This article provides an overview of classical and contemporary theoretical approaches to translating Kazakh poetry into English. Particular attention is given to the methodology based on the works of A. Zhovtis, which includes a line-by-line literal translation followed by rhythmic adaptation, allowing the preservation of musicality, artistic effect, and the historical and cultural context of the original text. The works of Abai Kunanbayev and Mukagali Makatayev are examined as case studies. In translating Abai’s poetry, models of nineteenth-century English poetry, particularly W. Blake and S. T. Coleridge, were used as reference points, while the translation of M. Makatayev’s poetry was informed by twentieth-century English poetry, especially the works of W. H. Auden. The review demonstrates that the selected methodology ensures the adequacy of literary translation and can be applied both to analytical studies and to the practical translation of Kazakh poetry from different historical periods.