摘 要每首诗歌都有它独特的形式和元素，这些元素包括：韵律、语调、意象和主题。就本质上说，“意象”一词是属于诗歌的，意象就是诗歌的灵魂，因此，意象在读者理解诗歌的过程中扮演着重要角色。英国浪漫主义诗歌中的意象表现极其丰富，其中最常见的是“夜莺”意象。本文首先介绍意象的概念、分类及它在诗歌中的重要作用，其次根据几位英国浪漫主义诗人的代表诗作对诗歌中所含有的夜莺意象进行大致归类，再次结合几位代表诗人各自的生活背景及成长经历比较分析英诗中的夜莺意象的异同点，最后总结夜莺意象在英国浪漫主义时期下的成因及意义。 关键词：英国浪漫主义诗歌；夜莺；意象ABSTRACTPoetry has its unique form and elements. These elements include rhyme, tone, image and theme. And in essence, image is the soul of poetry, so it plays an important role in understanding the poetry. The images in English Romantic poetry perform a very rich forms, the most common image is the “Nightingale” image. This paper first introduces the definition and classification and the importance of image in poetry. Second comes up with three types of nightingale images after analyzes some major Romantic poets poems. Third combines the background and their life experience of poets with their nightingale images, comes to summarize the similarities and differences of nightingale images in poems. Last, points out the causes and significance of nightingale image under that historical background. Key words：English Romantic poetry; Nightingale; imageContents1Introduction12. The image in poetry22.1 The definition and classification of Image22.2 The function of poetic Image33. Three types of Nightingale image53.1 Nightingale of myth-based63.2 Description on nightingales life habits73.3 Expression of inner feelings84. The Nightingale and Romantic poets104.1 William Wordsworths To a Skylark-the sad and disparaging nightingale104.2 John Keats Ode to a Nightingale-the happy and sad nightingale115The historical reasons of Nightingale image146Conclusion15Acknowledgements16References171IntroductionPoetic image is the factor and soul of poetry 11. English romantic poets tend to be the creator of the poetic images. They use their symbolic imagery to express, while the image is a typical product of the Romantic imagination and creativity. Actually, the process of creating a poem is a kind of process in which the poet will select suitable concrete objects to be the poetic images, and construct the poetic image to express his subjective feelings. Lots of critics have made fruitful research on the images of the English romantic poetry: the moon, the lark, and the nightingale. Rich images have been represented in English Romantic poetry, in which the most seen are birds, especially skylark and nightingale, which are vividly and profoundly depicted 255. However, there are still some problems or insufficiencies in the research. The scholars used to display all the poems of English poets, rather than only confined to the English Romanticism period. Some others only represented two books which written about nightingale of two poets and compared them to each other. Also, most scholars tended to explain how many kinds of images that English romantic poets had used in their poems, and nearly just focused on researching the nightingale image. This thesis comes up with three types of nightingale images after analyzing several famous Romantic poems, and summarizes the similarities and differences of nightingale images in different poets poem. At last, points out the causes and significance of nightingale image under that historical background.2. The image in poetryIn the world of poetry theory, people widely accepted the significance and constructive ability of image. The concrete image that can be felt produces the meaning and whole aesthetic effect of poetry. This special ability of image comes from the images unique nature and function. The function of image completes the expression of the whole meaning of poetry. The image has the function of description, expression, symbolic signification 3116. In the system of image, every image not only influences other images but also be influenced. 2.1 The definition and classification of Image2.1.1 The definition of ImageThe image first appeared in classical Chinese bible Yi Jing more than two thousand years ago. “Books cannot represent thoroughly what we want to say and words cannot express completely what we want to say,” and “The saint created image to imply what he wants to say and to express to the world.” 41. And the word “image” derives from old French image or Latin word imaginem. It appears in Middle English and then rises up as a popular jargon of advertising and public relations. However, until now, there isnt an exact definition of image. There only some basic definitions in dictionaries.(1) A physical likeness or representation of a person, an animal, or an object photographed, painted, sculptured, or otherwise made visible. (2) An optical counterpart or appearance of an object, as is produced by reflection from a mirror, refraction by a lens, or the passage of luminous rays through a small aperture and their reception on a su