唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
凉思
Cool Thoughts
客去波平槛，蝉休露满枝。
永怀当此节，倚立自移时。
北斗兼春远，南陵寓使迟。
天涯占梦数，疑误有新知。
The cicadas have ceased and the dew brims on the boughs.
In this cool season my longing runs long,
Leaning on the rail I stand as the hours drift by.
The Dipper has borne spring far away,
And the messenger lodged at Nanling is late.
At the far end of the earth I divine my dreams again and again,
And fear that you, forgetting me, have found someone new.
Meaning
Written on a cool autumn night, this regulated verse records the loneliness that follows a friend's departure. After the visitor leaves, the poet stands alone by the railing as dew gathers and cicadas fall silent. Time and distance stretch between him and the one he misses: spring has gone, and no letter comes. The poem ends in a tender, jealous fear that absence has let someone new take his place. Li Shangyin's genius is to keep the language plain while the feeling runs deep.
客子离去后，波光平齐了栏槛；蝉声停歇，露水缀满了枝头。我怀着悠长的思念，正当这清凉的时节，独自倚栏而立，不知不觉移时多时。北斗已随春色远去，南陵那边的信使又迟迟未归。天涯两地，我屡屡占卜着梦境，疑惑你是不是有了新的知交而将我遗忘。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] My guest has gone and the water lies level with the railing; the cicadas are hushed and dew fills the branches. I think of you long in this cool season, leaning alone on the rail as the hours pass. The Dipper has carried spring far away, and the messenger from Nanling is late. From the far horizon I keep divining my dreams, fearing you have made new friends and forgotten me. [Structure] The eight lines move from scene to feeling to fancy. The first couplet sets the quiet night after departure; the second shows the poet standing lost in thought; the third widens to the distance between them; the fourth sinks into jealous imagining. Each couplet deepens the last. [Imagery] Level water, silent cicadas, brimming dew — every image is still and cold, so that the outer chill becomes the inner mood. The closing dream-divining is a small, almost domestic detail that makes vast sorrow feel intimate and real.
【白话串讲】 李商隐写《凉思》：“客去波平槛，蝉休露满枝”——“永怀当此节，倚立自移时”——“北斗兼春远，南陵寓使迟”——“天涯占梦数，疑误有新知”——他写凉思——永怀当此节。 【意象与手法】 客去波平、蝉休露满，以景写独处之寂；北斗春远、南陵使迟，以时空之隔写音书之难通；“天涯占梦数，疑误有新知”二句以疑猜之辞写思念之深。以淡语写深情。 【情感与主旨】 李商隐写秋夜怀人之思，写客去独处、音书难通与疑误新知的痴情，是李商隐五律中情韵兼胜的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“客去波平槛，蝉休露满枝”以景写独处；“天涯占梦数，疑误有新知”以疑猜写思念之深。
Background
Li Shangyin (c. 813–c. 858), courtesy name Yishan, was the greatest poet of the Late Tang, famed for the density and tenderness of his regulated verse. His life was spent drifting between the staffs of regional warlords, so partings and lost letters were his daily bread. Cool Thoughts was written on an autumn night after seeing off a visitor, addressed to a distant friend or perhaps to the woman he loved. The delayed messenger at Nanling tells us a letter sent south had never come back, and the closing fear of being forgotten gives the poem its edge of quiet despair. It stands as one of his most perfectly restrained five-character regulated verses.
《凉思》为晚唐诗人李商隐所作五言律诗。李商隐（约813—约858），字义山，号玉溪生，怀州河内人，晚唐最重要的诗人之一，与杜牧并称「小李杜」。其诗构思新奇、风格秾丽，五律一体亦造诣精深。此诗题曰「凉思」，意即秋凉之时的思念，当是诗人于秋夜独处、怀念远方友人或情人所作。诗中所写「客去波平槛」，可知先是有一位客子离去，诗人送别之后，独倚栏槛，于秋凉之时油然而生悠长的思念；「北斗兼春远」写时光之流转，「南陵寓使迟」写音书之难通，「天涯占梦数，疑误有新知」则写思念之深、疑猜之痴。李商隐一生漂泊幕府，交游离合无常，对离别、相思、音信阻隔的体验尤为深切，此诗正是以秋夜凉思为背景，写尽了怀人者的孤寂、牵挂与微妙的疑虑。全诗情致深婉、措语轻灵，是李商隐五律中「以淡语写深情」的代表作，历来为选家所称赏。此篇《凉思》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 mastery is deep feeling written in plain words. Nowhere is the word sorrow or longing used directly, yet the whole poem is longing. The first couplet achieves its effect through pure stillness: the level water after the guest's boat has gone, the cicadas' silence, the brimming dew — every detail marks an absence. The second couplet's alone and the drifting hours turn time itself into a measure of loneliness. The third couplet widens the frame with the Dipper and the delayed messenger, and the fourth couplet's dream-divining, with its jealous suspicion, gives the poem its unforgettable close. Each couplet takes one step further from the visible world into the world of feeling.
此诗艺术上以「即景生情、以淡写深」见长。全诗八句，由景入情，层层深入。首联「客去波平槛，蝉休露满枝」写客去之后的情景：波光平齐栏槛，是客舟已去、水面复归平静；蝉声停歇，露珠缀满枝头，是秋夜已深、万籁俱寂。两句以「客去」起笔，点出怀人之由，而以波平、蝉休、露满写人去后的静寂，景中含情。颔联「永怀当此节，倚立自移时」由景转入情：「永怀」写思念之悠长绵远，「倚立自移时」写倚栏伫立、不知不觉移时良久，一「自」字见其独处之形单影只。颈联「北斗兼春远，南陵寓使迟」宕开写时空之隔：北斗已随春色远去，写时序流转、别日久长；南陵的信使迟迟未归，写音书之阻隔。尾联「天涯占梦数，疑误有新知」更进一层，写思念之极而生疑猜——屡屡占卜梦境，疑心对方已另结新知而将自己遗忘。全诗由景而情、由实而虚，层层深入，以淡语写深情，含蓄蕴藉，正是李商隐「深情绵邈」诗风在五律中的体现。
Allusions
The key reference is to dream divination, the ancient practice of interpreting dreams to foretell fortune, attested by the office of the dream-diviner in the Rites of Zhou. The poet, cut off from news, keeps divining his dreams to guess at the absent one's fate, a domestic, almost superstitious gesture that makes his longing concrete. Nanling is a place in present-day Anhui, where his messenger was lodged and delayed. The Dipper has borne spring away uses the pointer of the Northern Dipper, which turns with the seasons, to mark how long the parting has lasted.
诗中「占梦」一词，涉古代占卜习俗。占梦即占验梦中所见以测吉凶休咎，古来行之，《周礼》有占梦之官，《诗经》亦有「众维鱼矣，旌维旟矣」以梦占丰年的描写。李商隐此用「天涯占梦数」，写诗人于天涯两地、音书难通之际，屡屡占验梦境，以测对方之近况——梦见他归来是吉，梦见他他适是凶，占来占去，愈占愈疑。这一细节极富生活气息，把怀人者的痴情与忐忑写得真切可感。「南陵」为地名，在今安徽境内，诗人或于南陵寓居，以「南陵寓使迟」写所遣信使久未回归、音书难通。「北斗兼春远」则以北斗喻远人所在的方向，兼写春去秋来、别日久长。诗人将占梦这一民俗细节融入怀人的深情之中，使全诗于典雅之外更添几分人间烟火气，正是李商隐善于以寻常物事写深沉情感的体现。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。
Commentary
Critics have always valued this poem for its restraint: it writes the deepest feeling in the lightest words. Anthologists repeatedly selected its first couplet as a model of feeling born of scene, and the closing couplet's jealous suspicion has been called the most honest line in Late Tang love poetry. Within Li Shangyin's own work, it belongs to the deep, faintly resentful strain of his poetry of longing, in contrast to the warmer clarity of Night Rain to the North. For students of the five-character regulated verse it remains a perfect demonstration of how couplet progression, plain diction, and a single piercing detail at the end can sustain a whole poem.
这首《凉思》之妙，在于它把怀人的深情写得极淡，又极真。首联写客去之后：「客去波平槛，蝉休露满枝」，客舟已去，波光复平；秋夜已深，蝉休露满。人去楼空的静寂，尽在这两句景语之中。颔联「永怀当此节，倚立自移时」，写诗人倚栏而立，不知不觉移时良久——他并不说多么思念，只说「倚立自移时」，那份长久的伫立，便是思念的明证。颈联宕开写时空之远：「北斗兼春远，南陵寓使迟」，一写别久之长，一写音书之难，思念因时空的阻隔而愈显绵长。尾联「天涯占梦数，疑误有新知」是点睛之笔：天涯两地，诗人屡屡占梦问吉凶，甚至疑心对方已另结新知而将自己遗忘。这一疑猜，看似无理，实则至情——唯其思念之极、牵挂之深，才会有这样患得患失的疑心。全诗以淡语写深情，不着一「愁」字「念」字，而怀人之情历历可见，正是李商隐「深情绵邈」的本色，也是五律中「即景生情、以淡写深」的典范。
Prosody
Line by line
客去波平槛，蝉休露满枝。
My guest is gone; the ripples lie level with the railing, the cicadas have ceased and the dew brims on the boughs.
客子离去后，波光复归平静、平齐栏槛；蝉声停歇，露珠缀满了枝头，秋夜已深。
The guest gone, the water is level with the rail; the cicadas have stopped, dew weighs the branches.
首联写客去之后的情景，景中含情。「客去波平槛」以「客去」起笔，点出怀人之由——客舟离去，水面复归平静，波光平齐栏槛，一个「平」字写尽人去后的空寂；「蝉休露满枝」写秋夜已深，蝉声停歇，露珠缀满枝头，万籁俱寂。两句一写水、一写枝，一写波之平、一写露之满，皆以静景写人去后的孤寂。诗人不写自己如何不舍，只写客去之后的景物如何归于平静，而独处空寂之感尽在其中，含蓄蕴藉，为全诗怀人之情作了铺垫。
The opening couplet writes the scene after the guest's departure, feeling within scene. 'The guest gone, the water is level with the rail' begins with 'the guest gone', naming the cause of the longing — the guest's boat departed, the water calm again, level with the balustrade, the word 'level' writing to the full the emptiness after the man's going; 'the cicadas have stopped, dew weighs the branches' the deep autumn night, the cicada's song ceased, dew upon the boughs, all sounds still. One line the water, one the branches, one the level waves, one the laden dew, all writing the solitude after the man's going through still scene. The poet does not write his own reluctance, only the world after the guest's departure grown calm, and the solitude of the empty evening is all within, restrained and pregnant, preparing the longing below.
永怀当此节，倚立自移时。
In this cool season I think of you long, leaning alone on the rail as the hours drift by.
正当这清凉的时节，我怀着悠长的思念，独自倚栏而立，不知不觉已移时良久。
Longing, in this season; leaning on the rail, unawares, much time has passed.
颔联由景入情，是全诗情感的直接流露。「永怀」写思念之悠长绵远，不以时计，正当此秋凉时节，思念更觉深沉；「倚立自移时」写诗人倚栏而立、独自伫立，不知不觉已过了许多时候。「自」字是全联之眼——无人相伴，唯自倚立，形单影只之态尽在其中；「移时」写时间之久，久到连自己都不曾察觉，正是思念入神、忘乎所以的表现。两句一写情、一写态，把怀人者于秋夜独处时那份悠长而忘我的思念，写得真切动人，是即景生情的妙笔。
The neck couplet turns from scene to feeling, the direct utterance of the poem's emotion. 'Longing' writes the length of the yearning, not measured by hours; in this cool autumn season, the longing the deeper; 'leaning on the rail, unawares, much time has passed' the poet leaning on the rail, standing alone, unawares much time gone. The word 'unawares' is the eye of the couplet — no companion, only leaning alone, the solitary shape within; 'much time has passed' the length, long enough that he did not notice, the very sign of longing sunk deep, forgetful of self. One line feeling, one posture, writing the long, self-forgetting longing of the missing one in the autumn night, true and moving, the art of feeling born of the scene.
北斗兼春远，南陵寓使迟。
The Dipper has borne spring far away; the messenger lodged at Nanling is slow to return.
北斗已随春色一同远去，时光流转，别日已久；南陵那边的信使，却又迟迟不见归来。
The Northern Dipper is far off with the spring; the messenger at Nanling is late to return.
颈联宕开一笔，写时空之隔与音书之难。「北斗兼春远」写时光之流转：北斗斗柄随季节而移，春去秋来，与春色一同远去的，还有那久别的故人，一个「远」字，见别日之久、相隔之遥；「南陵寓使迟」写音书之阻隔：所遣的信使寄居南陵，迟迟未归，一个「迟」字，见音书之难通、等待之焦灼。两句一写时间、一写空间，一写别久之长、一写消息之杳，把怀人者因时空阻隔而愈显绵长的思念，写得含蓄而深挚，为尾联的占梦疑猜作了铺垫。
The neck couplet swings aside, writing the separation of time and space and the difficulty of letters. 'The Northern Dipper is far off with the spring' the turn of time: the Dipper's handle shifts with the seasons, spring gone, autumn come, and gone with the spring is the long-parted friend, the word 'far' the length of separation and the distance between; 'the messenger at Nanling is late to return' the blocked letters: the messenger sent, lodging at Nanling, slow to return, the word 'late' the difficulty of news and the anxiety of waiting. One line time, one space, one the long parting, one the vanished news, writing the longing that grows the longer for the separation, restrained and deep, preparing the closing couplet's divining of dreams and the anxious doubt.
天涯占梦数，疑误有新知。
At the far end of the earth I divine my dreams again and again, fearing you have found someone new and forgotten me.
天涯两地，我屡屡占验梦境以测吉凶，竟疑心你莫不是另结了新知、将我遗忘了吧。
At the world's edge, I often read my dreams; I half suspect you have a new friend, and have forgotten me.
尾联是全诗情感的深化，以疑猜写深情。「天涯占梦数」写诗人于天涯两地、音书难通之际，屡屡占验梦境，以测对方近况，「数」字见其占卜之频、心思之切；「疑误有新知」更进一层，竟疑心对方已另结新知而将自己遗忘——这一疑猜，看似无端，实则至情：唯其思念之极、牵挂之深，音书久无，才会患得患失，生出这样的疑心。「误」字尤见其自我宽解而又不能自解的痴态。两句把怀人者相思入骨、疑真疑幻的心态写得入木三分，是「以痴语写深情」的绝妙之笔，读之令人低回不尽。
The closing couplet deepens the poem's emotion, writing deep feeling through doubt. 'At the world's edge, I often read my dreams' — at the world's edge, the two apart, letters hard to pass, he often divines his dreams to gauge the other's state, the word 'often' the frequency of the divining, the anxiety of the heart; 'I half suspect you have a new friend, and have forgotten me' goes one layer further, suspecting the other has made a new acquaintance and forgotten him. This doubt seems groundless, yet it is the deepest feeling: only when the longing is at its utmost, the care so deep, the letters so long uncoming, does the gain-and-loss anxiety breed such suspicion. The word 'half' especially shows the folly of a self-comfort that cannot comfort itself. The two lines write to the life the mind of the missing lover, bone to the marrow, between true and dream, the exquisite art of 'writing deep feeling through foolish words', reading it the reader lingers on and on.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Night Rain to the North, with its questions about the return date and the autumn pool swollen with rain, is warm and luminous, dreaming of trimming the candle together by the west window. Cool Thoughts, by contrast, sits in the empty quiet after departure and ends in the suspicion of new friends. The same autumn night yields two faces of Li Shangyin's art: one warm and hopeful, the other deep and faintly bitter.
李商隐《夜雨寄北》「君问归期未有期，巴山夜雨涨秋池」，写秋夜雨中对远方亲人的思念与对重逢的期许，「何当共剪西窗烛」的想象尤为动人，是李商隐怀人诗中明朗温厚一路；《凉思》则写客去之后秋夜独处，怀人而兼疑猜，「天涯占梦数，疑误有新知」，是李商隐怀人诗中深婉幽怨一路。两诗同写秋夜怀人，一寄未来之约、一写当下之疑，一温厚一幽怨，恰成对照，正可见李商隐写怀人之情的丰富面貌与笔法的多样。
望月怀远 Gazing at the Moon, Thinking of the Far One 张九龄 · 同写怀远相思，一以明月写遥夜之思，一以占梦写天涯之疑，皆情致深婉、含蓄不尽 Both are poems of distant longing; one uses the shared moon, the other divined dreams, both deep and restrained.Zhang Jiuling's poem uses the bright moon rising over the sea to join separated lovers in a single vast vision, the voice of the High Tang. Li Shangyin writes of the same distance through private, anxious details: the late messenger, the counted dreams, the fear of replacement. Where Zhang's world is open and unified, Li's is closed and tremulous — the High Tang's breadth against the Late Tang's tenderness.
张九龄《望月怀远》「海上生明月，天涯共此时」，以明月起兴，写「情人怨遥夜，竟夕起相思」的绵长思念，境界开阔而情致深婉，是盛唐怀远诗的代表；李商隐《凉思》则以秋夜凉思为背景，写「天涯占梦数，疑误有新知」的患得患失，一以景写思、一以事写疑。两诗同写怀远相思而手法各异：张诗以明月之共照写相思之相通，境界浑融；李诗以占梦之频写相思之疑猜，情致幽微。对读二诗，可见盛唐之开阔与晚唐之深婉在怀远诗上的不同呈现。