长恨歌 - 白居易
帝王紅塵裡愛恨糾纏，訴盡生死相思悲歌
漢皇重色思傾國，
The Han Emperor, enamored of beauty, longed for a face that could topple a kingdom,
御宇多年求不得。
Though he reigned for years, his search remained in vain.
楊家有女初長成，
In the Yang clan was a young girl just blossoming into womanhood,
養在深閨人未識。
Reared in a secluded boudoir, unknown to the world.
天生麗質難自棄，
Graced by natural beauty, she could not remain hidden,
一朝選在君王側。
Until one day she was chosen to serve beside the Emperor.
回眸一笑百媚生，
One backward glance, one radiant smile, birthed a hundred graces,
六宮粉黛無顏色。
And left the ladies of the Six Palaces pale in comparison.
春寒賜浴華清池，
In the chill of spring, he granted her a bath in the Huaqing Pool,
溫泉水滑洗凝脂。
Where warm spring waters caressed her creamy skin.
侍兒扶起嬌無力，
Maidservants helped her rise, too weak with languor’s charm,
始是新承恩澤時。
That moment marked the dawn of her fresh royal favor.
雲鬢花顏金步搖，
Her cloud-like hair and flowery visage adorned with golden hairpins,
芙蓉帳暖度春宵。
Behind lotus-embroidered curtains, she passed warm spring nights.
春宵苦短日高起，
But those nights were fleeting; at dawn, he rose late,
從此君王不早朝。
So from that day on, the Emperor neglected his morning courts.
承歡侍宴無閑暇，
He indulged in constant revelry and her devoted attendance,
春從春遊夜專夜。
Daytime for spring outings, nighttime solely hers.
後宮佳麗三千人，
In the palace lived three thousand beauties,
三千寵愛在一身。
Yet all his favor fell upon this one.
金屋妝成嬌侍夜，
In her gilded chambers, made up to charm through the night,
玉樓宴罷醉和春。
She left the jade towers intoxicated by spring’s allure.
姊妹弟兄皆列土，
Her siblings received noble titles and lands,
可憐光彩生門戶。
Their enhanced splendor now shining on the family estate.
遂令天下父母心，
Thus all parents under Heaven cherished a new desire—
不重生男重生女。
To have daughters, not sons, hoping for their rise in court.
驪宮高處入青雲，
At Lishan’s lofty palace that reached into azure skies,
仙樂風飄處處聞。
Heavenly music wafted on breezes, heard in every quarter.
緩歌慢舞凝絲竹，
Soft songs and languid dances merged with strings and flutes,
盡日君王看不足。
All day the Emperor watched, never sated.
漁陽鼙鼓動地來，
Then from Yuyang, war drums shook the earth,
驚破霓裳羽衣曲。
Shattering the Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Jacket Dance.
九重城闕煙塵生，
In the nine-layered imperial city, smoke and dust arose,
千乘萬騎西南行。
As thousands of royal chariots and cavalry fled southwest.
翠華搖搖行復止，
The imperial banners swayed, they advanced yet halted,
西出都門百餘里。
Barely a hundred miles beyond the city gates.
六軍不發無奈何，
The Six Armies refused to march, leaving him helpless,
宛轉蛾眉馬前死。
Until the beauty with mothlike brows met her death before his steed.
花鈿委地無人收，
Her floral hair ornaments fell to the ground, unclaimed,
翠翹金雀玉搔頭。
Jade pins, golden finches—no one dared retrieve them.
君王掩面救不得，
The Emperor covered his face, unable to save her,
回看血淚相和流。
Then turned back, tears of blood streaming down.
黃埃散漫風蕭索，
Yellow dust spread far and wide in a bleak wind,
雲棧縈紆登劍閣。
They traversed twisting cloud paths up to Jian’ge Pass.
峨嵋山下少人行，
Beneath Mount Emei, few travelers passed,
旌旗無光日色薄。
Where banners lost luster under a wan, pale sun.
蜀江水碧蜀山青，
Though Shu’s rivers were emerald, Shu’s mountains jade,
聖主朝朝暮暮情。
Morning and night, the Emperor’s heart was consumed with grief.
行宮見月傷心色，
In the provisional palace, each moonlit night brought fresh sorrow,
夜雨聞鈴腸斷聲。
In the rain at night, a distant bell tore his soul apart.
天旋日轉回龍馭，
Time turned and heavens moved, the imperial carriage returned,
到此躊躇不能去。
Yet at that spot he lingered, unable to depart.
馬嵬坡下泥土中，
In the mud beneath Mawei Slope,
不見玉顏空死處。
He saw no more her jade countenance, only an empty place of death.
君臣相顧盡霑衣，
Emperor and courtiers gazed upon each other, sleeves soaked in tears,
東望都門信馬歸。
Heading east toward the capital, letting the horses roam at will.
歸來池苑皆依舊，
Returning, he found the palace gardens unchanged,
太液芙蓉未央柳。
Lotus flowers on Taiye Pond, willows by Weiyang Palace as before.
芙蓉如面柳如眉，
Lotus blossoms like her face, willows like her brows—
對此如何不淚垂？
How could he behold these and not weep?
春風桃李花開夜，
In spring nights when peach and plum blooms unfold,
秋雨梧桐葉落時。
Or in autumn rains when parasol-tree leaves fall.
西宮南內多秋草，
In the western palace and southern courts, autumn grass grew unchecked,
落葉滿階紅不掃。
Red leaves piled on the steps, un-swept and forlorn.
梨園弟子白髮新，
The Pear Garden musicians now had new strands of white hair,
椒房阿監青娥老。
And eunuchs in the pepper chambers, once youthful, had aged as well.
夕殿螢飛思悄然，
In the evening halls, fireflies flit in silent gloom,
孤燈挑盡未成眠。
A lone lamp burns low, yet he cannot sleep.
遲遲鐘鼓初長夜，
Slowly, bells and drums mark the deepening night,
耿耿星河欲曙天。
Stars glimmer in the heavens, hinting at dawn.
鴛衾筵裀無顏色，
Mandarin-duck quilts and banquet mats have lost their color,
夜月醒來好夢歇。
He wakes under the moon at night, and sweet dreams vanish.
臨邛道士鴻都客，
A Daoist from Linqiong, a visitor from Hongdu,
能以精誠致魂魄。
Through utmost devotion, could summon departed spirits.
為感君王輾轉思，
Touched by the Emperor’s ceaseless yearning,
遂教方士殷勤覓。
He urged this wizard to labor in search of her soul.
排空馭氣奔如電，
He soared above the skies and rode the winds like lightning,
升天入地求之遍。
Scouring heaven and earth in every realm.
上窮碧落下黃泉，
From the azure vault above to the yellow springs below,
兩處茫茫皆不見。
He found only vast emptiness, nowhere her trace.
忽聞海上有仙山，
Suddenly, he heard of a celestial isle beyond the sea,
山在虛無縹緲間。
Floating in airy, enchanted realms.
樓閣玲瓏五雲起，
Pavilions shimmered, rising on five-colored clouds,
其中綽約多仙子。
Where many graceful immortals roamed in majesty.
中有一人字太真，
Among them was one known as Taizhen,
雪膚花貌參差是。
With snowy skin and floral countenance, half-familiar yet changed.
金闕西廂叩玉扃，
At the western chamber of the golden palace, he knocked upon the jade latch,
轉教小玉報雙成。
Sending word through Xiaoyu to Shuangcheng of his arrival.
聞道漢家天子使，
Hearing the Han Emperor’s messenger had come,
九華帳裡夢魂驚。
She was startled from her dreams within ninefold flowered curtains.
攬衣推枕起徘徊，
She gathered her garments and pushed aside pillows, pacing in anxious thought,
珠箔銀屏迤邐開。
Pulling back pearl curtains and silver screens in a slow, unrolling motion.
雲鬢半偏新睡覺，
Her cloud-like hair, half askew from slumber,
花冠不整下堂來。
She stepped down the hall, flowered coronet undone.
風吹仙袂飄颻舉，
A breeze lifted her immortal sleeves in drifting grace,
猶似霓裳羽衣舞。
Recalling the Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Jacket dance.
玉容寂寞淚闌干，
Her jade visage lonely, tears streaming unchecked,
梨花一枝春帶雨。
Like a pear blossom in spring, glistening with fresh rain.
含情凝睇謝君王，
With feeling in her gaze, she offered her respects to the Emperor,
一別音容兩渺茫。
Parted once, now their voices and forms lay worlds apart.
昭陽殿裡恩愛絕，
All the love they shared in Zhaoyang Palace had been severed,
蓬萊宮中日月長。
While in Penglai’s halls, days and months stretch endlessly.
回頭下望人寰處，
She looked back upon the mortal world below,
不見長安見塵霧。
But saw no Chang’an—only a shroud of mist and dust.
唯將舊物表深情，
She entrusted him with the tokens of old to show her love,
鈿合金釵寄將去。
Sending him a jeweled box and golden hairpin as parting gifts.
釵留一股合一扇，
She kept one half of the pin and one leaf of the box,
釵擘黃金合分鈿。
Splitting the gold, dividing the inlaid design.
但教心似金鈿堅，
Only let our hearts remain as steadfast as this gold and jewel,
天上人間會相見。
For heaven or earth, someday we shall meet again.
臨別殷勤重寄詞，
At their final parting, she entrusted him with urgent words,
詞中有誓兩心知。
A vow within them, known to their two hearts alone.
七月七日長生殿，
On the seventh day of the seventh moon, in the Hall of Eternal Life,
夜半無人私語時。
Past midnight, unseen, they whispered private words of love.
在天願作比翼鳥，
“In Heaven, may we be as two birds flying wing to wing,
在地願為連理枝。
On earth, may we grow as intertwined branches.”
天長地久有時盡，
Even sky and earth must someday come to an end,
此恨綿綿無絕期。
But this sorrow goes on and on, never to cease.
《長恨歌》是白居易的代表長篇敘事詩之一，全詩以唐玄宗與楊貴妃的愛情悲劇為主軸，融入宮廷、邊塞、仙界等多層場景，將歷史事實與浪漫想像巧妙結合。透過鮮明的敘事線與大量細膩的場景描寫，詩人不僅再現了二人恩愛與豪華享樂的盛景，也呈現了戰亂突起、六軍不發，以及楊貴妃被迫赴死的深重悲哀。最後藉由「臨邛道士」的神話情節，讓楊貴妃得以在虛幻的仙境重現，以滿足玄宗難以平息的思念，將世俗中無法彌補的遺憾寄託於超脫人間的仙界。
詩歌結構嚴密而環環相扣：從初遇到寵愛，從戰亂到生死別離，再到死後哀慟及幻想相逢。景物、人物和敘事場景的切換節奏明快，既有寫實的宮闕盛景，也有浪漫神異的海上仙山。白居易運用淺白暢達的語言，卻在字裡行間蘊含深厚的感傷與同情，讓讀者能同時領略唐代社會的奢靡盛況，以及帝王與嬌寵之間無可挽回的悲劇命運。楊貴妃作為一介女兒身，原本只憑美貌受寵，最終卻成為政治動盪與民怨的犧牲品，而唐玄宗也在晚年飽嚐追思與悔恨。
「在天願作比翼鳥，在地願為連理枝」成為千古傳誦的名句，象徵情侶渴望靈魂與肉體永世相伴。詩末的「此恨綿綿無絕期」更將全詩哀婉的氛圍推向極致，概括了世間愛情在政治與時局等外力干擾下所產生的無奈。整首詩借宮廷愛情悲劇來探討「得失」、「盛衰」與「哀樂相間」等人生命題，並以想像手法弭補了現實中的殘酷缺口，使《長恨歌》兼具浪漫主義與現實關懷。對後世文學而言，詩歌中華麗的辭藻、流暢的敘事與深沉的情感，一直是古典文學研究與創作的典範，也讓楊貴妃與唐玄宗的悲歡離合傳誦至今。
值得注意的是，白居易在詩中亦有批判與警示意涵，暗示君王專寵美人、荒廢朝政終致禍亂，又借仙境一段巧妙地帶出懷念與魂牽夢縈的無盡遺恨。這種既具觀照歷史興亡、也充滿人間悲喜的筆觸，正是《長恨歌》經久不衰的原因之一。
重點
• 以唐玄宗與楊貴妃的愛情悲劇為主題，映射盛唐政治與社會氛圍
• 全詩敘事宏大，景物、人事、仙境交織，呈現浪漫與寫實並行
• 「在天願作比翼鳥，在地願為連理枝」等名句蘊含千古愛情的纏綿與永恆遺憾