佳人
绝代有佳人，
幽居在空谷。
自云良家子，
零落依草木[1]。
关中昔丧败，
兄弟遭杀戮。
官高何足论？
不得收骨肉[2]。
世情恶衰歇，
万事随转烛[3]。
夫婿轻薄儿，
新人美如玉。
合昏[4]尚知时，
鸳鸯不独宿。
但见新人笑，
那闻旧人哭？
在山泉水清，
出山泉水浊。
侍婢卖珠回，
牵萝[5]补茅屋。
摘花不插发，
采柏[6]动盈掬。
天寒翠袖薄，
日暮倚修竹。
《佳人》作于公元759年秋天，杜甫在安史之乱后辞官家居的时候。诗中的绝代佳人是个良家女子，兄弟都是高官，不幸在战乱中被害，自己又被喜新厌旧的丈夫遗弃，只得同侍婢幽居在空谷中。这位佳人的形象，在中国古典文学的人物画廊中，显得独特而且鲜明。她的命运非常悲惨，但是情操却又非常高洁。杜甫写她的命运时，用的是第一人称，语气直率酣畅，多用“赋”的手法；赞美她的人品时，用的却是第三人称，笔调含蓄蕴藉，多用“比兴”手法。如用山中泉水之清，来比喻空谷佳人的品格；用补壁青萝的朴素，来显示她纯洁的心灵；用采来充饥的柏子，象征耐寒不凋的品质；用日暮常倚的翠竹，暗示挺拔劲节的操行。所以梁启超在《情圣杜甫》中说：“这位佳人，身份是非常名贵的，境遇是非常可怜的，情绪是非常温厚的，性格是非常高亢的，这便是他（杜甫）本人的写照。”
注释：
[1]依草木：在山中居住。
[2]骨肉：一同受苦的兄弟。
[3]转烛：风中的烛火转动明灭，比喻世事无常。
[4]合昏：夜合花，叶子早晨开傍晚合。
[5]牵萝：拾树枝藤条。
[6]采柏：采摘柏树叶。
A Fair Lady
The fairest lady in full bloom
Lives in a valley in deep gloom.
Born from a noble family,
She sinks into wild greenery.
Riots broke out on Central Plain,
Her brothers by ill luck were slain.
In vain were they officials high;
Their corpses still unburied lie.
The world cares not for those who fall;
With dying candle passes all.
“My husband’s fickle, I’m afraid,
He took a new wife fair as jade.
At dusk mimosa folds up leaves;
At night a lonely lovebird grieves.
He loves his new wife’s smile so deep
That he hears not his old wife weep.
Clear water flowing from the fountain
Turns filthy when out of the mountain.
My maid’s sold pearls that we may dine;
We mend our thatched cot with vine.
I pick for my hair no flowers sweet,
But handfuls of cypress seed to eat.
With cold shiver my thin sleeves green.
At dusk on long bamboo I’d lean.”
《佳人》是唐代大诗人杜甫的作品。这首诗写一个乱世佳人被丈夫遗弃，幽居空谷，艰难度日的不幸遭遇。她出身良家，然而生不逢时，在安史战乱中，原来官居高位的兄弟惨遭杀戮，丈夫见她娘家败落，就遗弃了她，于是她在社会上流落无依。然而，她没有被不幸压倒没有向命运屈服；她咽下生活的苦水，幽居空谷，与草木为邻，立志守节，宛若山泉。此诗讴歌的就是这种贫贱不移，贞节自守的精神。全诗文笔委婉，缠绵悱恻，绘声如泣如诉，绘影楚楚动人。“在山泉水清，出山泉水浊”二句深寓生活哲理。
“A Fair Lady” is a poem written by Du Fu, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty. This poem is about a beautiful woman who was abandoned by her husband in a troubled world and lived in seclusion in an empty valley. She is from a good family, but she was born at a bad time. During the An-Shi War, her formerly high-ranking brothers were killed, and her husband abandoned her when he saw that her mother’s family had fallen into ruin, so she was left to fend for herself in society. However, she was not overwhelmed by misfortune and did not give in to fate; she swallowed the bitterness of life, lived in a secluded valley, with grass and trees as her neighbors, and was as determined to keep her temper as a mountain spring. The poem eulogizes this kind of spirit of not shifting from poverty and chastity. The entire poem is written in a gentle, lingering and sentimental, painted sound like sobbing, painted shadow charming. “In the mountain spring water clear, out of the mountain spring water turbid” two lines deeply implies the philosophy of life.
