Tang poem · five-character quatrain唐诗 · 五言绝句

yù玉jiē阶yuàn怨

lǐ李bái白Li Bai · Tang唐

Lament on the Jade Steps

yù玉jiē阶shēng生bái白lù露

yè夜jiǔ久qīn侵luó罗wà袜

què却xià下shuǐ水jīng晶lián帘

líng玲lóng珑wàng望qiū秋yuè月

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。

Line by line逐句翻译

玉阶生白露White dew has formed on the jade steps.白玉台阶上已经结出了露水，
夜久侵罗袜The night has grown long, and the dew soaks her silk stockings.夜深了，露水浸湿了她的丝袜。
却下水晶帘She goes in and lets down the crystal curtain,她回到屋里，放下透亮的水晶帘，
玲珑望秋月and still she gazes through it at the bright autumn moon.还隔着帘子望着明亮的秋月。

Words字词注释

玉阶yù jiē: yù jiē: steps made of white jade-like stone, the steps of a palace.玉阶：用白玉石砌的台阶，指宫殿的台阶。
生白露shēng bái lù: shēng bái lù: white dew forms on the steps, a sign that the night is late and cool.生白露：台阶上结出了白色的露水，说明夜深天凉了。
夜久yè jiǔ: yè jiǔ: deep in the night, after standing a long time.夜久：夜深了，站了很久。
侵qīn: qīn: to soak into, slowly wet through.侵：浸湿，慢慢湿透。
罗袜luó wà: luó wà: stockings of thin silk. Luó is a very light, fine silk.罗袜：用丝织品做的袜子。罗，一种很轻很薄的丝织品。
却下què xià: què xià: to let down. Another reading takes què as "still, even so": she goes inside and lets the curtain down anyway.却下：放下。一说“却”是“还是、仍然”的意思，意思是回到屋里，还是放下帘子。
水晶帘shuǐ jīng lián: shuǐ jīng lián: a curtain strung with crystal beads, a fine, see-through curtain.水晶帘：用水晶串成的帘子，指华美透亮的帘子。
玲珑líng lóng: líng lóng: bright and clear. It can describe the shining curtain or the bright moon.玲珑：明亮、透亮的样子。可以指帘子晶莹，也可以指月光明亮。

Background创作背景

"Lament on the Jade Steps" is an old folk-song title. It belongs to the "palace lament" kind: poems about the loneliness and sorrow of women living in a palace. The Southern Dynasties poet Xie Tiao also wrote one under this title. Li Bai used the old title for this short poem. We do not know exactly when he wrote it.

《玉阶怨》是乐府的旧题目，属于“宫怨”一类，就是写宫里女子孤独、哀怨的诗。南朝诗人谢朓也写过《玉阶怨》。李白用这个旧题目写了这首小诗。写作的具体时间不清楚。

The poet作者

Li Bai (701–762) is one of the most famous Tang poets, called the Immortal of Poetry. Most of his poems are bold and sweeping, but he also wrote quiet, delicate little poems like this one. He was good at writing new poems under old folk-song titles, and this is one of them.

李白（701—762），唐代最有名的诗人之一，被称为“诗仙”。他的诗大多豪放奔腾，但也有这样含蓄细腻的小诗。他很善于用乐府旧题写新诗，这首就是一例。

The mood意境

The title has the word "lament", but the poem never says it. We only see one action after another. She stands on the steps until the dew soaks her stockings. She goes in and lets down the curtain, yet still looks at the moon through it. Who has she been waiting for, standing so long? What is she thinking, awake so late? The poet does not say. He leaves it for us to imagine. The colors are lovely: white jade steps, white dew, a crystal curtain, the autumn moon. All of it is cool and clear, and it shows how lonely she feels inside.

题目里有个“怨”字，可诗里一个“怨”字也没写。我们只看到一个动作接一个动作：她在台阶上站着，站到露水湿透了袜子；她回屋放下帘子，却还隔着帘子看月亮。站了这么久，是在等谁？夜深了还睡不着，是在想什么？诗人都没说，留给我们自己去想。整首诗颜色很美：白玉台阶、白露、水晶帘、秋月，一片清冷透亮，正好衬出她心里的孤单和寂寞。