Robert Frost's famous saying, “Poetry is what gets lost in translation”, indeed makes sense, addressing the the difficulties of poetry translation.
Translation has been generally deemed to be wedded to the notion of what is lost. if we look at a poem like your rondo, beside the rock: the original being and the Chinese translation being by poet Nut, we will understand the subtle difficulty of the English-Chinese conversion. In another words, if the poet and translator Nut could completely comprehend the deep meaning in this excerpt ,the last stanza, he would not translate as below. After all, he has outstanding English and Chinese wording skills and already taken care of the Rhyme Scheme and imagery , etc:)
a birdcall sends a smile so rare
across his face not really fair/鳥鳴驚容, 一絲詭秘從
his dangling tongue now quickly grows/長舌伸悠
from which profusely fluid flows/口水直流
where does he drool for an affair?/在哪垂涎好桃羹？
beside that rock/石畔
What are easily lost in translation? generally speaking, the translator needs to fully understand the original poem. in addition, he needs to take care of the form, rhyme, meter, imagery, alliteration, economical phrasing, or figurative language...
specifically for the ALLITERATION, the repetition of consonant sounds in the beginning of words to achieve some sound and meaning quality. How can we easily put the repetitive consonant sounds in the Chinese translation? it is hard. thus, the emphasis in sound and in meaning by ALLITERATION is LOST.:)
Translation has been generally deemed to be wedded to the notion of what is lost. if we look at a poem like your rondo, beside the rock: the original being and the Chinese translation being by poet Nut, we will understand the subtle difficulty of the English-Chinese conversion. In another words, if the poet and translator Nut could completely comprehend the deep meaning in this excerpt ,the last stanza, he would not translate as below. After all, he has outstanding English and Chinese wording skills and already taken care of the Rhyme Scheme and imagery , etc:)
a birdcall sends a smile so rare
across his face not really fair/鳥鳴驚容, 一絲詭秘從
his dangling tongue now quickly grows/長舌伸悠
from which profusely fluid flows/口水直流
where does he drool for an affair?/在哪垂涎好桃羹？
beside that rock/石畔
What are easily lost in translation? generally speaking, the translator needs to fully understand the original poem. in addition, he needs to take care of the form, rhyme, meter, imagery, alliteration, economical phrasing, or figurative language...
specifically for the ALLITERATION, the repetition of consonant sounds in the beginning of words to achieve some sound and meaning quality. How can we easily put the repetitive consonant sounds in the Chinese translation? it is hard. thus, the emphasis in sound and in meaning by ALLITERATION is LOST.:)
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