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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

秋夜曲

Autumn Night Song

王维

Wang Wei

闺怨Boudoir Lament 秋夜Autumn Night

桂魄初生秋露微，轻罗已薄未更衣。
银筝夜久殷勤弄，心怯空房不忍归。

The cassia moon is newly risen, the autumn dew is slight;
Her thin silk robe is already too thin, yet she has not changed it.
Long into the night she plays the silver zither devotedly;
Her heart dreads the empty room — she cannot bear to go in.

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Meaning

A woman sits alone on an autumn night. The moon, named for the cassia said to grow in it, has just risen, and the dew is faint but the air has turned cool; her gauze robe is too thin for the season, yet she has not troubled to change. She goes on playing the silver zither deep into the night, not for pleasure but to fill the hours. The closing line gives the reason: she is afraid of the empty room and cannot bring herself to return to it. The poem is a study of solitude told through small external facts rather than through declared feeling.

桂魄初生秋露微，轻罗已薄未更衣。银筝夜久殷勤弄，心怯空房不忍归。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The moon has just appeared, the dew is light, and the night is turning cold. Her gauze dress is too thin, but she has not changed it. She keeps playing the zither far into the night, because her heart shrinks from the empty room and she cannot bear to go back. [Structure] Four lines that move steadily inward: from sky to clothing, from clothing to action, from action to motive. Each line discloses a little more, and the last explains everything that precedes it. [Imagery] The poem works through diminishing scale and deepening solitude — the great moon, the thin robe, the one instrument, the one empty room. [Feeling] The delicacy is in the psychology. The woman is not described as grieving; she simply does not change her clothes and does not go to bed, and the reader infers that solitude is more painful than fatigue. The moon, conventionally an emblem of reunion, rises over a woman who is alone, which is the poem's quiet cruelty.

【白话串讲】王维写《秋夜曲》：“桂魄初生秋露微，轻罗已薄未更衣”——“银筝夜久殷勤弄，心怯空房不忍归”——她弹筝到深夜，不敢回空房——他写空闺的寂寞。【意象与手法】此诗写秋夜闺怨，以弹筝写孤寂，是王维的名篇。前二句写秋夜：「桂魄初生秋露微，轻罗已薄未更衣」写桂魄初生秋露微、轻罗已薄未更衣——写尽秋夜的微凉；后二句写闺怨：「银筝夜久殷勤弄，心怯空房不忍归」写银筝夜久殷勤弄、心怯空房不忍归——写尽秋夜的孤寂。全诗以弹筝写孤寂，写尽秋夜闺怨，是王维的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写秋夜闺怨，以弹筝写孤寂，是王维的名篇。此诗写一位女子在秋夜独坐弹筝的孤寂。此诗写秋夜：桂魄初生秋露微，轻罗已薄未更衣——写桂魄（月亮）初生、秋露微凉，轻罗已薄却未更衣，写尽秋夜的微凉；银筝夜久殷勤弄，心怯空房不忍归——写银筝夜久殷勤弄、心怯空房不忍归，写尽秋夜的孤寂。全诗以弹筝写孤寂——那「银筝夜久殷勤弄」写尽深夜弹筝的孤寂，「心怯空房不忍归」写尽空房的孤寂，写尽秋夜闺怨，是理解王维闺怨诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「桂魄初生秋露微，轻罗已薄未更衣」写秋夜的微凉；「银筝夜久殷勤弄，心怯空房不忍归」写秋夜的孤寂；以及全诗以弹筝写孤寂、以细节写闺怨的手法。

Background

Wang Wei (701-761), courtesy name Mojie, was a native of Puzhou in Hedong, present-day Yongji in Shanxi, and is the great landscape and pastoral poet of the Tang, honoured as the Poet Buddha; Su Shi said of him that his poems are paintings and his paintings poems. Although he is known chiefly for mountain and river verse, he also wrote boudoir laments, and this is one of them. Most Tang boudoir poems were written by men in a woman's voice, but Wang Wei's psychological tact is unusual: the closing line understands that staying up is easier than lying down in an empty room. Though titled a 'song,' which points to an old Music Bureau title, it is formally a seven-character quatrain, so the poet recasts an inherited musical subject in the tighter modern form.

此诗写秋夜闺怨，以弹筝写孤寂，是王维的名篇。王维（701—761），字摩诘，河东蒲州（今山西永济）人，唐代伟大的山水田园诗人，人称「诗佛」。此诗写一位女子在秋夜独坐弹筝的孤寂。王维诗以山水田园为主，然亦偶作闺怨之作，此诗即其一。此诗写秋夜：「桂魄初生秋露微，轻罗已薄未更衣」写桂魄（月亮，相传月中有桂树）初生、秋露微凉，轻罗（轻薄的罗衣）已薄却未更衣——写尽秋夜的微凉与女子的无心更衣；「银筝夜久殷勤弄，心怯空房不忍归」写银筝夜久殷勤弄（深夜仍殷勤地弹筝）、心怯空房不忍归（因怯空房之寂而不忍归房）——写尽秋夜的孤寂。全诗以弹筝写孤寂，写尽秋夜闺怨，是理解王维闺怨诗的重要篇章。此诗的背景，还应联系王维对女性心理的细腻体察来读：盛唐闺怨诗多出于男子代拟，王维此诗却能以「心怯空房不忍归」一语，写出深闺女子独处空房的微妙心理——不肯归房，是因空房之寂更甚于弹筝之倦，宁可守着银筝坐到夜深。这一笔，比泛写「相思」「离愁」更见体贴入微，也是此诗能传诵后世的原因所在。

Art

Four techniques shape the quatrain. First, scene-setting by implication: rather than saying the night is cold, the poet notes the moon and the faint dew and lets the reader feel the chill. Second, the detail of the unchanged robe: it is a fact of dress that reveals a fact of mind, since someone absorbed in loneliness does not attend to her own comfort. Third, action as refuge: playing the zither deep into the night is not art for art's sake but a way of occupying the hours, and the adverb suggests a deliberate, almost anxious diligence. Fourth, stated motive: the last line names the fear directly, and its frankness is what makes the poem moving. Beyond these, the lines form a sequence — sky darkening, spirits drooping, solitude deepening — so that the quatrain traces one autumn night from bright to still.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以写景写秋夜。「桂魄初生秋露微，轻罗已薄未更衣」以写景写秋夜——那「桂魄初生」写尽月出、「秋露微」写尽秋露微凉，以写景写尽秋夜的微凉。其二，以细节写无心。「轻罗已薄未更衣」以细节写无心——那「轻罗已薄」写尽罗衣已薄、「未更衣」写尽未更衣的慵懒，以细节写尽女子的无心。其三，以动作写孤寂。「银筝夜久殷勤弄」以动作写孤寂——那「夜久殷勤弄」写尽深夜仍殷勤弹筝，以动作写尽弹筝以遣孤寂。其四，以心理写闺怨。「心怯空房不忍归」以心理写闺怨——那「心怯空房」写尽心怯空房、「不忍归」写尽不忍归房，以心理写尽秋夜的孤寂。此外，此诗还有一个巧妙的递进：由「桂魄初生」写到「秋露微」，是天色渐深；由「轻罗已薄」写到「未更衣」，是心绪渐慵；由「银筝夜久」写到「心怯空房」，是孤寂渐浓——四句之间层层推进，写尽一个秋夜由明入暗、由静入寂的全过程。四重手法加这一层递进，使此诗以弹筝写孤寂，写尽秋夜闺怨，是王维的代表作。

Allusions

The cassia moon rests on the old belief that a cassia tree grows in the moon, and because the moon is the emblem of reunion, its rising here quietly contrasts fullness of sky with emptiness of room. Thin silk gauze is standard wear in boudoir verse and recurs in the famous line about a gauze fan chasing fireflies. The silver zither is the instrument of the lonely woman, and playing it at night is a conventional way of passing solitary hours. The empty room is the fixed topos of the abandoned wife. Wang Wei's originality lies in combining these inherited materials into a single psychological insight: the room is feared because it is empty, and the zither is played because it is not.

此诗的用语深植于闺怨与秋夜的传统。「桂魄初生秋露微」令人想到「桂魄」写月亮的典故——相传月中有桂树，故称月为桂魄，也令人想到「秋露微」写秋露微凉的意象——「秋露微」正是王维的名句；「轻罗已薄未更衣」令人想到「轻罗」写轻薄罗衣的意象——「轻罗小扇扑流萤」（杜牧），也令人想到「未更衣」写未更衣的意象——罗衣已薄而不更，正见心不在焉；「银筝夜久殷勤弄」令人想到「银筝」写银饰古筝的意象——「银筝夜久殷勤弄」正是王维的名句，也令人想到「殷勤弄」写殷勤弹奏的意象——深夜弹筝以遣孤寂；「心怯空房不忍归」令人想到「空房」写空房的意象——「空房独守」，也令人想到「不忍归」写不忍归房的意象——「心怯空房不忍归」正是王维的名句。全诗化用桂魄、银筝、空房的意象，以弹筝写孤寂，正是王维「诗中有画」而兼善细腻、承闺怨传统写秋夜的本领。此处更值得一提的是「桂魄」一词：古人以「桂魄」称月，本含团圆圆满之意，而此诗偏以「桂魄初生」写月出而人独，恰是以圆满之景反衬孤寂之人，比直写月色更见匠心。

Commentary

The poem is counted among Wang Wei's finest boudoir pieces and as a representative Tang quatrain of the autumn night. Qing critics praised it as reserved and deeply suggestive; modern readers single out the closing couplet as its memorable lines. Its distinction is psychological rather than verbal: instead of the usual vocabulary of longing, it offers two observable facts, an unchanged robe and an unwillingness to go to bed, and lets them speak. Read with Wang Wei's 'Red Beans,' which urges the beloved to gather love tokens, it shows his range in love poetry. It also continues the tradition of the boudoir lament in which a sudden sight betrays an unacknowledged sorrow. Its title preserves an old Music Bureau name, while its form is the modern quatrain.

此诗历来被推为王维闺怨诗的名篇，也是唐人写秋夜闺怨的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以弹筝写孤寂，含蓄深婉」；近人更指出「银筝夜久殷勤弄，心怯空房不忍归」写秋夜的孤寂，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以四句的绝句写尽秋夜闺怨——那初生的桂魄，那微凉的秋露，那已薄的轻罗，那未更衣，那夜久殷勤弄的银筝，那心怯的不忍归，都写尽了王维笔下的秋夜闺怨；那「心怯空房不忍归」更写尽秋夜的孤寂。此诗与王维《相思》（「红豆生南国」）同为写情名篇，一写「愿君多采撷」的相思（相思），一写「心怯空房不忍归」的孤寂（秋夜曲）；又与王昌龄《闺怨》（「闺中少妇不知愁」）的闺怨传统一脉相承，可见唐人写闺怨的深情。对于今日读者，此诗是理解王维闺怨诗的窗口，也是中国诗写秋夜闺怨的经典——那夜久的银筝，穿越千年，仍在诉说着空房的孤寂。尤须注意，此诗虽名「曲」，却是七言绝句，属乐府旧题「秋夜曲」的拟作，王维以律绝之体写乐府之情，正见其融通古今的才力。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain诗·七言绝句

Rhyme Lines one, two and four rhyme in a single level-tone rhyme.七绝，押「微」「衣」「归」韵（上平五微），一韵到底，音节婉转

Tone pattern A seven-character quatrain in a level rhyme; the cadence is gentle and winding, suiting the reserved sorrow of a boudoir poem.此诗为七言绝句，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节婉转，正合闺怨的婉转。

Reading note The four lines move from the outer world inward: the moon and dew, then clothing, then action, then motive. Each line changes subject yet remains bound to the last. Read it softly, and let the final line fall quietly, since the fear it names is the poem's whole revelation. Though titled a song, the form is the modern quatrain.此诗为七言绝句，四句——「桂魄初生秋露微，轻罗已薄未更衣。银筝夜久殷勤弄，心怯空房不忍归」，押「微」韵（微、衣、归），一韵到底，音节婉转。全诗以弹筝写孤寂：前二句写秋夜的微凉（桂魄初生秋露微，轻罗已薄未更衣），后二句写秋夜的孤寂（银筝夜久殷勤弄，心怯空房不忍归）。四句之间，由景入人、由人入心，句句换转而又血脉相连：「桂魄初生」是天色，「秋露微」是物候，「轻罗已薄」是衣著，「未更衣」是心绪，「银筝殷勤弄」是动作，「心怯不忍归」是心理，由外及内层层写来，正是绝句「以小见大」的典范。诵读此诗，宜以婉转的语调读「桂魄初生秋露微」的秋夜，以幽怨的语调读「银筝夜久殷勤弄」的弹筝，结句「心怯空房不忍归」要读得幽怨而有余韵，方能传达出王维的含蓄深婉。王维绝句以「诗中有画」著称，此诗正是其闺怨绝句的典范。

Line by line

银筝夜久殷勤弄，心怯空房不忍归

Long into the night she plays the silver zither devotedly; her heart dreads the empty room — she cannot bear to go in.

银筝深夜仍殷勤地弹奏，心怯空房之寂而不忍归房。

The silver zither, far into the night, she plays on earnestly; her heart dreads the empty room and she cannot bear to go back.

此二句是全诗写孤寂的核心，以夜久殷勤弄写弹筝，以心怯不忍归写空房，写尽秋夜的孤寂，是千古名句。「银筝夜久殷勤弄」写银筝深夜仍殷勤地弹奏——那「银筝」写银饰古筝，「夜久殷勤弄」写深夜仍殷勤地弹奏，写尽深夜弹筝以遣孤寂；「心怯空房不忍归」写心怯空房之寂而不忍归房——那「心怯空房」写心怯空房，「不忍归」写不忍归房，写尽秋夜的孤寂。这句的深意在于：它以「银筝夜久殷勤弄」的弹筝与「心怯空房不忍归」的不忍归，写尽秋夜的孤寂——银筝深夜仍殷勤地弹奏，那「银筝夜久殷勤弄」写尽深夜弹筝以遣孤寂——夜深了，仍殷勤地弹筝，那「夜久殷勤弄」写尽弹筝以遣孤寂的执着；心怯空房之寂而不忍归房，那「心怯空房不忍归」写尽秋夜的孤寂——空房之寂，心有所怯，故不忍归房，那「不忍归」写尽空房的孤寂；那「银筝夜久殷勤弄」写尽深夜弹筝以遣孤寂，那「心怯空房不忍归」写尽空房的孤寂，一写弹筝，一写不忍归，写尽秋夜的孤寂——夜深不归房而弹筝，正因空房之寂无可排遣，那弹筝愈久，孤寂愈深；此二句以弹筝、不忍归写尽秋夜的孤寂，也让此二句成为全诗写孤寂的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「她一个人很孤单」，则失其含蓄；唯以「银筝夜久殷勤弄」写弹筝、「心怯空房不忍归」写不忍归，写尽秋夜的孤寂，也让此二句成为全诗写孤寂的核心。

The two lines are the core of the poem's loneliness, writing the zither-playing through the silver zither, far into the night, she plays on earnestly and the dread of the empty room through her heart dreads the empty room and she cannot bear to go back, exhausting the autumn night's solitude. The silver zither, far into the night, she plays on earnestly is precisely the picture of the late playing to while away the solitude; her heart dreads the empty room and she cannot bear to go back precisely the picture of the empty chamber's dread. The deep meaning: far into the night she does not return but plays the zither, precisely because the empty room's silence is unbearable; the longer she plays, the deeper the solitude. One writes the playing, one the dread, exhausting the loneliness. Were it said plainly she is all alone, the restraint would be lost; only through the earnest playing and the unbearable return is the autumn night's loneliness exhausted, making the lines the core of the poem.

桂魄初生秋露微，轻罗已薄未更衣

The cassia moon is newly risen, the autumn dew is slight; her thin silk robe is already too thin, yet she has not changed it.

月亮初升秋露微凉，轻罗已薄却未更衣。

The moon newly risen, the autumn dew faint; the light silk already thin, yet she has not changed her dress.

此二句是全诗写秋夜的核心，以桂魄初生写月出，以未更衣写无心，写尽秋夜的微凉与女子的无心，是千古名句。「桂魄初生秋露微」写月亮初升秋露微凉——那「桂魄初生」写月亮（相传月中有桂树）初升，「秋露微」写秋露微凉，写尽秋夜的微凉；「轻罗已薄未更衣」写轻罗已薄却未更衣——那「轻罗已薄」写轻薄的罗衣已显单薄，「未更衣」写却未更衣，写尽女子的无心。这句的深意在于：它以「桂魄初生」的月出与「未更衣」的无心，写尽秋夜的微凉与女子的无心——月亮初升秋露微凉，那「桂魄初生秋露微」写尽秋夜的微凉——秋夜月出，秋露微凉，正是秋夜的萧瑟，那「秋露微」写尽秋夜的微凉；轻罗已薄却未更衣，那「轻罗已薄未更衣」写尽女子的无心——秋夜已凉，罗衣已薄，理应更衣添衣，而女子竟未更衣，那「未更衣」写尽女子的心不在焉——不是不冷，而是无心顾此，正因心中有事（思念远人）而慵懒无心；那「桂魄初生秋露微」写尽秋夜的微凉，那「轻罗已薄未更衣」写尽女子的无心，一写秋凉，一写无心，写尽秋夜的微凉与女子的无心——秋露已凉而罗衣未更，正是思妇心绪的写照；此二句以秋凉、未更衣写尽秋夜的微凉与女子的无心，也让此二句成为全诗写秋夜的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「秋天到了她也不添衣」，则失其含蓄；唯以「桂魄初生秋露微」写月出、「轻罗已薄未更衣」写未更衣，写尽秋夜的微凉与女子的无心，也让此二句成为全诗写秋夜的核心。

The two lines are the core of the poem's autumn night, writing the moonrise through the moon newly risen, the autumn dew faint and the absent-mindedness through the light silk already thin, yet she has not changed her dress, exhausting the autumn night's coolness and the woman's distraction. The moon newly risen, the autumn dew faint is precisely the picture of the cool autumn night; the light silk already thin, yet she has not changed her dress precisely the picture of the woman's absent mind. The deep meaning: the autumn night cool and the silk thin, yet she does not change — not that she is not cold, but that her heart is elsewhere (longing for the absent man), languid and careless. One writes the autumn cool, one the unchanging dress, exhausting the coolness and the distraction. Were it said plainly autumn has come and she does not add clothes, the restraint would be lost; only through the new moon and the thin silk unaltered is the autumn night exhausted, making the lines the core of the poem.

Study

Word focus

殷勤 In 'plays the silver zither devotedly,' the adverb means earnestly, diligently, with sustained attention. It suggests that the playing is an effort to occupy herself rather than a pleasure, and the anxious diligence betrays the solitude it is meant to relieve. 「银筝夜久殷勤弄」之「殷勤」是写弹筝的关键词，一个「殷勤」写尽深夜弹筝的执着。殷勤者，情意恳切、认真也。王维以「夜久殷勤弄」写弹筝，这个「殷勤」至少有双重意味：其一，写弹筝之勤——那「银筝夜久殷勤弄」写银筝深夜仍殷勤地弹奏，那「殷勤」写尽弹筝的勤恳——夜深仍殷勤弹奏，那「殷勤」写尽弹筝的执着；其二，写孤寂之深——那「殷勤」更是写孤寂——夜久殷勤弄，正因孤寂难遣而借弹筝排遣，那「殷勤」写尽孤寂的深重。以「殷勤」写弹筝，正是王维写孤寂的枢纽——若换作「专注」「用心」等词，则或失其写情意恳切的意味，或失其与「夜久」的配合；唯「殷勤」二字，以夜深仍殷勤弹筝写尽弹筝的执着与孤寂的深重，与「心怯空房不忍归」的不忍归相合，写尽秋夜的孤寂，也让「银筝夜久殷勤弄」成为全诗写孤寂的千古名句。

怯 In 'her heart dreads the empty room,' the word means to shrink from in fear. It is the only direct emotion in the poem, and its frankness is what turns three lines of external detail into a psychological portrait of loneliness. 「心怯空房不忍归」之「怯」字是写心理的字眼，一个「怯」字写尽心怯空房的孤寂。怯者，畏惧、害怕也。王维以「心怯空房」写心理，这个「怯」字至少有双重意味：其一，写空房之寂——那「心怯空房不忍归」写心怯空房之寂而不忍归房，那「怯」字写尽对空房的畏惧——空房之寂，令人心怯，那「怯」字写尽空房的孤寂；其二，写幽怨之深——那「怯」字更是写幽怨——心怯空房，正见独处空房的幽怨，那「怯」字写尽秋夜的幽怨。以「怯」字写心理，正是王维写闺怨的枢纽——若换作「惧」「畏」等字，则或失其写心怯的细腻，或失其与「不忍归」的配合；唯「怯」字，以一字写尽心怯空房的孤寂与独处空房的幽怨，与「银筝夜久殷勤弄」的殷勤弄相合，写尽秋夜的孤寂，也让「心怯空房不忍归」成为全诗写孤寂的千古名句。

秋夜曲