Li Bai has both a proud side and a secular side. His ideals and freedom can only be sought in the mountains and forests, fairyland, and drunk country. Therefore, he has flowed in poems such as “Jiang Jinjiu”, “Jiangshang Yin”, “Xiangyang Song” and other poems. Revealing the thoughts of life as a dream, having fun in time, escaping from reality, etc., are also representative of the upright and arrogant literati in feudal society.
长干行
（二首其二）
忆妾[1]深闺里，
烟尘不曾识。
嫁与长干人，
沙头[2]候风色。
五月南风兴，
思君下[3]巴陵。
八月西风起，
想君发[4]扬子。
去来悲如何，
见少离别多。
湘潭[5]几日到？
妾梦越风波！
昨夜狂风度，
吹折江头树。
淼淼[6]暗无边，
行人在何处？
好乘浮云骢[7]，
佳期兰渚[8]东。
鸳鸯绿蒲上，
翡翠[9]锦屏中。
自怜十五余，
颜色桃花红。
那作商人妇，
愁水复愁风！
如果说第一首诗从各个生活阶段的各个生活侧面着手，塑造出一个对理想生活执着追求和热切向往的商贾思妇的艺术形象，那么第二首则从商妇望夫说起，感情层层深入，直至自怜自恨而止，抒写妻子对外出远商的丈夫的挚爱和思念，凄切幽怨，缠绵感人。评论界普遍认为，第二首比第一首稍逊一筹，第二首与其他闺怨诗一样直接从幽怨的少妇下笔，第一首自出机杼从童年时两小无猜写起。其实，第一首呈现的是一幅幅生活场景，着重刻画人物性格，满腹相思还未倾诉，这就引出了第二首。如果说第一首是清水出芙蓉的水墨画，那么第二首就是色彩浓得化不开的油画，满纸都是浓浓的相思。
注释：
[1]妾：作“昔”。
[2]沙头：沙岸。
[3]下：作“在”。
[4]发：出发。
[5]湘潭：泛指湖南一带。
[6]淼淼：形容水势浩大。
[7]浮云骢（cōnɡ）：骏马。西汉文帝有骏马名浮云。
[8]兰渚：长有兰草的小洲。
[9]翡翠：水鸟名。
Ballads of a Merchant’s Wife
(II)
Brought up while young in inner room,
I knew nor wind nor dust that rose.
Since you became my dear bridegroom,
I’ve learned on Sands from where wind blows.
In the fifth moon south wind is high,
I know you’re sailing the river down;
In the eighth moon west wind comes nigh,
I think you’ll leave the river town.
I’m grieved to see you come and go:
We sever longer than we meet.
When will you come home?Let me know!
To cross the waves my dream is fleet.
Last night a violent wind blew,
Breaking the trees by riverside.
So dark the boundless waters grew!
Where could your roving ship abide?
I’d ride upon a cloud-like steed
To meet you east of River Green
Like two love birds amid the reed
Or kingfishers on silken screen.
I pity my fifteen odd years,
Like blooming peach my face is warm.
But I’m a merchant’s wife in tears,
Who worries over wind and storm.
If the first poem starts from various aspects of life at different stages, shaping an artistic image of a merchant woman who persistently pursues and eagerly yearns for an ideal life, then the second poem starts from the merchant woman’s longing for her husband, with emotions deepening layer by layer until self pity and self hatred stop, expressing the wife’s love and longing for her husband who went out for a distant business, poignant and touching. The critics generally believe that the second poem is slightly inferior to the first one. Like other poems about women’s grievances, the second poem was written directly from a melancholic young woman, while the first poem was written from childhood when two children were clueless. In fact, the first song presents a series of life scenes, focusing on portraying the characters’ personalities, full of unrequited longing, which leads to the second song. If the first one is an ink painting of lotus flowers emerging from clear water, then the second one is an oil painting with colors so thick that they cannot be dissolved, and the paper is filled with strong longing.
