Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892).ppt

1、Alfred Tennyson （1809-1892）,Teaching objectives: knowing Tennysons life, works and distinguished styles,Teaching contents:,1. Introduction: His Life 2. Major Works 3. Analysis of Break, Break, Break 4. Analysis of Crossing the Bar 5. Artistic Features,1. Introduction: His Life,Alfred Tennyson was bo

2、rn and bred in a country clergymans family and educated at Cambridge University. His early volumes of poems, published in 1830 and 1833, went unnoticed by the reading public, and he only achieved some fame with his two volumes of poetry in 1842. He received a pension from the government, and in 1850

3、 he was made poet laureate to succeed Wordsworth. From that time till he was created a baron and became Lord Tennyson in 1884, he wrote more openly as a court poet.,Tennyson with his wife Emily (1813-1896) and his sons Hallam (1852-1928) and Lionel (1854-1886).,Farringford - Lord Tennysons residence

4、 on the Isle of Wight,Statue of Lord Tennyson in the chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge.,2. Major Works,Break, Break, Break（1842） The lotus-Eaters（1842） Ulysses（1842） The Princess（1847） In Memoriam（1850） The Idylls of the king（1859-1888）,3. Analysis of Break, Break, Break,3.1 Themes This short lyr

5、ic is written in memory of Tennysons best friend, Arthur Hallam, whose death has a life-long influence on the poet. The poem describes feelings of loss and the realization that there is something beyond the cycle of life and death. Here, the poets own feelings of sadness are contrasted with the care

6、free, innocent joys of the children and the unfeeling movement of the ship and the sea waves. The beauty of the lyric is to be found in the musical language and in the association of sound and images with feelings and emotions.,Break, Break, Break 海浪喧哗,Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O

7、 Sea! And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me. 哗啦，哗啦，哗啦， 冲上阴冷的礁石，啊海浪！ 愿我的语言能够表达 埋藏心底的惆怅。,O, well for the fishermans boy, That he shouts with his sister at play! O, well for the sailor lad, That he sings in his boat on the bay! 啊，那渔夫的男孩多么愉快， 与姊妹一起游戏呼喊； 啊，那年轻的水手多么愉快， 且引吭高歌

8、且荡舟海湾。,And the stately ships go on To their haven under the hill; But O for the touch of a vanished hand, And the sound of a voice that is still! 庄严的船队在进发 驶向山下的海港； 可那消失了的手的轻抚 与那静默了的声音竟在何方！,Break, break, break, At the foot of thy crags, O Sea! But the tender grace of a day that is dead Will never com

9、e back to me. 哗啦，哗啦，哗啦， 冲着峭岩的跟脚，啊海浪！ 可那逝去的温柔美好时光 再也不回我的身旁。,3.2 Form and style,The poem contains four quatrains, with combined iambic and anapestic feet. Most lines have three feet and some four. The rhyme scheme is abcb. (The anapest is a foot that consists of two unaccented syllables followed by on

10、e accented syllable.) Generally speaking, anapestic feet read fast. But the reader cant read this poem this way for there are many long vowels in this poem, which shows the poets grief. In many lines in this poem, the poet uses round labial syllables such as uu:au in the former part and uses flat la

11、bial syllables such as I:, which makes the reader think about the sound of crying.,4. Analysis of Crossing the Bar,This poem was written in the later years of Tennysons life. We can feel his fearlessness towards death, his faith in God and an afterlife. Bar: a bank of sand or stones under the water

12、as in a river, parallel to the shore, at the entrance to harbor. “Crossing the bar” means leaving this world and entering the next world. Sunset, evening star, twilight, evening bell: all images of the end of life. Sea, tide, deep, flood: all symbols of life. Bourne: boundary. Pilot: Here it refers

13、to God.,Crossing the Bar 渡沙渚(zhuu),Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea, But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home. 夕阳下，闪疏星， 召唤一声清

14、朗！ 愿沙渚宁静， 我将出海远航； 潮汐如梦幻， 涛声似止，浪花息； 大海深处涌来， 又悄然退却。,Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark; For though from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar. 暮

15、霭钟鸣， 黑夜将笼罩！ 愿诀别无悲声， 登舟起锚； 千古洪流，时空无限， 滔滔载我至远方； 渡沙渚一线， 泰然见领航。,5. Artistic Features,Tennyson is a great Victorian poet conscious of the situation of his own age. He is the first major writer to express the awareness of the vast extent of geological time that has haunted human consciousness since Victor

16、ian scientists exposed the history of the earths crust. Tennyson is a real artist. He has the natural power of linking visual pictures with musical expressions, and these two with the feelings. He has perfect control of the sound of English, and a sensitive ear, an excellent choice and taste of word

17、s. His poetry is rich in poetic images and melodious language, and noted for its lyrical beauty and metrical charm. Tennyson is a moralist. He is closer to Pope and Gray than to, say, Browning. He is a classical scholar with highly polished style, delicate tunes and faultless verbal rhythms. Althoug

18、h he attacks the evils of his time, especially money-worship, his attacks are most those of a moralist than of a radical reformer. His poetry is full of didacticism. He has made poetry the description of a beautiful and antique world, as if deliberately he is closing his eyes to the ugly industrialism of his own c