DeepL vs. Google Translate: Poetry Edition

There’s always Duolingo if you don’t want to use translators! (Source)

Online translators are lifesavers and their technology has improved vastly from the early internet days. Two of the most popular programs are DeepL and Google Translate. Let’s compare how they take on the same texts and see whose version makes more sense.

I chose two poems (Afternoon on a Hill by Edna St. Vincent Millay and Happy Rain on a Spring Night 春夜喜雨 by Du Fu 杜甫) and ran them through the English and Simplified Chinese translators on both sites. These poems are relatively short and simple but contain nuances as poetry tends to do. The Du Fu poem will be more difficult to translate because of the archaic wording used – can’t blame the guy; he lived in the Tang Dynasty.

I don’t expect any major translation gaffes and believe that both programs will preserve the meaning behind the poems. I was keen to see how much nuance and expressiveness will be captured. Below I also offer my own translation to the best of my abilities.

English to Simplified Chinese

Original (English)DeepLGoogle TranslateMy translation
I will be the gladdest thing
    Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
    And not pick one.
我将成为太阳下最快乐的事
    在阳光下
我将触摸一百朵花
    而不采摘一朵。
我会是最高兴的事
     阳光下!
我要摸一百朵花
     而且不挑一个。
我要当太阳底下
     最快活的东西!
我会抚摸一百朵花
     而且不摘一朵。
I will look at cliffs and clouds
    With quiet eyes,
Watch the wind bow down the grass,
    And the grass rise.
我将看着悬崖和云朵
    用安静的眼睛。
看风吹倒草。
    草地升起。
我会看悬崖和云
     用安静的眼睛,
看风吹倒草,
     草长起来了。
我会以安静的双眼
     望望悬崖和云朵,
看着风吹到小草弯腰
     小草再站起来。
And when lights begin to show
    Up from the town,
I will mark which must be mine,
    And then start down!
当灯光开始显现
    从镇上升起。
我将标记哪些是我的。
    然后开始下降!
当灯光开始出现时
     从小镇上来,
我会标记哪个必须是我的,
     然后开始下!
;当灯火开始从小镇
     缓缓冒上来,
我会在我的领土做记号
     然后下山!
A comparison of “Afternoon on a Hill” translations. Original by Edna St. Vincent Millay from poets.org

Most of the phrasing is clunky in both versions, but it feels like Google Translate took a bunch of shortcuts and ended up in an uncanny valley while DeepL’s sentences are still somewhat smooth. Unfortunately, the carefree tone of Millay’s poem is overshadowed by awkward word choices so this isn’t a win for either DeepL or Google Translate. I will refrain from commenting on the rhyme scheme as that’s something I also struggle with. Suffice to say none of the three translations above kept the rhyme scheme.

Conclusion: Non-English speakers can definitely understand the gist of the poem by reading DeepL or Google Translate, but DeepL sounds a bit more natural. There is much room for improvement. Even I wished I could do better but my Chinese vocabulary escapes me. Back to school for all of us.

Chinese to English

Original (Chinese)DeepLGoogle TranslateMy translation
好雨知时节,当春乃发生。The good rain knows the season, when spring is happening.Good rain knows the season, when spring is here.Good rain knows when to fall: when spring comes around.
随风潜入夜,润物细无声。With the wind diving into the night, moisten things silently.Sneaked into the night wind, moisten things silently.It slinks into the night with the wind and silently falls upon the world.
野径云俱黑,江船火独明。The clouds are dark in the wild path, but the fire on the river boat is bright.The wild trails and clouds are all black, and the rivers and ships are only bright.Dark clouds loom over country lanes; only the ships’ lights are bright on the river.
晓看红湿处,花重锦官城。At dawn, when the red is wet, the flowers are heavy in the city.Xiao sees the red and wet places, and spends heavy brocade on the official city.The wet red blossoms at dawn cast rich brocade over Chengdu.
A comparison of “Happy Rain on a Spring Night 春夜喜雨” translations. Original text by Du Fu from gushiwen.cn

Both programs did a decent job at conveying the poem’s general meaning, though the Tang Dynasty Chinese appeared to trip them up a bit. Despite the strange grammar, the first three lines are all translated accurately. DeepL was able to string together slightly more coherent sentences, especially on the third line. However, the second line felt like DeepL translated directly, since 潜入 can literally mean “dive” but as Google Translate pointed out, its meaning is closer to “sneak” in this context. Google Translate was confused by the last line and transposed the Chinese character “xiao 晓” to pinyin, instead of translating it as “dawn,” but it captured the majesty of rain-soaked red flowers draped over the city like a luxurious garment. The city that Du Fu refers to was Chengdu – referred to by an older name 官成 – and both programs understandably did not get this.

Conclusion: If I did not know any Chinese, I would have understood DeepL better than Google Translate. For those who can read the original poem, Google Translate would have better captured the nuances in Du Fu’s lines.

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