英语诗歌赏析的论文

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 Lee

Annabel 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 Poe’

s 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, Poe’s wi

fe 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 Poe

’

s life

Poe

’

s 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 Poe

’

s marriage to Virginia was originally partially for money, Virginia

’

s 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 Poe

’

s 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, Poe

’

s 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 Poe

’

s Theory

As

for

Poe

’

s

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

author

’

s deliberate construction of a single, intense mood

in the reader

’

s or listener

’

s 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

critic

’

s opinions of its author or the suitability of

its themes.

And,

the theory of

―effect‖

is so

overwhelming

in Poe’s 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

poem’s

sake.‖(Poe 1984:75)

2. Enjoy the Wonderful Poem

Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

By the name of Annabel Lee;

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

Than 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 heaven

Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,

In this kingdom by the sea,

A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling

My beautiful Annabel Lee;