The excellent and worthwhile journal THE NEW REPUBLIC has an extensive consideration - by Adam Kirsch - of the issues involved in the translation of Chinese classical poetry, with specific relation to two new collections that have recently appeared in print.
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=cd5b73e0-bb67-4c8c-b986-14998b4382b9&p=1The article goes substantially beyond a mere review, and rolls its sleeves up to discuss the difficulties, merits, and relevance of translatiing poetry for a society removed from the original authors by not only more than a milennia, but also by a very different sociological world. How far should the translator "poetise" his translation? The differing approaces of Ezra Pound and modern translators are compared, with revealing results. Recommended reading!
