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Aside from describing how the focalizer perceives, the imaginary mode <strong>of</strong> the perceptual facet<br />
<strong>of</strong> focalization also refers to objects <strong>of</strong> perception, or what is perceived, as existing entirely inside<br />
dreams, recollection or hallucinations. 85 The first half <strong>of</strong> Li He's 李 贺 “A Dream <strong>of</strong> Heaven” (“Meng<br />
tian” 梦 天 ) not only aptly demonstrates the act <strong>of</strong> focalization through the imaginary mode, an action<br />
already illustrated in the previous “Henry and the piece <strong>of</strong> toast/wet rag” example, but also how the<br />
focalized itself, by inhabiting the unreal world <strong>of</strong> a hallucinatory dream, can be understood as an object<br />
existing within the imaginary world <strong>of</strong> a dream: 86<br />
老 兔 寒 蟾 泣 天 色 The ancient hare and shivering toad 87 weep sky blue tears;<br />
云 楼 半 开 壁 斜 白 Cloud towers half revealed, walls slant white. 88<br />
玉 轮 轧 露 湿 团 光 Jade wheel crushes dew, a wet bright sphere; 89<br />
90<br />
鸾 珮 相 逢 桂 香 陌 Phoenix pendants meet on a cassia fragrant path. 91<br />
127<br />
Before the first line commences, the title <strong>of</strong> the poem, “A Dream <strong>of</strong> Heaven”, has already<br />
positioned the text's events and existents inside the imaginary space <strong>of</strong> a dream, meaning that the<br />
objects focalized by the poet-narrator, and the space these objects occupy, is within the imaginary<br />
mode. Yet when considering how, and not only what kind <strong>of</strong>, existents are focalized by the poetnarrator,<br />
the imaginary mode <strong>of</strong> perception continues to be <strong>of</strong> great relevance in Li He's poem. Unlike<br />
the moon in Li Bai's “Holding a Drink and Asking a Question <strong>of</strong> the Moon”, a moon that is focalized<br />
85 Manfred Jahn, “More Aspects on Focalization”, p. 89; Manfred Jahn, “Focalization”, p. 99.<br />
86 This imaginary, or “<strong>of</strong>fline” perception, can resemble online perception while also being “ notably less realistic than<br />
online perception [ordinary mode]; specifically, it [<strong>of</strong>fline perception] easily overcomes real-life constraints when<br />
executing spatio-temporal jumps” See Manfred Jahn, “Focalization”, p. 99.<br />
87 There was a belief “that among the denizens <strong>of</strong> the moon were a rabbit and a toad”. See Edward H. Schafer, Pacing the<br />
Void, p. 174.<br />
88 The Jade Towers <strong>of</strong> the moon. See J.D. Frodsham, The Poems <strong>of</strong> Li Ho (London: Oxford <strong>University</strong> Press, 1970), p. 31.<br />
89 A lunar vision, one in which “the moon hangs in the middle <strong>of</strong> the sky like a jade wheel, rolling and crushing dewdrops<br />
while absorbing their moisture and becoming a sphere <strong>of</strong> light”. See Kuo-Ch'ing Tu, Li Ho (Boston: Twayne Publishers,<br />
1979), p. 45.<br />
90 Wang Qi 王 琦 ed., Li He shige jizhu 李 贺 诗 歌 集 注 (Shanghai: Renmin chubanshe 人 民 出 版 社 , 1977), p. 57.<br />
91 “According to legend, Chang E 嫦 娥 stole the elixir <strong>of</strong> immortality from her husband [Hou] Yi 后 羿 , the Archer, and<br />
fled to the moon. This line refers either specifically to Chang E or to goddesses in general whom Li He might meet on<br />
the moon”. See Kuo-Ch'ing Tu, Li Ho, p. 140. The path is cassia-scented because <strong>of</strong> the cassia tree on the moon. See<br />
J.D. Frodsham, The Poems <strong>of</strong> Li Ho, p. 31. The English translation is an admixture <strong>of</strong> J.D. Frodsham, The Poems <strong>of</strong> Li<br />
Ho, p. 31 and Kuo-Ch'ing Tu, Li Ho, p. 45.