Tang poem · seven-character regulated verse唐诗 · 七言律诗

qiǎn遣bēi悲huái怀sān三shǒu首·qí其sān三

yuán元zhěn稹Yuan Zhen · Tang唐

Easing My Grief, No. 3 of Three

xián闲zuò坐bēi悲jūn君yì亦zì自bēi悲

bǎi百nián年dōu都shì是jǐ几duō多shí时

dèng邓yōu攸wú无zǐ子xún寻zhī知mìng命

pān潘yuè岳dào悼wáng亡yóu犹fèi费cí词

tóng同xué穴yǎo窅míng冥hé何suǒ所wàng望

tā他shēng生yuán缘huì会gèng更nán难qī期

wéi唯jiāng将zhōng终yè夜cháng长kāi开yǎn眼

bào报dá答píng平shēng生wèi未zhǎn展méi眉

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。

The corpus writes da (repay) with an older form of the character. Some editions write wei (only) with a different but equivalent character.

资料库本“答”写作“荅”，是“答”的古写。“唯”有的本子作“惟”，意思一样。

Line by line逐句翻译

闲坐悲君亦自悲Sitting alone, I grieve for you, and I grieve for myself too.闲坐着为你悲伤，也为自己悲伤，
百年都是几多时A whole life, after all, is how much time?人活一辈子，又能有多少时间？
邓攸无子寻知命Deng You had no son and soon accepted it as fate;邓攸没有儿子，不久就明白那是命，
潘岳悼亡犹费词Pan Yue wrote poems for his wife, but they were wasted words.潘岳写诗悼念妻子，也只是白费言语。
同穴窅冥何所望To be buried in one grave together, in that deep darkness, what is there to hope for?死后同葬一个墓穴，那里又深又黑，有什么可盼？
他生缘会更难期To meet again in another life is even harder to hope for.下辈子再结夫妻，更难指望。
唯将终夜长开眼All I can do is lie awake, eyes open, night after night,我只能整夜整夜睁着眼睛想你，
报答平生未展眉to repay you for a lifetime of brows that were never smooth.来报答你一辈子没舒展过的眉头。

Words字词注释

闲坐xián zuò: xian zuo: sitting alone with nothing to do.闲坐：没事一个人坐着。
悲君bēi jūn: bei jun: grieve for you. You means the poet's late wife.悲君：为你悲伤。君，指去世的妻子。
百年bǎi nián: bai nian: a hundred years, meaning a whole human life.百年：指人的一辈子。
几多时jǐ duō shí: ji duo shi: how much time is that, really?几多时：能有多少时间。
邓攸dèng yōu: Deng You: a man of the Jin dynasty. Fleeing a war, he gave up his own son to save his nephew, and never had a son again.邓攸：晋朝人。战乱逃难时，他为了保住侄子，舍弃了自己的儿子，后来一直没有儿子。
寻知命xún zhī mìng: xun zhi ming: soon understood it was fate. Xun here means "before long".寻知命：不久就明白这是命中注定。寻，不久。
潘岳pān yuè: Pan Yue: a Jin dynasty writer. After his wife died he wrote famous poems mourning her.潘岳：晋朝文学家，妻子死后写了《悼亡诗》，非常有名。
悼亡dào wáng: dao wang: to mourn a dead wife.悼亡：悼念死去的妻子。
犹费词yóu fèi cí: you fei ci: still only wasted words, since the dead cannot hear them.犹费词：也只是白费言辞，死去的人听不到。
同穴tóng xué: tong xue: husband and wife buried in the same grave.同穴：夫妻死后合葬在同一个墓里。
窅冥yǎo míng: yao ming: deep and dark, impossible to see into.窅冥：又深又黑，看不清。
何所望hé suǒ wàng: he suo wang: what is there to hope for?何所望：有什么可以盼望的呢？
他生tā shēng: ta sheng: the next life.他生：下一辈子。
缘会yuán huì: yuan hui: meeting again by fate.缘会：有缘再相会。
难期nán qī: nan qi: hard to hope for.难期：难以期待。
唯将wéi jiāng: wei jiang: all I can do is use...唯将：只能用。
终夜长开眼zhōng yè cháng kāi yǎn: zhong ye chang kai yan: lying awake with open eyes all night.终夜长开眼：整夜睁着眼睛睡不着。
平生未展眉píng shēng wèi zhǎn méi: ping sheng wei zhan mei: all your life your brows were never smooth, meaning you lived in worry and hardship.平生未展眉：你一辈子没有舒展过眉头，指过得愁苦。

Background创作背景

Yuan Zhen's wife, Wei Cong, married him at twenty. He was still poor then, and she shared many hardships with him. In 809 she died, only twenty-seven years old. Yuan Zhen was heartbroken and wrote many poems mourning her. "Easing My Grief" is a set of three, usually thought to have been written not long after her death. The title means trying to let out the sorrow in one's heart. This third poem is about his own sadness and a regret that can never be made up for.

元稹的妻子韦丛二十岁嫁给他。那时元稹还很穷，韦丛跟着他吃了不少苦。唐宪宗元和四年（809年），韦丛去世，只活了二十七岁。元稹非常伤心，写了很多悼念她的诗。《遣悲怀》共三首，一般认为写于妻子去世后不久。“遣悲怀”就是排解心里的悲痛。这是第三首，写自己的悲哀和无法弥补的遗憾。

The poet作者

Yuan Zhen (779–831) was a Tang poet and a good friend of Bai Juyi. Together they called for poems that ordinary people could easily understand, and people name them together as Yuan and Bai. His poems mourning his wife are deeply felt and very famous. The three poems of "Easing My Grief" are counted among the finest of their kind.

元稹（779—831），唐代诗人，和白居易是好朋友，两人一起提倡写通俗易懂的诗，合称“元白”。他写的悼念亡妻的诗感情真切，非常有名，《遣悲怀》三首被认为是这类诗里最好的作品之一。

The mood意境

This poem breaks every hope, one step at a time. First, life is too short. Then the examples of Deng You and Pan Yue show that fate cannot be changed and poems cannot bring a loved one back. Next, being buried together means nothing you can see, and meeting again in another life cannot be counted on. Every road is closed. Only one thing is left to do: lie awake all night thinking of her. "Eyes open all night" is set against "brows never smoothed", his sleeplessness against her lifelong worry. The pairing is natural and heartbreaking. The words are plain, yet they hold deep love and deep guilt.

这首诗一步一步把希望打碎。先说人生太短；再举邓攸和潘岳的例子，说命运没法改，写诗也换不回亲人；接着说死后合葬看不见，来世重逢也靠不住。所有的路都走不通了，最后只剩一件能做的事：整夜睁着眼睛想她。“长开眼”对“未展眉”，一个是自己睡不着，一个是妻子一辈子发愁，对得自然又让人心酸。语言很朴素，却把深深的爱和愧疚都写了出来。