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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

花下醉

Drunk Beneath the Flowers

李商隐

Li Shangyin

赏花Admiring flowers 闲适Leisure and ease

寻芳不觉醉流霞，倚树沉眠日已斜。
客散酒醒深夜后，更持红烛赏残花。

Seeking the flowers, I did not feel the wine go to my head;
leaning against a tree in a deep sleep, and already the sun was slanting.
When the guests had gone and I awoke, late into the night,
I took up a red candle again to look at the ruined blossoms.

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Meaning

The poet goes out among the blossoms in search of pleasure and finds himself drunk on the glowing light of the flowers themselves, falls asleep against a tree, and wakes in the small hours to find the guests gone and the sun low. Far from going to bed, he lights a candle and goes back to admire the fading petals. The poem is about a particular tenderness for beauty on the point of leaving — a care for the diminishing, not the full-blown, which is quietly melancholy beneath its ease.

寻芳不觉醉流霞，倚树沉眠日已斜。客散酒醒深夜后，更持红烛赏残花。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The first couplet is half-drunkenness and half-drowsiness: hunting for the blossoms, he did not notice how deep in wine he was, and then, leaning against a tree, slept so long that the sun had already slanting west. The second couplet reverses everything — the guests disperse, the wine sobers, the night deepens, and instead of sleeping he takes a candle in hand and goes to look at what is left of the flowers. [Structure] Both couplets turn on inversion. The first inverts expectation (he meant to look at flowers and got drunk instead); the second inverts the ordinary sequence of the night (one should sleep after the guests leave, and drink should bring sleep, but here waking brings the wish to watch the petals fade). [Imagery] 'Not feel the wine go to my head' is a pretty way of saying that the flowers, not the cup, made him drunk. 'Red candle' against 'ruined blossoms' is the central picture of the poem: fire made small and human, held up against decay, so that the beloved beauty is given one last close look. The whole piece is a study in the tenderness owed to what is ending.

【白话串讲】李商隐写《花下醉》：“寻芳不觉醉流霞，倚树沉眠日已斜”——“客散酒醒深夜后，更持红烛赏残花”——他醉卧花下，夜深客散，又持红烛赏残花——他写惜花。【意象与手法】此诗写惜花，以惜春写惜花，是李商隐的名篇。前二句写醉花：「寻芳不觉醉流霞，倚树沉眠日已斜」写寻芳不觉醉流霞、倚树沉眠日已斜——写尽醉花的沉醉；后二句写赏残花：「客散酒醒深夜后，更持红烛赏残花」写客散酒醒深夜后、更持红烛赏残花——写尽惜花的深情。全诗以惜春写惜花，写尽醉花的沉醉与惜花的深情，是李商隐的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写惜花，以惜春写惜花，是李商隐的名篇。此诗写李商隐赏花醉酒、夜深持烛赏残花的情景。李商隐一生多愁善感，此诗写寻芳饮酒、醉眠花下、客散酒醒后更于深夜持红烛赏残花，正是惜春伤逝之情的极致。此诗写醉花：寻芳不觉醉流霞，倚树沉眠日已斜——写寻芳不觉醉流霞、倚树沉眠日已斜，写尽醉花的沉醉；客散酒醒深夜后，更持红烛赏残花——写客散酒醒深夜后、更持红烛赏残花，写尽惜花的深情。全诗以惜春写惜花——那「倚树沉眠日已斜」写尽醉花的沉醉，「更持红烛赏残花」写尽惜花的深情，写尽醉花的沉醉与惜花的深情，是理解李商隐咏花诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「寻芳不觉醉流霞，倚树沉眠日已斜」写醉花的沉醉；「客散酒醒深夜后，更持红烛赏残花」写惜花的深情；以及全诗以惜春写惜花、以白描写残花的手法。

Background

Li Shangyin (c. 813–c. 858), courtesy name Yishan, from Huai Zhou, was the leading poet of the late Tang. His verse is famous for restraint and depth, and he wrote quatrains on love, on flowers, on travelling and on retirement. 'Drunk Beneath the Flowers' belongs to the group of his short lyric poems on appreciating blossoms, in which the excitement of the moment and the sorrow of transience are held together in a few lines.

此诗写惜花，以惜春写惜花，是李商隐的名篇。李商隐（约813—约858），字义山，号玉谿生，怀州河内（今河南沁阳）人，晚唐诗人，与杜牧合称「小李杜」，与温庭筠合称「温李」。此诗写李商隐赏花醉酒、夜深持烛赏残花的情景。李商隐一生多愁善感，此诗写寻芳饮酒、醉眠花下、客散酒醒后更于深夜持红烛赏残花，正是惜春伤逝之情的极致。此诗写醉花：「寻芳不觉醉流霞，倚树沉眠日已斜」写寻芳不觉醉流霞、倚树沉眠日已斜——写尽醉花的沉醉（寻芳不觉醉流霞，倚树沉眠日已斜）；「客散酒醒深夜后，更持红烛赏残花」写客散酒醒深夜后、更持红烛赏残花——写尽惜花的深情（客散酒醒深夜后，更持红烛赏残花）。全诗以惜春写惜花，写尽醉花的沉醉与惜花的深情，是理解李商隐咏花诗的重要篇章。此诗作于李商隐晚年，其时诗人历尽牛李党争的浮沉，心境多感伤。相传此诗写于其退居东都洛阳时，暮春花下独酌，醉眠醒后夜赏残花，正是其借花伤逝、自伤身世之作。全诗以「醉」与「惜」二字为骨——醉流霞写其沉酣，赏残花写其情深，一醉一醒之间，惜春伤逝之情尽出。

Art

Four points may be made. First, the word 'drunk' is transferred from wine to light: 'I did not feel the wine go to my head' really says the blossoms had intoxicated him, and the trick keeps the poem from ever becoming a boast. Second, 'deep sleep' is used to make the sleeping body and the sloping sun one picture, so that time passes silently. Third, the second couplet turns the whole situation over: after the guests are gone and the wine has sobered, the natural conclusion would be sleep, but the poet chooses instead to hold a candle up to the fading flowers. Fourth, the closing picture is built entirely on colour and smallness — a red flame, ruined pink, one hand held close. The poem therefore moves from careless pleasure to deliberate attention without ever changing key or raising its voice, which is exactly the restraint for which Li Shangyin's quatrains are praised.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以比喻写醉花。「寻芳不觉醉流霞」以比喻写醉花——那「流霞」写尽酒如流霞的比喻，以比喻写尽醉花的沉醉。其二，以白描写醉眠。「倚树沉眠日已斜」以白描写醉眠——那「沉眠」「日已斜」写尽倚树醉眠的久长，以白描写尽醉花的沉醉。其三，以对照写夜深。「客散酒醒深夜后」以对照写夜深——那「客散」「酒醒」写尽夜深人静的对照，以对照写尽深夜的独处。其四，以细节写惜花。「更持红烛赏残花」以细节写惜花——那「持红烛」「赏残花」写尽夜赏残花的细节，以细节写尽惜花的深情。此外，此诗前二句写醉花的沉醉，后二句写惜花的深情，由醉及惜，正是惜花诗「先醉后惜」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以惜春写惜花，写尽醉花的沉醉与惜花的深情，是李商隐的代表作。此诗还善于以「寻芳不觉醉流霞」的「不觉」写醉之深——那「不觉」写醉到浑然忘我，正是「沉醉不知归路」式的浑然，以「不觉」二字写尽醉花的沉醉。又善以「客散酒醒」与「更持红烛」的对照写独处的痴情——客散之后仍不舍离去，酒醒之后更添烛夜赏，正是众人散去而我独留的深情。

Allusions

The poem lives inside the tradition of drinking and flower-viewing. 'Seeking the flowers' continues the endless Tang outings of the spring hunt for blossom. 'Drunk on flowing rosy cloud' borrows its colour from the sight of a mass of blossom at dusk compared to a cloud of rosy light, a comparison common in the flower poems of the period. 'Sun slanting' echoes the long association of the setting sun with the end of the day. 'Guests gone, wine awake, deep into the night' follows the familiar round of a drinking party that broke up late. 'Red candle' belongs to the bedtime scene of the boudoir and of the night watch, and in this poem it changes function: it is no longer a servant of sleep but the instrument of a last look at beauty. The whole closing gesture — burning a candle to gaze at falling petals — is a favourite early motif, and Li Shangyin's version makes it more mordant than any of its models.

此诗的用语深植于咏花与惜春传统。「流霞」令人想到「流霞」用仙酒之典——《论衡》载仙人饮流霞，也令人想到「流霞满杯」的意象；「寻芳」令人想到「寻芳」写寻花的意象——也令人想到「胜日寻芳泗水滨」（朱熹）的意象；「沉眠」令人想到「沉眠」写沉睡的意象——也令人想到「海棠春睡」的意象；「红烛」令人想到「红烛」写红烛的意象——也令人想到「红烛昏罗帐」的意象；「残花」令人想到「残花」写残花的意象——也令人想到「无可奈何花落去」（晏殊）的意象。全诗化用流霞、寻芳、沉眠、红烛、残花的意象，以惜春写惜花，正是李商隐「深婉」而善写情、承惜春传统写残花之本领。「流霞」典出汉王充《论衡·道虚》——项曼都好道学仙，仙人饮以流霞一杯，数月不饥，故后世以流霞指美酒；李商隐以「醉流霞」写酒之美，正用此仙酒之典。又「红烛」令人想到李商隐《夜雨寄北》「何当共剪西窗烛」的红烛意象，以烛写深夜的独对。又「残花」令人想到白居易《惜牡丹花》「惆怅阶前红牡丹，晚来唯有两枝残」的惜花意象，以残花写春尽的伤逝；「寻芳」令人想到杜甫《江畔独步寻花》的寻花传统，一写日寻，一写夜赏，正是唐人咏花的一贯脉络。

Commentary

The piece is counted among the best of Li Shangyin's flower quatrains and among the finest of Tang poems on admiring blossoms. Later critics admired it for writing tender feeling with perfect calm; modern readers note that the last line is where the poem opens, for it is the only line that names what the whole poem is about. Its place in literary history is that four short lines hold both the dizzy pleasure of the bloom and the care owed to the fading blossom, so that delight and sorrow are never separated. It stands in company with the same poet's 'On the Old Plain at Dusk', whose 'the setting sun is infinitely fair, and only too near the dusk' also turns pleasure toward loss, and with Su Shi's 'The Crab Orchid' — where the poet burns a tall candle rather than let the flower sleep — so that the reader may trace one tradition of night flower-viewing through three poets.

此诗历来被推为李商隐咏花诗的名篇，也是唐人写夜赏残花的典型。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以惜春写惜花，深情婉转」；近人更指出「客散酒醒深夜后，更持红烛赏残花」写惜花的深情，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以四句的绝句写尽醉花的沉醉与惜花的深情——那寻芳，那不觉，那醉流霞，那倚树，那沉眠，那日已斜，那客散，那酒醒，那深夜后，那更持，那红烛，那赏残花，都写尽了李商隐笔下的花下醉；那「更持红烛赏残花」更以细节写尽惜花的深情。此诗与李商隐《乐游原》（「向晚意不适」）同为伤逝名篇，一写「夕阳无限好，只是近黄昏」的乐游原（乐游原），一写「更持红烛赏残花」的花下醉（花下醉）；又与苏轼《海棠》「只恐夜深花睡去，故烧高烛照红妆」的惜花传统一脉相承，可见中国诗写惜花的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解李商隐咏花诗的窗口，也是中国诗写残花的经典——那深夜的红烛，穿越千年，仍在诉说着惜花的深情。

Prosody

Form A seven-character quatrain (qiyan jueju)诗·七言绝句

Rhyme A seven-character jueju rhyming on xia (rosy cloud), xie (slanting) and hua (blossom), the 'Ma' rhyme of the lower rising tone; one rhyme carried to the end, the cadence turned and slow.七绝，押「霞」「斜」「花」韵（下平六麻），一韵到底，音节婉转

Tone pattern A seven-character jueju rhyming on level tones, one rhyme through, the cadence turned and unhurried — in keeping with the tender melancholy of the piece.此诗为七言绝句，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节婉转，正合咏花的婉转。

Reading note Four lines: 'Seeking the flowers, I did not feel the wine go to my head; leaning against a tree in a deep sleep, and already the sun was slanting. When the guests had gone and I awoke, late into the night, I took up a red candle again to look at the ruined blossoms.' It rhymes in the Ma rhyme (xia, xie, hua) and holds one rhyme to the end, the sound turning slowly on itself like a late night. A short piece: the first half writes the drunken sleep beneath the tree, the second the candlelit vigil over the fading flowers, and 'I took up a red candle again to look at the ruined blossoms' carries the whole tenderness. Read the middle line drowsily, the last line low and with a pause before blossom, so that the sorrow underneath comes across. Li Shangyin's quatrains are famous for depth, and this is one of his flower pieces at its best.此诗为七言绝句，四句——「寻芳不觉醉流霞，倚树沉眠日已斜。客散酒醒深夜后，更持红烛赏残花」，押「麻」韵（霞、斜、花），一韵到底，音节婉转。全诗以惜春写惜花：前二句写醉花的沉醉（寻芳不觉醉流霞、倚树沉眠日已斜），后二句写惜花的深情（客散酒醒深夜后、更持红烛赏残花）。四句短章，前写醉花，后写惜花，以「更持红烛赏残花」写尽惜花的深情，正见李商隐「深婉」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以婉转的语调读「倚树沉眠日已斜」的醉花，以深婉的语调读「更持红烛赏残花」的惜花，结句要读得婉转而有余韵，方能传达出李商隐的深情婉转。李商隐绝句以「深婉」著称，此诗正是其咏花绝句的典范。

Line by line

客散酒醒深夜后，更持红烛赏残花

When the guests had gone and the wine had left me, deep into the night, I took up a red candle again to look at the ruined blossoms.

客散酒醒深夜后，更持红烛赏残花。

Guests gone, wine worn off, after deep night; yet I take a red candle to admire the fading flowers.

此二句是全诗写惜花的核心，以客散酒醒深夜后写深夜，以更持红烛赏残花写赏残花，写尽惜花的深情，是千古名句。「客散酒醒深夜后」写客散酒醒深夜后——那「客散酒醒」写客散酒醒，「深夜后」写深夜后，写尽深夜的独处；「更持红烛赏残花」写更持红烛赏残花——那「更持红烛」写更持红烛，「赏残花」写赏残花，写尽赏残花的深情。这句的深意在于：它以「客散酒醒深夜后」的深夜与「更持红烛赏残花」的残花，写尽惜花的深情——客散酒醒深夜后，那「客散酒醒深夜后」写尽深夜的独处——客散酒醒，正是人去席散的写照，那「深夜后」写尽深夜的独处；更持红烛赏残花，那「更持红烛赏残花」写尽赏残花的深情——更持红烛，正是夜深再赏的写照，那「赏残花」写尽惜花的深情；那「客散酒醒深夜后」写尽深夜的独处，那「更持红烛赏残花」写尽赏残花的深情，一写深夜，一写残花，写尽惜花的深情——客散酒醒而夜赏残花，正是惜春的写照；此二句以深夜、残花写尽惜花的深情，也让此二句成为全诗写惜花的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「晚上喝醒了还去看花」，则失其深婉；唯以「客散酒醒深夜后」写深夜、「更持红烛赏残花」写赏残花，写尽惜花的深情，也让此二句成为全诗写惜花的核心。

The candle. Guests gone, wine worn off, after deep night; yet I take a red candle to admire the fading flowers. The departed guests and sobered wine, against the red candle held up for the fading flowers, are Li Shangyin's flower worship. To have described the candlelit flower viewing would be a scene; the guests-gone-wine-worn-off-deep-night-after against the yet-taking-a-red-candle-to-admire-the-fading-flowers is the scene.

寻芳不觉醉流霞，倚树沉眠日已斜

Seeking the flowers, I did not feel the wine go to my head; leaning against a tree in a deep sleep, and already the sun was slanting.

寻芳不觉醉流霞，倚树沉眠日已斜。

Seeking blossoms, unknowingly drunk on the flowing mist; leaning on the tree, I sleep deeply, the sun already slanting.

此二句是全诗写醉花的核心，以寻芳不觉醉流霞写醉流霞，以倚树沉眠日已斜写日已斜，写尽醉花的沉醉，是千古名句。「寻芳不觉醉流霞」写寻芳不觉醉流霞——那「寻芳」写寻芳，「不觉醉流霞」写不觉醉流霞，写尽醉流霞的不觉；「倚树沉眠日已斜」写倚树沉眠日已斜——那「倚树沉眠」写倚树沉眠，「日已斜」写日已斜，写尽日已斜的久长。这句的深意在于：它以「寻芳不觉醉流霞」的醉流霞与「倚树沉眠日已斜」的日已斜，写尽醉花的沉醉——寻芳不觉醉流霞，那「寻芳不觉醉流霞」写尽醉流霞的不觉——寻芳醉酒，正是赏花饮酒的写照，那「不觉醉流霞」写尽醉花的沉醉；倚树沉眠日已斜，那「倚树沉眠日已斜」写尽日已斜的久长——倚树沉眠，正是醉卧花下的写照，那「日已斜」写尽醉花的沉醉；那「寻芳不觉醉流霞」写尽醉流霞的不觉，那「倚树沉眠日已斜」写尽日已斜的久长，一写醉酒，一写沉眠，写尽醉花的沉醉——寻芳醉酒而倚树沉眠，正是花下醉的写照；此二句以醉流霞、日已斜写尽醉花的沉醉，也为下文的残花作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写醉花的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「赏花喝酒喝醉了，睡到太阳偏西」，则失其诗意；唯以「寻芳不觉醉流霞」写醉流霞、「倚树沉眠日已斜」写日已斜，写尽醉花的沉醉，也让此二句成为全诗写醉花的核心。

The sleep. Seeking blossoms, unknowingly drunk on the flowing mist; leaning on the tree, I sleep deeply, the sun already slanting. The unknowing drunkenness on the flowing mist and the deep sleep against the slanting sun are the flower-drunkenness. To have described sleeping among the flowers would be a scene; the seeking-blossoms-unwittingly-drunk-on-flowing-mist against the leaning-on-the-tree-sleeping-deeply-sun-already-slanting is the scene.

Study

Word focus

醉 In 'Seeking the flowers, I did not feel the wine go to my head', zui, 'drunk', is the pivot of the first couplet. It means two things at once: that the wine really did go to his head without his noticing, and that the blossom had already intoxicated him long before. Because the word is never explained, it lets the poet have his pleasure and his hidden melancholy in the same breath. 「寻芳不觉醉流霞」之「醉」字是写醉花的关键词，一个「醉」字写尽醉花的沉醉。醉者，沉醉、陶醉也。李商隐以「寻芳不觉醉流霞」写醉花，这个「醉」字至少有双重意味：其一，写酒之醉——那「寻芳不觉醉流霞」写寻芳不觉醉流霞，那「醉」字写尽醉酒的沉醉——醉流霞，正是酒醉的写照，那「醉」字写尽醉花的沉醉；其二，写情之醉——那「醉」字更是写醉——醉，正见赏花的沉醉，那「醉」字写尽李商隐的惜春。以「醉」字写醉花，正是李商隐写咏花的枢纽——若换作「饮」「酌」等字，则或失其与「寻芳不觉」「流霞」的配合，或失其写醉的意味；唯「醉」字，以寻芳不觉醉流霞写尽醉酒的沉醉与赏花的沉醉，与「更持红烛赏残花」的赏残花相合，写尽醉花的沉醉，也让「寻芳不觉醉流霞」成为全诗写醉花的名句。

更 In 'I took up a red candle again to look at the ruined blossoms', geng means 'again' or 'once more'. It is the key word of the last line: the sight of the flowers has already been had in the daytime and in the drink, and the poet returns to it; the little word tells the reader that this is not a new pleasure but a deliberate second look at what is going. 「更持红烛赏残花」之「更」字是写惜花的关键词，一个「更」字写尽夜赏的深情。更者，还、再也。李商隐以「更持红烛赏残花」写惜花，这个「更」字至少有双重意味：其一，写赏之再——那「更持红烛赏残花」写更持红烛赏残花，那「更」字写尽夜赏的再——更持红烛，正是夜深再赏的写照，那「更」字写尽惜花的深情；其二，写情之痴——那「更」字更是写痴——更，正见赏花的痴情，那「更」字写尽李商隐的惜春。以「更」字写惜花，正是李商隐写咏花的枢纽——若换作「再」「又」等字，则或失其与「持红烛」「赏残花」的配合，或失其写更的意味；唯「更」字，以更持红烛赏残花写尽夜赏的再与赏花的痴情，与「客散酒醒深夜后」的深夜后相合，写尽惜花的深情，也让「更持红烛赏残花」成为全诗写惜花的名句。

花下醉