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舟中读元九[1]诗
把君诗卷灯前读，
诗尽灯残天未明。
眼痛灭灯犹暗坐，
逆风吹浪打船声。
注释：
[1] 元九：元稹，字微之，因在族中排行第九，因此称元九。是白居易的挚友。
Reading Yuan Zhen’s Poems in a Boat
Bai Juyi
I read your book of poetry by the lamplight,
And finish it when oil burns low at dead of night.
Eyes sore, I blow the light out and sit in the dark;
The waves brought up by adverse wind beat on the bark.
The poet and his friend are in exile, so he feels waves rise in his heart as on the river.
《舟中读元九诗》是唐代诗人白居易的作品。此诗以凄苦为基调，运用了白描的手法，通过“灯残”、“诗尽”、“眼痛”、“暗坐”这些词语所展示的环境、氛围、色彩，表现出对元稹的关切、思念之情。前三句连用“灯”字，创设出“灯前读诗”、“诗尽灯残”、“灭灯暗坐”三个意象，创造了一种黑夜中凄清的环境，思念中凄苦的心情，贬谪中凄凉的人生的意境。
The poem “Reading Yuan Zhen’s Poems in a Boat” is a work by Bai Juyi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty. The poem has a poignant tone and uses the technique of white description to show the concern and longing for Yuan Zhen through the words “the lamp is broken”, “the poem is finished”, “the eyes are aching” and “sitting in the dark”. The poem uses white descriptions to express the concern and longing for Yuan Zhen through the environment, atmosphere and colors shown by the words “the lamp is broken”, “the poem is finished”, “the eyes are sore” and “sitting in the dark”. The first three lines use the word “lamp” in succession, creating the images of “reading poetry by the lamp”, “poetry finished by the lamp” and “sitting in darkness with the lamp out”. These three imageries create a mood of miserable environment in the dark night, miserable mood in longing, and miserable life in relegation.
