All poems

宋 Song · 诗 Poem

秋夜将晓出篱门迎凉有感·其二

Autumn Night, Dawn Approaching, Stepping Out of the Fence Gate for Cool Air: Feelings, No. 2

陆游

Lu You

感慨Reflection 秋夜Autumn Night

迢迢天汉西南落，喔喔邻鸡一再鸣。
壮志病来消欲尽，出门搔首怆平生。

Far, far the Heavenly River sinks toward the southwest; the neighbour's cock crows again and again.
My proud ambitions, with sickness, are nearly worn away; I step out of the gate, scratch my head, and grieve over my whole life.

Listen

Meaning

Unable to sleep, Lu You steps out of his fence gate into the cool air just before dawn. The Milky Way is sinking toward the southwest and a neighbour's cock crows again and again, marking the approach of morning. He reflects that his proud ambitions have been almost entirely worn away by sickness, and stepping through the gate he scratches his head and grieves over his entire life. The quatrain compresses a night, an illness and a lifetime of disappointed purpose into four lines.

迢迢天汉西南落，喔喔邻鸡一再鸣。壮志病来消欲尽，出门搔首怆平生。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] It is nearly dawn. The Milky Way lies far across the sky, sinking toward the southwest; the neighbour's cock has crowed more than once. The poet, ill and sleepless, steps outside for air and thinks that the ambitions of a lifetime have been worn almost to nothing; he scratches his head and grieves. [Structure] Two lines of scene, two lines of feeling. Nothing connects them explicitly, yet the sinking river and the repeated cock-crow together define the hour at which an old sick man lies awake. [Imagery] The poem is almost bare of ornament. The Heavenly River and the cock are the oldest possible signs of night's end, and their plainness is the point: a man who has spent a life on great designs now measures the night by a neighbour's chicken. The contrast between the vast sky and the small domestic sound carries the whole pathos.

【白话串讲】陆游写《秋夜将晓出篱门迎凉有感·其二》：“迢迢天汉西南落，喔喔邻鸡一再鸣”——“壮志病来消欲尽，出门搔首怆平生”——他秋夜迎凉——壮志病来消欲尽。【意象与手法】此诗写秋夜，以感慨写秋夜，是陆游的名篇。前二句写将晓：「迢迢天汉西南落，喔喔邻鸡一再鸣」写迢迢天汉西南落、喔喔邻鸡一再鸣——写尽将晓的景物；后二句写壮志：「壮志病来消欲尽，出门搔首怆平生」写壮志病来消欲尽、出门搔首怆平生——写尽壮志的消磨。全诗以感慨写秋夜，写尽将晓的景物与壮志的消磨，是陆游的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写秋夜，以感慨写秋夜，是陆游的名篇。此诗为《秋夜将晓出篱门迎凉有感》二首之二。绍熙三年（1192），陆游闲居山阴，秋夜将晓时出篱门迎凉，见天汉（银河）西南将落、邻鸡一再啼鸣，遂生「壮志病来消欲尽」之叹。陆游一生志在恢复中原，然壮志难酬，晚年多病，此诗正是其壮志消磨的写照。此诗写将晓：迢迢天汉西南落，喔喔邻鸡一再鸣——写迢迢天汉西南落、喔喔邻鸡一再鸣，写尽将晓的景物；壮志病来消欲尽，出门搔首怆平生——写壮志病来消欲尽、出门搔首怆平生，写尽壮志的消磨。全诗以感慨写秋夜——那「迢迢天汉西南落」写尽将晓的景物，「出门搔首怆平生」写尽壮志的消磨，写尽将晓的景物与壮志的消磨，是理解陆游感慨诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「迢迢天汉西南落，喔喔邻鸡一再鸣」写将晓的景物；「壮志病来消欲尽」写壮志的消磨；以及全诗以感慨写秋夜、以景启情的手法。

Background

Lu You (1125-1210), courtesy name Wuguan, styled Fangweng, of Shanyin in present-day Shaoxing, was the Southern Song's patriotic poet, with more than nine thousand poems surviving as well as a body of lyrics. This is the second of two poems written under the same title. In 1192, living in retirement at Shanyin and in his sixty-eighth year, he went out through his fence gate before dawn for cool air, saw the Milky Way sinking southwest and heard a neighbour's cock crowing repeatedly, and wrote this poem out of the thought that his ambitions had been worn away by illness. All his life he had meant to recover the central plain; frustrated in that, old and often ill, he became the poet of worn-out purpose. The companion poem, on the same night, deals with the anger of a conquered people; this one deals with the private cost.

此诗写秋夜，以感慨写秋夜，是陆游的名篇。陆游（1125—1210），字务观，号放翁，越州山阴（今浙江绍兴）人，南宋爱国诗人，存诗九千余首，兼工词。此诗为《秋夜将晓出篱门迎凉有感》二首之二。绍熙三年（1192），陆游闲居山阴，秋夜将晓时出篱门迎凉，见天汉（银河）西南将落、邻鸡一再啼鸣，遂生「壮志病来消欲尽」之叹。陆游一生志在恢复中原，然壮志难酬，晚年多病，此诗正是其壮志消磨的写照。此诗写将晓：「迢迢天汉西南落，喔喔邻鸡一再鸣」写迢迢天汉西南落、喔喔邻鸡一再鸣——写尽将晓的景物（迢迢天汉西南落，喔喔邻鸡一再鸣）；「壮志病来消欲尽，出门搔首怆平生」写壮志病来消欲尽、出门搔首怆平生——写尽壮志的消磨（壮志病来消欲尽，出门搔首怆平生）。全诗以感慨写秋夜，写尽将晓的景物与壮志的消磨，是理解陆游感慨诗的重要篇章。此诗写于绍熙三年（1192）秋，陆游时年六十八岁，闲居山阴三山。诗人夜中不眠，将晓时出篱门迎凉，见银河西落、邻鸡频鸣，念及一生恢复中原之志因老病而消磨，遂有此怆然之作。此诗与《秋夜将晓出篱门迎凉有感·其一》（「三万里河东入海」）同题，一写中原沦陷之愤，一写壮志消磨之悲。

Art

Four techniques support the quatrain. First, scene-language sets the hour: the Heavenly River sinking southwest is the standard sign of the last watch. Second, sound confirms it: the cock crows, and crows again, so that time is measured by repetition rather than by a clock. Third, direct statement delivers the grief: ambitions nearly worn away is said without metaphor. Fourth, gesture closes the poem: stepping through the gate and scratching the head turns an unspoken lifetime of disappointment into one small physical action. Two verbal choices deserve notice. The reduplicated far, far gives distance and indifference to the sky, heightening the smallness of the man beneath it. And the phrase again and again, applied to the cock, suggests a night long enough to have been counted - the poet has heard every crow.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以景语写将晓。「迢迢天汉西南落」以景语写将晓——那「天汉西南落」写尽银河的将落，以景语写尽将晓的景物。其二，以声写将晓。「喔喔邻鸡一再鸣」以声写将晓——那「喔喔」「一再鸣」写尽邻鸡的啼鸣，以声写尽将晓的景物。其三，以直抒写壮志。「壮志病来消欲尽」以直抒写壮志——那「消欲尽」写尽壮志的消磨，以直抒写尽壮志的消磨。其四，以动作写怆然。「出门搔首怆平生」以动作写怆然——那「搔首」写尽搔首的动作，以动作写尽怆然的感慨。此外，此诗前二句写将晓的景物，后二句写壮志的消磨，由景及情，正是感慨诗「以景启情」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以感慨写秋夜，写尽将晓的景物与壮志的消磨，是陆游的代表作。此诗还善于以「迢迢天汉西南落」的「迢迢」写银河之远——那「迢迢」写尽天汉的耿耿，正是以叠字写银河的旷远，以叠字写尽将晓的景物。又善以「喔喔邻鸡一再鸣」的「一再」写鸡鸣之频——一再鸣，正见夜将晓而鸡频鸣，以叠次写尽将晓的景物。

Allusions

The vocabulary belongs to a very old tradition. The Heavenly River, the Milky Way, appears in the Book of Songs in the line that there is a river in heaven; its sinking westward is the conventional sign of a night ending. The cock-crow recalls Wen Tingyun's cock-crow and moon over the thatched inn, and more generally the midnight cock that marks the hours. Proud ambitions reaches back to Cao Cao's noble-hearted man in later years, whose great heart does not cease - the very tradition Lu You is lamenting that he cannot live up to. Scratching the head recalls Du Fu's white hair scratched thinner, almost too sparse to hold a pin. And grieving over a whole life echoes Chen Zi'ang's gazing on heaven and earth and weeping alone.

此诗的用语深植于感慨与秋夜传统。「天汉」令人想到「天汉」写银河的意象——也令人想到《诗经·小雅·大东》「维天有汉」的意象；「西南落」令人想到「西南落」写银西落的意象——也令人想到「星汉西流夜未央」的意象；「喔喔」令人想到「喔喔」写鸡鸣的象声——也令人想到「鸡声茅店月」（温庭筠）的意象；「邻鸡」令人想到「邻鸡」写邻家鸡的意象——也令人想到「半夜鸡鸣」的意象；「壮志」令人想到「壮志」写壮志的意象——也令人想到「烈士暮年，壮心不已」（曹操）的意象；「搔首」令人想到「搔首」写搔首的意象——也令人想到「白头搔更短，浑欲不胜簪」（杜甫）的意象。全诗化用天汉、西南落、喔喔、邻鸡、壮志、搔首的意象，以感慨写秋夜，正是陆游「沉郁」而善写实、承感慨传统写壮志之本领。「壮志」令人想到曹操《龟虽寿》「老骥伏枥，志在千里；烈士暮年，壮心不已」的壮心意象——也令人想到辛弃疾《破阵子》「了却君王天下事」的壮志意象；「怆平生」令人想到陈子昂《登幽州台歌》「念天地之悠悠，独怆然而涕下」的怆然意象。

Commentary

The quatrain is ranked among Lu You's finest reflective pieces and is a standard example of Song poetry on worn-out ambition. Qing critics praised it as reflection written through an autumn night, melancholy and sorrowful; modern readers single out the line about ambitions worn away as its signature. Its special value is economy: four lines hold a night, an illness and a lifetime, and the last line's small gesture carries more than a longer poem could. Set beside his poem on the fourth of the eleventh month - where a man lies stiff in a lonely village yet dreams of iron horses and frozen rivers - it shows the two faces of his old age: there the dream still comes, here even the dream has gone. It also belongs to the tradition running from Cao Cao's unceasing heart, in which the failure of great designs is the proper subject of poetry.

此诗历来被推为陆游感慨诗的名篇，也是宋诗写壮志消磨的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以感慨写秋夜，沉郁悲怆」；近人更指出「壮志病来消欲尽」写壮志的消磨，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以四句的绝句写尽将晓的景物与壮志的消磨——那迢迢，那天汉，那西南落，那喔喔，那邻鸡，那一再鸣，那壮志，那病来，那消欲尽，那出门，那搔首，那怆平生，都写尽了陆游笔下的秋夜将晓；那「出门搔首怆平生」更以动作写尽怆然的感慨。此诗与陆游《十一月四日风雨大作·其二》（「僵卧孤村不自哀」）同为壮志名篇，一写「铁马冰河入梦来」的入梦（十一月四日其二），一写「壮志病来消欲尽」的消磨（秋夜将晓其二）；又与曹操《龟虽寿》「烈士暮年，壮心不已」的壮心传统一脉相承，可见中国诗写壮志的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解陆游感慨诗的窗口，也是宋诗写秋夜将晓的经典——那搔首怆生的身影，穿越千年，仍在诉说着壮志的消磨。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (jueju), four lines诗·七言绝句

Rhyme Level-tone rhyme in the geng group carried throughout: crows, life. One rhyme from opening to close.七绝，押「鸣」「生」韵（下平八庚），一韵到底，音节沉郁

Tone pattern As a seven-character quatrain rhyming in the level tone, the music is even and melancholy, matching the weight of the reflection.此诗为七言绝句，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节沉郁，正合感慨的沉郁。

Reading note The first couplet gives the sinking Milky Way and the crowing cock; the second gives the worn-out ambition and the gesture of grief. With only two rhyme-words in four lines, the poem is unusually compressed, and the tonal pattern is regular, so the sadness is carried entirely by content rather than by metrical irregularity. In reading, the first line should be delivered slowly and levelly to suggest the great distance of the sky, and the last line with a slight hesitation at the scratching of the head, ending on a prolonged note of grief. Lu You's quatrains are known for their melancholy weight, and this is a representative example.此诗为七言绝句，四句——「迢迢天汉西南落，喔喔邻鸡一再鸣。壮志病来消欲尽，出门搔首怆平生」，押「庚」韵（鸣、生），一韵到底，音节沉郁。全诗以感慨写秋夜：前二句写将晓的景物（迢迢天汉西南落、喔喔邻鸡一再鸣），后二句写壮志的消磨（壮志病来消欲尽、出门搔首怆平生）。四句短章，前写将晓，后写壮志，以「出门搔首怆平生」写尽壮志的消磨，正见陆游「沉郁」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以平缓的语调读「迢迢天汉西南落」的将晓，以沉郁的语调读「出门搔首怆平生」的怆然，结句要读得沉郁而有余韵，方能传达出陆游的沉郁悲怆。陆游绝句以「沉郁」著称，此诗正是其感慨诗的典范。

Line by line

壮志病来消欲尽，出门搔首怆平生

My proud ambitions, with sickness, are nearly worn away; I step out of the gate, scratch my head, and grieve over my whole life.

壮志病来消欲尽，出门搔首怆平生。

The high ambition, since illness came, is nearly spent; going out, I scratch my head, grieving my whole life through.

此二句是全诗写壮志的核心，以壮志病来消欲尽写消欲尽，以出门搔首怆平生写怆平生，写尽壮志的消磨，是千古名句。「壮志病来消欲尽」写壮志病来消欲尽——那「壮志病来」写壮志病来，「消欲尽」写消欲尽，写尽壮志的消磨；「出门搔首怆平生」写出门搔首怆平生——那「出门搔首」写出门搔首，「怆平生」写怆平生，写尽搔首的怆然。这句的深意在于：它以「壮志病来消欲尽」的消磨与「出门搔首怆平生」的怆然，写尽壮志的消磨——壮志病来消欲尽，那「壮志病来消欲尽」写尽壮志的消磨——壮志病来，正是病中壮志的写照，那「消欲尽」写尽壮志的消磨；出门搔首怆平生，那「出门搔首怆平生」写尽搔首的怆然——出门搔首，正是出门搔首的写照，那「怆平生」写尽怆然的感慨；那「壮志病来消欲尽」写尽壮志的消磨，那「出门搔首怆平生」写尽搔首的怆然，一写壮志，一写搔首，写尽壮志的消磨——壮志消尽而搔首怆生，正是壮志难酬的写照；此二句以消磨、怆然写尽壮志的消磨，也让此二句成为全诗写壮志的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「老了又有病，以前的志向都磨灭了，很感慨」，则失其沉郁；唯以「壮志病来消欲尽」写消欲尽、「出门搔首怆平生」写怆平生，写尽壮志的消磨，也让此二句成为全诗写壮志的核心。

The two lines are the core of the poem's high ambition, writing the near-spent through the high ambition, since illness came, is nearly spent and the lifelong grief through going out, I scratch my head, grieving my whole life through, exhausting the wearing away of resolve. The high ambition, since illness came, is nearly spent is precisely the picture of the sickbed's faded resolve; going out, I scratch my head, grieving my whole life through precisely the picture of the scratching head's sorrow. The deep meaning: the ambition spent and the grief born as he scratches his head, precisely the picture of the ambition unfulfilled. One writes the resolve, one the scratching, exhausting the wearing away. Were it said plainly old and ill, my old ambitions all worn away, I feel deeply, the somberness would be softened; only through the illness-spent ambition and the head-scratching grief is the resolve exhausted, making the lines the core of the poem.

迢迢天汉西南落，喔喔邻鸡一再鸣

Far, far the Heavenly River sinks toward the southwest; the neighbour's cock crows again and again.

迢迢天汉西南落，喔喔邻鸡一再鸣。

The far, far Milky Way sinks southwest; crow-crow, the neighbor's cock crows again and again.

此二句是全诗写将晓的核心，以迢迢天汉西南落写西南落，以喔喔邻鸡一再鸣写一再鸣，写尽将晓的景物，是千古名句。「迢迢天汉西南落」写迢迢天汉西南落——那「迢迢天汉」写迢迢天汉，「西南落」写西南落，写尽银河的将落；「喔喔邻鸡一再鸣」写喔喔邻鸡一再鸣——那「喔喔邻鸡」写喔喔邻鸡，「一再鸣」写一再鸣，写尽邻鸡的啼鸣。这句的深意在于：它以「迢迢天汉西南落」的将落与「喔喔邻鸡一再鸣」的啼鸣，写尽将晓的景物——迢迢天汉西南落，那「迢迢天汉西南落」写尽银河的将落——迢迢天汉，正是银河耿耿的写照，那「西南落」写尽将晓的景物；喔喔邻鸡一再鸣，那「喔喔邻鸡一再鸣」写尽邻鸡的啼鸣——喔喔邻鸡，正是鸡鸣报晓的写照，那「一再鸣」写尽将晓的景物；那「迢迢天汉西南落」写尽银河的将落，那「喔喔邻鸡一再鸣」写尽邻鸡的啼鸣，一写天，一写鸡，写尽将晓的景物——银河将落而邻鸡频鸣，正是夜将晓的写照；此二句以银河、鸡鸣写尽将晓的景物，也为下文的壮志作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写将晓的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「天快亮了，鸡也叫了」，则失其意境；唯以「迢迢天汉西南落」写西南落、「喔喔邻鸡一再鸣」写一再鸣，写尽将晓的景物，也让此二句成为全诗写将晓的核心。

The two lines are the core of the poem's near-dawn, writing the southwest sinking through the far, far Milky Way sinks southwest and the repeated crow through crow-crow, the neighbor's cock crows again and again, exhausting the pre-dawn scenery. The far, far Milky Way sinks southwest is precisely the picture of the faint galaxy sinking; crow-crow, the neighbor's cock crows again and again precisely the picture of the rooster heralding dawn. The deep meaning: the galaxy sinking and the neighbor's cock crowing, precisely the picture of the night turning to dawn. One writes the sky, one the cock, exhausting the near-dawn scene. Were it said plainly it is almost dawn and the rooster has crowed, the mood would be lost; only through the sinking galaxy and the repeated crow is the near-dawn exhausted, preparing the later ambition and making the lines the core of the poem.

Study

Word focus

欲 In the line about ambition worn away, this word means about to, on the point of. It stops short of completion, so the ambition is not yet wholly gone but nearly so, and it is precisely that small surviving remainder that gives the line its pain - the poet is watching the last of his purpose disappear. 「壮志病来消欲尽」之「欲」字是写消磨的关键词，一个「欲」字写尽壮志的将尽。欲者，将要、快要也。陆游以「壮志病来消欲尽」写消磨，这个「欲」字至少有双重意味：其一，写尽之欲——那「壮志病来消欲尽」写壮志病来消欲尽，那「欲」字写尽壮志的将尽——消欲尽，正是将消磨殆尽的写照，那「欲」字写尽壮志的消磨；其二，写情之痛——那「欲」字更是写痛——欲，正见将尽的无奈，那「欲」字写尽壮志难酬的悲怆。以「欲」字写消磨，正是陆游写感慨的枢纽——若换作「将」「渐」等字，则或失其与「壮志病来」「消欲尽」的配合，或失其写欲的意味；唯「欲」字，以壮志病来消欲尽写尽壮志之将尽与无奈之悲怆，与「出门搔首怆平生」的怆然相合，写尽壮志的消磨，也让「壮志病来消欲尽」成为全诗写消磨的名句。

怆 In grieving over a whole life, this word means stricken with grief, desolate. It is stronger and more inward than ordinary sorrow: it describes the shock of looking back over an entire existence and finding it wasted, which is why the poem closes on this word rather than on a resolution. 「出门搔首怆平生」之「怆」字是写感慨的关键词，一个「怆」字写尽怆然的悲怆。怆者，悲伤、凄怆也。陆游以「出门搔首怆平生」写感慨，这个「怆」字至少有双重意味：其一，写情之怆——那「出门搔首怆平生」写出门搔首怆平生，那「怆」字写尽怆然的悲怆——怆平生，正是为平生而怆的写照，那「怆」字写尽壮志的消磨；其二，写意之深——那「怆」字更是写深——怆，正见感慨的深沉，那「怆」字写尽陆游的悲怆。以「怆」字写感慨，正是陆游写秋夜的枢纽——若换作「悲」「伤」等字，则或失其与「出门搔首」「平生」的配合，或失其写怆的意味；唯「怆」字，以出门搔首怆平生写尽怆然之悲怆与感慨之深沉，与「壮志病来消欲尽」的消欲尽相合，写尽壮志的消磨，也让「出门搔首怆平生」成为全诗写感慨的名句。