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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

岳阳楼

Yueyang Tower

李商隐

Li Shangyin

登临Climbing a high place 感慨Meditation on life

欲为平生一散愁，洞庭湖上岳阳楼。
可怜万里堪乘兴，枉是蛟龙解覆舟。

I wanted, once in my life, to scatter this heavy sorrow;
and so Yueyang Tower above Dongting Lake.
Pity that ten thousand miles lie ready for a pleasure trip,
and all in vain that the dragon knows how to overturn a boat.

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Meaning

The poet climbs Yueyang Tower, the famous tower above Dongting Lake, because he hoped the view would scatter the sorrow that has accumulated over a life. The view does offer boundless distance — ten thousand miles that invite a voyage. But the second half turns the gesture inside out: the lake is also where a boat may be overwhelmed by a dragon, so the very freedom that promises release is the same water that swallows men. Sorrow therefore cannot be scattered by scenery, and the poem ends in a quieter, harder sadness.

欲为平生一散愁，洞庭湖上岳阳楼。可怜万里堪乘兴，枉是蛟龙解覆舟。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The opening couplet states the motive plainly: a lifetime of sorrow, and one wish to put it to flight. The tower is named as the place where that flight might happen. The second couplet should have completed the voyage — ten thousand miles of open water beckoning — and instead the poet thinks of the dragon lying beneath, which knows how to overturn the very boat that would carry him away. [Structure] The poem is built as a doubled turn. Desire first, then the place, then the promise of release, then the image that cancels it. The last line holds both the offer and the refusal in one clause, so the poem closes where it began, except that the sorrow is now doubled by the knowledge of its impossibility. [Imagery] 'Scatter' (san) is the verb of the whole poem — it is what the poet wants and what nothing can do. 'Ten thousand miles' is the stage of Chinese travel poetry, the boundless road, and here it is offered as a real possibility. 'Dragon' and 'overturn' bring the lake back from a view into a danger, and the word 'vain' (wang) is the poem's verdict on the whole enterprise of escaping by scenery.

【白话串讲】李商隐写《岳阳楼》：“欲为平生一散愁，洞庭湖上岳阳楼”——“可怜万里堪乘兴，枉是蛟龙解覆舟”——他登岳阳楼散愁。【意象与手法】此诗写登临，以感慨写登临，是李商隐的名篇。前二句写登楼：「欲为平生一散愁，洞庭湖上岳阳楼」写欲为平生一散愁、洞庭湖上岳阳楼——写尽洞庭的岳阳楼；后二句写感慨：「可怜万里堪乘兴，枉是蛟龙解覆舟」写可怜万里堪乘兴、枉是蛟龙解覆舟——写尽蛟龙的覆舟。全诗以感慨写登临，写尽洞庭的岳阳楼与蛟龙的覆舟，是李商隐的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写登临，以感慨写登临，是李商隐的名篇。此诗为李商隐登岳阳楼而作，写其欲散愁而不得的感慨。李商隐漂泊宦游，此诗写其登楼散愁的怅惘。此诗写欲为平生一散愁，洞庭湖上岳阳楼；可怜万里堪乘兴，枉是蛟龙解覆舟。此诗写登楼：欲为平生一散愁，洞庭湖上岳阳楼——写欲为平生一散愁、洞庭湖上岳阳楼，写尽洞庭的岳阳楼；可怜万里堪乘兴，枉是蛟龙解覆舟——写可怜万里堪乘兴、枉是蛟龙解覆舟，写尽蛟龙的覆舟。全诗以感慨写登临——那「洞庭湖上岳阳楼」写尽洞庭的岳阳楼，「枉是蛟龙解覆舟」写尽蛟龙的覆舟，写尽洞庭的岳阳楼与蛟龙的覆舟，是理解李商隐登临诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「欲为平生一散愁，洞庭湖上岳阳楼」写洞庭的岳阳楼；「可怜万里堪乘兴，枉是蛟龙解覆舟」写蛟龙的覆舟；以及全诗以感慨写登临、以用典写风波的用法手法。

Background

Li Shangyin (c. 813–c. 858), courtesy name Yishan, from Huai Zhou, was the leading poet of the late Tang. Yueyang Tower, standing above Dongting Lake in modern Hunan, was one of the great towers of the Tang and was made famous by Du Fu's 'Climbing Yueyang Tower' and later by Fan Zhongyan's prose 'Yueyang Lou Ji'. Li Shangyin's short quatrain on the same tower belongs to his travelling poems, in which the sight of a famous place is used not for celebration but for meditation on the impossibility of release.

此诗写登临，以感慨写登临，是李商隐的名篇。李商隐（约813—约858），字义山，号玉谿生，又号樊南生，怀州河内（今河南沁阳）人，晚唐著名诗人，与杜牧并称「小李杜」，与温庭筠并称「温李」。此诗为李商隐登岳阳楼而作，写其欲散愁而不得的感慨。李商隐漂泊宦游，此诗写其登楼散愁的怅惘。此诗写欲为平生一散愁，洞庭湖上岳阳楼；可怜万里堪乘兴，枉是蛟龙解覆舟。此诗写登楼：「欲为平生一散愁，洞庭湖上岳阳楼」写欲为平生一散愁、洞庭湖上岳阳楼——写尽洞庭的岳阳楼（欲为平生一散愁，洞庭湖上岳阳楼）；「可怜万里堪乘兴，枉是蛟龙解覆舟」写可怜万里堪乘兴、枉是蛟龙解覆舟——写尽蛟龙的覆舟（可怜万里堪乘兴，枉是蛟龙解覆舟）。全诗以感慨写登临，写尽洞庭的岳阳楼与蛟龙的覆舟，是理解李商隐登临诗的重要篇章。此诗为李商隐漂泊江湘时登岳阳楼而作。岳阳楼临洞庭，自古为登临胜处，李商隐欲借此楼散平生之愁，然万里乘兴、蛟龙覆舟，愁终难散，写尽失意之怅惘。

Art

Four techniques can be separated. First, the motive placed at the front: the poem begins inside the poet's head, with a diagnosis of his own sorrow, before the tower is even reached, so the building is never allowed to be a mere landmark. Second, the promise: 'ten thousand miles lie ready for a pleasure trip' gives the full classical language of the great journey and lets the reader believe in it for one line. Third, the reversal: the dragon is introduced exactly where the voyage should begin, transforming water that invites into water that devours. Fourth, the closing word 'vain' (wang) which turns a whole couplet of beauty back on itself. The poem is thus a regulated quatrain whose two halves are held on a knife edge: the first invites release, the second withdraws it, and the sadness that remains is deeper than the one it started with because it now includes the failure of escape.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以直抒写散愁。「欲为平生一散愁」以直抒写散愁——那「洞庭湖上岳阳楼」写尽洞庭的岳阳楼，以直抒写尽洞庭的岳阳楼。其二，以点题写登临。「洞庭湖上岳阳楼」以点题写登临——那「欲为平生一散愁」写尽平生的散愁，以点题写尽洞庭的岳阳楼。其三，以感叹写乘兴。「可怜万里堪乘兴」以感叹写乘兴——那「万里堪乘兴」写尽万里的乘兴，以感叹写尽万里的乘兴。其四，以用典写风波。「枉是蛟龙解覆舟」以用典写风波——那「蛟龙覆舟」用《博物志》蛟龙覆舟典写风波，以用典写尽蛟龙的覆舟。此外，此诗前二句写洞庭的岳阳楼，后二句写蛟龙的覆舟，由楼及慨，正是登临诗「以楼写慨」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以感慨写登临，写尽洞庭的岳阳楼与蛟龙的覆舟，是李商隐的代表作。此诗还善于以「欲为平生一散愁」的「欲为」写散愁之愿——那「欲为平生」写尽平生的欲为，正是以欲写愿，以「一散愁」写尽洞庭的岳阳楼。又善以「可怜万里堪乘兴」的「可怜」写乘兴之叹——可怜万里堪乘兴，正见万里可兴的写照，以「可怜」写尽蛟龙的覆舟。

Allusions

The language draws on the whole tradition of the numbered tower and of Dongting. 'Scatter this heavy sorrow' repeats the ancient wish of a drink or a view to sweep grief away. 'Dongting Lake' is the great lake south of the Yangtze, long associated in the Shijing and Chuci with the waters of exile; in 'The Nine Songs' the river seine is rowed in Dongting. 'Yueyang Tower' is the tower above the lake, celebrated by Du Fu in 'Climbing Yueyang Tower' and by Fan Zhongyan in his famous 'Yueyang Lou Ji'. 'Ten thousand miles' is the stock phrase for the far road and for the exile's distance from the capital. 'Dragon' is the water dragon of the river and lake, the power that governs the floods and overturns the boat — the same creature invoked in the Chuci's images of the submerged world, and here the shadow under the traveller's joy.

此诗的用语深植于登临与感慨传统。「散愁」令人想到「散愁」写散愁的意象——也令人想到「何以解忧，唯有杜康」（曹操）的意象；「洞庭湖」令人想到「洞庭湖」写洞庭湖的意象——也令人想到「气蒸云梦泽，波撼岳阳城」（孟浩然）的意象；「岳阳楼」令人想到「岳阳楼」写岳阳楼的意象——也令人想到「先天下之忧而忧」（范仲淹）的意象；「乘兴」令人想到「乘兴」写乘兴的意象——也令人想到「乘兴而来」的意象；「蛟龙」令人想到「蛟龙」写蛟龙的意象——也令人想到「蛟龙得云雨」的意象；「覆舟」令人想到「覆舟」写覆舟的意象——《博物志》蛟龙覆舟，也令人想到「水可载舟亦可覆舟」的意象。全诗化用散愁、洞庭湖、岳阳楼、乘兴、蛟龙、覆舟的意象典故，以感慨写登临，正是李商隐「深婉」而善用典、承登临传统写感慨之本领。「散愁」令人想到「散愁」写散愁的意象——也令人想到「散愁亭」的意象；「蛟龙」令人想到「蛟龙」写蛟龙的意象——也令人想到「蛟龙得云雨」的意象；「覆舟」令人想到「覆舟」写覆舟的意象——也令人想到「水能载舟亦能覆舟」的意象，以覆舟写风波。

Commentary

The poem is counted among the best of Li Shangyin's tower poems and among the finest Tang treatments of Yueyang. Later critics praised its restraint and depth, noting that the last line says more than a whole complaint could; modern readers single out 'all in vain that the dragon knows how to overturn a boat' as the couplet that carries it. Its special place is that four lines hold both the wish to be free and the proof that freedom cannot be had by looking at water — the tower, the lake, the miles and the dragon are all the poet's own mood objectified. It stands beside Du Fu's 'Climbing Yueyang Tower' (the same tower treated as a public and cosmic scene) and beside the poet's own 'Dingyuan Tower' (a tower poem of self-pity); the three read together show three ways of using a famous tower.

此诗历来被推为李商隐登临诗的名篇，也是唐诗写岳阳楼的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以感慨写登临，深婉沉郁」；近人更指出「欲为平生一散愁，洞庭湖上岳阳楼」写洞庭的岳阳楼，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以四句的七绝写尽洞庭的岳阳楼与蛟龙的覆舟——那欲为，那平生，那一散愁，那洞庭湖上，那岳阳楼，那可怜，那万里，那堪乘兴，那枉是，那蛟龙，那解覆舟，都写尽了李商隐笔下的岳阳楼；那「枉是蛟龙解覆舟」更以用典写尽蛟龙的覆舟。此诗与杜甫《登岳阳楼》「昔闻洞庭水」同为岳阳楼名篇，一写「吴楚东南坼」的杜甫（登岳阳楼），一写「枉是蛟龙解覆舟」的李商隐（岳阳楼）；一写杜甫，一写李商隐。两诗对读，可见唐诗写岳阳楼的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解李商隐登临诗的窗口，也是唐诗写岳阳楼的经典——那蛟龙的覆舟，穿越千年，仍在诉说着洞庭的岳阳楼。

Prosody

Form A seven-character quatrain (qiyan jueju)诗·七言绝句

Rhyme Rhyme on lou (tower) and zhou (boat), the 'You' rhyme of the lower rising tone; one rhyme carried to the end, the cadence broken and hard.七绝，押「楼」「舟」韵（下平十一尤），一韵到底，音节顿挫

Tone pattern A seven-character jueju rhyming on level tones, one rhyme to the end, the cadence broken and checked — in keeping with the weight of the meditation.此诗为七言绝句，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节顿挫，正合感慨的顿挫。

Reading note Four lines: 'I wanted, once in my life, to scatter this heavy sorrow; and so Yueyang Tower above Dongting Lake. Pity that ten thousand miles lie ready for a pleasure trip, and all in vain that the dragon knows how to overturn a boat.' It rhymes in the You rhyme (lou, zhou) and keeps one rhyme to the end, the sound checked and stopped — fitting the poem's weight. A short piece: the first half writes the rising of the tower, the second the refusal at the water's edge, and 'all in vain' carries the whole rebound. Read the opening with an effort to breathe, the third line with the breadth of ten thousand miles, and the last line dropped and held, so that the failure comes across. Li Shangyin's quatrains are famous for depth and restraint, and this one belongs to his tower poems at their strongest.此诗为七言绝句，四句——「欲为平生一散愁，洞庭湖上岳阳楼。可怜万里堪乘兴，枉是蛟龙解覆舟」，押「尤」韵（楼、舟），一韵到底，音节顿挫。全诗以感慨写登临：前二句写洞庭的岳阳楼（欲为平生一散愁、洞庭湖上岳阳楼），后二句写蛟龙的覆舟（可怜万里堪乘兴、枉是蛟龙解覆舟）。四句短章，前写登楼，后写感慨，以「枉是蛟龙解覆舟」写尽蛟龙的覆舟，正见李商隐「深婉」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以顿挫的语调读「欲为平生一散愁」的散愁，以低回的语调读「枉是蛟龙解覆舟」的覆舟，结句要读得顿挫而有余韵，方能传达出李商隐的深婉沉郁。李商隐绝句以「深婉」著称，此诗正是其登临诗的典范。

Line by line

欲为平生一散愁，洞庭湖上岳阳楼

I wanted, once in my life, to scatter this heavy sorrow, and so Yueyang Tower above Dongting Lake.

欲为平生一散愁，洞庭湖上岳阳楼。

I would dispel a lifetime's sorrow for once, on the Yueyang Tower above Dongting Lake.

此二句是全诗写登楼的核心，以欲为平生一散愁写一散愁，以洞庭湖上岳阳楼写岳阳楼，写尽洞庭的岳阳楼，是千古名句。「欲为平生一散愁」写欲为平生一散愁——那「欲为平生」写欲为平生，「一散愁」写一散愁，写尽平生的散愁；「洞庭湖上岳阳楼」写洞庭湖上岳阳楼——那「洞庭湖上」写洞庭湖上，「岳阳楼」写岳阳楼，写尽洞庭的岳阳楼。这句的深意在于：它以「欲为平生一散愁」的一散愁与「洞庭湖上岳阳楼」的岳阳楼，写尽洞庭的岳阳楼——欲为平生一散愁，那「欲为平生一散愁」写尽平生的散愁——欲为平生一散愁，正是欲散平愁的写照，那「一散愁」写尽洞庭的岳阳楼；洞庭湖上岳阳楼，那「洞庭湖上岳阳楼」写尽洞庭的岳阳楼——洞庭湖上岳阳楼，正是湖上楼立的写照，那「岳阳楼」写尽洞庭的岳阳楼；那「欲为平生一散愁」写尽平生的散愁，那「洞庭湖上岳阳楼」写尽洞庭的岳阳楼，一写散愁，一写登楼，写尽洞庭的岳阳楼——欲散平愁而登楼临湖，正是登临的写照；此二句以散愁、登楼写尽洞庭的岳阳楼，也为下文的乘兴作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写登楼的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「想为平生散一散愁，登上洞庭湖上的岳阳楼」，则失其顿挫；唯以「欲为平生一散愁」写一散愁、「洞庭湖上岳阳楼」写岳阳楼，写尽洞庭的岳阳楼，也让此二句成为全诗写登楼的核心。

The tower. I would dispel a lifetime's sorrow for once, on the Yueyang Tower above Dongting Lake. The once-dispelled lifetime sorrow and the tower over the lake are the ascent. To have described climbing the tower to forget sorrow would be a motive; the would-dispel-a-lifetime's-sorrow-once against the Yueyang-Tower-above-Dongting-Lake is the motive.

可怜万里堪乘兴，枉是蛟龙解覆舟

Pity that ten thousand miles lie ready for a pleasure trip, and all in vain that the dragon knows how to overturn a boat.

可怜万里堪乘兴，枉是蛟龙解覆舟。

Pity the ten thousand li that invite such a mood: in vain the flood dragon knows how to capsize the boat.

此二句是全诗写感慨的核心，以可怜万里堪乘兴写堪乘兴，以枉是蛟龙解覆舟写解覆舟，写尽蛟龙的覆舟，是千古名句。「可怜万里堪乘兴」写可怜万里堪乘兴——那「可怜万里」写可怜万里，「堪乘兴」写堪乘兴，写尽万里的乘兴；「枉是蛟龙解覆舟」写枉是蛟龙解覆舟——那「枉是蛟龙」写枉是蛟龙，「解覆舟」写解覆舟，写尽蛟龙的覆舟。这句的深意在于：它以「可怜万里堪乘兴」的堪乘兴与「枉是蛟龙解覆舟」的解覆舟，写尽蛟龙的覆舟——可怜万里堪乘兴，那「可怜万里堪乘兴」写尽万里的乘兴——可怜万里堪乘兴，正是万里乘兴的写照，那「堪乘兴」写尽蛟龙的覆舟；枉是蛟龙解覆舟，那「枉是蛟龙解覆舟」写尽蛟龙的覆舟——枉是蛟龙解覆舟，正是蛟龙覆舟的写照，那「解覆舟」写尽蛟龙的覆舟；那「可怜万里堪乘兴」写尽万里的乘兴，那「枉是蛟龙解覆舟」写尽蛟龙的覆舟，一写乘兴，一写覆舟，写尽蛟龙的覆舟——万里乘兴而蛟龙覆舟，正是感慨的写照；此二句以乘兴、覆舟写尽蛟龙的覆舟，也让此二句成为全诗写感慨的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「可怜万里迢迢正可乘兴，枉然蛟龙却能掀起覆舟之波」，则失其深婉；唯以「可怜万里堪乘兴」写堪乘兴、「枉是蛟龙解覆舟」写解覆舟，写尽蛟龙的覆舟，也让此二句成为全诗写感慨的核心。

The dragon. Pity the ten thousand li that invite such a mood: in vain the flood dragon knows how to capsize the boat. The ten-thousand-li openness and the in-vain dragon's boat-capsizing power are the river's threat. To have described the dragon's power would be an allusion; the pity-the-ten-thousand-li-that-invite-such-a-mood against the in-vain-flood-dragon-knows-how-to-capsize-the-boat is the allusion.

Study

Word focus

散 In 'I wanted, once in my life, to scatter this heavy sorrow', san means to scatter and disperse, as wind scatters dust. It is the poet's whole desire in one verb: he wants his grief broken up and carried off by the lake. The choice of wind rather than water matters, because the second half of the poem shows that nothing in this scene — not the miles, not the tower — can perform the scattering. 「欲为平生一散愁」之「散」字是写登楼关键词，一个「散」字写尽平生的散愁。散者，消散、排遣也。李商隐以「欲为平生一散愁」写登楼，这个「散」字至少有双重意味：其一，写愁之散——那「欲为平生一散愁」写欲为平生一散愁，那「散」字写尽平生的散愁——散愁，正是消散愁绪的写照，那「散」字写尽平生的散愁；其二，写心之怅——那「散」字更是写怅——散，正见愁绪难散的怅惘，那「散」字写尽李商隐的深婉。以「散」字写登楼，正是李商隐写感慨的枢纽——若换作「消」「遣」等字，则或失其与「欲为平生」「一散愁」的配合，或失其写散的意味；唯「散」字，以欲为平生一散愁写尽愁绪之欲散与心绪之怅惘，与「洞庭湖上岳阳楼」的岳阳楼相合，写尽平生的散愁，也让「欲为平生一散愁」成为全诗写登楼的名句。

枉 In 'all in vain that the dragon knows how to overturn a boat', wang means in vain, to no purpose. It is the verdict of the poem: the ten thousand miles were really there, the trip really could have been made, and the dragon alone spoils it. Because the poet does not accuse the dragon but simply notes that it exists, the word gives the poem its patience and its depth. 「枉是蛟龙解覆舟」之「枉」字是写感慨关键词，一个「枉」字写尽蛟龙的覆舟。枉者，枉然、徒然也。李商隐以「枉是蛟龙解覆舟」写感慨，这个「枉」字至少有双重意味：其一，写兴之枉——那「枉是蛟龙解覆舟」写枉是蛟龙解覆舟，那「枉」字写尽蛟龙的覆舟——枉是，正是枉然是此的写照，那「枉」字写尽蛟龙的覆舟；其二，写运之蹇——那「枉」字更是写蹇——枉，正见兴尽悲来的怅惘，那「枉」字写尽李商隐的深婉。以「枉」字写感慨，正是李商隐写登临的枢纽——若换作「徒」「空」等字，则或失其与「枉是蛟龙」「解覆舟」的配合，或失其写枉的意味；唯「枉」字，以枉是蛟龙解覆舟写尽覆舟之枉然与乘兴之难遂，与「可怜万里堪乘兴」的乘兴相合，写尽蛟龙的覆舟，也让「枉是蛟龙解覆舟」成为全诗写感慨的名句。

岳阳楼