Page 112 - Translation Journal July 2015
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(4) Translate the vehicle of a metaphor into a real thing in the poem. The following is Ezra Pound’s（庞德，American poet and
translator) translation of Li Bai’s （李白）Poem “Taking Leave of a Friend”（《送友人》）.
青山横北郭， Blue mountains to the north of the walls,
白水绕东城。 White river winding about them.
此地一为别， Here we must make separation,
孤蓬万里征。 And go out through a thousand miles of dead grass.
浮云游子意， Mind like a floating wide cloud,
落日故人情。 Sunset like the parting of old acquaintances.
挥手自兹去， Who bow over their clasped hands at a distance,
萧萧班马鸣。 Our horses neigh to each other as we are departing.
The poem depicts a farewell scene in which the setting is elaborately depicted: blue mountains, the north wall of the city, clear
water in the river, the floating cloud, the setting sun, the neighing horse, waving hands, and an old friend of the poet saying goodbye. In
the poem there is a metaphor: “此地一为别，孤蓬万里征” literally meaning that “from this scenic spot you are about to depart, /Like
dead broken grass traveling thousands miles afar”. “孤蓬” (Dead broken grass) is the vehicle, the tenor is the poet’s friend. Ezra Pound
translates the line as “you will go out through a thousand miles of dead grass”. He fails to see that “dead, broken grass” is a metaphor
and translates it as a real thing in the scene. In fact, it is not that the poet’s friend will “go out through a thousand miles of dead grass”,
but that he will float aimlessly in life like dead, broken grass.
“蓬草”(dead, broken grass) is a frequently used metaphor in classical Chinese poems and always has the meaning that the person
under discussion is floating aimlessly in life like dead, broken grass. Amy Lowell (1874-1925, an American woman poet and translator)
translates “孤蓬万里征” as “The lonely water-plants go ten thousand li”. Like Pound, she fails to see the metaphor and translates it as
a real thing in the poem scene. Fletcher (W. J. B. Fletcher, 1879-?, a British poet and translator) translates “孤蓬万里征” as “Your lone
sail struggling up the current goes”. He interprets “the broken grass”(“孤蓬”) as “Your lone sail”, which is a mistake.
There are translators who have got it right. For example, Shigeyoshi Obata (1888-1971) sees that it is a metaphor, translating it as
“You go ten thousand miles, drifting away /Like an unrooted water-grass”. And Witter Bynner (1881-1968) translates it as “Here you
must leave me and drift away /Like a loosened water-plant hundreds of miles”. The minor mistake Obata and Bynner make is that they
misunderstand the “dead, broken grass” as “water plant”. Yet the metaphor is mostly kept.
（5）Change vehicles in frozen/established Chinese metaphors. Another type of metaphor in classical Chinese poetry is the so-
called frozen or established metaphors, which are metaphors that have been used for hundreds of years and by a great many poets
and consequently they have become idioms. For example, in Li Bai’s (李白) poem “Endless Yearning”(《长相思》), there is a line that
says “昔日横波目，今日流泪泉”, literally meaning “you eyes were like horizontal waves in those days, but now they are fountains of
tears”. The idea is that your eyes that were clear and speaking in the past are full of tears now. “横波目” is a frozen metaphor that
compares a pair of beautiful eyes to the water in the pond blown by the wind in the fall.
Bynner translates this metaphor as “my eyes that once were sparkling”，typical English phrase to describe a pair of beautiful eyes.
Fletcher translates the metaphor as “The eyes once liquid waves exchanged /Today stream tears for you”. Lowell translates it as “In
the old days, my eyes were like horizontal waves”. Fletcher and Lowell keep the vehicle of the tenor in the original poem. However, as
many frozen metaphors are uniquely Chinese, a literal translation of the vehicle may sound weird in the target language and may not
be well-received by the target audience. Fletcher and Lowell’s keeping the unique Chinese metaphor is helpful in introducing Chinese
frozen metaphors into the target culture, but due to their foreignness in the target language, their literal translations may reduce the
poetic quality of the translated poem as an independent piece of work. In this case, therefore, perhaps using a metaphor that is well-
received in the target language is a better choice.
(6) Leave out the vehicle in the original poem but keep the tenor. In his translation of a well-known Tang poem “The Song of the
Wandering Son” (《游子吟》) by Meng Jiao (孟郊）, Fletcher leaves out the two vehicles of “inch-long grass”(“寸草”) and “the spring
sunlight” (“三春晖”) but keeps the tenors, translating the line “谁言寸草心，报得三春晖” as “Such life-long mother’s love how may /
the simple little heart repay?” On the other hand, Bynner and Lowell have kept the vehicles of this metaphor. Bynner translates the line
as “But how much love has the inch-long grass /for three spring months of the light of sun?” Lowell translates it as “The heart — the
inch-long grass — /Who will contend that either can repay /The gentle brightness of the Third Month of Spring”. In this case, as the
metaphor in the original poem – the inch-long grass cannot repay the love of the spring sunlight – can be easily understood by the
target audience, it is better to keep the metaphor.
(7) Fail to see a metonymy and translate the substitute as a real thing in the poem scene. In classical Chinese poetry, especially in
poems depicting women’s life and their thinking of their husbands or lovers who are not around, the furnishings and stuff used daily
like fans, mirrors, candles, etc. are often mentioned. And it is not uncommon that things associated with the soft furnishings are used
as substitutes. For example, Li Shangyin（李商隐, a famous Tang Dynasty poet）wrote many love poems in which images of the stuff in a
woman’s chamber are abundant.
There is a metonymy in his poem “No Title”（《无题四首》其一“来是空言去绝踪”）and that is in the line “蜡照半笼金翡翠”,
112 | Translation Journal - July 2015
translator) translation of Li Bai’s （李白）Poem “Taking Leave of a Friend”（《送友人》）.
青山横北郭， Blue mountains to the north of the walls,
白水绕东城。 White river winding about them.
此地一为别， Here we must make separation,
孤蓬万里征。 And go out through a thousand miles of dead grass.
浮云游子意， Mind like a floating wide cloud,
落日故人情。 Sunset like the parting of old acquaintances.
挥手自兹去， Who bow over their clasped hands at a distance,
萧萧班马鸣。 Our horses neigh to each other as we are departing.
The poem depicts a farewell scene in which the setting is elaborately depicted: blue mountains, the north wall of the city, clear
water in the river, the floating cloud, the setting sun, the neighing horse, waving hands, and an old friend of the poet saying goodbye. In
the poem there is a metaphor: “此地一为别，孤蓬万里征” literally meaning that “from this scenic spot you are about to depart, /Like
dead broken grass traveling thousands miles afar”. “孤蓬” (Dead broken grass) is the vehicle, the tenor is the poet’s friend. Ezra Pound
translates the line as “you will go out through a thousand miles of dead grass”. He fails to see that “dead, broken grass” is a metaphor
and translates it as a real thing in the scene. In fact, it is not that the poet’s friend will “go out through a thousand miles of dead grass”,
but that he will float aimlessly in life like dead, broken grass.
“蓬草”(dead, broken grass) is a frequently used metaphor in classical Chinese poems and always has the meaning that the person
under discussion is floating aimlessly in life like dead, broken grass. Amy Lowell (1874-1925, an American woman poet and translator)
translates “孤蓬万里征” as “The lonely water-plants go ten thousand li”. Like Pound, she fails to see the metaphor and translates it as
a real thing in the poem scene. Fletcher (W. J. B. Fletcher, 1879-?, a British poet and translator) translates “孤蓬万里征” as “Your lone
sail struggling up the current goes”. He interprets “the broken grass”(“孤蓬”) as “Your lone sail”, which is a mistake.
There are translators who have got it right. For example, Shigeyoshi Obata (1888-1971) sees that it is a metaphor, translating it as
“You go ten thousand miles, drifting away /Like an unrooted water-grass”. And Witter Bynner (1881-1968) translates it as “Here you
must leave me and drift away /Like a loosened water-plant hundreds of miles”. The minor mistake Obata and Bynner make is that they
misunderstand the “dead, broken grass” as “water plant”. Yet the metaphor is mostly kept.
（5）Change vehicles in frozen/established Chinese metaphors. Another type of metaphor in classical Chinese poetry is the so-
called frozen or established metaphors, which are metaphors that have been used for hundreds of years and by a great many poets
and consequently they have become idioms. For example, in Li Bai’s (李白) poem “Endless Yearning”(《长相思》), there is a line that
says “昔日横波目，今日流泪泉”, literally meaning “you eyes were like horizontal waves in those days, but now they are fountains of
tears”. The idea is that your eyes that were clear and speaking in the past are full of tears now. “横波目” is a frozen metaphor that
compares a pair of beautiful eyes to the water in the pond blown by the wind in the fall.
Bynner translates this metaphor as “my eyes that once were sparkling”，typical English phrase to describe a pair of beautiful eyes.
Fletcher translates the metaphor as “The eyes once liquid waves exchanged /Today stream tears for you”. Lowell translates it as “In
the old days, my eyes were like horizontal waves”. Fletcher and Lowell keep the vehicle of the tenor in the original poem. However, as
many frozen metaphors are uniquely Chinese, a literal translation of the vehicle may sound weird in the target language and may not
be well-received by the target audience. Fletcher and Lowell’s keeping the unique Chinese metaphor is helpful in introducing Chinese
frozen metaphors into the target culture, but due to their foreignness in the target language, their literal translations may reduce the
poetic quality of the translated poem as an independent piece of work. In this case, therefore, perhaps using a metaphor that is well-
received in the target language is a better choice.
(6) Leave out the vehicle in the original poem but keep the tenor. In his translation of a well-known Tang poem “The Song of the
Wandering Son” (《游子吟》) by Meng Jiao (孟郊）, Fletcher leaves out the two vehicles of “inch-long grass”(“寸草”) and “the spring
sunlight” (“三春晖”) but keeps the tenors, translating the line “谁言寸草心，报得三春晖” as “Such life-long mother’s love how may /
the simple little heart repay?” On the other hand, Bynner and Lowell have kept the vehicles of this metaphor. Bynner translates the line
as “But how much love has the inch-long grass /for three spring months of the light of sun?” Lowell translates it as “The heart — the
inch-long grass — /Who will contend that either can repay /The gentle brightness of the Third Month of Spring”. In this case, as the
metaphor in the original poem – the inch-long grass cannot repay the love of the spring sunlight – can be easily understood by the
target audience, it is better to keep the metaphor.
(7) Fail to see a metonymy and translate the substitute as a real thing in the poem scene. In classical Chinese poetry, especially in
poems depicting women’s life and their thinking of their husbands or lovers who are not around, the furnishings and stuff used daily
like fans, mirrors, candles, etc. are often mentioned. And it is not uncommon that things associated with the soft furnishings are used
as substitutes. For example, Li Shangyin（李商隐, a famous Tang Dynasty poet）wrote many love poems in which images of the stuff in a
woman’s chamber are abundant.
There is a metonymy in his poem “No Title”（《无题四首》其一“来是空言去绝踪”）and that is in the line “蜡照半笼金翡翠”,
112 | Translation Journal - July 2015
