Tang poem · poem with lines of mixed length唐诗 · 杂言诗
bái白jū居yì易Bai Juyi · Tang唐
A Flower That Is Not a Flower
huā花fēi非huā花
wù雾fēi非wù雾
yè夜bàn半lái来
tiān天míng明qù去
lái来rú如chūn春mèng梦jǐ几duō多shí时
qù去sì似zhāo朝yún云wú无mì觅chù处
Underlined words have notes: tap one. The Pinyin button below shows or hides all pinyin. 一 and 不 are marked with the tone you actually say.字下有虚线的，点开有注释。下方的“拼音”按钮可以显示或隐藏全部拼音。“一”“不”标的是实际读出来的变调。
This poem is in Bai Juyi's collected works, but the year it was written is not known. The poet never said what it is about, and readers disagree. One view says it is about a short meeting with a woman who then left. Another says it is about a dream. Others think it is a sigh that lovely things come quickly and leave just as quickly. Later, "A Flower That Is Not a Flower" also became the name of a ci tune.
这首诗收在白居易的诗集里，写于哪一年已经不清楚。它到底在写什么，诗人没有说，后人的看法也不一样：一说是写一次短暂的相会和一位离开的女子，一说是写梦，也有人认为是感叹美好的东西总是来得快、去得也快。后来“花非花”还成了一个词牌的名字。
Bai Juyi (772–846), also called Letian, was a great Tang poet. Most of his poems are clear and easy, such as "Grass on the Ancient Plain" and "The Old Charcoal Seller", so even ordinary people could understand them. But this poem is unusual. It is hazy, like a riddle, and makes people read it again and again.
白居易（772—846），唐代大诗人，字乐天。他的诗大多明白好懂，像《赋得古原草送别》《卖炭翁》，连普通百姓都能听懂。这首《花非花》却很特别，说得朦朦胧胧，像一个谜语，让人一读再读。
This poem is like a riddle. It is like a flower, yet not a flower; like a mist, yet not a mist. It comes at midnight and leaves at daybreak. When it comes, it is like a spring dream, sweet but short. When it goes, it is like a morning cloud that melts away and can never be found. The poet never says what it is. He only lets us feel that something beautiful came quietly, left quietly, and left only longing behind. Every reader can think of something like that in their own life. The first short lines of three characters sound soft and light. The last two lines grow longer, like a long sigh.
这首诗像一个谜语。它像花，又不是花；像雾，又不是雾。它半夜来，天亮就走。来的时候像一场春梦，美好却很短；走的时候像早晨的云，一下子就散了，怎么也找不到。诗人始终不说它是什么，只让我们感觉到：有一样很美的东西，来得悄悄的，走得也悄悄的，留下的只有怀念。每个读者都可以想起自己生命里那样的东西。前面三个字一句，读起来轻轻的，后面两句变长，像一声长长的叹息。