A Comparative Study of the Three English Versions of Tao Yuanming's Retired Country Life

摘要

Tao Yuanming, one of the earliest idyllists during the Eastern Jin period, has made a far-reaching impact on poets of later generations by contributing a lot of idylls. Among them, Retired Country Life is one of his greatest idylls that has been rendered into different English versions by enthusiastic Chinese and foreign scholars and appeal to readers home and abroad. Based on a comparative study of the three English versions of this poem respectively by Amy Lowell (1921), Prof. Weng Xianliang (1985) and Prof. Zhuo Zhenying (1996), this paper aims to discuss some of the problems in the translation of classical Chinese verse by relating to the translation strategies in this field. The result shows that the form of the poem that reflects the harmony between the melody and rhythm is as much important as the content. Meanwhile, the author proposes some translation strategies to cope with difficulties encountered in the process of rendering classical Chinese verse.