Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) 乔叟He was born in 1343 in London.He died in 1400 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, thus founding the “Poets Corner”.The father of English Poetry and one of the greatest narrative poets of England.“The Canterbury Tales” (1387-1400) It is Chaucer’s masterpiece and one of the monumental works in English literature.Chaucer’s Contribution to English Literature Chaucer is regarded as the founder of English poetry and has been called “the founder of English realism.” He is the firs t great poet who wrote in the English language. He introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types, especially the “heroic couplet” (英雄双韵体) to English poetry.His masterpiece “The Canterbury Tales” is one of the monumental works in English literature 公爵夫人之书，百鸟议会，声誉之堂，特罗勒思和克里西德Structure of a poem: A poem can be broken down into three parts:(1) Stanza (节) : a group of lines set off from the other lines in a poem. It is the poetic equivalent of a paragraph in prose. In traditional poems, the stanza usually contains a unit of thought.(2) The line (行) : a single line of poetry(3) The foot (音步) : a syllable or a group of 2 or 3 syllables. To scan a line of poetry one counts the number of feet in a line. For a beginner, the easiest thing to do is to count the number of stresses. Typically a foot will contain a stressed and an unstressed syllable. William Shakespeare (1564-1616)playwright, poet, actor.Shakespeare and Aeschylus are the two greatest dramatic geniuses the world has ever known.—Carl Marks.The Great Tragedies: 《哈姆雷特》(Hamlet,1601 ) 《奥赛罗》(Othello, 1604) 《李尔王》(King Lear, 1605) 《麦克白》(Macbeth, 1606) The Great Comedies威尼斯商人》(The Merchant of Venice, 1596) 《仲夏夜之梦》(A Midsummer Night's Dream,1596) 《第十二夜》(Twelfth Night, 1600) 《皆大欢喜》(As You Like It, 1601)Shakespeare’s car eer as a dramatist may be divided into four major phases.: The First Period(1590-1594)This period is the period of his apprenticeship in play-writing.Works: Henry VI The Comedy of Errors《错误的喜剧》/《连环错》Love’s Labor’s Lost 《迷失的爱》/《空爱一场》/《爱的徒劳》Romeo and Juliet, etc.The Second Period (1595-1600)This period is his mature period, mainly a period of “great comedies” and mature historical plays. It includes 6 comedies, 5 historical plays and 1 Roman tragedy. His sonnets are also thought to be written in this period.The Third Period (1601-1607)The third period of Shakespeare’s dramatic career is mainly the period of “great tragedies” and “dark comedies”. It includes 5 tragedies, 3 comedies and 2 Roman tragedies.Major works written in this period:Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra The Fourth Period (1608-1612)The fourth period of Shakespeare’s work is the period of romantic drama. It includes 4 romances or “reconciliation（和解，复合）plays”.Shakespeare’s Literary Position:Shakespeare 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, and one of the greatest writers in world literature.Hamlet:Hamle t is considered the summit of Shakespeare’s art. It is one of Shakespeare’s canon, and it is universally included in the list of the world’s greatest works.It’s written in the form of blank verse.blank verse : poetry in rhymeless iambic pentameter.（素体诗剧）The story, coming from an old Danish legend, is a tragedy of the “revenge” genre. Shakespeare incorporates into the medieval story other major humanistic themes, including love, justice, good and evil, and most notably, madness, and the spirit of the time Injustice, conspiracy, and betrayal in the society。

1. first blow: father’s murder and mother’s re-marriage2.second blow: betrayal of his two former friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern3. third blow: betrayal of his girl friend OpheliaThe greatness of the play: in praise of the noble quality of Prince Hamlet as a representative of humanist thinkers and his disillusionment with the corrupt and degenerated society in which he lived.Hamlet is a humanist, a man who is free from medieval prejudices and superstitions. He has an unbounded love for the world instead of the heaven. Starting from his humanist love of man, he returned to those around him with the same eagerness. He loves good and hates evil. A king and a beggar are all the same to him. His intellectual genius is outstanding. He is a close observer of men and manners. He easily sees through people. His image reflects the versatility of the men of the Renaissance.The key-note of Hamlet’s character is melancholy. But his melancholy is not the negative kind.Reasons : 1)His mental world has gone through the shock of a personal wrong to an awakening of his great responsibility in reforming the world as a whole. But to realize his ideal in his time was beyond him. This is the cause of Hamlet’s profoun d melancholy2)He has the opportunity of killing the king, yet he refuses to do so. Because when the king is praying, if he kills him, he will send him to the heaven. the villain has become the king, if he is killed abruptly, it will cause panic to the people and danger to the state.Life and death Life is full of hardship Death is also very mysterious (undiscovered country from which no traveler returns)Hamlet: character analysis Philosophical Contemplative MelancholicBeowulf: the national epic of Anglo-Saxons contains at least 3182 lines (alliteration 头韵, the repetition of the first consonant or vowel) The Canterbury Tales: a narrative poem written in rhymed iambic pentameter, heroic couplet (英雄双韵体) Shakespeare’s plays and Sonnets: unrhymed iambic pentameter (无韵式抑扬格五音步), blank verse (素体诗Basic Knowledge of Poetry Tersa rima: three-lined stanza 三行诗节Quatrain: four-lined stanza 四行诗节Octave: 律诗Sonnet: 十四行诗Couplet: 双韵体Rhythm: 格律Poetic license: 诗的破格Poetic diction: 诗语（诗歌用词）：e.g. thou/thee—you; thy/thine—your; thyself—yourself; art—are; ow’st—own单音步：monometer 两音步：dimeter 三音步：trimeter四音步：tetrameter五音步：pentameter六音步：hexameter七音步：heptameter 八音步：octameterRhythm 格律 1. iambic 抑扬格: weak+strong2. trochaic扬抑格: strong+weak3. anapaestic 抑抑扬格: weak+weak+strong4. dactylic 扬抑抑格: strong+weak+weak5. spondaic (n.) (扬扬格): strong+strong6. pyrrhic (抑抑格): weak+weakHow1) 诗节：This poem consists of ___ stanza (s).2) 诗行：Each stanza has ____ lines.3) 音步：Each line has ____ feet.4) 格律：The meter in each line is generally __ with the exception of __ feet in __ line, which is __.5) 押韵：The rhyme scheme of each stanza is ___.6) 标出来：Demonstratione.g. This poem consists of two quatrains, and each line is of iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is a b a b.Caesura (行内停顿): the pause in the middle of a line is called caesura.End-stopped line (结句行): when a line ends in a full pause, marked by some kind of punctuation, it is called an end-stopped line.一行正好构成一个完整的意思Run-on line (跨行句): when a line does not end in punctuation, and the sentence carries on into the next line, then it is called run-on line.几行加起来表达一个意思e.g. I shot an arrow into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where; For, so swiftly it flew, the sight Could not follow it in its flight. 前两行是end-stopped line，后两行是run-on line. Rhyme (押韵): the repetition of sound within and across lines1. alliteration (头韵)2. assonance (尾韵)3. rhyme (韵脚Sonnet：a fourteen-line poem usually in iambic pentameter with a specific rhyme scheme. 3）the English sonnet (the Shakespearean sonnet)rhyme scheme: a b a b, c d c d, e f e f, g gSonnet 18Shakespearean Sonnet is also called the English Sonnet, with three four-line stanzas (quatrains) and a two-line unit called a couplet （对子）.The rhyme scheme is：a b a b, c d c d, e f e f, g gMetrical pattern: iambic pentameterThe first stanza/quatrain：beginning 起The second stanza/quatrain：development 承The third stanza/quatrain：turn 转The couplet: conclusion 含Rhythm & Meter:Iambic pentameter (五音步抑扬格)1. Rhetorical question / apostrophe (顿呼法）The 1st line, used to create a tone of respect, and to engage the audience./ Speaking to thee directly.2. Personification Lines 5,6 & 11, used to elevate the sun and death.3. Parallelism / hyperbole The final couplet, used to emphasize the message: the beauty of the subject will be immortalized by the power of his art.Theme: eternal life of art Time, beauty and poetry1. Time and nature are forever transient. 大自然反复无常2. Beauty is always fading. 美人驻颜无术；3. Only art /poetry can be eternal. 为艺术可以不朽。