9. Robert Burns(1759-1796)

1) his life story:

was born in Scotland in a poor peasant family and educated himself through selfstudy.

his literary achievements:

2)2)

poems and songs

The-Inaugaration of Robert Burns

3) characteristics of his poems and songsStatue of Robert Burns

a. written in

the Scottish dialect

and in the tradition

of Scottish

folk songs.

b. besides love lyrics, most of his poems and songs are about patriotic and political themes.

10. William Blake (1757-1827) a poet as well as an engraver.

1) his life story: was born in a hosier’s family in London and drew pictures and engraved to illustrate his

works and the works of others.

poems: Poetical Sketches, Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, Prophetic Books

broke with the neo-classical tradition both in form and in content

2) his literary achievements:

3) characteristics of his poems

a. Songs of Innocence(1) expressed the poet’s delight in

life, even in the face of sorrow and

suffering.

(2) the world is seen through the eyes of a child’s imagination which

can be attained by adults if they cast away the follies and deceits of

the hostile world and seek a visionary world through their

imagination.

(1) the atmosphere is no longer sunny but sad and gloomy, and evil is found everywhere in thi

s world.

(2) through the loss of imagination, man has become a slave to the falsehood and hypocrisy of religion and society, and thus has lost the Heaven of Innocence and gained the Hell of Experie

nce.

b. Songs of Experience

c. the contradiction of these two poem collections

The End