Download Part one Pre-Classicism The Middle Ages ( 449 -

Part one
Pre-Classicism The Middle Ages ( 449 -- 1485 )
General Colors of English Literature ：1. Elegant and standard in language; 2. Melancholy
and ironical in style or in tone; 3. Conventional and conservative in thematic concern and in
literary thoughts.
Main Literary Achievements
1.The Anglo-Saxon Period
Beowulf
--England’s national epic
It well reveals the features of Anglo—Saxon English, such as 1) wide use of alliteration,
2) metaphors and understatements, 3)mixture of pagan and Christian elements.
Alliteration ：Two or more words in a phrase or line have the same initial sound.
2. The Anglo-Norman Period
1）The Romances
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
2）English Ballads (Popular Ballads)
“The character of Robin Hood is many—sided. Strong, brave and clever, he is at the
same time tender-hearted and affectionate … But the dominant key in his character is
his hatred for the cruel oppressors and his love for the poor and downtrodden.” (Liu
Bingshan, 20)
3) The Medieval Drama
3. Geoffrey Chaucer (1340—1400)
Chaucer’s main contributions to English literature (language) can be found from language
aspect.
1) It is Chaucer who formally finished the blend of three languages, Anglo-Saxon
English, Norman’s French and Latin to shape the early form of modern English. It is he
who first used London Dialect English in formal writing, and it is due to his writing that
modern English became the only national language accepted by all English people.2) Based
on his application of London Dialect English in his writings, English became a bridge
between literature and the great public. 3) First use of “heroic couplet” ( the rhymed
couplet of 5 accents in iambic meter/the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter)4) He devoted
a masterpiece The Canterbury Tales to English literature, which remains a classic with
sufficient heritage in both language and artistic achievements.
4. The Canterbury Tales (General Prologue)
1) Its social significance:
The Canterbury Tales is more than a mere collection of true-to-life pictures. Taking the
stand of the rising bourgeoisie, Chaucer affirms men and women’s right to pursue their
happiness on earth and opposes the dogma of asceticism preached by the church.
As a forerunner of humanism, he praised man’s energy, intellect, quick wit and love of life.
His tales expose and satirize the evils of the time and attack the corruption of the church.
( Liu Bingshan,28)
2）sample reading
• They suggest a state of strength, vigor, vitality, life and imply the return of life.
• Study on Images:
• In category, we can classify the images in this part into four groups
1．Showers, liquid are concerned with water or rain that becomes the source of life and
vitality;
2.Root, bud, flowers, wood and field are the signs of living things which suggest the return of
life;
3.Zephyrs, sun, birds are the living things which either brings about or engenders life or the
real life form;
4.Palmers, pilgrims and people are the waken people who are hopeful and pious, longing for
better future and dedicating to the martyred saint.
3） Features of Chaucer’s Writing: a : Simple and expressive language ;b :Optimistic tone; c:
Thematic concern– the rising and advancing society.
Part two The English Renaissance (1485-1660)
Renaissance: rebirth of learning
I: Background Information
1. Historically, we have to pay attention to the following events in this period: 1) Henry Ⅶ
came to power in 1485；2) Henry Ⅷ’s break with the Rome Catholics in 1533 (Protestant
Reformation); 3) Victory over Spain by defeating Spanish Armada in 1588.
2. Economically, we have to remember these facts: 1)The Enclosure Movement
(“Sheep Devoured Men”); 2)The expansion of the territory.
3. Culturally, we have to be aware of the following facts: 1)James Ⅰ authorized the
publication of the Bible 2) The Puritan Revolution 3) The Renaissance: a) Historical
significance b) “Three worships” c) Main traits
a) Historical Significance: It signified the beginning of the disruption of feudal system and
became a movement against feudalism and hierarchy as time went on. It was the greatest
progressive revolution that mankind has so far experienced, a time which called for giants
and produced giants– giants in power of thought, passion, character, in universality and
learning. ---Engels
b) “Three Worships”: Classical works; Humanism; Science and knowledge
 The love of classics was but an expression of the general dissatisfaction at Catholic
and feudal ideas. ... Another feature of the Renaissance is the keen interest in the
activities of humanity. People ceased to look upon themselves as living only for God
and a future world. Thinkers, artists and poets arose, who gave expression,
sometimes in an old guise, though, to the new feeling of admiration for human
beauty and human achievement, a feeling in a sharp contrast with theology.
Humanism is the key-note of the Renaissance which reflected the new outlook of the
rising bourgeois class.
(Liu Bingshan: 34)
 What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In
form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In
apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world! The paragan of animals!
 人是一件多么卓越的精品: 多么高贵的理性! 多么伟大的力量! 多么优越的仪表!
多么文雅的举动! 在行为上多么象一个天使!在智慧上多么象一个天神!宇宙的精华!
万物的灵长!
(《哈姆雷特》）
II : Main Literary Achievements of the Time
1. Main Figures: Thomas More (1478-1535) Edmund Spenser (1552-1599) Christopher
Marlowe (1564-1593)
Ben Jonson (1562-1637)
William Shakespeare (1564-1616 )
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
John Donne (1573-1631)
John Milton (1608-1674)
John Bunyan
…
2. Some Literary Terms
1) University Wits: It is applied to a group of writers who flourished in London in the
last twenty years or so of the 16th century. The most notable were Marlowe, Nashe,
Greene and Lyly who all graduated from either Oxford or Cambridge, and who favored
using euphuism and extravagance in writing.
2) Comedies of Humors: It is applied to a form of drama fashionable in the late of the
16th and the early of the 17th century. It is so called because it presented characters
whose actions were ruled by a particular passion, trait or humor. The leading figure of
this form is Ben Jonson and his play Every Man in His Humor is one of the typical.
3) Metaphysical Poets: This is a term applied to a group of seventeenth century poets,
such as John Donne, George Herbert and Andrew Marvell. They shared some features
in writing, for example, they favored using conceits and hyperboles, they liked to
develop some peculiar themes but didn’t like to be restrained by strict rhythm.
3. Edmund Spenser (1552-1599) : --poets’ poet
 Spenser is the first master to make Modern English the natural music of his poetic
effusions.
 Spenser has held his position as a model of poetical art among the Renaissance
English poets, and his influence can be traced in the works of Milton, Shelley and
Keats.
 “Faerie Queen” : The dominating thoughts of the poem are nationalism, humanism,
and Puritanism, all typical of the poet’s age (Wang: 40).
 His “Faerie Queen” is meant to edify through allegory which gets more and more
complex as the books go on…. He is a master musician and a great painter. (Liu: 48)
4.Shakespeare
1)Four periods of Shakespeare’s dramatic composition: a) The experimental period
b) The period of comedies and histories c) The period of tragedies d) The period of
dramatic romance
2) Chief Achievements and Features of Shakespeare’s Drama
Shakespeare’s successes as a great playwright chiefly rest on the following five aspects:
a) The progressive significance of his themes. Living in the transitional period from
feudal-ism to capitalism, Shakespeare paints in his drama a faithful panorama of the decline
of old feudal nobility and the rise of the Tudor monarchy, which represented the interests of
the English bourgeoisie. Moreover, he distilled into his drama the humanistic spirit of the
Renaissance, and his drama becomes an expression, a monument of the English Renaissance.
b) Lifelike characters--his successful character portrayal c) His masterhand in constructing
plays d) The ingenuity of his poetry e) His mastery of English language
3) Sample Reading of Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18”
a) Historical Approach: “The 16th century in England was a period of the breaking up of
feudal relations and the establishing of the foundations of capitalism.” (Wu Weiren)
b) Character study--- Analysis of Hamlet (Analysis of Hamlet’s melancholy and delay)
 “Hamlet is one of the several idealists (or Renaissance humanists as some critics
would have it ) created by Shakespeare as an embodiment of the poet’s own ideals.”
(Chen Jia)
 “Hamlet is a humanist, a man who is free from medieval prejudices and
superstitions.”
c) Analysis of the soliloquy:ⅰHamlet is in a serious conflict or contradiction, (to be or not to
be; that is the question);ⅱHamlet is in a great melancholy and he is sensitive and alert; ⅲ
Hamlet believes more in the life than the afterlife; ⅳ Hamlet is very cautious and
thoughtful; ⅴHamlet has a very perceptive mind at the cruelty and hardships of the life or
the society.
5. Francis Bacon: 1) Francis Bacon and his essays The founder of English materialist
philosophy. The founder of modern science in England . “Essays” have won popularity for
their precision, clearness, brevity and force. 2) Sample reading : Of Studies ( partial
analysis)
6. John Donne (1573-1631) and his Metaphysical Poetry
1) Metaphysical Poets: This is a term applied to a group of seventeenth century poets, such
as John Donne, George Herbert and Andrew Marvell. They shared some features in writing,
for example, they favored using conceits and hyperboles, they liked to develop some peculiar
themes but didn’t like to be restrained by strict rhythm.
2) Reading and analysis (A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning)
 Valediction - a farewell, but a stronger meaning than that: Valedictions for people
are read at funerals, etc, and ties in with the first stanza.
3) Features of the metaphysical poetry
 a) The original images and conceits.
 Conceit: Usually refers to a startling, ingenious, perhaps even far-fetched, metaphor
establishing an analogy or comparison between two apparently incongruous things.
 b) Skillful use of colloquial speech or language;
 c) Flexible meter and rhythm;
 d) Extravagant hyperboles;
 e) Complex and even peculiar themes.
7. John Milton (1608-1674)
1)Literary achievements: “…a revolutionary and writer, …”
Poetic works: Paradise Lost (1665 )
Paradise Regained (1667 )
Samson Agonistes (1671 )
Prose (mainly concerned with revolutionary propaganda and defence):
Areopagitica (1644 )
8. John Bunyan(1628-1688)
 The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678 ) is an allegorical story in the form of dream and in
the style of the Bible.
 ---“Life is a journey.”
 Allegory:（style of a ) story, painting or description in which the characters and
events are meant as symbols of purity , truth, patience, etc.
 Three great allegories
 Spenser’s The Faerie Queen
 Dante’s La Divina Commdia (the Divine Comedy)
 Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress

As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place
where was a den, and laid me down in that place to sleep; and as I slept, I dreamed a
dream. I dreamed, and behold, I saw a man clothed with rags, standing in a certain
place, with his face from his own house, a book in his hand, and a great burden upon
his back. I looked and saw him open the book, and read therein; and as he read, he
wept and trembled; and not being able longer to contain, he brake out with a
lamentable cry, saying, "What shall I do?"
Part Three
The Restoration And The Enlightenment (1660-1798)
… in contrast with Classicism during the Renaissance, the writers in this period had a
great respect for the classical authors, especially the ancient Romans, among whom
Horace ( 65—8 BC ) was the favorite ; … they thought that Reason and Judge were the
most admirable faculties of the human beings; in the third place, they cared about the
painstaking craftsmanship in practice than about the theme or spirit of their writings. It
is also called, therefore, the Age of Reason.
Ⅰ Political, Social and Cultural Background Information
1. Politically, 1) The Glorious Revolution (1688) 2) Two-Party Politics 3) The
American War of Independence (1775-1781) and The French Revolution(1789-1794)
2. Economically, 1) Industrialization: Industrial Revolution: the mechanization of
industry and the consequent changes in social and economic organization in Britain in
the late 18th and early 19th century. 2) Territory Expansion
3. Culturally, 1) REASON 2) Politics and Literature
3) Enlightenment
1) The Humanist Views and the Rational Rules: The enlighteners celebrated reason or
rationality, equality and science. They held that rationality or reason should be the only
cause of any human thought and activities. They called for a reference to order, reason and
rules.
2) Politics and Literature
The pen seemed mightier than the sword.
3) Enlightenment: …an progressive intellectual movement , an expression of the struggle of
the bourgeoisie against feudalism. The enlighteners fought against class inequality,
stagnation, prejudice, dogma and other feudal survivals. (Wang,155)
…Its central idea was the need for (and capacity of) human reason to clear away ancient
superstition, prejudice, dogma, and injustice. Enlightenment thinking encouraged rational
scientific inquiry, humanitarian tolerance, and the idea of universal human rights…
--- Oxford Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms
In the field of literature, the Enlightenment Movement brought about a revival of interest in
the old classical works. This tendency is known as neoclassicism.
1. Neoclassicism 1) Neoclassicist ideas or concepts became the dominant belief, that is,
literature must follow the example made by ancient Greek and Roman writers such as
Homer, Virgil, Horace, Ovid and so on to take order, logic and accuracy as the most and first
concern, simply, it must be judged by Reason and its service to human society.
…This belief led writers to seek proportion, unity, harmony and grace in literary expressions
in order to delight, instruct and correct human beings. With this motivation, condense and
witty language in graceful and polite manner became a popular vogue. In this group we can
take Dryden, Pope, Johnson, Richardson as representatives. --- Oxford Concise Dictionary of
Literary Terms
2. Some Main Writers
1) John Dryden (1631-1700 ) Dryden was esteemed as “the father of English prose”, “the
father of English literary criticism”, and consequently the Restoration is often called “the
Age of Dryden”. He was authorized the poet laureate. His main contributions to English
literature lie in two aspects: in prose and in literary criticism.
In prose a new tradition was established with his direction and efforts, that is, a tradition of
simplicity, brevity, order and grace in style; in literary criticism, his main ideas can be found
in the essay “An Essay On Dramatic Poesy” (1668) which set an example to have specific and
condense analysis rather than theoretical illustration.
2) Alexander Pope (1688-1744 )
•
•
•
a) To err is human, to forgive, divine.
b) All nature is but art, unknown to thee;
（一切自然之物皆为艺术，只是你未领悟）
•
•
All chance , direction, which thou canst see;
（一切偶然之事皆有主宰，只是你未看清，）
•
•
All discord, harmony, not understood;
(一切杂乱之绪皆成和谐，只是你未理解；)
•
•
All partial evil, universal good;
(一切局部丑陋之物，整体察之皆为美；)
•
•
•
One truth is clear, whatever is , is right.
(一条道理很清楚：凡存在的都是合理的。)
（Quoted from An Essay on Man ）
•
•
4)
A little learning is a dangerous thing;
(求学最忌讳一知半解，)
•
There shallow drafts intoxicate the brain.
•
( 浅尝辄止，使人头昏目眩，)
•
（Quoted from An Essay on Criticism ）
3) Samuel Johnson (1709—1784)--- a poet, dramatist, prose romancer, biographer, essayist,
critic, lexicographer and publicist.
•
Lives of the Poets (1779—1781)
• The preface of Shakespeare (1765)
• A Dictionary of the English Language (1755)
• Letter To Lord Chesterfield
• ---“the declaration of independence of intellects of Europe”
• Analysis of the tone----seemingly or superficially humble but virtually self-confident.
4) Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) -- a master of satire who devoted much of his writing to the
struggle for Ireland against the English hegemony.
•
•
•
•
Major Works:
The Tale of Tub (1704)
Gulliver’s Travels (1726 ) : a fascinating tale of travel in wonderland, and virtually a
bitter satire at various depraved and vicious situations of England in a very
successful tone of caricature.
A Modest Proposal — for Preventing the Children of poor People in Ireland from
being a Burden to their Parents or Country; and for making them beneficial to the
Public (1729) which satirizes the poverty stricken situation under the suppression of
English rulers and landlords by suggesting to take the children as goods of food in a
very serious and horribly cool tone.
•
•
Sample reading: A Modest Proposal--an example of early modern western satire
Outline (4 parts)Part 1: Para1-7 (the present situation in Ireland ) Part 2: Para
8-17 (detailing his proposal) Part 3: Para 18-25
(illustrating the advantages of
his proposal) Part 4: Para 26-30
(supposing an objection to his proposal )
•
In indignation, Swift in the guise of an economic “projector” wrote this pamphlet,
quietly recommending that it would be more humane to breed up the poor’s
children as food for the rich.
•
With the utmost gravity, he set out statistics to show the revenue that would come if
this idea were adopted.
• The pamphlet showed Swift’s strong sympathy for the poor, his condemnation on
the ruling class and the landlords, as well as his masterhand in writing satires.
Swift’s Concerns in his Works
– Moral attributes
• Swift had a deep hatred for all the rich oppressors and a deep sympathy for all the
poor and oppressed.
– Human nature
• His understanding of human nature is profound. In his opinion, human nature is
seriously and permanently flawed. To better human life, enlightenment is needed. He
intends not to condemn but to reform and improve human nature and human
institutions.
• Satire(讽刺文学)
•
A kind of literature that ridicules human folly or vice with the purpose of bringing
about reform or of keeping others from falling into similar folly or vice.
• Irony(反语) refers to some contrast or discrepancy between appearance and reality.
3. The Rise of the Realistic Novel and Some Novelists
• 5) Daniel Defoe ( 1660—1731) Robinson Crusoe ( The Life and Strange Surprising
Adventures of Robinson Crusoe ). The adventures of Robinson Crusoe on the island
is a song of his courage, his wisdom, and his struggle against the hostile natural
environment. As the very prototype of empire builder and the pioneer colonist,
Robinson Crusoe can be seen as an individualistic man who carries human labor
and the Puritan fortitude to their greatest effect.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
6) Samuel Richardson ( 1689-1761 ) ---an epistolary novelist.
Works:
Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded
Clarissa
7) Henry Fielding ( 1707-1754)--“the father of the English novel.”
Henry Fielding was the first of all the 18th century English novelists to write“a
comic epic in prose”, and the first to give the modern novel its structure and style.
In form, Fielding retains a grand epic style and keeps to a realistic representation of
common life as it is.
• The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
8) Laurence Sterne (1713—1768 ) ---“a representative of sentimentalism in the 18th century”
-- “the true father of the postmodernist novel”
•
•
•
Works:
Tristram Shandy ( The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman) (《项狄传》）
A Sentimental Journey (《感伤的旅行》)
•
Novel 1) Novel:
– First, the novel is a new genre or form. It is new because it greatly differs
from those already established, namely, poetry.
•
•
•
– Second, the content of an novel is of fictitious nature.
– Third, the first purpose of a novel is to entertain.
Merely telling stories is no novel. The novel is art and art means style.
Novels tell made-up stories, but they tell truth.
The faithfulness of a novel is not to the details of real life, but to the meaning or
essence of life.
•
2) Elements of Novel: Story; Character, Plot; Theme; Setting; Narrative Point of
View
a) Story: is a series of happenings arranged in the natural temporal order as
they occur. Story is the basis of the novel. To read novel for story is nothing
wrong, but nothing professional either.
•
b) Character: Kinds of characters: By their roles: heroes (heroine)/protagonist ;
main characters; minor characters ;foils
•
By the degrees of their development (E.M.Forster): round characters; flat
characters
•
–
–
–
c) Plot
d) Theme: the theme of a novel is its controlling idea or its central insight.
e) Setting: the particular time and place.
Setting is the background against which a character is depicted or an event narrated.
Its purpose is to provide an imaginary link between what happens in the novel and
what the reader takes to be reality.
f) Narrative Point of View: is the attitude or outlook of a narrator or character in a
piece of literature, or it is the relationship between the narrator and the narrated.
Narrator: a narrator is one who tells the story, often called the storyteller.
narrator ≠ writer
–
–
–
Part four Romanticism (1798-1832)
The Enlightenment remains the age of reason while Romanticism remains the period of
emotions. The former is the age of prose, whereas, the latter the age of poetry.
I. Background Information
1. French Revolution --the storming of the Bastille,14 July 1789
--Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity
--Jean-Jacques Rousseau: glorify human nature; claim for social democracy
2. Industrial Revolution
 --increasing mechanization; development of industry
 --economic depression
 --disparity between the rich and the poor
 ---Luddite riots: workers’ disturbances
The Industrial Revolution serves as a key to the origins of modern Western society. As
Harold Perkin has observed, "the Industrial Revolution was no mere sequence of
changes in industrial techniques and production, but a social revolution with social
causes as well as profound social effects.
Ⅱ.Main Literary Achievements
1. Romanticism: Its chief emphasis was upon freedom of individual self-expression:
sincerity, spontaneity, and originality became the new standards in literature,…
 Rejecting the ordered rationality of the Enlightenment as mechanical, impersonal,
and artificial, the Romantics turned to the emotional directness of personal
experience and to the boundlessness of individual imagination and aspiration.
 Increasingly independent of the declining system of aristocratic patronage, they saw
themselves as free spirits expressing their own imaginative truths; ... almost all
showed a new interest in the irrational realms of dream and delirium or of folk
superstition and legend. The creative imagination occupied the centre of Romantic
views of art…. ----Oxford Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms
 The special qualities of Romanticism:
 The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings
 Imagination
 Coleridge: “Kubla Khan”
 William Blake: “The Tyger”
 S. T. Coleridge: “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
 Idealization of Nature
 William Wordsworth: “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”
 Individualism
 Glorification of the commonplace
 Wordsworth: “The Solitary Reaper”
 A sense of melancholy and loneliness
 Thomas Gray: “Elegy ”
 The lure of the exotic
 Coleridge: “Kubla Khan”
 The rebellious spirit
 Some Main Figures:
I. Pre-Romantics 1). Thomas Gray(1716-1771)
2). Robert Burns(1759-1796)
3).
William Blake (1757-1827)
II.The First Generation of Romantics --The Passive Romantic School (The Lakers)
4). William Wordsworth (1770-1850) 5). Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( 1772-1834)
Ⅲ .The Younger Generation of Romantics --The Active Romantic School
(The Revolutionary Romantic Poets)
6). George Gordon Byron (1788—1824) 7). Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792—1822)
8).John Keats ( 1795—1821)
2. Thomas Gray (1716-1771) Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
 The poem was written at the end of the Augustan Age and at the beginning of the
Romantic period, and the poem has characteristics associated with both literary periods.
 On the one hand, it has the ordered, balanced phrasing and rational sentiments of
Neoclassical poetry. On the other hand, it tends toward the emotionalism and
individualism of the Romantic poets; most importantly, it idealizes and elevates the
common man.
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard Technical analysis
1) Image presentation
 a) The color of images suggests a melancholy tone.
 b) The situation or landscapes of the images also suggest a melancholy air.
 c) The sounds of different things suggest a melancholy tune.
2) Implications of sensations
 Declination
Weariness
darkness
Loneliness
Stillness drowsiness
Fretfulness Solitariness Ancientness decay
Mortality
Swiftness of
pleasantness, happiness and strength but unescaped mortality
3)Theme
 A profound melancholy about the nature and the world;
 A deep reflection on the mortality of life and inequality of the society.
Sentimentalism: It refers to a trend in English literature in the second half of the 18th
century. This trend made itself felt in many aspects in literature, for example, in fiction
and in poetry. In fiction, it demonstrated its features mainly in Sterne’s writing, while in
poetry in Thomas Gray’s and Edward Young’s poems. Most writers of this trend showed
their sympathy for the poor and the virtuous, and interest in nature. In common they
appealed to sentiment in tone. This trend became a transition from neoclassicism to
romanticism.
Graveyard poets / poetry / school: It is applied to a group of poets who wrote a type
of mournfully reflective poetry with emphasis on the brevity of life and the sepulchral
atmosphere in the latter half of the 18th century. The best known works are Edward
Young’s Night Thought (1742) and Robert Blair’s The Grave ( 1743 ). Thomas Gray’s
Elegy ( 1750 ) is also included.
3. Robert Burns (1759-1796) －“Scottish national poet”
1) Main contribution
 He collected and compiled a lot of Scottish songs or ballads and made them into
publication.
 He put Scottish dialect and Scottish songs into practice with various subjects which
contributed much to develop Scottish tradition of songs.
2)Classification of Burns’ Poetry
 Scottish ballads: John Barleycorn
 Patriotic poems: My Heart is in the Highland

The Tree of Liberty

A Man’s a Man for A’That
 Lyrics of love & friendship: A Red, Red Rose
John Anderson My Jo
Ae Fond Kiss
Auld Lang Syne
2 )Comments on Robert Burns
 a. Burns was one of the most famous poets of the peasants in the world.
 b. He obtain the characteristic of all old Scottish songs: simplicity, humor, directness
and optimism.
 c. As a poet of the laboring people, he pours out the sentiment of the people.
 d. In his poems, he sings of his hometown, his people, love, nature, etc.
 e.His vivid dialects advanced colloquial language expression of his new poems.
 f.He created a kind of symphonic meter of all his own, and lots of his poems have been
set to music.
The Lakers/ Lake Poets: It is a term applied to a group of poets during Romanticism in
English Literature. They are William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge and Robert
Southey.
Sonnet: It is applied to a traditional form in poetry, which often consists of 14 lines
usually in iambic pentameters with considerable variations in rhyme. It was developed
from Italian song or lyrical poem during the Renaissance. The most popular sonnets are
Petrarchan, Shakespearean and Spenserian.
Heroic couplet: It is applied to a traditional form in poetry, which consists of two
succeeding rhymed lines usually in iambic pentameter. It is characteristic of being neat
in pattern and grand in style. It is generally thought that it is Geoffrey Chaucer who was
the first poet to make extensive and successful use of the couplet, for example, in
Canterbury Tales. But it is John Dryden, Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson who made
the greatest achievements in this field, and Pope polished and refined it to near
perfection.