1. epic 史诗 An epic is a long oral narrative poem that operates on a grand scale and deals with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance .Most epics deal with the exploits of a single individual and also interlace the main narrative with myths, legends, folk tales and past events; there is a composite effect, the entire culture of a country cohering in the overall experience of the poem . Epic poems are not merely entertaining stories of legendary or historical heroes; they summarize and express the nature or ideals of an entire nation at a significant or crucial period of its history.2. caesura 停顿a break or pause in a line of poetry, dictated by the natural rhythm of the language and sometimes enforced by punctuation. In Old English verse, such as Beowulf, the caesura was used rather monotonously to indicate the half line.3. alliteration 头韵the repetition of the same sound or sounds at the beginning of two or more words that are close to each other. It is a feature of Beowulf and other Old English poems.4. alliterative verse 头韵诗poetry written in alliteration. Nearly all Old English verse, including Beowulf, is heavily alliterative, and the pattern is fairly standard with either two or three stressed syllables in each line alliterating.5. kenning 隐喻语a metaphor usually composed of two words and used for description and association. Beowulf is full of kennings, such as “helmet bearer” for “warrior” and “swan road” for “sea”.6. protagonist 主角the principal character of a drama or fiction. Hamlet is the protagonist of William Shakespeares drama Hamlet.7. antagonist 反角In drama or fiction the antagonist opposes the hero or protagonist. In Hamlet Claudius is antagonist to Hamlet.8. romance 传奇a type of literature that was popular in the Middle Ages, usually containing adventures and reflecting the spirit of chivalry. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was a great verse romance, but its author remains unknown.9. bob and wheel诗节末尾的短行与叠唱a rhyming section of five lines that concludes a stanza in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The “bob” is a very short line, sometimes of only two syllables, followed by the “wheel”, longer lines with three stresses and internal thyme.10. poets corner 诗人角a part of Westminster Abbey, London, which contains the tombs or monuments of some famous English poets, such as Geoffrey Chaucer and John Milton.11. heroic couplet 英雄双韵体Two successive lines of rhymed poetry in iambic pentameter. Geoffrey Chaucers masterpiece The Canterbury Tale was written in heroic couplet. Named from its use by Dryden and others in the heroic drama of the late 17th century, the heroic couplet had been established much earlier by Chaucer as a major English verse-form for narrative and other kinds of non-dramatic portry: it dominated English poetry of the 18th century, notably in the couplets of Pope, before declining in importance in the early 19th century.12. ballad meter 民谣体traditionally a four-line stanza containing alternating four-stress and three-stress lines, usually with a refrain and the rhyme scheme of abcb. Robert Burns “A Red, Red Rose” is a great love ballad.13. refrain 叠句，副歌a phrase, line or lines repeated at intervals during a poem and especially at the end of a stanza. It is very often found in English ballads, such as Robert Burns “A Red, Red Rose”.14. English Renaissance 英国文艺复兴the literary flowering of England in the late 16th century and early 17th century, with humanism as its keynote. William Shakespeares Hamlet is considered the summit of this renaissance. Renaissance(文艺复兴) The word “renaissance” means rebirth or revival. It is commonly applied to the movement or period in western civilization , which marks the transition from the medieval to the modern world . It sprang up first in Italy in the 14th century and gradually spread all over Europe, the date differing for different countries. The Renaissance indicates a revival of classical (Greek and Roman) arts and sciences after the dark ages of medieval obscurantism. The study and propagation of classical learning and art was carried on by the progressive thinkers of the humanists. They held their chief interest not in ecclesiastical knowledge, but in man, his environment and doings and his brave fight for the emancipation of man from the tyranny of the church and religious dogmas. Because in the ancient Greek and Roman mythology were found the ideas of universal love, respect to human beings and approval of mans power, ability and knowledge. And at the same time worldly enjoyment on the earth was affirmed. In short, man became the center of the world instead of God as upheld in the Middle Ages. The Renaissance Movement is a great revolution carried out in the fourteenth to the mid-seventeenth century Europe. It broke the chain and bondage of feudal and theological ties and brought human wisdom and capacity into full play.15. Elizabethan literature