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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

长干行

Song of Changgan

李白

Li Bai

爱情Love 乐府Yuefu 相思Longing

妾发初覆额，折花门前剧。
郎骑竹马来，绕床弄青梅。
同居长干里，两小无嫌猜。
十四为君妇，羞颜未尝开。
低头向暗壁，千唤不一回。
十五始展眉，愿同尘与灰。
常存抱柱信，岂上望夫台。
十六君远行，瞿塘滟滪堆。
五月不可触，猿声天上哀。
门前迟行迹，一一生绿苔。
苔深不能扫，落叶秋风早。
八月胡蝶来，双飞西园草。
感此伤妾心，坐愁红颜老。
早晚下三巴，预将书报家。
相迎不道远，直至长风沙。

When my hair was just covering my forehead,
I played at the gate, picking flowers.
You came riding a bamboo horse,
And we tossed green plums around the well.
We lived together in Changgan,
Two children with no suspicion.
At fourteen I became your wife,
Too shy to smile openly.
I hung my head facing the dark wall,
Though called a thousand times, I didn't turn.
At fifteen I began to smile,
Wishing to be with you as dust.
I kept the faith of Bao Zhu,
Never expecting to climb the Watchtower.
At sixteen you went far away,
To Qutang Gorge where Yanyu Rock lies.
In May you cannot touch it,
The apes cry mournfully to heaven.
Your footprints by the gate,
One by one are covered with green moss.
The moss is thick and cannot be swept,
Leaves fall early in the autumn wind.
In August the butterflies come,
Pair by pair in the west garden grass.
This touches my heart,
I sit and worry that my beauty fades.
When will you come down from the Three Gorges?
Send a letter home first.
I will greet you, not minding the distance,
Even as far as Changfeng Sands.

Listen

Meaning

The poem narrates the life of a merchant's wife from childhood to her husband's departure, expressing her deep longing and faithfulness.

我的头发刚刚盖住额头，便在门前折花嬉戏。郎君骑着竹马而来，绕床互相抛掷青梅。我们同住在长干里，从小一起长大，毫无猜忌。十四岁做了你的妻子，害羞的面容还不曾舒展，低着头对着暗墙，任你千呼万唤也不回头。十五岁才舒展眉头，立誓愿与你同化尘灰、生死相随。常存尾生抱柱守信之约，哪里会想到要上望夫台苦等。十六岁你远行而去，前往瞿塘峡的滟滪堆。五月江水暴涨，险滩不可触碰，两岸猿声哀啼直上青天。门前你迟留的足迹，一处处已生出绿苔。苔痕深了无法清扫，落叶与秋风早早到来。八月蝴蝶双双飞来，在西园草上翩跹。感念这些更伤透我的心，独坐愁叹红颜易老。你何时顺流而下离开三巴，请先寄封信回家。我去迎你不顾路途遥远，一直迎到长风沙。

Appreciation

This yuefu poem by Li Bai is a first-person narrative of a woman from Changgan, describing her childhood intimacy with her husband, her shyness as a young bride, her deep love, and the sorrow of separation. It is known for creating the idioms 'green plums and bamboo horse' and 'two small children without suspicion'.

【白话串讲】 “郎骑竹马来，绕床弄青梅”——李白写一对从小一起长大的夫妻：“青梅竹马”这个成语，就是从这首诗里来的。婚后丈夫远行，她等他等到“坐愁红颜老”。【意象与手法】全诗以时间为轴，从「妾发初覆额」直叙至「直至长风沙」，章法如溪流自然，以童年、成婚、远别、相思、盼归的线性推进写尽一生情事。善用白描与细节（折花、竹马、绕床、低头暗壁），以「青梅竹马」「抱柱信」等意象浓缩情感；换韵随情节情绪流转，童年轻快用开口韵，远别后用哀咽之调，声情与文情浑然一体。【情感与主旨】此诗属李白拟写的乐府《长干行》，约作于出蜀后定居安陆（约开元年间）之时。长干里为金陵城南商旅聚居之地，多舟楫往来、商妇独守之况。诗人取法南朝吴声西曲，以平民商妇第一人称自述一生情事，将民间歌咏的清丽与文人抒情的深婉相融，写出思妇坚贞深挚、由羞而愁而痴的情感历程。【名句点睛】常考：①成语溯源，「青梅竹马」「两小无猜」出自此诗，需知原句与语境；②「抱柱信」「望夫台」用典的反说之妙；③白描、心理递进、以乐景写哀的手法。

Background

Composed during Li Bai's early years after leaving Sichuan, modeled on Southern yuefu ballads. Changgan was a commercial district in Jinling (modern Nanjing). The poem adopts the voice of a merchant's wife, blending folk simplicity with literary refinement.

此诗属李白拟写的乐府《长干行》，约作于其出蜀后定居安陆（今湖北安陆，约开元年间）时期。长干里为金陵（今南京）城南秦淮河畔商旅聚居之地，古有长干曲传唱男女情事；此地舟楫往来频繁，商贾常年外出，遂多商妇独守空闺之况。《长干行》为乐府旧题，李白此作以「妾」的第一人称自述一生情事，从童年两小无猜写到婚后的远别相思，历历如绘。诗人取法南朝吴声西曲的民间传统，将市井儿女的真挚情爱写入乐府，语言浅近如口语而情致深婉。全诗既见民歌「清水出芙蓉」的清丽，又含文人抒情的匠心与组织：时间线索的精确推进、典故的反说运用、乐景写哀的自觉安排，都是民歌所无而文人所加的功夫。此诗是唐人拟乐府中兼具泥土气息与文人功力的佳作，亦可见李白对民间疾苦与普通女子命运的深切体察与同情。李白同类作品中，《长干行》与《江夏行》皆写商妇，可互证其乐府写市井情爱的用心；此诗以第一人称自述，尤其要求口吻毕肖，李白以天纵之才为之，故能直入其境。

Art

The poem progresses chronologically from childhood to old age, using simple language and detailed psychological description. The rhyme changes with the mood: cheerful in youth, sorrowful in separation. Imagery like 'green plums' and 'butterflies' enriches the narrative.

全诗以时间为轴，由「妾发初覆额」直叙至「直至长风沙」，章法如溪流自然，不作倒叙、不事剪裁，却在平铺直叙中暗含情感的四次转折：童稚之乐、新婚之羞、远别之哀、盼归之痴。起首以「折花门前剧」「郎骑竹马来，绕床弄青梅」的动作白描写两小无猜，天真烂漫；「十四为君妇」后以「低头向暗壁，千唤不一回」写少女初嫁的娇羞，细节传神。「十五始展眉，愿同尘与灰」由羞转爱，情意渐深；「常存抱柱信，岂上望夫台」以反说之笔写坚贞不渝。至「十六君远行」笔势陡转，瞿塘险滩、猿声哀啼，以景写旅途之险与离别之悲；此后「门前迟行迹，一一生绿苔」「八月胡蝶来，双飞西园草」以乐景写哀，青苔与双蝶反衬独守的孤寂，物候推移写出岁月的漫长。结句「相迎不道远，直至长风沙」以空间夸张写痴情之至，收束有力，余韵悠长。全诗白描中藏比兴，浅语中含深情，心理层递（羞、展眉、愁、迎）与换韵声情浑然一体，叙事、抒情、写景三者交织成完整的生命史。全诗三十句可分为三层：前十句写婚前婚后之欢，中十句写远别之痛，末十句写盼归之痴，层层推进、环环相扣；时间既是叙事线索，也是情感刻度，读之如历其境。

Allusions

Two key allusions: 'Baozhu faith' refers to Wei Sheng who died waiting for his lover under a bridge; 'Watchtower' refers to the legend of a wife watching for her husband. The poet uses these to emphasize the woman's unwavering fidelity.

诗中用典两处尤要：「抱柱信」出《庄子·盗跖》，尾生与女子期于桥下，女子不来，水至不去，抱梁柱而死，后世喻坚贞守信；「望夫台」化用民间望夫石传说，谓妻子登山望夫、化为石像。诗人以「常存抱柱信，岂上望夫台」反用其意，言我本信守旧约、笃信不分离，哪里料想竟要登台望归，以当初之笃信反衬今日之离别，倍增悲剧意味。两典皆植根民间叙事，与全诗商妇口吻相契。此外「青梅竹马」已凝为成语，「滟滪堆」为瞿塘峡著名险滩，实写水路之凶险；「猿声天上哀」承郦道元《水经注》「巴东三峡巫峡长，猿鸣三声泪沾裳」的民歌意象，以猿声写行旅之愁；「三巴」「长风沙」皆为地名实写，极言归途之遥。用典皆融化于口语叙述中，不碍情语之畅，典故成为情感的血肉而非装饰，正见李白乐府取典如盐入水的功力。「低头向暗壁，千唤不一回」暗合《礼记》男女有别的礼教背景与少女初嫁的普遍心理，虽非用典而自有典据；「愿同尘与灰」则化用汉魏乐府「与君同尘灰」的誓词传统，可见李白取典之广。

Commentary

Ming critic Hu Zhenheng praised Li Bai's yuefu as 'spirit-filled'. This poem shows his gentle side. Qing critic Shen Deqian said it 'flows from the heart' and compares it to 'Mulberry on the Lane'.

明·胡震亨评李白乐府「出鬼入神，惝恍莫测」，此篇则见其清丽深婉的另一面，近人誉之为「家常语中见至情」。清·沈德潜《唐诗别裁》称其「儿女子情事，直从肺腑流出」，道出此诗以真情感人的特质。全诗三十句，不施藻绘，纯以天然口语写尽一个商妇从童年到中年的完整情史，与《陌上桑》《孔雀东南飞》等汉乐府写民间情爱的传统一脉相承，而笔致更为细腻，心理刻画更为深婉。诗中「青梅竹马」「两小无猜」二语后世成为形容童年友情的固定成语，可见其语言生命力之强；「抱柱信」「望夫台」也因其反说妙用而为论者所重。论者多以此诗与李白《子夜吴歌》并观，一铺叙一凝练，皆见乐府写思妇的绝高造诣，其以平民女性为主角、以第一人称立言的传统，更直接启发了后世闺怨诗词的写法。历代诗话多以此诗为李白乐府中「最近人情」之作，与《子夜吴歌》的含蓄相比，此篇直白如话而深情自见；今日读之，犹能感受到一个千年前商妇的呼吸与心跳，这正是伟大诗歌穿越时空的力量。

Prosody

Form Yuefu poem (pentasyllabic with some variations)乐府诗·杂曲歌辞（五言为主，间以杂言）

Rhyme Changes with mood, using various rhymes随情换韵，间用麻、灰、真、寒、青诸韵，韵随情转

Tone pattern Not restricted by tonal rules乐府体，不拘平仄，以五言句式为主，节奏自然流畅

Reading note This is a yuefu poem with folk style, so prosody is relaxed.本篇属李白拟乐府《长干行》，以商妇口吻叙写，非近体诗，故格律从宽，重在声情相谐。全诗三十句，五言为基本句式，语言如口语流转。用韵随情节情绪流转：童年嬉戏一段多用开口响亮的韵（「剧」「梅」「猜」等），声情轻快，如童谣般明快；婚后深情一段用「开」「回」「灰」等韵，渐转深婉；至远别之后换用「堆」「哀」「苔」「早」等韵，音节短促低回，哀咽之调与文情一致；结尾「家」「沙」又归开阔，与痴情迎归的热切相称。乐府本以感于哀乐、缘事而发为旨，此诗以换韵模拟情感起伏，声情与辞情浑然一体，读来如听一位女子娓娓道来一生的悲欢。诵读全篇，宜依韵换气：前段轻快如儿歌，中段渐转低回，末段高昂热切，方能完整呈现商妇一生的情感曲线。

Line by line

郎骑竹马来，绕床弄青梅。

You came riding a bamboo horse, and we tossed green plums around the well.

男孩骑着竹马奔来，绕着床互相抛掷青梅嬉戏。

My love came riding a bamboo horse, circling the well, playing with green plums.

「青梅竹马」一词的源头即在此。竹马是儿童胯下当马骑的竹竿，青梅是未熟的梅子，两句以动作白描写尽童稚之亲昵：一「骑」一「弄」，动态十足，天真烂漫之态如在目前。女孩折花、男孩骑竹马，一静一动，两小无猜的情谊于嬉戏中自然流露。这个画面是全诗情感的种子——正因为童年如此亲昵纯真，婚后的深情才顺理成章，日后的离别才格外难堪；同时为后文「同居长干里，两小无嫌猜」与「十五始展眉」的深情作铺垫，是乐府以细节传情的典范笔墨。

The source of the phrase green plum and bamboo horse lies here. The bamboo horse is the bamboo pole a child straddles as a horse; the green plums are unripe plums. The two lines draw the childish intimacy in plain action: one ride, one play, the motion full, the innocent posture as if before the eyes. The girl folds flowers, the boy rides the bamboo horse, one still one moving, the affection of two small children without suspicion naturally showing through play. This picture is the seed of the whole's feeling - precisely because childhood was so intimate and pure, the deep wedded love follows of itself, and the later parting the more unbearable; and it lays a ground for the later living together in Changgan Ward, two small children without mistrust, and at fifteen I first unknit my brows, the yuefu's model brush of conveying feeling through detail.

同居长干里，两小无嫌猜。

We lived together in Changgan, two children with no suspicion.

同住长干里，自幼一起长大，毫无猜忌。

We lived together in Changgan Ward, two small children, without a shadow of mistrust.

点题「长干」，交代二人自幼比邻而居的地缘关系；「无嫌猜」三字收束童年，言彼此赤诚相见、了无隔阂。此句看似平常，实为全诗情感的逻辑起点：正因为两小无猜、青梅竹马，婚后的深情才顺理成章，也正因为情根深种，日后的远别相思才格外摧心。「两小无猜」四字后世凝为成语，其魅力正在于概括了人间最纯真无伪的情感状态；以乐写哀，先写尽人间最纯真之情，再写其破碎，反衬之力尽在其中。

It points the title Changgan, stating the neighborly tie of the two grown up together; the three words without mistrust gather in the childhood, saying they met in utter frankness, without a barrier. The line seems plain, yet is the logical starting point of the whole's feeling: precisely because two small children without mistrust and bamboo-horse plums, the deep wedded love follows of itself; and precisely because love struck deep, the later far parting and longing are the more heart-rending. The four words two small children without mistrust have since condensed into an idiom, their charm lying exactly in summing up the purest and most genuine emotional state in the world. Writing grief through joy, first writing to the full the purest affection, then writing its breaking, the force of contrast all within.

常存抱柱信，岂上望夫台。

Always held the faith of Baozhu, how could I climb the Watchtower?

常存尾生抱柱守信之约，哪里会想到要上望夫台苦等。

I held the faith of one who clasps the pillar; how should I climb the husband-gazing tower?

用典反说，是全诗情感的关键转折。「抱柱信」用尾生守信抱柱而死的典故，写对爱情的坚贞；「岂上望夫台」以反诘语气写本以为永不分离、无须登台望归的笃信。两句以「常存」与「岂上」对举，愈写当初之深信不疑，愈见远别之猝然与哀伤。少女时代笃信白头偕老的誓言，岂料聚少离多竟成宿命，为下文「十六君远行」的转折蓄足势能，是典型的以乐衬哀、以深信衬薄命的笔法，读来倍觉沉痛。

Using the allusion in reverse, this is the key turn of the whole's feeling. The faith of one who clasps the pillar uses the allusion of Wei Sheng, faithful unto death clasping the pillar, to write the loyalty to love. How should I climb the husband-gazing tower writes in a rhetorical tone the firm belief that they would never part and never need climb the tower to watch for the return. The two lines set held fast against how should I, the more writing the original unquestioning faith, the more showing the far parting's suddenness and grief. The girlhood oath of growing old together, who would have thought that few meetings and long partings should become the fate, gathering full force for the later turning at sixteen you went far away, the typical brush of setting grief against joy and the frail fate against the deep faith, reading it the more painful.

十六君远行，瞿塘滟滪堆。

At sixteen you went far away, to Qutang Gorge with Yanyu Rock.

十六岁那年你远行而去，前往瞿塘峡的滟滪堆。

At sixteen you went far away, to the Qutang Gorge and the Yanyu Crag.

点出离别的具体时点与去处，是全诗由乐转哀的分水岭。「瞿塘」「滟滪堆」实写长江三峡最险的水道，滟滪堆为江心巨石，舟行至此最为凶险，以险地写远行之难，暗含对丈夫安危的忧惧。「十六」与上文的「十四」「十五」相连，年龄的精确推进使叙事如实录，愈显真切；新婚不过两年即遭远别，幸福何其短暂。商贾谋生不得不远行，商妇独守便成宿命，个人情事中已见时代与地域的底色，是全诗叙事结构的中枢。

It points out the concrete time and destination of the parting, the watershed of the whole's moving from joy to grief. Qutang and Yanyu Crag actually write the most dangerous channel of the Three Gorges, the Yanyu Crag a great rock in the river midstream, the passage most perilous, using the dangerous place to write the far journey's hardship, secretly holding the dread for the husband's safety. The word sixteen links with the earlier fourteen and fifteen, the precise advance of age making the narrative like a record, the more real; the new marriage but two years when the far parting came, how short the happiness. The merchant's living forced the far journey, the merchant's wife's lone vigil became the fate, the color of the age and region already showing within the personal love story, the center of the whole's narrative structure.

相迎不道远，直至长风沙。

I will welcome you, considering no distance, even as far as Changfeng Sands.

我去迎你不顾路途遥远，一直迎到长风沙。

To meet you I count not the distance; I will go as far as Changfeng Shoal.

以痴情收束全篇，空间夸张见情之深挚。长风沙在今安徽安庆长江边，距金陵数百里，思妇竟言要迎到长风沙去接丈夫，「不道远」直写不计路程、义无反顾的痴情，将前面积压的相思之苦一朝倾泻。前文写独守之苦何等凄清，此处写迎归之志何等热烈，情感由怨转盼、由悲转壮，人物形象由柔弱转为执着。结尾不作哀叹而以行动作结，情味深长，是乐府以事结情的高明收法，也让全诗在痴情的热望中戛然而止，余韵悠长。

Closing the whole in devoted love, the spatial exaggeration shows the depth of feeling. Changfeng Shoal on the Yangtze at Anqing, several hundred li from Jinling, the longing wife yet says she will go to Changfeng Shoal to meet her husband; count not the distance directly writes the disregard of the road and the resolute devotion, pouring out at once the accumulated bitterness of longing. The earlier writing of the lone vigil's desolation and the present writing of the resolve to meet, the feeling turning from complaint to expectation, from grief to the heroic, the figure from frail to steadfast. The close makes no lament but ends in action, the feeling deep, the yuefu's fine method of ending feeling in deed, letting the whole stop short in the devoted hope, the aftertone long.

Study

Word focus

剧 to play, to frolic (as in 'playing at the gate') 「折花门前剧」之「剧」犹「戏」，即嬉戏、玩耍。以一字写女孩门前折花自娱的稚态，童趣盎然，见出天真烂漫；「剧」字较「戏」更为古拙生动，正合乐府拟古的口吻，与全诗浅近口语中暗含文人功力的整体风格相契，一字见性情，也见李白锤炼民歌语言的匠心。以一字写尽稚气，正是乐府「质而不俚，浅而能深」的本色。此字亦见南朝民歌「戏」字入诗的痕迹，李白化民间口语入乐府而不失古意，正见其拟乐府之高。

抱柱信 an allusion to the story of Wei Sheng who held a pillar and died while waiting for his lover; represents steadfast faith 缩用尾生抱柱之典，凝四字为坚贞之誓。「抱柱」本为极端之行为，以之入诗则成信守不渝的象征，文约而意丰；与「望夫台」对举，一写男之守信、一写女之望归，两两对照，既见典故组织之巧，又见情感层次之深。以尾生之痴写商妇之痴，痴情与痴情相映，正是乐府用典的典范。四字含一典，凝一章之义，是乐府用典「以少总多」的典范。

长风沙 a place name in modern Anhui, symbolizing great distance 地名，在今安徽安庆长江边，距金陵数百里，古为江行险要商旅必经之地。以实有之地名极言迎归之路途遥远，空间之遥正见情之切，将抽象的相思化为可丈量的距离；且「长风」二字天然含浩荡之意，与痴情迎归的壮阔心境相合，地名入诗而自成意象，收束全篇尤觉气势开阔，余音不尽。地名入诗而自有情韵，非大手笔不能如此举重若轻。

长干行