英语诗歌赏析的论文.doc

宁波大学答题纸（2010 2011 学年第 1 学期）课号： 课程名称： 改卷教师： 杨成虎 学号： 093070031 姓 名： 解 瑶 得 分： Appreciation of Annabel LeeAnnabel Lee is the last complete poem composed by American author Edgar Allan Poe and published two days after the death of Poe. Like many of Poes poems, it explores the theme of the death of a beautiful woman. The narrator, who fell in love with Annabel Lee when they were young, has a love for her so strong that even angels are jealous. He retains his love for her even after her death. There has been debate over whom, if anyone, was the inspiration for “Annabel Lee”. Though many women have been suggested, Poes wife Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe is one of the more credible candidates. It this essay, I decided to explore this wonderful poem through the following four parts：1. An Introduction of Edgar Allan Poe 1.1 Poes life Poes life was a series of disasters. He was born in Boston, one of three children of a pair of travelling actors. His father deserted the family and soon died when Poe was only one year old. The next year, his mother died, too, leaving Poe to a prosperous merchant, Joan Allan. Although Poe adopted Allan as a middle name, the foster father never adopted him legally. In fact, the father had bitter quarrels with Poe and refused to pay for his college fees. Addicted to drinking and gambling, Poe was soon expelled by his foster father. Poe left the home in a fury and joined army. Not being able to endure the strict rules and realizing that is was not a right place for a literary man to seek freedom, Poe deliberately violated a few minor regulations of the academy and was soon dismissed. He went to live with his aunt in Baltimore, and began to devote himself to literary creation. He married his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia, in 1835. Though Poes marriage to Virginia was originally partially for money, Virginias death in1847 caused great pain and suffering to Poe. He continued to write, but his involvement with several women admirers brought about tremendous spiritual burden so that Poe attempted o commit a suicide. With no effect, Poe engaged himself with his childhood sweetheart, Mrs. Shelton, in 1849, on the promise that he would quit alcohol. On the way to bring Mrs. Shelton to the wedding, Poe stopped in Baltimore where he was found unconscious in the street, obviously and alcohol-induced coma, Four days later, Poe died in the hospital and was later buried in Baltimore. 1.2 Poes works Poe, in fact, wrote nearly seventy short works of fiction. He is highly reputed by creating the detective story genre and transforming the Gothic mystery tale of the Romantic Period into the modern horror or murder stories which centered in the outlying regions of human mind and experience. But he also wrote several comic and satirical pieces, literary parodies, sketches, and experimental stories, including the Descent into the Maelstrom, and his novella, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. His most famous poems-The raven, Ulalume, The Bells, The City in the sea-were enormously influential. These famous verses were behind a powerful wave of enthusiasm for Poe that arose among the leading writers of Europe during his own lifetime, spread thereafter around the world, and was recognized through the “discovery” of existential “human condition” themes in his short storied generations later. For some readers, Poes poetry probably is not worth a second glance. They find it over-derived, sentimental and redundant in theme, and too technical-that is , obsessed with meter, rhyme, and poetic stylistics. But Poe is the poet who always reminding us of just how strange it is to be human and the levels in which the mind can be stimulated to indulge in this strangeness.1.3 Poes Theory As for Poes criticism of fiction and verse, there is an intersection with the often-overlooked depth of his work. Poe developed a theory of composition that he applied to both his short storied and his poems. His most basic principle was that insofar as short fiction and poetry were concerned, the writer should aim at creating a single and total psychological spiritual effect upon the reader. The theme or plot of the article is always subordinate to the authors deliberate construction of a single, intense mood in the readers or listeners mind, be it melancholy, suspense, or horror. By doing so, Poe was establishing the rules and methods common to New Criticism, the leading school of literary analysis in the twentieth century. New Criticism insisted that the text must be interpreted as a self-contained unit apart from the critics opinions of its author or the suitability of its themes. And, the theory of “effect” is so overwhelming in Poes aesthetics that he pays little attention to moral and truth. He attaches no social function to poetry and declares that the poem is “written solely for the poems sake.”(Poe 1984:75)2. Enjoy the Wonderful PoemAnnabel LeeIt was many and many a year ago,In a kingdom by the sea,That a maiden there lived whom you may knowBy the name of Annabel Lee;And this maiden she lived with no other thoughtThan to love and be loved by me.I was a child and she was a child,In this kingdom by the sea:But we loved with a love that was more than love - I and my Annabel Lee;With a love that the winged seraphs of heavenCoveted her and me.And this was the reason that, long ago,In this kingdom by the sea,A wind blew out of a cloud, chillingMy beautiful Annabel Lee;So that her high-born kinsmen cameAnd bore her away from me,To shut her up in a sepulchreIn this kingdom by the sea.The angels, not half so happy in heaven,Went envying her and me - Yes! that was the reason (as all men know,In this kingdom by the sea)That the wind came out of the cloud one night,Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.But our love it was stronger by far than the loveOf those who were older than we - Of many far wiser than we - And neither the angels in heaven above,Nor the demons down under the sea,Can ever dissever my soul from the soulOf the beautiful Annabel Lee;For the moon never beams without bringing me dreamsOf the beautiful Annabel Lee;And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyesOf the beautiful Annabel Lee;And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the sideOf my darling -my darling -my life and my bride,In the sepulchre there by the sea - In her tomb by the sounding sea. 2.1 The theme of Annabel Lee in my viewLike many other Poe poems including The Raven, Ulalume, and To One in Paradise, Annabel Lee follows Poes favorite theme: the death of a beautiful woman, which Poe called the most poetical topic in the world. Also like women in many other works by Poe, she is struck with illness and marries young. The poem focuses on an ideal love which is unusually strong. In fact, the narrators actions show that he not only loves Annabel Lee, but he worships her, something he can only do after her death. The narrator admits that he and Annabel Lee were both children when they fell in love, but his explanation that angels murdered her is in itself childish, suggesting he has not grown up much since then. His repetition of this assertion suggests he is trying to rationalize his own excessive feelings of loss. It is unclear to whom the eponymous character Annabel Lee is referring. Biographers and critics often suggest Poes frequent use of the death of a beautiful woman theme stems from the repeated loss of women throughout his own life, including his mother and his foster mother. Biographers often interpret that Annabel Lee was written for Poes wife Virginia, who had died two years prior. A strong case can be made for Poes wife Virginia: she was the one he loved as a child, and the only one that had been his bride, and the only one that had died. Autobiographical readings of the poem have also been used to support the theory that Virginia and Poe never consummated their marriage, as Annabel Lee was a maiden. But I can not deny the fact that Annabel Lee may merely the product of Poes gloomy imagination and that Annabel Lee was no real person in particular, may he created this poem for the sake of a pair of Chinese couple, as China has long history of childrens engagement by their parents. From other literature works, I found Poes childhood sweetheart Sarah Elmira Royster believed the poem was written with her in mind and that Poe himself said so. 2.2 The ways composing Annabel Lee 2.2.1 Rhythms and Stanzas Annabel Lee consists of six stanzas, three with six lines, one with seven, and two with eight, with the rhyme pattern differing slightly in each one. He uses three Rsrhymes, rhythm, and repetitionin Annabel Lee to create a harmony of sound that underscores the exquisite harmony of the narrators relationship with his beloved. The sound of long “e” is repeated throughout the poem. For example, in the first stanza, Line 2 ends with sea, Line 4 with Lee, d Line 6 with me. Stanzas 2 and 3 repeat the sea, Lee, me pattern, although Stanza 3 adds a second end-rhyming sea. Stanza 4 alters the pattern to me, sea, and Lee. Stanza 5 uses we, we, sea, and Lee; the last stanza uses Lee, Lee, sea, and sea. A notable example of internal rhyme occurs in the last line of Stanza 4:“Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.”(Poe 1984:102)The lines of the poem alternate in length between a long line (usually with 9 to 11 syllables)and a short line (usually with 6 to 8 syllables),as in the first stanza:It was many and many a year ago, (11 syllables)In a kingdom by the sea, (7 syllables)That a maiden there lived whom you may know (10 syllables)By the name of Annabel Lee (8 syllables)And this maiden she lived with no other though (11 syllables)Than to love and be loved by me. (8 syllables)Poe repeats this rhythmic pattern throughout the poem, perhaps to suggest the rise and fall of the tides. He also repeats key phrasessuch as “in this kingdom by the sea and my Annabel Lee” (or “my beautiful Annabel Lee”)to create haunting refrains. In addition, Poe sometimes repeats words or word patterns within a single line, as in(1)“many and many a year ago”,(2)“we loved with a love that was more than love”, and(3)“my darlingmy darling”. Poe further enhances the rhythm of the poem with the repetition of consonant sounds, whic