唐诗英译：意境、声音与形式 (Week 7)

• The article discusses the translation of Tang poetry into English, focusing on capturing the essence, sound, and form of the original poems. It emphasizes the importance of adhering to the tradition of verse translation.

The Significance of Verse Translation

• Herbert A. Giles translated the famous pieces of Li Bai, Wang Wei and Li Shangyin into rhyme in the late 19th century, and his translations attracted readers with unique styles and received praise from the critical circle.
• Lytten Strachey commented that Giles' translated Tang poetry was the best poetry of the time, and his translated Tang poetry collection occupied a unique position in the history of world literature.
• Arthur Waley, a 20th-century British sinologist, also believed that Giles was good at cleverly combining word meaning and rhythm.

Arthur Waley's Approach

• Arthur Waley is considered skilled at integrating meaning and rhythm, but the article suggests that his free verse translations may still fall short of preserving the original poetic charm.
• Waley tries to completely translate the meaning of the original poem, but the author believes that Waley cannot avoid harming the meaning if he does not use rhyme.

Three Elements of Translation: Essence, Sound, and Form

• The author argues that verse translation excels in conveying the "sound beauty" (音美) of Tang poetry compared to free verse.
• The author prioritizes "essence beauty" (意美), "sound beauty" (音美), and "form beauty" (形美) in that order of importance.

Importance of "Essence Beauty"

• The author emphasizes "essence beauty" (意美) as the most critical aspect, referring to deep-level structure rather than surface-level similarity.
• The author gives an example of Wang Bo’s “Farewell to Du Shaofu Going to Shu Prefecture” to explain his translation theory in detail.

Translation Techniques: "Equalization, Sublimation, and Simplification"

• The author introduces the concepts of "equalization" (等化), "sublimation" (深化), and "simplification" (浅化) in translation to bridge gaps between surface and deep meanings.

Dealing with Double Meanings and Allusions

• According to the author, "essence beauty" can often be difficult to convey in the original dual language. An example is taken from Li Shangyin's famous poem “Untitled”.
• The author suggests specific methods for translating lines with double meanings, such as Li Shangyin’s famous line "The silkworm will only stop spinning silk when it dies".
• The author uses specific examples to explain that even the “essence beauty” of puns and allusions is not absolutely untranslatable.

Maintaining Sound and Form

• The author stresses the importance of rhyme in conveying the "sound beauty" (音美) of Tang poetry, even if achieving perfect phonetic similarity is challenging.
• The author also discusses the rhythmic structure of Tang poetry (usually five- or seven-character lines) and how to approximate it in English verse.
• In addition to rhyme, another important issue in conveying Tang poetry is rhythm.

Repetition and Tone

• The author addresses translating repeated words and phrases, as well as managing tonal qualities.
• The author gives an example from Du Fu’s “Hearing the Army Recover Henan and Hebei”, the last two sentences of which repeat the words “gorge” and “Yang”.

Structural Beauty

• There is a structural beauty of Tang poetry (形美). Tang poetry is generally in five-character and seven-character form.
• The author translates seven-character poems into Alexandrine verse with twelve syllables per line. Five-character poems are translated into eight syllables per line, as in Li Bai's "Quiet Night Thought," or ten syllables per line, as in Wei Chengqing's "Departure from the South."

Conclusion

• The author expresses the hope that English translations of Tang poetry can achieve a unique position in world literature, as Lytten Strachey said.