Edgar Allan Poe.docx

1、Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)1.Poes parents were touring actors; both died before he was 3 years old, and he was taken into the home of John Allan, his foster father a prosperous merchant in Richmond, Va., and baptized Edgar Allan Poe.2. In 1826 he entered the University of Virginia but

2、 stayed for only a year. Although a good student, he ran up large gambling debts that Allan refused to pay. Allan prevented his return to the university and broke off Poes engagement to Sarah Elmira Royster, his Richmond sweetheart.3Temporarily reconciled, Allan secured Poes release from the army an

3、d his appointment to West Point but refused to provide financial support. After 6 months Poe apparently contrived to be dismissed from West Point for disobedience of orders.4.Poe next took up residence in Baltimore with his widowed aunt, Maria Clemm, and her daughter, Virginia, and turned to fiction

4、 as a way to support himself, and married Virginia, who was not yet 14 years old5. Poe published fiction, notably his most horrifying tale, Berenice, in the Messenger, but most of his contributions were serious, analytical, and critical reviews that earned him respect as a critic. He praised the you

5、ng Dickens and a few other contemporaries but devoted most of his attention to devastating reviews of popular contemporary authors.6.His theory of short fiction is best exemplified in Ligeia莱琪儿(1838), the tale Poe considered his finest, and The Fall of the House of Usher (1839), which was to become

6、one of his most famous stories. Whether or not Poe invented the short story, it is certain that he originated the novel of detection.7. Virginias death in January 1847 was a heavy blow, but Poe continued to write and lecture. In the summer of 1849 he revisited Richmond, lectured, and was accepted an

7、ew by the fiancee he had lost in 1826. After his return north he was found unconscious on a Baltimore street. In a brief obituary the Baltimore Clipper reported that Poe had died of congestion of the brain. Three fathers1. Father of modern short story: Edgar Allan Poe deserves more credit than any o

8、ther writer for the transformation of the short story from anecdote to art.2. Father of detective story(gothic story) He virtually created the detective story and perfected the psychological thriller.3. Father of psychoanalytic criticism He also produced some of the most influential literary critici

9、sm of his time-important theoretical statements on poetry and the short story-and has had a worldwide influence on literature. WorksTales of the Grotesque and the Arabesque 奇异怪诞故事集MS. Found in a Bottle” 瓶子里发现的手稿The Murders in the Rue Morgue”毛格街杀人案The Fall of the House of Usher”厄舍古屋的倒塌The Masque of t

10、he Red Death”红色死亡的化妆舞会The Cask of Amontillado” 一桶酒的故事The Raven 乌鸦Israfel 伊斯拉菲尔Annabel Lee 安娜贝尔李To Helen 致海伦The Poetic Principle 诗歌原理 The Philosophy of Composition 创作哲学The Raven is Poes most widely acclaimed poem. It tells about a weary and heart-broken student who sits in his well-decorated chamber

11、reading his “quaint and curious” books to drive away his sorrow out a mysterious dialogue with a black, deathlike raven who visits him in the midst of the night.To Helen is Poes well-known lyric. It sings the breath-taking beauty of ancient Greece.Annabel Lee is Poes last poem dedicated to his dead

12、wife, Virginia Clemm. The poem is claimed as the culmination of Poes lyric style in his recurrent theme of the loss of a beautiful and loved woman.Themes and Writing features1Edgar Allan Poe has been known for writing stories of mystery and horror. He has composed poems dealing with the occult. He f

13、avors those themes and ideas that people shy away from, death, pain, suffering, torture, terror, and fear. 2Poe uses an abundance of descriptive language in order to convey the feelings of his choice onto his reader. First-person narrative style creates a channel between the author and reader giving

14、 the author the ability to get personal and intimate with the reader. He uses a lot of symbols in his works.His poetry show the restraint and the calculated musical effects of languageEvaluation1.Poe remained the most controversial and most misunderstood literary figure in the history of American li

15、terature.2.Ironically, it was in Europe that Poe enjoyed respect and welcome. 3.Bernard Shaw said: “Poe was the greatest journalistic critic of his time; his poetry is exquisitely refined; and his tales are “complete works of art”.4.Poes reputation was first made in France. Charles Baudelaire said t

16、hat “Edgar Poe, who isnt much in America, must become a great man in France.”Poes Artistic theories1.Poe argued for the creation of beauty and intensity of emotion, against the didactic motive for literature.2.Poe felt that literature should have no social function or responsibility but should be an

17、 expression of the isolated artist.3.Poe thought that the artist should be concerned solely with beauty, of imagination. The real world is cruel, ugly and fast into decaying. The artists life is lonely, painful and hopeless. The only happiness arose out of the creation and contemplation of beauty.Po

18、es theories on Fiction1.A good fiction should only tells one event, which can be finished once.2.Fiction should stimulate readers and impress them deeply. It should have a consistent effect throughout the whole text.3.He showed in his fiction the impulse to self-destruction, the fascination with hor

19、rible catastrophe, whimsical and abnormal psychology.4.He depicted the inner world or psychology of his characters.Poes theories on Poetry1.His poetry express the same deep hopelessness and rejection of the world as his prose, but in a different way.2.He avoids the intrusion of ugliness and tries to

20、 create a vision of beauty and a melodious sound. The basic tone is melancholy.3.The function of poetry is not to summarize and interpret earthly experience, but to create a mood in which the soul soars toward supernal beauty.4.The creation of work of art requires the utmost concentration and unity,

21、 as well as the most scrupulous use of words.To Helen Helen, thy beauty is to meLike those Nicean barks of yore,That gently, oer a perfumed sea,The weary, wayworn wanderer boreto his own native shore.海伦，你的美对我而言恰似往昔尼萨的小舟，温缓地掠过芬芳的大海，疲惫不堪的浪游者归返亲爱的故乡海岸。On desperate seas long wont to roam,Thy hyacinth ha

22、ir, thy classic face,Thy Naiad airs have brought me homeTo glory that was Greece,And the grandeur that was Rome.经历了海上长久的飘荡，你风信子似的秀发，你闪烁着古典美的面庞，你水精仙子般的呼吸引我还乡，重见希腊的光荣与罗马的辉煌。Lo! in yon brilliant window nicheHow statuelike I see thee stand,The agate lamp within thy hand!Ah, Psyche, from the regions whic

23、hAre Holy Land! 看哪，在那精美的窗龛内，你如雕像一般玉立，玛瑙灯攥紧在手里。啊，普赛克，你所从来的边陲乃是一方至善的圣地。To HelenStanza 1The poet first mentioned Helen, the most famous beauty in Great mythology. Then Poe compared himself to Odysseus, who wandered for ten years over the sea to get home. As Odysseus, Edgar Allan Poe was persistent in h

24、is chasing after fine arts with the sincere belief that art, or beauty and truth, is the ultimate aim, the home, for the wandering poet; while Helen, the embodiment of ancient beauty, is the guider to that dreamland.Stanza 2All the art and literature originated from one thing-beauty. Having taken He

25、len as the embodiment of beauty, the poet was confident that once he saw Helen, he was sure to be led by Helen to the home of beauty-fine and pure literature. Poe insisted that Greece and Rome are the homes of beauty, the treasure houses of fine art and literature.Stanza 3The speaker sees Helen stan

26、ding in the bright niche and holding in her hand an agate lamp. She is quite similar to goddess Psyche from Greek Myth. Through his description of his passion to Helen, Poe expressed his pursuit and sincere devotion to beauty.In the poem, three beauties in ancient Greek mythologyHelen, Naiad ,One of

27、 the nymphs who lived in and presided over brooks, springs, and fountains. and Psyche ,A young woman who loved and was loved by Eros (god of love)and was united with him -are mentioned just to show that beauty is something that existed; it is very holy but it is hard to reach.“The Raven” BY Edgar Al

28、lan PoeOnce upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weakry.Over many a quint and curious volume of forgotten lore.While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,As of some one rapping, rapping at my chamber door.Tis some visitor, I muttered, tapping at my chamber door- Only

29、 this, and nothing more.从前一个阴郁的子夜，我独自沉思，慵懒疲竭，沉思许多古怪而离奇、早已被人遗忘的传闻当我开始打盹，几乎入睡，突然传来一阵轻擂，仿佛有人在轻轻叩击，轻轻叩击我的房门。“有人来了，”我轻声嘟喃，“正在叩击我的房门唯此而已，别无他般。”Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. Eagerly I wished the morrow; -vainly I had

30、tried to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow(1)-sorrow for the lost Lenore- For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore- Nameless here for evermore 哦，我清楚地记得那是在萧瑟的十二月；每一团奄奄一息的余烬都形成阴影伏在地板。我当时真盼望翌日；因为我已经枉费心机想用书来消除悲哀消除因失去丽诺尔的悲叹因那被天使叫作丽诺尔的少女，她美丽娇艳在这儿却默默无闻，直至永远。And the silken sad uncer

31、tain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me-filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door- Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;- This it is and nothing more. 那柔软、暗淡、飒飒飘动的每一块紫色窗布使我心中充满前所未有的恐怖我毛骨惊然；为平息我心儿停跳我站起身反复叨念“这是有人想进屋，在叩我的房门。更深夜半有人想进屋，在叩我的房门；唯此而已，别无他般。”Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer, Sir, said I, or Ma