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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

蝉

The Cicada

李商隐

Li Shangyin

咏物Object-Chanting 高洁Noble and Pure

本以高难饱，徒劳恨费声。
五更疏欲断，一树碧无情。
薄宦梗犹泛，故园芜已平。
烦君最相警，我亦举家清。

By nature high, it hardly can be fed; / In vain it cries, its bitter song is shed.
At dawn its chirps are sparse, almost expire; / The tree is green and cold, without a fire.
A petty official drifts like floating wood; / My native garden's wild, no longer good.
I thank you, cicada, for your warning clear; / My family too is poor and austere.

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Meaning

The cicada lives high but cannot get enough to eat; it cries in vain. At dawn, its song grows faint and nearly stops, but the green tree remains indifferent. The poet compares himself to a drifting twig in his humble official post, and his hometown garden is overgrown with weeds. He thanks the cicada for reminding him that he too lives in poverty and purity.

本因栖居高枝难以饱腹，徒然悲鸣也空费了声声。五更时分疏哑的鸣声几乎断绝，满树碧叶却无情相顾。薄宦之身如桃梗在水中飘泛，故园荒芜早已长满野草。多烦你（蝉）最能警醒于我，我亦全家清贫如此。

Appreciation

Written in Li Shangyin's late years when he was down and out as a staff officer, this poem uses the cicada as a metaphor for the poet himself. The cicada lives high but cannot get enough to eat, just as the poet's integrity leads to neglect. The cicada's cries are unheard, mirroring the poet's unrecognized talent. The poem achieves perfect fusion of object and self: the first couplet is a double entendre, the third couplet uses a classical allusion to express wandering, and the final couplet personifies the cicada, uniting it with the poet.

【白话串讲】 “本以高难饱，徒劳恨费声”——李商隐写蝉：栖在高枝，难求一饱，白白鸣叫。“薄宦梗犹泛，故园芜已平”——他写蝉，是写自己做小官的漂泊。“烦君最相警，我亦举家清”——蝉提醒他：我们一家也一样清贫。【意象与手法】此诗妙在'物我交融'：首联'高难饱''恨费声'既写蝉之生理，又喻己之清高不遇【情感与主旨】《蝉》约作于李商隐晚年，时潦倒幕府，沉沦下僚。诗人以蝉自况：蝉居高饮露而犹不饱，己则清直遭弃【名句点睛】此诗为唐李商隐之作，精要赏析详见下方深度赏析。

Background

The poem was written around Li Shangyin's late years when he was a frustrated staff officer. The poet sees himself in the cicada: the cicada lives high but starves, just as his own integrity leads to rejection; its cries go unheard, just as his own indignation finds no sympathetic ear. The lines 'A petty official drifts like floating wood' lament his wandering career, and 'My native garden is overgrown' expresses his inability to retreat.

《蝉》为晚唐诗人李商隐所作。李商隐（约813—约858），字义山，号玉溪生，晚唐诗人，与杜牧并称“小李杜”，与温庭筠并称“温李”，诗风深婉。此诗以蝉起兴，写身世之感：蝉栖高枝而难饱，徒劳鸣叫而无人理会；五更鸣声疏断，满树碧叶无情。诗人由蝉之“高难饱”“恨费声”联想到自己的薄宦飘零、故园荒芜——薄宦如桃梗飘泛，故园早已荒芜；蝉最能警醒自己，因为自己也如蝉一样清贫。全诗以蝉写己，物我交融，是咏物诗的名篇，也是李商隐身世之感的写照。

Art

The poem's brilliance lies in the fusion of object and self. The first couplet describes the cicada's nature while hinting at the poet's noble but unrecognized talent. The couplet 'At dawn its chirps are sparse, almost expire; / The tree is green and cold, without a fire' uses the tree's indifference to contrast with the cicada's solitary cry, expressing resentment without anger. The third couplet shifts from cicada to poet, using the allusion of floating wood to describe his wandering life. The final couplet personifies the cicada, linking it to the poet's impoverished but pure household.

《蝉》艺术上以物我交融与比兴的深婉见长。全诗八句，层层写来：前四句写蝉——“本以高难饱，徒劳恨费声”写蝉居高而难饱、鸣叫而徒劳，“五更疏欲断，一树碧无情”写蝉鸣声欲断、树色无情——蝉之清高、困顿、孤独，尽在其中；后四句由蝉及己——“薄宦梗犹泛，故园芜已平”写己之飘零——薄宦如桃梗飘泛，故园早已荒芜，“烦君最相警，我亦举家清”写蝉我相警——蝉鸣警醒自己，自己也如蝉一样清贫。全诗以蝉之“高”“清”写己之“清高”，物我交融，比兴深婉，正是李商隐咏物诗“寄托遥深”的风格。

Allusions

The line 'A petty official drifts like floating wood' alludes to a dialogue in the Strategies of the Warring States where a clay figure and a peach-twig figure discuss drifting, symbolizing the poet's wandering official career. 'My native garden is overgrown' echoes Tao Qian's 'Returning Home' where he asks 'Why not return when the fields are about to be overgrown?' The opening line hints at the legend that cicadas live on dew and stay high. The word 'pure' in the last line puns on both poverty and nobility.

《蝉》用典在“梗犹泛”。“梗犹泛”用《战国策·齐策》桃梗与土偶之喻——桃梗刻为人形，投于水中，飘泛不定；此处写己之“薄宦梗犹泛”，以桃梗写官游飘零。“故园芜”用陶渊明《归去来兮辞》“田园将芜胡不归”之典，写故园荒芜、有家难归。“举家清”写全家清贫，与蝉之“清”相合。全诗以桃梗、故园芜这些典故写身世，以“清”字贯串蝉我，用典贴切而寄托深婉，正是李商隐“以典写情”的功力。

Commentary

Shi Buhua in his Notes on Poetry said: 'For the same cicada, Yu Shinan's "Standing high, its voice spreads far" is the voice of a pure and noble man; Luo Binwang's "Heavy dew makes it hard to fly" is the voice of a man in distress; Li Shangyin's "Born too high to be well fed" is the voice of a man with grievances.' The Qing scholar Ji Yun commented: 'The spirit is not far off, the meaning is deeper.' Li Shangyin's cicada poem, by infusing his own feelings into the object, achieves a fusion of object and self, becoming the third realm of Tang object-poetry.

《蝉》是李商隐咏物诗的名篇，也是唐诗中咏蝉的绝唱之一。唐代咏蝉诗甚多——虞世南《蝉》写高洁、骆宾王《在狱咏蝉》写悲愤，而李商隐此诗写清贫，三者并称“咏蝉三绝”。论者多赏其“本以高难饱，徒劳恨费声”的起笔——以蝉之“高难饱”写清高之困，物我交融；“五更疏欲断，一树碧无情”写蝉之孤独与树之无情，更见深婉。此诗以蝉写己，物我一体，正是李商隐“寄托遥深”的体现。清人朱彝尊评此诗“咏物最上乘”，正指其物我无间的笔法。

Prosody

Form Five-character regulated verse五言律诗

Rhyme Pingshui rhyme: lower level tone, eighth rhyme group (sheng, qing, ping, qing)《蝉》为五言律诗，八句，押平声韵。此诗用韵：声、情、平、清（庚部），一韵到底，音节圆转。五律句式整饬，宜于写咏物抒怀。

Tone pattern First line does not rhyme; oblique tone beginning, oblique tone ending五言律诗以声调和谐、对仗工整见长。此诗前四句写蝉，“本以高难饱”以“高”起，音节清亮；“一树碧无情”以“无情”收，音节低沉；后四句写己，“薄宦梗犹泛”以“泛”写飘零，“我亦举家清”以“清”收束。全诗以平韵贯底，声调随咏蝉写己的内容起伏，是五律中咏物抒怀的名篇。

Reading note A five-character regulated verse by Li Shangyin, the third couplet uses a flowing parallel structure, with deep implications.《蝉》为五言律诗，是李商隐咏物诗的名篇，与虞世南《蝉》、骆宾王《在狱咏蝉》并称“咏蝉三绝”。此诗前四句写蝉之清高、困顿、孤独，后四句由蝉及己，写薄宦飘零、故园荒芜、举家清贫，物我交融，比兴深婉。唐代咏蝉三绝各有其“清”：虞世南写清高（居高声自远）、骆宾王写清怨（露重飞难进）、李商隐写清贫（我亦举家清）。此诗以“清”字一以贯之，正是李商隐身世之感的写照，也是“咏物最上乘”的典范。

Line by line

本以高难饱，徒劳恨费声。五更疏欲断，一树碧无情。

By nature, perched high, it can scarce feed; its mournful cries are spent in vain. At the fifth watch the thin sound is nearly gone; the whole tree is green, and cares nothing.

本因栖居高枝难以饱腹，徒然悲鸣也空费了声声。五更时分疏哑的鸣声几乎断绝，满树碧叶却无情相顾。

Perched high, it can scarcely feed; its bitter cries are spent in vain. At dawn the thin chirp is about to fail; the whole green tree is cold and indifferent.

前四句写蝉之清高与困顿。“本以高难饱”写蝉居高而难饱——“高”写其栖高枝，“难饱”写其清苦，蝉因高而难饱，正是清高者的命运；“徒劳恨费声”写其鸣叫而徒劳——“徒劳”写无人理会，“恨费声”写其悲鸣无益；“五更疏欲断”写其鸣声欲断——“五更”写天将明，鸣声疏哑欲断；“一树碧无情”写树之无情——满树碧叶，却无动于衷。四句以蝉之“高难饱”“恨费声”“疏欲断”写其清苦、徒劳、孤独，以“碧无情”写环境的冷漠，把蝉写得既是蝉、又是清高困顿的诗人自己。以“高”与“无情”对照，正是咏物诗的深婉笔法。

The first four lines write the cicada's loftiness and distress. By nature, perched high, it can scarce feed writes that the cicada dwells on the high bough and is hard filled, the word high writing its lofty perch and hard filled its austerity, the cicada hard to feed because high, exactly the fate of the lofty. Its mournful cries are spent in vain writes its calling in vain, the words spent in vain writing no one heeding, bitter cries spent writing its lament useless. At the fifth watch the thin sound is nearly gone writes the call about to fail, the fifth watch the nearing dawn, the chirp sparse and about to break. The whole tree is green, and cares nothing writes the tree's indifference, all the green leaves unmoved. The four lines write through the cicada's high and hard to feed, cries spent, and call about to fail its austerity, its vain labor, its loneliness, and through green and indifferent the environment's coldness, writing the cicada as both the cicada and the lofty, distressed poet himself. Setting high against indifferent, exactly the object-singing poem's deep-tender brush.

薄宦梗犹泛，故园芜已平。烦君最相警，我亦举家清。

My poor office drifts like the woodwork on the flood; my old garden is overgrown to the level. You are the one who warns me most; my whole family, like you, is bare and pure.

薄宦之身如桃梗在水中飘泛，故园荒芜早已长满野草。多烦你（蝉）最能警醒于我，我亦全家清贫如此。

My petty office drifts like a floating wood figure; my old garden weeds have grown level. You are the one who chides me most; my whole family is poor and pure, like you.

后四句由蝉及己，写身世之感。“薄宦梗犹泛”写己之飘零——用桃梗之喻写官游无定、飘泛如水；“故园芜已平”写故园之荒——用陶渊明“田园将芜”之典写故园荒芜、有家难归；“烦君最相警”写蝉我相警——蝉之鸣声最能警醒自己，“我亦举家清”写己之清贫——自己也如蝉一样清贫。四句由蝉之高洁写到己之飘零、由蝉之鸣警写到己之清贫，物我交融，层层深入。以“清”字收束——蝉清、我亦清，清高者的命运如此。这一收束，把咏蝉与咏己合而为一，正是李商隐寄托遥深的极致。

The last four lines move from the cicada to the self, writing the feeling of lot. My poor office drifts like the woodwork on the flood uses the peach-wood figure meta-phor for the wandering office, drifting on the water; my old garden weeds have grown level uses Tao Yuanming's fields and gardens will soon be overgrown to write the home overgrown and hard to return. You are the one who chides me most writes that the cicada's cry most warns him; my whole family is bare and pure writes his own poverty. The four lines move from the cicada's loftiness to his own drifting, from the cicada's warning cry to his own poverty, object and self fused, deepening layer by layer. Closing in the word pure - the cicada pure, I too pure, the fate of the lofty thus. This close fuses singing the cicada and singing the self into one, exactly the peak of Li Shangyin's far-reaching lodging.

Study

Word focus

高难饱 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “本以高难饱”之“高难饱”，写蝉居高而难饱，是全诗立意的关纽。“高”写其栖高枝，“难饱”写其清苦——因高而难饱，正是清高者的宿命。着一“高”，蝉便不只是蝉，而是清高自守的象征；着一“难饱”，清高便带上了现实的困顿。这一词把蝉的清高与清苦融为一体，为全诗“以蝉写己”定下基调——诗人亦如蝉，清高而难饱。

无情 heartless; the tree's indifference “一树碧无情”之“无情”，写碧树之冷漠，是全诗最见深婉的一笔。“碧无情”三字，妙在“碧”与“无情”的对照——树何其绿，情何其冷；绿得越浓，越显其无动于衷。这一词写环境的冷漠：蝉鸣声欲断，满树碧叶却无动于衷。以“碧无情”写冷漠，比直言“树无情”更见色彩与情感的对照，正是李商隐“以景写情”的绝妙笔法。

梗犹泛 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “薄宦梗犹泛”之“梗犹泛”，用桃梗之喻写官游飘零，是全诗用典最妙的一词。“梗”即桃梗（木偶），“泛”写其飘泛——桃梗浮水，随波逐流；此处写己之“薄宦梗犹泛”，以桃梗写官游无定。这一词以典写身世：如桃梗般飘泛，身不由己。以“梗犹泛”写薄宦，比直言“飘零”更见具体与无奈，正是李商隐“以典写情”的功力。

举家清 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “我亦举家清”之“举家清”，写全家清贫，是全诗情感的点睛之词。“举家”即全家，“清”兼写清贫与清高——全家清贫，亦全家清高。这一词以“清”字收束全诗：蝉清、我清、举家皆清——清高者注定清贫，正是李商隐身世的写照。以“举家清”作结，既是自叹，亦是自持：虽清贫而不改清高。这一词与首句“高难饱”遥相呼应，全诗“清”字一以贯之，正是咏蝉三绝中以“清”写身的绝唱。

蝉