ABSTRACT
It is well documented by literary translators, poet-translators and linguists that it is not possible for the strict, classical Chinese poetic form of regulated verse, lǜshī (律诗), to be fully translated into English because it is reliant on the syntax-based tonality of Mandarin Chinese as an integral part of its composition. This chapter first discusses how the tonal untranslatability of Mandarin Chinese into English and the inadequate tonal reconstruction of Middle Chinese together problematise translations of the regulated verse form, then examines various English-language translations and reimaginings of the T’ang poet Li Po’s (李白) “Taking Leave of a Friend” by Ezra Pound, David Young, Xu Yuanchong and Harry Gilonis to demonstrate the difficulty that translators encounter when attempting to represent the tono-metric basis of regulated verse in English. Through a close reading of these translations, I raise the translators’ use of specific diction, metrics and images that correspond with trace elements of regulated verse’s tonal origin as linguistic and cultural points of likeness that construct a partial sense of the form’s tonal past.
