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摘 要:在借鉴相关认知隐喻理论的基础之上,本文通过对一些中英经典爱情诗词中爱情隐喻的对比研究,找出爱情隐喻的使用在英汉两种语言中存在的异同点。中英爱情诗中的爱情隐喻在反映了东西方人类对爱情的共同感知的基础上更体现出东西方世界不同的文化差异。
关键词:隐喻;认知;概念化;爱情;爱情诗
Introduction
In Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (1995:980), metaphor is defined as “a way of describing something else that has similar qualities, without using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’”. According to the definition, metaphor is generally known as a figure of speech in which one thing is compared to another by saying that one thing “is” the other rather than saying one thing is “like” or “as” the other. Actually, that’s how metaphor is distinguished from another kind of figure of speech, that is, simile.
Lakoff (1980) claims that there would be no poem without metaphors. Based on the concerning cognitive theory of metaphor, the paper tends to make a comparative study of metaphors of love in Chinese and English love poems. By examining how the target domain “love” is mapped into a variety of source domains in Chinese and English poems, the paper aims to analyze the universality and differences in the conceptualization of love between Chinese and English and then make a further discussion on the cultural factors which have influenced the formation of those cognitive metaphors.
The paper selects some representative love metaphors from a few classic Chinese and English love poems. Most Chinese love poems are selected from Poems of Tang and Song Dynasty(《唐诗宋词100首》)translated by Qiu Xiaolong, as for those which are not in this book, they will be specially noted in this paper. All the English love poems in this paper are selected from the book English Love Poems and The Chinese Translation (《英语爱情名诗选译》) translated by Lu Zhilu. For convenience, all the verses quoted from these two books will be marked only page number after the quotation.
1 The Universality in Love Metaphors in Chinese and English Love Poems
According to Lakoff (1980), the universality in metaphor use lies in the universality of people’s physical structure and psychology. That’s why Chinese and English poets share something in common while using the love metaphors in their works.
1.1 Love is the Unity
In terms of Kovecses (2002), the central idea in the love system is the notion of unity. This idea is both shared by the east and west. However, people always ignore this conceptualization of metaphor. Here are some examples to identify the unity of love in Chinese and English love poems:
“合昏尚知时,鸳鸯不独宿。” (62)
“在天愿作比翼鸟,在地愿为连理枝。”(冯庆华,2002:430)
“My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears/Where can we find two better hemispheres/Without sharp north, without declining west…/If out two loves be one, or thou and I/Love so alike that none can slacken, none can die.”(194)
“If ever two were one, then surely we/If ever man were lov’d by wife, then thee;”(136)
In Chinese poems, 鸳鸯 is a kind of bird which always emerge in pairs. If one of them dies, the other will also no longer stay alive. 连理枝 means those tightly intertwining branches of the trees. Chinese poets prefer to use the two images to identify the inseparable love. When two persons fall in love, they will never be alienated and stay together forever. Both images are involved with the conceptualization of the unity that best interprets the essence of love.
With regards to English poems, poets express their beliefs in love by comparing them and their lovers to the two hemispheres of the earth or a whole body that cannot be divided. In poets’ mind, love, consisting of two parts, will not exist if one part is lost. This is very similar to the conceptualization of love in Chinese. In this way, the unity of love is one of the most distinctive features shared by both the east and the west.
1.2 Love is Water
The images concerning water, like sea, river and streams always strike people for their non-stopping flow or unfathomed depth, that’s why the image of water is generally associated with the intensity of love or the loyalty to love in Chinese and English love poems.
“上邪!我欲与君相知,长命无绝衰。
山无陵,江水为竭……天地合,乃敢与君绝!”(林希、杨宪益、戴乃迭,2001:19)
“我住长江头,君住长江尾,日日思君不见君,共饮一江水。
此水几时休,此恨何时已。只愿君心似我心,定不负相思意。” (178)
“It [love] is more mad and moonly /and less it shall unbe/than all the sea which only is deeper than the sea…” (52)
“And I will luve thee still, my dear/Till a’ the seas gone by…” (106)
“The sea calls home his crystal waves to moan/And with low ebb doth manifest his sorrow.” (140)
In the first Chinese poem, the girl declares that she won’t depart her lover until all streams become dry. However, it’s actually impossible to see streams dry, which indicates that the girl’s love will be everlasting; the second Chinese poem also shares the same theme. The poet compares the anxious longing for love to the large body of water in the Yangzi River, simple though the language is, yet it embodies the profound love between the couple vividly. That’s why this love poem is so popular among Chinese people and become a classic one.
Like Chinese poems, the image of water is also frequently used in English poems as a cognitive tool to deliver love,but English poets prefer the image of “sea” , as what you can see in the selected poems above. Interestingly speaking, the connotative meaning of “And I will luve thee still, my dear/Till a’ the seas gone by”, is very similar to that of 江水为竭 in the first Chinese poem selected here. Both tend to describe the intensity of love, however, one uses the image of streams as the metaphor while the other uses sea instead. Actually, this difference can be explained by the cultural factors concerning geographic features, which will be discussed in the third section.
1.3 Love is the Flower
The flower is a metaphor of love pervasive in Chinese and English love poems. People, both in the east and the west, are usually impressed by the gorgeous image of the flower and easily associate it with beautiful girls.
“去年今日此门中,人面桃花相映红。”(105)
“依旧桃花面,频低柳叶眉。”(164)
“He that loves a rosy cheek/Or a coral lip admires.” (46)
“Tis the last Rose of summer/Left blooming alone.”(298)
However, Chinese and English poets are fascinated with different kind of flowers. Generally speaking, Chinese poets like the peach blossom (桃花) very much. The peach blossom is usually in pink color, the same as the color of girls’ facial powder in ancient times. At that time, girls with good makeup are usually regarded beautiful ones. Due to this traditional aesthetic view, the peach blossom is associated with Chinese beauty. In those verses, poets describe their beloved girls as beautiful and attractive peach blossom, in which the romantic feeling of love is subtly revealed.
In English love poems, the rose is a metaphor of love frequently used by poets. The above examples do highlight English poets special favor for roses. The rose, especially the red rose, can be seen as a symbol of marvelous beauty, enthusiasm, sexy appearance in the west. Such kind of concept actually is in accordance with the concept of beautiful ladies in Westerners.
2 Differences in Love Metaphors in Chinese and English Love Poems
In addition to the universality, love metaphors in Chinese and English poems are also diversified. There are some love metaphors in poems unique to Chinese and others exclusive to English. Those differences are mainly resulting from different cultural back grounds which will be further discussed in the third part of the paper.
2.1 Specific Love Metaphors in Chinese Love Poems
2.1.1 Love is Red Bean (红豆)
Red bean is the symbol of love unique to Chinese culture. People prefer to use it to express their strong longing for their lovers.
“红豆生南国,春来发几枝,愿君多采撷,此物最相思。”(57)
“交枝红豆雨中看,为君滴尽相思血。”(102)
“玲珑骰子安红豆,入骨相思知不知。”(72)
It’s said that in ancient time, after a man being sent to the faraway battlefield, his wife misses him so much that she is waiting under a big tree on the top of mountain all day and all night for her husband’s return. She cries very hard until all her tears have gone dry. Then she sheds blood instead of tears. All dews of blood are transformed into the seeds of red beans, scattered into soil and then they bud and grow up to be huge trees. Since then, the red bean becomes a token of love in China. All verses selected here associate the longing for love with the image of red beans. In the third verse, 骰子is a kind of gambling tool made of the bone in ancient China. The poet fixes the red beans into it, indicating that the strong love for his lover has penetrated into his bones. Although the word “love” is not mentioned at all in the verse, people are still able to feel the intensity of the poet’s love.
2.1.2 Love is Silk (丝)
As is known to all that silk is one of the specialties in China. It’s interesting to find that silk also becomes a cognitive tool to conceptualize the love.
“天与多情丝一把,谁厮惹,千条万缕萦心下。”(唐圭璋, 1979:188)
“春蚕到死丝方尽。”(155)
Actually, silk, in Chinese pronounced as si, share the same sound with the word 思。In this case, 丝and 思 are homophones. Therefore, it’s quite natural for people to associate 丝 with the feeling of longing for love. Besides, silk is very slim and seemingly endless long, which can help poets interpret their immense longing for love in a conservative way. As in ancient China, poets definitely dare not show their love enthusiastically like western poets, even if they fall in deep love, they dare not get their passion exposed explicitly. Instead, they tend to deliver their feelings implicitly, for they believe that love should be something gentle and peaceful. The image of silk, in fact, caters for such a conceptualization.
2.2 Specific Love Metaphors in English Love Poems
2.2.1 Love is the Pearl
Western civilization has its origins from the ocean. The ancestors of western people mainly live upon the sea. The pearl is something that can be usually seen in the marine world. Western poets also apply this image as a love metaphor.
“The love of my life came not/As love unto others is cast/For mine was a secret wound-/But the wound grew a pearl, at last.” (176)
“In the core of one pearl all the shade and the shine of the sea/Trust, that’s purer than pearl/Brightest truth, purest trust in the /Universe-all were to me /In the kiss of one girl…” (144)
In the first selected poem, the poet associates his love to the formation of pearl. In his mind, although he suffers a lot of pain from love, yet his wound finally turns into a beautiful pearl that he would cherish forever. The conceptual metaphor, the pearl, in fact, is in accordance with the poet’s view that love is happiness mixed with pain.
As for the second poem, the poet uses the image of pearl to set off the marvelous beauty of his lover. Since the pearl is shining with brightness and looks very pure, it’s easily associated with the natural yet amazing beauty of women. This is why the image of pearl is mapped into the conceptualization of love.
2.2.2 Love is an Economic Exchange
Commercialization is another outstanding feature of western civilization. The conceptualization of love is also associated with this tradition.
“My true love hath my heart, and I have his/By just exchange one for another given/I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss/There never was a better bargain driven.” (79)
“Nor ought but love from thee, give recompense/Thy love is such I can no way repay.” (136)
Words in those verses like “exchange”, “bargain”, “recompense”, “repay” are often used in economic trade. Yet they are found to conceptualize love in poems. In poets’ views, the two lovers are like two parties involved in a trade, and their interaction makes their trade completed. Actually, the economic exchange is also a kind of embodiment of unity, the essence of love. Through the trade, the love becomes complete and stronger, and that’s how the source domain of economic exchange is mapped into the target domain of interaction of love.
A kind of equality can also be perceived in the economic exchange of love. In poets’ mind, love should definitely just be the business of one person. Both parties need to pay and gain recompense. In the verse “There never was a better bargain driven” mentioned above, the poet shows his belief that the love should be an equal deal that no bargain should be carried out.
3 Reasons Behind Differences in Love Metaphors in Chinese and English Love Poems
3.1 Different Kinds of Civilizations
According to Pan Wenguo (1997), Chinese culture is a kind of hinterland culture rooted in agriculture and family. Agriculture plays a significant role in the development of Chinese civilization. In the history of China, the region of Yangzi River is famous for its prosperous farming. And thus the region of Yangzi River becomes a very suitable place to live. Influenced by this living environment, poets prefer to use to image of river instead of sea to conceptualize the profoundness of love. Besides, the prosperity of farming also booms the production of silk. Therefore, it can be said that silk, another kind of love metaphor, also derives from the agricultural world.
Contrastively, Jia Yuxin (1997) believes that the western civilization derives from a kind of marine culture. Sea, rather than land, helps shape western people’s cognitive patterns. In terms of this, it’s quite understandable that western people would like to use the image of sea to conceptualize the depth of love. And, the specific love metaphor in English love poems, the pearl as mentioned above, is also deeply related to the SEA civilization.
In the Chinese agricultural economy, social members are required to be self-supportive. If they get involved in commerce or business trade, they will be regarded those shameful, so intellects would seldom use the concept of economic exchange in their poems or other literary works. However, western people give more preference to commerce than farming. Business men enjoy a high social position. Under the impact of commerce-oriented society, the western poets are high likely to use the economic exchange to interpret the concept of love.
3.2 Different Values and Religious Beliefs
Chinese traditional values are deeply influenced by Confucianism. Under the impact of Confucianism, Chinese culture becomes an ethnically-oriented one. To achieve a harmonious and ethnically-ordered society, Rites (礼) should be observed in every aspect of social life. This requires people to be self-disciplined and self-restricted while expressing their feelings. Poets tend to choose an implicit style of expressing by employing the images such as silk, red beans to conceptualize love.
Western culture derives from ancient Greece. Plato, one of the greatest philosophers in the ancient Greece, believes that there are two Gods of Love, one is purely mental, the other purely physical. What’s more, under the impact of Renaissance, western poets adopt a more open attitude in the view of love. They believe that both physical and mental love should be free to express. Therefore, the love metaphors in English poems are usually full of strong passion, such as red rose, bright sunshine etc. People can even find some metaphors concerning physical love in some poems, which is surely unacceptable in traditional Chinese culture.
Besides, the Greek philosophy stresses the dichotomy, which tends to see the world in a contradictive way. Therefore, when the unity is generally considered as the notion of love, still some poets highlight the contradictive side of the unity. In the poem Amoretti XXX, the poet compares him and his love to fire and ice. “That fire, which all things melt, should harden ice/ And ice, which is congealed with senseless cold, /should kindle fire by wonderful device.” (130). Fire and ice are contradictive to each other, however, the poet use them to conceptualize love, in the belief that the love is growing stronger in the antitheses. Obviously, this kind of belief is deeply associated with the Greek philosophy.
The love metaphors in Chinese and English poems are also influenced by religious beliefs. Taoism is one of the mainstream religions in China. It treasures the harmony between Man and Nature, and prefers the way of using least words to embody the most insightful views. Those love metaphors, such as 鸳鸯, 比翼鸟, 连理枝can also be associated with inseparable couples in the world of men, which reflects a sort of harmonious integrity between Man and Nature. This is the very thing admired by the philosophical views in Taoism.
Christianity has dominated Western society for a long history. In term of this religious tradition, Western poets also introduce some images concerning Christianity as love metaphors. For example, in the poem Hidden Flame, the poet, bearing great pain in love, compares himself to be the crucified Jesus Christ; in the poem To Lucasta, on Going to the War, the poet use the vehicle “nunnery” to describe the quiet mind of his lover. Both metaphors are relative to the Christian culture in western society.
Conclusion
Based on all the above discussion, it can be concluded that love metaphors in Chinese and English love poems share something universal while are still quite different from a cognitive approach. Due to the universality of human being in cognitive domain, Chinese and English poets may choose the same metaphors of love. However, as there are lots of differences existing in the Eastern and the Western civilizations, values, religious beliefs between Chinese society and English society, love metaphors in Chinese and English poems possess their uniqueness respectively. This is because that metaphors are experience-based, deeply influenced by people’s living environment.
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关键词:隐喻;认知;概念化;爱情;爱情诗
Introduction
In Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (1995:980), metaphor is defined as “a way of describing something else that has similar qualities, without using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’”. According to the definition, metaphor is generally known as a figure of speech in which one thing is compared to another by saying that one thing “is” the other rather than saying one thing is “like” or “as” the other. Actually, that’s how metaphor is distinguished from another kind of figure of speech, that is, simile.
Lakoff (1980) claims that there would be no poem without metaphors. Based on the concerning cognitive theory of metaphor, the paper tends to make a comparative study of metaphors of love in Chinese and English love poems. By examining how the target domain “love” is mapped into a variety of source domains in Chinese and English poems, the paper aims to analyze the universality and differences in the conceptualization of love between Chinese and English and then make a further discussion on the cultural factors which have influenced the formation of those cognitive metaphors.
The paper selects some representative love metaphors from a few classic Chinese and English love poems. Most Chinese love poems are selected from Poems of Tang and Song Dynasty(《唐诗宋词100首》)translated by Qiu Xiaolong, as for those which are not in this book, they will be specially noted in this paper. All the English love poems in this paper are selected from the book English Love Poems and The Chinese Translation (《英语爱情名诗选译》) translated by Lu Zhilu. For convenience, all the verses quoted from these two books will be marked only page number after the quotation.
1 The Universality in Love Metaphors in Chinese and English Love Poems
According to Lakoff (1980), the universality in metaphor use lies in the universality of people’s physical structure and psychology. That’s why Chinese and English poets share something in common while using the love metaphors in their works.
1.1 Love is the Unity
In terms of Kovecses (2002), the central idea in the love system is the notion of unity. This idea is both shared by the east and west. However, people always ignore this conceptualization of metaphor. Here are some examples to identify the unity of love in Chinese and English love poems:
“合昏尚知时,鸳鸯不独宿。” (62)
“在天愿作比翼鸟,在地愿为连理枝。”(冯庆华,2002:430)
“My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears/Where can we find two better hemispheres/Without sharp north, without declining west…/If out two loves be one, or thou and I/Love so alike that none can slacken, none can die.”(194)
“If ever two were one, then surely we/If ever man were lov’d by wife, then thee;”(136)
In Chinese poems, 鸳鸯 is a kind of bird which always emerge in pairs. If one of them dies, the other will also no longer stay alive. 连理枝 means those tightly intertwining branches of the trees. Chinese poets prefer to use the two images to identify the inseparable love. When two persons fall in love, they will never be alienated and stay together forever. Both images are involved with the conceptualization of the unity that best interprets the essence of love.
With regards to English poems, poets express their beliefs in love by comparing them and their lovers to the two hemispheres of the earth or a whole body that cannot be divided. In poets’ mind, love, consisting of two parts, will not exist if one part is lost. This is very similar to the conceptualization of love in Chinese. In this way, the unity of love is one of the most distinctive features shared by both the east and the west.
1.2 Love is Water
The images concerning water, like sea, river and streams always strike people for their non-stopping flow or unfathomed depth, that’s why the image of water is generally associated with the intensity of love or the loyalty to love in Chinese and English love poems.
“上邪!我欲与君相知,长命无绝衰。
山无陵,江水为竭……天地合,乃敢与君绝!”(林希、杨宪益、戴乃迭,2001:19)
“我住长江头,君住长江尾,日日思君不见君,共饮一江水。
此水几时休,此恨何时已。只愿君心似我心,定不负相思意。” (178)
“It [love] is more mad and moonly /and less it shall unbe/than all the sea which only is deeper than the sea…” (52)
“And I will luve thee still, my dear/Till a’ the seas gone by…” (106)
“The sea calls home his crystal waves to moan/And with low ebb doth manifest his sorrow.” (140)
In the first Chinese poem, the girl declares that she won’t depart her lover until all streams become dry. However, it’s actually impossible to see streams dry, which indicates that the girl’s love will be everlasting; the second Chinese poem also shares the same theme. The poet compares the anxious longing for love to the large body of water in the Yangzi River, simple though the language is, yet it embodies the profound love between the couple vividly. That’s why this love poem is so popular among Chinese people and become a classic one.
Like Chinese poems, the image of water is also frequently used in English poems as a cognitive tool to deliver love,but English poets prefer the image of “sea” , as what you can see in the selected poems above. Interestingly speaking, the connotative meaning of “And I will luve thee still, my dear/Till a’ the seas gone by”, is very similar to that of 江水为竭 in the first Chinese poem selected here. Both tend to describe the intensity of love, however, one uses the image of streams as the metaphor while the other uses sea instead. Actually, this difference can be explained by the cultural factors concerning geographic features, which will be discussed in the third section.
1.3 Love is the Flower
The flower is a metaphor of love pervasive in Chinese and English love poems. People, both in the east and the west, are usually impressed by the gorgeous image of the flower and easily associate it with beautiful girls.
“去年今日此门中,人面桃花相映红。”(105)
“依旧桃花面,频低柳叶眉。”(164)
“He that loves a rosy cheek/Or a coral lip admires.” (46)
“Tis the last Rose of summer/Left blooming alone.”(298)
However, Chinese and English poets are fascinated with different kind of flowers. Generally speaking, Chinese poets like the peach blossom (桃花) very much. The peach blossom is usually in pink color, the same as the color of girls’ facial powder in ancient times. At that time, girls with good makeup are usually regarded beautiful ones. Due to this traditional aesthetic view, the peach blossom is associated with Chinese beauty. In those verses, poets describe their beloved girls as beautiful and attractive peach blossom, in which the romantic feeling of love is subtly revealed.
In English love poems, the rose is a metaphor of love frequently used by poets. The above examples do highlight English poets special favor for roses. The rose, especially the red rose, can be seen as a symbol of marvelous beauty, enthusiasm, sexy appearance in the west. Such kind of concept actually is in accordance with the concept of beautiful ladies in Westerners.
2 Differences in Love Metaphors in Chinese and English Love Poems
In addition to the universality, love metaphors in Chinese and English poems are also diversified. There are some love metaphors in poems unique to Chinese and others exclusive to English. Those differences are mainly resulting from different cultural back grounds which will be further discussed in the third part of the paper.
2.1 Specific Love Metaphors in Chinese Love Poems
2.1.1 Love is Red Bean (红豆)
Red bean is the symbol of love unique to Chinese culture. People prefer to use it to express their strong longing for their lovers.
“红豆生南国,春来发几枝,愿君多采撷,此物最相思。”(57)
“交枝红豆雨中看,为君滴尽相思血。”(102)
“玲珑骰子安红豆,入骨相思知不知。”(72)
It’s said that in ancient time, after a man being sent to the faraway battlefield, his wife misses him so much that she is waiting under a big tree on the top of mountain all day and all night for her husband’s return. She cries very hard until all her tears have gone dry. Then she sheds blood instead of tears. All dews of blood are transformed into the seeds of red beans, scattered into soil and then they bud and grow up to be huge trees. Since then, the red bean becomes a token of love in China. All verses selected here associate the longing for love with the image of red beans. In the third verse, 骰子is a kind of gambling tool made of the bone in ancient China. The poet fixes the red beans into it, indicating that the strong love for his lover has penetrated into his bones. Although the word “love” is not mentioned at all in the verse, people are still able to feel the intensity of the poet’s love.
2.1.2 Love is Silk (丝)
As is known to all that silk is one of the specialties in China. It’s interesting to find that silk also becomes a cognitive tool to conceptualize the love.
“天与多情丝一把,谁厮惹,千条万缕萦心下。”(唐圭璋, 1979:188)
“春蚕到死丝方尽。”(155)
Actually, silk, in Chinese pronounced as si, share the same sound with the word 思。In this case, 丝and 思 are homophones. Therefore, it’s quite natural for people to associate 丝 with the feeling of longing for love. Besides, silk is very slim and seemingly endless long, which can help poets interpret their immense longing for love in a conservative way. As in ancient China, poets definitely dare not show their love enthusiastically like western poets, even if they fall in deep love, they dare not get their passion exposed explicitly. Instead, they tend to deliver their feelings implicitly, for they believe that love should be something gentle and peaceful. The image of silk, in fact, caters for such a conceptualization.
2.2 Specific Love Metaphors in English Love Poems
2.2.1 Love is the Pearl
Western civilization has its origins from the ocean. The ancestors of western people mainly live upon the sea. The pearl is something that can be usually seen in the marine world. Western poets also apply this image as a love metaphor.
“The love of my life came not/As love unto others is cast/For mine was a secret wound-/But the wound grew a pearl, at last.” (176)
“In the core of one pearl all the shade and the shine of the sea/Trust, that’s purer than pearl/Brightest truth, purest trust in the /Universe-all were to me /In the kiss of one girl…” (144)
In the first selected poem, the poet associates his love to the formation of pearl. In his mind, although he suffers a lot of pain from love, yet his wound finally turns into a beautiful pearl that he would cherish forever. The conceptual metaphor, the pearl, in fact, is in accordance with the poet’s view that love is happiness mixed with pain.
As for the second poem, the poet uses the image of pearl to set off the marvelous beauty of his lover. Since the pearl is shining with brightness and looks very pure, it’s easily associated with the natural yet amazing beauty of women. This is why the image of pearl is mapped into the conceptualization of love.
2.2.2 Love is an Economic Exchange
Commercialization is another outstanding feature of western civilization. The conceptualization of love is also associated with this tradition.
“My true love hath my heart, and I have his/By just exchange one for another given/I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss/There never was a better bargain driven.” (79)
“Nor ought but love from thee, give recompense/Thy love is such I can no way repay.” (136)
Words in those verses like “exchange”, “bargain”, “recompense”, “repay” are often used in economic trade. Yet they are found to conceptualize love in poems. In poets’ views, the two lovers are like two parties involved in a trade, and their interaction makes their trade completed. Actually, the economic exchange is also a kind of embodiment of unity, the essence of love. Through the trade, the love becomes complete and stronger, and that’s how the source domain of economic exchange is mapped into the target domain of interaction of love.
A kind of equality can also be perceived in the economic exchange of love. In poets’ mind, love should definitely just be the business of one person. Both parties need to pay and gain recompense. In the verse “There never was a better bargain driven” mentioned above, the poet shows his belief that the love should be an equal deal that no bargain should be carried out.
3 Reasons Behind Differences in Love Metaphors in Chinese and English Love Poems
3.1 Different Kinds of Civilizations
According to Pan Wenguo (1997), Chinese culture is a kind of hinterland culture rooted in agriculture and family. Agriculture plays a significant role in the development of Chinese civilization. In the history of China, the region of Yangzi River is famous for its prosperous farming. And thus the region of Yangzi River becomes a very suitable place to live. Influenced by this living environment, poets prefer to use to image of river instead of sea to conceptualize the profoundness of love. Besides, the prosperity of farming also booms the production of silk. Therefore, it can be said that silk, another kind of love metaphor, also derives from the agricultural world.
Contrastively, Jia Yuxin (1997) believes that the western civilization derives from a kind of marine culture. Sea, rather than land, helps shape western people’s cognitive patterns. In terms of this, it’s quite understandable that western people would like to use the image of sea to conceptualize the depth of love. And, the specific love metaphor in English love poems, the pearl as mentioned above, is also deeply related to the SEA civilization.
In the Chinese agricultural economy, social members are required to be self-supportive. If they get involved in commerce or business trade, they will be regarded those shameful, so intellects would seldom use the concept of economic exchange in their poems or other literary works. However, western people give more preference to commerce than farming. Business men enjoy a high social position. Under the impact of commerce-oriented society, the western poets are high likely to use the economic exchange to interpret the concept of love.
3.2 Different Values and Religious Beliefs
Chinese traditional values are deeply influenced by Confucianism. Under the impact of Confucianism, Chinese culture becomes an ethnically-oriented one. To achieve a harmonious and ethnically-ordered society, Rites (礼) should be observed in every aspect of social life. This requires people to be self-disciplined and self-restricted while expressing their feelings. Poets tend to choose an implicit style of expressing by employing the images such as silk, red beans to conceptualize love.
Western culture derives from ancient Greece. Plato, one of the greatest philosophers in the ancient Greece, believes that there are two Gods of Love, one is purely mental, the other purely physical. What’s more, under the impact of Renaissance, western poets adopt a more open attitude in the view of love. They believe that both physical and mental love should be free to express. Therefore, the love metaphors in English poems are usually full of strong passion, such as red rose, bright sunshine etc. People can even find some metaphors concerning physical love in some poems, which is surely unacceptable in traditional Chinese culture.
Besides, the Greek philosophy stresses the dichotomy, which tends to see the world in a contradictive way. Therefore, when the unity is generally considered as the notion of love, still some poets highlight the contradictive side of the unity. In the poem Amoretti XXX, the poet compares him and his love to fire and ice. “That fire, which all things melt, should harden ice/ And ice, which is congealed with senseless cold, /should kindle fire by wonderful device.” (130). Fire and ice are contradictive to each other, however, the poet use them to conceptualize love, in the belief that the love is growing stronger in the antitheses. Obviously, this kind of belief is deeply associated with the Greek philosophy.
The love metaphors in Chinese and English poems are also influenced by religious beliefs. Taoism is one of the mainstream religions in China. It treasures the harmony between Man and Nature, and prefers the way of using least words to embody the most insightful views. Those love metaphors, such as 鸳鸯, 比翼鸟, 连理枝can also be associated with inseparable couples in the world of men, which reflects a sort of harmonious integrity between Man and Nature. This is the very thing admired by the philosophical views in Taoism.
Christianity has dominated Western society for a long history. In term of this religious tradition, Western poets also introduce some images concerning Christianity as love metaphors. For example, in the poem Hidden Flame, the poet, bearing great pain in love, compares himself to be the crucified Jesus Christ; in the poem To Lucasta, on Going to the War, the poet use the vehicle “nunnery” to describe the quiet mind of his lover. Both metaphors are relative to the Christian culture in western society.
Conclusion
Based on all the above discussion, it can be concluded that love metaphors in Chinese and English love poems share something universal while are still quite different from a cognitive approach. Due to the universality of human being in cognitive domain, Chinese and English poets may choose the same metaphors of love. However, as there are lots of differences existing in the Eastern and the Western civilizations, values, religious beliefs between Chinese society and English society, love metaphors in Chinese and English poems possess their uniqueness respectively. This is because that metaphors are experience-based, deeply influenced by people’s living environment.
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