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汉 Han · 古诗 Ancient poem

明月何皎皎

How Bright the Moon Shines

古诗十九首（无名氏）

Anonymous (From the Nineteen Old Poems)

爱情/相思Love/Longing 思乡/羁旅Homesickness/Travel

明月何皎皎，照我罗床帏。
忧愁不能寐，揽衣起徘徊。
客行虽云乐，不如早旋归。
出户独彷徨，愁思当告谁？
引领还入房，泪下沾裳衣。

The bright moon, how bright it shines,
Shining on my gauze bed curtain.
Sorrowful, I cannot sleep,
I gather my clothes and pace around.
Though traveling, they say, is joyful,
It's better to return early.
I go out and wander alone,
To whom can I tell my sorrow?
Stretching my neck, I go back indoors,
Tears fall and wet my clothes.

Listen

Meaning

A traveler (or wife) lies awake on a moonlit night, longing for home. Despite the supposed joys of travel, the desire to return is overwhelming, ending in silent tears.

明月多么皎洁，照我罗床帷。忧愁不能入眠，披衣起身徘徊。客居虽说可乐，不如早早回旋归去。出门独自彷徨，愁思向谁诉说？伸长脖子回望又入房，泪下沾湿衣裳。

Appreciation

The poem uses the bright moon as a foil to the lonely figure, expressing deep homesickness. The sequence of actions—sleeplessness, pacing, wandering, stretching the neck, and weeping—externalizes the inner turmoil, making it a classic example of 'using a joyful scene to express sorrow'.

【白话串讲】 “明月何皎皎，照我罗床帏”——明月照进床帐。“忧愁不能寐，揽衣起徘徊”——她忧愁得睡不着，披衣起来徘徊。“客行虽云乐，不如早旋归”——出门在外虽好，不如早点回来。“引领还入房，泪下沾裳衣”——她伸头望了望，哭着回房。【意象与手法】诗以“明月何皎皎，照我罗床帏”破题，以清辉满床之景反衬孤栖之人，景愈明而情愈暗【情感与主旨】《明月何皎皎》为《古诗十九首》之一，写游子（或思妇，古今解说不一）月夜不眠、思归怀乡之情【名句点睛】本诗为高考古诗高频篇，考点：一、起兴——“明月”照床反衬孤栖

Background

One of the 'Nineteen Old Poems', this piece captures the homesickness of a traveler during the turbulent late Eastern Han dynasty. The line 'Though traveling is said to be joyful, it's better to return early' became a common sentiment among displaced scholars.

《明月何皎皎》为《古诗十九首》之一，是写游子思归、夜不能寐的诗。全诗：明月何皎皎，照我罗床帏；忧愁不能寐，揽衣起徘徊；客行虽云乐，不如早旋归；出户独彷徨，愁思当告谁？引领还入房，泪下沾裳衣。全诗以明月写客愁，是《古诗十九首》中写思归的名篇。

Art

The poem opens with the image of a bright moon shining on the bed curtain, a luminous scene that deepens the sense of isolation. The actions of pacing, wandering, and stretching the neck turn psychological states into visible behavior, and the final tears on clothes bring the sorrow to a poignant close. It is a masterpiece of white sketching.

《明月何皎皎》艺术上以明月的意象与动作的层递见长。全诗十句，层层写来：首二句写明月——“明月何皎皎，照我罗床帏”写月光照床帏；三四句写难寐——“忧愁不能寐，揽衣起徘徊”写揽衣徘徊；五六句写思归——“客行虽云乐，不如早旋归”写不如早归；七八句写出户彷徨——“出户独彷徨，愁思当告谁”写出户彷徨；末二句写还房泪下——“引领还入房，泪下沾裳衣”写还房泪下。全诗以月写愁、以动作写情，正是《古诗十九首》写思归的笔法。

Allusions

The 'gauze bed curtain' recalls boudoir imagery from the Book of Songs and Han yuefu. 'Stretching the neck' (yǐn lǐng) derives from Zuo Zhuan's 'stretching the neck to look westward'. The line about travel joy reverses a common yuefu trope to emphasize homesickness, showing unselfconscious use of literary tradition.

《明月何皎皎》用典少而意象自明。“明月”写明月照床，以月写客愁；“罗床帏”写罗帐；“客行虽云乐”写客居之乐；“引领”写出《诗经》“引领望兮”写引颈而望。全诗以这些意象写游子思归，不用深典而客愁自深，正是《古诗十九首》以景写情的笔法。

Commentary

Since the Wen Xuan compilation, scholars have debated whether the speaker is a wife or a traveler. Zhong Rong praised its 'sorrowful and distant' mood in the Shipin. Modern scholar Ma Maoyuan argues for the traveler interpretation. The ending 'tears wet the clothes' is considered deeply poignant by Qing critics like Zhang Geng.

《明月何皎皎》是《古诗十九首》之一，也是汉末古诗中写游子思归的名篇。此诗以明月写客愁，向为论者称道。论者多赏其明月的意象——“明月何皎皎，照我罗床帏”写月照床帏，客愁尽在月光之中；“客行虽云乐，不如早旋归”写思归之愿，更见其情；末以“泪下沾裳衣”写思归之泪，遂成深婉之收。此诗以月写愁、以动作写情，正是《古诗十九首》写思归的代表作。

Prosody

Form Pentasyllabic ancient poem (Wuyan Gushi)五言古诗

Rhyme 帏(wei),徊(huai),归(gui),谁(shui),衣(yi) - rhyme in ancient Chinese《明月何皎皎》为五言古诗，十句，押平声韵。此诗用韵：帏、徊、归、谁、衣（微部），一韵到底，音节低回。

Tone pattern Five-character, not set to music五言古诗以音节舒缓、韵味深长见长。此诗以明月起，以泪下收，音节低回而深婉。全诗一韵到底，声调与游子思归的内容相合，是汉末古诗中写思归的一路。

Reading note A famous poem from the Nineteen Old Poems, using the bright moon to evoke homesickness.《明月何皎皎》为《古诗十九首》之一，是写游子思归、夜不能寐的诗。全诗以“明月何皎皎，照我罗床帏”写明月，以“忧愁不能寐，揽衣起徘徊”写难寐，以“客行虽云乐，不如早旋归”写思归，以“泪下沾裳衣”写思归之泪。以月写愁、以动作写情，正是《古诗十九首》写思归的代表作。

Line by line

明月何皎皎，照我罗床帏。

The bright moon shines on my gauze bed curtain, creating a contrast to my loneliness.

明月多么皎洁，照着我罗纱的床帏。

How bright the moon shines, lighting my gauze bed-curtain.

首二句写明月，是全诗客愁的起点。“明月何皎皎”写明月皎洁——“明月”写明月，“何皎皎”写多么皎洁——明月何其皎洁；“照我罗床帏”写月照床帏——“照我”写照着我的，“罗床帏”写罗纱床帏——月光照着我罗纱的床帏。两句写明月：明月皎皎，照我罗床帏。以“何皎皎”写月光之明，以“照我罗床帏”写月照之近，正是《古诗十九首》以月写愁的笔法——月光皎洁，照得人不能成寐，客愁尽在月光之中。

The moon. How bright the moon shines, lighting my gauze bed-curtain. The bright light on the bed-curtain is the sleeplessness: the brighter the moon, the wider the eyes. To have described moonlight on the bed would be scenery; the brilliant moon on the gauze curtain is the scenery of insomnia.

忧愁不能寐，揽衣起徘徊。

Sorrowful, I cannot sleep; I put on my clothes and pace around.

忧愁得不能入睡，披上衣服起来徘徊。

Sorrow keeps me from sleep; I pull on my robe and rise to pace the floor.

三四句写难寐，是全诗动作层递的开始。“忧愁不能寐”写忧愁难寐——“忧愁”写客居之忧，“不能寐”写不能入睡——忧愁满怀，不能成寐；“揽衣起徘徊”写揽衣徘徊——“揽衣”写披上衣服，“起徘徊”写起来徘徊——披衣而起，徘徊不定。两句写难寐：忧愁不能寐，揽衣起徘徊。以“忧愁不能寐”写客愁之深，以“揽衣起徘徊”写其动作，正是《古诗十九首》以动作写情的笔法——愁不能寐，揽衣徘徊。

The pacing. Sorrow keeps me from sleep; I pull on my robe and rise to pace. The sequence (sleepless, robe, up, wander) is the body of the wakeful night. To have said I could not sleep would be a statement; the pulled-on robe and the rising to pace are the statement.

客行虽云乐，不如早旋归。

Though traveling is said to be joyful, it's better to return early; an expression of intense homesickness.

客居在外虽说快乐，不如早早归家。

Though travel abroad is said to be pleasant, it is better to return home soon.

五六句写思归，是全诗思归之愿的核心。“客行虽云乐”写客居之乐——“客行”写客居在外，“虽云乐”写虽说快乐——客居在外，虽说快乐；“不如早旋归”写不如早归——“不如”写不如，“早旋归”写早早归家——不如早早归家。两句写思归：客行虽云乐，不如早旋归。以“虽云乐”写客居之表面之乐，以“不如早旋归”写思归之实，正是《古诗十九首》写思归之愿的笔法——客行虽乐，终不如归。

The inward argument. Though travel abroad is said to be pleasant, it is better to return home soon. The concession (though pleasant) is the poem's honesty: outwardly the journey has its pleasures, but the truth is the wish to go home. To have said I preferred home to travel would be a preference; the though-pleasant travel against the sooner-returning is the preference.

出户独彷徨，愁思当告谁？引领还入房，泪下沾裳衣。

I go out and wander alone; to whom can I tell this sorrow? I crane my neck, return to the room, and tears fall, wetting my robe.

出门独自彷徨，这愁思该告诉谁？引颈而望，还是回到房中，泪下沾湿衣裳。

I go out and wander alone; to whom can I tell this grief? I crane my neck, go back inside, and tears wet my robe.

末四句写出户彷徨与还房泪下，是全诗思归之痛的归结。“出户独彷徨，愁思当告谁”写出户彷徨——“出户独彷徨”写出门独自彷徨，“愁思当告谁”写愁思该告诉谁——出门彷徨，愁思无告；“引领还入房，泪下沾裳衣”写还房泪下——“引领还入房”写引颈而望后回到房中，“泪下沾裳衣”写泪下沾湿衣裳——还房泪下，沾湿衣裳。四句写出户彷徨与还房泪下：出户独彷徨，愁思当告谁；引领还入房，泪下沾裳衣。以“愁思当告谁”写愁思之无告，以“泪下沾裳衣”写思归之泪，正是《古诗十九首》写思归之痛的归结——彷徨无告，泪下沾衣。

The exit and return. I go out and wander alone; to whom can I tell this grief? I crane my neck, go back inside, and tears wet my robe. The going-out and coming-back is the night's whole arc: no one outside to tell, so back inside, weeping. To have said I wept after a sleepless night would be a summary; the solitary wandering, the question to whom, the craned neck, and the tears on the robe are the summary.

Study

Word focus

皎皎 bright and clear (reduplication, emphasizes the moon's brightness) “明月何皎皎”之“皎皎”，写月光皎洁，是全诗写明月的关键词。“皎皎”写洁白明亮——明月何其皎洁。这一词写月光之明：不是暗淡之月，而是皎皎；不是朦胧之光，而是明亮洁白。以“皎皎”写明月，正是《古诗十九首》以月写愁的笔法——月愈皎洁，愁愈难眠。

不能寐 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “忧愁不能寐”之“不能寐”，写不能入睡，是全诗写客愁的关键词。“不能”写不能，“寐”写入睡——忧愁得不能入睡。这一词写客愁之深：不是安然入睡，而是不能寐；不是一时清醒，而是彻夜难眠。以“不能寐”写客愁，正是《古诗十九首》以动作写愁的笔法——愁不能寐，揽衣徘徊。

徘徊 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “揽衣起徘徊”之“徘徊”，写徘徊不定，是全诗写游子情态的关键词。“徘徊”写来回走动——披衣而起，徘徊不定。这一词写游子之态：不是安坐之态，而是徘徊；不是有定之行，而是踌躇不定。以“徘徊”写游子，正是《古诗十九首》写思归情态的笔法——愁不能寐，徘徊无定。

引领 to crane one's neck (a gesture of longing) “引领还入房”之“引领”，写出《诗经》“引领望兮”，写引颈而望，是全诗写思归之望的关键词。“引”写伸长，“领”写脖颈——引颈而望，望归而不得。这一词写思归之望：不是寻常之望，而是引领；不是望而即归，而是望而不得。以“引领”写思归，正是《古诗十九首》写思归之痛的笔法——引领而望，终还入房。