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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

梦天

Dreaming of Heaven

李贺

Li He

游仙immortal journey 想象imagination 时空time and space

老兔寒蟾泣天色，云楼半开壁斜白。
玉轮轧露湿团光，鸾佩相逢桂香陌。
黄尘清水三山下，更变千年如走马。
遥望齐州九点烟，一泓海水杯中泻。

The old hare and the cold toad weep in the chill of the sky,
The cloud tower half opens, its wall slanting white.
The jade wheel grinds over the dew and wets its rounded light,
On a lane fragrant with cassia I meet a girdle of phoenix bells.
Yellow dust and clear water change places below the three holy peaks,
A thousand years of transformation pass like a galloping horse.
Far off, the nine provinces are nine points of smoke,
And the whole sea is one pool poured out of a cup.

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Meaning

The poet dreams himself into the moon palace, walks its cassia-scented lanes among immortals, and then looks back down at the human world. From that height, a millennium of upheaval flashes past like a horse, China shrinks to nine specks of mist, and the ocean is no more than water tipped from a cup.

老兔与寒蟾伴着幽冷的天色低泣，云中楼阁半开，粉壁斜映着月白。玉轮般的月亮碾过露水，沾湿了团圆清光，我与佩着鸾铃的仙子在桂香小路上相逢。俯看黄尘与清水在三神山下交替，千年沧桑的更变快如奔马。遥望中原九州不过九点烟尘，汪洋大海也不过如杯中倾泻的一泓。

Appreciation

The first half builds the lunar world out of myth and mineral light: the weeping hare and toad, the half-opened tower of cloud, the moon as a jade wheel heavy with dew. The second half swings the camera around and looks earthward, and the shift in scale is the poem's whole achievement. Time is compressed into a horse's stride, geography into nine points of smoke, the sea into a cupful of water, until human history seems both vast and negligible. What might have been an escapist fantasy becomes an argument about proportion, and the strangeness of the imagery is exactly what makes the argument land.

【白话串讲】李贺梦见自己飞上月亮：“老兔寒蟾泣天色，云楼半开壁斜白”。“黄尘清水三山下，更变千年如走马”——他在天上，看人间千年像跑马一样快。“遥望齐州九点烟，一泓海水杯中泻”——从月亮上看，九州像九点烟，海水像一杯水。想象力炸裂。【意象与手法】前四句写梦游月宫，以“老兔寒蟾”“云楼”“玉轮”“鸾佩”铺陈凄清而华美的仙境；后四句写俯瞰人间，以“黄尘清水”“千年走马”“九点烟”“杯中泻”将宏大的时空骤然收束于方寸，想象奇绝。【情感与主旨】诗人借梦游月宫、俯视尘寰，以神仙世界的永恒反衬人世沧桑的倏忽，暗含对光阴易逝、沧海桑田的慨叹，也折射出李贺对现实羁绊的超越之想。【名句点睛】 “遥望齐州九点烟，一泓海水杯中泻”——将九州沧海缩为烟点杯水，尺幅千里，是唐诗中俯瞰宇宙最具胆魄的奇句。

Background

The poem records a fantastic experience of roaming the moon palace and gazing down at the world of men. Li He habitually drew on myth and the immortal realms, using extravagant invention as a release from the pressures of his actual life. The 'three mountains' are the fabled isles of Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou, and 'Qizhou' is an old name for China, the nine provinces of the central land.

李贺字长吉，中唐天才诗人，世称诗鬼，以其奇崛瑰丽的想象与幽冷凄艳的色调独树一帜。他出身宗室远支，少年即负才名，却因避父讳不得应进士举，一生蹭蹬，仅做过奉礼郎小官，二十七岁便郁郁而终。梦天一诗约作于其困顿失意之时，借梦游月宫、俯瞰尘寰之幻境，抒写对时空、沧桑的奇异感怀。中唐之际，韩愈、孟郊、李贺一派力矫大历以还之平弱，务求奇险瘦硬，李贺更以游仙、鬼怪之题驰骋想象。此诗正承楚辞远游、李白梦游天姥之游仙传统而来，却褪去羽化登仙的轻举，而以寒兔、冷蟾、湿露、幽香织成一种幽凄的月界，折射出诗人身处浊世而神游太清的超越之想与孤高之气。李贺怀才不遇、二十七岁而殁，此诗借梦游月宫、俯瞰尘寰之幻境，既写对时空沧桑的奇异感怀，亦折射其身处浊世而神游太清的超越之想与孤高之气。中唐之际韩愈孟郊李贺一派力矫大历平弱，务求奇险瘦硬，李贺更以游仙鬼怪之题驰骋想象，此诗即承楚辞远游、李白梦游天姥之传统，却褪去羽化轻举，而以寒兔冷蟾织成幽凄月界，折射其身处浊世而神游太清的孤高。

Art

The structure opens wide and then closes hard. The first four lines move from earth to heaven and from the real into the visionary, building the lunar setting; the last four reverse direction, looking down from the sky and shrinking the world by stages through the galloping horse, the nine points of smoke, and the cup of water. Space and time are compressed to their limit, and the poem ends with the sudden flick of a dragon's tail.

此诗前四句写梦游月宫，后四句写俯视人间，结构一上一下、一虚一实，想象奇绝而层次井然。开篇老兔寒蟾泣天色，以神话中月中玉兔、蟾蜍起笔，着一个泣字便令天色含悲，幽冷之气扑面；云楼半开壁斜白写云中楼阁半露，月白斜映，如窥仙境一隅。玉轮轧露湿团光、鸾佩相逢桂香陌，由视觉之冷转嗅觉之幽，玉轮碾露、桂陌逢仙，华美而凄清。后半忽作俯瞰：黄尘清水三山下、更变千年如走马，将人间沧海桑田缩为瞬息；至遥望齐州九点烟、一泓海水杯中泻，更以杯泻海水之喻，把九州沧海收束于方寸，尺幅千里，笔力惊人。全篇以色调之冷与视角之奇，营造出李贺独有的凄艳宇宙感。前四句写梦游月宫、色冷而华，后四句写俯视人间、以小纳大，想象奇绝而层次井然；一上一下、一虚一实之间，将宇宙尺度骤然收束于方寸，笔力惊人。前四句写梦游月宫、色冷而华，后四句写俯视人间、以小纳大，想象奇绝而层次井然；一上一下、一虚一实之间，将宇宙尺度骤然收束于方寸，这种尺幅千里的笔力，正是长吉诗风最动人之所在，亦开唐人俯瞰宇宙之先声。

Allusions

The old hare and cold toad come from the lunar myth in which a hare and a toad inhabit the moon. The 'jade wheel' is the full moon. The phoenix girdle-bells belong to an immortal being. The three mountains are the holy isles of Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou. 'Qizhou' designates China, following the ancient glossary usage that placed the central land within that name, and the 'nine points of smoke' are its nine provinces seen from the sky.

老兔寒蟾，化用月中有玉兔、蟾蜍的古老神话，二物本主长生，此处着一寒字、泣字，便染上诗人孤冷的主观色调。云楼、玉轮、桂香陌皆月宫意象：玉轮即明月，桂香暗指月中山桂，鸾佩指仙子所佩鸾铃，皆自楚辞、游仙诗传统而来。黄尘清水三山下用沧海桑田之典，三山指海上蓬莱、方丈、瀛洲三神山，言其下人间黄尘与清水交替，喻世事更迭。齐州本指中国、中州，古谓禹贡分天下为九州，故遥望齐州九点烟即以九点烟尘概指九州。一泓海水杯中泻，则以器小纳海之奇想，承庄子、李白杯水芥舟之浪漫，写宇宙之可被俯仰把玩。老兔寒蟾、玉轮桂陌皆月宫神话意象，黄尘清水三山下用沧海桑田之典，齐州九点烟概指九州，杯泻海水则承庄子李白之浪漫，写宇宙之可俯仰把玩。黄尘清水三山下用沧海桑田之典，齐州九点烟概指九州，杯泻海水则承庄子李白之浪漫，以器小纳海之奇想写宇宙之可俯仰把玩，老兔寒蟾玉轮桂陌皆月宫神话意象，经其点化皆带幽冷主观之色。

Commentary

Wang Anshi said that Li He's poems were like patchwork brocade of many houses, dazzling in their five colors, and this piece is the clearest instance; later readers said the poet carried a great furnace in his breast in which past and present were melted down and recast.

此诗历来被视为李贺想象诗的代表作，其遥望齐州九点烟、一泓海水杯中泻二句，尤被推为唐诗中俯瞰宇宙最具胆魄的奇句。王安石曾摘取李贺诗句编为四句，其所取正多此类宏阔之景，可见宋人亦重其气象。李贺之奇，不在堆砌怪字，而在能以寻常物象如杯、烟、马翻出宇宙尺度的反差，于极小中见极大。后人论长吉诗，或嫌其幽僻过甚，然梦天一篇却能于冷艳中见寥廓，由个人身世之悲升华为对时空流转的哲思，格局非小而大。现代读者每赏其科幻式的大跨度视角，认为它已具现代人对宇宙与人类渺小的苍茫体认。遥望齐州九点烟、一泓海水杯中泻二句，尤被推为唐诗中俯瞰宇宙最具胆魄的奇句，于冷艳中见寥廓，由身世之悲升华为对时空流转的哲思，格局非小而大。遥望齐州九点烟、一泓海水杯中泻二句，尤被推为唐诗中俯瞰宇宙最具胆魄的奇句，于冷艳中见寥廓，由身世之悲升华为对时空流转的哲思，王安石编李贺句独取此类宏阔之景，足见宋人亦重其气象格局。

Prosody

Form Seven-character ancient-style poem, with lines that admit regulated cadences七言古诗（乐府歌行体）

Rhyme The rhyme words are se, bai, guang, mo, xia, ma, yan, and xie; ancient-style verse allows looser rhyming than regulated forms.前四句押仄声韵，韵脚色、白、陌，属入声十一陌部；后四句换韵，韵脚下、马、泻，属上声马部与去声禡部通押，古体换韵自由。

Tone pattern Not bound by regulated tonal patterns; the same loose ancient-style rhyming governs the sound, and momentum carries the piece.七言古体不尚严格平仄，此诗以转韵处见顿挫，前段入声短促显幽冷，后段上、去声开阔显寥廓，声调随境界转换。

Reading note The first half is a journey into the sky and the second a sigh delivered from above; mythic imagery and numerical exaggeration together render the immensity and the emptiness of the universe, and the daring invention is Li He's signature.此诗为李贺典型的七言歌行，八句两换韵，前四句写游仙、押入声陌韵，音色幽咽凄冷，正与其月界寒境相生；后四句写俯瞰、转上声马韵并通禡韵，声情由幽转旷，与宇宙寥廓之境相称。古体诗本无近体平仄拘束，李贺却善于借韵部的冷暖长短来调度情绪：入声字多收束急切，恰写仙境之寒；上、去声舒展开张，恰写时空之阔。这种以声律助成意境的手法，使其歌行虽怪奇而不失音节之美，是学习长吉体者最当留意的声情配合之妙。前段入声短促显幽冷，后段上、去声开阔显寥廓，声调随境界转换，这种以声律助成意境的手法，使其歌行虽怪奇而不失音节之美，是学习长吉体者最当留意的声情配合。

Line by line

老兔寒蟾泣天色，

The old hare and the cold toad weep beneath a chill sky; the poem opens in myth, and the cold of the moon palace strikes the reader at once.

老兔与寒蟾伴着幽冷的天色低泣，

The old rabbit, the cold toad, weep for the color of the sky,

起笔即不同凡响，不写月之清辉，而写月中玉兔、寒蟾在幽冷天色中低泣，将无生命的神话物象赋予人的悲感。老、寒二字定下全诗幽凄的基调，泣字更把天色写得仿佛也在为尘世之悲而伤怀，物我同悲之境由此展开。这种以神话起兴、以主观冷色笼罩宇宙的写法，正是李贺诗鬼风格的标识，开篇便把读者带入一个既瑰丽又凄清的月界幻境，为后文梦游与俯瞰预作情绪铺垫。

The opening at once uncommon, writing not the moon's clear light, but the moon's jade rabbit and cold toad weeping in the dim, cold sky, giving the senseless mythic objects human grief. The words 'old' and 'cold' tune the whole's dim, mournful keynote, the word 'weep' the more writing the sky's color as if grieving for the mortal world's grief, the realm of thing and self sharing the grief opening here. This method of rising through myth, shrouding the universe in the subjective cold color, precisely Li He's ghost-style signature, the opening at once leading the reader into a moon-realm illusion both gorgeous and bleak, storing the emotional groundwork for the later dream-travel and the downward gaze.

玉轮轧露湿团光，

The jade wheel grinds across the dew and wets its rounded light; 'grinds' gives the moon's motion an audible weight, 'wets' makes the light heavy and soft, and the diction is exquisitely worked.

玉轮般的月亮碾过露水，沾湿了团圆清光，

the jade wheel rolls over the dew, wetting its round light,

此句写月之动静，极见长吉炼字之工。玉轮喻月，本属常见，着一轧字则令明月如车轮碾过露水，化静为动，生出碾压的质感与声音；湿团光三字更奇，露水沾湿了团圆而清冷的月光，使光有了湿度与重量，触觉与视觉交融。团光既写月之圆满，又暗含人间团圞之不可得的反衬。一句之中，玉、露、光、湿诸意象层叠，冷艳逼人，正是李贺以险怪写清丽的典型笔墨，读来如触秋夜寒露。

This line writes the moon's motion and stillness, most showing Changji's word-craft. The 'jade wheel' figures the moon, originally common, and the one word 'rolls' makes the bright moon like a wheel rolling over the dew, turning still to motion, producing the rolling's texture and sound; the three words 'wetting its round light' the more strange, the dew wetting the round, cold moonlight, giving the light the dampness and weight, touch and sight fused. 'Round light' both writing the moon's fullness, and secretly holding the foil of the human world's fullness unattainable. Within one line, the images of jade, dew, light, wetness layered, cold and gorgeous, precisely Li He's typical brush of writing the clear beauty through the strange and steep, the reading as if touching the autumn night's cold dew.

更变千年如走马。

A thousand years of change gallop past like a horse; seen from heaven, human time is hectic and brief.

千年沧桑的更变快如奔马。

the changes of a thousand years pass by like a running horse.

此句为由月宫俯瞰人间的转关之笔，以走马喻千年更变，将漫长时间压缩为瞬息奔逝之象。黄尘清水三山之下，人间沧海桑田的缓慢演化，在神仙视角中竟如驿马飞驰，这种时间感的剧烈缩放，正是游仙诗俯视尘寰的特有张力。走马二字既写迅疾，又带出一种旁观的冷峭——千年兴亡于仙者不过一瞥，反衬出人类营营所求之虚妄。李贺借此抒发的，既是对历史流转的苍凉感，也暗含自身壮志未酬、岁月倏忽的身世之嗟。

This line is the pivot of the downward gaze from the moon palace over the human world, using the running horse to figure the thousand-year changes, compressing the long time into the instant's galloping image. The yellow dust and clear water below the three mountains, the slow evolution of the human world's seas turning to fields, in the immortal's view suddenly like the post horse galloping, this violent scaling of the time-sense, precisely the traveling-immortal verse's special tension of looking down on the mortal world. The words 'running horse' both writing the swiftness, and bringing a bystander's cold sharpness — the thousand years' rise and fall to the immortal is no more than a glance, setting off the vanity of the human world's bustling seeking. What Li He vents through this, is both the desolation at history's turning, and secretly the life's sigh for his own high will unfulfilled, the years fleeting.

一泓海水杯中泻。

The vast ocean becomes one pool tipped from a cup, an image of shocking scale that ends the poem in pure imagination.

汪洋大海也不过如杯中倾泻的一泓。

A sheet of the ocean's water pours from a cup.

结句是全篇想象的巅峰，以杯中泻海水这一奇喻，把浩渺沧海收束为一泓可倾可泻的液体，空间尺度被骤然压缩至方寸之间。这种以小纳大、以近写远的手法，使宇宙在诗人眼中不过如案头杯盏，人类自以为壮阔的九州四海，于月宫回望中竟渺若微尘。一泓二字写尽海的收敛与轻盈，泻字则带出倾覆、流逝的动态，暗喻盛世沧桑皆可倾空。想象之奇、气魄之大，唐诗中鲜有其匹，故能千古独步，成为李贺雄踞诗史的奇观之笔。

The closing line is the peak of the whole's imagination, through the strange metaphor of the ocean pouring from a cup, closing the vast seas into a sheet of liquid that may be tipped and poured, the space scale suddenly compressed to within the square inch. This method of holding the great within the small, writing the far through the near, making the universe in the poet's eyes no more than the desk's cup, the human world's self-styled grand nine provinces and four seas, in the moon palace's backward view, suddenly tiny as dust. The words 'a sheet' write to the full the sea's contraction and lightness, the word 'pours' bringing the motion of overturning and flowing away, secretly figuring the prosperous age's all being tipped empty. The imagination's strangeness and the spirit's grandeur, rare in Tang verse, hence the unique step through the ages, becoming Li He's wonder-stroke holding the poem-history.

Study

Word focus

轧 'Grind' gives the moon's passage an audible, physical friction. 轧字是全诗最见奇崛的炼字之一。玉轮本静悬太空，诗人却用轧这一带摩擦、碾压之意的动词，使明月如车辇碾过露珠，既写出月轮移动时与云露相磨的视觉动感，又凭空添出咿轧的听觉声响，化静为动、化光为质。此字承自韩愈以文为诗、务去陈言的险怪之法，却又为李贺所独造，寒锐中有冷艳。一字而令月宫境界顿生质感与温度，正见长吉诗险处见巧、怪处藏妍的本领，非深于炼字者不能到。

九点烟 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 九点烟三字以极简之笔写极宏之境，是缩龙成寸的绝妙概括。齐州即中州中国，古分九州，诗人于月宫遥望，只见九州大地缩为九点轻烟，烟字既写其朦胧缥缈、若隐若现，又暗含人事如烟、倏聚倏散的虚无感。以点数烟，把地理的广袤与政治的纷争一并虚化为渺小意象，与下句杯中海水形成空间上的双重压缩。这一组合想象，超越盛唐诗人仰望宇宙的壮怀，转为一种带有冷眼与悲悯的俯瞰，最能见李贺以微观意象驾驭宏观时空的独特才力。

梦天