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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

酬郭给事

Reply to Guo Givei (Chou Guo Ji Shi)

王维

Wang Wei

赠答Poetry of Friendship 仕宦Officialdom

洞门高阁霭余晖，桃李阴阴柳絮飞。
禁里疏钟官舍晚，省中啼鸟吏人稀。
晨摇玉佩趋金殿，夕奉天书拜琐闱。
强欲从君无那老，将因卧病解朝衣。

The palace gate and the high hall are veiled in the afterglow,
The peach and plum stand in shade, the willow seed-fluff flies.
From the palace the faint bell: the office is late;
In the department, birds are singing, the clerks are few.
At dawn he shakes his jade pendant, hastening to the golden hall;
At dusk he bears the imperial writing, kneeling at the lattice gate.
I would follow you, and there is nothing to be done about it — I am old;
I shall take off my court robe because of illness.

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Meaning

This poem answers a colleague, Guo, who held the office of givei (an official of the door-venture ministry who examined and returned imperial edicts). Wang Wei paints the ministry in the late afternoon — the gate veiled in light, peaches and willows in shadow, a sparse bell, few clerks, birds singing — and describes Guo's diligence at both ends of the day, arriving with his jade pendant at dawn and returning with the emperor's commands at dusk. Then he turns to himself: he would like to follow such a colleague, but he is old, and he will be laying down his court robe because of illness. The politeness of the praise is the frame; the real subject is the withdrawal it contains.

洞门高阁霭余晖，桃李阴阴柳絮飞。禁里疏钟官舍晚，省中啼鸟吏人稀。晨摇玉佩趋金殿，夕奉天书拜琐闱。强欲从君无那老，将因卧病解朝衣。

Appreciation

[Structure] The poem is a regulated quatrain of eight lines: two describing the ministry in the light of evening, two praising Guo's service, two declaring his own condition. The transition comes at line five, and it is prepared by the quiet of the first four. [Imagery] The imagery belongs to late afternoon and to official buildings — afterglow, shade, willow fluff, a faint bell, singing birds, empty clerks' offices — and it is chosen so that the office seems to be emptying. [Technique] The couplet on Guo's diligence is a perfect parallel: `at dawn' against `at dusk', `his jade pendant' against `the imperial writing', `the golden hall' against `the lattice gate'. [Mood] The tone is that of a senior colleague being courteous, and the courtesy is where the feeling is; the last line is quiet and holds the whole poem's resignation. The poem is an example of how a regulated verse can carry a decision inside an exchange of politeness.

【白话串讲】王维写《酬郭给事》：“洞门高阁霭余晖，桃李阴阴柳絮飞”——“晨摇玉佩趋金殿，夕奉天书拜琐闱”——“强欲从君无那老，将因卧病解朝衣”——他谢绝升迁——说自己老了，要辞官养病。【意象与手法】此诗酬郭给事而写归隐，以应酬写辞官，是王维的名篇。前四句写官署：「洞门高阁霭余晖，桃李阴阴柳絮飞」写洞门高阁霭余晖、桃李阴阴柳絮飞——写尽官署的景色；「禁里疏钟官舍晚，省中啼鸟吏人稀」写禁里疏钟官舍晚、省中啼鸟吏人稀——写尽官署的静谧；后四句写称颂与辞官：「晨摇玉佩趋金殿，夕奉天书拜琐闱」写晨摇玉佩趋金殿、夕奉天书拜琐闱——写尽郭给事的勤勉；「强欲从君无那老，将因卧病解朝衣」写强欲从君无那老、将因卧病解朝衣——写尽辞官的归隐。全诗以应酬写辞官，写尽对郭给事的称颂与辞官的归隐，是王维的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗酬郭给事而写归隐，以应酬写辞官，是王维的名篇。郭给事名郭汭，官给事中，是王维的同僚。此诗为和诗（酬诗），既称颂郭给事的荣宠勤勉，又自道年老将辞官归隐。此诗写官署：洞门高阁霭余晖，桃李阴阴柳絮飞——写洞门高阁霭余晖、桃李阴阴柳絮飞，写尽官署的景色；禁里疏钟官舍晚，省中啼鸟吏人稀——写禁里疏钟官舍晚、省中啼鸟吏人稀，写尽官署的静谧；晨摇玉佩趋金殿，夕奉天书拜琐闱——写晨摇玉佩趋金殿、夕奉天书拜琐闱，写尽郭给事的勤勉；强欲从君无那老，将因卧病解朝衣——写强欲从君无那老、将因卧病解朝衣，写尽辞官的归隐。全诗以应酬写辞官——那「晨摇玉佩趋金殿」写尽郭给事的勤勉，「将因卧病解朝衣」写尽辞官的归隐，写尽对郭给事的称颂与辞官的归隐，是理解王维应酬诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「洞门高阁霭余晖，桃李阴阴柳絮飞」写官署的景色；「晨摇玉佩趋金殿，夕奉天书拜琐闱」写郭给事的勤勉；「强欲从君无那老，将因卧病解朝衣」写辞官的归隐；以及全诗以应酬写辞官、以称颂写归隐的手法。

Background

Wang Wei (c. 701–761), courtesy name Moje, was fromPuzhou in Hedong — modern Yongji, Shanxi — and is the greatest of the Chinese landscape poets, later called `the Buddha of poetry'. He passed the highest degree in 721, served through the reigns of Emperors Xuanzong and Suzong, and spent long periods retired at his place in the Zhongnan mountains, where he had a dwelling built for him by the emperor. Many of his poems were written in office, and a number of them are replies to colleagues; this is one of them. The addressee, Guo, held the post of givei, a rank in the door-venture ministry that recalled and checked the emperor's orders — a post of some intimacy with the throne. By the time Wang Wei wrote it he had held high office for years, had experienced the An Lushan rebellion and the loss of his brother, and had come to regard court service with weary affection; the poem's self-excuse is not a dramatic gesture but the ordinary condition of a man of his age.

此诗酬郭给事而写归隐，以应酬写辞官，是王维的名篇。王维（701—761），字摩诘，河东蒲州（今山西永济）人，唐代伟大的山水田园诗人，人称「诗佛」。郭给事名郭汭，官给事中（门下省掌封驳之官），是王维的同僚。此诗为和诗，王维晚年厌倦官场，多写归隐之志，此诗即借酬答郭给事而自道年老辞官之意。此诗写官署：「洞门高阁霭余晖，桃李阴阴柳絮飞」写洞门高阁霭余晖、桃李阴阴柳絮飞——写尽官署的景色（宫门高阁沐浴着夕晖，桃李成阴柳絮纷飞）；「禁里疏钟官舍晚，省中啼鸟吏人稀」写禁里疏钟官舍晚、省中啼鸟吏人稀——写尽官署的静谧（宫禁中疏钟传来，官舍已晚；省中啼鸟，吏人稀少）；「晨摇玉佩趋金殿，夕奉天书拜琐闱」写晨摇玉佩趋金殿、夕奉天书拜琐闱——写尽郭给事的勤勉（清晨佩玉趋金殿，傍晚奉天书拜宫门）；「强欲从君无那老，将因卧病解朝衣」写强欲从君无那老、将因卧病解朝衣——写尽辞官的归隐（虽想跟随你，无奈年老，将因卧病而辞官归隐）。全诗以应酬写辞官，写尽对郭给事的称颂与辞官的归隐，是理解王维应酬诗的重要篇章。

Art

The poem's craft is concentrated in the way it converts an occasion of duty into an occasion of departure. In the first four lines Wang Wei describes the office at the hour when it is emptying — the bell is faint, the clerks are few, birds are singing — and thereby quietly assembles the evidence for a life without it. The couplet on Guo is then built as a perfect antithesis, with time (dawn, dusk), insignia (the jade pendant, the imperial writing), and place (the golden hall, the lattice gate) balanced one against the other; the effect is to make Guo's industry exemplary, and exemplary work is exactly what makes the speaker's own retirement a decision rather than a complaint. The transition is managed by a single clause, `I would follow you, and there is nothing to be done about it — I am old', which is plain to the point of rudeness, and it leaves the last line to do the work of softening: `I shall take off my court robe because of illness'. The final word is not `I resign' but a medical fact, and it is that understatement that makes the poem read as genuine.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以写景写官署。「洞门高阁霭余晖，桃李阴阴柳絮飞」以写景写官署——那「霭余晖」「阴阴柳絮飞」写尽夕晖与柳絮，以写景写尽官署的景色。其二，以疏淡写静谧。「禁里疏钟官舍晚，省中啼鸟吏人稀」以疏淡写静谧——那「疏钟」「啼鸟」「吏人稀」写尽钟疏人稀，以疏淡写尽官署的静谧。其三，以对仗写勤勉。「晨摇玉佩趋金殿，夕奉天书拜琐闱」以对仗写勤勉——那「晨摇玉佩」对「夕奉天书」、「趋金殿」对「拜琐闱」，以对仗写尽郭给事的勤勉。其四，以自谦写辞官。「强欲从君无那老，将因卧病解朝衣」以自谦写辞官——那「无那老」「卧病解朝衣」写尽年老卧病而辞官，以自谦写尽辞官的归隐。此外，此诗前六句写郭给事的荣宠勤勉，后二句自道年老辞官，由称颂转到归隐，正是应酬诗「颂人而自述」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以应酬写辞官，写尽对郭给事的称颂与辞官的归隐，是王维的代表作。

Allusions

The vocabulary is entirely that of the machinery of government. `The lattice gate' (suo wei) is the screen-lattice of the palace gate — the conventional place where an official of the door-venture ministry presented himself to receive or return an edict — so `bearing the imperial writing at the lattice gate' describes Guo in his own office. `The jade pendant' is the tablet and pendants of a court-rank, shaken as a man walks; `the golden hall' is the throne hall. `The peach and plum in shade' and `the willow seed-fluff' are not political, and they exist as the ordinary season of the ministry: light, stature, and a soft disorder. The whole manner — a response to a colleague, with praise in the middle and a self-excuse at the end — is the convention of Tang poetry, and the poem's interest for the reader lies in how completely the convention is observed while a private decision is conveyed inside it.

此诗的用语深植于应酬与官场的传统。「洞门高阁霭余晖」令人想到「洞门」写宫门的意象——「洞门高阁霭余晖」正是王维的名句，也令人想到「余晖」写夕晖的意象；「桃李阴阴柳絮飞」令人想到「桃李」写桃李的意象——「桃李满天下」的典故，也令人想到「柳絮飞」写柳絮的意象；「禁里疏钟官舍晚」令人想到「禁里」写宫禁的意象——「禁里疏钟官舍晚」正是王维的名句，也令人想到「疏钟」写稀疏钟声的意象；「省中啼鸟吏人稀」令人想到「省中」写官署（尚书省等）的意象——「省中啼鸟吏人稀」正是王维的名句，也令人想到「吏人稀」写吏人稀少的意象；「晨摇玉佩趋金殿」令人想到「玉佩」写玉佩的意象——「晨摇玉佩趋金殿」正是王维的名句，也令人想到「趋金殿」写趋朝金殿的意象；「夕奉天书拜琐闱」令人想到「天书」写皇帝诏书的意象——「夕奉天书拜琐闱」正是王维的名句，也令人想到「琐闱」写宫门的意象；「强欲从君无那老」令人想到「从君」写追随的意象——「强欲从君无那老」正是王维的名句，也令人想到「无那老」写无奈年老的意象；「将因卧病解朝衣」令人想到「解朝衣」写辞官的典故——「挂冠」「解绶」的辞官传统。全诗化用禁里、玉佩、解朝衣的意象，以应酬写辞官，正是王维「诗中有画」而兼善应酬、承官场酬唱传统写归隐的本领。

Commentary

The poem is one of the most discussed of Wang Wei's responses to colleagues, and it is prized for exactly what its occasion hides: a poem written to praise another man's diligence turns out to be a statement about the poet's own release. Later critics have called it the model of the `exchange' regulated verse — a piece in which the rules of courtesy are fully kept, and in which the rules carry the real content. It is also usually placed with the other late poems of his middle and late years, when he had moved toward the retirement that occupied most of his last decades, and `take off my court robe because of illness' is quoted as the sentence in which his attitude to office first becomes plain. It remains a standard illustration of the Tang exchange poem for readers of Chinese, and it is one of the most frequently annotated of his works.

此诗历来被推为王维应酬诗的名篇，也是唐人酬赠诗的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以应酬写辞官，雍容闲雅」；近人更指出「晨摇玉佩趋金殿，夕奉天书拜琐闱」写郭给事的勤勉，「强欲从君无那老，将因卧病解朝衣」写辞官的归隐，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以八句的律诗写尽对郭给事的称颂与辞官的归隐——那霭余晖的洞门高阁，那阴阴的桃李柳絮，那禁里的疏钟，那省中的啼鸟，那晨趋金殿的玉佩，那夕拜琐闱的天书，那强欲从君的老，那卧病解朝衣，都写尽了王维的应酬与归隐；那「将因卧病解朝衣」更写尽辞官的归隐。此诗与王维《酌酒与裴迪》同为酬赠名篇，一酬给事（酬郭给事），一酌酒与友（酌酒与裴迪）；又与王维「晚年惟好静」的归隐之志一脉相承，可见王维晚年对官场与归隐的态度。对于今日读者，此诗是理解王维应酬诗的窗口，也是中国诗写辞官归隐的经典——那解下的朝衣，穿越千年，仍在诉说着王维的归隐之志。

Prosody

Form Poem, a seven-character regulated verse (lü shi)诗·七言律诗

Rhyme Eight lines in a single rhyme on the 微 group — `afterglow', `flies', `few', `lattice gate', `court robe' — all on the same close, open vowel. The unbroken single rhyme gives the poem the unhurried, reunited sound appropriate to an exchange; the two rhymed couplets in the middle divide the piece into the description, the praise and the excuse.七律，押「晖」「飞」「稀」「闱」「衣」韵（上平五微），一韵到底，对仗工整

Tone pattern The voice is level and complete. The first couplet is slow and open; the second is the quietest; the third rises into the brisk cadence of court ceremony; and the last returns to a long, low line, with the final clause held out on the same vowel as the opening. The regulated verse's fixed pause before the last three characters is what separates the four movements.此诗为七言律诗，押平声韵，一韵到底，对仗工整，音节雍容，正合应酬的雍容。

Reading note As a regulated poem the piece has four couplets, exact parallelism in the second and third, and a single rhyme; the discipline of the form is what allows the poet to put a personal decision into an official exchange. The parallelism of the third couplet is tight — the same number of characters, the same parts of speech in the same order — and the tension between the two halves of each line, the two halves being a man's industry and its symbols, is what gives that couplet its energy. The vowel of the rhyme is open and keeps returning, and since it is the same throughout, the poem reads as one long breath: the light, the office, the devotion, and the退出 are all part of a single continuous sentence, which is the formal reason why a retirement can be described as unhurried.此诗为七言律诗，八句四联——「洞门高阁霭余晖，桃李阴阴柳絮飞。禁里疏钟官舍晚，省中啼鸟吏人稀。晨摇玉佩趋金殿，夕奉天书拜琐闱。强欲从君无那老，将因卧病解朝衣」，押「微」韵（晖、飞、稀、闱、衣），一韵到底。颔联「禁里疏钟官舍晚，省中啼鸟吏人稀」与颈联「晨摇玉佩趋金殿，夕奉天书拜琐闱」对仗工整。全诗以应酬写辞官：首联写官署的景色（洞门高阁霭余晖，桃李阴阴柳絮飞），颔联写官署的静谧（禁里疏钟官舍晚，省中啼鸟吏人稀），颈联写郭给事的勤勉（晨摇玉佩趋金殿，夕奉天书拜琐闱），尾联写辞官的归隐（强欲从君无那老，将因卧病解朝衣）。诵读此诗，宜以雍容的语调读「洞门高阁霭余晖」的官署，以庄重的语调读「晨摇玉佩趋金殿」的勤勉，结句「将因卧病解朝衣」要读得委婉而有余韵，方能传达出王维的雍容闲雅。王维律诗以「诗中有画」著称，此诗正是其应酬律诗的典范。

Line by line

晨摇玉佩趋金殿，夕奉天书拜琐闱

At dawn he shakes his jade pendant, hastening to the golden hall; at dusk he bears the imperial writing, kneeling at the lattice gate.

清晨摇动玉佩趋步金殿，傍晚捧奉天书拜于宫门。

At dawn he shakes his jade pendants as he hurries to the golden hall; at dusk he holds the emperor's edict and bows at the palace gate.

此二句是全诗写勤勉的核心，以晨摇玉佩写趋朝，以夕奉天书写奉诏，写尽郭给事的勤勉，是千古名句。「晨摇玉佩趋金殿」写清晨摇动玉佩趋步金殿——那「晨摇玉佩」写清晨摇动玉佩，「趋金殿」写趋步金殿，写尽趋朝的勤勉；「夕奉天书拜琐闱」写傍晚捧奉天书拜于宫门——那「夕奉天书」写傍晚捧奉天书，「拜琐闱」写拜于宫门，写尽奉诏的勤勉。这句的深意在于：它以「晨摇玉佩趋金殿」的趋朝与「夕奉天书拜琐闱」的奉诏，写尽郭给事的勤勉——清晨摇动玉佩趋步金殿，那「晨摇玉佩趋金殿」写尽趋朝的勤勉——清晨即佩玉趋朝，正是勤于王事，那「晨摇玉佩」写尽趋朝的恭敬；傍晚捧奉天书拜于宫门，那「夕奉天书拜琐闱」写尽奉诏的勤勉——傍晚尚奉诏拜宫门，正是尽忠职守，那「夕奉天书」写尽奉诏的勤勉；那「晨摇玉佩趋金殿」写尽趋朝的勤勉，那「夕奉天书拜琐闱」写尽奉诏的勤勉，一写晨趋，一写夕奉，写尽郭给事从早到晚的勤勉——晨趋金殿、夕奉天书，正是郭给事荣宠勤勉的写照；此二句以趋朝、奉诏写尽郭给事的勤勉，也让此二句成为全诗写勤勉的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「郭给事很勤快」，则失其庄重；唯以「晨摇玉佩趋金殿」写趋朝、「夕奉天书拜琐闱」写奉诏，写尽郭给事的勤勉，也让此二句成为全诗写勤勉的核心。

Wang Wei praises a colleague's diligence in the language of ritual. At dawn the minister's jade pendants shake as he hurries toward the golden hall; at dusk he still holds the imperial edict and bows at the palace gate. The two bookends of a day—dawn haste, dusk duty—frame a man never absent from the emperor's business, and the ceremonial objects (pendants, edict, palace gate) make the praise sound official and dignified. It is the set portrait of the trusted official. To have said my colleague works hard would be loose; the dawn and dusk rites are the diligence.

强欲从君无那老，将因卧病解朝衣

I would follow you, and there is nothing to be done about it — I am old; I shall take off my court robe because of illness.

虽想追随你，无奈年老，将因卧病而辞去官职。

I would force myself to follow you, but I am old past help; I shall soon take off my court robes, laid low by illness.

此二句是全诗写辞官的核心，以强欲从君写追随，以卧病解朝衣写辞官，写尽辞官的归隐，是千古名句。「强欲从君无那老」写虽想追随你无奈年老——那「强欲从君」写虽想追随，「无那老」写无奈年老，写尽追随而不得的无奈；「将因卧病解朝衣」写将因卧病而辞去官职——那「卧病」写卧病，「解朝衣」写辞去官职，写尽辞官的归隐。这句的深意在于：它以「强欲从君无那老」的无奈与「将因卧病解朝衣」的辞官，写尽辞官的归隐——虽想追随你无奈年老，那「强欲从君无那老」写尽追随而不得的无奈——本欲追随郭给事同仕朝廷，无奈年老力衰，那「无那老」写尽年老的无奈；将因卧病而辞去官职，那「将因卧病解朝衣」写尽辞官的归隐——因卧病而解朝衣（辞官），正是归隐的表白，那「解朝衣」写尽辞官的归隐；那「强欲从君无那老」写尽追随而不得的无奈，那「将因卧病解朝衣」写尽辞官的归隐，一写无奈，一写辞官，写尽辞官的归隐——年老卧病，不得不辞官归隐，正是王维晚年对官场厌倦的含蓄表白；此二句以无奈、解朝衣写尽辞官的归隐，也让此二句成为全诗写辞官的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「我老了要退休」，则失其委婉；唯以「强欲从君无那老」写无奈、「将因卧病解朝衣」写辞官，写尽辞官的归隐，也让此二句成为全诗写辞官的核心。

The poem turns on himself. I would force myself to stay in service with you, he says, but old age is beyond help; soon, laid low by illness, I shall take off my court robes. The courteous wish to keep up is broken by the word helpless, and the taking off of the robes—rather than a resignation—is the image of withdrawal. Wang Wei's later years were split between court duty and his Wang River estate, and this is the poem where the estate wins. To have said I am retiring because of age would be an announcement; the forced wish and the helplessness are the resignation's grace.

Study

Word focus

趋 To hurry with small steps, to go in attendance; here the verb of a court official moving toward the throne, and it gives Guo's morning its eagerness rather than its ceremony. 「晨摇玉佩趋金殿」之「趋」字是写勤勉的字眼，一个「趋」字写尽趋朝的勤勉。趋者，快步而行以示恭敬也。王维以「趋金殿」写郭给事，这个「趋」字至少有双重意味：其一，写恭敬之态——那「晨摇玉佩趋金殿」写清晨摇动玉佩快步趋向金殿，那「趋」字写尽趋朝的恭敬——趋步而行，正是臣子趋朝之礼，那「趋」字写尽恭敬的勤勉；其二，写勤勉之实——那「趋」字更是写勤勉——清晨即趋金殿，正是勤于王事，那「趋」字写尽勤勉。以「趋」字写趋朝，正是王维写勤勉的枢纽——若换作「入」「上」等字，则或失其写恭敬的意味，或失其与「晨摇玉佩」的配合；唯「趋」字，以趋金殿写尽趋朝的恭敬与勤勉，与「夕奉天书拜琐闱」的拜相合，写尽郭给事的勤勉，也让「晨摇玉佩趋金殿」成为全诗写勤勉的名句。

解朝衣 To take off the court robe, that is, to resign from office; the phrase is the whole of the poem's conclusion, and its plainness is what makes the retirement sound like a fact of illness rather than a decision of ambition. 「将因卧病解朝衣」之「解朝衣」是写辞官的关键词，一个「解朝衣」写尽辞官的归隐。解朝衣者，脱去上朝的官服，即辞官也。王维以「卧病解朝衣」写辞官，这个「解朝衣」至少有双重意味：其一，写辞官之实——那「将因卧病解朝衣」写将因卧病而辞去官职，那「解朝衣」写尽辞官——脱去朝衣，正是辞官归隐，那「解朝衣」写尽辞官之实；其二，写归隐之志——那「解朝衣」更是写归隐——解朝衣而返田园，正是王维的归隐之志，那「解朝衣」写尽归隐的向往。以「解朝衣」写辞官，正是王维写归隐的枢纽——若换作「辞官」「致仕」等词，则或失其写脱去朝衣的形象，或失其与「卧病」的配合；唯「解朝衣」三字，以卧病解朝衣写尽辞官之实与归隐之志，与「强欲从君无那老」的无那老相合，写尽辞官的归隐，也让「将因卧病解朝衣」成为全诗写辞官的名句。