端淑卿虽是女子，她的《隋柳》，却能别开生面，把一首写景的小诗，赋予深刻的哲理，于淡淡的哀怨之中，寄寓着对炀帝荒淫亡国的沉痛。诗人的高超，就在于把眼前细小的事物描绘得活灵活现，残柳、墟丘、悲蝉、怨莺、行殿基、空江水，都是眼前的平凡物事，经过艺术的组合，构成了特定的意境，造就了凄婉的气氛，也就具有一种扣人心弦的感染力量。诗人的高超还在于，在对平凡景物的描述中，不动声色地对历史人物的功过给予揭示，发人深省。
端淑卿·《隋柳》
炀帝宫中柳，凋零几度秋。
蝉声悲故国，莺语愁荒丘。
行殿基仍在，空江水自流。
行人休折尽，春日更生愁。
Sui Willow
Duan Shuqing
Emperor Yang's willow on the embankment1
Withered by how many autumns?
Cicadas call in despair for the lost nation;
Orioles cry laments by the tomb mounds.
Where are the foundations of the Traveling Lodge?
Water in the deserted river flows on its own.
Traveler, do not break all the willow twigs:
Breaking them all arouses more sadness.
1. "Emperor Yang's willow" refers to the well-known "Parting Poem" sometimes attributed to Yang Guang, Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty (r. 60517): “Green, green the willows, brushing the ground/Wild, wild the catkins, roiling in the air/Willow twigs have all been broken, catkins have all flown/I ask the traveler, will he return?” The text is listed among anonymous Sui “Miscellaneous tunes and song-lyrics” in Lu Qinli, ed., Xian Qin Han Wei Jin Nanbeichao shi, p. 2753. The “embankment mentioned is probably a reference to the Grand Canal, completed during Emperor Yangs reign.
2. The "Traveling Lodge" refers to one of the elaborate palaces built for Emperor Yang's travels around the country.
（Charles H. Egan 译）
