英美文学名词解释

英美文学名词解释

English Literature terms:

Poetry: the literature that is written in some kind of verse form.

Aside from the basic demand that poetry “say something”, poetry is

characterized by the following elements: a musical effect created by

rhythm(节奏，韵律) and sounds, a precise and fresh imagery(意象), and

multiple

levels of interpretation suggested by the connotation of the closer

words and by allusions(暗指).

The musical effect of poetry:

Poetry has its roots in song. The earliest poetic forms were the

epics (史诗)and ballads(民谣)

sung by travelling bards (诗人)and minstrels(吟游诗人). Though no

longer sung , poems retain

their musical quality(音). We should learn the elements of poetry

which create that musicality(音感).

Meter(音律， 格律): loosely defined meter is the “beat” or rhythm

of the poem. It is the pattern of

stressed and unstressed syllables used in the poem.

Meter is shown by a visual code/ The accent mark(ˊ ，) indicates

the stressed syllable, the

mark(ˇ，) indicates the unstressed syllables used in the poem. The

metric pattern(格

律)has :iambic ， ，, trochaic，，, anapestic ，，，, dactylic，，，,

Spondaic，，

Certain combinations of these syllables are most frequently employed

in English verse.

One foot , or one combination, is called a foot. The following are

basic metric feet: (音步)

Monometer: one foot per line

Dimeter: two feet per line

Trimeter ; three feet per line

Tetrameter: four feet per line

Pentameter: five feet per line

Hextameter: six feet per line

Heptameter: seven feet per line

Octometer: eight feet per line

A Caesura: Meter is also influenced by pauses. Most metrical poetry

evolves into a pattern of pauses at lines’ ends. A caesura, or a pause

with in a line (usually indicated by a mark of punctuation), can alter;

usually slow down, the meter. It is called end-stop line. An Enjambement

or run-on line, can speed up the flow of the poem.

Rhyme(脚韵，押韵): (or rime) the repletion of similar (or duplicate)

sounds at regular intervals. Usually this repetition occurs at the ends

of the lines.

Types of rhyme: 1. End rhyme: rhyme found at the ends of verse lines

2. Internal rhyme : this is rhyme contained within a line of verse.

3. Slant rhyme/near rhyme/half rhyme/ partial rhyme : an inexact

rhyme where

the final consonant sounds are the same but the vowel sounds are

different .

4(Eye rhyme: the rhyme of two words which look as if they’d rhyme,

but do not,

such as “move” “love”

5. Feminine rhyme: rhyme in which two consecutive syllables of the

rhyme-words match The first syllable carries the stress. Feminine

rhyme adds

lightness to a poem. “gladness” “madness”

6. Masculine rhyme: the rhyme of one-syllable words or in the case

of words of

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more than one syllable, the rhyming of stressed final syllables.

(dress,

wantonness繁茂)

Other musical devices: the use of sounds:

Assonance:(部分谐音) the repetition of two or more vowel sounds

within a line. Our echoes roll from soul to soul

Consonance: the repetition of two or more consonant sounds within a

line.

And snowy summit old story.

Alliteration(头韵): repetition of two or more initial consonants

sounds in words within a line. He clasps the crag with crooked hands.

Onomatopoeia(拟声): the use of a word whose sound suggests its

meaning or which imitates the

sound made by an object or creature.

I heard a fly buzz when I died.

Euphony谐音: is the use of harmonies, melodious sounds in a poem.

Cacophony不和谐: is the use of harsh, irritating sounds,

Stanzas : are the paragraphs of the poems. Stanzas can range in

length from two lines to an

unlimited number of lines, However, few poems use stanzas of more

than

eight lines. For convenience of reference, the stanzas have titled

according to

line length.

Stanza name: couplet, tercet, quatrain, cinquain, sestet, septet ,

octave (octet). For stanzas of 9 or

more lines, merely refer to them as “nine-line- stanzas”, etc.

Imagery: is the use of descriptive language to recreate sensory

experience. An image is verbal

picture of an object, action , abstract idea, or sensation.

Images often are created by utilizing figures of speech. These are

ways of making an idea or

picture come clearer into focus by relating the idea or experience

to another

that may be more familiar to the reader.

Figures of speech

Metaphor: a comparison of unlike items. This comparison is directly

stated as in: “All the

world’s a stage ” It is a device in which one object is

substituted for another,

or an idea is identified by a concrete object.

Simile: the direct comparison of two unlike items, using the words

“like or as” to complete the

comparison

Extended metaphor: a metaphor that is carried and embellished for a

lengthy duration in a

poem. .Also called a conceit.

Personification: the figure of speech which assigns human qualities

to inanimate objects or

abstractions.

Metonymy转喻: literally “a change of name”, a figure of speech in

which the name of some

object or idea is substituted for another name to which it has some

relation Eg: The serpent that did sting the father’s life

Now wears his crown.

Synecdoche: (提喻法)a figure of speech in which a part of an object

is used to represent the

whole object or idea.

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