Abstract: The formation of new poetry in China in the early 20th century was closely related to the translation of poems from the west.Translation introduces not only foreign literature ideology but also new form of literature into the native literature and when a national literature is in a critical situation，translation works may take the dominant position in place of native literature.Huang Zunxian，Liang Qichao，and Hu Shi，reformers and advocates of new poetry then maintained then that Chinese literature should learn from the west.The first steps of learning from the west was to translate western poems into Chinese.Modern poets like Feng Zhi and Guo Moruo accomplished their success in literature under the influence of western poems.

Key words: polysystem theory, new poetry, translated literature, Huang Zunxian, Hu Shi, Feng Zhi