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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

韩冬郎即席为诗相送一座尽惊他日余方追吟连宵侍坐裴回久之句有老成之风因成二绝寄酬兼呈畏之员外·其一

Written on the Spot for Han Donglang as He Takes Leave, in Which His Verse Shakes the Whole Assembly — One of Two Quatrains

李商隐

Li Shangyin

送别Farewell 称赏Praising a Younger Poet

十岁裁诗走马成，冷灰残烛动离情。
桐花万里丹山路，雏凤清于老凤声。

At ten he traced a poem, struck off as the horses run;
Cold ashes, a spent candle — the parting wakes the heart.
Ten thousand li of red mountain road beneath the paulownia bloom;
The young phoenix sings purer than the old.

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Meaning

Li Shangyin sent this quatrain to Han Yao ( courtesy name Zhi guang... ). At a farewell feast Han Yao, then only ten years old, wrote a poem on the spot that startled everyone present; Li Shangyin recalled it afterwards and sent two quatrains. The first sets the scene — a boy composing as fast as horses gallop, beside cold ashes and a spent candle — and then prophesies for him the image of the fledgling phoenix singing clearer than its sire.

十岁裁诗走马成，冷灰残烛动离情。桐花万里丹山路，雏凤清于老凤声。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] A boy of ten composed a poem on a farewell occasion, faster than a horse at a gallop; Li Shangyin recalls the cold ashes and the spent candle, and says the young phoenix sings better than the old.
[Structure] The first couplet is the event, the second the verdict; the poem turns from plain record to a forecast without any connective.
[Imagery] Two sets of images are kept apart and then brought together: the cold, dark, transient — ash, candle, parting, road — and the bright, distant, permanent — ten thousand li, red mountain, the phoenix.
[Tone] The poem is short and its praise is not effusive: a comparison, not a compliment. The phrase qing yu ('clearer than') is quietly radical, and keeps its edge — the young may surpass their elders.

【白话串讲】李商隐写《韩冬郎即席为诗相送》：“十岁裁诗走马成，冷灰残烛动离情”——“桐花万里丹山路，雏凤清于老凤声”——他写韩偓十岁作诗——“雏凤清于老凤声”——青出于蓝。【意象与手法】此诗写赞许，以赞许写雏凤，是李商隐的名篇。前二句写即席赋诗：「十岁裁诗走马成，冷灰残烛动离情」写十岁裁诗走马成、冷灰残烛动离情——写尽即席赋诗的才思；后二句写赞许雏凤：「桐花万里丹山路，雏凤清于老凤声」写桐花万里丹山路、雏凤清于老凤声——写尽雏凤的才华。全诗以赞许写雏凤，写尽即席赋诗的才思与雏凤的才华，是李商隐的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写赞许，以赞许写雏凤，是李商隐的名篇。此诗为李商隐寄酬韩偓（小字冬郎）而作。韩偓之父韩瞻字畏之，与李商隐为连襟。一次饯别宴上，年仅十岁的韩偓即席赋诗，满座皆惊；李商隐事后追忆，作二绝寄酬，其一即此诗。此诗写即席赋诗：十岁裁诗走马成，冷灰残烛动离情——写十岁裁诗走马成、冷灰残烛动离情，写尽即席赋诗的才思；桐花万里丹山路，雏凤清于老凤声——写桐花万里丹山路、雏凤清于老凤声，写尽雏凤的才华。全诗以赞许写雏凤——那「十岁裁诗走马成」写尽即席赋诗的才思，「雏凤清于老凤声」写尽雏凤的才华，写尽即席赋诗的才思与雏凤的才华，是理解李商隐赠答诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「十岁裁诗走马成，冷灰残烛动离情」写即席赋诗的才思；「桐花万里丹山路，雏凤清于老凤声」写雏凤的才华；以及全诗以赞许写雏凤、以比喻写才华的手法。

Background

Li Shangyin (c. 813–858), courtesy name Yishan, of Huai, was the greatest of the late Tang poets, paired with Du Mu as the 'Lesser Li and Du'. The subject, Han Yao (c. 842–923), courtesy name Zhiguang, was known by his childhood name Donglang; his father Han Zhan, courtesy name Weizhi, was Li Shangyin's brother-in-law. According to Li Shangyin's own preface, at a farewell banstalled in Dali 5 (851) the ten-year-old Han wrote a poem on the spot that everyone present marvelled at; Li Shangyin afterwards recalled the lines 'about waiting all night and sitting beside him, pacing long' and judged them the mark of an old hand, and sent two quatrains in reply. Han Yao later became a well-known poet himself, which is exactly what the poem predicts.

此诗写赞许，以赞许写雏凤，是李商隐的名篇。李商隐（约813—约858），字义山，号玉谿生，怀州河内（今河南沁阳）人，晚唐诗人，与杜牧合称「小李杜」，与温庭筠合称「温李」。此诗为李商隐寄酬韩偓（小字冬郎）而作。韩偓之父韩瞻字畏之，与李商隐为连襟。一次饯别宴上，年仅十岁的韩偓即席赋诗，满座皆惊；李商隐事后追忆，作二绝寄酬，其一即此诗。此诗写即席赋诗：「十岁裁诗走马成，冷灰残烛动离情」写十岁裁诗走马成、冷灰残烛动离情——写尽即席赋诗的才思（十岁裁诗走马成，冷灰残烛动离情）；「桐花万里丹山路，雏凤清于老凤声」写桐花万里丹山路、雏凤清于老凤声——写尽雏凤的才华（桐花万里丹山路，雏凤清于老凤声）。全诗以赞许写雏凤，写尽即席赋诗的才思与雏凤的才华，是理解李商隐赠答诗的重要篇章。韩偓（约842—约923），字致光，小字冬郎，京兆万年人，晚唐诗人，后为李商隐之甥。据李商隐《韩冬郎即席为诗相送》诗序，大中五年（851）李商隐赴梓州幕府，饯别宴上十岁的韩偓即席赋诗，一座皆惊，李商隐追吟成二绝寄酬。韩偓后成名于诗坛，其诗清新婉丽，与李商隐的赏识不无关系。

Art

The poem's eloquence rests on a single comparison and on the restraint around it. The first couplet is almost documentary: a boy of ten, a poem made while the horses are still moving, and the cold grey of a party that has run down — the ash and the candle are the only decoration, and they are chosen for what they waste. The second couplet then changes the scale twice: the road becomes ten thousand li, and the bird becomes a phoenix. The line 'the young phoenix sings purer than the old' is a comparison made in three characters (qingyu), and it does not merely praise — it claims the young can surpass the old, which for a man praising his brother-in-law's son is both tactful and pointed. 'Ten thousand li of red mountain road beneath the paulownia bloom' supplies a background of wide vermilion distance before the bird appears, so it seems to arrive from far away rather than be introduced. The whole poem is fourteen characters of praise in four lines, and its charm is that the praise is delivered as an image rather than as flattery.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以白描写才思。「十岁裁诗走马成」以白描写才思——那「十岁」「走马成」写尽十岁的速成，以白描写尽即席赋诗的才思。其二，以写景写离情。「冷灰残烛动离情」以写景写离情——那「冷灰残烛」写尽宴散的冷清，以写景写尽离别的深情。其三，以比喻写雏凤。「雏凤清于老凤声」以比喻写雏凤——那「雏凤」写尽雏凤的比喻，以比喻写尽雏凤的才华。其四，以铺陈写祝愿。「桐花万里丹山路」以铺陈写祝愿——那「万里丹山路」写尽丹山的远阔，以铺陈写尽对雏凤的祝愿。此外，此诗前二句写即席赋诗的才思，后二句写雏凤的才华，由实及赞，正是赠答诗「先叙后赞」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以赞许写雏凤，写尽即席赋诗的才思与雏凤的才华，是李商隐的代表作。此诗还善于以「桐花万里」的铺陈写凤鸟高翔的远景——那「桐花万里丹山路」写桐花遍山、丹路万里，正是以远景为雏凤出场作铺垫的写法。又善以「清于」二字写比较——雏凤之声清于老凤，一个「清」字写尽后生可畏，也暗含对韩瞻（畏之）「老凤」的敬意，赞其子而不失其礼。

Allusions

Zoumacheng sets the boy beside the classic topoi of quick composition — Cao Zhi's seven steps to a poem, and the later image of writing while leaning on a horse, to be had at once. Lenghui canzhu belongs to the vocabulary of the extinguished feast and recalls Li Shangyin's own line 'the candle turns to ash and only then does the weeping end'. Tonghua and Danshu come from the Classic of the South, where the phoenix's home is the vermilion hill of Danshu, and from the belief that the phoenix will not alight except on the paulownia tree — so the tree's bloom is fitting background for the bird. Chufeng and laofeng are ordinary words; the point is that Li Shangyin makes a household image into a public omen. The allusions all run towards the earliest and purest tradition rather than the late courtly one.

此诗的用语深植于赠答与赞许的传统。「走马成」令人想到「走马成」写才思敏捷的意象——曹植「七步成诗」，也令人想到「倚马可待」的意象；「冷灰残烛」令人想到「冷灰残烛」写宴散的意象——也令人想到「蜡炬成灰泪始干」（李商隐）的意象；「桐花」令人想到「桐花」写梧桐花的意象——也令人想到「桐花万里丹山路」的意象；「丹山」令人想到「丹山」写丹穴山的意象——《山海经》丹穴之山有凤凰，也令人想到「凤栖梧桐」的意象；「雏凤」令人想到「雏凤」写小凤凰的意象——也令人想到「雏凤清于老凤声」的名句；「老凤」令人想到「老凤」写老凤凰的意象——也令人想到「凤毛麟角」的意象。全诗化用走马成、冷灰残烛、桐花丹山、雏凤老凤的意象典故，以赞许写雏凤，正是李商隐「深婉」之外亦见明快、承赠答传统写赞许的本领。「丹山」典出《山海经·南山经》——丹穴之山「有鸟焉，其状如鸡，五采而文，名曰凤皇」，是凤凰所居之地；又传说凤凰非梧桐不栖、非竹实不食，桐花正是凤鸟栖息的象征。李商隐以「桐花万里丹山路」为雏凤设置高远洁净的背景，正见其用典的贴切与气象的宏大。

Commentary

This quatrain is one of the most quoted of Li Shangyin's occasional poems and the standard Chinese poem about praising a younger poet. Qing readers called it 'praising the fledgling, full of life'; modern anthologies single out the line 'the young phoenix sings purer than the old' as the one that has made the poem famous, and note that its fame rests on being a comparison and not a compliment. Its special interest is that Li Shangyin refuses to describe the boy's poem at all — he says only how fast it was written and what the room looked like — so the reader is left to infer the quality from the prediction. It is customarily read with its companion, the second of the two, which bids Han Yao not to fail through emulation of others; the pair is one of the few occasions on which Li Shangyin's verse is unmistakably bright rather than oblique.

此诗历来被推为李商隐赠答诗的名篇，也是写赞许后辈的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以赞许写雏凤，意趣盎然」；近人更指出「雏凤清于老凤声」写雏凤的才华，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以四句的绝句写尽即席赋诗的才思与雏凤的才华——那十岁，那裁诗，那走马成，那冷灰，那残烛，那离情，那桐花，那万里丹山，那雏凤，那老凤声，都写尽了李商隐笔下的韩冬郎；那「雏凤清于老凤声」更以比喻写尽雏凤的才华。此诗与李商隐《韩冬郎即席为诗相送·其二》（「剑栈风樯各苦辛」）同为寄酬韩偓名篇，一写「雏凤清于老凤声」的赞许（其一），一写「别时冰雪到时春」的嘱望（其二）；又与曹植七步成诗的才思传统一脉相承，可见中国诗写赞许的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解李商隐赠答诗的窗口，也是中国诗写后辈的经典——那清于老凤的雏凤，穿越千年，仍在诉说着后生可畏。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (qiyan jueju)诗·七言绝句

Rhyme Rhymes on qíng ('feeling') and shēng ('voice'), the 'geng' rhyme (lower level, rhyme 8), one key throughout, with the rhyme falling on the second and fourth lines only.七绝，押「情」「声」韵（下平八庚），一韵到底，音节明快

Tone pattern A flat-toned, single-key quatrain in which the rhyme falls only on the even lines; the level tone and the sustained key give the verse a bright, even, forward-carried lightness.此诗为七言绝句，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节明快，正合赞许的明快。

Reading note This is a seven-character quatrain rhyming on the 'geng' rhyme — qíng ('feeling') and shēng ('voice') — held without change, with the rhyme on lines 2 and 4. The key is a level tone, open and unstopped, and it suits the poem: there is no collapse, no sigh, only a comparison delivered and finished. Read line 1 briskly, as recollection; let line 2 put the ash and the candle in; then let 3 and 4 open out. Because it keeps a single rhyme-key and never changes register, the poem sounds like a verdict rather than a feeling — which is exactly why the praise lands as image and not as flattery. Li Shangyin's quatrains are usually oblique and delayed; this one is among his most open.此诗为七言绝句，四句——「十岁裁诗走马成，冷灰残烛动离情。桐花万里丹山路，雏凤清于老凤声」，押「庚」韵（情、声），一韵到底，音节明快。全诗以赞许写雏凤：前二句写即席赋诗的才思（十岁裁诗走马成、冷灰残烛动离情），后二句写雏凤的才华（桐花万里丹山路、雏凤清于老凤声）。四句短章，前写才思，后写赞许，以「雏凤清于老凤声」写尽雏凤的才华，正见李商隐「深婉」之外亦见明快的本色。诵读此诗，宜以明快的语调读「十岁裁诗走马成」的才思，以赞许的语调读「雏凤清于老凤声」的赞许，结句要读得明快而有余韵，方能传达出李商隐的意趣盎然。李商隐绝句以「深婉」著称，此诗正是其赠答绝句的典范。

Line by line

桐花万里丹山路，雏凤清于老凤声

Ten thousand li of red mountain road beneath the paulownia bloom; the young phoenix sings purer than the old.

桐花万里丹山路，雏凤清于老凤声。

Paulownia blooms stretch ten thousand li along the Dan Mountain road; the young phoenix's cry is clearer than the old phoenix's.

此二句是全诗写赞许的核心，以桐花万里丹山路写丹山，以雏凤清于老凤声写雏凤，写尽雏凤的才华，是千古名句。「桐花万里丹山路」写桐花万里丹山路——那「桐花万里」写桐花万里，「丹山路」写丹山路，写尽丹山的远阔；「雏凤清于老凤声」写雏凤清于老凤声——那「雏凤」写雏凤，「清于老凤声」写清于老凤声，写尽雏凤的清声。这句的深意在于：它以「桐花万里丹山路」的丹山与「雏凤清于老凤声」的雏凤，写尽雏凤的才华——桐花万里丹山路，那「桐花万里丹山路」写尽丹山的远阔——桐花万里，丹山路远，正是凤鸟高翔的写照，那「万里」写尽对雏凤的祝愿；雏凤清于老凤声，那「雏凤清于老凤声」写尽雏凤的清声——雏凤之声，清于老凤，正是后辈胜于前辈的写照，那「清于」写尽雏凤的才华；那「桐花万里丹山路」写尽丹山的远阔，那「雏凤清于老凤声」写尽雏凤的清声，一写丹山，一写雏凤，写尽雏凤的才华——雏凤于丹山而清于老凤，正是对后辈的赞许；此二句以丹山、雏凤写尽雏凤的才华，也让此二句成为全诗写赞许的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「这孩子以后比大人都强」，则失其雅致；唯以「桐花万里丹山路」写丹山、「雏凤清于老凤声」写雏凤，写尽雏凤的才华，也让此二句成为全诗写赞许的核心。

The young phoenix. Paulownia blooms stretch ten thousand li along the Dan Mountain road; the young phoenix's cry is clearer than the old phoenix's. The mountain of paulownia (the phoenix's tree) and the clearer cry of the young bird are the praise of the boy poet who surpasses his elders. To have said the boy would surpass his father would be a praise; the ten-thousand-li paulownia road against the young phoenix clearer than the old is the praise.

十岁裁诗走马成，冷灰残烛动离情

At ten he traced a poem, struck off as the horses run; cold ashes, a spent candle, and the parting woke the heart.

十岁裁诗走马成，冷灰残烛动离情。

At ten he cut a poem out while the horse trotted; cold ash and guttering candles stirred the parting mood.

此二句是全诗写才思的核心，以十岁裁诗走马成写裁诗，以冷灰残烛动离情写离情，写尽即席赋诗的才思，是千古名句。「十岁裁诗走马成」写十岁裁诗走马成——那「十岁裁诗」写十岁裁诗，「走马成」写走马成，写尽十岁的速成；「冷灰残烛动离情」写冷灰残烛动离情——那「冷灰残烛」写冷灰残烛，「动离情」写动离情，写尽宴散的离情。这句的深意在于：它以「十岁裁诗走马成」的裁诗与「冷灰残烛动离情」的离情，写尽即席赋诗的才思——十岁裁诗走马成，那「十岁裁诗走马成」写尽十岁的速成——十岁裁诗，走马而成，正是才思敏捷的写照，那「走马成」写尽即席赋诗的才思；冷灰残烛动离情，那「冷灰残烛动离情」写尽宴散的离情——冷灰残烛，触动离情，正是饯别宴散的写照，那「动离情」写尽赋诗的背景；那「十岁裁诗走马成」写尽十岁的速成，那「冷灰残烛动离情」写尽宴散的离情，一写才思，一写离情，写尽即席赋诗的才思——十岁速成而触景生情，正是即席赋诗的写照；此二句以裁诗、离情写尽即席赋诗的才思，也为后文的赞许作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写才思的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「他当场就写出了好诗」，则失其情致；唯以「十岁裁诗走马成」写裁诗、「冷灰残烛动离情」写离情，写尽即席赋诗的才思，也让此二句成为全诗写才思的核心。

The ten-year-old. At ten he cut a poem out while the horse trotted; cold ash and guttering candles stirred the parting mood. The ten-year-old's instant poem at the farewell feast, and the cold ash and guttering candles of the late night, set the scene. To have said the boy improvised a poem at the banquet would be an event; the ten-year-old poem-made-while-the-horse-trotted against the cold-ash-guttering-candles parting is the event.

Study

Word focus

成成 (chéng) means to complete or accomplish. In 走马成 the poem is not written but 'completed while the horses run', so the emphasis falls on speed and ease rather than effort; the character turns the composition into something done casually and perfectly. 「十岁裁诗走马成」之「成」字是写才思的关键词，一个「成」字写尽裁诗的速成。成者，写成、完成也。李商隐以「十岁裁诗走马成」写才思，这个「成」字至少有双重意味：其一，写诗之速成——那「十岁裁诗走马成」写十岁裁诗走马成，那「成」字写尽裁诗的速成——走马而成，正是才思敏捷的写照，那「成」字写尽即席赋诗的才思；其二，写才之高——那「成」字更是写高——成，正见诗成的自然，那「成」字写尽韩冬郎的才华。以「成」字写才思，正是李商隐写赞许的枢纽——若换作「就」「就」等字，则或失其与「十岁裁诗」「走马」的配合，或失其写成的意味；唯「成」字，以十岁裁诗走马成写尽裁诗的速成与诗成的自然，与「雏凤清于老凤声」的清于相合，写尽即席赋诗的才思，也让「十岁裁诗走马成」成为全诗写才思的名句。

清清 (qīng) means clear, pure,未 voiced — in 雏凤清于老凤声 it describes the timbre of the young bird's cry and, by extension, the quality of his verse: clearer and more distinct than the older, more finished voice. The comparison is made in this one character. 「雏凤清于老凤声」之「清」字是写赞许的关键词，一个「清」字写尽雏凤的清声。清者，清亮、清脆也。李商隐以「雏凤清于老凤声」写赞许，这个「清」字至少有双重意味：其一，写声之清——那「雏凤清于老凤声」写雏凤清于老凤声，那「清」字写尽雏凤的清亮——雏凤之声清于老凤，正是后辈胜于前辈的写照，那「清」字写尽雏凤的才华；其二，写才之俊——那「清」字更是写俊——清，正见才华的清俊，那「清」字写尽韩冬郎的俊才。以「清」字写赞许，正是李商隐写雏凤的枢纽——若换作「新」「高」等字，则或失其与「雏凤」「老凤声」的配合，或失其写清的意味；唯「清」字，以雏凤清于老凤声写尽雏凤的清亮与才华的清俊，与「十岁裁诗走马成」的走马成相合，写尽雏凤的才华，也让「雏凤清于老凤声」成为全诗写赞许的名句。