明 Ming · 诗 Poem
高州杂咏
Miscellaneous Verses at Gaozhou
粤南天欲尽，风气迥难持。
一日更裘葛，三家杂汉夷。
鬼符书辟瘴，蛮鼓奏登陴。
遥夜西归梦，惟应海月知。
In a single day one changes from furs to hemp; among three households Han and native dwell mixed.
Ghost-charms are written to drive off the miasma; barbarian drums sound as men mount the wall.
Through the long night, my dream of going home to the west—only the moon above the sea can know it.
Meaning
The land south of Yue lies at the very edge of the sky, and its climate is so unlike anything familiar that one can hardly rely on it. Within a single day cold and warmth change places, so that furs must be exchanged for hemp; among three households Han people and natives live side by side. Charms drawn with ghost-figures are written out to drive off the miasma, and native drums beat on the city wall. Through the long night, the dream that carries me home to the west is known to no one but the moon above the sea.
粤南之地已临近天边尽头，风土气候迥异难以依持。一日之内寒暖交替须更換裘衣葛衣，三家之中杂居着汉族与夷族。画着鬼符的符书用以驱辟瘴气，蛮族鼓声在城墙上奏响。长夜遥遥，西归故里的梦魂，唯有那海上的明月能够知晓。
Appreciation
Wu Guolun (1524-1593), courtesy name Mingqing and styled Chuanglouzi, from Xingguo in Wuchang, was an important member of the Later Seven Masters; hated by the powerful minister Yan Song he was demoted to Jiangxi and southern Anhui, and after Yan's fall served as prefect of Shaowu in Fujian and then of Gaozhou in Guangdong. This regulated poem records the far south from the inside. The opening breaks in from nowhere—the sky all but ended, a climate hardly to be borne—and fixes a lonely, desolate key. The second couplet turns to daily detail, furs changed for hemp within a single day, Han and native households mixed together, plain and exact as a drawing. The third takes its material from local custom, ghost-charms against the miasma and native drums on the wall, startling in phrase and rich in foreign colour. The last lifts a stage higher, entrusting the westward dream of home to the moon above the sea, so that a firm, hard style keeps a lingering tenderness.
【白话串讲】 吴国伦写岭南高州：“粤南天欲尽，风气迥难持”——“一日更裘葛，三家杂汉夷”——一天换冬夏的衣服，汉人和少数民族杂居。“鬼符书辟瘴，蛮鼓奏登陴”——“遥夜西归梦，惟应海月知”——他梦见回家，只有海月知道。 【意象与手法】 全诗以五言律诗写岭南风物，首联破空而来，以“天欲尽”“迥难持”总写粤南地偏气异 【情感与主旨】 吴国伦（1524—1593），字明卿，号川楼子，武昌兴国州人，“后七子”重要成员 【名句点睛】 本诗适合考查“即事写景与情感寄托”的赏析角度。命题点一：首联“天欲尽”“迥难持”如何奠定全诗情感基调？答
Background
Wu Guolun (1524-1593), courtesy name Mingqing and styled Chuanglouzi, a native of Xingguo prefecture in Wuchang, was an important member of the Later Seven Masters. He took his doctorate in the twenty-ninth year of the Jiajing reign, was appointed a secretary of the Central Drafting Office and promoted to supervising secretary of the Ministry of War, but incurred the hatred of the powerful chief minister Yan Song and was demoted to posts in Jiangxi and southern Anhui. After Yan Song's fall he was restored, serving as prefect of Shaowu in Fujian and of Gaozhou in Guangdong, and rising at last to be left administration vice commissioner of Henan. This poem must have been written while he governed Gaozhou, when he had himself set foot in the fever country of the far south and recorded with his brush both the customs of the border region and his longing to return from distant office: a realistic work of his years as an official in Lingnan.
《高州杂咏》为明代吴国伦所作，是写高州（今广东高州）风土、边地之苦的诗。吴国伦（1524—1593），字明卿，兴国人，明代诗人。此诗：粤南天欲尽，风气迥难持。一日更裘葛，三家杂汉夷。鬼符书辟瘴，蛮鼓奏登陴。遥夜西归梦，惟应海月知。全诗写高州风土、边地之苦，是吴国伦诗的名篇。
Art
The poem writes the scenery and customs of Lingnan in five-character regulated verse. The opening couplet comes out of the blue, summing up the remoteness and strange climate of the far south with the sky all but ended and a climate hardly to be borne. The second couplet, changing from furs to hemp within a day and three households where Han and native dwell mixed, states the real conditions of the border in ordinary details, sudden shifts of heat and cold and peoples living together, as true as a painting. The third couplet takes its matter from folk custom, ghost-charms and native drums, phrases that startle the ear and carry a foreign colouring. The closing couplet lifts the poem a stage further, committing the dream of going home to the west to the moon above the sea, so that feeling is closed with scene and a firm, vigorous manner keeps a lingering softness; the structure is tight and steady without becoming dry or flat.
《高州杂咏》艺术上以边地风土的描摹与羁旅之思的深婉见长。全诗八句，层层写来：前二句写粤南天尽——“粤南天欲尽，风气迥难持”写粤南天尽、风气难持；中四句写风土之异——“一日更裘葛，三家杂汉夷”写一日更裘葛、三家杂汉夷，“鬼符书辟瘴，蛮鼓奏登陴”写鬼符辟瘴、蛮鼓登陴；末二句写西归之梦——“遥夜西归梦，惟应海月知”写遥夜西归梦、惟应海月知。全诗以边地风土写羁旅之思，正是吴国伦诗深婉的笔法。
Allusions
The poem is extremely sparing of allusion and depends chiefly on plain factual description. Furs and hemp derives from the Five Vermin chapter of the Han Feizi, 'a fawnskin coat in winter, a hemp robe in summer', here standing for cold-weather and hot-weather clothing and hinting at the violent alternation of heat and cold within a single day in Lingnan. Han and native follows the traditional pairing of Chinese and non-Chinese and records the actual mingling of peoples in the region. Mounting the wall comes from the Zuo Tradition under the twelfth year of Duke Xuan, in the passage on Hua Yuan entering the Chu camp by night, and originally means to climb the city wall in defence; in the poem the native drums sounding on the wall colour the scene with border vigilance. There are no deep or obscure allusions: the poem wins by solid, substantial imagery.
《高州杂咏》用典在“汉夷”“辟瘴”“登陴”。“汉夷”写汉族与夷族杂处；“辟瘴”写辟除瘴气；“登陴”写登上城女墙（城防）。全诗以这些意象写高州风土，用典自然而深婉自见，正是吴国伦诗的笔法。
Commentary
Later critics have generally viewed the Later Seven Masters through their allegiance to High Tang and describe his poetry as bold, far-reaching and firmly hard. The Qing compilation Comprehensive Collection of Ming Poetry includes this piece, praising it for writing the customs of Lingnan so that one seems to see them. Modern commentators hold that the ghost-charms and native drums of the middle couplets carry a strange, craggy interest inside their factual record, escaping the habits of the court style and inheriting the deep gravity of Du Fu, which is enough to show the character of Wu Guolun's poems of official travel.
《高州杂咏》是吴国伦诗的名篇，也是明诗中写边地风土的代表作。此诗写高州风土、边地之苦，向为论者称道。论者多赏其边地风土的描摹与羁旅之思的深婉——“粤南天欲尽，风气迥难持”写粤南天尽、风气难持，深婉之极；“一日更裘葛，三家杂汉夷”写一日更裘葛、三家杂汉夷，更见风土之异；“鬼符书辟瘴，蛮鼓奏登陴”写鬼符辟瘴、蛮鼓登陴，尤见边地之俗；“遥夜西归梦，惟应海月知”写西归之梦、海月为知，尤深。吴国伦为后七子代表，其诗以深婉著称，此诗正是其代表——以边地风土写羁旅之思，正是其诗风。
Prosody
Line by line
粤南天欲尽，风气迥难持。
In Yue the sky seems at an end; the climate is strange and hard to bear.
粤南天欲尽，风气迥难持。
In the deep south the sky seems at its end; the climate is utterly strange and hard to endure.
首写粤南天尽、风气难持，是全诗写高州之偏的起点。“粤南天欲尽”写粤南天尽——“粤南天欲尽”写粤南之地天将穷尽（极南之地）——粤南天欲尽；“风气迥难持”写风气难持——“风气迥难持”写风气迥异、难以承受——风气迥难持。二句写粤南天尽、风气难持：粤南天欲尽，风气迥难持。以“粤南天欲尽”写粤南极南、天将穷尽之偏，以“风气迥难持”写风气迥异、难以承受之苦，正是吴国伦诗写高州边地之偏的起点——极南之地，风气难持。
The edge. In Yue the sky seems at an end; the climate is strange and hard to bear. The sky's-end south and the unendurable climate are the frontier. To have described the far south would be a setting; the in-Yue-the-sky-seems-at-an-end against the climate-is-strange-and-hard-to-bear is the setting.
一日更裘葛，三家杂汉夷。
In one day I change between fur and hemp; in three households Han and Yi are mixed.
一日更裘葛，三家杂汉夷。
In a single day one changes fur for hemp; in three neighboring homes Han and Yi dwell mixed.
此二句写一日更裘葛、三家杂汉夷，是全诗写高州风土之异的深化。“一日更裘葛”写一日更裘葛——“一日更裘葛”写一日之间更换裘衣葛衣（天气多变）——一日更裘葛；“三家杂汉夷”写三家杂汉夷——“三家杂汉夷”写三家之中混杂汉人夷人——三家杂汉夷。二句写一日更裘葛、三家杂汉夷：一日更裘葛，三家杂汉夷。以“一日更裘葛”写一日之间裘葛更换、气候多变，以“三家杂汉夷”写三家之中汉夷杂处、民风殊异，正是吴国伦诗写高州风土之异的深化——气候骤变，汉夷杂居。
The mixed. In one day I change between fur and hemp; in three households Han and Yi are mixed. The same-day fur-for-hemp weather and the mixed Han-Yi households are the strangeness. To have described the mixed border town would be a detail; the in-one-day-I-change-between-fur-and-hemp against the in-three-households-Han-and-Yi-are-mixed is the detail.
鬼符书辟瘴，蛮鼓奏登陴。
Devil-figures are painted to ward off miasma; barbarian drums beat as men climb the ramparts.
鬼符书辟瘴，蛮鼓奏登陴（城女墙）。
Ghostly talismans are written to keep off the miasma; barbarian drums sound as men mount the city wall.
此二句写鬼符辟瘴、蛮鼓登陴，是全诗写高州边地之俗的深化。“鬼符书辟瘴”写鬼符辟瘴——“鬼符书辟瘴”写画鬼符以辟除瘴气——鬼符书辟瘴；“蛮鼓奏登陴”写蛮鼓登陴——“蛮鼓奏登陴”写奏蛮鼓、登上城女墙——蛮鼓奏登陴。二句写鬼符辟瘴、蛮鼓登陴：鬼符书辟瘴，蛮鼓奏登陴。以“鬼符书辟瘴”写画鬼符以辟瘴气之俗，以“蛮鼓奏登陴”写奏蛮鼓、登城守陴之边地景象，正是吴国伦诗写高州边地之俗的深化——瘴乡鬼符，蛮鼓守城。
The talismans. Devil-figures are painted to ward off miasma; barbarian drums beat as men climb the ramparts. The miasma-warding talismans and the drums on the walls are the local customs. To have described the exorcism would be a custom; the devil-figures-painted-to-ward-off-miasma against the barbarian-drums-beat-as-men-climb-the-ramparts is the custom.
遥夜西归梦，惟应海月知。
In the long night, the dream of going west; only the sea-moon should know.
遥夜西归梦，惟应海月知。
In the endless night I dream of returning west; only the sea moon should know.
末写遥夜西归梦、惟应海月知，是全诗写羁旅之思的归结。“遥夜西归梦”写遥夜西归梦——“遥夜西归梦”写遥夜之中西归之梦——遥夜西归梦；“惟应海月知”写惟应海月知——“惟应海月知”写只有海月知道（此心）——惟应海月知。二句写遥夜西归梦、惟应海月知：遥夜西归梦，惟应海月知。以“遥夜西归梦”写遥夜难眠、西归入梦之乡思，以“惟应海月知”写此心惟海月为知、无人可诉，正是吴国伦诗写羁旅之思的归结——西归入梦，海月为知。
The dream. In the long night, the dream of going west; only the sea-moon should know. The westward dream in the long night and the only-sea-moon-knows are the homesickness. To have said only the sea moon knew would be a statement; the in-the-long-night-the-dream-of-going-west against the only-the-sea-moon-should-know is the statement.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
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出塞 On the Frontier 王昌龄 · 同为写边地之诗，一写高州风土一写边塞之景，皆深婉 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
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