2。2 Qualities of Image-G

Various images in poems have to be comprehended as a whole so that the poems could present the whole meaning to readers。 When an inpidual word exists in a specific context, only part of its whole meaning is activated。 According to de Beasugrande, the potential meaning often exceeds in range the actual meaning in a particular context (de Beasugrande, 1978: 38)。 Poems are the mixture of different parts and components including the semantic meaning and aesthetic value。 United together, they can form an organic whole。 The meaning of the whole poem is determined by how the components are interconnected, such as how each sentence in the poem interacts and how the word sequence is arranged。 These aspects form a totality, which is more than the sum of the signification of single units。 Jiang Qiuxia gives an insight to the gestalt qualities of image-G from two aspects, contour and mood or tone。

2。2。1 Contour

With regard to the aesthetic experience and gestalt qualities, it is not the semantic meaning, describing scenery or narrating an event, that matters more but the expressive mood, feeling or the atmosphere or contour involved in the image as a whole。 Therefore, she concluded two qualities: contour and the mood or tone。 In her opinion, contour is the atmosphere resulting from the overall image (Jiang, 2006: 77)。 When readers read about these images in the poetry, they might trigger some kind of resonation, contributing to the formation of contour in readers’ mental world, for example:

使至塞上

    王维

单车欲问边，属国过居延。

征蓬出汉塞，归雁入胡天。

大漠孤烟直，长河落日圆。

萧关逢候骑，都护在燕然。

In this poet, images like “征蓬”(tumbleweed), “归雁”(wild geese), “孤烟”(lonely smoke) directly present us with a bleak sight and create a sense of being adrift。 Also, the magnificent background of “大漠” (boundless desert) and “长河”(endless river) show a spectacular  northern-frontier scenery。 In this poetry, these images will strike readers with a particular contour。

2。2。2 Mood or Tone

Mood or tone refers to the emotive quality expressed in text。 The mood manifested by the image illustrates the attitudes or feelings toward a specific object or person, even the author himself。 It is known to all that most of the poems in ancient China contains perse mood, such as sorrow and joy。 But we must point out that these moods might not be self-evident in the text。 Actually, it is deeply embedded in the poem, only to be discovered and understood by readers themselves, for example:

夜雨寄北

李商隐

君问归期未有期，巴山夜雨涨秋池。

何当共剪西窗烛，却话巴山夜雨时。来.自^优;尔|论,文:网www.chuibin.com +QQ752018766-

In this poem, the writer tries to articulate his deep affection for his wife。 At that time, the poet is trapped in the border of Hubei Province and Sichuan Province because of the autumn rain。 His wife sends a letter to inquire about his return date。 And then the poet, who feels lonely in the rainy night, recalls the memory of trimming the wicks together with his wife and wants to do it again when he comes back。 This simple wish clearly indicates the author’s sincere feelings and all the detailed description of the images in this poet contributes to the author’s mood, such as the “夜雨”(dreary night of rain) and “窗烛”(trimming the wick by the window)。

The above-mentioned gestalt qualities experienced by readers are not coexisting in an independent way。 In fact, they are interconnected with each other。 Besides, it must be pointed out that contour and mood are not the only qualities that belong to the image-G。