The close relationship between poetry and music scarcely needs to be argued. Both are aural modes which employ rhythm, rime, and pitch as major devices; to these the one adds linguistic meaning, connotation, and various traditional figures, and the other can add, at least in theory, all of these plus harmony, counterpoint, and orchestration techniques. In English the two are closely bound historically. Anglo-Saxon heroic poetry seems certainly to have been read or chanted to a harpist's accompaniment; the verb used in Beowulf for such a performance, the Finn episode, is singan, to sing, and the noun gyd, song. A major source of the lyric tradition in English poetry is the songs of the troubadours.
The distance between the gyd in Beowulf and the songs of Leonard Cohen or Bob Dylan may seem great, but is one of time rather than aesthetics. The lyric poem as a literary work and the lyrics of a popular song are both still essentially the same thing: poetry. Whether the title of the work be Gerontion, or Hound Dog, our criteria for evaluating the work must remain the same.
The most important prerequisite for both a significant poem and significant lyrics in a popular song is that the writer be faithful to his own personal vision or to the vision of the poem he is writing. Skill and craft for writing poetry are indeed necessary because these are the only means by which a poet can preserve the integrity of this vision in the poem. A poet must not, either because of lack of skill or because of worship of popularity, wealth, or critical acclaim, go outside of his own or his own poem's vision — on pain of writing only the derivative or the trivial. Historically, the writers and singers of the lyrics of popular songs have seemed often to be incapable of personal vision, and to have confused both originality and morality with a servile compliance to popular taste.
1.According to the writer, the relationship between poetry and music_______.
A.is a debatable topic B.can be made but in a limited way
C.is indisputable if you analyse history D.needs to be acknowledged more by poets
2.The author cites Beowulf in order to show that_______.
A.the distance between song and poetry is not so great
B.a song like Beowulf can sound like a poem
C.English poetry is highly connected to songs
D.songs generally evolve into poetry over time
3.Which of the following statements is true, according to the passage?
A.The lyrics of a song are no different from the lyrics of poetry.
B.Song lyrics and poetry must be treated analytically as the same.
C.The differences between poetry and song lyrics have been overstated.
D.It is the time not the aesthetics that is different in most poems and song lyrics.
4.A poem or a song can be significant when_______.
A.it is done by a faithful writer
B.the writer has a personal vision of the poem or song
C.it is written within the vision of the poem, song, poet or songwriter
D.the writer is willing to go outside of the vision
5.In the passage, the author focuses on_______.
A.the shared, most important evaluation criteria in songwriting and poetry
B.the various ways songs and poems are similar
C.the difference between good poetry and songs and mediocre ones
D.how to evaluate a poem and a song's value from a lyrical standpoint
長難例句分析
［長難例句］The most important prerequisite for both a significant poem and significant lyrics in a popular song is that the writer be faithful to his own personal vision or to the vision of the poem he is writing.
［結構分析］本句中， The most important prerequisite作主語，介詞for引導的介賓短語作定語，修飾主語。that引導的是表語從句。he is writing作定語從句，修飾poem。
［參考譯文］意義深長的詩歌和流行歌曲的歌詞二者最為重要的前提是，作者忠實于自己的個人眼界或者所寫詩歌的眼界。
全文參考譯文
毋庸置言，詩歌與音樂密切相關。二者皆運用節(jié)律、諧韻和抑揚頓挫為重要手段，娛人聽覺；前者加之以語言意義、內(nèi)涵和各種傳統(tǒng)人物，后者至少在理論上加之以和聲、對位以及配器技法。在英語中，二者自古就密不可分。似乎確定無疑的是，盎格魯撒克遜的英雄史詩，當初在豎琴的伴奏下朗讀或吟唱；《貝奧武夫》中描寫芬恩插曲的動詞singan意思為sing，名詞gyd意思為song。英語詩歌適用歌唱的傳統(tǒng)一個重要來源是吟游詩人的歌曲。
《貝奧武夫》中的gyd和Leonard Cohen或者Bob Dylan的歌曲之間或許差異巨大，但只是時代的差別，而不是美學的差別。作為文學作品的抒情詩和流行歌曲的歌詞實質(zhì)上仍然是一回事：詩歌。不管作品題目是《小老頭》還是《獵犬》，我們評價作品的尺度必須始終如一。
意義深長的詩歌和流行歌曲的歌詞二者最為重要的前提是，作者忠實于自己的個人眼界或者所寫詩歌的眼界。寫詩的技巧和手法的確必不可少，因為這是詩人在詩中保存眼界完整的唯一手段。詩人絕不能因為缺乏技巧或是因為崇拜名聲、財富或者贊譽而游離自己的或自己詩歌的眼界——寫出的只是缺乏獨創(chuàng)、無足輕重的東西。歷史上，通俗歌曲歌詞的作者和演唱者似乎時常喪失個人眼界，嘩眾媚俗，混淆獨創(chuàng)性和道德觀。
題目答案與解析
1.根據(jù)作者，詩和音樂之間的關系________。
A.是一個有爭議的話題 B.可以在一個有限的范圍內(nèi)建立
C.通過分析歷史可知是無可爭議的 D.需要詩人們更多地認可
【答案】C
【解析】作者在第一段指出，詩歌與音樂自古就密不可分。據(jù)此可知，C項為正確答案。
2.作者引用《貝奧武夫》中的話是為了說明________。
A.歌曲和詩之間的差距并不是很大 B.《貝奧武夫》之類的歌聽起來像詩
C.英國詩歌與歌曲聯(lián)系緊密 D.隨著時間的推移，歌曲發(fā)展成為詩
【答案】C
【解析】本文第一段中，從歷史角度說明詩歌與音樂密切相關，其中，以《貝奧武夫》為例是為了說明本段主題，即英國詩歌與歌曲聯(lián)系緊密。據(jù)此可知C項為正確答案。
3.根據(jù)本文，以下陳述中哪項是正確的？
A.歌詞與詩歌沒有區(qū)別。
B.詩歌與歌曲的歌詞實質(zhì)上是一回事。
C.詩和歌詞之間的區(qū)別被過分夸大。
D.在多數(shù)詩和歌詞之間的差別是時代而不是美學的差別。
【答案】B
【解析】從第二段可知，詩歌與歌曲的歌詞實質(zhì)上是一回事。因此B項為正確答案。
4.當________時，一首詩或一首歌有著重大意義。
A.由一名忠實的作者來創(chuàng)作
B.作者對詩或歌曲有著個人的眼界
C.詩人或歌曲作家忠實于自己的眼界來創(chuàng)作
D.作者愿意超出眼界創(chuàng)作
【答案】C
【解析】從文中第三段可知，意義深長的詩歌和流行歌曲的歌詞二者最為重要的前提是，作者忠實于自己的個人眼界或者所寫詩歌的眼界。因此C項為正確答案。
5.文章中作者主要論述了________。
A.對作曲和做詩共同的、最重要的評估標準
B.歌曲和詩相似的不同方面
C.優(yōu)秀的詩和歌曲與普通的詩和歌曲之間的區(qū)別
D.如何從詩的角度來評估詩和歌曲的價值
【答案】A
【解析】綜觀全文，本文說明詩歌和音樂密切的關系，主要涉及二者共同的重要評價標準。因此A項為正確答案。
