Morphological rhetoric is a kind of rhetorical device that employs the form of words or characters，the arrangement of words or sentences，punctuation and diagram etc to enhance the visual effect of a text and it is widely used in literary creation． This paper，exemplified by David Hawkes' translation of Hong Lou Meng，illustrates the applicability of morphological rhetoric in literary translation． Morphological rhetoric in Hawkes' translation of Hong Lou Meng is very prominent， which embodies，to a large extent，the translator's subjectivity and creativity，contributing a lot to the overall artistic effect of his translation． It has vast potential application in literary translation and thus the translator should take full advantage of it according to specific themes and contexts so that the visual effect of their translations may be effectively promoted．