On Ezra Pound's Translation of Classical Chinese Poetry in Cathay

This thesis focuses on Ezra Pound's translation of Classical Chinese Poetry in Cathay. A comparative study of Pound's translations with the original Chinese poems and versions by other translators is conducted. The theoretical framework adopted is Toury's (1995) Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS): an important concept, 'shifts', is used for the analysis. Lefevere's (1975) seven strategies for translating poetry and Chesterman's (1997) categorization of shifts are incorporated as the secondary framework. The thesis reveals that regardless of some considerable deviations from the original, Pound's translations have successfully reproduced the essence, the delicate shades of meaning, the musicality, the sharp imagery, the precise diction, and the succinct style of the source texts, which has enable Cathay to become a popular collection of translation since its first publication in 1915.