A Comparative Study on Two English Translations of Song of A Pipa Player from the Perspective of Translation Aesthetics

Abstract

Poetry translation is a formidable task for the difficulty of achieving unity of form and content. This thesis analyzes two English versions of Bai Juyi’s Song of a Pipa Player from the perspective of translation aesthetics of Liu Miqing, one is Xu Yuanchong’s and the other is Witter Bynner’s. It is found that translation aesthetics theory is a thread running through two translations, and reasons of different translation choices can be explained from translators’ translation idea, thinking pattern and sensitivity of expressed emotion of the ST, which can be a guidance for poetry translation.