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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

宫怨

Palace Lament (Gongyuan)

李益

Li Yi

露湿晴花宫殿香，月明歌吹在昭阳。
似将海水添宫漏，共滴长门一夜长。

Dew wets the sunlit flowers, and the palace is fragrant; in the bright moon, songs and flutes sound at Zhaoyang.
It is as if sea water were poured into the palace clepsydra, dripping the long, long night at Changmen.
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Meaning

While song and flute float from the moonlit Zhaoyang Palace where the favored consort lives, the night in the deserted Changmen Palace stretches as if the water clock had been filled with sea water. The poem turns on the contrast between splendor and abandonment, magnifying one night of neglected love into an ocean of time.

露湿晴花宫殿香，月明歌吹在昭阳。似将海水添宫漏，共滴长门一夜长。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Dew falls on the sunlit flowers; the palace breathes fragrance. In the bright moon, songs and flutes play at Zhaoyang. It is as if sea water were poured into the palace clock, dripping down the long, long night at Changmen. [Structure] The first couplet shows the other palace's joy; the second couplet, by a leap of imagination, makes the neglected woman's night inexhaustible; the whole poem is contrast and hyperbole. [Imagery] Dew, flowers, incense, moonlight, song — a world of fragrance and sound — are all assigned to Zhaoyang; Changmen receives only dripping water and length.

【白话串讲】 李益写《宫怨》：“露湿晴花宫殿香，月明歌吹在昭阳”——“似将海水添宫漏，共滴长门一夜长”——他写宫怨——共滴长门一夜长。 【意象与手法】 “露湿晴花宫殿香，月明歌吹在昭阳”写昭阳歌吹；“似将海水添宫漏”以海水添宫漏写夜长；结以“共滴长门一夜长”写长门夜长。含蓄深婉。 【情感与主旨】 李益写宫怨之作，以昭阳歌吹与长门冷落相对照，以“似将海水添宫漏”写失宠宫女一夜之长，是宫怨诗中的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“露湿晴花宫殿香，月明歌吹在昭阳”以昭阳歌吹写承宠；“似将海水添宫漏，共滴长门一夜长”以海水添宫漏写长门夜长。

Background

Li Yi (c. 746-c. 829), courtesy name Junyu, was from Guzang in Longxi (modern Wuwei, Gansu). One of the 'Ten Talents of the Dali era', he held posts across the north and was celebrated for border ballads and for songs of the frontier and the harem, whose music was widely sung in his lifetime. This quatrain on palace resentment is among his most famous short poems; its daring hyperbole — filling the water clock with sea water — became a textbook example of Tang quatrain imagination.

《宫怨》为唐代诗人李益所作诗。李益（约746—约829），字君虞，陇西姑臧（今甘肃武威）人，唐代诗人，「大历十才子」之一。此诗写闺怨感怀，为咏宫怨之作。诗中「露湿晴花宫殿香，月明歌吹在昭阳」写露湿晴花宫殿香，月明歌吹在昭阳；「似将海水添宫漏，共滴长门一夜长」写似将海水添宫漏，共滴长门一夜长。李益此诗以闺怨感怀、共滴长门一夜长写其闺怨之情，含蓄深婉，是李益诗中的名篇。此篇《宫怨》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《宫怨》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《宫怨》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。

Art

The poem's whole effect rests on contrast and hyperbole. Its first couplet pours every luxury into Zhaoyang Palace: dew-wet flowers, fragrance, moonlight, and music — the sensory world of a woman in favor. The second couplet then turns to Changmen, the palace of the discarded, and performs an act of magnificent exaggeration: as if the palace clepsydra had been filled with sea water, the night drips on forever. The loved woman's night is short with music; the abandoned woman's night is an ocean. By saying nothing about the woman herself, the poem lets the two palaces — and two fates — speak against each other across the moonlight.

此诗艺术上以「含蓄深婉、以漏写怨」见长。全诗共四句，由露湿晴花宫殿香而月明歌吹在昭阳而似将海水添宫漏。起「露湿晴花宫殿香，月明歌吹在昭阳」写露湿晴花宫殿香：露湿晴花宫殿香，月明歌吹在昭阳；「似将海水添宫漏，共滴长门一夜长」写似将海水添宫漏：似将海水添宫漏，共滴长门一夜长。全诗以漏写怨，由露湿晴花宫殿香而共滴长门一夜长，含蓄深婉，是李益诗中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。

Allusions

Zhaoyang was the palace of Emperor Wu of Han where his beloved Lady Zhao resided; in Tang poetry it became shorthand for the quarters of a favored consort. Changmen was the palace where Emperor Wu's discarded Empress Chen was confined; the very name means 'long gate', and it had stood since Han poetry for the sorrow of a woman out of favor. Placing the two ancient palaces side by side condenses the entire history of imperial favor and abandonment into two words, and the 'palace clepsydra' (gonglou) — the dragon-shaped water clock that measured the night watches — becomes, once imagined filled with sea water, the measure of an eternity of grief.

诗中「露湿晴花宫殿香月明歌吹在昭阳」「似将海水添宫漏共滴长门一夜长」等语，皆含典故故实。「露湿晴花宫殿香月明歌吹在昭阳」用昭阳之典（昭阳为汉宫名），写露湿晴花宫殿香月明歌吹在昭阳；「似将海水添宫漏共滴长门一夜长」用长门之典（长门为汉宫名，陈皇后居长门宫），写似将海水添宫漏共滴长门一夜长。诗人以昭阳、长门等典入诗，不着痕迹，而把闺怨感怀之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。

Commentary

Tang and Song readers singled out the line 'as if sea water were poured into the palace clock' for the boldness of its imagination — a whole ocean of water to measure one night. Critics praise the quatrain for its 'deep and remote' quality: the resentment never speaks in its own voice; it is entirely delegated to the dripping clock. Read alongside Wang Changling's Changxin Palace lyrics and Xue Feng's Palace Verse, Li Yi's poem shows the harem lament at its most economical — four lines, two palace names, and an endless night.

这首《宫怨》，是李益写闺怨感怀之作，写露湿晴花宫殿香、月明歌吹在昭阳、共滴长门一夜长之情，含蓄深婉。起「露湿晴花宫殿香，月明歌吹在昭阳」——露湿晴花宫殿香，月明歌吹在昭阳（用昭阳之典）。写露湿晴花宫殿香：露湿晴花宫殿香、月明歌吹在昭阳——露湿晴花、歌吹在昭阳；「似将海水添宫漏，共滴长门一夜长」——似将海水添宫漏，共滴长门（用长门之典）一夜长。写似将海水添宫漏：似将海水添宫漏、共滴长门一夜长——海水添宫漏、长门一夜长。这「似将海水添宫漏，共滴长门一夜长」，是全诗之结：以共滴长门一夜长写其闺怨。全诗含蓄深婉，以漏写怨，正是李益诗中的名篇。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (qiyan jueju)诗（七言绝句）
Rhyme The rhyme words xiang ('fragrant'), yang ('Zhaoyang'), and chang ('long') all fall in the level-tone Yang rhyme group, whose open, resonant sound mirrors the moonlight and the long night alike.此诗为七言绝句，共四句，两句一联。押平声韵：「阳」「长」押阳部韵。诗体依绝句而定，句式整齐，音节随情起伏，正与写闺怨感怀的含蓄深婉相称，也见其以绝句写闺怨的自然。
Tone pattern The first couplet opens in bright, even measures to suit the spectacle; the second couplet stretches its images — sea water, the palace clock, the long night — across the same even gait, so length of sound enacts length of time.句式上，「露湿晴花宫殿香，月明歌吹在昭阳」写露湿晴花宫殿香，音节明丽；「似将海水添宫漏，共滴长门一夜长」写似将海水添宫漏，音节低回。全诗音节随情起伏，由明丽而低回，正合绝句「含蓄」之妙，读来如闺怨感怀、共滴长门一夜长之音，含蓄而动人。
Reading note The quatrain's demand for a turn after line two is met here by a change of scene and scale: from Zhaoyang's music to Changmen's dripping eternity. The level Yang rhyme, never abrupt, allows the poem to end in a long, unbroken fall of water — prosody that is itself the 'long night' of the closing line.此诗为七言绝句，是李益写闺怨感怀之作，也是其诗中的名篇。全诗的艺术特色在于「含蓄深婉、以漏写怨」：「露湿晴花宫殿香，月明歌吹在昭阳」写露湿晴花宫殿香、「似将海水添宫漏，共滴长门一夜长」写似将海水添宫漏。全诗含蓄深婉，以漏写怨。尤为精妙者，是「月明歌吹在昭阳」用昭阳之典；而「似将海水添宫漏，共滴长门一夜长」用长门之典，正是李益诗「含蓄深婉」的典范，为历代选本所常收。《宫怨》一诗之所以读来声情并茂，正在于诗人以声韵配合情思、以节奏烘托意境，音节之长短、平仄之起伏，皆与诗意相为表里，此亦可见中国古典诗歌声律之美与匠心之工。

Line by line

露湿晴花宫殿香，月明歌吹在昭阳。

Dew wets the sunlit flowers, the palace is fragrant; in the bright moon, songs and flutes sound at Zhaoyang.

露湿晴花宫殿香，月明歌吹在昭阳。

Dew wets the sunny flowers, the palace fragrant; moonlit, songs and pipes rise in Zhaoyang Hall.

首二句写露湿晴花宫殿香，起笔即见其境。「露湿晴花宫殿香」写露湿晴花宫殿香，「露湿晴花」写露湿晴花、「宫殿香」写宫殿香；「月明歌吹在昭阳」用昭阳之典写月明歌吹在昭阳，「月明歌吹」写月明歌吹、「在昭阳」写在昭阳。两句一写露湿晴花宫殿香、一写月明歌吹在昭阳，以露湿晴花宫殿香写露湿晴花、以月明歌吹在昭阳写歌吹昭阳，写尽露湿晴花宫殿香、月明歌吹在昭阳之情。以境起兴，含蓄而深婉，是「以境起兴」的妙笔。

The opening couplet sets the scene: dew wetting bright flowers fills the palace with fragrance, and by moonlight songs and pipes are heard in Zhaoyang, the hall of imperial favor. Rising through the setting, it is restrained and deep.

似将海水添宫漏，共滴长门一夜长。

It is as if sea water were poured into the palace clepsydra, dripping the long, long night at Changmen.

似将海水添宫漏，共滴长门一夜长。

As if the sea's water were poured into the palace clepsydra, dripping out one long night at Changle Gate.

尾二句写似将海水添宫漏，是全诗立意的落点。「似将海水添宫漏」写似将海水添宫漏，「似将海水」写似将海水、「添宫漏」写添宫漏；「共滴长门一夜长」用长门之典写共滴长门一夜长，「共滴长门」写共滴长门、「一夜长」写一夜长。两句一写似将海水添宫漏、一写共滴长门一夜长，以似将海水添宫漏写海水添漏、以共滴长门一夜长写长门夜长，写尽似将海水添宫漏、共滴长门一夜长之情。以漏写怨，含蓄而深婉，是全诗最动人处，也是「以漏写怨」的点睛之笔。

The closing couplet imagines pouring the sea into the palace water-clock, to drip out one endless night at Changle Gate — Changle the classic gate of the neglected consort. Writing grievance through the water-clock's slow drip, it is the poem's most moving point: the favored rejoice by moonlight, the forgotten count every drip of an endless night.

Study

Word focus

宫殿香 The palace's fragrance — scent belonging to the world of favor; it drifts from Zhaoyang, not from the deserted Changmen. 「宫殿香」写露湿晴花宫殿香，是写宫殿之态的关键。「露湿晴花宫殿香」着一「宫殿香」，写宫殿香——着一「宫殿香」，写露湿晴花宫殿香，见其宫之香。三字写尽宫殿香之态，是「以词写宫」的妙笔。「宫殿香」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
昭阳 Zhaoyang, palace of Han Emperor Wu's beloved Lady Zhao; by Tang convention it stands for the quarters of a woman in favor. 「昭阳」写月明歌吹在昭阳，是写昭阳之态的关键。「月明歌吹在昭阳」着一「昭阳」，写昭阳——着一「昭阳」，写月明歌吹在昭阳，见其宫之宠。两字写尽昭阳之态，是「以词写宠」的点睛之词。「昭阳」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
宫漏 The palace clepsydra, the dragon-shaped water clock that measured the night watches; here imagined filled with sea water to make one night endless. 「宫漏」写似将海水添宫漏，是写宫漏之态的关键。「似将海水添宫漏」着一「宫漏」，写宫漏——着一「宫漏」，写似将海水添宫漏，见其漏之久。两字写尽宫漏之态，是「以词写漏」的点睛之词。「宫漏」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
长门 Changmen, the 'long gate' where Empress Chen was confined after losing Han Wudi's favor — the very name has meant abandonment since Han poetry. 「长门」写共滴长门一夜长，是写长门之态的关键。「共滴长门一夜长」着一「长门」，写长门——着一「长门」，写共滴长门一夜长，见其宫之冷。两字写尽长门之态，是「以词写冷」的点睛之词。「长门」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

Related Reading

浣溪沙·一曲新词酒一杯 Huanxi Sha: 'A new song over a cup of wine' 晏殊 · 同写感怀伤时、无可奈何，一写无可奈何花落去、一写似将海水添宫漏共滴长门一夜长，皆于感怀之中见无可奈何 Both muse on time's passing with a sense of helplessness — one on falling flowers and returning swallows, the other on sea water filling the palace clock.

Yan Shu's 'helpless, the flowers fall away; familiar it seems, the swallows return' grieves fleeting time, a celebrated short lyric; Li Yi's 'as if sea water were poured into the palace clepsydra, dripping the long night at Changmen' makes time itself an instrument of grief. Yan Shu's warm resignation versus Li Yi's deep, dark sorrow — two registers of helplessness.

晏殊《浣溪沙·一曲新词酒一杯》「无可奈何花落去，似曾相识燕归来」，写感怀伤时，是宋词小令的名篇；李益《宫怨》则以「似将海水添宫漏，共滴长门一夜长」「月明歌吹在昭阳」写海水添宫漏、歌吹在昭阳。两诗同写感怀伤时、无可奈何：一写无可奈何花落去、以花落燕归写惜时，一写似将海水添宫漏共滴长门一夜长、以宫漏写闺怨；一为晏殊之温润、一为李益之深婉，并读正可见诗写「感怀无可奈何」的两种笔法，皆于感怀之中见无可奈何。

 山园小梅 Little Plum in the Mountain Garden 林逋 · 同写闺情清雅、含蓄蕴藉，一写疏影横斜水清浅暗香浮动月黄昏、一写露湿晴花宫殿香月明歌吹在昭阳，皆于闺情之中见含蓄 Both write delicate feeling with quiet elegance and restraint — one on sparse plum shadows and drifting fragrance, the other on dew-wet blossoms and palace fragrance.

Lin Bu's 'sparse shadows slant across the clear shallow water, hidden fragrance floats in the dusk moon' is the supreme song of Song-dynasty object poetry; Li Yi's 'dew wets the sunlit flowers, the palace is fragrant' hints at favor and abandonment through scent. Lin Bu's hermit purity versus Li Yi's palace depth — two kinds of subtlety.

林逋《山园小梅》「疏影横斜水清浅，暗香浮动月黄昏」，写梅之清雅、含蓄蕴藉，是宋诗咏物的绝唱；李益《宫怨》则以「露湿晴花宫殿香，月明歌吹在昭阳」「似将海水添宫漏，共滴长门一夜长」写露湿晴花、共滴长门。两诗同写闺情清雅、含蓄蕴藉：一写疏影横斜水清浅暗香浮动月黄昏、以梅写清雅，一写露湿晴花宫殿香月明歌吹在昭阳、以宫漏写闺怨；一为林逋之清逸、一为李益之深婉，并读正可见诗写「闺情含蓄」的两种笔法，皆于闺情之中见含蓄。