杜甫《登高》

风急天高猿啸哀，渚清沙白鸟飞回。无边落木萧萧下，不尽长江滚滚来。
万里悲秋常作客，百年多病独登台。艰难苦恨繁霜鬓，潦倒新停浊酒杯。

译文一：On the Height——Xu Yuanchong(许渊冲)

     The wind so swift,the sky so wide,apes wail and cry;

      Water so clear and beach so white,birds wheel and fly.

      The boundless forest sheds its leaves shower by shower;

      The endless river rolls its waves hour after hour.

      A thousand miles from home,I’m grieved at autumn’s plight;

      Ill now and then for years,alone I’m on this height.

      Living in times so hard,at frosted hair I pine;

      Cast down by poverty,I have to give up wine.

译文二：Climbing a Terrace——Yang Xianyi（杨宪益）

     Wind blusters high in the sky and monkeys wail;

      Clear the islet with white sand where birds are wheeling;

      Everywhere the leaves fall rustling from the trees,

      While on for ever rolls the turbulent Yangtze.

      All around is autumnal gloom and I,long from home,

      A prey all my life to ill heath,climb the terrace alone;

      Hating the hardships which have frosted my hair,

      Sad that illness has made me give up the solace of wine.

英国译者Fletcher的前四句译文：

The wind so fresh,the sky so high 

Awake the gibbons wailing cry,

The isles clear-cut,the sand so white 

Arrest the wheeling sea-gulls flight

Though endless space with rustling sound

The falling leaves are whirled around，

Beyond my ken a yeasty sea

The Yangtze’s waves are rolling free.

 登高》是杜甫的杰作，清代杨论推崇此诗为“杜甫七言律诗第一”，明人胡应麟更说此诗“当为古今七言律第一”。全诗通过对凄清的秋景的描写，抒发了诗人年迈多病、感时伤世和寄寓异乡的悲苦。三种译文的首联都是按照原诗意境的顺序展开的，较好的译出了风、天、猿、渚、沙、鸟六种景物和急、高、哀、清、白、飞等词修饰，指明了节序和环境，渲染了浓郁的秋意，许渊冲教授自己说第一行译文参考了Fletcher。颔联堪称律诗对仗的典范，有很强的节奏感。许译比较着意，力求上下对仗，读起来和原诗一样有节奏感，不过许译似乎过分追求了“音美”和“形美”而忽视了“意美”，当然三者难以兼得，许用“shower by shower”译“萧萧”修饰“落木”， “shower by shower”更多的指倾盆大雨之势，而“萧萧”多形容风声，古语有“秋风萧瑟”。杨译平实、自然，完整的译出了“落木”和萧萧的风声，而且用“Turbulent”一词更具体的体现了长江滚滚东去的汹涌之势。Fletcher的译文没有译出“萧萧”之意，但是用“whirl”表现出了落叶飘零的情形，是一种转换的方式。颈联许译和杨译基本上译出了作者暮年疾病缠身的状况。尾联许译更多的表现出作者是因为贫穷的压力才“潦倒新停浊酒杯”，而杨译传达的是作者因“疾病缠身新来戒酒”，对比之下杨译更准确。总的来说以上三种译文都有各自的特点，也有自身的缺陷，但是都不失为优秀的译文。