清 Qing · 诗 Poem
杂感
Miscellaneous Feelings
仙佛茫茫两未成，只知独夜不平鸣。
风蓬飘尽悲歌气，泥絮沾来薄幸名。
十有九人堪白眼，百无一用是书生。
莫因诗卷愁成谶，春鸟秋虫自作声。
I only know to cry out my unjust plaint in the lone night.
The wind-blown tumbleweed has spent my mournful song's spirit;
The mud-stuck willow catkin has earned me a name for heartlessness.
Nine of ten men deserve my cold stare;
A hundred uses, and none for a bookish man.
Do not let the poetry scroll's sorrow become prophecy —
Spring birds and autumn insects make their own sound.
Meaning
A self-portrait of a frustrated, wandering scholar who finds immortals and Buddhas vain, cries his grievance alone at night, and mocks his own uselessness while refusing to fall silent.
求仙学佛两皆无成，只知在独夜里发出不平之鸣。如风中转蓬飘尽悲歌意气，如沾泥柳絮落得薄幸之名。十人中有九人堪受我白眼，百无一用便是书生。莫因诗卷愁苦而成谶语，春鸟秋虫自会发出自己的声响。
Appreciation
The poet wounds himself over a half-life of failure: neither immortals nor Buddhas achieved, only an unjust plaint in the lone night; like a tumbleweed in the wind he has spent his mournful song's spirit, like mud-stuck willow catkin he has earned a name for heartlessness. 'Nine of ten men deserve my cold stare; a hundred uses, and none for a bookish man' uses numerical antithesis to write his lonely indignation and self-mockery to the limit. The closing couplet 'spring birds and autumn insects make their own sound' turns from grief to release, using the insects' cry, with desolate aftertaste. The poem kneads a bookish man's bitterness and pride together, piercing in its grief yet clear in its wildness — a painful work of Qing poetry of the poor scholar.
【白话串讲】 “仙佛茫茫两未成，只知独夜不平鸣”——黄景仁写杂感：求仙求佛都没成。“风蓬飘尽悲歌气”——“十有九人堪白眼，百无一用是书生”——这句成了千古名句，是自嘲，也是辛酸。“莫因诗卷愁成谶，春鸟秋虫自作声”——他让人莫要多愁。 【意象与手法】“风蓬”喻漂泊、“泥絮”喻身不由己，两个比喻写尽沦落；“十有九人堪白眼，百无一用是书生”以数字对仗，极写孤愤与自嘲。尾联“春鸟秋虫自作声”翻用虫鸟之鸣，由悲而达，余味苍凉。 【情感与主旨】抒写怀才不遇、漂泊无依的孤愤与自嘲。黄景仁一生穷愁，此诗将书生的辛酸与傲骨揉在一起，悲慨中见清狂，是清代寒士诗的痛切之作。 【名句点睛】“十有九人堪白眼，百无一用是书生。”——以夸张数字对仗，把书生的孤愤与自嘲写到极致。看似自贬，实则是怀才不遇者的傲骨悲鸣，传诵极广。
Background
Huang Jingren (1749-1783), courtesy Hanyong, was a mid-Qing poet who lived in poverty and wandering all his life; his poems are full of poor, stifled tones. 'Miscellaneous Feelings' was written in his distress, voicing the pain of a bookish man's fall and unrecognized talent.
《杂感》为清代黄景仁所作，是写书生失意、百无一用的诗。黄景仁（1749—1783），字汉镛，一字仲则，号鹿菲子，武进人，清代诗人。此诗：仙佛茫茫两未成，只知独夜不平鸣。风蓬飘尽悲歌气，泥絮沾来薄幸名。十有九人堪白眼，百无一用是书生。莫因诗卷愁成谶，春鸟秋虫自作声。全诗写书生失意、百无一用，是黄景仁诗的名篇。
Art
The two images 'wind-blown tumbleweed' and 'mud-stuck willow catkin' write wandering and helplessness; 'nine of ten men deserve my cold stare; a hundred uses, and none for a bookish man' uses numerical antithesis to write lonely indignation and self-mockery to the limit. The closing 'spring birds and autumn insects make their own sound' turns from grief to release, reusing the insects' cry, desolate with aftertaste.
《杂感》艺术上以书生失意的描摹与百无一用的悲慨见长。全诗八句：首写独夜不平——“仙佛茫茫两未成，只知独夜不平鸣”写仙佛茫茫两未成、只知独夜不平鸣，“风蓬飘尽悲歌气，泥絮沾来薄幸名”用风蓬泥絮之喻写风蓬飘尽悲歌气、泥絮沾来薄幸名；中写白眼书生——“十有九人堪白眼，百无一用是书生”写十有九人堪白眼、百无一用是书生；末写诗卷之谶——“莫因诗卷愁成谶，春鸟秋虫自作声”写莫因诗卷愁成谶、春鸟秋虫自作声。全诗以书生失意写百无一用，正是黄景仁诗悲慨的笔法。
Allusions
'Wind-blown tumbleweed' means a tumbleweed in the wind, a metaphor for wandering. 'Mud-stuck willow catkin' uses Su Shi's 'stuck in mud, the catkin rises no more,' a metaphor for being caught in the dusty net, helpless. 'Cold stare' uses Ruan Ji's blue-and-white eyes, showing proud discord with the world. 'Spring birds and autumn insects' reuses the idea of 'insects and birds cry of themselves,' a metaphor for the poet who cannot but cry out.
《杂感》用典在“仙佛”“不平鸣”“风蓬”“泥絮”“白眼”“春鸟秋虫”。“仙佛”写仙佛（求仙学佛）；“不平鸣”用韩愈不平则鸣之典；“风蓬”写风蓬（风中飞蓬）；“泥絮”用泥絮之典（沾泥之絮）；“白眼”用阮籍白眼之典；“春鸟秋虫”写春鸟秋虫。全诗以这些典故写书生失意、百无一用，用典自然而悲慨自见，正是黄景仁诗的笔法。
Commentary
Zhongze (Huang) cried in poverty; this poem's 'a hundred uses, none for a bookish man' became a painfully piercing phrase through the ages. Though self-mocking, its backbone remains; the closing 'make their own sound' still shows, amid grief, the poet's refusal to fall silent.
《杂感》是黄景仁诗的名篇，也是清诗中写书生失意的代表作。此诗写书生失意、百无一用，向为论者称道。论者多赏其书生失意的描摹与百无一用的悲慨——“仙佛茫茫两未成，只知独夜不平鸣”用不平则鸣之典写仙佛茫茫两未成、只知独夜不平鸣，悲慨之极；“风蓬飘尽悲歌气，泥絮沾来薄幸名”用风蓬泥絮之喻写风蓬飘尽悲歌气、泥絮沾来薄幸名，更见其痛；“十有九人堪白眼，百无一用是书生”用白眼之典写十有九人堪白眼、百无一用是书生，尤见其愤；“莫因诗卷愁成谶，春鸟秋虫自作声”写莫因诗卷愁成谶、春鸟秋虫自作声，尤见其达。黄景仁为清代才子，一生困顿，此诗正是其代表——以书生失意写百无一用，正是其诗风。
Prosody
Line by line
仙佛茫茫两未成，只知独夜不平鸣。
Immortalhood and Buddhahood, dimly, both unattained; all I know is to cry out my grievance in the lonely night.
仙佛茫茫两未成，只知独夜不平鸣。
Immortalhood and Buddhahood both lie dim and unattained; I know only to cry out my grievance through the lonely night.
首用不平则鸣之典写仙佛茫茫两未成、只知独夜不平鸣，是全诗写独夜不平的起点。“仙佛茫茫两未成”写仙佛茫茫两未成——“仙佛茫茫两未成”写求仙学佛、两皆茫然未成——仙佛茫茫两未成；“只知独夜不平鸣”用不平则鸣之典写只知独夜不平鸣——“只知独夜不平鸣”用韩愈不平则鸣之典写只知独夜不平则鸣——只知独夜不平鸣。二句写仙佛茫茫两未成、只知独夜不平鸣：仙佛茫茫两未成，只知独夜不平鸣。以“仙佛茫茫两未成”写仙佛茫茫、两皆未成，以“只知独夜不平鸣”用不平则鸣之典写独夜不平、鸣其胸臆，正是黄景仁诗写独夜不平的起点——仙佛未成，独夜不平。
The opening uses the allusion to crying out when wronged, writing immortalhood and Buddhahood both unattained, the lonely night's grievance, the starting point of the poem's lonely-night grievance. Immortalhood and Buddhahood, dimly, both unattained writes the seeking of immortality and Buddhahood, both vague and unachieved. All I know is to cry out my grievance in the lonely night uses Han Yu's allusion to crying out when wronged, writes the lone night's crying of the heart. Two lines: immortalhood and Buddhahood, both unattained; the lone night's grievance. Writing the vague immortalhood and Buddhahood, both unachieved, writing the lonely night's crying through the allusion, precisely the starting point of Huang Jingren's lonely-night grievance — immortality and Buddhahood unachieved, the lonely night's cry.
风蓬飘尽悲歌气，泥絮沾来薄幸名。
The wind-tumbled tumbleweed has shed its air of the sad song; the mud-stained catkin has earned the faithless name.
风蓬飘尽悲歌气，泥絮沾来薄幸名。
The wind-tousled tumbleweed has shed its spirit of the lament; the mud-stained willow down has brought me the name of a faithless man.
中用风蓬泥絮之喻写风蓬飘尽悲歌气、泥絮沾来薄幸名，是全诗写身世之叹的深化。“风蓬飘尽悲歌气”用风蓬之喻写风蓬飘尽悲歌气——“风蓬飘尽悲歌气”用风中飞蓬之喻写风蓬飘尽、悲歌之气——风蓬飘尽悲歌气；“泥絮沾来薄幸名”用泥絮之典写泥絮沾来薄幸名——“泥絮沾来薄幸名”用沾泥之絮之典写泥絮沾来、薄幸之名——泥絮沾来薄幸名。二句写风蓬飘尽悲歌气、泥絮沾来薄幸名：风蓬飘尽悲歌气，泥絮沾来薄幸名。以“风蓬飘尽悲歌气”用风蓬之喻写如蓬飘尽、悲歌之气，以“泥絮沾来薄幸名”用泥絮之典写泥絮沾尘、薄幸之名，正是黄景仁诗写身世之叹的深化——风蓬飘尽，泥絮沾名。
The middle uses the metaphors of wind-tumbled tumbleweed and mud-stained catkin, writing the tumbleweed shed of the lament and the catkin's faithless name, the deepening of the poem's sigh over his lot. The wind-tumbled tumbleweed has shed its air of the sad song uses the wind-borne tumbleweed metaphor, writes the tumbleweed's drifting done and the air of the lament. The mud-stained catkin has earned the faithless name uses the allusion to the mud-stained catkin, writes the catkin's stain and the name of the faithless. Two lines: the tumbleweed shed of the lament, the catkin's faithless name. Writing the tumbleweed-like drifting spent and the air of the lament, writing the mud-stained catkin and the faithless name, precisely the deepening of the sigh over his lot — the tumbleweed drifted out, the catkin's name stained.
十有九人堪白眼，百无一用是书生。
Nine in ten men deserve the cold eye; the scholar, among a hundred uses, has not one.
十有九人堪白眼，百无一用是书生。
Nine out of ten men deserve the cold eye; of a hundred uses, not one belongs to the scholar.
中用白眼之典写十有九人堪白眼、百无一用是书生，是全诗写书生失意的名句。“十有九人堪白眼”用阮籍白眼之典写十有九人堪白眼——“十有九人堪白眼”用阮籍白眼之典写十人九人可遭我白眼——十有九人堪白眼；“百无一用是书生”写百无一用是书生——“百无一用是书生”写百无一用的是书生——百无一用是书生。二句写十有九人堪白眼、百无一用是书生：十有九人堪白眼，百无一用是书生。以“十有九人堪白眼”用阮籍白眼之典写十人九人、白眼相向，以“百无一用是书生”写百无一用、书生自叹，正是黄景仁诗写书生失意的名句——白眼世人，书生无用。
The middle uses the allusion to the cold eye, writing nine in ten men deserve the cold eye and the scholar of no use, the famous line of the poem's disappointed scholar. Nine in ten men deserve the cold eye uses the allusion to Ruan Ji's white eye, writes that nine of ten men may receive my cold glance. The scholar, among a hundred uses, has not one writes that the useless in a hundred uses is the scholar. Two lines: nine of ten men for the cold eye, the scholar of no use. Writing through Ruan Ji's allusion the nine of ten men meeting the cold glance, writing the hundred uses of no avail and the scholar's self-sigh, precisely the famous line of the disappointed scholar — the cold eye for the world, the scholar of no use.
莫因诗卷愁成谶，春鸟秋虫自作声。
Do not let the verses turn sorrow into a prophecy; the spring bird and the autumn worm each sing their own song.
莫因诗卷愁成谶，春鸟秋虫自作声。
Do not let my verses turn sorrow into an omen; the spring bird and the autumn worm sing of themselves.
末写莫因诗卷愁成谶、春鸟秋虫自作声，是全诗写自解之达的归结。“莫因诗卷愁成谶”写莫因诗卷愁成谶——“莫因诗卷愁成谶”写莫因诗卷、愁成谶语——莫因诗卷愁成谶；“春鸟秋虫自作声”写春鸟秋虫自作声——“春鸟秋虫自作声”写春鸟秋虫、自鸣其声——春鸟秋虫自作声。二句写莫因诗卷愁成谶、春鸟秋虫自作声：莫因诗卷愁成谶，春鸟秋虫自作声。以“莫因诗卷愁成谶”写莫愁诗谶、自解之语，以“春鸟秋虫自作声”写春鸟秋虫、自鸣其声，正是黄景仁诗写自解之达的归结——莫愁诗谶，自鸣自声。
The closing writes do not let the verses turn sorrow into a prophecy and the spring bird and autumn worm singing themselves, the resolution of the poem's self-consoling composure. Do not let the verses turn sorrow into a prophecy writes the warning against the verse's grief becoming an omen, the self-consoling word. The spring bird and the autumn worm each sing their own song writes the spring bird and autumn worm, each voicing its own note. Two lines: do not let the verses turn sorrow into an omen; the spring bird and autumn worm sing of themselves. Writing the not-dreading of the poetic omen, the self-consoling words, writing the spring bird and autumn worm voicing their own sound, precisely the resolution of the composed self-consolation — do not dread the verse-omen, each singing its own voice.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Compare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
黄景仁《绮怀》写情愁之深、身世之感，与本首同为黄景仁诗写情愁失意。差异在主题：杂感写书生失意；绮怀写绮怀情愁。一写“世”之叹，一写“情”之愁。两者并读，可见黄景仁诗写情愁失意的两种主题。
癸巳除夕偶成 Spontaneous on New Year's Eve (Gui-Si Year) 黄景仁 · 同为黄景仁诗写岁暮感慨，一写书生无用一写除夕偶成，皆深婉 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
黄景仁《癸巳除夕偶成》写除夕感慨、年年岁岁，与本首同为黄景仁诗写岁暮感慨。差异在情境：杂感写书生失意；癸巳除夕偶成写除夕之感。一写“世”之叹，一写“岁”之慨。两者并读，可见黄景仁诗写岁暮感慨的两种情境。
别老母 Farewell to My Aged Mother 黄景仁 · 同为黄景仁诗写身世之悲，一写书生无用一写别母之痛，皆悲切 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
黄景仁《别老母》写别母之痛、风雪之悲，与本首同为黄景仁诗写身世之悲。差异在主题：杂感写书生失意；别老母写别母之痛。一写“世”之叹，一写“亲”之痛。两者并读，可见黄景仁诗写身世之悲的两种主题。