Imagery and the Construction of View on Death: A Conceptual Metaphor Approach to Nalan’s and Poe’s Elegies

Abstract

Elegy is a poetic genre that mourns the deceased, which reflects national character and cultural values. Due to the difference of socioeconomic development and culture background, Chinese and Western elegies reflect different views on death. Under the perspective of conceptual metaphor, this study selects two elegies for comparative analysis, Die Lian Hua of Nalan Xingde and Annabel Lee of Edgar Allan Poe. By analyzing the conceptual metaphors in their images, the views on death behind the elegies could be constructed. While in Die Lian Hua, death is viewed as a renewal in life’s cycle, it is endowed with romanticism in Annabel Lee. This study provides a cross-cultural perspective for the research of literary death-writing and how the view on death is constructed in conceptual metaphors.