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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

瑶瑟怨

The Lament of the Jade Zither

温庭筠

Wen Tingyun

冰簟银床梦不成，碧天如水夜云轻。
雁声远过潇湘去，十二楼中月自明。

On the ice-cold mat and silver bed no dream will come,
The blue sky is like water, the night clouds light and thin.
The wild geese's cries pass far away over Xiaoxiang,
And in the Twelve Towers the moon shines by itself.

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Meaning

A poem of a woman's solitary night, written in Wen Tingyun's most refined manner. On the ice-cold mat and silver bed, no dream will come; the sky is clear as water with thin night clouds. The wild geese's cries pass far away over the Xiaoxiang region — the geese that should carry letters, gone beyond reach — and in the Twelve Towers, the moon shines by itself. The poem is a pure scene of the waiting woman: the dreamless bed, the clear sky, the passing geese, and the moon that shines alone.

冰凉的竹席、银白的床榻，辗转难眠，好梦难成；碧天澄澈如水，夜云轻淡飘浮。雁声凄厉，远远飞过潇湘而去，十二楼中，唯有一轮明月空自朗照。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] On the ice-cold mat and the silver bed, no dream comes to completion; the blue sky is clear as water, the night clouds light and thin. The wild geese's cries pass far, over the Xiaoxiang; in the Twelve Towers, the moon shines by itself. [Structure and Thought] The quatrain is a series of images, each one colder and more distant than the last: the dreamless bed, the empty sky, the vanishing geese, the solitary moon. No feeling is named; the scene itself is the feeling. [Key Technique] The poem's art is the art of pure atmosphere: Wen Tingyun does not say the woman is sad or alone — he shows the ice mat, the silver bed, the dream that will not come, the geese that pass beyond reach, and the moon that shines 'by itself.' The final image gathers the whole loneliness: the moon in the Twelve Towers has no one to shine for. [Emotional Tone] Cold, refined, and mournful: the poem is the quintessence of the late Tang manner, in which grief is transferred entirely to the scene and the woman never speaks.

【白话串讲】温庭筠写《瑶瑟怨》：“冰簟银床梦不成，碧天如水夜云轻”——“雁声远过潇湘去，十二楼中月自明”——他写瑶瑟怨——十二楼中月自明。【意象与手法】冰簟银床、碧天夜云、雁声过潇湘、十二楼月明，构成一幅清冷幽寂的秋夜图，而独居无眠、良人远隔的孤寂尽在其中。以景结情、含蓄不尽。【情感与主旨】温庭筠写闺中少妇秋夜独居之怨，通篇写景而无一字言怨，怨情全从景物中透出，是温庭筠七绝中的名篇。【名句点睛】常考“冰簟银床梦不成，碧天如水夜云轻”写秋夜独居；“雁声远过潇湘去，十二楼中月自明”以景结情。

Background

Wen Tingyun (c. 812–c. 870) was one of the great poets of the late Tang and the founder of the ci (song lyric) as a major form; he was famous for the refined, ornate, and melancholy style of his boudoir verse. 'The Lament of the Jade Zither' (Yaose Yuan) takes its title from the ancient zither song of the sorrowful lady, and the poem is one of the most admired of his quatrains. The 'Twelve Towers' is the traditional name for the fairy towers of the immortals, transferred to the woman's high chamber; the poem is a pure specimen of the late Tang aesthetic of the solitary boudoir at night.

《瑶瑟怨》为晚唐诗人温庭筠所作七言绝句。温庭筠（约812—约870），本名岐，字飞卿，太原祁人，晚唐著名诗人、词人，诗与李商隐齐名，时称「温李」，词为花间派鼻祖。其诗辞藻华丽、意象细密，七绝一体尤擅以景物营造意境。此诗题曰「瑶瑟怨」，瑶瑟为饰以美玉的瑟，本为弹奏之器，诗人以「瑶瑟怨」为题，暗示弹瑟之人、怨情之深——然全诗并未写弹瑟，只以秋夜之景写独居之怨，瑟声之怨尽在景中。「瑶瑟怨」之题，亦暗用《楚辞·远游》「使湘灵鼓瑟兮」之意，湘灵鼓瑟为古来悲怨之典，诗人题中着一「怨」字，已为全诗定下清冷幽怨的基调。此诗所写，当为闺中少妇于秋夜独守空房、思人不寐的孤寂。诗人不写其如何思念，只写冰簟、银床、碧天、夜云、雁声、明月等景物，而独居无眠、良人远隔之怨，尽从景物中透出，是晚唐七绝中「以景写情」的典范之作，历来为选家所称赏。此篇《瑶瑟怨》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。

Art

The poem's art is the art of the image-sequence. The first line is cold and tactile: the ice-cold mat, the silver bed, the dream that will not come. The second line opens the sky: blue as water, with thin light clouds — the emptiness of the night made visible. The third line introduces the sound of motion: the wild geese's cries passing far away over the Xiaoxiang — the birds that should bring or carry news, gone beyond all reach. The fourth line closes on the still center: in the Twelve Towers the moon shines by itself. The poem never says what the woman feels; each image is one degree colder than the last, and the final 'by itself' is the whole confession.

此诗艺术上以「全篇写景、以景结情」见长。全诗四句，句句写景，无一字言情，而怨情自见。首句「冰簟银床梦不成」写居室之景，「冰簟银床」四字写竹席之清凉、床榻之华美，而「梦不成」三字点出独宿无眠之态——衾枕虽华，而独处难寐，怨意已隐然其中。次句「碧天如水夜云轻」宕开写天宇之景：碧天澄澈如水，夜云轻淡飘浮，境界空灵澄明，与首句的孤寂之室形成对照，一室一天、一实一虚，愈见其独处天地之间的孤清。三四句「雁声远过潇湘去，十二楼中月自明」更进一层：雁声凄厉，远远飞过潇湘而去——雁尚有归程，而人不见归；十二楼中，唯有一轮明月空自朗照，无人共赏。全诗以「梦不成」「雁声」「月自明」层层点染，怨情含蓄而深永，结尾「月自明」三字尤其空灵，以景作结，言尽而意不尽，正是温庭筠七绝「以景结情」的妙境。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。

Allusions

'The ice-cold mat and silver bed' are the refined furniture of the boudoir, the coldness already hinting at the sleeper's loneliness. 'The wild geese over Xiaoxiang' carry the double burden of the letter-bringing geese (from the old belief that geese carry messages) and of Xiaoxiang, the southern region of exile and longing in the Songs of Chu tradition — the cries passing beyond reach mean the news, or the loved one, is gone forever. 'The Twelve Towers' (Shi'er Lou) is the traditional name of the fairy towers, transferred to the woman's high chamber; 'the moon shines by itself' gathers the whole poem's loneliness into one image of light without a beholder.

诗中「瑶瑟」「潇湘」「十二楼」皆含典故。「瑶瑟」见于《楚辞·远游》「使湘灵鼓瑟兮，令海若舞冯夷」，湘灵即湘水女神，古来以鼓瑟寄悲怨，故「瑶瑟怨」之题已暗含湘灵鼓瑟的悲怨情调。「雁声远过潇湘去」之「潇湘」，亦与湘水相关，暗用湘灵鼓瑟、望帝啼鹃等悲怨传说，雁过潇湘而鸣声凄厉，更增秋夜之悲凉。「十二楼」典出《史记·封禅书》所载方士所言海中五山十二楼，为仙人居所，后世诗文中多以十二楼指代高楼、仙楼，温庭筠此用以写闺中独宿之高楼，明月空照、人独无眠，华美之中愈见孤寂。诗人将这些带着神话与历史意味的意象熔于一炉，使这首写秋夜闺怨的小诗，于清丽之外更添一层朦胧悠远的韵致，正是温庭筠诗辞藻富丽而意境深远的典型风格。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。

Commentary

This quatrain is one of the supreme examples of the late Tang boudoir poem, quoted for a millennium as the model of grief transferred entirely to scene. The final image — 'in the Twelve Towers the moon shines by itself' — is often ranked among the most perfect closing lines in the language. Critics praise above all the poem's reticence: the woman never speaks, her feeling is never named, and the ice mat, the passing geese and the solitary moon say all that needs to be said.

这首《瑶瑟怨》之妙，在于它不写怨而怨自深。诗人没有让主人公说一句相思的话，没有写一个愁怨的字，只铺陈了一个秋夜的场景：冰凉的竹席、银白的床榻，人却辗转难眠；碧天澄澈如水，夜云轻淡飘浮，天地之间一片空明；忽然雁声凄厉，远远飞过潇湘而去；十二楼中，唯有一轮明月空自朗照。四个画面，层层展开，而独居无眠、良人远隔、孤寂难遣的怨情，便从这清冷空灵的景物中自然流出。尤其「雁声远过潇湘去」一句，雁尚有归程，而人不见归期，一声雁叫，划破秋夜的寂静，也划破了闺中人的心；「十二楼中月自明」以景作结，月自明而人自独，无人共赏良宵，怨意尽在不言中。全诗意象清丽、意境空灵、以景结情、含蓄不尽，正是中国古典诗歌「不着一字，尽得风流」的境界，也是温庭筠以辞藻富丽著称而七绝尤擅以意境取胜的明证，历来为选家所称赏不置。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (qijue)七言绝句（近体绝句，仄起式）

Rhyme The poem rhymes on the level-tone words 'qing' (light) and 'ming' (bright) in the geng rhyme group, in the standard second and fourth line pattern.全诗押平声韵「轻」「明」，韵脚同属庚青类（轻、明），一韵到底，韵部清亮而音调悠长。七绝以平韵谐畅为常，此诗「轻」「明」二韵音色清越空灵，正与秋夜碧天明月之景相称；「明」字收束全篇，与「月自明」之句相映，韵脚亦含孤寂之意，声情与辞情相凑。

Tone pattern The first line is cold and still; the second opens into the clear empty sky; the third carries the geese's cries across the distance; the fourth settles into the long, quiet 'ming' (bright) — the cadence of the moon that shines alone.句式上，首句「冰簟银床梦不成」仄起平收，以「不成」顿挫，暗合独宿无眠之态；二句「碧天如水夜云轻」平起平收，音节空灵舒缓；三四句「雁声远过潇湘去，十二楼中月自明」仄平仄仄平平仄、平仄平平仄仄平，前句以仄声「去」字顿住，写雁之远去，后句以平声「明」字收束，音节转为澄明悠长，恰与「月自明」的空灵意境相合，声情与诗意相为表里，读来如闻秋夜之瑟声，清冷而悠远。

Reading note This is a seven-character quatrain by Wen Tingyun, its title 'The Lament of the Jade Zither' naming the tune of the poem's implied music. The ice-cold mat and silver bed deny the dream; the blue sky like water holds the light clouds; the wild geese's cries pass away over Xiaoxiang — the sound departing; and the moon shines by itself in the Twelve Towers. The quatrain's art is the absence: the music is not heard, the dream does not come, and the moon does not care.此诗为七言绝句，是晚唐闺怨诗中的名篇，也是温庭筠七绝「以景写情」的代表作。全诗的艺术特色在于「全篇写景、以景结情」：四句皆写秋夜之景，无一字言情，而独居无眠、良人远隔之怨，尽从景物中自然流出。首句以「冰簟银床」写居室之清凉华美，以「梦不成」写独宿之态；次句以「碧天如水夜云轻」宕开写天宇之空明；三四句以「雁声远过潇湘去」写雁去之悲，以「十二楼中月自明」写月照之孤。四句一室内一天宇、一静一动、一近一远，层层展开，构成一幅清冷空灵的秋夜图。尤为精妙的是「自明」二字，以月之无情衬人之孤独，以景作结而怨意深永。全诗意象清丽、意境空灵、含蓄不尽，正体现了温庭筠诗辞藻富丽与意境深婉兼胜的风格，也是中国古典诗歌「不着一字，尽得风流」美学理想的绝佳体现，历来为选家所称赏。

Line by line

冰簟银床梦不成，碧天如水夜云轻。

On the ice-cold mat and silver bed no dream will come; the blue sky is like water, the night clouds light and thin.

冰凉的竹席、银白的床榻，人却辗转难以成眠；碧天澄澈如水，夜云轻淡地飘浮着。

Cool bamboo mat, silver-white bed - yet sleep will not come; the blue sky is like water, night clouds drifting light.

前两句一写室内、一写天宇，一实一虚，已见独居之怨。首句「冰簟银床梦不成」，以「冰簟」「银床」写居室之清凉华美，而「梦不成」三字点破全篇——衾枕虽华，独宿难寐，「不成」二字写尽辗转反侧之态，怨意已隐然其中。次句「碧天如水夜云轻」宕开一笔，写室外的天宇：碧天澄澈如水，夜云轻淡飘浮，境界空灵澄明。诗人由室内的孤寂写到天宇的空明，一实一虚、一近一远，愈见其独处天地之间的孤清。两句之中，室之静与天之澄相映，独宿之怨与良夜之美对照，为后文雁声与明月作了铺垫，含蓄蕴藉，意境已出。

The first two lines one writes the room, one the sky, one solid one void, already showing the lone dwelling's grievance. The first line, cool bamboo mat, silver-white bed - yet sleep will not come, uses cool mat and silver bed to write the room's cool elegance; yet sleep will not come breaks through the whole: quilt and pillow fine, yet sleeping alone will not sleep; will not come exhausts the tossing and turning, the grievance already hidden. The second line, the blue sky is like water, night clouds drifting light, opens out: the sky above, blue and clear as water, night clouds drifting light, the realm ethereal and limpid. The poet passes from the room's loneliness to the sky's clarity, one solid one void, one near one far - all the more showing his solitude between heaven and earth. Within the two lines, the room's stillness and the sky's clearness mirror each other; the lone sleeping and the fair night contrast, preparing the goose cry and bright moon below, reserved and pregnant, the realm already present.

雁声远过潇湘去，十二楼中月自明。

The wild geese's cries pass far away over Xiaoxiang; and in the Twelve Towers the moon shines by itself.

雁声凄厉，远远飞过潇湘而去；十二楼中，唯有一轮明月空自朗照着。

The geese's cry passes far away toward Xiaoxiang; in the twelve towers, the moon shines on by itself.

末两句以雁声与明月写怨，是全诗的高潮与收束。「雁声远过潇湘去」写雁阵南飞，雁声凄厉，划破秋夜的寂静，远远消失在潇湘方向——雁尚有归程可去，而人独守空闺，良人不知何处，「远过」「去」二字写雁之远去，亦暗写良人之难归，怨意深藏。「十二楼中月自明」以景作结：十二楼为华美高楼，明月空自朗照，无人共赏。「自」字是全诗诗眼——月自明，而人自独，良夜虚度，怨情尽在这「自」字之中。两句一写动、一写静，一写雁之去、一写月之明，以清冷空灵之景收束全篇，言尽而意不尽，正是「以景结情」的绝妙之笔，令人读罢犹觉余韵悠然。

The last two lines write grievance through the goose cry and bright moon, the poem's climax and close. The geese's cry passes far away toward Xiaoxiang writes the geese flying south, their cry shrill, breaking the autumn night's silence, far disappearing toward Xiaoxiang - the geese have a journey home, while she alone keeps the empty chamber, her beloved nowhere; far past and away write the geese's distance, and secretly the beloved's hard return, grievance deeply hidden. In the twelve towers, the moon shines on by itself closes in scenery: the twelve towers are fine high buildings, the bright moon shining alone, no one to share it. By itself is the poem's eye - the moon shines by itself, while the woman is alone; the fair night wasted, grievance all in this one by itself. The two lines one writes motion, one stillness; one the geese going, one the moon shining; closing the poem in cool, ethereal scenery, words ended yet meaning unended - precisely the superb stroke of closing feeling in scenery, leaving lingering echo after reading.

Study

Word focus

梦不成 'No dream will come' — the sleepless night of the jade zither, the failed dream of the longing. 「梦不成」三字是全诗之骨，点出独宿无眠之态。「不成」写梦之难成、辗转反侧，比直说「失眠」更为含蓄，也更见怨情之深——唯其心有所念、情有所郁，故梦亦不成。「冰簟银床」之华美与「梦不成」之孤寂相映，愈见衾暖枕凉、独守空闺之怨，是写景中暗藏情语的点睛之笔。「梦不成」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

碧天如水 'The blue sky is like water' — the sky's clear coldness, the setting of the night. 「碧天如水」写秋夜天宇之澄澈空明，着一「如」字，将碧天比作澄净之水，境界空灵，令人神往。此句宕开一笔，由室内的孤寂写到天宇的空明，一实一虚、一近一远，愈见独处天地之间的孤清。而如此澄明之美景，无人共赏，反衬出独居之怨，是「以乐景写哀」的妙笔。「碧天如水」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

远过 'Pass far away' — the wild geese's cries passing over Xiaoxiang, the sound departing. 「远过」写雁声之远去，「远」字见其渐行渐远、终至杳然，「过」字见其划破夜空、转瞬即逝。雁声愈远，秋夜愈寂，独居之怨愈深——雁尚有南飞之归程，而人独守空闺，良人不知何处，「远过」二字于不经意间写尽良人难归之怨，炼字精妙。「远过」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

自明 'Shines by itself' — the moon shining without regard, the indifference of the night. 「自明」是全诗诗眼。明月空自朗照十二楼，无人共赏，着一「自」字，月之无情、人之孤独尽在其中——月不解人情，兀自朗照，而人独守空闺，良夜虚度，怨意尽在这「自」字之中。以景作结而着此一字，便使清冷之景染上深沉的怨情，含蓄蕴藉，正是「以景结情」的点睛之笔。「自明」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

瑶瑟怨