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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

流莺

The Wandering Oriole

李商隐

Li Shangyin

咏物Object-subject poetry (yongwu) 感慨Meditation on life

流莺漂荡复参差，渡陌临流不自持。
巧啭岂能无本意，良辰未必有佳期。
风朝露夜阴晴里，万户千门开闭时。
曾苦伤春不忍听，凤城何处有花枝。

The wandering oriole drifts and floats, now here, now there,
crossing the field by the stream, and holding nothing steady.
A sweet note, can it be without its own intent?
Good hours, and sure there is no meeting to be had.
In the windy mornings, the dewy nights, the cloudy and the clear,
in the opening and the closing of a thousand gates, a thousand houses.
It has long grieved me that spring hurts the ear — I cannot bear to hear;
in this phoenix city, where is a branch of blossom?

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Meaning

Li Shangyin's best-known regulated poem on a bird. The oriole drifts across the fields and streams, unable to hold to anything; its lovely singing cannot be without meaning, yet the good season offers no meeting. It passes through the nightly changing of the weather and the opening and shutting of every gate in the city, until at last the poet, who has always been wounded by spring, cannot bear to listen; and the question remains where in this capital — the phoenix city — there is any blossom for such a bird to light on. The bird is the poet: an exile in his own capital, brilliant, homeless.

流莺漂荡复参差，渡陌临流不自持。巧啭岂能无本意，良辰未必有佳期。风朝露夜阴晴里，万户千门开闭时。曾苦伤春不忍听，凤城何处有花枝。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The poem begins with the bird itself: adrift, uneven, crossing the track between field and stream and holding nothing. Then it turns to the song — a refined note that cannot really be without an intention, and yet the fine hours bring no appointed meeting. The middle couplet widens the bird's world to the whole city: wind and dew, cloud and sun, and the thousand gates opening and closing nightly. The closing couplet closes in on the poet, who has long found spring too painful to listen to, and who asks where in the capital there is any flowering branch for this creature. [Structure] Eight lines in four coupled pairs, the standard regulated structure, with the subject opened in the first couplet, the parable in the second, the enlarged scene in the third, and the self in the fourth. Each pair answers the one before and pushes it further. [Imagery] The oriole is the image that carries everything: ready, beautiful, and attached to nothing. 'Nothing to hold to' (bu zi chi) is the poet's own condition. 'Good hours, no meeting' is the wish and its refusal. 'A thousand gates opening and closing' makes the city a machine the bird passes through without being received; and the last question, where in the phoenix city is a branch of blossom, is a question about the poet's own place in his own capital.

【白话串讲】李商隐写《流莺》：“流莺漂荡复参差，渡陌临流不自持”——“巧啭岂能无本意，良辰未必有佳期”——“风朝露夜阴晴里，万户千门开闭时”——“曾苦伤春不忍听，凤城何处有花枝”——他自比流莺——飘荡无处依。【意象与手法】此诗咏流莺而自伤，以咏物写身世，是李商隐的名篇。前四句写流莺：「流莺漂荡复参差，渡陌临流不自持」写流莺漂荡复参差、渡陌临流不自持，「巧啭岂能无本意，良辰未必有佳期」写巧啭岂能无本意、良辰未必有佳期——写尽流莺的漂荡；后四句写感慨：「风朝露夜阴晴里，万户千门开闭时」写风朝露夜阴晴里、万户千门开闭时，「曾苦伤春不忍听，凤城何处有花枝」写曾苦伤春不忍听、凤城何处有花枝——写尽自伤的感慨。全诗以咏物写身世，写尽流莺的漂荡与自伤，是李商隐的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗咏流莺而自伤，以咏物写身世，是李商隐的名篇。流莺即鸣声流转的黄莺。此诗以流莺自比，写自己漂荡不遇的处境。此诗写流莺：流莺漂荡复参差，渡陌临流不自持——写流莺漂荡复参差、渡陌临流不自持，写尽流莺的漂荡；巧啭岂能无本意，良辰未必有佳期——写巧啭岂能无本意、良辰未必有佳期，写尽流莺巧啭而无佳期；风朝露夜阴晴里，万户千门开闭时——写风朝露夜阴晴里、万户千门开闭时，写尽流莺的栖止；曾苦伤春不忍听，凤城何处有花枝——写曾苦伤春不忍听、凤城何处有花枝，写尽自伤的感慨。全诗以咏物写身世——那「巧啭岂能无本意」写尽巧啭的本意，「凤城何处有花枝」写尽无处栖身的感慨，写尽流莺的漂荡与自伤，是理解李商隐咏物诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「流莺漂荡复参差，渡陌临流不自持」写流莺的漂荡；「巧啭岂能无本意，良辰未必有佳期」写巧啭而无佳期；「曾苦伤春不忍听，凤城何处有花枝」写无处栖身的感慨；以及全诗以咏物写身世、托物言志的手法。

Background

Li Shangyin (c. 813–c. 858), courtesy name Yishan, from Huai Zhou, was the greatest of the late Tang poets. He spent much of his career in the capitals, attached to officials and sometimes accused of intrigue, and never held a secure position. 'The Wandering Oriole' is one of his seven-character regulated poems and is counted among his finest examples of the object-subject poem in which a creature is not described for itself but made to stand for the poet's own wandering. The 'phoenix city' is Chang'an, the Tang capital; the poem is usually placed in his middle years, when he was still moving between patrons.

此诗咏流莺而自伤，以咏物写身世，是李商隐的名篇。李商隐（约813—858），字义山，号玉谿生，怀州河内（今河南沁阳）人，晚唐伟大的诗人。李商隐一生仕途坎坷，卷入牛李党争，郁郁不得志。此诗以流莺（鸣声流转的黄莺）自比，写自己漂荡不遇的处境。此诗写流莺：「流莺漂荡复参差，渡陌临流不自持」写流莺漂荡复参差、渡陌临流不自持——写尽流莺的漂荡（流莺漂荡，渡陌临流而不自持）；「巧啭岂能无本意，良辰未必有佳期」写巧啭岂能无本意、良辰未必有佳期——写尽流莺巧啭而无佳期（巧啭自有本意，然良辰未必有佳期）；「风朝露夜阴晴里，万户千门开闭时」写风朝露夜阴晴里、万户千门开闭时——写尽流莺的栖止（风朝露夜，阴晴不定，万户千门开闭之间）；「曾苦伤春不忍听，凤城何处有花枝」写曾苦伤春不忍听、凤城何处有花枝——写尽自伤的感慨（曾苦伤春而不忍听，凤城何处有花枝可栖）。全诗以咏物写身世，写尽流莺的漂荡与自伤，是理解李商隐咏物诗的重要篇章。

Art

The poem is an exercise in the regulated verse of the Tang, and four techniques may be named. First, the opening couplet fixes the bird in motion — 'drifts and floats, now here, now there' — so that the animal is defined by not settling, which is already the poet. Second, the second couplet converts song into speech: 'a sweet note, can it be without its own intent?' asks whether the melody is not really a cry, and answers 'good hours, and sure there is no meeting' — the bird sings and nobody arrives. Third, the third couplet expands to the whole urban scene, wind, dew, cloud, clear sky, and the thousand gates opening and shutting, so the bird's wandering is set against the whole turning machinery of the city; it is elegantly parallel and its stillness of form makes the restlessness within it sharper. Fourth, the last couplet turns from creature to self: 'spring hurts the ear, I cannot bear to listen' and 'in this phoenix city, where is a branch of blossom?' The poem therefore uses exact parallelism to hold a disordered life, and closes on a question instead of a statement, which is what leaves it ringing.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以咏物起兴。「流莺漂荡复参差，渡陌临流不自持」以咏物起兴——那「漂荡复参差」写尽流莺的漂荡、「不自持」写尽流莺的不自持，以咏物起兴写尽流莺的漂荡。其二，以反问写本意。「巧啭岂能无本意，良辰未必有佳期」以反问写本意——那「岂能无本意」以反问写尽巧啭自有本意、「未必有佳期」写尽良辰未必有佳期，以反问写尽流莺巧啭而无佳期。其三，以铺写写栖止。「风朝露夜阴晴里，万户千门开闭时」以铺写写栖止——那「风朝露夜阴晴里」写尽风朝露夜的阴晴、「万户千门开闭时」写尽万户千门的开闭，以铺写写尽流莺的栖止。其四，以设问写自伤。「凤城何处有花枝」以设问写自伤——那「何处有花枝」以设问写尽无处栖身的感慨，以设问写尽自伤的感慨。四重手法，使此诗以咏物写身世，写尽流莺的漂荡与自伤，是李商隐的代表作。

Allusions

The poem borrows its creature and its address from the whole tradition of the isolated singer. 'Oriole' and 'drifting' follow the image of the restless bird. 'Crossing the field by the stream' repeats the bird's round through the countryside. 'Sweet note' and 'intent' turn the song into a complaint, in the manner of the elegies where the voice of the creature is the voice of the exile. 'Good hours, no meeting' carries the classical idea of the appointed time (qishi) which never comes. 'A thousand gates, a thousand houses' echoes the walled order of the capital. 'Phoenix city' is the usual poetic name for Chang'an, from the phoenix standards said to have appeared at its founding. The whole bird is close to the poet's own 'Cicada', where the insect's high lonely feeding is likewise a self-portrait; and the closing grief over spring continues the long tradition in which spring is the season that most wounds the exiled.

此诗的用语深植于咏物与自伤的传统。「流莺漂荡复参差」令人想到「流莺」写黄莺的意象——「流莺漂荡复参差」正是李商隐的名句，也令人想到「漂荡复参差」写漂荡参差的意象——写尽流莺的漂荡；「渡陌临流不自持」令人想到「渡陌临流」写渡陌临流的意象——流莺渡陌临流，也令人想到「不自持」写不能自持的意象；「巧啭岂能无本意」令人想到「巧啭」写婉转啼鸣的意象——「巧啭岂能无本意」正是李商隐的名句，也令人想到「本意」写本意的意象——以巧啭自比才情；「良辰未必有佳期」令人想到「良辰」写良辰的意象——「良辰美景奈何天」，也令人想到「佳期」写佳期的意象——「佳期如梦」；「风朝露夜阴晴里」令人想到「风朝露夜」写风晨露夜的意象——「风朝露夜阴晴里」正是李商隐的名句，也令人想到「阴晴里」写阴晴的意象；「万户千门开闭时」令人想到「万户千门」写万户千门的意象——「九重城阙烟尘生」，也令人想到「开闭时」写开闭的意象；「曾苦伤春不忍听」令人想到「伤春」写伤春的意象——「伤春悲秋」，也令人想到「不忍听」写不忍听的意象；「凤城何处有花枝」令人想到「凤城」写长安的典故——凤城指京城，也令人想到「花枝」写花枝的意象——「何处有花枝」写无处栖身。全诗化用流莺、凤城、花枝的意象，以咏物写身世，正是李商隐「沉博绝丽」而善托物、承咏物自伤传统写感慨的本领。

Commentary

'The Wandering Oriole' is counted among the finest of Li Shangyin's regulated poems and among the greatest of Tang object-subject verse. Later critics praised its precision and its depth, noticing how the parallel couplets in the middle hold a life that cannot settle; modern readers single out 'good hours, and sure there is no meeting to be had' and the closing question about the blossom branch. Its special place is that eight lines hold the bird, the city, the seasons and the poet at once, so that the reader watches the self-portrait form without ever being told it is one. It stands beside the same poet's 'Cicada' (a creature singing to no purpose, and the clearest analogue) and beside his 'Spring Day'; and in the wider tradition it belongs with all those Tang poems in which a small living thing carries a whole official's disgrace.

此诗历来被推为李商隐咏物诗的名篇，也是唐人托物言志的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以咏物写身世，深婉沉郁」；近人更指出「巧啭岂能无本意，良辰未必有佳期」写巧啭而无佳期，「曾苦伤春不忍听，凤城何处有花枝」写无处栖身的感慨，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以八句的律诗写尽流莺的漂荡与自伤——那漂荡复参差的流莺，那渡陌临流的不自持，那岂能无本意的巧啭，那未必有佳期的良辰，那风朝露夜的阴晴，那万户千门的开闭，那曾苦伤春的不忍听，那何处有花枝的凤城，都写尽了李商隐以流莺自比的身世之感；那「凤城何处有花枝」更写尽无处栖身的感慨。此诗与李商隐《蝉》（「本以高难饱，徒劳恨费声」）同为咏物自伤名篇，一咏蝉，一咏流莺；又与李商隐「春蚕到死丝方尽」的深情传统一脉相承，可见李商隐托物言志的执着。对于今日读者，此诗是理解李商隐咏物诗的窗口，也是中国诗写漂荡自伤的经典——那漂荡的流莺，穿越千年，仍在诉说着无处栖身的感慨。

Prosody

Form A seven-character regulated verse (qiyan lüshi)诗·七言律诗

Rhyme A seven-character lüshi rhyming on cha, qi, shi and zhi (difference, meeting, hour, branch), the 'Zhi' rhyme of the upper rising tone; one rhyme to the end, with the middle two pairs in exact antithesis.七律，押「差」「期」「时」「枝」韵（上平四支），一韵到底，对仗工整

Tone pattern A seven-character lüshi in level tone, one rhyme through, with the second and third pairs antithetical and the tonal pattern regular — in keeping with the poem's contained form.此诗为七言律诗，押平声韵，一韵到底，对仗工整，音节婉转，正合自伤的婉转。

Reading note Eight lines in four couplets: 'The wandering oriole drifts and floats, now here, now there, crossing the field by the stream, and holding nothing steady. A sweet note, can it be without its own intent? Good hours, and sure there is no meeting to be had. In the windy mornings, the dewy nights, the cloudy and the clear, in the opening and the closing of a thousand gates, a thousand houses. It has long grieved me that spring hurts the ear — I cannot bear to hear; in this phoenix city, where is a branch of blossom?' It rhymes in the Zhi rhyme and holds one rhyme throughout, with the second and third pairs in exact antithesis. Read the opening loosely, the second pair thin and controlled, the parallel couplet with a steady beat, and the closing line leaning into the question. This is Li Shangyin at his most disciplined: the perfect frame is what makes the unrest inside it forceful.此诗为七言律诗，八句四联——「流莺漂荡复参差，渡陌临流不自持。巧啭岂能无本意，良辰未必有佳期。风朝露夜阴晴里，万户千门开闭时。曾苦伤春不忍听，凤城何处有花枝」，押「支」韵（差、期、时、枝），一韵到底。颔联「巧啭岂能无本意，良辰未必有佳期」与颈联「风朝露夜阴晴里，万户千门开闭时」对仗工整。全诗以咏物写身世：首联写流莺的漂荡（流莺漂荡复参差，渡陌临流不自持），颔联写巧啭而无佳期（巧啭岂能无本意，良辰未必有佳期），颈联写栖止（风朝露夜阴晴里，万户千门开闭时），尾联写自伤（曾苦伤春不忍听，凤城何处有花枝）。诵读此诗，宜以婉转的语调读「流莺漂荡复参差」的漂荡，以感慨的语调读「良辰未必有佳期」的无佳期，结句「凤城何处有花枝」要读得惆怅而有余韵，方能传达出李商隐的沉郁深婉。李商隐律诗以「沉博绝丽」著称，此诗正是其咏物自伤律诗的典范。

Line by line

巧啭岂能无本意，良辰未必有佳期

A sweet note, can it be without its own intent? Good hours, and sure there is no meeting to be had.

婉转啼鸣岂能没有本意，但良辰未必有佳期。

How can the artful song be without its own meaning? Yet a fine season may not bring a tryst.

此联是全诗写本意的核心，以巧啭写才情，以无佳期写不遇，写尽流莺巧啭而无佳期，是千古名句。「巧啭岂能无本意」写婉转啼鸣岂能没有本意——那「巧啭」写婉转啼鸣，「岂能无本意」以反问写岂能没有本意，写尽巧啭自有本意；「良辰未必有佳期」写但良辰未必有佳期——那「良辰」写良辰，「未必有佳期」写未必有佳期，写尽良辰无佳期。这句的深意在于：它以「巧啭岂能无本意」的反问与「良辰未必有佳期」的未必，写尽流莺巧啭而无佳期——婉转啼鸣岂能没有本意，那「巧啭岂能无本意」写尽巧啭自有本意——流莺巧啭，岂能没有本意（我自有才情与抱负）？那「岂能无本意」以反问写尽巧啭的本意；但良辰未必有佳期，那「良辰未必有佳期」写尽良辰无佳期——纵然良辰（好时机），也未必有佳期（好归宿），那「未必有佳期」写尽不遇的感慨；那「巧啭岂能无本意」写尽巧啭的本意，那「良辰未必有佳期」写尽良辰无佳期，一写本意，一写无佳期，写尽流莺巧啭而无佳期——巧啭自有本意，而良辰未必有佳期，正是李商隐以流莺自比、写才情而不遇的感慨；此联以反问写尽流莺巧啭而无佳期，也让此联成为全诗写本意的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「我有才却得不到赏识」，则失其含蓄；唯以「巧啭岂能无本意」写本意、「良辰未必有佳期」写无佳期，写尽流莺巧啭而无佳期，也让此联成为全诗写本意的核心。

The song. How can the artful song be without its own meaning? Yet a fine season may not bring a tryst. The oriole's artful song with its hidden meaning, and the fine season without a tryst, are Li Shangyin's self-portrait. To have read the oriole as the poet would be a personification; the artful-song-how-can-it-be-without-meaning against the fine-season-may-not-bring-a-tryst is the personification.

曾苦伤春不忍听，凤城何处有花枝

It has long grieved me that spring hurts the ear — I cannot bear to hear; in this phoenix city, where is a branch of blossom?

曾苦于伤春而不忍听，凤城何处有花枝可栖。

I have grieved over spring's sadness, unable to listen; in the capital, where is there a flowering branch?

此联是全诗的收束，以伤春不忍听写自伤，以何处有花枝写无栖，写尽无处栖身的感慨，是千古名句。「曾苦伤春不忍听」写曾苦于伤春而不忍听——那「曾苦伤春」写曾苦于伤春，「不忍听」写不忍听，写尽伤春的自伤；「凤城何处有花枝」写凤城何处有花枝可栖——那「凤城」写京城（凤城指长安），「何处有花枝」写何处有花枝，写尽无处栖身的感慨。这句的深意在于：它以「曾苦伤春不忍听」的伤春与「凤城何处有花枝」的何处，写尽无处栖身的感慨——曾苦于伤春而不忍听，那「曾苦伤春不忍听」写尽伤春的自伤——流莺啼春，而曾苦于伤春、不忍听其啼，那「不忍听」写尽伤春的自伤；凤城何处有花枝，那「凤城何处有花枝」写尽无处栖身的感慨——凤城（京城）之大，何处有花枝可栖？那「何处有花枝」以设问写尽无处栖身的感慨；那「曾苦伤春不忍听」写尽伤春的自伤，那「凤城何处有花枝」写尽无处栖身的感慨，一写伤春，一写何处，写尽无处栖身的感慨——凤城之大而无花枝可栖，正是李商隐仕途失意、无处安身的写照，也是以流莺自比的深意；此联以伤春、何处有花枝收束，写尽无处栖身的感慨，也让此联成为全诗收束的千古名句。若换作直说「我没有安身之处」，则失其含蓄；唯以「曾苦伤春不忍听」写自伤、「凤城何处有花枝」写无栖，写尽无处栖身的感慨，也让此联成为全诗的收束。

The branches. I have grieved over spring's sadness, unable to listen; in the capital, where is there a flowering branch? The past grief at the spring song, and the where-is-there-a-branch question in the capital, are the exile's question. To have asked where in the capital a branch could be found would be a question; the once-grieved-over-spring's-sadness-unable-to-listen against the in-the-capital-where-is-there-a-flowering-branch is the question.

Study

Word focus

漂荡 In 'The wandering oriole drifts and floats, now here, now there', piaodang means to drift and float, to be carried away with nothing to hold. It is the key word of the opening couplet: it fixes the bird as completely unstable, and because the oriole is a self-portrait, the same word fixes the poet — moving between patrons, belonging nowhere, and never allowed to settle. 「流莺漂荡复参差」之「漂荡」是写身世的关键词，一个「漂荡」写尽流莺的漂荡。漂荡者，漂泊动荡也。李商隐以「漂荡复参差」写流莺，这个「漂荡」至少有双重意味：其一，写流莺之漂——那「流莺漂荡复参差」写流莺漂荡复参差，那「漂荡」写尽流莺的漂荡——流莺漂荡，渡陌临流，那「漂荡」写尽流莺的漂泊；其二，写身世之漂——那「漂荡」更是写身世——以流莺自比，漂荡正是诗人仕途漂泊的写照，那「漂荡」写尽诗人漂泊的身世。以「漂荡」写流莺，正是李商隐写身世的枢纽——若换作「漂泊」「流转」等词，则或失其与「流莺」的配合，或失其写漂荡动荡的意味；唯「漂荡」二字，以流莺漂荡写尽流莺的漂泊与诗人身世的漂泊，与「渡陌临流不自持」的不自持相合，写尽漂荡的不遇，也让「流莺漂荡复参差」成为全诗写身世的名句。

佳期 In 'Good hours, and sure there is no meeting to be had', jiaqi means an appointed happy meeting, the fixed time at which a longing is to be fulfilled. It is the key word of the second couplet: the bird's song is a waiting, and the poet's waiting has no date. The word is therefore what makes the couplet a complaint rather than a description — the promised time exists and does not arrive. 「良辰未必有佳期」之「佳期」是写机遇的关键词，一个「佳期」写尽良辰无佳期的不遇。佳期者，美好之时日、好归宿也。李商隐以「良辰未必有佳期」写机遇，这个「佳期」至少有双重意味：其一，写机遇之无——那「良辰未必有佳期」写良辰未必有佳期，那「佳期」写尽佳期的渺茫——纵然良辰，也未必有佳期，那「佳期」写尽机遇的渺茫；其二，写感慨之深——那「佳期」更是写感慨——良辰无佳期，正见才情而不遇的感慨，那「佳期」写尽不遇的深沉感慨。以「佳期」写机遇，正是李商隐写感慨的枢纽——若换作「机遇」「归宿」等词，则或失其写美好时日的文雅，或失其与「良辰」的呼应；唯「佳期」二字，以良辰未必有佳期写尽机遇的渺茫与才情不遇的感慨，与「巧啭岂能无本意」的岂能无本意相合，写尽流莺巧啭而无佳期，也让「良辰未必有佳期」成为全诗写感慨的名句。

流莺