英国文学 名词解释整理版

名词解释

●Epic:

A long narrative poem telling about the deeds of a great hero and reflecting the values of the

society from which it originated. Many epics were drawn from an oral form and were transmitted by song and recitation before they were written down.

●Alliteration: a rhetorical device, meaning some words in a sentence begin with the same consonant

sound（头韵.

Kenning: A figurative, usually compound expression used in place of a name or noun, especially in Old English and Old Norse poetry; for example, storm of swords is a kenning for battle.

understatement: expressing something in a controlled way

●Romance: a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, describing the life and

adventures of a noble hero.

●Knight -central character of romances

It is a special group of people existed in the Middle Age in Europe. Nearly all nobles were knights.

However, nobody was born a knight. One nobleman must experience hard training and then the king will give him knighthood.

● A ballad is a story told in song, usually in 4-line stanzas, with the second and fourth lines rhymed.

●The Renaissance,which means “rebirth” or “revival”, is actually an intellectual movement with a

thirsting curiosity for classical literature and the keen interest in the activities of humanity.

●Humanism: Key-note of the Renaissance, and the very weapon for the bourgeoisie to use in its

fight against feudalism restrictions and the dominating influence of the church, which had ruled men’s minds for centuries.

●The Elizabeth Age (1558-1603): England enjoyed peaceful development under the rule of Queen

Elizabeth I, who maintained a balance of between the Protestants and the Catholics.

●Sonnet: A fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter. A sonnet

generally expresses a single theme or idea.

●Blank verse: Verse written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.

●Spenserian stanza: A nine-line stanza with the following rhyme scheme: ababbcbcc. The first eight

lines are written in iambic pentameter. The ninth line is written in iambic hexameter.

●“The University Wits”?

They are a group of young men, almost all of them studied at the universities of Oxford or Cambridge, and then set up as professional writers, selling their learning and their “wits” to London public of playgoers, and to the reading public as well.

The University Wits: Lyly, Peele, Marlowe, Green, Lodge and Nash.

● A "humour" is a predominant pecularity of a certain person, which determines his behaviour,

thoughts and manner of speech.

●The Metaphysical Poets

Metaphysical is a school of poetry appeared about the beginning of the 17th century.

John Donne was the founder.

Generally speaking, the works of the Metaphysical poets are characterized by mysticism in content and fantasticality in form.