature “To a Butterfly” “To a Skylark” “To the Cuckoo” “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” “Tintern Abbey”,Poems on simple rustic life in the countryside Lucy poems “She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways” Other poems about common
18、 people and their humble life “Michael” “The Solitary Reaper”,The autobiographical long poem: The Prelude,Book 1-8: the poets early life Book 9-14: the poets growing maturity,Wordsworths theory of poetry,“The principal object, then, which I proposed to myself in these poems are to choose incidents a
19、nd situations from common life and to relate or describe them, throughout, as far as was possible, in a selection of language really used by men; and, at the same time, to throw over them a certain colouring of imagination, whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual way; a
20、nd above all, to make these incidents and situations interesting by tracing in them, truly though not ostentatiously, the primary laws of our nature: chiefly as far as regards the manner in which we associate ideas in a state of excitement.”(Preface to the second edition of the Lyrical Ballads ),Inc
21、idents and situations chosen from common life (generally “low and rustic life”) A selection of language really used by man (i.e. against the use of “poetic diction”) Ordinary things to be presented in an unusual way (“to throw over them a certain colouring of imagination”) Attempts to trace in the c
22、hose incidents and situations the primary laws of human nature,Significance:,With Samuel Taylor Coleridge ushered in the English Romantic movement Many consider him the most important English Romantic poet succeeded Southey as Poet Laureate,水仙,独自漫游似浮云， 青山翠谷上飘荡； 一刹那瞥见一丛丛、 一簇簇水仙金黄； 树荫下，明湖边， 和风吹拂舞翩跹。 仿
23、佛群星璀璨， 沿银河闪霎晶莹； 一湾碧波边缘， 绵延，望不尽； 只见万千无穷， 随风偃仰舞兴浓。,花边波光潋滟， 怎比得繁花似锦； 面对如此良伴， 诗人怎不欢欣！ 凝视，凝视，流连不止； 殊不知引起悠悠情思； 兀自倚憩息， 岑寂，幽然冥想； 蓦地花影闪心扉， 独处方能神往； 衷心喜悦洋溢， 伴水仙、舞不息。,孤 独 的 割 麦 女,看哪，那孤独的高地姑娘 形单影只地在那田野里！ 她独自收割，她独自歌唱。 停下听，或悄悄离去！ 她一个人割，她一个人捆， 唱的是一种哀怨的歌声； 听啊！这幽深的山谷里面。 已完全被她的歌声充满。,旅行在阿拉伯沙漠的人， 疲乏地歇息在荫凉地方； 夜莺的歌受他们的欢迎，
24、 却比不上这种歌唱； 春天里，杜鹃一声声号啼 在最远的赫布里底响起， 打破群岛间海上的寂静， 但不如这歌声激动人心。,谁能告诉我她在唱什么？ 也许这哀哀不绝的歌声 在唱早已过去的辛酸事 或很久以前的战争； 要不，她在唱通俗的小曲 唱如今人们熟悉的东西？ 或者是痛苦、损失和悲哀？ 它们曾发生，还可能重来。,不管这姑娘唱的是什么， 她的歌却好像没完没了； 我看她一边唱一边干活， 看她弯着腰使镰刀； 我一动不动默默听她唱； 后来我走上前面的山冈， 她的歌我虽再也听不见， 那曲调却久久留在心间。,Coleridge,Major works:,Poems: The demonic The Rime of
25、 the Ancient Mariner Christabel Kubla Khan The conversational Frost at Midnight Dejection: An Ode,Prose: Biographia Literaria Drama Remorse,Characteristics,favors musical effects over the plainness of common speech complicates the phenomena Wordsworth takes for granted privileges weird tales and biz
26、arre imagery over the commonplace, rustic simplicities,忽必烈汗,忽必列汗在上都曾经 下令造一座堂皇的安乐殿堂： 这地方有圣河亚佛流奔， 穿过深不可测的洞门， 直流入不见阳光的海洋。 有方圆五英里肥沃的土壤， 四周给围上楼塔和城墙： 那里有花园，蜿蜒的溪河在其间闪耀， 园里树枝上鲜花盛开，一片芬芳； 这里有森林，跟山峦同样古老， 围住了洒满阳光的一块块青草草场。,但是，啊！那深沉而奇异的巨壑 沿青山斜裂，横过伞盖的柏树！ 野蛮的地方，既神圣而又着了魔 好象有女人在衰落的月色里出没， 为她的魔鬼情郎而凄声嚎哭！ 巨壑下，不绝的喧嚣在沸腾汹涌，
27、 似乎这土地正喘息在快速而猛烈的悸动中， 从这巨壑里，不断迸出股猛烈的地泉； 在它那断时续的涌迸之间， 巨大的石块飞跃着象反跳的冰雹， 或者象打稻人连枷下一撮撮新稻； 从这些舞蹈的岩石中，时时刻刻 迸发出那条神圣的溪河。,迷乱地移动着，蜿蜒了五英里地方， 那神圣的溪河流过了峡谷和森林， 于是到达了深不可测的洞门， 在喧嚣中沉入了没有生命的海洋； 从那喧嚣中忽必列远远听到 祖先的喊声预言着战争的凶兆！ 安乐的宫殿有倒影 宛在水波的中央漂动； 这儿能听见和谐的音韵 来自那地泉和那岩洞。 这是个奇迹呀，算得是稀有的技巧， 阳光灿烂的安乐宫，连同那雪窟冰窖！,有一回我在幻象中见到 一个手拿德西马琴的姑
28、娘： 那是个阿比西尼亚少女， 在她的琴上她奏出乐曲， 歌唱着阿伯若山。 如果我心中能再度产生 她的音乐和歌唱， 我将被引入如此深切的欢欣， 以至于我要用音乐高朗而又长久 在空中建造那安乐宫廷， 那阳光照临的宫廷，那雪窟冰窖！,谁都能见到这宫殿，只要听见了乐音。 他们全都会喊叫：当心！当心！ 他飘动的头发，他闪光的眼睛！ 织一个圆圈，把他三道围住， 闭下你两眼，带着神圣的恐惧， 因为他一直吃着蜜样甘露， 一直饮着天堂的琼浆仙乳。,Byron,Life,Family: Born lame in an impoverish noble family Father died when he was t
29、hree;lived in loneliness and poverty with his mother in Scotland Made Lord Byron at 10 by the death of his granduncle,Early experience: Cambridge: Hours of Idleness(1807); and English Bards and Scotch Reviewers two years later Tour on the Continent (1809-11): visited Portugal, Spain, Albania, Greece
30、 and Turkey,Return to England: Embarked on his political career; made speeches in the parliament to support the proletariat Published the first two cantos of Childe Harolds Pilgrimage(1812); wrote some narrative poems which were called “Oriental Tales” Married Ann Milbank who left him one year after
31、 the marriage,Years on the Continent In Switzerland: made acquaintance with Shelley; wrote Sonnet on Chillon and Manfred In Italy: finished Childe Harolds Pilgrimage; wrote Don Juan, Cain In Greece: plunged himself into Greek peoples struggle for national independence; died of fever,Major Works,Engl
32、ish Bards and Scotch Reviewers (1809) Oriental Tales The Giaour(1813) The Corsair(1814) Lara(1814) Childe Harolds Pilgrimage(1812-1818) Don Juan(1818-1819) Poetic Drama: Manfred(1817) Cain(1821) The Two Foscari (1821),Childe Harolds Pilgrimage,4cantos, written in the Spenserian stanza Canto I: Portu
33、gal & Spain Canto II: Albania &Greece Canto III: his daughter & the political struggles of the day Canto IV: Italy,Don Juan,Byrons masterpiece, written in the prime of his creative power intention: “to remove the cloke which the manners and maxims of society throw over their secret sins, and shew th
34、em to the world as they really are” (to present a panoramic view of different types of society; the difference between lifes appearance and its actuality) Epic satire: a satire on abuses of the present society;,Artistic Features,Revolutionary spirit Byronic hero Variety in style from passionate outc
35、ries to pathetic utterance, from solemn expressions to ironic mockeries, from serious musings to playful fancies, from highly lyrical passages to everyday prosaic speech, from lofty phrases in grand style to clownish play on words.,Byronic Hero,a proud revolutionary figure of noble origin, rising si
36、ngle handed against any kind of tyrannic rules in government or religion or moral society with unconquerable wills and inexhaustible energies. These towering figures stand in sharp contrast with the heroes in the verse narratives of the Lake Poets, who are either submissive agents of God or of other
37、 supernatural forces or are wrapped in the mysterious atmosphere of mysticism or magic.,The Isles of Greece,Theme: By contrasting the freedom enjoyed by the ancient Greeks with the enslavement of the early 19th century Greeks under Turkish rule, the poet calls on the Greeks to struggle for their nat
38、ional liberation. Form: 16 6-lined stanzas of iambic tetrameter, with a rhyme scheme of ababcc,Evaluation,Having great influence on the romantic poetry with the novelty of his oriental scenery, the romantic character of the Byronic hero, and the easy, fluent and natural beauty of his verse. Two cont
39、roversial opinions: In England: the perverted man, the satanic poet On the Continent: the champion of liberty, poet of the people,Shelley,Life,Born into an aristocratic family entered the Oxford University College in 1810; expelled from the college for publishing The Necessity Of Atheism in 1811 elo
40、ped with the 16-year old Harriet Westbrook; spent the following two years traveling in England and Ireland, distributing pamphlets and speaking against political injustice. In 1813 published his first important poem, the atheistic Queen Mab.,In 1814 traveled abroad with Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin;ma
41、rried Mary Wollstonecraft after Harriet drowned herself in 1816 Wrote The Spirit of Solitude (1816) and The Revolt of Islam ( 1817) moved to Italy; drowned in 1822,Major Works,In England: Queen Mab The Spirit of Solitude The Revolt of Islam,In Italy: Two poetic dramas: Prometheus Unbound The Cenci P
42、rose: A Defense of Poetry,Poems: Political lyrics: The Mask of Anarchy Song to the Men of England Lyrics on nature and love Ode to the West Wind To a Skylark Elegy: Adonais,Ode,a lyric poem of some length, dealing with a lofty theme in a dignified manner and originally intended to be sung,Romantic o
43、de,Evolved from the ancient Greek ode, written in a serous tone to celebrate an event or to praise an individual Not intended to be sung, yet quite emotional The author focuses on a scene, ponders its meaning, and presents a highly personal reaction to it that includes a special insight at the end o
44、f the poem,Ode to the West Wind,Contents This is one of Shelleys best known lyrics. The poet describes vividly the activities of the west wind on the earth, in the sky and on the sea and then expresses his envy for the boundless freedom of the west wind and his wish to be free like it and to scatter
45、 his words among mankind. The celebrated final line of the poem, “If winter comes, can Spring be far behind“ has often been cited to illustrate Shelleys optimistic belief in the future of mankind.,Metrical pattern This is a lyric poem of five 14-lined stanzas containing four tercets and a closing co
46、uplet. The rhyme scheme is aba bcb cdc ded ee.,Characteristics,a great variety of poetical style rich in myth, symbols and classical allusions a strong dramatic power an intellectual thought abundant in personification and metaphor and other figures of speech,Shelley and Byron Compared,Byron: only a
47、ttached political tyranny; thought more of ones personal happiness and sorrow and believed chiefly in the might of individual heroes but had contempt for the common people Shelley:also saw the cruel relations of economic exploitation in the feudal bourgeois world; had faith in the collective strengt
48、h of the people and worked for the interests of the masses,John Keats,Life,Born in 1795; parents died when he was 15 apprenticed to a village apothecary in 1811 devote himself to poetry under the influence of Leigh Hunt and the artist Haydon in1816,Literary creation from 1816-1820: Published his ear
49、ly poems in The Examiner (1816) Published his first volume of poetry, met with very severe criticism(1817) Published his second volume of poetry (1820) Fell ill with tuberculosis; traveled to Italy upon the invitation of Shelley (1820) Died of illness (1821),Major Works,On First Looking into Chapman
50、s Homer Endymion Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, &Other Poems Hyperion Odes: Ode to a Nightingale Ode on a Grecian Urn Ode to Psyche Ode on Melancholy To Autumn,Ode on a Grecian Urn,Ode on a Grecian Urn,Time The ode was written in May 1819 out of collection of memory of several visits to exhibition.,
