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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

赋得

On an Assigned Theme (Spring Thoughts)

刘长卿

Liu Changqing

莺啼燕语报新年马邑龙堆路几千家住层城临汉苑心随明月到胡天机中锦字论长恨楼上花枝笑独眠为问元戎窦车骑何时返斾勒燕然

Orioles sing and swallows chatter, announcing the new year; the road to Mayi and Longdui is several thousand li.
Her home stands in the tiered city, looking toward the Han park; her heart follows the bright moon to the barbarian sky.
At the loom, the brocaded characters tell of long sorrow; on the upper floor, blossoming branches laugh at her sleeping alone.
I would ask the commander, the Chariot General Dou: when will the banners turn homeward and the stone be carved on Yanran?
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Meaning

The poem gives voice to a woman left at home while her husband serves on the far frontier. Spring birds announce another new year, and she measures the thousands of li that separate them. She lives by the palace park of the capital, but her heart travels with the moon to the barbarian sky; she weaves her sorrow into brocade and is mocked by the flowering branches beside her lonely bed. The closing question asks when the campaign will end and the army return in triumph.

莺啼燕语，报道新年，马邑龙堆，路有几千。家住层城，临近汉苑，心随明月，到那胡天。机中锦字，论说长恨，楼上花枝，笑我独眠。为问元戎窦车骑，何时返旆，勒石燕然。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Orioles and swallows announce the new year; the road to the frontier garrisons runs thousands of li. Her house is in the high city near the imperial park, but her heart follows the moon into barbarian skies. The brocade at her loom speaks of lasting grief, and the flowering branch upstairs laughs at her sleeping alone. She asks the commanding general when the army will come home with victory carved on the mountain. [Structure] A regulated octave in four stages: season, distance, the shared moon, and finally the woman's own room and her question. [Imagery] The moon is the hinge - the one thing visible from both places, so it carries the heart across the distance. The brocade and the blossoming branch are interior images that replace complaint with symbol. [Effect] The tone is restrained and tender; grief is never shouted, only woven, mocked by spring, and finally turned into a question about a war she cannot influence.

【白话串讲】 刘长卿写《赋得》：“莺啼燕语报新年，马邑龙堆路几千”——“家住层城临汉苑，心随明月到胡天”——“机中锦字论长恨，楼上花枝笑独眠”——“为问元戎窦车骑，何时返斾勒燕然”——他写思妇——心随明月到胡天。 【意象与手法】 首联“莺啼燕语报新年，马邑龙堆路几千”写新年莺燕、边地路远；颔联“家住层城临汉苑，心随明月到胡天”写家在层城、心随明月；颈联“机中锦字论长恨，楼上花枝笑独眠”以锦字长恨、花枝笑眠写思妇之怨；尾联“为问元戎窦车骑，何时返斾勒燕然”以窦宪勒燕然之典写盼归。以春思写相思。 【情感与主旨】 刘长卿写征人思妇之作，写新年春思与思妇独守、盼征人勒燕然归来的相思，是春怨诗中的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“家住层城临汉苑，心随明月到胡天”以心随明月写相思；“机中锦字论长恨，楼上花枝笑独眠”以花枝笑眠写思妇之怨。

Background

Liu Changqing (about 726 - about 790), courtesy name Wenwang, was a mid-Tang poet known for quiet, melancholy verse on landscape, parting and frustration in office. This piece belongs to a very old tradition: the woman at home and the man at the frontier, a pairing developed in Han and southern dynasties music and taken up by Tang poets, who often wrote such poems as a way of speaking about public policy through private grief. The title means that the poem was written to a set theme, as in an examination or a literary gathering. The text is widely known as Spring Thoughts and is often attributed to Huangfu Ran; it is printed here under Liu Changqing's name following the source list, and the attribution should be held open. The place names - Mayi and Longdui - are the standard poetic names for the northern frontier.

此诗题作《赋得》，其文本「莺啼燕语报新年，马邑龙堆路几千。家住层城临汉苑，心随明月到胡天。机中锦字论长恨，楼上花枝笑独眠。为问元戎窦车骑，何时返斾勒燕然」，是广为传诵的《春思》之名篇，一般归于皇甫冉名下，此处依候选清单署刘长卿，姑存其说。其文本写征人思妇的春思与盼归：「莺啼燕语报新年」，写莺啼燕语，报道新年——莺燕为春鸟，啼语报春，正是新年春至的景象；「马邑龙堆路几千」，写马邑龙堆，路有几千——马邑为汉时边郡（今山西朔州），龙堆为白龙堆沙漠（今新疆罗布泊一带），马邑龙堆写边地之远，路几千写路途之遥；「家住层城临汉苑」，写家住层城，临近汉苑——层城为京城，汉苑为皇家苑囿，写思妇家住京城；「心随明月到胡天」，写心随明月，到那胡天——那明月，照着京城，也照着胡天，思妇之心随明月到边地，正是共月相思；「机中锦字论长恨」，写机中锦字，论说长恨——用苏蕙织回文璇玑图之典，写思妇织锦寄恨；「楼上花枝笑独眠」，写楼上花枝，笑我独眠——花枝似笑思妇独眠，正是「以乐景写哀」；「为问元戎窦车骑」，写为问元戎窦车骑——用窦宪之典，窦宪为东汉车骑将军，北击匈奴，勒石燕然；「何时返斾勒燕然」，写何时返旆，勒石燕然——返旆写班师回朝，勒燕然写刻石纪功，正是盼征人凯旋。全诗以春思写征人思妇的相思与盼归，含蓄而深挚，是春怨诗的名篇。

Art

The octave works by keeping two spaces in view at once and then joining them with a single object. The first couplet opposes the songs of spring in the capital to the measureless road north, so the festive season is the very thing that makes the separation hurt. The second couplet performs the poem's central movement: the body stays in the tiered city near the park while the heart travels with the moon, and because one moon shines over both places, distance is at once asserted and overcome. The third couplet turns inward, and its wit is in the verb for laughing: the blossoming branch is happy, and in a poem about a deserted woman that happiness is an insult. The closing couplet lifts the private grief into public history by naming a famous victory, so that the woman's question is also the empire's question about how long the war will last.

此诗艺术上以「以春写怨」与「用典寄情」为特色，在新年莺燕的春景中写尽思妇的相思。首联「莺啼燕语报新年，马邑龙堆路几千」，以「莺啼燕语」写新年春至，以「马邑龙堆」写边地之远——「莺燕报新年」写春景之明媚，「路几千」写边地之遥远，正是「乐景写哀」的开端：春景愈明媚，边地愈遥远；颔联「家住层城临汉苑，心随明月到胡天」，以「家住层城」写思妇在京城，以「心随明月」写心到边地——「家」与「心」，一在此处、一在彼处，正是「身在此而心在彼」的相思，那明月，是相思的纽带；颈联「机中锦字论长恨，楼上花枝笑独眠」，以「机中锦字」写织锦寄恨，以「楼上花枝笑独眠」写花枝笑眠——「锦字论长恨」写思妇之怨，「花枝笑独眠」写独处之孤，正是「以乐景写哀」；尾联「为问元戎窦车骑，何时返斾勒燕然」，以「为问」写盼归之问，以「返斾勒燕然」写凯旋之盼——那盼归之问，正是思妇的心声。全诗由新年春景写起，经层城明月、锦字花枝的相思，而归于「何时返斾」的盼归，以春写怨、用典寄情，正是春怨诗「以春写怨」的极致。

Allusions

Two historical references carry the last couplet. The brocaded characters recall the story of a woman of the Jin period who wove a palindrome of several hundred characters into a piece of silk and sent it to her husband at the frontier, the device being readable in every direction; the phrase therefore means a woman's ingenuity and her unending grievance. The Chariot General Dou is the Later Han general who led a campaign far into the northern deserts and had a record of the victory carved on Mount Yanran, an act that became the standing image of a completed campaign and a triumphant return. By asking when the banners will turn home and the stone be carved, the woman is asking when the war will be won, since only victory brings her husband back.

此诗用典于关键处见深意。「马邑龙堆」，写边地之远——马邑为汉时边郡，在今山西朔州，龙堆即白龙堆沙漠，在新疆罗布泊一带，都是汉时征战之地，以「马邑龙堆」写征人戍边之地，正是「万里长征人未还」的边地。「汉苑」，写汉家苑囿——以「汉」指「唐」，汉苑写皇家苑囿，思妇家住层城临汉苑，写家住京城。「机中锦字」，用「苏蕙回文」之典——前秦苏蕙织锦为回文《璇玑图》，寄赠远戍的丈夫窦滔，以表相思，后以「锦字」「回文」写思妇寄情之作；「机中锦字论长恨」，写思妇织锦寄恨。「窦车骑」，用「窦宪」之典——东汉窦宪为车骑将军，北击匈奴，登燕然山勒石纪功而还，后以「勒燕然」写平定边患、凯旋立功；「为问元戎窦车骑，何时返斾勒燕然」，以窦宪写征人，盼其凯旋。「燕然」，用「勒石燕然」之典——燕然山即今蒙古杭爱山，窦宪勒石燕然，后以「勒燕然」写建功立业。这些典故，或写马邑龙堆、或写苏蕙锦字、或写窦宪燕然，皆围绕征人思妇与盼归这一核心，织成一张含蕴的情网，正是唐人诗「以汉喻唐」用典的特点。

Commentary

The poem was long admired as one of the finest treatments of the abandoned woman in the regulated octave. Critics singled out the second couplet, in which the heart follows the moon, as the perfect expression of shared vision across distance, and noted that the device recurs throughout Tang poetry precisely because it solves a structural problem: how to have one speaker in two places. The third couplet was also much discussed for its use of a happy image to sharpen grief, a device later critics described as meeting sorrow with joy so that the sorrow is doubled. The attribution to Liu Changqing or to Huangfu Ran has never been settled, and the poem is usually printed with a note to that effect.

读此诗，最值得注意的是「心随明月到胡天」与「楼上花枝笑独眠」所写出的「身在此而心在彼」。那思妇，家住层城，临近汉苑，本是京城的繁华之地；然而她的心，却随明月，到了那马邑龙堆的胡天——因为她的征人，在那里。这一「心随明月」，是全诗的关键：以明月为纽带，把京城的思妇与胡天的征人，系于同一轮明月之下，正是「可怜闺里月，长在汉家营」的相思。而「楼上花枝笑独眠」，更是「以乐景写哀」的极致：那楼上的花枝，春意盎然，仿佛在笑思妇的独眠——花枝不知愁，笑人独眠，那明媚的春花，正反衬独眠的孤寂。到了尾联，「为问元戎窦车骑，何时返斾勒燕然」——那思妇盼征人凯旋的愿望，正如沈佺期「谁能将旗鼓，一为取龙城」的期盼。全诗由新年莺燕的明媚，经「心随明月」的相思、「锦字长恨」的幽怨，而归于「何时返斾」的盼归，以春写怨、含蓄深挚，正是春怨诗的特点。至于此诗的作者归属，或为传抄混淆，然无论归于皇甫冉还是刘长卿，其「以春写怨」「用典寄情」的笔法，都是盛唐闺怨诗的成就，那「心随明月」的相思，那「花枝笑独眠」的孤寂，写尽了深闺思妇的心声。

Prosody

Form Poem, a seven-character regulated octave (qiyan lüshi) of eight lines in four couplets, with strict antithesis in the middle couplets.诗（七言律诗）
Rhyme A single level-tone rhyme runs through the even lines, drawn from a clear, open final shared by the words for year, thousand, sky, sleep and thus. The bright, drawn-out sound suits a poem of long waiting and wide distance.此诗为七言律诗，押平声「先」部韵，「年」「千」「天」「眠」「然」等字皆属下平一先韵，韵脚清亮而绵长，正合诗情「春思含怨」的声调。首联「莺啼燕语报新年，马邑龙堆路几千」以「报新年」「路几千」起，写春景边地；颔联「家住层城临汉苑，心随明月到胡天」，以「家住层城」「心随明月」相对，工对而见相思；颈联「机中锦字论长恨，楼上花枝笑独眠」，以「机中锦字」「楼上花枝」相对，工对而见幽怨；尾联「为问元戎窦车骑，何时返斾勒燕然」，以「何时」转折，写盼归。整体声调由首联的新年，到尾联的盼归，清亮而含怨，正合春怨诗「以春写怨」的诗情。
Tone pattern Level and oblique tones follow the regulated pattern, and each couplet is balanced part against part: birds against road, city against sky, loom against upper floor. The evenness of the sound matches the woman's disciplined endurance, and the final question is asked in the smoothest of metres.句式上，此诗善用对仗与虚字：「莺啼燕语报新年，马邑龙堆路几千」，以「莺啼燕语」对「马邑龙堆」，一春一边，对仗精工；「家住层城临汉苑，心随明月到胡天」，以「家住」「心随」相对，一实一虚，写尽相思；「机中锦字论长恨，楼上花枝笑独眠」，以「机中锦字」「楼上花枝」相对，一怨一乐，以乐景写哀；「为问元戎窦车骑，何时返斾勒燕然」，以「为问」「何时」写盼归，转折而见心声。全诗由写景入相思、由相思入幽怨、由幽怨入盼归，对仗整饬而句法多变，正是盛唐七律「以春写怨」的节奏美学。
Reading note The regulated octave's demand for antithesis is what makes the second couplet so effective: the parallelism of house and heart, capital and barbarian sky, is not decoration but the poem's actual argument about being in two places at once. The closing line places its key words at the caesura, so the two conditions - the banners turning and the stone being carved - are heard as the two halves of a single hope.作为盛唐七律，《赋得》的声律之美，在于以清亮的先韵与精工的对仗，写出春思含怨的相思盼归情思。全诗首联「莺啼燕语报新年」以莺啼燕语写新年春至的明媚，马邑龙堆写边地之远，乐景写哀；颔联「家住层城临汉苑，心随明月到胡天」以家住层城、心随明月写身在此而心在彼的相思，共月系情；颈联「机中锦字论长恨，楼上花枝笑独眠」以苏蕙锦字、花枝笑眠写思妇的幽怨与孤寂，以乐景写哀；尾联「为问元戎窦车骑，何时返斾勒燕然」以窦宪勒燕然之典写盼归的期望，含蓄收束。全诗由写景入相思、由相思入幽怨、由幽怨入盼归，层层递进而声情相谐，正是「以春写怨」的体现。就全诗而言，此诗以春思写征人思妇的相思与盼归，含蓄而深挚，是春怨诗的名篇，与王昌龄《闺怨》同为思妇之作，而一写「忽见陌头杨柳色」的悔怨，一写「心随明月到胡天」的相思，可见「春思」这一母题在盛唐的两种情调，也可见思妇盼归在唐诗中的永恒主题。

Line by line

心随明月到胡天

My heart follows the bright moon to the barbarian sky.

心随明月，到那胡天。

My heart follows the bright moon all the way to the northern borderlands.

这一句写思妇之心随明月到边地，是此诗共月相思的关键。「心随明月」，写心随明月——那明月，照着京城，也照着边地，思妇之心，随明月而行；「到胡天」，写到那胡天——胡天写边地之天，马邑龙堆之地，正是征人戍守之处。以「心随明月」写相思，比直写「相思」更见含蓄与深情——那思妇身在京城，心却随明月到了边地，正是「身在此而心在彼」的相思；「到胡天」三字，写心到边地，正是「闺里月长在汉家营」的共月相思。这一句，是此诗共月相思的关键，也是「家住层城临汉苑」的对照——家与心，一在此处、一在彼处，那明月，正是相思的纽带，那胡天，正是牵挂的所在。

This line carries the waiting wife's heart on the moonlight to the frontier, the crux of the poem's shared-moon longing. 'My heart follows the moon' — the same moon shines on the capital and on the border, and her heart travels with it; 'to the northern sky' names the garrison lands beyond the frontier. To write longing as a heart that follows the moon is far subtler than saying 'I long': the wife's body is in the capital, her heart gone to the border, that classic love of 'one body here, one heart there'. It is the bond of moon-watching, and the counterpart to 'my home lies by the Han parks' — home and heart, one here, one there, the moon the only thread.

机中锦字论长恨

At the loom, the brocaded characters tell of long sorrow.

机中锦字，论说长恨。

On the loom, brocade letters tell of an endless sorrow.

这一句用苏蕙回文之典，写思妇织锦寄恨，是此诗思妇幽怨的关键。「机中锦字」，用「苏蕙回文」之典——前秦苏蕙织锦为回文《璇玑图》，寄赠远戍的丈夫窦滔，以表相思，后以「锦字」「回文」写思妇寄情之作；「论长恨」，写论说长恨——那锦字，论说的是长恨，正是思妇的幽怨。以「机中锦字」写思妇，比直写「织锦」更见典故与深情——那思妇，在机中织锦，织的是回文锦字，寄的是相思长恨，正是「长恨绵绵」的幽怨；「论长恨」三字，写锦字所论之长恨，正是思妇的心声。这一句，是此诗思妇幽怨的关键，与「楼上花枝笑独眠」相对，一写织锦寄恨，一写花枝笑眠，正是思妇的幽怨与孤寂。

This line draws on the legend of Su Hui's palindrome brocade: in the Former Qin, Su Hui wove the Xuanji Tu, a palindrome picture, and sent it to her far-garrisoned husband Dou Tao to express her love; hence 'brocade letters' stand for a waiting woman's tender message. 'On the loom, brocade letters tell of endless sorrow' — the woven words speak of lasting grief, the wife's own complaint. To write the wife through brocade weaving is richer than a plain statement: at the loom she weaves palindrome letters, sending an endless longing. It pairs with 'flowers on the branches laugh at the lonely sleeper' — one line weaves grief, the next has blossoms mock her solitude.

何时返斾勒燕然

When will the banners turn homeward and the stone be carved on Yanran?

何时返旆，勒石燕然。

When will the banners turn homeward, when will victory be carved on Yanran Mountain?

这一句是全诗的结穴，以窦宪勒燕然之典写盼归，是此诗盼归心声的最高点。「何时返斾」，写何时班师回朝——「返斾」写班师回朝，「何时」写盼归之问，正是思妇的心声；「勒燕然」，用「窦宪勒石燕然」之典——东汉窦宪为车骑将军，北击匈奴，登燕然山勒石纪功而还，「勒燕然」写平定边患、凯旋立功。以「何时返斾勒燕然」写盼归，比直写「盼归」更见典故与期望——那征人，何时能如窦宪般勒石燕然，凯旋归来？正是思妇的共同愿望；「何时」二字，写盼归之切，正是「为问元戎窦车骑」的深意。这一结句，含蓄深挚，是此诗盼归心声的最高点，也是「心随明月到胡天」的结局——那随明月而去的思念，正盼着「返斾」的归来。

This is the poem's resolution, using the story of Dou Xian's inscription on Mount Yanran to voice the longing for return. 'When will the banners turn home' asks when the army will march back — 'when' is the cry of homesickness. 'Carve a record on Yanran': in the Eastern Han, Dou Xian, General of Chariots and Cavalry, marched north against the Xiongnu, climbed Mount Yanran, carved a stone inscription of his merit, and returned. The line asks when the soldier will return triumphant like Dou Xian. The single word 'when' holds all the yearning, the deep meaning behind 'asking of the marshal, General Dou'. It ends the poem in restrained devotion, the fulfillment of 'my heart follows the moon' — that longing gone with the moon now waits for the banners' homecoming.

Study

Word focus

锦字 Brocaded characters, referring to the famous palindrome woven in silk by a wife and sent to her husband at the frontier. The phrase therefore carries both a wife's clever devotion and the length of a grievance that can only be written in a puzzle. 「机中锦字论长恨」之「锦字」，用苏蕙回文之典，是此诗思妇意象的核心语。「锦字」即织锦回文——用「苏蕙回文」之典，前秦苏蕙织锦为回文《璇玑图》，寄赠远戍的丈夫窦滔，以表相思，后以「锦字」「回文」写思妇寄情之作；「机中锦字论长恨」，写机中锦字，论说长恨。以「锦字」写思妇，比直写「书信」更见典故与深情——那织锦回文，是思妇寄情之作，字字都是相思，「锦字」写思妇的才情与深情；「论长恨」三字，写锦字所论之长恨，正是思妇的幽怨。这一词，是此诗思妇意象的核心，与「窦车骑」之典相映——苏蕙的丈夫窦滔、窦宪的车骑，皆姓窦，正是「窦」姓之缘，也是此诗用典的精妙。
胡天 The barbarian sky, the northern horizon beyond the frontier. Naming the sky rather than the place makes the distance seem unbounded, and it is the sky that the moon crosses, which is what allows the woman's heart to travel there. 「心随明月到胡天」之「胡天」，写边地之天，是此诗边地意象的核心语。「胡天」即胡人之地的天空——胡为古代对北方少数民族的称呼，「胡天」写边地之天，正是征人戍守之处；「心随明月到胡天」，写心随明月，到那胡天。以「胡天」写边地，比直写「边关」更见遥远与荒凉——那胡天，是马邑龙堆之地，是征人戍守的边地，思妇之心随明月到胡天，正是「万里长征人未还」的边地；「到胡天」三字，写心到边地，正是牵挂的所在。这一词，是此诗边地意象的核心，与「家住层城临汉苑」相对，一在京城、一在胡天，正是思妇与征人的两地相隔，也是共月相思的所在。
返斾 To turn the banners homeward, a technical military term for the army coming back. The word places the hope precisely: not peace, not a letter, but the physical return of the standards, and with them the man who followed them. 「何时返斾勒燕然」之「返斾」，写班师回朝，是此诗盼归意象的核心语。「返斾」即返旗、班师回朝——「返」写返回，「斾」写旗帜，「返斾」写军队班师回朝，正是凯旋归来；「何时返斾勒燕然」，写何时返旆，勒石燕然。以「返斾」写凯旋，比直写「归来」更见军事与庄重——那征人，何时能班师回朝，凯旋归来，正是思妇的期盼；「返斾勒燕然」五字，写班师与纪功，正是「封侯拜相」的期望。这一词，是此诗盼归意象的核心，与「何时」相连，写盼归之切——那「何时返斾」的问，正是思妇的心声，那「勒燕然」的功，正是征人的归期。

Related Reading

闺怨 A Woman's Grievance in the Boudoir 王昌龄 · 同为思妇春怨之作，一写陌头杨柳的悔怨一写心随明月的相思，春思母题互为映照 Both treat a woman's spring sorrow. One regrets having sent her husband off to seek rank; the other follows the moon to the frontier. The theme of the woman's spring grief reflects between regret and longing.

Wang Changling's quatrain turns on a moment of self-reproach - seeing the willow by the road, she regrets her ambition. This octave has no regret, only waiting, and its grief is spatial rather than moral. Both, however, use spring's beauty as an irritant rather than a comfort.

王昌龄《闺怨》「闺中少妇不知愁，春日凝妆上翠楼。忽见陌头杨柳色，悔教夫婿觅封侯」，写少妇春闺的相思与悔怨，是春怨诗的名篇；此诗「心随明月到胡天」「为问元戎窦车骑，何时返斾勒燕然」，同样写思妇的春思。一写「悔教夫婿觅封侯」的悔怨，一写「何时返斾勒燕然」的盼归；王昌龄是「忽见杨柳色」的触动，此诗是「心随明月」的相思。并读两作，可见「春思」这一母题在盛唐的两种情调，也可见思妇在悔怨与期盼之间的不同心境。

 子夜吴歌·秋歌 Ziye Songs: The Autumn Song 李白 · 同为征人思妇之作，一写万户捣衣的玉关情一写心随明月的胡天思，明月相思互为映照 Both concern soldiers and the women who wait for them. One hears the beating of washing blocks under the autumn moon; the other follows the spring moon to the frontier. Moon and separation reflect between the two.

Li Bai's song is collective - ten thousand households beating clothes at once for men at the passes - and its power comes from shared sound. This poem is a single interior voice, and its power comes from shared sight. Together they show the two great Tang treatments of the same social fact.

李白《子夜吴歌·秋歌》「长安一片月，万户捣衣声。秋风吹不尽，总是玉关情。何日平胡虏，良人罢远征」，写秋夜捣衣、思妇盼征人，是征人思妇诗的名篇；此诗「心随明月到胡天」「何时返斾勒燕然」，同样写思妇盼征人。一写「长安一片月」的捣衣声，一写「心随明月」的胡天思；李白以「何日平胡虏，良人罢远征」写期盼，此诗以「何时返斾勒燕然」写盼归。并读两作，可见「明月」「相思」「盼归」在两位诗人笔下的异曲同工，也可见征人思妇题材在唐诗中的永恒主题。

 月夜 Moonlit Night 杜甫 · 同为共月相思之作，一写香雾云鬟的鄜州月一写心随明月的胡天思，望月相思互为映照 Both make the moon carry feeling between separated people. One imagines a wife at a distant window, the other sends a heart along the moon to the frontier sky. Shared moonlight reflects between husband and wife.

Du Fu writes from the man's side, imagining his wife watching the moon while the children cannot yet understand; the tenderness is domestic and immediate. Here the speaker is the woman, and the distance is measured in thousands of li and in frontier place names. Both depend on the belief that one moon is visible to both.

杜甫《月夜》「今夜鄜州月，闺中只独看。遥怜小儿女，未解忆长安」，写望月而忆闺中妻儿，以月写相思，是共月相思的名篇；此诗「心随明月到胡天」，同样以明月写相思。一写「今夜鄜州月」的望月忆妻，一写「心随明月」的望月思夫；杜甫是「香雾云鬟湿，清辉玉臂寒」的深情，此诗是「机中锦字论长恨」的幽怨。并读两作，可见「明月相思」这一母题在盛唐的两种境界，也可见夫妻相思在两位诗人笔下的不同表达。