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汉 Han · 乐府 Yuefu ballad

悲歌

A Sad Song

汉乐府

Han Yuefu

思乡/羁旅Homesickness/Travel 隐逸/忧愤Seclusion/Grief

悲歌可以当泣，远望可以当归。
思念故乡，郁郁累累。
欲归家无人，欲渡河无船。
心思不能言，肠中车轮转。

A sad song may serve as weeping, a distant look may serve as returning home.
Longing for my homeland, so heavy, so thick.
I want to go home but there's no one, I want to cross the river but there's no boat.
My heart's thoughts cannot be told; my bowels turn like cartwheels.

Listen

Meaning

A sad song can stand for weeping, looking far can stand for returning home. But the longing for home is heavy and oppressive. There is no one at home to return to, no boat to cross the river. The heart's sorrow cannot be spoken; it churns like a cartwheel in the bowels.

悲歌可以当作哭泣，远望可以当作归家。思念故乡，愁思郁郁累累。想要归家却无人（可归），想要渡河却没有船。心事不能言传，愁肠如车轮转。

Appreciation

This is a homesick poem from the Han Yuefu 'Miscellaneous Songs', author anonymous, from the late Eastern Han to Wei-Jin period. An era of chaos, with many displaced and soldiers far from home. The poem begins with a folk saying: a sad song as weeping, looking far as returning. It then depicts the hopelessness: no one at home, no boat to cross. The final couplet uses a striking metaphor: the heart's sorrow churns like cartwheels in the bowels. The poem is only seven lines, using straightforward folk language and repetition, but the emotion is deep and painful.

【白话串讲】 “悲歌可以当泣，远望可以当归”——汉乐府写游子：唱悲歌当哭泣，望远方当回家。“欲归家无人，欲渡河无船”——想回家，家里没人；想渡河，没有船。“心思不能言，肠中车轮转”——心事说不出口，肠子像车轮一样转。【意象与手法】诗仅七句，却以民歌特有的直白与复沓取胜【情感与主旨】《悲歌》为汉乐府“杂曲歌辞”中的思乡之作，作者无名氏，约产生于东汉末年至魏晋之际【名句点睛】本诗为古诗鉴赏常见短章，考点：一、民间谣谚——“悲歌当泣，远望当归”的代偿心理

Background

'Sad Song' is a homesick poem from the Han Yuefu 'Miscellaneous Songs', author anonymous, dating from the late Eastern Han to Wei-Jin period. The world was in turmoil, people displaced, soldiers far from home. The poem begins with the folk saying 'sad song as weeping, looking far as returning', and directly describes the desperate situation of wanting to return but having no way, wanting to cross but having no boat. It is a short realist piece of Han Yuefu that 'feels sorrow and joy, and is inspired by events', echoing the longing for home in the 'Nineteen Old Poems'.

《悲歌》为汉乐府古辞，是写游子思乡的名篇。全诗：悲歌可以当泣，远望可以当归；思念故乡，郁郁累累；欲归家无人，欲渡河无船；心思不能言，肠中车轮转。全诗以悲歌、远望写思乡之深，是汉乐府中写游子思乡的代表作。

Art

With only seven lines, the poem wins by the directness and repetition typical of folk songs. The opening adapts a folk saying, using the compensatory psychology of 'song for tears' and 'gazing for home' to express helplessness. The reduplicated words 'yu yu lei lei' convey the thickness of sorrow. The parallel lines 'wish to return but no one, wish to cross but no boat' cut off all hope, forcing out the final masterpiece 'heart's thoughts cannot be spoken, bowels turn like cartwheels'. The short, irregular syntax suits the irrepressible grief; the language is plain but pierces to the bone.

《悲歌》艺术上以反常的写法与比喻的沉痛见长。全诗六句，层层写来：首二句写悲歌远望——“悲歌可以当泣，远望可以当归”写以悲歌当泣、以远望当归；三四句写思乡之深——“思念故乡，郁郁累累”写思念故乡、郁郁累累；五六句写归家之难——“欲归家无人，欲渡河无船”写欲归无家、欲渡无船；末二句写心思难言——“心思不能言，肠中车轮转”写心思难言、肠如轮转。全诗以反常写法写思乡之深，以比喻写其痛，正是汉乐府写游子思乡的笔法。

Allusions

'Sad song as weeping, looking far as returning' is a folk saying from pre-Qin and Han, as noted in 'Yuefu Explanations'. Its structure can be traced to an ancient poem: 'Looking far can serve as returning, traveling can serve as loosening the belt.' The reduplicated 'yu yu lei lei' follows the tradition of 'worried heart' in the Book of Songs. The metaphor of 'bowels turning like cartwheels' is fresh and influential, later inspiring Li Bai's line 'sorrowful bowels turning like wheels'.

《悲歌》用典少而意象自明。“悲歌可以当泣”写以悲歌代替哭泣；“远望可以当归”写以远望代替归家；“郁郁累累”写愁思郁结；“肠中车轮转”以车轮之转写肠中之痛。全诗以这些意象写思乡之深，不用深典而悲痛自深，正是汉乐府以比兴写情的笔法。

Commentary

This poem is collected in 'Collection of Yuefu Poems' under 'Miscellaneous Songs', attributed to 'anonymous'. The 'Yuefu Explanations' says: 'Sad Song is about longing for home.' Ming dynasty scholar Hu Yinglin praised Han Yuefu as 'plain but not vulgar, shallow yet deep'. Modern scholar Xiao Difei called it 'the shorter the words, the longer the emotion'. The metaphor of 'bowels turning like cartwheels' was praised by Yu Guanying as 'the wonder of writing sorrow, unmatched in any age'.

《悲歌》是汉乐府中的名篇，也是中国诗歌中写游子思乡、以反常写法写情的代表作。此诗写思乡之深，向为论者称道。论者多赏其反常的写法——“悲歌可以当泣，远望可以当归”写以悲歌当泣、以远望当归，正是思乡情切的反常之笔；“心思不能言，肠中车轮转”写肠如轮转，更见其痛。此诗以反常写情、以比喻写痛，正是汉乐府写游子思乡的代表作。

Prosody

Form Han Yuefu · Miscellaneous Songs (irregular lines)杂言乐府（汉乐府）

Rhyme qi, gui, lei, chuan, yan, zhuan (ancient rhyme scheme, lines of varying length)《悲歌》为汉乐府杂言诗，六句，押平声韵。此诗用韵：归、累（微部）、船、转（元部），音节低回。

Tone pattern Irregular lines, not following fixed pattern, free folk style汉乐府杂言诗以音节自由、情致质朴见长。此诗以悲歌远望起，以肠中车轮转收，音节低回而沉痛。全诗以杂言贯底，声调与游子思乡的内容相合，是汉乐府中写思乡的一路。

Reading note A short Han Yuefu homesick poem, plain language yet deep feeling; 'bowels turn like cartwheels' is a famous line through the ages.《悲歌》为汉乐府古辞，是写游子思乡的名篇。此诗以“悲歌可以当泣，远望可以当归”写反常之思乡，以“欲归家无人，欲渡河无船”写归家之难，以“肠中车轮转”写思乡之痛。以反常写情、以比喻写痛，正是汉乐府写游子思乡的代表作。

Line by line

悲歌可以当泣，远望可以当归。

A sad song may serve as weeping, a distant look may serve as returning home. – A folk adage opening, expressing helplessness through compensation: song for tears, gazing for home.

悲歌可以代替哭泣，远望可以代替归家。

A sad song can stand in for weeping; gazing far off can stand in for going home.

首二句写悲歌远望，是全诗思乡之情的起点。“悲歌可以当泣”写以悲歌当泣——“悲歌”写悲慨之歌，“当泣”写代替哭泣——悲歌可以当泣；“远望可以当归”写以远望当归——“远望”写向远方眺望，“当归”写代替归家——远望可以当归。两句写悲歌远望：悲歌可以当泣，远望可以当归。以“悲歌当泣”写有泪而不能泣，以“远望当归”写有家而不能归，正是汉乐府写游子思乡的反常之笔——欲泣不能，欲归不得，唯有悲歌远望。这一反常写法，写尽思乡之深。

The folk song opens on substitutes. A sad song can stand in for weeping; gazing far off can stand in for going home. The word stand-in is the whole poem: the wanderer has neither tears nor a home to go to, so he improvises. A song as a weep, a long look as a journey—the replacements are the deprivation. The plainness is the genre's power. To have said I sang instead of crying and looked toward home instead of going would be a story; the song standing in for weeping, the gaze standing in for the journey, are the substitutes.

思念故乡，郁郁累累。

Thinking of my homeland, so heavy and thick. – Reduplicated words convey dense sorrow.

思念故乡，愁思郁郁、重重累积。

I think of my hometown, my thoughts heavy and tangled, piling up.

三四句写思乡之深，是全诗情感的核心。“思念故乡”写思念故乡——“思念”写思念，“故乡”写故乡——思念故乡；“郁郁累累”写愁思郁结——“郁郁”写愁思郁结，“累累”写重重累积——郁郁累累，愁思重重。两句写思乡之深：思念故乡，郁郁累累。以“思念故乡”直写思乡，以“郁郁累累”写愁思之重，正是汉乐府直抒胸臆的笔法——一个“累”字，写尽思乡之重。

The thought itself. I think of my hometown, my thoughts heavy and tangled, piling up. The two reduplicated words (heavy, piled) are the physical weight of longing—the heart as a clogged thing. The poem does not say why or what it misses; the weight is the whole content. To have said I missed my home deeply would be a statement; the piled, tangled heaviness is the missing.

欲归家无人，欲渡河无船。

I wish to return but there's no one at home, I wish to cross the river but there's no boat. – Parallel structure cuts off all hope, leading to the climax.

想回家，家中无人；想渡河，河上无船。

I want to go home, but there is no one at home; I want to cross the river, but there is no boat.

五六句写归家之难，是全诗思乡之痛的加深。“欲归家无人”写归家无人——“欲归”写想要回家，“家无人”写家中无人——想回家，家中无人；“欲渡河无船”写渡河无船——“欲渡河”写想要渡河，“无船”写没有船——想渡河，河上无船。两句写归家之难：欲归家无人，欲渡河无船。以“欲归家无人”写归而无家，以“欲渡河无船”写渡而无船，正是汉乐府写游子归家之难的笔法——欲归不能，欲渡不能，进退两难。

The impossible conditions. I want to go home, but there is no one at home—the family is gone; I want to cross the river, but there is no boat. Two symmetrical impossibilities: home exists as an absence, the river exists as a barrier. The parallel structure is the folk-song method, and the double refusal is the wanderer's double bind. To have said I could not get home would be a fact; the no one at home and the no boat on the river are the impossibility.

心思不能言，肠中车轮转。

My heart's thoughts cannot be told, my bowels turn like cartwheels. – Vivid metaphor for an unutterable grief that churns inside.

心中的愁思不能说出口，肠中如车轮般转动。

The thoughts in my heart cannot be spoken; like a cart wheel, they turn and turn in my bowels.

末二句写心思难言，是全诗思乡之痛的归结。“心思不能言”写心思难言——“心思”写心中愁思，“不能言”写不能说出口——心中的愁思，不能说出口；“肠中车轮转”写肠如轮转——“肠中”写肠中，“车轮转”写如车轮转动——肠中如车轮般转动。两句写心思难言：心思不能言，肠中车轮转。以“不能言”写愁思之难言，以“车轮转”写肠中之痛如车轮辗转，正是汉乐府以比喻写痛之深的笔法——愁思难言，痛如轮转。

The closing image. The thoughts in my heart cannot be spoken; like a cart wheel, they turn and turn in my bowels. The metaphor of the wheel in the intestines is raw and bodily: grief as a revolting, unceasing mechanism inside the body. The folk simile is deliberately homely. To have said I was heartbroken and could not speak would be a cliché; the wheel turning in the bowels is the heartbreak.

Study

Word focus

当泣 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “悲歌可以当泣”之“当泣”，写代替哭泣，是全诗反常写法的关键词。“当”写代替，“泣”写哭泣——悲歌可以当泣。这一词写泣之难：不是以歌代泣之常态，而是欲泣而代之以歌；不是泣之可任，而是泣之难任。以“当泣”写反常，正是汉乐府写游子思乡之深的笔法——有泪难泣，唯歌当之。

当归 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “远望可以当归”之“当归”，写代替归家，是全诗反常写法的关键词。“当”写代替，“归”写归家——远望可以当归。这一词写归之难：不是以望代归之常理，而是欲归而代之以望；不是归之可至，而是归之不得。以“当归”写反常，正是汉乐府写游子思乡之深的笔法——有家难归，唯望当之。

郁郁累累 Reduplicated words, describing the heaviness and thickness of sorrow; continues the tradition of reduplication in the Book of Songs. “郁郁累累”之“郁郁累累”，写愁思郁结、重重累积，是全诗写思乡之深的关键词。“郁郁”写愁思郁结，“累累”写重重累积——郁郁累累，愁思重重。这一词写愁思之重：不是一时之愁，而是郁郁；不是单一之思，而是累累。以“郁郁累累”写思乡，正是汉乐府直写愁思的笔法——叠用二字，写尽思乡之重。

车轮转 Cartwheel turning; metaphor for the churning of the bowels/heart, turning abstract grief into concrete form, fresh and striking. “肠中车轮转”之“车轮转”，写肠中如车轮转动，是全诗写思乡之痛的比喻词。“车轮”写车轮，“转”写转动——肠中如车轮般转动。这一词以“车轮转”喻肠中之痛：不是静止之痛，而是轮转；不是可忍之痛，而是辗转难安。以“车轮转”写肠中之痛，正是汉乐府以比喻写痛之深的笔法——愁思如轮，肠中辗转。

悲歌