Glad to come across this old post of yours. I hope you have kept up with using Chinese poems as materials in your composition. I agree with your rationale of the English translation: “in the end, I’m setting a poem in English, and it’s the English rhythm and the choice of English words that matters.” Very true. I have established a website for English translation of Tang poems. It’s at . You might enjoy some of them.

Best regards,
Ying