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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

听安万善吹觱篥歌

Song on Hearing An Wanshan Play the Bili Reed Pipe

李颀

Li Qi

南山截竹为觱篥，此乐本自龟兹出。
流传汉地曲转奇，凉州胡人为我吹。
傍邻闻者多叹息，远客思乡皆泪垂。
世人解听不解赏，长飙风中自来往。
枯桑老柏寒飕飗，九雏鸣凤乱啾啾。
龙吟虎啸一时发，万籁百泉相与秋。
忽然更作渔阳掺，黄云萧条白日暗。
变调如闻杨柳春，上林繁花照眼新。
岁夜高堂列明烛，美酒一杯声一曲。

From the southern hills we cut the bamboo to make the bili pipe; this music first came forth from Kucha.
Spread through the Han lands, its tunes grew ever more wondrous; a man of Liangzhou plays it for me.
The neighbors who hear it mostly sigh and sigh; travelers far from home all let their tears fall.
The world can listen but cannot truly appreciate; like a long whirlwind it comes and goes of itself in the wind.
Withered mulberry and ancient cypress shudder in the cold; nine fledgling phoenixes chirp and twitter in confusion.
Dragon song and tiger roar burst out all at once; ten thousand sounds and a hundred springs together make autumn.
Suddenly he plays the Yuyang can instead; yellow clouds stretch bleak and the bright sun darkens.
A change of mode is like hearing the Willow Spring song; the flowers of Shanglin Park dazzle the eye anew.
On New Year's Eve, in the lofty hall the bright candles stand in rows; one cup of fine wine, one strain of the tune.

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Meaning

The poem records Li Qi's experience of hearing An Wanshan, a Central Asian musician from Liangzhou, play the bili — a reed pipe that came to China from Kucha. Li Qi traces the instrument's western origin, describes its power to move listeners to sighs and tears, and then renders its sound through a chain of startling similes — cold winds in dead trees, fledgling phoenixes, dragons and tigers, bleak clouds and a darkened sun, spring willows and flowering parks — before closing on a New Year's Eve concert of wine, candles, and music.

南山截竹做成觱篥，这乐器本出自龟兹。流传到汉地曲调转奇，凉州的胡人为我吹奏。傍邻听到的多有叹息，远客思乡皆垂泪。世人只知听而不懂欣赏，长飙风中自来自往。枯桑老柏寒风飕飗，如九雏鸣凤乱啾啾。龙吟虎啸一时齐发，万籁百泉相与成秋。忽然又作渔阳掺曲，黄云萧条白日昏暗。变调如闻杨柳春曲，上林繁花照眼一新。岁夜高堂排列明烛，美酒一杯听曲一曲。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The bili is cut from southern-mountain bamboo and came from Kucha; its tunes grew wondrous as they spread through the Han lands, and a Liangzhou musician plays it for the poet. Neighbors sigh, travelers weep — the world listens but cannot truly appreciate. Then the sound is made visible: dead mulberry and old cypress in the cold, fledgling phoenixes twittering, dragons and tigers roaring, myriad sounds and a hundred springs turning to autumn; suddenly the solemn Yuyang drum-tune, bleak yellow clouds and a darkened sun; then a change of mode like the Willow Spring, flowers dazzling as in Shanglin Park. The poem ends on New Year's Eve in a candlelit hall, a cup of wine for every strain. [Structure] The poem has three movements: origin and effect on listeners, the rendering of the sound through stacked similes, and the modulation to the New Year's Eve scene. [Imagery] Each simile renders an abstract sound as a concrete scene — 'writing image from sound' — and the sequence moves from desolation through grandeur to brightness, mirroring the performance itself.

【白话串讲】李颀写《听安万善吹觱篥歌》：“南山截竹为觱篥，此乐本自龟兹出”——“傍邻闻者多叹息，远客思乡皆泪垂”——“世人解听不解赏，长飙风中自来往”——“龙吟虎啸一时发，万籁百泉相与秋”——他听觱篥——远客思乡皆泪垂。【意象与手法】南山截竹为觱篥、此乐本自龟兹出，写觱篥之渊源；傍邻闻者多叹息、远客思乡皆泪垂，写其声之感人；枯桑老柏寒飕飗、九雏鸣凤乱啾啾，写其声之凄冷；结以“岁夜高堂列明烛，美酒一杯声一曲”写岁夜听曲之乐。比喻精妙。【情感与主旨】李颀听胡人安万善吹觱篥之作，以一连串比喻写觱篥声之美，是唐人写音乐诗中的名篇。【名句点睛】常考“傍邻闻者多叹息，远客思乡皆泪垂”写其声之感人；“枯桑老柏寒飕飗，九雏鸣凤乱啾啾”写其声之凄冷。

Background

Li Qi (c. 690–751) was a native of Yingyang in Henan and a jinshi of the Kaiyuan era, who served as county lieutenant of Xinxiang. A bold and uninhibited poet, he was especially famed for frontier and music themes, and this poem is among the most celebrated Tang poems on music. An Wanshan was a 'Hu' musician from Liangzhou (present-day Wuwei, Gansu) famed for playing the bili. The bili is an ancient double-reed pipe: a bamboo tube with a reed mouth, introduced from the oasis kingdom of Kucha in the Tarim Basin; its tone is piercing and plaintive. In the High Tang, when Central Asian music flooded into Chang'an, poems on music flourished, and Li Qi, Li He, and Bai Juyi are its three greatest names.

《听安万善吹觱篥歌》为盛唐诗人李颀所作歌行体长诗。李颀（约690—约751），盛唐诗人，河南颍阳人，开元年间进士，曾任新乡县尉，诗风豪放，尤善写边塞与音乐题材。安万善为凉州胡人，善吹觱篥。觱篥（又名觱篥、筚篥）为古代管乐器，本出自西域龟兹，以竹为管，以芦为首，音色凄清。此诗写李颀听安万善吹觱篥。诗中「南山截竹为觱篥，此乐本自龟兹出」写觱篥之渊源；「流传汉地曲转奇，凉州胡人为我吹」写安万善吹奏；「傍邻闻者多叹息，远客思乡皆泪垂」写其声之感人；「枯桑老柏寒飕飗，九雏鸣凤乱啾啾」写其声之凄清；「忽然更作渔阳掺，黄云萧条白日暗」写变调之悲壮；「岁夜高堂列明烛，美酒一杯声一曲」写岁夜听曲之乐。盛唐诗人好以诗写音乐，李颀此诗以一连串比喻写觱篥声之美，酣畅淋漓，是唐人写音乐诗中的名篇，也是李颀「豪放酣畅」诗风的典型体现。此篇《听安万善吹觱篥歌》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 lies in its rendering of sound through images. After establishing the instrument's origin and its power over listeners, Li Qi deploys a chain of similes, each translating an acoustic quality into a visible scene: 'withered mulberry and ancient cypress shudder in the cold' for the desolate, shivering low register; 'nine fledgling phoenixes chirp and twitter' for the thin, scattered high notes; 'dragon song and tiger roar' for the sudden heroic swell; 'myriad sounds and a hundred springs together make autumn' for the vast, chilly chorus. The sequence then modulates: the Yuyang can brings bleak yellow clouds and a darkened sun; the change of mode brings the Willow Spring and the flowers of Shanglin. The similes are graded from cold to warmth, from dark to bright, so that the poem's emotional weather enacts the performance's own changes — the poem does not describe the music so much as replay it.

此诗艺术上以「比喻精妙、由声及情」见长。全诗十八句，前六句写觱篥之渊源与听者之感，中八句写觱篥声之美，后四句写变调与岁夜听曲之乐。首六句「南山截竹为觱篥，此乐本自龟兹出。流传汉地曲转奇，凉州胡人为我吹。傍邻闻者多叹息，远客思乡皆泪垂」写觱篥之渊源与听者之感：南山截竹为觱篥，本出自龟兹；流传汉地曲转奇，凉州胡人吹奏；傍邻叹息、远客泪垂。中八句「世人解听不解赏，长飙风中自来往。枯桑老柏寒飕飗，九雏鸣凤乱啾啾。龙吟虎啸一时发，万籁百泉相与秋。忽然更作渔阳掺，黄云萧条白日暗」写觱篥声之美：世人解听不解赏；枯桑老柏寒飕飗；九雏鸣凤乱啾啾；龙吟虎啸一时发，万籁百泉相与秋；忽然更作渔阳掺，黄云萧条白日暗。后四句「变调如闻杨柳春，上林繁花照眼新。岁夜高堂列明烛，美酒一杯声一曲」写变调与岁夜听曲：变调如杨柳春、上林繁花；岁夜高堂列明烛，美酒一杯声一曲。全诗以一连串比喻写觱篥声，由声及情，酣畅淋漓，是唐人写音乐诗中的名篇。

Allusions

Kucha (Qiuci) was the great oasis kingdom of the northern Tarim Basin (present-day Kuqa, Xinjiang), a center of Buddhist art whose music was famous throughout East Asia; the bili came thence, hence 'this music first came forth from Kucha.' The Yuyang can was an ancient drum piece, traditionally attributed to Mi Heng, who performed it stripped to the waist at Cao Cao's court; its tone was solemn and tragic, hence the bleached sky it conjures. 'Willow' is the old Music Bureau tune 'Breaking Willow Branches,' associated with spring and parting; 'Willow Spring' names both the tune and the season. Shanglin was the Han imperial hunting park, by metonymy the height of splendor — 'the flowers of Shanglin dazzle the eye anew.'

诗中「龟兹」「渔阳掺」「杨柳」「上林」等语，皆含典故故实。「龟兹」为古代西域国名（今新疆库车一带），觱篥本自龟兹传入中原，故「此乐本自龟兹出」写其渊源；「渔阳掺」即《渔阳掺挝》，为古代鼓曲名，相传为祢衡所创，其声悲壮，故「忽然更作渔阳掺，黄云萧条白日暗」写变调之悲壮；「杨柳」即《折杨柳》，为古乐府曲名，其声婉转，故「变调如闻杨柳春」写变调之婉转；「上林」即上林苑，汉代的皇家苑囿，「上林繁花照眼新」写变调如见上林繁花之盛。诗人以龟兹、渔阳掺、杨柳、上林等典入诗，不着痕迹，而把觱篥之渊源与各段声调之特色写得真切可感，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

This poem is one of the High Tang's supreme achievements in the 'poetry of music.' Its opening is unusually scholarly for a music poem — cutting bamboo from the southern hills, the instrument's origin in Kucha, its journey through the Han lands — and this genealogy gives the later similes historical depth: what is heard is not merely a tune but the whole westward road of the empire's music. The rendering of the sound is the poem's core. Chinese poets had long written music through images, but Li Qi's chain here — dead trees in cold wind, fledgling phoenixes, dragons and tigers, bleak clouds, a darkening sun, spring willows, flowering parks — is unmatched for range and precision, moving from desolation through grandeur to radiance. The ending, New Year's Eve in a candlelit hall with wine for every strain, returns the exotic pipe to the warmest scene of the Chinese year, and the poem closes in a harmony of the foreign and the familiar.

这首《听安万善吹觱篥歌》，是李颀听胡人安万善吹觱篥之作，以一连串比喻写觱篥声之美，酣畅淋漓，是唐人写音乐诗中的名篇。开篇写觱篥之渊源与听者之感：「南山截竹为觱篥，此乐本自龟兹出」——南山截竹做成觱篥，这乐器本出自西域龟兹，点出觱篥之渊源；「流传汉地曲转奇，凉州胡人为我吹」——流传到汉地曲调转奇，凉州的胡人安万善为我吹奏；「傍邻闻者多叹息，远客思乡皆泪垂」——傍邻闻之叹息，远客闻之思乡垂泪，写其声之感人，一曲觱篥，能使远客思乡落泪，见其声之哀。中段写觱篥声之美：「世人解听不解赏，长飙风中自来往」——世人只知听而不懂欣赏，写知音之少；「枯桑老柏寒飕飗，九雏鸣凤乱啾啾」——如枯桑老柏在寒风中飕飗，如九雏鸣凤乱啾啾，写其声之凄冷；「龙吟虎啸一时发，万籁百泉相与秋」——如龙吟虎啸一时齐发，如万籁百泉相与成秋，写其声之雄壮；「忽然更作渔阳掺，黄云萧条白日暗」——忽然又作悲壮的渔阳掺，黄云萧条、白日昏暗，写变调之悲壮。后段写变调与岁夜听曲：「变调如闻杨柳春，上林繁花照眼新」——变调如闻婉转的杨柳春曲，如见上林繁花照眼一新，写变调之婉转明媚；「岁夜高堂列明烛，美酒一杯声一曲」——岁夜高堂排列明烛，美酒一杯、听曲一曲，写岁夜听曲之乐。全诗以比喻写觱篥声，由声及情，酣畅淋漓，正是李颀「豪放酣畅」诗风的体现，也是唐人写音乐诗中最著名的篇章之一。

Prosody

Form Song-style (ge xing) ancient verse in seven-character lines, not regulated verse歌行体（七言古诗，非近体律诗）

Rhyme As a ge xing the poem rhymes freely, shifting rhyme groups as the music it depicts modulates: li ('pipe') and chu ('came forth') in the entering-tone group; chui ('plays') and chui ('fall') in the zhi group; shang ('appreciate') and wang ('go') in the yang group; liu, jiu, and qiu in the you group; and finally xin, ming, and qu at the close. The rhyme changes follow the changes of melody, and the syllables surge and fall with the tune.全诗为七言歌行，句式以七言为主，押韵自由转韵：前段「篥」「出」押质部，「吹」「垂」韵；中段「赏」「往」押养部，「飗」「啾」「秋」「暗」转韵；后段「新」「明」「曲」转韵。歌行体不拘平仄对仗，而以意运笔、转韵自由，此诗随觱篥声之起落而转韵，音节长短相间、随声起伏，正与写乐声的酣畅淋漓相称，也见其作歌行以写音乐的匠心。

Tone pattern The seven-character lines keep their regular 2-2-3 pause, but the ge xing form ignores tonal antithesis, letting the rhythm follow the sense. The opening couplet is plain and level; the lines on the listeners' sighs and tears turn heavy and low; the similes move from bleak to high-pitched and ringing; the shift to the Yuyang can turns dark and muffled; the Willow Spring passage brightens; and the final couplet slows to a warm, unhurried close.句式上，首段「南山截竹为觱篥，此乐本自龟兹出」写觱篥渊源，音节平实；「傍邻闻者多叹息，远客思乡皆泪垂」写其感人，音节沉郁；中段「世人解听不解赏，长飙风中自来往」写知音之少，音节慨叹；「枯桑老柏寒飕飗，九雏鸣凤乱啾啾」写其声凄冷，音节凄清；「龙吟虎啸一时发，万籁百泉相与秋」写其声雄壮，音节高亢；「忽然更作渔阳掺，黄云萧条白日暗」写变调悲壮，音节沉暗；后段「变调如闻杨柳春，上林繁花照眼新」写变调婉转，音节明快；「岁夜高堂列明烛，美酒一杯声一曲」写听曲之乐，音节和缓。全诗音节随声起伏，由平实而沉郁、由凄清而高亢、由明快而和缓，正合歌行「以意运笔」之体，读来如听觱篥之曲、随声起伏，酣畅而动人。

Reading note This is a seven-character ge xing and one of the most celebrated Tang poems on music, typical of Li Qi's bold, flowing manner. Its art lies in 'precise similes, moving from sound to feeling': the opening couplets give the instrument's origin and the listeners' grief; the middle section renders the sound through dead trees, fledgling phoenixes, dragons and tigers; the modulation to the Yuyang can and the Willow Spring carries the music from bleakness to radiance; and the New Year's Eve scene returns the western pipe to a Chinese festival. The rhymes shift with the melody, and the poem's emotional weather replays the performance — the mark of a ge xing written expressly to hold music.此诗为七言歌行，是唐人写音乐诗中的名篇，也是李颀「豪放酣畅」诗风的典型体现。全诗的艺术特色在于「比喻精妙、由声及情」：首段「南山截竹为觱篥，此乐本自龟兹出」写觱篥之渊源，「傍邻闻者多叹息，远客思乡皆泪垂」写其声之感人；中段「枯桑老柏寒飕飗，九雏鸣凤乱啾啾」「龙吟虎啸一时发，万籁百泉相与秋」以枯桑老柏、龙吟虎啸写觱篥声之凄冷雄壮，「忽然更作渔阳掺，黄云萧条白日暗」写变调之悲壮；后段「变调如闻杨柳春，上林繁花照眼新」写变调之婉转，「岁夜高堂列明烛，美酒一杯声一曲」写岁夜听曲之乐。全诗以一连串比喻写觱篥声，由声及情，酣畅淋漓。尤为精妙者，是「枯桑老柏寒飕飗，九雏鸣凤乱啾啾」以枯桑、雏凤写觱篥声之凄冷细碎，与李颀写胡笳、白居易写琵琶同为中国古典诗歌写音乐的绝唱，而「岁夜高堂列明烛，美酒一杯声一曲」以听曲之乐收束，正是李颀「以诗写乐」的典范，为历代选本所常收。

Line by line

南山截竹为觱篥，此乐本自龟兹出。

From the southern hills we cut the bamboo to make the bili pipe; this music first came forth from Kucha.

南山截竹做成觱篥，这乐器本出自西域龟兹。

Bamboo cut from the southern hills is made into the bili reed pipe; this instrument originally came from Qiuci in the Western Regions.

首二句写觱篥之渊源，起笔即见其本之深。「南山截竹为觱篥」写南山截竹做成觱篥，「南山截竹」写其取材之自然，「为觱篥」写其制成之器；「此乐本自龟兹出」写这乐器本出自西域龟兹，「龟兹」为西域国名，点出觱篥本为西域之乐，传入中原。两句一写其制、一写其源，点出觱篥出于西域、传来汉地，为全诗写胡人安万善吹奏、写其异域之声作了渊源上的铺垫，起笔即见其本，是「溯源以写声」的妙笔。

The first two lines write the origin of the bili reed pipe, its source deep from the opening. Bamboo cut from the southern hills is made into the bili: southern hills cut bamboo writes the natural sourcing; made into the bili writes the finished instrument. This music originally came from Qiuci: Qiuci is a Western Regions kingdom, marking the bili as foreign music brought into the Central Plains. One line writes its making, one its source - the pipe from the Western Regions, transmitted to Han lands, preparing the musical origin for the whole poem's treatment of the foreigner An Wanshan playing and his exotic tone. The source is struck at the opening - a masterly tracing of origin to write sound.

傍邻闻者多叹息，远客思乡皆泪垂。

The neighbors who hear it mostly sigh and sigh; travelers far from home all let their tears fall.

傍邻听到的多有叹息，远客思乡皆垂泪。

Neighbors nearby, hearing it, mostly sigh; travelers from afar, thinking of home, all let fall tears.

此二句写觱篥声之感人，是全诗写其声哀的关键。「傍邻闻者多叹息」写傍邻听到的多有叹息，「傍邻闻者」写近处之听者，「多叹息」写其闻声而叹；「远客思乡皆泪垂」写远客思乡皆垂泪，「远客思乡」写羁旅之远客闻声思乡，「皆泪垂」写其泪下。两句一写傍邻之叹、一写远客之泪，以闻者之叹息、思乡之泪垂，写尽觱篥声之哀——觱篥本为西域之乐，声调凄清，能感傍邻、能触远客乡思。以人感写声哀，含蓄而有力，是「以人写声」的典范之笔。

These two lines write the moving power of the bili, the key to its sorrow. Neighbors nearby, hearing it, mostly sigh: nearby listeners, hearing it, sigh. Travelers from afar, thinking of home, all let fall tears: far wanderers hearing it long for home and weep. One line writes the neighbors' sighs, the other the travelers' tears; through the hearers' sighing and homesick weeping, the sorrow of the bili is exhausted - the pipe's tune is clear and bleak, able to move the neighbor and touch the wanderer's homesickness. Writing the sorrow of sound through the listeners' feeling, reserved and forceful - a model of writing sound through people.

枯桑老柏寒飕飗，九雏鸣凤乱啾啾。

Withered mulberry and ancient cypress shudder in the cold; nine fledgling phoenixes chirp and twitter in confusion.

如枯桑老柏在寒风中飕飗作响，如九雏鸣凤乱啾啾而鸣。

It is like withered mulberries and old cypress soughing in the cold wind; like nine young phoenixes cheeping in a wild flurry.

此二句写觱篥声之凄冷，是全诗写其声的关键。「枯桑老柏寒飕飗」写声如枯桑老柏在寒风中飕飗作响，「枯桑老柏」写其声之枯涩苍凉，「寒飕飗」写其如寒风飕飗，凄冷之至；「九雏鸣凤乱啾啾」写声如九雏鸣凤乱啾啾而鸣，「九雏鸣凤」写其声之如雏凤之鸣，「乱啾啾」写其声之杂乱细碎。两句以枯桑老柏、九雏鸣凤写觱篥声之凄冷细碎，把无形的乐声写得形象可感，比喻精妙，正见觱篥声之特色，是唐人写音乐「以象写声」的典范之笔。

These two lines write the bleak coldness of the bili, the key to its timbre. Like withered mulberries and old cypress soughing in the cold wind: withered mulberry and old cypress write the dry, desolate tone; cold soughing writes the chill, extreme bleakness. Like nine young phoenixes cheeping in a wild flurry: nine young phoenixes write the chirp of fledglings; wild cheeping writes the disordered, delicate sounds. Through withered mulberry, old cypress, and fledgling phoenix, the lines render the bili's coldness and delicacy, making the soundless music visible - exquisite metaphor, showing the instrument's character: a model of Tang music-writing, writing sound through imagery.

忽然更作渔阳掺，黄云萧条白日暗。

Suddenly he plays the Yuyang can instead; yellow clouds stretch bleak and the bright sun darkens.

忽然又作悲壮的渔阳掺曲，黄云萧条、白日昏暗。

Suddenly it turns into the mournful Yuyang beat; yellow clouds lie desolate, the bright daylight grows dark.

此二句写变调之悲壮，是全诗写声调变化的关键。「忽然更作渔阳掺」写忽然又作悲壮的渔阳掺曲，「忽然」写曲调之骤变，「渔阳掺」为悲壮之鼓曲，写其变调之悲壮；「黄云萧条白日暗」写黄云萧条、白日昏暗，「黄云萧条」写变调如见黄云萧条之景，「白日暗」写如白日为之昏暗。两句以渔阳掺写变调之悲壮，以黄云白日写其声之苍茫，把觱篥声之悲壮、苍茫写得形象可感，比喻精妙，正见觱篥声调之变化万端，是「以象写声」的妙笔。

These two lines write the turn to the mournful, the key to the music's change. Suddenly it turns into the mournful Yuyang beat: suddenly writes the abrupt change of tune; the Yuyang mix is a solemn drum piece, writing the pathos of the change. Yellow clouds lie desolate, the bright daylight grows dark: the changed tune seems to bring yellow clouds in desolation, the bright sun darkened. Through the Yuyang beat the lines write the pathos of the turn; through yellow clouds and daylight, the vastness of the sound - the bili's solemnity and desolation made visible, the tune's ten thousand changes shown: a masterly writing of sound through imagery.

岁夜高堂列明烛，美酒一杯声一曲。

On New Year's Eve, in the lofty hall the bright candles stand in rows; one cup of fine wine, one strain of the tune.

岁夜高堂排列明烛，美酒一杯、听曲一曲。

On New Year's Eve, bright candles line the high hall; a cup of fine wine, and one more tune.

尾二句写岁夜听曲之乐，是全诗立意的落点。「岁夜高堂列明烛」写岁夜高堂排列明烛，「岁夜」写除夕之夜，「高堂列明烛」写高堂之上明烛排列，一片明亮温馨；「美酒一杯声一曲」写美酒一杯、听曲一曲，「美酒一杯」写饮酒之乐，「声一曲」写听曲之乐。两句一写岁夜之景、一写听曲之乐，把听觱篥的场合放在岁夜高堂、明烛美酒之中，这凄清的觱篥声，在温馨的岁夜听来，更添兴味——美酒一杯、听曲一曲，是何等的惬意。以听曲之乐收束，含蓄而亲切，是「以乐写声」的妙笔，也是全诗听乐之旨的归结。

The last two lines write the New Year's Eve listening, the poem's point. On New Year's Eve, bright candles line the high hall: New Year's Eve fixes the night; bright candles lining the high hall write brightness and warmth. A cup of fine wine, and one more tune: the wine writes the joy of drinking; one tune writes the joy of listening. One line writes the New Year scene, the other the joy of listening: placing the bili in the bright candles and fine wine of the year's last night, that bleak pipe sounds all the more poignant in the warmth - a cup of wine, a tune, what contentment. Closing in the joy of listening, reserved and intimate - a masterly writing of sound through delight, and the resolution of the poem's theme of hearing music.

Study

Word focus

截 'jie' (to cut): the verb shows the pipe being cut straight from the southern-mountain bamboo — an act of making at once simple and natural, and the starting point of the instrument's genealogy from bamboo to tune. 「截」字写南山截竹做觱篥，是写乐器取材的关键。「南山截竹为觱篥」着一「截」，写从南山截取竹子制成觱篥——着一「截」字，写其取材之果断、自然，从南山截竹，如取之于山林。一字写尽觱篥取材之自然，为全诗写这西域乐器及其自然之音作了铺垫，是「溯源」的点睛之词。「截」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。

飕飗 'sou liu' — an onomatopoeia for the soughing of cold wind; borrowed to render the bili's desolate, shivering low register, so that a sound is described by another sound. 「飕飗」写寒风之声，是写觱篥声凄冷的关键。「枯桑老柏寒飕飗」着一「飕飗」，写枯桑老柏在寒风中飕飗作响——以寒风之声写觱篥之声，见其凄冷苍凉。两字象声，音节亦觉凄冷，把觱篥声之枯涩苍凉写得形象可感，是「以声写声」的妙笔。「飕飗」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。

啾啾 'jiu jiu' — an onomatopoeia for the chirping of young birds; here it catches the thin, scattered, twittering high notes, paired against the bleak 'sou liu' to give the timbre both coarseness and fineness. 「啾啾」写雏凤之鸣声，是写觱篥声细碎的关键。「九雏鸣凤乱啾啾」着一「啾啾」，写九雏鸣凤乱啾啾而鸣——以雏凤之鸣写觱篥之声，见其细碎杂乱。两字象声，音节细碎，与「飕飗」之凄冷相对，一写其枯涩、一写其细碎，把觱篥声之特色写得形象可感，是「以声写声」的点睛之词。「啾啾」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。

暗 'an' (dark): the sun's darkening at the shift to the solemn Yuyang can turns an auditory change into a cosmic dimming — the clearest instance in the poem of 'writing sound through scene.' 「暗」字写变调时白日为之昏暗，是写其声悲壮的关键。「黄云萧条白日暗」着一「暗」，写黄云萧条、白日昏暗——以白日之暗写觱篥悲壮之声的感染力，仿佛天地为之昏暗。着一「暗」字，把变调之悲壮苍茫写得有境界，是「以景写声」的妙笔，也是写觱篥声调变化的关键词。「暗」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。