Demanding as it has always been, verse translation is a suitable subject to observe on what ground and how translators make their choices to deal with translation problems. By comparing three different English versions of Li Qingzhao’s Sheng Sheng Man within two dramatically different theoretical frameworks, namely the skopos theory and Walter Benjamin’s theory on pure language, the present study aims at deriving a reflection on the nature of translation as a practice, a closer look at its dynamic complexity.