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白玉苦瓜

White Jade Bitter Gourd

余光中

Yu Guangzhong

咏物object-chanting 乡愁nostalgia 名篇masterpiece

似醒似睡，缓缓的柔光里，似悠悠醒自千年的大寐，一只瓜从从容容在成熟。

Half awake, half asleep, in the slowly flowing soft light, as if leisurely waking from a thousand-year great slumber, a melon ripens, composed and unhurried.
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Meaning

The poem contemplates a Qing-dynasty white-jade carving of a bitter gourd in Taiwan's Palace Museum, lying as if half-asleep in soft light, waking from a thousand-year slumber. The 'bitter' gourd, here of gentle jade, symbolizes Chinese civilization enduring suffering yet remaining tender. Yu Guangzhong elevates personal nostalgia into a cultural nostalgia—a totem of the drifting intellectual's identity.

（白玉苦瓜）像醒着又像睡着，躺在缓缓流动的柔光里，好像悠悠然从千年的沉睡中醒来，一只瓜从从容容地，正在成熟。

Appreciation

The art is 'writing the soul through the object': personification ('half awake half asleep'), reduplicative pacing ('slowly,' 'leisurely,' 'composed'), temporal depth ('thousand-year great slumber'), and anti-time ('ripening') build from stillness to motion, object to soul. The four lines move from image to realm to history to truth, object and self merged—a modern masterwork of 'carrying the Way through the object.'

【白话串讲】 余光中写《白玉苦瓜》：“似醒似睡，缓缓的柔光里，似悠悠醒自千年的大寐，一只瓜从从容容在成熟”——“直到瓜尖，仍翘着当日的新鲜”——他写故宫的白玉苦瓜，写时间的凝固。 【意象与手法】 咏物诗「以物写魂」：以拟人立象（似醒似睡）、以叠词造境（缓缓、悠悠、从从容容）、以时空纵深写史（千年的大寐）、以反时间写永恒（在成熟），四句由静入动、由物入魂，物我交融，是咏物诗「以物载道」的现代杰作。 【情感与主旨】 把个人乡愁升华为文化乡愁：白玉之苦是文明历经的苦难，白玉之温是其不改的本色，「醒自千年的大寐」「从从容容在成熟」暗含民族复兴的期许，是漂泊一代知识分子文化认同的图腾。 【名句点睛】 常考「似醒似睡」的传神立象与「醒自千年的大寐」的时空纵深——前者见咏物之微，后者见咏史之宏，是余光中「文化中国」书写的标志性笔触。

Background

Yu Guangzhong (1928–2017), of Yongchun, Fujian, born in Nanjing, was a famed Taiwanese poet, essayist, and translator; war displaced him to Chongqing, he went to Taiwan in 1949, later Hong Kong—a life of drifting, with nostalgia and Chinese culture as his core themes. White Jade Bitter Gourd was written in 1974, in the same-named collection, a late important work. Gazing at the Qing white-jade bitter gourd, he felt the symbol of Chinese culture enduring suffering yet tender: the gourd is bitter, but the jade gentle, 'half awake half asleep' in soft light, 'waking from a thousand-year great slumber'—a metaphor for five-thousand-year civilization awakening from vicissitude. The poem deepens his 'nostalgia literature' from personal leave-taking to meditation on the nation's cultural fate. This excerpt is the opening, already raising the core image and contemplative tone. The poet, drifting across strait and abroad, uses a jade artifact to look back on Chinese civilization—his spiritual autobiography that 'the end of wandering is cultural China.'

余光中（1928—2017），福建永春人，生于南京，中国台湾著名诗人、散文家、翻译家，因抗战迁居重庆，1949年赴台，后辗转香港等地，一生漂泊，乡愁与中华文化是其创作的核心主题。《白玉苦瓜》写于1974年，收入同名诗集《白玉苦瓜》，是余光中晚期的重要作品。诗人观台北故宫博物院所藏清代白玉雕苦瓜，触物生情，以「白玉苦瓜」为象，写中华文化历经劫难而温润如初的象征——苦瓜本苦，而白玉苦瓜温润莹洁，「似醒似睡」地躺在柔光里，「醒自千年的大寐」，正是五千年中华文明历经沧桑而苏醒的隐喻。此诗以咏物写文化乡愁，物我交融，是余光中「乡愁文学」的深化：从《乡愁》的个人离别，升华到对民族文化命运的沉思。此节选为全诗开篇，已立起「白玉苦瓜」的核心意象与全诗的沉思基调。要之，诗人一生漂泊于海峡两岸与异国之间，此诗借一件玉器完成对中华文明的深情回望，是其「流浪的终点是文化中国」的精神自传。

Art

The poem's wonder is the object-chanting structure of 'writing the soul through the object.' The opening 'half awake half asleep' sets the image by personifying the jade's tender state; 'in the slowly flowing soft light' sets its museum hush; 'as if leisurely waking from a thousand-year great slumber' opens temporal depth—'waking' is the hinge that brings the still object to life as a civilization; 'a melon ripens, composed and unhurried' is stranger still—writing a carved still object as growing, 'ripening' both the gourd and a culture maturing over centuries. Four lines move still to moving, object to soul, now to thousand years, each turning: state, realm, history, truth—showing the poet's consummate craft.

此诗的艺术之妙在「以物写魂」的咏物结构。开篇「似醒似睡」四字立象：以拟人写白玉苦瓜的温润状态——非醒非睡，如梦如幻，正是千年文物静卧展柜的神态；「缓缓的柔光里」写其环境——柔光缓泻，静谧安详，营造博物馆的圣洁氛围；「似悠悠醒自千年的大寐」翻出时空纵深——「悠悠」写苏醒之缓，「千年」写沉睡之久，「大寐」以宏大意象写文明的长眠，一个「醒」字是全文的枢纽，把静物写活，把文物写为生命；「一只瓜从从容容在成熟」更奇——白玉苦瓜本是雕刻的静物，诗人却写它「从从容容在成熟」，以植物生长的动态写永恒的艺术品，「成熟」既是苦瓜的成熟，更是文化在千百年中的成熟。四句由静入动、由物入魂、由现在入千年，层层展开，「似醒似睡」「悠悠」「从从容容」的叠词节奏，如柔光般舒缓，与「白玉」的温润质地相映，是咏物诗「物我合一」的典范。且四句之间，句句转进：醒睡之间是「态」，柔光之中是「境」，千年之后是「史」，成熟之顷是「道」，短短四句而境界四变，可见诗人炉火纯青的造境功力。

Allusions

The poem's cultural meaning roots in Chinese jade culture and the bitter-gourd image. 'White jade'—jade symbolizes gentle, steadfast nobility ('gentlemen compare their virtue to jade' from Li Ji); the bitter gourd—bitter yet cooling, folk symbol of 'bitterness past, sweetness comes,' of endurance; 'white jade bitter gourd' joins both: bitterness is the civilization's suffered hardship, white jade its unchanging tender nature—'a nation thrives through hardship.' 'Thousand-year great slumber' inherits the 'sleeping lion' and 'five-thousand-year slumber' backdrop, 'waking from' hinting national revival. 'Ripening' likens a fruit's fullness to a civilization's completion. The poem bears deepest cultural nostalgia in the humblest gourd—a modern masterwork of 'carrying the Way through the object.'

此诗的文化意蕴深植于中华民族的玉文化与苦瓜意象。其一，「白玉」——玉在中国文化中是温润、坚贞、高贵的象征，「君子比德于玉」（《礼记》），白玉更是玉中极品，诗人以「白玉」写苦瓜，正以玉之德写文化之高洁；其二，「苦瓜」——苦瓜味苦而性凉，中国民间以「苦尽甘来」寄意，苦瓜是「清苦」与「忍耐」的象征，诗人以「白玉苦瓜」合并二者，「苦」是中华文明历经的苦难，「白玉」是其温润不改的本色，苦而如玉，正是「多难兴邦」的文化隐喻；其三，「千年的大寐」——「大寐」承「文化长眠」的隐喻，中国近现代历经列强侵略与文化断层，「睡狮」之喻、「五千年的沉睡」之说，皆为诗人此句的文化背景，而「醒自」二字写文化的苏醒，暗含民族复兴的期许；其四，「成熟」——以果实之成熟喻文明之圆满，「从从容容」写成熟之自然、之笃定，正是对中华文化生命力的礼赞。此诗以最日常的瓜果意象，承载最深沉的文化乡愁，是咏物诗「以物载道」的现代杰作。

Commentary

White Jade Bitter Gourd is the peak of Yu Guangzhong's nostalgia literature and a representative modern object-chanting masterpiece. In craft, it realizes the highest realm of 'object and self merged, carrying the Way through the object'—the opening four lines already set image, realm, history; 'half awake half asleep' and 'waking from a thousand-year great slumber' are praised as the finest object-chanting touches in modern Chinese poetry. In feeling, it raises personal nostalgia to cultural nostalgia—from 'Nostalgia''s stamp and boat ticket to the 'thousand-year great slumber,' Yu moves from missing homeland to recalling civilization, the white jade gourd becoming the drifting intellectual's cultural totem. In influence, with its collection it is widely cited, a landmark of Taiwan's 'cultural China' writing, alongside Zheng Chouyu's Mistake and Luo Fu's Looking Homeward from the Border. This excerpt, though opening, already presents the full image-core and emotional tone.

《白玉苦瓜》是余光中「乡愁文学」的巅峰之作，也是中国现代咏物诗的代表名篇。其一，就诗艺言，此诗以「白玉苦瓜」这一凝聚文物、植物、文化三重意象的物象，实现了咏物诗「物我交融、以物载道」的最高境界——开篇四句（此节选）已立象、造境、寓史，「似醒似睡」「醒自千年的大寐」「从从容容在成熟」诸句，被评论家誉为中国现代诗中最精美的咏物笔触；其二，就情感言，此诗把个人乡愁升华为文化乡愁——从《乡愁》的「邮票、船票」到《白玉苦瓜》的「千年大寐」，余光中由思念故土转为追怀中华文明，「白玉苦瓜」成为漂泊一代知识分子文化认同的图腾；其三，就影响言，此诗及其诗集《白玉苦瓜》影响深远，「白玉苦瓜」意象被广泛引用，成为台湾文学「文化中国」书写的标志性文本，与郑愁予《错误》、洛夫的《边界望乡》并列为台湾乡愁诗的经典。此节选虽为开篇，却已完整呈现全诗的意象核心与情感基调。

Prosody

Form Modern free verse (object poem, imagery poem)现代自由诗（咏物诗，意象诗）
Rhyme The poem does not rhyme; it creates a slow rhythm through reduplicative words and long lines—'half awake half asleep,' 'slowly,' 'leisurely,' 'composed and unhurried' are like pearls striking, their syllables soft; open and closed sounds alternate, the tone peaceful and tender, like soft light spreading, matching the 'white jade' texture.全诗不押韵，以叠词与长句营造舒缓的节奏：「似醒似睡」「缓缓」「悠悠」「从从容容」四个叠词（或叠音词）如珠玉相击，音节柔美；「柔光里」「大寐」「成熟」等词以开口音与闭口音相间，声调平和温润，如柔光铺展，与「白玉」的质地相应。
Tone pattern Mainly long sentences flowing in one breath: 'half awake half asleep, in the slowly flowing soft light' opens with a short phrase; 'as if leisurely waking from a thousand-year great slumber' unfolds in a long phrase; 'a melon ripens, composed and unhurried' closes with a short phrase—rise, continue, turn, close; the whole has no exclamation marks, told in declarative calm like an elder's recollection, composed and certain, exactly the voice of 'composed and unhurried.'句式以长句为主，一气贯通：「似醒似睡，缓缓的柔光里」短句起，「似悠悠醒自千年的大寐」长句展，「一只瓜从从容容在成熟」以短句收，起承转合，语调由静谧而深沉而圆满；全诗无感叹号，以陈述语气缓缓道来，如老人追忆，从容笃定，正是「从从容容」的声情。
Reading note The sound beauty of White Jade Bitter Gourd lies in 'writing the precious in slowness.' The four lines (this excerpt): the overall rhythmic feature is 'slow': 'half awake half asleep' lightly pauses on four syllables, like a wisp of dim light from the jade in its case; 'slowly' repeated slows the speed of light; 'leisurely' lengthens the process of 'waking,' as the artifact slowly awakens through a thousand years of time; 'composed and unhurried' closes with reduplication, four characters like four jade beads slowly rolling, dotting the poem with a composed full stop. The four reduplicative words (half awake half asleep, slowly, leisurely, composed and unhurried) are the rhythmic skeleton, unifying the whole in the 'slow' key, perfectly matching the tender, lustrous quality of the white jade bitter gourd and the calm, serene bearing of a thousand-year artifact—form is content: the poem is written composedly precisely to write the composure of 'ripening'; the rhythm is slowed precisely to write the 'thousand years' of length. Yu Guangzhong, both essayist and translator, knew the way of language rhythm; this poem writes the deepest cultural nostalgia in the slowest rhythm—'great sound is faint,' exactly its wonder.《白玉苦瓜》的音韵之美在「以缓写贵」。全诗四句（此节选），节奏的总体特征是「舒缓」：「似醒似睡」四个音节轻轻顿住，如展柜中玉器的一缕幽光；「缓缓」二字重复，把光的速度放慢；「悠悠」拉长「醒」的过程，如文物在千年的时光中慢慢苏醒；「从从容容」以叠词收束，四字如四颗玉珠缓缓滚落，为全诗画上从容的句点。四个叠词（似醒似睡、缓缓、悠悠、从从容容）是这首诗的节奏骨架，它们使全诗的音步统一在「缓」的基调上，与白玉苦瓜温润莹洁的质地、千年文物沉静安详的气度完全合拍——形式即内容：诗写得从容，正是为写「成熟」的从容；节奏放得慢，正是为写「千年」的漫长。余光中兼为散文家与翻译家，深谙语言节奏之道，此诗以最舒缓的节奏写最深沉的文化乡愁，「大音希声」，正得其妙。

Line by line

似醒似睡，缓缓的柔光里

Half awake, half asleep, in the slowly flowing soft light—the white jade bitter gourd rests, its expression tender and serene.

（白玉苦瓜）像醒着又像睡着，安安静静地躺在缓缓流动的柔光里，神态温润。

Half awake, half asleep, in the slow-flowing soft light,

开篇六字「似醒似睡」，是全诗的立象之笔，也是整件艺术品的「神态」。白玉苦瓜是雕刻的静物，本无醒睡可言，诗人以拟人写其状态，「似醒似睡」四字写出介于生死、动静之间的微妙状态——半梦半醒，如梦如幻，正是千年文物静卧展柜、含光蕴秀的神韵，也是中华文化「沉睡中蕴含生机」的隐喻。「缓缓」与「柔光」相接，「缓缓」写光之流动徐缓，「柔光」写光之温和柔软，一「缓」一「柔」，营造出博物馆里圣洁静谧的氛围，仿佛时间都放慢了脚步。「似醒似睡」的恍惚与「缓缓柔光」的静谧相融，读者仿佛随诗人一起屏息凝望这件温润的艺术品，为下文「醒自千年的大寐」的时空穿越作好氛围的铺垫。

The light. Half awake, half asleep, in the slow-flowing soft light. The half-awake-half-asleep and the slow soft light are the opening. To have waked half-asleep would be a state; the half-awake-half-asleep-in-the-slow-flowing-soft-light is the state.

似悠悠醒自千年的大寐

As if it leisurely wakes from a thousand-year great slumber, carrying the depth and composure of history.

它仿佛悠悠然然地从千年的沉睡之中慢慢苏醒过来，带着历史的幽深与从容。

it seems to wake, slowly, from a thousand years of slumber.

此句是全诗的时空枢纽，一个「醒」字把静物写活，把文物写为生命。「似」字承接「似醒似睡」的恍惚；「悠悠」写苏醒之徐缓从容，不慌不忙；「千年」写沉睡之久——五千年文明长河凝缩为「千年的大寐」，「大寐」以「大」字修饰「寐」（沉睡），把个体的睡眠放大为文明级的沉睡，气象宏大；「醒自」二字是句眼，写白玉苦瓜从沉睡中苏醒，实写中华文化从漫长的沉寂中觉醒。此句的深意在于：它把眼前的玉雕放进五千年的历史纵深中审视，「千年」与「醒来」的对举，暗含「多难兴邦、文明复兴」的期许——沉睡千年而终将苏醒，温润如玉而初心不改。一句之中，物、史、魂三者合一，是咏物诗「以物载道」的神来之笔。

The waking. it seems to wake, slowly, from a thousand years of slumber. The slow waking from a thousand years of slumber is the civilization. To have waked from a thousand years of slumber would be a waking; the it-seems-to-wake-slowly-from-a-thousand-years-of-slumber is the waking.

一只瓜从从容容在成熟。

A melon ripens, composed and unhurried, as if even time had slowed for it.

一只瓜从从容容地，正在走向成熟，仿佛连时间也为它放慢了脚步。

a single gourd, composed and unhurried, is ripening still.

此句是全诗最奇崛的收束，以植物生长的动态写永恒的艺术品。白玉苦瓜本是清代匠人雕刻的玉器，早已「成熟」定型，诗人却写它「从从容容在成熟」——「从从容容」写成熟之自然笃定，不疾不徐，「在成熟」的「在」字更妙，表示进行时态，仿佛这只瓜至今仍在生长、仍在成熟。此句的艺术逻辑是「反时间」的：玉雕是时间的凝固，诗人却写时间的流动，让凝固的艺术品继续「生长」，其深意在于——中华文化如白玉苦瓜，虽历千年劫难而从未停止「成熟」，苦难与磨砺恰是其成熟的养分。「一只瓜」以最平凡的称呼写最珍贵的文物，亲切中见深情；「从从容容」的叠词节奏舒缓，与「成熟」的圆满意象相配，如一声悠长的叹息，为全诗开篇画上温润的句点。

The ripening. a single gourd, composed and unhurried, is ripening still. The gourd still ripening, unhurried, is the close. To have still ripened would be a ripening; the a-single-gourd-composed-and-unhurried-is-ripening-still is the ripening.

Study

Word focus

似醒似睡 The four characters 'half awake half asleep' are the 'expression' of the white jade bitter gourd and the seed of the whole poem's image: the 'seems… seems…' pattern writes a subtle state between two poles—not fully awake, not asleep, but a half-dreaming trance, exactly the quiet, containing luster of a thousand-year artifact, and a metaphor for Chinese civilization 'harboring life in slumber.' 「似醒似睡」四字是白玉苦瓜的「神态」，也是全诗意象的种子。「似……似……」的句式写介于两者之间的微妙状态，「醒」与「睡」对举，涵盖了生命的两极状态而取其间的恍惚——不是醒，不是睡，而是「似醒似睡」的半梦半醒。这四字有三重妙处：其一，写物之神——白玉苦瓜温润莹洁，光泽内敛，静卧柔光中，确有似醒似睡的静谧神韵；其二，写史之态——中华文明历经劫难，「沉睡」千年而「似醒」，正是20世纪中叶民族觉醒前夕的状态；其三，写诗之境——全诗的沉思基调由此奠定，「似醒似睡」的恍惚贯穿全篇，读者随诗人的凝望而进入半梦半醒的观照状态。四字以最简的笔墨写最微妙的神态，是咏物诗「传神」的典范。
大寐 In 'waking from a thousand-year great slumber,' daimei (great slumber) is the poem's most imaginative and culturally weighty image: mei is sleep; da modifies it into a civilization-level long sleep—not one night but a thousand years, vast in scope. Its cultural background is the modern 'sleeping lion' saying and the 'five-thousand-year slumber' narrative; 'waking from' then flips it: slumber ends, awakening proceeds—'great slumber' is the memory of suffering, 'waking' the hope of revival. 「醒自千年的大寐」之「大寐」，是全诗最富想象力也最具文化分量的意象。「寐」即睡眠，「大寐」以「大」字修饰，把个体的睡眠放大为文明级的沉睡——不是一夜之眠，而是千年的长眠，气象恢宏。此词的文化背景是近现代中国「睡狮」之说与「五千年文明沉睡」的历史叙事：鸦片战争以来，古老的中国被西方视为「沉睡的巨人」，「大寐」正是这一历史处境的诗意凝缩。而「醒自」二字随即翻转其意：沉睡终将过去，苏醒正在进行——「大寐」是苦难的记忆，「醒」是复兴的期许，一个「大」字写尽文明史的沉重，一个「醒」字写尽民族魂的倔强。以「大寐」写「千年」，比直说「千年沉睡」更凝练、更富诗意，是余光中炼字的杰作。
从从容容 The reduplication 'composed and unhurried' is the poem's rhythmic anchor and the portrait of the bitter gourd's 'character': it writes the natural, certain process of 'ripening' as an attitude—not hasty, not forced, but composed and sure, as if the gourd knows its own worth and unhurriedly completes itself; it is the objectification of the nation's gentle, unruffled character. 「从从容容」的叠词是全诗的节奏锚点，也是白玉苦瓜「性格」的写照。「从容」本指不慌不忙、安闲自若，叠用为「从从容容」，音节舒缓绵长（平平仄仄），读来如柔光缓泻。这个词的深意在于：它把「成熟」这一自然过程写成了有态度的行为——不是急切的成熟、被迫的成熟，而是从容的成熟、笃定的成熟，仿佛白玉苦瓜深知自己的价值，故不慌不忙地完成自己。以「从容」写「成熟」，是诗人为中华文化画的自画像：历尽苦难而温润不改，饱经沧桑而气定神闲，「从从容容」正是「温良恭俭让」的民族性格的物化。此词与开篇「缓缓」呼应，一「缓」一「容」，全诗都在这种舒缓的节奏中完成，恰如白玉苦瓜本身——温润、笃定、从容。

Related Reading

乡愁 Nostalgia 余光中 · 同出余光中之手，一为个人乡愁一为文化乡愁，共见其乡愁文学的深化 Both by Yu Guangzhong—one personal nostalgia, one cultural nostalgia, together showing the deepening of his nostalgia literature.

Nostalgia—'When I was young, nostalgia was a tiny stamp'—and White Jade Bitter Gourd are both Yu Guangzhong's most famous works, both centered on 'nostalgia.' They differ in depth and image: Nostalgia uses four concrete images—stamp, boat ticket, grave, strait—to write personal and family separation, feeling clear as tears; White Jade Bitter Gourd uses 'white jade,' 'thousand-year great slumber,' 'ripening' to write the fate of Chinese culture, feeling deep as carving. Nostalgia is 'small nostalgia' (homeland, kin), White Jade Bitter Gourd is 'great nostalgia' (civilization, nation)—from small to great, exactly the trajectory of thirty years' deepening of Yu's nostalgia literature, from missing homeland to recalling culture, from stamp and boat ticket to white jade bitter gourd, the poet's nostalgia finally condensed into a tender cultural totem. Read together, they give the full picture of Yu Guangzhong's nostalgia poetics.

《乡愁》「小时候，乡愁是一枚小小的邮票」与《白玉苦瓜》同属余光中最著名的作品，同以「乡愁」为核心。差异在深度与意象：乡愁以「邮票、船票、坟墓、海峡」四个具象写个人与家庭的离别，情感明净如泪；白玉苦瓜以「白玉」「千年的大寐」「成熟」等意象写中华文化的命运，情感深沉如琢。乡愁是「小乡愁」（故土、亲人），白玉苦瓜是「大乡愁」（文明、民族），由「小」到「大」，恰见余光中乡愁文学三十年的深化轨迹——从思念故土到追怀文化，从邮票船票到白玉苦瓜，诗人的乡愁终于凝为一件温润如玉的文化图腾。二诗并读，可完整把握余光中乡愁诗学的全貌。

 错误 Mistake 郑愁予 · 同为台湾乡愁、咏物名篇，一写等待一写苦瓜，共见台湾现代诗的古典底蕴 Both Taiwanese nostalgia and object-chanting masterpieces—one writes waiting, one writes the bitter gourd, together showing the classical foundation of Taiwanese modern poetry.

Zheng Chouyu's Mistake—'I pass by the south of the river; the face that waits in the season opens and falls like a lotus'—and White Jade Bitter Gourd are both classics of Taiwanese modern poetry, both writing deep feeling with classical imagery and modern technique. The difference: Mistake writes the dislocation of 'passerby' and 'returner,' its 'beautiful mistake' writing the wilt of waiting through the lotus's opening and falling, a poignant, beautiful tone, a modern variation on the 'women's longing' tradition; White Jade Bitter Gourd writes the awakening of a cultural object, its 'waking from a thousand-year great slumber' writing civilizational revival through the gourd's ripening, a tender tone, a cultural sublimation of the 'object-chanting' tradition. One writes love's dislocation, one writes an object's eternity—exactly the two faces of Taiwanese modern poetry 'classical in bone, modern in soul,' and the shared cultural nostalgia of intellectuals across the strait.

郑愁予《错误》「我打江南走过，那等在季节里的容颜如莲花的开落」与《白玉苦瓜》同属台湾现代诗的经典，同以古典意象与现代手法写深沉情怀。差异在：错误写「过客」与「归人」的错位，「美丽的错误」以莲花的开落写等待的憔悴，情调凄美，是「闺怨」传统的现代变奏；白玉苦瓜写文化物象的苏醒，「醒自千年的大寐」以玉瓜的成熟写文明的复兴，情调温润，是「咏物」传统的文化升华。二诗一写情之错位，一写物之永恒，恰好呈现台湾现代诗「古典为骨、现代为魂」的两副面孔，也可见海峡两岸知识分子共同的文化乡愁。