Translation of Chinese Poetry

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• Translation of Chinese Poetry

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• Prose is words in the best order
• poetry is the best words in the best order.
• --Coleridge
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• ????????????
• --????
• ????? ???????,
• ?????????

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????(????)Classification of Ancient Poetry

• ?????(Sound and rhythm)
• (1)???????(??????)???????.
• A form of pre-Tang poetry, usu.
  having five or seven characters to each line,
  without strict tonal patterns or rhyme schemes
• (2)???????
• modern style poetry, referring
  to innovations in classical poetry during the
  Tang Dynasty, marked by strict tonal patterns and
  rhyme schemes
• (3)??????????????????????
• Ci, a type of classical Chinese
  poetry
• (4)????????????????????
• Qu, a type of verse for singing,
  popular in the Yuan Dynasty

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• ??????(Contents)
• (1)???(Nostalgic Poetry )
• (2)???(Object-Chanting Poetry )
• (3)?????(Pastoral poetry)
• (4)???(Poetry of war)
• (5)???(Poetry of travelling)
• (6)???(Poetry of boudoir repinings )
• (7)???(Farewell poetry)

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????(????) Classification of Modern Poetry

• ???????????(Ways of expression)
• (1)????????????????????,??????????????????
• Narrative poems complete plot and
  characters
• (2)?????????????????????????,????????????????
  ???,???????????????????
• Lyrics full release of the poets emotion
• ??,??????????????
• Sometimes they two are interwoven.

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• ??????????????(rhyme and structure)
• (1)???????????????????????????????(???)??????????
  ???????????,Metrical poetry strict requirements
  on form, rhyme, number of character and lines,
  sentence pattern, etc.
• (2)?????????,?????,???????????,???????????,??????
  ??????????,???????
• Free verse free form and popular language
• (3)????????????????????????,??????,????????????,?
  ???,????????,???,?,?????? Prose poetry a
  mixture of characteristics of prose and poetry

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????Characteristics

• ???????????????????,?????????
• ???,?????????????,???????????
• ?,??????????,?????????????
  
• 
  ---???
• ??,???????????? A full reflection of life
• ??,????,????????? Outflow of strong emotion
• ??,??????????? Imagination and fancy
• ??,??????? Musical beauty

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• Poetry comes nearer to vital truth than history.
  (Plato)
• ??????????????(???)
• Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is a
  apeaking picture. (Simonides, ancient Greek
  writer)??????,???????(????? ?????)
• A great poem is a fountain forever overflowing wit
  h the waters of wisdom and delight.  (Shelley)  
        ????????????,?????????????? (??)    
       

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??????Techniques of Expression

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  ??????????????,???????????????
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• Fu, to narrate things directly
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• Bi, to dipict things with figures of speech
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  ?????
• Xing, to start a topic by borrowing something
  else

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1.??Metaphorpersonification

• ???????
• ??????,
• ???????
• ??????,
• ????????
• The golden willows by the riversideAre
  young brides in the setting sunTheir
  reflections on the shimmering wavesAlways linger
  in the depth of my heart.

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2.??Hyperbole

• ???????,???????
• However deep the Lake of Peach
  Blossoms may be,
• Its not so deep, O Wang Lun! As your
  love for me.
• ???????,???????
• Its torrent dashes down three thousand
  feet from high
• As if the Silver River fell from the
  blue sky.
• (Tr. X.Y.Z)

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3.??Metonymy

• ?
• ?????,
• ??????
• ?????,
• ?????

• TO THE CICADA
• Though rising high, you drink but dew
• Yet your voice flows from sparse plane trees.
• Far and wide theres none but hears you
• You need no wings of autumn breeze.
• 
  (Tr. XYZ)

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????Translation of Poetry

• 1.?????(Untranslatability)
• ???L??????????????????
• Robert L. Frost Poetry is what is lost in
  translation
• ??(Wolfgang von Goethe )
• ??(Humbert)
• ???????????????

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• 2.????(Translatability)
• ???/???/???????
• ???????
• ?????????????,?????????????????????
• ?????????????,????,????
• ??????????????????????????????????????

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• ??????, ??????, ???????,????
• ???????, ????????????????.
• literariness
• Meaningfulness
• 
  gttranslatability
• Understandability
• expressiveness

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????????Analysis of untranslatable factors

• 1.?????????
• (Poems of unique form and technique)

???????, ???????? ???????, ????????
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• ???
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• ???????????,???????????????
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2.?????????Unique combination of character and
sound

• ?????? ????,????,??????
• ???????,?????
• ????????????????,?????. ?????,?????.
  ?????,?????.
• ???????????
• ??????,????,?????
• Farewell Ferry and the Beautys Bridge
  would pinez
• Wind blows from hour to hour
• Rain falls shower by shower.(???)
• ???????????????????????,??,??
• ???????????????,????,????????
• ??,??????,???????

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3.?????Unique meaning

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• (???deathheartbeat)
• ?????????????,???????????????,???????.
• (???sunnylove)
• The English translation could only gain one
  meaning and lose the other.
• ??????????,????????????

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4.?????Unique rhetoric devices

• ??????????,?????,?????,??????
• Home-sick a thousand miles away,
• Shut in the palace twenty years.
• Singing the dying swans sweet lay,
• Oh! How can she hold back her tears.(Tr.???)
• ????????????,??????,??????
• ????????,????????????,???????
• ????????,????????????

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5. ?????Unique culture

• ??????????,??????
• 1.Their warbling broke the dream wherein
• My lover smiled to me. (Tr. Fletcher)
• 2.From dreaming of my dear,
• Far off on the frontier. (Tr. X. Y.C)
• ????,??????(a place, also a symble of war)?????
• ?????,?????,??????????
• ???????????????,????????

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6.???????Unique features of Chinese characters

• ????,???????,???????
• ???????????????,?????????????,????,???????
• ??28?,????????,????,?????
• ????????,??????
• The moon climbed to willow tops, I trysted her at
  yellow dusk.(Tr. Bynner)
• ??10?,????,?????????????,???
• ?,?????

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7.???????Unique characteristicas of Chinese
poetry

• ????????????,????????????????
• ????,?????????????????????????
• ????Requirements of poetry
• ??????????form Length, lines,
  characters
• ??(??)??(??)?Sound rhyme and
  tone
• ????Attitude of poet
• ?????,?????? (patience,
  responsibility)
• 
  gt???
• 
  ?????,?????

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• ??,???????????????????????,???????????????????????
  ??????????????????????????????,???????????????????
  ???????
• Anyway, poetry is a special literary type highly
  depending on its own language. Much of its
  forming is a component of lansign system that is
  hardly can be transferred between different
  languages.
• Loyalty cannot be entirely pursued.

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???????Attitude of Poetry Translation

• ????? ?????(translatable)??????(half-translatable
  )??????(untranslatable)
• ??????????????????????????????????,??????????????
  ,????????????,???????? J.Catford SL texts and
  items are more or less translatable rather than
  absolute or untranslatable)
• ???????????

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?????????Translation strategies of Poetry

• Ezra Pond
• ?Guidos relations???,???????????????relation
  s??,??????????????,?????????????,???????????
• ?????????????????????????,?????????????????,????
  ?????????????1913
• ?????????
• ?????????????????????????????
• ??????????????(rewrite)
• ?????????????????????(loyalty)?

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• ??????(Cantos)????19???,????????????????????
  ?????
• ???????,????????
• ???????,???????
• Ko-jin goes west from ko-kaku-ro,
• The smoke-flowers are blurred over the river.
• His lone sailblots the far sky,
• And now I see the river, the Long Kiang, reaching
  heaven.

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• ???????(Poetry for poetry)
• ????,????????? (beautiful
  form,voicemeaning)
• best words in best
  order the later, the more important
• ???????????(Translated poems can be
  better than
• original ones they
  two compete)
• ?????????(Prose for poetry)
• ???????,????,???? (True meaning, similar form,
  
• lively spirit)
• ???,???,???,???(from the poem,
  beyond it)

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• ???????
• ???????????,???(form),??(tone),??(image),??(figu
  re of speech)??
• ???????????,???????(deepmeaning),????????(surfac
  e meaning)?
• ??????????(??????????)??????(????????,???
  ???)?

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• ??Conclusion
• ??????
• flexbility in form
• ???????
• emotional accomodation
• ????????
• cultural communication

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?????Translation Evaluation I

• ??
• ?????,
• ??????
• ?????,
• ??????
• --???

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• 1. Spring Mornings (Tr. ???)
• One slumbers late in the morning in spring,
• Everywhere, one hears birds warble or sing.
• As the night advances, rain spatters winds
  moan,
• How many flowers have dropped? Can that be
  known?
• 2. The Spring Dawn(Tr. ???)
• Slumbering, I know not the spring dawn is
  peeping,
• But everwhere the spring birds are cheeping.
• Last night I heared the rain dripping and
  wind weeping,
• How many flowers are now on the ground
  sleeping?

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• 3. A Spring Morning(Tr. ???)
• (1) This morn of spring in bed Im lying,
• Not woke up till I hear birds crying.
• After one night of wind and showers,
• How many are the fallen flowers!
• (2) In drowsy spring I slept until daybreak,
• When the birds cry here and there, I
  awake.
• Last night I heard a storm of wind and
  rain,
• How many blossoms have fallen again?
• 4. One Morning in Spring (Tr. ???)
• Late, this spring morning as I awake I know.
  All round me the birds are
• crying, crying. The storm last night, I
  sensed its fury. How many, I
• wonder, are fallen, poor dear flowers!

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• 5. A Spring Morning (Tr. Witter Bynner)
• I awake light-hearted this morning of spring,
• Everywhere round me the singing of birds-
• But now I remember the night, the storm,
• And I wonder how many blossoms were broken.
• 6. Spring Dawn (Tr. ???)
• Feeling not when cometh th peep of spring
  dawns,
• Everywhere birds songs I hear in my slumber.
• Through the sounds of wind and rain all th
  night long,
• Know I not how many th flowers fall in
  number.

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?????Take Chun Xiao as an Example

• ????????,????,???????????????????,???????,?????
• ????(poetic imagery)??,???????????????,?????????
  ???????,??????????????Fury, poor,
  dear??????????,????????,??????,?????????????(to
  be continued)

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• ???(form),???????????????,????????,???????????????
  ??,???????,??????,?????????,????????
• ???(metre),??????????????????????????
• ???(rhythm),????????????,?????
• ????(rhyme),???aaba???,????Bynner??,??????aaba,
  aabb,aaaa, abab???(???),?????
• To be continued

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?????Translation Evaluation II

• ??!
• ??????
• ?????
• ???
• ????
• ????
• ???
• ???
• ?????

• The Pledge
• Oh heaven high!
• I will love him
• Forever till I die.
• Till mountains crumble,
• Rivers run dry.
• In winter thunder rumbles,
• In summer snow fall far and high.
• And the earth mingle with the skies,
• Not till then will my love die.

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????? Translation Evaluation III

• ????-?????
• (???)
• ??????
• ??????
• ??????,
• ??????
• ??????,
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• ?????,
• ??????

• ???,
• ???,
• ????
• ????,
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• ??????,
• ??????,
• ??????
• ?????,
• ??????

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The Mid-autumn Festival Tune Prelude to Water
MelodyBy X.Y.Z.

• How long will the full moon appear?Wine
  cup in hand, I ask the sky.I do not know what
  time of the year'Twould be tonight in the palace
  on high.Riding the wind, there I would fly,Yet
  I'm afraid the crystalline palace would beToo
  high and cold for me.I rise and dance, with my
  shadow I play.On high as on earth, would it be
  as gay?The moon goes round the mansions
  redThrough gauze-draped window soft to shedHer
  light upon the sleepless bed.Why then when
  people part, is she oft full and bright?Men have
  sorrow and joy they part or meet againThe moon
  is bright or dim and she may wax or wane.There
  has been nothing perfect since the olden days.So
  let us wish that manWill live long as he
  can!Though miles apart, we'll share the beauty
  she displays.

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????? Translation Evaluation IV

• ?? lt???gt????? ?????????, ??????????????
  ????????, ????????????????, ???????????????,
  ??????, ??????? ????? ????? .?,??????!
  ????????????,?????????????

• ?,?????, ?,??????
• ?????,??????????? ???????? ????????
  ??,??, ??? ????????, ??????, ????????
  ????????????????????????,??????, ???????
  .????????, ?????? ? ?????????,
  ????????,??????

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To an Oak

• If I loved you,I would be absolutely
  unlike the trumpet creeper climbing upon your
  bodywith lofty branches for a display.If I
  loved you,I would absolutelynot follow a silly
  bird wayto the green shadow repeatedly singing
  an old storyAnd also not just like a
  fountain,Yearly contributing you with cooling
  fanAnd still not like a peak of dangerto have
  you higherin an awe-inspiring mannerOr even to
  flaunt your daylight,Or your raining at spring
  night.No, not enough with the above lines!I
  must be like kapok standing nearby,Along
  together with you as a tree, not as a vine.My
  root must penetrate into the ground tight My
  leaves reach the clouds under the sky.

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• With a gust of wind, we must say helloas a
  respected manner, but no humans knowWhat we are
  going to show.You have your trunk with branches
  strong as iron,
• or like spear, sword you sharpenand also
  halberd weapon.I have rich red flowers
  tiedseemingly with a deep sigh,And also like a
  heroic torchlight. We should bear cold air,
  tempest, and thunderWe should share fog, haze,
  and rainbow together,as if we were never
  separated from each other,depending on each
  other forever.Thats a great love,The so-called
  inflexible virtue must be like thisLove Not
  only love your great body but your heart,And
  still the firm ground as an organ part.

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?????Translation Practice

• 1.??????
• ???,
• ???,
• ???????,
• ??????
• ???,
• ????
• ????????
• ??????

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????(Reference Version)

• 1. See the Bian River flow
• And the Si River flow!
• By Ancient Ferry, mingling waves, they go
• The Southern hills reflect my woe.
• My thought stretches endlessly
• My grief wretches endlessly.
• Oh, when will my beloved come back tome?
• Alone I lean on moon lit balcony.

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?????Translation Practice

• 2.??????
• ???????,
• ????????
• ???????,
• ????????

• 3.?????
• ???????,
• ????????
• ???????,
• ????????

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????(Reference Version)

• 2. A Night-Mooring Near Maple BridgeMoon going
  down, Crow cawing, frost filling all over the
  sky,Maple-trees near the river and torch in the
  fisher opposite the sleeping anxiety.From the
  temple on Cold Mountain out of Suzhou,The
  midnight ding touches my boat.

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????(Reference Version)

3. Spring Comes to Jiangnan Red against green,
and a huge troupe of warblers singingHillside,
riverside hamlets, with blue flags
fluttering. The Southern Dynasties had four
hundred eighty Building templesHow many towers
and terraces are wrapped in misty drizzles?
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?????Translation Practice

• 4.???? ???
• ??????, ??????? ??????, ???????? ??????,
  ???????, ??????, ???????? ??????, ????????
  ???????, ???????!

• ???????, ????,???? ??????, ?????????
  ????????, ????????, ??????, ?????????
  ??????, ???????? ???????, ????????!
  ??????, ??????? ??????, ???????.

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????(Reference Version)

• 4. Goodbye Again, Cambridge! I leave softly,
  gently, Exactly as I came. I wave to the
  western sky, Telling it goodbye softly, gently.
  The golden willow at the river edge Is the
  setting suns bride. Her quivering reflection
  Stays fixed in my mind. Green grass on the bank
  Dances on a watery floor In bright reflection.
  I wish myself a bit of waterweed Vibrating to
  the ripple. Of the River Cam. That creek in the
  shade of the great elms Is not a creek but a
  shattered rainbow, Printed on the water And
  inlaid with duckweed, It is my lost dream.

• Hunting a dream? Wielding a long punting
  pole I get my boat into green water, Into still
  greener grass. In a flood of starlight On a
  river of silver and diamond I sing to my hearts
  content. But now, no, I cannot sing With
  farewell in my heart. Farewells must be quiet,
  mute, Even the summer insects are silent,
  Knowing I am leaving. The Cambridge night is
  soundless. I leave quietly As I came quietly.
  I am leaving Without taking so much As a piece
  of cloud. But with a quick jerk of my sleave I
  wave goodbye.

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????Further Reading

• ???????-?????
• ????-?????