明 Ming · 诗 Poem
得郑继之书
On Receiving a Letter from Zheng Jizhi
郑生湖海去，高兴渺难降。
累月音书数，清秋涕泪双。
天边登越峤，雪里渡吴江。
万里千山暮，何时到尔邦。
For months the letters have been few; in the clear autumn my twin streams of tears fall.
At heaven's edge you climb the Yue peaks; in the snow you cross the Wu River.
Ten thousand miles, a thousand mountains in dusk; when will you reach your homeland?
Meaning
A five-character regulated poem written on receiving a letter from his friend Zheng Jizhi, voicing deep longing—his own autumn tears, his imaginations of the friend's distant travels, and a closing question of when the friend will return.
郑生远去湖海之间，那高远的游兴渺茫难以收束。数月来书信稀疏，清秋时节我双泪横流。你已在天边登临越地的山峤，在雪里渡过吴江。万里千山暮色苍茫，何时才能回到你的故乡。
Appreciation
The poem writes longing on receiving a letter from his friend Zheng Jizhi (Zheng Shaogu). The first couplet says the friend has gone roaming the lakes and seas, his wandering spirits hard to check; the second turns to himself: for months letters are few, in clear autumn he weeps. The third couplet imagines the friend now climbing the Yue peaks, crossing the Wu River in snow; the closing watches ten-thousand-mile, thousand-mountain dusk and asks when he will return. The middle two couplets set self against other, tears against wandering, in matched contrast. 'For months letters few' against 'clear autumn twin tears' pairs scarcity with abundance, well-balanced and deep; 'at heaven's edge climb the Yue peaks, in snow cross the Wu River' writes the friend's drifting through imagined scene, open in space. The language is handsome and flowing, feeling true yet not excessive.
【白话串讲】 “郑生湖海去，高兴渺难降”——何景明收到朋友郑继之的信。“累月音书数，清秋涕泪双”——“天边登越峤，雪里渡吴江”——“万里千山暮，何时到尔邦”——他盼着朋友归来。 【意象与手法】中间两联一己一彼、一泪一游，对照成文。“累月音书数”对“清秋涕泪双”，以数书对双泪，工稳而情深；“天边登越峤，雪里渡吴江”以想象之景写友人漂泊，空间开阔。全诗语言俊逸，情真而不滥。 【情感与主旨】抒发对远游友人郑继之的深切思念与牵挂。清秋落泪见思念之切，想象其跋涉雪江见牵挂之远，末句“何时到尔邦”以问收束，余情袅袅，是何景明“俊逸”诗风的代表。 【名句点睛】“天边登越峤，雪里渡吴江。”——以想象之笔写友人漂泊之远：越峤在天边，吴江在雪里，空间一下拉开到万里。不对面写思念，而思念自在景中，最见“前七子”宗法唐贤的阔大。
Background
He Jingming (1483–1521), styled Zhong Mo, also known as Da Fu, was a native of Xinyang, paired with Li Mengyang as He-Li, a leader of the Former Seven Masters, advocating 'prose must be Qin-Han, poetry must be High Tang.' Zheng Jizhi is Zheng Shanfu (style Shaogu); this poem is written to a friend roaming the lakes and seas, voicing keen longing.
《得郑继之书》为明代何景明所作，是写得友人来书、盼其归来的诗。何景明（1483—1521），字仲默，号大复山人，信阳人，明代诗人。此诗：郑生湖海去，高兴渺难降。累月音书数，清秋涕泪双。天边登越峤，雪里渡吴江。万里千山暮，何时到尔邦。全诗写得友人来书、盼其归来，是何景明诗的名篇。
Art
The whole poem studies Tang five-character regulated verse, its language handsome and flowing. The middle two couplets write, one the poet's own tears, one the other's wandering, in matched contrast; 'few' against 'twin,' 'heaven's edge' against 'snow,' well-balanced and open in space, feeling lodged in scene, gaining the broad manner of High Tang.
《得郑继之书》艺术上以得书之喜的描摹与盼归之情的深挚见长。全诗八句：首写得书怀人——“郑生湖海去，高兴渺难降”写郑生湖海去、高兴渺难降，“累月音书数，清秋涕泪双”写累月音书数、清秋涕泪双；中写友人行踪——“天边登越峤，雪里渡吴江”写天边登越峤、雪里渡吴江；末写盼其归来——“万里千山暮，何时到尔邦”写万里千山暮、何时到尔邦。全诗以得书之喜写盼归之情，正是何景明诗深挚的笔法。
Allusions
Yue peaks refers to the Yue-region mountains (today's Zhejiang-Fujian area); Wu River broadly means Jiangnan waters; Zheng Jizhi was a Fujian man, hence the closing 'when will you reach your homeland' fits his native place; 'gone to the lakes and seas' uses the sense of rising above the lakes and seas, writing the friend's unrestrained roaming.
《得郑继之书》用典在“湖海”“越峤”“吴江”“千山”“尔邦”。“湖海”写湖海（江湖远游，用陈登湖海之士之意）；“越峤”写越峤（越地山岭）；“吴江”写吴江（吴地江流）；“千山”写千山；“尔邦”写尔邦（友人之邦）。全诗以这些意象写得友人来书、盼其归来，用典自然而深挚自见，正是何景明诗的笔法。
Commentary
The Former Seven Masters held prose must be Qin-Han and poetry must be High Tang; He Jingming's poem is formally strict yet feeling flows, free of imitation's trace. The Qing praised his handsome and flowing manner, most visible in this five-character regulated poem's clear-autumn longing and broad, deep scene.
《得郑继之书》是何景明诗的名篇，也是明诗中写友情的代表作。此诗写得友人来书、盼其归来，向为论者称道。论者多赏其得书之喜的描摹与盼归之情的深挚——“郑生湖海去，高兴渺难降”用湖海之典写郑生湖海去、高兴渺难降，深挚之极；“累月音书数，清秋涕泪双”写累月音书数、清秋涕泪双，更见其情；“天边登越峤，雪里渡吴江”写天边登越峤、雪里渡吴江，尤见其远；“万里千山暮，何时到尔邦”写万里千山暮、何时到尔邦，尤见其盼。何景明为明前七子领袖，此诗正是其代表——以得书之喜写盼归之情，正是其诗风。
Prosody
Line by line
郑生湖海去，高兴渺难降。
Young Zheng has gone to the wide lake and sea; his lofty spirit is remote and hard to bring down.
郑生湖海去，高兴渺难降。
Young Zheng has gone off to the lake and sea; his high spirits are remote and hard to recall.
首用湖海之典写郑生湖海去、高兴渺难降，是全诗写得书怀人的起点。“郑生湖海去”用湖海之典写郑生湖海去——“郑生湖海去”用陈登湖海之士之意写郑生湖海远游去了——郑生湖海去；“高兴渺难降”写高兴渺难降——“高兴渺难降”写他高远的兴致渺然难降——高兴渺难降。二句写郑生湖海去、高兴渺难降：郑生湖海去，高兴渺难降。以“郑生湖海去”用湖海之典写郑生湖海远游、去国之遥，以“高兴渺难降”写兴致高远、渺然难降，正是何景明诗写得书怀人的起点——郑生湖海，高兴难降。
The friend. Young Zheng has gone to the wide lake and sea; his lofty spirit is remote and hard to bring down. The Chen Deng lake-and-sea allusion and the remote high spirits are the opening. To have said the friend roamed far would be a statement; the young-Zheng-gone-to-the-wide-lake-and-sea against his-lofty-spirit-remote-and-hard-to-bring-down is the statement.
累月音书数，清秋涕泪双。
Months of frequent letters; in the clear autumn, tears fall in pairs.
累月音书数，清秋涕泪双。
For months letters have come often; in the clear autumn, tears flow in pairs.
此二句写累月音书数、清秋涕泪双，是全诗写得书之情的深化。“累月音书数”写累月音书数——“累月音书数”写连月书信频频——累月音书数；“清秋涕泪双”写清秋涕泪双——“清秋涕泪双”写清秋之时涕泪双垂——清秋涕泪双。二句写累月音书数、清秋涕泪双：累月音书数，清秋涕泪双。以“累月音书数”写连月书信、往还频频，以“清秋涕泪双”写清秋涕泪、思念之深，正是何景明诗写得书之情的深化——累月音书，清秋涕泪。
The letters. Months of frequent letters; in the clear autumn, tears fall in pairs. The months of letters and the paired autumn tears are the longing. To have said the letters brought tears would be a detail; the months-of-frequent-letters against the clear-autumn-tears-fall-in-pairs is the detail.
天边登越峤，雪里渡吴江。
At the sky's edge he climbs the Yue peaks; in the snow he crosses the Wu River.
天边登越峤，雪里渡吴江。
At the sky's edge he climbs the Yue highlands; in the snow he crosses the Wu River.
此二句用越峤吴江之典写天边登越峤、雪里渡吴江，是全诗写友人行踪的深化。“天边登越峤”用越峤之典写天边登越峤——“天边登越峤”用越地山岭之典写天边登上越峤——天边登越峤；“雪里渡吴江”用吴江之典写雪里渡吴江——“雪里渡吴江”用吴地江流之典写雪中渡过吴江——雪里渡吴江。二句写天边登越峤、雪里渡吴江：天边登越峤，雪里渡吴江。以“天边登越峤”用越峤之典写天边登峤、行踪之远，以“雪里渡吴江”用吴江之典写雪里渡江、跋涉之艰，正是何景明诗写友人行踪的深化——天边越峤，雪里吴江。
The journey. At the sky's edge he climbs the Yue peaks; in the snow he crosses the Wu River. The distant Yue peaks and the snow-crossed Wu River are the imagined journey. To have described the friend's travel would be a scene; the at-the-sky's-edge-he-climbs-the-Yue-peaks against the in-the-snow-he-crosses-the-Wu-River is the scene.
万里千山暮，何时到尔邦。
Ten thousand li, a thousand hills, dusk; when shall I reach your country?
万里千山暮，何时到尔邦。
Ten thousand li, a thousand hills, dusk; when shall I arrive at your land?
末写万里千山暮、何时到尔邦，是全诗写盼归之情的归结。“万里千山暮”写万里千山暮——“万里千山暮”写万里千山、暮色苍茫——万里千山暮；“何时到尔邦”写何时到尔邦——“何时到尔邦”写何时才能到你的地方——何时到尔邦。二句写万里千山暮、何时到尔邦：万里千山暮，何时到尔邦。以“万里千山暮”写万里千山、暮色苍茫，以“何时到尔邦”写何时到尔邦、盼归之切，正是何景明诗写盼归之情的归结——万里千山，何时到邦。
The dusk. Ten thousand li, a thousand hills, dusk; when shall I reach your country? The ten-thousand-li thousand-hill dusk and the when question are the close. To have asked when he would arrive would be a question; the ten-thousand-li-thousand-hills-dusk against the when-shall-I-reach-your-country question is the question.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
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