唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
遣悲怀·其一
Expressing My Grief (No. 1)
谢公最小偏怜女，自嫁黔娄百事乖。
顾我无衣搜荩箧，泥他沽酒拔金钗。
野蔬充膳甘长藿，落叶添薪仰古槐。
今日俸钱过十万，与君营奠复营斋。
Since marrying me, a poor scholar, everything went dim.
Seeing me without clothes, you searched the hempen chest;
To buy wine, you even pawned your golden hairpin as you were pressed.
Wild herbs and bean leaves were your sweet meal;
Dead leaves from locust trees were your firewood with zeal.
Today my salary over a hundred thousand coins,
But only to prepare offerings for your soul at the shrines.
Meaning
The poet recalls his wife’s selfless devotion during their poor years and laments that now he is wealthy, he can only offer sacrifices to her memory, unable to share the prosperity with her.
你本是谢安最疼爱的小女儿，自从嫁给我这黔娄一样的贫士，百事都不顺心。见我没有衣裳，你翻遍了草编的衣箱；缠着你去买酒，你拔下了头上的金钗换钱。野菜充饥，你甘心吃那豆叶；捡拾落叶添柴，全靠着老槐树。如今我的俸禄已超过十万，却只能为你操办祭礼、修设斋供，你再也享受不到这些了。
Appreciation
Yuan Zhen uses everyday details to portray a loving, frugal wife and contrasts past poverty with present wealth to intensify the grief. The poem is considered one of the finest mourning poems in Chinese literature.
【白话串讲】 元稹回忆亡妻：当年家里穷，她翻遍箱子给他找衣服，拔下金钗给他买酒。如今他俸禄十万，却只能给她办祭奠——“贫贱夫妻百事哀”，最痛的是日子好了人却没了。 【意象与手法】 诗以「谢公最小偏怜女」起，以谢安侄女比韦丛之贵，「自嫁黔娄百事乖」以黔娄自况贫士，开篇即定贫贱夫妻之调。颔联「搜」「拔」两动词的细节刻画，颈联「甘」「仰」写安贫之德，尾联以今日之富反衬昔日之贫，以乐衬哀。 【情感与主旨】 元稹（779—831）妻韦丛为太子少保韦夏卿之幼女，元和四年（809）病逝，年仅二十七。此首追忆韦丛下嫁后安于贫贱、百般体贴的往事，以「俸钱过十万」的今日富贵反衬昔日贫贱相守，悲恸深挚，为唐人悼亡第一。 【名句点睛】 高频考点：①首联用典的作用——以谢女、黔娄比况，凸显韦丛贵而安贫、下嫁之不遇；②颔联「搜」「拔」两动词的细节刻画；③尾联以乐衬哀的对比手法。
Background
Yuan Zhen’s wife Wei Cong, daughter of a high official, died young in 809 after years of marriage in poverty. Yuan later became prosperous and wrote this poem to express his sorrow and guilt.
元稹（779—831），字微之，河南洛阳人，中唐诗人，与白居易并称「元白」。其妻韦丛为太子少保韦夏卿之幼女，出身高门，元和四年（809）病逝，年仅二十七岁。元稹早年家贫，与韦丛婚后清贫相守，韦丛不慕荣华、安于贫贱，夫妻感情极深。韦丛亡后，元稹悲痛难已，连作《遣悲怀》三首，又有《离思五首》「曾经沧海难为水，除却巫山不是云」等悼亡之作，皆为千古传诵。此诗为《遣悲怀》第一首，追忆韦丛下嫁后安贫守拙、百般体贴的往事，末以今日富贵反衬昔日贫贱，痛悔妻子未能享受如今的俸禄。全诗语浅情深，以真实琐事写永恒之痛，被公认为唐人悼亡诗之首，蘅塘退士评其「古今悼亡诗充栋，终无能出此三首范围者」。值得注意的是，元稹婚后虽贫，却得韦丛以贵女之身安于寒素，夫妻相守之情深逾金石；韦丛之逝，正是其人生由贫转富之际，故「今日俸钱过十万」的富贵愈增「营奠营斋」之痛，这种贫富与生死交错的悲恸，正是此诗超越一般悼亡之作的独特之处。
Art
The poem begins with two allusions comparing the wife to Xie Daoyun and the poet to the poor scholar Qianshou. The middle couplets use concrete actions (searching boxes, pawning hairpin) to show her devotion. The final couplet contrasts present wealth with past hardship, creating a poignant ending.
诗以「谢公最小偏怜女」起，用东晋谢安最宠爱侄女谢道韫之事比况韦丛出身高贵、备受娇宠，而「自嫁黔娄百事乖」以战国贫士黔娄自比，开篇两句便定下贵女下嫁、百事不顺的基调，反差之中已含愧悔。颔联「顾我无衣搜荩箧，泥他沽酒拔金钗」选取两个极生活化的细节：翻箱找衣、拔钗换酒，一「搜」一「拔」两个动词，写尽妻子贤淑体贴与贫贱夫妻的亲昵；颈联「野蔬充膳甘长藿，落叶添薪仰古槐」以「甘」「仰」二字写安贫之德，举重若轻。尾联陡转：「今日俸钱过十万」的富贵反衬昔日贫贱，而「与君营奠复营斋」更以今日能为亡妻办祭却无从补偿的无奈收束，以乐衬哀，倍增其悲，摧人心肝，章法之妙正在这最后的一转。全诗以叙事代抒情，不言「悲」而悲自深：翻箱、拔钗、豆叶、老槐，皆是贫贱生活的日常，元稹不避琐碎、不嫌寒酸，一一写来，愈琐碎愈见真情；尾联「营奠复营斋」以动作收束，更把无穷的悔恨与补偿无门的无奈凝于一举，章法之妙，正在这欲说还休的克制之中。
Allusions
Lord Xie refers to Xie An, who favored his niece Xie Daoyun. Qianshou was a classic poor scholar. 'Hempen chest' and 'bean leaves' are symbols of frugal life.
首句「谢公最小偏怜女」用东晋谢安最宠爱其侄女谢道韫之事（见《晋书·列女传》），此处借指韦丛为韦夏卿幼女、备受娇宠，点出其出身之高；「黔娄」为战国齐之贫士，《高士传》载其一生安贫乐道，死时衣不蔽体，曾子往吊叹其「生不得其志，死不得其礼」，诗人以之自比寒微，隐有愧对贤妻之意。二典一出，贵与贫、娇女与贫士的对照立见。「荩箧」指草编的衣箱，「长藿」即豆叶，皆贫家常见物象，元稹以白描写之，与用典交融，愈见其贫而情真。全诗用典不炫博，皆紧扣「贫贱夫妻」四字，使史事、物象与深情浑然一体，正是元稹悼亡诗「以家常语写至痛」的典型。此外，「搜荩箧」「拔金钗」虽为白描，其物象亦自有文化底蕴：金钗为女子嫁妆之饰、荩箧为贫家之具，一贵一贱，恰写韦丛以贵易贱的牺牲；典与事交融，使贫贱夫妻的相守具有了超越个人身世的历史纵深感。全诗用典皆化于白描，不见典故之痕而意蕴自深，正是元稹「以俗为雅、化典为常」的体现。
Commentary
Critics praise the poem’s authenticity and plain language. It is often cited as the best of the three mourning poems by Yuan Zhen, even surpassing many other Tang dynasty elegies.
《唐诗三百首》编者蘅塘退士评：「古今悼亡诗充栋，终无能出此三首范围者。」清人孙洙谓「搜箧拔钗」四字「写贫贱夫妻如画」。苏轼悼亡词《江城子》「小轩窗，正梳妆」的日常白描，正承此「以琐事写深情」之脉。近人陈寅恪论元稹悼亡诗，谓其「以真实琐事，写永恒之痛，唐人无出其右」。此诗之不朽，在于不堆砌哀词，不空喊悲痛，而将妻子的贤淑、贫贱的相守、今日的悔恨，尽数寄于翻箱、拔钗、豆叶、老槐这些最平凡的事物之中，愈平凡愈见真情，愈琐碎愈见沉痛。其以乐景衬哀情、以今富衬昔贫的手法，更为后世悼亡诗开辟了新境，至今读来仍令人泫然。此诗与《遣悲怀》其二「诚知此恨人人有，贫贱夫妻百事哀」、其三「闲坐悲君亦自悲」连读，可见元稹悼亡诗由忆昔、写哀到自悲的完整结构；三诗一体，共同确立了以家常琐事写悼亡之痛的范式，苏轼《江城子》、纳兰性德悼亡词皆承此脉，其影响贯穿千年而不衰。
Prosody
Line by line
谢公最小偏怜女，自嫁黔娄百事乖
You were like Xie’s most beloved daughter, but after marrying me, a poor man, everything went wrong.
你本是谢安最疼爱的小女儿，自从嫁给我这黔娄一样的贫士，百事都不顺心。
You, the dearest, best-loved daughter of Lord Xie; since marrying me, the poor man of Qian Lou, nothing has gone right.
双典开篇，贵女下嫁、安于贫贱的基调立见。「谢公」借东晋谢安宠爱侄女谢道韫之事，写韦丛出身高门、自幼娇宠；「黔娄」以战国贫士自况，写自己寒微清贫。两个典故一贵一贫，对举之下，妻子下嫁的牺牲与委屈、诗人内心的愧悔与感激已在不言中。一个「乖」字（不顺、违背）总括婚后百事艰难，却并不细说，为下文以细节铺叙留下空间。此联既是全诗的情感起点，也为尾联「俸钱过十万」的富贵反悔埋下伏笔，是悼亡诗开篇用典的典范。
The opening pairs two allusions, setting at once the tone of the noble daughter marrying down, content in poverty. 'Lord Xie' borrows the Eastern Jin story of Xie An's fondness for his niece Xie Daoyun, writing Wei Cong's high birth and cherished childhood; 'Qian Lou' the poet's self-figure as the Warring States poor scholar, writing his own low and needy lot. The two allusions, one noble one poor, set against each other, and the wife's sacrifice and wronged tenderness in marrying down, the husband's guilt and gratitude, are already beyond words. The one word 'wrong' (contrary, amiss) sums up all the married hardships, yet does not detail them, leaving room for the detailed episodes below. This couplet is both the emotional start of the poem and the groundwork for the closing 'salary exceeds a hundred thousand' rich regret, the model of using allusions at the opening of a mourning poem.
顾我无衣搜荩箧，泥他沽酒拔金钗
Seeing me without clothes, you searched the box; when I pestered you for wine, you pawned your gold hairpin.
见我没有衣裳，你翻遍了草编的衣箱；缠着你去买酒，你拔下了头上的金钗换钱。
Seeing me without a robe, she searched the wicker chest; coaxing her to buy wine, she pulled out her golden hairpin.
两个生活细节写尽贤妻体贴，是千古传诵的名联。上句「搜荩箧」写妻子见丈夫无衣，翻遍草编衣箱寻找可改之衣，一个「搜」字见其用心之细、家计之窘；下句「泥他沽酒」写丈夫缠着妻子要酒喝，「泥」是软磨硬缠的口语，贫贱夫妻的亲昵跃然纸上，而妻子竟拔下金钗去换酒，一个「拔」字见其毫不迟疑的深情。金钗本是女子珍爱的饰物，为丈夫沽酒而毅然拔下，其爱之深、情之笃尽在此一举。两句一写衣一写酒，皆以最寻常的事写最动人的情，白描如画，胜过千言万语。
Two domestic details write the good wife's thoughtfulness to the full, the famous couplet through the ages. The upper line, 'she searched the wicker chest', writes the wife seeing her husband robe-less and searching the woven chest for cloth to make one; the one word 'searched' shows the care taken, the straitened means. The lower line, 'coaxing her to buy wine', writes the husband coaxing the wife for wine; 'coaxing' the colloquial for soft, wheedling urging, the poor couple's fondness leaping from the page; and the wife pulled out her golden hairpin to exchange for wine, the one word 'pulled out' showing the deep love that never hesitated. The golden hairpin was a woman's cherished ornament, and for her husband's wine she pulled it out without a moment's thought — the depth of the love all in this one gesture. Two lines, one the robe one the wine, both taking the most ordinary things to write the most moving feeling, plain painting that surpasses a thousand words.
野蔬充膳甘长藿，落叶添薪仰古槐
You gladly ate wild vegetables and bean leaves, and relied on dead leaves from locust trees for firewood.
野菜充饥，你甘心吃那豆叶；捡拾落叶添柴，全靠着老槐树。
Wild vegetables for food, she took long bean-leaves as a treat; fallen leaves for fuel, she relied on the old locust tree.
「甘」「仰」二字写安贫之德，贫贱夫妻相濡以沫之境毕现。上句写饮食之艰：以野菜充膳，而妻子竟甘之如饴，「甘」字非写豆叶味甘，而是写妻子安于贫贱、不以为苦的贤德；下句写薪柴之乏：靠捡拾古槐落叶添柴生火，「仰」字既写依赖老槐落叶度日的窘迫，也暗含夫妻相守相依、如枝叶依附于根干的深情。两句对仗工整，「野蔬」对「落叶」，「充膳」对「添薪」，皆取最寒素之物，而深情自在其中。元稹不写富贵温柔，专写饥寒交迫中的相守，愈寒愈见其情之真，是悼亡诗以贫写爱、以苦写甜的绝妙笔法。
The words 'took as a treat' and 'relied on' write the virtue of contented poverty, the poor couple's mutual care fully shown. The upper line writes the hardship of food: wild vegetables for meals, yet the wife took long bean-leaves as a delicacy; 'took as a treat' does not mean the bean-leaves tasted sweet, but writes the wife's virtue, content in poverty, not counting it hardship. The lower line writes the shortage of fuel: relying on the old locust tree's fallen leaves for kindling; 'relied on' both the straits of living off the old tree's leaves, and the hidden depth of the couple's clinging to each other, as branches and leaves cling to root and trunk. The couplet is well matched, 'wild vegetables' against 'fallen leaves', 'food' against 'fuel', taking the meanest things, yet the deep love within. Yuan Zhen writes not rich warmth, but the clinging through cold and hunger — the colder, the truer the love, the exquisite brush of mourning poetry writing love through poverty, sweetness through hardship.
今日俸钱过十万，与君营奠复营斋
Now my salary exceeds a hundred thousand, but I can only prepare offerings and hold rituals for you.
如今我的俸禄已超过十万，却只能为你操办祭礼、修设斋供。
Today my salary exceeds a hundred thousand coins; yet for you I can only offer sacrifices and fasts.
今日之富反衬昔日之贫，以乐衬哀，悲恸无极，是全诗的点睛之笔。诗人如今俸钱丰厚，衣食无忧，而当年与他共度贫贱的妻子却已不在，「过十万」的富贵来得愈轻易，愈反衬「百事乖」的贫贱岁月里妻子付出之可贵，也愈令人痛悔：为何富贵来得这么晚，为何她未能等到这一天。「与君营奠复营斋」更写今日所能做的，只剩下设奠修斋这些死后之事，「复」字写祭之频、痛之深，生前的补偿已永无可能。全诗到此戛然而止，不说悲痛而悲痛满纸，以今日之乐写昔日之哀、以生者之富写死者之憾，是「以乐景写哀情」的极致运用。
Today's richness set against yesterday's poverty, grief through a joyous scene, sorrow beyond measure, the eye of the poem. The poet today has a rich salary, food and clothing untroubled, yet the wife who shared his poverty is gone; the richer the 'hundred thousand' ease came, the more it sets off what the wife paid in the 'nothing went right' years, the more the regret bites: why did the richness come so late, why could she not live to see this day? 'Yet for you I can only offer sacrifices and fasts' writes that all he can do now is the after-death rites and fasts, the word 'only' writing the frequency of the sacrifices, the depth of the pain — compensation in life is forever impossible. The poem stops short here, grief filling the page without a word of grief; writing the past grief through today's joy, the dead wife's regret through the living man's wealth, the extreme of 'writing grief through a joyous scene'.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Both poems express deep longing and loss. Li Shangyin's poem is more symbolic and elusive, while Yuan Zhen's is concrete and narrative.
两诗同为唐人追忆深情之名篇，而写法迥异。《锦瑟》以「锦瑟无端五十弦」起兴，通篇用典设喻，意象朦胧恍惚，以象征手法写往事不可追的迷惘与怅恨；《遣悲怀》则摒弃一切朦胧，以翻箱、拔钗、豆叶、老槐等最真实的日常细节白描往事，语浅而情真。一朦胧一质实、一象征一白描，恰成唐人言情诗的两极：李商隐以虚写情，情在象外；元稹以实写情，情在事中。两诗并读，可见唐诗写「追忆之痛」的两种极致，皆足以传世。
夜雨寄北 Written on a Rainy Night to My Wife in the North 李商隐 · 同涉夫妻之情，一悼一盼 Same theme (love/martial affection)Both are about marital love. Li Shangyin's poem looks forward to reunion, while Yuan Zhen's mourns the past that can never return.
两诗皆写夫妻深情而情境相反。《夜雨寄北》写客居巴山、夜雨独坐时对妻子的思念，以「何当共剪西窗烛，却话巴山夜雨时」的悬想写未来重逢之盼，于孤寂中存温暖；《遣悲怀》则写妻子已逝，今世再无重逢可能，唯有以祭奠寄哀思。一为生离，尚存后会之期；一为死别，永绝相见之日。一盼一悼、一暖一冷，恰可见古代诗人写夫妻情爱的两种典型境遇，而元稹以贫贱相守的细节写死别之痛，更显沉郁凄怆，读之令人不忍卒读。