With Rhymes and Reason 1 - Scuolabook

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QUESTO VOLUME, PARTE DI UN’OPERA INDIVISIBILE, È DA CONSIDERARSI “FUORI COMMERCIO” IN QUANTO SPROVVISTO DI PREZZO, E NON CEDIBILE SEPARATAMENTE DAGLI ALTRI COMPONENTI DELLA CONFEZIONE.

Volume 1 From the Beginnings to the Romantic Age

Volume 2 From the Victorian Age to Modern Times

Genres Portfolio (guida all’analisi dei generi letterari)

CD-ROM (testi aggiuntivi con analisi del testo e ascolti in mp3)

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CD-ROM (testi aggiuntivi con analisi del testo e ascolti in mp3)

Materiale per lavagne interattive (LIM)

Un Corso cronologico costruito con l’aiuto degli insegnanti L’esperienza degli insegnanti ha aiutato nella selezione di autori, testi, approfondimenti, e nella nella trattazione di aspetti importanti quali le strategie di studio, la scelta dei temi, le parti in preparazione dell’esame e i test. Forti legami interdisciplinari e percorsi tematici e di attualità Molti i percorsi CLIL, i riferimenti ad altre letterature e a temi di educazione alla convivenza civile. Un percorso di studio guidato Alla fine di ogni modulo lo studente trova glossari, riassunti e esercizi in preparazione di prove e interrogazioni. Una guida allo studio è inoltre presente in fondo ai volumi. Attenzione alle abilità linguistiche Dopo le attività di analisi del testo si propongono spesso esercizi di scrittura creativa, dal titolo Writer’s Corner, e attività guidate di Discussion.

I testi aggiuntivi presenti sul CD-ROM per lo studente possono essere utilizzati in classe con l’ausilio della lavagna interattiva. Lo stesso può essere fatto con gli spezzoni video del DVD per la classe e con il materiale presente nell’area WEB.

Area WEB Autori e brani completi di analisi del testo, non contenuti nei volumi, né nei testi aggiuntivi su CD-ROM. Testi aggiuntivi e schede di analisi contenuti nei CD-ROM Audio contenuti nei CD-ROM

Per l’insegnante e la classe Teacher’s Guide (soluzioni, script degli spezzoni video e test) DVD con spezzoni di film e, nella sezione Extra, i test in formato modificabile 2 CD audio per la classe

online in www.imparosulweb.eu Questo corso è costituito da: ISBN 978-88-201-3033-6 VOLUME 1 + CD-ROM 1 + GENRES PORTFOLIO ISBN 978-88-201-3034-3 VOLUME 2 + CD-ROM 2 ISBN 978-88-201-3035-0 TEACHER’S GUIDE + DVD PER LA CLASSE ISBN 978-88-201-7003-5 2 CD AUDIO per la classe

questo volume non è cedibile separatamente dagli altri componenti della confezione

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Medaglia, Young With Rhymes and Reason Volume 1 + Cd-Rom 1 + Genres Portfolio

1 With Rhymes and Reason From the Beginnings to the Romantic Age

Le caratteristiche del corso

Medaglia, Young

In copertina: M. Denis, Pannelli per una camera di fanciulla: luglio, olio su tela, 1920 circa. Zurigo, Fondazione Rau per il Terzo Mondo. © Foto Scala, Firenze

With Rhymes and Reason

Cinzia Medaglia, Beverley Anne Young

With Rhymes and Reason 1

From the Beginnings to the Romantic Age

con CD-ROM

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Pagina I

Cinzia Medaglia, Beverley Anne Young

With Rhymes and Reason 1 From the Beginnings to the Romantic Age A. La vita: unitarietà e diversità dei vivent

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Pagina II

© Loescher Editore - Torino - 2010 http://www.loescher.it

I diritti di elaborazione in qualsiasi forma o opera, di memorizzazione anche digitale su supporti di qualsiasi tipo (inclusi magnetici e ottici), di riproduzione e di adattamento totale o parziale con qualsiasi mezzo (compresi i microfilm e le copie fotostatiche), i diritti di noleggio, di prestito e di traduzione sono riservati per tutti i paesi. L'acquisto della presente copia dell'opera non implica il trasferimento dei suddetti diritti né li esaurisce. Fotocopie per uso personale (cioè privato e individuale), nei limiti del 15% di ciascun volume, possono essere effettuate dietro pagamento alla SIAE del compenso previsto dall'art. 68, commi 4 e 5, della legge 22 aprile 1941 n. 633. Tali fotocopie possono essere effettuate negli esercizi commerciali convenzionati SIAE. o con altre modalità indicate da SIAE. Per riproduzioni ad uso non personale l'editore potrà concedere a pagamento l'autorizzazione a riprodurre un numero di pagine non superiore al 15% delle pagine del presente volume. Le richieste per tale tipo di riproduzione vanno inoltrate a: Associazione Italiana per i Diritti di Riproduzione delle Opere dell'ingegno (AIDRO) Corso di Porta Romana n. 108, 20122 Milano e-mail [email protected] e sito web www.aidro.org L'editore, per quanto di propria spettanza, considera rare le opere fuori del proprio catalogo editoriale. La fotocopia dei soli esemplari esistenti nelle biblioteche di tali opere è consentita, non essendo concorrenziale all'opera. Non possono considerarsi rare le opere di cui esiste, nel catalogo dell'editore, una successiva edizione, le opere presenti in cataloghi di altri editori o le opere antologiche. Nel contratto di cessione è esclusa, per biblioteche, istituti di istruzione, musei ed archivi, la facoltà di cui all'art. 71 - ter legge diritto d'autore. Maggiori informazioni sul nostro sito: http://www.loescher.it

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ISBN 9788820130336 Nonostante la passione e la competenza delle persone coinvolte nella realizzazione di quest’opera, è possibile che in essa siano riscontrabili errori o imprecisioni. Ce ne scusiamo fin d’ora con i lettori e ringraziamo coloro che, contribuendo al miglioramento dell’opera stessa, vorranno segnalarceli al seguente indirizzo: Loescher Editore s.r.l. Via Vittorio Amedeo II, 18 10121 Torino Fax 011 5654200 [email protected] Loescher Editore S.r.l. opera con sistema qualità certificato CERMET n. 1679-A secondo la norma UNI EN ISO 9001-2008

Consulenza didattica: Mariagrazia Biffino, Marco Cavallotti, Patrizia De Luca, Oronza De Matteis, Maria Grazia Fiore, Anna Ghinelli, Maria Teresa Giorgio, Filippa Giuseppa Gulino, Agnese Loi, Maria Adele Longo, Grazia Mazzucato, Ornella Olivieri, Luciana Paulon, Lucia Pulignano, Riccardo Rota, Maria Adele Silvestri, Serenella Soldati, Paola Volante. Un vivo ringraziamento va a Anthony Stroud per la attenta rilettura del testo. Realizzazione editoriale e tecnica: Salviati – Milano - redazione: Frances Mariani, Tessa Vaughan - impaginazione: Graforam – Noviglio (MI) - segreteria di redazione: Sara Belolli Progetto grafico: Softdesign – Torino Copertina: Visualgrafika – Torino Redattore responsabile: Laura Cavaleri Ricerca iconografica: Giorgio Evangelisti Fotolito: Graphic Center – Torino; Tecnolito – Caprino Bergamasco (BG) Stampa: Tipografia Bona – Torino

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Colorful and concise sections on English and American history. Literary trends and tendencies explained in full.

3 The Historical Background The Augustan Age (1714-60) George I George I (1714-27) was a member of the German House of Hanover, the closest Protestant relation to the English throne (Psee Act of Settlement, p. 187). He spoke no English and spent little time in England. As a consequence Parliament was left to rule. Not surprisingly he was a very unpopular king, showing little interest in England but a great attachment to Germany.

The prime minister

Y Sir Robert Walpole.

By tradition it was the monarch who chose the ministers to form the government, but under George I, due to his prolonged absences, the situation changed. The ministers of the then Whig government met and chose a prime minister themselves, who became the leader of the Cabinet and could therefore make the most important political decisions. The prime minister Robert Walpole, a Whig, despite having been imprisoned for corruption in 1712, was an efficient and popular politician. He was called to power in 1721 in an attempt to bring financial stability back to the country and under his leadership, despite his political corruption (for which he was severely criticised by writer Jonathan Swift), he contributed towards the growth of the manufacturing industries, commerce in general and agriculture. Generally regarded as the first British prime minister, Robert Walpole was in power from 1721 to 1742, making him the longest running prime minister in British history.

The Jacobite Rebellions With the Jacobite Rebellions the Catholics tried to restore to the throne the exiled Catholic, James Stuart, also known as Jacobus and heir to James II. Both rebellions failed (the first in 1715 and the second in 1745) because there was little support or interest from the people. Few were sympathetic towards the Catholic cause or wanted the return of a Catholic monarch. As a result James, alone in his challenge for the throne, was obliged to leave England for the continent.

George II

Y Second Jacobite Rebellion. Bonnie Prince Charlie enters Edinburgh triumphantly after the Battle of Prestonpans.

George II came to the throne in 1727 following the death of his father George I. Like his father, he also relied on the prime ministers, Robert Walpole and then William Pitt, to govern the country. He ruled until 1760. During his reign England took part in the Austrian War of Succession (1743-48). England fought on the side of Austria and

The Literary Context The Augustan Age The Augustan age or the Age of Reason The term, the Augustan age, was inspired by the fact that as a period it could be compared to the years 43 BC-AD 14 when the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar was in power. It was a remarkable age for the literary production of the great poets Ovid, Virgil, and Horace and are which was also characterised by order and stability. Other common terms used for this period are the Age of Reason or the Enlightenment. An intellectual spirit was spreading through Europe, expressing a desire to overcome old superstitions. It reflected a new way of thinking in scientific and philosophical fields; clear, rational methods became accepted as superior to the traditional, received knowledge.

Poetry The poets of the Augustan age, Dryden, Pope, Addison, conformed to aesthetic principles and strived to create a harmonious and polished style, thereby imitating classical models such as Cicero or Virgil. The lyrical genre they used was also a further imitation of the classics, in fact the most wide-spread poetical genres of this period were the epic, the pastoral and satire. In their search for perfection and harmony they gave particular importance to rhyme and metre; iambic pentameter and heroic couplets. John Dryden (1631-1700) formed the link between Restoration and Augustan literature, his verse satires were greatly admired by the poets who followed him. Alexander Pope (16881744) is also one of the most famous representative poets of this period. He continued the Restoration trend of satire and mock-heroic in his poetry, a form of satiric writing in which commonplace subjects are ridiculed. In his writing he also used the language and elevated style of the classical epics. The Rape of the Lock (1712-14), considered to be one of the poet’s greatest achievements, refers to an incident between two aristocratic families in which a young mans steals a lock of hair from a lady which results in a rift between the two families.

Y Augusto, detta di Prima Porta dalla villa Livia a Prima Porta, 700 BC. Vaticano, Museo Chiaramonti, Rome.

Drama

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Mock-heroic was most commonly found in poetry, but its influence was also felt in drama, in particular in John Gay’s most famous work, The Beggar’s Opera (1728), which mixed elements of the ballad and Italian opera. The protagonists were criminals and prostitutes. The object of Gay’s satire

Y Illustration for Pope’s The Rape of the Lock, Aubrey Beardsley.

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Carefully chosen and clearly presented texts. 2

Systematic and comprehensive activities.

The Renaissance and the Puritan Age

Paradise Lost (1667) Let’s get started 1 Read and listen to the extract below. At the end of the passage note down any positive aspects Satan finds in their dilemma. You should find four.

John Milton

Paradise Lost Over to you Understanding the text

Text 1 Satan and the rebel angels have arrived in hell. They are depressed at their tragic circumstances. Satan first manages to arouse them from their resignation with an inspiring speech and then reflects on their new environment, trying to convince them that not everything is completely negative.

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‘Is this the region, this the soil, the clime,’ Said then the lost archangel, ‘this the seat That we must change for heaven, this mournful gloom For that celestial light? Be it so, since he Who now is sovereign can dispose and bid What shall be right: farthest from him is best, Whom reason hath equalled, force hath made supreme Above his equals. Farewell, happy fields, Where joy forever dwells: hail, horrors! hail, Infernal world! and thou, profoundest hell, Receive thy new possessor: one who brings A mind not to be changed by place or time. The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. What matter where, if I be still the same, And what I should be, all but less than he Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least We shall be free; the Almighty hath not built Here for his envy, will not drive us hence: Here we may reign secure, and in my choice To reign is worth ambition, though in hell: Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven. But wherefore let we then our faithful friends, The associates and co-partners of our loss, Lie thus astonished on the oblivious pool, And call them not to share with us their part In this unhappy mansion, or once more With rallied arms to try what may be yet Regained in heaven, or what more lost in hell?’

«E questa la regione, è questo il suolo e il clima », disse allora l’Arcangelo perduto, « è questa sede che abbiamo guadagnato contro il cielo, questo dolente buio contro la luce celestiale? Ebbene, sia pure così se ora colui che è sovrano può dire e decidere che cosa sia il giusto; e più lontani siamo da lui e meglio è, da lui che ci uguagliava per ragione e che la forza ha ormai reso supremo sopra i suoi uguali. Addio, campi felici, dove la gioia regna eternamente! E a voi salute, orrori, mondo infernale; e tu, profondissimo inferno, ricevi il nuovo possidente: uno che tempi o luoghi mai potranno mutare la sua mente. La mente è il proprio luogo, e può in sé fare un cielo dell’inferno, un inferno del cielo. Che cosa importa dove, se rimango me stesso; e che altro dovrei essere allora se non tutto, e inferiore soltanto a lui che il tuono ha reso più potente? Qui almeno saremo liberi; poiché l’Altissimo non ha edificato questo luogo per poi dovercelo anche invidiare, non ne saremo cacciati: vi regneremo sicuri, e a mio giudizio regnare è una degna ambizione, anche sopra l’inferno: meglio regnare all’inferno che servire in cielo. Quindi perché lasciare gli amici fedeli, gli alleati e i partecipi di questa nostra perdita, giacere così attoniti sull’acque immemoriali, e non chiamarli con noi a condividere la loro sorte in questa dimora infelice, o a tentare con noi nuovamente, riprese le armi, ciò che ancora può essere riconquistato in cielo, o ciò che ancora di più può essere perduto nell’inferno?» Traduzione di Roberto Sanesi

Analysis and interpretation

1 Complete the chart with the words Satan uses to describe heaven and hell. Heaven

Hell

c ................. light

m ................. gloom

h ................. fields

h .................

j ................ f ................. dwells

i ................. world

2 In line 6 Satan says: ‘...farthest from him is best,’ Who is the ‘him’ he is referring to? 3 Read lines 10-18 again. Pick out the lines spoken by Satan that tell us he has not lost his courage, despite his new surroundings. 4 Focus on the end of the passage (ll. 23-29). What is Satan asking the fallen to do? Choose from the following. to accept their fate to be ready to fight again to escape

5 Choose the adjective that best describe Satan’s tone in this speech. resigned heroic

depressed melancholic

determined

6 In the extract we have several examples of Milton’s grand style, i.e. long Latinate sentences, rhetorical questions and exclamation marks. Can you find the longest sentence in the passage? 7 In your opinion, what effect does it have (try reading it aloud)? Choose 1 or 2. 1. It contributes to a state of confusion. 2. It builds up a climax in the passage. 8 What do the exclamation marks used in lines 9 and 10 emphasise? Choose from the following. Satan’s fear Satan’s determination Satan’s disgust 9 Do you remember the technical term for this metrical pattern? 10 What effect does enjambement have on Satan’s speech? Choose 1 or 2. 1. It makes it more disjointed and formal. 2. It makes it flow more naturally.

Discussion 11 In lines 13 and 14 Satan says: ‘The mind is its own place, and in itself/Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.’ Put these lines into simple English and say whether you agree or disagree with Satan. Compare your ideas with the rest of the class. 12 ‘Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.’ (l. 22) 1. Do you have a similar expression in your own language? 2. Do you agree with this statement as a philosophy of life? Think of the positive and negative consequences of such an existence.

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Y Satan Arousing the Rebel Angels (1808), William Blake. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

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Pagina IV

Comparisons of English literature with different models from around the world. Issues of the age compared to their contemporary equivalent.

Literature Around the World

Gray and Foscolo The Italian poet Ugo Foscolo was inspired by Gray’s ‘Elegy’ when he wrote Dei Sepolcri (1807). Foscolo came into contact with and read a great deal of English literature, having lived in the country for many years. We’re going to look now at the first part (lines 1-15) of Dei Sepolcri and compare it to Gray’s ‘Elegy’.

thinktank

Slavery The slave trade in Britain’s colonies began in the second half of the 15th century and gradually developed into a profitable market. It provided England with an opportunity to exchange goods produced by its growing industries. Slaves from West Africa were exchanged for goods and transported to North America. Cotton, tobacco and other goods were then brought back to England. This triangular route was known as the middle-passage and by the 1750s between 80,000 and 100,000 Africans were being torn from their villages every year, making England the world’s biggest slave trading country. The rise of humanitarian groups during the Industrial Revolution, demanding social change throughout the lower classes, began to nag at the country’s ever-growing conscience and draw attention to this issue. The Anti-Slavery Society was one such group, formed in 1787, and the member of parliament William Wilberforce became its leading spokesman. Wilberforce was a friend of the prime minister, William Pitt the Younger, and yet despite Pitt’s support the slave trade was not totally abolished until 1833. In the end it was Wilberforce’s moral and not political argument which swayed Parliament. First we are going to look at some extracts from Wilberforce’s famous four-hour speech given to the House of Commons on 12th May 1789 and then at a recent article from The Times newspaper about slavery today.

Dei Sepolcri by Foscolo

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Y American poster advertising the slave trade in the late 1800s.

Literature Around the World

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All’ombra de’ cipressi e dentro l’urne confortate di pianto è forse il sonno della morte men duro? Ove più il Sole per me alla terra non fecondi questa bella d’erbe famiglia e d’animali, e quando vaghe di lusinghe innanzi a me non danzeran l’ore future, né da te, dolce amico, udrò piú il verso e la mesta armonia che lo governa, né più nel cor mi parlerà lo spirto delle vergini Muse e dell’amore, unico spirto a mia vita raminga, qual fia ristoro a’ dì perduti un sasso che distingua le mie dalle infinite ossa che in terra e in mar semina Morte?

Y Ugo Foscolo.

Over to you 1 What references in Foscolo’s opening lines are to be found in Gray’s ‘Elegy’? 2 Compare lines 6-11 of Dei sepolcri with stanza 6 of Gray’s ‘Elegy’. How are they similar? 3 The most famous line of Gray’s ‘Elegy’ comes in stanza 8 when he writes ‘The paths of glory lead but to the grave.’ What do you think Gray means with these words?

Y Elegie romaine (1791), Jacques-Henri Sablet. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Brest.

4 How do lines 12-15 of Dei sepolcri echo this message? 279

Y Map illustrating the African slave trade 1500-1870.

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Original links or extra information on various subjects covered.

CLIL - Insight to subjects, other than literature, of the age.

1

William Shakespeare

From the Origins to the Middle Ages

A Different Perspective Geography and Art

Matthew Paris (c. 1200-59) Matthew Paris was a great chronicler, illustrator and cartographer of the medieval world. He executed hundreds of hand-painted illustrations to accompany his written works and can therefore be compared to an all-in-one journalist and ‘photographer’ of his times. A Benedictine monk, he entered the monastery of St. Albans in Hertfordshire in 1217 and became abbey chronicler there in 1236, continuing St. Albans’s long tradition of historical writings. His major work, the Chronica Majora, is one of the most detailed accounts of events in England from 1236 to 1259, the year of Paris’s death.

5. In the play there are supernatural T elements. T 6. Macbeth is a positive hero. 7. Macbeth feels remorse for the crimes T he has committed. 8. In spite of everything he enjoys his T powerful position. 2 Which of these sentences best define Lady Macbeth? Choose a or b.

F F F F

1. a. She has no scruples and will never have any. b. She has no scruples when she acts, but then she feels a strong sense of guilt. 2. a. She is in love with her husband and is very ambitious.

b. She is not in love with her husband and is not ambitious. 3 Choose the correct alternative. 1. What do the three witches represent? lust for power the power of evil the potential for evil in man 2. What is the main theme of Macbeth? love ambition social relations 3. What makes Macbeth comparable to a modern thriller? the plot the characters the supernatural elements

Freud on Macbeth

YMatthew Paris (1200-59).

Y Study for The Death of Lady Macbeth (c. 1875), Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was a physician, psychologist and physiologist and is generally considered to be, not only the father of psychoanalysis, but one of the most influential thinkers of all time. In his life time, Freud also gave interpretations of literary texts and their characters, applying to them his psychoanalytic theories and giving his own interpretations of behaviour and thought. One such character was Shakespeare’s Macbeth, whom he analysed, along with Lady Macbeth, in Some Character Types Met with in Psycho-analytical Work (1916). In this work he states that the brutal actions carried out by Macbeth and his wife are a result of their frustrations for not having satisfied their primordial need of reproduction. In other words, the absence of children and the (apparent) impossibility of building a real family spark feelings of aggression and violence in the couple that lead to ferocious and vile murders. In the second part of the play both characters are then overwhelmed by a sense of guilt. Freud sees Duncan as having the role of Macbeth’s ‘metaphorical’ father, consequently Duncan’s murder can be seen as patricide. As far as Lady Macbeth is concerned, Freud interestingly points out that her sense of guilt only reveals itself when she is asleep and unable to control her thoughts. Her gesture of continuously washing her hands clearly demonstrates her interior guilt which she is unconsciously trying to expel. 147

Y Matthew Paris’s map of Great Britain, from the Cotton Claudius manuscript (c. 1250). British Library, London.

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Pagina V

DVD film clips with exercises linked to extracts or themes from authors studied.

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A different perspective on same work or theme or behind the scenes interviews.

The Restoration and the Augustan Age

The Restoration and the Augustan Age

ON SCREEN STARRING

Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt and Valerie Wildman

ON AND OFF SCREEN

Cast Away Directed by Robert Zemeckis (2001)

STARRING

Madagascar

DVD

(voices of) Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith

DVD

DreamWorks Animation (2006)

The story on screen so far...

The story on screen so far...

Tom Hanks plays Chuck Noland, an ambitious engineer for the delivery company Fed Ex. His life is ruled by the clock; ‘We live or die by the clock,’ he says in the film, but his own clockwork routine ends suddenly when, on a business trip, he is involved in a plane crash which leaves him stranded and alone on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean, where he will remain for four years.

Marty, a zebra in New York’s Central Park Zoo, is starting to get tired of his easy, pampered life and dreams of living in his natural habitat of wild open spaces. His friends Alex, Melvin and Gloria are quite happy where they are but when Marty escapes from the zoo one night, they go out looking for him. It’s difficult for a zebra, hippopotamus (Gloria), giraffe (Melvin) and lion (Alex) to go unnoticed in New York City, so they are soon captured and the zoo officials decide it would be better to ship them back to their native Africa. However, their crates fall off the ship and they find themselves on a desert island. The situation is apparently similar to Chuck Noland’s in Cast Away but in actual fact it couldn’t be more different!

Over to you 1 You are going to watch the scene in which Chuck has just been washed up onto the shore in his life-raft. Before you watch imagine yourself in this situation and put the following survival tasks in your order of priority (1, 2, 3, etc.) Compare your lists in class explaining your choice. find food look for inhabitants on the island build a raft make a fire find fresh water build a shelter 2 Now watch the scene and fill in the gaps with the words below.

silhouette washed-up deserted sunset wet photo beach survived feet plane-crash pulls sand watch plane sign Chuck Noland has just been .................................. (1) on to the island. He .................................. (2) the life-raft onto the ........................................... (3) while carrying some boxes he found from the .................................. (4). He then takes off his ......................................... (5) clothes under the trees and shouts for help. The island seems to be completely .................................. (6) so Chuck then ‘writes’ a big HELP ..................................... (7) in the ...................................... (8) with his ...................................... (9) hoping that a ...................................... (10) might see it. Later we see him looking at the ......................................... (11) of his girlfriend inside an old ........................................ (12) which has ...................................... (13)

the crash with him. The scene ends with Chuck’s (14) sitting on the beach in the (15).

........................................... ........................................

3 In this scene do you think the island looks a) exotic or b) hostile. Why? 4 What two things does Chuck do in this scene from the list of survival priorities in exercise 1. 5 From what you read about Chuck in the introduction why do you think he looks after the boxes (which were being delivered by his company)? 6 Why is it also ironic for him that he still has his pocket watch, which no longer works? 7 In Robinson Crusoe Robinson has one advantage over Chuck Noland when he arrives on the island. Read the first lines from Text 1 of the novel again and say what it is. 8 If you found yourself in this situation what do you think you’d miss the most from your present life? family TV

friends little luxuries (bed, etc.) other (specify)

9 James C. Simmons, author of Castaway in Paradise says how Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe has never been out of print as it represents, although in a rather romantic way, one of man’s most popular fantasies. Why could the idea of being alone on a deserted island be especially appealing in our modern times?

Over to you 1 Here’s a list of animals. If you don’t know any of them look them up in a bilingual dictionary. Now watch the extract and tick the animals you see in the scene (you should see 7). whale deer giraffe shark star fish horse dolphin cat hippo rhinoceros crab bear lion monkey zebra parrot 2 Can you describe how Alex intends to get Melvin out of the crate? What does he pretend he’s playing? 3 How does the zebra, Marty, get to the beach? 4 Who seems to be the most intelligent character? And the most stupid? Why do you think the writers made this choice?

5 Watch and listen to the scene and write who says the following. Put ‘M’ for Marty, ‘G’ for Gloria, ‘A’ for Alex and ‘Mel’ for Melvin. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

‘Alex is that you?’ ............. ‘I got you buddy’ ............. ‘Giraffe corner pocket’ ............. ‘All right boys the fun’s over’ ............. ‘I really don’t have anything on me right now’ .............

6. ‘We’re all here together, safe and sound’ ............. 6 How do you say ‘buddy’ and ‘safe and sound’ in Italian? 7 In what ways does this island seem more hospitable than the one in Cast Away?

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Development of relevant themes from each age through means of images and texts.

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Theme Utopia

The Renaissance and the Puritan Age

Theme Utopia

Utopia ‘Utopia: Any real or imaginary society, place, state, etc. considered to be perfect or ideal.’ Collins English Dictionary

1 Man has always dreamt of an ideal world in which to live. Discuss in pairs how your ideal world would be, and compare your ideas with the rest of the class. What would you include in your world and what would you omit? Make a list.

Over time political ideals have also been associated with Utopia, such as a utopian socialism – seen as a response against the surge of capitalism. While at the opposite end of the political spectrum, capitalism represented an economic Utopia for many with its foundations based on private enterprise and personal initiative. A good example of this can found in the ‘model’ communities built in the 19th century by the two industrialists Robert Owen and Sir Titus Salt. During a time of great industrial growth they built self-contained communities around their textile mills which not only supplied the people with work and housing but also with schools, churches and gardens. 4 The aim of these social experiments was to give a better quality of life to their workers. But were Owen and Salt simply opportunists – keeping their workers happy to improve production and guarantee a certain amount of control over them? What do you think?

Y Prospettiva architettonica (late 1500s), Italian artist. Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.

Y Star Trek (1996) directed by G. Roddenbury.

2 The Christian Bible depicts an ideal world in The Garden of Eden, and Paradise is an ideal place which one can enter after having led a true Christian life. Do you think Bosch’s ‘Earthly paradise’ depicts an ideal world?

Y Garden of Earthly Delights (c. 1500), Hieronymus Bosch. Museo del Prado, Madrid.

3 With the Hindu Moksha and Buddhist Nirvana Utopia is not a place but an internal state of mind achieved through meditation. Have you ever tried meditating to reach your Utopia?

Y A statue of Buddha. Lanta, China.

174

5 For some people science and technology are the only means of improving our society to obtain anything close to a utopian existence. Through science and technology, they feel, all suffering and illness will eventually be eliminated and every human need will be satisfied. ‘Star Trek – a Utopia of the 60s?’ Science and technology for the perfect world or a return to basics. What do you think?

Y Saltaire Village, Yorkshire. Built by Robert Owen and Sir Titus Salt.

Y The Golden Age (c. 1530), Lucas Cranach the Elder. Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlugen, Munich.

6 Again, as with politics, there is a contrasting school of thought to this. Those who feel that the past was a kind of ‘Golden Age’ in which man lived in a primitive and uncomplicated state, free from stress and with only essential needs which could be easily satisfied. Do you think that in today’s society there is often a nostalgia for the past, and sometimes even for the primitive?

7 After these different examples do you think it would ever be possible for man to create a real Utopia? If not, what benefits can be gained from seeking one? Discuss. 175

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Contents

1

From the Origins (700 BC-AD 900) to the Middle Ages (1066-1485)

The Origins (700 BC-AD 900) The Historical Background The Literary Context Literary Techniques Poetry Beowulf Text Plus Beowulf Kaleidoscope Monsters The Seafarer

4 4 8 11 14 19 20

The Literary Context Insight to the Age ‘Lord Randal’ Aerosmith ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’

34 38 39 41

Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales ‘April’s Sweet Showers’ ThinkTank From Hip-hop to Lit-hop with The Canterbury Tales ‘The Knight’ ‘The Prioress’ ‘The Wife of Bath’ Text Plus ‘The Wife of Bath’s Tale’

45 47 48

Text Plus

‘The Doctor’

Literature Around the World Chaucer and Boccaccio

The Middle Ages (1066-1485)

24

The Historical Background Kaleidoscope Robin Hood – fact or fiction? On Screen Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves On and Off Screen Robin Hood: Men in Tights Clil Geography and Art: Matthew Paris

24 27 28

49 51 52 54

57

Sir Thomas Malory Le Morte Darthur Kaleidoscope The brave and courteous knight? Theme Heroes Beowulf Le Morte Darthur Thomas Malory

63 64 66 68

In Short General Overview

70 74

58 60

29 32

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Contents

2

The Renaissance (1485-1625) and the Puritan Age (1625-60)

The Renaissance (1485-1625) The Historical Background ThinkTank The Two Elizabeths Clil Architecture: Renaissance versus Tudor The Literary Context Insight to the Age Literature Around the World The 16th and 17th Centuries Literary Techniques Drama

78 81 85 86 94 96 97

Text Plus

Twelfth Night

Text Plus

Twelfth Night

Othello Shakespeare’s sonnets ‘Sonnet 18’ ‘Sonnet 130’ Text Plus ‘Sonnet 27’ Text Plus

Text Plus

150 151 153

‘Sonnet 116’

Christopher Marlowe Doctor Faustus Kaleidoscope The myth of Faust

98 100 103

Sir Philip Sidney ‘My True Love Hath My Heart’ Text Plus ‘Sonnet 71’

156 157

William Shakespeare Richard III Text Plus Richard III A Midsummer Night’s Dream Kaleidoscope Quoting Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet Text 1 Text 2 Literature Around the World Shakespeare and Italy Much Ado About Nothing Text Plus Much Ado About Nothing The Merchant of Venice Text Plus The Merchant of Venice Julius Caesar Hamlet Text Plus Hamlet

104 108

John Donne ‘The Good-Morrow’ Text Plus ‘The Flea’

159 160

Text Plus

Hamlet

Text Plus

Hamlet

Macbeth Text Plus

‘The Sun Rising’

‘The Dream’ Kaleidoscope Love and marriage in the Renaissance Text Plus ‘Sonnet 75’ Edmund Spenser

122 123

The Puritan Age (1625-60)

128

The Historical Background The Literary Context

164 166

John Milton Paradise Lost Text 1 Text 2 Text Plus ‘On His Blindness’ Theme Utopia Utopia Sir Thomas More The New Atlantis Sir Francis Bacon

168 170 170 172 174 176 178


180 182

132 136

140 Macbeth

Macbeth Kaleidoscope Freud on Macbeth On Screen Macbeth On and Off Screen The South Bank Show

Text Plus

112 116 117 118 119

Text Plus

147 148 149

Text Plus

163

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Contents

3

The Restoration (1660-1714) and the Augustan Age (1714-60)

The Restoration (1660-1714) The Historical Background The Literary Context Kaleidoscope Isaac Newton Kaleidoscope Aphra Behn

186 190 191 192

William Congreve The Way of the World

194 195

The Augustan Age (1714-60) The Historical Background Clil Art: Gin Lane Hogarth The Literary Context Kaleidoscope Bluestockings ThinkTank Newspapers Now and Then Insight to the Age Literary Techniques Fiction

198 200 201 203 205 210 211

Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe Text 1 Text 2 Text Plus Robinson Crusoe Text Plus

214 216 216 219

A Journal of the Plague Year

A Journal of the Plague Year Clil Geography: Isla Robinson Crusoe On Screen Cast Away On and Off Screen Madagascar Text Plus

221 222 223

Jonathan Swift Gulliver’s Travels Text Plus A Modest Proposal

224 226

Samuel Richardson Pamela Text 1 Text 2 Literature Around the World The Epistolary Novel

229 231 231 233

Henry Fielding Tom Jones

236 238

Laurence Sterne Tristram Shandy Text 1 Text 2 Text 3 Theme Women Moll Flanders Daniel Defoe Clarissa Samuel Richardson

240 242 243 245 247 248 250 252


254 256

235

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Pagina IX

Contents

4

The Romantic Age (1760-1837)

Text 1 Text 2

The Romantic Age (1760-1837) The Historical Background ThinkTank Slavery The Literary Context Insight to the Age Kaleidoscope Romanticism: a controversial word Literary Techniques Poetry: imagery

260 265 268 272 273 274

Thomas Gray ‘Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard’ Literature Around the World Gray and Foscolo Clil Art: The Nightmare Füssli William Blake ‘The Lamb’ ‘The Tyger’ ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ ‘London’ William Wordsworth ‘Preface’ to Lyrical Ballads ‘Sonnet Composed upon Westminster Bridge’ ‘My Heart Leaps Up’ Clil Art: Rain, Steam and Speed Turner Clil Art: Hampstead Heath Constable Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Kaleidoscope The wandering Jew Lord Byron Don Juan Text Plus Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage

275 276 279 280 281 283 284 286 287 289 291 293 295 297 298 299 301 306 307 309

Text Plus

Text Plus

331 334 Emma

Emma On Screen Pride and Prejudice On and Off Screen Etiquette, dating and dancing in Austen’s time Kaleidoscope From marriage proposals to bride wars Text Plus

Mary Shelley Frankenstein Text 1 Text 2 Text 3 James Fenimore Cooper The Last of the Mohicans Literary Techniques The Short Story Edgar Allan Poe ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ Text Plus ‘The Black Cat’ Text Plus

336 337 338 339 341 341 343 346 347 348 350 351 353

‘The Black Cat’

‘The Black Cat’ Theme Nature ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’ William Wordsworth ‘Frost at Midnight’ Samuel Taylor Coleridge Theme The Negative Hero The Monk Matthew Lewis ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ John Keats

362 364 366 368 370


372 374

Terza prova (Romantic Age) Study Tips Glossary of Literary Terms Index

376 378 382 386

Text Plus

360

Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage

Percy Bysshe Shelley ‘Ode to the West Wind’ John Keats ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ Sir Walter Scott Ivanhoe Literature Around the World Scott and Manzoni Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice

313 314 319 321 324 326 328 329 331

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Theme Paths The following themes may be followed either by choosing one theme and developing it chronologically in its entirety using both Volume 1 and Volume 2, or by developing more than one theme in a more reduced form.

LOVE

ALIENATION

1. Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet p. 117

2. Shakespeare: ‘Sonnet 18’

p. 151

3. Sidney: ‘My True Love Hath My Heart’ p. 157 4. Donne: ‘The Good-Morrow’

1. ThinkTank: Slavery

WOMEN 1. Chaucer: ‘The Prioress’

p. 265

2. Kaleidoscope: The wandering Jew p. 306 3. Shelley: Frankenstein

2. Chaucer: ‘The Wife of Bath’

p. 54

3. Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet

p. 341

p. 117

4. Shakespeare: Macbeth

p. 160

p. 140

5. Kaleidoscope: Aphra Behn

5. Congreve: The Way of the World p. 195 6. Byron: Don Juan

p. 52

p. 192

6. Kaleidoscope: Bluestockings p. 203

p. 309

7. Richardson: Pamela

7. Austen: Pride and Prejudice

p. 331

p. 231


8. Keats: ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ p. 370

9. Brontë: Jane Eyre

p. 331

p. 37

10. James: The Portrait of a Lady

9. Brontë: Wuthering Heights

p. 45

10. Hardy: Tess of the D’Urbevilles p. 52

11. James: The Portrait of a Lady p. 60

p. 60

4. Stevenson: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde p. 111 5. Chopin: The Awakening 6. Joyce: ‘Eveline’

11. Shaw: Pygmalion

p. 77

12. Browning: ‘My Last Duchess’

p. 124

p. 91

p. 175

13. Chopin: The Awakening

p. 124

12. Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray p. 65

7. Eliot: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock p. 217

14. Forster: A Room With A View

13. Forster: A Room With A View

8. Auden: ‘The Unknown Citizen’

15. Joyce: ‘Eveline’

p. 168

p. 168

p. 233

14. Lawrence: Sons and Lovers

p. 202

p. 248

17. Lessing: The Grass is Singing p. 326

16. Woolf: Mrs Dalloway

9. Orwell: Nineteen Eighty-Four

15. Auden: ‘O Tell Me The Truth About p. 310 Love’ p. 237 10. Gordimer: ‘Ah, Woe Is Me’ 16. Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby 11. Beckett: Waiting for Godot 12. Larkin: ‘Toads’

p. 175 p. 192

17. Gordimer: ‘Ah, Woe Is Me’

p. 332

18. McEwan: Atonement

p. 332

p. 349

p. 357

p. 384

13. Williams: The Glass Menagerie p. 399

14. Miller: Death of a Salesman

p. 406

15. Ginsberg: ‘A Supermarket in California’ p. 414 16. Salinger: The Catcher in the Rye p. 426

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Theme Paths

CONFLICT & POWER

THE JOURNEY 1. The Seafarer

PREJUDICE & DISCRIMINATION 1. Kaleidoscope: The wandering Jew p. 306

p. 20

2. Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales


p. 47

3. Defoe: Robinson Crusoe 4. Swift: Gulliver’s Travels

3. Shelley: Frankenstein

p. 216

p. 348

5. Coleridge: The Rime of The Ancient Mariner p. 301

7. Melville: Moby Dick 1. Beowulf

p. 341

4. Cooper: The Last of the Mohicans

p. 226

6. ThinkTank: Evolution (a journey of discovery)

p. 331

p. 9

p. 96

8. H. G. Wells: The Time Machine (a journey through time) p. 112

p. 14

2. Marlowe: Doctor Faustus

p. 100

3. Shakespeare: Julius Caesar p. 132

9. Conrad: Heart of Darkness

p. 161

10. Kerouac: On the Road

p. 432

11. Chatwin: In Patagonia

p. 434

4. Shakespeare: Hamlet (internal conflict) p. 136 5. Shakespeare: Macbeth

p. 140

6. Milton: Paradise Lost (good versus evil) p. 170 7. Blake: ‘The Tyger’

p. 284

8. Cooper: The Last of the Mohicans p. 348 9. Lewis: The Monk

5. Shaw: Pygmalion (social prejudice) p. 77

p. 368

10. Browning: ‘My Last Duchess’

p. 264

p. 91

11. Melville: Moby Dick

7. Forster: A Passage to India

p. 96

12. Conrad: Heart of Darkness

p. 161

13. Owen: ‘Dulce e Decorum Est’ p. 229

15. Orwell: Animal Farm

p. 306

16. Orwell: Nineteen Eighty-Four p. 310

8. Wright: Black Boy

p. 268

p. 270

9. Lessing: The Grass is Singing p. 326

p. 226

14. ThinkTank: War

6. Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath

10. Gordimer: ‘Ah, Woe Is Me’ 11. Naipaul: In a Free State

p. 332

p. 338

12. Williams: The Glass Menagerie p. 399

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The Origins

Pagina 2

700 BC-AD 900

Literature The Seafarer

Beowulf

7/8th centuries c. 975

700 BC

55 BC

Celts come to England

AD 455

8th century

Anglo-Saxon invasion from North West Germany

First Roman invasion

Viking invasion (Danish and Norwegian)

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Pagina 3

The Middle Ages

1066-1485

‘Lord Randal’

1 Sir Thomas Malory Le Morte Darthur

Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales

c. 13/15th centuries

1066

1086

Domesday Book

1154- 1170 119989 1216 1215 1164 118999

Henry II’s reign (a Plantagenet)

c. 1387-1400

1337-1453 1348

1399-1413

Black Death

Henry IV (House of Lancaster)

King John

145585 146183

Magna Carta

Battle of Hastings. Defeat of the AngloSaxon troops by the Norman Duke William of Normandy (the Conqueror)

1485

Tudor dynasty begins with Henry VII

Richard I’s reign (known as The Lion Heart) Constitutions of Clarendon

Assassination of Thomas Becket

Hundred Years’ War

Wars of the Roses

Edward IV (House of York)

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1 The Historical Background The Origins (700 BC-AD 900) The Iberians The first inhabitants of England were the pre-historic Iberians. Little is known about them. However, a very important and well-known monument from their civilisation remains: Stonehenge, a circle of enormous stones, which was probably a temple.

Y Stonehenge.

The Celts It was towards 700 BC that migration from Germany began. These people who came to Britain were known as the Celts (and also the Britons) and they spoke their own Celtic language. They had fair or red hair and blue eyes. They divided into tribes, who would often quarrel and fight, and lived in small villages. They worshipped the sun, the moon, water and trees and their economy was based on fishing, hunting and agriculture. The roots of the Celtic language are still present in the British Isles today in the form of Welsh, Gaelic and Irish.

The Romans Under the leadership of Julius Caesar, the Romans first invaded England around 55 BC. However, they did not settle in England until AD 43. They built towns and roads throughout the country and they introduced their culture, lifestyle and language, all of which were absorbed by the Celts. The Romans took possession of much of England, but they never managed to conquer Ireland or Scotland and in AD 122 the Emperor Hadrian gave orders to build a great wall in the north of England. It was called Hadrian’s Wall and was built to protect England against possible invasions from the war faring tribes of Scotland who would not submit to Roman rule. This meant, then, that the four peoples developed their own cultures independently – English, Scottish, Irish and 4 Loescher Editore - Vietata la vendita e la diffusione

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The Historical Background Welsh – to become what we know today as the ‘British Isles’. England, however, remained part of the Roman Empire for 400 years. Many of the towns, founded by the Romans, were named after the Latin name for camp castra. This word has remained in many city names which end with ‘aster,’ or ‘ester’ (originally ‘castra’). For example: Lancaster, Manchester, Winchester, etc.

The Anglo-Saxon invasion In AD 410 the Romans withdrew their forces from England to protect the city of Rome and other parts of the Empire. Over the next 40 years the Celts became increasingly troubled by attacks from the Picts and Scots and so employed Germanic Anglo-Saxon mercenaries to fight for them. The Anglo-Saxons, after defeating the enemies they had been paid to fight, then chose to conquer England around 455.

Anglo-Saxon civilisation The Anglo-Saxons were a mixture of Germanic tribes which were made up of the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes. They settled in different parts of England: the Saxons in the south and west, the Angles in the north and east, the Jutes on the Isle of Wight and the nearby mainland, dividing the country into seven kingdoms (Psee p. 7). They probably saw themselves as separate people although they shared many customs, one being their love of fighting. They were also great drinkers and gamblers. Working as farmers or fishermen, they lived mainly in small villages, their huts grouped around the house of their lord. Since they were independent people they preferred to live in smaller groups rather than large communities. ‘Old English’ is known as the union of the related languages they spoke (Psee p. 8). Some of these tribes used a runic alphabet but literacy was not common until the conversion to Christianity.

Y Hadrian’s Wall.

ORIGINAL INHABITANTS THE IBERIANS Followed by invasions from THE CELTS 700 BC THE ROMANS 55 BC THE ANGLO-SAXONS AD 455 THE VIKINGS 700 THE NORMANS 1066 5 Loescher Editore - Vietata la vendita e la diffusione

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Christianity in Britain Around the 2nd or 3rd century AD, the Romans had brought Christianity to Britain, but with the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons, Christian people had been pushed to limited parts of the country. Around AD 600 Pope Gregory I sent missionaries to Britain, who started a process of Christianisation, during which thousands of people were baptised, churches were built and temples that had been heathen were used for Christian rites. The monk St Augustine (who died in 604 or 605) rebuilt an old church in Canterbury and founded a monastery, becoming the first archbishop of Canterbury.

The Vikings Over the course of the centuries there were many battles among the different kingdoms which made up the Anglo-Saxon people. But the greatest battle was against one common enemy: the Vikings. Coming from Denmark, Sweden and Norway these pirate raiders began their progressive conquest of parts of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland in the 8th century, entering through London and the Isle of Thanet at the mouth of the Thames. The Anglo-Saxon king Alfred the Great (871-99), who fought against them, was forced to concede control of northern England, while maintaining rulership of the south. Y Vikings from an 11th-century manuscript. Pierpont Morgan Library, New York.

Y Viking ship, Oslo.

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Pagina 7

The Historical Background

Over to you 1 Write the names of the people who did the following. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

lived in England before 700 BC ....................................................................................... . settled in the country around 700 BC ....................................................................... . invaded it around 55 BC ......................................................................................................... . invaded it around AD 450 .................................................................................................... . were England’s invaders in the 8th century ....................................................... .

2 Who did what? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

used a runic alphabet ................................................................................................................ . built towns and roads ................................................................................................................ . came from Denmark and Norway ................................................................................ . built Stonehenge ............................................................................................................................ . built a huge wall across northern England .......................................................... .

Y Maps illustrating the different conquests and divisions into kingdoms of Britain.


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1 The Literary Context The Origins The evolution of the English language The origins of English culture and literature date back to when the Celts, and also later some Anglo-Saxon tribes, used the runic alphabet. The runic alphabet was made up of signs (or ‘runes’) used for inscriptions in stone, metal and wood. Several historic elements indicate that the runes were used not only for writing, but also for magic and prophesies. The runes progressively disappeared when the Latin alphabet was adopted.

Old English Introduced to Britain by the Anglo-Saxons, Old English, which can be defined as the primitive stage of the English we know today, shows its German origins in its vocabulary, in sentence structure and in particular in the word-endings. It had some sounds which no longer exist in the language. In the grammar there were case endings for nouns and adjectives along with a more complex pronoun system. Vocabulary was also strongly influenced by Latin. Old English underwent many transformations in its long life (about 700 years).

The unwritten word

Y A monk dictactes to a scribe, taken from a medieval manuscript. Pierpont Morgan Library, New York.

Anglo-Saxon prose and poetry was an oral tradition. It was not written by a single author or poet but was passed on through generations and sung by scops or bards. The scops would earn their living by singing the myths, legends and historical events linked with famous kings or warriors. The audiences consisted of either patrons, people of the court or groups of ordinary people. They had to know their poems and songs by heart, often improvising on the spot to keep an audience happy, and through their constant repetition created a kind of historical memory. It was mainly the Christian scribes who began to transform the oral into a written form, thus introducing for the first time a certain continuity and durability which had never existed before. These writings, thus, became the foundations of early literature. When reproducing these works, however, many


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Pagina 9

The Literary Context writers would often eliminate any aspects which either contrasted or did not fit into their Christian belief. Much of the literature of the Anglo-Saxons is lost to us. Almost all of the remaining Anglo-Saxon poetry is contained in four manuscripts, the Beowulf Manuscript (in which Beowulf is contained), the Junius Manuscript, The Exeter Book (in which we can find The Seafarer) and the Vercelli Book.

Pagan versus Christian The poetry of this time falls into two categories: pagan and Christian poetry. It was written in Latin and Old English. The Anglo-Saxon conversion to Christianity gave birth to a substantial collection of religious poetry. The most important writers of this kind of poetry are Caedmon (7th century), one of the earliest examples of Old English, and Cynewulf (8th century). Pagan poetry can be divided into epic and elegy.

Epic Epic poems clearly reflect the pre-Christian oral tradition both for their metre and theme: great myths and their heroes were themes dear to the Anglo-Saxon world which, being pagan, was founded on ideals of heroism, loyalty and generosity. They were also sprinkled with some early Christian elements – such as the struggle against evil and the dignity of sacrifice in thought and in action. Deriving directly from an oral tradition, like the Illiad and the Odyssey, these poems can be defined as ‘primary epics’. They were characterised by an elevated language and many literary devices, for example similes and kennings are used throughout.

Beowulf Beowulf is one of the oldest poems in English literature and the most important epic poem of Anglo-Saxon poetry. The manuscript, which dates back to the 10th century, is now housed in the British Library in London and, according to some scholars, is two centuries older. The author is unknown, as for most of the literature of this period, and the text was given the title, Beowulf, in the 19th century. Part historical reality and part fiction, the saga is set during the 6th century. Against the background of a bleak and threatening nature, warriors fight against terrible monsters, embodying an ideal of bravery, resilience and faith. Beowulf, the main character, has all the characteristics of the authentic ‘hero’, like great skill and courage (Psee p. 66).

Y Part of the original Beowulf manuscript.


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Elegy Some Anglo-Saxon elegies are contained in The Exeter Book, such as The Wanderer and The Seafarer. They are similar both in theme and tone. The common theme is loss: loss of a lord, loss of friendship, or loss of a beloved one. Written in first-person narrative, the speaker expresses his loneliness in a melancholic and elegiac tone.

Anglo-Saxon poetry The formal elements employed in Anglo-Saxon poetry were: • kenning. A type of metaphor that works as a noun or an epithet, describing a noun with other words we can associate with it. When expressed in a more complex form it can be seen as a small riddle. E.g. helmberend (helmet bearer): warrior; swanrad (swan road): sea. • caesura. A break or pause in a line of poetry which is usually linked with the rhythm of the language. • alliteration. Repetition of consonants, stressed or homophonic syllables. It is the most frequent device in this kind of poetry in which the verse is of an alliterative type, made up of two halves with four stresses (two stresses each), the two halves being unified through alliteration. A typical feature of Germanic verse, it differs greatly from the vocalic rhyme of romance languages.

Over to you 1 Answer true or false. 1. The first alphabet used in England was the Latin one. 2. Old English had a strong Latin influence. 3. The Christian scribes always gave a faithful reproduction of Anglo-Saxon works. 4. Most Anglo-Saxon literature is lost to us today. 5. The manuscripts containing the remaining Anglo-Saxon poetry have Anglo-Saxon names.

T

F

T

F

5. What ideals were epic poems founded on? 6. Why is the Anglo-Saxon epic called ‘primarily’ epic? 7. What were some of the formal elements employed in Anglo-Saxon poetry? 3 Choose the correct alternative.

T

F

T

F

T

F

2 Answer the following questions. 1. What literary genres does Anglo-Saxon literature mainly include? 2. What is pagan poetry made up of? 3. What is the common theme of this type of poetry? 4. Write the names of the two most important writers of religious poetry of the time.

1. Beowulf is one the oldest poems in English literature in European literature in world literature 2. Where is the Beowulf manuscript? lost in a library in England in a museum 3. When is the saga is set? 5th century 6th century 7th century 8th century 9th century 4. How would you describe the story? fiction partly legend and partly historical based on true events


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Pagina 11

Literary Techniques

Literary Techniques Poetry Poetry has been defined in many ways. One of the most modern definitions is perhaps the one given by Wikipedia: ‘a form of art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its ostensible meaning. Poetry may be written independently, as separate poems, or may occur in conjunction with other arts, as in poetic drama, hymns or lyrics.’ Poetry consists of two elements: thoughts and ideas and the way in which those thoughts and ideas are expressed. The secret of good poetry has been identified by most critics as a harmonious relationship between form and content. What makes poetry different from every-day communication is that it obeys specific rules, rules of metre and rhetoric. Words take on different values and become charged with an allusive and evocative power which distinguishes them from their normal use. To do this metre and rhyme is often, but not always, used.

Structures • Line. A formal division in a poem. It can be classified according to the number of feet it contains. • Stanza. In poetry, lines are grouped together to form stanzas. The stanza pattern is determined by the number of lines, the number of feet in each line and the metrical and rhyming scheme used. The commonest forms for a stanza are: couplet (two lines) quatrain (four lines) sestet (six lines) octave (eight lines) • Rhyme. Essential technique used to create a certain sound. Rhyme connects words: words are said to rhyme when the last stressed vowel sound and the following consonantal sounds are identical. This is an example of the full or perfect rhyme. Tyger, Tyger burning bright In the forest of the night (‘The Tyger’, W. Blake)

Rhyme can be external, between successive lines, or internal, when it occurs between a word within a line and another word either at the end of the same line or within another line.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, (‘The Raven’, E.A. Poe)

• Rhythm. It is formed by the variation in the verse of different words and sounds and the arrangement of stresses and pauses in a line. It creates the melody of poetry, as it may be slow, fast, mournful, happy… Slow rhythm: The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea, (‘Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard’, T. Gray) Fast rhythm: Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. (‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’, W. Wordsworth)

• Verse. This term has three meanings: it can be used to signify a line of metrical writing; a stanza within a poem or poetry in general. By ‘free verse’ we mean a verse without any regular metre or rhyme. • The metric ‘foot’. This is the basic element of verse, it establishes the rhythm of a poem. It is formed by a series of stressed and unstressed syllables (while in other languages, as in ancient Greek and Latin, and also in Italian, it is formed by long or short syllables in which the duration is important). It can be distinguished by the number of syllables or by the pattern of syllables stressed. – According to the number of syllables: monometer, one foot; dimeter, two feet; trimeter, three feet; tetrameter, four feet; pentameter, five feet; hexameter, six feet; heptameter, seven feet; octameter, eight feet. Hence, iambic pentameter, one of the most common metres in older poetry, is a line of five iambs with five feet. – According to the pattern: The commonest feet in English poetry are: iambs ['úIam(b)], trochees['trEUk:], dactyls ['daktIl], anapaests ['anEpi:st] and spondees ['spondi:]. Anapaest: ˇ ˇ / Dactyl: / ˇ ˇ Iamb: ˇ / Spondee: / / Trochee: / ˇ Conventionally, the symbol / denotes a stressed syllable; ˇ denotes an unstressed syllable. 11 Loescher Editore - Vietata la vendita e la diffusione

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Language

Rhetorical figures

The musical element is essential in poetry and the sound produced by words and verse plays an important role. The techniques we are going to present here, used to gain this musical sound-effect, are linked with some fundamental terminology of versification.

Poetic language is unique. Rhetoric and metaphors are used to create images and evoke certain feelings in the reader. Here we are going to analyse the different techniques commonly used in poetry to achieve these special effects. We’d like to remind you, however, that most of these are also used in prose.

• Alliteration. The repetition of the same sound (vowel or consonant) in the same line or adjacent lines. For example: ‘fight’ and ‘foot’. • Anaphora. The repetition of the same word or expression at the beginning of sentences or several successive verses. This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise, (Richard II, W. Shakespeare). • Assonance. The repetition of a similar vowel sound (with different consonants). When the consonants are repeated (and the vowels are different) it is called consonance. Thou still unravished bride of quietness / thou foster child of silence and slow time. (‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’, J. Keats )

• Blank verse. The use of unrhymed iambic pentameter which was traditionally used in epic poetry. With Shakespeare it became the most important verse form of dramatic poetry in English. • Caesura. A metrical pause in verse. All Nature is but art, unknown to thee All chance, direction, which thou canst not see; (An Essay on Man, A. Pope)

• Onomatopoeia. When a word or an expression imitates a natural sound. The buzz of the bees.

• Refrain. The repetition of a line or lines in a poem or a song. Typical of ballads. • Stress. The accent placed upon a syllable. •Synaesthesia. The association of two or more words belonging to different senses. And the hapless Soldier’s sigh / Runs in blood down Palace walls. (‘London’, W. Blake)

• Allegory. When the apparent meaning of a poem, story etc. is symbolic in order to gain a deeper, or more spiritual meaning. The Divine Comedy by Dante has been interpreted as an allegory of a spiritual journey. • Enjambement or run-on line. Where the sentence does not come to a conclusion at the end of the line with either a full stop or comma, but continues onto the next line, normally to provide a feeling of continuity or ‘flow’ in the idea expressed or to speed up the rhythm of the piece for a particular effect. I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o’er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; (‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’, W. Wordsworth)

• Hyperbole. The exaggeration in a statement or expression for greater, and often humorous, effect. I nearly died laughing

• Metaphor ['m‰tEtE,-fO:]. Substituting a word or expression with others which would not normally be used in that particular context in order to give an original perspective. It is different from a simile where the use of comparison is explicit. Here the writer does not say he/she is doing so as the meaning is implicit and requires more thought. We use metaphors all the time in everyday language without even realising. Life is but a walking shadow (Macbeth, W. Shakespeare) Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. (‘Dreams’, L. Hughes)

• Simile. One of the most common devices used in poetry. It indicates a similarity between two things. It is easy to distinguish because the images or ideas are linked by the words like or as, for example:


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Pagina 13

Literary Techniques Death lies upon her like an untimely frost. (Romeo and Juliet, W. Shakespeare,) Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep. (C. Sandburg)

• Personification. In this figure of speech, the poet attributes human qualities to animate or inanimate objects. In ‘Mirror’ by Sylvia Plath, the mirror (the ‘I’ in the first line) is given the ability to see and think and is attributed human qualities. I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions. Whatever I see I swallow immediately.

• Elegy. A sad and melancholic poem which mourns a person or people who have died. It is a type of lyric poetry as it expresses the poet’s feelings in a particular moment. • Epic. A very long poem which narrates the heroic deeds of one or more individuals in a serious tone. • Epigram. A short, concise and witty poem, often satirical or paradoxical. The term comes from Greek, meaning ‘inscription’ . • Epitaph. A text written on a tomb or monument to commemorate and honour a person who has died. • Narrative poem. A poem that tells a story.

• Symbol. The use of a real object to substitute or stand for something else. Universal symbols are: a lamb for sacrifice or innocence, scales for justice, an owl for death, a lion for strength, a fox for cunning and so on. In poetry it can be seen as an extension of a metaphor in the sense that a symbol is polyvalent because it can have several meanings. For example, a lion can represent: strength, courage, majesty, etc. • Verbal irony. Another important feature of poetic language, it suggests a contrast between what a speaker says and what he really means to say.

Types of poetry • The ballad. A form of verse which can be either sung or recited. It usually presents a dramatic or exciting story and is written in a simple narrative form. The quatrain is the most common stanza. • Dramatic monologue. A poem in which a character speaks about himself/herself and his/ her feelings, opinions or reasons for behaving in a certain way, spoken in the presence of a listener.

• Ode. A lyric poem, it often praises and glorifies people, natural scenes and even objects. It often has an elevated, rather difficult, style and a precise stanza structure. • Pastoral. A poem which describes the rural life of shepherds, presenting it in an idealized and romantic way and with a certain amount of nostalgia for this simple lifestyle. • Sonnet. This is a poem made up of fourteen lines and there are two ways in which the rhyming scheme may be divided. The first is in the Petrarchan sonnet, built up of 14 lines falling into an octet rhyming (abba abba) and a sestet having two alternate rhymes (cdcdcd). • Sonnet (Elizabethan/Shakespearean). This is the second, most frequently used rhyming scheme, said to be more suitable to the English language and widely adopted by Shakespeare and the Renaissance poets. The fourteen lines are divided into three quatrains rhyming, abab, cdcd, efef and ending in a rhyming couplet, gg.


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Pagina 14


Anonymous Beowulf (COMPOSED C. 8TH CENTURY) Commentary The poem Beowulf is known to us today through one surviving manuscript of the 10th century. It was written down for the first time by monks in a West-Saxon dialect and became part of a collection of Old English works known as the Cotton Vitellius A.XV or the Beowulf Manuscript, belonging to Sir Robert Cotton. Despite being damaged by fire in 1731 this unique copy still survives in the British Library. Much debate surrounds this long, narrative poem (over 3,000 lines long). Scholars disagree about the exact dating, about whether or not it was originally part of an oral tradition (passed down by storytellers known as scops who would change and embellish it at will) and also to what extent the poem has been ‘Christianised’ by the monks who transcribed it. However, all scholars agree that it is the most important poem to have survived in Old English, the first major poem in a European vernacular and, in its depiction of a great warrior who battles with monsters and dragons to defend his lord and land, a brilliant example of an epic poem. The poet Seamus Heaney describes it as ‘a work of the greatest imaginative vitality.’ Y Beowulf (2007) directed by R. Zemeckis.

Monsters, dragons and heroes – reality and legend Events take place around the 6th century and although written by an English poet the action takes place in the area of Scandinavia centering around Denmark, Sweden and Geatland, in southern Scandinavia. The poem reflects an accurate knowledge of Swedish history and artefacts. Other historical documents since found confirm the strong ties which existed between England and Scandinavia and an overlapping of cultural traditions. The hero, Beowulf, is a Geat and reality and legend become entwined as the poem concentrates on his life and heroic deeds. He is forced across one border and into another, defending the land against monsters and dragons (historical sources record dragons in England as late as the 8th century and people believed they existed for many years after). Beowulf was a typical warrior of the past: strong, fierce, cruel and heroic, a true-to-life representative of these Germanic people who regarded courage as the most important virtue and fighting as their mission. The battlefield was where reputations were won (Psee Theme: Heroes p. 66). 14 Loescher Editore - Vietata la vendita e la diffusione

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Pagina 15

Beowulf

The language Language has always presented the biggest obstacle for readers approaching the work today. The original Anglo-Saxon, or Old English, is certainly incomprehensible for everyone except scholars. The various translations into modern English now available, although they must be recognised as translations and not the original work, have made the poem much more accessible to today’s reader. The most recent translation (1999) by Seamus Heaney, used in this anthology, gives the poem a new vigour. It also respects the poem’s true spirit and it actually became a bestseller when first published. Linguistically the poem is impressive for its wealth of vocabulary, a fact which seems to reinforce the idea of it being part of an oral tradition. As it was passed on from one region to another the local dialects of the time would leave their mark on the language. For this reason there may be a variety of words used to describe the same object. Condensed metaphors, or kennings, are also widely used and are typical of Anglo-Saxon poetry (Psee p. 10).

Y Anglo-Saxon shield decoration.

The story Hrothgar, King of the Danes, builds a great hall, Heorot, for his people to celebrate their success and power. These halls were the focal point for communities in Anglo-Saxon times. People would eat, sleep, exchange stories and adventures here, but Hrothgar’s hall is attacked by Grendel, a monster in human form. Grendel carries off thirty of the king’s men, takes them away and eats them in his cave beneath a lake, where he lives with his mother. Grendel continues to terrorise the hall for twelve years until Beowulf, who is nephew to the King of the Geats, comes to the rescue with fourteen helpers. When Grendel returns, this time Beowulf is waiting for him and in a bloody battle manages to tear off the monster’s arm. Grendel escapes but is mortally wounded and later dies. Beowulf now becomes Hrothgar’s hero and is given many gifts. That night, however, when all the men are sleeping, Grendel’s mother comes to take revenge on her son’s death. This time the king’s friend and counsellor is carried away. Once again Hrothgar asks Beowulf for help and tells him how to reach the lake where the monster’s cave is to be found. He dives into the dark waters and again, despite being virtually unarmed, manages to kill Grendel’s mother. Beowulf is further rewarded and returns home where he tells his own king, Hygelac, of his bravery. He is given money and a part of the kingdom and later, after Hygelac’s death, becomes king himself, ruling successfully for fifty years. But the end of his reign is darkened by a vicious dragon who brings death and destruction throughout the land. Beowulf decides to face the dragon and with the help of his companion, Wiglaf, they finally manage to kill it but Beowulf this time is mortally wounded and dies. A great funeral is organised and Beowulf ’s body is burnt on a pyre. The atmosphere is sombre and bleak as the people must recognise the fact that now their hero has gone, leaving them alone to face the Swedes who are preparing to attack.

Y Anglo-Saxon helmet.

Y Anglo-Saxon shield decoration.


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Let’s get started 1 Monsters and demons have appeared in stories and legends from the beginning of time. Which of these monsters do you recognise? Can you write the correct name below each image? Medusa Minotaur Cyclops Hydra

2. ............................................... 1. ...............................................

3. ......................................................

4. ...............................................

2 Read the first short extract below and say what Beowulf plans to use to defeat the monster.

When it comes to fighting, I count myself as dangerous any day as Grendel. So it won’t be a cutting edge I’ll wield1 to mow him down2, easily as I might. He has no idea of the arts of war, of shield3 or sword-play, although he does possess a wild strength. No weapons, therefore,

1. wield: brandire. 2. mow him down: falciarlo. 3. shield: scudo.

3 The expression ‘cutting edge’ (l. 3) is an example of kenning. What do you think is the common name for the object? 4 Listen to the extract and say how the rhythm of the poem reflects the action. 1. mauled: maltrattò fisicamente. 2. bench: panchina (qui usato come letto). 3. bone-lappings: giunture delle ossa. 4. bolted down: ingoiò velocemente. 5. gorged on him in lumps: mangiò con ingordigia dilaniandolo. 6. utterly: completamente.

Beowulf Grendel enters the great hall, Heorot, and meets up with Beowulf. MP3 02

CD1 02 5

He [Grendel] grabbed and mauled1 a man on his bench2, bit into his bone-lappings3, bolted down4 his blood and gorged on him in lumps5, leaving the body utterly6 lifeless, eaten up hand and foot. Venturing closer, his talon was raised to attack Beowulf


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Pagina 17

Beowulf

10

15

20

25

30

35

where he lay on the bed, he was bearing in7 with open claw 8 when the alert hero’s comeback and armlock9 forestalled10 him utterly. The captain of evil discovered himself in a handgrip11 harder than anything he had ever encountered in any man on the face of the earth. Every bone in his body quailed and recoiled12, but he could not escape. He was desperate to flee13 to his den14 and hide With the devil’s litter15, for in all his days he had never been clamped16 or cornered like this. [...] The hall clattered17 and hammered18, but somehow survived the onslaught19 and kept standing: it was handsomely structured, a sturdy frame20 braced21 with the best of blacksmith’s work22 inside and out. The story goes that as the pair struggled, mead-benches23 were smashed and sprung off the floor, gold fittings24 and all. [...] Then an extraordinary wail25 arose, and bewildering fear came over 26 the Danes. Everyone felt it who heard that cry as it echoed off the wall, a God-cursed scream and strain27 of catastrophe, the howl28 of the loser, the lament of the hell-serf 29 keening30 his wound31. [...] The monster’s whole body was in pain, a tremendous wound appeared on his shoulder. Sinews split32 and the bone-lappings burst. Beowulf was granted33 the glory of winning; Grendel was driven under the fen-banks34, fatally hurt, to his desolate lair35.

7. bearing in: avvicinandosi. 8. claw: artiglio. 9. armlock: Beowulf gli aveva impedito il movimento delle braccia. 10. forestalled: lo faceva esitare. 11. handgrip: in una morsa. 12. quailed and recoiled: tremava e indietreggiava. 13. flee: scappare. 14. den: tana. 15. devil’s litter: prole (di solito di animale) del diavolo. 16. clamped: bloccato nei movimenti. 17. clattered: faceva fracasso. 18. hammered: martellava. 19. onslaught: assalto violento. 20. sturdy frame: una struttura solida. 21. braced: legato, tenuto assieme. 22. blacksmith’s work: lavoro dei fabbri. 23. mead-benches: panchine dove ci si sedeva per bere (‘mead’ è un termine antico per vino). 24. gold fittings: guarnizione in oro. 25. wail: acuto lamento. 26. came over: s’impossessò di. 27. God-cursed... strain: grido straziante. 28. howl: ululato. 29. hell-serf: servitore dell’inferno. 30. keening: lamentandosi dolorosamente per. 31. wound: ferita. 32. sinews split: i suoi tendini si spaccavano. 33. granted: concesso. 34. fen-banks: argine delle palude. 35. lair: tana. Y Beowulf (2007) directed by R. Zemeckis.


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Over to you Understanding the text

13 Which do you find the most gruesome part? Compare your answer with the rest of the class.

1 Put this summary of the extract in order. a. b. c. d. e. f. g.

Grendel prepared to attack Beowulf. Grendel was mortally wounded. The great hall shook with the fighting. Grendel ate a man asleep on his bench. Grendel emitted a terrible cry. Beowulf blocked Grendel’s arm. Grendel escaped to die in his cave.

[ ] [ ] [ ] [1 ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

2 Find three expressions used to describe Grendel.

Context 14 As we read in the commentary, Beowulf is not only important in the history of English literature but it has had an enduring popularity throughout the centuries. From the short piece you have read what elements do you think the tale contains which made (and make) it so successful?

3 What expression is used for Beowulf (l. 8)? 4 What was Beowulf doing when Grendel entered the hall? 5 Why do you think he did this? 6 What was the only thing Beowulf used to defeat Grendel? Choose from the following. his sword

his strength

his army

7 What do we learn about the structure of Heorot, the great hall (ll. 18-24)?

Discussion 15 Beowulf ’s historical period can be described as tribal. Today man sees himself as living in a ‘civilised’ society. We are superior and much more sophisticated, or are we? In what ways are we, today, superior and more sophisticated and in what ways are we still very tribal, even primitive?

Analysis and interpretation 8 In the first lines of the extract underline all the words which describe the way Grendel killed and ate the man. What do we generally associate these words with? 9 ‘He was desperate to flee to his den and hide/with the devil’s litter’ (ll. 15-16). What aspect of Grendel’s character do these lines emphasise? 10 Why is ‘devil’s litter’ a good expression for Grendel’s companions/family? 11 ‘Beowulf was granted the glory of winning;’ (ll. 35-36). Who do you think granted him this glory? 1. Hrothgar

2. God

12 The following are examples of kennings. Choose from the list below to match them with their modern definition. lake

meat

sea

tables

chairs

1. bone-lappings (l. 2) = ............................................... . 2. mead-benches (l. 23) = ............................................... . 3. fen-bank (l. 37) = ............................................... .

Review 1 Give three reasons why Beowulf is an important part of English literature. 2 What aspects of the work do scholars disagree about? 3 An epic poem is... (complete). 4 Beowulf is typical of the Germanic people because he is... (complete). 5 The three battles Beowulf has in his life, which seal his reputation as a true hero-warrior, are against .............................................. (1), .............................................. (2) and ............................................... (3).


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Beowulf

Monsters Early Britain and then the Middle Ages saw an out-pouring of legends concerning monsters, which is not surprising when you think of the characteristics of these ages. It was extremely dangerous to travel; you could be attacked by thieves, out-laws, bandits, criminals of any kind. But also sick people and those who were mad represented a threat in a world where there was no social or medical assistance. There was also a great fear of the night, which was incredibly dark in this period, so dark that it is difficult for us today to imagine. The only possible light came from fire or a full moon. Very few areas on earth are still like this today. Perhaps only certain deserts, forests or mountain tops can still recapture the darkness that comes from complete isolation, where nature reigns and there is no human introduction of electricity, street lighting, houses, etc. The night, therefore, was dark and could hide any kind of danger, even… monsters. It became easy to imagine that in such a world, horrible monsters could hide in the depths of the forest, behind rocks, in the deep, black waters of lakes. And not only dragons and demons, but also blackdogs, werewolves, giants, witches… One way people had to exorcise these evil forces was to build legends and stories around them. Therefore the literature of this time is full of these figures, from the dragons and monsters that the knights had to fight to the wicked and supernatural beings present in ballads and legends.

Y Animals and monsters from De Rerum Naturis (9th century) by the monk Mauro Rabano.

Y An angel has closed the gates to Hell. The Winchester Psalter (12th century). The British Library, London.


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Anonymous The Seafarer (COMPOSED C. 975) Commentary The Seafarer is an example of an elegy and is also probably the most famous Anglo-Saxon lyrical poem. The elegies of the period were less religious and consequently contained more pagan elements and like all elegies the tone was generally one of lament or mourning. It comes from The Exeter Book (Psee Literary Context, p. 10).

Y Setting sail in a storm. Abbazia di Novalesa, Turin.

Until the spread of Christianity, AngloSaxon prose and poetry was an oral tradition, passed on through generations. It was mainly the Christian scribes who began to transform the oral into a written form thus introducing for the first time a certain continuity. However, many writers would eliminate any aspects which either contrasted or did not fit into their Christian belief. The Seafarer is a good example of a rich and complex poem which embodies both the pagan and Christian elements typical of the works of that time. The Christian aspects of the work make it a more interesting poem, one which can be read on two levels. After describing the hardships of life at sea the narrator then speaks about his rejection of the comforts and ease offered by a life on land. His journey at sea, despite its difficulties, also becomes his journey towards a better life after death. In the complete text the narrator laments the fact that life on land has changed for the worse and feels that man’s duty is to make his mark in some way in this life before going on to the next. The Christian influences are clear. The poem, however, distinguishes itself from the majority of the poetry in this period because of its rather personal tone; the reader feels he is sharing this sailor’s intimate moment of reflection.

Let’s get started 1 The sea has always been a source of inspiration for writers. Make a list of any poems, novels, plays or films you know in which the sea plays an important role. In each one indicate whether the sea was a positive or negative presence. Compare your results with the rest of the class. Poem

Novel

Play

Film


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The Seafarer 2 Read the opening lines of the poem in its original Old English. These are the same lines you will find in the extract we’re studying. Can you identify any words from the English we use today, over a thousand years later? Compare them with the extract that follows in modern English.

5

Mæg ic be me sylfum soðgied wrecan, siþas secgan, hu ic geswincdagum earfoðhwile oft þrowade, bitre breostceare gebiden hæbbe,

3 Now read and listen to the first extract of The Seafarer from a translation by S.A.J. Bradley and describe the tone of the poem. Choose from the following. lighthearted

ironic

solemn

Y An Anglo-Saxon ship.

MP3 03

CD1 03 5

10

15

The Seafarer I can tell the true riddle1 of my own self, and speak of my experiences – how I have often suffered times of hardship2 in days of toil3, how I have endured4 cruel anxiety at heart and experienced many anxious lodging-places5 afloat6, and the terrible surging7 of the waves. There the hazardous8 night-watch has often found me at the ship’s prow9 when it is jostling10 along the cliffs. My feet were pinched11 by the cold, shackled12 by the frost13 in cold chains, whilst anxieties sighed14 hot about my heart. Hunger tore15 from within at the mind of one wearied16 by the ocean. This that man does not understand, who is most agreeably suited17 on land – how I, wretchedly anxious18, have for years lived on the ice-cold sea in the ways of the sojourner19, bereft20 of kinsfolk21, hung about by ice-spikes22; hail pelted23 in showers. There I heard nothing but the waging24 of the sea, the ice-cold wave.

1. riddle: mistero. 2. hardship: privazione. 3. toil: fatica. 4. endured: tollerato. 5. lodging-places: alloggi (in questo caso, navi). 6. afloat: a galla. 7. surging: l’agitarsi. 8. hazardous: rischioso. 9. prow: prua. 10. jostling: urtando. 11. pinched: stretti in una morsa. 12. shackled: imprigionati. 13. frost: gelo. 14. anxieties sighed: sospiravo per l’ansia. 15. hunger tore: la fame dilaniava. 16. wearied: stancato. 17. suited: adatta. 18. wretchedly anxious: infelicemente ansioso. 19. sojourner: ospite di passaggio. 20. bereft: private. 21. kinsfolk: parenti. 22. ice-spikes: punte di ghiaccio. 23. hail pelted: la grandine cadeva a grande velocità. 24. waging: muovendosi.


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