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魏晋 Wei-Jin · 诗 Poem

七哀诗

Seven Laments

曹植

Cao Zhi

闺怨boudoir lament 相思longing 建安风骨Jian'an spirit

明月照高楼，流光正徘徊。
上有愁思妇，悲叹有余哀。
借问叹者谁？
言是宕子妻。
君行逾十年，孤妾常独栖。
君若清路尘，妾若浊水泥。
浮沉各异势，会合何时谐？
愿为西南风，长逝入君怀。
君怀良不开，贱妾当何依？

The bright moon shines on the tall tower; its flowing light lingers to and fro.
Above, a woman with grieving thoughts; her sad sighs hold lingering sorrow.
I ask who the sighing one is; she says she is the far-wanderer's wife.
You have been gone more than ten years; I, the lone concubine, often lodge alone.
You are like the clear dust on the road; I like the muddy water in the stream.
Floating and sinking, our states are apart; when shall we meet in harmony?
I would be the southwest wind, and ever pass into your breast.
But your breast will not open; a lowly one, where shall I lean?

Listen

Meaning

Speaking in the voice of a deserted wife, the poem voices Cao Zhi's own grief at being cast aside by his brother the Emperor, his longing to return unmet.

明月照耀着高楼，流动的清光在楼前徘徊。楼上有位满怀愁思的女子，悲叹声中藏着无尽的哀伤。试问那叹息的人是谁？她说自己是游子远行的妻子。丈夫离家已超过十年，我这孤身的妾室常常独宿空房。你若是路上清扬的飞尘，我便如浊水中的沉泥。浮沉本是两般境遇，你我何时才能重新相聚？我愿化作一阵西南风，长久地吹入你的怀抱。可你的怀抱迟迟不肯为我敞开，我这薄命的人又能依仗什么？

Appreciation

The whole poem uses metaphor and opening image. Clear dust on the road against muddy water in the stream writes the floating and sinking of station, the meeting left to others. Southwest wind into your breast adapts the Chu Ci art of lodging feeling in the wind — a foolish wish showing helplessness. The language is plaint yet the bone is clear and stern, a typical brush of Jian'an lyric.

【白话串讲】 “明月照高楼，流光正徘徊”——曹植写一个思妇：丈夫离家十年。“君若清路尘，妾若浊水泥”——你是路上的尘土，我是水底的泥。“愿为西南风，长逝入君怀”——她愿化作西南风，吹进他的怀里。【意象与手法】通篇用比兴。以清路尘对浊水泥，写身分浮沉、聚散由人；以西南风入君怀，化用《楚辞》托风寄情之法，痴愿中见无奈。语言哀婉而气骨清峻，是建安抒情小诗的典型笔法。【情感与主旨】表面写思妇念远，实则以弃妇自况，寄托诗人见疏于魏文帝曹丕、壮志难伸的孤危之感。末二句君怀不开、贱妾何依，将个人不遇之悲写得低回欲绝。【名句点睛】愿为西南风，长逝入君怀——痴愿奇绝，以风雨之无形写依附之执念，正是全篇情眼所在。

Background

In his later years Cao Zhi was watched with suspicion by his elder brother Emperor Wen, Cao Pi; his fief was moved often, and the least fault was punished — his vassal state abolished, his close allies scattered. This poem was written about the time of his disappointed retirement, lodging his personal plight in a boudoir lament, in the Jian'an tradition of using man-and-wife to stand for ruler-and-servant.

曹植字子建，为曹操第四子、曹丕同母弟，建安文学之翘楚。其少年即以才藻受父宠，几立为嗣，及曹丕即位，顿遭疑忌，屡徙封地，备受监国谒者逼迫，十一年内三徙都，名为藩王，实同囚徒。此诗题作七哀，乃汉魏之际新兴之乐府题，王粲、曹植并有此题，多写哀怨愁思。曹植此篇虽托为思妇之词，实则以弃妇自况，暗寓见疏于兄、壮志难伸之痛。建安末年政治倾轧剧烈，兄弟之间情义断绝，诗人既不敢直斥，唯有借闺情以寄孤危之感。诗中所谓君行逾十年、孤妾常独栖，正是其屏居鄄城、雍丘一带，欲亲君而不得之真实处境的曲折写照。清人方东树谓此诗貌为闺怨而中有身世之悲，沈德潜亦赏其情韵之哀婉，足见此篇非寻常闺情，而是建安文人在权力挤压下失路之嗟的集中投射，故能超越儿女之情而具普遍之悲美。此诗在建安抒情诗中独具一格，以闺情写政治，开后世借男女以喻君臣之先声，其哀婉深至远超一般思妇之作，足见子建处境之孤危与用情之烈。其哀婉深至，千载之下犹能动人，足证建安风骨之感染力与子建才情之不可及。

Art

The whole poem speaks for the grieving wife, yet everywhere is the poet's own breast. Metaphor and double meaning: clear dust and muddy water for station, the southwest wind for the wish to return — object and self one piece, grieving yet not plaintive.

此诗通篇用比兴，以思妇之口吐露逐臣之怨，是建安抒情小诗典型笔法。开篇明月照高楼、流光正徘徊，先布清冷之境，以明月流光之徘徊暗喻人心之辗转，景中已含情。继而借问叹者谁、言是宕子妻，由景入人，层层剥出身份，手法如剥笋。中段君若清路尘、妾若浊水泥，以尘泥浮沉之异势喻地位悬隔，比喻精切而沉痛；末段愿为西南风、长逝入君怀，忽作痴绝之想，化用楚辞托风寄情之法，而君怀良不开、贱妾当何依二句陡然跌落，以绝望收束，低回欲绝。全篇气骨清峻而情韵哀婉，赋比兴三者交融，于温厚之中见风骨，正是建安诗风之精髓。其以弃妇喻逐臣之法，下开唐人闺怨、宫怨诸体，结构之绵密、情感之往复，皆可见子建才情之全，故能于短章中具见兴观群怨之旨。通篇气脉连贯，由景及人、由人及喻、由喻及痴、由痴及绝望，层层递进而不见斧凿之痕，足见建安诗人结构小诗之工，亦见其熔裁古诗楚辞于一炉的手段。

Allusions

Southwest wind adapts the Chu Ci 'Wide open the heavenly gate; in confusion I ride the dark cloud' and the art of lodging feeling in the wind. Far-wanderer is one long away from home, i.e. a wanderer.

七哀之题，始见于汉魏乐府，王粲、曹植皆曾以此命题，所哀者有七，或谓痛而哀、义而哀之类，实则总言哀思之深。宕子一词，指远游在外之丈夫，古诗中常见，此借以自指其离君远贬之身。清路尘与浊水泥之喻，承自汉乐府与古诗十九首中浮云游子、沉泥弃妇之对立意象，以飞尘之轻清反衬沉泥之浊重，喻君臣、夫妇间地位之悬隔无从逾越。西南风入君怀之想，则本于楚辞九歌少司命悲莫悲兮生别离、乐莫乐兮新相知之托风寄意传统，又暗合古诗行行重行行中思君令人老之执念。贱妾之称，乃汉魏乐府中思妇自谓惯语，诗人借以自处卑微、寄哀无告。诸典皆融于血脉而不着痕迹，以家常物事写至痛身世，正是建安比兴最高明处，亦可见子建化用古诗、楚辞而自出机杼的本领。清尘浊泥本出古诗传统，经子建点化更成地位悬隔之象征，诸意象取日常物事而喻身世，不事堆垛而自然浑成，后世拟作者多不能及此。

Commentary

Read with The Beautiful Lady and the Miscellaneous Poems, this shows the later Cao Zhi turning from high spirit to grave restraint — grieving yet not angry, attaining the intent of the wind-poets.

此诗自六朝以来即享盛誉，钟嵘诗品虽未单列，而后世论者多推为曹植五言抒情之冠。王夫之薑斋诗话评其明月照高楼一篇，谓以乐景写哀、以哀景写乐，一倍增其哀乐，极称其反衬之妙。近人论建安诗，辄以风骨相尚，此诗清峻哀婉兼而有之，恰可见子建才情之全。其以弃妇喻逐臣之法，下开唐人闺怨、宫怨诸体，杜甫新婚别、张籍节妇吟皆可见其流风。现代读者多注目于其比兴之巧与情感之真，认为它既是个人的生命悲歌，也是建安文人于乱世中失路之嗟的集中投射。诗中君怀良不开之绝望，与愿为西南风之痴愿相互撕扯，构成中国诗歌史上最动人的依附与失落母题之一，故能超越闺情题材而具普遍之悲美，千载之下犹能动人肝膈。千载而下，读者每于君怀良不开中照见自身不遇之悲，足证其感人至深；此诗亦由此成为弃妇喻逐臣原型的经典范本，影响历久而不衰。其以弃妇自况的笔法，不仅是个人的失路之嗟，更成为后世寒士借闺情寄身世的原型，影响及于唐诗诸多寄寓之作，价值远超一时一地之哀怨。

Prosody

Form Five-character ancient poem五言古诗（乐府体）

Rhyme Rhyme scheme not specified in source; a five-character ancient poem shifting rhymes naturally.句句押韵，韵脚为徊、哀、妻、栖、泥、谐、怀、依，属魏晋古体通押之支、微、灰诸部，一韵到底。

Tone pattern Level and oblique follow the momentum, not bound by regulation; the rhyme shifts naturally.汉魏五言尚无近体严整平仄，此诗以自然声调行之，奇偶句间大致抑扬相济，读来流转哀婉。

Reading note A five-character ancient poem; using the grieving wife to write the gap between ruler and servant, the dust-water clear-muddy and the southwest-wind-into-breast metaphors are plaint and deep — the bone of Zijian's Seven Laments.此诗为汉魏之际五言乐府之典型体制，八句一体，句句用韵，一韵贯通到底，与后世律诗之隔句押韵、讲究平仄截然不同，正可见古诗向律诗过渡前的自由风貌。其声调安排上，首二句以明月流光铺展舒缓之节奏，中四句借问、自陈渐次加紧，末二联以尘泥、风云、怀依之往复形成回环，整体气脉连绵而情致低昂。建安五言多以气胜，此篇却于清峻中见哀婉，韵脚之绵密恰与其缠绵之情相得益彰，故读之如闻弃妇低诉，余韵不尽。这种以声韵助成哀情、以句句押韵强化往复之痛的体制选择，正是汉魏乐府抒情小诗最动人的声情配合之妙。此体制以声韵助成哀情，以句句押韵强化往复之痛，正是汉魏乐府抒情小诗最动人的声情配合之妙。

Line by line

明月照高楼，流光正徘徊。

The bright moon shines on the tall tower; its flowing light lingers to and fro.

明月照耀着高楼，流动的清光在楼前徘徊。

The bright moon shines on the high tower; its flowing light wanders to and fro.

起笔即以明月高楼之境统摄全篇，表面写夜景清辉，实则暗藏人心之辗转不宁。流光正徘徊五字极妙，光本无形，以徘徊状之，便将客观之物象化为抒情主人公内心的往复愁思，景与情在此已悄然合一。高楼本是高迥孤寒之所，明月孤照更添清冷，为下文愁思妇之登场铺设了凄美的空间氛围，可谓未写人而人已在景中，未言悲而悲已弥漫。

The opening uses the bright-moon-high-tower scene to dominate the whole piece, on the surface writing night radiance, inside secretly holding the heart's restlessness. The-flowing-light-wanders-to-and-fro five characters are fine: light has no form, yet wandering shapes it, converting the objective image into the lyric heroine's inner往复 sorrow; scenery and feeling are here quietly fused. The high tower is a lofty, cold place; the lone bright moon adds coldness, laying the beautiful space for the sorrowful woman's entrance. One could say: the person is already in the scenery before she is written, grief already pervasive before it is spoken.

君若清路尘，妾若浊水泥。

You are like the clear dust on the road; I like the muddy water in the stream.

你若是路上清扬的飞尘，我便如浊水中的沉泥。

You are the light dust on the road; I am the mud in the turbid water.

此联为全篇比喻之眼，以清路尘对浊水泥，写出二者浮沉各异、高下悬隔之势。尘之轻清随风飞扬，泥之重浊沉滞水底，恰如君臣、夫妇间地位的不可逾越。诗人不言自己遭贬之怨，只以自然物性之比道出命运之别，含蓄而深痛。浮沉二字尤为警策，既写物态，更写人世升沉不由己力，会合何时谐之问已由这一比对中隐隐逼出，是比兴手法融情入景的典范。

This couplet is the metaphor eye, using the clear road dust against the turbid mud to write the two's divergent sinking-floating, the unbridgeable gap. The dust light and clear flies with the wind; the mud heavy and turbid sinks in the water - just like the insurmountable gap between lord and vassal, husband and wife. The poet does not speak of his demotion grievance, but uses natural thing's qualities to voice the fate's difference, reserved yet deep. The sinking-floating two characters are especially alert: writing both the thing's state and the human rise-and-fall not by one's own power; the when-will-we-meet-harmoniously question is already pressed out from this comparison, the model of bi-xing fusing feeling into scenery.

愿为西南风，长逝入君怀。

I would be the southwest wind, and ever pass into your breast.

我愿化作一阵西南风，长久地吹入你的怀抱。

Would I were the southwest wind, blowing far into your embrace.

在绝望的悬隔之后，诗人忽作痴绝之想，愿化身为西南风长逝入君怀，以无形之风写有形之依附，痴愿奇绝而哀感动人。西南风多指暖风、归风，托风寄情本自楚辞传统，此处却翻出新境：人既不能亲近，便愿舍去形骸化作一阵风，穿过高墙深禁投入所思怀中。这种舍形取神的写法，将思恋与归依的执念写到极致，是全篇情眼所在，亦见建安诗人想象之奇、用情之烈。

After the hopeless separation, the poet suddenly makes a痴绝 thought: would he become the southwest wind, blowing far into the lord's embrace. Using the formless wind for the formful attachment, the痴 wish is extraordinary and the grief moving. The southwest wind usually means the warm, returning wind; entrusting the wind for feeling comes from the Chu ci tradition, yet here a new realm is turned: since the person cannot draw near, he would cast aside the body and become a wind, through high walls deep forbidden into the longed-for embrace. This casting-aside-form-for-spirit method writes the longing and belonging obsession to the extreme, the poem's feeling eye, also showing Jian'an poets' imagination's wonder and love's fierceness.

君怀良不开，贱妾当何依？

But your breast will not open; a lowly one, where shall I lean?

可你的怀抱迟迟不肯为我敞开，我这薄命的人又能依仗什么？

Your embrace is still closed; on what can this lowly wife rely?

结联以陡然跌落收束全篇，前面所有痴愿、哀叹至此化为一声绝望的诘问。君怀良不开五字冷峻如铁，将前句长逝入君怀的炽热想象瞬间打碎；贱妾当何依更以卑微自称写出无所依傍的孤危。以问句作结，余哀不尽，恰如琴弦骤断后的余响。诗人借弃妇之口，道尽自己见疏于君、欲亲而不得的身世之悲，表面是闺情，内里是逐臣之怨，低回欲绝处最见风骨。

The closing couplet resolves in a sudden fall, all the preceding痴 wishes and sighs turning into one desperate question. Your-embrace-is-still-closed five characters are cold as iron, instantly shattering the preceding blow-far-into-your-embrace's hot imagination. This-lowly-wife-rely-on-what? further uses the humble self-name to write the unattached isolation. Closing in a question, the aftergrief endless, like a string's sudden break's aftersound. The poet borrows the abandoned wife's mouth to exhaust his own being-shut-off-by-the-lord, wanting-to-draw-near-yet-unable life-fate grief; on the surface boudoir feeling, inside the banished minister's resentment. The low, dying away place most shows bone.

Study

Word focus

清路尘、浊水泥 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 这一组对举的意象是全诗比兴的枢纽。清与浊、尘与泥、路与水的对立，绝非随意取喻，而是汉魏诗中由来已久的等级象征：飞尘轻清可随势而上，沉泥重浊永居下流，正对应诗人自叹屏居下位、与君悬隔的处境。作者以物性之必然写人事之无奈，不着一怨字而怨已深。二字一组的并列结构又使句式整饬有力，与前后抒情句形成张弛，既见建安诗炼字之工，也见其以简驭繁、托物寄哀的高明手段。

徘徊 The word paihuai writes the flowing light as unsteady, hinting at a wavering heart. 徘徊二字置于流光之后，是全诗炼字最见巧思处之一。光本无形无觉，诗人却赋予它人的踟蹰不定，使自然景象瞬间人格化。这一动词既写出月华在楼前流动不去的视觉效果，更暗喻抒情主人公内心思绪的往复缠绵、无法排遣。以动写静、以物写心，开篇即定下哀婉徘徊的基调，并为后文愁思妇的出场作好情绪铺垫，可见建安诗人于起句中即埋伏全篇情脉的匠心。

七哀诗