唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
新婚别
The Newly Wedded Parting
兔丝附蓬麻，引蔓故不长。
嫁女与征夫，不如弃路旁。
结发为妻子，席不煖君床。
暮婚晨告别，无乃太怱忙。
君行虽不远，守边赴河阳。
妾身未分明，何以拜姑嫜。
父母养我时，日夜令我藏。
生女有所归，鸡狗亦得将。
君今往死地，沈痛迫中肠。
誓欲随君去，形势反苍黄。
勿为新婚念，努力事戎行。
妇人在军中，兵气恐不扬。
自嗟贫家女，久致罗襦裳。
罗襦不复施，对君洗红妆。
仰视百鸟飞，大小必双翔。
人事多错迕，与君永相望。
So its trailing tendrils cannot grow long.
To marry a daughter to a conscripted man
Were better to cast her by the roadside.
We were bound hair to hair as husband and wife,
But my mat has not yet warmed your bed.
Wedded at dusk, parted at dawn —
Is this not altogether too hasty?
Your journey is not far, I know,
But you go to guard the frontier at Heyang.
My place in your house is not yet settled —
By what right shall I bow to your father and mother?
When my parents raised me,
Day and night they kept me hidden within.
A daughter born must have a home at last;
Even a hen follows the cock, a dog follows its mate.
Now you go to a place of death,
And the grief presses on my very heart.
I would swear to follow you,
But that would only make the crisis worse.
Do not brood on this new marriage —
Strive hard in the business of war.
A woman in the army,
I fear, would dampen the soldiers' spirit.
I sigh that I am a poor man's daughter,
Who long saved to buy this silk skirt;
The silk skirt I will wear no more,
And before you I wash off my red powder.
I look up and see the hundred birds in flight —
Great and small, they always fly in pairs.
But human affairs go ever awry,
So let us keep gazing at each other across the years.
Meaning
One of Du Fu's great 'Three Partings' poems, spoken by a bride whose husband is conscripted the morning after their wedding. She compares herself to the dodder vine on mugwort — the vine's tendrils cannot grow long on a weak support, just as her brief marriage cannot flourish. She laments that she married a soldier, that the bed is not yet warm, that her place in his family is not yet established, that she cannot even bow properly to his parents. She would follow him to war, but knows a woman in the army would dampen the soldiers' spirit; so she sends him off with courage, promising to put away her silk skirt and wash off her powder, and ends with a look of eternal longing — 'let us keep gazing at each other across the years.' The poem is at once a bride's grief and a national call to sacrifice.
兔丝缠绕在蓬麻上，引出的蔓藤自然不会长久。把女儿嫁给征夫，还不如丢弃在路旁。结发成为夫妻，席子还没有坐暖你的床。傍晚结婚、清晨就告别，岂不是太匆忙了。你此行虽然不远，却是去镇守河阳边地。我的身份还未分明，凭什么去拜见公婆呢。父母养育我的时候，日夜叫我深藏闺中。生女儿终要有所归宿，嫁鸡随鸡、嫁狗随狗。你如今前往死地，沉痛之情直迫我的心肠。我发誓想随你而去，可形势反而更加仓皇。不要为新婚挂念，努力从事军旅之事。妇人在军中，恐怕兵气不能昂扬。自叹是贫家的女儿，许久才置办起罗襦衣裳。罗襦不再穿了，对着你洗去红妆。抬头看那百鸟齐飞，无论大小必定成双飞翔。人间之事多有错谬，只愿与君永远相望。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] The dodder vine clings to mugwort and hemp, so its tendrils cannot grow long; to give a daughter to a conscripted man is worse than casting her by the roadside. We were bound as husband and wife, but the mat has not warmed your bed — married at dusk, parted at dawn, is this not too hasty? Your journey is not far, but you go to guard Heyang; my place is not yet settled — how can I bow to your parents? When my parents raised me they hid me day and night; a daughter must at last have a home — even a hen follows the cock. You now go to a place of death, and grief presses my heart; I would follow you, but that would make the crisis worse. Do not think of the new marriage — strive in the business of war; a woman in the army would dampen the soldiers' spirit. I sigh that I am a poor man's daughter who long saved for this silk skirt; the skirt I will wear no more, and before you I wash off my powder. I look up at the hundred birds — great and small, they fly in pairs; but human affairs go ever awry, so let us keep gazing at each other across the years. [Structure and Thought] The bride's speech moves from simile (the dodder vine) through grief and self-reproach to resolution and farewell; each turn reveals a new layer of her situation — the hasty marriage, the unsettled place, the impossible wish to follow, the final renunciation. [Key Technique] Du Fu adopts the bride's voice completely; the poem's power lies in the tension between her personal grief and her public courage, resolved in the astonishing final couplet where she asks only that they keep gazing at each other across the years. [Emotional Tone] Grief-stricken yet resolute: the bride's lament is real, but so is her sacrifice; the poem holds both without letting one cancel the other.
【白话串讲】 杜甫写《新婚别》：“嫁女与征夫，不如弃路旁”——“暮婚晨告别，无乃太怱忙”——新婚第二天早上就要分别。“妾身未分明，何以拜姑嫜”——“妇人在军中，兵气恐不扬”——“仰视百鸟飞，大小必双翔。人事多错迕，与君永相望”——他写新婚即别。 【意象与手法】 此诗是杜甫「三别」之一，以新嫁娘的第一人称自述，写新婚次日即离别的惨剧，是杜甫现实主义诗篇中最动人的人物诗。全诗以一个新妇的口吻展开：开头以「兔丝附蓬麻」起兴，暗喻嫁与征夫的命运；「结发为妻子，席不煖君床」写新婚之短暂；「暮婚晨告别，无乃太怱忙」写离别之仓促；「妾身未分明，何以拜姑嫜」写新妇身份的尴尬；「父母养我时」以下，追忆闺中岁月，更衬离别之悲；「誓欲随君去，形势反苍黄」写想随军而不得的无奈；「勿为新婚念，努力事戎行」以国事劝勉夫君；「罗襦不复施，对君洗红妆」写洗去红妆、誓不复妆的决心；末以「仰视百鸟飞，大小必双翔。人事多错迕，与君永相望」作结，以百鸟双飞反衬人间离别，以「永相望」写坚贞的等待。全诗以新妇的口吻层层铺写，情感真挚而复杂，是杜甫「三别」中最细腻动人、最富人情味的一首。 【情感与主旨】 此诗作于唐肃宗乾元二年（759）春，是杜甫「三别」之一。诗以一个新婚次日即离别的新嫁娘的口吻，写出了战乱中百姓生离死别的惨剧。主人公新婚之夜结发为夫妻，次日清晨夫君便要应征赴河阳（今河南孟县一带，安史之乱中的重要战场）戍守。诗中写新妇的层层心绪：从「兔丝附蓬麻」的自叹命运，到「席不煖君床」的慨叹新婚之短；从「妾身未分明，何以拜姑嫜」的身份尴尬，到「誓欲随君去，形势反苍黄」的欲随不得；从「勿为新婚念，努力事戎行」的深明大义，到「罗襦不复施，对君洗红妆」的坚贞自守；最后以「仰视百鸟飞，大小必双翔。人事多错迕，与君永相望」作结，把对夫君的深情与对现实的无奈融于一望之中。诗中既有新妇个人的悲欢，也有战乱时代千万家庭的缩影；既有儿女情长的缠绵，也有深明大义的刚烈。杜甫通过这个新嫁娘，写出了战乱中中国女性的坚韧与深情，也写出了战争对家庭、对人性最温柔的破坏，是「三别」中最能见杜甫「民胞物与」情怀的一首。 【名句点睛】 常考“暮婚晨告别，无乃太怱忙”写新婚次日即离别的仓促之惨；“勿为新婚念，努力事戎行”由悲而勉，写新妇以国事劝夫的深明大义。
Background
This poem was written in the spring of 759, in the aftermath of the Tang army's catastrophic defeat at Xiangzhou, and belongs to Du Fu's famous series of war poems — the 'Three Officers' and 'Three Partings.' After the defeat the court conscripted heavily along the Yellow River to rebuild the armies, and the newlywed husband is being sent to guard Heyang, on the Yellow River near Luoyang. The poem is spoken entirely by the bride, a poor country girl who married at dusk and loses her husband at dawn; it is one of the most perfect dramatic monologues in Chinese poetry, and one of the most moving testaments to what the An Lushan Rebellion cost the common people.
此诗作于唐肃宗乾元二年（759）春，是杜甫「三别」之一。此前，唐军九节度使围攻相州（邺城）大败，史称「相州之败」。战后，杜甫从洛阳回华州任所，途经河南一带，目睹战乱后的惨状，写下「三吏三别」六首诗。《新婚别》写的是新婚次日即离别的新妇之悲。诗中新妇的夫君「守边赴河阳」——河阳即今河南孟县一带，地处黄河岸边，是安史之乱中唐军的重要防区，相州之败后，叛军可能南下，河阳成为拱卫洛阳、长安的重要屏障，故唐军在此加强防守、大量征兵。诗中新妇「结发为妻子，席不煖君床。暮婚晨告别，无乃太怱忙」，写新婚次日夫君即被征入伍；「妾身未分明，何以拜姑嫜」，写新妇嫁过去尚未「三月庙见」、名分未定，便要面对夫君远行的处境；「君今往死地，沈痛迫中肠」，写夫君前往的河阳是战争前线、生死之地。诗中最动人的是「誓欲随君去，形势反苍黄。勿为新婚念，努力事戎行」——新妇想随夫出征而不能（古时军中有女则兵气不振），只能深明大义地劝夫君努力作战。最后「仰视百鸟飞，大小必双翔。人事多错迕，与君永相望」，以百鸟双飞反衬人间离别，以「永相望」写坚贞的等待，是全诗情感的升华。此诗是「三别」中最细腻动人的一首，也是杜甫以女性视角写战争、以人情写时代的名篇。
Art
The poem's art is the art of the dramatic monologue perfected. Du Fu disappears entirely into the bride's voice, and every device serves that voice: the homely simile of the dodder vine, the factual griefs (the cold mat, the unsettled place, the parents' hidden daughter), the impossible wish to follow, the rational renunciation (a woman in the army would dampen the spirit), the concrete gestures of sacrifice (the silk skirt laid aside, the powder washed off), and the final upward glance at the paired birds — the one image of natural happiness that the couple cannot have. The structure is the movement of a real woman's mind under grief: lament, resolve, self-criticism, sacrifice, and a last, desperate hope.
此诗的艺术特色可从四个层面解析。其一，第一人称的口吻与心理刻画。全诗以新妇的第一人称自述，层层铺写其心理：从自叹命运（兔丝附蓬麻），到慨叹新婚之短（席不煖君床），到身份尴尬（妾身未分明），到欲随不得（形势反苍黄），到深明大义（努力事戎行），到坚贞自守（对君洗红妆），到深情守望（与君永相望）——心理层次丰富而细腻，把一个新嫁娘在一天一夜间的千回百转写得淋漓尽致。其二，起兴的运用。开头「兔丝附蓬麻，引蔓故不长」以兔丝附蓬麻起兴，暗喻嫁与征夫的命运——兔丝本是柔弱寄生之物，依附于蓬麻则不能长久，正是新妇命运的写照，比直说「嫁与征夫命不长」更含蓄、更贴切。其三，对比与反衬。「暮婚晨告别」的短暂与「结发为妻子」的深情相对照，「父母养我时，日夜令我藏」的闺中岁月与「席不煖君床」的仓促离别相对照，「仰视百鸟飞，大小必双翔」的双飞与人间「别离」相对照——多重对照，层层加深离别的悲痛。其四，情与理的统一。诗中既有「勿为新婚念，努力事戎行」的深明大义（理），也有「与君永相望」的深情守望（情），情与理交织，正是杜甫笔下女性形象的立体之处——不是单纯的怨妇，而是既深情又明义的刚烈女子。四重手法相得益彰，使此诗成为「三别」中最细腻动人、最富人情味的一首。
Allusions
The 'dodder vine' (tusi) is a parasitic creeper that must wind about a host plant; its traditional pairing with mugwort or hemp — weak supports — marks an attachment that cannot thrive. The 'binding of hair' (jiefa) is the ancient marriage rite in which the couple's hair is tied together, standing for the marriage itself. 'Even a hen follows the cock, a dog follows its mate' (jigou) is the folk saying that a married woman must follow her husband wherever he goes — here uttered by the bride who cannot follow hers. 'The silk skirt' and 'red powder' are the bride's wedding finery, laid aside as her gesture of renunciation.
此诗的意象与用语深植于《诗经》与乐府传统。「兔丝附蓬麻，引蔓故不长」以兔丝起兴，兔丝即菟丝子，是寄生草本植物，古人常用以比喻女子的依附（《诗经·小雅·頍弁》「茑与女萝，施于松柏」即以寄生植物写依附），蓬麻是矮小的植物，兔丝附于蓬麻则蔓不能长，暗喻嫁与征夫、不能长久的命运。「结发为妻子」的「结发」，是古代婚仪之一——成婚时男女双方将头发结在一起，象征结为夫妻（苏武诗「结发为夫妻，恩爱两不疑」）。「席不煖君床」写新婚之短暂，暗用「席不暇暖」之语。「暮婚晨告别」写婚别之仓促，令人想到《诗经·邶风·击鼓》「死生契阔，与子成说。执子之手，与子偕老」的婚约誓言，而此处新婚即别，正见战乱之残酷。「妾身未分明，何以拜姑嫜」写新妇名分未定，暗含古礼「三月庙见」之制——新妇嫁后须三月方可行庙见之礼、名分始定，而此新妇新婚次日夫君即别，名分未定便要面对离别。「父母养我时，日夜令我藏」写闺中教养，「生女有所归，鸡狗亦得将」化用「嫁鸡随鸡，嫁狗随狗」之俗语。「罗襦不复施，对君洗红妆」写洗去红妆、誓不复妆，令人想到《诗经》「岂无膏沐，谁适为容」——丈夫不在，便不再梳妆。「仰视百鸟飞，大小必双翔」以百鸟双飞反衬离别，令人想到《诗经》「交交黄鸟」「于飞」的意象。末句「与君永相望」化用《古诗十九首》「盈盈一水间，脉脉不得语」的遥望意象。全诗化用诗经、乐府、古礼的意象与传统，以新妇的口吻写战乱之悲，正是杜甫「以古诗写时事」的本领。
Commentary
This poem is universally ranked among the greatest of Du Fu's war poems and among the finest dramatic monologues in the language. Critics marvel at how completely the poet assumes the bride's voice — her homely similes, her factual griefs, her practical courage — and at the final couplet, where the paired birds and the eternal gaze convert personal loss into an image of undying fidelity. The poem is often paired with 'The Officer at Stone Moat Village' as the two faces of the same conscription horror: there the old woman is seized, here the young bride is left.
此诗历来被推为杜甫「三别」中最细腻动人、最富人情味的一首，也是中国诗歌史上以女性视角写战争的杰作。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人仇兆鳌《杜诗详注》评此诗「语语从新妇口中说出，无限衷情」，浦起龙《读杜心解》更称「此别最惨，而词最婉」，皆指出此诗以新妇口吻写离别之惨，委婉动人。在文学史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它是「三别」中唯一以女性视角写战争的作品，通过一个新嫁娘的内心独白，写出了战乱对普通人生活的温柔而致命的破坏——不是战场的惨烈，而是新婚之夜的仓促、名分未定的尴尬、欲随不得的无奈、深明大义的刚烈与永相守望的深情。杜甫笔下的这个新妇，既不是《诗经》中「未见君子，忧心忡忡」的幽怨女子，也不是后世戏曲中哭哭啼啼的弃妇，而是一个既深情又明义、既柔软又刚强的中国女性，其形象之立体，在唐诗中罕见。此诗与《垂老别》《无家别》合称「三别」，分别以「新婚」「垂老」「无家」三种身份写战乱中的别离，而《新婚别》的独特处，在于它以最温柔的人情写最残酷的战争。对于今日读者，此诗是理解杜甫「民胞物与」情怀的窗口，也是感受中国文学「以人情写时代」传统的典范——那新婚次日的告别，那「与君永相望」的守望，穿越千年，仍在触动人心。
Prosody
Line by line
暮婚晨告别，无乃太怱忙。
Wedded at dusk, parted at dawn — is this not altogether too hasty?
傍晚结婚、清晨就告别，岂不是太匆忙了。
Married at dusk, parted at dawn - is it not all too hurried?
这两句是写新婚之别最凝练、最震撼的一笔，以「暮婚晨告别」五个字写尽战乱中离别的仓促。「暮婚晨告别」是时间上的极端压缩——傍晚才结为夫妻，清晨便要告别，从结婚到离别，不过一夜之间，「暮」与「晨」的对照，把新婚的甜蜜与离别的残酷压缩在一天之内，令人触目惊心；「无乃太怱忙」是无奈的诘问——「无乃」是「岂不是」的委婉反问，「怱忙」写这离别的仓促，新妇以近乎自语的语气质问：这离别，岂不是太匆忙了吗？这一问，既是对命运的抗争（新婚即别，何其残忍），也是无可奈何的叹息（战乱之中，谁能做主）。两句以最平淡的语言写最残酷的现实，没有呼天抢地，却比呼天抢地更令人心碎。尤其「暮婚晨告别」五字，是中国诗歌写「生离死别」最凝练的名句之一——一夜夫妻，一生离别，战乱的残酷尽在其中。
These two lines are the most concise, most shattering stroke of the newlywed's parting, using five characters - married at dusk, parted at dawn - to exhaust the hasty farewell in war. Married at dusk, parted at dawn is the extreme compression of time - joined as husband and wife at evening, parting at morning; from wedding to farewell, a single night; dusk and dawn's contrast compresses the newlywed sweetness and the parting's cruelty into one day, startling. Is it not all too hurried? is the helpless rhetorical question: is it not means is it not, euphemistic; hurried writes the parting's haste; the bride asks in a tone almost of self-address: is this parting not too hurried? The question is at once defiance of fate (newlywed then parted, what cruelty) and a sigh of helplessness (in war, who can decide?). The two lines use the plainest language to write the cruelest reality; no heaven-shaking cries, yet more heart-rending than them. Especially married at dusk, parted at dawn: among Chinese poetry's most concise lines on parting and death - one night of marriage, a lifetime of separation; the cruelty of war is all within.
仰视百鸟飞，大小必双翔。
I look up and see the hundred birds in flight — great and small, they always fly in pairs.
抬头看那百鸟齐飞，无论大小必定成双飞翔。
I look up at the hundred birds in flight; large or small, they fly in pairs.
这两句是写景中的点睛之笔，以百鸟双飞反衬人间离别，是「以乐景写哀」的典范。「仰视百鸟飞」写所见——新妇抬头看那百鸟在天上飞，「仰视」二字写其目光上移的动作，仿佛她是在送别夫君后，茫然地抬头望天；「大小必双翔」写鸟的成双——无论大鸟小鸟，都必定成双成对地飞翔，「必双翔」三字，以「必」写鸟之必然成双，反衬人间之必然别离。这两句的妙处在于「以鸟比人」的反衬：鸟尚能双飞双宿，而人却不得不生离死别；鸟的「必双翔」越是自然、越是必然，人的「独相望」越是残酷、越是心碎。新妇以百鸟起兴，正是睹物伤情——看着天上的双飞鸟，想到自己与新婚夫君的生别，那「人事多错迕」的慨叹便油然而生。这两句既是写景，也是抒情，以最寻常的天象写出最深沉的哀伤，正是杜甫「以景写情」的高妙，也是「三别」中最动人的意象之一。
These two lines are the eye stroke within scenery, using the hundred birds' paired flight to set off human parting, the model of writing grief through joyful scenery. I look up at the hundred birds in flight writes what is seen - the bride looking up at the birds in the sky; look up writes the upward movement of her gaze, as if after seeing her husband off, she blankly raises her eyes to the sky. Large or small, they fly in pairs writes the birds' pairing - whether large or small, every bird flies in pairs; must fly in pairs uses must to write the birds' necessary coupling, setting off human necessary parting. The lines' art lies in the contrast of comparing man to bird: birds can pair and roost, yet men must suffer life-parting and death-separation; the more natural and inevitable the birds' must pair, the more cruel and heart-breaking the human solitary watching. The bride uses the hundred birds as bi-xing, precisely grief at the sight - seeing the paired birds above, thinking of her own parting from her new husband, the sigh of human affairs so often crossed rises of itself. These two lines are scenery and feeling at once, writing the deepest grief through the commonest sky - Du Fu's mastery of writing feeling through scenery, one of the most moving images among the Three Partings.
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Du Fu's 'Parting of the Old' — 'the old man, four score and four' — goes to war with his grandchildren left at home; 'The Newly Wedded Parting' sends the bridegroom off at dawn. The two poems are the age's and the youth's faces of the same conscription.
《垂老别》「四郊未宁静，垂老不得安。子孙阵亡尽，焉用身独完」写垂老之人子孙尽亡、仍被征召的惨状，是「三别」中「老别」的沉痛。此诗《新婚别》则「暮婚晨告别，无乃太怱忙」，写新婚次日即离别的仓促，是「三别」中「新别」的凄婉。同为战乱中的生离，一别于新婚（人生最甜之时），一别于垂老（人生最苦之时）；一以新妇的口吻写深情，一以老者的口吻写沉痛。两诗对读，可见杜甫「三别」以不同年龄、不同身份写战争离别的全面，也可见战争对人生各阶段的无差别摧残——无论是新婚的甜蜜还是垂老的安顿，都被战争碾碎。
无家别 The Parting of the Homeless 杜甫 · 同为三别，一别有家一无家可别 Both are the conscription poems of the series — the homeless man with nothing to leave, the newly wed with everything to lose.Du Fu's 'Parting of the Homeless' conscripts the man who has already lost all; 'The Newly Wedded Parting' conscripts the man at the moment of his greatest joy. The two are the poles of the conscription's cruelty.
《无家别》「人生无家别，何以为烝黎」写无家者连「别」都无从谈起的极痛，是「三别」中「无家之别」的沉痛。此诗《新婚别》则「暮婚晨告别」，写有家之别的深情——新妇尚有夫君可别、有泪可流、有「永相望」可期，是「三别」中「有家之别」的凄婉。同为战乱中的别离，新妇之别尚有情可诉、有家可别，无家者之别却孑然一身、无家可别；一别于新婚的深情，一无家之别的绝望。两诗对读，可见杜甫「三别」从「有家之别」到「无家之别」的递进，也可见战争摧残的步步深入——当连「别」都成为奢望时，人的存在已到了绝境。
江头四咏·丁香 江头四咏·丁香 杜甫 · 同为杜甫写女性情感，一写别情一写丁香 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
杜甫《江头四咏·丁香》「丁香体柔弱，乱结枝犹垫」以丁香写柔弱之物，借物写情，是咏物诗。此诗《新婚别》则以新妇的第一人称写战乱中的别情，是叙事抒情诗。同为杜甫笔下的情感书写，一借物（丁香）喻情，一以人（新妇）写情；一含蓄，一深情。两诗对读，可见杜甫写「情」的两种手法——既可借物托情，也可代人立言，而其对「弱者的悲欢」的关切是一以贯之的，正见杜甫「民胞物与」的情怀。