| Emily Dickinson and Li Qingzhao are two distinguished women poets respectively in American literature history and Chinese literature history. Love is the shared theme for these two women poets in the long history of human being, though they lived in different countries, different historical periods and cultural backgrounds. By taking love as the theme, poem and Ci created by Emily Dickinson and Li Qingzhao present many similarities. Many scholars have noticed that their compositions on this theme and relevant studies have explored a new field in academic circle. However, no study on separate comparison of their love poem and Ci has been made yet. This thesis intends to make a parallel comparison of Emily Dickinson and Li Qingzhao, comprehensively compare emotional experiences, means of expression, etc. of their love poem and Ci, analyze factors resulting in similarities and differences between their love poem and Ci, elaborate the uniqueness of their love compositions and demonstrate the differences concerning their composition on this theme.This literature review briefly introduces abundant researches made separately on Emily Dickinson and Li Qingzhao, puts forward that no previous comparative research on their love poem and Ci has been made yet, and further demonstrates the significance of this thesis.Chapter one of this thesis intends to explore similarities and differences between their love poem and Ci from the aspect of emotional experience. Emily Dickinson and Li Qingzhao present their shared attitude towards love as women, that is, they desired for and longed for love, which was obviously demonstrated in their compositions. However, Emily had never married and lived with a husband; the one she loved was just "around the bend" Therefore, Emily's love poem is full of loneliness in her inner heart, accompanying with doubt and fear, and she even yearned for death, so she and the one she loved may become oneness in the eternal death. On the other hand, Li Qingzhao had married Zhao Mingcheng and lived in conjugal love. They trusted each other and were in company with each other, as frequently appeared in her poem, for which Emily had never experienced. However, marriage of Li Qingzhao could never be rested under political unrest in earlier Song Dynasty, her husband's repeated departure made her love Ci full of loneness and depression, and even distress, which are even greater than that expressed in Emily's poem. Emily Dickinson's poem expresses western woman's submission, independence, generosity and uniqueness in love, while Li Qingzhao's Ci demonstrates distinguished emotion in her inner heart under the background of Chinese federal dynasty. Li Qingzhao's Ci shows not only pride and confidence in love and marriage, but also helplessness and dependence. Her tears over the changes of seasons indirectly and profoundly reflect her helplessness and dependence to her husband as a women living in the background of federal dynasty. After eternal departure of her husband, her love Ci is full of mourning and memory of her husband.Chapter two of this thesis explores similarities and differences of images and language features in love poem and Ci composed by Emily Dickinson and Li Qingzhao from the aspect of means of expression. Both Emily and Li Qingzhao are sensitive to capture tiny and vivid pictures, such pictures are changed into meaningful images in the poem and Ci to express indescribable feelings. Among abundant images in their poem and Ci, images of nature appear frequently. Image group of flowers are repeatedly used by them to describe their emotions. As a woman living in Chinese federal dynasty who was confined in her boudoir, Li Qingzhao's Ci features abundant images concerning life in yards and boudoir. And the image of the Cowherd and the Spinning Lady is borrowed to express her distress for departure of her husband. Images of death in love poem of Emily, a woman with independent mind, never appear in love Ci of Li Qingzhao. With respect to language, both Emily and Li Qingzhao selected natural and fresh oral language for concisely and simply express their emotions, which made their poem and Ci expressive and natural. Mellow and fresh language of Li Qingzhao, who acts as a representative of Chinese plaintive Ci poets, brought out a beauty of grace, which is more implicit than that expressed by Dickinson.Chapter three of this thesis, based on the foregoing two chapters, discusses reasons resulting in similarities and differences of poem and Ci created by Emily and Li Qingzhao from the aspects of society and family, emotional experience and cultural inheritance. Human being is product of environment, no exception of Emily and Li Qingzhao. Open and independent mind flooded in America in the mid of the 19th century profoundly affected Dickinson and obviously demonstrated in her love poem. In addition, religious culture in community of Amherst also imprinted in her love poem. Emily's father was arbitrary, and Emily's rebellion is understandable under her father's authority. Her rebellion rooted out of her mother's influence on one hand and open social environment on the other hand. Her expressed and pursued her love boldly and experienced distress in her stories with several gentlemen. Furthermore, affected by western traditional culture, Dickinson did not hesitate to express her love and enthusiastic and persistent pursue frankly. Li Qingzhao lived enjoyable marriage life and did not experience any shortage, so she broke out fences at that age boldly, directly expressed herself and pursued love with all her efforts. Her Ci features natural, fresh expressions and splendor of humanism, which is totally outside the fence of feudal morality. However, traditional political ethic and social morality under the influence of "rite" in Confucianism was a great restriction to love, ancient Chinese poets, including Li Qingzhao, usually express love implicitly in their poems.In conclusion of this thesis, the author puts forward her own opinion on love by analyzing women's love demonstrated in love poem and Ci created by Emily Dickinson and Li Qingzhao together with characteristics of human being's love as specified in the Bible. This thesis intends to discuss the meaning and prospect of true love pursued by women, half of the human being, by analyzing "love" expressed by the two women poets from their views of love and marriage.
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