南北朝 Northern and Southern Dynasties · 诗 Poem
咏内人昼眠
On the Wife Sleeping by Day
北窗聊就枕，南檐日犹暾。
攀钩落绮障，插捩举琵琶。
梦笑开娇靥，眠鬟压落花。
簟文生玉腕，香汗浸红纱。
夫婿恒相伴，莫误有恩私。
She lifts the hook, letting fall the silken screen; she sets the peg, raising the pipa.
In dream she smiles, opening her dimple; her sleeping coil presses the fallen flower.
The mat's weave shows on her jade wrist; fragrant sweat soaks the red gauze.
Her lord is ever by her side — let him not miss this tender grace.
Meaning
Under the north window she leans to her pillow; on the south eave the sun is still bright. She lifts the hook, letting fall the silken screen; she sets the peg, raising the pipa. In dream she smiles, opening her lovely dimple; her sleeping coil of hair presses the fallen flower. The mat's weave shows on her jade wrist; fragrant sweat soaks the red gauze. Her lord is ever by her side — let him not miss this tender grace.
北窗之下且去倚枕而眠，南檐的日头还正明亮。纤手攀动帐钩垂下绮罗屏障，随手拨弄支起那琵琶。梦中含笑绽开娇美的笑靥，垂眠的鬟发压住了落花。竹席的纹路映在如玉的手腕，淡淡的香汗浸透了红纱。夫婿时时相伴在侧，切莫辜负了这一番恩爱私情。
Appreciation
Xiao Gang is the Liang Jian-wen Emperor; with his father Wu-di and brother Xiao Tong he loved letters, and in his reign promoted 'palace-style poetry', favouring the depiction of boudoir sights and sounds, known as the 'Xu-Yu style'. This poem was likely written when he was crown prince in the eastern palace, as a literati exchange piece. Southern-Dynasty noble life was easeful; daytime sleep was a leisurely state, and the poet writes the woman's noon nap with a fine brush — showing both the court's ease and, beneath, the palace-style's bent toward 'the matter of the bed'. Though later ages mock such works as 'light and wanton', they are an important specimen for studying Six-Dynasties noble taste and poetic craft.
【白话串讲】 梁武帝的儿子萧纲写妻子午睡：“北窗聊就枕，南檐日犹暾”。“梦笑开娇靥，眠鬟压落花”——她睡着还带着笑，发髻压着落花。“簟文生玉腕，香汗浸红纱”——玉腕压出竹席印。“夫婿恒相伴，莫误有恩私”——他温柔地看着她。 【意象与手法】 此诗体物尽显宫体本色。'北窗聊就枕，南檐日犹暾'南北对举点明昼眠，'犹暾'反衬慵懒 【情感与主旨】 萧纲即梁简文帝，与其父梁武帝、兄萧统俱好文学，在位倡'宫体诗'，以描摹闺阁声色为尚，世称'徐庾体' 【名句点睛】 宫体诗宜客观命题。其一，细节赏析：'梦笑开娇靥，眠鬟压落花'以细微动作写人，体会'以动写静、以花衬人'。其二，色彩
Background
Xiao Gang is the Liang Jian-wen Emperor; with his father Wu-di and brother Xiao Tong he loved letters, and in his reign promoted 'palace-style poetry', favouring the depiction of boudoir sights and sounds, known as the 'Xu-Yu style'. This poem was likely written when he was crown prince in the eastern palace, as a literati exchange piece. Southern-Dynasty noble life was easeful; daytime sleep was a leisurely state, and the poet writes the woman's noon nap with a fine brush — showing both the court's ease and, beneath, the palace-style's bent toward 'the matter of the bed'. Though later ages mock such works as 'light and wanton', they are an important specimen for studying Six-Dynasties noble taste and poetic craft.
《咏内人昼眠》为南朝梁萧纲（梁简文帝）所作，是写妻子昼眠之态、咏艳情的诗。萧纲（503—551），字世缵，南兰陵人，南朝梁简文帝。此诗：北窗聊就枕，南檐日犹暾。攀钩落绮障，插捩举琵琶。梦笑开娇靥，眠鬟压落花。簟文生玉腕，香汗浸红纱。夫婿恒相伴，莫误是倡家。全诗写内人昼眠之态，是萧纲宫体诗的代表作。
Art
The poem renders things fully in palace-style. 'By the north window I lean to my pillow; on the south eave the sun is still bright' sets north against south to mark the daytime sleep; 'still bright' sets off the languor. 'She lifts the hook, letting fall the silken screen; she sets the peg, raising the pipa' writes the act of bedding by movement. 'In dream she smiles, opening her dimple; her sleeping coil presses the fallen flower' is the stroke of genius — using the flower to set off the person, showing the charm in stillness. 'The mat's weave shows on her jade wrist; fragrant sweat soaks the red gauze' lays colour soft and dissipated. The last two lines name the theme; every line is in antithesis.
《咏内人昼眠》艺术上以昼眠之态的细腻与艳情的纤秾见长。全诗八句，层层写来：前二句写就枕日暾——“北窗聊就枕，南檐日犹暾”写北窗就枕、南檐日暾；中四句写眠态之细——“攀钩落绮障，插捩举琵琶”写攀钩落障、插捩举琵琶，“梦笑开娇靥，眠鬟压落花”写梦笑开靥、眠鬟压花，“簟文生玉腕，香汗浸红纱”写簟文玉腕、香汗红纱；末二句写夫婿相伴——“夫婿恒相伴，莫误是倡家”写夫婿相伴、莫误倡家。全诗以眠态写艳情，正是萧纲宫体诗纤秾的笔法。
Allusions
The poem describes the scene with little deep allusion. 'Fallen flower' in the Six Dynasties often figures beauty; the Nineteen Old Poems' 'thinking of you makes one old' already holds this sense; 'her sleeping coil presses the fallen flower' uses the flower to set off the person, secretly holding that fair looks fade. 'Jade wrist' and 'red gauze' inherit the Han yuefu and Chu Ci beauty tradition, of a line with Cao Zhi's 'Goddess of the Luo's' 'white wrist'. 'Tender grace' comes from Xie Lingyun's poetry, melted into boudoir feeling without trace.
《咏内人昼眠》用典在“倡家”。“倡家”写倡女之家（歌妓）；“簟文生玉腕”写竹席纹印于玉腕；“香汗浸红纱”写香汗浸透红纱。全诗以这些意象写内人昼眠之态，用典自然而纤秾自见，正是萧纲宫体诗的笔法。
Commentary
Palace-style poetry has always been praised and blamed by turns. The Tang critic Wei Zheng in the Sui History's 'Preface to the Literary Biography' mocks it as 'the sound of a fallen state', saying 'its intent is shallow yet many, its writing hidden yet coloured'. Yet the Qing commentator Shen De-qian in Source of Ancient Poetry selects this poem, calling it 'it paints the sleeping pose like a picture'. Modern critics mostly affirm its 'fine rendering of things, exquisite colouring' as craft, taking it as an important step in the Six-Dynasties' evolution of formal beauty, while admitting its narrow subject — the judgment tending to balance.
《咏内人昼眠》是萧纲宫体诗的代表作，也是南朝宫体诗写女子情态的典型。此诗写内人昼眠之态，向为论者称道（亦多争议）。论者多赏其昼眠之态的细腻与艳情的纤秾——“梦笑开娇靥，眠鬟压落花”写梦笑开靥、眠鬟压花，纤秾之极；“簟文生玉腕，香汗浸红纱”写簟文玉腕、香汗红纱，更见其艳。萧纲为宫体诗倡导者，其诗以纤秾著称，此诗正是其代表——以眠态写艳情，正是其诗风。
Prosody
Line by line
北窗聊就枕，南檐日犹暾。攀钩落绮障，插捩举琵琶。
At the north window she lays down, the sun still warm by the southern eave; she pulls the hook and drops the broidered screen, sets the peg and lifts the pipa.
北窗聊就枕，南檐日犹暾（暖）。攀钩落绮障，插捩举琵琶。
At the north window she casually rests her head; by the southern eave the sun still glows warm. She pulls the hook and lets down the broidered curtain; fixing the peg, she lifts the pipa.
前四句写就枕日暾、落障举琵琶，是全诗写昼眠之始的起点。“北窗聊就枕，南檐日犹暾”写就枕日暾——“北窗聊就枕”写北窗聊且就枕，“南檐日犹暾”写南檐日光犹暖——北窗就枕，南檐日暾；“攀钩落绮障，插捩举琵琶”写落障举琵琶——“攀钩落绮障”写攀钩落下绮障（罗帐），“插捩举琵琶”写插捩举起琵琶——攀钩落障，插捩举琵琶。四句写就枕日暾、落障举琵琶：北窗聊就枕南檐日犹暾，攀钩落绮障插捩举琵琶。以“北窗聊就枕，南檐日犹暾”写日暖就枕之昼眠，以“攀钩落绮障，插捩举琵琶”写落障举琵琶之琐细，正是萧纲宫体诗写昼眠之始的笔法——日暖昼眠，琐细皆咏。
The nap. At the north window she lays down, the sun still warm by the southern eave; she pulls the hook and drops the broidered screen, sets the peg and lifts the pipa. The north-window-lays-down and the pulls-hook-lifts-pipa are the opening. To have laid down would be a laying-down; the at-the-north-window-she-lays-down-the-sun-still-warm-by-the-southern-eave-she-pulls-the-hook-and-drops-the-broidered-screen-sets-the-peg-and-lifts-the-pipa is the laying-down.
梦笑开娇靥，眠鬟压落花。簟文生玉腕，香汗浸红纱。
In dreams she smiles, dimming her fair cheeks; her sleeping bun presses the fallen petals. The mat's grain prints her jade wrist; scented sweat soaks the red gauze.
梦笑开娇靥，眠鬟压落花。簟文生玉腕，香汗浸红纱。
Dream-smiles part her dimpled cheeks; her sleeping bun presses the fallen blossoms. Mat-weals rise on her jade wrist; scented sweat soaks the red gauze.
中四句写眠态之细，是全诗宫体纤秾的核心。“梦笑开娇靥，眠鬟压落花”写梦笑眠鬟——“梦笑开娇靥”写梦中之笑展开娇靥，“眠鬟压落花”写眠中之鬟压着落花——梦笑开靥，眠鬟压花；“簟文生玉腕，香汗浸红纱”写簟文香汗——“簟文生玉腕”写竹席纹印生于玉腕，“香汗浸红纱”写香汗浸透红纱——簟文玉腕，香汗红纱。四句写眠态之细：梦笑开娇靥眠鬟压落花，簟文生玉腕香汗浸红纱。以“梦笑开娇靥，眠鬟压落花”写梦笑开靥、眠鬟压花之态，以“簟文生玉腕，香汗浸红纱”写簟纹玉腕、香汗红纱之细，正是萧纲宫体诗写眠态纤秾的核心——昼眠之态，细腻入微。
The dream. In dreams she smiles, dimming her fair cheeks; her sleeping bun presses the fallen petals. The mat's grain prints her jade wrist; scented sweat soaks the red gauze. The dream-smiles-dimples-cheeks and the sleeping-bun-presses-petals and the mat-grain-jade-wrist and the scented-sweat-red-gauze are the detail. To have smiled in dreams would be a smiling; the in-dreams-she-smiles-dimming-her-fair-cheeks-her-sleeping-bun-presses-the-fallen-petals-the-mat's-grain-prints-her-jade-wrist-scented-sweat-soaks-the-red-gauze is the smiling.
夫婿恒相伴，莫误是倡家。
Her husband is ever at her side—mistake her not for a singing girl.
夫婿恒相伴，莫误是倡家。
Her husband is always with her; do not mistake her for a singing-girl.
末二句写夫婿相伴、莫误倡家，是全诗咏内人的归结。“夫婿恒相伴”写夫婿相伴——“夫婿恒相伴”写夫婿常相伴——夫婿恒相伴；“莫误是倡家”写莫误是倡家——“莫误是倡家”用倡家之语写莫误以为是倡家——莫误是倡家。二句写夫婿相伴、莫误倡家：夫婿恒相伴，莫误是倡家。以“夫婿恒相伴”写夫婿常伴之确认身份，以“莫误是倡家”写莫误以为是倡家，正是萧纲宫体诗写咏内人、点明身份的归结——夫婿相伴，非倡家之女。
The husband. Her husband is ever at her side—mistake her not for a singing girl. The husband-ever-at-side and the mistake-not-singing-girl are the close. To have been ever at her side would be a being; the her-husband-is-ever-at-her-side-mistake-her-not-for-a-singing-girl is the being.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Both take the woman as their object; compare the palace-style's fine brush with the yuefu's freshness.
萧纲《采莲曲》写采莲之景，与本首同为萧纲诗。差异在主题：咏内人昼眠写闺中艳情；采莲曲写采莲之景。一写“眠”之态，一写“莲”之景。两者并读，可见萧纲诗写女子之景的两种主题。
折杨柳 Breaking the Willow (Zhe Yang Liu) 萧绎 · 同为南朝宫体写闺情，一写昼眠之态一写折柳之思，皆纤秾 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
萧绎《折杨柳》写折柳之思，与本首同为南朝宫体诗。差异在主题：咏内人昼眠写昼眠之态；折杨柳写折柳之情。一写“眠”之艳，一写“柳”之思。两者并读，可见南朝宫体写闺情的两种主题。
子夜歌·其一 Zi-ye Song, No. 1 南朝民歌 · 与本首相关联的同类或同作者作品，供对比阅读 Same (love / boudoir theme)Both write women's feeling; one a literati palace-style, one a folk clear song — see the differ of noble and folk love poetry.
此处关联南朝民歌《子夜歌·其一》，与本首在主题、体裁或作者上相关联，可对比阅读以见其同异。