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

(二首其二)

日色欲尽花含烟,

月明如素[1]愁不眠。

赵瑟[2]初停凤凰柱,

蜀琴[3]欲奏鸳鸯弦。

此曲有意无人传,

愿随春风寄燕然[4]。

忆君迢迢隔青天。

昔时横波[5]目,

今作流泪泉。

不信妾肠断,

归来看取明镜前!

这一首写女子对从征戍边的丈夫的思念。作为艺术创新,诗人打破了以“长相思”一语发端的固定格式。开篇虽是春夜春景,相思之愁苦却不减反增。女主人公鼓瑟弹琴,寄思念之情于音律,然思念成空,泪如泉涌,结尾悠远绵长。

注释:

[1]素:洁白的绢。

[2]赵瑟:指弦乐器,相传古代赵国人擅长奏瑟。

[3]蜀琴:指弦乐器,古人诗中提及蜀琴俱是佳琴。

[4]燕然:山名,即杭爱山,位于今蒙古人民共和国境内。此处泛指塞北地区。

[5]横波:指眼睛如横波一般,非常晶莹美丽。

Lovesickness

(II)

Flowers exhale thin mist when daylight fades away;

The sleepless feel sad to see the moon shed silken ray.

My harp on phoenix-holder has just become mute,

I’ll try to play upon lovebird strings of my lute.

My song’s a message.

Who will carry it to you?

I’d ask spring wind to bear it up to the frontiers.

Between you and me there is the boundless blue sky.

Do you remember my wave-like eyes of days gone by?

Now they become a spring of tears.

If you do not believe my heart is broken,alas!

Come back and look into my bright mirror of brass!

 

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.