许渊冲对诗歌的翻译

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1、XuYuanchong fully comprehends the poets emotion of Bells Ringing In The Rain, and carries on the poets sorrow by choosing the words. Finally he succeeds in the a 1 1 transmission of artistic conception. Transmission of artistic conception is closely linked with the emotion transmission. So we can ma

2、ke conclusion from the examples above, the transference of artistic conception is incomplete, if there is emotion in an original poem, but the translation fails to manifest the feelings in the verses,. In order to further the understanding the importance of emotion expression in translation, the aut

3、hor would like to give more examples: “晓镜但愁云鬓改，夜吟应觉月光寒。” (To One Unnamed ) by Li Shangyin )The poem describes the immortal love: he cannot help thinking of his beloved for his deep love to her so that he does not see his image but that of his beloved while looking into the mirror. The two lines sele

4、cted in the poem describe the feeling: the poet worries about his beloveds gray hair on head but not his own when he is looking into the mirror, he does not feel the chill of moonlight, but he worries that she will feel cold when he is crooning verse at night. The following are two kinds of translat

5、ions of Innes Herdan(A) and Xu Yuanchong(B) A Grief at the morning mirror-Cloud -like-hair must change;Verses hummed at night, Feeling the chill of moonlight. B At dawn Im grieved to think your mirrored hair turns grey;At night you would feel cold while I croon by moonlight.A describes the poets wor

6、ries about his own gray hair, and he feels chill, which is the literal translation without understanding the feeling of the poet to his beloved. So it fails to transmit that kind of sentiment in the poem and reveal the immoral love. Xu yuanchong adds person to describe the immoral love, thus the rea

7、ders are moved by the poets feelings, and get the deep comprehension of artistic conception. Here is another example:“ 思君如满月，夜夜减清辉。” (Since My Lord From My Parted by Zhang Jiuling) The poet uses the moon to describe the feelings of the wife that she is duller day by day by missing her husband. Let u

8、s see the translation by Herbert A. Giles: My heart is like the full moon, full of pains, Save that tis always full and never wanes.“Giles compares the wifes heart to the painful moon that never wane, succeeds in conveying the essential idea of her sorrow.”19 In this poem, the key point of the under

9、standing of artistic conception is to comprehend the wifes emotion. Since Giles convey the distress of the wifes missing vividly and incisively, the readers can feel this kind of pains, therefore Giles succeeds in the conveyance of artistic conception. The analysis above suggests that the transmissi

10、on of emotion is important to the transference of artistic conception. If the poem embodies poets emotion, the translated version should indicate it, thus the readers can get a deep comprehension of artistic conception.3.2 Unearth image.Besides the conveyance of emotions and ideas, a translator shou

11、ld also pay attention to the images. The image refers to the object in the poetry, which receive subjective sentiment of the author. Setting sun, fragrant grass, weeping willow, song of the birds, cicada chirping and so on are the commonly employed images in ancient Chinese poems. Usually, a poet do

12、es not reveal the sentiment straightly but awaken our memory by the description of the image and stimulate our feeling and cause our sympathetic chord. 20 Precisely the author reveal subjective sentiment by taking and describing the image, the reader can enter the artistic conception of poetry.The i

13、mage is the essence of language of poem. “Image model captures the essence of picture in prose or in poetry.”21 The poets always utilizes the visualized language which can stimulate the readers imagination and the association to describe the image in the literary works, if the literary figure is fre

14、sh, then the exquisite artistic conception will appear. The translator should pay attention to the transplantation of the literary figure and visualization of the language in the process of translation. Therefore they can fully manifest the beauty of artistic conception. We should transmit the image

15、s to translate the poem. Image is the basic element of poems. The basic feature is that readers can experience the feelings of poets through the description of the image. “We mean to define image as the attribute for the whole mental conception of a literary work. In some sense, image here is counta

16、ble as eyeable linguistic point, and all the images in a work form into a meaningful whole, which is often called its imagery. So imagery is uncountable as an inseparable entity that can only be perceived from the entire work”. 22There are several images in this poetry as follows: cicadas, showers,

17、heavy cloud, southern sky, willow trees, waning moon. “These objects to be described are never selected at random, but are the manifestation of the poets shrewd power of observation and unique artistic view” 23 These images are objects, but the poet renders his emotion to them that has been the symb

18、ol of departure and distress. He set off the parting atmosphere by the description of objects, thus the readers will portray a chill and dreary picture as if they hear the singing of the cicadas and see the parting scene. Then how do the translations give the readers the same expression by unearthin

19、g images? It is rare for us to feel cold and dreary when hearing the singing of cicadas, while the poet use 寒and 凄to describe it, for the pain from the bottom of his heart. 寒 and 凄 uncover directly the poets mood, the person have to part with his beloved and feels the coldness of the outside world,

20、which is his innermost feelings. The following translations are also presented by Rewi Alley (A) and Xu Yuanchong (B):A Now comes the note of the cicada，mournfully;B Cicadas chillDrearily shrillCompared with Rewi Alleysmournfully Xu Yuanchong sCicadas chill describes the cicadas condition, drearily

21、shrill corresponds 凄切 they established a basic main key for the entire poem cloudy and cold, drearily shrill further exaggeratedthis atmosphere. So,“chill” “drearily” describe the process of psychology and transmit artistic conception of “寒蝉凄切”. Pavilion is considered as a symbol of parting, sudden

22、shower may be considered as a symbol of the tears falling from their eyes. Look at the verses:对长亭晚，骤雨初歇A at our pace for partingevening falls; the rainstorm that brokehas cleared away;B We stand face to face at an evening hourBefore the pavilion, after a sudden showerWe can see Rewi Alley omits the

23、image of pavilion, which is very important to the conveyance of artistic conception as a symbol of parting.In ancient China, people usually part in pavilion, so Chinese readers can associate the pavilion with departure. And XuYuanchong reserves the image of pavilion and shower using “before” and “af

24、ter” to connect the two sentences, so that we see the natural scenery and human feelings well blended in the beginning of the poem. 24 So, It does well at the transition of the artistic conception. In this poem, the image of the boat waiting for the person describes a picture of a lonely sail. The v

25、erse: 方留恋处、兰舟催发A the boatman urges departureB we are lingering late, but the boat is waiting for you to departRewi Alley only uses “boatman” omitting the image of boat, and XuYuanchongs translation describes a picture: two people are loathing to part, the boat is urging a person to embark quickly, w

26、e can guess that the boat has been waiting for a long time. The picture of a lonely sail is the symbol of the parting lover, carrying the visual feeling. And B is better at the transition of artistic conception compared to Rewi Alley that is only narrating. In this poem, cloud and sky also are symbo

27、lical, the heavy cloud is the symbol of his heavy heart, and the boundless sky is the symbol of long distance. 25 The original verses and translations are as follows: 念去去千里烟波，暮霭沉沉楚天阔。A and I know that soon I shall be farfrom here, over the hills; at night a mist will come down from heavens, and soon

28、 I will be in Hupeh, where skies are high, and ground low;B You ll go your way far, far away, on miles and miles of misty waves where sail the ships, and evening clouds hang low in boundless southern skiesThe two images “暮霭” and “楚天should be translated. Rewi Alley does not transmit the image: cloud

29、, and “skies are high” does not describe the boundless of the skies. Therefore his translation weakened the effect of the transition of artistic conception of original poem greatly. In the original poem the first stanza begins with an image and ends with another, both reveal the grief of parting. 26

30、 Therefore in translation there should be the transference of the vivid image to let the reader feel the poets emotion through the images to understand the artistic conception of the poem.As we know, In a Chinese poem, there are always many images; these vivid images bring the beauty to people. In o

31、rder to achieve the similar effect, the translator should carry on the appropriate description to the images. For example, “ 小楼西角断虹明， 栏杆私倚处，遥见月华生” (Immortal At the river by Ou Yangxiu) portray a beautiful scene：the broken rainbow appears after a heavy rain，two persons are leaning on rails watching t

32、he rising moon. Teresa Yee-wha Yu translates the lines in this way： Across the western corner of theSmall house, a broken rainbow hangs brightly, as I rest on the balcony, awaiting moonrise.The image of the original poem is broken rainbow， why is the rainbow broken？ Teresa Yee-wha Yu only usesbroken

33、 rainbow , which fails to manifest the esthetic sense of the moon raises slowly, therefore the beauty is inferior than the one of the original poem. The translation by Xu Yuanchong is:An imperfect rainbow is seen,Shut out of view by Western Tower.We lean on rails aloneTo watch the rising moon.Xu Yua

34、nchong uses shut out of view by western tower ， giving people a more vivid picture: Above the small building, a broken rainbow appears, -two people are closely leaning in the rail, watching the slowing rising moon, the phrase shut out describes the broken rainbow, the typical image matches the image

35、 verb, has exaggerated the original poem main key of the original poem, so, compared to Teresa Yee- whas Yu. Xu Yuanchongs is better in transmitting artistic conception.The analysis above suggests that unearthing images is one of effective ways to convey artistic conception, of course, in the transl

36、ation techniques of image, aparting from unearthing images, there are other ways to convey the artistic conception, such as footnoting and paraphrasing, which this article only discusses one of effective ways. 3.3 Stimulate imaginationIn the authors view, the connotation of stimulating imagination i

37、s that if the poet leaves a great space of imagination to the readers, so should the translator. It is of great importance for the translations to stimulate the rea ders imagination. Just as Xu Yuanchong points out in his New Concept of Translation in New Century the low standard of literary transla

38、tion is to resemble or reflect the truth of the original poems, while the high standard is to keep the beauty of poems in source language 27 The translator should try his best to bring the advantage of target languages into full play, which means making full use of the best form of expression of tar

39、get language as well, and to make poems understood finally. The translations of literary works should be wonderful and splendid. Although we can read or listen to the literary works, we cannot visualize them like watching pictures or get auditory images like listening to the music. Therefore, if the

40、 literary language is dull, tedious and insipid, it cannot stimulate the imagination of readers, thus cannot convey artistic conception to readers, let alone let them grasp the artistic images in the original works. It is the translators responsibility to take advantage of target language to reach t

41、he translation to stimulate readers imagination finally.The following is another example from Bells Ringing In The Rain: “ 今宵酒醒何处？ 杨柳岸晓风残月。Xu Yuanchong s translation isWhere will you be found at daybreakFrom wine awake?Moored by a riverbank planted with willow treesBeneath the waning moon and in the

42、 morning breeze.The poem asks where he will be when he wakes up tomorrow morning. “willow trees” and “Beneath the waning moon and in the morning breeze.” stimulate the readers imagination, and make the readers imagine the scene by themselves. For example: how is the poets condition when he awake? An

43、d what will he be think? Different people have different images. People can image the scene of the poet awaking in the morning according to their own understanding of the poem. “Moored” give the readers large space of imagination that is the need to transmit artistic conception to readers.From the a

44、uthors point of view, stimulating imagination plays a quite important role in transmission of artistic conception. Many translators notice the point in the process of translation. For instance, there are two verses in the renowned poem Song of a Pipa Player(琵琶行)by Bai Juyi： “大弦嘈嘈如急雨，小弦切切如私语；嘈嘈切切 错杂谈

45、，大珠小珠落玉盘。 ” The two verses describe the music by the Pipa. “It is difficult to describe abstract music in words, but Bai Juyi compares it in turn to a patterning rain, to pearls dropping on a plate of jade”28 which greatly stimulate the readers imagination, “so that you can not only hear it but some

46、times even see it before your eyes”. 29 Here are two versions respectively translated by C.Gaunt(A) and Xu Yuanchong(B)A The great strings with a crash resound, As when the rain-storm strikes the ground;The small strings whisper manifold,Like secret confidences told;And then the vibrant chords outfl

47、ingA mingled crash and whispering,Like shower of pearls, some large some small, that on a jade-dish pattering fall.B The thick strings loudly thrummed like the pattering rain;The fine strings softly tinkled in a murmuring strainWhen mingling loud and soft notes were together playedTwas like large an

48、d small pearls dropping on plate of jadeC.Gauntsthe rain-storm strikes the ground; whisper like shower of pearls, some large some small,and Xu Yuanchongs pattering rainmurmuring strain murmuring strainall stimulate the readers imagination and convey artistic conception of the poem in source language

49、 as well. The original poem does well in stimulating imagination, so does the translation.Stimulating imagination is a part of the conveyance of artistic conception, we get artistic treat through abundant association and fantasy, which achieve the effect of artistic conception. As we analyze above,

50、the translation that arouse the imagination of readers convey artistic conception effectively. There is a point we are sure that even if the translations cannot achieve the charm of the poem perfectly, we should exert our great efforts to resemble the effect.4. ConclusionWe can find that the conveya

51、nce of artistic conception is not easy. However, through the three means, we still can effectively transmit artistic conception by experiencing the emotion and imaging the image of original poems. The author discusses threep-4-*pstrategies: expressing feelings and ideas; unearthing images; stimulating imagination.They are three effective ways but not the absolute means. In addition, there is one point that we should notice: when we proposed request to the translators, we should pay attention to the fact that the readers should be qualified to comprehend the poem artistic conception.