A Literary Anthology for Student Teachers

By Dhia Aljoubouri and Hisham AlShammari

Literature is arouse by the new learning which was the inspiration of great prose, poetry and drama. Many of the Elizabethans were fascinated by idealsthey wanted to know how to be perfect courtier, or gentleman, or governor . Most Elizabethan poems picture nature and human beings in a graceful and idealized manner. Surely the Elizabethan believed in perfection, when Shakespeare could write that if he is mistaken in thinking that the true love is unchanging , then
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
The Englishmen of the Renaissance were in love with human beauty, which they considered the outward sign of mans spirit striving for perfection. For the English were not content to write about perfection; they tried
to achieve it in their lives. Yet , Sir Thomas Wyatt brought the sonnet from Italy, and the Earl of Surry for the first time used blank verse, which has been a standard English meter ever since .Furthermore, lyric (or singing) poetry was developed, for England was becoming a nation of musician and singers. The lighter side of literature and life in seventeenth century is reflected in the lyrics of the Cavalier poets. In Blakes poetry , we find the traits and attitudes that mark the change from classicism to romanticism .These have already been pointed out briefly as (1) a study and plainly expressed belief in the brotherhood of man;(2)a deep sympathy with humble lives, human and animal alike; (3) a sense of independent spirit of man andnatural right to freedom. Such attitudes are evident on a grand scale in the American Revolution.
As a way of thinking and as an approach to literature, Romanticism is associated with vitality, powerful emotion, limitless and dreamlike ideas .
The mood of Romanticism prepared the country for a literary outburst. Wordsworth and Coleridge opened new subjects for poetry. Byron , Shelley, and Keats produced poetry excelling in lyric beauty.
Following World War I some of the energy and inventiveness in modern drama seemed to leave England as it entered America .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483621814

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Copyright © 2013 by Hisham AlShammari & Dhia Aljoubouri.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-4836-2180-7

                Ebook         978-1-4836-2181-4

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Rev. date: 04/12/2013

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Contents

Part I

Preface

Poetry

Sir Thomas Wyatt

Robert Herrick

William Blake

William Wordsworth

S.T. Coleridge

Lord Alfred Tennyson

Elizabeth Browing

Christina Rossetti

Drama

William Shakespeare

Roger Owen

Prose

Jonathan Swift

Saki

O. Henry

Part II

Literary Texts For Further Reading

Sir Walter Ralegh

Robert Herrick

Christina Rossetti

Hilaire Belloc

Samuel Pepys

John Tully

Glossary

Bibliography

Preface

T HE PURPOSE OF this anthology is to provide students with an attractive introduction to the riches of English literature. The material has been chosen from a wide variety of sources ranging in time from the sixteenth century to the present. It is hoped that the poems, short stories and plays included in this anthology will be found both enjoyable and instructive.

To help students, particularly those working on their own, we have biographical and critical sketches on each piece. We have also provided a number of notes and a glossary to explain the meaning of archaic or difficult expressions that are not readily understood from the context. The specific questions at the end of each piece are primarily concerned with the factual content and are also intended to provide material for class activities and homework. The written answers should be brief, but in complete sentences and as far as possible in the student’s own word.

Instructors are expected to explain and discuss the detailed meaning and the general themes involved. To ensure a favorable response, they may occasionally find it useful to supply additional information on the writers and their works. On account of their brevity and modern English usage, the short stories and modern plays afford a fruitful basis for language study and discussion. Part II of this Anthology contains a number of literary texts for further study. These are basically intended as additional material for homework or special assignments.

It is perhaps necessary to point out that in this anthology we have, on few occasions, found it advisable to modernize the spelling of some archaic words. On fewer occasions, and for the sake of clarity it also seemed expedient to provide modern substitutes for expressions which have either departed from their original sense or gone out of circulation.

Hisham A.I. AlShammari & Dhai A.H. Aljubori

1987

POETRY

1 – Poetry is one of the most ancient arts man has cultivated. Besides providing people with an immense source of pleasure and amusement, poetry has also been regarded as something central to man’s life existence. Throughout the ages, poetry has been composed by all kinds of people: philosophers, peasants, religious men, soldiers and kings.

I T IS QUITE difficult to give a precise definition of poetry. Most people agree, however, that poetry is a kind of language that carries more meaning than ordinary language does. Among others, poet and critics have provided us with a number of definitions. William Wordsworth, for one, says that poetry is the imaginative expression of strong feelings. According to Mathew Arnold, poetry is a criticism of life. Shelly, on the other hand, defines poetry as the record of the best and happiest moments of the best and happiest minds. Furthermore, the poet has often been described as an artist, a composer, a painter. A poet is frequently said to do by means of words what the painter does by means of colors.

While ordinary language communicates practical information, a poem provides a new vision of the world, a new insight which deepens one’s awareness and understanding of life. This, however, does not mean that there is, of necessity, moral instruction or lessons in every poem.

2 – In order that we may understand and enjoy a poem we have to read it more than once. Unlike a magazine or a newspaper which may be hastily read, a poem is like an elaborate work of art which requires prolonged examination. It is useless to try to understand a poem without troubling to learn the meaning of the words of it is composed. Because poems are written to be heard, because of their meaning is conveyed through sound as through poet, we must learn to read aloud. If, for any reason, this cannot be achieved, we have to lip read the poem (from the words with your tongue and mouth though you do not utter them).

3 – A common mistake made by beginning readers is to assume that the speaker in the poem is always the poet himself. This may on very few occasions be true, particularly in intensely subjective or autobiographical poems. In most cases, however, the speaker is someone other than the poet himself. Even when the poet speaks directly and expresses his own thoughts and emotions, he does so as a representative human being rather than as an individual. We must, therefore, be cautious about identifying anything in a poem with a real life of the poet. Like the novelists and the dramatists, poets usually change actual details of their own experiences to make them appear more general and universal in their poems.

4 – To produce the desired effect, poets often resort to the use of figures of speech in their poetry. Generally speaking, a figure of speech is a way saying something other than the ordinary way. That is to say a figure of speech is a kind of intentional departure from the normal order, construction or meaning of words in order to gain strength and freshness of expression. Figurative language is, therefore, writing that embodies one or more of the various figures of speech.

5 – Among the most common figures of speech are metaphors and similes. These are both used as a means of comparing things that are essentially unlike. The only distinction between them is that in simile, the comparison is expressed by the use of some words or phrases such as like, as, than, similar to, resembles or seems; in metaphor the comparison is implied: the words like, as, etc. are not used. In other words, if a poet wants to compare Karin to an angel he can say:

            (either) Karin looks like an angel (simile),

            (or) Karin is an angel (metaphor).

Personification consists in giving the qualities of a human being to an inanimate object, an animal or an idea. When a poet describes a palm tree as being patient and faithful, he is personifying it, i.e. treating the palm tree as a human being. Closely related to personifications apostrophe