唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
嫦娥
Chang'e
云母屏风烛影深，长河渐落晓星沉。
嫦娥应悔偷灵药，碧海青天夜夜心。
The Silver River fades, morning stars sink.
Chang'e must regret stealing the elixir;
Night after night, her heart aches in the blue sea and sky.
Meaning
The poem depicts the lonely night scene of a sleepless person, and imagines that Chang'e, the Moon Goddess, must regret stealing the elixir of immortality, as she endures eternal loneliness under the vast sky.
云母屏风上摇曳着深深的烛影，银河渐渐西落、晨星也悄然沉没。嫦娥应当悔恨当初偷吃了不死灵药，如今面对碧海青天，夜夜承受着孤寂之心。
Appreciation
This poem is written in Li Shangyin's later years, using the myth of Chang'e to express his own feelings of solitude and unrecognized talent. The first two lines describe the scene of a sleepless night: the deep candle shadow on the mica screen, the setting Milky Way and morning stars. The last two lines shift to imagine Chang'e's regret and loneliness, with the phrase 'should regret' implying endless melancholy. The final line 'Night after night, her heart aches in the blue sea and sky' creates a vast and desolate atmosphere, highlighting eternal solitude. The poem is a typical example of Li Shangyin's subtle and profound style.
【白话串讲】 “嫦娥应悔偷灵药，碧海青天夜夜心”——李商隐写嫦娥：她偷了灵药飞上月宫，如今后悔了，碧海青天里夜夜孤独。写嫦娥，其实是写自己的孤独。 【意象与手法】 起句「云母屏风烛影深」以室内器物设色，「深」字既写烛影之浓重，亦暗喻长夜之深沉与心境之幽暗；次句「长河渐落晓星沉」由室内推至天宇，写彻夜不眠；后二句由人间孤寂推及天上嫦娥，「应悔」以悬想代直述，结以「碧海青天夜夜心」，景愈阔而情愈悲。 【情感与主旨】 李商隐《嫦娥》具体作年难定，约在其晚年潦倒、辗转幕府时期。诗借嫦娥偷药奔月、独处广寒的神话，抒写诗人自身清高自许却沦落不偶的幽愤，或兼寓对女冠处境的同情。有自伤、悼亡、刺女冠诸说，然孤寂清怨之情则无可疑。 【名句点睛】 常考：①「深」字的双重含义（烛影浓、夜深沉，兼写心境暗）；②「长河渐落晓星沉」所写时间推移与彻夜不眠；③「应悔」的悬想笔法与「碧海青天夜夜心」以阔大反衬孤寂的艺术效果。
Background
The exact year of Li Shangyin's 'Chang'e' is uncertain, but it was likely written during his later years of frustration and wandering. The poem uses the myth of Chang'e stealing the elixir and living alone on the moon to express the poet's own lofty but unrecognized resentment, and perhaps also sympathy for the situation of female Daoist priests (nuns) in Tang dynasty. The poet does not directly state his sadness, but it is implicit, embodying his characteristic 'deep in implication, subtle in phrasing.' There are various interpretations of the poem's theme, but the feeling of loneliness and melancholy is beyond doubt.
李商隐（约813—858），字义山，号玉谿生，晚唐诗人，与杜牧并称「小李杜」，诗风深情绵邈、寄托遥深。此诗具体作年无考，约成于其晚年潦倒、辗转幕府时期。李商隐一生困于牛李党争，怀才不遇、郁郁寡欢，诗中多以神女、仙子寄托身世之慨。唐时道教盛行，入道女子（女冠）每陷孤寂，义山集中多有寄慨之作（如《重过圣女祠》）。此诗借嫦娥偷药奔月、独处广寒的神话，抒写清高自许而孤寂难遣的心境：嫦娥得长生而不免永夜孤心，正似诗人抱高才而终落寞。「应悔偷灵药」以悬想之辞道出，不言己悲而悲自在其中。关于诗旨，历来有自伤身世、悼念亡妻、刺女冠求仙诸说，然孤寂清怨之情则众说无异，正见其「寄托深而措辞婉」的典型特征。义山生平与嫦娥之喻尤有深契：他一生夹在牛李党争之间，两度入赘党人之门，进退失据，「应悔偷灵药」不妨读作对自身抉择的暗悔——无论趋附何党，终不免孤寂；「碧海青天夜夜心」则正是其幕府生涯、天涯飘零的写照。且晚唐道教炽盛，女冠入道者众，义山集中《圣女祠》《重过圣女祠》诸作皆寄慨于此，此诗写嫦娥之孤，亦兼寓对女冠寂寞处境的同情，诗旨虽多歧说，而「孤寂」二字为诸家所同认。
Art
The opening line 'On the mica screen the candle's shadow is deep' sets a solitary atmosphere with indoor objects; the character 'deep' implies both the thick candle shadow and the profound darkness of the long night and the poet's mood. The second line extends from indoor to outdoor, depicting the fading of the Milky Way and the sinking of morning stars, suggesting a sleepless night and the passage of time. The last two lines suddenly shift to a speculation, replacing direct expression with the imagined word 'should regret', full of melancholy. The final line uses the vast and silent scene to contrast a solitary heart, achieving a sublime beauty. This poem represents the acme of Tang quatrains.
起句「云母屏风烛影深」先写室内之景：云母屏风前烛影摇曳而幽深，「深」字既写烛影之浓重，又暗喻长夜之深沉、心境之幽暗，一笔双关，营造出幽寂清冷的氛围。次句「长河渐落晓星沉」由室内推至天宇：银河西斜、晓星将沉，写时光流转、长夜将尽，暗含诗人彻夜未眠、独对孤寂之意，空间由近及远、境界顿开。三句「嫦娥应悔偷灵药」突发奇想，由人间孤寂推及天上仙子：「应悔」是悬想推测之辞，不说嫦娥必悔，而说「应悔」，委婉宛转，把嫦娥的处境与自身的心境叠合无间。结句「碧海青天夜夜心」以无垠的碧海青天反衬一颗孤寂之心：「夜夜」写孤寂之恒久无尽，「心」字点出全篇深情。全诗由景入情、由物及我，层层递进，景愈阔而情愈悲，朦胧凄美，臻于唐人七绝之极致。此诗章法亦极精妙：前二句写「人」之所在（烛影、星河），后二句写「仙」之所处（灵药、碧海），由实境入虚境、由眼前入想象，转折处不着痕迹；且「烛影深」的室内之暗与「碧海青天」的天外之阔，一收一放，构成空间上的巨大张力。尤妙者，全诗不着一个「孤」字，而孤寂之气弥漫全篇；不着一字写「悔」，而「应悔」之悬想已寓诗人自悔之深，正是「寄托深而措辞婉」的极致。
Allusions
The whole poem is based on the myth of Chang'e: according to Huainanzi, 'Yi asked for the elixir of immortality from the Queen Mother of the West, and Chang'e (Heng'e) stole it and flew to the moon.' 'Elixir' refers to the medicine of immortality. 'Blue sea and blue sky' describes the vast emptiness around the moon palace. Li Shangyin cleverly combines the loneliness of heaven and that of the human world, using a well-known myth without obscure allusions, yet the meaning is profound.
全诗以嫦娥神话为骨。嫦娥奔月的故事见《淮南子·览冥训》：「羿请不死之药于西王母，姮娥窃以奔月。」高诱注谓嫦娥为羿之妻。「灵药」即不死之药，「偷」字写其窃取，暗含对其行为的微词与同情。「碧海青天」状月宫周遭之空阔寂寥——碧海本指青绿色之海，此处极写天宇之广漠无垠，与「夜夜心」的孤寂形成巨大反差。云母屏风为华贵器物，见其居处之清贵，然贵而愈孤。李商隐借这一家喻户晓的神话，将天上孤寂与人间幽独叠合为一，不引僻典而寓意自深，是「用常典而翻新意」的典范，与《锦瑟》《无题》诸作同属借仙佛意象写身世之感的路数。除嫦娥本典外，诗中意象亦各有来历：「云母屏风」为汉代以来富贵之器，《西京杂记》载赵飞燕曾以云母屏风障面，义山用之，写嫦娥居处之清贵，而贵中愈孤；「长河」指银河，《古诗十九首》「迢迢牵牛星」已开银汉意象，「渐落」「晓星沉」则暗合曹操「月明星稀」的夜半之景。全诗无一僻典，而每一意象皆有汉魏六朝诗文的深厚积淀，正是义山「以常语写深情」的体现。
Commentary
Zhu Heling of the Qing Dynasty commented in his annotation of Li Shangyin's poems that this poem 'uses Chang'e to express the poet himself,' pointing out the self-pity theme. Shen Deqian of the Qing Dynasty in 'Selected Tang Poems' commented that the last line is 'resentful but not angry.' Modern scholar Yu Biyun in 'Superficial Remarks on Poetry' said 'Li Shangyin's poems are profound in implication; this one is especially ethereal and poignant,' and 'the phrase "night after night" expresses the utmost loneliness.' This quatrain has always been regarded as the best poem on Chang'e in Tang poetry.
历代论者多从「自伤」立说。清人朱鹤龄《李义山诗集笺注》谓此诗「借嫦娥以自况」，点出自伤之旨；沈德潜《唐诗别裁》评「碧海青天夜夜心」为「怨而不怒」，谓其哀怨深婉而不失温厚；近人俞陛云《诗境浅说》称「义山诗托意遥深，此作尤空灵蕴藉」，又赞「夜夜心」三字「写尽孤寂」。李商隐诗以朦胧多义著称，此绝在神话外壳下寄身世之慨，历来被评为咏嫦娥第一，宋代晏几道「嫦娥不怕清寒」、苏轼「起舞弄清影」等皆承其意象而各出新境。就七绝史而言，此诗与王昌龄《闺怨》、王维《送元二使安西》并称，而独以情思之幽微见长，正是晚唐「深情绵邈」诗风在绝句中的代表。就后世影响而言，此诗之「嫦娥」已成为中国文学中孤寂之美的原型意象：宋人晏殊「月好漫成孤枕梦」、苏轼「起舞弄清影」等，皆在嫦娥意象的光照之下；当代「嫦娥奔月」的叙事，亦多承此诗「悔偷灵药」的孤独底色。就七绝艺术而言，此诗以二十八字写尽一种永恒的情境——「高处的孤独」，其意象之清绝、情思之幽微，堪为晚唐七绝压卷之一，千载之下犹令人低回。
Prosody
Line by line
云母屏风烛影深
On the mica screen the candle's shadow is deep. The word 'deep' implies both the thick shadow and the profound darkness of the night and the poet's mood, immediately setting a solitary scene.
云母屏风前烛影幽深。
By the mica screen, the candle shadows are deep.
起句写室内之景，是全诗孤寂氛围的定调之笔。云母屏风为华贵饰物，见居处之清贵；「烛影深」写烛光摇曳而影色浓重，「深」字一字双关——既写烛影之浓、长夜之沉，又暗喻心境之幽暗。此句不写人而人在其中：独对烛影、彻夜未眠的形象呼之欲出。以器物设色、以光影写心，正是李商隐「深情绵邈」的典型笔法，为全诗由人间而天上的想象作了静寂的准备。
The opening line writes the inner scene, the key that fixes the whole's lonely atmosphere. The mica screen is a costly furnishing, showing the dwelling's pure nobility. The candle shadows are deep writes the candlelight flickering and the shadow's hue thick; the single word deep is double - at once the candle shadow's density and the long night's heaviness, and secretly the heart's dimness. The line does not write the man, yet the man is within: the figure alone facing the candle shadow, sleepless through the night, as if about to call out. Setting color through furnishings, writing the heart through light and shadow, exactly Li Shangyin's deep and lingering brush, making the quiet preparation for the later imagination from earth to heaven.
长河渐落晓星沉
The Milky Way gradually fades, morning stars sink. This depicts a sleepless night and the passage of time, expanding the scene from indoor to the vast sky.
银河渐渐西落、晨星悄然沉没。
The River of Stars slowly sets, the morning stars sink.
次句由室内推至天宇，境界顿开。「长河」即银河，「渐落」写其缓缓西沉，「晓星沉」写晨星隐没，以星河的移动写长夜将尽、天将破晓，暗含诗人彻夜未眠、独对孤寂之意。此句以动写静、以景写时，时间在一「渐」一「沉」中悄然流逝，与起句的烛影深相呼应，构成「室内—天宇」「夜—晓」的完整时空，为后文嫦娥的出场铺开一片空旷的天幕。
The second line pushes from the room to the heavens, the realm suddenly opening. The River of Stars means the Milky Way; slowly sets writes its gradual western sinking; the morning stars sink writes the dawn stars' vanishing, using the starry river's movement to write the long night's nearing end and dawn's approaching, secretly holding the poet's sleepless night and lone vigilance. This line writes stillness through motion and time through scenery, time quietly passing in the words slowly and sink, echoing the opening's candle shadows are deep, forming the complete space-time of room and heavens, night and dawn, spreading an empty sky curtain for the later appearance of Chang'e.
嫦娥应悔偷灵药
Chang'e must regret stealing the elixir. The word 'should' is a speculative expression, projecting the poet's own loneliness onto the goddess, indirect and poignant.
嫦娥应当悔恨当初偷吃了灵药。
Chang'e must regret stealing the magic elixir.
三句突发奇想，由人间孤寂推及天上仙子，是全诗转折的关键。「应悔」是悬想推测之辞，不说嫦娥必悔而说「应悔」，委婉宛转，把嫦娥的处境与自身的心境叠合无间——偷药而得长生，却换来永夜的孤寂，诗人由此想到自身：抱高才、求超脱，亦如嫦娥之窃药，终不免孤寂。「偷」字暗含对行为的微词与同情，一语而多重意蕴，正是义山诗「寄托深而措辞婉」的体现。
The third line suddenly imagines, pushing from the earth's loneliness to the heavenly fairy, the key turn of the whole. Must regret is a conjectural word, not saying Chang'e surely regrets but must regret, reserved and winding, layering Chang'e's plight with the poet's own heart without seam - stealing the elixir to win immortality, yet exchanging it for the loneliness of the eternal night; the poet here thinks of himself: holding high talent and seeking transcendence, also like Chang'e stealing the elixir, at last not escaping loneliness. The word stealing secretly carries a slight reproach and sympathy for the act, one word with many meanings, exactly the showing of Yishan's deep lodging and reserved wording.
碧海青天夜夜心
Night after night, her heart aches in the blue sea and sky. The vast empty scene contrasts with the eternal loneliness of a single heart, achieving a beautiful and desolate mood.
面对碧海青天，夜夜怀着孤寂之心。
Beneath the blue sea and the blue sky, her heart, night after night.
结句以无垠的碧海青天反衬一颗孤寂之心，是全诗情感的爆发点。「碧海青天」写月宫周遭之空阔寂寥，以天地之广漠写孤独之无处可逃；「夜夜」以时间之恒久写孤寂之无尽，一夜复一夜，永无止期；「心」字点出全篇深情，将嫦娥的处境与诗人的身世之感凝于一端。景愈阔而情愈悲，以最大之境写最孤之心，反差强烈，凄美至极，千载之下犹令人低回不已，历来评为咏嫦娥第一的结穴。
The closing line writes the heart, night after night beneath the blue sea and the blue sky, the landing of the whole's feeling. The words blue sea and blue sky write the vast night sky of blue sea and azure heavens, boundless and cold; night after night writes the endless round of lonely nights. The line writes to the full the feeling of the blue sea, the blue sky, and the nightly heart. Closing in the nightly heart, the vast cold heavens and the endless night set off, the loneliness at its utmost, exactly Yishan's reserved deep close.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Both are Li Shangyin's poems, one uses Chang'e to depict loneliness, the other uses Jia Yi to depict unrecognized talent, both profound in implication.
《贾生》「不问苍生问鬼神」借汉文帝与贾谊之事刺统治者不重贤才，《嫦娥》借神话写孤寂清高，一托历史人物、一托天上仙子，皆以「他者」写自身，寄托遥深而措辞婉转。比较二诗可见义山咏怀的两条路径：贾生一诗用史实、出以议论，锋棱外露；嫦娥一诗用神话、出以悬想，情韵内敛。一讽一怨，一明一暗，恰成对照，同证李商隐「深情绵邈、寄托深婉」的独特诗风。
蝉 The Cicada 李商隐 · 同以物自况，写清高孤寂 Same author (Li Shangyin / self-portrayal of lofty loneliness)Both use objects to express lofty loneliness; 'The Cicada's 'sound carries far from a high place' and this poem's solitary heart can corroborate each other.
《蝉》「本以高难饱，徒劳恨费声」以蝉之高洁难饱自况，写清高者的困顿；《嫦娥》以嫦娥之孤寂自况，写清高者的寂寞。一虫一仙，一尘一霄，而「清高者孤」的主题则一：蝉居高而难饱，嫦娥升天而永孤，皆见诗人对自身命运的清醒与自怜。比较二诗可体会义山「以物自况」手法的多样，也可看出其诗中贯通的「清高—孤寂」情结。
隋宫 The Sui Palace 李商隐 · 同属义山七绝名篇，可比较用典与浑成 Same author (Li Shangyin / historical allegory)Both are Li Shangyin's famous seven-character quatrains, comparable in depth of allusion and naturalness.
《隋宫》「地下若逢陈后主，岂宜重问后庭花」以咏史讽刺隋炀帝，用典精深、议论警策；《嫦娥》借神话写身世，不引僻典而寓意自深。同出义山手笔而风格迥异：隋宫一诗以史笔写兴亡，冷峻峭拔；嫦娥一诗以仙笔写孤寂，空灵蕴藉。比较二诗可见李商隐七绝的两种极致——咏史的深刻与咏怀的幽微，也可见其驾驭题材之广与运思之深。