关键词: 孙大雨; 何其芳; 音组; 顿; 诗歌翻译; 格律

Abstract:

This paper explores the origin of dun as rhythmic unit in new Chinese metrical poetry by re-examining a well-known dispute between Sun Dayu and He Qifang, which was initiated by Sun Dayu. After comparing the differences between dun and yinzu (or meter in Sun Dayu’s term), the paper concludes that Sun Dayu’s accusation that He Qifang stole “his creativity” in terms of yinzu is in fact invalid, and there is also a general misunderstanding of the concept of Sun Dayu’s yinzu among poets and poetic scholars, who consider it to be a “sound group” instead of meter in Sun Dayu’s sense of the term. As the mainstream translation method for contemporary Chinese poetry translation is “dun for foot”, the clarification of the difference between dun and yinzu, as well as of the origin of the rhythmic unit promoted by new Chinese poets, is of great significance in the further identification of the poetic defects of dun in the construction of poetic meter. On one hand, it is conducive to enabling Chinese poetry translators to better understand the essence of dun; on the other hand, it is also helpful for allowing us to identify the problems in the development of new poetry with meter.

Keywords: Sun Dayu; He Qifang; yinzu; dun; poetry translation; meter