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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

春夜洛城闻笛

Hearing a Flute on a Spring Night in Luoyang

李白

Li Bai

思乡Homesickness 音乐Music 羁旅Theme

谁家玉笛暗飞声，散入春风满洛城。
此夜曲中闻折柳，何人不起故园情。

From whose house comes the jade flute's secret sound?
Scattered by spring breeze, it fills Luoyang town.
Tonight I hear 'Folding Willow' in the air,
Who can not be moved by thoughts of home so fair?

Listen

Meaning

On a spring night in Luoyang, the poet hears a jade flute playing secretly, its sound carried by the wind throughout the city. Recognizing the tune 'Folding Willow', he is overcome with homesickness, and wonders who could not feel the same.

不知是谁家的一支玉笛，在暗夜里悄然飘出悠扬的乐声；那笛声随着春风散开飘远，仿佛溢满了整座洛阳城。今夜在这乐曲之中听到了《折杨柳》的调子，又有哪一个人不被唤起思念故乡的深情呢？

Appreciation

The poet, staying in Luoyang, hears a flute at night. The sound, carried by the spring wind, fills the city. When he hears the tune 'Folding Willow'—a parting melody—he is reminded of his homeland. The use of 'dark flying sound' and 'scatter into spring wind' creates a synesthetic effect, blending hearing with atmosphere. The final rhetorical question expands personal longing to universal human experience.

【白话串讲】春天夜里，洛阳城不知谁在吹笛子，曲子里是《折杨柳》。李白说：“何人不起故园情”——笛声一起，全城的人都想家了。【意象与手法】全诗以「闻笛」为线索，由声及城、由曲及情，层层递转。起句以设问「谁家」发端，先声夺人，点出笛声的突然而至与来源不明；次句「散入春风满洛城」将听觉的笛声化为可随风散布、充塞全城之物，以空间的铺展写乐声之广，打通了听觉与视觉、触觉的界限，正是李白惯用的「移觉」笔法。三句点出曲名《折杨柳》，把抽象的乐声落实到具体的离别之曲；末句以反问「何人不起故园情」收束，将一己的听笛之感推衍为天下游子的普遍乡愁，由实入虚、由小及大。全诗语淡情浓，不着一「愁」字而愁思满纸，章法虚实相生、一气流转。【情感与主旨】此诗约作于唐玄宗开元二十三年（735）李白客居洛阳之时。洛阳为唐代东都，车马辐辏、繁华冠天下，然而繁华之地亦多羁旅之人，春夜笛声本已撩人，何况曲中又是惯写离愁的《折杨柳》。诗人独处客舍，闻曲而起故园之思，遂以淡语写深情，将个人的乡愁升华为「何人不起」的普遍感慨，含蓄深婉，正是盛唐羁旅诗的代表之作。【名句点睛】末句「何人不起故园情」为全诗点睛之笔：以反问代直陈，不写「我思乡」而问「谁不思乡」，将主观情感客观化、普遍化，笔力千钧而余味无穷；「故园情」三字直指人心，与「折柳」之曲互为表里，使笛声、春风与乡愁浑然一体，千百年来打动无数游子。

Background

Composed around 735 AD when Li Bai was visiting Luoyang, the capital of the east in Tang Dynasty. As a traveler in a bustling city, hearing the parting tune 'Folding Willow' on a spring night stirred a deep longing for home. The poem expresses deep melancholy without a single word of sorrow, demonstrating the subtlety of Tang travel poetry.

李白（701—762）此诗约作于唐玄宗开元二十三年（735）客居东都洛阳之时。据考，开元年间李白为实现济世之志，曾两度入长安、游洛阳，栖迟于繁华都市而功业未就，乡国之思时时萦绕心头。洛阳为唐代东都，与长安并称两京，商旅如云、士人辐辏，游宦羁旅之人不可胜数；城中春夜，丝竹管弦之声不绝于耳，而笛曲《折杨柳》自北朝以来即为离别之音，闻之最易触动归情。李白当时年三十余岁，正值壮年而仕途蹇涩，漂泊之感与用世之心交织，遂于春夜闻笛之际，将一己的乡愁写入诗中。诗中不着一「愁」字而愁思满纸，正是盛唐羁旅诗含蓄深婉的典型风貌；而由「谁家」之设问、「何人」之反问所展现的推己及人的襟怀，亦可见李白诗风豪放之中自有深情绵邈的一面。此诗与《静夜思》同为李白思乡名作，一写春夜闻笛、一写秋夜望月，恰成双璧，千百年来传诵不衰。此诗在《全唐诗》中题作《春夜洛城闻笛》，历代选本皆录，成为李白七绝中最脍炙人口的篇章之一；诗中写笛声而不写奏笛之人，写乡愁而不写愁之形状，正是盛唐诗人举重若轻、以淡写浓的典范。

Art

The poem develops layer by layer: from the sound to the city, from the tune to the emotion. It starts with a question, expands the sound across the city, specifies the tune, and ends with a rhetorical question that universalizes the homesickness. The language is plain but the emotion is deep, with a structural interplay of the tangible and intangible.

全诗以「闻笛」为线索，由声及城、由曲及情，四句之间层层递转，一气呵成。起句「谁家玉笛暗飞声」以设问发端，先声夺人，一个「谁家」既写出笛声的突然而至、来源不明，又带出诗人循声而听的专注情态；「暗」字更点出春夜之幽深与笛声之缥缈。次句「散入春风满洛城」将听觉的笛声化为可随风散布、充塞全城之物，「散」「满」二字以空间铺展写乐声之广远，打通了听觉与视觉、触觉的界限，是典型的「移觉」笔法，境界由近及远、由一隅扩至全城。第三句「此夜曲中闻折柳」点出曲名，把抽象的乐声落实到具体的离别之曲，为末句的抒情张本；末句「何人不起故园情」以反问收束，不写己之思乡，而问天下之人孰能不起故园之情，将一己的感受推衍为普遍的人性感慨，由实入虚、由小及大。全诗语淡情浓，不着一「愁」字而愁思满纸，章法上虚实相生、首尾呼应，堪称以二十八字写尽春夜乡愁的神品。更妙者，全诗视听相通：首句以「闻」起，末句以「情」结，中间以「散入春风」的视觉化笔法写听觉之笛声，声、色、风、月交织，读之如闻笛声扑面而来。

Allusions

The tune 'Folding Willow' comes from the Northern Dynasty's military music, often about parting. 'Folding willow' was also a farewell custom, as 'willow' (柳) sounds like 'stay' (留). Li Bai uses this allusion to connect the music with parting and homesickness, blending music, custom, and emotion seamlessly.

此诗用典不着痕迹，融乐府、民俗与乡思于一炉。其一，《折杨柳》本为北朝乐府横吹曲名，多述军旅离别之怨，古乐府有《折杨柳歌辞》传世，唐人王之涣《凉州词》亦有「羌笛何须怨杨柳，春风不度玉门关」之句，可见杨柳曲与离愁的固定联系；李白于此夜曲中闻之，自然联想起古人折柳赠别的场景。其二，「折柳」为古时送别习俗，柳与「留」谐音，折柳相赠即寓挽留之意，白居易《青门柳》「为近都门多送别，长条折尽减春风」可证其俗之盛。其三，「玉笛」与「洛城」亦暗含风雅传统，洛阳自汉魏以来即为乐府名都，笛声与洛阳的都市意象早已在乐府诗中结合，诗人信手拈来，浑然天成。全诗用典化入景物与情事之中，无一处生硬，正合盛唐人「用典如己出」的化境。李白诗中屡见笛声，如《与史郎中钦听黄鹤楼上吹笛》「黄鹤楼中吹玉笛，江城五月落梅花」，以笛声写迁谪之愁；此诗以笛声写羁旅之思，同一意象而两样情怀，可见笛曲在其诗中的多重意蕴。又《折杨柳》入横吹曲，乐府解题谓其「古辞多言折柳赠别之事」，李白闻曲而思归，正是乐府传统与个人体验的完美遇合。

Commentary

Qing critic Hengtang Tuishi in '300 Tang Poems' commented: 'The traveler's feeling is poignant, yet expressed with plain words, showing deeper emotion.' Ming critic Li Panlong said: 'He does not speak of his own homesickness but speaks of it generally from the listener's perspective, which is most subtle.'

此诗历来为选家所重，清人蘅塘退士编《唐诗三百首》即收此作，以为七绝中之名篇。明人李攀龙《唐诗训解》评曰「不言己之思乡，却就闻笛者普遍言之，最为含蓄」，一语道破此诗由己及人的构思之妙。清人沈德潜《唐诗别裁》亦选录此诗，论唐诗七绝之盛，每以此类含蓄隽永之作为标格。近人俞陛云《诗境浅说》谓此诗「闻笛而动乡思，不专写一人，而普概众人」，与李攀龙之评前后呼应。今人论唐诗中的音乐诗，多以李贺《李凭箜篌引》、白居易《琵琶行》与李白此诗并称：李、白之篇以繁复笔法摹写乐声之壮美，李白此诗则举重若轻，仅以「满洛城」三字写尽笛声之弥漫，以「何人不起」四字写尽乡愁之普遍，简淡之中自有千钧之力，为以少胜多的典范。在传播史上，此诗自宋代以来即为童蒙必读，《千家诗》《唐诗三百首》皆收，妇孺能诵。论其影响，李白以二十八字写笛声乡愁，后世如黄庭坚「试问梅花何处落，风吹一夜满关山」之句、明清诗中「玉笛」「折柳」意象的反复出现，皆可见此诗沾丐后人之深；以简驭繁、由己及人，正是其不朽的艺术秘密。

Prosody

Form 七言绝句 (seven-character quatrain)七言绝句

Rhyme 城 (chéng) and 情 (qíng) in level tone of the eighth rhyme group首句入韵，押平声庚青韵（城、情，属平水韵下平八庚）

Tone pattern First line rhymes, tonal pattern is regular, with freedom in first, third, fifth characters and strictness in second, fourth, sixth.平起首句入韵式（首句平平仄仄仄平平），一三五不论、二四六分明

Reading note The last two lines reveal the theme of homesickness through the tune, moving from scene to emotion, subtle and meaningful, a masterpiece of Li Bai's nostalgia poetry.此诗为七言绝句，平起首句入韵，首句「谁家玉笛暗飞声」即入韵，押平声庚青韵（城、情）。全诗四句二十八字，平仄严整：首句平平仄仄仄平平，次句仄仄平平仄仄平，三句仄仄仄平平仄仄（「闻折柳」处小拗而可不救），四句平平仄仄仄平平，二四六字皆分明合律。绝句体制短小，贵在含蓄蕴藉、以少胜多，李白此诗正得其神：首句设问、次句铺展、三句点题、四句抒情，四句之间起承转合井然，如行云流水。韵脚「城」「情」皆为平声，声调悠长舒展，正合春夜笛声之袅袅不绝；末句「何人不起故园情」以平声「情」字收束，余音回荡。以声写声、以韵传情，音乐性与抒情性高度统一，故历来被视为李白绝句中思乡题材的压卷之作，与《静夜思》并称双璧。

Line by line

谁家玉笛暗飞声

From whose house does the jade flute secretly send its sound? The word 'secretly' (暗) suggests the sound comes unexpectedly in the night, creating a quiet atmosphere and setting up the homesickness.

不知是谁家的玉笛，在暗夜里悄然飘出悠扬的乐声。

From whose home does a jade flute's sound steal through the dark?

起句以设问发端，先声夺人。「谁家」二字一问，既写出笛声之突然而至、来处不明，又暗示诗人循声谛听、凝神辨音的情态，为全诗蒙上一层朦胧的夜色。妙处尤在「暗」字：夜既暗，笛声便如幽谷中的一脉清泉，不知从何处涌出，缥缈难寻；而「飞声」二字又赋予乐声以动态，仿佛玉笛之音自暗处振翅而来，直入耳际。此句不写人而人在，不写情而情蓄，笛声未散、春夜未央，已为后文的春风满城、折柳思乡埋下伏笔。诗人以一问起笔，将读者的注意力一下子拉入那个春夜，与诗人一同侧耳倾听，章法上可谓起得奇、起得妙。

The opening begins with a counter-question, seizing the ear. 'From whose home?' the one question, writing at once the sudden, unknown source of the flute, and hinting the poet following the sound, listening intently, puzzling out the tune, veiling the poem in a hazy night. The beauty especially in 'dark': the night is dark, and the flute like a thread of spring in a hidden valley, welling from nowhere, elusive; 'sound takes wing' gives the music movement, as if the jade flute's note flies out of the dark straight into the ear. Not writing the man, yet the man is there; not writing feeling, yet feeling stored, the flute not dispersed, the spring night not ended, planting the foreshadowing of the spring wind filling the city and the folded willow's homesickness. The poet begins with a question, pulling the reader at once into that spring night, to listen at his side — the opening, in craft, strange and exquisite.

散入春风满洛城

Scattered by the spring wind, it fills Luoyang city. The word 'fills' (满) exaggerates how the sound spreads everywhere, using sound to highlight the quietness of the spring night.

笛声随着春风飘散开来，仿佛溢满了整座洛阳城。

It scatters on the spring wind and fills the whole city of Luoyang.

此句由点及面，将笛声的空间感写得酣畅淋漓。「散入春风」四字，写笛声与春风交融，循着春风的方向弥漫开去，仿佛春风本身也成了笛声的载体；「满洛城」三字更以夸张之笔，写笛声充塞全城、无处不在。本是听觉的乐声，却被「散」「满」二字写得如烟如雾、可触可感，打通了听觉与视觉、触觉的界限，是典型的移觉手法。诗人不写城中人如何反应，而只写笛声之广被，则满城之人皆闻此曲、皆动乡思，已在不言之中。此句境界由一隅扩至全城，空间骤然开阔，为末句「何人不起故园情」的普遍化抒情铺足了声势；春夜之空寂，亦因笛声之弥漫而愈显其深。

This line moves from point to surface, writing the music's space to the full. 'It scatters on the spring wind' — the flute fuses with the spring breeze, spreading along the wind's direction, as if the spring wind itself were the music's vehicle; 'fills the whole city of Luoyang' exaggerating the note filling the city, everywhere. The auditory music is written by 'scatters' and 'fills' as if smoke and mist, tangible to the touch, opening the borders between hearing, sight, and touch, the typical synesthesia. The poet does not write how the city's people react, only the note's spread, and the whole city's hearing the tune and being stirred to homesickness is already beyond words. The realm expands from one corner to the whole city, the space suddenly open, storing the full momentum for the last line's universal lyric 'who can hear it and not be stirred to thoughts of home'; and the spring night's stillness, through the diffused note, grows the deeper.

此夜曲中闻折柳

Tonight in the tune I hear 'Folding Willow'. 'Folding Willow' is an ancient parting song; hearing it triggers feelings of separation and hometown longing.

今夜在这乐曲之中，听到了《折杨柳》的调子。

Tonight, in this tune, I hear 'Folding the Willow'.

此句是诗意的转折与落实。「此夜」二字回扣首句的春夜，点明时地；「曲中闻折柳」则把抽象的乐声落实到具体的曲名——《折杨柳》。这一落实至关重要：若是寻常曲调，闻之不过悦耳而已；偏偏今夜所闻是《折杨柳》，自北朝以来便是专写离愁别绪的横吹曲，笛声中句句是折柳赠别的旧事。诗人由曲名自然联想到古人折柳送别的习俗，柳谐「留」音，折柳相赠即寓挽留之意，于是乐声、民俗与乡思在这一刻被彻底打通。一个「闻」字写诗人此时方才辨明曲调，惊喜与怅惘交织，为末句的直抒胸臆作了最充分的情感蓄势，是全诗由景入情的枢纽。

This line is the turn and landing of the poetic meaning. 'Tonight' echoes the spring night of the opening, fixing time and place; 'in this tune, I hear Folding the Willow' lands the abstract music on a concrete tune name — 'Folding the Willow'. This landing is critical: were it an ordinary tune, the hearing would be merely pleasant; yet tonight it is 'Folding the Willow', the horizontal flute tune, since the Northern dynasties, dedicated to the grief of parting, every note the old tale of breaking the willow to speed the guest. From the tune name, the poet naturally thinks of the ancient custom, the willow sounding like 'to stay', so the broken willow as gift carries the wish to detain; in this instant, the music, the folk custom, and the homesickness are thoroughly connected. The one word 'hear' writes the poet's just recognizing the tune, surprise and wistfulness interwoven, storing the fullest emotional momentum for the last line's direct utterance, the pivot of the poem's turn from scene to feeling.

何人不起故园情

Who can not feel homesickness? The rhetorical question elevates personal feeling to universal human emotion, leaving a deep aftertaste.

又有哪一个人不被唤起思念故乡的深情呢？

Who can hear it and not be stirred to thoughts of home?

末句以反问收束全诗，笔力千钧。「何人」二字不专指诗人自己，而是将目光投向满洛城的每一个人——今夜春风中的笛声人人得闻，《折杨柳》的离愁人人能解，那么谁又能不起故园之思呢？诗人不写「我思乡」，而问「谁不思乡」，把一己的主观情感客观化、普遍化，由小我推及大我，乡愁遂成为天下游子共有的情怀。这种推己及人的写法，正与首句「谁家」的设问遥遥相对：起于「谁家」之笛，结于「何人」之情，首尾环合，章法天成。全诗至此戛然而止，而余味袅袅不绝——故园之情既人人有之，则诗人之情亦在其中，含蓄深婉，千百年来打动无数羁旅之人，堪称以反问写乡愁的绝唱。

The last line closes in a counter-question, the force a thousandweight. 'Who' does not refer to the poet alone, but turns the gaze to every person in Luoyang — tonight, the flute in the spring wind is heard by all, the grief of 'Folding the Willow' understood by all, so who can fail to rise to thoughts of home? The poet does not write 'I miss home', but asks 'who does not miss home', turning the single subjective feeling into something objective and universal, from the small self to the great self, and homesickness becomes the common lot of all wanderers. This writing of the self into the many is deliberately set against the opening 'from whose home?': beginning in the flute of 'whose home', closing in the feeling of 'who', head and tail closed, the structure natural. The poem stops short here, and the aftersound lingers — since the feeling of home is all men's, the poet's feeling is within it, restrained and deep, moving countless wanderers through the ages, the masterpiece of writing homesickness through a counter-question.

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暗 Secretly, subtly; shows the flute sound comes unexpectedly and sets a quiet tone. 「谁家玉笛暗飞声」之「暗」字，是全诗炼字之眼。其一，写夜之暗：春夜幽深，笛声自暗处飘来，来源不明、缥缈难寻，为全诗定下朦胧的基调。其二，写笛声之「暗飞」：不写笛声之嘹亮，而写其悄然飞度、不期而至，仿佛乐声自己也带着夜色，含蓄而不张扬。其三，写听者之情态：正因为笛声「暗」来，诗人才会凝神谛听、循声而辨，最终辨出《折杨柳》的曲调，一个「暗」字暗中牵引出全诗由听到思的脉络。若易为直写「飞声」，或易「暗」为「远」「高」等字，则笛声顿失幽微缥缈之致。李白炼字向以自然天成见长，此「暗」字看似平淡，实则全诗意境皆由它而生，与王维「空山不见人」之「空」同一机杼。

满 Fills, spreads throughout; exaggerates the reach of the sound and contrasts with the silence. 「散入春风满洛城」之「满」字，是全诗空间感与情感张力的所在。笛声本是无形的听觉存在，着一「满」字，便如烟似雾地充塞全城，可触可感，化虚为实；且「满」字与「散」字相承——先写笛声随风散开，再写其弥漫充盈，由动而静、由散而满，境界步步拓开。从效果看，「满洛城」三字极言笛声传播之广远，全城之人皆闻此曲，则后文「何人不起故园情」的普遍化抒情才有了坚实的依据；同时，春夜本静，笛声愈「满」，愈反衬出都市之夜的清寂与听者内心的空落。此字以夸张写实感，大处落墨而不失分寸，正是李白「笔落惊风雨」的气魄在炼字上的体现。

何人 Who; used in a rhetorical question to emphasize that everyone feels homesickness. 「何人不起故园情」之「何人」二字，是反问句的灵魂，也是全诗立意高于一般思乡诗的关键。若作「游子」或「羁客」，则诗只写一类人、一种情，境界便窄；「何人」则囊括一切听曲之人——无论贵贱、不分南北，只要是身在异乡的游子，闻《折杨柳》之曲便不能不生故园之思。诗人以疑问代直陈，把主观情感客观化、普遍化，将一己的乡愁升华为人人皆有的普遍人性，笔力千钧。且「何人」与首句「谁家」遥相呼应，起于设问、结于反问，一虚一实，章法浑成。李白此诗之所以传诵千古，正在这「何人」二字把个体的感触推向全人类的共鸣，含蓄深婉而气象阔大。