This paper discusses the cultural differences in poetry translation and analyzes them with examples from three aspects: history, culture and materials. Key words: code of cultural differences between China and the West in poetry translation In today's society, translation is not only a simple conversion of language symbols, but also a cross-language behavior. With the integration of global economy, politics and science and technology, culture has become very important in the communication between countries. Cultural exchanges and infiltration between countries have a great relationship with translation. Culture is an important factor in poetry translation. Poetry is a highly concentrated language, which vividly expresses the author's rich thoughts and feelings, reflects social life and has a certain sense of rhythm. It requires a highly concentrated summary and reflection of social life, full of the author's rich thoughts, feelings and imagination, and the language is concise and vivid. Culture involves all aspects of human life, and any human society is inseparable from culture. Culture is the foundation for the survival and development of human society, and language is only one of the elements that constitute a cultural system. In poetry translation, culture should be the primary factor in translation. Ignoring cultural factors in translation becomes a lifeless body piled up with words, a work without soul. Translator and poet Zhu Xiang used literal translation and free translation to translate English poems during the May 4th Movement in China, paying great attention to phonology and rhythm. His translation not only pays attention to rhyme, but also adds his own unique views on poetry on the basis of the original text, paying attention to and adding the cultural sentiment of the author's country to some extent. This is a highly completed personalized translation. Translation involves not only the conversion between codes, but also the conversion between cultural code systems. The translation process is the transformation from the source language and culture code system to the target language and culture code system, and also the transformation from the source language receiver and source language and culture context to the target language receiver and target language and culture context. Therefore, in the process of translation, the translator should strive to make the translation have the same effect as the original poem culture, and let the readers realize the artistic conception that the author wants to convey in the original poem. In the field of translation theory, poetry translation has caused the most controversy, such as literal translation or free translation, alienation or domestication, whether poetry can be translated, standards and methods of poetry translation and so on. There are great differences between Chinese and English in language form and cultural background. How to translate Chinese and English poems into English has always been a hot topic for Chinese and foreign translators. As far as the cultural differences between China and the West in poetry and translation are concerned, we can simply understand them from the historical and material aspects of culture. First of all, from the historical and cultural aspects. Historical culture refers to the culture formed in the process of specific social development and is the precipitation of social heritage. The historical development of each country is different, so there is also a gap in the cultural heritage precipitated in the historical changes. Poetry reflects culture. Poetry is a treasure of history and culture. It has a strong national color and distinctive cultural personality, and contains rich historical and cultural information, which can best reflect the characteristics of different historical cultures. In order to translate these poems properly, we must understand their rich historical and cultural connotations and use appropriate translation methods, otherwise it is impossible to embody and convey the meaning of the poems well. * * * There are two lines in the poem "Seven Laws to Send Sorrow to the Gods": "Spring breeze willows thousands of miles, and 600 million China is in harmony with Yao." The "Shenzhou" in the original poem is China, and the inverted sentences of "Yao Shun" and "Yao Shun" are two wise emperors in the historical legend of China, which are deeply loved by the people. Here, people who refer to saints are not easily perceived by target readers. China people are easy to understand, but for British and American readers, transliteration will confuse them. Literal translations of Shenzhou, Shun and Yao will make them irrelevant, so it is necessary to add notes. Cooper's English version of Six Happy Millions of Us, 600 Million People shows great momentum in the first person. The holy king, the wise master, is also simple and clear, pointing to his meaning, in line with the spirit of the original text. Look at Arthur Cooper's wonderful translation: "The spring breeze moves the willows,/thousands of miles; /600 million of us,/will all become holy kings! " This translation is simple and clear, with sonorous phonology and vivid effect. This is a way to transcend translation with conscious cross-cultural awareness. Secondly, from the material and cultural aspects. Different nationalities have different living habits and cultures, which leads to different associations. What exists in one culture may not exist in another. The association of the same thing in different cultures is also different. In China, the bright moon makes people homesick. Li Bai, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, said in his famous sentence "Thinking of a Quiet Night": "Will there be frost at the foot of my bed with such bright light? . Looking up at the bright moon and sinking back, I suddenly remembered home. " Giles translation: Night thoughts wake me up, and moonlight plays around my bed, shining like frost in my wandering eyes; The moon rose high, I looked up and then lay down-thinking of home. The symbolic meaning of moonlight in China culture is hard for British and Americans to understand. However, with the deepening of cultural exchanges between China and the West, the image of the moon in China culture will be gradually accepted by Britain and the United States. The treatment of cultural connotation in translation is a very complicated problem, especially the translation of poetry. Mr. Wang Zuoliang once pointed out: "The translator deals with a single word, but he faces two big cultures." "Translators must be real intellectuals." Translation is the conversion between two languages, and language, as a communication tool, is the cultural carrier. As an excellent translator, you should know your own culture and the other's culture, so that you can better transform one culture into the essence of another, correctly convey the author's meaning, and let domestic authors have a further understanding. As cultural communicators, translators should try their best to strengthen and improve the comprehensibility of different cultures in readers' minds, shorten the distance between two languages and cultures as much as possible, eliminate obstacles caused by incomprehension or even misunderstanding, and truly make the translation a medium for spreading culture.