迢迢牵牛星

Meaning

This poem of the anonymous Nineteen Old Poems begins with the Cowherd Star on the far bank of the celestial river and the bright weaving girl gazing across at him, unable to come near. It then moves through scenes of declining health, of the distress of appearing before the ruler, of scorn for the far-projects of the First Emperor and for the weary progresses of King Mu of Zhou, of the new white in the temples against the chrysanthemum that is the same yellow as last year, and of the certainty that all ages end in death. It closes with the image of a long night in which cups are passed from guest to guest.

迢迢牵牛星，杳在河之阳。粲粲黄姑女，耿耿遥相望。鸎狂应有恨，蝶舞已无多。揖让月在手，动摇风满怀。病态如衰弱，厌厌向五年。衰颜一病难牵复，晓殿君临颇自羞。冷笑秦皇经远略，静怜姬满苦时巡。鬓从今日添新白，菊是去年依旧黄。万古到头归一死，醉乡葬地有高原。人生不满百，刚作千年画。日暎仙云薄，秋高天碧深。乌照始潜辉，龙烛便争秉。凝珠满露枝，游飏日已西。肃穆寒初至，九重开扇鹄。四牖炳灯鱼，羽觞无算酌。倾盌更为寿，深卮递酬宾。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The poem opens with the far-off Cowherd Star hidden on the northern bank of the river, and the bright weaving girl on the other side, looking across at him from a distance that cannot be crossed. From there the poem moves through many scenes — the oriole's anger, the fading illness, the shame of the morning hall, the scorn for the First Emperor's campaigns, the white temples against the old yellow chrysanthemum, and the certainty that every age must die — until it closes with cups passed from guest to guest. [Structure] The poem is built as a chain of coupled lines rather than as a single argument. Each couplet is complete in itself and then is succeeded by another, and the only thing that holds them together is the movement of feeling from looking across to drinking away. [Imagery] The controlling image is distance: the far star, the river between, the wind filled in the breast, the light of the sun hidden, dew on the branches, the sun already in the west. Nothing is brought closer. What the poem adds at the end is the cup, which is the one object that can be passed from hand to hand. [Diction] The reduplicated words are the poem's principal tool: 迢迢 for distance, 粲粲 for brightness, 耿耿 for the fixed look of staring. 耿耿 especially means both bright and absorbed, so that the looking and the light are one thing. In the last line 递, to pass along, is what makes the drinking a mutual act rather than a solitary one.

【白话串讲】 古诗十九首《迢迢牵牛星》：“迢迢牵牛星，皎皎河汉女”——“纤纤擢素手，札札弄机杼”——“终日不成章，泣涕零如雨”——“河汉清且浅，相去复几许”——“盈盈一水间，脉脉不得语”——他写牛郎织女——脉脉不得语。 【意象与手法】 以“迢迢牵牛星，皎皎河汉女”对举起兴；“纤纤擢素手，札札弄机杼”以叠字写织女劳作；“终日不成章，泣涕零如雨”写哀伤；“河汉清且浅，相去复几许”以“清且浅”写阻隔之近却难渡；结以“盈盈一水间，脉脉不得语”。大量叠字，情景交融。 【情感与主旨】 借牛郎织女传说写人间男女相思而不得相会的悲苦，以“盈盈一水间”写咫尺天涯的无奈，是《古诗十九首》中咏叹离别相思的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“盈盈一水间，脉脉不得语”以盈盈脉脉写咫尺天涯；“纤纤擢素手，札札弄机杼”以叠字写织女之态。

Allusions

Almost every line carries an allusion. 牵牛星, the Cowherd star, is the star of the Herdboy of the folk legend, whose wife the Weaving Girl, that is 黄姑, waited for him on the other side of the river; this poem uses the legend to begin with a separation that no one can cross. 鸎狂, the oriole's madness, and 蝶舞, the butterflies that dance, are images of impulses that cannot be satisfied. 秦皇, the First Emperor, is the builder of the great empire, and his 经远略, his far-reaching plans, are the ambition that the poem mocks. 姬满, King Mu of Zhou, is the ruler who drove his horses westward in search of the source of life, and the poem pities him for the trouble of his progresses. 人生不满百 is a line of the old verse, and its meaning here is that a hundred years is the limit and there is no point in painting for a thousand. 羽觞, the feathered cup, comes from the custom of the winding-stream poetry parties, where cups were set floating on the water; 倾盌 and 深卮 are the same custom in its more intense form. The chrysanthemum that is the same yellow as last year is the comparison that the years do not really pass, only the self does.

诗中「迢迢牵牛星」「杳在河之阳」「粲粲黄姑女」「耿耿遥相望」「鸎狂应有恨」「蝶舞已无多」「揖让月在手」「动摇风满怀」「病态如衰弱」「厌厌向五年」「衰颜一病难牵复」「晓殿君临颇自羞」「冷笑秦皇经远略」「静怜姬满苦时巡」「鬓从今日添新白」「菊是去年依旧黄」「万古到头归一死」「醉乡葬地有高原」「人生不满百」「刚作千年画」「日暎仙云薄」「秋高天碧深」「乌照始潜辉」「龙烛便争秉」「凝珠满露枝」「游飏日已西」「肃穆寒初至」「九重开扇鹄」「四牖炳灯鱼」「羽觞无算酌」「倾盌更为寿」「深卮递酬宾」等语，皆含典故故实。「迢迢牵牛星」用牵牛星之典，写迢迢牵牛星；「杳在河之阳」写杳在河之阳；「粲粲黄姑女」写粲粲黄姑女（黄姑写织女）；「耿耿遥相望」写耿耿遥相望；「鸎狂应有恨」写鸎狂应有恨；「蝶舞已无多」写蝶舞已无多；「揖让月在手」写揖让月在手；「动摇风满怀」写动摇风满怀；「病态如衰弱」写病态如衰弱；「厌厌向五年」写厌厌向五年；「衰颜一病难牵复」写衰颜一病难牵复；「晓殿君临颇自羞」写晓殿君临颇自羞；「冷笑秦皇经远略」写冷笑秦皇经远略；「静怜姬满苦时巡」用周穆王姬满西巡之典，写静怜姬满苦时巡；「鬓从今日添新白」写鬓从今日添新白；「菊是去年依旧黄」写菊是去年依旧黄；「万古到头归一死」写万古到头归一死；「醉乡葬地有高原」写醉乡葬地有高原；「人生不满百」用古诗人生不满百之意，写人生不满百；「刚作千年画」写刚作千年画；「日暎仙云薄」写日暎仙云薄；「秋高天碧深」写秋高天碧深；「乌照始潜辉」写乌照始潜辉；「龙烛便争秉」写龙烛便争秉；「凝珠满露枝」写凝珠满露枝；「游飏日已西」写游飏日已西；「肃穆寒初至」写肃穆寒初至；「九重开扇鹄」写九重开扇鹄；「四牖炳灯鱼」写四牖炳灯鱼；「羽觞无算酌」用羽觞之典（曲水流觞），写羽觞无算酌；「倾盌更为寿」写倾盌更为寿；「深卮递酬宾」写深卮递酬宾。诗人以牵牛织女、周穆王西巡、人生不满百、羽觞等语入诗，不着痕迹，而把写景感怀之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。

Commentary

This poem of the Nineteen Old Poems is a work of writing on the occasion, and has been among the most reprinted of the collection since ancient anthologies began to select the old verse. Later readers have valued it for its plainness and for the way the feeling is left in the scenery. Its standing rests on three things. In theme, the poem joins the long line of Chinese verse that sets the star and the river, or the passing of the years, or a single illness against the certainty of death, and does so without ever arguing the case. In language, the reduplicated words and the accumulation of scenes are the manner of the anonymous verse of the Han, and later imitations of it, from the poetry of the Six Dynasties down to the songs of the Tang, are variants on this manner. In feeling, the ending on the passing of cups is what gives the poem its peculiar calm; the poem is about death and ends with a drink, and the two facts are left side by side without comment. For a modern reader this is one of the most accessible of the old poems, because its way of feeling is our own.

这首《迢迢牵牛星》，是写景感怀之作，写迢迢牵牛星、粲粲黄姑女、耿耿遥相望之情，含蓄深婉。起「迢迢牵牛星，杳在河之阳。粲粲黄姑女，耿耿遥相望」——迢迢牵牛星（用牵牛星之典），杳在河之阳，粲粲黄姑女，耿耿遥相望。写迢迢牵牛星：迢迢牵牛星、杳在河之阳，粲粲黄姑女、耿耿遥相望——牵牛星杳在河阳、黄姑女遥相望；「鸎狂应有恨，蝶舞已无多。揖让月在手，动摇风满怀」——鸎狂应有恨，蝶舞已无多，揖让月在手，动摇风满怀。写鸎狂应有恨：鸎狂应有恨、蝶舞已无多，揖让月在手、动摇风满怀——鸎狂蝶舞、月在手风满怀；「病态如衰弱，厌厌向五年。衰颜一病难牵复，晓殿君临颇自羞」——病态如衰弱，厌厌向五年，衰颜一病难牵复，晓殿君临颇自羞。写病态如衰弱：病态如衰弱、厌厌向五年，衰颜一病难牵复、晓殿君临颇自羞——病态衰弱、厌厌五年、衰颜难牵复；「冷笑秦皇经远略，静怜姬满苦时巡」——冷笑秦皇经远略，静怜姬满（用周穆王姬满之典）苦时巡。写冷笑秦皇经远略：冷笑秦皇经远略、静怜姬满苦时巡——秦皇经远略、姬满苦时巡；「鬓从今日添新白，菊是去年依旧黄。万古到头归一死，醉乡葬地有高原」——鬓从今日添新白，菊是去年依旧黄，万古到头归一死，醉乡葬地有高原。写鬓从今日添新白：鬓从今日添新白、菊是去年依旧黄，万古到头归一死、醉乡葬地有高原——鬓添新白、菊依旧黄、万古归一死；「人生不满百，刚作千年画」——人生不满百（用古诗人生不满百之意），刚作千年画。写人生不满百：人生不满百、刚作千年画——人生不满百、刚作千年画；「日暎仙云薄，秋高天碧深。乌照始潜辉，龙烛便争秉」——日暎仙云薄，秋高天碧深，乌照始潜辉，龙烛便争秉。写日暎仙云薄：日暎仙云薄、秋高天碧深，乌照始潜辉、龙烛便争秉——仙云薄天碧深、乌照潜辉龙烛争秉；「凝珠满露枝，游飏日已西。肃穆寒初至，九重开扇鹄」——凝珠满露枝，游飏日已西，肃穆寒初至，九重开扇鹄。写凝珠满露枝：凝珠满露枝、游飏日已西，肃穆寒初至、九重开扇鹄——凝珠露枝、游飏日西、肃穆寒初至；「四牖炳灯鱼，羽觞无算酌。倾盌更为寿，深卮递酬宾」——四牖炳灯鱼，羽觞（用羽觞之典）无算酌，倾盌更为寿，深卮递酬宾。写深卮递酬宾：四牖炳灯鱼、羽觞无算酌，倾盌更为寿、深卮递酬宾——灯鱼羽觞、倾盌更寿、深卮递酬宾。这「倾盌更为寿，深卮递酬宾」，是全诗之结：以深卮递酬宾写其感怀。全诗含蓄深婉，以景写情，正是古诗中的名篇。

Prosody

Line by line

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