Abstract

Poetry translation has always been the hard point of translation, and debates on the translatability and untranslatability of its translation have never stopped. Traditional Chinese poems, as China’s priceless gem, deeply rooted in China’s history, have their unique literary characteristics, which undoubtedly add difficulty to its translation. This paper studies the translation of ancient Chinese poem Guanju by the famous translator Xu Yuanchong and the modern American poet Ezra Pound by analyzing their translation theories and styles, and through the analysis and evaluation on the two versions, it aims at studying the untranslatability on poetry translation and finding ways to compensate for it.

Keywords: poetry translation, Guanju, untranslatability, compensation, imagery, rhyme

Contents

Abstract

摘  要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 Xu Yuanchong’s translation of Guanju-1

1.2. Ezra Pound’s Version of Guanju-2

2. Literature Review-4

3. The Untranslatability of Poetry-5

3.1 The Untranslatability of Imagery-5

3.2 The Untranslatability of Rhyme-7

3.3 The Untranslatability of Charm-7

4. Compensation Ways for the Untranslatability of Poetry-9

4.1 The Compensation on the Translation of Imagery-9

4.2 The Compensation on the Translation of Rhyme-10

4.3 The Compensation on the Translation of Charm-10

5. Conclusion-12

References-13