1.Introduction

The choice of intention is of great significance in poetry. Previous generations have discussed the images of Shakespeare and ancient Chinese poetry. This paper would like to compare the images of Shakespeare’s sonnets with those of ancient Chinese poetry. By analyzing the connotation of the image and the meaning of the image given by the time background, this paper discusses the difference between Chinese and Western culture, and how the poet expresses his thoughts and emotions through the image. Shakespeare was a writer during the Renaissance. With the recovery and development of the economy and the improvement of people’s life quality, people began to seek spiritual inspiration, and the humanistic trend of thought in the Renaissance came into being. People opposed the restriction of Catholicism and theocracy, opposed the hypocritical asceticism, pursued democracy and freedom, and no longer advocated God, which is evident in the sonnets of Sabia. In the sonnets, there is no fear of God, but more emphasis on the pursuit of self and thinking about the world. In addition, by showing the characteristics of the seasons and their inherent directionality, Shakespeare expresses his love and admiration for his best friend, while at the same time revealing his own emotional changes and conveying his own life insights” [1].

For ancient Chinese poetry, Tang poetry is the most typical example, which is often connected with the country and the family. In the flourishing Tang Dynasty, the country was prosperous, the people lived a prosperous and beautiful life, and they paid more attention to the pursuit of spiritual literature. Therefore, Tang poetry developed to its peak in the flourishing Tang Dynasty, with gorgeous rhetoric, harmonious rhythm, and unique characteristics of The Times. In the Middle Tang Dynasty, the content of Tang poetry became richer. At that time, the mainstream of poetry changed from romance to reality. This paper can show that the style and content of poetry were closely related to the country and society. As a reflection of the real world, the style of poetry is closely related to the country and society. In ancient Chinese poetry, different images are used to express the poet’s inner emotions. Chinese poetry is mostly characterized by images that create a vivid picture for the readers, which is a major characteristic of Chinese poetry. There are many representative images in Chinese poetry, which usually appear in the same type of poetry and form the unique feelings of Chinese poetry. Through the contrast of different images, the text shows readers the difference between Chinese and western images more clearly.

2.Image Connotation and Expression Effect

The collection of sonnets is divided into two parts. In the first part, the first 126 poems are written by Shakespeare to his noble friends, and the 127th to the last poems are written by Shakespeare to a Dark Lady. Shakespeare often uses the four seasons as images in his sonnets. This is also a reflection of the Renaissance’s emphasis on the real world and humanistic thoughts. “There are many kinds of images included in Shakespeare’s poems, and many scholars have analyzed the images of plants, time, and social life. For example, in poem 33, the author uses “the rising and setting of the sun “setting” represents the whole life: from a vibrant teenager to a dying old man, urging his friend to get married soon; In verse 28, he uses the word “star” to represent his love for his friend; In verses 1 and 35, he compares his friends to “roses”, saying that the thorns are not perfect, but he still loves them, and the rose is a symbol of loyalty. In addition, the images of seasons appear most frequently throughout the sonnet. The poet uses warm images such as “spring” and “summer” to express his joy, and “autumn” and “winter” to express his sadness. As for the images in social life, there are “mirror”, “tears”, “music” and so on [2]. As in sonnet 18 ‘Shall compare thee to a summer’s day? In Sonnet 18, “summer” is adopted as an image to compare friends with summer. “Summer”, this image, gives people a warm and sunny feeling. Here is an illustration that friends in Shakespeare’s mind is more beautiful than summer, which is a positive contrast. In Sonnet 18, buds’ as an image echoes the warmth of summer, so that readers can feel the beauty brought by this friend to Shakespeare. “Imagery is a combination of images, feelings and ideas through various methods, and different images can be combined to get different meanings. For example, the same image depicting spring, the combination of sunshine, green space and flowers, will be completely different from the combination of ruined walls, rain and fading, and the meaning of the composition is different: the former shows the anger of spring, the latter one shows depression. In Shakespeare’s sonnets, this is particularly evident” [3].

In Sonnet 29, Shakespeare uses ‘state’ three times, ‘l all alone beweep my outcast state’. The first state refers to his underground social status and unfair treatment, which expresses his lonely feeling abandoned by the world. Haply I think on thee, and then my state, like to the lark.at break of day arising’. The second state of mind refers to Shakespeare’s own inner state of mind. When he thinks of his friends, the clouds are dispersed. The friendship between his friends and himself gives Shakespeare a great impetus, so that Shakespeare will abandon his sad mood when he thinks of the time with his friends. “That then I scorn to change my state with kings’ “The third state refers to Shakespeare’s own inner state, which shows that this friend is in a very important position in his heart, even the king would not be willing to exchange with him the kingdom of his own and his friends. This is a kind of interaction with the reader “when the mental space is mapped to each other, the concepts in one space are related to other Spaces, based on the similarities between things, and after choosing a common abstract structure, these will be reflected in the generic space, both of which may subvert the weak side, and have high acceptance ability.” From this whole process, the reader has a full understanding of the poet’s mood from the poem, and understands the poet’s disappointment and worry” [4].

Taking Li Shangyin’s “No Title” as an example, every sentence in the poem has the image of “spring silkworm, wax torch, light mirror, east wind, moonlight, blue bird, etc.” In the poem, the theme of separation between men and women is expressed, and especially the image of “Spring silkworm, wax torch” can better express the poet’s inner sorrow for parting and the unbearable feeling of missing his sweetheart. “Moonlight” is also a very common image in ancient Chinese poetry. “In ancient Chinese poetry, due to the accumulation of the development of poetry itself, many image groups with rich literary connotations have been formed, and the image of the moon is a prominent representative of them. Within the rather huge moon image, many representative emotional categories are gradually differentiated” [5]. The use of the image of “moonlight” is usually to express the poet’s inner sadness, the common feeling of homesickness, such as Li Bai’s “looking up at the moon, bowing down and thinking of home”.

Du Fu’s “Dew from tonight white, the month is hometown Ming”, expresses the perception of a lifetime, such as Li Bai’s “today people do not see the ancient month, this month once according to the ancients”. The moon has been given many elegant names among poets: ice wheel, jade toad, White rabbit, Laurel palace, round soul, deer moon, sky mirror, jade plate, jade pot, silver hook, jade bow, E, Chang ‘e, moon, and so on. According to different states, the moon is divided into: full moon, oblique moon, early moon, full moon, waning moon, new moon, meniscus, weak moon, missing moon and so on. “Month” with the poet’s sincere and rich emotions and multiple meanings, has become an emotional sustenance object: or express the feeling of homesickness, or render artistic conception, set off feelings, or pass the sadness of the border officers, or express good love, or express the aspirations of serving the world and the country, or express the universe, the reflection of social life” [6].

The image in Li Bai’s “Sending Meng Haoran to Guangling”, “Yellow Crane Tower, Solitary sail, Yangtze River,” is a very clever expression of the poet’s sadness when he bade farewell to his friends. “The use of some image structure in ancient Chinese poetry expands the overall expressive function of image structure, making it full of meaning, rich connotation, and implicit beauty” [7]. “Yellow Crane Tower” is often used as a symbolic building to express parting in ancient poems, such as Cui Hao’s “People have gone by Yellow crane in the past. There is no Yellow Crane Tower here”, which also expresses the sadness of parting. Li Bai especially likes “Yellow Crane Tower” as an image, such as “jade flute blowing in the Yellow Crane Tower, and plum blossom falling in the river city in May”. The image of “solitary sail” in the poem also very typically reflects the poet’s loneliness and depression Lonely, expressing the sadness of parting with friends.

3.The Important of Image

In poetry, image plays a very important role. “Image” itself is “spatial”, which determines the “spatial” of the poetry art created from it. As mentioned above, since an important core category of ancient Chinese poetics is “image”, the refining and shaping of “image” determines the success or failure of poetry creation, and the attribute of “image” itself also determines the artistic characteristics of poetry, which is in line with the law of modern system theory that the nature of a system depends on the nature of its elements [8]. Poets rely on the image of “using objects to metaphor people” and “using scenery to express emotions”. Poetry is the expression of the poet’s own inner feelings. The selection of images plays a finishing role in the central feeling of poetry expression.” In modern Chinese poetry, the most basic feature of those successful works that have been widely spread is their figurativeness. The author can use fresh images to express the intention of creation, and these rich images in the works can produce specific aesthetic effects, so that readers can feel the aesthetic pleasure caused by these images and resonate with the emotions contained in the works” [9]. Therefore, repeated images are often seen in similar types of poetry.” It is true that images exist and are developed on the basis of objective objects that people can easily capture. When poets find it difficult to directly express their thoughts, they are more willing to rely on these “objects” as the sustenance of their emotions. It can be said that images are an important tool for authors to create atmosphere and express feelings. The image reflects the contrast between subjective feelings and objective things. The greater the poet, the better he is at lyricism with the image” [10].

4.Conclusion

The theme of this paper is to explore the connotation of Chinese and Western culture and the different meanings of the images given by The Times through the comparison of images selected in Shakespeare’s sonnets and ancient Chinese poems, and to experience the poet’s expression of feelings through poetry through the analysis of intention. Poets pay more attention to expressing their inner thoughts through images such as the four seasons and animals. In ancient Chinese poetry, poets’ poems can reflect the social background at that time to a large extent, and the selection of images in Chinese poetry is more inclined to natural scenery, such as willow and the moon. In addition, Chinese poetic images are consistent with similar emotional expressions. However, the intention discussed in this paper is not comprehensive, only some representative intention is selected for discussion, which can play a certain reference role for the future study of poetry.