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.
试译：
文艺复兴以前的英语诗歌
在英语文学史上，中世纪（7-15世纪）实际上分为古英语和中古英语两个不同的阶段，以1066年的诺曼征服为其历史分界线。诺曼征服使得英语语言和文化经历了剧烈的变化。因此，中世纪的英语可以分为盎格鲁-撒克逊、盎格鲁-诺曼以及十四至十五世纪三个阶段。
5世纪，盎格鲁·撒克逊入侵不列颠岛开启了英语历史和英语文学的历史。过着野蛮生活的盎格鲁-撒克逊人相信宿命论，但是他们既有耐心又非常严谨。7世纪，盎格鲁-撒克逊人最终接受了基督教，这对英语文学产生了深远的影响。
异教徒的诗歌是在盎格鲁-撒克逊人基督教化以前以口语的形式流行的一种英语韵文文学，《贝奥武甫》《航海家》《迪奥的抱怨》和《马尔顿之战》是异教徒的诗歌中的代表性作品。盎格鲁-撒克逊人转向基督教后，基督教诗歌开始登上英语文学舞台。其中，凯德蒙因他的第一首赞美造物主的诗歌《赞美诗》而著称于世，被誉为“英语诗歌之父”。而《耶稣基督》《朱丽安娜》《使徒的命运》《埃琳娜》等作品使得基涅武甫成为一位成就突出的盎格鲁-撒克逊诗人。
诺曼征服将封建制度带到了英语社会，并且将英语变成了一种等级语言——上层统治者以诺曼-法语为官方语言，而下层民众则以英语为口语；夹在二者之间的神职人员则使用拉丁语。与此同时，一个更加文明的欧洲大陆渐趋形成。传奇故事，盎格鲁-诺曼时期的一种主流的文学形式，繁荣了大约三百年（从1200年到1500年），其主题是法国问题、罗马问题和英国问题。
14世纪通常被称为“乔叟时代”。人们普遍认为，杰弗里·乔叟是英语诗歌之父，他把英语确立为英国文学的语言。《坎特伯雷故事集》是一部用五音步抑扬格写成的具有里程碑意义的英语诗歌作品，它表达了作者的人文主义思想。此外，威廉·兰格伦和约翰·高尔是14世纪另外两个主要的诗人。《皮尔斯·普洛曼》是以梦想的愿景的形式写的，它展现了兰格伦对教会腐败的莫大的讽刺，对穷人疾苦的深切同情和对其诚实劳动的赞美。
旷日持久的战争在战场夺去了许多贵族的生命，这导致了15世纪文学与艺术的衰落。然而，在乔叟之后有一批诗人，包括约翰·李嘉德、约翰·斯克尔顿、詹姆士一世、苏格兰国王和威廉·邓巴，应当引起我们的注意。同时，民间文学，尤其是民谣空前流行。《罗宾汉歌谣集》是一系列关于传说中的亡命之徒罗宾汉的故事，无疑是这类歌谣中最著名的。
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