Listen to this articleHurriedly I translate Li’s poem, no doubt I make mistakes, is liulang (line 7) young liu, Master Liu, or have I let my homeless thoughts wander far beyond Pengshan mountain? Who writes this quick note, I cannot quite read the faded words, is it she or he?
Li Shangyin’s poem paints a picture of pleasure and grief, desire and failure, of the bitter sweetness of togetherness and loneliness. It is not known to whom these love poems refer and that is part of Li’s magic.
To one unnamed
Yes come, you said, and still you vanished without a trace
Than the moonlight glancing off the tower
At the bell-sounding of the fifth watch hour
To dream so far apart and as I cannot call, I cry
As hurriedly I write these lines, in ink not quite dry
A flickering candle palely casts its light
That shines from its blue green and gold cage
A hint of deer musk gathers on the lotus embroidered curtains
Homeless I am, wandering beyond Peng mountain
You on the other side, ten thousand peaks away
Original Chinese characters
無 題 之 一
來 是 空 言 去 絕 蹤
月 斜 樓 上 五 更 鐘
夢 為 遠 別 啼 難 喚
書 被 催 成 墨 未 濃
蠟 照 半 籠 金 翡 翠
麝 熏 微 度 繡 芙 蓉
劉 郎 已 恨 蓬 山 遠
更 隔 蓬 山 一 萬 重
Notes on the translation
Twelve centuries have passed since Li Shangyin composed these lines to an unnamed beauty. To get a sense of the meaning is not an easy thing. In English, the task would be comparable to translating the Venerable Bede’s 7th century Saxon into modern English. (“For þam nedfere | næni wyrþeþ” gives one a taste of the task, from Bede’s Death Song). The meaning of words change, grammar changes, cultural and historical context is misplaced or lost.
Still we labor on, hoping to find a light in the dark.
The poet’s unnamed muse has gone and the poet writes from his room in the flickering light of a candle, hurried words, trying to catch her before she is gone to far, and yet, it is to late. Some translators say she writes. Some translators call Peng Mountain the Enchanted Mountain, who knows.
Pinyin
Wútí zhī yī
lái shì kōngyán qù jué zōng
yuè xié lóu shàng wǔ gèng zhōng
mèng wèi yuǎnbié tí nán huàn
shū bèi cuī chéng mò wèi nóng
là zhào bàn lóng jīn fěicuì
shè xūn wēi dù xiù fúróng
liú láng yǐ hèn péng shān yuǎn
gèng gé péng shān yī wàn zhòng
无题·来是空言去绝踪
李商隐 〔唐代〕
来是空言去绝踪，月斜楼上五更钟。
梦为远别啼难唤，书被催成墨未浓。
蜡照半笼金翡翠，麝熏微度绣芙蓉。
刘郎已恨蓬山远，更隔蓬山一万重！
译文及注释
译文
你说来相会是空话，一去之后再无踪影；等到楼上残月西斜，传来五更的晓钟。
梦里为伤远别啼泣，久唤难醒；醒后研墨未浓，匆忙提笔书写成一信。
残烛半映着饰有金翡翠的被褥，兰麝的香气飘入了芙蓉帐中。
我像当年的刘郎，早已怨恨那蓬山遥远；你去的所在，要比蓬山更隔万重岭！
注释
半笼：半映。指烛光隐约，不能全照床上被褥。
金翡翠：指饰以金翠的被子。《长恨歌》：“翡翠衾寒谁与共。”
麝：本动物名，即香獐，其体内的分泌物可作香料。这里即指香气。
度：透过。
绣芙蓉：指绣花的帐子。
刘郎：相传东汉时刘晨、阮肇一同入山采药，遇二女子，邀至家，留半年乃还
乡。后也以此典喻“艳遇”。
蓬山：蓬莱山，指仙境。▲
赏析
这首诗是组诗中的第一首，是一首艳情诗。
首句“来是空言去绝踪”凌空而起，次句“月斜楼上五更钟”宕开写景，两句若即若离。这要和“梦为远别啼难唤”联系起来，方能领略它的神情韵味。远别经年，会合无缘，夜来入梦，两人忽得相见，一觉醒来，却踪迹杳然。但见朦胧斜月空照楼阁，远处传来悠长而凄清的晓钟声。梦醒后的空寂更证实了梦境的虚幻。如果说第二句是梦醒后一片空寂孤清的氛围，那么第一句便是主人公的叹息感慨。
颔联出句追忆梦中情景。“梦为远别啼难唤”，远别的双方，梦中虽得以越过重重阻隔而相会；但即使是在梦中，也免不了离别之苦。梦中相会而来的梦中分别，带来的是难以抑止的梦啼。这样的梦，正反映了长期远别造成的深刻伤痛，强化了刻骨的相思。因此对句“书被催成墨未浓”写梦醒后立刻修书寄远。在强烈思念之情驱使下奋笔疾书的当时，是不会注意到墨的浓淡的，只有在“书被催成”之后，才意外地发现原来连墨也成磨浓。
梦醒书成之际，残烛的余光半照着用金钱绣成翡翠鸟图案的帷帐，芙蓉褥上似乎还依稀浮动着麝熏的幽香。六、七句对室内环境气氛的描绘渲染，很富有象征暗示色彩。刚刚消逝的梦境和眼前所见的室内景象在朦胧光影中浑为一片，分不清究是梦境还是实境。烛光半笼，室内若明若暗，恍然犹在梦中；麝香微淡，使人疑心爱人真的来过这里，还留下依稀的余香，上句是以实境为梦境，下句是疑梦境为实境，写恍惚迷离中一时的错觉与幻觉极为生动传神。
幻觉一经消失，随之而来的便是室空人杳的空虚怅惘，和对方远隔天涯、无缘会合的感慨。尾联借刘晨重寻仙侣不遇的故事，点醒爱情阻隔，“已恨”“更隔”，层递而进，突出了阻隔之无从度越。
全篇围绕“梦”来写离别之恨。但它并没有按远别——思念——入梦——梦醒的顺序来写。而是先从梦醒时情景写起，然后将梦中与梦后、实境与幻觉来柔合在一起，创造出疑梦疑真、亦梦亦真的艺术境界，最后才点明蓬山万重的阻隔之恨，与首句遥相呼应。这样的艺术构思，曲折宕荡，有力地突出爱情阻隔的主题和梦幻式的心理氛围，使全诗充满迷离恍惚的情怀。▲
appreciation
This poem is the first of a series of poems. It is an erotic poem.
The first sentence, “Come is empty words and go away”, rose in the air, and the second sentence, “The moon slants above the building at five o’clock”, stopped to write the scene, and the two sentences were indistinct. This must be connected with the “dream is far from crying”, so that we can appreciate its charm. After years of separation, we were never able to meet again. When we fell asleep at night, they suddenly met and woke up with no trace. But the dim slanting moon shone on the pavilion, and the long and sad bell sounded in the distance. The emptiness after waking up proves the illusion of dreams. If the second sentence is an empty and lonely atmosphere after waking up, the first sentence is the hero’s sigh.
The couplet recalls the scene in the dream. “It’s hard to cry for a distant dream”. Although the two parties are far away from each other in the dream, they can cross the barriers and meet each other; But even in a dream, it’s hard to avoid parting. The separation in the dream that comes from the meeting in the dream brings the inexorable dream cry. Such a dream reflects the profound pain caused by a long absence, and strengthens the deep love. Therefore, the couplet “The book was urged to become ink before it became thick” was written. After waking up, he immediately repaired the book and sent it far away. When I was driven by strong yearning to write quickly, I didn’t notice the thickness of ink. Only after “the book was urged to become” did I accidentally find that even ink became thick.
When the book was finished, the residual light of the residual candle was half shining on the curtain embroidered with money in the pattern of emerald birds, and the faint fragrance of musk still seemed to float on the hibiscus mattress. 6、 The seven sentence description and rendering of the indoor environment atmosphere is very symbolic and suggestive. The just vanished dream and the indoor scene in front of us are mixed in the hazy light and shadow. It is unclear whether they are dreams or realities. Candlelight half cage, indoor if bright or dark, suddenly still in a dream; The musk is faint, which makes people suspect that their loved ones have really come here, leaving a faint fragrance. The last sentence is based on the reality of dreams, and the next sentence is based on the suspicion of dreams. It is very vivid and vivid to write about the illusion and illusion in the trance.
Once the illusion disappeared, it was followed by the feeling of emptiness and disappointment, and the feeling of being far away from each other and having no chance to meet. The tail couplet, based on the story of Liu Chen’s rediscovery of the immortal couple’s encounter, points out the barriers of love, “hate” and “more barriers”. It goes forward layer by layer, highlighting the impossibility of barriers.
The whole article revolves around the “dream” to write the parting hate. But it is not written in the order of farewell – missing – dreaming – waking. It starts from the scene when you wake up, and then combines the dream with the dream, reality and illusion to create an artistic realm of doubting the dream and truth, and also the dream and truth. Finally, it points out Pengshan’s heavy hatred of separation, echoing the first sentence from afar. This artistic conception, with twists and turns, forcefully highlights the theme of love isolation and the dreamlike psychological atmosphere, making the whole poem full of trance feelings. ▲
