Who to Express to: a Comparative Study on the Lyrical objects in “Airs of the States” and Shakespeare’s Sonnets

Lyrical object, the one to whom the lyrical subject epresses his feelings and emotions, plays a significant role in the lyrical poems. “Airs of the States”, the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, and Shakespeare’s sonnets, representative of the classics and traditions of western lyric literature, show some similarities and differences in their choice of different kinds of lyrical objects. While most lyrical sentences in “Airs of the States” are objective or first-person, the second-person lyrical objects are mostly used in Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Therefore, different lyrical effects are caused. While the lyrical sentences in “Airs of the States” are subtler and gentler, the lyrical effects of Shakespeare’s Sonnets are mostly straghtforward and passionate.