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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

章台夜思

Night Thoughts at Zhangtai

韦庄

Wei Zhuang

羁旅travel and exile 思乡homesickness 秋夜autumn night

清瑟怨遥夜，绕弦风雨哀。
孤灯闻楚角，残月下章台。
芳草已云暮，故人殊未来。
乡书不可寄，秋雁又南回。

A cold zither complains through the long night,
Its winding strings sound mournful as wind and rain.
By a lonely lamp I hear the horns of Chu,
The waning moon goes down beyond Zhangtai.
The fragrant grass has come to its late season,
And still my old friend has not arrived.
No letter can be sent to my home,
Yet the autumn geese fly south again.

Listen

Meaning

A traveler lodging in the Chu country passes an autumn night listening to a zither, a distant horn, and the silence around a single lamp. Waiting for a friend who never comes and unable to send word home, he watches the geese go south without him.

清冷的瑟声在长夜里哀怨，弦音缭绕如风雨般悲凉。孤灯下传来楚地的号角，残月正沉落在章台之下。芳草已然到了迟暮时节，故人却始终没有到来。家书无从寄达，秋雁却又向南方飞回。

Appreciation

The poem builds its loneliness from sound before it uses sight: the complaint of the zither, the strings compared to wind and rain, then the military horn cutting through the dark. Only afterward do the lonely lamp and the setting moon appear, so that hearing and seeing reinforce one another. In the third couplet the grass past its season stands for time slipping away and for a meeting that will not happen. The last couplet turns on a cruel comparison, since the geese that traditionally carry letters are flying while no letter can be sent, and the birds have a direction home while the poet does not. Each couplet closes a door, and by the end there is nowhere left to look.

【白话串讲】 “清瑟怨遥夜，绕弦风雨哀”——韦庄写章台夜思：琴声哀怨。“孤灯闻楚角，残月下章台”——“芳草已云暮，故人殊未来”——故人还没来。“乡书不可寄，秋雁又南回”——家书寄不出去，秋雁又南飞了。【意象与手法】首联以“清瑟”“风雨”写听觉之悲；颔联“孤灯”“残月”写视觉之孤，视听交织。颈联“芳草云暮”喻时光迟暮、佳期落空；尾联“乡书不可寄”“秋雁南回”以雁足传书之典反写音书断绝。【情感与主旨】这是一首秋夜羁旅思乡之作。诗人漂泊楚地，孤馆闻角，望月怀人，既思故人，又念故乡，将秋士迟暮之悲与羁旅无依之愁融而为一。【名句点睛】 “孤灯闻楚角，残月下章台”——孤灯、楚角、残月、章台，四意象叠加，把秋夜羁愁写得凄清入骨。

Background

Zhangtai was originally the name of a palace of the state of Qin in the Warring States period, and in Han times Zhangtai Street was a bustling quarter of Chang'an; later writers used the name for a place of pleasure or, more loosely, for a traveler's lodging far from home. This poem describes an autumn night spent as a guest in the Chu region, in present-day Hubei, thinking of home and of an absent friend.

韦庄字端己，京兆杜陵人，晚唐诗人、词人，花间派重要代表，乾宁元年进士，后入蜀依王建，官至宰相。其生平横跨唐末乱世，黄巢陷长安后漂泊江南楚地多年，身经离乱、久客思归，故诗中多羁旅之悲、故国之思。章台本为汉代长安章台街，多列妓馆，后世每以章台代指游冶之地或羁旅所经之繁华旧处；此诗题「夜思」，写秋夜羁愁，孤灯楚角、残月章台，正合诗人漂泊楚地、望月怀人之实境。晚唐国势衰微，士人飘零，韦庄借秋夜清景抒写身世迟暮、音书断绝之痛，既是个人的羁旅之歌，亦折射出时代离乱下文人的普遍心境，故能于清冷意象中见沉郁家国之感。韦庄身当唐末乱世，黄巢陷长安后漂泊江南楚地多年，此诗「楚角」「章台」皆其羁迹所经之实。前人谓韦诗「弦上黄莺语」般清丽，此篇却于清丽中透沉郁，正因离乱飘零之痛入骨。晚唐国势衰微，士人多如韦庄之无所归依，故此夜思之作既是个人羁愁，亦是一代之悲，足见时代离乱投射于个体心灵的深痕。

Art

Feeling grows out of scene and the two remain fused throughout. The first two couplets do nothing but establish the chill of an autumn night; the last two turn inward to homesickness and to the friend who has not come. The desolation outside gives rise to the disappointment within, and the progression is carefully graded, with the composition tightly knit from first line to last.

此诗八句四联，章法谨严而情致凄清。首联「清瑟怨遥夜，绕弦风雨哀」以听觉起笔，瑟声清怨、弦如风雨，先声夺人，将长夜之悲化入乐音；颔联「孤灯闻楚角，残月下章台」转写视觉，孤灯、楚角、残月、章台四象叠加，视听交织，孤寂之境毕现；颈联「芳草已云暮，故人殊未来」以芳草迟暮喻佳期落空，由景入情；尾联「乡书不可寄，秋雁又南回」以雁足传书之典反写音书断绝，更添一层无奈。通篇景语皆情语，意象清冷而层递加深，由夜声而夜色、而迟暮、而断书，情感如秋水暗生，看似平易而凄婉入骨，是晚唐五律清空一派的典型手笔。通篇以「清」「孤」「残」「暮」诸字织成凄清之网，视听相生而情致递进。首联写声之哀，颔联写色之孤，颈联写时之暮，尾联写书之断，由外景层层收入内心，章法如秋水暗生。其最擅处在以最少之象包最浓之情，不假雕绘而孤寂自见，是晚唐五律清空一派「以景写愁、炼字省净」的典型手笔，读来如闻长夜雁声。

Allusions

Zhangtai stands for a place of lodging and diversion away from home, with an undertone of exile. The horns of Chu are the military horns of the Chu region, in the middle Yangtze. The geese of the closing line invoke the old story of Su Wu of the Han, who was said to have sent a letter tied to a goose's foot, so that geese became the standard emblem of correspondence between distant people.

诗中用典虽不多而皆精切。其一为「章台」，源出汉长安章台街，班固《西都赋》已见其名，唐人诗词中章台常兼指游冶繁华之地与羁旅所历之旧处，韦庄用以寄身世飘零之感。其二为「楚角」，楚地号角声悲，自古为客中子夜所闻之凄音，暗点诗人漂泊楚地。其三为「秋雁」与「乡书」，化用雁足传书故实（见《汉书·苏武传》鸿雁系书之事），本谓雁能递书，诗人却反用其意曰「乡书不可寄」，纵秋雁南回亦难达故园之信，以典之常反写己之异，翻案见新。三处用事皆不着痕迹，融化入景，足见晚唐诗人使事之巧。「乡书」「秋雁」化用鸿雁传书故实，本谓雁能递信，诗人却反用其意，纵秋雁南回而乡书终不可寄，以典之常写己之异，翻案见新。又「章台」兼指游冶繁华与羁旅旧地，暗含今昔对照；「楚角」点明漂泊之方。三处用事皆融化入景而不着痕迹，正是晚唐诗人使事之巧，于清冷意象中暗藏身世之重。

Commentary

The line about the fragrant grass at its late season quietly draws on the Summons for a Recluse in the Songs of Chu, where the wandering prince does not return while the spring grass grows thick, using the aging of grass to say that a person has not come back.

《章台夜思》是韦庄五律中清婉深挚之作，素为论者所重。其胜处在能以寻常秋夜之景写尽羁旅之全：不假雕绘而孤灯残月之象自冷，不事呼号而乡关之思自深。前人谓韦庄诗「弦上黄莺语」般清丽，此诗却于清丽中透出沉郁，正因其身经乱离、久客无依，故景中自有身世之悲。首联以乐声写哀已开先声，尾联以雁回反衬书断更收余痛，章法首尾相生。较之盛唐王、孟之冲淡，此诗更多晚唐的纤愁与执着；较之温庭筠之秾艳，又见韦氏特有的清迥。其为后世称赏，正在于将时代离乱中个体的飘零感，凝为可触可感的秋夜清景，是唐末羁旅诗不可多得的佳品。《章台夜思》为韦庄五律清婉深挚之作，素为论者所重。其胜处在以寻常秋夜之景写尽羁旅之全：不事呼号而乡关之思自深，不假雕绘而孤灯残月之象自冷。较之盛唐王孟之冲淡，此诗更多晚唐的纤愁与执着；较之温庭筠之秾艳，又见韦氏特有的清迥。其为后世称赏，正在于将时代离乱中个体的飘零感凝为可触可感的秋夜清景，是唐末羁旅诗的代表。

Prosody

Form Five-character regulated verse五言律诗

Rhyme The rhyme words are ai, tai, lai, and hui, belonging to the tenth level rhyme group hui.哀、台、来、回，平水韵上平十灰韵，首句不入韵，二四六八句押韵

Tone pattern Oblique-tone opening, with strict parallelism in the middle two couplets, matching the lonely lamp against the waning moon.平起首句不入韵式。首联「清瑟怨遥夜，绕弦风雨哀」平仄为「平仄仄平仄，仄平平仄平」，颔联「孤灯闻楚角，残月下章台」、颈联「芳草已云暮，故人殊未来」大体对仗

Reading note The middle couplets are parallel and well balanced, setting lonely lamp against waning moon and fragrant grass against absent friend, so that longing is carried inside the scenery. The close uses the returning geese as a foil, and the whole composition is densely woven.此诗为五律正宗，声律严谨而气韵清哀。首句「清瑟怨遥夜」平起不入韵，以仄收「夜」字顿住，先立清怨之调；次句「绕弦风雨哀」平收灰韵，哀音入律，与「遥夜」相应，起手便定凄清基调。颔联「孤灯闻楚角，残月下章台」，平仄为「平平平仄仄，平仄仄平平」，孤对残、灯对角、闻对下、楚角对章台，词性相俪而声情相协，孤清之景与灰韵之回环相得益彰。颈联「芳草已云暮，故人殊未来」以「已」对「殊」、以「云暮」对「未来」，虽「未来」为动宾略宽，而情致相称，不失律度。尾联「乡书不可寄，秋雁又南回」仄平收放，以「回」字平收一韵到底，余音袅袅如雁阵盘空。全诗八句四联，中二联对仗工整而不板滞，用韵清冷，是晚唐五律声情与羁愁相生的典范。

Line by line

孤灯闻楚角，

Beside a lonely lamp he hears the horn of the Chu country. Out of solitude comes the sudden sound of a frontier horn, and homesickness and the sense of drifting arrive together.

孤灯下传来楚地的号角

Beneath a lone lamp I hear the Chu bugle,

此句为全诗情景交凝之眼。「孤灯」写羁馆独处之形，「楚角」写异乡悲凉之声，一视觉一听觉，以声破静，将客中长夜的孤寂写得如在目前。「孤」字定下全篇凄清基调，与首联「清瑟」之怨一脉相承；「楚角」既点明漂泊之地，又以其声之悲衬心头之哀。灯孤而角悲，物我相映，羁愁遂由外景渗入内里。此五字看似平白，实以最简之象包最浓之情，与下句「残月下章台」构成视听对举的颔联，撑起全诗由声入色、由哀入望的结构，是晚唐五律以景写愁、炼字省净的典范之笔。与下句「残月下章台」构成视听对举的颔联，遂将羁旅之孤写得层次分明、由声入色，非泛写愁者所能到，足证晚唐五律炼景之工。

This line is the poem's scene-feeling condensing eye. A lone lamp writes the travel lodging's solitary form; the Chu bugle writes the foreign land's mournful sound; one sight one hearing, sound breaking stillness, writing the exile's long night's loneliness as if present. Lone sets the whole poem's bleak keynote, one vein with the first couplet's zither resentment. The Chu bugle at once names the drifting place, and uses its sound's grief to set off the heart's sorrow. The lamp lone, the bugle sad, thing and self mirroring; the exile sorrow seeps from outer scene into inner. These five characters seem plain, actually using the simplest image to hold the thickest feeling; with the next line below the chapter platform the setting moon forms the hearing-sight parallel third couplet, holding up the poem's structure from sound to color, from grief to gazing. It is the late-Tang five-character regulated verse's model brush of writing sorrow through scenery, refined words spare and clean.

乡书不可寄，

No letter can be sent home. With correspondence cut off, the hardship of exile passes over into hopelessness.

家书无从寄达

a letter home cannot be sent,

此句为全篇情感之结，沉痛在「不可」二字。诗人久客楚地，思乡情切，本望借秋雁传书以慰故园，然「乡书不可寄」五字直截否定了唯一的精神出路，将羁愁推至无解之境。「不可」非不愿、非不能便达，而是乱世阻隔、身世飘零使之终不可得，较之诉说「难寄」更见绝望之力。与下句「秋雁又南回」相承，雁虽岁岁南回，而书终不达，以物之有情反衬人之无依，翻雁足传书之典而另出新意。至此，首联之瑟怨、颔联之孤灯、颈联之迟暮，皆汇于此一声长叹，羁旅之悲遂成全诗不可化解的底色。

This line is the whole poem's emotional knot; the poignancy lies in cannot. The poet long exiled in Chu, homesick and keen, originally hoping to send a letter through autumn geese to comfort the old garden; yet a letter home cannot be sent five characters directly negate the only spiritual outlet, pushing the exile sorrow to the unsolvable. Cannot is not unwilling, not unable to reach, but the troubled-times barrier, the drifting lot making it finally unattainable; compared with saying hard to send, it shows the despair's force. Carrying on with the next line the autumn geese return southward again: though geese return south year after year, the letter finally never arrives; using the thing's feeling to set off the person's helplessness, turning the geese-foot letter allusion and bringing fresh meaning. Here, the first couplet's zither resentment, the second's lone lamp, the third's late dusk, all gather in this one long sigh; the exile grief becomes the poem's unresolvable ground.

Study

Word focus

残月 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「残月」二字为诗中炼景之眼，兼具时间、空间与心理三重意味。就时令言，残月指将落之月，点出夜之将尽、晓色未分之际，正合「夜思」之题；就空间言，「下章台」写月沉台影，以月之动衬人之静立，构出孤馆望月的高远清景；就心境言，残月之「残」暗喻人事之缺、团圆之不可期，与「孤灯」之孤、「楚角」之哀同构一种残缺之美。诗人不选满月而取残月，正因残月最宜写羁客无依、归期难卜之绪，一字之中景情交融，是晚唐诗人以物象寄身世之典型练字，较之盛唐写月之廓朗更见纤愁入骨。

章台 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「章台」是本诗题眼与地理支点，意蕴层叠。其本义为汉长安章台街，因多妓馆而渐成游冶繁华的代称；唐人诗中章台又常指羁旅所经之旧地，含今昔对照之慨。韦庄以「残月下章台」收束颔联，既实写月沉台影之景，又暗带对往日繁华、故园旧处的遥想——章台之下，月色如昔而人身漂泊，物之恒常反衬人之流转。一字而兼地望、记忆与身世三层，使单纯的秋夜望月升格为对漂泊命运的凝思。诗人以章台为名篇之眼，正见其善于以地理符号承载飘零之感，是晚唐羁旅诗善用故实地名以增厚度的范例。