【正文】
hen how can we translate poems? According to Wang’s understanding, the translation of poems is related to three aspects: A poem’s meaning, poetic art and language. (1)A poem’s meaning “Sociocultural differences are formidable enough, but the matter is made much more plex when one realizes that meaning does not consist in the meaning of words only, but also in syntactical structures, speech rhythms, levels of style.” (Wang, 1991:93).(2)Poetic art According to Wang, “Bly’s point about the ‘marvelous translation’ being made possible in the United States only after Whitman, Pound and Williams Carlos Williams posed poetry in speech rhythms shows what may be gained when there is a genuine revolution in poetic art.” (Wang, 1991:93).(3)Language “Sometimes language stays static and sometimes language stays active. When language is active, it is beneficial to translation” “This would require this kind of intimate understanding, on the part of the translator, of its genius, its idiosyncrasies, its past and present, what it can do and what it choose not to do.” (Wang, 1991:94). Wang expresses the difficulties of verse translation. Frost’s ment is sufficient to prove the difficulty a translator has to grapple with. Maybe among literary translations, the translation of poems is the most difficult thing. Poems are the crystallization of wisdom. The difficulties of poetic prehension lie not only in lines, but also in structure, such as cadence, rhyme, metre, rhythm, all these conveying information. One point merits our attention. Wang not only talks about the times’ poetic art, but also the impact language’s activity has produced on translation. In times when the language is active, translation is prospering. The reform of poetic art has improved the translation quality of poems. For example, around May Fourth Movement, Baihua replaced classical style of writing, so the translation a