清 Qing · 诗 Poem
夜坐
Sitting at Night
春夜伤心坐画屏，不如放眼入青冥。
一山突起丘陵妒，万籁无言帝座灵。
塞上似腾奇女气，江东久殒少微星。
平生不蓄湘累问，唤出嫦娥诗与听。
One peak rises abruptly and the hills envy it; all sounds are silent, the Emperor's Seat star shines.
On the frontier a strange woman's air seems to rise; east of the river the Shaowei star has long fallen.
In my life I have never kept Qu Yuan's questions; I call out Chang'e to hear my poetry.
Meaning
On a spring night, grieving, I sit before the painted screen; better to widen my view and look into the boundless blue. One mountain rises abruptly and the low hills envy it; all is silent, only the Emperor's Seat star gleams with spirit. On the borderlands a strange woman's energy seems to ascend; east of the river the Shaowei star of recluses has long fallen. All my life I have never kept Qu Yuan's questions of the river; I call forth the moon goddess Chang'e to listen to my verse.
春夜独坐画屏之前，满心忧伤，不如放眼远望，让目光投入无边无际的夜空。一座山峰突兀而起，惹得周围丘陵生出嫉妒；万籁俱寂，唯有帝座星明灭闪烁，似有神灵。边塞之上似有奇女子之气升腾而起，江东却早已陨落了象征隐逸才士的少微星。我平生不愿像屈原那样把满腹疑问问向苍天，只唤出月宫嫦娥，把我的诗吟给她听。
Appreciation
Gong Zizhen's 'Sitting at Night' is one of his celebrated philosophical poems, beginning in grief yet never sinking into petty sorrow; at once it 'widens the gaze into the vast blue', opening a boundless prospect. The poem moves through star-images — a lone peak, the Emperor's Seat, the fallen Shaowei star — to voice both the loneliness of a gifted man unrecognized and a quiet worry for a nation losing its talent. The closing overturns Qu Yuan's suicidal questioning and ends instead on the romantic solitude of calling the moon goddess to hear his song. A reader meets a personality at once proud, grieving and aloof — the very 'sword-air and flute-heart' that defines Gong.
【白话串讲】 “春夜伤心坐画屏，不如放眼入青冥”——龚自珍春夜独坐：不如放眼望天空。“一山突起丘陵妒”——一座山突起，丘陵都嫉妒它。“平生不蓄湘累问，唤出嫦娥诗与听”——他写诗给嫦娥听。晚清才子的孤独与狂放。 【意象与手法】 诗以「伤心」起笔却不作小儿女态，旋以「放眼入青冥」拓开浩渺之境，章法顿挫。颔联「一山突起丘陵妒，万籁无言帝座灵」以山自喻拔卓、以丘陵拟人写庸众侧目，「帝座灵」暗刺朝政晦暗，造语奇崛；颈联「塞上似腾奇女气，江东久殒少微星」以星气分写边才之将兴与隐逸之凋零，伤人才零落，对仗工稳而虚实相映。尾联「平生不蓄湘累问，唤出嫦娥诗与听」翻屈原问天之典，转以唤嫦娥的浪漫孤高作结，傲兀不群，将愤激升华为诗意的超越。 【情感与主旨】 龚自珍（1792—1841）字璱人，号定庵，浙江仁和人，近代思想界先驱。此诗约作于道光三年（1823）前后，时诗人年过三十仍困于科举，又目睹朝政腐败、人才湮没，满怀孤愤。全诗借山岳星象抒写才士不遇的孤愤、对人才的呼唤与对国运的隐忧，既有「不如放眼入青冥」的自我开解，也有「唤出嫦娥诗与听」的浪漫孤高，是了解龚自珍精神世界与近代启蒙意识的重要作品，梁启超推其思想为晚清解放之源头，此诗正是其「剑气箫心」诗风的典型。 【名句点睛】 常考「一山突起丘陵妒」的象征意——以山自喻才高见妒，傲兀奇笔兼讥末世庸才壅蔽；亦常考尾联「平生不蓄湘累问，唤出嫦娥诗与听」的翻案之妙——不效屈子问天，转以唤月吟诗作结，孤高自持，可见定庵风骨；「塞上似腾奇女气，江东久殒少微星」则借星象写人才之盼与人才之殇，寄慨遥深，为近代士人觉醒的先声。
Background
Gong Zizhen (1792-1841), courtesy Seren, style Ding'an, from Renhe in Zhejiang, was a pioneer of modern Chinese thought. His 'Sitting at Night' (two poems) was written around the third year of Daoguang (1823); past thirty, he was still stuck in the examination track (he only became a jinshi in Daoguang 9), and saw a corrupt court and buried talent. This first poem writes a spring night alone: from the painted screen before him he lifts his gaze to the stars, and through images like 'one peak', 'a strange woman's air', 'the Shaowei star' he voices the lonely indignation of an unrecognized talent and a hidden worry over the withering of the nation's able men. The feeling lodged is deep and far.
龚自珍（1792—1841），字璱人，号定庵，浙江仁和人，是近代中国思想解放的先驱。他出身书香世家，才华横溢，却困于科举，二十七岁中举后屡试不第，迟至道光九年（1829）三十八岁才中进士。《夜坐》二首约作于道光三年（1823）前后，时诗人年过三十，仍以举人身份客居京师，功名蹭蹬，目睹朝政日坏、人才湮没，满怀孤愤。其时清王朝已由盛转衰，鸦片流毒、吏治腐败、士风萎靡，龚自珍以先知先觉者的敏感，从表面的承平中嗅到末世的危机。此诗写春夜独坐，由眼前的画屏放眼星汉，借「一山突起」「帝座」「奇女气」「少微星」等一系列山岳星象意象，抒写才士不遇的孤愤、对人才的呼唤以及对国运的深沉隐忧。诗中既有「不如放眼入青冥」的自我开解，也有「唤出嫦娥诗与听」的浪漫孤高，是了解龚自珍精神世界与近代启蒙意识的重要作品，诗中「一山突起」的傲岸与「唤出嫦娥」的孤高，正是一个时代先行者孤独而倔强的身影，其「我劝天公重抖擞」的呼号，在此诗中已见端倪。
Art
The poem begins with 'grieving' yet refuses the posture of a lovesick youth; at once 'widen the gaze into the vast blue' opens a sublime prospect — the structure turns with force. The second couplet, 'One peak rises abruptly and the hills envy it; all sounds are silent, the Emperor's Seat star shines', uses 'one peak' as a self-image of eminence and 'the hills envy' for the crowd's sidelong looks, while 'the Emperor's Seat shines' darkly marks a murky court — the language is strange and lofty. The third couplet, 'On the frontier a strange woman's air seems to rise; east of the river the Shaowei star has long fallen', uses star-images to write border talent and the fall of recluses, grieving the scattering of ability. The closing 'I have never kept Qu Yuan's questions' overturns Qu's river-death allusion and ends on the romantic solitude of 'calling Chang'e', proud and singular.
此诗章法顿挫、造语奇崛，是龚自珍七律中的代表作。起联「春夜伤心坐画屏，不如放眼入青冥」以「伤心」定调，却旋以「放眼入青冥」拓开浩渺之境——由封闭的画屏转向无垠的青冥，由局促的室内转向广大的星空，一抑一扬，顿挫生姿，既见性情之真，又见胸次之高。颔联「一山突起丘陵妒，万籁无言帝座灵」是全诗最奇崛处：「一山突起」以山自喻，写才士拔卓不群，「丘陵妒」以拟人写庸众对英才的侧目，愤激而傲兀；「万籁无言」写天地沉寂，「帝座灵」暗指当权者高踞其位而贤路壅塞，寄慨遥深。颈联「塞上似腾奇女气，江东久殒少微星」以星气分写边才之将兴与隐逸之凋零，「似腾」与「久殒」对举，一含希望、一含痛惜，伤人才零落之意自在言外。尾联「平生不蓄湘累问，唤出嫦娥诗与听」翻屈原问天之典，转以「唤嫦娥」的浪漫想象作结，孤高不群、傲兀自喜，将愤激升华为诗意的超越。全诗由伤心而放眼、由放眼而观星、由观星而唤月，起承转合之间，一股奇气贯穿始终，正是定庵「剑气箫心」的本色。
Allusions
'Emperor's Seat' is a star name (the Emperor's Seat in the Purple Enclosure), figuring imperial power; 'Shaowei star', also the Gentleman-Retired star, rules recluses and able men — the dynastic history says 'Shaowei, four stars west of the Supreme Unity, the seat of officials' — the poet grieves the withering of retired talent through its 'long fall'. 'Xiang Lei' means Qu Yuan (Yang Xiong's 'Against Li Sao' notes Qu Yuan went to the Xiang and perished); 'never kept Xiang Lei's questions' means he will not imitate Qu's sorrowful questions at the river, but opens a lone, lofty path. 'Chang'e' uses the myth, ending on romance. 'A strange woman's air' quietly uses the Han Shu method of reading omens in vapour.
此诗用典密集而贴切，天象、星宿、神话、史事熔于一炉。其一是「青冥」：语出《楚辞·九章·悲回风》「据青冥而摅虹兮」，本指青天，诗人「放眼入青冥」，既写纵目远望之姿，也暗含向更高处追寻的志意。其二是「帝座」：即紫微垣中的帝座星，古以为天帝所居，象征皇权，诗人以「帝座灵」暗刺当政者高居尊位而朝政晦暗，微婉而沉痛。其三是「奇女气」：暗用古代望气之术的典故，观云气以占人事，「塞上似腾奇女气」借边塞有奇气升腾，暗示英杰将出，是诗人对人才的期盼。其四是「少微星」：又名处士星，主隐逸，《晋书·天文志》谓「少微四星在太微西，士大夫之位也」，诗人以「江东久殒少微星」痛惜隐逸才士的凋零。其五是「湘累」：指屈原，扬雄《反离骚》注谓屈原赴湘水而死，故称湘累，「不蓄湘累问」即不愿如屈原之问天，翻案见孤高；其六「嫦娥」用奔月神话，以浪漫结穴，与问天的悲愤形成对照——不问苍天而唤嫦娥，正是定庵傲兀不群的独特姿态。
Commentary
Gong Zizhen's poetry is 'sword-air and flute-heart alike dissolved' (his own line); Liang Qichao in his Qing Scholarly Survey ranks him as a pioneer of 'late-Qing intellectual liberation'. This 'Sitting at Night' has long been valued by critics; Qian Zhonglian says 'one peak rises... is not only self-praise but also a satire of mediocre talents blocking the late age'. Moderns see it as a precursor of the modern 'honour feeling, cry to heaven' poetic manner — a lone breast and strange air opening the wind of the age.
龚自珍是近代中国开风气之先的人物，梁启超《清代学术概论》推其思想为晚清思想之解放的源头，其诗亦以奇肆瑰丽、独抒性情著称。此《夜坐》向为论者所重：钱仲联评「一山突起丘陵妒」非仅自负，实亦讥末世庸才壅蔽贤路；近人更视全诗为近代尊情、吁天诗风之先声。论其价值，约有三端。其一在思想层面，诗人以星象山岳为喻，直指人才湮没、贤路壅塞的末世痼疾，「塞上似腾奇女气，江东久殒少微星」两句，将人才之盼与人才之殇写得何等沉痛，实为鸦片战争前夜士人觉醒的先声。其二在艺术层面，全诗融楚辞、星象、神话于一炉，造语奇崛、意象瑰丽，起联之顿挫、尾联之浪漫，皆见定庵继往开来的独特诗风，与乾嘉诗坛的拟古、考据之风判然有别。其三在人格层面，「不蓄湘累问」的翻案与「唤出嫦娥诗与听」的孤高，写出一个不肯向命运低头的志士形象，其傲骨奇气，正与《己亥杂诗》「我劝天公重抖擞」的呼号一脉相承。
Prosody
Line by line
春夜伤心坐画屏，不如放眼入青冥。
On a spring night, sad-hearted, I sit by the painted screen; better to cast my eyes into the dark blue vastness.
春夜独坐画屏之前，满心忧伤，不如放开眼界，把目光投向无边无际的夜空。
On a spring night, sick at heart, I sit before the painted screen; it were better to open my gaze to the vast blue sky.
起联是全诗的定调与转折，一抑一扬，顿挫有力。上句「春夜伤心坐画屏」以「伤心」二字直揭心境，春夜本是良辰，画屏本是华饰，诗人独坐其前却满心忧伤，一个「坐」字写尽百无聊赖、心事郁结之态，春景与愁情构成第一重反衬；下句「不如放眼入青冥」笔锋陡转，以「不如」二字作自我开解，弃画屏而望青冥，由封闭的室内转向无垠的星空，由局促的现状转向高远的追求，「放眼」二字气度豪迈，仿佛要将满腹孤愤都交付给苍天。两句之间，伤心与开解、坐守与放目、画屏与青冥，层层对照，既见性情之真，又见胸次之高，为全诗定下孤愤而不消沉、奇崛而不颓唐的基调，起笔即见定庵不同凡响的气象。
The opening couplet fixes the tone and the turning of the whole, one suppression and one lift, the cadence vigorous. The upper line, on a spring night, sad-hearted, I sit by the painted screen, speaks the mood directly in the words sad-hearted: the spring night properly a fair hour, the painted screen properly a rich adornment, yet the poet sits before it with a heart full of grief; the single word sit writes the listlessness, the tangled heart, the spring scene and the grief forming the first contrast. The lower line, better to cast my eyes into the dark blue vastness, turns abruptly, using the words better to reason with himself: abandoning the painted screen for the blue vault, from the closed room to the boundless starry sky, from the cramped present to the far-seeking pursuit; the words cast my eyes carry a grand air, as if committing all the solitary indignation to the blue heaven. Between the two lines, sad and self-reasoning, sitting still and gazing far, painted screen and blue vault, contrast upon contrast, showing at once the truth of the temper and the height of the breast, fixing the tone of the whole — solitary and indignant yet not sinking, strange and vigorous yet not fallen; the opening shows Ding'an's extraordinary air.
一山突起丘陵妒
One peak rises abruptly and the hills envy it
一座山峰突兀而起，惹得周围的丘陵生出嫉妒。
One mountain rises abruptly, and the hills below are jealous.
此句是全诗最奇崛、最见风骨的警句，以山喻人，自喻才高而见妒。「一山突起」写山峰拔地而起、卓然独立，暗喻诗人自己才识超群、不随流俗，一个「突」字力重千钧，写出不合时宜的锋芒；「丘陵妒」以拟人手法写周围低矮的丘陵对高山生出嫉妒，喻指庸碌之辈对英才的侧目与排挤，「妒」字移情于物，愤激而傲兀。此句的深意在于：它不是简单的自负，而是对末世人才环境的清醒控诉——在庸才壅塞的世界里，卓异本身就是一种罪过。诗人以山自况而不言悲，反以「妒」字揭出世俗的丑态，傲骨嶙峋，正是定庵「狂来说剑，怨去吹箫」的奇气本色，也是近代知识分子独立人格的早期写照，故钱仲联谓此句非仅自负，实亦讥末世庸才壅蔽。
The line is the strangest, most bone-showing aphorism of the poem, using the mountain to figure the man, the self-figure of high talent envied. One mountain rises abruptly writes the peak rising from the plain, standing alone, secretly figuring the poet's own surpassing gifts, unthinking the common way; the single word abruptly weighs a thousand jun, writing the edge out of season. The hills below are jealous personifies the low hills' jealousy of the high peak, figuring the mediocre's sidelong glance and squeezing out of the talent; the word jealous transfers emotion to the object, indignant and proud. The deep meaning lies in: it is not simple self-conceit, but the clear-sighted indictment of the late age's environment of talent — in the world of blocked mediocrity, the outstanding is itself a crime. The poet figures himself as the mountain yet speaks no grief, and uses the word jealous to lay bare the ugliness of the world; the pride unbowed, precisely Ding'an's own — when wild, he speaks of the sword, when resentful, he plays the xiao — and the early portrait of the independent character of the modern intellectual; hence Qian Zhonglian says the line is not mere self-conceit, but in fact the satire of the late age's blocked mediocrity.
万籁无言帝座灵
All sounds are silent, the Emperor's Seat star shines
万籁俱寂，天地无声，唯有帝座星明灭闪烁，似有神灵。
The ten thousand sounds are silent; the Emperor's Seat star is luminous.
此句以天象写时政，寄慨遥深。「万籁无言」写天地间一切声响都归于沉寂，既是春夜实景，更是末世气象的象征——万马齐喑、无人敢言，正是龚自珍在《己亥杂诗》中痛呼「万马齐喑究可哀」的同一心境；「帝座灵」写紫微垣帝座星高悬而明灭有灵，暗指最高当权者高踞尊位、威灵赫赫，而贤路壅塞、言路断绝。两句对举：天下噤声，独帝座有灵，朝政之晦暗、权力之专横，尽在不言之中。「无言」与「灵」二字尤见炼意之精——寂灭的是天下的生机，灵光的是独夫的威严，以星象写人事，微婉含蓄而力透纸背，是借天象刺时政的典范笔墨，与上句「一山突起丘陵妒」连读，正见诗人对贤路壅塞、万马齐喑的双重忧愤。
The line writes the times through the stars, the feeling lodged far. The ten thousand sounds are silent writes all sounds between heaven and earth fallen still, at once the spring night's real scene, and the symbol of the late age's air — ten thousand horses mute, none daring to speak, precisely the same mood as Gong Zizhen's outcry in the Jihai miscellany: the ten thousand horses' muteness is, after all, grievous. The Emperor's Seat star is luminous writes the Imperial Seat star of the Purple Forbidden Enclosure, high and flickering with spirit, secretly figuring the highest ruler throned in his dignity, awe-inspiring, while the way of talent is blocked and the voice of criticism cut. The two lines set off: the world silent, the Emperor's Seat alone luminous; the darkness of the court, the arbitrariness of power, all within silence. The words silent and luminous show most the forging of meaning: what is stilled is the world's life, what glows is the autocrat's awe; writing human affairs through the stars, tactful and restrained, yet force piercing the paper, the model brush of satirizing the times through the heavens; read with the foregoing one mountain rises abruptly, and the double grief of the blocked way of talent and the muteness of the age is fully seen.
江东久殒少微星
East of the river the Shaowei star has long fallen
江东一带的少微星早已陨落，象征着隐逸才士的凋零。
Over Jiangdong, the star of the recluse has long since fallen.
此句借星象痛悼人才零落，是全诗伤时之意的实处。「少微星」又名处士星，古以为主隐逸才士之星，《晋书·天文志》谓其位在太微垣西，为士大夫之位；诗人以「江东久殒少微星」写象征才士的星宿早已坠落，暗喻当世人才凋零、贤者隐没，一个「久」字尤其沉痛——不是今日才殒，而是积弊已久，道尽末世人才荒漠化的积重难返。与上句「塞上似腾奇女气」对读，一写边塞奇气似将升腾，对人才的期盼；一写江东之星早已陨落，对人才的痛惜，希望与绝望交织，期盼愈切，痛惜愈深。此句以星写人、以天象写人事，把抽象的人才之叹化为具体可感的星陨之象，正是龚自珍「心事浩茫连广宇」的星象诗笔，也见其对国运衰微的深沉隐忧。
The line uses the stars to mourn the scattering of talent, the substantive point of the poem's grief for the times. The star of the recluse, also called the scholar-star, was anciently held to govern the recluse talents; the Treatise on Astronomy of the Book of Jin places it west of the Grand Enclosure, the seat of scholars. The poet writes over Jiangdong, the star of the recluse has long since fallen, figuring that the star signifying talent has long dropped, secretly figuring the talent of the age scattered, the worthy hidden; the single word long is especially sorrowful — not fallen today, but a long-standing abuse, exhausting the chronic, intractable desertification of the late age's talent. Read against the line above — the strange vigor at the borderlands seems to rise — one writes the borderlands' strange air as if about to rise, the hope for talent; one writes the Jiangdong star long fallen, the grief for talent; hope and despair interwoven, the keener the expectation, the deeper the grief. The line writes man through the star, human affairs through the heavens, turning the abstract sigh for talent into the concrete, sensible image of the falling star, precisely Gong Zizhen's brush of the star poem — my mind's vastness reaches the wide universe — and his deep hidden grief for the declining fortune of the state.
平生不蓄湘累问，唤出嫦娥诗与听。
All my life I have kept no Xiang exile's questions; I call the Moon Goddess out, and read my verse to her.
我平生不愿像屈原那样把满怀疑问问向苍天，只唤出月宫嫦娥，把我的诗吟给她听。
All my life I have not kept the Xiang exile's questions; I call the Moon Goddess forth and recite my poem to her.
尾联翻案见奇，是全诗情感的最高点，亦定庵风骨的集中体现。「湘累」指屈原——扬雄《反离骚》注谓屈原赴湘而死，「不蓄湘累问」即说自己不学屈原把满腹愤懑化作《天问》式的诘问抛向苍天，一个「不」字翻尽前案，傲兀不群：既不愿效屈子之悲，也不屑于向苍天申诉；「唤出嫦娥诗与听」转以浪漫想象作结，不向苍天问，却唤月宫嫦娥来听诗，嫦娥既是他倾诉的对象，也是他孤高心境的见证者。两句一翻一立：翻的是问天之悲，立的是唤月之傲，将愤激升华为诗意的超越，奇气逼人，余韵悠长，正是近代士人以诗自赎的精神姿态，也是龚自珍「尊情」思想在诗歌中的浪漫呈现，傲兀之中自有一段深情。
The closing couplet turns the tables and shows the strange, the highest point of the poem's feeling, and the concentrated embodiment of Ding'an's bone. The Xiang exile means Qu Yuan — Yang Xiong's Anti-Lisao notes that Qu Yuan died by the Xiang; all my life I have kept no Xiang exile's questions means he will not follow Qu Yuan in casting his full indignation heavenward in the manner of the Heavenly Questions; the single word not overturns the foregoing case, proud and apart: neither willing to imitate Qu Yuan's grief, nor stooping to plead with heaven. I call the Moon Goddess out, and read my verse to her turns and closes in romantic imagination: not questioning heaven, but calling the Moon Goddess to hear the poem — Chang'e at once the object of his confession and the witness of his lofty mood. Two lines, one overturning, one establishing: overturning the grief of questioning heaven, establishing the pride of calling the moon, sublimating indignation into poetic transcendence, the strange air pressing, the aftertone long, precisely the spiritual posture of the modern scholar's self-redemption through poetry, and the romantic presentation of Gong Zizhen's doctrine of honoring feeling; within the pride, a deep affection of its own.
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Both from Ding'an's hand: 'Sitting at Night' writes lonely indignation at non-recognition, 'Ji-Hai' writes calling for talent on leaving the capital — both show his 'sword-air and flute-heart'.
《己亥杂诗》是龚自珍道光十九年（1839）辞官南归途中写下的三百一十五首组诗，其中「九州生气恃风雷，万马齐喑究可哀。我劝天公重抖擞，不拘一格降人才」一首，与《夜坐》同为呼唤人才、痛惜万马齐喑之作。《夜坐》以「一山突起丘陵妒」「江东久殒少微星」写才士之孤与人才之殇，笔法奇崛沉痛；《己亥杂诗》则以「我劝天公重抖擞」的仰天呼号直抒胸臆，笔势奔放激昂。一为夜坐观星的郁结，一为去国远行的悲慨；一借山岳星象曲折见意，一直诉天公大声疾呼。两作相隔十余年，而人才之叹一以贯之，可见龚自珍一生怀抱未改，其近代启蒙意识由隐而显、由郁而发，正可于此合观。
己亥杂诗（浩荡离愁白日斜） Miscellany of the Ji-Hai Year 龚自珍 · 同作者同题组诗，浪漫意象与献身精神的两种表达 Same (same author; sensing the times, worrying for the nation)Both are Gong's works lamenting the scattering of talent and hinting worry for the nation's fate — they confirm each other as the pioneer voice of modern enlightenment.
《己亥杂诗》其五（浩荡离愁白日斜，吟鞭东指即天涯。落红不是无情物，化作春泥更护花）与《夜坐》同出龚自珍之手，都以瑰丽的浪漫想象写深沉的情志。《夜坐》尾联「平生不蓄湘累问，唤出嫦娥诗与听」，不向苍天问而唤月宫嫦娥听诗，以神话意象写孤高自持；《己亥杂诗》其五则以「落红化作春泥」的生死转化意象，写离京之后仍愿护持国运的献身精神。一以嫦娥为知音，一以春泥为归宿；一写孤傲的自我超越，一写深情的自我牺牲。两诗并读，正可见定庵人格的两面：狂放奇崛处如剑气横空，深挚缠绵处如箫心呜咽，「剑气箫心」四字，恰是这两首名篇的最好注脚。
天问 Heaven's Questions 屈原 · 反用「湘累问」之典，问天传统的翻案 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
屈原《天问》连发一百七十余问，问天问地问自然问历史，是先秦士人叩问宇宙人生的悲愤之章，而屈原沉江的结局，更使问天带上悲壮的色彩。龚自珍《夜坐》尾联「平生不蓄湘累问，唤出嫦娥诗与听」正是对《天问》传统的自觉翻案：「湘累」即指屈原，诗人明言不肯效屈子问天，并非否定屈原，而是不肯以悲愤之问终局，宁以吟咏之诗超越——不问苍天，而唤嫦娥，变诘问为吟咏，变悲愤为孤高。两相对照：屈原问天，问的是无解的绝望；定庵唤月，唤的是诗意的自赎。同为失意士人面对不遇，一以悲壮示人，一以奇傲自立，可见清代士人在屈原传统之外别开的新路，也见龚自珍尊情思想中自我觉醒的一面。