【正文】 t sequence Astrophel and Stella, Defense of Poetry Edmund Spencer: “the poets’ poet” The Faerie Queene (an allegory) The Shepheardes Calendar (an eclogue牧歌，田園詩(shī)) Spenserian stanza: 8 iambic pentameter, 1 iambic hexameter（六步） The Spenserian stanza is a fixed verse form invented by Edmund Spenser for his epic poem The Faerie Queene. Each stanza contains nine lines in total: eight lines in iambic pentameter followed by a single 39。Alexandrine39。 line in iambic hexameter. The rhyme scheme of these lines is ababbcbcc. Christopher Marlown Hero and Leander 1) a tale of two tragic lovers (Romeo and Juliet type) 2) main idea: love at first sight starcrossed不幸的 loven “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” main idea: a shepherd invites his love to live with himSonnetn lyric poem of 14 lines with a formal rhyme scheme格律n expressing different aspects of a single thought, mood, or feeling, sometimes resolved or summed up in the last lines of the poem. Two Main Forms of the Sonnet1. the Petrarchan, or Italian, sonnetn The Petrarchan sonnet consists of an octave (eightline stanza) and a sestet (six line stanza).n Rhyme scheme: abbaabba, cdecde (or cdcdcd )2. the English, or Shakespearean, sonnetn exemplified by the works of William Shakespearen rhyme scheme: a b a b, c d c d, e f e f, g gShakespeare’s sonnetsThe sonnets describe the devotion of a person, often identified as Shakespeare himself, to a young man whose beauty and virtue he praises and to a mysterious and faithless Dark Lady with whom the poet is infatuated.1) Three groups:n The first 126 sonnets are addressed to the young nobleman. n In the first 17 sonnets the poet urges the young man to marry and beget children who will preserve his beauty in a new generation, since his youth will fade. n Sonnets 18 to 126 are about the young man. The poet enjoys his friendship and is full of admiration promising to bestow immortality to the young man by the poems he writes in his honor.n Sonnets 127 to 152 are mostly addressed to the Dark Lady. A married woman with dark hair and plexion.2) significance: reveal the most sophisticated aspects of human naturen Moral conflicts and psychological uncertaintiesn The immortality of art as being represented by poetryn The value of genuine friendshipn The sorrows of feeling neglected in a corrupt worldSonnet 18n This sonnet is certainly the most famous in the sequence of Shakespeare39。s sonnets。 it may be the most famous lyric poem in English. Among Shakespeare39。s works, only lines such as To be or not to be and Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? are betterknown. This is not to say that it is at all the best or most interesting or most beautiful of the sonnets。 but the simplicity and loveliness of its praise of the beloved has guaranteed its place.n Meterical Pattern n abab cdcd efef ggn Themen The message is that in this world no beauty (in Nature) can stay except poetry or art。 and your beauty can only last if I write it down in my poetry. n Also notice the love play. Apparently the poet is addressing a man of his heart, the wooing sounds more like a game play than anything real and sincere. The love here is too conditional to be genuine. n Structuren Proposal (line12) n Argument (line312) n Conclusion (line1314) Sonnet 29n Sonnet 29 shows us the poet at his most insecure and troubled. He feels himself unlucky, disgraced, and jealous of those around him. What is causing the poet39。s anguish one can only guess, but an examination of the circumstances surrounding his life at the time he wrote sonnet 29 could help us to understand his depression. In 1592, the London theatres closed due to a severe outbreak of the plague. Although it is possible that Shakespeare toured the outlying areas of London with acting panies like Pembroke39。s Men or Lord Strange39。s Men, it seems more likely that he left the theatre entirely during this time, possibly to work on his nondramatic poetry. The closing of the playhouses made it hard for Shakespeare and other actors of the day to earn a living. With plague and poverty threatening his life, it is only natural that he felt in disgrace with fortune. n Moreover, in 1592 there came a scathing attack on Shakespeare by dramatist Robert Greene, who wrote in a deathbed diary: There is an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tygers heart wrapt in a Players hide supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you。 and, being an absolute Johannes Factotum, is in his own conceit the only Shakescene in a country. Shakespeare was deeply disturbed by this assault, feeling disgraced in men39。s eyes as well as fortune39。s. n The poet is so forlorn that even the passion for his profession as an actor seems to have died (8). But the sonnet ends with a positive affirmation that all is not lost that the poet39。s dear friend can pensate for the grief he feels. Exercises1. Shakespeare’s four great tragedies are _________A. Anthony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, King Lear, Timon of AthensB. Twelfth Night, Cynbeline, The Winter’s Tale, and The TempestC. Hamlet, Othello, King John, and Macbeth D. Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth2. The story of Hamlet takes place in ________. A. England B. Denmark C. Italy D. Germany 3. Romeo and Juliet belongs to Shakespeare’s ________. A. romantic edy B. edy C. tragedy D. historical plays4. A sonnet is a poem of ________ lines, usually in iambic pentameter, with rhymes arranged according to a certain definite patterns. A. 8 B. 6 C. 14 D. 24Renaissance Prose: More and Utopia2. Francis Bacon: first English essayist EssaysLecture 5 The Seventeenth Century Literature