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清 Qing · 诗 Poem

狱中对月

Gazing at the Moon in Prison

宋琬

Song Wan

囚怨prison grievance 宋琬Song Wan 思乡homesickness

疏星耿耿逼人寒，清漏丁丁画角残。
客泪久从愁外尽，月明犹许醉中看。
栖乌绕树冰霜苦，哀雁横天关塞难。
料得故园今夜梦，随风应已到长安。

Sparse stars, bright and piercing, bring cold;
The clepsydra drips clear, the painted horn grows faint.
A guest's tears have long been drained by grief,
Yet the bright moon still permits a drunken gaze.
Crows roosting circle trees in bitter frost,
Mournful geese cross the sky—the passes and frontiers are hard.
I can imagine that my native home tonight in dream,
Following the wind, has already reached Chang'an.

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Meaning

A prisoner gazes at the moon on a bitterly cold night. His tears have long been exhausted by sorrow, and only the bright moon allows him a drunken gaze. He compares himself to crows with no branch to rest and sorrowful geese blocked by frontier passes, then imagines that his family's dream has already traveled with the wind to reach him in Chang'an—expressing profound homesickness and the anguish of wrongful imprisonment.

稀疏的星光明亮得逼人生寒，清冷的漏声丁丁、画角声残。作客的眼泪早已随愁苦流尽，唯有明月还许我在醉中观看。栖宿的乌鸦绕树冰霜苦寒，哀鸣的雁阵横空关塞艰难。料想故园亲人今夜的梦，该已随风来到我这长安狱中。

Appreciation

This heptasyllabic regulated verse, composed while the poet was imprisoned in Beijing on false charges, is a masterful fusion of scene and emotion. The first couplet sets a desolate prison night with stars, clepsydra, and a fading horn. The second couplet conveys extreme grief through the exhaustion of tears and the moon as the sole comfort. The third couplet uses crows and geese as metaphors for helplessness and the impossibility of return. The final couplet turns to the 'opposite perspective' (对面写法) derived from Du Fu, imagining his wife's dream arriving with the wind. The poem is admired for its indirect, restrained expression of deep sorrow and its impeccable regulated-verse structure.

【白话串讲】宋琬被诬下狱，狱中对月：“疏星耿耿逼人寒，清漏丁丁画角残”。“客泪久从愁外尽，月明犹许醉中看”——“栖乌绕树冰霜苦”——“料得故园今夜梦，随风应已到长安”——他料想故园人正梦见自己。狱中的煎熬。【意象与手法】首联“疏星耿耿逼人寒，清漏丁丁画角残”以星寒、漏冷、角残写狱夜凄清，“逼”字传神；颈联“栖乌绕树冰霜苦，哀雁横天关塞难”以曹操《短歌行》、杜甫《宿府》典写无枝可依；尾联“料得故园今夜梦，随风应已到长安”翻用杜甫《月夜》“对面写法”，不明写己思妻而说妻梦己。以景写心、以虚衬实。【情感与主旨】作于作者因族人诬陷系狱三年之时，写囹圄之中对月思妻的孤凄。把蒙冤受屈的孤栖之苦与对妻子的深念写得入木三分，是清初“南施北宋”中宋琬沉郁之作。【名句点睛】常考“客泪久从愁外尽，月明犹许醉中看”以泪尽月看写伤心至极；“料得故园今夜梦，随风应已到长安”以对面写法写思妻之深。

Background

Song Wan (1614–1673), courtesy name Yushu, was a prominent early Qing poet, famed together with Shi Runzhang as 'Nan Shi Bei Song' (Southern Shi, Northern Song). In 1661, during the rebellion of Yu Qi in Shandong, a clansman with a grudge falsely accused Song Wan of being complicit. Song was arrested and imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice in Beijing for three years before being exonerated. This poem was written during that imprisonment. The early Qing government severely punished those suspected of links to rebels or overseas forces, and many literati fell victim to fabricated accusations. Song's personal grievance thus reflects the broader political oppression of the age.

宋琬（一六一四—一六七三），字玉叔，号荔裳，山东莱阳人，顺治四年进士，清初与施闰章齐名，称「南施北宋」。顺治十八年（一六六一），山东于七起义，宋琬时任浙江按察使，族人因宿怨诬其与于七同谋，逮系北京刑部狱，羁囚三年乃得白。此诗即狱中所作。其背景是清初镇压力民变、株连罗织的政治氛围：一桩地方起义，竟能借族诬攀诬封疆大吏，可见鼎革之际法网酷密、士人朝不保夕。宋琬身陷囹圄，去家万里，存亡未卜，而对月怀妻，遂成此篇。「长安」在清诗里常借指北京（国都），「故园」指山东莱阳，亦借代家居的妻子。理解此诗，须置于清初「文字狱」与「通海、通逆」大狱频兴的语境：宋琬之冤非个人遭遇，而是时代对士大夫的普遍压迫之一斑。诗人以温厚之笔写锥心之痛，不喊冤而冤自见，正是「诗犹文也，忌直贵曲」的范例，亦清初诗史中「以个人际遇写时代阴影」的代表。就宋琬的生平与诗史地位言，此诗尤具「以身世证时代」的分量。荔裳少负才名，顺治四年成进士，历官陇西道、永平副使、浙江按察使，与南方施闰章并称「南施北宋」，为清初诗坛领袖之一。然其一生两遭大狱：顺治间以族人诬其与山东于七之乱通谋，逮系刑部三年；康熙间又几被诬陷。此诗即前一次系狱时所作。清初鼎革未久，朝廷严于「通海」「通逆」之防，株连罗织之狱迭兴，一介封疆大吏竟以宗人挟怨之诬而幽囚累年，可见其时法网之密、士人之危。宋琬身陷囹圄、生死未卜，而犹对月怀内、遥念故园，其诗遂于一己之冤中折射出整个时代对士大夫的普遍压抑。故读此诗不当仅作囚人思家之寻常怀内看，而须置于清初文字狱与冤狱频兴的大背景中，方见其「不喊冤而冤自见、不刺时而时自彰」的深沉，此正宋琬「豪宕感激」诗风中最见筋骨的一面。

Art

The poem is tightly organized around the title 'Gazing at the Moon in Prison.' The first couplet paints the prison night with stars, clepsydra, and horn, imbuing physical cold with inner chill through the word 'pierce' (逼). The second moves from scene to feeling: tears are spent, yet the moon still accommodates the poet. The third turns to metaphorical crows and geese, which also function as allusions. The final couplet uses the 'opposite perspective'—imagining his wife's dream coming to him—thereby turning straightforward longing into a delicate, indirect expression. The parallelism in the middle couplets is exact, and the progression from scene to feeling, from self to other, lends the poem a deep, lingering resonance.

本诗艺术之妙，在「围绕诗题、以景写心、对面落笔」的精巧结构。首联写「狱中」之夜：疏星、清漏、画角，皆狱中实景，而「逼人寒」「画角残」以景之凄写心之孤，情景相生。颔联写「对月」：泪尽于愁、月明独看，以「久从愁外尽」写悲之极至反成空漠，以「犹许醉中看」写明月为乱世唯一可托，用笔极婉。颈联用比：栖乌绕树（曹操典）喻己无枝可依，哀雁横天（杜诗境）喻归路艰难，即景即典、物我双写。尾联「料得故园今夜梦，随风应已到长安」翻杜甫《月夜》之法，不明言己思妻，而谓妻之梦已随风来此，以虚写实、以彼写此，余味最深。全诗八句，起（寒夜）—承（对月）—转（乌雁）—合（故园梦），层次井然；中间两联对仗工整（客泪—月明、栖乌—哀雁），而气脉流贯，毫无堆砌。其「忌直贵曲」的结法，使囚怨之深表达得韵味隽永，诚清初七律之上品。就七律的章法经营言，此诗最见「扣题布景、虚实相济」的功力。全篇八句紧扣「狱中对月」四字铺展：首联写「狱中」之夜，疏星、清漏、画角皆囹圄实景，而着「逼人寒」「画角残」，则景中含情，寒气与心境交逼；颔联写「对月」，「客泪久从愁外尽」以泪之枯写悲之极，「月明犹许醉中看」以月之不弃写孤中之慰，一绝望一温存，笔致极婉。颈联不复正写而转用比兴，栖乌绕树、哀雁横天，即景即典，以物之无依、归路之阻自况其系狱难归。尾联忽翻出「对面写法」，不写己之思妻，而料妻之梦已随风到长安，化实为虚、以彼写此，余味最长。全诗起（寒夜）、承（对月）、转（乌雁）、合（乡梦）井然，中二联对仗精严而气脉流走，绝无堆垛之迹，「忌直贵曲」的结法使囚怨之深化为隽永之韵，诚为清初七律的上乘。

Allusions

The poem draws on several classical sources. 'Sparse stars bright and clear' (疏星耿耿) evokes Xie Tiao's 'autumn river dawn, bright and clear' (秋河曙耿耿). The clepsydra and painted horn recall the long nights in palace poetry. 'Crows circling the tree' directly echoes Cao Cao's 'Short Song Style'—'The moon is bright, the stars are sparse, crows fly south, circling the tree three times: what branch can they rest on?'—here symbolizing the poet's homelessness. 'Mournful geese crossing the sky' recalls Du Fu's frontier poems about the hardships of travel and separation. The last couplet adopts the 'opposite perspective' from Du Fu's 'Moonlit Night' (今夜鄜州月, 闺中只独看), where the poet imagines his wife's longing rather than stating his own, thereby deepening the emotional impact.

诗中用典皆有所本而贴切身世。「疏星耿耿」化用谢朓「秋河曙耿耿，寒渚夜苍苍」，耿耿状星之微明，暗写狱中对月之孤。「清漏丁丁」之漏为古计时器，丁丁状滴声，王维、李商隐诗多写宫漏，此处写狱夜之静。「画角」军中乐器，杜甫「悲笳数声动」之类，角残写更尽，烘托凄凉。「栖乌绕树」全用曹操《短歌行》「月明星稀，乌鹊南飞，绕树三匝，何枝可依」，以无枝之乌自喻系狱无归。「哀雁横天」近杜甫《宿府》「风尘荏苒音书绝，关塞萧条行路难」与《早雁》「金河秋半虏弦哀」，以哀雁喻流离、关塞喻归途之阻。「故园今夜梦」「随风到长安」则明用杜甫《月夜》「今夜鄜州月，闺中只独看……何时倚虚幌，双照泪痕干」的「对面写法」——杜写妻望月思己，宋写己料妻梦己，同一婉曲。这些典故经熔铸，皆成「蒙冤、无依、思归、念妻」的符号，使一首狱中七律兼具建安之骨与杜律之沉。就用典取象之贴切言，尚有可细辨者。「清漏丁丁」之漏，为古之滴水计时器，丁丁状其滴声，六朝唐人多以宫漏、更漏写长夜难眠，此处移写狱夜，愈见其静而愈见其孤。「画角」本军中卷芦为之、外加彩绘之乐器，其声呜咽悲壮，杜甫「听角思归客」一路皆借以烘托边地羁旅之悲，宋琬用以写狱中更残，正取其凄厉。「栖乌绕树」全化曹操《短歌行》「月明星稀，乌鹊南飞，绕树三匝，何枝可依」，曹以无枝之乌喻贤才之待栖，宋则反以自况系狱之无归，同象而异用。「哀雁横天」兼摄雁为候鸟、随阳南北与「雁足传书」两重意蕴，既写归途之阻，又暗含音书断绝之痛。「随风到长安」之「对面写法」，则明祖杜甫《月夜》「今夜鄜州月，闺中只独看」——杜写妻思己，宋写妻梦己，机杼全同。诸典经熔铸，皆归于「蒙冤、无依、思归、念内」一脉，遂使一首狱中之作兼有建安之骨与少陵之沉。

Commentary

The first couplet opens with the prison night: sparse stars, the clear drip of the clepsydra, and a fading painted horn—all intensify the cold and loneliness; the word 'pierce' (逼) merges physical cold with inner oppression. The second couplet reveals the poet's emotional state: long separation has drained all tears, yet the bright moon still allows a drunken gaze—a faint comfort amid despair. The third couplet shifts to crows and geese, symbolizing his inability to return and his helplessness in captivity. The final couplet suddenly turns to his family's dream, which, carried by the wind, has already reached Chang'an. This indirect expression shows the depth of his yearning and brings the poem to a poignant, ringing close.

首联「疏星耿耿逼人寒，清漏丁丁画角残」写狱夜之景：星稀而明、漏声丁丁、画角将残，三者叠写深夜之静与气之寒，『逼』字尤妙，将物理之寒与心理之迫合一，未写愁而愁已满纸。颔联「客泪久从愁外尽，月明犹许醉中看」写对月：久羁成愁、泪已流尽，是伤心至极的麻木；唯明月不弃，许我醉中相看，以月为慰藉，见其孤中犹有所托。颈联「栖乌绕树冰霜苦，哀雁横天关塞难」以乌雁自况：绕树无枝、横天阻塞，写有家难归、有身难脱，即景即典，悲意加浓。尾联「料得故园今夜梦，随风应已到长安」忽换笔锋：不写我思妻，而写妻梦我已至长安，以对面虚笔收束，既见伉俪情深，亦见己之魂已随梦归乡。四联由景及情、由己及妻、由实及虚，八句写尽「狱中对月」四字：寒、月、乌、雁、梦，一线串下，沉郁温厚，是宋琬「豪宕」诗风中的一例深婉之作，亦清初囚诗之冠。若逐联寻其情脉的转折，则此诗自有一条由「外」而「内」、由「己」而「彼」的收束之路。首联全写身外之景，而「逼」字已暗透心内之寒，是景中藏情、未写愁而愁先满。颔联由外景转入自身，「客泪久从愁外尽」是极写悲之无涯——非无泪，乃泪已枯竭；「月明犹许醉中看」则于绝望中拈出一点温柔，人世无情而明月有情，反衬愈见其孤。颈联又暂离自身而托物，乌之绕树、雁之横天，皆以物之处境映己之处境，悲意由直陈而转为象喻，愈觉深婉。至尾联，笔锋陡转，不再写己，而悬想千里外的妻子今夜之梦已随风来到狱中的长安——把单向的相思写成双向的魂交，一「料得」尽含「我思之切，故信彼梦之勤」的深情。四联由景及情、由实及虚、由己及妻，层层内敛而愈转愈深，终以一缕乡梦融解首联之寒，结构之圆、情味之永，允为清初囚诗之冠。

Prosody

Reading note The poem follows the standard lüshi pattern: eight lines of seven characters each. The middle couplets display perfect parallelism: '客泪' (guest's tears) vs. '月明' (bright moon), '久从愁外尽' (long since drained by grief) vs. '犹许醉中看' (still permits a drunken gaze); '栖乌' (perching crows) vs. '哀雁' (mournful geese), '绕树冰霜苦' (circling trees in bitter frost) vs. '横天关塞难' (crossing the sky, the passes hard). The tonal arrangement is regular, and the repeated -an rhymes lend a melancholy, flowing melody.《狱中对月》为七言律诗，八句五十六字，格律严整而气脉沉郁。平仄依七律首联仄起：『疏星耿耿逼人寒（平平仄仄仄平平，寒平水寒韵）——清漏丁丁画角残（平仄平平仄仄平，残与寒同韵）——客泪久从愁外尽（仄仄仄平平仄仄，尽上声，换仄）——月明犹许醉中看（仄平平仄仄平平，看平声寒韵，回押）——栖乌绕树冰霜苦（平平仄仄平平仄，苦上声，换仄）——哀雁横天关塞难（平仄平平平仄平，难平声寒韵，回押）——料得故园今夜梦（仄仄仄平平仄仄，梦去声，换仄）——随风应已到长安（平平平仄仄平平，安平声寒韵，收）』。其用韵特色在首尾（寒、残、看、难、安）多押平水寒韵，中二联以「尽」「苦」「梦」仄声间隔蓄势，形成「平—平—仄—平—仄—平—仄—平」的回环，声情先抑后扬、如泣如诉。中间两联对仗精工：「客泪」对「月明」、「久从愁外尽」对「犹许醉中看」，「栖乌」对「哀雁」、「绕树冰霜苦」对「横天关塞难」，虚实相生、典景相称。全诗仄起平收、粘对无误，虽写囚怨而法度森然，是清初七律「以工律写沉郁」的代表，施补华谓其结联「故用曲笔，韵味隽永」，良有以也。

Line by line

客泪久从愁外尽，月明犹许醉中看。

A wanderer's tears have long been exhausted by grief, yet the bright moon still permits a drunken gaze—showing extreme sorrow, with the moon as the only remaining comfort in this world of vicissitude.

A wanderer's tears have long spent themselves beyond all grief; the bright moon still allows me to gaze at it through drunken eyes.

此一联是全诗情感的焦点，以「泪尽」与「月看」的对照写尽囚中思家之深。上句「客泪久从愁外尽」：『客』是羁囚自谓，久羁异地、愁苦难堪，泪竟随愁流尽——非无泪，而是泪已枯，这是伤心至极的反说，比直写「泪流不尽」更沉痛十倍；『愁外尽』三字尤峭，似泪本在愁中，今连愁外都流尽了，极言悲之无涯。下句「月明犹许醉中看」：泪虽尽而月仍在，唯明月不弃囚人，许我于醉眼朦胧中相看，『犹许』二字婉而厚，把明月写成乱离中唯一的知己。此联之妙，在以「尽」与「犹」对举：人世无情（泪尽、身囚），自然有情（月许我看），于绝望中留出一线温柔。较之李白「举杯邀明月」的洒脱，宋琬此联更多囹圄的无力与眷恋，是「以乐景（月明）写哀（囚愁）」的深层范例，亦全诗由景入情的关键转捩。

The couplet is the emotional focus of the poem, writing the depth of the prison home-longing through the contrast of tears spent and moon gazed on. The upper line, a wanderer's tears have long spent themselves beyond all grief: wanderer is the prisoner's self-name, long held far from home, sorrow past bearing, the tears at last spent with the grief — not that there are no tears, but the tears are dried up, the reverse speaking of grief at the extreme, ten times more sorrowful than directly writing unending tears; the three words beyond all grief are especially steep, as if the tears were in the grief, and now spilled even beyond the grief, pressing the boundlessness of the sorrow. The lower line, the bright moon still allows me to gaze at it through drunken eyes: though the tears are spent, the moon remains, and only the bright moon does not forsake the prisoner, allowing me to gaze on it through the drunken, misty eyes; the two words still allows are gentle and deep, turning the bright moon into the only confidant in the troubled age. The beauty lies in the pairing of spent and still: the world without feeling (tears spent, body imprisoned), nature with feeling (the moon allows my gaze), leaving a thread of tenderness within despair. Beside Li Bai's easy freedom of raising the cup to invite the bright moon, this couplet of Song Wan carries the helplessness and longing of the prison, the deep example of writing grief through a joyous scene, and the key turning of the poem from scene to feeling.

料得故园今夜梦，随风应已到长安。

I imagine that my hometown's dream tonight has come with the wind to Chang'an—employing the 'opposite perspective' to express longing for his wife, as he thinks of her dreaming of him rather than saying he dreams of her.

I reckon the dream from my old garden tonight has ridden the wind and reached Chang'an.

此一联为全诗结穴，亦最见「对面写法」的婉曲之妙。诗人不明说「我今夜思妻」，而推想「故园（莱阳妻子）今夜之梦，该已随风来到长安（北京狱中）」，把单向的思念写成双向的魂交。其渊源显自杜甫《月夜》「今夜鄜州月，闺中只独看」——杜写妻望月思己，宋写己料妻梦己，同一「不写我思、写彼思我」的曲笔，而宋以「梦随风至」更添飘渺之致。『料得』二字是虚写、是悬想，却比实写更情殷：正因己无时不思，故信妻亦无夜不梦；『随风应已到长安』以风为媒，把千里之隔、阴阳之悬（狱中如隔世）轻轻勾连。此联既收束「对月」之题（月下怀人、梦中相聚），又暗应首联「逼人寒」的孤——梦来则寒稍解。施补华评「诗忌直贵曲」，此二句正以曲笔写深情，余韵隽永，是清初七律结法之范，亦宋琬沉郁诗风的点睛之笔。

The couplet is the poem's closing point, and shows most the tactful beauty of the speaking-from-the-other-side manner. The poet does not plainly say I long for my wife tonight, but imagines that tonight the dream of the old garden (the wife at Laiyang) should, riding the wind, have come to Chang'an (the Beijing prison), turning the one-sided longing into a two-way meeting of souls. Its source is plainly Du Fu's Moonlit Night: tonight, over Fuzhou, the moon, in the chamber, she alone gazes — Du writes the wife gazing at the moon and thinking of him, Song writes himself reckoning the wife's dream of him; the same tactful brush of not writing my longing, but her longing for me, and Song's dream riding the wind adds the more ethereal touch. The two words I reckon are virtual, speculative, yet more affectionate than the real: precisely because he thinks of her without cease, he trusts she dreams of him without a night's break. Riding the wind, it should have reached Chang'an uses the wind as matchmaker, lightly linking the thousand-li gap and the yin-yang gulf (the prison as a world apart). The couplet at once closes on the theme of facing the moon (the moonlit longing, the dreamt meeting) and secretly answers the opening couplet's pressing cold's loneliness — with the dream's coming, the cold is a little eased. Shi Buhua's critique that poetry avoids the direct and prizes the tactful: these two lines write deep feeling through the tactful brush, the aftertaste rich, the model of the early Qing regulated verse close, and the pointed stroke of Song Wan's somber style.

Study

Word focus

耿耿 Bright and clear; used of starlight, it also suggests the poet's sleepless, unwavering mind, echoing the 'heart-star' symbolism from the Book of Songs. 「耿耿」为形容词，本义明亮、清晰（如《诗经》「耿耿不寐」写心之明警，谢朓「秋河曙耿耿」写星之微明），此处「疏星耿耿」状星稀而光显，既写狱夜天象，亦暗透诗人孤耿不昧之心。其妙在以星之「疏而明」反衬夜之「深而寒」：星不多却颗颗刺目，恰似囚中人对月不眠的清醒与凄凉。从炼字传统看，「耿耿」自《诗》「耿耿不寐」以来便是「心—星」互通的语码，宋琬此处写星实写心，与篇末「故园梦」遥相呼应——星耿耿则人不寐，人不寐故梦妻。一字而兼写景、写心、伏脉三重功能，是七律炼字「着一字而境活」的范例。较之用「闪闪」「灿灿」，唯「耿耿」能带出那份清冷中的执拗与孤直，正合宋琬「豪宕感激」诗风中沉郁的一面，故不可易。

长安 Chang'an, the ancient capital; in Qing poetry it commonly refers to the contemporary capital, Beijing. Here it contrasts with 'hometown' (莱阳), emphasizing the distance between the prisoner and his family. 「长安」本汉唐国都，后世诗词中恒借指国都、京城。宋琬此诗写于北京狱中，而以「长安」代北京，既合「借古都称今京」的诗词常例（如李白「长安一片月」实写唐京，后人沿用以指京师），亦暗含「身在天子脚下而蒙冤」的反讽——国都本应公正，囚人却在此受屈。其妙在结句「随风应已到长安」：妻梦所至的「长安」，正是诗人身系之地，于是「故园（莱阳）」与「长安（北京）」构成空间的两极，而「梦随风至」把两极以虚线相连，地理的远反衬情之近。从意象功能看，「长安」在此既是实指（清京），又是文化符号（国都、归向），与「故园」对举，写尽「身羁辇下、魂系故乡」的囚客之痛。二字收束全篇，使一首狱中思家诗具有了「京—乡」对应的普遍张力，是古典诗歌「以地名写心距」的典型。