译诗中的四字格艺术——以《乌鸦》曹明伦译本为中心

The Art of Four-Character Expressions in Translated Poetry—Centered on Cao Minglun’s Translation of the Raven

摘要: 四字格是汉语中独特的语言形式，具有凝练典雅、结构工整、节奏鲜明等特点，在文学翻译中恰当运用能有效提升译文的艺术表现力。本文以曹明伦所译埃德加·爱伦·坡(Edgar Allan Poe)经典诗作《乌鸦》(“The Raven”)为主要研究对象，采用文本细读与定量统计相结合的方法，系统研究了译本中四字格的运用策略与功能。研究发现，译者通过灵活选用成语、自创四字结构等方式，高频次、高密度地使用四字格，这一翻译策略既保留了原诗哥特式意境与核心意象，又赋予了译文古典文学韵味。曹明伦译本中四字格的运用策略及其艺术效果，为英语诗歌翻译实践提供了有益启示。

Abstract: The four-character grid is a unique word form in Chinese, which has the characteristics of concise elegance, neat structure, and distinct rhythm. Proper use in literary translation can enhance the translation’s artistic expression. This article takes Cao Minglun’s version of the American poet Edgar Allen Poe’s classic poem “The Raven” as the main object of study. It adopts a method that combines careful reading of texts and quantitative statistics to systematically study the application strategy and function of the four-character grid in translation. Through the flexible selection of idioms and self-created four-character structures, translators use the four-character grid at a high frequency and high density. This translation strategy not only retains the Gothic artistic conception and core image of the original poem, but also gives the translation a classical literary charm. It is found that the use strategy and effect of the four-character grid provide important inspiration for the translation practice of English poetry.