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TheTranslationofSonnet18:IndirectMethodsReflectShakespeareBetterinChineseShakespearelivedinaneraofElizabethanwhichisflourishingageofromancepoems,makingitpossibleforpoetsfromthateratocreateliterary.Underthatcircumstance,itisverydifficulttoovertakeplaces.Obviously，ItwassaidthatSonnet18waswrittenfortwospecialperson.NotmentiontoshowhowprofessionalandgreatSonnet18is.Translatorsfollowthegivenpatternsofrhymeitselfisanactofthepoetryrestoration.Meanwhile,readers’reactionwillbeassociateSonnet18withclassicalChinesepoetryandgenerallysympathetictothepoem.Butaboveall,directtranslationwillnevermaketranslationvividpossible.Inthesecondplace,Sonnet18waswritteninEarlyModernEnglishincludingwordssuchas“thee”,“art”,“thou”,“hath”,“sometime”and“thy”(William21).I“Thee”and“thou”bothhavethesamemeaning,arethesameasthewordweuseforyounowadays,“thee”isaccusative,otheroneisnominative.Itisnecessaryfortranslatorstohavemasteryofthebasicrulesofgrammar.Inthethirdplace,LiangShih-chiu’stranslationofSonnet18isclosetooriginal,buthistranslationisslightlyinferiorthanDaiLiuling’sinartisticconception.Noneofthemhasadoptedthemethodofdirecttranslationafterall.Inthefourthplace,Onaccountofthegeographicallocation,peopleinBritainarehavingamoderateclimateinsummerinsteadofscorchingheatsummers.Furthermore,TheparadoxisthatShakespearewrotethatallgoodthingsmustcometoanendinline7,line8isactuallydoingmattingtothenextlines,.IntheeyesofShakespeare,thereisnodoubtthat“thou”willspreadthroughtheagesjustlikewhathewroteinhislasttwolinesareexpressedby“mencanbreathe”,“eyescansee”(William21).Inthefifthplace,Sonnet18isnotperfectdespiteitsclassic,indirecttranslationisavitalpartduringpropagation.Mostofthecollegestudentsdon’tappreciateSonnet18basedonteachinginvestigation.Itisnormalthatclassicalpoetryaren’tpopular,butitisvaintoascribethisphenomenontoreadersorthesociety.Fewpeoplecanlookagainfortheclassicalpoetry.However,flawsintextitselfmaybethereasonwhytheyareunpopular.Ontheonehand,althoughSonnet18consistsofthreequatrainsandacouplet,therhymeisn’tneat.Thestressplacementoftheendrhymearedifference,despite“temperate”inline2and“date”inline4areendwith“ate”.Comparedwiththeotherlines,thisrhymeisabrupt.Thetwo“ands”inthebeginningofline6andline7shouldfunctionasaprogressivealliterationratherthanaparallelone.Meter,rhymeandstanza,intherighthands,canbeinescapablypreciseastotone,rhythm,emphasisandthestagesoftheargument.ShakespearewasoverdoingitinSonnet18,it’sdisruptedtheformofSonnet18andfragmentedthemelodyandrhythm.AllthesefactorshadnegativeimpactonSonnet18.Actually,thereadersfoundthatdifficulttoreadbumpysentences.Ontheotherhand,“Andeveryfairfromfairsometimedeclines”(William21)waswritteninobscurewaythatreadersmayfeelabstract.“Summer”hasaleasebuttheleaseisshort,from“Andsummer’sleasehathalltooshortadate”(William21)inline4.ThesheeraestheticsthatShakespearegoesforinsomewaysreadersmayfeelstrange.Therewereanthropomorphic,forexample,“death”doesn’texist,nottomentionthatitcouldbrag,butthisdescriptivemethodiscommonplaceforsuchaclassicalpoem.Itisatruthacknowledgedbyanyonethatlifeisshortandtimeisswift,simpletrutharetoldinthepresentationofcomplexinformation,readersmaynotfeelcordialityandgeniality.Indirecttranslationcanputoriginalversionintoabandnewone,toavoidthissituationandmaketheworkgetbetterandbetter,especiallybeparticularlyimportantforreadersunderthiscircumstances.Directtranslationwillnevermakethathappenandonlymakemattersworse.WhenIlearntanancientpoemasapupil,Iwasn’tlearningattherightlevel,Ijustlearntthewords,notthemessage,thenIaskedmyteacherforhelp.MyteacherWouldtoldmeabouttheprofoundintent.WhenIreadapoem,especiallythetranslation,it’snotjustabouttheliteralmeaning,Iwanttoknowtheinnermeaningofit,includingitsculturalbackground,historicaloriginandsoon.Afterreading,Imustlearnsomenewknowledge,that’sthemeaningofreading.Indirecttranslationislikemyteacher,makingmyreadsmoothlyandunderstandingly.Sonnet18isoneofthemostbeautifulsonnetswrittenbyShakespeare.Inthissonnet,thepoetwritesbeautifullyontheconventionalthemethathispoetrywillbringeternitytotheonehelovesandeulogizes.However,it’smorethanthat.ConceptualBlendingTheoryisusedinthispapertoanalyzewhyliteraltranslationandliberaltranslationariseintranslation.Itpointsoutthat,whentranslatingtherhetoricaldevicesinEnglishtitles,bothtranslationalequivalenceandfunctionalequivalencecanbetakenasthecriteria.