Abstract: Wen Yiduo translated English poems with different metrical forms, and consciously applied English metrical poetics in his poetry writing and the theoretical configuration of new Chinese poetry, as an attempt to resist the prevailing poetic trends during the May 4th New Poetry movement predominantly spoken vernacular in nature and to promote the modern Chinese poetics with contemporary metrics and prosody. Through an examination of Wen Yiduo's long neglected translation of Byron's "Isles of Greece," the paper demonstrates his metrical poetics was constructed in and by his practice of translation and creative writing. The paper argues that Wen's practice helped to redress the prosaic trend in the early period of vernacular Chinese poetry and led the New Chinese Poetry on the way to metrical patterns integrated with both Chinese and Western traditions.

Key words: Wen Yiduo, metrical poetics, "Isles of Greece", translation, resistance