Question

Whitman(惠特曼)was one of the most original and inspiring American poets, true to his art and to his role as a poet. He devoted himself to poetry praising the native American experience. As America’s first epic poem, Leaves of Grass(《草葉集》)ran nine editions with more than 400 poems all written in free verse(詩)form, that is, poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme. The tide implies rebirth, renewal, or green life. As Whitman once said, “Leaves of Grass was the outcropping of my own emotional and other personal nature―an attempt, from first to last, to put a person, a human being freely, fully and truly on record.”

For Whitman, science, democracy[民主] and spirituality(靈性)were the three things that founded the base (構成……基礎)of modern poetry. Whitman tried to mix the world of science, the philosophy of democracy and the spiritual feeling of life into one, to incorporate(合并)these into his poetry. For Whitman, the poetic form was to be organic, not limited(受限制的). Therefore, he threw aside the traditional ornaments(修飾)and prettiness of verse and had his own form. Both the form and content of his poems are revolutionary. With its frequent use of common language and everyday events, his poems represents a turning point in the history of American poetry―poetry fashioned out of specially American experience in a clearly American idiom. Whitman’s unique poetic creation has developed a very significant tradition in American poetry.

In his poems, he celebrated new America rather than regretted it. He was against slavery, admired Lincoln, supported strikes, and combined the ideal of the democratic common people and that of the ragged individual.

 

62、Whitman wrote poems mainly to      .

A．praise the rich people in the USA

B．call on others to turn against the government

C．let others know more about the native American experience

D．make more money and become famous

63、The poet threw aside the traditional ornaments and prettiness of verse and had his own form because     .

A．he thought the poetic form was not limited but organic

B．all the poets did so

C．the readers didn’t like the traditional ornaments and prettiness of verse

D．he wanted to make his poems special

64、According to the passage, we know Whitman was a poet who      .

A．didn’t like common people            B．was a selfish man

C．cared for common people                    D．didn’t have his own ideal

Answer 1

CAC