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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

梦李白二首·其一

Two Poems Dreaming of Li Bai, No. 1

杜甫

Du Fu

怀友Missing a friend 记梦A dream recorded

死别已吞声，生别常恻恻。
江南瘴疠地，逐客无消息。
故人入我梦，明我长相忆。
恐非平生魂，路远不可测。
魂来枫林青，魂返关塞黑。
君今在罗网，何以有羽翼。
落月满屋梁，犹疑照颜色。
水深波浪阔，无使蛟龙得。

For death there is already a silence I can swallow; for a living parting there is only constant anguish.
The miasmic land of Jiangnan, and the banished man with no news at all.
The old friend enters my dream, and makes plain how long I have remembered him.
I fear it is not the soul he had in life — the road is long and cannot be measured.
His soul comes through green maples; his soul returns at the dark of the passes.
You are caught in a net now; how do you still have wings?
The setting moon fills the beam of my room, and I still fancy that it falls upon your face.
The water is deep, the waves wide: do not let the dragons and serpents take you.

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Meaning

Du Fu writes this in 759 at Qinzhou, worrying about Li Bai, who had been exiled after the Yong Prince affair and was somewhere in the south. The opening states the poem's logic: death at least is final and can be borne, whereas a living separation never resolves. The old friend appears in the dream, and the poet at once doubts the vision — is this the soul he knew, coming so far? The maples and the dark passes trace the dreamer's imagined journey. In the last lines the dream thins: moonlight lies across the room and for a moment is taken for the friend's face, and then the poet begs the water not to give up its prey.

死别已吞声，生别常恻恻。江南瘴疠地，逐客无消息。故人入我梦，明我长相忆。恐非平生魂，路远不可测。魂来枫林青，魂返关塞黑。君今在罗网，何以有羽翼。落月满屋梁，犹疑照颜色。水深波浪阔，无使蛟龙得。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The poem is built on a single tension: the friend appears, and the poet will not let the appearance be ordinary. Every couplet turns on that doubt. [Structure] Eight rhymed pairs in five characters, moving from a general lament to the dream, to the passage of the soul, and finally to the moment of waking. [Imagery] Green maples on the way in, dark passes on the way out: the two colours mark the two directions of the soul's travel and give the dream a geography. The last couplet puts the whole poem back in the room, where a setting moon on the beam is momentarily read as a face. [Emotion] What is remarkable is the restraint. The poet does not announce his grief; he examines the dream as a rational man would, asking whether this soul is really his friend's and how the friend could fly at all. The tenderness is in the questions, and in the closing warning to the river.

【白话串讲】杜甫写《梦李白二首·其一》：“死别已吞声，生别常恻恻”——“故人入我梦，明我长相忆”——“恐非平生魂，路远不可测”——“魂来枫林青，魂返关塞黑”——“落月满屋梁，犹疑照颜色”——他梦见李白——怕他已被害。【意象与手法】此诗写梦见李白，以记梦写怀友，是杜甫的名篇。前四句写生别：「死别已吞声，生别常恻恻」写死别已吞声、生别常恻恻，「江南瘴疠地，逐客无消息」写江南瘴疠地、逐客无消息——写尽对李白的牵挂；中四句写入梦：「故人入我梦，明我长相忆」写故人入我梦、明我长相忆，「恐非平生魂，路远不可测」写恐非平生魂、路远不可测——写尽入梦的疑虑；后八句写梦魂：「魂来枫林青，魂返关塞黑」写魂来枫林青、魂返关塞黑，「君今在罗网，何以有羽翼」写君今在罗网、何以有羽翼，「落月满屋梁，犹疑照颜色」写落月满屋梁、犹疑照颜色，「水深波浪阔，无使蛟龙得」写水深波浪阔、无使蛟龙得——写尽对李白安危的担忧。全诗以记梦写怀友，写尽对李白的牵挂，是杜甫的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写梦见李白，以记梦写怀友，是杜甫的名篇。此诗是杜甫《梦李白二首》组诗之一，作于唐肃宗乾元二年（759）秋，杜甫在秦州（今甘肃天水）时。李白因永王璘案被流放夜郎，杜甫日夜思念，梦见李白而作此诗。此诗写记梦：死别已吞声，生别常恻恻——写死别已吞声、生别常恻恻，写尽生别之悲；江南瘴疠地，逐客无消息——写江南瘴疠地、逐客无消息，写尽对李白音信的牵挂；故人入我梦，明我长相忆——写故人入我梦、明我长相忆，写尽入梦的原因；恐非平生魂，路远不可测——写恐非平生魂、路远不可测，写尽入梦的疑虑；魂来枫林青，魂返关塞黑——写魂来枫林青、魂返关塞黑，写尽梦魂的往来；君今在罗网，何以有羽翼——写君今在罗网、何以有羽翼，写尽对李白身陷罗网的关切；落月满屋梁，犹疑照颜色——写落月满屋梁、犹疑照颜色，写尽梦醒的恍惚；水深波浪阔，无使蛟龙得——写水深波浪阔、无使蛟龙得，写尽对李白安危的担忧。全诗以记梦写怀友，写尽对李白的牵挂，是理解杜甫怀友诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「死别已吞声，生别常恻恻」写生别之悲；「故人入我梦，明我长相忆」写入梦的原因；「落月满屋梁，犹疑照颜色」写梦醒的恍惚；「水深波浪阔，无使蛟龙得」写对李白安危的担忧；以及全诗以记梦写怀友、以疑写情的手法。

Background

Du Fu (712-770) is the great realistic poet of the Tang, called the Poet Sage. Li Bai had been implicated when Prince Yong rebelled in 757 and was sentenced to exile in Yelang; in 759 he was pardoned at Baidicheng. Du Fu, who had recently fled the rebellion and was living in Qinzhou (today's Tianshui, Gansu), wrote a pair of poems in Li Bai's absence, of which this is the first. The friendship of the two, which had begun in 744, was one of the great literary friendships of the age, and Du Fu wrote more about Li Bai than about any other contemporary.

此诗写梦见李白，以记梦写怀友，是杜甫的名篇。杜甫（712—770），字子美，巩县（今河南巩义）人，唐代伟大的现实主义诗人，人称「诗圣」。此诗是杜甫《梦李白二首》组诗之一，作于唐肃宗乾元二年（759）秋，杜甫在秦州（今甘肃天水）时。李白因永王璘案被流放夜郎，途经浔阳、流放途中，杜甫日夜思念，梦见李白而作此诗。此诗写记梦：「死别已吞声，生别常恻恻」写死别已吞声、生别常恻恻——写尽生别之悲；「江南瘴疠地，逐客无消息」写江南瘴疠地、逐客无消息——写尽对李白音信的牵挂；「故人入我梦，明我长相忆」写故人入我梦、明我长相忆——写尽入梦的原因（因我长相忆）；「恐非平生魂，路远不可测」写恐非平生魂、路远不可测——写尽入梦的疑虑；「魂来枫林青，魂返关塞黑」写魂来枫林青、魂返关塞黑——写尽梦魂的往来；「君今在罗网，何以有羽翼」写君今在罗网、何以有羽翼——写尽对李白身陷罗网的关切；「落月满屋梁，犹疑照颜色」写落月满屋梁、犹疑照颜色——写尽梦醒的恍惚；「水深波浪阔，无使蛟龙得」写水深波浪阔、无使蛟龙得——写尽对李白安危的担忧。全诗以记梦写怀友，写尽对李白的牵挂，是理解杜甫怀友诗的重要篇章。

Art

The distinctive device is to treat the dream as something to be interrogated. 'I fear it is not the soul he had in life' refuses the consolation of a dream and keeps the poet's worry intact while he sleeps. 'You are caught in a net now; how do you still have wings' turns an exile's helplessness into a paradox: the friend who appears flying is the friend who is imprisoned. The colours do precise work — maple green for the south, black for the frontier passes, so that the soul's coming and going is drawn in two contrasting landscapes. Finally, the setting moon supplies the poem's most quiet illusion: the light on the beam is not the friend, and the error is the poet's own, which tells the reader how completely he had been holding him.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以议论写生别。「死别已吞声，生别常恻恻」以议论写生别——那「死别已吞声」写尽死别之痛、「生别常恻恻」写尽生别之悲，以议论写尽生别之悲。其二，以设问写疑虑。「恐非平生魂，路远不可测」以设问写疑虑——那「恐非平生魂」写尽恐非平生魂的疑虑、「路远不可测」写尽路远不可测的忧惧，以设问写尽入梦的疑虑。其三，以想象写梦魂。「魂来枫林青，魂返关塞黑」以想象写梦魂——那「魂来枫林青」写尽魂来时的枫林、「魂返关塞黑」写尽魂返时的关塞，以想象写尽梦魂的往来；「君今在罗网，何以有羽翼」以反问写关切——那「何以有羽翼」写尽身陷罗网而何以有羽翼的反问，以反问写尽对李白的关切。其四，以景收束写担忧。「落月满屋梁，犹疑照颜色。水深波浪阔，无使蛟龙得」以景收束写担忧——那「落月满屋梁」写尽梦醒的月色、「无使蛟龙得」写尽对李白安危的担忧，以景收束，写尽对李白的牵挂。四重手法，使此诗以记梦写怀友，写尽对李白的牵挂，是杜甫的代表作。

Allusions

The formal model is the Zhao Hun, the Summoning of the Soul, in the Chuci, whose line 'deep water rises with upon the maples' is echoed in the maple green of the sixth couplet. 'Swallowing the sound' goes back to Bao Zhao's line about swallowing tears rather than speaking. 'The banished man' carries the memory of Li Si's Memorial against Expelling the Banished, once the argument of a statesman. 'A net' and 'wings' plain. The closing dragons and serpents belong to the old image of the deep water as a place of danger, so that the poet's warning to the river is not merely a picture but a prayer in the form of a wish.

此诗的用语深植于怀友与记梦的传统。「死别已吞声」令人想到「死别」写死别的意象——「死别已吞声」，也令人想到「吞声」写忍声哭泣的意象——「吞声踯躅不敢言」（鲍照）；「生别常恻恻」令人想到「生别」写生离的意象——「黯然销魂者，唯别而已矣」（江淹），也令人想到「恻恻」写悲切的意象；「江南瘴疠地」令人想到「瘴疠」写瘴气的意象——江南瘴疠之地，也令人想到「江南」写江南的意象；「逐客无消息」令人想到「逐客」写被放逐之人的意象——李斯《谏逐客书》，也令人想到「无消息」写无音信的意象；「故人入我梦」令人想到「故人」写故友的意象——「故人入我梦，明我长相忆」，也令人想到「入我梦」写入梦的意象；「明我长相忆」令人想到「长相忆」写长相思念的意象——「长相思，在长安」（李白），也令人想到「明我」写知我的意象；「恐非平生魂」令人想到「平生魂」写平生之魂的意象——恐是生魂还是死魂，也令人想到「恐非」写恐怕不是的意象；「路远不可测」令人想到「不可测」写不可测的意象，也令人想到「路远」写路远的意象；「魂来枫林青」令人想到「枫林」写枫林的意象——《楚辞·招魂》「湛湛江水兮上有枫」，也令人想到「魂来」写魂来的意象；「魂返关塞黑」令人想到「关塞」写关塞的意象——「关塞萧条行路难」（杜甫），也令人想到「魂返」写魂返的意象；「君今在罗网」令人想到「罗网」写罗网的意象——身陷罗网，也令人想到「在罗网」写陷于罗网的意象；「何以有羽翼」令人想到「羽翼」写翅膀的意象——「无翼而飞」，也令人想到「何以有羽翼」写何以有羽翼的反问；「落月满屋梁」令人想到「落月」写落月的意象——「落月满屋梁」，也令人想到「屋梁」写屋梁的意象；「犹疑照颜色」令人想到「照颜色」写照见颜容的意象——「犹疑照颜色」写梦醒犹疑，也令人想到「颜色」写容颜的意象；「水深波浪阔」令人想到「水深波浪阔」写江阔浪高的意象，也令人想到「波浪」写波浪的意象；「无使蛟龙得」令人想到「蛟龙」写蛟龙的意象——「蛟龙得云雨」，也令人想到「无使蛟龙得」写勿使为蛟龙所得的叮咛。全诗化用招魂、逐客、罗网、蛟龙的典故与意象，以记梦写怀友，正是杜甫「沉郁顿挫」而善用想象、承怀友记梦传统写牵挂的本领。

Commentary

Du Fu's two Dreaming of Li Bai poems are among the most admired in Chinese for their plainness of feeling. Qing critics called the record of the dream sincere and deep; modern readers single out the moonlight couplet, in which the dream is over and yet the poet still sees his friend. The poem is also valued because it keeps company with the second of the pair — where this one describes the first visit of the dream, the other describes the same dream recurring for three nights. Together they show the whole range of Du Fu's friendship poems, from the terrified interrogation of this piece to the calm 'since you have come home, the moon is bright again.'

此诗历来被推为杜甫怀友诗的名篇，也是唐人记梦诗的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以记梦写怀友，真挚深婉」；近人更指出「故人入我梦，明我长相忆」写入梦的原因，「落月满屋梁，犹疑照颜色」写梦醒的恍惚，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以十六句的长篇写尽梦见李白的牵挂——那吞声的死别，那恻恻的生别，那瘴疠的江南，那无消息的逐客，那入梦的故人，那长相忆，那恐非平生魂的疑虑，那不可测的路远，那魂来魂返的枫林关塞，那罗网，那羽翼，那满屋梁的落月，那照颜色的犹疑，那水深波浪阔，那蛟龙，都写尽了杜甫对李白的牵挂；那「水深波浪阔，无使蛟龙得」更写尽对李白安危的担忧。此诗与《梦李白二首·其二》（「三夜频梦君，情亲见君意」）同为记梦怀友名篇，一写「故人入我梦」的初梦（其一），一写「三夜频梦君」的频梦（其二）；又与《楚辞·招魂》「湛湛江水兮上有枫」的传统一脉相承，可见杜甫以魂梦写牵挂的深情。对于今日读者，此诗是理解杜甫李白友情的窗口，也是中国诗写记梦怀友的经典——那满屋梁的落月，穿越千年，仍在诉说着杜甫的牵挂。

Prosody

Form Poem — five-character ancient style (wu Yan gu ti)诗·五言古体

Rhyme Five-character ancient style in entering tone; rhymes on ce, xi, yi, ce, hei, yi, se, de (the thirteenth 'Zhi' entering and the first 'Wu' entering rhymes), one rhyme carried through五言古体，押「恻」「息」「忆」「测」「黑」「翼」「色」「得」韵（入声十三职、一屋），一韵到底，音节沉郁

Tone pattern Entering-tone rhymes throughout, a short and checked sound, which gives the whole poem its compressed, suffocated cadence — unusually apt for a worry that cannot be spoken out.此诗为五言古体，十六句，押入声韵，一韵到底，音节沉郁，正合记梦牵挂的沉郁。

Reading note Sixteen lines of five characters, without the antithesis of a regulated poem. The rhyme is in the entering tone, so nearly every line ends on a stopped syllable; there is no lingering sound at the line end, only a kind of blockage. That is why the poem can run to sixteen lines and still seem to hold its breath. The couplets do the work of paragraphs: the first two set the condition, the next two the dream, the next four the passage of the soul, the last two the return to the room. Read the closing line slowly and let the stopped rhyme stand for the poet's silence.此诗为五言古体，十六句——「死别已吞声，生别常恻恻。江南瘴疠地，逐客无消息。故人入我梦，明我长相忆。恐非平生魂，路远不可测。魂来枫林青，魂返关塞黑。君今在罗网，何以有羽翼。落月满屋梁，犹疑照颜色。水深波浪阔，无使蛟龙得」，押入声韵（恻、息、忆、测、黑、翼、色、得），一韵到底，音节沉郁。全诗以记梦写怀友：前四句写生别（死别已吞声，生别常恻恻；江南瘴疠地，逐客无消息），中四句写入梦（故人入我梦，明我长相忆；恐非平生魂，路远不可测），后八句写梦魂与担忧（魂来枫林青，魂返关塞黑；君今在罗网，何以有羽翼；落月满屋梁，犹疑照颜色；水深波浪阔，无使蛟龙得）。诵读此诗，宜以沉郁的语调读「死别已吞声」的生别，以关切的语调读「君今在罗网」的担忧，结句「无使蛟龙得」要读得叮咛而有余韵，方能传达出杜甫的沉郁顿挫。杜甫古体以「沉郁顿挫」著称，此诗正是其记梦怀友古体的典范。

Line by line

故人入我梦，明我长相忆

The old friend enters my dream, and makes plain how long I have remembered him

故人进入我的梦中，明白我长久地想念他。

An old friend has come into my dream, showing how long I have longed for him.

此二句是全诗写入梦的核心，以故人入梦写梦，以明我长相忆写深情，写尽对李白的牵挂，是千古名句。「故人入我梦」写故人进入我的梦中——那「故人」写故友李白，「入我梦」写进入我的梦中，写尽李白入梦；「明我长相忆」写明白我长久地想念他——那「明我」写明白我，「长相忆」写长久地想念，写尽入梦的原因。这句的深意在于：它以「故人入我梦」的入梦与「明我长相忆」的长相忆，写尽对李白的牵挂——故人进入我的梦中，那「故人入我梦」写尽李白入梦——日有所思，夜有所梦，故人入梦，那「入我梦」写尽李白入梦；明白我长久地想念他，那「明我长相忆」写尽入梦的原因——李白入我梦，正是因为他明白我长久地想念他，那「长相忆」写尽杜甫对李白的牵挂；那「故人入我梦」写尽李白入梦，那「明我长相忆」写尽入梦的原因，一写入梦，一写原因，写尽对李白的牵挂——「故人入我梦，明我长相忆」正是以魂梦写牵挂的深情：因我长相忆，故人入我梦，这入梦既是思念的证明，也是牵挂的慰藉；此二句以故人入梦、明我长相忆写尽对李白的牵挂，也让此二句成为全诗写入梦的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「我梦见李白了」，则失其深情；唯以「故人入我梦」写入梦、「明我长相忆」写原因，写尽对李白的牵挂，也让此二句成为全诗写入梦的核心。

The dream. An old friend has come into my dream, showing how long I have longed for him. The old friend in the dream and the proving of the long longing are Du Fu's dream of Li Bai. To have said his friend came in a dream would be an event; the old-friend-came-into-my-dream against the showing-how-long-I-have-longed-for-him is the event.

落月满屋梁，犹疑照颜色

The setting moon fills the beam of my room, and I still fancy that it falls upon your face

落月满屋梁，还恍惚以为照着你的容颜。

The setting moon fills the rafters; still I doubt it shines on his face.

此二句是全诗写恍惚的核心，以落月写梦醒，以犹疑写恍惚，写尽梦醒的恍惚，是千古名句。「落月满屋梁」写落月满屋梁——那「落月」写将落的月亮，「满屋梁」写满屋梁，写尽梦醒时的月色；「犹疑照颜色」写还恍惚以为照着你的容颜——那「犹疑」写恍惚以为，「照颜色」写照着你的容颜，写尽梦醒的恍惚。这句的深意在于：它以「落月满屋梁」的月色与「犹疑照颜色」的犹疑，写尽梦醒的恍惚——落月满屋梁，那「落月满屋梁」写尽梦醒时的月色——梦醒时分，落月西沉，月光满屋梁，那「落月满屋梁」写尽梦醒的凄凉；还恍惚以为照着你的容颜，那「犹疑照颜色」写尽梦醒的恍惚——月色满屋梁，还恍惚以为月光照着故人的容颜，那「犹疑」写尽梦醒时分分不清梦与醒的恍惚；那「落月满屋梁」写尽梦醒时的月色，那「犹疑照颜色」写尽梦醒的恍惚，一写月色，一写恍惚，写尽梦醒的恍惚——梦醒而恍惚，犹疑照颜色，正是对故人牵挂之深、以至梦醒犹疑的写照；此二句以落月、犹疑写尽梦醒的恍惚，也让此二句成为全诗写恍惚的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「梦醒了」，则失其情境；唯以「落月满屋梁」写月色、「犹疑照颜色」写恍惚，写尽梦醒的恍惚，也让此二句成为全诗写恍惚的核心。

The waking. The setting moon fills the rafters; still I doubt it shines on his face. The setting moon on the rafters and the doubted face are the waking confusion. To have described the moonlit waking would be a scene; the setting-moon-filling-the-rafters against the still-I-doubt-it-shines-on-his-face is the scene.

Study

Word focus

恻恻 In 'for a living parting there is only constant anguish,' ce ce means sorely, painfully, the repeated stab of grief rather than one blow. Du Fu doubles the word because the feeling is doubled too: a living parting grieves again and again where death would grieve once. 「生别常恻恻」之「恻恻」是写生别之悲的关键词，一个「恻恻」写尽生别之悲。恻恻者，悲切、伤痛也。杜甫以「生别常恻恻」写生别，这个「恻恻」至少有双重意味：其一，写生别之悲——那「生别常恻恻」写生别常恻恻，那「恻恻」写尽生别的悲切——生别之痛，常恻恻于心，那「恻恻」写尽生别之悲；其二，写思念之深——那「恻恻」更是写思念——生别常恻恻，正见思念之深、牵肠挂肚，那「恻恻」写尽思念的深重。以「恻恻」写生别，正是杜甫写牵挂的枢纽——若换作「悲悲」「戚戚」等词，则或失其写悲切的凝练，或失其与「死别已吞声」的对照；唯「恻恻」二字，以悲切写尽生别之悲与思念之深，与「死别已吞声」的吞声相对照，写尽对李白的牵挂，也让「生别常恻恻」成为全诗写生别之悲的名句。

犹疑 In 'and I still fancy that it falls upon your face,' you yi means still to fancy, half to believe while half to know better. It is the exact word for the moment between waking and sleep, and it is what makes the line live: the poet knows the light is only the moon, and yet continues to see a face. 「犹疑照颜色」之「犹疑」是写恍惚的关键词，一个「犹疑」写尽梦醒的恍惚。犹疑者，恍惚、迟疑也。杜甫以「犹疑照颜色」写月色，这个「犹疑」至少有双重意味：其一，写梦醒之恍惚——那「落月满屋梁，犹疑照颜色」写落月满屋梁、还恍惚以为照着故人的容颜，那「犹疑」写尽梦醒时分的恍惚——梦醒而恍惚，分不清梦与醒，那「犹疑」写尽梦醒的恍惚；其二，写牵挂之深——那「犹疑」更是写牵挂——犹疑照颜色，正见对故人牵挂之深、梦醒犹疑，那「犹疑」写尽牵挂的深重。以「犹疑」写月色，正是杜甫写恍惚的枢纽——若换作「恍惚」「依稀」等词，则或失其写迟疑不定的意味，或失其与「落月满屋梁」的配合；唯「犹疑」二字，以恍惚写尽梦醒时分的恍惚与牵挂之深，与「落月满屋梁」的月色相合，写尽梦醒的恍惚，也让「犹疑照颜色」成为全诗写恍惚的名句。