Abstract: Poetry is the pearl of world literature, and miniature of the culture of a nation. Poetry translation has always been regarded as the most difficult compared with other literary translation. So far, numerous scholars have devoted themselves to the study of poetry translation. And this dissertation will investigate how to translate English poetry into Chinese from the perspective of functional equivalence theory. The paper attempts to analyze the difficulty in the translation of English poetry, and compare different approaches adopted contemporaneously. In addition, the paper will also explore the methods to achieve functional equivalence of Chinese version with English poetry. The dissertation proves that functional equivalence theory is very significant for the study of E-C poetry translation, of which the difficulty lies in three aspects, namely, image, rhythm and language. It is advisable for translators to adopt Chinese poetic form translation to achieve a good response of target readers. Besides, considering diverse aesthetic values, loan translation can also be adopted if target readers appreciate the original style and form.   

Key words: functional equivalence theory; poetry translation; translation methods; 

CONTENTS

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction1

2. Features of English Poetry.2

2.1 Images

2.2 Rhythm

2.3 Language

3. Three Methods to Translate English Poetry4

3.1 Loan translation

3.2 Free translation

3.3 Chinese poetic form translation

4. Functional Equivalence and Diversity of E-C Poetry Translation7

4.1 Difference between Poetic System and Chinese poetic form translation

4.2 Different Aesthetic Values and Loan Translation

5. Conclusions 8

Bibliography.9

Acknowledgements 10