《七哀》大约为乐府题目。《文选》六臣注吕向曰：“七哀为痛而哀，义而哀，感而哀，怨而哀，耳闻目见而哀，口叹而哀，鼻酸而哀。”余冠英说此篇是闺怨诗，也可能借此“讽君”。也有人认为诗里面的沉浮异势是指的曹丕和自己的不同处境，孤妾是曹植
自喻。

七哀
曹植

明月照高楼，流光正徘徊。
上有愁思妇，悲叹有余哀。
借问叹者谁，言是宕子妻。
君行逾十年，孤妾常独栖。
君若清路尘，妾若浊水泥。
浮沉各异势，会合何时谐？
愿为西南风，长逝入君怀。
君怀良不开，贱妾当何依？

Lamentations

The bright moon is shining o'er the hall aglow;
Its crystal light is moving quiet and slow.
There is a lady in deep distress upstairs,
Who sighs and sighs, in deepest grief, despairs.
Who is she that leads so sad a life?
The answer is, she is a rover's wife.
Since her man left home a dozen years ago,
She has been living quite alone in woe,
“You're like the dust that flies high in the air
While I'm like the mud that sinks down there.
Now that we are indeed a world apart,
When can we meet and talk heart to heart?
Oh that I be a breeze blowing south and west
That travels a long distance into your breast.
If you don't want to bare your breast for me,
On whom shall I rely and what shall I be?”

（许渊冲译，选自《汉魏六朝诗选：汉英对照》，海豚出版社）