英国文学诗歌赏析(已整理)

诗歌鉴赏

Sonnet 18 (Book1 P118)

Notes

temperate (2):i.e., evenly-tempered; not overcome by passion. the eye of heaven (5): i.e., the sun.

every fair from fair sometime declines (7): i.e., the beauty (fair) of everything beautiful (fair) will fade (declines).

nature's changing course (8): i.e., the natural changes age brings.

that fair thou ow'st (10):i.e., that beauty you possess. in eternal lines...grow’st (12): The poet is using a grafting metaphor in this line. Grafting is a technique used to join parts from two plants with cords so that they grow as one. Thus the beloved becomes immortal, grafted to time with the poet's cords (his "eternal lines"). For commentary on whether this sonnet is really "one long exercise in self-glorification", please see below.

Figure of Speech

Rhetorical questioning:

The 1st line, to used to create a tone of respect, and to engage the audience

Metaphor:

Shakespeare opens the poem with a metaphor, comparing the woman he loves to all of the best characteristics of a summer's day. When we think about summer, many attributes come to mind, such as warmth, sunshine, fun, and relaxation. It is the opposite of winter and its freezing temperatures, consistent bad weather and bleak skies. Summer represents optimism. Shakespeare goes on to point out that summer has its down side, as well. For instance, sometimes the sun is far too hot. Summer heat can be unbearable. Also, summer days can be fickle, in that they are cloudy when we think they should be warm. Finally, summer days are just too transient. His love may have been confused at this point. Is it beneficial to be compared to a summer's day? Shakespeare sets her mind at rest, however, in explaining that she is far more beautiful and even tempered than the most desirable summer weather.

Personification: It is worth mentioning Shakespeare's use of personification here. He gives the sun an eye, a human attribute, and in the next line, a complexion.

Parallelism（排比）: The final couplet, used to emphasize the message: the beauty of the subject will be immortalized by the power of his art

Theme：A profound meditation on the destructive power of time and the eternal beauty brought

forth by poetry to the one he loves.

A nice summer's day is usually transient, but the beauty in poetry can last for ever. Thus Shakespeare has a faith in the permanence of poetry.

Literature will keep transient beauty ever lasting.

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.

On the surface, the poem is a statement of praise about the beauty of the beloved woman. The beloved's "eternal summer" shall not fade precisely because it is embodied in the sonnet. He

doesn't want her beauty to be compared to a transitory period like summer. Transiency(短暂，稍纵即逝) of time is also the themes of Sonnet 18.The poet does not want the beauty to fade with time. To him, her beauty must be like the eternal summer. Beauty should be appreciated. The best way to preserve her beauty is to keep it in this poem. Actually, the writer wanted to express his view that art can keep the beauty forever. Art not only can make people enjoy the beauty by reading it, but also be a beauty itself. Natural beauty would be knocked out with the passing of the time. Only can the art bring the eternity. For the speaker, love transcends nature. The poet’s love is so powerful that even death is unable to curtail(减少) it. The speaker’s love lives on for future generations to admire through the power of the written word-through the sonnet itself. The final couplet explains that the beloved’s ―eternal summer‖ will continue as long as there are people alive to read this sonnet.

Sonnet 29 (Book1 P119)

2. I all alone beweep my outcast state,

beweep = weep for, bewail; Like bewail and beseem, the word has an archaic and biblical flavour. my outcast state = my condition of being a social outcast. The condition is probably exaggerated for the sake of effect, and to emphasize that the speaker sees everything in a gloomy light. Fortune has turned against him and he feels that he does not belong any more to society.

Figures of Speech

Shakespeare uses literary devices to connect the readers to the poem and possibly his life. Metaphors were used in lines 10-12. In these lines, he compares his love to the lark who sings songs to the heavens. Shakespeare uses this metaphor because he wants to show the reader how happy the thought of his true love makes him feel. Even in the toughest times, the speaker is brightened by the thought of his love and Shakespeare wants to display this to his readers. Shakespeare uses symbolism many times through out the poem, especially in 1-3, 7, 11, and 13. In the first three lines, Shakespeare symbolizes that he is jealous of everything in society. He uses symbolism here because he wants the reader to know that the speaker feels like an outcast compared to the rest of society. In line 7, Shakespeare uses symbolism to describe the skills of other men and their freedom. He uses symbolism in this line because he is describing his wanting of better skills and more freedom. In the eleventh line, the symbolism is that the speaker is describing his lover as a lark. He uses this symbolism because he is portraying that his lover is as lovely as a songbird singing to the heavens. In line 13, the wealth that is brought to the speaker every time he thinks of his lover shows how happy she makes him feel. Shakespeare uses this as symbolism because he is displaying that love his strong enough to pull someone out of their darkest hours. Lastly, personification can be found in line 3. Shakespeare is giving Heaven human like characteristics, such as the ability to hear. He includes this in his sonnet because this adds to the lonesomeness the speaker is feeling, since even God will not answer his wishes. Repetition:―like him‖ and ―mans‖ in lines 6 and 7, This emphasizes that he wants to me like the other men other than remaining like himself

Alliteration: ―think, thee, then‖ in line 11

Rhyme:follows pattern: abab cdcd ebeb ff, ex. ―state, fate, gate‖ and ―brings, kings‖ The use of rhyme is very common in sonnets.

Tone: The tone of this sonnet is melancholy and upset. This melancholy, upset tone shows how

bad the speaker feels. Towards then end of the poem the speaker’s mood changes and so does the tone. The town shifts from melancholy and upset to happy and gracious.

Theme：The theme of Sonnet 29 is to show the importance of love. Money, society, and

possessions are displayed as inferior components of humanity. The speaker changes to embrace the value of love which makes him superior to a king and those of higher social classes.

The theme of this sonnet is the feeling of love can overpower the feelings of self-hate. The poem conveys this theme well because it starts with the speaker talking about how much he dislikes his life. The speaker sites many examples of why this is how he feels. Then the speaker talks about how he by change thinks about his love and it lifts his spirits.

This is one of Shakespeare's more ambiguous sonnets :one does not know who the speaker is referring to or if the word "love"in this sonnet refers to a romantic love or a platonic love. The whole poem expresses the changes of the author's inner feelings,which are from disappoint to hopeful,from negative to positive ,from desperate to affectionate ,from self-abased to confident. discloses the desire of appetite ,lust and power and proposes that appetite is the basic desire, lust has its own duality ,the desire for power is a danger and finally the paper gives

a way to deal with the desires. It is a poem which helps us sense the greatness of love,which is the center of his life,the sunshine on a cloudy day.

Milton On His Blindness (Book 1 P148)

Lines 1-8: Milton gets rather impatient at the thought of his blindness. He is blind in the middle age. Blindness prevents him from using his poetic talent by writing something great to glorify God. He has a keen desire to serve God by using his poetic talent, because he knows that God wants man to use his God-given power or he may be punished. In an impatient mood Milton doubts if God would be just in demanding work from a blind man like him.

Lines 8-14: Milton’s attitude of doubt passes off in a moment. His inner conscience rises up with its faith in God’s justice. He realizes that God does not need man’s work by way of service to him; nor does he care whether man uses His gifts. He is the King of kings; His dominion is over the universe. He has thousands of angels doing His biddings at all times flying over land and sea. He has thousands of others who stand by His throne and sing His praise. The latter too are as good as beloved as the active angels. So, patient submission to His will is the best service to Him.

All the lines in the poem are in iambic pentameter. In this metric pattern, a line has five pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables, for a total of ten syllables. The first two lines of the poem illustrate this pattern.

This sonnet is written in iambic pentameter rhymed in abba abba cde cde, typical of Italian sonnet.

Figures of Speech:

Alliteration: my days in this dark world and wide (line 2)

Metaphor: though my soul more bent / To serve therewith my Maker (lines 3-4). The author compares his soul to his mind.

Personification/Metaphor: But Patience, to prevent / That murmur, soon replies . . . (lines 8-9). Paradox（悖论）: They also serve who only stand and wait.

Theme:

Its theme is that people use their talent for God, and they serve him best so can endure the suffering best. This sonnet is written as a result of Milton’s grief, as he lost his eye sight at his middle age.

God judges humans on whether they labor for him to the best of their ability. For example, if one carpenter can make only two chairs a day and another carpenter can make five, they both serve God equally well if the first carpenter makes his two chairs and the second makes his five. If one carpenter becomes severely disabled and cannot make even a single chair, he remains worthy in the sight of God. For, as Milton says in the last line of the poem, "they also serve who only stand and wait."

Milton decides to rationalize his fear by seeking solutions in his faith.

Byron Sonnet On Chillon(Book2 P28)

This sonnet is essentially of the Italian type, with slight modifications in the riming pattern in the octave (abba, acca, dedede).

The “Sonnet on Chillon”which precedes the tale, is composed in memory of Bonnivard.

Theme: This sonnet is written in praise of liberty, in praise of those who remain true to the

ideals of freedom even when persecuted by their oppressors. It is a protest against the political reaction of that time.

Figures of Speech and Analysis

This poem dramatizes the conflict between liberty and tyranny, specifically in instances where tyrannical forces attempt to squelch liberty by imprisoning those who champion her virtues. The speaker presents a paradox in the beginning of the poem, ―Eternal Spirit of the chainless mind!/Brightest in dungeons, Liberty, thou art,--For there thy habitation is the heart,--‖ (1,2,3). The speaker personifies liberty and explains the paradox as the poem continues. Liberty is described as a living woman whose “sons” (5) are “consigned, to...dayless gloom” (5/6).In this gloom however, ―love of thee alone can bind‖ (4). The speaker creates a long metaphor in which to win, tyranny must make men turn their hearts against their mother.

Sonnet on Chillon is an Italian Sonnet. This form is important because conflict is settled at the end of the octet. After setting up the conflict and paradox, and presenting the metaphor of liberty as a beloved mother who must be betrayed by her children in order for tyranny to triumph, the speaker ends the octet saying ―Their country conquers with their martyrdom, And freedom's fame finds wings on every wind.‖(7/8). Tyranny, by locking up liberty's sons in ―damp vaults‖ (6) succeeds only in creating martyrs whose example inspires the people, leading to their downfall.

The rhyme scheme in the octet follows the pattern of a typical Italian Sonnet, A, B, B, A, B, C, C, B. The first quatrain uses auditory rhymes ―Mind!‖ (1) and ―bind‖ (4), ―art‖ (2) and ―heart‖ (3).

The second quatrain though, is all site rhymes, ―consigned‖ (5) and ―wind‖ (8), ―gloom‖ (6) and ―martyrdom‖ (7). This auditory dissonance forces the reader to slow down by breaking the rhythm of of the poem, making the reader think more about the speaker's message and acknowledge the seriousness of the speakers intent.

After placing the reader in a position of finality, with the conflict already resolved and the speakers views made clear, the use of the Italian Form allows the speaker to continue. T he sextet begins, “Chillon!” (9). The exclamation grabs the readers attention, telling him that the speaker has more to say; “...thy prison is a holy place‖ (9). After using the octet to illustrate what could be a hypothetical situation of tyrannical oppression, the speaker declares boldly as the poem goes on that the situation is real, describing the prison as a ―holy place‖ (9) whose ―altar‖ (10) was consecrated by the ―steps‖ (11) that ―left a trace...as if thy cold pavement were a sod,‖ (11/12). The reader now knows that the prison is real, and that the martyr is real and has been imprisoned so long as to wear through stone by walking upon it's surface. The speaker then names his martyr; ―...Bonnivard!‖ (13).

The sextet follows as simple rhyme scheme, D, E, D, E, D, E with all rhymes being auditory ―place‖ (9) ―trace‖ (11) ―efface‖ (13) and ―trod‖ (10) ―sod‖ (12) ―God‖ (14). The straightforward rhyme scheme, combined with the exclamation points at the beginning of lines 9, 13 and 14 give the sextet a quick rising rhythm that creates excitement, enticing the reader to the speakers cause. The speaker ends with ―For they appeal! From tyranny to God.‖ (14), halting the rising rhythm at a high place and purposely ending both the poem and his appeal to the reader with an appeal to God. The speaker leaves the reader swayed to his cause, if not by the rising fervent pace of the sextet, then by appeal to a higher metaphysical authority.

She Walks in Beauty (Book2 P27)

The poem was inspired by actual events in Byron’s life. Once while at a ball Byron happened upon a beautiful woman, his cousin's wife, as she walked by. It is a narrative poem that describes the woman of much beauty and elegance.

Stanza One

In the first stanza of the poem, we're introduced to the woman the speaker is writing about, and are given a description of the ways she's beautiful. The poem itself is an extended description of that beauty (a common Romantic practice), but it is in this first stanza that we're given the terms of her beauty. Just what is it about this woman that has moved the speaker to write about her? First, let's look at the imagery the speaker associates her with. In the first two lines, we learn that she '…walks in beauty, like the night / Of cloudless climes and starry skies…' That she's associated with a night sky is significant. For Romantics, the measure of a thing's beauty is its nearness to nature. She certainly is near it - she even, as the speaker tells us, has its same way of walking.

As the stanza continues, we see it goes further than that, though. Not only is the woman near nature, but 'all that's best of [n ight's] dark and bright / meet in her aspect and her eyes…' In other words, nature is part of her. She is the place where nature's beautiful features meet and are fused. Furthermore, the stanza closes with the declaration that the mixture of beauty in her eyes in fact attains a level of beauty higher than that which nature bestows on 'gaudy day.' For a Romantic, this is high praise indeed. The speaker has told us that this woman's beauty exceeds that of nature.

Stanza Two

In the second stanza, the speaker extends the beauty 'argument' he's set up in the first. Not only are the woman's features a beautiful mixture of natural elements, they in fact have attained some perfect, delicate balance that the slightest adjustment would upset. He writes, 'One shade the more [or] one ray the less' and her grace would be 'impaired.'

But, as the stanza implies, her grace isn't impaired. Rather her natural elements are arranged in just such a proportion that 'thoughts serenely sweet' can be expressed on them. While this might seem like just more adoration, it in fact is setting up the argument's important final phase, which is that not only is this woman beautiful - her beauty is so perfect that it in fact moves inward. It works into her skin and makes her inner person pure and perfect as well.

Stanza Three

The final stanza, and in particular the last three lines of the final stanza, is where the poet drives home this final claim, that his beloved's outward beauty has enacted within her a kind of inward correctness, or purity. He declares (my italics), 'the smiles that win, the tints that glow / but tell of days in goodness spent…a mind at peace…a heart whose love is innocent.' In other words, her beauty both enacts her purity and is evidence that she was perfect all along, that somehow her beauty was bestowed on her as a kind of affirmation of good character.

Figures of Speech/ Rhetorical Devices

Alliteration occurs frequently to enhance the appeal of the poem to the ear. The most obvious examples of this figure of speech include the following:

Line 2:....cloudless climes; starry skies. Line 6:....day denies Line 8:....Had half Line 9:....Which waves Line 11...serenely sweet Line 14...So soft, so Line 18...Heart Whose

Simile Lines 1, 2:...... comparing the movement of the beautiful woman to the movement of the skies

Metaphor Lines 8-10:...... comparing grace, a quality, to a perceivable phenomenon Metaphor and personification Lines 11-12:.... comparing thoughts to people; metaphor and personification comparing the mind to a home (dwelling-place) Lines 13-16:.... comparing the woman's cheek and brow to persons who tell of days in goodness spent.

Imagery: Light and Darkness(意象)

Byron presents an ethereal portrait of the young woman in the first two stanzas by contrasting white with black and light with shadow in the same way that nature presents a portrait of the firmament—and the landscape below—on a cloudless starlit evening. He tells thereader in line 3 that she combines ―the best of dark and bright‖ (bright here serving as an noun rather than an adjective) and notes that darkness and light temper each other when they meet in her raven hair. Byron's words thus turn opposites into compeers working together to celebrate beauty.

Theme: One of the major theme alludes to woman’s nature:―A mind at peace with all below,/

A heart whose love is innocent‖ (lines 17-18 reflects this theme that the woman’s physical beauty is a reflection of her inner beauty (as Byron has explained before in the second stanza, lines 11,12,13 and 14). ). Byron relates that if her mind is at peace with all, and her heart is full of innocent love. In that sense, Byron is explaining that the inner and outer beauty are reflection and a connection to each other.

The theme of the poem is the woman's exceptional beauty, internal as well as external. The first stanza praises her physical beauty. The second and third stanzas praise both her physical and spiritual, or intellectual, beauty.

Beauty

Lord Byron's poem "She Walks in Beauty" was written in praise of a beautiful woman. History holds that he wrote it for a female cousin, Mrs. Wilmot, whom he ran into at a party in London one night when she was in mourning, wearing a black dress with glittering sequins. The poem uses images of light and darkness interacting to describe the wide spectrum of elements in a beautiful woman's personality and looks.

Unlike common love poetry, which makes the claim that its subject is filled with beauty, this poem describes its subject as being possessed by beauty. This woman does have beauty within her, but it is to such a great degree that she is actually surrounded by it, like an aura. To some extent, her positive attributes create her beauty, and so the poem makes a point of mentioning her goodness, her serenity, and her innocence...

When We Two Parted(Book2 P25)

Theme

1.a love story between a man and a woman, an expression of feelings of hate from the man towards the woman because she left him. It’s a very typical Romantic poem, typical of a Romantic writer like Lord Byron, who expresses his feelings of love, a typical issue of Romanticism.

2.There are two themes; the strong feeling that surround us which is love, (i.e: in the first stanza, in the third verse, ―Half broken-hearted‖, or ―Why wert thou so dear?‖ in the third stanza, fourth verse, ―That thy heart could forget‖ in the fourth stanza, third verse).

Also a big betrayal based on a deceit, (i.e: in the second stanza, fifth verse ―Thy vows are all broken‖ or ―Thy spirit deceive‖ fourth stanza, fourth verse. In fact, there is a previous theme that is the regret caused by the themes mentioned before. This theme is showed during the poem: tears, sorrow (first stanza, second and eight verse), shudder, rue ( third stanza, third and seventh verse), ―Too deeply to tell‖, (third stanza, eigth verse); ―I grieve‖, tears (fourth stanza, second and eight verse).

Tone：The poem’s tone is very gloomy because it refers always to a strong regret, the poet

feels sad and repentance, in fact the mood is very dramatic.

Structure: The poem is written in the first person。

The poem contains four stanzas of eight verses each one. There are, also, four kinds of rhyme in each stanza. In the first four verses of each stanza, odd verses have a rhyme, and even verses have

another rhyme, and this method is used by the writer in the last four verses of each stanza with a rhyme for each pair of verses as I said before.

The poem is structured in four stanzas of eight verses each one. The poem’ structure is the following; a-b-a-b-c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f-g-h-g-h … I think that the poem is an octave.

Inside the poem we can observe several images that help us to imagine the different situations which Byron transmit to us, i.e; ―Pale grew thy cheek and cold‖( 1st stanza), with that, Byron show us the goodbye’s indifference. Also he uses metaphors to express the feelings, i.e. ―Half broken-hearted‖ ―Colder thy kiss‖(1st stanza), ―And light is thy fame‖( 2nd stanza), ―Thy spirit deceive‖ (4th stanza) ...

Figures of Speech

1)Imagery: visually descriptive or figurative language―The dew of the morning suck chill on my brow‖

2) Metaphor: a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable―And light is thy fame‖

3)Personification: the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an ab stract quality in human form―That thy heart could forget‖

Images(Figures of Speech in it)

The cold is a very important metaphorical element at the beginning of the second and the third stanzas: The dew of the morning/ Sunk chill on my brow: here the cold is shown as a metaphor of the feelings that the man has towards the woman, as it happens too in A knell to mine ear/A shudder comes o’er me: dew, chill, knell and shudder are words that symbolize cold in many different ways.

In the last stanza, the two first verses have two words that may be synonyms, but they mean a totally different thing, they are the contrast of the poem: In secret we met, here Byron wants to transmit the passion of two lovers in their first secret encounter.

And In silence I grieve symbolizes that nobody can help this man to come back to smile after having been left by the woman he loved. The two following verses, That thy heart could forget/ Thy spirit deceive say what she made him: she forgot him and she deceived him.

I wandered Lonely as a Cloud

1. The poem is 24 lines long, consisting of four six-line stanzas. Each stanza is formed by a quatrain. And the poet also makes great use of the ―music‖of the language to achieve sound beauty in addition to convey meaning. He employs mascu line rhyme in ―a, b, a, b, c, c‖ pattern to receive emphasis as a musical effect The poet wandered lonely as a cloud at the very beginning of the poem, we can feel his depression and disconsolateness as a cloud. Then he encountered a host of golden daffodi ls ―fluttering and dancing in the breeze‖ and his loneliness turns into relaxation and joy. Thus the shift of the poet’s mood from sadness to happiness. It was inspired by an event on 15 April 1802, in which Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy came across a "long belt" of daffodils.

2. Wordsworth later said “They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude”were the two best lines in the poem, recalling the "tranquil restoration" of Tintern Abbey,（Tintern Abbey is an abbey abandoned in 1536 and located in the southern Welsh county of Monmouthshire. Wordsworth first visited Tintern Abbey in 1793 when he was 23 years old. Five

years later he revisited the place with his sister Dorothy. From the beautiful natural scene he meditates on the effect of nature on the growth of his mind.）

3. manifests the theme --- the great influence of nature upon human being. It is a poem about nature. We come to realize the great power of nature at the delight moment his heart ―with pleasure fills ‖. The poet fully appreciated the cheerful sight of the dancing daffodils. The image of "Dance" is distinct in the poem, almost throughout the whole Psalm: the dancing daffodils in the first stanza; The sheer number of daffodils in stanza II the sparkling waves and the dancing daffodils jointly drew into a pleasing scene in stanza III .

The Solitary Reaper

"The Solitary Reaper" is a ballad by English Romantic poet William Wordsworth, and one of his best-known works.

'"The Solitary Reaper is one of Wordsworth's most famous post-Lyrical Ballads lyrics.[1] The words of the reaper's song are incomprehensible to the speaker, so his attention is free to focus on the tone, expressive beauty, and the blissful mood it creates in him. The poem functions to 'praise the beauty of music and its fluid expressive beauty, the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" that Wordsworth identified at the heart of poetry.'

Genre:：lyric poem 抒情诗

four 8-line stanzas共四节每节八句

ababccdd (except lines 1 & 3 In stanzas 1 and 4)

Meters ：iniambic tetrameter四音步抑扬格

FIGURES OF SPEECH

反衬用夜莺和杜鹃反衬少女歌声的优美

暗喻、通感声音在作者眼中变为有形的事物

呼语BEHOLD HER /O LISTEN

反复同源词反复

类比少女的歌声与夜莺和杜鹃的歌唱诗人与旅人及赫布里群岛

象征MOUNT UP THE HILL象征着人生的旅途

THEME : The poet is fascinated with a Scottish peasant girl’s beautiful song.

Stanza 1: The poet heard a Scottish girl singing while reaping in the wheat field.恰似在I

Wandered Lonely as a Cloud（《咏水仙》）里。用例如lonely, wander, cloud,solitary, highland,alone,

melancholy等词语表达一种孤独感。

Stanza 2: The poet is surprised to hear such a beautiful song in so remote a place.

Stanza 3: The poet doesn’t understand her song but knows it is about something sad.

Stanza 4: The poet was so moved by her song that he could never forget it. healing effect（愈合）。

The World Is Too Much with Us

"The World Is Too Much with Us" is a sonnet by the English Romantic poet William Wordsworth. In it, Wordsworth criticizes the world of the First Industrial Revolution for being absorbed in materialism and distancing itself from nature.It reflects his view that humanity

must get in touch with nature to progress spiritually.The rhyme scheme of this poem is a-b-b-a, a-b-b-a, c-d-c-d, c-d. This Italian sonnet uses the last six lines (sestet) to answer the first eight lines (octave). The first eight lines (octave) are the problem and the next six (sestet) is the solution.

Metaphor

The metaphor ―we have given our hearts away, a sordid boon‖ is also a paradox. Sordid suggests the worst aspects of human nature such as immorality, selfishness and greed, while a boon is something that functions as a blessing or benefit.

The contradiction between the meanings of the words suggests that materialism is a destructive and corrupt blessing which the industrial revolution has produced. It emphasises the tension between the good exterior and the sordid truth behind materialism. On an exterior level, material goods bring pleasure and are a symbol of man’s progress; however, in truth, they feed the worst aspects of humanity: thus a "sordid boon."

Sonnet form

As in many sonnets by the Romantic poets, he creates a tension between the emotional, natural, and fluid themes explored in the poem and the structured form of the sonnet. This tension reflects what was occurring during the Romantic Era, in which artists and poets were rebelling in the structured world of the neoclassical period.

Employing the familiar with the new and revolutionary-Wordsworth uses the familiar structure of the sonnet as well as referring to familiar ancient Gods (in the authors context they would have been familiar) to persuade the reader to engage in a positive way to the concepts addressed. The unfamiliar or unknown is always feared and suppressed thus by incorporating the familiar with the revolutionary the r eader in the 19th century is more likely to engage positively with Wordsworth’s message.

Repetition and rhyming scheme

The repetitive rhyme scheme ABBAABBA, and the use of word pairs such as ―getting and spending‖ and ―late and soon‖ emphasi zes the monotonous nature of modern life and materialism. Getting and spending is a cluster of longer emphasized words with many consonants, also possibly emphasizing this view.

In essence, materialism is just that getting and spending: it is devoid of emotion or a true fulfilling purpose. In many ways the stereotypes of man and woman mirror the difference between the neoclassical and romantic period between civilized and nature. Men in this context are associated with rationality, strength, order and power, whereas women are associated with emotion and the imagination.

Music and harmony

The line, "For this, for everything we are out of tune" implies that man is out of tune with nature, unable to live in harmony with the world around him. By describing the harmonious relationship of man and nature as a tune, Wordsworth evokes a sensuous experience of nature.

Collective pronouns

Wordsworth uses the words "we" and "us." This includes the reader, once again positioning the reader to engage with the poem.

Imagery

In the simile "and are up gathered now like sleeping flowers," sleeping flowers suggest that man is numb and unaware of the beauty and power of the natural world. At the same time, however, there

is also a certain optimism: the image of sleeping flowers implies that humans are only dormant, and that there is some hope we will wake up and realise the power of nature.

Punctuation

The poem's many commas and semicolons create pauses that instill reflection in the reader. In each pause the reader is given space to contemplate and engage with the message.

解析：―Getting and spending, we lay waste to our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours‖ (1-2) Wordsworth compares obtaining and spending to nature because nature cannot be owned regardless of the price. The juxtaposition illustrates the purity of nature in its inability to be owned and the greed of consumerism in its drive to own all. The word ―power‖ in first line is a reference to the connection through nature that is lost by acquiring and spending. Wordsworth specifically capitalizes the word nature in the middle of the sentence to illustrate its importance in a consumerist society. Though things in nature might be obtained or even used by man, they will always belong to nature.

Upset by the loss of his connection to na ture, Wordsworth exclaims, ―We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!‖ (3) This exclamation shows that through excessive consumerism man has given away its heart, the life sustaining force within, which Wordsworth says is a filthy blessing. Wordsworth uses the word sordid which means dirty or filthy, next to the word boon which means a blessing, to illustrate the dirtiness of consumerism in comparison to the blessing purity of nature. Wordsworth continues by demonstrating that through mankind’s growing greed, both nature and men have been thrown out of sync, ―The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; For this, for everything we are out of tune; It moves us not.‖ (5-8) Wordsworth clearly states that man is out of tune with nature and that the beauty of nature can no longer move the human soul. When the celestial light of nature is doused by the greed of consumerism, nature fails to move mankind emotionally. This severely upsets Wordsworth and the poet crie s out, ―Great God! I’d rather be a Pagan suckled in a creed outworn, So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn‖ (9-11) To say such an audacious statement in 1888 evokes shock and Wordsworth uses this shock to illustrate the severity of his plight. The creed outworn referred to by Wordsworth is the Christian tradition that has failed to provide a solution to his problem. Wordsworth would do anything to reconnect to nature, even if that meant the certain persecution of becoming a Pagan in the late 1800’s.

The final two lines of Wordsworth’s sonnet conclude with the final warning,―Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn‖ (12-13) Wordsworth makes an allusion to the Greek God Proteus to symbolize the transforming power of nature while referring to Triton, the messenger of the deep, to symbolize the sound of his warning. Wordsworth illustrates through his sonnet that while man is consistently surrounded by material goods and possessions, it is nature in its purity and inability to be owned that the soul is truly inspired.

Composed Upon Westminster Bridge

The dominating theme in the poem is Nature.This reiterates（重申）

his conviction that the city, at this particular point of day, does not clash with nature but becomes a part of it. The poet transmits to the readers the calm and the tranquility（宁静）

described in his poem. In Wordsworth's poem, it is the sight that emerges, while the hearing is abs ent. In Wordsworth's poem, London shows clean air and the sun illuminates the whole city. Wordsworth brings the scenery around him to life. Wordsworth personifies the Earth by giving it a capital letter, and describing it as having the ability to "show". He also personifies the city, by des cribing it as wearing the morning beauty "like a garment". The image of the sun is powerful, as it i s referred to as "he", with actions described by diction such as "steep". This diction creates the ima ge of sunlight slowly submerging into the Earth's splits. The river is personified when it is describ ed as having its "own sweet will", and the houses are personified by their description of being asle ep. Lastly, the city itself is personified with the line "and all that mighty heart is lying still". These personifications again help us to draw the conclusion that Wordsworth is considering a sleeping cit y as part of nature. The compact description of London in lines six and seven emphasize the comp actness of the city, and long vowel sound emphasize the calm feeling of the occasion.

The description "bright and glittering in the smokeless air" creates a distinct image of the clarity of the morning. Despite this excitement, prevalent in this poem is a sense of calmness. He uses imagery, to make the city come alive before the reader's eyes. The passionate picture that the poem paints is a memory that calms and placates. The spondaic substitution or successive accented syllables lends emphasis to the emotional feeling that strikes the poet. This paradox is introduced through the image of dress, which the rhymes of the octave highlight: the city is fair (beautiful) because it wears "like a garment" the natural beauty of the morning; but wearing the beauty of the morning in fact means that the city is bare (naked): what it wears is just "the smokeless air". The paradox is carried over and developed further in the sestet.The city is now more beautiful and more alive than nature itself, but this is only so because it is steeped in the light of the sun and is thus deep asleep. The rhyming words steep –deep –asleep highlight these connections. As opposed to the city, which is "lying still", the natural parts of the landscape, the sunlight, the "valley, rock, or hill" as well as the river are now active, they dominate over the sleeping city, as is emphasized by the rhyming words hill –at their will –lying still.The city, represented in the last line by the metaphor of the heart, is thus alive because it is dead, because it is inactive and is dominated by its natural environment.The thematic development of the poem is seconded by the rhythms. The enjambments in the octave(八度) express the boundless admiration for this beautiful sight, the overflowing emotion of the poet. One function of this metrical development is clearly to mark the end of the poem. Apart from this, however, the clear iambic rhythm also functions here on another level. the iambic rhythm gives us a strong sense of the beating of a heart.The city now is "lying still", it is dead, it is not itself, it is dominated by its natural environment; and it is precisely because of this that it can come to life: the mighty heart begins to beat only when it is lying still.

Expostulation and Reply

―Expostulation and Reply‖ tells of a brief encounter between the poet and his friend Matthew. Why, Matthew asks in his expostulation (an attempt to reason with a person in order to turn him away from a course ofaction), does Wordsworth spend so much time at the lake, musing, when he could be reading books to educate himself? Wordsworth, one of the leaders of the Romantic Movement in literature, replies with an answer that reflects hisphilosophy: Nature nurtures the mind with a wisdom of its own. A man has only to sit passively in its presence, and it will

stimulate his senses in profound ways. The idea that nature is a teacher is the theme of the poem and one of the tenets of the Romantic Movement in literature.

Figures of Speech

Alliteration

As if you were her first-born birth (line 11)

To me my good friend Matthew spake (line 15)

We cannot bid the ear be still; (line 18)

"Think you, 'mid all this mighty sum (line 25) Anaphora

As if she for no purpose bore you;

As if you were her first-born birth

Metaphor and Paradox(矛盾)

Up! up! and drink the spirit breathed

From dead men to their kind. (lines 7-8)

Metaphor: Comparison of spirit to a liquid and to knowledge

Paradox: Dead men breathing

Metaphor and Personification

Where are your books?—that light bequeathed

To Beings else forlorn and blind! (lines 5-6)

Comparison of progress (implied) to light

Comparison of light to a person. (Only a human can bequeath.)

Personification

You look round on your Mother Earth,

As if she for no purpose bore you

Comparison of earth to a woman

Meter

The meter of the first three lines of each stanza is iambic tetrameter, with eight syllables (four iambic feet) per line except when an extra syllable occurs at the end of a line. (An iambic foot consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.) The extra syllable at the end of a line constitutes a foot, turning an iambic-tetrameter line into an iambic-pentameter with catalexis. The meter of the fourth line of stanzas 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8 is is iambic trimeter, with six syllables (three iambic feet) in the line. The meter of the fourth line of stanzas 3 and 7 is iambic tetrameter with catalexis occurring in the fourth foot.

Summary, Stanzas 1-2

Matthew asks a simple question: Why is William wasting his time daydreaming?

After asking another question, Matthew presents the expostulation (an attempt to reason with a person in order to turn him away from a course of action): Books contain wisdom (light)passed on (bequeathed) to people who would otherwise be uneducated (forlorn and blind). Get up and read (drink) the ideas (spirit) that wise men wrote and published (breathed) before they died.

Summary, Stanzas 3-5

Matthew continues the expostulation, telling William that Mother Earth has a purpose for him, implying that he should act to fulfill it. After all, he is not the first person on earth. He can take a step toward his goal by learning from books written by those born before him.

William reports the poem's setting, reveals his feeling that life is going well, identifies the man who spoke to him, and announces that he will reply.

A person sees, hears, and feels what is around him, whether he wants to or not. In other words, nature speaks to him.

Summary, Stanzas 6-8

In addition—a person's intuition, his God-given inner voice—also speaks to him, feeding his mind as nature does. Thus, a man can learn passively, without acting.

The poet now asks a question: Do you think that people must always seek knowledge in books even though the totality of nature and intuition are forever speaking to them? The implied answer is no.

Matthew thus should not ask why William is sitting on a stone, dreaming. For William is listening to nature and intuition—and therefore learning in his own way.

In the

poem, a duke speaks about his dead wife. The poem is about murder, mystery and intrigue, but

All in indirect allusions.

Readers may sense that the duke kills his wife or causes her death, but no evidence is shown. The l anguage of the poem is difficult to understand. The use of dramatic monologue forces readers to w ork hard to find the meaning behind the duke's words.

My Last Duchess

Summary This poem is loosely based on historical events involving Alfonso, the Duke of

Ferrara, who lived in the 16th century. The Duke is the speaker of the poem, and tells us he is ente rtaining an emissary who has come to negotiate the Duke’s marriage (he has recently been widowe d) to the daughter of another powerful family. As he shows the visitor through his palace, he stops before a portrait of the late Duchess, apparently a young and lovely girl. The Duke begins reminis cing about the portrait sessions, then about the Duchess herself. His musings give way to a diatribe on her disgraceful behavior: he claims she flirted with everyone and did not appreciate his ―gift of a nine-hundred-years- old name.‖ As his monologue continues, the reader realizes with ever-more chilling certainty that the Duke in fact caused the Duchess’s early demise: when her behavior esca lated, ―[he] gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together.‖ Having made this disclosure, the Duke returns to the business at hand: arranging for another marriage, with another young girl. As t he Duke and the emissary walk leave the painting behind, the Duke points out other notable artwo rks in his collection.

Form―My Last Duchess‖ comprises rhyming pentameter lines. The lines do not employ

end-stops; rather, they use enjambment—gthat is, sentences and other grammatical units do not ne cessarily conclude at the end of lines. Consequently, the rhymes do not create a sense of closure w hen they come, but rather remain a subtle driving force behind the Duke’s compulsive revelations. The Duke is quite a performer: he mimics others’ voices, creates hypothetical situations, and uses t he force of his personality to make horrifying information seem merely colorful. Indeed, the poem provides a classic example of a dramatic monologue: the speaker is clearly distinct from the poet;

an audience is suggested but never appears in the poem; and the revelation of the Duke’s character is the poem’s primary aim.

Commentary

But Browning has more in mind than simply creating a colorful character and placing him in a pict uresque historical scene. Rather, the specific historical setting of the poem harbors much significa nce: the Italian Renaissance held a particular fascination for Browning and his contemporaries, for it represented the flowering of the aesthetic and the human alongside, or in some cases in the plac e of, the religious and the moral. Thus the temporal setting allows Browning to again explore sex, violence, and aesthetics as all entangled, complicating and confusing each other: the lushness of th e language belies the fact that the Duchess was punished for her natural sexuality. The Duke’s ravi ngs suggest that most of the supposed transgressions took place only in his mind. Like some of Br owning’s fellow Victorians, the Duke sees sin lurking in every corner. The reason the speaker here gives for killing the Duchess ostensibly differs from that given by the speaker of ―Porphyria’s Lo ver‖ for murder Porphyria; however, both women are nevertheless victims of a male desire to insc ribe and fix female sexuality. The desperate need to do this mirrors the efforts of Victorian society to mold the behavior—gsexual and otherwise—gof individuals. For people confronted with an inc reasingly complex and anonymous modern world, this impulse comes naturally: to control would s eem to be to conserve and stabilize. The Renaissance was a time when morally dissolute men like the Duke exercised absolute power, and as such it is a fascinating study for the Victorians: works li ke this imply that, surely, a time that produced magnificent art like the Duchess’s portrait couldn’t have been entirely evil in its allocation of societal control—geven though it put men like the Duke in power.

A poem like ―My Last Duchess‖ calculatedly engages its readers on a psychological level. Becaus e we hear only the Duke’s musings, we must piece the story together ourselves. Browning forces h is reader to become involved in the poem in order to understand it, and this adds to the fun of readi ng his work. It also forces the reader to question his or her own response to the subject portrayed a nd the method of its portrayal. We are forced to consider, Which aspect of the poem dominates: th e horror of the Duchess’s fate, or the beauty of the language and the powerful dramatic developme nt? Thus by posing this question the poem firstly tests the Victorian reader’s response to the moder n world—git asks, Has everyday life made you numb yet?—gand secondly asks a question that m ust be asked of all art—git queries, Does art have a moral component, or is it merely an aesthetic e xercise? In these latter considerations Browning prefigures writers like Charles Baudelaire and Oscar Wilde.

多恩(2)Lucy

1.Song

Go, and catch a falling star,

（Theme：Negative view about love. Content: The whole poem focus on the argument of whether beautiful women will be loyalty to love. In the first stanza, he use 6 impossible things to clarify his view that such women who both beautiful and loyalty do not exist in the world. In the second stanza, he describes the journey of a man who was born to strange sights and sware that there were no women true, and fair. In the last stanza, he agreed that it would be sweet if there were women true, and fair, but he won’t change his belief that there exist no women who are both

true and fair. Figures of Speech: 第一节中用了imperative sentence祈使句，像在对话；metaphor将找到美丽而忠贞的女子比作第一节中的做那些离奇怪诞的事

）2.Valediction: Forbidding Mourning:

（Theme:farewell and love. Content:In the first two stanzas the departure of the lovers is compared with the death of virtuous men. Then, he clarify that their love is high to the soul and the body departure cannot influence them any more. Their two souls are united into one which is just like the compasses, separated but never really divided. Finally he asked his wife to take care of the family so that he can complete his missions without worries ,just like the moving compass complete a full circle with the help of the fixed one. Figures of Speech: comparison高尚男人的死和他们的分离；metaphor把他们融合的灵魂比作圆规

Comments:Donne's basic argument was that most people's relationships are built on purely sensual things - if they are not together at all times, the relationship breaks down. Donne asserts that the love between him and his wife is different - it is not a purely sensual relationship, but something deeper, a "love of the mind" rather than a "love of the body". This love, he says, can endure even though sometimes the lovers cannot be close to each other at all times.

Donne uses some very evocative imagery in this poem. First of all, the parting of two lovers like Donne and his wife is likened to the death of a virtuous man. As a virtuous man dies, he knows that he has reconciled himself to God and will therefore be accepted into heaven. Thus he dies in peace and calm, and the people surrounding him at his deathbead are sad, but not anguished. In the same way, when two virtuous lovers part, there is no pain, because they know that each will be true to the other, even when they are apart. The people surrounding the dying man are quiet partly

so as not to disturb him - in the same way, Donne says that too much outward show of emotion on the part of one lover would just disturb the other.

Donne is then very disparaging of the love of the rest of the population. The wails and screams and tears that "ordinary" lovers display when they must part is shown to be simply an act, with no real emotion in it.

The lovers are then likened to planetary bodies. In such a way, Donne places them above the "mortal earth". Unlike natural disasters, which are unpredictable and chaotic, the movement of the planets is peaceful and calm, even though the planets move much further.

Donne's most famous conceit is then introduced. The two lovers are likened to the two points of a compass. At first this seems ridiculous, but Donne shows how it makes sense. The idea of the wife staying and minding the house while the husband goes away is old-fashioned now, but we can still comprehend it. There is a lot more explanation of the "compass" conceit below.

Poetic Devices

Ballad - like four-line stanzas help to create the gently, slowly moving "feel" of the poem. The rhyme scheme is consistent and predictable all the way through, as well. The "mood" of this poem is in direct contrast to that of "The Apparition" , which is very much "raw emotion". Here there is emotion, but it is confined to the "layetie"-the ordinary lovers who cannot stand parting. Conceits used:

Donne and wife > celestial bodies > the points of a compass.

The wedding ring > the path of a planet > the alchemical symbol for gold > the path traced out by a compass

The emotions of the common people > earthquakes and tempests

Imagery / References to Donne's learning

The circle

Marriage ring

Path of the planets (Trepidation of the spheres)

Alchemical symbol for gold was a circle with a point in the centre

Path described by a compass.

Very broad range of knowledge displayed:

Planetary trepidation

Earthquakes, the love of "sublunary lovers"

Properties of gold - Gold is very malleable which means it can be beaten to ayery thinnesse. The symbolism of gold is very important, as it is also the most precious of all the metals. It is also the least reactive of all metals, which ties in with Donne's placing of the lovers above the emotional layetie. In terms of alchemy, gold is also the most noble metal, and the most difficult to destroy. Compass imagery and use.

Generally

There is a lot to learn in this poem, so take it slowly...

The two lovers are their own self-sustaining universe. They have no need of anyone else, as they are made perfect by their perfect love.

The compass and the cirle together formed the Renaissance symbol for eternal perfection.

The first stanza, along with the standard rhyme scheme and structure already mentioned, contains a lot of sibilants[words beginning with "s"] to create a soft, gentle atmosphere. EGsome of their sad friends,whisper to their soules.

Prophanation of our joyes... layetie our love - The use of "prophanation" and "layetie" elevates the lovers to the status of a superior priesthood. Ties in with the idea of the lovers as planets being above the Earth, and the purity of gold being superior to impure emotions.

(Whose soule is sense) - the brackets here indicate casuality: other people's love is really of no importance to Donne.

A love, so much refin'd. "refin'd" here implies pure love, but it also ties in with the "pure element" (gold) imagery that Donne uses throughout the poem. Also the pure "substance", water, is used obliquely: the imagery evoked by so let us melt, for example, is that of one substance slowly becoming two. This image is evoked again in Stanza 5 with Inter-assured of the mind.

Endure not yet / A breach... - there is some confusion over the word "yet", which seems to imply that eventually there will be a breach. Perhaps this relates to the title and the first stanza, and implies that the only way the lovers can be parted is by death.

And growes erect, as it comes home... - not only does this tie in with the imagery of the compass closing and the two points coming together, but the use of "erect" also implies the emotional buildup of expectation and joy when the two lovers are together again. Since he is quick to denounce the obsession of the layetie with "sense", there is probably no implied sexual connotation.

Double meanings abound. Take the lines Thy firmnesse makes my circle just,/ And makes me end, where I begunne.. Here the compass is doing two different things, and both have significance. "End where I begunne" implies the completition of a circle as drawn by a compass; only through his wife's stability in the centre, Donne argues, can his circle be drawn correctly. However "End where I begunne" also implies the closing of the compass - and Donne coimg home to be with his wife.）

雪莱(1)

3.Ode to the West Wind

（theme: life, freedom,

济慈(1) Lucy

4.Ode on a Grecian Urn

（theme: immorality of the urn and relations between beauty and truth. Content:In the first stanza, the speaker stands before an ancient Grecian urn and addresses it.He wonders about the figures on the side of the urn and asks what legend they depict and from where they come. He looks at a picture that seems to depict a group of men pursuing a group of women and wonders what their story could be.In the second stanza, the speaker looks at another picture on the urn, this time of a young man playing a pipe, lying with his lover beneath a glade of trees.He tells the youth that, though he can never kiss his lover because he is frozen in time, he should not grieve, because her beauty will never fade.In the third stanza, he looks at the trees surrounding the lovers and feels happy that they will never shed their leaves.In the fourth stanza, the speaker examines another picture on the urn, this one of a group of villagers leading a heifer to be sacrificed.He imagines their little town, empty of all its citizens, and tells it that its streets will “for evermore”be silent, for those who have left it, frozen on the urn, will never return.In the final stanza, the speaker again addresses the urn itself, saying that it, like Eternity, “doth tease us out of thought.”He thinks that when his generation is long dead, the urn will remain, telling future generations its enigmatic

lesson: “Beauty is truth, truth beauty.”The speaker says that that is the only thing the urn knows and the only thing it needs to know. Figures of Speech: metonymy借代,如silent form指urn；metaphor暗喻，如把urn比作Cold Pastoral；personification拟人；contrast，如有声和无声的笛音，truth and beauty）

丁尼生Lucy

5.Break, Break, Break

（theme: mourn for friend’s untimely death. Content: The poet stands at the seaside, watching the sea waves hit the stones and break like his heart. He looks at the lively fisherman’s boy and listens to songs of the sailor, but he could not help feeling grieved inside his heart. Figures of Speech:pun双关，break既指浪花碎，也指诗人的心碎了；contrast海边充满活力的景象与好友的死亡；parallelism，三个break连用模拟浪花拍岸，也表现了作者心碎的状态）

布莱德(6)Helen

6.Songs of Innocence-The Chimney Sweeper

Theme: protest the living conditions, working conditions, and the overall treatment of young chimney sweepers in the cities of England; sympathy for the young chimney sweepers.

Figures of speech: partial tone, symbolism, irony

The first stanza tells the narrator's life story: abandoned by parents, working in the dark chimney and sleeping in dark, dirty soot. Probably it's the reflection of all the little chimney sweepers' life story. In the third line, the cry "'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!" is actually the child's attempt at saying "Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!", which was the chimney sweeper's street cry. Such use of the partial tone creates an ironic effect. It makes readers feel that the chimney children are wee ping for their living and working conditions.

The poem goes on to talk about Tom Dacre, one of the narrator's fellows in the second and third st anzas. The second stanza introduces Tom Dacre, who acts as a foil to the speaker. Tom is upset ab out his lot in life, then the narrator comforts little Tom, shaving his curl white hair and getting bare , so that he needn't worry that his hair would get spoiled until Tom falls asleep. Here Tom's family name "Dacre" is a homophone for the word "dark". I think the author has some implication here. It indicates the darkness of chimney sweepers' working and living condition. He dreams of the other chimney sweepers being locked in black coffins, symbolic of sweepers' lives, being poor outcasts in society and having stained unwashed skin and often disfigured bodies.

In next three stanzas, the poem describes Tom's dream. He dreams of an angel opening the coffins and freeing the sweepers. It shows the freeing of Tom and other sweeps from the oppressive lifesty le. The reference to being white and the bags being left behind represents a complete escape from t his oppression including the soot stained skin and the bags of tools and soot which they carried by day and on which they slept at night.

When the angel tells Tom that ―if he’d be a good boy, He’d have God for his father and never want joy‖, he gives Tom hope that if he is good and does his job, God will be his father and bless him i n the next life.

Beside the image of the Angel is quite ironic too. The bright angel with a bright key exposes religi on as exploiting the credulous children, rather than protecting them or rescuing them.

To conclude, in this poem, the chimney sweepers are offered hope by the outcome of Tom Dacre’s dream. The narrator offers comfort that if they are obedient and do their duty, all will be well. Also , Tom is used to illustrate another point. He is originally frightened but later feels ―happy and war m‖, showing that he is in the state of innocence and is unaware that he is a victim.

7.Songs of Experience-The Chimney Sweeper(B1，P289)

(Theme: This poem protest the living working and conditions, and the overall treatment of young

chimney sweepers in the cities of England; also it expresses sympathy for these young chimney sweepers.

Content: In the first two lines, Blake gives us an image of an anguished child in a state of agony. In the second stanza, the child is pictured in a very more happier and playful mood. This soon changes when he decides to tell the stranger more about his parents. They are showed to be punishing their child for being so happy by "clothing in clothes of death and teaching him to sing notes of woe." It is very obvious the sweeper’s feels hate towards his parents for putting him in such sadness, but instead he chooses to hide it by making himself look happy and satisfied. It is clear in the last Stanza that Blake’s criticizing the Church, especially, and the state for letting a lot of these things happen. During this time many children were dying from being, either, worked to death or from malnutrition. Neither the state or the church did anything to stop this and is obviously why Blake feels so much anger towards them. The sweeper’s parents are really no help towards their own child. This makes the reader wonder, if they are worshiping god, the source of good doings, why do they chose to ignore their own child. They would rather turn their heads the other way and instead find love at church.

Figures of speech:

partial tone:T he cry "'weep! 'weep! " is actually the child's attempt at saying "Sweep! Sweep! ‖,wh ich was the chimney sweeper's direct cry. The use of the partial tone creates an ironic effect. It makes readers feel that the chimney children are weeping for their living and working conditions.

symbolism,

Contrast:In the first two lines, t he color black seems to be very important because it is used to represent sin against innocence, the color of the white snow.)

升天节Holy Thursday -- From Songs of Innocence

Theme:

portrays unfortunate children as blessings to society and shows their gratitude towards God for all that he has done.

Figures of speech: simile, metaphor, symbolism

Blake tries to express an optimistic and hopeful image of innocent children singing to Christ on the day of ascension. The poem’s rhythm is playful and childish and effectively carries out Blake’s image.

In the first four lines, colorful children are marching into St Paul’

s cathedral for the celebration of the ascension of Christ. From the footnote, one learns that these c hildren are from the charity schools in London, meaning that they are very poor and probably don ’t have a family. Despite their hardships, the children are still described in a joyful, harmonic way