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1 Criticism and appreciation of poetry translation ——taking A Psalm of Life as an example
诗歌翻译批评与鉴赏——以《人生礼赞》为例
朱素珍 Zhu Suzhen, 202120081561,Hunan Normal University, China
Abstract
It is not difficult to translate poetry, and large quantities of translators and writers have provided us uncountable excellent translations of poetry. Unlike poetry translation, the criticism and appreciation of poetry translation is far more complicated. Despite of the complexity of the criticism and appreciation of poetry translation, some of the translators and ctitics have devoted themselves to it, and some breakthroughs have been made. Translators like Guo Moruo, Wen Yiduo, Li Ming, etc put forward their unique and thought-provoking principles of criticism and appreciation of poetry translation. These principles play an important role in the appreciation of poetry translation. Because of the great changes with our life and society, people live in a transcultural environment which develops in high speed.Is the criticism and appreciation of poetry translation conducive to the readers' understanding of the poetry in front of the transcultural background? How can critisiam and appreciation of poetry influenced reader's understanding of poetry? These questions are the focus of this paper. The author of this paper would mainly discuss the criticism and appreciation of poetry translation based on the comparative analysis of different versions of translation of the same poetry——A Psalm of Life, written by Henry Wordsworth Long Fellow. After the comparative analysis of three versions, whether the cultural factor has been considered or not can be uncovered clearly. Furthermore, in the process of criticism and appreciation, readers can also learn how to translate the poetry properly. Besides, such a method of analysis is also conducive to readers' appreciation of poetry translation in front of the transcultural background, which is inspiring and instructive.
摘要
翻译诗歌并不难，一大批译者和作家为我们提供了无数优秀的诗歌译本。与诗歌翻译不同，诗歌翻译的批评和鉴赏要复杂得多。尽管诗歌翻译的批评和鉴赏很复杂，一些译者和批评家都投入其中，并取得了一些突破。郭沫若、闻一多、李明等译者提出了自己独特的、发人深省的诗歌翻译批评与鉴赏原则。这些原则在诗歌翻译的鉴赏中起着重要的作用。由于我们的生活和社会发生了巨大的变化，人们生活在一个高速发展的跨文化环境中。诗歌翻译的批评和欣赏是否有利于读者在跨文化背景下理解诗歌？对诗歌的批评和欣赏如何影响读者对于诗歌的理解？这些问题是本文的重点。本文作者主要通过对同一首诗的不同译本的比较分析来探讨诗歌翻译的批评与鉴赏——以亨利·沃兹沃思·朗费罗所著《生命礼赞》为例，通过对三个版本比较分析，可以一目了然地看到文化因素是否被考虑进去了。此外，读者在诗歌翻译批评与鉴赏的过程中，也能学会如何正确地翻译诗歌，这样的分析方法也有利于读者在跨文化背景下欣赏诗歌翻译，具有启发性。
Key words
poetry translation; appreciation and criticism; comparative analysis; transcultural background
关键词
诗歌翻译; 批评与鉴赏；比较分析; 跨文化背景
1. Introduction
Varieties of human emotions and feelings can be recorded and transmitted by the form of poetry, which is an essential part of human life. For China, poetry has played a special and crucial role since the ancient times, with Tang dynasty as its peak period of development. Due to the powerful emotional expressiveness of poetry, many poets have adopted this genre for literary creation, producing rich and colourful poetry culture. Piles of wonderful poems have appeared like mushrooms after the rain. Not only in China, universal and common for humankind, poetry was chosen by quantities of western poets including Percy Bysshe Shelley, Robert Burns, Emily Dickinson, etc.
According to Aristotle, literature should have the function of purifying people's minds (Catharsis), that is to say, to educate them. Poetry makes it possible for poets to imitate and express their feelings toward the world. When the readers are reading the poetry, they can feel the emotions of the poet, for example the happiness, the sadness, the love for the nature, etc. There are not only the positive poets, and there are also the nagative poets who expressed negative attitude towards the world. About such negative attitude, readers can criticize it. During the process of appreciation and criticism, their virtue can be promoted, so they can reach a higher level of morality. Opposed to Aristotle, in Plato’s opinion, poetry is the second removal from reality, and it is a great danger for the unity of philosophy. Moreover, the poets should be exiled, and there should be strict censorship for the publication of poetry. Different philosophers have different ideas about poetry. And different poets can create different kinds of poems with rich titles and versatile structures. (M. A. R. Habib, 2011:10-18)
Besides, people speaking in different language and living in exotic culture are capable to write the poetry that is special to them. Such special point is stemming from the difference of language and culture. People are not unfamiliar with Sapir Wolf’s Theory of Linguistic Relativity which put forward that language decides how people think. It is such a strong and even a little decisive theory. However, it at least uncovers the relationship between language and culture. It is understandable that language is to some extent reflects how people are thinking， and the thinking can further show the influence of culture in the process of communication. For example, in China, people would say” Have you eaten?” when they meet each other occasionally. But the Chinese are not intentionally asking whether the hearer has eaten or not, and they are only expressing a kind of greeting. (Dai Weidong, 2018:128)
Therefore, when the foreigners hearing such a sentence, they would get confused. This is a typical example showing the culture’s important role in communication. Except for the spoken communication, culture would also influence the translation of literary works, such as poetry, novel and play, etc. In the translation of poetry, a professional translator has to put the factor of culture into consideration well in order to achieve a high-quality translation effect. Actually, poetry cross-culture translation is always an inevitable issue for translation, especially today we are in a high-speed developing cross-culture Time, naturally how to appreciate the translation of poetry is of great importance. (Dai Weidong, 2018:130)
2.The principles of poetry translation appreciation and criticism
2.1 What is poetry
First, it is necessary for us to know what is poetry. Poetry is a kind of literary style that summarizes and reflects the social life. Chinese famous writer Cao Wenxuan once said before that different from the novel, poetry expresses people’s feeling, while novelists write novels that reflect people’s experience. Poetry is the synthesis of experience rather than the experience itself. However, novel presents experience itself and leaves the feelings of experience to reader. In other words, readers need to obtain the feelings of experience by themselves after reading the novel thoroughly. But the poetry conveys the feelings directly, and readers can enjoy the wonderful feelings while reading. Here is an interesting comment about the relationship between poetry and novel: novel describes an awesome house, but poetry presents only the feelings and interjective toward the house. (Li Ming, 2010: 134)
Besides Cao Wenxuan, American poet Frost also has his own unique definition of poetry: Poetry is what has lost in translation. From the perspective of translation, this sentence amply points out the awkwardness and helplessness. Second, it is important to know what is poetry translation appreciation and criticism. Before that, poetry translation should be firstly taken into consideration. Poetry is a synthesis of ideational feelings, situational image, rhymical tempo and internal expression style. Translation poetry should consider these aspects. Translators should strive to transmit the rhymical sound and the spiritual aspects of poetry when they are making the translation readable and easy to be understood. (Ning Huiqin，2009：34) (Li Ming, 2010: 203)
Moreover, the translation of poetry needs the poetic talents of translator. Just as what the famous writer Lao She said:” Translators who have poetic talents should try to translate poetry in the form of poetry, and they also need to make readers not only know the contents of the book but also the way in which how such contents were conveyed." Such comments just explain that besides the expression of meaning, making the original poetry’s style characteristics reoccurring is extremely significant.(Lao She, 1984: 131)
2.2 Principles of poetry translation
Now it is time to consider the principles of poetry translation. There is a saying that translation is difficult, especially the translation of literary works among which the poetry translation is far more difficult. This can be seen from the characteristic of poetry which resembles the peak of translation art, and the poetry translation needs to consider the beauty of meaning, sound and words. Therefore, the translation of poetry is a kind of sophisticated and integrate art. When it comes to the issue how to translate poetry, translators have their own unique opinions and perspectives. For example, Guo Moruo put forward the principle of “translating poetry with poetry”; Wen Yiduo supported the principle of “using the pen of poetry to translate poetry”.(Guo Moruo,1979:144)
Moreover, some other translators put forward that poetry translation has two principles. Principle one is that poetry translation should pay attention to avoid the commonization of language. That is to say if translators translate poetry with plain and common even inflexible words and expressions and ignore the unique characteristics of poetic language and the individual poet’s language characteristics, which would not only fail to keep the original poetry’s expressional style but also fail to convey the spiritual soul of the original poetry (Liao Siping, Zhang Yu, 2007: 53). The other principle prescribes that the poetry translation should avoid the nationalization of poetry form. For example, it would make the poetry translation neither fish nor fowl even vulgarization if we translate the foreign poetry into our Chinese neat and uniform poetry forms like a poem with five characters in a line or with seven characters in a line or even the folk song style compulsively (Liao Siping, Zhang Yu, 2007: 53-54)
Last but not least, poetry translation is a process of recreation. What does it mean? That is to say when translators are translating poetry, they not only need to maintain the original condition in which the poetry is written but also be able to be flexible appropriately. As for this point, Song Yinghao professor in Tai Wan, China once said that in the process of translation the translators need to be invisible. And he also supported the principles of “translating poetry with poetry”. Actually, after having a thorough understanding of what is poetry translation and some of the principles of poetry translation, it is not so difficult for us to understand that poetry is an organic synthesis. Poetry itself is a life body. Therefore, the translation of poetry also needs to be a “life body”, and translators have to make the vivid situations that occur in the original poetry reoccurring in the translation versions poetry.（Liao Siping, Zhang Yu, 2007: 53）
Now it is time to consider the principles of poetry translation. There is a saying that translation is difficult, especially the translation of literary works among which the poetry translation is far more difficult. This can be seen from the characteristic of poetry which resembles the peak of translation art, and the poetry translation needs to consider the beauty of meaning, sound and words. Therefore, the translation of poetry is a kind of sophisticated and integrate art. When it comes to the issue how to translate poetry, translators have their own unique opinions and perspectives. For example, Guo Moruo put forward the principle of “translating poetry with poetry”; Wen Yiduo supported the principle of “using the pen of poetry to translate poetry”.
Moreover, some other translators put forward that poetry translation has two principles. Principle one is that poetry translation should pay attention to avoid the commonization of language. That is to say if translators translate poetry with plain and common even inflexible words and expressions and ignore the unique characteristics of poetic language and the individual poet’s language characteristics, which would not only fail to keep the original poetry’s expressional style but also fail to convey the spiritual soul of the original poetry (Liao Siping, Zhang Yu, 2007: 53). The other principle prescribes that the poetry translation should avoid the nationalization of poetry form. For example, it would make the poetry translation neither fish nor fowl even vulgarization if we translate the foreign poetry into our Chinese neat and uniform poetry forms like a poem with five characters in a line or with seven characters in a line or even the folk song style compulsively (Liao Siping, Zhang Yu, 2007: 53-54)
2.3 What is criticism and appreciation of poetry translation
Later, there is no doubt that we need principles to prescribe our behavior of poetry translation criticism and appreciation . Some influential translators have put forward lots of meaningful poetry translation principles. Actually, the principles of poetry translation are one of the most important criteria of criticism and appreciation of poetry translation. Under the guidance of such principles the translators have the possibility to smooth the process of translation without losing the original amaze of the poetry. At the same time, these important principles can also be used to check if the translators have obeyed them or not. Thus, one of the ways in which the critics do the literary criticism occurs. By the way, translators' subjectivity can not be ignored at the same time. Because translation can be seen as a recreation process, thus the translators can make their subjectivity work in this process. Through the integrate consideration of the original poetry creation condition and the readers’ cultural background, translators are able to translate the poetry wonderfully thus making the purpose of transmitting culture and literature realized.(Xu Jun, 2009: 156)
2.4 Principles of poetry translation appreciation and criticism
Later, there is no doubt that we need principles to prescribe our behavior of poetry translation appreciation and criticism. Some influential translators have put forward lots of meaningful poetry translation principles. Actually, the principles of poetry translation are one of the most important criteria of poetry translation appreciation and criticism. Under the guidance of such principles the translators have the possibility to smooth the process of translation without losing the original amaze of the poetry. At the same time, these important principles can also be used to check if the translators have obeyed them or not. Thus, one of the ways in which the critics do the literary criticism occurs. By the way, translator’s subjectivity can not be ignored at the same time. Because translation can be seen as a recreation process, thus the translators can make their subjectivity work in this process. Through the integrate consideration of the original poetry creation condition and the readers’ cultural background, translators are able to translate the poetry wonderfully thus making the purpose of transmitting culture and literature realized. (Zhou Yi & Luo Ping, 2005: 167)
3. Comparative analysis of different version of translation of poetry
In this part, it is necessary to make some comparative analysis between different versions of translation so as to do the poetry translation appreciation and criticism. As we all known, translation is also a process in which the translators try to recreate and translate. Translators are the creators at the same time. Because of their different culture background, educational background, their translation experience and some other factors, different translators can create different versions of poetry. Therefore, in this process we can experience how the translators construct and create the translation based on their embodied experience and professional quality.
It is not uncommon that the same poetry may have different versions of translation. And the appreciation of translation is to analyze how the translators translate it and why they would try to translate in such a way. At the same time, translation appreciation is not just a process to appreciate it, it is also a process to learn. Translation can be seen as a bridge that relates the reader and the writer in different language background. Without translation, it is impossible to transmit the beauty and amaze of literary works to more people, not less achieving a grandeur and multi-cultural literature feast. The translators are like the builder of the bridge, and their subjective factors including attitude, spirit as well as objective factors involving building method, the natural factors and so on are a unified system that would influence how the builders construct the bridge. It is believed that there are no best versions of translation, but better one. Therefore, the unlimited nature of translation makes it possible for us to make a comparison between kinds of versions, because there is no best translation but better one.
English poetry is like an endless sea in which different kind of poets devote themselves to the poetry creation. Because of the limited writing space, I will choose one of the famous and significant English poetries and its corresponding translation versions of Chinese. Then it is necessary to analyze the different aspects of the different translation versions of the same poetry. It is a common place that the same poetry can be translated into various versions. At this time, which version is better and the reasons need to be explained. For example, a woman went to a shop to buy clothes. And she had tried so many dresses, shirts and blouses, etc. Then she needs criteria to help her decide which one she would like to buy. The criteria can be set by different people in various ways. But the woman is unique and she cannot be replaced by others, how about the clothes? Different clothes designers have different design rules and principles, and then we have such a colorful and multi-modal clothing world. Just like this, poetry translators are the clothing designers, and the different kinds of clothes resemble the various versions of translations. Like the cloth designers, the poetry translators have the right to recreate, but only on the basis of remaining the original colors and styles of the source poetry. Or it will make the poetry translations neither fish nor fowl. ( Li Ming, 2010: 204)
Let’s look at some examples of the poetry translation versions and try to make a comparative analysis between them. “A psalm of life” is the work of the excellent American Romanticism poet Henry Wordsworth Long Fellow. In 1839, Long Fellow published his first series of poems “Voice of the Night” in which the famous A Psalm of Life, A Psalm of Night were included. Long Fellow’s poems are elegant, plain and clear. His poems have greatly influenced American literature, and his poems were translated into more than twenty kinds of versions in different languages. In 'A Psalm of Life', Long Fellow praises life positively, which reflects the American people’s sound in the heart, and at that time, American capitalism has entered a period of vigorous development. According to Qian Zhongshu’s research, the Chinese version of A Psalm of Life is the first western poem being translated into Chinese. It was the Dong Xun, the Ministry of Revenue in Xian Feng period of the Qing dynasty, that first translated A Psalm of Life in the form of seven words in a line. However, the translation at that time was not so good, so it even aroused the old intellectuals’ contempt for western literature. Later, thanks to the appearance of new versions of translation of A Psalm of Life, it widely circulated in China (Li Ming, 2010: 206-207).
Now let us try to analyze the different translation versions of A Psalm of Life. First, let’s look at the original contents of this poem.
A Psalm of Life
Henry Wordsworth Long Fellow
Tell me not in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Finds us farther than today.
Art is long, and time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act—act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God’s o’erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour and to wait.
This poem is short but powerful with ample contents and lucid structure, showing readers strong emotional shock. The whole poem consists of nine stanzas, and each stanza has four verse lines, therefore, thirty-six lines in all. It can be divided into four parts to discuss the life in the eye of Long Fellow. The first two stanzas mainly correct the wrong and depraved argument that “life is but an empty dream”, and tell readers that “Life is real! Life is earnest!”
From the third stanza to the sixth stanza, Long Fellow discussed the issue that how to live life and suggest people act in the living present, which is the theme of this poetry. The seventh and the eighth stanza highlights the virtue and meaning of life. At the same time, the example of great people is used to encourage readers. Only the people who act in the living present can be remembered thus leaving footprints on the sands of time. This corresponds to what has been discussed in the second paragraph: Only the body will disappear, but not the soul of people. A person’s soul would be immortal because of the glory of life.
The last stanza are the summary and sublimation of the whole poetry. Long Fellow appeals to readers that they should act in the living present and be brave to confront the challenges in life. Finally, the poet summarizes the poetry with a thought-provoking sentence: “Still achieving, still pursuing.”, which corresponds to the subject of the poetry——acting in the living present. The poetry is full of the optimistic spirit and ample passion, and the poetry expresses the poet’s enthusiasm and pursuit of life as well as the positive and hardworking life attitude, criticizing the decadent attitude of life is but an empty dream. Now let us see the Chinese versions of translations of A Psalm of Life. ( the author of this paper's analysis of A Psalm of Life)
译文一：
生命的礼赞
别用悲伤的语调对我呻吟，
“人生不过是梦幻一场”！
因为沉睡中的灵魂已经死去，
万物并非它们显示的模样。
生命是真实的！生活是严肃的！
它们的终点决不是坟场；
“你来自尘土， 必归于尘土”；
但这是指肉体，灵魂并未死亡。
我们注定的结局和道路，
既不是享乐， 也不是悲伤；
而是行动，为了每一个明天，
使我们比今天走得更远更长。
艺术长久，韶光飞逝，
我们的心尽管英勇而坚强，
却仍像阵阵低沉的鼓声，
正朝着坟墓把哀乐敲响。
在世界辽阔的战场上，
在生命的露宿的营地上，
别作默默无声、任人驱使的牛羊，
要在战斗中当一名闯将！
莫信托未来，不管它怎样欢畅！
让逝去的岁月将死者埋葬！
行动吧，就在活着的此刻行动！
胸内有红心，头顶有上苍！
伟大的人物的生平把我们提醒，
我们能使我们的一生变得高尚，
在离开人间时，也能让足印
遗留在我们身后的时间的沙滩上。
呵，足印！也许另一位弟兄，
当他航行在生命庄严的海洋上，
不幸遇难，看见了这些足印，
他就会使勇气重新增长。
那么让我们振奋起来行动吧，
我们准备迎接任何命运的风浪；
永远要有所作为，不断追求，
学会劳动，也学会等待和期望。
（黄新渠译）
译文二
生之颂
别用悲切的诗句对我唱：
“人生只是虚幻的梦一场！”
因为昏睡的灵魂已死亡，
而事物不是看来那模样。
人生多真切！它绝非虚度！
一抔黄土哪里会是它的归宿；
“你来自泥尘，得重归泥尘，”
这句话所指的并不是灵魂。
我们命定的终点和道路
既不是享乐，也不是悲苦；
行动吧；要让每一个明天
发现我们比今天走得远。
学艺费光阴，时日去匆忙，
任我们的心勇敢又坚强，
依然像一些蒙住的鼓——
敲打着哀乐走向那坟墓。
在风云世界的广阔战场，
在人生征途的野宿营帐，
别像默默的牛羊任驱赶！
要争做英雄，能征惯战！
将来再美好也别空指望！
让死的过去把死的埋葬！
干！在活生生的现在就干！
胸中是赤心，上帝在云端！
伟人的生平向我们指出：
我们能使此生超群脱俗——
一朝逝去，时间的沙滩上
将留下我们的脚印行行。
在庄严的生活之海航行，
也许有兄弟会遭到不幸，
会因为航船沉没而绝望——
但见那脚印，又变得顽强。
让我们挺起身，行动起来，
凭对付任何的胸怀，
不断去收获，不断去追求；
永远在学着苦干和等候。
（黄杲忻译）
译文三
生之颂
莫向我吟唱，哀戚之词
叹生如梦境，虚无所炽
灵魂之沉睡，恍若长辞
而世间万物，伪装如缁
因孤坟荒土，非我命旨
因生之馥郁，真切如是
既生于尘滞，复归尘滞
而九天魂灵，长存如诗
决不为欢声，抑或悲思
我生之所往，道长如斯
集快马长剑，日日疾驰
待明日细数，功成如此
任艺业无涯，光阴飞逝
彼壮士之心，英勇无疵
奈战鼓哀亡，冢林墓石
怜其怨其殇，命魂所指
观我生所在，浮华乱世
观风云乾坤，辽阔如帜
斯牛羊傀儡，安得其实
唯浴血烽火，终成其事
纵欢娱无尽，未来未至
任亡者葬弃，过往已失
上苍行其道，我执其旨
即可启征铎，不枉今日
伟人之不朽，可为典示
倾我之所能，亦足至此
反肉身凡胎，终有一死
然我将留痕，流光之坻
望生命之海，风急浪蚀
念天行无常，苦难游子
而前人足迹，必将明示
纵满盘皆输，壮志不失
集生之全力，勿候勿止
有备则无惧，命运之矢
独精我所行，逐我所适
且耕且守望，丰收之时
（张瑶译）
First of all, in terms of the title, the first translation is a tribute to life, and the second translation uses the song of life. The topic of the second translation is concise and clear, and the writing style is more ancient. The translation is relatively easy to understand in terms of overall translation, and the language is relatively plain and life-oriented. The first sentence "Tell me not in mournful numbers", the three translations have their own emphasis, the first translation is "Don't whisper to me in a sad tone", the "tell" is translated as "低吟"; the second translation is "Tell" is translated as "唱"; the third translation is translated as "吟唱".
For "Life is but an empty dream", translators of the first and second translations both translated it as "Life is just an illusory dream", which basically achieves the effect of "expressing meaning", while the third translation is translated as "sorrowful words", the author believes that it is biased, because it does not convey the charm of "life is like a dream" in the original text, and it misses the meaning of dreams. In addition, the full text of the third translation is neatly aligned, and the rhythm is the same as the original. The first line and the third line are rhythmical, and the second and fourth lines are also rhythmical. This reproduces the style of the original text. In this aspect, translation one and translation two do not do so well. Translation two rhymes with the first and second lines; the third and the fourth lines rhyme also; version one hardly rhymes.
In the second stanza, the translation of "Life is real, life is earnest!" translates two "life" into "生命" and "生活" respectively. They are neatly opposed, but they may misinterpret the meaning of the original poem. Life is here. What exactly is meant needs to be carefully considered. In the second translation, "life" is translated as “人生", and "life is earnest!" is translated as "it is not in vain". This is a conversion of positive and negative translation, which surprises readers. For “Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul”, version one translated it as “你来自尘土，必将归于尘土，但这指的是肉体，灵魂并未死亡”，version one added the meaning of “it refers to the body”, making this sentence easier to be understood. Version three translated it as “既生于尘滞，复归尘滞，而九天魂灵，长存如诗“.In this translation, the translators thinks that human’s soul would not disappear, and it would last forever like poetry. However, we know that in Long Fellow’s opinion, human’s soul would remain immortal because of the glory of their life, but not because of the poetry. Therefore, here translation version three failed to convey the original meaning of the sentence. About the third paragraph, “But to act, that each tomorrow finds us father than today”, about this sentence, version two successfully maintain the original rhetorical device——personalization here, and translated it into” 要让每一个明天发现我们比今天走得远“.Version three writes that”集快马长剑，日日疾驰，待明日细数，功成如此“，which is too far away from the original text, and it cannot reoccur the amaze of the source poetry.
In the fourth stanza, “Art is long, and time is fleeting, And our hearts ……are beating Funeral marches to the grave.” Version one translated it as” 艺术长久，时光飞逝，我们的心尽管英勇而坚强“，version two translated it as “学艺费光阴，时日去匆忙，任我们的心勇敢又坚强”； translator in version three translated it as “任艺业无涯，光阴飞逝，彼壮士之心，英勇无疵”.From the sentence structure we can find that, the former two versions convey the original meaning better because we know that in this paragraph, here exists a comparison between the facts that our heart is brave and the facts that our heart is like a muffled drum which is beating funeral marches to the grave. Therefore, here should be words in the former part, here the words are “尽管“”任“. However, in the version three, the word”任” is used to decorate the ”art is long and time is fleeting.”, such transference actually has misinterpreted the meaning of the original text.
In the fifth stanza, “Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Be a hero in the strife!”, this sentence is translated into three different versions. Version one:”别作默默无声、任人驱使的牛羊，要在战斗中当一名闯将！”；Version two: “别作默默的牛羊任驱赶！要争取做英雄，能征惯战！”；Version three：“斯牛羊傀儡，安得其实，唯浴血烽火，终成其事”. Comparatively, version one is more flexible, because there is no limit in the number of the words in a line. But in version two, each line must have ten words, and in version three, each line has 8 words, which is set stable. Besides, version two and three separately added the external meaning of “能征惯战““终成其事”，but in the original text it is “Be a hero in the strife”, therefore, the two versions make some external decorations to the sentence.
In the sixth stanza, “Act—act in the living Present! Heart within, and God’s o’erhead!” version one goes that:”行动吧，就在活着的此刻行动！胸内有红心，头顶有上苍！”；version two goes that”干！在活生生的现在就干！胸中是赤心，上帝在云端！”；Translator in version three goes that”上苍行其道，我执其旨，即刻起征铎，不枉今日“；In the three versions, the former two versions are easier to understand, while the third one is more abstract because it transfers the role and function of “God”. Originally, God only is overhead, however, in version three, its function has changed, and also here the “act” is translated into”我行其旨”， which means that human’s action is actually obeying the hints of the God. This translation can better help readers understand why the poet put “God is overhead” here, which reflects the culture and religion of the western country, but in version one and two, such relationship is not so clear. All in all, the three versions have their own advantages and disadvantages, which are decided by the translators’ choice of expressions and their understanding of the poetry.
In the seventh stanza, “Lives of great men ……on the sands of time”, as for this sentence’s translation, version one goes that”伟大的人物的生平..我们也能使我们的一生变得高尚，在离开人间时，也能让足印……身后的时间的沙滩上” ；version two goes that“伟人的生平向我们指出：我们能使此生超群脱俗——一朝逝去，时间的沙滩上将留下脚印行行”；version three goes that“伟人之不朽，可为典示，倾我之所能，亦足至此，反肉身凡胎，终有一死，然我将留痕，流光之坻”；Similarly，the former two versions are more readable and easy to understand. However, the third version is far more beautiful and elegant, according to the principle that poetry translation is different from the daily conversation, and the expressions need to be elegant and beautiful. By enjoying the third translation, readers can fully and satisfactorily obtain the beauty and poet’s philosophic theory included in the poetry.
In the eighth stanza, “Footprints that perhaps another… Seeing, shall take heart again.” Version one goes that“呵，足印！也许另一位弟兄，当他航行在生命庄严的海洋上，不幸遇难，看见了这些足印，他就会使勇气增长”；version two goes that“ 在庄严的生活之海航行，也许有兄弟会遭遇不幸，会因为航船沉没而绝望——但见那脚印，又变得顽强”； version three goes that “ 望生命之海，风急浪蚀，念天行无常，苦难游子，而前人足迹，必将明示，纵满盘皆输，壮志不失” These three translation versions have different effects upon readers. Version one did not translate the “shipwrecked” directly as “航船沉没“， but rather translated it as “不幸遇难”，which is actually more concise than version two”遭遇不幸，会因为航船沉没而绝望“. The three versions successfully achieve the effect of metaphor and translated it into”生命之海”,which can make the meaning of the original text more clear and vivid. Besides, the version three adds some special Chinese expressions such as “满盘皆输”“壮志不失”“苦难游子”“天行无常”， which are easy to understand for Chinese readers, however, it is not so easy for the other language speaking readers, so it is better to add some annotation in order to smooth the understanding.
In the ninth stanza, the poet summarize and sublime the theme of the poetry with “Still achieving, still pursuing, learn to labour and to wait.” Version one goes that”永远要有所作为，不断追求，学会劳动，也学会等待和期望。”；version two goes that“不断去收获，不断去追求；永远在学着苦干和等候。”；version three goes that “独精我所行，逐我所适，且耕且守望，丰收之时”. In version one, the word “labour” is translated as “劳动”,which is not so appropriate exactly. Version two translated it as“苦干”，and this is better because it is corresponding to the theme of this poetry——keeping acting in the living present. Version three, however, translated it into”耕“，which has the cultural meaning for readers. In China, “耕”means labour, and it is easy to understand.
4. Conclusion
Criticism and appreciation of poetry translation, just like poetry translation, it needs various principles to support it. Before you can make the poetry translation appreciation and criticism, it is necessary for you to know what is poetry and what are the principles of poetry translation. Various translators put forward different poetry writing and translating principles, which are also helpful for critics to appreciate the poetry translation.
The three versions of translation of A Psalm of Life successfully convey the meaning of the whole poetry to some extent, however, different versions have some differences in some detailed sentences because of the translator's different cultural backgrounds and translation strategies their respective translator chose. However, there is no doubt that the three are good translations, and they greatly help readers understand the original text better. In the process of appreciation and criticism, people can also learn how to translate poetry better, and this is a process of mutual promotion. Last but not least, the comparative analysis of different translations of poems is conducive for reader's understanding towards poems in front of the transcultural background. However, about criticism and appreciation of poetry translation, much more efforts are needed to explore more important methods of criticism and appreciation. There is still a long way to go.
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