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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

从军行七首·其二

From the Army: Seven Poems, No. 2

王昌龄

Wang Changling

边塞Frontier 闺怨Boudoir Grief

琵琶起舞换新声，总是关山旧别情。
撩乱边愁听不尽，高高秋月照长城。

The pipa rises and dance begins to a new tune, and it is always the old parting feeling of the passes and mountains.
The border sorrow it stirs is so confused it can never be heard to the end; the lofty autumn moon shines down on the Great Wall.

Listen

Meaning

In the central fortress a party is under way: the pipa plays and the dance begins to a tune that is new to the ear, yet it is the same old parting feeling of the frontier. The music will not exhaust that sorrow no matter how long one listens, and the poem ends with the moon shining, level and silent, on the wall. The poem's subject is not the war but the perpetual and unsolvable homesickness it produces.

琵琶起舞换新声，总是关山旧别情。撩乱边愁听不尽，高高秋月照长城。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Two couplets: a scene of music and dancing in the garrison, and the sorrow the music only deepens. The last line offers no consolation, only a moon over the wall. [Structure] 起承转合 in four lines: the scene, the feeling it carries, the enlargement of the feeling, and a scene that closes the poem instead of a statement. [Imagery] The pipa is the mountain-pass tune and the moon over the wall are all frontier furniture, but the poem's real image is the gap between 新声 and 旧别情 — the new tune and the old feeling, which never touch. [Tone] The language is plain to the point of plainness, and that is what makes the closing image so heavy: after two lines about music, the moon says nothing at all. The poem's reputation rests on this refusal to state the sorrow, since 以景结情 leaves the reader to finish it.

【白话串讲】王昌龄写《从军行七首·其二》：“琵琶起舞换新声，总是关山旧别情”——“撩乱边愁听不尽，高高秋月照长城”——琵琶换了新曲，唱的总是关山离别——秋月高照长城——他写边愁。【意象与手法】此诗写边塞军中的歌舞与思乡之情，是王昌龄边塞诗的名篇。前两句「琵琶起舞换新声，总是关山旧别情」写军中歌舞——「琵琶起舞换新声」写琵琶起舞、换了新曲，「总是关山旧别情」写新声总是关山旧别之情；后两句「撩乱边愁听不尽，高高秋月照长城」写边愁难遣——「撩乱边愁听不尽」写撩乱的边愁听不尽，「高高秋月照长城」以秋月照长城的景语收束。全诗以歌舞写边愁，以景语写情，写尽征人思乡之情，正是王昌龄「七绝圣手」的本领。【情感与主旨】此诗为《从军行》七首之二，写边塞军中的生活与征人的思乡之情。王昌龄是盛唐边塞诗的代表诗人，曾远赴西北边塞，对边塞生活有深切的体验。此诗写军中夜宴：琵琶起舞，换着新声，然那新声总离不开关山别情；撩乱的边愁听也听不尽，唯有那高高的秋月照着长城。诗人以「换新声」与「旧别情」的对照写乐中有愁——换了新曲，却仍是旧别之情；以「听不尽」写边愁的深长——那琵琶声撩乱的边愁，听也听不尽；以「高高秋月照长城」的景语收束——秋月高悬，长城静卧，那无言的景语写尽征人思乡的苍凉。全诗以歌舞写边愁，正是王昌龄边塞诗以景结情、含蓄蕴藉的本领。【名句点睛】常考「换新声」与「旧别情」的对照，写乐中有愁；「撩乱边愁听不尽」写边愁的深长；「高高秋月照长城」以景结情、含蓄蕴藉；以及王昌龄边塞诗「以景写情」的七绝艺术。

Background

Wang Changling (c. 698–c. 757), courtesy name ShaoBo, was from Chang'an and is the greatest of the Tang frontier poets and famous as a 'master of the seven-character quatrain'. He served on the northwestern frontier in the 720s and 730s, reaching the regions west of the Jade Gate, and his frontier poems come from that experience rather than from books. The group of seven 'From the Army' poems was written in that period; this is the second, and it is the one most often quoted, since it treats not fighting but the atmosphere of the garrison.

此诗为《从军行》七首之第二首，是王昌龄边塞诗的代表作之一。王昌龄（约698—约757），字少伯，京兆长安（今陕西西安）人，盛唐著名边塞诗人，有「七绝圣手」「诗家夫子」之称。王昌龄早年曾赴西北边塞，足迹远至河西、玉门一带，对边塞风光与征人生活有深切的体验与观察，其边塞诗以七绝著称。此诗写边塞军中的夜宴与征人的思乡之情：军中设宴，琵琶起舞，换着新声，然而那新声总离不开关山的旧别之情；撩乱的边愁听也听不尽，唯有那高高的秋月照着长城。盛唐国力强盛，然边塞连年征战，征人久戍不归，思乡之情深植于边塞军中；王昌龄此诗正以军中的歌舞写征人的边愁，以「换新声」与「旧别情」的对照写乐中有愁，以「高高秋月照长城」的景语写思乡的苍凉，写尽盛唐边塞的壮阔与征人的乡愁。此诗是理解王昌龄边塞诗艺术与盛唐边塞生活的重要篇章。

Art

The first couplet is built on a small contradiction: 新声 (new tune) against 旧别情 (old parting feeling). The pipa-player changes the tune, but the feeling behind every tune is the same, and 总是 (always) is what closes the gap — the newness is a matter of fashion, not of substance. The second couplet then refuses to resolve anything: 撩乱 describes both the music's tangle and the mind's, and 听不尽 says that neither the tune nor the sorrow can be exhausted, so listening longer makes more of it. The poem's final move is the standard 'stopping on an image': the moon over the wall says nothing, and by not saying anything it lets the sorrow stand at its full height. The whole poem is only twenty-eight characters.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以对照写乐中有愁。前两句「琵琶起舞换新声，总是关山旧别情」写军中歌舞——那「换新声」写琵琶起舞、换了新曲，「旧别情」写那新声总离不开关山的旧别之情，以「换新声」与「旧别情」的对照，写尽乐中有愁——换了新曲，却仍是旧别之情，写尽边愁的深植。其二，以通感写边愁。「撩乱边愁听不尽」以「撩乱」写琵琶声的撩乱，也写边愁的撩乱，那「听不尽」写琵琶声听不尽，也写边愁之深长无尽，以听琵琶写愁思，声情交融。其三，以景语写情。「高高秋月照长城」以秋月照长城的景语收束——那「高高秋月」写秋月高悬，「照长城」写照着长城，以无言的景语写尽征人思乡的苍凉，景中含情，含蓄蕴藉。其四，以空间写情。「关山」写边塞的关山，「长城」写边塞的长城，以边塞的空间意象写征人久戍的苍凉。四重手法，使此诗以歌舞写边愁，以景语写情，正是王昌龄「七绝圣手」以景结情的本领。

Allusions

The pipa is the frontier instrument, and the poem sets itself against the tradition that made it a drinker's companion — 'the cup of nightglow wine, and the pipa urging us on horseback' in Wang Han's 'Liangzhou Song'. 关山 (pass and mountain) carries the old words of thepeech Song of Mu Lan — 'riding ten thousand li, I cross the passes and mountains' — and the title of the frontier song 'Guan Shan Yue' (Moon of the Passes). 长城 is the Wall itself, the longest image of endless frontier labour in Chinese verse, and the autumn moon recalls Wang Changling's own 'Out of the Jade Gate' — 'still do I ask when the Great Wall will be built'.

此诗的用语深植于边塞与思乡的传统。「琵琶起舞」令人想到「琵琶」的边塞乐器意象——「琵琶起舞换新声」写军中琵琶，令人想到「葡萄美酒夜光杯，欲饮琵琶马上催」（王翰《凉州词》）的边塞琵琶传统；「关山」令人想到「关山度若飞」（《木兰诗》）的关山意象，也令人想到「关山月」的边塞曲调，更令人想到「万里赴戎机，关山度若飞」的征戍传统；「别情」令人想到「多情自古伤离别」的送别传统，也令人想到「黯然销魂者，唯别而已矣」（江淹《别赋》）的别情；「边愁」令人想到「边愁」的边塞愁思意象，也令人想到「愁听」的愁绪传统；「秋月照长城」令人想到「秦时明月汉时关」（王昌龄《出塞》）的明月边关意象，也令人想到「月上柳梢头」的月意象与「举头望明月，低头思故乡」（李白《静夜思》）的望月思乡传统，更令人想到「长城」作为边塞象征的苍凉意象。全诗化用琵琶、关山、边愁、秋月、长城的边塞传统意象，以歌舞写边愁，正是王昌龄「七绝圣手」化用边塞意象的本领。

Commentary

The poem is one of the most anthologised Tang quatrains and the usual citation for Wang Changling's 含蓄 (restraint). Later critics quote the closing line as the model of 以景结情, i.e. ending on a picture rather than on a statement, and note that the poem's feeling is fully conveyed while a single word of emotion never appears. It is also read in the cycle's context: where No. 4 of the group makes loyalty and refusal the poem's subject, No. 2 makes the cost of the same life in a different register.

此诗历来被推为王昌龄边塞诗的名篇，也是盛唐七绝的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以歌舞写边愁，乐极生哀」；近人更指出「高高秋月照长城」以景结情，含蓄蕴藉，是七绝艺术的典范。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以军中的歌舞写尽征人的边愁——那换着新声的琵琶，那总离不了的关山别情，那撩乱听不尽的边愁，那高悬照着长城的秋月，都写尽了盛唐边塞的壮阔与征人的乡愁；那「高高秋月照长城」更成为以景结情的千古名句。此诗与王昌龄的《从军行·其四》（「青海长云暗雪山」）同为《从军行》名篇，一写歌舞边愁，一写戍边报国；又与王翰《凉州词》（「欲饮琵琶马上催」）同为写军中琵琶的名篇，可见盛唐边塞诗写军中生活的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解王昌龄边塞诗艺术与盛唐征人心态的窗口，也是中国诗写边愁的经典——那照着长城的秋月，穿越千年，仍在诉说着征人思乡的苍凉。

Prosody

Form Poem — seven-character jue-ju (七言绝句)诗·七言绝句

Rhyme A seven-character quatrain rhyming throughout on the even-tone 庚 group: 声 (sheng), 情 (qing) and 城 (cheng). Three of the four lines rhyme, and all three close on a long, level vowel, so the verse sounds unhurried and open.押平声庚韵（声、情、城），三句皆押韵，平韵悠长，正合边愁的悠长

Tone pattern The verse is level through most of its course, which suits a poem about a mood that will not be disturbed; the one note of stress is 撩乱, which breaks the even cadence, and the final line then settles again. The rhyme-tones being level, the poem has no rising or falling accent to drive it, and this flatness is part of its seriousness.此诗为七言绝句，四句，前两句写歌舞，后两句写边愁。全诗平起平收，节奏从容，于平易中见蕴藉。

Reading note As a seven-character jueju with three even-tone rimes, the poem is unusually even in sound; music in the verse corresponds to music in the scene, and the absence of any abrupt tonal movement keeps the reader in the same state as the soldiers. The fixed form also means that the poem has exactly one turning point, and it is placed at 撩乱 — the only word in the poem that is not level.此诗为七言绝句，四句：前两句写歌舞（琵琶起舞换新声，总是关山旧别情），后两句写边愁（撩乱边愁听不尽，高高秋月照长城）。押平声庚韵，韵脚「声、情、城」皆平声，悠长舒缓，正合边愁的悠长。全诗以歌舞写边愁——首句「琵琶起舞换新声」写军中琵琶的乐舞，次句「总是关山旧别情」点出乐中有愁，三句「撩乱边愁听不尽」写边愁的深长，结句「高高秋月照长城」以景结情，起承转合，一气呵成。此诗最见王昌龄七绝的「含蓄蕴藉」：前两句乐中含愁，后两句以景写情，结句不言愁而愁自见。诵读此诗，宜以从容的语调读「琵琶起舞换新声」的乐舞，以低回的语调读「撩乱边愁听不尽」的边愁，结句「高高秋月照长城」要读得苍凉而有余韵，方能传达出王昌龄的边愁。王昌龄七绝以「以景结情」著称，此诗正是其边塞七绝的典范。

Line by line

琵琶起舞换新声，总是关山旧别情

The pipa rises and dance begins to a new tune, and it is always the old parting feeling of the passes and mountains.

琵琶起舞换了新声，总是关山旧别之情。

To the pipa, the dancers turn to a new air; yet it is always the old parting grief of the frontier passes.

此联写军中的歌舞与别情，以「换新声」与「旧别情」的对照写乐中有愁。「琵琶起舞换新声」写琵琶起舞换了新声——那「琵琶起舞」写军中琵琶伴舞，那「换新声」写换了新的曲调，写尽军中夜宴的热闹；「总是关山旧别情」写总是关山旧别之情——那「总是」写总是、离不开，那「关山旧别情」写关山的旧别之情，写新声背后仍是旧情。这句的深意在于：它以「换新声」与「旧别情」的对照，写尽乐中有愁——军中夜宴，琵琶起舞，换了新曲，热闹非凡，然而那新声总离不开关山的旧别之情，新曲虽换，旧情难改；那「换新声」写尽歌舞的热闹，那「总是」写尽旧情的深植，「关山旧别情」更写尽征人对关山征戍与离别的愁思；换了新曲，仍是旧别之情，正是「乐极生哀」——越是热闹的歌舞，越勾起征人的乡愁，那「总是」写尽边愁的深植，写尽乐中有愁的苍凉。若换作直说「军中歌舞很热闹但我想家」，则失其含蓄；唯以「换新声」与「旧别情」的对照写乐中有愁，写尽征人思乡的深植，也让此联成为全诗边愁的开篇。

The camp banquet is loud, and the sadness underneath is louder. To the pipa the dancers turn, the air changes to a new tune—the revelry is doing its best. Yet it is always the old parting grief of the frontier passes: whatever new melody they strike, the old homesickness comes through. The contrast between new air and old grief is the whole poem: the brighter the entertainment, the more the frontier soldier hears underneath it the separation from home. The word always is the grip of that grief. To have said the camp music was lively but I was homesick would be a confession; the new tune forced back into the old grief is the feeling.

撩乱边愁听不尽，高高秋月照长城

The border sorrow it stirs is so confused it can never be heard to the end; the lofty autumn moon shines down on the Great Wall.

撩乱的边愁听也听不尽，高高的秋月照着长城。

The border grief, tangled and endless, cannot be heard to an end; high above, the autumn moon shines on the Great Wall.

此联是全诗的收束，以琵琶声写边愁，以秋月照长城写苍凉，是千古名句。「撩乱边愁听不尽」写撩乱的边愁听不尽——那「撩乱」写琵琶声的撩乱，也写边愁的撩乱，「听不尽」写琵琶声听不尽，也写边愁之深长无尽，以听琵琶写愁思；「高高秋月照长城」写高高的秋月照着长城——那「高高秋月」写秋月高悬，「照长城」写月光照着长城，以景语收束。这句的深意在于：它以「撩乱边愁听不尽」的声情交融与「高高秋月照长城」的以景结情，写尽边愁的深长——琵琶声撩乱的边愁，听也听不尽，那琵琶声越听越愁，边愁如缕，无尽无休；就在这撩乱的边愁中，高高的秋月照着长城，秋月无言，长城静卧，那无言的景语写尽征人思乡的苍凉——秋月照长城，正是征人久戍边塞的见证，也是思乡之情的象征；以景结情，不言愁而愁自见，那「高高秋月照长城」写尽边塞的苍凉与征人的乡愁。若换作直说「我越想越愁」，则失其含蓄；唯以「撩乱边愁听不尽」写愁的深长、「高高秋月照长城」写景的苍凉，以景结情写尽边愁，也让此联成为全诗最含蓄蕴藉的一笔与千古名句。

The couplet closes on scenery alone. The border grief, tangled and endless, cannot be heard to an end—the pipa goes on, the grief goes on, neither comes to a close. And then: high above, the autumn moon shines on the Great Wall. The poem stops arguing and simply looks: the silent moon, the long wall, the two old witnesses of every garrison soldier's exile. This is the classical ending that concludes with a scene rather than a statement—no mention of grief, and grief everywhere. The bright cold moon on the dark wall is the frontier's permanent image. To have said I grew more and more homesick would be direct; the moonlit wall is the grief left standing.

Study

Word focus

总是 Always, in every case. The word that cancels the novelty of the new tune: whatever is played, the same old parting is what is heard, and 总是 is therefore the couplet's whole argument compressed into two syllables. 「总是关山旧别情」之「总是」是写边愁深植的关键词，一个「总是」写尽新声背后的旧情。总是者，总归、始终是也。王昌龄以「总是」写琵琶新声，这个「总是」至少有双重意味：其一，写旧情之难改——那「总是」写新声总归是关山旧别之情，那「总是」写尽换了新曲、旧情不改，写尽边愁的深植；其二，写别情之普遍——那「总是」更是写别情——军中歌舞，琵琶新声，总离不开关山别情，那「总是」写尽征人离别的普遍与边愁的深长。以「总是」写边愁，正是王昌龄写乐中有愁的枢纽——若换作「仍」「皆」等字，则或失其口语的自然，或失其与「换新声」的对照；唯「总是」二字，以口语化的词写尽新声背后的旧情，与「换新声」的对照相合，写尽边愁的深植，也让「总是关山旧别情」成为全诗乐中有愁的关键。

照 To shine upon, to illuminate. A plain verb, but the poem's last one: the moon sheds no warmth and offers no reply, so the single character carries the absence of any comfort in the closing image. 「高高秋月照长城」之「照」字是写以景结情的关键字，一个「照」字写尽边塞的苍凉。照者，照耀、映照也。王昌龄以「秋月照长城」写景，这个「照」字至少有双重意味：其一，写月色之明——那「照」写秋月照着长城，那「照」字写尽秋月的光辉，也写尽边塞的清冷；其二，写无言之思——那「照」字更是写景中含情——秋月无言地照着长城，那「照」字写尽月与长城的相对无言，也写尽征人望月思乡的苍凉。以「照」字写景结情，正是王昌龄收束全诗的枢纽——若换作「映」「临」等字，则或失其与「长城」的配合，或失其景语的苍凉；唯「照」字，以一字写尽秋月照长城的无言与苍凉，与「撩乱边愁听不尽」的愁思相合，以景结情写尽边愁，也让「高高秋月照长城」成为千古名句。