Tang poem · seven-character quatrain唐诗 · 七言绝句

lí离sī思wǔ五shǒu首·qí其sì四

yuán元zhěn稹Yuan Zhen · Tang唐

Thoughts of Parting, No. 4 of 5

céng曾jīng经cāng沧hǎi海nán难wéi为shuǐ水

chú除què却wū巫shān山bú不shì是yún云

qǔ取cì次huā花cóng丛lǎn懒huí回gù顾

bàn半yuán缘xiū修dào道bàn半yuán缘jūn君

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。

In the source text, the fifth character of the third line is an old variant form of the character for lazy. Today's standard editions use the common form.

原文第三句作“嬾”，是“懒”的异体字，现在通行本写作“懒”。

Line by line逐句翻译

曾经沧海难为水Once you have seen the great sea, no other water seems like water.见过大海的人，再看别处的水，都觉得算不上水了。
除却巫山不是云Apart from the clouds of Mount Wu, no other clouds seem like clouds.除了巫山的云，别处的云都称不上是云。
取次花丛懒回顾I hurry past the flowers and do not bother to look back.我从花丛中匆匆走过，懒得回头看一眼。
半缘修道半缘君Half because I follow a spiritual path, and half because of you.一半是因为我在修道，一半是因为你。

Words字词注释

曾经céng jīng: céng jīng: once having been to, once having seen.曾经：曾经到过、见过。
沧海cāng hǎi: cāng hǎi: the great sea.沧海：大海。
难为水nán wéi shuǐ: nán wéi shuǐ: other waters can hardly be called water anymore.难为水：别处的水就很难再算得上是水了。
除却chú què: chú què: apart from.除却：除了。
巫山wū shān: wū shān: Mount Wu, on the border of today's Chongqing and Hubei. Legend says the goddess of Mount Wu turned into lovely clouds each morning, so its clouds were thought the most beautiful.巫山：在今天重庆和湖北交界的地方。传说巫山神女早上化作美丽的云彩，所以巫山的云被看作最美的云。
取次qǔ cì: qǔ cì: casually, hurriedly passing by.取次：随便、匆匆地经过。
花丛huā cóng: huā cóng: a cluster of flowers. Here it stands for many beautiful women.花丛：开满花的地方，这里比喻很多美丽的女子。
懒回顾lǎn huí gù: lǎn huí gù: not bothering to look back.懒回顾：懒得回头看。
缘yuán: yuán: because of.缘：因为。
修道xiū dào: xiū dào: to train the mind and follow a spiritual path, here mostly Buddhist or Daoist practice.修道：修身养性、学习道理，这里多指学佛或学道。
君jūn: jūn: you. Usually taken to mean the poet's late wife.君：你。一般认为指诗人去世的妻子。

How to read it读音

为wéi: Here the character means to count as, so it is read wéi, not wèi.这里“为”是“算作、当作”的意思，读 wéi，不读 wèi。

Background创作背景

In his twenties, Yuan Zhen married Wei Cong, and they loved each other deeply. But in 809 Wei Cong died at only twenty-seven. Yuan Zhen was heartbroken and wrote many poems in her memory. "Thoughts of Parting" is a set of five poems, usually thought to be in memory of Wei Cong too. This is the fourth. Another view says the set was written for a woman he loved when he was young.

元稹二十多岁时娶了韦丛，夫妻感情很好。可是元和四年（809年），韦丛二十七岁就去世了。元稹非常悲痛，写了很多怀念她的诗。《离思》一共五首，一般认为也是怀念韦丛的，这是第四首。一说这组诗是写给他早年的恋人的。

The poet作者

Yuan Zhen (779–831), also called Weizhi, was a Tang poet. He and Bai Juyi were close friends who together wrote new ballads in plain, easy language, and they are known together as Yuan and Bai. His poems mourning his late wife are especially moving, such as the three poems "Easing My Grief", which later readers rank very highly.

元稹（779—831），字微之，唐代诗人。他和白居易是好朋友，两人一起写通俗易懂的新乐府诗，合称“元白”。他写悼念亡妻的诗特别感人，比如《遣悲怀》三首，后人评价很高。

The mood意境

The first two lines use two comparisons. Someone who has seen the sea no longer thinks much of small rivers and streams. After the clouds of Mount Wu, no other clouds count as clouds. The poet means that the one he loved was the best, and no one else can ever compare with her. The third line says that even walking through a garden full of flowers, he does not bother to look back. The last line gives the reason: half because he follows a spiritual path, and half because of you. Because of you is said lightly, but it weighs the most, since what has really stilled his heart is his longing for her. The first two lines are often quoted for faithful love, and also to say that once you have seen the best, ordinary things no longer satisfy you.

前两句用了两个比方：看过大海的人，不会再把小河小溪放在眼里；看过巫山的云，别处的云都不算云。诗人的意思是：我爱过的那个人是最好的，别人再也比不上她。第三句说，就算走过百花丛中，也懒得回头看。最后一句给出原因：一半是因为我在修道，一半是因为你。“半缘君”说得很轻，却最重，因为真正让他心如止水的，是对她的思念。头两句后来常被用来形容对爱情的专一，也用来比喻见过最好的，就看不上一般的。