Blurb:

Written by MA Zhiyuan (马致远), Tian Jing Sha Qiu Si (天净沙·秋思) is a masterpiece of short lyrics in Yuan Dynasty as well as a popular and widely-chanted work throughout history. In this chapter, we begin with a linguistic analysis of this poem and its three English translations. Then we compare our analysis, with a purpose of exploring the significance of formal equivalence in poetry and lyric translation. According to our analysis, in terms of formal equivalence, Schlepp’s translation, compared with the other two translations, is more faithful to the original and is better at rendering the artistic conception of the original, thereby leaving readers more space for imagination and allowing for more interpretations.