魏晋 Wei-Jin · 诗 Poem
赠白马王彪·并序
Presented to Biao, Prince of Baima, with Preface
序：黄初四年五月，白马王彪与余俱朝京师，会节气。
到洛阳，任城王薨。
至七月，与白马王还国。
后有司以二王归藩，道路宜异宿止，意毒恨之。
盖以大别在数日，是用自剖，与王辞焉，愤而成篇。
谒帝承明庐，逝将归旧疆。
清晨发皇邑，日夕过首阳。
伊洛广且深，欲济川无梁。
泛舟越洪涛，怨彼东路长。
顾瞻恋城阙，引领情内伤。
心悲动我神，弃置莫复陈。
丈夫志四海，万里犹比邻。
恩爱苟不亏，在远分日亲。
何必同衾帱，然后展殷勤。
忧思成疾疢，无乃儿女仁。
仓卒骨肉情，能不怀苦辛？
苦辛何虑思，天命信可疑。
虚无求列仙，松子久吾欺。
变故在斯须，百年谁能持。
离别永无会，执手将何时。
王其爱玉体，俱享黄发期。
收泪即长路，援笔从此辞。
I paid homage to the Emperor at the Chengming Lodge; now I depart to return to my old domain.
At clear dawn I set out from the imperial city; by evening I passed Mount Shouyang.
The Yi and the Luo are broad and deep; I would cross, but the stream has no bridge.
Floating my boat across the mighty billows, I resent how long that eastward road is.
Looking back, I cling to the city towers; I crane my neck, and within me the heart is wounded.
Grief of heart shakes my very spirit; set it aside, speak of it no more.
A true man sets his will on the four seas; ten thousand miles are still as next-door neighbours.
If love and kindness are not diminished, then though far apart our bond grows daily closer.
Why must we share one quilt and canopy before we can show our warmth of feeling?
Anxious brooding turns into sickness—is this not the tenderness of women and children?
Yet at this sudden severing of kindred blood, how could one not carry the bitterness?
Bitterness—why brood upon it? The mandate of Heaven may truly be doubted.
Vain is the search among the ranks of the immortals; Master Red Pine has long deceived me.
Calamity comes within an instant; who can hold a hundred years secure?
Once parted, we may never meet; when shall we clasp hands again?
May you, my prince, cherish your jade person, that we may both reach the age of yellow hair.
I dry my tears and take the long road; I lift my brush and here take leave.
Meaning
In the preface Cao Zhi records that in the fifth month of the fourth year of Huangchu he and Cao Biao, Prince of Baima, came to court together, that the Prince of Rencheng died at Luoyang, and that when the two princes set out home in the seventh month the officials forced them to lodge separately along the road, which he bitterly resented; so, days before their great parting, he opened his heart and wrote this poem in indignation. The poem itself says: having paid homage to the Emperor at the Chengming Lodge, he now returns to his old domain, leaving the imperial city at dawn and passing Mount Shouyang at dusk. The Yi and Luo are broad and deep and there is no bridge to cross by; he takes a boat over the great waves and resents the length of the eastward road, looking back at the city towers and craning his neck until his heart is hurt. Grief shakes his spirit, and he tells himself to say no more: a true man sets his will on the four seas, and ten thousand miles are as a neighbouring wall; if affection does not fail, distance only draws hearts closer, and one need not share a quilt to prove devotion. Yet brooding has made him ill, and he mocks himself for a womanish tenderness while asking how anyone could feel no bitterness at so sudden a parting of kin. Then he turns: why brood at all, when Heaven's mandate itself is doubtful? Seeking the immortals is empty, and Master Red Pine has long deceived him; disaster falls in a moment, and no one can secure a hundred years. Once parted they may never meet, so he begs the prince to cherish his health until they both reach old age, then dries his tears, takes the long road, and lifts his brush to say farewell.
序：黄初四年五月，白马王曹彪与我一同朝见京师，参加节气集会。到洛阳后，任城王去世。至七月，与白马王一同返回封国。后有司认为二王归藩，路上应分开住宿，我心中毒恨此事。因大别在数日之后，故自我剖白，与王辞别，愤而写成此篇。 拜谒皇帝于承明庐，将要归返旧疆。清晨离开皇都，傍晚经过首阳。伊水洛水宽广又深，想渡河却无桥。泛舟越过洪涛，怨恨那东路漫长。回头眷恋城阙，伸长脖颈心中内伤。 心悲撼动我的神魂，抛开莫再陈说。丈夫志在四海，万里如同比邻。恩爱若不减损，虽远而情日亲。何必同被帐，才展殷勤。忧思成疾病，岂非儿女情长。仓促骨肉之情，能不怀苦辛？ 苦辛何须多虑，天命实在可疑。虚无求神仙，赤松子久已欺我。变故在顷刻，百年谁能保持。离别永无相会，执手更在何时。王请爱惜玉体，共享黄发之期。收泪踏上长路，援笔从此辞别。
Appreciation
This is the most deeply brooding of the Jian'an lyrics, and the long preface, which sets out the death of the Prince of Rencheng and the order that the two brothers lodge apart, makes the pain plain before a single line of verse is read. The opening stanza writes the journey home, and the barrier is both real and figurative: the Yi and the Luo are broad and deep, one would cross but there is no bridge, and the road east is resented for its length. The middle stanza suddenly opens out into consolation, since a true man sets his will on the four seas and ten thousand miles are as a neighbouring wall, only for the poet to mock his own brooding as the tenderness of women and children. The last stanza turns from grief to insight, doubting Heaven's mandate and noting that calamity comes in an instant, and closes on the plain wish that both brothers may live to the age of yellow hair—sorrow that does not break into complaint.
【白话串讲】 曹植和弟弟曹彪一起回封地，途中被逼迫分开。曹植写下这首长诗：“本是同根生”的兄弟，却被逼得不能同行。这是曹植最沉痛的一首，写尽了皇权下的骨肉相残。 【意象与手法】 诗以长序交代本事，沉痛透纸；正文七章层层递进，每章以顶真之法蝉联而下，情思如环。节选诸章尤见章法：首章「谒帝承明庐」写归途之景，「伊洛广且深，欲济川无梁」以景写怨，「顾瞻恋城阙，引领情内伤」情景相生；四章忽作旷达之语，「丈夫志四海，万里犹比邻」翻进一层劝慰，却以「忧思成疾疢，无乃儿女仁」自嘲，刚柔相济；末章「天命信可疑」「变故在斯须」由悲转悟，归于「王其爱玉体」的叮咛，哀而不伤。多用对句与反问，情致纡曲，骨气开张，尽显曹植「词采华茂、情兼雅怨」之长。 【情感与主旨】 《赠白马王彪》为曹植于魏文帝黄初四年（223）所作。是年曹植与白马王曹彪、任城王曹彰同朝洛阳，曹彰暴薨；归藩途中监国使者又逼令二王分道而行。曹植既痛手足生离死别，又愤于朝廷猜忌，遂作长序并七章以寄悲愤。全诗以兄弟之私情写君臣之猜忌，将骨肉之痛与政治之忧熔于一炉，怨而不怒，哀以伤之，是建安抒情诗中最沉郁悲慨之作，亦曹植后期内心世界的真实写照。 【名句点睛】 本诗为高考「赠别诗」「魏晋抒情诗」高阶篇目。考点：其一，序的作用——理解长序如何交代政治背景、奠定悲愤基调；其二，「丈夫志四海，万里犹比邻」的旷达与王勃「海内存知己，天涯若比邻」的承继关系；其三，「变故在斯须，百年谁能持」所蕴含的忧生之嗟与天命之思；其四，顶真章法与逐章换韵的声情之美。
Background
Presented to Biao, Prince of Baima, was written by Cao Zhi in the fourth year of the Huangchu era (223) under Emperor Wen of Wei. That year Cao Zhi, Cao Biao the Prince of Baima and Cao Zhang the Prince of Rencheng attended court together at Luoyang; Cao Zhang died suddenly, and when Cao Zhi and Cao Biao set out for their fiefs the supervising envoy forced the two princes to travel by separate stages and forbade them to keep company. In grief and anger Cao Zhi wrote this poem for Cao Biao and prefixed a long preface to it. The whole poem has seven stanzas, and the selection here gives the preface together with the first, fourth and seventh. After Cao Pi took the throne Cao Zhi lived under constant suspicion, was repeatedly moved from fief to fief and closely supervised; the poem writes both the pain of a living parting between brothers and, beneath it, a political indignation at the emperor's suspicion and at the unexplained death of the Prince of Rencheng, making it the most sorrowful and brooding of Jian'an lyric poems.
《赠白马王彪·并序》作于魏文帝黄初四年（223），是曹植后期最沉痛的代表作。曹植（192—232），字子建，曹操第三子，建安诗坛领袖，谢灵运尝言天下才共一石，曹子建独得八斗。曹丕即位后，曹植备受猜忌，监国谒者灌均等屡构其罪，故屡迁封地，动辄得咎，形同禁锢。黄初四年五月，曹植与白马王曹彪、任城王曹彰同赴京师洛阳朝会。到洛阳后，任城王曹彰暴薨——曹彰骁勇善战，为曹丕所忌，其暴卒一事向有疑窦，史称帝以枣毒杀之，虽无确证，然植心知肚明，悲愤愈深。至七月，植与彪一同还国，而监国使者秉承朝廷意旨，逼令二王分道而行，不得同行，亦不得同宿。兄弟相别，此去无期，曹植遂作长序，剖白心迹，愤而成篇。诗凡七章，此节选为序及第一、四、七章。全诗将兄弟生离死别之痛与对文帝猜忌、任城暴亡的政治忧愤熔于一炉，是建安抒情诗中情感最沉郁、政治色彩最浓的篇章，也是曹植由贵族公子沦为藩王罪臣后内心世界的真实写照。
Art
The long preface states the occasion, and the pain soaks through the page; the seven stanzas of the poem then advance step by step, and the stanzas selected here show that structure especially well. The first stanza writes the road home, and 'The Yi and the Luo are broad and deep; I would cross, but the stream has no bridge' and 'I resent how long that eastward road is' write resentment through landscape, so that scene and feeling generate each other. The fourth stanza suddenly turns broad-minded with 'A true man sets his will on the four seas; ten thousand miles are still as next-door neighbours', pressing the consolation one stage further, and then undercuts it with the self-mockery of 'Anxious brooding turns into sickness—is this not the tenderness of women and children?', so that firmness and tenderness support each other. The last stanza moves from grief to understanding in 'The mandate of Heaven may truly be doubted' and 'Calamity comes within an instant', and settles into the parting charge to cherish one's jade person, grieving without being broken. Balanced couplets and chain-linking are used throughout, the feeling winds and turns while the frame stands open, and the whole displays Cao Zhi's gift for splendid diction joined to feeling both elegant and aggrieved.
此诗艺术上最见功力处，在以长序交代本事、以七章铺展情思，序与诗相发，沉痛透纸。全诗七章层层递进，每章以末二字蝉联下章之首，用顶真之法勾连章法，如第一章结于引领情内伤，第二章即承情字起笔，情思如环，无懈可击。节选诸章尤见章法：首章「谒帝承明庐」写归途之景，「伊洛广且深，欲济川无梁」以无梁写归路阻隔，「怨彼东路长」以景写怨，情景相生；「顾瞻恋城阙，引领情内伤」回望城阙，恋恋不舍，物我交融。第四章忽作旷达之语，「丈夫志四海，万里犹比邻」翻进一层劝慰，却以「忧思成疾疢，无乃儿女仁」自嘲自解，刚柔相济，悲中见壮。末章「苦辛何虑思，天命信可疑」由悲转悟，「变故在斯须，百年谁能持」直指生死无常，终归于「王其爱玉体，俱享黄发期」的叮咛嘱托，哀而不伤，怨而不怒。全诗多用对句，如「清晨发皇邑，日夕过首阳」「伊洛广且深，欲济川无梁」，对仗工稳而气韵流动；间用反问，「能不怀苦辛」「百年谁能持」，把骨肉至情与政治愤懑逼到极处。情致纡曲，骨气开张，正见曹植「词采华茂、情兼雅怨」之长。
Allusions
The allusions are exact. The Chengming Lodge was the Han building where attendant officials kept night duty, and stands here for the place of audience; Mount Shouyang recalls Bo Yi and Shu Qi in retreat, hinting at integrity and desolation; Master Red Pine is a figure among the immortals, so that 'Vain is the search among the ranks of the immortals; Master Red Pine has long deceived me' transforms the old sense that seeking immortality is futile, ultimately from the ancient poem 'they took drugs to seek the immortals, and most were undone by the drugs'; 'the age of yellow hair' draws on the Book of Songs, Hymns of Lu, and on the Book of Documents, where yellow hair signifies long life, so that the phrase wishes the brothers old age together. Every allusion fits the situation of kin parted by death and of a fate that cannot be foretold, elegant without being heavy, and shows both Cao Zhi's learning and his gift.
此诗用典精切而自然，皆贴合骨肉死别、天命难测之境。「承明庐」本为汉魏宫中侍臣直宿之所，诗以「谒帝承明庐」喻朝见之地，一笔写出入朝之荣与归藩之迫。「首阳」用伯夷、叔齐隐于首阳山事，「日夕过首阳」暗寓节操自守与身世飘零的悲凉，亦可解为对政治险恶的警觉。「伊洛」指伊水、洛水，「广且深而无梁可济」既是实写归途阻隔，亦以「川无梁」暗喻朝廷猜忌如天堑，兄弟情义竟不得相通。「松子」指赤松子，古之神仙，「虚无求列仙，松子久吾欺」化用古诗「服食求神仙，多为药所误」之意，写求仙之虚妄，正是对命运无常的绝望之叹——连神仙亦不可凭，百年之身谁得而持。「黄发期」用《诗经·鲁颂》「黄发台背」及《尚书》「黄发」之语，祝长寿偕老，「王其爱玉体，俱享黄发期」以最温厚的祝祷收束最惨痛的诀别，愈见沉痛。此外「仓卒骨肉情」之「仓卒」、「变故在斯须」之「斯须」，皆以时间之急促写生离之仓皇。诸典皆非掉书袋，而是化入情思，典雅而不滞，尽显曹植学养与才情。
Commentary
The Selections of Refined Literature includes this poem together with its long preface, and Li Shan's commentary on it is extremely full. Zhong Rong, in Gradations of Poets, said that Cao Zhi's verse 'joins elegance with grievance in its feeling, and clothes substance in form'. The Ming critic Hu Yinglin said that 'Zijian's Presented to Biao, Prince of Baima, is brooding and full of arrest, not inferior to Sizong's Songs of My Heart'. The modern scholar Huang Jie said that in it 'preface and poem illuminate each other; the grief and anger spring from a single day's decree, yet the temper runs through all seven stanzas'. Present-day scholars generally treat it as the representative work of Cao Zhi's later years and praise the way it 'writes the suspicion between ruler and subject through the private feeling of brothers, aggrieved yet not enraged, sorrowful and wounded', opening the way for the long parting poems of later writers such as Pan Yue and Lu Ji.
此诗自问世即为文士传诵，《文选》录其全文并长序，李善注极详，为六朝选学重要篇目。钟嵘《诗品》列曹植诗于上品，谓其「骨气奇高，词采华茂」「情兼雅怨，体被文质」，此诗正是「情兼雅怨」的典型——兄弟之私情而兼君臣之怨望，个人之哀伤而含政治之愤慨。谢灵运「才高八斗」之誉虽为夸饰，然此诗足当之。明人胡应麟《诗薮》谓「子建《赠白马王彪》，沉郁顿挫，不减嗣宗《咏怀》」，将其与阮籍正始之作并提，见其承前启后之力。近人黄节评此诗「序与诗相发，悲愤出一朝之诏，而性情贯七章」，谓其政治悲愤源于朝廷诏命，而手足性情贯通全篇。当代学者多以之为曹植后期代表作，赞其「以兄弟之私情写君臣之猜忌，怨而不怒，哀以伤之」，是中国诗歌史上最早以长篇组诗写政治悲愤与骨肉死别的杰作。其影响及于后世，潘岳《悼亡》、陆机拟古诸作皆承其抒情血脉，唐人赠别长诗如王勃《送杜少府之任蜀州》「海内存知己，天涯若比邻」，更直承「丈夫志四海，万里犹比邻」之意脉，可见此诗垂范千古的地位。
Prosody
Line by line
伊洛广且深，欲济川无梁
The Yi and the Luo are broad and deep; I would cross, but the stream has no bridge.
伊水洛水既宽广又深，想渡过河去却没有桥梁。
The Yi and Luo rivers are broad and deep, and I would cross, yet there is no bridge over the waters.
「伊洛广且深，欲济川无梁」写归途遇水之阻，是全诗以景写怨的枢纽。伊水、洛水流经洛阳，是归藩东行的必经之路；诗人以「广且深」写水势之浩大，以「无梁」写济渡之无凭，一实一虚，把眼前的渡河之难升华为命运的阻隔之叹。此句之妙有三：其一，即景生情，水路本为实事，而「川无梁」则暗喻归途险阻、朝廷猜忌如天堑横亘，兄弟同归而不得同行，情义竟不得相通；其二，由水及怨，「泛舟越洪涛，怨彼东路长」，「怨」字直揭题旨，东路之长既是地理之远，更是政治放逐之远；其三，与下句「顾瞻恋城阙，引领情内伤」呼应，回头是眷恋，前路是阻隔，进退失据，哀情自生。以眼前景写心中怨，情景相生，是建安诗以景结情的典范之笔。
The line writes the water barrier on the homeward journey, the hinge where the poem writes grievance through scenery. The Yi and Luo flow past Luoyang, the necessary road east back to the fief; the poet writes the 'broad and deep' flood and the 'no bridge' by which to cross, one real and one symbolic, raising the difficulty of the crossing into a sigh at the barriers of fate. The art is threefold: scenery begetting feeling—the water is fact, yet 'no bridge' covertly images the perils of the return and the court's suspicion lying across like a moat, so that the brothers may travel home together yet not travel as companions, affection unable to pass; water begetting grievance—the following 'I would cross the flood and grieve that the eastern road is long' names the theme, the long road being both geographic distance and political exile; and the answering 'I look back, longing for the towers, stretching my neck, my heart wounded within,' where the backward glance is longing and the road ahead a barrier, and grief arises between advance and retreat. Writing inner grievance through the scene before the eyes, scene and feeling growing from each other, it is the Jian'an model of closing feeling in scenery.
丈夫志四海，万里犹比邻
A true man sets his will on the four seas; ten thousand miles are still as next-door neighbours.
大丈夫志在四海，相隔万里也如同近邻一般。
A true man's ambition is for the four seas; ten thousand miles away is still as a neighbor next door.
「丈夫志四海，万里犹比邻」是第四章开篇的旷达之语，于极悲之际翻进一层，以壮语自解，是曹植「骨气奇高」的集中体现。骨肉生离、前途未卜之际，诗人不写愁而写志：丈夫志在四海，不以一时一地之聚散为意，万里之遥犹如同处比邻，把空间的阻隔一笔抹平。此句之妙在于以理遣情、以壮写悲——愈是强作旷达，愈见其中心之悲苦，旷达之语不过是泪痕斑驳下的自我宽解。此句更开后世送别诗之意脉，王勃「海内存知己，天涯若比邻」直承其绪，苏轼「千里共婵娟」亦得其神。然细味全章，「恩爱苟不亏，在远分日亲」是慰人，「忧思成疾疢，无乃儿女仁」是自嘲，旷达与缠绵交错，正见曹植「情兼雅怨」、刚柔相济的本色。一句之中，「四海」与「万里」极言其远，「比邻」一词化远为近，对举之间，胸襟自见。
The line opens the fourth chapter in a tone of breadth, turning deeper into grief with a bold word, the concentrated example of Cao Zhi's 'unusual loftiness of bone.' In the pain of parting from flesh and blood and the uncertainty ahead, the poet writes not sorrow but ambition: a true man's will is for the four seas, and he does not dwell on the meeting or parting of a moment, so that ten thousand miles are as near as a next-door neighbor, wiping out the barrier of space at a stroke. The art lies in dispelling feeling through reason and writing grief through boldness—the more he forces breadth, the more the grief within shows, and the broad words are but self-consolation over a tear-stained face. The line also opens the vein of later farewell poetry: Wang Bo's 'within the four seas a friend, and far lands are as neighbors' directly inherits it, and Su Shi's 'sharing the moon though a thousand li apart' catches its spirit. Yet reading the chapter whole, 'if our love does not fail, distance makes it daily dearer' consoles the other, while 'grief that breeds sickness—is it not the tenderness of children?' mocks himself, breadth and clinging interweaving, showing Cao Zhi's nature at once refined and aggrieved, hard and soft. In one line, 'four seas' and 'ten thousand miles' stress the distance, while 'neighbor next door' turns far to near, and between the contrasts the breadth of mind appears.
忧思成疾疢，无乃儿女仁
Anxious brooding turns into sickness—is this not the tenderness of women and children?
忧思郁结成疾病，这岂非是儿女情长之态。
Grief and anxiety have festered into sickness; is this not the fond weakness of children?
「忧思成疾疢，无乃儿女仁」以自嘲之笔写骨肉至情，是全章情感的天平与转折。前文「丈夫志四海，万里犹比邻」既已作旷达语，此处却陡然翻转：忧思太过，郁结成疾，岂非如同小儿女般缠绵柔懦？表面是自责自嘲，实则处处见情——若真能放下，何须忧思成疾；既已成疾，足见情之深、别之痛，非丈夫一语所能排解。此句之妙在以反为正：「无乃儿女仁」是疑问，答案却早已藏在问中，越是说不要儿女情长，越见其情长入骨。此二句与「恩爱苟不亏，在远分日亲」「何必同衾帱，然后展殷勤」相呼应，一者自宽，一者自嘲，宽解与沉溺往复回环，把离别的苦辛写得百转千回。「仓卒骨肉情，能不怀苦辛」以反问收束全章，则旷达之辞尽成虚语，唯余骨肉至情，这正是曹植抒情纡曲深至之处。
The line uses self-mockery to write the love of flesh and blood, the balance and turning point of the chapter's feeling. The earlier 'a true man's ambition is for the four seas' has already spoken in breadth, and here it suddenly turns: grief too deep has festered into sickness—is this not the clinging softness of a child? On the surface self-reproach, yet feeling shows through everywhere: could he truly let go, why would grief fester into sickness? That it has become sickness proves how deep the feeling and how bitter the parting, beyond what the words of a hero can dispel. The art lies in turning the negative to the positive: 'is it not the fond weakness of children?' is a question whose answer already lies within it—the more he says he should not be childishly fond, the more the fondness shows to the bone. The lines answer 'if our love does not fail, distance makes it daily dearer' and 'why share the quilt before we show our devotion,' one self-consolation, one self-mockery, comfort and surrender circling back and forth, writing the bitterness of parting through a hundred twists. The closing 'the sudden love of flesh and blood—how can it not be bitter?' ends the chapter in a question, and all the broad words become empty, leaving only the love of kin—the very place where Cao Zhi's lyrical turns are deepest.
变故在斯须，百年谁能持
Calamity comes within an instant; who can hold a hundred years secure?
变故往往发生在顷刻之间，人生百年又有谁能长久把持。
Disaster can strike in an instant; who can hold fast to a hundred years of life?
「变故在斯须，百年谁能持」是末章由悲转悟的警策之句，将全诗的沉痛提升到对天命无常的哲思高度。「斯须」即顷刻之间，「变故在斯须」直指任城王曹彰之暴薨——昨日尚同朝京师，今日已成永诀，生死之变不过顷刻；「百年谁能持」以反问写人寿之难恃，纵然长生久视亦不可得，何况身陷猜忌、命若悬丝的藩王。此二句承上「苦辛何虑思，天命信可疑」而来，由怀疑天命进而参破生死，「虚无求列仙，松子久吾欺」，连神仙亦不可凭，则人间聚散更无可恃，悲愤至此已入透彻之境。然诗人并不沉溺于虚无，随即以「王其爱玉体，俱享黄发期」收转，在绝望中寄以最温厚的祝愿，哀而不伤，怨而不怒。以「斯须」对「百年」，以「变故」对「谁能持」，时间之促与人生之促两两对映，沉痛警策，掷地有声。
The line is the warning that turns grief to insight in the final chapter, raising the poem's sorrow to a philosophical height over the unpredictability of fate. 'An instant' means a moment; 'disaster can strike in an instant' points directly to the sudden death of Cao Zhang, Prince of Rencheng—yesterday at court together in the capital, today an eternal parting, the change between life and death no more than an instant. 'Who can hold fast to a hundred years of life?' asks how unreliable human life is: even long years cannot be kept, much less for a prince encircled by suspicion, his life hanging by a thread. The lines follow 'what need to think of bitterness; fate is truly doubtful,' moving from doubting fate to seeing through life and death, and 'the void—seek the immortals; Songzi has long deceived me,' so that even immortals cannot be relied on, and human meeting and parting have nothing to trust, the grief now reached through to clarity. Yet the poet does not sink in nihilism, but turns at once with 'prince, cherish your noble body; may we both reach our white-haired years,' closing on the warmest wish within despair, grief without being shattered, grievance without being wrathful. 'An instant' set against 'a hundred years,' 'disaster' against 'who can hold,' the urgency of time and the urgency of life answering each other, piercing and resonant.
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Both write a separation as final as death; compare the lyric brushwork of Han and Wei parting poems.
《留别妻》传为苏武出使匈奴前留别妻子之作，结句「生当复来归，死当长相思」，与《赠白马王彪》同写生离死别，是汉魏之际赠别抒悲的姊妹篇。二诗同以离别为骨、以情意为血肉：苏诗写夫妻之别，温情缠绵，以「死当长相思」的誓言收束，哀而能守；曹诗写兄弟之别，悲愤沉痛，以「王其爱玉体」的叮咛收束，哀而能壮。差异亦分明：苏诗为短章，一意贯注，情感单纯明净；曹诗为七章长制，序诗相发，情感层层递进，由景入悲、由悲入悟，政治色彩浓烈，沉郁远过之。合观二诗，可见汉魏赠别诗由私情向政治悲慨演进的轨迹，亦可比较夫妻之情与手足之情的不同写法——一柔一刚、一守一愤，正是中国抒情诗早期双峰并峙的景观。
咏怀·嘉树下成蹊 Songs of My Heart: Beneath the Fine Trees a Path Is Worn 阮籍 · 魏晋抒愤一脉，忧生之感相通 Same (Wei-Jin indignation, anxiety for one's own life)Cao Zhi's grievance and Ruan Ji's anxiety belong to one lineage; compare the lyric manner of the Zhengshi period.
阮籍《咏怀·嘉树下成蹊》写繁华易尽、忧生之嗟，与《赠白马王彪》同属魏晋抒愤传统，而忧生之感一脉相承。曹植生于建安，阮籍生于正始，时代相接而处境相似——皆身处政治高压之下，动辄得咎，朝不保夕。曹诗以「变故在斯须，百年谁能持」直写天命无常，阮诗以「繁华有憔悴，堂上生荆杞」暗喻世事翻覆，一显一隐，皆是对生命危浅的深切忧惧。然风格迥异：曹植贵为藩王，敢以长序直陈其事，情兼雅怨，悲愤外向；阮籍处魏晋易代之际，惧祸深重，咏怀诸作隐晦其辞，归趣难求，忧惧内敛。胡应麟谓「子建《赠白马王彪》，沉郁顿挫，不减嗣宗《咏怀》」，正指出二者在沉郁悲慨上的相通；而由曹植的怨怒到阮籍的忧惧，亦可见建安风骨向正始之音演变的诗史轨迹。
送杜少府之任蜀州 Farewell to Deputy Du on His Way to Shuzhou 王勃 · 同写送别旷达语，曹句为其远祖 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
王勃《送杜少府之任蜀州》「海内存知己，天涯若比邻」，历来被视为唐人送别诗最旷达之句，而其意脉正出于曹植「丈夫志四海，万里犹比邻」。二句同以「万里」「比邻」对举，化远为近，以壮语消解离愁，理路如出一辙；王勃「与君离别意，同是宦游人」的身世感喟，亦与曹植归藩途中的漂泊之叹相通。然二诗之异亦足资玩味：曹诗于旷达之后旋以「忧思成疾疢」自嘲，壮语只是悲中之勉强自解，终归于儿女情长式的深悲；王诗则一旷到底，「无为在歧路，儿女共沾巾」，以劝勉作结，情感明快开朗。由曹植的以壮写悲，到王勃的以壮遣悲，可见同一意脉在不同时代的不同气象：建安之悲沉郁，初唐之悲明畅。此诗跨越四百余年而血脉相连，正证曹植此句垂范千古、泽被后世的经典地位。