> The objective of a translator should be to retain the spirit of the original, and have the translated piece stand on its own two feet as a work of literature.

> The objective of a translator should be to retain the spirit of the original, and have the translated piece stand on its own two feet as a work of literature. If I want to read inspired Ezra Pound or Christopher Logue, that's the way. If I want to read Confucius, I get a lot of Ezra Pound mixed in, and in a way that is impossible for me to distinguish one from the other. The same goes for wanting to read Homer and getting a lot of Logue. (For Confucius, Arthur Waley was both leading translator and poet, and Waley's translations are highly recommended for their knowledge of the original and their English poetry.)