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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

长相思·其二

Long Separation · Second

李白

Li Bai

相思Longing 闺怨Boudoir lament

日色欲尽花含烟，月明如素愁不眠。
赵瑟初停凤凰柱，蜀琴欲奏鸳鸯弦。
此曲有意无人传，愿随春风寄燕然。
忆君迢迢隔青天。
昔时横波目，今作流泪泉。
不信妾肠断，归来看取明镜前。

The day's light is spent, and the flowers hold the mist;
The moon shines as white as silk, and she cannot sleep for sorrow.
The Zhao zither has just rested on the phoenix bridge;
The Shu lute would fain play its mandarin-dove strings.
This song has a heart in it, but no one to carry it;
Oh, that it might ride the spring wind as far as Yanran.
I think of you, and you lie far off, divided by the blue sky.
Once the eyes that flowed sideways,
Now a fountain of tears.
You will not believe my heart is broken —
Come back, and look before the bright mirror.

Listen

Meaning

A woman at night wants to send a song to her husband, away on the frontier beyond Yanran. She first plays and then abandons two instruments, since the song she means has no one to deliver it; she would trust the wind to carry it. In thought she reaches him across an unbridgeable sky; her eyes, once playful, are now an unfailing spring of tears. She ends by forecasting: when he comes back, he will find the proof in her mirror. Between the mocking of her own grief and its total sincerity there is no distance at all.

日色欲尽花含烟，月明如素愁不眠。赵瑟初停凤凰柱，蜀琴欲奏鸳鸯弦。此曲有意无人传，愿随春风寄燕然。忆君迢迢隔青天。昔时横波目，今作流泪泉。不信妾肠断，归来看取明镜前。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Night after night the poet'sSpeaker watches the light go out of the flowers and the moon come up as white as silk, without being able to sleep. She has just set down the Zhao zither and takes up the Shu lute, but the music she has to give away has no courier: she sends it out on the wind, in the wrong direction, toward the far frontier. [Structure] The poem moves by keeping time — evening, night, and then the morning on which the whole thing turns. The first half is external: light, moon, instruments, wind, distance. The second half turns inward: eyes, tears, the broken heart, the mirror. [Imagery] The moon 'as white as silk' is cold, empty, and unsleeping, and it shares the room with her; the phoenix bridge and mandarin-dove strings make the instruments themselves into figures of male and female pairs; and 'the eyes that flowed sideways' become 'a fountain of tears' in a single step, without any help from the poet. What makes the poem memorable is its close: instead of saying she is dying of grief, she forecasts, with complete certainty, that his own eyes will tell him. The affectionate line 'you will not believe' is not a complaint; it is the way the woman both mocks herself and stakes everything.

【白话串讲】李白写《长相思·其二》：“日色欲尽花含烟，月明如素愁不眠”——“赵瑟初停凤凰柱，蜀琴欲奏鸳鸯弦”——“此曲有意无人传，愿随春风寄燕然”——“忆君迢迢隔青天”——“昔时横波目，今作流泪泉”——他写相思。【意象与手法】此诗写闺怨，以相思写闺怨，是李白的名篇。前六句写夜思：「日色欲尽花含烟，月明如素愁不眠。赵瑟初停凤凰柱，蜀琴欲奏鸳鸯弦。此曲有意无人传，愿随春风寄燕然」写日色欲尽花含烟、月明如素愁不眠——写尽夜思的愁绪；后四句写断肠：「忆君迢迢隔青天。昔时横波目，今作流泪泉。不信妾肠断，归来看取明镜前」写忆君迢迢隔青天、昔时横波目——写尽断肠的相思。全词以相思写闺怨，写尽夜思的愁绪与断肠的相思，是李白的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写闺怨，以相思写闺怨，是李白的名篇。此诗为《长相思》二首之二，写女子思念远戍燕然（燕然山，今蒙古国杭爱山）的征夫。此诗写日色欲尽而花含烟，月明如素（白绢）而愁不眠；赵瑟初停凤凰柱，蜀琴欲奏鸳鸯弦；此曲有意无人传，愿随春风寄燕然；忆君迢迢隔青天；昔时横波目，今作流泪泉；不信妾肠断，归来看取明镜前。此诗写夜思：日色欲尽花含烟，月明如素愁不眠——写日色欲尽花含烟、月明如素愁不眠，写尽夜思的愁绪；赵瑟初停凤凰柱，蜀琴欲奏鸳鸯弦——写赵瑟初停凤凰柱、蜀琴欲奏鸳鸯弦，写尽琴瑟的相思；此曲有意无人传，愿随春风寄燕然——写此曲有意无人传、愿随春风寄燕然，写尽寄曲的相思；忆君迢迢隔青天——写忆君迢迢隔青天，写尽迢迢的相隔；昔时横波目，今作流泪泉——写昔时横波目、今作流泪泉，写尽流泪的横波；不信妾肠断，归来看取明镜前——写不信妾肠断、归来看取明镜前，写尽断肠的相思。全词以相思写闺怨——那「月明如素愁不眠」写尽夜思的愁绪，「归来看取明镜前」写尽断肠的相思，写尽夜思的愁绪与断肠的相思，是理解李白闺怨诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「日色欲尽花含烟，月明如素愁不眠」写夜思的愁绪；「不信妾肠断，归来看取明镜前」写断肠的相思；以及全诗以相思写闺怨、以琴瑟写相思的手法。

Background

Li Bai (701–762) was born in Suiye, in what is now Kyrgyzstan, and grew up in Sichuan; he held office at court for only a few years before his career collapsed in his fifties, and spent his last decade wandering. 'Long Separation' is an old yuefu tune, written before by people separated in war and by business, and usually taken as the voice of a woman waiting at home. This is the second of two; the first is set in Chang'an and speaks of a lamp burning down. The border in the poem, Yanran, is the great northern frontier — Mount Yanran in what is now Mongolia — and the poet is following the convention of the frontier song, in which the husband is sent there and the wife left behind.

此诗写闺怨，以相思写闺怨，是李白的名篇。李白（701—762），字太白，号青莲居士，又号谪仙人，祖籍陇西成纪（今甘肃秦安），生于碎叶（今吉尔吉斯斯坦托克马克），长于绵州昌隆（今四川江油），唐代诗人，与杜甫并称「李杜」，被尊为「诗仙」。此诗为《长相思》二首之二，写女子思念远戍燕然（燕然山，今蒙古国杭爱山）的征夫。此诗写日色欲尽而花含烟，月明如素（白绢）而愁不眠；赵瑟初停凤凰柱，蜀琴欲奏鸳鸯弦；此曲有意无人传，愿随春风寄燕然；忆君迢迢隔青天；昔时横波目，今作流泪泉；不信妾肠断，归来看取明镜前。此诗写夜思：「日色欲尽花含烟，月明如素愁不眠」写日色欲尽花含烟、月明如素愁不眠——写尽夜思的愁绪（日色欲尽花含烟，月明如素愁不眠）；「赵瑟初停凤凰柱，蜀琴欲奏鸳鸯弦」写赵瑟初停凤凰柱、蜀琴欲奏鸳鸯弦——写尽琴瑟的相思（赵瑟初停凤凰柱，蜀琴欲奏鸳鸯弦）；「此曲有意无人传，愿随春风寄燕然」写此曲有意无人传、愿随春风寄燕然——写尽寄曲的相思（此曲有意无人传，愿随春风寄燕然）；「忆君迢迢隔青天」写忆君迢迢隔青天——写尽迢迢的相隔（忆君迢迢隔青天）；「昔时横波目，今作流泪泉」写昔时横波目、今作流泪泉——写尽流泪的横波（昔时横波目，今作流泪泉）；「不信妾肠断，归来看取明镜前」写不信妾肠断、归来看取明镜前——写尽断肠的相思（不信妾肠断，归来看取明镜前）。全词以相思写闺怨，写尽夜思的愁绪与断肠的相思，是理解李白闺怨诗的重要篇章。

Art

Four devices carry the poem. The first is choosing images that are already about pairs: the phoenix bridge on the zither and the mandarin-dove strings of the lute both allude to things that belong to two people, so that the instruments she touches become a reminder of what she lacks. The second is the refusal to name her feeling in the middle of the poem — 'this song has a heart in it, but no one to carry it' states the difficulty of the song rather than the weight of her grief, and lets the grief build in silence. The third is the crossing of time in one line: 'once the eyes that flowed sideways, now a fountain of tears' places two moments side by side and lets the reader do the arithmetic. The fourth is the forecast to her own heart: 'you will not believe my heart is broken — come back, and look before the bright mirror.' The threat is the proof, and both are kinds of love. The poem also keeps its rhyme going through the whole twelve lines without a break, so that even the most hopeless lines sound unhurried.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以景语写夜思。「月明如素愁不眠」以景语写夜思——那「月明如素」写尽明月的洁白，以景语写尽夜思的愁绪。其二，以器物写相思。「赵瑟初停凤凰柱」以器物写相思——那「赵瑟」「凤凰柱」写尽琴瑟的器物，以器物写尽琴瑟的相思。其三，以直抒写相思。「此曲有意无人传」以直抒写相思——那「无人传」写尽难传的曲意，以直抒写尽寄曲的相思。其四，以对照写断肠。「昔时横波目，今作流泪泉」以对照写断肠——那「昔时」「今作」写尽横波的对照，以对照写尽断肠的相思。此外，此诗前六句写夜思的愁绪，后四句写断肠的相思，由思及肠，正是闺怨诗「以琴写思」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以相思写闺怨，写尽夜思的愁绪与断肠的相思，是李白的代表作。此诗还善于以「赵瑟初停凤凰柱，蜀琴欲奏鸳鸯弦」的器物对仗写相思——那「赵瑟」「蜀琴」「凤凰柱」「鸳鸯弦」写尽琴瑟的器物，正是以器物写情，以「凤凰」「鸳鸯」写尽琴瑟的相思。又善以「此曲有意无人传，愿随春风寄燕然」的春风寄曲写相思——愿随春风寄燕然，正见托风寄曲的痴情，以「愿随」写尽寄曲的相思。

Allusions

Several of the words come straight out of the older love vocabulary. 'Hsiang po,' with eyes 'flowing sideways,' is the eye of a woman who lets a look travel to the one she loves — the phrase from which all later descriptions of a woman's glances descend. The mandarin duck is the old emblem of a faithful pair, so the lute's 'mandarin-dove strings' are strings meant to be played by two hands. The zither of Zhao and the lute of Shu name the two instruments of the states from which they come, and the choice is a poet's vanity, since the Shu lute was the more usual instrument of the western quarters. 'Yanran' carries the whole legend of the frontier: the stone table in which the Han general who drove the Xiongnu north had his victory cut, and from it, the far away where a soldier's letters never come. To send a song 'on the wind' is familiar too — the old hope that a poem or a letter might travel faster than a messenger — and to send it to a border fort is to send it where no one will hear it.

此诗的用语深植于闺怨与相思传统。「花含烟」令人想到「花含烟」写花雾的意象——也令人想到「花明月暗笼轻雾」（李煜）的意象；「如素」令人想到「如素」写洁白的意象——也令人想到「皎皎白素」的意象；「赵瑟」令人想到「赵瑟」写赵地之瑟的意象——也令人想到「赵瑟初停」的意象；「凤凰柱」令人想到「凤凰柱」写瑟柱的意象——瑟柱刻凤凰形，也令人想到「凤凰于飞」的意象；「蜀琴」令人想到「蜀琴」写蜀地之琴的意象——也令人想到司马相如琴挑的意象；「鸳鸯弦」令人想到「鸳鸯弦」写鸳鸯琴弦的意象——也令人想到「鸳鸯双栖」的意象。全词化用花含烟、如素、赵瑟、凤凰柱、蜀琴、鸳鸯弦的意象，以相思写闺怨，正是李白「豪放」而善比兴、承闺怨传统写相思之本领。「燕然」令人想到「燕然」写燕然山的意象——今蒙古国杭爱山，东汉窦宪勒石燕然，也令人想到「燕然勒功」的意象；「横波目」令人想到「横波」写眼波的意象——也令人想到「眼如水横波」的意象，以横波写含情的眼波。

Commentary

This has long been counted among the finest of Li Bai's poems of the boudoir and among the best of the Tang for the grief of a woman waiting. Qing readers called it 'long-drawn-out and deeply restrained'; modern readers single out 'you will not believe my heart is broken — come back, and look before the bright mirror' as the line on which the whole poem stands. Its place in the tradition is as a link: written in an old song form, with the household objects and the frontier language of the centuries before, and yet with the free, irregular line of Li Bai's own hand. The poem sits beside the first of the two, set in Chang'an and lit by a lamp; and behind both stands the 'Nineteen Old Poems', in which the living and the separated speak to each other across the same sky.

此诗历来被推为李白闺怨诗的名篇，也是唐诗写思妇相思的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以相思写闺怨，缠绵深婉」；近人更指出「不信妾肠断，归来看取明镜前」写断肠的相思，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以十二句的杂言写尽夜思的愁绪与断肠的相思——那日色，那欲尽，那花含烟，那月明，那如素，那愁不眠，那赵瑟，那初停，那凤凰柱，那蜀琴，那欲奏，那鸳鸯弦，那此曲，那有意，那无人传，那愿随，那春风，那寄燕然，那忆君，那迢迢，那隔青天，那昔时，那横波目，那今作，那流泪泉，那不信，那妾肠断，那归来，那看取明镜前，都写尽了李白笔下的长相思；那「归来看取明镜前」更以对照写尽断肠的相思。此诗与李白《长相思·其一》（「长相思，在长安」）同为长相思名篇，一写「孤灯不明思欲绝」的长安（其一），一写「此曲有意无人传」的燕然（其二）；又与《古诗十九首》「盈盈一水间」的相思传统一脉相承，可见中国诗写相思的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解李白闺怨诗的窗口，也是唐诗写思妇相思的经典——那流泪的横波，穿越千年，仍在诉说着断肠的相思。

Prosody

Form Shi · Mixed-length ancient verse (yuefu)诗·杂言古体

Rhyme A poem of mixed line-lengths in the yuefu manner, rhyming on 'yan' (mist), 'mian' (sleep), 'xian' (strings), 'ran' (Yanran), 'tian' (sky), 'quan' (spring), and 'qian' (before) — the level tone held on one rhyme all the way through, so the poem's sound never turns away.杂言古体，押「烟」「眠」「弦」「然」「天」「泉」「前」等韵，一韵到底

Tone pattern Ancient verse on the level tone, rhymed throughout without a single change of key, in a long, unhurried, drawing-out cadence that matches the length of the separation.此诗为杂言古体，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节缠绵，正合相思的缠绵。

Reading note Twelve lines of varying length, from five to seven characters, in the old yuefu manner: 'The day's light is spent, and the flowers hold the mist; / The moon shines as white as silk, and she cannot sleep for sorrow. / The Zhao zither has just rested on the phoenix bridge; / The Shu lute would fain play its mandarin-dove strings. / This song has a heart in it, but no one to carry it; / Oh, that it might ride the spring wind as far as Yanran. / I think of you, and you lie far off, divided by the blue sky. / Once the eyes that flowed sideways, / Now a fountain of tears. / You will not believe my heart is broken — / Come back, and look before the bright mirror.' The rhyme — yan, mian, xian, ran, tian, quan, qian — is kept on one level tone to the end, which is what gives the poem its long, unvarying sadness; the mixed line-lengths keep it from ever sounding like a song with a refrain. Read slowly, and let the short lines — 'I think of you, and you lie far off' — fall into the longer ones, like a voice coming back. The last line should be spoken almost flatly, with nothing theatrical in it at all; the poetry of the close is that the feeling is not dressed.此诗为杂言古体，十二句——「日色欲尽花含烟，月明如素愁不眠。赵瑟初停凤凰柱，蜀琴欲奏鸳鸯弦。此曲有意无人传，愿随春风寄燕然。忆君迢迢隔青天。昔时横波目，今作流泪泉。不信妾肠断，归来看取明镜前」，押平韵（烟、眠、弦、然、天、泉、前），一韵到底，音节缠绵。全诗以相思写闺怨：前六句写夜思的愁绪（日色欲尽花含烟、愿随春风寄燕然），后四句写断肠的相思（忆君迢迢隔青天、归来看取明镜前）。十二句短章，前写夜思，后写断肠，以「归来看取明镜前」写尽断肠的相思，正见李白「豪放」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以缠绵的语调读「月明如素愁不眠」的夜思，以深婉的语调读「归来看取明镜前」的断肠，结句要读得缠绵而有余韵，方能传达出李白的缠绵深婉。李白古体以「豪放飘逸」著称，此诗正是其闺怨诗的典范。

Line by line

不信妾肠断，归来看取明镜前

You will not believe my heart is broken — come back, and look before the bright mirror.

不信妾肠断，归来看取明镜前。

If you don't believe my bowels are broken with longing, come home and look in the bright mirror.

此二句是全诗写断肠的核心，以不信妾肠断写妾肠断，以归来看取明镜前写明镜前，写尽断肠的相思，是千古名句。「不信妾肠断」写不信妾肠断——那「不信妾」写不信妾，「肠断」写肠断，写尽断肠的相思；「归来看取明镜前」写归来看取明镜前——那「归来」写归来，「看取明镜前」写看取明镜前，写尽明镜的对照。这句的深意在于：它以「不信妾肠断」的妾肠断与「归来看取明镜前」的明镜前，写尽断肠的相思——不信妾肠断，那「不信妾肠断」写尽断肠的相思——不信妾肠断，正是你不信我肠断的写照，那「肠断」写尽断肠的相思；归来看取明镜前，那「归来看取明镜前」写尽明镜的对照——归来看取，正是归来照镜的写照，那「明镜前」写尽断肠的相思；那「不信妾肠断」写尽断肠的相思，那「归来看取明镜前」写尽明镜的对照，一写肠断，一写明镜，写尽断肠的相思——不信肠断而明镜可证，正是断肠的写照；此二句以肠断、明镜写尽断肠的相思，也让此二句成为全诗写断肠的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「你要是不信我想你想得肝肠寸断，回来看看镜子里的我就知道了」，则失其深婉；唯以「不信妾肠断」写妾肠断、「归来看取明镜前」写明镜前，写尽断肠的相思，也让此二句成为全诗写断肠的核心。

The wife's invitation is a dare. If you don't believe I am broken with longing, she says, come home and look in the bright mirror. The grief is not argued but diagnosed: she has wasted away, and the mirror will show the damage her words cannot. The challenge is the whole tenderness—she does not beg, she offers evidence, and the evidence is herself. Legend says Tang Minghuang compared the line to a verse by Li Bai and the poetess retorted wittily, but the line's power is simpler: the mirror as witness. To have said if you came back you would see how thin I am would be a plea; the dare to the mirror is the pride in grief.

昔时横波目，今作流泪泉

Once the eyes that flowed sideways, now a fountain of tears.

昔时横波目，今作流泪泉。

Those eyes that once rippled like waves have now become a fountain of tears.

此二句是全诗写流泪的核心，以昔时横波目写横波目，以今作流泪泉写流泪泉，写尽流泪的横波，是千古名句。「昔时横波目」写昔时横波目——那「昔时横波」写昔时横波，「目」写目，写尽昔时的横波；「今作流泪泉」写今作流泪泉——那「今作」写今作，「流泪泉」写流泪泉，写尽今时的泪泉。这句的深意在于：它以「昔时横波目」的横波目与「今作流泪泉」的流泪泉，写尽流泪的横波——昔时横波目，那「昔时横波目」写尽昔时的横波——昔时横波，正是昔时眼波的写照，那「横波目」写尽流泪的横波；今作流泪泉，那「今作流泪泉」写尽今时的泪泉——今作流泪，正是今时泪流的写照，那「流泪泉」写尽流泪的横波；那「昔时横波目」写尽昔时的横波，那「今作流泪泉」写尽今时的泪泉，一写昔时，一写今作，写尽流泪的横波——横波成泪泉，正是相思成疾的写照；此二句以横波、泪泉写尽流泪的横波，也为下文的断肠作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写流泪的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「以前含情脉脉的眼睛，现在整天流泪」，则失其对照；唯以「昔时横波目」写横波目、「今作流泪泉」写流泪泉，写尽流泪的横波，也让此二句成为全诗写流泪的核心。

The couplet is the mirror's answer. Those eyes that once rippled with glancing wave-light—横向波, the classical phrase for a flirtatious, tender sidelong glance—have now become a fountain of tears. The change is total: the organ of love has become the organ of weeping, and the image of a spring never running dry measures the endlessness of her crying. Past and present are laid on the same eyes, so the beauty and its ruin share the face. This is what the returned husband would see. To have said my eyes used to be lovely and now they cry would be plain; the rippling waves turned to a fountain is the transformation.

Study

Word focus

横波 In 'once the eyes that flowed sideways,' heng po means eyes that move sideways like water on either side of its course — the glance of a girl who will not look straight, or who looks and does not stay looked at. It is the standard image in Chinese poetry for a woman's eyes, and here it carries two things: the playfulness of their movement, and the fact that their movement was once free. A few lines later the same eyes have become a 'fountain of tears,' and the reader is left to notice that nothing about the eyes has changed but everything else has. The phrase is the pivot between the poem's past and present. 「昔时横波目」之「横波」是写相思的关键词，一个「横波」写尽含情的眼波。横波者，眼波流转如横水波也。李白以「昔时横波目」写相思，这个「横波」至少有双重意味：其一，写目之横波——那「昔时横波目」写昔时横波目，那「横波」写尽含情的眼波——横波目，正是眼波横流的写照，那「横波」写尽流泪的横波；其二，写情之深——那「横波」更是写深——横波，正见昔时含情的深意，那「横波」写尽李白的相思。以「横波」写相思，正是李白写闺怨的枢纽——若换作「秋波」「明眸」等词，则或失其与「昔时」「今作流泪泉」的配合，或失其写横波的意味；唯「横波」二字，以昔时横波目写尽眼波之横流与昔时之含情，与「今作流泪泉」的泪泉相合，写尽流泪的横波，也让「昔时横波目」成为全诗写相思的名句。

不信 In 'you will not believe my heart is broken,' the two characters bu xin are the source of the poem's strange power. They state her greatest fear — that he thinks lightly of her — and express it as a complaint, while giving the complaint the voice of a wife who is almost angry. One could have made the line urgent, with 'do not doubt'; Li Bai's version is quieter and harder: not 'I hope you believe' but 'you will not believe,' as though she has already known, for years, how this goes. Only then does the closing offer of the mirror come into its proper light — she is not asking to be forgiven, she is setting out evidence. 「不信妾肠断」之「不信」是写深婉的关键词，一个「不信」写尽断肠的深婉。不信者，不相信也。李白以「不信妾肠断」写断肠，这个「不信」至少有双重意味：其一，写疑之不信——那「不信妾肠断」写不信妾肠断，那「不信」写尽断肠的深婉——不信妾肠断，正是怕你不信的写照，那「不信」写尽断肠的相思；其二，写情之嗔——那「不信」更是写嗔——不信，正见娇嗔的深情，那「不信」写尽李白的深婉。以「不信」写断肠，正是李白写闺怨的枢纽——若换作「莫道」「休道」等词，则或失其与「妾肠断」「归来看取明镜前」的配合，或失其写不信的意味；唯「不信」二字，以不信妾肠断写尽断肠之深婉与娇嗔之深情，与「归来看取明镜前」的明镜相合，写尽断肠的相思，也让「不信妾肠断」成为全诗写断肠的名句。