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2018年27期总第415期
翻译研究
ENGLISH ON CAMPUS
“Five Instances of Disusing the Rhyme and Three Difficulties”
—— A Discussion on Rhymes in Poetry Translation
vano文/李东霖
Xu Yuanchong propod the idea “Three Beauties
my english studyin Poetr y Translation”: a translated poem should be mantically, phonologically, and formally as beautiful as the source. Indeed, the aspects are worthy of efforts from translator dedicated to compo the best translation. Here I
anal什么意思
have some interesting thoughts about the discour of Three Beauties, especially about rhyme in the phonological aspect. Traditional Chine poetry has a complete system of商务英语翻译考试
disciplined rules on using rhymes. Many scholars think it is
necessary to u ending rhymes just like the original does; meanwhile many believe that the translation should follow the rules of English rhymes. However, it is commonly known in translation practices that rhyming in both English and Chine style may have the defect of making additions and omissions to the original. Most translators have already realized the fact
that it is hard to compo a fluent and poetic version while keeping original meanings and emotions if translating with rhymes. Here I will further explore the instances that are not appropriate to u rhymes in poetry translation.1. When it is hard or impossible to find a most suitable
word in English to be the correspondent and also prerve the rhyme
Sometimes when translating a Chine image into English, we may have multiple options in word choices; however, only one of them is the most suitable corresponding word. What if the best word does not rhyme with other lines? What if you cannot find even one correct ntence structure, to ma
ke the ending word rhyme with other lines? Poems are always conci and short in forms; there are a ries of condend images which gives people very few options to change the structure and make it suitable for rhyme. Thus, it is sometimes necessary to make sacrifices in rhyme to maintain the fidelity to the original meaning.
2. When encountering special expressions from other cultures which are hard to make rhymes
Chine and English pronunciation rules are quite distinct from each other. When Chine images are transliterated in the form of Pinyin, it is inconvenient to find the rhyming word in English, sometimes even impossible if we follow the rules of rhyming strictly. In Chine poetry there are many notions
and images which are introduced to English vocabulary
through Pinyin. There are names of buildings, locations,
fridays
people and landmarks as well as names of festivals, events, dynasties, titles and times. It is unnecessary to deliberately find the best rhyming words but spoil original meanings or
dopa翻译miyaforms. Additionally, when translating the Japane Haiku into English, due to the differences in pronu
nciation, there is also no requirement to u rhymes for the transliterated words. For example, when rendering the line “姑苏城外寒山寺，夜半钟声到客船”, if the location “Gu Su” is put at the end, it is impossible to find an English word ending with
pm ammarqueethe syllable “su” in the next line; if we put the name of the temple “Hanshan” at the end, it is also unlikely to ek out a word rhyming with “shan” in the next line. However, existing translated versions render 寒山 as “cold hill” to get the rhyme; it violates the original meaning and is not acceptable if considering the beauty of mantics.3. When the u of rhyming words violates the beauty in form
4. When the u of rhyming words violates the beauty in mantics
In most translation practices, it is quite difficult fordomesticate
translators to keep all three beauties in their translation,
so that a balance among the three aspects must be found. There sometimes would be compromis and sacrifices in phonology in order to obtain the other two when rhymes violate original meanings or forms. People should always remember that rhymes are only the tool to make a poem posss m
ore readability and artistic effects; they are important, but can never be as important as the other two aspects. Quite many great translators like Ezra Pound, Witter Bynner and Yang Xianyi abandon rhymed ver to achieve mantical and formal beauties. One of the most successful examples is the translation of 野有死麇by Ezra Pound. By avoiding unnecessary ambiguity and misunderstandings, he creates an inspirational form of writing and prerves the most similarities to traditional Chine folk songs. His version is also well accepted for the beautiful and graceful atmosphere built
by Pound to express the pure love in the original lines. 5. When the translator tends to translate in a free pro
style or a blank ver but not a strict ver style
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