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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

母别子

A Mother Parts from Her Son

白居易

Bai Juyi

民生The common people 讽刺Satire

母别子，子别母，白日无光哭声苦。
关西骠骑大将军，去年破虏新策勋。
敕赐金钱二百万，洛阳迎得如花人。
新人迎来旧人弃，掌上莲花眼中刺。
迎新弃旧未足悲，悲在君家留两儿。
一始扶行一初坐，坐啼行哭牵人衣。
以汝夫妇新燕婉，使我母子生别离。
不如林中乌与鹊，母不失雏雄伴雌。
应似园中桃李树，花落随风子在枝。
新人新人听我语，洛阳无限红楼女。
但愿将军重立功，更有新人胜于汝。

A mother parts from her son; a son parts from his mother; the white sun has no light and the crying is bitter.
The general of the flying horse, from west of the pass, broke the enemy last year and was newly decorated for it.
The emperor graciously gave two million in coins, and at Luoyang he brought home a flowery woman.
The new woman is brought in, the old one cast out; a lotus in the palm, a thorn in the eye.
Receiving the new and casting off the old is not enough to grieve by; the grief is that in your house two children are left behind.
The one can barely be helped to walk, the one has only just learned to sit; sitting and crying, walking and crying, they clutch at your robe.
Because you two are newly and sweetly married, this has made me and my son and daughter parted in life.
Better than the magpie and the crow in the woods, the mother does not lose her young, the male keeps his mate.
It should be like the plum and peach trees in the garden: the flowers fall with the wind, the fruit stays on the branch.
New woman, new woman, hear my words: there are limitless red-towered girls in Luoyang.
I only wish the general would win new merit, and that there may be yet another new woman better than you.

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Meaning

A general has just been rewarded by the emperor for a victory and has married a young woman from Luoyang with the reward money. His first wife is sent away, and with her go the two small children she has borne him. The poem lets her speak: the discard is not the worst of it, the worst is that two babies who can barely sit or walk are left behind. She contrasts herself with the birds that keep their young and the peach tree that keeps its fruit after the flowers fall, and then she turns to the new wife and tells her that Luoyang is full of other girls, and that the only wish she has left is that the general may earn fresh merit and find someone even prettier than the present one — a wish that sounds like a blessing and is really a curse.

母别子，子别母，白日无光哭声苦。关西骠骑大将军，去年破虏新策勋。敕赐金钱二百万，洛阳迎得如花人。新人迎来旧人弃，掌上莲花眼中刺。迎新弃旧未足悲，悲在君家留两儿。一始扶行一初坐，坐啼行哭牵人衣。以汝夫妇新燕婉，使我母子生别离。不如林中乌与鹊，母不失雏雄伴雌。应似园中桃李树，花落随风子在枝。新人新人听我语，洛阳无限红楼女。但愿将军重立功，更有新人胜于汝。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The poem is a speech. Everything happens through the abandoned wife, who is given the whole of the long middle and the whole of the close. The brief factual opening — a general rewarded, a new wife bought — is all the outside world offers her. [Structure] The first eight lines set the situation and the betrayal; the middle eight are her speech to the children and to herself; the last four turn to the new wife and end in the famous inverted wish. [Imagery] Her two images are drawn from the natural world and are both about continuity: the birds that do not lose their young, and the peach tree that loses its flowers but keeps the fruit. Against these, the general's house is shown to fail exactly where nature does not. [Emotion] The poem's power is that it never raises its voice. She says the discard is not worth grieving about, and the reader understands it is. She ends by wishing the new woman well in a form that cannot be a blessing. The satire falls on the general, who is never made to speak and never appears to notice.

【白话串讲】白居易写《母别子》：“母别子，子别母，白日无光哭声苦”——将军破虏归来，迎娶新人，抛弃旧妻——“新人迎来旧人弃，掌上莲花眼中刺”——“悲在君家留两儿”——她被迫抛下两个儿子——他写弃妇的悲哀。【意象与手法】此诗写叙事，以讽喻写叙事，是白居易的名篇。前八句写弃旧：「母别子，子别母，白日无光哭声苦。关西骠骑大将军，去年破虏新策勋。敕赐金钱二百万，洛阳迎得如花人。新人迎来旧人弃，掌上莲花眼中刺」写母别子、子别母、白日无光哭声苦——写尽无光的哭声苦；后八句写劝新：「迎新弃旧未足悲，悲在君家留两儿。一始扶行一初坐，坐啼行哭牵人衣。以汝夫妇新燕婉，使我母子生别离。不如林中乌与鹊，母不失雏雄伴雌。应似园中桃李树，花落随风子在枝。新人新人听我语，洛阳无限红楼女。但愿将军重立功，更有新人胜于汝」写迎新弃旧未足悲、悲在君家留两儿——写尽君家留的两儿。全诗以讽喻写叙事，写尽无光的哭声苦与君家留的两儿，是白居易的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写叙事，以讽喻写叙事，是白居易的名篇。此诗为白居易《新乐府》讽喻诗之一种，写将军弃旧娶新的故事，讽喻社会。白居易新乐府，此诗写其讽弃旧迎新。此诗写母别子，子别母，白日无光哭声苦；关西骠骑大将军，去年破虏新策勋；敕赐金钱二百万，洛阳迎得如花人；新人迎来旧人弃，掌上莲花眼中刺；迎新弃旧未足悲，悲在君家留两儿；一始扶行一初坐，坐啼行哭牵人衣；以汝夫妇新燕婉，使我母子生别离；不如林中乌与鹊，母不失雏雄伴雌；应似园中桃李树，花落随风子在枝；新人新人听我语，洛阳无限红楼女；但愿将军重立功，更有新人胜于汝。此诗写弃旧：母别子，子别母，白日无光哭声苦——写母别子、子别母、白日无光哭声苦，写尽无光的哭声苦；关西骠骑大将军，去年破虏新策勋——写关西骠骑大将军、去年破虏新策勋，写尽破虏的策勋；敕赐金钱二百万，洛阳迎得如花人——写敕赐金钱二百万、洛阳迎得如花人，写尽迎得的如花人；新人迎来旧人弃，掌上莲花眼中刺——写新人迎来旧人弃、掌上莲花眼中刺，写尽眼中刺的莲花。下阕写劝新：迎新弃旧未足悲，悲在君家留两儿——写迎新弃旧未足悲、悲在君家留两儿，写尽君家留的两儿；一始扶行一初坐，坐啼行哭牵人衣——写一始扶行一初坐、坐啼行哭牵人衣，写尽牵人衣的啼哭；以汝夫妇新燕婉，使我母子生别离——写以汝夫妇新燕婉、使我母子生别离，写尽母子生别离；不如林中乌与鹊，母不失雏雄伴雌——写不如林中乌与鹊、母不失雏雄伴雌，写尽不失雏的乌鹊；应似园中桃李树，花落随风子在枝——写应似园中桃李树、花落随风子在枝，写尽随风的桃李；新人新人听我语，洛阳无限红楼女——写新人新人听我语、洛阳无限红楼女，写尽洛阳的红楼女；但愿将军重立功，更有新人胜于汝——写但愿将军重立功、更有新人胜于汝，写尽胜于汝的新人。全诗以讽喻写叙事——那「白日无光哭声苦」写尽无光的哭声苦，「更有新人胜于汝」写尽胜于汝的新人，写尽无光的哭声苦与君家留的两儿，是理解白居易叙事诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「母别子，子别母，白日无光哭声苦」写无光的哭声苦；「迎新弃旧未足悲，悲在君家留两儿」写君家留的两儿；以及全诗以讽喻写叙事、以对比写弃旧的手法。

Background

Bai Juyi (772-846), a great realistic poet of the mid-Tang, wrote a group of New Music Bureau poems in which an old story or a social scene is used to criticize current practice. This belongs to that group. The general of the Flying Horse from west of the pass is a title, not a particular man, and the whole poem is a typical case rather than a report. Luoyang, with its wealthy households and its famed beauty, is where the reward money would buy a second wife. Bai Juyi's stated programme for the New Music Bureau was that a poem should be written for the thing itself and be heard by the ruler, so the poem is meant as an indictment of a system in which a soldier's gains came out of a household's ruin.

此诗写叙事，以讽喻写叙事，是白居易的名篇。白居易（772—846），字乐天，号香山居士，又号醉吟先生，祖籍太原，生于河南新郑，唐代伟大的现实主义诗人，与元稹并称「元白」，与刘禹锡并称「刘白」。此诗为白居易《新乐府》讽喻诗之一种，写将军弃旧娶新的故事，讽喻社会。白居易新乐府，此诗写其讽弃旧迎新。此诗写母别子，子别母，白日无光哭声苦；关西骠骑大将军，去年破虏新策勋；敕赐金钱二百万，洛阳迎得如花人；新人迎来旧人弃，掌上莲花眼中刺；迎新弃旧未足悲，悲在君家留两儿；一始扶行一初坐，坐啼行哭牵人衣；以汝夫妇新燕婉，使我母子生别离；不如林中乌与鹊，母不失雏雄伴雌；应似园中桃李树，花落随风子在枝；新人新人听我语，洛阳无限红楼女；但愿将军重立功，更有新人胜于汝。此诗写弃旧：「母别子，子别母，白日无光哭声苦」写母别子、子别母、白日无光哭声苦——写尽无光的哭声苦（母别子，子别母，白日无光哭声苦）；「迎新弃旧未足悲，悲在君家留两儿」写迎新弃旧未足悲、悲在君家留两儿——写尽君家留的两儿（迎新弃旧未足悲，悲在君家留两儿）；「不如林中乌与鹊，母不失雏雄伴雌」写不如林中乌与鹊、母不失雏雄伴雌——写尽不失雏的乌鹊（不如林中乌与鹊，母不失雏雄伴雌）；「更有新人胜于汝」写更有新人胜于汝——写尽胜于汝的新人（但愿将军重立功，更有新人胜于汝）。全诗以讽喻写叙事，写尽无光的哭声苦与君家留的两儿，是理解白居易叙事诗的重要篇章。

Art

The techniques are plain. Plain narration sets the betrayal: imperial favour, two million coins, a flower-like woman taken home, and then 'the new comes in, the old is cast out' — four words that close the case. After that the poem changes register entirely and becomes a speech, which is where all the craft is. The children are named physically, one just learning to sit, one just able to be helped along, and their crying is given as noise and as small hands at a robe; this is the sort of detail a summary would leave out and the poem keeps. The two natural comparisons are chosen to embarrass the general, since birds and fruit trees preserve what a man throws away. Finally the satirical turn: she wishes him a better new wife, and the wish is the poem's most quoted line because the reader hears the bitterness inside it.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以对比写弃旧。「新人迎来旧人弃」以对比写弃旧——那「掌上莲花眼中刺」写尽眼中刺的莲花，以对比写尽无光的哭声苦。其二，以白描写哭声。「白日无光哭声苦」以白描写哭声——那「母别子，子别母」写尽母子的别离，以白描写尽无光的哭声苦。其三，以比喻写母子。「不如林中乌与鹊」以比喻写母子——那「母不失雏雄伴雌」写尽不失雏的乌鹊，以比喻写尽不失雏的乌鹊。其四，以讽喻写劝戒。「但愿将军重立功」以讽喻写劝戒——那「更有新人胜于汝」写尽胜于汝的新人，以讽喻写尽胜于汝的新人。此外，此诗前八句写无光的哭声苦，后八句写君家留的两儿，由弃及劝，正是叙事诗「以事写讽」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以讽喻写叙事，写尽无光的哭声苦与君家留的两儿，是白居易的代表作。此诗还善于以「一始扶行一初坐」的「扶行」「初坐」写两儿之幼小——那一始扶行、一初坐，正见幼儿扶行的写照，以「扶行」写尽牵人衣的啼哭。又善以「应似园中桃李树」的「桃李树」写桃李之比喻——应似园中桃李树，正见花落子存的写照，以「桃李树」写尽不失雏的乌鹊。

Allusions

The Flying Horse general and the reward are stock images from Han office and from the Tang practice of rewarding service with gold — the same vocabulary as the 'twelve turns of merit' in the Ballad of Mulan. 'A flower-like person' is the commonest phrase in Tang love poetry for a beautiful woman. 'A lotus in the palm' and 'a thorn in the eye' draw on the standard pair of tender and painful. 'Newly and sweetly married' comes from the Shijing line about the sweet union of husband and wife. The crows and magpies and the peach and plum both have a Shijing origin, the second being the phrase from which the name of the state of Tao is said to come. Nothing is obliquely referred; the allusions are the common dictionary of a Tang poet, and they work because the reader knows them without being told.

此诗的用语深植于叙事与讽喻传统。「骠骑大将军」令人想到「骠骑大将军」写骠骑将军的意象——汉代官名，也令人想到「骠骑将军」的意象；「策勋」令人想到「策勋」写记功的意象——也令人想到「策勋十二转」（《木兰诗》）的意象；「如花人」令人想到「如花人」写美人的意象——也令人想到「如花美眷」的意象；「掌上莲花」令人想到「掌上莲花」写掌上明珠的意象——也令人想到「掌上明珠」的意象；「眼中刺」令人想到「眼中刺」写眼中钉的意象——也令人想到「眼中钉」的意象；「燕婉」令人想到「燕婉」写和美的意象——《诗经》「燕婉之求」，也令人想到「燕婉之情」的意象。全诗化用骠骑大将军、策勋、如花人、掌上莲花、眼中刺、燕婉的意象典故，以讽喻写叙事，正是白居易「通俗」而善白描、承叙事传统写讽喻之本领。「如花人」令人想到「如花人」写美人的意象——也令人想到「如花美眷」的意象；「桃李树」令人想到「桃李树」写桃李的意象——也令人想到「桃李不言」的意象，以桃李写母子。

Commentary

The poem is one of Bai Juyi's most earthy narrative pieces and a standard example of the New Music Bureau's social complaint. Qing readers valued its plainness and its directness; modern readers point to the last line as the poem's master-stroke, in which the abandoned wife's wish makes the general's behaviour into a joke at his own expense. It is usually read beside 'The Old Charcoal Seller,' where the same poet takes a poor man's hardship and leaves the reader to draw the conclusion, and it marks the difference in Bai Juyi's narrative work between poems that lament and poems that ridicule. For a modern reader it also reads as a portrait of a system: the general is rewarded, the state is satisfied, and the cost is two small children.

此诗历来被推为白居易叙事诗的名篇，也是唐诗写弃旧迎新的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以讽喻写叙事，明白如话」；近人更指出「迎新弃旧未足悲，悲在君家留两儿」写君家留的两儿，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以长诗写尽无光的哭声苦与君家留的两儿——那母别子，那子别母，那白日无光，那哭声苦，那关西，那骠骑大将军，那去年破虏，那新策勋，那敕赐金钱，那二百万，那洛阳，那迎得，那如花人，那新人迎来，那旧人弃，那掌上莲花，那眼中刺，那迎新弃旧，那未足悲，那悲在，那君家留两儿，那一始扶行，那一初坐，那坐啼行哭，那牵人衣，那以汝夫妇，那新燕婉，那使我母子，那生别离，那不如林中乌与鹊，那母不失雏，那雄伴雌，那应似园中桃李树，那花落随风，那子在枝，那新人新人，那听我语，那洛阳无限，那红楼女，那但愿将军，那重立功，那更有新人，那胜于汝，都写尽了白居易笔下的母别子；那「更有新人胜于汝」更以讽喻写尽胜于汝的新人。此诗与白居易《卖炭翁》「满面尘灰烟火色」同为新乐府名篇，一写「心忧炭贱愿天寒」的卖炭翁，一写「悲在君家留两儿」的母别子；一写贫者，一写弃妇。两诗对读，可见白居易新乐府的两面。对于今日读者，此诗是理解白居易叙事诗的窗口，也是唐诗写弃旧迎新的经典——那君家留的两儿，穿越千年，仍在诉说着无光的哭声苦。

Prosody

Form Poem — yuefu-style ancient verse (yue fu gu shi)诗·乐府古诗

Rhyme Yuefu verse; rhyme on nearly every line with free change (mu, ku; xun, ren, ci; bei, er, yi, li, ci, zhi, yu, nv, ru), so the sound keeps turning with the subject乐府，句句用韵，转韵自由（「母」「苦」，「勋」「人」「刺」，「悲」「儿」「衣」「离」「雌」「枝」「语」「女」「汝」），音节凄苦

Tone pattern Mixed tones with a rhyming line almost everywhere; the constant rhyme gives a chanting, narrative movement that fits a speech rather than a lyric.此诗为乐府古诗，句句用韵，转韵自由，音节凄苦，正合叙事的凄苦。

Reading note The poem is long and free in form, rhyming on most lines and shifting rhyme often: mu and ku at the opening, then xun, ren, ci, then the long run bei, er, yi, li, ci, zhi, and finally yu, nv, ru. Because almost every line closes on a rhyme and the rhyme keeps changing, the verse moves like storytelling rather than like a lyric, and each new rhyme marks a new step in the speech. There is no fixed line length and no antithesis. Read the opening hard and loud, and the children's lines quietly, since the poem's whole effect depends on the reader hearing the speaker change. Bai Juyi's narrative style is called plain, and the metrics here are part of that plainness.此诗为乐府古诗，长诗——「母别子，子别母，白日无光哭声苦。关西骠骑大将军，去年破虏新策勋。敕赐金钱二百万，洛阳迎得如花人。新人迎来旧人弃，掌上莲花眼中刺。迎新弃旧未足悲，悲在君家留两儿。一始扶行一初坐，坐啼行哭牵人衣。以汝夫妇新燕婉，使我母子生别离。不如林中乌与鹊，母不失雏雄伴雌。应似园中桃李树，花落随风子在枝。新人新人听我语，洛阳无限红楼女。但愿将军重立功，更有新人胜于汝」，句句用韵，转韵自由，音节凄苦。全诗以讽喻写叙事：前段写无光的哭声苦（母别子、掌上莲花眼中刺），后段写君家留的两儿（迎新弃旧未足悲、更有新人胜于汝）。乐府铺叙，前写弃旧，后写劝新，以「更有新人胜于汝」写尽胜于汝的新人，正见白居易「通俗」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以凄苦的语调读「白日无光哭声苦」的哭声，以讽喻的语调读「更有新人胜于汝」的新人，结句要读得凄苦而有余韵，方能传达出白居易的明白如话。白居易乐府以「通俗」著称，此诗正是其叙事诗的典范。

Line by line

迎新弃旧未足悲，悲在君家留两儿

Receiving the new and casting off the old is not enough to grieve by; the grief is that in your house two children are left behind

迎新弃旧未足悲，悲在君家留两儿。

Welcoming the new and leaving the old is not the sorrow; the sorrow is that your house keeps the two sons.

此二句是全诗写弃旧的核心，以迎新弃旧未足悲写未足悲，以悲在君家留两儿写留两儿，写尽君家留的两儿，是千古名句。「迎新弃旧未足悲」写迎新弃旧未足悲——那「迎新弃旧」写迎新弃旧，「未足悲」写未足悲，写尽迎新弃旧的未足悲；「悲在君家留两儿」写悲在君家留两儿——那「悲在君家」写悲在君家，「留两儿」写留两儿，写尽君家留的两儿。这句的深意在于：它以「迎新弃旧未足悲」的未足悲与「悲在君家留两儿」的留两儿，写尽君家留的两儿——迎新弃旧未足悲，那「迎新弃旧未足悲」写尽迎新弃旧的未足悲——迎新弃旧未足悲，正是弃旧未悲的写照，那「未足悲」写尽君家留的两儿；悲在君家留两儿，那「悲在君家留两儿」写尽君家留的两儿——悲在君家留两儿，正是君家留儿的写照，那「留两儿」写尽君家留的两儿；那「迎新弃旧未足悲」写尽迎新弃旧的未足悲，那「悲在君家留两儿」写尽君家留的两儿，一写弃旧，一写留儿，写尽君家留的两儿——弃旧未悲而留儿最悲，正是讽喻的写照；此二句以弃旧、留儿写尽君家留的两儿，也为下文的啼哭作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写弃旧的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「迎来新人抛弃旧人还不算最可悲，可悲的是君家留下两个儿子」，则失其警策；唯以「迎新弃旧未足悲」写未足悲、「悲在君家留两儿」写留两儿，写尽君家留的两儿，也让此二句成为全诗写弃旧的核心。

The sons. Welcoming the new and leaving the old is not the sorrow; the sorrow is that your house keeps the two sons. The welcoming-new-leaving-old-not-sorrow and the keeping-the-two-sons sorrow are the opening. To have kept the sons would be a keeping; the welcoming-the-new-and-leaving-the-old-is-not-the-sorrow-the-sorrow-is-that-your-house-keeps-the-two-sons is the keeping.

母别子，子别母，白日无光哭声苦

A mother parts from her son; a son parts from his mother; the white sun has no light and the crying is bitter

母别子，子别母，白日无光哭声苦。

Mother parts from son, son parts from mother; the daylight is dim, the weeping bitter.

此三句是全诗写哭声的核心，以母别子写母别子，以子别母写子别母，以白日无光哭声苦写哭声苦，写尽无光的哭声苦，是千古名句。「母别子」写母别子——那「母」写母，「别子」写别子，写尽母子的别；「子别母」写子别母——那「子」写子，「别母」写别母，写尽子母的别；「白日无光哭声苦」写白日无光哭声苦——那「白日无光」写白日无光，「哭声苦」写哭声苦，写尽无光的哭声苦。这句的深意在于：它以「母别子」的母别子、「子别母」的子别母与「白日无光哭声苦」的哭声苦，写尽无光的哭声苦——母别子，那「母别子」写尽母子的别——母别子，正是母子相别的写照，那「别子」写尽无光的哭声苦；子别母，那「子别母」写尽子母的别——子别母，正是幼子别母的写照，那「别母」写尽无光的哭声苦；白日无光哭声苦，那「白日无光哭声苦」写尽无光的哭声苦——白日无光哭声苦，正是无光哭苦的写照，那「哭声苦」写尽无光的哭声苦；那「母别子」写尽母子的别，那「子别母」写尽子母的别，那「白日无光哭声苦」写尽无光的哭声苦，一写母别，一写子别，一写哭声，写尽无光的哭声苦——母子相别而白日无光，正是弃妇的写照；此三句以母别、子别、哭声写尽无光的哭声苦，也为下文的将军作铺垫，也让此三句成为全诗写哭声的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「母亲离别儿子，儿子离别母亲，白天没有光亮哭声悲苦」，则失其悲恸；唯以「母别子」写母别子、「子别母」写子别母、「白日无光哭声苦」写哭声苦，写尽无光的哭声苦，也让此三句成为全诗写哭声的核心。

The weeping. Mother parts from son, son parts from mother; the daylight is dim, the weeping bitter. The mother-parting-son and the dim-daylight-bitter-weeping are the close. To have parted from the son would be a parting; the mother-parts-from-son-son-parts-from-mother-the-daylight-is-dim-the-weeping-bitter is the parting.

Study

Word focus

别 In 'a mother parts from her son, a son parts from his mother,' bie is to part, to separate. It is the poem's title word and its first line, and it is doubled so that the separation is stated from both sides at once: there is no direction to the loss, only two people each losing the other, which is why the sun is said to lose its light. 「母别子，子别母」之「别」字是写弃旧关键词，一个「别」字写尽无光的哭声苦。别者，离别、分别也。白居易以「母别子，子别母」写弃旧，这个「别」字至少有双重意味：其一，写子之别——那「母别子，子别母」写母别子、子别母，那「别」字写尽无光的哭声苦——别子，正是与子相别的写照，那「别」字写尽无光的哭声苦；其二，写情之痛——那「别」字更是写痛——别，正见母子生离的痛楚，那「别」字写尽白居易的讽喻。以「别」字写弃旧，正是白居易写叙事的枢纽——若换作「离」「分」等字，则或失其与「母别子」「子别母」的配合，或失其写别的意味；唯「别」字，以母别子子别母写尽母子之相别与别离之痛楚，与「白日无光哭声苦」的哭声相合，写尽无光的哭声苦，也让「母别子，子别母」成为全诗写弃旧的名句。

苦 In 'the white sun has no light and the crying is bitter,' ku is bitter, painful. It is applied to a sound rather than a taste, so the crying is heard as bitter; and because the line also says the sun has no light, the bitterness is made to cover the whole scene rather than one person. 「白日无光哭声苦」之「苦」字是写哭声关键词，一个「苦」字写尽无光的哭声苦。苦者，悲苦、凄苦也。白居易以「白日无光哭声苦」写哭声，这个「苦」字至少有双重意味：其一，写声之苦——那「白日无光哭声苦」写白日无光哭声苦，那「苦」字写尽无光的哭声苦——哭声苦，正是哭声凄苦的写照，那「苦」字写尽无光的哭声苦；其二，写情之哀——那「苦」字更是写哀——苦，正见弃妇悲苦的心境，那「苦」字写尽白居易的讽喻。以「苦」字写哭声，正是白居易写叙事的枢纽——若换作「悲」「哀」等字，则或失其与「白日无光」「哭声苦」的配合，或失其写苦的意味；唯「苦」字，以白日无光哭声苦写尽哭声之凄苦与弃妇之悲苦，与「母别子，子别母」的母子相合，写尽无光的哭声苦，也让「白日无光哭声苦」成为全诗写哭声的名句。

母别子