Aesthetic Rewriting in the Translation of Poetry
             Abstract: This paper attempts to explore the strategy of rewriting, in particular, the method of naturalizing and historicizing, in the translation of poetry to maintain the aesthetic meaning. Theoretical support from Susan Bassnett and others is applied and example lines from both Chinese and English verses are given.
             Key words: Poetry translating Rewriting Adaptation Naturalizing Historicizing
             Poetry is the art of language. Few writers depend so much on the management of a given language as the poet, for whom each word is essential. The rich emotion and precise language£­the main features of poetry£­ provide great barriers for those who are trying to translate poetry from one language into another. The difficulty of poetry translating is so much so that many people disbelieve the translatability of poetry. However, literary works are open to various interpretations according to the comprehension of the readers. Poetry, in particular, defies monistic understanding and explanation. Just like William Wordsworth states in The Poet, ¡°In spite of difference of soil and climate, of language and manners, of law and customs, in spite of things silently gone out of mind, and things violently destroyed; the poet binds together by passion and knowledge the vast empire of human society, as it is spread over the whole earth, and over all times.¡± A wise translator is inclined to be open-minded to put in personal comprehension when translating a poem. In this sense, the process of translating a poem more or less involves recreation of the translator.
             The idea that poetry translation is a process of recreation or ¡°rewriting¡± has its theoretical support from Susan Bassnett. In her essay ¡°Transplanting the Seed: Poetry and Translation¡±, the translation theorist says, ¡°the task of the translator is simply a different kind of writerl...