Original：
English Poetry Before Renaissance Period
In the history of English literature, the Medieval Ages (7AD-15AD) actually covered two different periods: the Old English and the Middle English, with Norman Conquest (1066) as the historic dividing line. As a result of the Conquest, English language and culture experienced dramatic changes. So the English medieval period was composed of three periods: Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman, and the 14th to the 15th century.
In the 5th century, Anglo-Saxon's invasion of the island of Britain commenced the English history and the history of English literature. Living a grim barbarous life, Anglo-Saxons believed in fatalism, yet they were compensated with endurance and intellectual seriousness. Anglo-Saxons were finally Christianized in the 7th century. Their conversion to Christianity had a far-reaching influence upon English literature.
Pagan poetry, an English verse literature in oral form was prevalent before Anglo-Saxons' Christianization, and Beowulf, The Seafarer, Deor's Lament and The Battle of Maldon are representative works of pagan poetry.After Anglo-Saxons' conversion to Christianity, Christian poetry embarked on English literary stage. Among others, Caedmon, noted for his first poem entitled Hymn in praise of the Creator, has been regarded as the father of English songs. While Christ, Juliana, the Fates of the Apostles and Elene made Cynewulf a prominent Anglo-Saxon poet.
The Norman Conquest brought the feudal system to English society and transformed English into a hierarchical language with Norman-French being the official language of the Conquerors on the top, and English being the tongue of ordinary mass at the bottom;and Latin, being the evocable medium of the clergy in the midst of the two. Meanwhile, a more civilized Continental Europe gradually came into being. Romance, a dominant literary form during Anglo-Norman period, flourished for about three hundred years (1200-1500), and its subject matters mainly fell on the Matter of France, the Matter of Rome and the Matter of Britain.
The 14th century was traditionally called the Aged of Chaucer.Widely acclaimed as the founding father of English poetry, Geoffrey Chaucer established English as the language of English literature. The Canterbury Tales, the monumental work of English poetry, written in iambic pentameter, ushers in humanistic ideals. Besides, William Langland and John Gower were two other leading poets in the 14th century. Piers Plowman, written in the form of a dream vision, shows Langland's severe satire toward the corruption of the church, his deep sympathy for the suffering of the poor and his eulogy of the honest labor.
Immersed in a series of wars, many nobles responsible for patronizing art and literature got killed on the battlefield, which led to the damage of the 15th-century literature. However, a group of poets following Chaucer, including John Lydgate, John Skelton, James I, the?king of Scotland, and William Dunbar deserve our attention. Meanwhile, folk literature, especially ballads enjoyed a high popularity, and Ballads of Robin Hood, a series of stories focusing on a legendary outlaw named Robin Hood are doubtlessly the most renowned of this kind.
試譯：
文藝復興以前的英語詩歌
在英語文學史上伴找，中世紀（7-15世紀）實際上分為古英語和中古英語兩個不同的階段，以1066年的諾曼征服為其歷史分界線唉侄。諾曼征服使得英語語言和文化經(jīng)歷了劇烈的變化桨醋。因此拉队，中世紀的英語可以分為盎格魯-撒克遜翻屈、盎格魯-諾曼以及十四至十五世紀三個階段缀程。
5世紀，盎格魯·撒克遜入侵不列顛島開啟了英語歷史和英語文學的歷史合瓢。過著野蠻生活的盎格魯-撒克遜人相信宿命論坦胶，但是他們既有耐心又非常嚴謹。7世紀晴楔，盎格魯-撒克遜人最終接受了基督教顿苇，這對英語文學產(chǎn)生了深遠的影響。
異教徒的詩歌是在盎格魯-撒克遜人基督教化以前以口語的形式流行的一種英語韻文文學滥崩，《貝奧武甫》《航海家》《迪奧的抱怨》和《馬爾頓之戰(zhàn)》是異教徒的詩歌中的代表性作品岖圈。盎格魯-撒克遜人轉(zhuǎn)向基督教后，基督教詩歌開始登上英語文學舞臺钙皮。其中，凱德蒙因他的第一首贊美造物主的詩歌《贊美詩》而著稱于世顽决，被譽為“英語詩歌之父”短条。而《耶穌基督》《朱麗安娜》《使徒的命運》《埃琳娜》等作品使得基涅武甫成為一位成就突出的盎格魯-撒克遜詩人。
諾曼征服將封建制度帶到了英語社會才菠，并且將英語變成了一種等級語言——上層統(tǒng)治者以諾曼-法語為官方語言茸时，而下層民眾則以英語為口語；夾在二者之間的神職人員則使用拉丁語赋访。與此同時可都，一個更加文明的歐洲大陸漸趨形成。傳奇故事蚓耽，盎格魯-諾曼時期的一種主流的文學形式渠牲，繁榮了大約三百年（從1200年到1500年），其主題是法國問題步悠、羅馬問題和英國問題签杈。
14世紀通常被稱為“喬叟時代”。人們普遍認為鼎兽，杰弗里·喬叟是英語詩歌之父答姥，他把英語確立為英國文學的語言铣除。《坎特伯雷故事集》是一部用五音步抑揚格寫成的具有里程碑意義的英語詩歌作品鹦付，它表達了作者的人文主義思想尚粘。此外，威廉·蘭格倫和約翰·高爾是14世紀另外兩個主要的詩人敲长±杉蓿《皮爾斯·普洛曼》是以夢想的愿景的形式寫的，它展現(xiàn)了蘭格倫對教會腐敗的莫大的諷刺潘明，對窮人疾苦的深切同情和對其誠實勞動的贊美行剂。
曠日持久的戰(zhàn)爭在戰(zhàn)場奪去了許多貴族的生命，這導致了15世紀文學與藝術(shù)的衰落钳降。然而厚宰，在喬叟之后有一批詩人，包括約翰·李嘉德遂填、約翰·斯克爾頓铲觉、詹姆士一世、蘇格蘭國王和威廉·鄧巴吓坚，應當引起我們的注意撵幽。同時，民間文學礁击，尤其是民謠空前流行盐杂。《羅賓漢歌謠集》是一系列關(guān)于傳說中的亡命之徒羅賓漢的故事哆窿，無疑是這類歌謠中最著名的链烈。
?
“本譯文僅供個人研習、欣賞語言之用挚躯，謝絕任何轉(zhuǎn)載及用于任何商業(yè)用途强衡。本譯文所涉法律后果均由本人承擔。本人同意簡書平臺在接獲有關(guān)著作權(quán)人的通知后码荔，刪除文章漩勤。”
