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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

为有

Because There Is

李商隐

Li Shangyin

为有云屏无限娇，凤城寒尽怕春宵。
无端嫁得金龟婿，辜负香衾事早朝。

Just because there, behind the mica screen, is a beauty beyond all measure,
she dreads the short spring nights though the capital's cold has passed.
For no reason at all she wedded a golden-turtle husband,
who betrays the perfumed quilt to serve the dawn court.

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Meaning

A young wife of a high official complains that her husband, busied by the dawn court, wastes their short spring nights and the perfumed bed. Beneath the boudoir teasing lies a sharper point: rank and wealth ('a golden-turtle husband') bring not happiness but absence. The poem's surface is a woman's gentle grievance; its undertow is Li Shangyin's own lifelong experience of official life taking more than it gives.

正因为有那云母屏风里无限娇美的妻子，凤城寒尽春来，她却偏偏害怕这春宵苦短。无奈嫁得了一位佩金龟袋的贵婿，他天不亮便要起身赶赴早朝，白白辜负了这香暖的被衾、美妙的春夜。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Because she has a wife of boundless charm behind the mica screen, the capital's warm spring nights become something to fear: they are too short. Why did she marry a husband of the highest rank, only to have him leave the perfumed quilt for the cold dawn court? [Structure] Four lines, four reversals. 'Because there is' starts from the gift (a beautiful wife); 'dreads spring nights' reverses joy into anxiety; 'golden-turtle husband' names the coveted prize of marriage; 'betrays the perfumed quilt' reverses it into a grievance. The logic runs backward, from effect to cause, which is why the opening is so bold: the poet begins with the result and only later reveals the reason. [Imagery] Every image is luxurious - mica screen, capital spring, perfumed quilt - and every one of them turns bitter. The poem never says the word 'resentment'; the feeling accumulates in the gaps between 'for no reason' and 'betrays', and the reader completes it.

【白话串讲】李商隐写《为有》：“为有云屏无限娇，凤城寒尽怕春宵”——“无端嫁得金龟婿，辜负香衾事早朝”——他写闺怨——辜负香衾事早朝。【意象与手法】首句“为有云屏无限娇”写妻美，次句“凤城寒尽怕春宵”以“怕”字点出春宵苦短之情；后两句转写夫婿：嫁得金龟婿本为荣显，却因晨起早朝而辜负香衾，怨而不怒，讥意深藏。以乐景写哀、言近旨远。【情感与主旨】李商隐以少妇口吻写闺怨，实则寄讽仕宦之身不由己，是李商隐七绝中融闺情与世情于一体的小品。【名句点睛】常考“为有云屏无限娇，凤城寒尽怕春宵”以怕字写春宵苦短；“无端嫁得金龟婿，辜负香衾事早朝”写身不由己。

Background

Li Shangyin (ca. 813-858), courtesy name Yishan, was the late Tang's most elusive major poet, renowned for quatrains that hide deep feeling under polished, allusive surfaces. The poem takes its title from its first two words, a habit Li shared with his 'untitled' poems. The 'golden-turtle husband' is a real Tang rank marker: officials of the third grade and above wore a turtle-shaped bag, gilded for the highest ranks. Writing from a lifetime spent as a lowly secretary on military governors' staffs, Li knew the cost of the official career the young bride laments - which is why this slender boudoir piece can also be read as a meditation on the price of public life.

《为有》为唐代诗人李商隐的一首七言绝句。李商隐（约813—约858），字义山，号玉溪生、樊南生，怀州河内人，晚唐最重要的诗人之一，与杜牧并称「小李杜」，又与温庭筠并称「温李」。其诗构思新奇，风格秾丽，尤擅以隐微之辞写深沉之情，七绝一体造诣尤高。此诗题曰「为有」，取首句二字为题，本为无题一类，写一位贵家少妇的春宵之怨。诗中的「金龟婿」，指佩金龟袋的显宦——唐代三品以上官员佩金龟袋以为章饰，故「金龟婿」即指身居高位的夫婿。诗人借少妇口吻，道出「嫁得贵婿、反成怨偶」的微妙心理：夫婿位高事繁，晨起早朝，致春宵虚度。此诗表面写闺中情事，实则寄寓了诗人对仕宦生涯身不由己的深切体味——李商隐一生沉沦下僚、奔走幕府，对「事君」与「守家」之间的矛盾有切肤之感，故能于轻巧的闺怨中暗藏人生况味。全诗二十八字，语浅而意深，是晚唐七绝中融闺情与世情于一体的名篇。

Art

The poem's technique is layered reversal. The first line begins with 'because there is', a startling opening that starts from the effect; only at the end do we learn the cause. Each couplet flips the previous one's value: beauty becomes fear, the best match becomes a grievance. The verbs and particles do the work - 'dreads', 'for no reason', 'betrays' - three words that are not quite complaints, which is exactly why the resentment feels real and restrained: the bride scolds no one. Parallelism in the last couplet (golden-turtle against perfumed quilt, dawn court against the long night) sets public duty against private desire, and the shared rhyme keeps returning the sound of 'night' to 'court', so the form itself dramatizes the collision between the two.

此诗艺术上以「层层翻转、以乐写哀」见长。首句「为有云屏无限娇」凭空而起，着一「为有」二字领起全篇，点出娇妻之存在；「无限娇」三字极写少妇之美，为下文之「怕」张本。次句「凤城寒尽怕春宵」转折生澜：寒尽春来本是可乐之事，诗人却以一「怕」字翻转之——春宵苦短，良辰易逝，故怕；这一「怕」，既见少妇对欢爱的留恋，亦暗含对其事的隐忧。三四句「无端嫁得金龟婿，辜负香衾事早朝」再进一层，点明「怕春宵」的真正缘由：夫婿位高，晨起早朝，香衾空暖。「无端」二字尤为传神，既是少妇自怨自艾的娇嗔，又暗含「何苦嫁与宦海之人」的讽意。全诗四句，层层剥茧，由妻美而怕春宵，由怕春宵而怨早朝，怨情愈转愈深；然通篇不见一个「怨」字，怨意尽在言外，正合古人「怨而不怒」之旨，也体现了李商隐七绝委婉含蓄、余味曲包的艺术特色。全篇无一闲字，而怨情层层转深，含蓄不露，最见李商隐七绝炉火纯青的炼意之功，读之令人低回不尽。

Allusions

The poem's one historical allusion is 'golden-turtle husband'. Under the Tang system officials carried identification tallies; after Empress Wu's reign these were turtle-shaped, and third rank and above wore gold ones, so a 'golden-turtle son-in-law' became the proverbial prize of marriage. The mica screen and the perfumed quilt mark aristocratic luxury; 'Phoenix City' was the capital's poetic name. The words 'for no reason' imply that the bride - and perhaps the poet - senses that the world's prizes are irrational: the most enviable husband is precisely the one who cannot stay.

诗中「金龟婿」一词，本唐代典章制度：唐制，官员随身佩鱼符以辨贵贱，武后时改佩龟，三品以上饰以金，故称金龟袋；《新唐书·车服志》载「随身鱼符……三品以上饰以金」，金龟遂成为高官显贵的标识。「金龟婿」之谓，后世遂专指身居高位、贵不可言的夫婿，如秦韬玉《贫女》「谁爱风流高格调，共怜时世俭梳妆」之叹富贵婚姻，亦由此生发。李商隐此处用「金龟婿」而不直说「官宦」，既以典章之实写夫婿之贵，又于「无端」二字中透出讥讽——世人皆羡嫁得金龟婿之荣，少妇却道「辜负香衾」，以贵婿为怨由，反衬出荣华富贵不足恋的意味。此典之用，不着痕迹而含义深曲，正见李商隐使事用典的精妙。此种使事之法，不以炫博为能，而以切情为要，方为用典之上乘。读者知此，乃能会此诗味外之味，知其于轻巧之中暗藏机锋。此中蕴含的，正是诗人对荣华富贵与人间真情的冷眼观察，故能翻出新意、别具只眼。

Commentary

Though only twenty-eight characters long, the poem has been a fixture of anthologies since the Song, praised for 'resentment without anger' - the complaint never once becomes shrill. Readers have divided between taking it as pure boudoir wit and reading it as Li Shangyin's displacement of his own career frustrations. Its pairing with Wang Changling's 'Boudoir Resentment' in teaching materials shows how the late Tang transformed the bright, bold boudoir poem of the High Tang into something darker and more inward: the same young wife, but now conscious of what her husband's rank costs her.

这首小诗之所以耐人寻味，在于它把闺怨写得既轻巧又深沉。初读之，不过是一少妇怨夫婿早朝、辜负春宵的娇嗔；细味之，则觉其中大有寄托。诗人不作一句直白的怨言，而由「为有云屏无限娇」的妻美，写到「凤城寒尽怕春宵」的怕，再写到「辜负香衾事早朝」的憾，层层逼出怨情，却始终以「娇」「怕」「辜负」等温婉之词出之，怨而不怒，哀而不伤。尤其「无端」二字，含无限委屈与不解：既已嫁得金龟婿，为何反受此孤寂？此问看似娇憨，实则道出了封建时代仕宦家庭中无数女性共通的悲哀——夫荣妻贵之下，是长夜独守的凄凉。而诗人自己，一生为幕僚奔走，深味宦途之累，此诗或亦寄寓其身不由己之慨。全诗二十八字，以闺情写世情，以小见大，言近旨远，足见李商隐七绝体物之工与用情之深。二十八字中，闺情与世情、娇嗔与深怨浑融无迹，其妙正在此含蓄深婉、言有尽而意无穷之处，故能历千载而常新。

Prosody

Form Shi poem: seven-character quatrain (qiyan jueju), near-style, level-tone opening七言绝句（近体绝句，平起式）

Rhyme Four lines with two rhymes, xiao and chao, both of the same xiao rhyme group; the round, bright final sounds return the word 'night' to 'court', reinforcing the poem's central opposition between the spring night and the dawn court.全诗押平声韵「宵」「朝」，韵脚同属萧豪类（宵、朝），一韵到底，韵部宽舒流利。七绝以平韵谐畅为常，此诗「宵」「朝」二韵字音清亮圆转，恰与春宵欢会之题材相称；而「早朝」之「朝」与「春宵」之「宵」同韵，更以韵脚的重复强化了「春宵」与「早朝」之间的对照，使声韵与诗意互为表里。

Tone pattern The level-oblique patterns of the standard jueju hold throughout, with the oblique turn in the middle of the second line ('dreads') landing the emotional pivot. The third and fourth lines are strictly parallel - golden-turtle against perfumed quilt, dawn court against the long night - giving the poem its balanced, polished surface.句式上，首句「为有云屏无限娇」平起平收，声调舒徐；次句「凤城寒尽怕春宵」仄起平收，「怕」字仄声，于句腰顿挫，暗合少妇心中之忧惧；三四句「无端嫁得金龟婿，辜负香衾事早朝」对仗工稳，仄仄平平平仄仄、平仄平平仄仄平，声调错落有致，收束从容。全诗以平声韵脚统摄，而句中仄声字间出，声情婉转，正合李商隐七绝绵邈蕴藉之风。

Reading note The quatrain's compression is essential to the poem: twenty-eight characters, four reversals, and not one direct word of complaint. The shared rhyme keeps tying the private night to the public court, so the form itself performs the collision at the poem's heart - duty and desire, rank and love - while the tight tonal scheme keeps every feeling under the polished, restrained surface the late Tang prized.此诗为七言绝句，属近体诗，全诗仅二十八字，却以「以乐写哀、层层翻转」的手法，写尽了贵家少妇春宵独守的幽怨，并暗寄诗人对仕宦身不由己的感慨。其艺术关键在于三点：其一，以「为有」起笔，先立娇妻之美，为「怕春宵」设下因果，结构严谨；其二，「怕」「无端」「辜负」等虚词的精心锤炼，使怨情于温婉中层层递进，怨而不怒、哀而不伤；其三，通篇不着一「怨」字，而怨意尽在言外，以「金龟婿」之贵衬「事早朝」之累，以小见大，寄慨遥深。李商隐七绝素以含蓄深婉著称，此诗正其典型——表面是闺中情话，骨子里却蕴含着对功名富贵与儿女情长之间矛盾的深沉省思，言近旨远，耐人寻味，是晚唐七绝中融闺情、世情、身世之感于一体的上乘之作。

Line by line

为有云屏无限娇，凤城寒尽怕春宵。

Just because there, behind the mica screen, is a beauty beyond all measure, / she dreads the short spring nights though the capital's cold has passed.

正因为有那云母屏风里无限娇美的妻子，凤城寒尽春来之际，她却偏偏害怕这春宵过于短暂。

Because of her peerless beauty behind the mica screen, now that the cold has left the capital, she dreads the spring night's shortness.

起句「为有云屏无限娇」先立少妇之美：「云屏」指云母屏风，极言居处之华贵，「无限娇」三字则极写妻子之娇美动人。次句「凤城寒尽怕春宵」陡然一翻：寒尽春来，本应欢喜，诗人却以「怕」字领起，写春宵苦短、欢会难久的忧惧。「怕」字是全诗之眼，它把良辰美景的欣喜转化为对欢娱易逝的怅惘，也暗伏后文「辜负香衾」的缘由。两句之中，以华贵之居与娇美之人写前，以「怕」字转写内心的隐忧，乐景与哀情相映，已为全诗奠定了「以乐写哀」的基调，也见出李商隐七绝起笔即设悬念、步步引人入胜的功力。

The opening first establishes the young wife's beauty: the mica screen writes the luxury of the chambers; peerless beauty her loveliness. The second line turns abruptly: cold ended, spring come - joy expected, yet the poet leads with dread, writing the spring night's shortness, the fear that pleasure cannot last. Dread is the poem's eye: it converts the delight of fair weather into the wistfulness at pleasure's flight, and secretly plants the reason for wasting the fragrant quilt below. Two lines: luxury chamber and lovely person first, then the dread turning inward - joyful scene set against sorrowful feeling, establishing the poem's keynote of grief written through joy; also showing Li Shangyin's quatrain power of setting suspense at the first stroke, step by step drawing the reader in.

无端嫁得金龟婿，辜负香衾事早朝。

For no reason at all she wedded a golden-turtle husband, / who betrays the perfumed quilt to serve the dawn court.

无缘无故地嫁得一位佩金龟袋的显贵夫婿，他却要清晨起身赶赴早朝，白白辜负了这香暖的被衾与美好的春夜。

For no reason she married a gold-turtle husband; he must rise for the dawn audience, wasting the fragrant quilt and the spring night.

末两句点明「怕春宵」的根由，是全诗着力之处。「无端」二字是少妇自怨自艾的娇嗔：早知贵婿事繁，何苦嫁与？「金龟婿」以典制写夫婿之贵，而「辜负香衾事早朝」则写贵婿之累——为了仕途早朝，竟辜负了娇妻与春宵。诗人不直斥夫婿薄情，而着一「事」字，写其奔波于朝班的无奈，怨意便不至于刻毒；「辜负」二字则轻轻一转，把少妇的委屈与夫婿的劳碌一并道出。四句层层翻转，由妻美而怕春宵，由怕春宵而怨早朝，怨情愈转愈深，而通篇不见一个「怨」字，怨意尽在言外，正是李商隐七绝「深情绵邈、含而不露」的本色，亦见其于闺情中寄托身世之感的一贯手法。

The last two lines name the root of the dread of spring nights, the poem's focus. For no reason is the wife's self-blame, playful petulance: had I known the noble husband's heavy duties, why marry him? Gold-turtle husband writes the husband's rank through the insignia; wasting the fragrant quilt and rising for dawn audience writes the burden of rank - for the court audience at dawn, the lovely wife and spring night are squandered. The poet does not directly accuse the husband of coldness, but uses the single word attend, writing his hurried rounds of court duty, so the resentment never turns venomous; wasting gently turns, voicing both the wife's grievance and the husband's toil. Four lines turn layer by layer: from wife's beauty to dread of spring nights, from dread to resentment of the dawn audience, resentment deepening at every turn; yet not one word of resentment appears, all between the lines - precisely Li Shangyin's quatrain manner of deep, lingering feeling, hidden and unspoken, and his consistent method of lodging personal feeling in the boudoir.

Study

Word focus

为有 'Because there is' - the startling causal opening of the poem. It starts from the effect (a beautiful wife exists) and forces the reader backward to the cause, binding all four lines into one logical chain and giving the poem its suspenseful, reverse-built structure. 「为有」二字领起全篇，是七绝中罕见的起法。它点出因果关系——正因为有此娇妻，才有后文的怕春宵、怨早朝，为全诗立下逻辑之骨。着一「有」字，写娇妻之实在；「为」字则把妻美与下文之怨绾合为一，使怨情有了着落。二字看似平常，实则暗藏机锋，为全诗设下由果溯因的悬念，是李商隐七绝起笔造势的典型手法。

怕春宵 'Dreads spring nights' - the eye of the poem. Others welcome the end of winter; the bride alone fears the short warm nights, because their brevity measures how soon her husband must leave for court. The word turns joy into anxiety in a single stroke. 「怕」字是全诗诗眼，写尽少妇复杂心理。寒尽春来，良辰美景，常人喜之，少妇独「怕」——怕春宵苦短，欢会难久；更怕欢娱易尽，转眼又是一夜孤眠。着一「怕」字，便把欣喜与忧惧、留恋与怅惘一并道出，乐景之中暗藏哀情，为后文「辜负香衾」埋下伏笔，也使全诗由喜入怨、层层递进。一字之炼，见出诗人体物入微的功力。

无端 'For no reason' - the bride's half-playful, half-bitter protest. Everyone calls a high-ranking husband a prize; she calls hers unmotivated, which is the sharpest irony in the poem: the world's best bargain turns out to be the source of her loneliness. 「无端」即无缘无故，是少妇自怨自艾的娇嗔之辞。既已嫁得金龟婿，本当欣悦，她却觉得「无端」——这一「无端」，既是女儿家说不清道不明的委屈，又暗含对夫贵妻荣之俗见的讽意：世人羡之贵婿，于己竟是孤寂之源。「无端」二字于不经意间翻转出讥讽，怨而不怒，哀而不伤，是李商隐以温婉之辞寄深沉之意的妙笔，足见其措辞之精微。

辜负 'Betrays' - the emotional landing of the poem. The husband abandons the perfumed quilt of the spring night for the dawn court; the word is soft enough to keep the complaint free of anger, yet it names the exact cost of rank: warmth traded for duty. 「辜负」二字是全诗情感落点，写尽春宵虚度之憾。夫婿事早朝，致香衾空暖，春宵虚设，「辜负」既指夫婿辜负了娇妻，亦指春宵辜负了良人，语意双关，含蓄有致。着一「辜负」，便把怨情从娇嗔升华为更深沉的怅惘——非独怨夫婿早朝，更叹欢会之难久、人生之易逝。两字之内，怨与叹并见，正是李商隐七绝含蓄深婉之所在。

为有