On the Faithful Creation in Ezra Pound’s English Translation of Chinese Poetry in Cathay

Abstract

Ezra Pound’s English translation of Chinese poetry has played a great role in promoting the spread of Chinese ancient poetry to the outside world. However, Pound’s translation has not been fully recognized in China due to his free and creative translation, and even criticized in the translation circle. Based on the interpretation of Pound’s own translation thoughts and analysis of some examples of Pound’s translation of Chinese poetry, this paper demonstrates that Pound’s translation is completely faithful to the original in terms of images, form and effect. And his creative translation indeed makes the translation more in line with the emotional expression of the original poem, revealing the unique poetic and aesthetic significance of Chinese poetry. Through this paper, the author believes that the greatest fidelity to poem translation lies in the intensify of the emotion and the preservation of the meeting point of poetics, so that to reproduce its aesthetic significance and achieve unity with the soul of the original poem.