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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

离思·其一

Parting Thoughts · I

元稹

Yuan Zhen

爱情love 悼亡mourning the dead (elegy for the wife)

自爱残妆晓镜中，环钗漫篸绿丝丛。
须臾日射胭脂颊，一朵红苏旋欲融。

She loves her faint leftover makeup in the morning mirror;
Rings and hairpins carelessly thrust among the dark silk tresses.
In a moment sunlight strikes her rouged cheek—
A red blossom that seems about to melt away.

Listen

Meaning

She loves the look of her faint leftover makeup before the morning mirror; rings and hairpins are carelessly thrust into the black mass of her hair. In a moment the morning sun lights her rouged cheek, and she seems like a red flower just about to melt.

她最爱拂晓时分镜中那淡淡残妆的模样，环钗随意斜插在乌黑的发丛里。片刻间朝阳映照在她抹了胭脂的脸颊上，仿佛一朵红艳的花儿正要缓缓融化开来。

Appreciation

This quatrain wins by fine, detailed brushwork, like a bright painting of a woman's toilette. The first line opens from the woman's own admiring gaze, and the phrase 'leftover makeup' lets out the lazy air of early rising; the second line, with the word 'carelessly,' catches her coy, tender charm. The third and fourth lines give a sudden close-up of sunlight on the rouged cheek and a red blossom on the verge of melting, rendering the smooth skin and lovely face startlingly alive. The diction is exact and the pictorial sense strong, gaining the beauty of the Six-Dynasties palace style while shedding its frivolity. Though it reads like a love poem, it is in fact an elegy, using a joyful scene to write grief.

【白话串讲】 “自爱残妆晓镜中，环钗漫篸绿丝丛”——元稹写妻子晨起：喜欢自己残妆的样子，钗子随意插在发间。“须臾日射胭脂颊，一朵红苏旋欲融”——阳光照在她脸上，像一朵红花要化开。【意象与手法】此诗艺术上以工笔细描取胜，宛如一幅明丽闺妆图【情感与主旨】《离思五首》为元稹悼念亡妻韦丛之作，约写于唐宪宗元和四年（809）【名句点睛】中高考多从手法与情感命题。考点一：诗中'一朵红苏旋欲融'运用了什么修辞手法？答

Background

The 'Five Poems of Parting Thoughts' are Yuan Zhen's elegies for his deceased wife Wei Cong, written around 809. Wei Cong, daughter of the official Wei Xiaqing, married Yuan at twenty and died seven years later. Yuan wrote dozens of mourning poems through his life, and this group is among them. The first poem recalls Wei Cong's charming morning toilette; it is not a casual love poem but the poet reviving her image in memory after her death, using a joyful scene to set off the pain of parting by death and entrusting an undying devotion. The words seem sensual yet the feeling is genuinely sorrowful.

此诗为元稹《离思五首》其一，作于唐宪宗元和四年（809）之后。元稹早年与韦丛结缡，韦氏出身名门（京兆韦氏），却安于清贫，贤淑持家，不幸早逝。元稹痛失爱妻，写下组诗《离思》以寄哀思，最著名者即“曾经沧海难为水，除却巫山不是云”。本首不写悼亡的悲恸，而追忆妻子生前晨起对镜的日常一幕：晓妆残、环钗斜、胭脂颊——以极工细的笔触，写一位女子拂晓镜前最家常、最生动的美。全诗只写一瞬，不着一“思”字、不着一“悲”字，而悼亡之痛正在这“以乐景写哀”的反面烘托中悄然弥漫。韦丛早逝之后，诗人回望这一瞬，愈美愈痛，愈日常愈怅惘。从组诗整体看，此首以“忆美”开篇，正为后文“曾经沧海”的深情蓄势，可见悼亡组诗在结构上的匠心。

Art

This poem wins by fine, detailed brushwork, like a bright painting of a woman's toilette. The first line 'She loves her faint leftover makeup in the morning mirror' opens from the woman's self-admiration, and 'leftover makeup' reveals the lazy air of dawn; the second line 'Rings and hairpins carelessly thrust among the dark silk tresses,' with the word 'carelessly,' exhausts her coy charm; the third and fourth lines 'In a moment sunlight strikes her rouged cheek—a red blossom that seems about to melt away,' with a sudden close-up of sunlit cheek and a red bloom about to dissolve, make the figure of creamy skin and vivid beauty startle into life. The word-choice is precise and the pictorial sense very strong, gaining the splendor of the Six-Dynasties palace style yet free of its frivolity.

此诗的艺术在工笔写生与“以美写哀”的反衬。首句“自爱残妆晓镜中”起笔即妙：“残妆”本非美，诗人却着一“爱”字，写她最爱自己晓镜中残妆未整的模样——不施脂粉、天然姿态，正是夫妻之间才见得到的家常之美，亦是元稹眼中“真美”之所在。“环钗漫篸绿丝丛”以“漫”写随意，“绿丝丛”喻乌黑浓密的发髻，工笔细写其慵懒自适。第三句“须臾日射胭脂颊”引入晨光：朝阳初上，斜照在抹了胭脂的脸颊上，光影流转。结句“一朵红苏旋欲融”是全诗点睛之笔：以“红苏”（红色流苏或红晕）喻日光下的胭脂颊，着一“融”字，写那红晕如凝脂般即将化开，把静态的晨妆写出了动态的温软。四句全为白描，无一虚字，而人物之娇态、晨光之明净、时光之美好尽在其中。然而这越写越美的晨妆，恰是悼亡的底色——美得越具体、越鲜活，斯人已逝的落差越沉痛。全诗以乐景写哀，哀而不露，正是悼亡诗的上乘写法。

Allusions

The 'red su' (also 'red crisp') refers to face rouge or a red pastry, here used to liken the wife's ruddy cheek to a flower about to melt—a common boudoir phrase rather than a deep allusion. 'Zan' (here written 'can') means hairpin, an ornament for binding the hair. The whole poem uses elegant but not recondite diction, writing grief through everyday boudoir imagery, with no obscure allusions, exactly fitting the elegy's nature of 'every phrase household, every character blood and tears.' Though the Qing critic Pu Qilong faulted Yuan's poetry for a frivolous side, this piece uses an ornate brush for deep sorrow and in fact pioneered later elegies.

此诗用典极隐而化用无痕。“环钗”是古代女子的头饰，“绿丝丛”喻发髻，皆取象于六朝以来描写闺阁的语汇传统；“残妆”与“胭脂”承《木兰诗》“当窗理云鬓，对镜帖花黄”一类闺妆意象，然取家常而不取华艳。“红苏”一词，或释为红色流苏、或以之喻红晕，取色取态，不涉特定典故。全诗真正的“用典”在悼亡传统这一大背景：自潘岳《悼亡诗》、沈约悼亡之作以来，追忆亡者生前日常细节，正是悼亡诗最动人的法门。元稹不事铺陈典故，而以工笔白描写真，把古人的“悼亡”写成了“忆美”——不直说悲伤，只细细描摹那一个晨光中的画面，让读者从美中反观哀，从日常中体会永诀，是化典入神而不见典痕的高境。

Commentary

The Qing anthologist Hengtang Tuishi did not include this piece in his Three Hundred Tang Poems, yet later selectors often praise it as 'the words of an insider' (a remark of the Qing critic Shi Chengyu). Modern scholars say it writes mourning with an ornate brush, gorgeous on the surface yet deep sorrow within, of one mind with 'Sending My Grief,' showing how devoted and deep Yuan Zhen's feeling was for Wei Cong. Su Shi's 'Riverside Town'—'last night in a dim dream I suddenly returned home'—writes a dream of returning to the toilette; it is the same tune played differently with this morning-mirror memory of leftover makeup, both supreme elegies.

《离思五首》历来被视为元稹悼亡诗的代表作，而“曾经沧海难为水，除却巫山不是云”尤为人所熟知。本首虽非最出名，却最能见元稹白描之工。陈寅恪论元稹悼亡诗，称其以“真实”胜，不作空泛之悲，此首正可为例——不写哭声，只写妻子晓镜残妆的一瞬，是真懂悼亡之人方能写出的笔触。论者或以“自爱残妆晓镜中”为疑，谓悼亡而写残妆似不庄重，然恰因此见得夫妻间无人窥见的情态，更显真切。清人评元稹诗“轻俗”，然悼亡诸作情深语挚，实为其中高境。全诗四句，起承转合井然：首句点题写“爱”，次句写“妆”，三句引入“日射”，四句以“融”字收束，一笔不移，而情味自深。后世以“曾经沧海”为情语极致的名句，正需有此“残妆晓镜”的具体美作底，方不致空洞。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain七言绝句（仄起首句入韵式）

Rhyme Ping-shui rhyme, upper-level first Dong group (mirror, tresses, melt)全诗押上平一东（或二冬）韵，韵脚为“中、丛、融”，一韵到底。韵字“中、丛、融”音色清和而略带圆融，正合晨妆温馨明丽的情境。七绝篇幅短小，一韵到底，声情稳定，宜于写一瞬之景、一瞬之情。

Tone pattern First line enters rhyme; oblique-onset, first-line-enters-rhyme form此诗为仄起首句入韵的七绝。首句“自爱残妆晓镜中”仄仄平平仄仄平起，“环钗漫篸绿丝丛”平平仄仄仄平平相承；三句“须臾日射胭脂颊”平平仄仄平平仄转，四句“一朵红苏旋欲融”仄仄平平仄仄平合。平仄基本合律，节奏明快，四句之间起承转合，一气呵成。七绝宜于写景抒情，此诗以流利的声调写晨妆的一瞬，音韵与画面相得益彰。

Reading note The five-poem group are all seven-character quatrains; this one writes amorous mourning and is named alongside its fourth 'Once having seen the ocean.'此诗为七言绝句，是元稹悼亡组诗中篇幅最精的一体。七绝四句，恰可容纳“起（自爱）—承（环钗）—转（日射）—合（欲融）”的完整过程：前二句写静态的晨妆，后二句引入动态的晨光，由静入动、由妆及光，最后以一“融”字凝定最动人的一瞬。绝句最忌平铺，此诗好在第三句“转”得有力——“须臾日射”四字把时间与光影一同推进，第四句才能以“旋欲融”收束得余味无穷。相较古体悼亡的铺陈悲恸，此诗以绝句写一瞬，正是以少胜多、以美写哀的典范。

Line by line

自爱残妆晓镜中，环钗漫篸绿丝丛。

She loves herself in the morning mirror amid her faded toilette; her rings and pins are loosely set in the black tresses.

她最爱拂晓时分镜中那淡淡残妆的模样，环钗随意斜插在乌黑的发丛之间。

She loves, at dawn, her own faded toilette in the mirror; rings and pins are loosely slanted among the dark tresses.

起句即立定全诗的视角与情味。“残妆”暗示夜来未卸或晨起未饰，本是家常，诗人偏以“自爱”二字点出她的自我欣赏——她并不以残妆为憾，反觉这是最真实的自己。一个“爱”字，既是写她，也是写诗人眼中她的可爱。“环钗漫篸绿丝丛”继写妆饰：环钗“漫”（随意）插，“绿丝丛”以草木喻发，细密而生动。两句一写神态、一写妆饰，把晨起对镜的慵懒与自适写得如在目前，为下文的“日射”“欲融”铺设了温软的底色。

The opening line fixes the poem's viewpoint and flavor at once. 'Faded toilette' hints that she did not undress at night or did not adorn in the morning, ordinarily domestic, yet the poet adds 'loves herself' to name her self-appreciation — she does not regret the faded toilette, but feels it is the truest self. The one word 'loves' writes her, and writes the lovableness in the poet's eyes. 'Her rings and pins are loosely set in the black tresses' follows with the adornment: the rings and pins 'loosely' set, 'black tresses' the grass-metaphor for the hair, fine and vivid. One line her bearing, one her adornment, writing the lazy ease of the morning mirror as before the eyes, laying the soft ground for 'the sun strikes' and 'about to melt' below.

须臾日射胭脂颊，一朵红苏旋欲融。

In a moment the sun strikes her rouged cheek; a red blossom is about to melt away.

片刻之间，朝阳映照在她抹了胭脂的脸颊上，仿佛一朵红色的花正要缓缓融化。

In a moment the morning sun falls on her rouged cheek; a red flower, on the point of slowly melting.

此联是全诗的高潮与诗眼所在。“须臾”写时间之短促，晨光转瞬即至；“日射胭脂颊”以“射”写光的强烈与明快，晨阳直直照上抹了胭脂的面颊，红与光相激。“一朵红苏旋欲融”以“红苏”喻颊上红晕，以“融”字写其温软流动，仿佛凝脂将化、花瓣欲开。这一比喻妙在把“光”写出了“温”度，把静态的晨妆写出了动态的生命感。两句写的是极短暂的一瞬，却因“融”字而有了绵长的余味——美在将融未融之间，恰是诗意最浓处。

This couplet is the poem's climax and eye. 'In a moment' writes the brief time, the morning light coming in an instant; 'the sun strikes her rouged cheek' the word 'strike' the strong, bright light, the morning sun falling straight on the rouged cheek, red and light meeting. 'A red blossom is about to melt' uses 'red blossom' for the flush on her cheek, the word 'melt' writing its warm, flowing softness, as if the congealed cream were about to dissolve, the flower about to open. The metaphor's beauty is that it writes warmth into the light, and writes a living movement into the static morning toilette. Two lines of the briefest instant, yet the word 'melt' gives a long aftertaste — beauty lies between the melting and the not-yet-melted, precisely where the poetry is thickest.

Study

Word focus

自爱 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “自爱残妆晓镜中”之“自爱”，是全诗的题眼。它写的是妻子对自身之“爱”——不施浓妆、不待他赏，于残妆中自我欣赏，见出其真性情。同时，“自爱”也是诗人眼中她的样子：正是因为无人看见，她才这样放松、这样自然。这个“自”字把镜头拉进闺房私密的日常，把“美”从被看的对象还原为自我呈现的生命姿态。悼亡之作写“自爱”而非“被爱”，更见夫妻之间不事修饰的深情，也为全诗平添一层家常的、不可复得的珍贵。

漫 The word 'carelessly' (man) exhausts her coy, tender charm—as if she sets her pins at random it reveals the lover's lazy morning air and intimate self-possession, a small stroke that makes the boudoir scene breathe. “环钗漫篸绿丝丛”之“漫”，意为随意、不经意。晨起插钗，本不必整齐，着一“漫”字，写出她的慵懒与自在——不是精心妆扮待客，而是晨光初醒时的天然姿态。这个字与“自爱”呼应：正因为是在无人处，才这样随意；也正因为这样随意，才显出真实的美。一字之下，人物的神情、氛围的私密都活了起来，是炼字传神的典型。

融 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “一朵红苏旋欲融”之“融”，是全诗最见功力的一字。红晕本静，着一“融”字，则胭脂在晨光下如凝脂将化、如花瓣欲开，写出光影流转中那温软流动的一瞬。“融”兼有形、色、温三重感受：形则欲散未散，色则红艳欲滴，温则暖意融融。它把静态的晨妆写成了动态的过程，把“日射”的光与“胭脂”的色化为一瞬的呼吸。悼亡之痛，正因这“欲融”的美太鲜活、太短暂而愈显深沉——美在将融时戛然而止，正如生命在最美好处骤然中断。

须臾 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “须臾日射胭脂颊”之“须臾”，写晨光之倏忽而至，是全诗时间感的枢轴。“须臾”本义极短之时，着一词，那晨光便如转瞬即至的照临，把静态的晓妆骤然点亮。这一时间的急促与“旋欲融”的“旋”相呼应：光来得快，红晕化得也快，美好的瞬间转瞬即逝。悼亡的深层悲哀，正藏在这“须臾”之中——那样的美只存在于须臾之间，恰如妻子的一生只在短暂的时光里绽放。一个时间词，把视觉的美好与命运的短暂连成一体，读来愈美愈怅。