白居易一生留下近3000篇诗作。他把诗歌比作果树，提出了“根情、苗言、花声、实义”（《与元九书》）的著名论点。白居易生前，曾对自己的诗文进行过几次编集，初名《白氏长庆集》，后改名《白氏文集》。
长恨歌
汉皇重色思倾国，御宇多年求不得。
杨家有女初长成，养在深闺人未识。
天生丽质难自弃，一朝选在君王侧。
回眸一笑百媚生，六宫粉黛无颜色。
春寒赐浴华清池，温泉水滑洗凝脂。
侍儿扶起娇无力，始是新承恩泽时。
云鬓花颜金步摇，芙蓉帐暖度春宵。
春宵苦短日高起，从此君王不早朝。
承欢侍宴无闲暇，春从春游夜专夜。
后宫佳丽三千人，三千宠爱在一身。
金屋妆成娇侍夜，玉楼宴罢醉和春。
姊妹弟兄皆列土，可怜光彩生门户。
遂令天下父母心，不重生男重生女。
骊宫高处入青云，仙乐风飘处处闻。
缓歌谩舞凝丝竹，尽日君王看不足。
渔阳鼙鼓动地来，惊破霓裳羽衣曲。
九重城阙烟尘生，千乘万骑西南行。
翠华摇摇行复止，西出都门百余里。
六军不发无奈何，宛转蛾眉马前死。
花钿委地无人收，翠翘金雀玉搔头。
君王掩面救不得，回看血泪相和流。
黄埃散漫风萧索，云栈萦纡登剑阁。
峨嵋山下少人行，旌旗无光日色薄。
蜀江水碧蜀山青，圣主朝朝暮暮情。
行宫见月伤心色，夜雨闻铃肠断声。
天旋地转回龙驭，到此踌躇不能去。
马嵬坡下泥土中，不见玉颜空死处。
君臣相顾尽沾衣，东望都门信马归。
归来池苑皆依旧，太液芙蓉未央柳。
芙蓉如面柳如眉，对此如何不泪垂。
春风桃李花开日，秋雨梧桐叶落时。
西宫南内多秋草，落叶满阶红不扫。
梨园弟子白发新，椒房阿监青娥老。
夕殿萤飞思悄然，孤灯挑尽未成眠。
迟迟钟鼓初长夜，耿耿星河欲曙天。
鸳鸯瓦冷霜华重，翡翠衾寒谁与共。
悠悠生死别经年，魂魄不曾来入梦。
临邛道士鸿都客，能以精诚致魂魄。
为感君王辗转思，遂教方士殷勤觅。
排空驭气奔如电，升天入地求之遍。
上穷碧落下黄泉，两处茫茫皆不见。
忽闻海上有仙山，山在虚无缥渺间。
楼阁玲珑五云起，其中绰约多仙子。
中有一人字太真，雪肤花貌参差是。
金阙西厢叩玉扃，转教小玉报双成。
闻道汉家天子使，九华帐里梦魂惊。
揽衣推枕起徘徊，珠箔银屏迤逦开。
云鬓半偏新睡觉，花冠不整下堂来。
风吹仙袂飘飘举，犹似霓裳羽衣舞。
玉容寂寞泪阑干，梨花一枝春带雨。
含情凝睇谢君王，一别音容两渺茫。
昭阳殿里恩爱绝，蓬莱宫中日月长。
回头下望人寰处，不见长安见尘雾。
惟将旧物表深情，钿合金钗寄将去。
钗留一股合一扇，钗擘黄金合分钿。
但教心似金钿坚，天上人间会相见。
临别殷勤重寄词，词中有誓两心知。
七月七日长生殿，夜半无人私语时。
在天愿作比翼鸟，在地愿为连理枝。
天长地久有时尽，此恨绵绵无绝期。
A Song of Unending Sorrow
Chinas Emperor，craving beauty that might shake an empire，
Was on the throne for many years，searching，never finding，
Till a little child of the Yang clan，hardly even grown，
Bred in an inner chamber，with no one knowing her，
But with graces granted by heaven and not to be concealed，
At last one day was chosen for the imperial household.
If she but turned her head and smiled，there were cast a hundred spells，
And the powder and paint of the Six Palaces faded into nothing.
It was early spring.They bathed her in the Flower Pure Pool，
Which warmed and smoothed the creamytinted crystal of her skin，
And，because of her languor，a maid was lifting her
When first the Emperor noticed her and chose her for his bride.
The cloud of her hair，petal of her cheek，gold ripples of her crown when she moved，
Were sheltered on spring evenings by warm hibiscus curtains；
But nights of spring were short and the sun arose too soon，
And the Emperor，from that time forth，forsook his early hearings
And lavished all his time on her with feasts and revelry，
His mistress of the spring，his despot of the night.
There were other ladies in his court，three thousand of rare beauty，
But his favours to three thousand were concentered in one body.
By the time she was dressed in her Golden Chamber，it would be almost evening；
And when tables were cleared in the Tower of Jade，she would loiter，slow with wine.
Her sisters and her brothers all were given titles；
And，because she so illumined and glorified her clan，
She brought to every father，every mother through the empire，
Happiness when a girl was born rather than a boy.
High rose Li Palace，entering blue clouds，
And far and wide the breezes carried magical notes
Of soft song and slow dance，of string and bamboo music.
The Emperors eyes could never gaze on her enough—
Till wardrums，booming from Yuyang，shocked the whole earth
And broke the tunes of The Rainbow Skirt and the Feathered Coat.
The Forbidden City，the ninetiered palace，loomed in the dust
From thousands of horses and chariots headed southwest.
The imperial flag opened the way，now moving and now pausing—
But thirty miles from the capital，beyond the western gate，
The men of the army stopped，not one of them would stir
Till under their horseshoofs they might trample those motheyebrows…
Flowery hairpins fell to the ground，no one picked them up，
And a green and white jade hairtassel and a yellow gold hairbird.
The Emperor could not save her，he could only cover his face.
And later when he turned to look，the place of blood and tears
Was hidden in a yellow dust blown by a cold wind.
At the cleft of the DaggerTower Trail they crisscrossed through a cloudline
Under Emei Mountain.The last few came.
Flags and banners lost their colour in the fading sunlight…
But as waters of Shu are always green and its mountains always blue，
So changeless was His Majestys love and deeper than the days.
He stared at the desolate moon from his temporary palace.
He heard bellnotes in the evening rain，cutting at his breast.
And when heaven and earth resumed their round and the dragon car faced home，
The Emperor clung to the spot and would not turn away
From the soil along the Mawei slope，under which was buried
That memory，that anguish.Where was her jadewhite face？
Ruler and lords，when eyes would meet，wept upon their coats
As they rode，with loose rein，slowly eastward，back to the capital.
The pools，the gardens，the palace，all were just as before，
The Lake Taiye hibiscus，the Weiyang Palace willows；
But a petal was like her face and a willowleaf her eyebrow—
And what could he do but cry whenever he looked at them？
Peachtrees and plumtrees blossomed，in the winds of spring；
Lakkafoliage fell to the ground，after autumn rains；
The Western and Southern Palaces were littered with late grasses，
And the steps were mounded with red leaves that no one swept away.
Her PearGarden Players became whitehaired
And the eunuchs thineyebrowed in her Court of PepperTrees；
Over the throne flew fireflies，while he brooded in the twilight.
He would lengthen the lampwick to its end and still could never sleep.
Bell and drum would slowly toll the dragging nighthours
And the River of Stars grow sharp in the sky，just before dawn，
And the porcelain mandarinducks on the roof grow thick with morning frost
And his covers of kingfisherblue feel lonelier and colder
With the distance between life and death year after year；
And yet no beloved spirit ever visited his dreams.
At Lingqiong lived a Taoist priest who was a guest of heaven，
Able to summon spirits by his concentrated mind.
And people were so moved by the Emperors constant brooding
That they besought the Taoist priest to see if he could find her.
He opened his way in space and clove the ether like lightning，
Up to heaven，under the earth，looking everywhere.