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南北朝 Northern and Southern Dynasties · 诗 Poem

同王主簿有所思

On 'Longing' — with Secretary Wang

谢朓

Xie Tiao

闺怨Theme 乐府Theme 南朝齐Theme

佳期期未归，望望下鸣机。
徘徊东陌上，月出行人稀。

The longed-for day has come and gone, but he has not returned; gazing and gazing, she leaves the humming loom.
She lingers on the eastern path; the moon rises and travellers grow few.

Listen

Meaning

A woman waits for a lover whose promised return has passed; she leaves the loom and wanders the eastern path until the moon rises and travellers thin out.

约定的归期已经过去，那人却还没有回来；满心怨望，便停下织布机走下前来。她在东边田陌上独自徘徊，一直等到月亮升起、路上行人稀疏的时候。

Appreciation

A five-character quatrain in Xie Tiao's signature 'xuan xiu' (dark and elegant) manner, this poem distills the yuefu 'longing' tradition into twenty restrained characters. Rather than declaring sorrow, it externalizes a woman's waiting through minute physical acts—gazing, rising from the clacking loom (ming ji), lingering on the eastern path—so that inner expectancy becomes visible motion. The first couplet sets a missed tryst; the second widens the frame to a moonlit, emptying road where travellers grow few, the sparse scene mirroring her solitude without a single word of complaint. The regulated tonal pattern lends quiet music to the restraint, while conventional markers (the loom, the eastern path) place the lyric firmly in the feminine-wait repertoire shared with Secretary Wang. Representative of Southern-Qi lyric at its purest, the poem is praised for its imagistic economy: feeling is never stated, only implied by light and absence. Later scholars cite it as a model of how Tang quatrains would refine suggestion over statement, making Xie Tiao a direct precursor to Wang Wei's spare, implication-rich style.

【白话串讲】 “佳期期未归，望望下鸣机”——谢朓写有所思：约好的日子他还没回来。“徘徊东陌上，月出行人稀”——她在东陌上徘徊，月亮出来，行人稀少。谢朓最短的相思诗。【意象与手法】由室内到室外、由白日的期盼到月出的久候。“佳期期未归”连用两“期”字，“望望下鸣机”以叠字写屡望屡失望；“徘徊东陌上，月出行人稀”以动作与景结情。全诗不着一“怨”字而怨意自深，清新含蓄，开唐人五绝闺怨之先声。【情感与主旨】写思妇月夜怀人，盼归之切与失约之怨尽在其中。与李白“长安一片月，万户捣衣声”同一机杼而更见浓缩，是南朝小诗写闺怨的精绝之品。【名句点睛】常考“佳期期未归，望望下鸣机”连用叠字写盼归之切；“徘徊东陌上，月出行人稀”以月出人稀的空寂结情。

Background

Xie Tiao (464–499), a Southern Qi poet revered for his lucid five-character regulated verse and 'xuan xiu' (dark and elegant) scenery. The title nods to a 'longing' theme shared with Secretary Wang.

《有所思》本为汉《铙歌》乐府旧题，原辞写女子欲与负心男子决绝而内心犹豫，多抒男女情爱之变。南朝齐永明年间，谢朓与王融同列竟陵王萧子良门下，为「竟陵八友」中人，二人常有诗歌往还。王融先有《有所思》「如何有所思，而无相见时」，谢朓此诗即奉和其作，故题称「同王主簿有所思」。王融时为秣陵令、主簿一类官职，谢朓以诗相酬，借思妇怀人之题写普遍的人生等候之怅。其时永明体方兴，声律对仗之讲求已渗入短章，谢朓此诗以极简之笔写极深之情，正体现其「圆美流转」的诗风。理解此诗，须将其置于永明小诗由乐府古题向文人抒情绝句转化的脉络中，方能见其承前启后之价值。王融与谢朓同为永明体代表，二人诗风相近而各有胜场，王融此番先唱，谢朓奉同题相和，正可见竟陵文人集团唱和之风的盛况。谢朓《同王主簿有所思》虽借闺情旧题，却洗去乐府的浓烈哀怨，代之以清远含蓄的文人情韵，标志着乐府闺思题材向北朝—初唐闺怨绝句过渡的关键一环。更可注意者，此诗以二十字写尽一「待」字，由室内之织到户外之寻，由昼之盼到夜之怅，时空转换自如，在六朝小诗发展史上自有其不可替代的位置，亦为唐人五绝「语短情长」一脉之先声。

Art

Built on quiet verbs—'gazing', 'leaving', 'lingering'—the poem externalizes inner waiting as small physical acts, closing on a moonlit, emptying road that mirrors her solitude.

此诗艺术之妙首在炼字与留白。首句「佳期期未归」连用两「期」，一为名词（约定的日期），一为动词（期待），二字叠用不仅音律回环，更将「有约不来」的焦虑与「空自期盼」的失落并置，极具张力。次句「望望」为叠字，状思妇频频张望、望而失望的神态，较单用「望」字情味加倍；「下鸣机」则以一个动作收束白日的织作，暗示心乱如麻、无以自持。后二句由室内转至户外，「徘徊东陌上」写其不甘空待、出门寻望的焦灼，「月出行人稀」则以景语收束，不言久候而久候自见，不言孤独而孤独满纸。全诗仅二十字，却有动作、有神态、有时间推移、有环境烘托，以少总多，含蓄不尽，是六朝小诗「意在言外」的典范。全诗不着一「思」字而思致盎然，全以动作、神态、景物曲曲传出，是所谓「不写之写」。「佳期期未归」以重字造势，「望望下鸣机」以叠字写神，「月出行人稀」以景结情，练字练意俱见苦心。较之汉铙歌原辞的奔放决绝，谢朓此作如将烈酒化为清茶，其味愈淡而愈永。更可贵者，四句之中时空、内外、动静、神色次第展开，无一句闲设，足证永明小诗「清丽居宗」的审美理想，亦为唐人绝句以凝练胜的范式先声，其影响直贯王昌龄、李白诸家闺怨、望月之作。

Allusions

The 'looming loom' (ming ji) and the eastern path are conventional markers of a woman's restless wait; the form follows the yuefu 'longing' tradition.

诗题《有所思》直接承汉铙歌乐府，原辞「有所思，乃在大海南……闻君有他心，拉杂摧烧之」写决绝之怒，谢朓则取其「有所思」的怀人意绪而转为温柔的等候，是南朝文人对乐府古题的「雅化」改造。诗中「鸣机」即织机，自《古诗十九首》「札札弄机杼」、《木兰诗》「不闻机杼声」以来，机杼即为思妇题材的核心意象，象征闺中劳作与等待；谢朓以「下鸣机」写辍织，正接续这一传统。「东陌」泛指田间道路，与「陌头杨柳」一类春闺意象相通；而「月出」则点明时间由昼入夜，暗合《诗经》「月出皎兮，佼人僚兮」的月下怀人之境。凡此皆可见此短章虽小，其意象渊源却深植于《诗经》、汉乐府与古诗的闺情书写传统之中。又「佳期」一词自《楚辞·九歌》「与佳期兮夕张」以来，即为相约欢会之雅称，谢朓用之而暗含失约之痛；「鸣机」「东陌」虽为日常物事，一经诗人点染，便成古典闺怨意象库的常备符号。此后唐人闺怨诗如张仲素「袅袅城边柳，青青陌上桑」、王昌龄「闺中少妇不知愁」，其「机中织锦」「陌上杨柳」诸写，皆可见谢朓此短章沾溉之远。一首二十字的小诗，竟能成为后世闺怨题材的意象渊薮，其渊源所自与辐射之广，良非偶然。

Commentary

A representative Xie Tiao piece: restrained, imagistic, and quietly melancholy without overt lament.

全诗四句，可作两幅画面读。前二句为室内图：思妇面对空寂的织机，心中默念「佳期期未归」，一次次抬头张望，终因失望太深而走下鸣机——这一个「下」字，写尽由期待到倦怠、由劳作到失神的心理转折。后二句为户外图：她来到东边田陌上徘徊，暮色渐浓，月亮升起，路上的行人越来越少，而她仍在等。两幅画面之间，是时间的悄然推移，也是等待的无限延长。「月出行人稀」五字，看似平淡写景，实则以环境的空旷冷清反衬人物的孤孑，且「行人稀」而所待之人终不至，则失望之深不言自明。通篇不著「怨」「愁」「思」等字，而怨愁思三者交融于动作与景物之中，所谓「不言之言」，正是此诗最高明处。谢朓此诗虽仅二十字，而其结构之完整、层次之分明，直如一幅微型卷轴：前二句写室内之待，后二句写户外之寻，待而不得则出寻，寻而仍不见则立于月下，时间由昼而夜，空间由内而外，情感由期盼而怅惘。「月出」二字既是实景，亦是心境的转暗，含蓄不尽，余味无穷。后世论六朝小诗，每推谢朓为「清发」之宗，此篇以极简之笔墨写极深之怅惘，正可为一例证，亦足见永明诗人「篇制虽短而意匠甚周」的炼思之功。

Prosody

Reading note A concise model of Southern-Qi 'longing' lyric.此诗为五言四句之绝句体，虽产生于永明体声律说兴起之际，尚未尽合后世近体格律，而已有讲求对仗与声调之倾向。首二句「佳期期未归，望望下鸣机」以散句出之，末句「期未归」三平收，声情舒缓，恰合失望无奈之调；后二句「徘徊东陌上，月出行人稀」则两两相对，「徘徊」对「月出」、「东陌」对「行人」、「上」对「稀」，虽非严格律对，而已具骈偶之形，平仄亦多相协。整体用韵上，归、机、稀相押，属平声微、支韵部（六朝音近可通押），一韵到底，清远含蓄。句式以五言为主，短促而凝练，节奏如叹息般层层下抑，与诗中由期盼到失望的情绪曲线若合符契，是六朝五言小诗声情合一的佳例。

Line by line

佳期期未归，望望下鸣机。

The promised tryst has passed and he has not returned; gazing and gazing, she leaves the clacking loom.

The promised day comes and he does not return; gazing and gazing, she rises from the sounding loom.

此联为全诗情境之核心。「佳期期未归」五字中两「期」字叠用，前为名词、后为动词，既点出曾有约定又写出盼望落空，音律上回环往复，情味上则把「约而不来」的焦灼与无措凝于一瞬。次句「望望」叠字极妙，写思妇频频远望、望之不见而更望，终因失望累积而停下织机走下前来——「下」字是动作也是心理的崩落。古人评此二句「虽不言怨而深沉之怨自在其中」，正因作者将怨意全藏于「期」「望」「下」等动词与叠字之中，不施形容而神态毕肖，足见小谢短章炼字之功与含蓄之致。

The loom. The promised day comes and he does not return; gazing and gazing, she rises from the sounding loom. The promised-day-he-not-return and the gazing-rising-from-sounding-loom are the opening. To have risen from the loom would be a rising; the the-promised-day-comes-and-he-does-not-return-gazing-and-gazing-she-rises-from-the-sounding-loom is the rising.

徘徊东陌上，月出行人稀。

She lingers on the eastern path; the moon rises and travellers grow few.

She wanders on the eastern road; the moon rises and travelers grow few.

此联由室内转入户外，以景结情，余韵悠长。「徘徊」写出思妇不甘空待、出门寻望的恍惚与焦灼，一个「东陌」点明郊野空阔之地，与室内织机形成空间对照。「月出行人稀」以时间推进（由白日盼至月出）与景物烘托（行人渐稀、四野空寂）收束全篇，不言等了多久、不言多么孤独，而久候之长和孤独之深已自见于月色与稀行之中。更妙者，「行人稀」而所待之「行人」独不至，则失望之重不言自明。这种以景语代情语、以空境写满心的手法，直接启导了唐人绝句「意余于象」的含蓄传统。

The road. She wanders on the eastern road; the moon rises and travelers grow few. The wanders-eastern-road and the moon-rises-travelers-few are the close. To have wandered on the eastern road would be a wandering; the she-wanders-on-the-eastern-road-the-moon-rises-and-travelers-grow-few is the wandering.

Study

Word focus

佳期 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「佳期」本指美好的约会或归期，屈原《九歌·湘夫人》「与佳期兮夕张」已用之，后多为男女相期之雅称。谢朓此处以「佳期」指行人（丈夫）应归之期，一「佳」字本含喜悦期待，而下接「期未归」则喜愿落空，形成美好字眼与残酷事实的反差，倍增怅惘。两「期」字连用，更将名词与动词叠合，使「有约—空盼」的结构凝于一语，是此诗炼字最吃紧处，亦可见六朝诗人于寻常语中见巧思的功力。

望望 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「望望」为叠字，状屡望、失望之貌，亦含怨望之意。谢朓以叠字写思妇频频张望之神态，较单字「望」情味加倍——它暗示的不是一次张望，而是望了又望、望不见更望的连续动作与心理。六朝诗中好用叠字以增声情，《古诗十九首》「青青河畔草，郁郁园中柳」已开其端，谢朓此用则更见精炼。一个「望望」已将思妇焦灼、怨怅、不甘的复杂神态包举无遗，下接「下鸣机」的动作，形神兼备。

鸣机 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「鸣机」即织机，因其织作时机杼札札有声而得名。「机」为闺情题材的核心意象，自《古诗》「札札弄机杼」、《木兰诗》「不闻机杼声」以至唐诗「万户捣衣声」，机杼总与思妇的等待相连。谢朓以「下鸣机」写思妇因失望而辍织走下织机，一个「下」字写尽心乱如麻、无以自持的情态，较之直写「愁」「怨」更为含蓄有力。以劳作器具入诗而能寄深情，正见小谢融化日常物象为抒情符号的本领。