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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

烈女操

Song of the Staunch Woman

孟郊

Meng Jiao

梧桐相待老，鸳鸯会双死。
贞妇贵殉夫，舍生亦如此。
波澜誓不起，妾心井中水。

The wutong trees wait to grow old together,
The mandarin ducks will die as a pair.
A faithful wife prizes dying with her lord,
And giving up her life is only this.
No wave shall ever rise, she vows —
My heart is the water in the well.

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Meaning

Meng Jiao takes an old yuefu title and fills it with an ideal of absolute marital fidelity. The wutong trees that grow old side by side and the mandarin ducks that die in pairs establish the standard of lifelong devotion; the chaste wife holds that dying with her husband is the highest honor; and she seals her vow with the image of well water that never ripples. The poem is at once a eulogy of fidelity and, from a modern standpoint, a monument to the feudal ethics of female chastity — its artistic power and its historical limits are inseparable.

梧桐相守到老，鸳鸯会双双而死。贞妇以殉夫为贵，舍生亦当如此。波澜发誓不起，妾心坚如井中水。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The wutong trees grow old side by side, the mandarin ducks die together. A faithful wife prizes following her husband in death, and giving up her life is nothing but this. Let no wave ever rise again — my heart is the water in the well. [Structure] The six lines move in three steps: the first couplet raises the theme with paired images of devotion, the middle couplet states the vow directly, and the closing couplet seals it with the image of still water. The progression from external symbol to declaration to inner state is typical of yuefu plainness. [Imagery] Wutong trees, mandarin ducks, and well water form a chain of symbols of fidelity, each image plain but loaded, in the ancient, forceful style for which Meng Jiao is known.

【白话串讲】孟郊写《烈女操》：“梧桐相待老，鸳鸯会双死”——“贞妇贵殉夫，舍生亦如此”——“波澜誓不起，妾心井中水”——他写烈女操——妾心井中水。【意象与手法】梧桐相待老、鸳鸯会双死，以梧桐鸳鸯写夫妇相守之情；贞妇贵殉夫、舍生亦如此，写贞妇殉夫之志；波澜誓不起、妾心井中水，以井水写其心之坚贞。比兴深婉、古拙劲健。【情感与主旨】孟郊以乐府旧题写贞妇之志之作，以梧桐鸳鸯、井水为喻写节妇之贞，是孟郊乐府诗中的名篇。【名句点睛】常考“梧桐相待老，鸳鸯会双死”以梧桐鸳鸯写相守；“波澜誓不起，妾心井中水”以井水写坚贞。

Background

Meng Jiao (751–814), courtesy name Dongye, was a Mid-Tang poet from Wukang in Huzhou (present-day Deqing, Zhejiang), famous together with Jia Dao as Meng-Jiao cold, Jia-Dao lean for his austere, forceful style. Song of the Staunch Woman is an old yuefu title used for poems on chaste and martyred women. Meng Jiao's version uses the traditional images of paired wutong trees and mandarin ducks, then states the ideal of a wife dying with her husband, and closes with the famous image of the heart as well water. It must be read in the context of Tang ethics of female chastity, which celebrated widow suicide as virtue; the poem is both a product of that ideology and, artistically, one of the finest examples of Meng Jiao's cold style.

《烈女操》为唐代诗人孟郊所作乐府诗。孟郊（751—814），字东野，湖州武康（今浙江德清）人，中唐诗人，与贾岛并称「郊寒岛瘦」，诗风古拙劲健，多写贫寒与孤高。烈女操为乐府旧题，多写贞烈女子之事。此诗写贞妇殉夫之志。诗中「梧桐相待老，鸳鸯会双死」以梧桐、鸳鸯写夫妇相守之情；「贞妇贵殉夫，舍生亦如此」写贞妇殉夫之志；「波澜誓不起，妾心井中水」以井水写其心之坚贞。孟郊诗风古拙劲健，此诗以梧桐、鸳鸯、井水为喻，比兴深婉，写贞妇之贞，是孟郊乐府诗中的名篇，也是「郊寒」之体（古拙劲健、多用比兴）的典型体现。此篇《烈女操》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《烈女操》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 art is its plainness and force. In six five-character lines it completes a full movement of feeling: the first couplet raises the theme with two paired images, the middle couplet states the ideal in four flat, declarative words, and the last couplet turns inward with the image of well water that no wave disturbs. There is no ornament; the effect comes from the starkness of the images and the weight of the vow. The closing metaphor — the heart as well water — is the poem's masterpiece of writing feeling through things, giving an abstract vow the concrete stillness of deep water.

此诗艺术上以「比兴深婉、古拙劲健」见长。全诗六句，前二句以梧桐鸳鸯起兴，中二句写贞妇殉夫之志，后二句以井水为喻写其心之坚贞。首二句「梧桐相待老，鸳鸯会双死」以梧桐、鸳鸯起兴：梧桐相守到老，鸳鸯会双双而死。以梧桐、鸳鸯这些夫妇相守的象征起兴，写夫妇之情。中二句「贞妇贵殉夫，舍生亦如此」写贞妇殉夫之志：贞妇以殉夫为贵，舍生亦当如此。由起兴转入写志。后二句「波澜誓不起，妾心井中水」以井水为喻写其心之坚贞：波澜发誓不起，妾心坚如井中水。以井水之静写其心之定。全诗六句，比兴深婉，古拙劲健，是孟郊乐府诗中的名篇。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。

Allusions

The images carry the poem's meaning. The wutong, a tree that grows paired, was a standard symbol of conjugal devotion; the mandarin duck, which never mates twice, was the classic emblem of the faithful couple, so the line about dying as a pair draws on a long literary tradition. Following one's husband in death refers to the Tang cult of widow chastity, which honored wives who killed themselves after their husbands' deaths. The image of well water that raises no waves descends from the Buddhist simile of the unmoved mind, but here it is used as a vow of conjugal constancy.

诗中「梧桐」「鸳鸯」「殉夫」「井中水」等语，皆含典故故实。「梧桐」为连理之木，古以梧桐并生喻夫妇相守，白居易《长恨歌》「在天愿作比翼鸟，在地愿为连理枝」即以比翼鸟、连理枝写夫妇之情；「鸳鸯」为雌雄相守之水鸟，古以鸳鸯喻夫妇，故「梧桐相待老，鸳鸯会双死」以梧桐、鸳鸯写夫妇相守至死之情；「殉夫」指夫死而以身相殉，为古代贞节观念下之行为；「井中水」以井水之静深写心之坚贞，波澜不起。诗人以梧桐、鸳鸯、井水等意象入诗，不着痕迹，而把贞妇之贞写得真切可感，是善于比兴的体现。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

The poem has always been read as the representative chaste-wife poem of Meng Jiao's yuefu. Anthologists regularly pair it with Zhang Ji's Song of the Faithful Wife, where the wife returns a pearl with tears; Meng Jiao's woman instead seals her fidelity with death, so that this poem became the byword for the most extreme form of Tang chastity ideology. Modern readers must separate its artistic from its ethical content: the plain imagery, the decisive diction, and the well-water metaphor remain admirable achievements of yuefu technique, while the ideal of widow suicide it celebrates belonged to a feudal system and is not to be endorsed today. Read historically, the poem is valuable both as literature and as evidence of Tang attitudes toward women.

这首《烈女操》，是孟郊以乐府旧题写贞妇之志之作，以梧桐鸳鸯、井水为喻写节妇之贞，比兴深婉，古拙劲健。开篇以梧桐鸳鸯起兴：「梧桐相待老，鸳鸯会双死」——梧桐相守到老，鸳鸯会双双而死。梧桐是连理之木，鸳鸯是相守之鸟，古来都用以喻夫妇相守之情。诗人以梧桐、鸳鸯起兴，写夫妇相守至死之情——梧桐待老，鸳鸯双死，正是夫妇生死相守的象征。这两句为全诗定下基调：夫妇之情，是生死相守之情。中二句写贞妇殉夫之志：「贞妇贵殉夫，舍生亦如此」——贞妇以殉夫为贵，舍生亦当如此。由起兴转入写志：贞妇以殉夫为贵，丈夫既死，舍生相殉，亦当如此。这「贵殉夫」「舍生亦如此」，以决绝之语写贞妇殉夫之志，字字千钧。末二句以井水为喻写其心之坚贞：「波澜誓不起，妾心井中水」——波澜发誓不起，妾心坚如井中水。以井水为喻，写其心之静、之定、之坚贞——井水波澜不起，正见妾心之坚贞不渝。这一结，以井水写心，比兴深婉。全诗六句，以梧桐鸳鸯起兴、以井水作结，比兴深婉，古拙劲健，正是孟郊「郊寒」之体的体现。需要说明的是，《烈女操》所写殉夫、节烈，是古代封建贞节观念下的题材，反映了特定历史时期的伦理观念，今天读来当以历史眼光看待。作为一首乐府诗，其艺术上的比兴手法自有可取之处，但其宣扬的封建贞节观念则不值得提倡。

Prosody

Form A five-character yuefu (music-bureau) poem in the ancient style乐府诗（五言古诗，古体）

Rhyme The six five-character lines rhyme in the oblique-tone group on si (die), ci (this), and shui (water), rhyming to the end. The oblique-tone rhymes are short and forceful, giving the poem its abrupt, decisive cadence, in keeping with the starkness of the vow.全诗为五言乐府诗，句式以五言为主，共六句。押仄声韵：「死」「此」「水」押纸部韵，一韵到底。乐府诗沿古体之制，句式整齐而音节短促，此诗六句五言，押仄声韵，音节短促劲健，正与写贞妇之志的古拙决绝相称，也见其作乐府以写贞烈的古朴。

Tone pattern The first couplet moves slowly on its paired images; the middle couplet turns abrupt and declarative; the closing couplet settles into stillness with the well-water image. The oblique-tone rhymes keep the whole poem clipped and forceful, like an oath struck out in a low voice.句式上，首二句「梧桐相待老，鸳鸯会双死」以物起兴，音节舒缓；中二句「贞妇贵殉夫，舍生亦如此」写殉夫之志，音节顿挫；末二句「波澜誓不起，妾心井中水」以井水作结，音节沉静。全诗音节由舒缓而顿挫、由顿挫而沉静，押仄声韵，音节短促劲健，正合乐府古体「质朴短促」之体，读来如贞妇立誓、掷地有声之音，古拙而动人。

Reading note As a yuefu poem in the ancient style, the piece observes the plainness and directness of the music-bureau tradition rather than the tonal rules of regulated verse. Its six short lines move from image to vow to stillness, and the oblique-tone rhymes give it the ancient and forceful quality that marks Meng Jiao's cold style. The plain, almost harsh diction is deliberate: the poem's ethics of absolute fidelity demanded an absolute, unadorned form.此诗为五言乐府诗，是孟郊乐府诗中的名篇，也是「郊寒」之体（古拙劲健、多用比兴）的典型体现。全诗的艺术特色在于「比兴深婉、古拙劲健」：首二句「梧桐相待老，鸳鸯会双死」以梧桐、鸳鸯起兴，写夫妇相守至死之情；中二句「贞妇贵殉夫，舍生亦如此」写贞妇殉夫之志；末二句「波澜誓不起，妾心井中水」以井水为喻写其心之坚贞。全诗以梧桐、鸳鸯、井水为喻，比兴深婉，古拙劲健。需要说明的是，此诗所写的殉夫、节烈，是古代封建贞节观念下的题材，反映了特定历史时期对女性的伦理要求，今天读来当以历史眼光看待——其艺术上的比兴手法自有可取之处，但其宣扬的封建贞节观念则不值得提倡。作为研究古代伦理观念与乐府诗艺术的材料，此诗自有其价值，也正因其题材，历代选本多以此诗与张籍《节妇吟》并观，可见唐代「烈女」「节妇」题材诗之风貌。

Line by line

梧桐相待老，鸳鸯会双死。

The wutong trees wait to grow old together; the mandarin ducks will die as a pair.

梧桐相守到老，鸳鸯会双双而死。

The wutong trees wait for old age together; the mandarin ducks die as a pair.

首二句以梧桐鸳鸯起兴，是全诗定调的关键。「梧桐相待老」写梧桐相守到老，「梧桐」为连理之木，古以之喻夫妇相守，「相待老」写其相守到老；「鸳鸯会双死」写鸳鸯会双双而死，「鸳鸯」为相守之水鸟，「双死」写其生死相守。两句以梧桐、鸳鸯起兴，写夫妇相守至死之情——梧桐待老、鸳鸯双死，正是夫妇生死相守的象征。以物起兴，含蓄而深婉，为全诗写贞妇殉夫之志作了铺垫，是「以物起兴」的妙笔。

The first two lines begin with the wutong and the mandarin ducks, the key note of the poem. 'The wutong trees wait for old age together' — the wutong, the tree of linked branches, anciently a metaphor for the faithful couple, 'wait for old age' their growing old together; 'the mandarin ducks die as a pair' — the faithful water birds, 'die as a pair' their constancy in life and death. The two lines raise things to begin, writing the couple's love unto death — wutong waiting, ducks dying together, the very symbol of a husband and wife's lifelong constancy. Rising through things, restrained and deep, preparing the poem's theme of the chaste wife dying for her husband.

贞妇贵殉夫，舍生亦如此。

A faithful wife prizes dying with her lord; and giving up her life is only this.

贞妇以殉夫为贵，舍生亦当如此。

A chaste wife holds it noble to die for her husband; to give her life is even so.

此二句写贞妇殉夫之志，是全诗写志的关键。「贞妇贵殉夫」写贞妇以殉夫为贵，「贞妇」点出所写之人，「贵殉夫」写其以殉夫为贵；「舍生亦如此」写舍生亦当如此，「舍生」写舍弃生命，「亦如此」写亦当如梧桐鸳鸯之生死相守。两句由起兴转入写志：贞妇以殉夫为贵，丈夫既死，舍生相殉，亦当如此。这「贵殉夫」「舍生亦如此」，以决绝之语写贞妇殉夫之志，字字千钧，正是全诗立意的所在。

These two lines write the will of the chaste wife, the key of the poem's theme. 'A chaste wife holds it noble to die for her husband' — the 'chaste wife' the subject, 'holds it noble to die for her husband' her honor in dying with him; 'to give her life is even so' — giving up her life, even as the wutong and ducks keep faith through life and death. The two lines move from the opening image to the statement of will: the chaste wife counts it noble to die for her husband; now that he is dead, to give her life in following him is even so. The 'holds it noble' and 'even so', in decisive words, write the chaste wife's resolve, every word weighty, the very landing of the poem.

波澜誓不起，妾心井中水。

No wave shall ever rise, she vows; my heart is the water in the well.

波澜发誓不起，妾心坚如井中水。

Let no wave rise, I swear; my heart is the water in the well.

尾二句以井水为喻写其心之坚贞，是全诗比兴的落点。「波澜誓不起」写波澜发誓不起，「波澜」以波澜喻心之动摇，「誓不起」写其发誓波澜不起；「妾心井中水」写妾心坚如井中水，「井中水」以井水之静深写其心之坚贞。两句以井水为喻：井水波澜不起，正见妾心之坚贞不渝。以「誓」写其决绝、以井水写其坚贞，比兴深婉，以井水作结，含蓄而有力，是「以物写心」的点睛之笔。

The last two lines use the well water as metaphor for her heart's chastity, the landing of the poem's analogy. 'Let no wave rise, I swear' — the 'wave' metaphor for the heart's wavering, 'I swear' her oath that no wave shall rise; 'my heart is the water in the well' — her heart firm as the well water. The two lines use the well: the well's water has no waves, showing the heart's unwavering chastity. The 'swear' for the resolve, the well water for the chastity, the analogy deep and restrained, closing in well water, restrained and forceful, the art of 'writing the heart through things'.

Study

Word focus

相待老 Growing old together — the mutual waiting of the paired wutong trees, a traditional image of conjugal devotion lasting to old age. 「相待老」写梧桐相守到老，是写夫妇相守之情的关键。「梧桐相待老」着一「相待老」，写梧桐相守相待到老——着一「待」字，写其相守之期之久，直至老死。三字写尽夫妇相守至死之情，与「鸳鸯会双死」相对，一写相守到老、一写生死双死，是「以物写情」的点睛之词。「相待老」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。

双死 Dying as a pair — the double stresses that the mandarin ducks, emblem of the faithful couple, die together rather than survive alone. 「双死」写鸳鸯双双而死，是写生死相守之情的关键。「鸳鸯会双死」着一「双死」，写鸳鸯双双而死——着一「双」字，写其生死相守、死亦成双，见夫妇之情之深。两字写尽鸳鸯生死相守之情，与「相待老」相对，一写生之相守、一写死之相从，是「以物写情」的妙笔。「双死」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。

贵 Prizes, holds noble — one character declares the chaste wife's value judgment: following her husband in death is the highest honor, stated with absolute directness. 「贵」字写贞妇以殉夫为贵，是写贞妇之志的关键。「贞妇贵殉夫」着一「贵」，写贞妇以殉夫为贵——着一「贵」字，见其视殉夫为贵、为荣，写尽贞妇之志之决绝。一字写尽贞妇殉夫之志，是「以一字写志」的点睛之词。「贵」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。

誓 Vows — the word turns the closing image into an oath; no wave shall rise is not a hope but a sworn pledge, giving the well-water metaphor the force of a promise. 「誓」字写发誓波澜不起，是写其心坚贞的关键。「波澜誓不起」着一「誓」，写波澜发誓不起——着一「誓」字，写其以誓为言、决绝不移，见其心之坚贞。一字写尽贞妇之决绝坚贞，与「井中水」之喻相连，写其心如井水之坚，是「以一字写坚」的妙笔。「誓」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。

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