Britain is a small island country bumping in the choppy North Atlantic, with an area of only one sixtieth of that of the United States. But it laid several cornerstones for the modern world (at least the western world): Britain was the first country to realize industrialization and became the pioneer of modern large-scale industry, thus pushing the world into the industrial age; Britain was also the first country to realize bourgeois political change, which set an example for the western capitalist democratic system. The realistic, rational and scientific spirit of the British laid the foundation of modern scientific thinking and enriched the spiritual treasure house of mankind. In the field of poetry, the British also have reason to be proud: the profundity and diversity of English poetry have always been praised by the world; Several climaxes in the development of English poetry-/kloc-Renaissance poetry in the late 6th century, Romantic poetry in the early 9th century and Modernist poetry in the first half of 20th century-have become colorful movements in the world poetry symphony. A group of outstanding English poets, represented by Shakespeare, can stand in the forefront of the world's poetic genius without a doubt.
Among all ethnic groups in the world, the British are famous for their steadiness. It pays attention to reality rather than daydreaming, and is good at tolerance rather than going to extremes. Such national psychology and cultural quality make the development of its literature move slowly along the long river of history, without the feeling of being blocked or blocked. Tradition and change interweave harmoniously, on the one hand, it promotes the development of literature with continuous innovation in content and form, on the other hand, it restricts every change with strong traditional consciousness so that it will not become a runaway horse. In the conflict between tradition and change, it is a remarkable feature of the history of English literature to take the road of mutual integration.