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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

和乐天春词

Matching Bai Juyi's 'Spring Word'

刘禹锡

Liu Yuxi

闺怨Palace and Boudoir Lament 春景Spring Scenery

新妆宜面下朱楼，深锁春光一院愁。
行到中庭数花朵，蜻蜓飞上玉搔头。

Fresh paint, a fresh face, she comes down from the vermilion tower;
All the spring locked in — one whole court of sorrow.
She walks out to the middle courtyard and counts her flowers,
And a dragonfly lights on her jade hairpin.

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Meaning

A woman in spring comes down from her red tower, made up, and finds her whole courtyard locked with the season's brightness and her own misery. She goes out to count the flowers — a way of killing time — and the stillness breaks when a dragonfly settles on her jade hairpin. Liu Yuxi's subject is boredom rather than grief, and the poem's famous effect is the fly's arrival, which betrays a woman who has been alone with her thoughts.

新妆宜面下朱楼，深锁春光一院愁。行到中庭数花朵，蜻蜓飞上玉搔头。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] A newly-painted woman comes down from her red tower, where the whole courtyard is locked in spring and she in sorrow; she goes out and counts the flowers, and a dragonfly settles on her jade hairpin.
[Structure] Two couplets: the first states the locked-in condition, the second a small action that does not release it. The poem moves from the stated to the accidental.
[Imagery] The colour of the first couplet — vermilion, fresh, spring — is completely cancelled by the verb suǒ ('locked'); the second couplet's dragonfly is the only living thing in the poem.
[Tone] The poem's irony is tender rather than cold: the woman is not scolded, and the dragonfly is given the poem's one moment of attention. The sadness is in the surplus — the counting — rather than in any complaint.

【白话串讲】刘禹锡写《和乐天春词》：“新妆宜面下朱楼，深锁春光一院愁”——“行到中庭数花朵，蜻蜓飞上玉搔头”——她数着花朵，蜻蜓飞到她的发簪上——他写春日的闲愁。【意象与手法】此诗写闺怨，以春景写闺怨，是刘禹锡的名篇。前二句写春愁：「新妆宜面下朱楼，深锁春光一院愁」写新妆宜面下朱楼、深锁春光一院愁——写尽一院的春愁；后二句写独处：「行到中庭数花朵，蜻蜓飞上玉搔头」写行到中庭数花朵、蜻蜓飞上玉搔头——写尽玉搔的蜻蜓。全诗以春景写闺怨，写尽一院的春愁与玉搔的蜻蜓，是刘禹锡的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写闺怨，以春景写闺怨，是刘禹锡的名篇。此诗为和友人白居易《春词》之作，写闺中女子春日独处的春愁。白居易原诗写「低花树映小妆楼，春入眉心两点愁」，刘禹锡和作写闺中女子新妆下楼、中庭数花。此诗写新妆宜面下朱楼，深锁春光一院愁；行到中庭数花朵，蜻蜓飞上玉搔头。此诗写春愁：新妆宜面下朱楼，深锁春光一院愁——写新妆宜面下朱楼、深锁春光一院愁，写尽一院的春愁；行到中庭数花朵，蜻蜓飞上玉搔头——写行到中庭数花朵、蜻蜓飞上玉搔头，写尽玉搔的蜻蜓。全诗以春景写闺怨——那「深锁春光一院愁」写尽一院的春愁，「蜻蜓飞上玉搔头」写尽玉搔的蜻蜓，写尽一院的春愁与玉搔的蜻蜓，是理解刘禹锡闺怨诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「新妆宜面下朱楼，深锁春光一院愁」写一院的春愁；「行到中庭数花朵，蜻蜓飞上玉搔头」写玉搔的蜻蜓；以及全诗以春景写闺怨、以细节写孤寂的手法。

Background

Liu Yuxi (772–842), courtesy name Mengde of Luoyang, was a poet and philosopher of the mid-Tang called 'the Poet Lion'. This poem answers a poem by Bai Juyi on the same word; Bai's original begins 'Low flowers, a small tower shaded, / and spring enters the brows as two worries.' Liu Yuxi takes the same situation and changes the focus from the brow to the courtyard. The piece is usually dated to the period when he and Bai Juyi were exchanging verses in the capital, in the 820s or later. The tradition of the boudoir poem — a woman waiting in a sealed place — goes back to the Book of Songs, and by the Tang it was a set exercise handled by men in the women's voice.

此诗写闺怨，以春景写闺怨，是刘禹锡的名篇。刘禹锡（772—842），字梦得，洛阳人，唐代文学家、哲学家，有「诗豪」之称，与柳宗元并称「刘柳」，与白居易并称「刘白」。此诗为和友人白居易《春词》之作，写闺中女子春日独处的春愁。白居易原诗写「低花树映小妆楼，春入眉心两点愁」，刘禹锡和作写闺中女子新妆下楼、中庭数花。此诗写新妆宜面下朱楼，深锁春光一院愁；行到中庭数花朵，蜻蜓飞上玉搔头。此诗写春愁：「新妆宜面下朱楼，深锁春光一院愁」写新妆宜面下朱楼、深锁春光一院愁——写尽一院的春愁（新妆宜面下朱楼，深锁春光一院愁）；「行到中庭数花朵，蜻蜓飞上玉搔头」写行到中庭数花朵、蜻蜓飞上玉搔头——写尽玉搔的蜻蜓（行到中庭数花朵，蜻蜓飞上玉搔头）。全诗以春景写闺怨，写尽一院的春愁与玉搔的蜻蜓，是理解刘禹锡闺怨诗的重要篇章。此诗写于刘禹锡与白居易晚年交往唱和时期。白居易原作写「低花树映小妆楼，春入眉心两点愁。斜倚栏杆背鹦鹉，思量何事不回头」，刘禹锡和作另辟蹊径，以「蜻蜓飞上玉搔头」的静景写闺中女子的孤寂，成为唱和诗中的名篇。

Art

The poem's single device is the placement of the unexpected. Everything in the first couplet is arranged: the make-up is fresh, the tower is vermilion, the season is spring, and the verb suǒ ('lock') closes the whole court off from the world — the adjectives are all bright and the verb is prison-like. The second couplet begins with an action that does nothing: counting flowers. Both acts are useless, and the poem's drama comes from the dragonfly, which neither means anything nor is driven away; it simply lands on the hairpin. That insect is the poem's whole point, because it is the only evidence the reader has that anyone is watching anything. The last line is also a picture in the strict sense, and it is the reason the poem is sometimes included in painting collections. Note that the poet never describes the woman's face, so the count of flowers carries the emotional weight.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以白描写新妆。「新妆宜面下朱楼」以白描写新妆——那「宜面」写尽宜面的新妆，以白描写尽新妆的下楼。其二，以直抒写春愁。「深锁春光一院愁」以直抒写春愁——那「一院愁」写尽一院的春愁，以直抒写尽一院的春愁。其三，以细节写独处。「行到中庭数花朵」以细节写独处——那「数花朵」写尽数花的独处，以细节写尽数花的独处。其四，以衬景写孤寂。「蜻蜓飞上玉搔头」以衬景写孤寂——那「飞上玉搔头」写尽玉搔的蜻蜓，以衬景写尽玉搔的蜻蜓。此外，此诗前二句写一院的春愁，后二句写玉搔的蜻蜓，由愁及静，正是闺怨诗「以静写愁」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以春景写闺怨，写尽一院的春愁与玉搔的蜻蜓，是刘禹锡的代表作。此诗还善于以「新妆宜面下朱楼」的「宜面」写新妆之合宜——那「新妆宜面」写尽宜面的新妆，正是以宜写面，以「宜面」写尽新妆的下楼。又善以「行到中庭数花朵」的「行到」写中庭之行——行到中庭数花朵，正见百无聊赖的行止，以「行到」写尽数花的独处。

Allusions

The setting is entirely of the boudoir tradition: zhulou, the vermilion tower, the upper storey of the tall house; zhongting, the central court, the space where a woman waits and walks; yusao tou, the jade hairpin, an ordinary ornament that gains its fame from this line and the similar one in Bai Juyi's poem on the same theme. Shen suo, 'deeply locked', picks up the language of the sealed palace and the sealed boudoir. There is no quotation, no historical figure, no allusion outside the room; the poem's resources are all minimal and domestic, which is what allows the dragonfly to carry so much.

此诗的用语深植于闺怨与春景传统。「新妆」令人想到「新妆」写新妆的意象——也令人想到「新妆宜面」的意象；「朱楼」令人想到「朱楼」写红楼朱阁的意象——也令人想到「朱楼玉宇」的意象；「春光」令人想到「春光」写春光的意象——也令人想到「春光无限好」的意象；「一院愁」令人想到「一院愁」写满院春愁的意象——也令人想到「满城风雨」的意象；「中庭」令人想到「中庭」写庭中的意象——也令人想到「中庭地白树栖鸦」（王建）的意象；「玉搔头」令人想到「玉搔头」写玉簪的意象——也令人想到「玉搔头」的意象。全诗化用新妆、朱楼、春光、一院愁、中庭、玉搔头的意象，以春景写闺怨，正是刘禹锡「诗豪」而善细节、承闺怨传统写春愁之本领。「朱楼」令人想到「朱楼」写朱楼的意象——也令人想到「朱楼四面钩疏箔」的意象；「玉搔头」令人想到「玉搔头」写玉簪的意象——也令人想到「钿头银篦击节碎」（白居易）的意象，以玉搔写闺中。

Commentary

This quatrain is one of Liu Yuxi's most famous short poems and one of the most quoted of all Tang boudoir poems. Qing critics call it 'spring writing for a boudoir, fine and turned'; modern readers single out the couplet 'She walks out to the middle courtyard and counts her flowers, / and a dragonfly lights on her jade hairpin' as the poem's celebrated line, and note the two words shēn and shǔ as doing the work. Its place in literary history is as the answer to Bai Juyi's poem and a rival to it: where Bai's version has the worry enter the brows, Liu's has a dragonfly choose the hairpin, and the competition between the two has been noted by readers ever since. It is also frequently paired with Wang Changling's 'Boudoir Lament', where the complaint is spoken; here it is never spoken at all.

此诗历来被推为刘禹锡闺怨诗的名篇，也是唐诗写春日闺怨的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以春景写闺怨，细腻婉转」；近人更指出「行到中庭数花朵，蜻蜓飞上玉搔头」写玉搔的蜻蜓，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一院的春愁与玉搔的蜻蜓——那新妆，那宜面，那下朱楼，那深锁，那春光，那一院愁，那行到，那中庭，那数花朵，那蜻蜓，那飞上，那玉搔头，都写尽了刘禹锡笔下的和乐天春词；那「蜻蜓飞上玉搔头」更以衬景写尽玉搔的蜻蜓。此诗与白居易《春词》（「低花树映小妆楼」）同为春词名篇，一写「春入眉心两点愁」的白诗（乐天春词），一写「蜻蜓飞上玉搔头」的和作（和乐天春词）；又与王昌龄《闺怨》「闺中少妇不知愁」的闺怨传统一脉相承，可见唐诗写闺怨的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解刘禹锡闺怨诗的窗口，也是唐诗写春日闺怨的经典——那飞上玉搔头的蜻蜓，穿越千年，仍在诉说着玉搔的孤寂。

Prosody

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

Rhyme Rhymes on lou ('tower'), chou ('sorrow') and tou ('head'), the 'you' rhyme (lower level, tone 11); one key carried throughout, on the second and fourth lines only.七绝，押「楼」「愁」「头」韵（下平十一尤），一韵到底，音节婉转

Tone pattern A single level-tone key on the even lines, unbroken to the end; the dark, closed 'ou' sound repeats the poem's enclosed atmosphere.此诗为七言绝句，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节婉转，正合闺怨的婉转。

Reading note This is a seven-character quatrain rhyming on the 'you' rhyme — lou ('tower'), chou ('sorrow'), tou ('head') — one key, level tone, carried on the second and fourth lines to the close. The rhyme vowel is the closed, dark 'ou', and it recurs three times in four lines; combined with the verb suo ('locked') in line 2 the verse has a sealed, low sound that matches a courtyard with the shutters down. Read line 2 slowly, line 3 more lightly, and let line 4 arrive quickly and unexpectedly — the rhyme lands on the dragonfly rather than on anything the poet says. The poem's unhurried evenness is what allows the tiny last event to matter.此诗为七言绝句，四句——「新妆宜面下朱楼，深锁春光一院愁。行到中庭数花朵，蜻蜓飞上玉搔头」，押「尤」韵（楼、愁、头），一韵到底，音节婉转。全诗以春景写闺怨：前二句写一院的春愁（新妆宜面下朱楼、深锁春光一院愁），后二句写玉搔的蜻蜓（行到中庭数花朵、蜻蜓飞上玉搔头）。四句短章，前写春愁，后写孤寂，以「蜻蜓飞上玉搔头」写尽玉搔的蜻蜓，正见刘禹锡「诗豪」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以婉转的语调读「深锁春光一院愁」的春愁，以轻盈的语调读「蜻蜓飞上玉搔头」的蜻蜓，结句要读得婉转而有余韵，方能传达出刘禹锡的细腻婉转。刘禹锡绝句以「诗豪」著称，此诗正是其闺怨诗的典范。

Line by line

行到中庭数花朵，蜻蜓飞上玉搔头

She walks out to the middle courtyard and counts her flowers, and a dragonfly lights on her jade hairpin.

行到中庭数花朵，蜻蜓飞上玉搔头。

She walks into the courtyard counting flowers; a dragonfly alights on her jade hairpin.

此二句是全诗写孤寂的核心，以行到中庭数花朵写数花朵，以蜻蜓飞上玉搔头写玉搔头，写尽玉搔的蜻蜓，是千古名句。「行到中庭数花朵」写行到中庭数花朵——那「行到中庭」写行到中庭，「数花朵」写数花朵，写尽数花的独处；「蜻蜓飞上玉搔头」写蜻蜓飞上玉搔头——那「蜻蜓飞上」写蜻蜓飞上，「玉搔头」写玉搔头，写尽玉搔的蜻蜓。这句的深意在于：它以「行到中庭数花朵」的数花朵与「蜻蜓飞上玉搔头」的玉搔头，写尽玉搔的蜻蜓——行到中庭数花朵，那「行到中庭数花朵」写尽数花的独处——行到中庭数花朵，正是中庭数花的写照，那「数花朵」写尽玉搔的蜻蜓；蜻蜓飞上玉搔头，那「蜻蜓飞上玉搔头」写尽玉搔的蜻蜓——蜻蜓飞上玉搔头，正是蜻蜓栖簪的写照，那「玉搔头」写尽玉搔的蜻蜓；那「行到中庭数花朵」写尽数花的独处，那「蜻蜓飞上玉搔头」写尽玉搔的蜻蜓，一写数花，一写蜻蜓，写尽玉搔的蜻蜓——中庭数花而蜻蜓栖簪，正是孤寂的写照；此二句以数花、蜻蜓写尽玉搔的蜻蜓，也让此二句成为全诗写孤寂的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「走到中庭数着花朵，一只蜻蜓飞上她的玉簪」，则失其灵动；唯以「行到中庭数花朵」写数花朵、「蜻蜓飞上玉搔头」写玉搔头，写尽玉搔的蜻蜓，也让此二句成为全诗写孤寂的核心。

The dragonfly. She walks into the courtyard counting flowers; a dragonfly alights on her jade hairpin. The lonely flower-counting and the dragonfly mistaking her pin for a flower are the solitude's quiet touch. To have described the lady in the courtyard would be a scene; the courtyard-counting-flowers against the dragonfly-on-the-jade-hairpin is the scene.

新妆宜面下朱楼，深锁春光一院愁

Fresh paint, a fresh face, she comes down from the vermilion tower; a deep lock of spring, one whole court of sorrow.

新妆宜面下朱楼，深锁春光一院愁。

Freshly made up, fitting her face, she comes down the red tower; spring is deeply locked in, a whole courtyard of grief.

此二句是全诗写春愁的核心，以新妆宜面下朱楼写下朱楼，以深锁春光一院愁写一院愁，写尽一院的春愁，是千古名句。「新妆宜面下朱楼」写新妆宜面下朱楼——那「新妆宜面」写新妆宜面，「下朱楼」写下朱楼，写尽宜面的新妆；「深锁春光一院愁」写深锁春光一院愁——那「深锁春光」写深锁春光，「一院愁」写一院愁，写尽一院的春愁。这句的深意在于：它以「新妆宜面下朱楼」的下朱楼与「深锁春光一院愁」的一院愁，写尽一院的春愁——新妆宜面下朱楼，那「新妆宜面下朱楼」写尽宜面的新妆——新妆宜面，正是新妆合宜的写照，那「下朱楼」写尽一院的春愁；深锁春光一院愁，那「深锁春光一院愁」写尽一院的春愁——深锁春光一院愁，正是春光深锁的写照，那「一院愁」写尽一院的春愁；那「新妆宜面下朱楼」写尽宜面的新妆，那「深锁春光一院愁」写尽一院的春愁，一写新妆，一写春愁，写尽一院的春愁——新妆下楼而春光深锁，正是春愁的写照；此二句以新妆、春愁写尽一院的春愁，也为下文的数花作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写春愁的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「新妆画得合适，走下朱楼，深锁的春光里满院都是愁绪」，则失其婉转；唯以「新妆宜面下朱楼」写下朱楼、「深锁春光一院愁」写一院愁，写尽一院的春愁，也让此二句成为全诗写春愁的核心。

The locked spring. Freshly made up, fitting her face, she comes down the red tower; spring is deeply locked in, a whole courtyard of grief. The fine new makeup against the locked-up spring courtyard is the neglected woman. To have described the newly dressed lady would be a description; the fresh-makeup-descending-the-red-tower against the deeply-locked-spring-courtyard-grief is the description.

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Word focus

深深 (shēn) means deep; in 深锁 it deepens the verb 锁, so that spring is not merely shut in but shut in to the bottom of the court. The poet uses one character to make an enclosure out of a bright season. 「深锁春光一院愁」之「深」字是写春愁的关键词，一个「深」字写尽深锁的春光。深者，深重、深沉也。刘禹锡以「深锁春光一院愁」写春愁，这个「深」字至少有双重意味：其一，写锁之深——那「深锁春光一院愁」写深锁春光一院愁，那「深」字写尽深锁的春光——深锁春光，正是春光深锁的写照，那「深」字写尽一院的春愁；其二，写愁之深——那「深」字更是写深——深，正见春愁深重的沉淀，那「深」字写尽刘禹锡的细腻。以「深」字写春愁，正是刘禹锡写闺怨的枢纽——若换作「重」「紧」等字，则或失其与「锁春光」「一院愁」的配合，或失其写深的意味；唯「深」字，以深锁春光一院愁写尽春光之深锁与春愁之深重，与「新妆宜面下朱楼」的下朱楼相合，写尽一院的春愁，也让「深锁春光一院愁」成为全诗写春愁的名句。

数数 (shǔ) as a verb means to count. In 行到中庭数花朵 it describes an idle occupation — counting the flowers simply to have something to do — and it is the setup for the dragonfly: an afternoon spent counting is what makes a small landing meaningful. 「行到中庭数花朵」之「数」字是写孤寂的关键词，一个「数」字写尽数花的独处。数者，点数、清点也。刘禹锡以「行到中庭数花朵」写孤寂，这个「数」字至少有双重意味：其一，写花之数——那「行到中庭数花朵」写行到中庭数花朵，那「数」字写尽数花的独处——数花朵，正是点数花朵的写照，那「数」字写尽玉搔的蜻蜓；其二，写情之闲——那「数」字更是写闲——数，正见闲极无聊的独处，那「数」字写尽刘禹锡的细腻。以「数」字写孤寂，正是刘禹锡写闺怨的枢纽——若换作「看」「赏」等字，则或失其与「行到中庭」「花朵」的配合，或失其写数的意味；唯「数」字，以行到中庭数花朵写尽数花之无聊与独处之孤寂，与「蜻蜓飞上玉搔头」的玉搔头相合，写尽玉搔的蜻蜓，也让「行到中庭数花朵」成为全诗写孤寂的名句。