英美文学术语大全
下面是学习啦小编整理的一些英美文学术语大全，欢迎大家阅读!
1.Atmosphere (氛围)
The prevailing mood or feeling of a literary work.
2. Autobiography (自传)
A person‘s account of his or her own life.
3. Ballad (民谣)
A narrative poem in short stanzas, with or without music,often of folk origin and intended to be sung. The term derives by way of French ballade from Latin ballare, "to dance," and once meant a simple song of any kind, lyric or narrative, especially one to accompany a dance. As ballads evolved, most lost their association with dance, although they kept their strong rhythms. Modern usage distinguishes three major kinds: the anonymous traditional ballad (popular ballad or folk ballad), transmitted orally; the broadside ballad, printed and sold on single sheets; and the literary ballad (or art ballad), a sophisticated imitation of the traditional ballad.
4. Ballad Stanza (民谣诗节)
A type of four-line stanza, the first and the third lines have four stressed words or syllables; the second and fourth lines have three stresses.
5. Biography (传记)
A detailed account of a person‘s life written by another person.
传记：由他人篆写的关于某人生平的详细记录。
6. Antithesis (对仗)
The balancing of two contrasting ideas, words, or sentences.
对仗：两组相对的思想，言辞，词句的平衡。
7. Aphorism (警句)
A concise, pointed statement expressing a wise or clever observation about life.
警句：蕴含关于人生真理的明智的看法的精练的语句。
8. Aside (旁白)
A piece of dialogue intended for the audience and supposedly not heard by other actors on stage.
旁白：只说给观众而认为不会让台上其他演员听到的一段对话。
9.Apostrophe (呼语)
The direct address of an absent or imaginary person or of a personified abstraction, especially as a digression in the course of a speech or composition.
呼语：直接称呼不在场或虚构的人物或称呼拟人的事物，尤指作为演讲或作文过程中的离题话。
10.Assonance (类韵)
The repetition of similar vowel sounds, especially in poetry.
类音，类韵：相同或相似元音的重复，尤其指在诗歌中的重复。
11.Allegory (寓言)
A tale in verse or prose in which characters, actions, or settings represent abstract ideas or moral qualities.
A story suggests another story. An allegory is present in literature whenever it is clear that the author is saying, "By this I also mean that." In practice, allegory appears when a progression of events or images suggests a translation of them into conceptual language. Allegory is thus a technique of aligning imaginative constructs, mythological or poetic, with conceptual or moral models. During the Romantic era a distinction arose between allegory and symbol. With Coleridge, symbol took precedence: "an allegory is but a translation of abstract notions into picture-language," but "a symbol always partakes of the reality which it makes intelligible."
寓言，讽喻：一种文学、戏剧或绘画的艺术手法，其中人物和事件代表抽象的观点、原则或支配力。
12.Alliteration (头韵)
Alliteration is the repetition of the same initial consonant sound within a line or a group of words.Alliteration is thus the opposite of rhyme, by which the similar sounds occur at the ends of the syllables.
头韵：在一组词的开头或重读音节中对相同辅音或不同元音的重复。
13.Allusion (典故)
A reference to a person, a place, an event, or a literary work that a writer expects the reader to recognize and respond to.
典故：作者对某些读者熟悉并能够作出反映的特定人物，地点，事件，文学作品的引用。
14.Analogy (类比)
A comparison made between two things to show the similarities between them.
类比：为了在两个事物之间找出差别而进行的比较。
15. Antagonist (反面主角)
The principal character in opposition to the protagonist or hero or heroine of a narrative or drama.
反面主角：叙事文学或戏剧中与男女主人公或英雄相对立的主要人物。
16.Blank Verse (无韵体诗)
Verse written in Unrhymed iambic pentameter. See also Meter. In the 1540s Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, seems to have originated it in English as the equivalent of Virgil's unrhymed dactylic hexameter. In Gorboduc (1561), Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton introduced blank verse into the drama, whence it soared with Marlowe and Shakespeare in the 1590s. Milton forged it anew for the epic in Paradise Lost (1667).
17. Caesura (休止)
A break or pause in a line of poetry.
18. Canto (章)
One of the principal divisions of a long poem..
诗章：一首长诗的主要部分之一。
19. Caricature (夸张讽刺)
The use of exaggeration or distortion to make a figure appear comic or ridiculous.
夸张讽刺：为了使文中的人物显得可笑而使用的夸张或扭曲人物形象的手法。
20. Characterization (人物刻画)
The means by which a writer reveals the personality of a character.
人物刻画：作者表现作品中人物性格的方法。
21. Classicism (古典主义)
A movement or tendency in art, literature, or music that reflects the principles manifested in the art of ancient Greece and Rome.
古典主义：一种在文学，艺术，音乐领域体现古代希腊，罗马风格的运动。
22. Climax (高潮)
The point of greatest intensity, interest, or suspense in a narrative.
23. Comedy (喜剧)
A dramatic work that is often humorous or satirical in tone and usually contains a happy resolution of the thematic conflict.
喜剧：轻松的和常有幽默感的或在调子上是讽刺的戏剧作品，常包括主题冲突的愉快解决
24. Conceit (奇想)
A kind of metaphor that makes a comparison between two startlingly different things. Any fanciful, ingenious expression_r_r or idea, especially one in the form of an extended metaphor.
奇想：一种在截然不同的事物之间建立起的比喻。
25. Conflict (冲突)
A struggle between two opposing forces or characters in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem.
冲突：故事，小说，戏剧中相对的力量和人物之间的对立。
26. Connotation (外延)
All the emotions and associations that a word or phrase may arouse.
外延：包括单词字面意思之外的或被该词汇唤起的全部内涵的意义。
27. Consonance (辅音韵)
The repetition of consonants or a consonant pattern, especially at the ends of words.
辅音韵：辅音或辅音模式的重复，尤指位于词尾的。
28. Couplet (双韵体)
A unit of verse consisting of two successive lines, usually rhyming and having the same meter and often forming a complete thought or syntactic unit.
双韵体：包括两个相连的诗行的一种诗的单位，通常压韵并具有同样的格律，经常组成一个完整的意思和句法单位
29. Heroic couplet (英雄双韵体)
A couplet written in iambic pentameter is called a heroic couplet.
英雄双韵体：五步抑扬格的双韵体称英雄双韵体。
30. Denotation (内涵)
The literal or dictionary meaning of a word.
直接意义：一个词的字面意义或词典意义。
31. Denouement (结局)
The final resolution or clarification of a dramatic or narrative plot.
结局：戏剧或叙事场景的最后结果。
32. Diction (措辞)
A writer‘s choice and use of words in speech or writing, particularly for clarity, effectiveness, and precision.
措词：讲话或书写中，出于表述清晰，言简意赅对词语的使用或选择。
33. Dissonance (不协和)
A harsh or disagreeable combination of sounds; discord.
34. Dramatic monologue (戏剧独白)
A kind of narrative poem in which one character speaks to one or more listeners whose replies are not given in the poem.
35. Elegy (挽歌)
A poem or song composed especially as a lament for a deceased person.
挽歌，挽诗：专门为悼念某一死者所写的诗或歌.
36. Emblematic Image (象征)
A verbal picture of figure with a long tradition of moral or religious meaning attached to it.
37. Epic (史诗)
An extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, celebrating the feats of a legendary or traditional hero and of reflecting the values of the society from which it originated. Many epics were drawn from an oral tradition and were transmitted by song and recitation before they were written down. Later on this literary genre was written down by the poets, such as Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained. Two of the greatest epics are Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. While in British literary history, the national epic is Beowulf. During the Renaissance, critical theory emphasized two assumptions:
史诗：用严肃或庄重的语言写成的叙事长诗，歌颂传奇中或历史上英雄的丰功伟绩
38. Epigram (隽语)
A concise, clever, often paradoxical statement, susally in the form of a poem.
隽语：一个简明，机智，常常似是而非的陈述,经常以诗的形式出现
39. Epigraph (引语/开场白)
A motto or quotation at the beginning of a literary composition, setting forth a theme.
引语：在一部文学作品开头的引言，警句，阐明主题
40. Epilogue (结语/收场白)
A short addition or concluding section at the end of a literary work, often dealing with the future of its characters. Also called In this sense, also called afterword
结语：文学作品结束时简短的附加或总结性章节，常常关于作品人物的未来也作 在此意义上也可称作 afterword.
41. Epiphany(顿悟)
A moment of illumination, usually occurrs at or near the end of a work.
顿悟:对现实真谛的顿悟或洞察,通常出现在作品的结尾.
42. Epitaph(墓志铭)
An inscription on a tombstone or in a short poem in memory of someone who has been dead.
墓志铭：刻于墓碑上用以怀念死者的碑铭.
43. Epithet (表述词语)
A term used to characterize a person or thing。
表述词语：用来表示某人某物特性的一个表达。
44. Essay (散文)
A short literary composition on a single subject, usually presenting the personal view of the author.
散文：内容通常论及一个主题的短小文章，通常表达作者个人的观点
45. Exemplum (说教故事)
A tale, usually inserted into the text of a sermon, that illustrates a moral principle.
说教故事:一种短小的体现某种道德原则的故事性文章，通常出现在布道文中。
46. Fable (寓言)
A brief story that is told to present a moral, or practical lesson.
寓言：一种体现某种道德观念或实用价值的说教性文章。
47. Farce (轻喜剧)
A kind of comedy based on a ridiculous situation, often with stereotyped characters.
轻喜剧: 一种以可笑的情节的为基础的喜剧，通常包含固定的角色。
48. Figurative Language (象征性语言)
Language that is not intended to be interpreted in a literal sense.
象征性语言：不能直接用字面意义来理解的语言。
49. Figure of Speech (比喻)
A word or an expression that is not meant to be interpreted in literal sense.
比喻：不能直接按照字面意义理解的词语或表述方法。
50. Flashback(倒叙)
A literary device in which an earlier event is inserted into a narrative.
倒叙，闪回镜头：一种文学或电影的表现手法，往往在一段按正常时间顺序记叙的叙事中插入一件以前发生过的事情
51. Foil (陪衬)
A character who sets off another character by contrast.
陪衬：用来反衬其他人物的人物。
52. Foreshadowing (铺垫)
The use of hints or clues in a narrative to suggest what will happen later.
铺垫：用来预示将要发生的事情的线索或暗示。
53. Free verse (自由诗体)
Verses that has neither a metrical pattern or an regular pattern.
自由诗体:既不具格式韵律又不具常规格律的诗体。
54. hyperbole (夸张法)
A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect
夸张法：一种比喻，使用夸张来强调或产生某种效果。
55. Iambic pentameter (五步抑扬格)
A poetic line consisting of five verse feet, with each foot an iamb--that is, an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
五步抑扬格:一种诗句形式，每行诗句包含五个抑扬格音步。
56. Imagery(意象)
Words or phrases that create pictures, or images, in readers‘ mind.
意象：用来在读者的思维中唤起某种图示或形象的词汇。
57. Incremental repetition (递进重复)
The repetition of a previous line or lines, but with a slight variation each time that advances the narrative stanza by stanza.
递进重复：诗歌中对上文中一行或几行的重复，但每次重复都有一定的变化，而且每一节的重复中的叙述都有所强化。
58. Inversion (倒装句)
The technique of reversing, or inverting the normal word order of a sentence.
倒装句：一种将句子正常的表达方法倒置的技巧。
59. Invocation (开篇祷告)
A call to a muse, god or spirit for inspiration at the beginning of an epic or other poem.
开篇祷告：在史诗或诗歌的开篇企求神灵给予启示的文字。
60. Irony (反语)
A contrast between what is stated and what is really meant, or between what is expected to happen and what actually happened.
反语：一种建立在字面表述和真实意义上或期待产生的结果和真实的结果之间的对比。
61.Kenning (隐喻语)
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.
隐喻语：尤指古英语和古斯堪的纳维亚语诗中，一种比喻性的，在表名字或名词时常用的复合表达方式，如“剑的风暴” 是 “战争” 的隐喻语
62. Lyric (抒情诗)
A poem, usually a short one, that expresses a speaker‘s personal thoughts or feelings.
抒情诗：一种用来抒发作者感情或思想的短诗。
63. Masque (假面剧)
A dramatic entertainment, usually performed by masked players representing mythological or allegorical figures, that was popular in England in the 16th and early 17th centuries.
假面剧：一种戏剧性娱乐，由代表神话或寓言中人物的佩戴面具者表演，该娱乐形式在16世纪和17世纪早期的英国很流行.
64. Melodrama (情节剧)
A drama that has stereotyped characters, exaggerated emotions, and a conflict that pits an all-good hero or heroine against an all-evil villain.
65. Metaphor (隐喻)
A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison.
隐喻：一种语言表达手法，通常用指某物的词或词组来指代他物，从而暗示它们之间的相似之处.
66.Metaphysical Poetry (玄学派诗歌)
The poems of 17th-century English poets, whose verse is characterized by an intellectually challenging style and extended metaphors comparing very dissimilar things.It is also featured by verbal wit and excess, ingenious structure, irregular meter, colloquial language, elaborate imagery, and a drawing together of dissimilar ideas.
玄学派诗歌：17世纪英国诗人的诗歌，这种诗歌的特点是风格极具智慧，引人深思，善用引申的暗喻来对比极其不同的事物.
67. Meter (格律)
A generally regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.
格律：诗歌中通常的重读音节和非重读音节的排列模式。
68. Metonymy (转喻)
A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated.
转喻：一种一个词或词组被另一个与之有紧密联系的词或词组替换的修辞方法.
69. Mock epic (讽刺史诗)
A comic literary from that treats a trivial subject in the grand, heroic style of the epic.
讽刺史诗：一种用史诗的宏大风格来描写微不足道的事情的喜剧形式。
70. Motif (主旨)
A recurrent thematic element in an artistic or literary work.
主题：艺术品或文学作品中反复体现的、揭示主题的部分。
71. Motivation (动机)
The reasons, either stated or implied, for a character‘s behavior.
动机: 引发作品中人物行为的理由。
72. Myth (神话)
A story, often about immortals and sometimes connected with religious rituals, that is intended to give meaning to the mysteries of the world.
神话：一种解释世界上的神秘现象的关于神灵或同宗教仪式有联系的故事。
73. Narrative Poem (叙事诗)
A poem that tells a story.
叙事诗：讲述一个故事的诗歌。
74. Narrator (叙述者)
One who narrates or tells a story.
叙述者：讲述或叙述一个故事的人。
75. Naturalism (自然主义)
The practice of describing precisely the actual circumstances of human life in literature, it is the extreme form of realism.
自然主义：在文学中精确地描述人类现实环境的实践,现实主义的最高表现形式。
76. Neoclassicism (新古典主义)
A revival in literature in the late 17th and 18th centuries, characterized by a regard for the classical ideals of reason, form, and restraint styles.
新古典主义：17、18世纪晚期的文学复兴，以尊重古代典型的推理形式和严谨文体为特征
77. Novel (小说)
A book length fictional prose narrative, having many characters and often a complex plot.
小说：虚构的叙述性文章，有一定长度，较多的人物，和思想复杂的情节。
78. Octave (八行诗)
An eight-line poem or stanza.
79. Ode (颂)
A complex and often lengthy lyric poem, written in a dignified formal style on some lofty or serious subject.
颂：一种复杂的，具有一定长度的诗歌，通常以高贵的风格写成，用来表述一些高尚或严肃的主题。
80. Onomatopoeia (拟声)
The formation or use of words by imitating the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.
拟声：通过模仿事物或行动的声音构词的方法。
81. Oxymoron (矛盾修饰法)
A rhetorical figure in which combines or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist.
矛盾修饰法：一种把互相矛盾或不调和的词合在一起的修辞手法，如在"震耳欲聋的沉默"和"悲伤的乐观"
82. Paradox (似非而是)
A statement that reveals a kind of truth, although it seems at first to be self-contradictory and untrue./An apparently untrue or self-contradictory statement or circumstance that proves true upon reflection or when examined in another light.
似非而是:一种在字面上看起来自相矛盾，却体现着一定的真理的说法。
83. Parallelism (并行)
The use of phrases, clauses, or sentences that are similar or complementary in structure or in meaning.
并行：结构或意义相近的词汇，子句，句子的并用。
84.Parody (模仿诗文)
A humorous imitation of a work of art for comic effect or ridicule./Originally, "a song sung beside" another. From this idea of juxtaposition arose the two basic elements of parody, comedy and criticism. As comedy, parody exaggerates or distorts the prominent features of style or content in a work. As criticism, it mimics the work, borrowing words or phrases or characteristic turns of thought in order to highlight weaknesses of conception or expression_r_r.
模仿诗文：一种为取得喜剧或嘲讽效果，而对某一艺术作品进行的滑稽模仿。
85. Pastoral (田园诗)
A kind of poem, that deals in an idealized way with shepherds and rustic life.
田园诗：一种用理想的手法来体现牧羊人的乡村生活的诗歌。
86. Pathos (悲怅)
The quality in a work of literature or art that arouses the reader‘s feelings of pity, sorrow, or compassion for a character.
悲怅：文学艺术作品的一种引发读者怜悯，同情或伤感的特质。
87. Personification (拟人)
A figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstractions are endowed with human qualities or are represented as possessing human form./The technique of treating abstractions, things, or animals as persons. A kind of metaphor, personification turns abstract ideas, like love, into a physical beauty named Venus, or conversely, makes dumb animals speak and act like humans.
拟人：给无生命的东西或者抽象的东西赋予人的个性或绘以人的形象.
88. Plot (情节)
The plan of events or main story in a novel, narrative or drama.
情节：在小说，故事,或戏剧中事件的概要或主要故事.
89. Point of view (视角)
A point from which an author presents a story.
视角：作者阐述故事的角度。
90. protagonist (主角)
The main character in a drama or other literary work.
主角：戏剧或其他文学作品中的主要人物.
91. Psalm (赞美诗)
A song or lyric poem in praise of God.
赞美诗：用来颂扬上帝的诗歌或抒情诗。
92. Pun (双关语)
The use of a word or phrase to suggest two or more meanings at the same time.
双关语：用一个词来同时表示两个内涵。
93. Quatrain (四行诗)
A stanza or poem of four lines.
94. Realism (现实主义)
The representation in art or literature of objects, actions, or social conditions as they actually are, without idealization or presentation in abstract form./The theory that reason, rather than revelation or authority, provides knowledge, truth, the choice of good over evil, and an adequate understanding of God and the universe.
现实主义：在艺术或文学中将事物，行为或社会状况按其起初情况进行的表现，而不用模糊的形式来表现或理想化
95. Refrain (副句)
A phrase, verse, or group of verses repeated at intervals throughout a song or poem, especially at the end of each stanza.
副句，副歌：一个短语、一句诗或一组诗句在一首歌或诗中每隔一段重复一次， 尤其在每个诗节的结尾处
96. Rhyme (压韵)
The repetition of sounds in two or more words or phrases that appear close to each other in a poem. /(sometimes Rime, an older spelling) The effect created by matching sounds at the ends of words. The functions of rhyme are essentially four: pleasurable, mnemonic, structural, and rhetorical. Like meter and figurative language, rhyme provides a pleasure derived from fulfillment of a basic human desire to see similarity in dissimilarity, likeness with a difference.
压韵：音在两个或两个以上的词汇或短语中的重复。
97. Rhythm (格律)
The arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables into a pattern.
重读音节和非重读音节的固定排列模式。
98. Romance (传奇故事)
An imaginative literature that is set in an idealized world and that deals with heroic adventures and battles between good and devil.
传奇故事：设定在想象世界中的以英雄冒险和善恶之间的斗争为题材的文学作品。
99. Romanticism (浪漫主义)
An artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 18th century which emphasis on the individual‘s expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism.
浪漫主义：起源于18世纪末期欧洲的一种注重个人情感和想象力的表达的艺术和知识上的运动，它与古典主义的观点和形式相悖.
100. Satire (讽刺文)
A kind of writing that holds up to ridicule or contempt the weakness and wrongdoings of individuals, institutions or humanity in general./Poking corrective ridicule at persons, types, actions, follies, mores, and beliefs
讽刺：一种讽刺个人，习俗或人性中的缺点或错误的文体。
101. Scansion(韵律分析)
The analysis of verse into meter patterns.
韵律分析：将诗划分成音步的分析方法。
102.Sestet (六行诗)
A six-line poem or stanza.
103. Setting (背景)
The time, place, and circumstances in which a narrative, drama, or novel takes place.
背景：记叙文、戏剧或小说发生的时间、地点和环境.
104. Simile (明喻)
A comparison made between two things through the use of a specific word of comparison.
明喻：两种事物之间借助于比喻词汇进行的比较。
105. Soliloquy (独白)
A dramatic or literary form of discourse in which a character reveals a character‘s thoughts when alone or unaware of the presence of other characters.
独白：一种戏剧或文学的说话形式，其中某角色在独自一人或不知道其他角色存在的情况下展示角色的思想。
106. Song (歌)
A short lyric poem with distinct musical qualities, normally written to be set to music.
歌:一种具有典型的音乐特征的抒情诗体，通常为谱曲而作。
107. Sonnet (十四行诗)
A 14-line verse form usually written in iambic pentameter.
十四行诗：一种由十四行组成的诗歌形式，通常以五步抑扬格为押韵形式。
108. Spenserian Stanza (斯宾塞诗体)
A nine line stanza with the following rhyme scheme ababbcbcc.
109. Stream of consciousness (意识流)
The style of writing that attempts to imitate the natural flow of a character‘s thoughts, feelings reflections, and mental images as the character experiences them.
意识流：一种模仿作品中人物思想，思维，精神活动的自然过程的写作技巧。
110.Style(风格)
An author‘s characteristic way of writing ,determined by the choice of words, the arrangement of words in sentences, and the relationship of sentences to one and another.
风格：由词汇的选择，句子中词汇的安排，句子之间的关系形成的某一作家的特定的写作方式。
111. Suspense (悬念)
The quality of a story, novel, or drama that makes readers uncertain or tense about the outcome of events.
悬念：小说，故事，戏剧所具有的使读者对结局产生不安或紧张的感觉的特质。
112. Symbol (象征)
Any object, person, place, or action that has a meaning in itself and also stands for something larger than itself, such as a quality, attitude, or belief.
象征：本身具有意义，用来体现高于自身意义的思想的，观点的人，物，行为，地点。
113. Symbolism (象征主义)
A literary movement in the late19th century, characterized by the use of symbols to represent things.
象征主义：十九世纪的一种文学潮流，运用象征来体现事物。
114. Synecdoche (提喻法)
A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole.
提喻法：一种以局部代表整体的修辞方法。
115. Terza rima (三行体)
An Italian verse form consisting of a series of three line stanzas in which the middle line of each stanza rhymes with the first and the third lines of the following stanza.(aba bcb cde, ect.)
116. Theme (主题)
The general idea or insight about life that a writer wishes to express in a literary work.
作者在作品中表现的对于生活的总的观点或看法。
117.Tone (调子)
The attitude a writer takes toward his or her subject, characters, or audience.
调子：作者对于作品的主题，人物和读者所持的态度。
118. Tragedy (悲剧)
In general, a literary work in which the protagonist meets an unhappy or disastrous end.
悲剧：以主人公可悲的或灾难性的结局结束的故事。
119.Wit (睿智)
A brilliance and quickness of perception combined with a cleverness of expression.
睿智：巧妙的思维和睿智的表达的结合。
120.Exposition (评注)
The part of a narrative or drama, in which important background information is revealed.
评注：记叙文章或戏剧中向读者介绍主要的背景情况的部分。
121. Sentimentalism
Sentimentalism originated in the 18th century, and was a direct reaction against the cold, hard commercialism and rationalism that had dominated people’s life since the last decades of the 17th century. Besides, it seemed to have appeared hand in hand with the rise of realistic English novel. Sentimentalism often relates to sentimentality and sensibility in some literary works such as Richardson’s Pamela; Goldsmith’s The Vicar of Wakefield; Sterne’s A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy. In Poetry, we have Thomas Gray’s “An Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”, Goldsmith’s “The Deserted Village”, and Cowper’s “Task”, not mention the various odes of sensibility which flourished in the later half of the century.
122. Humanism
Humanism refers to the main literary trend and is the keynote of English Renaissance. Humanists took interest in human life and human activities and gave expression_r_r to the new feeling of admiration for human beauty, human achievement.
123. Renaissance
It is a cultural movement of the rising bourgeoisie. The key word for it is humanism, which emphasizes the belief in human beings, his environment and doings and his brave fight for the emancipation of man from the tyranny of the church and religious dogmas. It originally indicates a revival of classical arts and learning after the dark ages of medi obscurantism. Its aim is to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medi time and introduce new ideas that express the interests of the rising bourgeoisie. Shakespeare, Spenser, and Marlowe are all famous literary figures in this period.
124. Enlightenment
Enlightenment is a progressive intellectual movement, which swept over England and other lands in Western Europe in the 18th century. Enlightenment freed and reformed the thinking of man. Enlighteners strove to clear away the feudal remnants and replace them by bourgeois ideologue.
125. Run-on Line
A line of poetry whose sense does not stop at the end, with punctuation, but runs on to the next line.
126. End Rhyme
Rhyme at the end of a line of verse (the usual placement), as distinguished from initial rhyme, at the beginning, or internal rhyme, within the line.
127. Foot
The metrical unit; in English, an accented syllable with accompanying light syllable or syllables.
128. Genre
A term often applied loosely to the larger forms of literary convention, roughly analogous to "species" in biology. The Greeks spoke of three main genres of poetry-lyric, epic, and drama. Within each major genre, there are sub-genres. In written forms dominated by prose, for example, there is a broad distinction between works of fiction (e.g., the novel) and thematic works (e.g., the essay). Within the fictional category, we note a distinction between novel and romance, and other forms such as satire and confession. The object of making these distinctions in literary tradition is not simply to classify but to judge authors in terms of the conventions they themselves chose.
129. Humor
A humor is a theory used by Ben Jonson in his play writing. A humor, according to the physiology and the psychology of the time, was one of the liquid constituents of the body, each of which had its peculiar emotional propensity. Every character in Jonson’s comedies personifies a definite humor, so his characters are like caricatures.
130. Internal Rhyme
Rhyme within a line, rather than at the beginning (initial rhyme) or end (end rhyme); also, rhyme matching sounds in the middle of a line with sounds at the end.
131.Cavalier Poets
Cavalier poets were often courtiers who stood on the side of the king, and called themselves “sons” of Ben Jonson. The Cavalier poets wrote light poetry, polished and elegant, amorous and gay, but often superficial. They mostly dealt in short songs on the flitting joys of the day, but underneath their light-heartedness lays some foreboding of impending doom. This spirit of pessimism and cynicism is typical of the aristocratic class in decline.
132.Platoism
Any reflection of Plato's philosophy, particularly the belief in the eternal reality of ideal forms, of which the diversities of the physical world are but transitory shadows.
