Literary Terms

1. Allegory (寓言)– The word derives from the Greek allegoria ( “speaking other-wise” ). It loosely describes any writing in verse or prose that has a double meaning. This fictional literary narrative acts as an extended metaphor in which persons, abstract ideas, or events represent not only themselves on the literal level, but also stand for something else on the symbolic level. An allegorical reading usually involves moral or spiritual concepts that may be more significant than the actual, literal events described in a narrative. Probably the most famous allegory in English literature is John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (1678), a prose narrative symbolically concerning the human soul’s pilgrimage through temptation and doubt to reach salvation. Other important allegorical works include Spenser’s The Faerie Queene and Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels.

2. Ballad （民谣）– In more exact literary terminology, a ballad is a narrative poem consisting of quatrains of iambic tetrameter alternating with iambic trimeter. Common traits of the ballad are that (a) the beginning is often abrupt, (b) the story is told through dialogue and action (c) the language is simple or “folksy,” (d) the theme is often tragic ---- though comic ballads do exist, (e) the ballad contains a refrain repeated several times. The ballad became popular in England in the late 14th century and was adopted by many writers. One of the most important anthologies of ballads is F. J. Child’s The English and Scottish Popular Ballads.

3. Epic （史诗）– An epic is a long oral narrative poem that operates on a grand scale and deals with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance. Most epics deal with the exploits of a single individual and also interlace the main narrative with myths, legends, folk tales and past events; there is a composite effect, the entire culture of a country cohering in the overall experience of the poem. Epic poems are not merely entertaining stories of legendary or