A Study On The Translation Of English Poetry Into Chinese

Poetry as a highly condensed form of literature usually expresses profuse feelings and artistic features in the fewest words.The translation of English poetry into Chinese is quite difficult in translation practice. First, China and Western world have different cultures and customs, and the English and Chinese languages belong to different language families. Therefore, the language styles are different. Second, The translation of English poetry into Chinese requires correct comprehension and high appreciation of the English language and the Chinese language. Third, poetry is a special type of literature, and it is difficult to reproduce the thoughts and the style of the original, so one who translates poetry should be a poet as well as a translator.This thesis begins with the definition, classicification, basic elements and characteristics of English poetry. It goes on with the introduction to the translation theories and relevant theories for translating English poetry into Chinese, the different translation methods of representive Translators and their respective features. The thesis makes an analysis of the translators' arguments about untranslatability and translatability of English poetry, together with the discussion of the actuality, artistic mood, constraints and trend of poetry translation.This thesis consists of five chapters.Chapter One is an overview of poetry as a literary genre. The author introduces the definition, classification of English poetry, and compares English poetry with Chinese poetry in two aspects: language and culture.Chapter Two expounds the translation theories, such as "Xin-Da-Ya" advanced by Yan Fu, the foreignization and domestication theory of Ventbi, and Nida's functional equivalence.Chapter Three describes poetry translation theories both in China and abroad, and also provides the history and schools of English poetry translation in China, and the characteristics of different stages of poetry translation.Chapter Four deals with poetry translation practice. The author analyzes English poetry from the perspective of form and content. The author also analyzes the attitude of poetry translators and the untranslatability and translatability of poetry.Chapter Five elaborates on the artistic mood of poetry. Two aspects are discussed in particular: musical beauty and visual beauty.Chapter Six gives some brief account of the current situation, and the limitation of English poetry translation.