Li Bai was deeply influenced by the thoughts of Huang Lao Lie Zhuang, and his “Li Taibai Collection” was handed down to the world. Most of his poems were written when he was drunk. His representative works include “Wanglu Mountain Waterfall”, “Difficulties in Traveling”, “Difficulties in Shu Road”, “Jiang Entering Wine”, and “Mingtang” “Fu”, “Early Delivery of Baidi City” and many other poems.

 

长相思[1]

(二首其一)

长相思,

在长安。

络纬[2]秋啼金井阑,

微霜凄凄簟[3]色寒。

孤灯不明[4]思欲绝,

卷帷望月空长叹。

美人如花隔云端。

上有青冥[5]之高天,

下有渌[6]水之波澜。

天长地远魂飞苦,

梦魂不到关山难[7]。

长相思,

摧心肝!

《长相思》共两首,都是写相思之作。这一首以秋声秋景起兴,写男子思念女子。所思美人,远在长安。天高地远,关山阻遏,梦魂难越。或以为此诗别有寄托,“美人如花隔云端”含有托兴意味,古代经常用“美人”比喻所追求之理想。而长安这个地点,当时的都城,更是赋予了此诗政治上的寓意。诗意牵涉政治虽然有些含蓄,但仍不乏诗人一贯的豪迈飘逸。

注释:

[1]长相思:属乐府《杂曲歌辞》,常以“长相思”三字开头和结尾。

[2]络纬:昆虫名,又名莎鸡,俗称纺织娘。

[3]簟:可用于坐卧的竹席。

[4]不明:作“不寐”,也说“不眠”。

[5]青冥:青色天空。

[6]渌:清澈。

[7]关山难:关山难渡。

Lovesickness

(I)

I yearn for one

Who’s in Chang’an[1]

In autumn crickets wail beside the golden rail;

The first frost,although light,invades the bed’s delight.

My lonely lamp burns dull,of longing I would die;

Rolling up screens to view the moon,in vain I sigh.

My flower-like Beauty is high

Up as clouds in the sky.

Above,the boundless heaven blue is seen;

Below,the endless river rolls its billows green.

My soul can’t fly o’er sky so vast nor earth so wide;

In dreams I can’t go through mountain pass to her side.

We are so far apart,

The yearning breaks my heart.

注释:

[1]The Tang capital.

 

In Li Bai’s poems, imagination, exaggeration, metaphors, and personification are often combined to create magical, magnificent, and moving artistic conceptions. This is why Li Bai’s romantic poems are bold, unrestrained, and elegant.