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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

大堤曲

Ballad of the Great Dike (Dadi Qu)

李贺

Li He

爱情Love 乐府Yuefu (Music-Bureau) folk song

妾家住横塘，红纱满桂香。
青云教绾头上髻，明月与作耳边珰。
莲风起，江畔春。
大堤上，留北人。
郎食鲤鱼尾，妾食猩猩唇。
莫指襄阳道，绿浦归帆少。
今日菖蒲花，明朝枫树老。

My home lies at Hengtang,
and red gauze is saturated with osmanthus fragrance.
Blue clouds are taught to knot the hair on my head;
the bright moon is made into an ear-ring at my temple.
Where the lotus-wind rises, spring comes to the river's edge.
On the Great Dike, a northerner is kept.
He eats the tail of the carp; I feast on the lip of the orangutan.
Do not point out the road to Xiangyang —
few are the homeward sails on the green strait.
Today the iris flowers; tomorrow the maple will be old.

Listen

Meaning

A young woman who lives beside the Great Dike at Xiangyang describes her life with a lover who has come from the north. She sets out her dwelling and her dress, then pictures the hours they spend together feeding like man and wife, and at last begs him not to name the road that leads away to Xiangyang, where few sails come home. The poem closes on a single image of time: the iris blooms today, the maple will be old tomorrow. Love is certain; the future is not. That contrast is the whole of her grief.

妾家住横塘，红纱满桂香。青云教绾头上髻，明月与作耳边珰。莲风起，江畔春，大堤上，留北人。郎食鲤鱼尾，妾食猩猩唇。莫指襄阳道，绿浦归帆少。今日菖蒲花，明朝枫树老。

Appreciation

[Structure] The twelve-line song moves in three moves: the woman's dwelling and dress, the scene of the parting, and the sorrow that follows it.
[Imagery] Li He, later called 'the ghost of poetry', builds the first movement out of impossible materials — osmanthus-scented red gauze, hair as 'blue clouds', an ear-ring cut from the bright moon, carp tails and orangutan lips drawn from the Zhuangzi and the Lü's Chunqiu. The effect is not description but heraldry: a world rich enough to be spent.
[Rhythm] The middle movement drops into three-syllable lines of extraordinary brevity: 'Lotus-wind! Spring on the riverbank! On the Great Dike, the northerner is held.' Identities and place-names are compressed until almost nothing is said.
[The Close] The last couplet refuses to complain; it simply sets today's flower against tomorrow's tree, and lets the reader supply the conclusion. This self-restraint is what makes the little poem last.

【白话串讲】李贺写《大堤曲》：“妾家住横塘，红纱满桂香”——“莲风起，江畔春。大堤上，留北人”——“郎食鲤鱼尾，妾食猩猩唇”——“莫指襄阳道，绿浦归帆少”——“今日菖蒲花，明朝枫树老”——他写离别与时光。【意象与手法】此诗写大堤女子的离别相思，是李贺的名篇。前四句写女子的住处与装束：「妾家住横塘」写妾家住横塘，「红纱满桂香」写红纱满桂香，「青云教绾头上髻」写青云绾髻，「明月与作耳边珰」写明月作珰；中四句写留客：「莲风起，江畔春」写莲风起、江畔春，「大堤上，留北人」写大堤上留住北人；后六句写别后的相思：「郎食鲤鱼尾，妾食猩猩唇」写郎食鲤鱼尾、妾食猩猩唇，「莫指襄阳道，绿浦归帆少」写莫指襄阳道、绿浦归帆少，「今日菖蒲花，明朝枫树老」写今日菖蒲花、明朝枫树老。全诗以乐府写离别相思，写尽大堤女子的柔情，正是李贺「瑰奇」诗风的本领。【情感与主旨】此诗写大堤女子的离别相思，是李贺的名篇。此诗是乐府旧题《大堤曲》的拟作，写大堤（襄阳一带江边堤岸）女子的相思。此诗写女子：妾家住横塘（今南京一带，此处借指江边），红纱满桂香；青云（黑发如云）绾着头上髻，明月作耳边珰（耳环）；莲风起，江畔春，大堤上，留北人（留住在北来的情人）；郎食鲤鱼尾，妾食猩猩唇（写两情相悦的亲密）；莫指襄阳道，绿浦归帆少（别指向襄阳的道，因为绿浦归帆少，离别难重逢）；今日菖蒲花，明朝枫树老（今日如菖蒲花开，明朝如枫树老去，写红颜易老、时光易逝）。全诗以乐府写离别相思，写尽大堤女子对情人的深情与别后的相思，正是李贺「瑰奇」诗风的本领。【名句点睛】常考「莫指襄阳道，绿浦归帆少」写离别难逢的相思；「今日菖蒲花，明朝枫树老」写红颜易老、时光易逝；「青云教绾头上髻，明月与作耳边珰」写女子的装束；以及全诗以乐府写离别相思、深情婉转的手法。

Background

Li He (c. 790–816), courtesy name Changji, was born at Fuchang in modern Yiyang, Henan, and died at twenty-six, leaving no office behind him. His short life produced some two hundred and forty poems of startling invention, and later ages named him 'the ghost of poetry'. 'Ballad of the Great Dike' takes an old yuefu title from the folk songs of the Xiangyang area in Hubei, where the dike along the Han river was a known trysting place; Li He writes in that convention, but tightens it into a song of parting and fading youth.

此诗写大堤女子的离别相思，是李贺的名篇。李贺（790—816），字长吉，福昌（今河南宜阳）人，中唐著名诗人，人称「诗鬼」。大堤曲是乐府旧题，源于襄阳一带的民歌，多写江边女子的相思。此诗拟大堤曲，写大堤女子的相思：「妾家住横塘，红纱满桂香」写妾家住横塘（江边），红纱满室、桂香满屋；「青云教绾头上髻，明月与作耳边珰」写青云（黑发如云）绾着头上髻，明月与作耳边珰（耳环）——以青云喻发，以明月喻珰，写尽女子的美丽；「莲风起，江畔春，大堤上，留北人」写莲风起、江畔春，大堤上留住北来的人（情郎）；「郎食鲤鱼尾，妾食猩猩唇」写郎食鲤鱼尾、妾食猩猩唇——写两情相悦的亲密；「莫指襄阳道，绿浦归帆少」写莫指襄阳道，因为绿浦（绿水之浦）归帆少——离别难逢，归帆稀少，写尽别后的相思；「今日菖蒲花，明朝枫树老」写今日如菖蒲花（端午时节的蒲花），明朝如枫树老——写红颜易老、时光易逝。全诗以乐府写离别相思，写尽大堤女子的柔情与别后的相思，是理解李贺乐府诗的重要篇章。

Art

Four techniques carry the poem. First, ornament as character: 'red gauze full of osmanthus', 'blue clouds knotted into a hair-pin', 'the bright moon made into an ear-ring' — the woman is presented through luxuries rather than through gestures. Second, abrupt short lines: 'Lotus-wind! Spring on the riverbank! On the Great Dike, the northerner is held!' three-syllable clauses strike like speech and give the middle of the poem its urgent pace. Third, a pair of parallel constructions: 'He eats the tail of the carp; I feast on the lip of the orangutan' — the identical grammar of the two clauses tells us the relationship is equal, before any action confirms it. Fourth, the turning of the final couplet into a figure of time rather than of feeling: the flower and the old tree stand for the one thing no lover can answer for.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以华美写女子。前四句「妾家住横塘，红纱满桂香。青云教绾头上髻，明月与作耳边珰」以华美的笔触写女子的住处与装束——那「红纱满桂香」写尽住处之香，「青云教绾头上髻，明月与作耳边珰」以青云喻发、以明月喻珰，写尽女子的美丽。其二，以短句写场景。「莲风起，江畔春，大堤上，留北人」以三言的短句写场景——那「莲风起」「江畔春」「大堤上」「留北人」写尽江畔大堤的春景与留客的场景，音节轻快。其三，以对举写亲密。「郎食鲤鱼尾，妾食猩猩唇」以对举写两情相悦的亲密——那「郎食」「妾食」的对举写尽情人的亲密，那「鲤鱼尾」「猩猩唇」写尽珍馐。其四，以比兴写感慨。「今日菖蒲花，明朝枫树老」以比兴写红颜易老——那「菖蒲花」写今日的娇艳，「枫树老」写明朝的衰老，以花木的荣枯比兴红颜的易老，写尽时光易逝的感慨。四重手法，使此诗以乐府写离别相思，写尽大堤女子的柔情，正是李贺「瑰奇」诗风的本领。

Allusions

The poem is thick with inherited material. 'Hengtang' recalls Cui Hao's 'Changgan Xing' — 'Where does your family live? My home is at Hengtang' — and the whole yuefu tradition of the riverside woman. 'Blue clouds' for hair follows the Palace of Fortune's 'green cloud upon green cloud, combing the morning ringlets'; 'the bright moon' as a jewel echoes the moon-pearl that can serve as an ear-ring. The carp tail and the orangutan lip come from the Lü's Chunqiu, which names the orangutan's lip the finest meat under heaven. 'Xiangyang road' is the road out of the girl's world; 'green strait' and 'homeward sails' belong to the older poetry of the returning boat, from which 'sails too many are the sails that never come' lingers. Finally the iris refers to the Dragon-Flower season at the Duanwu festival, and the maple to the autumn that follows it.

此诗的用语深植于乐府相思与襄阳的传统。「横塘」令人想到「横塘」写江边水塘的意象——「君家何处住？妾住在横塘」（崔颢《长干行》），也令人想到「横塘」写女子居处的乐府传统；「红纱满桂香」令人想到「红纱」写红色纱帐的意象，也令人想到「桂香」写桂花的香气；「青云教绾头上髻」令人想到「青云」写黑发如云的意象——「绿云扰扰，梳晓鬟也」（杜牧《阿房宫赋》），也令人想到「绾髻」写梳发的意象；「明月与作耳边珰」令人想到「明月」写明月珠的意象——明月珠可作耳珰，也令人想到「珰」写耳环的意象；「莲风起」令人想到「莲」写莲花的意象——「江南可采莲」，也令人想到「莲风」写荷风的意象；「大堤上」令人想到「大堤」写襄阳大堤的意象——大堤曲本写襄阳大堤，也令人想到「大堤女」的乐府传统；「留北人」令人想到「留」写留客的意象，也令人想到「北人」写北来之人（情郎）的意象；「鲤鱼尾」「猩猩唇」令人想到「鲤鱼尾」「猩猩唇」写珍馐的意象——《吕氏春秋》「肉之美者，猩猩之唇」，也令人想到「食前方丈」的珍馐；「莫指襄阳道」令人想到「襄阳道」写襄阳的道路——大堤在襄阳，也令人想到「大道」写离别的意象；「绿浦归帆少」令人想到「绿浦」写绿水之浦的意象，也令人想到「归帆」写归船的意象——「过尽千帆皆不是」，更令人想到「归帆」写归来的盼切；「菖蒲花」令人想到「菖蒲」写端午蒲草的意象——「菖蒲花」写端午节时的娇艳，也令人想到「蒲柳之姿」的脆弱；「枫树老」令人想到「枫树」写秋枫的意象——「霜叶红于二月花」，也令人想到「老」写衰老的意象。全诗化用横塘、青云、明月、大堤、襄阳道、归帆、菖蒲花、枫树老的乐府与传统意象，以乐府写离别相思，正是李贺「瑰奇」而善用乐府意象、承相思传统写柔情与感慨的本领。

Commentary

The poem has long been counted among the finest of Li He's yuefu. Qing commentators prized it for combining 'strange and gorgeous' language with 'deep and turning' feeling, and modern readers single out 'Do not point out the road to Xiangyang, where homeward sails are few' as its hinge, since the request only makes sense if the road is what the heart cannot bear. Its principal place in literary history is as a dialogue: with Cui Hao's 'Changgan Xing', which meets a stranger at Hengtang, and with the Han 'Jiangnan', which finds the same lotus-wind a reason for joy. Read together with those poems, it shows how the yuefu woman turns from greeting to lament.

此诗历来被推为李贺乐府的名篇，也是唐人拟大堤曲的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以乐府写离别相思，深情婉转」；近人更指出「莫指襄阳道，绿浦归帆少」写离别难逢，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以十二句的短歌写尽大堤女子的美丽与别后的相思——那横塘的住处，那满桂的红纱，那青云绾的髻，那明月作的珰，那莲风江畔的春，那大堤上留的北人，那鲤鱼尾猩猩唇的亲密，那襄阳道归帆少的别恨，那菖蒲花枫树老的感慨，都写尽了女子对情人的深情与别后的相思；那「莫指襄阳道，绿浦归帆少」更写尽离别难逢的相思。此诗与崔颢《长干行》（「君家何处住？妾住在横塘」）同为写横塘女子的乐府名篇，一写邂逅，一写相思；又与汉乐府《江南》的莲风传统一脉相承，可见中国诗写女子相思的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解李贺乐府诗与唐代民歌的窗口，也是中国诗写相思的经典——那绿浦上的归帆，穿越千年，仍在诉说着大堤女子的相思。

Prosody

Form Poetry — miscellaneous-verse yuefu ballad (irregular line lengths)诗·杂言古诗（乐府）

Rhyme Irregular line lengths with changed rhymes: tang/xiang/dang in the first movement, chun/ren in the second, and a second rhyme-group (dao/shao/lao) in the close; the rhyme shifts with the sentiment.杂言，转韵（塘/香/珰、春/人、唇/道/少/老），随情转韵，音节婉转

Tone pattern A ballad of uneven length: five-syllable lines linger, three-syllable lines are brisk, and the alternation is itself a slow heartbeat — appropriate to a lament that cannot settle.此诗为杂言古诗，五言、三言相间，音节婉转，正合相思的婉转。

Reading note The poem runs to twelve lines in which five-character and three-character clauses alternate: 'My home lies at Hengtang, and red gauze...' is pentameter; 'Lotus-wind! Spring on the riverbank!' is trimeter. The long lines carry the dress and the delicacies, the short lines carry the action, and the change of rhyme at 'Do not point out the road' into the minor rhyme of dao/shao/lao prepares the desolate close. Read the first movement softly, the third briskly, and the last two lines slowly, almost speaking to oneself: that is the music this ballad asks for.此诗为杂言古诗，五言、三言相间——「妾家住横塘，红纱满桂香」「莫指襄阳道，绿浦归帆少」为五言，「莲风起，江畔春，大堤上，留北人」为三言，五言悠长、三言轻快，音节错落，婉转缠绵。全诗以乐府写相思：前四句写女子的住处与装束（妾家住横塘，红纱满桂香；青云教绾头上髻，明月与作耳边珰），中四句写留客（莲风起，江畔春，大堤上，留北人；郎食鲤鱼尾，妾食猩猩唇），后四句写别后的相思与感慨（莫指襄阳道，绿浦归帆少；今日菖蒲花，明朝枫树老）。诵读此诗，宜以柔美的语调读「青云教绾头上髻」的装束，以深情的语调读「莫指襄阳道」的不忍，结句「今日菖蒲花，明朝枫树老」要读得感慨而有余韵，方能传达出李贺乐府的深情婉转。李贺乐府以「瑰奇婉转」著称，此诗正是其拟乐府的典范。

Line by line

莫指襄阳道，绿浦归帆少

Do not point out the road to Xiangyang — few are the homeward sails on the green strait.

莫指襄阳的道，绿水之浦归帆稀少。

Do not point toward the Xiangyang road; on the green water the returning sails are few.

此联是全诗写相思的核心，以归帆写离别难逢，是千古名句。「莫指襄阳道」写莫指襄阳的道——那「莫指」写不要指看，「襄阳道」写襄阳的道路（情郎离去之路），写尽不忍指看离别之路的深情；「绿浦归帆少」写绿水之浦归帆稀少——那「绿浦」写绿水之浦，「归帆少」写归帆稀少，写尽离别难逢、归期渺茫。这句的深意在于：它以「莫指襄阳道」的不忍与「绿浦归帆少」的渺茫，写尽别后的相思——莫指襄阳的道，那「莫指」写尽不忍指看离别之路的深情——襄阳道是情郎离去的路，指之则思之，思之则痛之；绿水之浦归帆稀少，那「归帆少」写尽归期渺茫的相思——归帆稀少，正是归期难料、重逢渺茫，那「绿浦归帆少」写尽别后盼归而难归的相思；那「莫指襄阳道」写尽不忍离别，那「绿浦归帆少」写尽归期渺茫，一写不忍，一写渺茫，写尽大堤女子对情人的深切相思与别后难逢的感伤。若换作直说「离别后很难再见」，则失其深婉；唯以「莫指襄阳道」的不忍写深情、「绿浦归帆少」的渺茫写相思，写尽离别难逢的相思，也让此联成为全诗写相思的核心与千古名句。

The woman of the levee addresses herself. Do not point toward the Xiangyang road—that is the road her lover took, and pointing at it only makes the heart ache. On the green water the returning sails are few: the harbor is full of boats leaving, almost none coming back. The first line is a private command to herself not to look; the second counts the emptiness of the arrivals. Few sails is the arithmetic of waiting. To have said it was hard to meet again after parting would be a statement; the forbidden road and the rare returning sail are the waiting.

今日菖蒲花，明朝枫树老

Today the iris flowers; tomorrow the maple will be old.

今日如菖蒲花开，明朝如枫树衰老。

Today she is fresh as the calamus in flower; tomorrow she will be old as the autumn maple.

此联是全诗的收束，以比兴写红颜易老，写尽时光易逝的感慨。「今日菖蒲花」写今日如菖蒲花——那「菖蒲花」写端午时节的蒲花，写尽今日的娇艳；「明朝枫树老」写明朝如枫树老——那「枫树老」写枫树的衰老，写尽明朝的衰老。这句的深意在于：它以「今日菖蒲花」与「明朝枫树老」的比兴，写尽红颜易老、时光易逝的感慨——今日如菖蒲花开，那「菖蒲花」写尽今日的娇艳——菖蒲花开，正值端午，正是娇艳之时；明朝如枫树老，那「枫树老」写尽明朝的衰老——枫树虽美，终将老去；今日的菖蒲花，明朝的枫树老，那「今日」与「明朝」的对照，写尽红颜易老、时光易逝的感慨——今日娇艳，明朝衰老，岁月不居，正是女子对青春易逝、别后难逢的感伤；前句写尽别后的相思，此联以比兴收束，写尽红颜易老、相思难寄的深婉感慨，那「今日菖蒲花，明朝枫树老」以花木的荣枯写尽时光的易逝，也让此联成为全诗收束的千古名句。若换作直说「青春易逝」，则失其比兴；唯以「今日菖蒲花」与「明朝枫树老」的比兴写红颜易老，写尽时光易逝的感慨，也让此联成为全诗的收束。

The closing turns to the brevity of beauty. Today she is fresh as the calamus in flower—calamus blooms at the Dragon Boat Festival, a brief, bright beauty; tomorrow she will be old as the autumn maple. The contrast of today and tomorrow is the whole fear: youth is as short as the flowering, and the lover's return is so uncertain that the bloom may be gone before he comes. The plant images carry the unspoken thought. To have said youth passes quickly would be a proverb; the calamus in flower and the aging maple are the years.

Study

Word focus

莫 The 'mo' of 'mo zhi Xiangyang dao' — 'do not'. It is a plea disguised as an instruction, and it does the work of the whole poem: by forbidding the mention of the road, the speaker keeps both the memory and the departure out at arm's length. 「莫指襄阳道」之「莫」字是写深情的关键字，一个「莫」字写尽不忍指看离别之路的深情。莫者，不要、莫要也。李贺以「莫指」写襄阳道，这个「莫」字至少有双重意味：其一，写不忍之情——那「莫指襄阳道」写莫指襄阳的道，那「莫」字写尽不忍指看离别之路的深情——指之则思之，思之则痛之，故莫指；其二，写劝慰之语——那「莫」字更是写劝慰——莫指襄阳道，正是女子对情郎（或对己）的劝慰，那「莫」字写尽劝慰中的深情。以「莫」字写深情，正是李贺写相思的枢纽——若换作「勿」「休」等字，则或失其口语的深情，或失其与「绿浦归帆少」的配合；唯「莫」字，以一字写尽不忍指看离别之路的深情与劝慰，与「绿浦归帆少」的渺茫相合，写尽别后的相思，也让「莫指襄阳道」成为全诗写相思的名句。

少 The 'shao' of 'lv pu gui fan shao' — 'few, scarce'. Not 'none': a rare sail still leaves the heart something to watch for, and that residue of possibility is precisely what makes the parting hard to accept. 「绿浦归帆少」之「少」字是写渺茫的关键字，一个「少」字写尽归期渺茫的相思。少者，稀少、不多也。李贺以「归帆少」写绿浦，这个「少」字至少有双重意味：其一，写归帆之稀——那「绿浦归帆少」写绿水之浦归帆稀少，那「少」字写尽归帆的稀少——归帆稀少，正是归人难见；其二，写归期之渺——那「少」字更是写渺茫——归帆少，则归期渺茫，那「少」字写尽重逢难期的渺茫与相思。以「少」字写渺茫，正是李贺写相思的枢纽——若换作「无」「稀」等字，则或失其与「莫指襄阳道」的配合，或失其写归帆少、归期渺茫的含蓄；唯「少」字，以一字写尽归帆稀少、归期渺茫的相思，与「莫指襄阳道」的不忍相合，写尽离别难逢的相思，也让「绿浦归帆少」成为全诗写相思的名句。

大堤曲