TheSound of English Poetry
Poetry is deeplyrooted in music. The earlier forms of poetry were the epic(史诗) andballad(民谣). So, from the very beginning, poetry has been connected withmusic, enjoying peculiar sound effect.
Reading 1 A Red, Red Rose 一朵红花的玫瑰
-------Robert Burns(1759-1796)
O my luve’s like a red, red rose, 呵，我的爱人像朵红红的玫瑰，
That’s newly sprung in June; 六月里迎风初开；
O my luve’s like the melodie 呵，我的爱人像支甜甜的曲子，
That’s sweetly played in tune. 奏得合拍又和谐。
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass, 我的好姑娘，你有多么美，
So deep in luve am I; 我的情也有多么深。
And I will love thee still, my Dear, 我将永远爱你，亲爱的，
Till a’the seas gang dry. 直到大海干枯水流尽。
Till a’ the seas gang dry，my Dear, 直到大海干枯水流尽。
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun: 太阳把岩石烧作灰尘，
O I will love thee still, my Dear, 我也永远爱你，亲爱的，
While the sands o’life shall run. 只要我一息犹存。
And fare thee weel, my only luve! 珍重吧，我惟一的爱人，
And fare thee weel a while! 珍重吧，让我们暂时别离，
And I will come again, my luve, 但我定要回来，
Tho’ it were ten thousand mile! 哪怕千里万里！
Please pay special attention to the words in green, because RobertBurns is a Scottish poet, and there is folk expressions in the poem.
luve’s for love
bonnie lass for beautiful girl
a’ for all
gang for go
wi’ for with
fare thee weel for farewell to you, thee for you ,object you.
art thou art for “ are “, “thou” for you,subject you object you
This is a ballad, ballads focus on tell us the story.
1. Ballad should be easy to understand. The word should be simpleand plain so that it can go with singing and dancing.
2. Please pay attention to the words in green. What’s the characterof the ballad in terms of sound? Especial folk expressions.
3. Pay attention to the sentences “Till a’the seas gang dry. Till a’ the seas gang dry，my Dear”,this is refrains
Some characteristic of the ballad interms of the sound:
1) Since the ballad is usually a shortnarrative folk song to accompany a dance, everything should go with singing anddancing;
2) Words are simple and plain, suitable fororal transmission;
3) Refrains or repetitions are frequentlyused for the musical effect;
4)Some folk expressions are adopted :"luve" ("love") , "a" ("all") ,"gang"("go"),"wi"("with"),"farethee weel"("farewell to you");
5) The standard stanza form is the"ballad stanza."(a quatrain in alternative 4-stress and 3-stressiambic lines)
Poetry is deeplyrooted in music. The earlier forms of poetry were the epic(史诗)and the ballad(民谣).So, fromthe very beginning, poetry has been connected with music, enjoying peculiarsound effect.
Nowadays, poetryis not often sung, but still keeps its musical quality as musicality is called"the soul of poetry."
Poets achievethe musical quality through many means.
Some poetsentitle their poems after music terms, like T.S, Eliot's Four Quartets《四个四重奏》
Do you any ideas about T.S, Eliot?
T.S, Eliot is an famousAmerican poet who won Nobel prize for literature in 1948. A better famous poemby T.S, Eliot is 《The waste land》, but this poem is entitled after the music term.
At the veryfirst sight, T.S.Eliot's Four Quarters(《四个四重奏》)would catchthe readers' eyes with its musical title which provides the poem with thestructural musicality and unity. Originally, Eliot chose. "sonata"(奏鸣曲)as thetitle of the poem; Later, he thought it was too musical, and changed the titleto "Four Quartets" which means that four different poems are combinedinto a new whole.
Other poetsachieve the sound effect through certain musical devices.
musical devices
Rhyme 2. Rhythm 3.Other devices
押韵 节奏 其他技巧
Rhyme
Rhyme (or rime) is the repetition of similar (or the same) sounds atregular intervals. It brings about the melody of a poem.韵指相似的声音或相同的声音按规则的间隔而重复。
Major types of rhyme include:
End rhyme尾韵: rhymefound at the ends of verse lines
e.g. My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhousenear--Robert Frost
The end rhyme of a poem usually follows a pattern which is repeatthroughout the stanzas of the poem. The pattern is called "the rhymescheme."韵式
Internal rhyme行内韵: rhymecontained within a line
e.g. The long light shakes across the lakes. ---Alfred Tennyson
3. Eye rhyme目韵（眼韵）: The rhyming of two words which look as if they'd rhyme, but theydo not rhyme with each other.
e.g. move and love
Rhythm(节奏)
Rhythm of English poem is measured by Meter(the pattern of thestressed and unstressed syllables).英语诗歌的节奏用格律来表示（非重音节和重读音节的排列模式）Certain combinations of these syllables are used in poems. 如果既有非重读音节，又有重读音节连在一起，就是一个组合。One combination is called a Foot 音步(so, meter is thekind of rhythm we can tap our foot to).可以用脚来打声音节奏The beautyof rhythm lies in variation of being strong and weak,fast and slow,thick andthin.节奏的美在于变化有时强，有时弱，有时快，有时慢，有时重，有时轻。
The principal foot formationsor meter types are:主要音步组合或格律类型
a) Iamb (iambic,抑扬格)：o O 小写的o代表非重读（清读）大写的O是重读
Shall I/Compare/thee to/a sum-/mer's day? ---WilliamShakespeare
o O/ o O/ o O / o O / o O
b)Trochee (teochaic ,扬抑格)：O o 先是重读，后是非重读
Tyger!/Tyger!/burning/bright---William Blake
O o / O o / O o / O
c)Anapaest (anapaestic,抑抑扬格）: o o O 轻-轻-重
intervene o o O
d) DactyI (dactylic,扬抑抑格):O o o 重-重-轻
yesterday O o o
e) Spondee (spondaic，扬扬格): day-break O O
f) Monosyllabic foot（单音节）: day O
The number of the footcombinations in a line:音步的数量
monometer(1),dimeter(2),trimeter(3),tetrameter(4),pentameter(5),hexameter(6),heptameter(7),octameter(8)…
Other Musical Devices
The use ofsounds:
Alliteration头韵: repetitionof initial consonant sounds within a line一行之内单词的第一个辅音字母重复。
e.g. lonely lands; first and foremost; safe and sound
Assonance元韵: repetitionof two or more vowels sounds within a line在一行诗内，有两个或两个以上的元音重复
e.g. clasps the crag; free and easy
Alliteration andAssonance combined 头韵和元韵同时出现
e.g. Time and tide; thick and thin
Consonance辅韵（和韵）: repetitionof final consonant sounds within a line一行诗中最后辅音的重复
e.g. short and sweet
Onomatopoeia (拟声 ): the useof a word whose sound suggests its meaning or which imitates the sound made byan object or creature
e.g. I heard aFly buzz—when I died— —Emily Dickinson
（Buzz is actuallyimitating the sound of fly）
We have covered 3 kind of musical devices: 1.Rhyme, 2.Rhythm(节奏), 3. Other musical Devices. let’s look at someexamples of poems.
Reading2 TheEagle: A Fragment 鹰（残篇）
AlfredTennyson(1809—1892)
（Alfred Tennyson was rankamong the greatest English poets largely because his success in using thesound. Where does his success lie in? Have you had anyimpression of eagle should be like? Which part of eagle’s body is impressive toyou? Wings, a eagle can fly high above the sky. Anywhereelse? The claws）
He clasps the crag with crooked hands ; 它用铁钩般的爪子抓住峭壁，
(Which sound repeat again and again? “ K”. This sound sets us the image of what kind of eagle?Strong, powerful, aggressive. How you noticed this isthe crag not the ordinary stone we can find on the road? Why? Crag canusually be found high on the cliffs. It can stand high, fly high. Whether it isanimal or a person, the higher you will be, the lonelier you will feel. What kind of the impression of eagle? Powerful,aggressive, strong, lonely, proud and unyielding.)
Close to the sunin lonely lands , 紧靠太阳却独居孤寂之地，
Ringed with theazure world, he stands. 它屹立在蔚蓝世界的怀抱里
(He stands high,close to the sun, surrounded by the blue sky, high above the sky. How does hefeel? Lonely lands. Here we have the image of eagle, which is very lonely. Whyhe is lonely? We use he rather than it for the eagle. Why he is lonely? When aperson feel lonely, that’s because he is a little bit proud, at the same time,he is unyielding, never give up to anyone or anything. That’s the image ofeagle )
The wrinkled sea beneath himcrawls : 起皱的大海在它身下蠕动，
(Because he isso powerful and influential, even the wrinkled sea beneath him crawls. Why isthe sea wrinkled? The waves. You can seefrom the form of wave are wrinkled, the sea is wrinkled. This is oneexplanation, another one explanation. The sea has been running here for ages,he is already old, wrinkled and influential. Even so, he crawls in front ofthis eagle. The eagle is more powerful,more influential than the old sea.)
He watches from his mountainwalls , 峭壁上它双目炯炯，
(He is veryproud)
And like athunderbolt he falls. 如雷鸣闪电向下冲。
(The word hastwo meanings, which is called pun. Fall means he is really fall from a highplace or die. Whether he falls down or dies, he makes a thunder, that is tosay, he makes a great a great change to the rest of the world. )
How doesTennyson carve the eagle into the reader's minds?
Strong,powerful, influential, lonely, unyielding character.
Sound:
Alliteration: clasps the crag with crooked hands; lonely lands ;
watches...walls
Assonance: clasps the crag
Onomatopoeia: clasps the crag with crookedhands
The rhyme scheme of the stanza韵式: the last word ofeach line. Hands, lands, stands. Crawls, walls, falls. aaa bbb
(The poet stresses his power.)
The metric rhythm: iambic tetrameter
tetrameter 四音步the rhyme of the line: He clasps /the crag/ with croo/ked hands
o O / o O / o O / o O
...
Figures ofspeech
Personification: stands
Pun: wrinkled, falls
…
Actually, Alfred Tennyson is not really portraying ordescribing the eagle, he wrote this poem in memory of the poet's friend, ArthurHallam unexpected death.
Reading3 Sonnet18
WilliamShakespeare(1564—1616)
Shall I comparethee to a summer's day? 我可能把你和夏天相比拟？
Thou art morelovely and more temperate: 你比夏天更可爱更温和；
Rough winds doshake the darling buds of May, 狂风会把五月的花苞吹落地，
And summer'slease hath all too short a date: 夏天也嫌太短促，匆匆而过：
Sometime too hotthe eye of heaven shines, 有时太阳照得太热，
And often is hisgold complexion dimm'd; 常常又遮暗他的金色的脸；
And every fairfrom fair sometime declines, 美的事物总不免要凋落，
By chance, ornature's changing course, untrimm'd; 偶然的，或是随自然变化而流转。
But thy eternalsummer shall not fade 但是你的永恒之夏不会褪色；
Nor losepossession of that fair thou ow'st; 你不会失去你的俊美的仪容；
Nor shall Deathbrag thou wander'st in his shade, 死神不能夸说你在他的阴影里面走着，
When in eternallines to time thou grow'st; 如果你在这不朽的诗句里获得了永生；
So long as mencan breathe or eyes can see, 只要人们能呼吸，眼睛能看东西，
So long livesthis, and this gives life to thee. 此诗就会不朽，使你永久生存下去。
Let’s appreciatethe beauty of the sound.
ShallI/Compare/thee to/a sum-/mer's day?
o O/ o O / o O /o O / o O
Foot formation: iamb(iambic,抑扬格)：o O
The number ofthe foot combinations: pentameter(五音部)
Shall I comparethee to a summer's day? 我可能把你和夏天相比拟？
Thou art morelovely and more temperate: 你比夏天更可爱更温和；
Rough winds doshake the darling buds of May, 狂风会把五月的花苞吹落地，
And summer'slease hath all too short a date: 夏天也嫌太短促，匆匆而过：
（we have a term for astanza or a part of four lines--quatrain）
The rhyme scheme韵式of the first quatrain: abab “day rhyme with May, rate rhyme withdate”
Sometime too hotthe eye of heaven shines, 有时太阳照得太热，
And often is hisgold complexion dimm'd; 常常又遮暗他的金色的脸；
And every fairfrom fair sometime declines, 美的事物总不免要凋落，
By chance, or nature'schanging course, untrimm'd; 偶然的，或是随自然变化而流转。
The rhyme scheme韵式 of thesecond quatrain: cdcd “shines rhyme with declines, dimmed rhyme with untrimmed”
But thy eternalsummer shall not fade 但是你的永恒之夏不会褪色；
Nor losepossession of that fair thou ow'st; 你不会失去你的俊美的仪容；
Nor shall Deathbrag thou wander'st in his shade, 死神不能夸说你在他的阴影里面走着，
When in eternallines to time thou grow'st; 如果你在这不朽的诗句里获得了永生；
The rhyme scheme韵式 of the third quatrain: efef “fade rhyme withshade, ow’st rhyme with grow’st ”
Let’s appreciatethe beauty of the sound.
ShallI/Compare/thee to/a sum-/mer's day?
The rhyme scheme韵式of the couplet对句（双行体）: “see rhyme with thee”, gg
Scanning thePoem（格律分析）
Scanning is the process of examining lines of poetry andbreaking them down into the units compose a poem including the syllable, thefoot and the line.
Five footcombinations with unstressed and stressed syllables(iambic pentameter, 抑扬格五音部);
Three quatrains + a couplet=14 lines (Sonnet, ShakespeareanSonnet), with the rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg
Conclusion:
We have covered3 devices. Rhyme(韵)，rhyme(节奏)，other devices(especially the use of sound), when we put themtogether, it’ll produce certain musical effect.
The MusicalEffects
Through these devices, certain musical effects areachieved, including the above mentioned melody旋律 and rhythm节奏. Moremusical effects are as follows.
Tone Color音色: when the same melody is played by one instrument and then byanother, it takes on different expressive effects because of each instrument'stone color.
Tone color can be ironic, dark, gentle, cheerful, bright,and so on. 音色有时是讽刺，有时是伤心，或暗淡或温和或欢乐或明快。
Changes in tone color create variety and contrast. And acontrast in tone color may be used to highlight a new melody.音色的对比会使一个新的旋律突显出来。
Harmony和声: when instruments of different kinds play the same melody at thesame time, they create harmony.
Cacophony不和谐声: a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds.
Reading 4 When You Are Old 当你年老时
William Butler Yeats(1865-1939) 傅浩 译
When you/ are old/ and grey/ and full/ of sleep. 当你年老，鬓斑，睡意昏沉
o O/ o O / o O / o O/ o O
We are going to listen to the recording with the music asthe conclusion of our lecture today.
When you/ are old/ and grey/ and full/ of sleep. 当你年老，鬓斑，睡意昏沉
And nodding by the fire, take down this book, 在炉旁打盹时，取下这本书，
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look. 慢慢诵读，梦忆从前你双眸
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep; 神色柔和，眼波里倒影深深；
How many loved your moments of glad grace, 多少人爱你风韵妩媚的时光，
And loved your beauty with love false or true, 爱你的美丽出自假意或真情
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, 而唯有一人爱你灵魂的至诚
And loved the sorrows of your changing face. 爱你渐衰的脸上愁苦的风霜：
And bending down beside the glowing bars, 然后垂下头，在炽燃的炉边，
Murmur, a little sadly, how love fled 忧伤地低诉：爱神如何逃走，
And paced upon the mountains overhead 在头顶上的群山巅漫步闲游，
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars. 把他的面孔隐没在繁星中间。
