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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

长干行

Song of the Long Stem (Zhanggan Xing)

李白

Li Bai

爱情Love 愁思Melancholy

妾发初覆额，折花门前剧。
郎骑竹马来，遶床弄青梅。
同居长干里，两小无嫌猜。
十四为君妇，羞颜尚不开。
低头向暗壁，千唤不一回。
十五始展眉，愿同尘与灰。
常存抱柱信，岂上望夫台。
十六君远行，瞿塘滟预堆。
五月不可触，猨鸣天上哀。
门前迟行迹，一一生绿苔。
苔深不能扫，落叶秋风早。
八月蝴蝶来，双飞西园草。
感此伤妾心，坐愁红颜老。
早晚下三巴，预将书报家。
相迎不道远，直至长风沙。

When the boy rode his bamboo horse to come, and went round the bed playing with the green plums.
At fifteen I began to unknit my brows, and wished to be one with him in dust and ashes.
The traces of his lingering steps before the gate, one by one have grown the green moss.
If he comes to meet me, let him not count the distance, but come straight to the Long Wind Sand.

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Meaning

Li Bai's masterpiece of the yuefu, written during the Kaiyuan era when the poet was traveling in Jinling (present-day Nanjing). The whole poem, in thirty lines, in the first-person narrative tone, unfolds in the chronological order, from the childhood of 'my hair just covering my forehead' to the marriage at fourteen, the unknitting of the brows at fifteen, the parting at sixteen, to the lonely waiting of the May and the autumn wind, to the expectation of the 'coming down from the Three Ba,' recounting the love affair of a life, like the weeping and the telling. The four lines of this excerpt are the quintessence of the four stages: 'when the boy rode his bamboo horse to come, and went round the bed playing with the green plums'—the innocent love of the childhood, the source of the idiom of the 'bamboo horse and the green plums'; 'at fifteen I began to unknit my brows, and wished to be one with him in dust and ashes'—the love of the newly married, the vow of the dust and the ashes; 'the traces of his lingering steps before the gate, one by one have grown the green moss'—the waiting of the parting, the traces grown with the green moss, the long years of the waiting; and 'if he comes to meet me, let him not count the distance, but come straight to the Long Wind Sand'—the expectation of the return, the not counting the distance of the going to meet, the utmost of the longing.

我的头发刚刚盖住额头的时候，就常在门前折花嬉戏。你骑着竹马跑过来，绕着我家的井栏摆弄青梅。我们一同住在长干里，两小无猜、天真烂漫。十四岁嫁给你做了媳妇，害羞得脸都抬不起来，总是低着头对着暗壁，你唤我千百遍也不肯回头。十五岁才舒展眉头，愿与你同生共死、化为尘土。我常存着尾生抱柱那样的守信之心，哪里会想到登上望夫台去盼你归来。十六岁你远行他乡，要经过瞿塘峡的滟滪堆。五月涨水时那巨石不可触碰，两岸猿声哀鸣响彻天际。门前你走过的足迹，一条条长满了绿苔。苔痕深得扫不掉，落叶飘零秋风早早吹来。八月蝴蝶飞来，双双在西园草间翻飞。见此情景伤透我心，独坐愁叹红颜易老。早晚你从三巴归来，请预先捎信回家。我迎接你不嫌路远，一直走到长风沙去接你。

Appreciation

The most striking feature of the art of the poem is the high fusion of the narration and the lyricism. The whole poem, in thirty lines, in the first-person narrative tone, unfolds in the chronological order, from the 'my hair just covering my forehead' of the childhood, to the marriage at fourteen, the unknitting of the brows at fifteen, the parting at sixteen, to the lonely waiting of the May and the autumn wind, to the expectation of the 'coming down from the Three Ba,' recounting the love affair of a life, like the weeping and the telling, a natural stretch of the true feeling. In composition, first the joy and then the grief: the first eight lines write the joy of the innocent childhood and the newly married, the middle turns sharply, with the parting at sixteen as the boundary, entering the grief of the parting and the longing, and the last closes with the expectation of the meeting, the whole from the joy to the grief to the hope, the ups and the downs of a life of the love. The four lines of this excerpt, from the bamboo horse and the green plums to the unknitting of the brows, to the green moss of the traces, to the not counting the distance, the four stages of the love affair, the narration and the lyricism fused, the naturalness of the plain words, the very model of Li Bai's yuefu of the woman's life.

【白话串讲】李白写《长干行》：“妾发初覆额，折花门前剧”——她小时候在门前折花。“郎骑竹马来，遶床弄青梅”——“同居长干里，两小无嫌猜”——“十四为君妇”——“常存抱柱信，岂上望夫台”——“八月蝴蝶黄，双飞西园草”——“感此伤妾心，坐愁红颜老”——她等丈夫归来。“青梅竹马”、“两小无猜”都出自这里。【意象与手法】全诗以叙事为骨、抒情为魂，选取青梅、竹马、绿苔、蝴蝶等富有生活气息的意象，将爱情写得既纯真又深挚。手法上最突出的是顺叙中的跌宕：由童年之乐、新婚之羞，骤转入送别之悲、独守之愁，再以长风沙相迎的虚写作结，一喜一悲、一实一虚，波澜层生。细节描写尤见功力，如低头向暗壁、千唤不一回，写新妇娇羞如在目前；门前迟行迹，一一生绿苔，以苔痕写等待之久，物我交融。【情感与主旨】诗写商人妇对远行丈夫的深情与思念，主旨在一情字：青梅竹马的纯情、愿同尘灰的痴情、坐愁红颜的哀情、长风沙相迎的期盼之情，层层递进，把民间女子的爱情写得既朴实又热烈。其动人处在于以最平凡的生活细节承载最深沉的情感，千载之下犹能感人。【名句点睛】郎骑竹马来，遶床弄青梅与同居长干里，两小无嫌猜二句，孕育出青梅竹马、两小无猜两个成语，成为中华文化中描写童年纯真爱情的经典语汇；相迎不道远，直至长风沙则以明知路远而愿迎至终点的痴情，收束全篇，余韵不尽。

Background

The poem is one of the representative works of Li Bai's yuefu, written during the Kaiyuan era when the poet was traveling in Jinling (present-day Nanjing). The Long Stem Lane is a famous alley by the Qinhuai River in the south of the city of Jinling, bordering the Long River, a gathering place of the merchants and the travelers of the ancient times, the residents mostly engaged in the trade, the men going out for the transport all the year round and the women guarding the empty chamber alone, hence a great number of the yuefu folk songs on the theme of the merchant's wife. Li Bai, after leaving Shu in his youth, wandered in the south of the Long River for a long time, most familiar with the customs of the two banks of the Long River, and could enter deeply into the inner world of the merchant's wife. The poem belongs to the old title of the yuefu, and in the Six Dynasties there were already the 'Songs of the Long Stem' sung, and Cui Hao also wrote four 'Songs of the Long Stem,' mostly writing the love affairs of the young people of the south of the Long River; Li Bai, on the basis of the old title, takes a new path, not writing the joy of the love at first sight, but the love affair of a life of the merchant's wife, the most complete and the most touching of the same theme.

《长干行》是李白乐府诗的代表作之一，约作于开元年间诗人游历金陵（今南京）之时。长干里是金陵城南秦淮河畔的著名里巷，濒临长江，为古代商旅云集之地，居民多以经商为业，男子长年外出贩运，女子独守空闺，遂产生大量以商人妇为题材的乐府民歌。李白青年出蜀后长期漫游江南，对长江两岸的风土人情极为熟悉，故能深入商人妇的内心世界。此诗属乐府旧题，六朝时已有《长干曲》传唱，崔颢亦作有《长干曲》四首，多写江南儿女情事，李白此作在旧题基础上另辟蹊径，不写一见钟情的欢会，而写一生长相守的婚恋历程，格局气象远胜同题诸作。从诗中青梅竹马、十四为妇、十六送别的时间线索看，诗人显然有意写一对夫妻从童稚到中年的完整情感史，借以歌咏民间爱情的真淳。盛唐国力强盛，商业繁荣，江上舟楫往来不绝，商人妇的相思之苦成为时代普遍的情感经验，李白以天才笔力将这一题材升华为对爱情坚贞的礼赞，遂成千古名篇。

Art

The art is the high fusion of the narration and the lyricism: the first-person narrative in the chronological order, from the childhood to the parting to the waiting to the expectation, recounting the love affair of a life like the weeping and the telling; the structure of the first joy and the after grief, the middle turn with the parting as the boundary, and the close with the expectation, the ups and the downs of a life of the love, the naturalness of the plain words.

此诗在艺术上最显著的特点是叙事与抒情的高度融合。全诗三十句，以第一人称自述的口吻，按时间顺序展开，从妾发初覆额的童年，写到十四为妇、十五展眉、十六送别，再到五月秋风的独守，直至早晚下三巴的期盼，历数一生情事，如泣如诉，天然一段真性情。章法上先写乐后写悲：前八句写两小无猜、新婚燕尔之乐，中间陡转，以十六君远行为界，进入离别相思之苦，最后以相迎不道远的虚写作结，悲中带盼，一往情深。结构上前后照应，丝丝入扣：青梅、竹马遥应长干里的共同生活，抱柱信、望夫台暗含誓约与等待，门前绿苔、落叶秋风、双飞蝴蝶皆以眼前景物衬心中愁绪，情与景会，物我交融。语言上不事雕琢而天然入妙，如低头向暗壁，千唤不一回，以动作写心理，新妇娇羞之态呼之欲出；一一生绿苔，以叠词摹状，苔痕历历如见，而岁月流逝之感自在言外。全诗将民歌的质朴与文人的工巧熔于一炉，于平淡处见深挚，是李白诗中少见的深情绵邈之作。

Allusions

The allusions of the poem are few yet all melted without the trace. 'I wished to be one with him in dust and ashes' uses the allusion of the 'the son-in-law of the dust and the ashes' of the ancient vows of the love, the vow of the life and the death. 'The traces of his lingering steps before the gate' and the 'one by one have grown the green moss' the waiting of the parting, the traces of the lingering steps grown with the moss, the long years of the waiting written with the scene. And the 'Long Wind Sand' of the close is a place by the Long River, the not counting the distance of the going to meet, the utmost of the longing. The whole poem, with the daily scenes and the plain words, writes the love affair of a life of the merchant's wife, the very 'the natural words of the plainness.'

此诗用典不多而皆能融化无迹。常存抱柱信用《庄子·盗跖》尾生抱柱之典：尾生与女子约于桥下，女子不来，水至不去，抱梁柱而死，后世以抱柱喻坚守信约，此处写女子自誓对爱情忠贞不移，以古之痴情自比，其情可悯。岂上望夫台用望夫石传说：相传有女子送夫从军，登台远望，日久化为石，后世以望夫台喻思妇望归，诗人以反诘出之，言我既存抱柱之信，何须上望夫台，痴语之中愈见深情。瞿塘滟预堆指长江瞿塘峡口的滟滪堆巨石，为行舟大险，谚云滟滪大如马，瞿塘不可下，五月正是江水暴涨之际，滟滪堆几没水中，故云五月不可触，以行路之险写担忧之深。猨鸣天上哀化用《水经注》所载三峡渔歌巴东三峡巫峡长，猿鸣三声泪沾裳，猿声本哀，加之送别之悲，更觉凄切。三巴指巴郡、巴东、巴西，泛指蜀地；长风沙在安徽当涂长江边，距金陵数百里，古为商旅停泊之所。全诗用典皆服务于抒情，无一处掉书袋，足见李白熔铸故实、浑然天成的功力。

Commentary

The poem is unique among the whole works of Li Bai: the poetry of the Taibai is famous for the unrestrained and the elegant, yet this piece excels in the delicate and the tender, writing the love affairs of the young people with the lingering feeling and the plain words, showing the deep-feeling side of the style of Li Bai. The two lines of the 'bamboo horse' and the 'green plums' have for thousands of years become the classic idiom of the Chinese culture for the innocent friendship of the childhood, and the poem, with its narration of the whole life of the love, is the most complete of the works on the theme of the merchant's wife, the model of the yuefu of the woman's life of Li Bai.

《长干行》在李白全部诗作中别具一格：太白诗以豪放飘逸著称，而此篇却以细腻婉转见长，写小儿女情事，情致缠绵，语语本色，显示出李白风格中深情的一面。诗中青梅竹马、两小无猜二句，千百年来已成为中华文化中形容童年纯真友情的经典成语，其文化影响力远超诗歌本身。后世论者多推重其以叙事写情的章法：清人沈德潜《唐诗别裁》谓其缠绵婉转，一往情深，正是点出此诗以情驭事、以事传情的艺术特色。与崔颢《长干曲》相比，崔诗写江上偶遇的刹那心动，是截取式的抒情；李白此作却纵笔写尽一生，是编年式的叙事，格局更大，情感更厚。诗中商人妇的形象尤为动人：她既有少女的天真烂漫，又有妻子的温柔坚贞，还有思妇的哀愁期盼，三层性格交叠于一身，血肉丰满。此诗对后世影响深远，唐人歌行中写闺情的作品多受其启发，宋人词中亦常见青梅竹马之语，皆本于此。就李白个人而言，此诗与《静夜思》《玉阶怨》等同为少作中的深情之作，合观可见谪仙并非只知饮酒高歌，其于人间烟火中的儿女深情，同样体察入微。

Prosody

Form Five-character ancient yuefu (the old yuefu title 'Song of the Long Stem')五言古体乐府（乐府旧题《长干曲》）

Rhyme Thirty lines, mainly the five-character, one rhyme to the end, on the hui rhyme: ju, mei, cai, kai, hui, tai, dui, ai, tai...全诗三十句，五言为主，一韵到底，押灰韵：剧、梅、猜、开、回、灰、台、堆、哀、苔、早、草、老、家、沙等字相协，韵脚密布，几于句句入韵，声情绵长，如泣如诉。

Tone pattern The 'the boy rode his bamboo horse to come' is light, the 'at fifteen I began to unknit my brows' is tender, the 'one by one have grown the green moss' is desolate, and the 'come straight to the Long Wind Sand' is eager—the whole from the joy to the longing, the life of the love carried by the rhyme古体不拘平仄，以句句押韵、一韵到底造成回环往复的声情，正合女子自述身世、一唱三叹的口吻。句中多用口语虚字（乃、岂、尚、始、复），语调自然流转，读来如听人絮絮诉说，亲切动人。

Reading note The hui rhyme and the plain five-character lines carry the narration of the life of the love, the waiting of the merchant's wife.此诗为五言古体乐府，属乐府旧题《长干曲》的翻新之作。与近体诗的平仄严格、偶句押韵不同，古体乐府句式自由，以押韵与节奏构成声情。此诗最显著的声律特点是句句押韵、一韵到底：剧、梅、猜、开、回、灰、台、堆、哀、苔、早、草、老、家、沙诸韵脚密集排列，几乎每句末字皆入韵，造成一种绵绵不尽、如泣如诉的音乐效果，正与女子一生情事的娓娓叙述相吻合。韵部选用上，此诗以开口度较大的平声韵为主，声调舒徐宽和，如秋风吹拂，正宜于表现温柔深婉的情思。句法则全用五言，节奏整齐而语气自然，中间穿插岂、尚、始、复、不、直至等虚词与副词，使整齐的句式生出跌宕的语势，避免了平板。李白此诗以乐府古体写商人妇情事，不假雕琢而声情并茂，是古体诗中以声写情的典范，与《蜀道难》《将进酒》等豪放之作恰成对照，显示出李白驾驭不同声调的能力。

Line by line

郎骑竹马来，遶床弄青梅。

When the boy rode his bamboo horse to come, and went round the bed playing with the green plums. (The innocent love of the childhood: the bamboo horse and the green plums, the source of the idiom, the purest joy of the first love.)

你骑着竹马跑过来，绕着我家的井栏摆弄青梅，那是我们青梅竹马、两小无猜的童年时光。

You came riding a bamboo horse, circling the well-rail, playing with green plums.

此二句写男女主人公童年相识的情景，是全诗情感的开端。竹马是古代儿童骑竹竿为马的游戏，青梅是未熟的梅子，床在此指井栏或坐具，遶即绕。诗人选取竹马、青梅两个最具童趣的细节，轻轻几笔便勾勒出一幅天真烂漫的童年图画：男孩骑着竹马兴冲冲跑来，绕着井栏逗弄青梅，女孩则在一旁看顾，两小无猜，纯然一片童心。妙在句中对举：骑与弄、来与绕，动词连用，画面动感十足；竹马与青梅又是民间俗语中的成对意象，天然带有生活的温度。这两句在后世已成为青梅竹马这一成语的源头，千百年来被无数人引用，其魅力正在于以最简单的物象写出最纯净的童年情谊，为后文十四为君妇的婚姻生活埋下温情的伏笔，也使全诗的深情有了可以追溯的源头。

These two lines write the boy and girl's childhood meeting, the poem's emotional beginning. The bamboo horse is the ancient children's game of riding a bamboo pole as horse; green plum is the unripe plum; bed here means the well-rail or sitting furniture; circle is绕. The poet chooses bamboo horse and green plum, two most childlike details; a few strokes outline a naive, joyful childhood picture: the boy excitedly arrives riding the bamboo horse, circling the well-rail teasing the green plum; the girl watches nearby, two small souls without suspicion, pure childishness. The subtlety lies in the line's parallel: ride and play, come and circle, verbs used together, the picture full of motion; bamboo horse and green plum are also paired images in folk idiom, naturally carrying life's warmth. These two lines later become the source of the idiom green plum, bamboo horse; through a thousand years countless people quote it, its charm precisely lies in using the simplest objects to write the purest childhood friendship, planting the warm伏笔 for the later at fourteen I became your wife's married life, also giving the whole poem's deep feeling a traceable source.

十五始展眉，愿同尘与灰。

At fifteen I began to unknit my brows, and wished to be one with him in dust and ashes. (The love of the newly married: the unknitting of the brows and the vow of the dust and the ashes, the devotion of the love of the new couple.)

十五岁时我才舒展开眉头，不再害羞，立下愿与你同生共死、化为尘土灰烬的誓言。

At fifteen I first unbent my brows, vowing to be one with you, dust and ash together.

此二句写新婚女子由羞怯转为深情的关键转折。始展眉三字极有分寸：前文言十四为君妇，羞颜尚不开，低头向暗壁，千唤不一回，写尽新嫁娘的娇羞；至十五始展眉，一个始字点出时间的推移与心境的转变，经过一年相处，少女终于放下羞涩，舒眉展笑，与丈夫两情相洽。愿同尘与灰是此诗的诗眼，也是全诗情感的巅峰：尘与灰是极卑微之物，女子却愿与爱人同化为尘灰，意谓生死相随、永不分离，以最朴素的意象表达最炽烈的爱情，胜过一切海誓山盟。这一誓言与后文常存抱柱信相呼应，可见女子并非一时冲动，而是将年少时的痴情化为终生践行的信念。两句一写情态，一写心志，由外而内，层层深入，把一个民间女子爱情的真淳与刚烈写得淋漓尽致，是唐诗中写誓言的千古名句。

These two lines write the newlywed woman's key turn from shyness to deep feeling. First unbent my brows three characters are most measured: the previous text says at fourteen I became your wife, my shy face would not open; I bowed my head to the dark wall, a thousand calls not one turn, exhausting the new bride's shyness. At fifteen I first unbent my brows: one first points out the time's advance and the mind's change; after a year's togetherness, the girl at last sets aside shyness, unbent brows and smile, two hearts in harmony. Vowing to be one with you, dust and ash together is the poem's eye, also the whole poem's emotional peak: dust and ash are the meanest things, yet the woman wishes to become dust and ash with her lover, meaning following in life and death, never parting; using the plainest image to express the fiercest love, surpassing all sea-and-mountain oaths. This oath echoes the later forever keeping the pledge; showing the woman is not momentary impulse, but converting childhood infatuation into lifelong practiced belief. The two lines one write bearing, one will; from outside to inside, layer by layer, writing a common woman's love's genuineness and steadfastness to the utmost - among Tang poems, an age-famous line on vows.

门前迟行迹，一一生绿苔。

The traces of his lingering steps before the gate, one by one have grown the green moss. (The waiting of the parting: the traces of the lingering steps grown one by one with the green moss, the long years of the waiting written with the scene.)

门前你当年走过留下的足迹，如今一条条都长满了绿苔，苔痕深得扫也扫不掉。

Before the door, the traces of your lingering steps - each one has grown green moss.

此二句是全诗写相思最见功力之处，以苔痕写等待之久，以物态写心绪。迟行迹指丈夫离家时留下的足迹，一一生绿苔，是说那些足迹一条条都长出了青苔，可见人去已久，岁月漫漫。诗人不直说相思之苦，而借门前苔痕的日益加深，暗示独守时光的漫长：苔痕本是无情之物，却在无声中记录着离别的时间，读来令人心惊。妙在苔深不能扫的续笔：苔痕深得扫不掉，表面写苔，实则写情，相思如同这绿苔，日日滋生，愈积愈深，任凭怎么排遣也无法扫除。落叶秋风早一句再以节候点染，秋风早到，落叶满地，更添萧瑟。这两句由实入虚，由物及心，将抽象的时间流逝化为可视的苔痕，物我交感，意蕴深长，是古典诗歌中以景写情的典范笔墨。

These two lines are the poem's most skillful place on longing, using moss traces to write the long waiting, using thing-state to write mind. The traces of your lingering steps refers to the footprints left when the husband left; each one has grown green moss says those footprints one by one have grown green moss, showing the person gone long, the years vast. The poet does not directly write longing's bitterness, but through the door-front moss's daily deepening, hints the long hours of lonely keeping: moss is originally a feelingless thing, yet silently records the parting's time, reading it makes one's heart startled. The subtlety lies in the moss-deep-cannot-sweep continuation: moss traces deep beyond sweeping, on the surface writing moss, in truth writing feeling; longing is like this green moss, daily growing, accumulating deeper, however one tries to dispel it, cannot sweep it away. Falling leaves, autumn wind early one line further uses season to dye - the autumn wind early arrived, fallen leaves covering the ground, all the more adding bleakness. These two lines pass from solid to void, from thing to mind, converting abstract time's flow into visible moss traces; thing and self mutually stirred, meaning deep - among classical poetry, the model brush of writing feeling through scenery.

相迎不道远，直至长风沙。

If he comes to meet me, let him not count the distance, but come straight to the Long Wind Sand. (The expectation of the return: the not counting the distance of the going to meet, the coming straight to the Long Wind Sand, the utmost of the longing.)

你若归来，我迎接你不嫌路远，哪怕要一直走到几百里外的长风沙去接你。

To meet you, I will not call the road far; I will walk all the way to Changfeng Shoal.

末二句是全诗情感的升华与收束，以痴愿写痴情，余韵悠长。长风沙在安徽当涂县长江边，距金陵数百里，古为商旅要津，路途遥远。不道远三字极有分量：女子明明深知此路之远，却偏说不算远，为了迎接归人，宁愿跋涉数百里直至长风沙，以行动之痴写情之深。这一笔与前文坐愁红颜老的哀愁形成鲜明对照：愁到深处，非但不绝望，反而生发出更强烈的期盼，愿以最艰苦的跋涉换取重逢的欢愉，痴情至此，令人动容。全诗以早晚下三巴，预将书报家作过渡，由独守的哀愁转入迎归的期盼，情感由悲转盼，一扬一抑，收束得既有力又含蓄。诗人以长风沙这一具体地名落笔，使虚渺的期盼落到实处，读来如在目前，千百年来不知感动了多少读者，堪称乐府诗中写爱情的最高境界。

The last two lines are the poem's emotional sublimation and close, using infatuated wish to write infatuated love, aftertaste long. Changfeng Shoal is on the Yangtze bank in Dangtu County, Anhui, several hundred li from Jinling, anciently a merchant-and-traveler key crossing, the road far. Will not call the road far three characters most weighty: the woman clearly knows this road's distance, yet insists it is not far; to welcome the returning one, she would rather trek several hundred li straight to Changfeng Shoal, using action's infatuation to write feeling's depth. This brush forms a sharp contrast with the earlier sitting-sorrowing-red-face-aging grief: sorrow to the deep, far from despairing, instead giving birth to stronger hope; willing to exchange the hardest trek for the reunion's joy, infatuation to this point, moving to the heart. The whole poem uses in the morning or evening you leave the Three Gorges, beforehand send a letter home as transition, turning from lonely-keeping grief to welcoming-return hope; emotion from grief to expectation, one lift one press, closing both forcefully and reservedly. The poet uses Changfeng Shoal, a concrete place name, to set the vague hope on solid ground; reading it is as if present, through a thousand years moving countless readers - among yuefu poems on love, the highest realm.

Study

Word focus

始 Began (at first). The word of the time: 'at fifteen I began to unknit my brows'—the first unknitting of the brows at fifteen, the beginning of the joy of the new couple, the turn of the love affair. 十五始展眉之始字，是此诗情感转折的枢纽字。始有才、方才之意，与上句十四为君妇的十四相衔接，精确标出时间的推移。一个始字，写尽新妇由羞怯到亲昵的渐变过程：十四岁初嫁，羞颜尚不开，低头向暗壁，千唤不一回，少女的羞涩如冰未融；至十五岁，经过一年朝夕相处，方始展眉，冰雪消融，笑靥初开。此字之妙在于以时间词写心理变化，将一年间夫妻感情的升温浓缩于一字，极简练而极传神。若删去始字，则展眉只是一般情态，有了始字，便有了过程的沧桑与转变的喜悦。更妙的是，始展眉之后紧接愿同尘与灰的誓言，始字又暗示这誓言是深思熟虑后的表白，而非一时冲动，使全诗的爱情显得更加成熟而坚定。一个寻常的虚字，在李白笔下竟有如此丰富的表现力，可见其炼字之精。

一一 One by one. The word of the moss: 'the traces of his lingering steps before the gate, one by one have grown the green moss'—the traces of the lingering steps grown one by one with the green moss, the long years of the waiting, the passage of the time written with the scene. 门前迟行迹，一一生绿苔之一一字，以叠词摹写苔痕之状，是全诗状物写情的妙笔。一一本为数词重叠，意为一条一条、逐一地，此处写门前丈夫留下的行迹，每一条都长出了绿苔，言外之意是：那些足迹还在原地，一条也不少，可当年走过它们的人却久久不归。叠用一一，既写出苔痕的密布之态，又暗含女子逐条辨认、反复摩挲的动作——她不知多少次站在门前，看着那些逐渐模糊的足迹出神。苔生其上，日复一日，时间的无情与等待的痴情尽在这两个寻常的字中。若作行迹生绿苔，便只是一般景物描写；一一二字一出，便有了计数般的执着，有了逐条细数的深情，苔痕成了相思的年轮。此字看似平淡，实为全诗写情最细的一笔，与苔深不能扫相呼应，物我交融，韵味无穷。

不道远 Not counting the distance. The word of the expectation: 'if he comes to meet me, let him not count the distance'—the not counting the distance of the going to meet, the coming straight to the Long Wind Sand, the utmost of the longing. 相迎不道远之不道二字，以否定语态写极致深情，是全诗最见功力的炼字。不道即不嫌、不说之意，道字作称说、计较解，此处写女子明知长风沙路途遥远，却偏说不算远，一个不字，将路途之远轻轻抹去，而相思之深、盼归之切俱在其中。若直说路虽远我亦往迎，便落言筌；以不道远出之，反而更见其痴：不是不知道远，是不愿计较远，不敢承认远，仿佛一说远，归期便更渺茫。此字与直至的长风沙形成张力：一边是客观上确凿的远，一边是主观上决绝的不远，主观与客观的碰撞，正是爱情战胜距离的证明。李白炼字，向以豪放见长，而此处的这个不字却极尽婉转，把一个女子含泪而笑的痴情写得入骨三分，是全诗情感收束处最有力的一笔。

长干行