ChineseStudy

143. Wind and Rain | Li Shangyin

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English translation

Reading the desolate “Sword Poem,” adrift and wandering, I fear I shall spend my whole life this way.

The “Sword Poem” is by Guo Zhen of the Tang; it tells of a sword fallen into neglect and is used to figure a talented man who finds no place. “Exhausting the years” here means exhausting one’s whole life, growing old in wandering, not merely a single year.

Yellow leaves are still tossed in wind and rain; in the fine tower they play pipes and strings for themselves.

“Still” means “still there,” and “for themselves” means “self-absorbed.” The two words cut apart two worlds: one in hardship, one in pleasure, neither touching the other.

New acquaintances meet the obstruction of shallow custom; old friends are severed from good ties.

“New acquaintances” and “old friends”: on both sides he has nothing to rely on. This couplet writes the total collapse of social ties.

My heart is broken over Xinfeng wine; I would buy it to drown my sorrow, but a measure costs several thousand coins.

'Xinfeng wine' was a famous Tang vintage. 'Several thousand a measure' means the wine is so expensive that he cannot even afford to drown his sorrow.

赏析 · Commentary

一首诗写尽「没有出路」 · A Poem That Writes Having No Way Out

李商隐这首诗的每一联都在排除一种可能。第一联说漂泊要过一辈子；第二联说世间的享乐与自己无关；第三联说新交旧友都失了；末联说想借酒消愁，酒钱都付不起。四联像四道门依次关上。唐人写不遇，多半留一个出口（归隐、来日、朋友），这首诗一个都不留，所以读起来格外压抑。

Every couplet removes one possibility. The first says the drifting will last a lifetime; the second says the world's pleasures are not his; the third says new friends and old are both gone; the last says he would drink the sorrow away and cannot afford the wine. Four couplets, four doors shut in order. Tang poems about being unplaced usually leave an exit — retirement, a later day, a friend — and this one leaves none, which is why it reads so tightly.

「仍」和「自」 · "Still" and "For Themselves"

第二联的两个虚词承担了全诗的对比。「仍」是说风雨没停过，「自」是说别人的欢乐与他无关。这两个字都不带感情色彩，只是陈述，反而更冷。李商隐不用「可怜」「堪叹」这类词，把判断留给读者做。这也是他后期诗风的一个特点：越苦的地方，写法越平静。

The two function words in the second couplet carry the poem's contrast. "Still" says the wind and rain have not stopped; "for themselves" says other people's pleasure has nothing to do with him. Neither word carries emotion and both simply report, which is colder. Li Shangyin uses no "pitiable" or "lamentable," leaving the judgement to the reader. It is a mark of his later style: the bitterer the matter, the more level the writing.

末句的账单 · The Bill in the Last Line

「销愁斗几千」把消愁变成了一笔账。想喝酒消愁，先得问问价钱。李商隐用一个很俗的细节结束了一首很沉的诗——前面写的是才华、社会、交游，最后落到酒价上。这个落差本身就是控诉：连最便宜的解脱方式都负担不起。唐诗里写穷，很少写得这么具体。

"Several thousand a measure" turns consolation into arithmetic. To drink the sorrow off he must first ask the price. Li Shangyin ends a heavy poem on a very ordinary detail — talent, society, and friendship come first, and it finishes on the cost of wine. The drop is itself the indictment: he cannot afford even the cheapest relief. Tang verse rarely writes poverty this concretely.

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