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先秦 Pre-Qin · 诗 Poem

泽陂

The Marsh Bank

诗经

Shijing

爱情Love 相思Longing 陈风Airs of Chen 香草美人Fragrant Grass and Fair Person 诗经Classic of Poetry

彼泽之陂，有蒲与荷。
有美一人，伤如之何？
寤寐无为，涕泗滂沱。
彼泽之陂，有蒲与蕳。
有美一人，硕大且卷。
寤寐无为，中心悁悁。
彼泽之陂，有蒲菡萏。
有美一人，硕大且俨。
寤寐无为，辗转伏枕。

By the bank of that marsh, there are rushes and lotus.
There is a beautiful one—how sad I am!
Awake or asleep I can do nothing; tears and mucus pour down.

By the bank of that marsh, there are rushes and orchids.
There is a beautiful one, tall and gentle.
Awake or asleep I can do nothing; my heart is full of gloom.

By the bank of that marsh, there are rushes and lotus blooms.
There is a beautiful one, tall and dignified.
Awake or asleep I can do nothing; I toss and turn, leaning on my pillow.

Listen

Meaning

A lovelorn speaker gazes at a marsh where rushes and lotus grow, thinks of a beautiful person seen there, and confesses helpless longing, sleepless anguish, and tears in three almost identical stanzas.

那片湖泽的堤岸旁，生长着香蒲与荷叶。有位俊美的君子，叫我伤心怎奈何？醒着睡着都无计可施，泪水和鼻涕如下雨滂沱。那片湖泽的堤岸旁，生长着香蒲与兰草。有位俊美的君子，身材高大又温厚。醒着睡着都无计可施，心中忧闷绵绵不休。那片湖泽的堤岸旁，生长着香蒲与荷花。有位俊美的君子，身材高大又庄恭。醒着睡着都无计可施，翻来覆去伏在枕上难眠。

Appreciation

This poem from the 'Airs of Chen' is one of the most intensely melancholic love songs in the Classic of Poetry. Each of its three stanzas opens with the same marsh-bank scene, then turns to the speaker's fixation on a beautiful person. The emotion is displayed without restraint—sobbing, sleeplessness, powerlessness—rather than the more measured longing of poems like 'Jianjia'. The repeated praise of the beloved's stature ('tall and gentle', 'tall and dignified') shows a folk singer's directness and warmth. The triple refrain 'awake or asleep I can do nothing' drives the helplessness of unrequited love to a climax. Traditionally some commentators read it as satire against immoral conduct at the court of Duke Ling of Chen; modern readers usually take it as a sincere love poem, and its honesty still strikes a chord today.

【白话串讲】 “彼泽之陂，有蒲与荷”——诗经《泽陂》：池塘边有蒲草荷花。“有美一人，伤如之何”——有一位美人，我该怎么办？“寤寐无为，涕泗滂沱”——他日夜思念，泪流成河。一首古老的单相思。【意象与手法】以“彼泽之陂，有蒲与荷”的泽畔植物起兴，引出对“有美一人”的刻骨怀思；“寤寐无为”三度叠唱，把单相思的无力感推向高潮。把爱而不得的焦灼写得毫无遮掩，“伤如之何”“涕泗滂沱”“辗转伏枕”的失态与崩溃，带着民间歌者特有的直朴热烈。【情感与主旨】极尽缠绵的相思之作。写对美人的单相思，从“伤如之何”的无奈到“涕泗滂沱”的崩溃，“硕大且卷”“硕大且俨”对男子形貌的反复礼赞带着民间直朴。旧说或以为刺陈灵公君臣淫乱，今人多从爱情诗读之，正因其情感真率足以跨越三千年仍击中人心。【名句点睛】常考“彼泽之陂，有蒲与荷”以植物起兴写情思；“寤寐无为，涕泗滂沱”以直白失态写单相思之痛。

Background

The 'Zebei' is a piece from the 'Airs of Chen' in the Classic of Poetry. The state of Chen was located in present-day Huaiyang, Henan, where the descendants of Shun were enfeoffed. Neighboring Chu, Chen had an open folk culture fond of shamanistic entertainment. The Han-era 'Book of Han' notes that women in Chen were respected and fond of sacrifice and shamanic practice, and Confucian commentators often interpreted Chen airs as reflecting 'licentious customs'. The 'Mao Preface' labels the poem 'criticizing the times', claiming it condemned Duke Ling of Chen's promiscuous court. Song scholars began to doubt this, reading it instead as a love poem; modern scholars like Wen Yiduo and Yu Guanying treat it plainly as a man's or woman's infatuation. The actual background is untraceable, but the marsh and water-plant imagery and the fierce emotion suggest a local folk lyric collected by court musicians. It reflects an ordinary person by a swamp who catches a glimpse of a beautiful person and then suffers all night, embodying the romantic folklore of Chen, where personal desire was openly sung. This openness is a distinctive quality of the Chen airs compared with the northern states.

《泽陂》为《诗经·国风·陈风》的一篇。陈国地处今河南淮阳一带，周初封舜后妫满于此，其地近楚，民俗开放而好巫风游乐，《汉书·地理志》谓陈「妇人尊贵，好祭祀，用史巫」，郑笺、孔疏亦多以陈俗「淫风流行」解陈风诸篇。本诗《毛诗序》题「刺时也」，谓「灵公君臣淫于其国，男女相说，忧思感伤焉」，是典型的汉儒以政教说诗之例；宋代以来学者多不信此说，朱熹《诗集传》虽仍含糊，已渐向「男女相悦」解读；现代学者如闻一多、余冠英等则径直视为一位女子（或男子）对意中人的痴情相思。其创作背景虽已难确考，但从诗中「泽陂」「蒲荷」的湿地意象与「涕泗」「伏枕」的炽烈情绪看，它应是陈地民间抒情歌谣被采入乐官者，反映的是普通人在水泽之畔对美好异性的惊鸿一瞥与长夜追怀，带着楚地风物与陈俗浪漫交织的鲜明地域色彩。从「有美一人」的惊艳到「涕泗滂沱」的崩溃，诗将个人情欲置于陈地开放的民俗底色之上，使私密的相思获得了可被公开吟唱的合法性，这正是《陈风》不同于北方诸国风诗的气质所在。

Art

Artistically, 'Zebei' is most notable for its repeated stanzas combined with the technique of 'xing' (stimulus) and implied metaphor. The three stanzas are structurally identical, varying only a few words—'lotus', 'orchid', 'lotus bloom' and 'gentle', 'dignified'—creating a circling folk-song rhythm that intensifies the pain of longing. The opening image is especially crafted: the rushes and lotus growing side by side on the marsh-bank subtly suggest the speaker's admiration for the beautiful person. The marsh plants are all fragrant herbs, foreshadowing the later 'fragrant grass and beautiful person' tradition. The shift from lotus to orchid to lotus bloom traces the passage of time, showing longing spreading through the days. The expression is outright: the speaker does not hide behind distant symbols but cries out 'How can I help it?', 'tears pour down', 'tossing and turning'. The juxtaposition of the beloved's physical grandeur with the speaker's inner turmoil makes the unrequited love almost clinically honest, creating a startling sense of reality. This is the 'hot' style of Shijing love poetry, unadorned and overwhelming.

《泽陂》艺术上最醒目的是重章叠句与「兴而带比」的双重技法。三章结构几乎全同，仅易「荷」「蕳」「菡萏」与「卷」「俨」等字，形成回旋复沓的民歌韵律，每章落点皆归于「寤寐无为」的失神，层层加码地把相思之苦推向极致。起兴尤见匠心：以泽畔「蒲与荷」的并生相依，暗喻诗人对「有美一人」的倾慕，「蒲」柔「荷」清，香草本是美人香草传统的先声；而荷、蕳（兰）、菡萏（荷）的递换，既写出泽陂四时风物的流转，也暗示思念在时日中的蔓延。抒情方式则极尽直率：不托物寄远，而直呼「伤如之何」「涕泗滂沱」「辗转伏枕」，以形貌的「硕大且卷／俨」与心理的「悁悁」「伏枕」内外映照，把单相思的生理反应（流泪、失眠）写得近乎坦白的病历，反而成就一种撼人的真实感，是《国风》情诗中「热」的一格。全篇不假雕饰、直抒胸臆，以「伤如之何」的惊叹与「涕泗滂沱」的失态，把一种近乎失控的倾慕写得理直气壮，在《国风》情诗中自成一格的「热」与「真」。

Allusions

Though short, 'Zebei' has deep roots in the archetypes of Chinese poetry. The 'marsh bank' is a classic space for love in the Shijing, as in 'Jianjia' and 'Zhenwei'. The rushes, lotus, orchid, and lotus bloom are all fragrant plants, already anticipating 'fragrant grass and beautiful person'—Qu Yuan later used fragrant herbs to symbolize virtue, but here folk singers had already used them for beauty. 'Tears and mucus pour down' is an early form of the 'tears like rain' metaphor, later echoed as 'teardrops like intertwined ropes'. 'Tossing and turning, leaning on the pillow' sets the paradigm of insomnia-haunted love, directly influencing 'Guan Ju' and later poems. The praise of the beloved as 'tall' echoes the praise of the noble lady in 'Shuo Ren', showing that in Zhou times 'big' was a term of beauty for both sexes. The phrase 'a beautiful one' is especially important, carrying the folk roots of the 'fair lady' trope and making the glimpse by the marsh a prototype scene of being moved by beauty.

《泽陂》虽短，其意象却深深嵌入中国诗学的原型谱系。「泽陂」即湖泽堤岸，水畔本就是《诗经》生发情思的经典空间（《秦风·蒹葭》「在水一方」、《郑风·溱洧》「洧之外」皆然），泽陂的湿软与植物的缠绵天然宜于怀春。「蒲」与「荷（菡萏）」「蕳（兰）」皆香草，已开「香草美人」之先——屈原先以香草喻君子，而民间歌者早已以蒲荷起兴写美人，可见香草意象本生于乡野歌咏。「涕泗滂沱」以雨水喻泪，是「悲泪如雨」母题的早期形态，后世「泪下如绠縻」「泪落连珠子」皆其流裔。「辗转伏枕」则凝定了中国诗里「失眠—相思」的范式，直接启导《关雎》「辗转反侧」、古诗「愁人不能寐，明月何灼灼」一脉。至于「硕大」赞男子之伟，亦与《卫风·硕人》以「硕」美女性形成有趣的性别映照，可见周人「硕」为美称的审美通例。「有美一人」一语尤为关键，它承《离骚》美人香草之喻的民间源头，亦启后世「美人」意象之先，使泽陂水畔的惊鸿一瞥成为中国诗写「见美而心动」的原型场景。

Commentary

The three stanzas are like three waves. Each begins with 'By the bank of that marsh, there are rushes and lotus' as a stimulus, setting a fresh scene by the water, then moves to 'There is a beautiful one' and the speaker's complaint. The description of the beloved progresses: the first stanza only says 'how sad I am'; the second adds 'tall and gentle'; the third adds 'tall and dignified'. The final lines shift from 'tears and mucus pour down' to 'my heart is full of gloom' and finally to 'I toss and turn, leaning on my pillow', moving from outward tears to inner sorrow to sleepless restlessness. The repetition of only a few words while changing the emotional register is the supreme art of folk refrains, as if one person is alone by the marsh talking to himself, unable to stop crying. This repetition of the same melody in three variations turns private longing into a collective cry that resonates across millennia.

全诗三章，章法如三叠浪。每章前二句「彼泽之陂，有蒲与荷（蕳、菡萏）」为兴句，先铺出水泽边香蒲与荷兰并立的清景，景愈清而情愈烈，是以乐景反衬哀情。三、四句「有美一人，伤如之何（硕大且卷／俨）」由景入情，点出所思之「美一人」，并三易形容：首章但言「伤如之何」的惊痛，次章补以「硕大且卷」（身材高大、性情温厚），末章进以「硕大且俨」（高大而庄重），可见诗中心目中之人的形象在追忆中愈见清晰高贵。末二句「寤寐无为，涕泗滂沱（中心悁悁／辗转伏枕）」则写思而不得的生理与心理崩溃：首章是泪下如雨的失态，次章是心中闷闷的绵愁，末章是长夜反侧的不眠——情绪由外显的涕泪，渐入内敛的忧闷，终至彻夜的辗转，层层深入。三章只换数字而情境递转，正是民歌「易辞申意」的至高手法，读来如闻一人独对泽陂、自言自语而泪不可收。三章以同一旋律反复变奏，如一人独对泽陂自言自语，情至极处便以泪写心、以枕写愁，将想他想得失了主张这件事唱成穿越千年的集体共鸣。

Prosody

Reading note The poem is built on the Shijing technique of repeated stanzas, changing only a few words to deepen meaning. Each stanza has six lines. The refrain '寤寐无为' anchors every stanza, emphasizing the speaker's helplessness. The line endings often use empty words, creating an echoing effect ideal for singing by the marsh.《泽陂》属《国风》，为三章重章体，每章六句，句式以四言为主（「彼泽之陂」「有美一人」），间以「伤如之何」「涕泗滂沱」等四字加虚词尾，节奏舒缓而带咏叹。押韵上，各章随字换韵而内部自协：首章「荷」「何」「沱」歌部一韵（荷属歌部，何、沱同部）；次章「蕳」「卷」「悁」元寒合韵（古音相近）；末章「菡萏」之「萏」与「俨」「枕」侵部相协（俨属谈部、枕属侵部，旁转可通）。其重章手法是《国风》典型：三章仅易「荷／蕳／菡萏」与「伤如之何／硕大且卷／硕大且俨」及「涕泗滂沱／中心悁悁／辗转伏枕」，以极小的语词变动造成情绪的层层累积，所谓「易辞以申意」。句尾多用虚字「之」「为」收束，使诵读时有余音袅袅之致，最宜于泽畔独歌、反复低回的抒情场合，体现了四言民歌「重章迭唱、韵随情转」的声律美学。

Line by line

彼泽之陂，有蒲与荷。

The opening refrain of each stanza is also the most tranquil image: the marsh bank, a setting rich in emotional associations, with rushes and lotus plants growing side by side. The natural ease of the plants contrasts with the speaker's helpless obsession, and the fragrant herbs prefigure the 'fragrant grass and beautiful person' motif. In successive stanzas 'lotus' becomes 'orchid' and then 'lotus bloom,' suggesting seasonal change and the growth of longing.

On the bank of that mere, oh, grow the rush and the lotus.

「彼泽之陂，有蒲与荷」是全诗每章的起兴之笔，亦是最宁静的卷首。「陂」为堤岸，「泽之陂」即湖泽边畔，本身就是《诗经》最富情愫的空间母题；「蒲」柔茎水生、「荷」清姿出水，二者并立相依，暗喻诗人心中那对「美一人」的倾慕与依恋。此兴之妙，在于以植物的自在相生反衬人的「寤寐无为」——大自然从容生长，而诗人却因相思失了主张，景愈闲而情愈迫。更深一层，蒲、荷均为香草，已开后世「香草美人」之先声：屈原以兰芷喻君子，其民间渊源或正在于此类泽畔歌谣。三章易「荷」为「蕳」为「菡萏」，使同一堤岸随季节流转而景物各异，既见泽陂风物之丰，也暗示这份怀思在时光中无声蔓延，是以极简的起兴承载极厚的情感。

'On the bank of that mere, oh, grow the rush and the lotus' is the opening evocation of every stanza and the quietest opening. The 'bank' is the shore, 'the bank of that mere' the edge of the lake, itself the most emotionally charged spatial motif in the Book of Songs; the 'rush' a water plant of soft stem, the 'lotus' the water flower of clear mien, the two standing side by side, secretly imaging the poet's admiration and attachment to 'the one fair person.' The art of this evocation lies in the natural thriving of plants set against the person's 'waking and sleeping, doing nothing'—nature grows at ease, while the poet has lost his bearings through longing, the calmer the scene the more pressing the feeling. On a deeper layer, the rush and lotus are both fragrant plants, opening the way for the later tradition of 'fragrant plants and beauties': Qu Yuan's use of orchids for the gentleman may have its folk source in these waterside songs. The three stanzas change 'lotus' to 'orchid' and to 'lotus-bud,' so that the same bank varies with the season, showing the richness of the mere's scenery and hinting that this longing spreads soundlessly through time—a minimal evocation bearing the thickest feeling.

寤寐无为，涕泗滂沱。

Awake or asleep, the speaker is unable to act and weeps profusely. This explicit display of physical grief—tears and mucus pouring like rain—shows the raw intensity of folk song. It establishes the classic triad of lovesickness: sleeplessness, helplessness, and weeping.

Waking or asleep, I can do nothing; tears and snot pour like a flood.

「寤寐无为，涕泗滂沱」把相思写到了失态的极点。「寤寐」统指醒与睡，「无为」言不知该做什么、无事可作，极写痴立失神之状；「涕泗滂沱」则直描眼泪鼻涕如雨倾泻，毫不掩饰。在讲究「哀而不伤」的诗教传统里，这样的直露近乎「粗」，却正见民间情歌的生猛真实——它不修饰悲伤，而是把悲伤摊开给人看。此句的价值，在于它以身体的失控（流泪、呆坐）印证了心理的失控（爱而不得），使「无为」二字有了沉甸甸的重量。其「涕泗如雨」的喻法，更成为后世「悲泪」书写的源头之一，与「辗转伏枕」共同构成中国诗里「相思—失眠—流泪」三位一体的经典图式，影响及于汉乐府、古诗十九首乃至宫体艳情。

'Waking or asleep, I can do nothing; tears and snot pour like a flood' writes longing to the point of losing composure. 'Waking or asleep' covers both waking and sleep, 'doing nothing' meaning not knowing what to do, having nothing to do, writing to the extreme the痴, stunned state; 'tears and snot pour like a flood' directly describes tears and mucus pouring like rain, unhidden. In the poetic tradition that prizes 'grievous yet not broken,' this directness is almost 'coarse,' yet precisely shows the raw, true force of folk love-song—it does not adorn grief but spreads it out to be seen. The value of the line lies in verifying the loss of psychological control (love unrequited) through the loss of bodily control (weeping, sitting blank), giving 'doing nothing' a heavy weight. Its metaphor of 'tears like a flood' became one of the sources of later writing of 'bitter tears,' and together with 'tossing on the pillow' forms the classic Chinese triad of 'longing—insomnia—weeping,' influencing the Yuefu, the Nineteen Old Poems, and even palace-style verse.

寤寐无为，辗转伏枕。

The closing line of the final stanza gives a sleepless-night image. 'Tossing and turning' and 'leaning on the pillow' directly recall the 'sleepless tossing' in 'Guan Ju' and create an archetype of insomnia caused by lovesickness. The speaker's emotion moves from outward weeping to inner gloom, and finally to all-night restlessness.

Waking or asleep, I can do nothing; tossing and turning, I lie on the pillow.

「寤寐无为，辗转伏枕」是末章的收束，也是全诗的失眠绝唱。「辗转」形容翻来覆去、不能安卧，「伏枕」即伏在枕上难以成眠，六字写尽长夜独对、魂不守舍的煎熬。它与首章「涕泗滂沱」、次章「中心悁悁」构成情绪的三级跳：由外显的泪雨，到内蕴的闷愁，终至彻夜的辗转，相思由「泄」转「抑」而愈见深沉。尤为关键的是，「辗转伏枕」直接呼应了《周南·关雎》「悠哉悠哉，辗转反侧」，足证「辗转」一词在《诗经》中已凝定为相思失眠的专属语码；而《泽陂》以「伏枕」坐实「反侧」，更添一份病恹恹的憔悴。三章同以「寤寐无为」起句尾，反复咏叹中将「想他想得睡不着」这件事，唱成了穿越千年的集体共鸣。

'Waking or asleep, I can do nothing; tossing and turning, I lie on the pillow' is the close of the final stanza and the insomnia masterpiece of the poem. 'Tossing and turning' describes rolling back and forth, unable to rest; 'lie on the pillow' means bent over the pillow, hard to sleep—six characters exhausting the long night alone, the soul leaving the body. It echoes the first stanza's 'tears like a flood' and the second's 'heart sore within,' forming a three-step emotional leap: from the outer flood of tears, to the inner gathered grief, finally to the whole night's tossing, longing turning from 'discharged' to 'repressed,' the deeper for it. Crucially, 'tossing and turning, I lie on the pillow' directly echoes the 'Guan Ju' of the 'Zhou Nan'—'long, long the night, tossing and turning'—proving that 'tossing and turning' had already crystallized in the Book of Songs as the code word for lovesick insomnia; and the 'Zebei' confirms the 'turning' with 'lying on the pillow,' adding a sickly haggardness. The three stanzas, all opening and closing on 'waking or asleep, doing nothing,' repeat the song until 'missing him so I cannot sleep' becomes a thousand-year common resonance.

Study

Word focus

硕大 'Shuoda' (tall and large). In the Shijing, 'shuo' is a frequent term of praise, meaning majestic and beautiful. The speaker praises the beloved's height and then adds 'gentle' and 'dignified', moving from physical beauty to inner nobility. This reflects a folk aesthetic favoring health and grandeur, and makes the longing feel concrete—not for a phantom, but for a real, imposing person. 「有美一人，硕大且卷（俨）」中「硕大」犹言高大、魁伟。「硕」在《诗经》中是高频美称，本指形体之大，引申为壮美、美善，如《卫风·硕人》以「硕人其颀」赞庄姜之修长高贵，可知周人审美以「硕」为美，男女皆然。《泽陂》三章皆曰「硕大」，且递进以「卷」（温厚美好）「俨」（庄重恭敬），可见诗人对意中人的礼赞由形及神：先叹其身材之伟，再美其性情之厚、其仪态之庄。一个「硕大」，透露出民间歌者不尚纤弱、偏好健康丰伟的质朴审美，也反衬出这份爱慕的郑重——他所思慕的不是模糊的幻影，而是一个有血有肉、高大庄重的真实之人，因而「伤如之何」的痛才格外实在。

涕泗 'Tisi' means tears (ti) and nasal mucus (si). In ancient Chinese, 'ti' originally meant nasal mucus, and 'qi' meant tears; here both are used together, showing great grief. 'Pangtuo' (torrential) is normally used for rain, so comparing tears to a downpour creates a powerful image of emotional overflow—uncontrolled and unconcealed. 「寤寐无为，涕泗滂沱」之「涕泗」，「涕」指眼泪，「泗」指鼻涕，合言即泪水与鼻水。先秦「涕」本指鼻涕、「泣」指眼泪，后词义转移，今「涕」专指泪；诗人此处连用「涕泗」，正保留古义，状悲极而泪涕俱下之态。「滂沱」本形容大雨，移以写人之流涕，是「以天雨喻人泪」的早年期型。二字组合的力量在于「失控」：一个成年人因思念而当众（或独处）涕泗横流，已是情感的溃堤；「滂沱」更将其放大成暴雨般的倾泻。相较文人诗的「泣下沾襟」，民歌的「涕泗滂沱」毫无矜持，却正因其不设防，而把单相思的荒芜与无助劈面掷来，成为《诗经》写悲最率真的一笔。

菡萏 'Handan' is an ancient word for the lotus blossom, specifically the flower bud. It appears in the third stanza, replacing 'lotus' and 'orchid', suggesting the passage of time and the swelling of the speaker's admiration. The word is very old and elegant, and its sense of 'about to bloom' mirrors the beloved's growing dignity and the speaker's intensifying obsession. 第三章「彼泽之陂，有蒲菡萏」之「菡萏」（音han dan），即荷花，古指未开之荷或泛称莲荷。与首章「荷」、次章「蕳（兰）」递换，使三章兴象各异而同处泽陂：荷之初生、兰之幽芳、菡萏之繁盛，暗喻时序流转与思念的滋长。「菡萏」一词极古雅，《尔雅》已释「荷，芙蕖……其华菡萏」，可知它本指花苞，带着含而未放、将盛未盛的娇嫩意态。诗人于末章特标「菡萏」，或许正取其「将盛」之象，隐喻心中美人之仪态于追忆中愈发饱满庄重（「硕大且俨」）。以荷族三变写情之递进，是《泽陂》起兴最精微处，也见出民间歌者对水生植物的熟稔与深情。

泽陂