English Literature Part 1. The Anglo-Saxon PeriodBeowulf(the national epic of the English people) stricking feature: alliteration, metaphors and understatements. Caedmon Paraphrase of the Bible/ (the first known religious poet of England) Cynewulf The Christ /( poet on religious subjects) Part 2. The Anglo-Norman PeriodSir Gawain and the Green Knight/ a mixture of Anglo-Saxon poetry and French poetry. (alliterative verse with metrical verse), The poem reflects the ideal of feudal knighthood. A true knight should not only dedicate himself to the church, but also possess the virtues of great courage, of fidelity to his promise, and of physical chastity and purity. Part 3. Geoffrey Chaucer GeoffreyChaucer1340-1400 The House of Fame; Troilus and Criseyde(long narrative poem);Legend of Good Women (first used heroic couplet); The Parliament of Fowlspoetry：Canterbury Tales/Significance: It gives a comprehensive picture of Chaucer’ s time; It has a dramatic structure; It reflects Chaucer’ s humor; It shows Chaucer’ s contribution to the English language and poetry.his contribution to English poetry: 1.introduced from france the rhymed couplet of 5 accents in iambic meter (the heroic couplet), 2.Is the first great poet who wrote in the English language. Who making the dialect of London the standard for the modern English speech. 3.He is considered as the founder of English poetry. Part 4. The English renaissance Thomas More Utopia ( He is the outstanding humanist) Lyrical poems Thomas Wyatt(the first to introduce the sonnet into English literature); Henry Howard; Philip Sidney; Thomas Campion Epic poem Edmond Spenser The Faerie QueenNovels John Lyly( Eupheus gives rise to the term euphuism); Thomas Lode (they deal...
