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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

书愤

Written in Indignation

陆游

Lu You

爱国Patriotism 言志Expressing Ambition 悲愤Grief and Indignation

早岁那知世事艰，中原北望气如山。
楼船夜雪瓜洲渡，铁马秋风大散关。
塞上长城空自许，镜中衰鬓已先斑。
出师一表真名世，千载谁堪伯仲间。

In youth I did not know the world's hard ways;
Northward, my spirit like the mountains rose.
At night, our warships braved the snow at Guazhou Ferry;
In autumn, iron-clad horsemen dashed through wind at Dasanguan Pass.
Vainly I claimed myself a Great Wall on the frontier;
In the mirror, my hair is already gray.
The Memorial to the Throne shines in history;
Who in a thousand years can compare with Zhuge Liang?

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Meaning

In his youth, the poet did not understand the difficulties of the world. Looking north to the occupied Central Plains, his spirit was as high as mountains. He recalls the battles at Guazhou Ferry in snowy nights and at Dasanguan Pass in autumn wind. He had hoped to be a great frontier wall, but now in the mirror his hair is gray. Zhuge Liang's 'Memorial to the Throne' is truly famous, but after a thousand years, who can match him? The poem expresses the poet's frustration over unfulfilled ambitions and the passage of time.

年轻时哪里懂得世事的艰难，北望中原，胸中豪气如山岳般郁结。还记得当年瓜洲渡口，楼船踏着夜雪进发；大散关前，铁骑踏着秋风驰骋。我曾以塞上长城自我期许，到头来却成空幻，镜中只见衰老的鬓发早已斑白。诸葛亮的《出师表》真可名传后世，千百年来，有谁能与他比肩并称。

Appreciation

This poem is a passionate lament written when Lu You was sixty-two and living in retirement. The title 'Written in Indignation' reflects his anger at thwarted ambitions and lack of opportunity to serve the state. The first couplet recalls youthful aspirations; the second couplet uses vivid imagery of battles; the third contrasts past hopes with present age; the final couplet invokes Zhuge Liang as a model. The poem's structure moves from pride to sorrow, embodying the poet's indomitable spirit.

【白话串讲】 “楼船夜雪瓜洲渡，铁马秋风大散关”——陆游回忆壮年时的豪情，再看镜中白发，一腔孤愤无从排解。他把一生的“气”都写进了这首诗，是南宋最响亮的一声长叹。【意象与手法】全诗今昔对照、气格悲壮。中二联对仗精工【情感与主旨】《书愤》作于南宋淳熙十三年（1186），陆游闲居家乡山阴，时年六十二。自隆兴北伐失利，宋金媾和，恢复大业搁置已久【名句点睛】常考早年壮志与晚年愤懑的强烈对照，及“楼船夜雪瓜洲渡，铁马秋风大散关”的列锦对仗手法

Background

The poem was written in 1186 (Southern Song) when Lu You was living in retirement at Shanyin. After the failure of the Longxing Northern Expedition and the peace treaty with the Jin, the cause of recovery had stalled. Lu You recalls his military service in the front lines at Nanzheng, contrasting it with his current idle old age. This poem gives voice to his solitary grief, a common sentiment among patriotic scholars of the era.

陆游（一一二五—一二一〇），字务观，号放翁，越州山阴人，南宋爱国诗人。《书愤》作于南宋淳熙十三年（一一八六），陆游闲居家乡山阴，时年六十二。自隆兴元年（一一六三）张浚北伐失利，宋金于一一六四年订立隆兴和议，恢复大业搁置已久。陆游早年投身军幕，入蜀从戎，亲历抗金前线，然屡遭主和派排挤，中年以后多被投闲置散。此诗即当功业无成、岁月蹉跎之际，抚今追昔，书其胸中郁愤。就文学传统而言，感时书愤自阮籍《咏怀》、左思《咏史》已然，至杜甫《登楼》《蜀相》以诗写社稷之忧，陆游承其脉而更以恢复为骨。版本上，此诗异文不多，气如山一本作气如山岳，今从通行本。伯仲间之用，本于兄弟长幼之喻以言高下相当。此诗以七律写一生志事，是放翁「诗史」精神与个人遭际交织的力作，亦南宋危局下志士心声的代表。此诗写于陆游闲居山阴、功名落寞之际，实则一生志业之回顾与愤懑所钟；沉郁悲壮，足与其晚年《示儿》并读而见其心迹之始终如一。

Art

The poem contrasts past and present with a solemn tone. The second couplet uses nominal imagery (listing nouns without verbs) in perfect parallelism: 'Warships, night snow, Guazhou Ferry; Iron horses, autumn wind, Dasanguan Pass.' This technique creates a powerful, vivid scene typical of Lu You's style. The third couplet uses the word 'vainly' to mark a turning point from pride to pathos, and the poem ends with a reference to antiquity.

此诗艺术之妙，在于今昔对照、气格悲壮与中二联对仗之精工。首联早岁那知世事艰，中原北望气如山，以少年豪气起笔，气如山三字写郁结之壮志；颔联楼船夜雪瓜洲渡，铁马秋风大散关，以列锦手法写当年戎马经历，纯用名词意象叠加，不着动词而战场如在目前，是宋诗对仗之绝唱；颈联塞上长城空自许，镜中衰鬓已先斑，由昔入今，空字与已字对照，写壮志成空、老鬓先斑之悲；尾联出师一表真名世，千载谁堪伯仲间，以诸葛亮自况兼自伤，结以千年之问。章法上，由少壮之志、中年之战、暮年之悲、千载之叹，层层递进，气脉连贯而沉郁顿挫。其以议论为诗而能以情贯之，是宋诗理趣与唐诗性情融合的典范。中二联一写战史、一写身世，列锦与直抒相间，气脉由壮阔跌入沉哀；章法老成，对仗精工而不失奔放，是放翁七律筋骨与气象之所寄。其以雄阔对仗写沉哀，刚柔相济，最见放翁七律沉郁顿挫之致。

Allusions

The phrase 'Great Wall on the frontier' alludes to the Southern Song general Tan Daoji, who compared himself to a 'Great Wall' protecting the state. Lu You uses it to express his own ambition. 'The Memorial to the Throne' refers to Zhuge Liang's famous petition urging the Shu Han emperor to attack Wei; Lu You admires Zhuge Liang's dedication and laments his own lack of opportunity.

诗中故实多有所本。中原北望承《诗经》及历代北望神州之思，写诗人心系沦陷区。楼船出《汉书·杨仆传》楼船将军之制，瓜洲渡为长江渡口（今江苏扬州南），乃隆兴北伐渡江之处；铁马本于《周礼》及后世骑兵之称，大散关为陕南要隘（今宝鸡西南），宋金对峙前线。塞上长城用南朝檀道济自比万里长城之典（《宋书》载道济云「乃坏汝万里长城」），陆游以之比况自己捍边之志。出师一表指诸葛亮《出师表》，名世、伯仲皆雅语，伯仲间谓不相上下。全诗以诸葛亮为精神偶像，既伤己之未竟，亦以名世相期。镜中衰鬓化用潘岳《秋兴赋》「斑鬓发以承弁」及李白「白发三千丈」之叹老传统。其用典贴切而不奧，是大家熔铸史事于个人抒情的手笔。楼船、铁马、塞上长城、出师一表，皆熔裁史事与军旅语汇；经陆游点化，成为抒写恢复之志的固定意象群，影响南宋爱国诗派乃至后世甚巨。

Commentary

This poem is a masterpiece of Lu You's qiyi (regulated verse). The Qing critic Fang Dongshu praised the second couplet as 'bold and free' and the third as 'bitter and painful'. Qian Zhongshu also commended the couplet's parallelism and grandeur. The poem has a deep melancholy yet retains strength, following Du Fu's tradition of profound and forceful expression.

此诗历来被誉为陆游七律之冠，亦南宋爱国诗的代表作。明人胡应麟《诗薮》称其「气象宏阔」，清人方东树《昭昧詹言》以为「妙在三四（颔联）列锦，不具体的而雄阔」。楼船夜雪、铁马秋风一联，尤被推为宋诗对仗的千古名句，其纯用名词意象叠加的「列锦」手法，启后世无数拟作。此诗因情感深挚、气象悲壮，历来入选总集与教材，现代传播极广。在经典地位上，它与《示儿》一写暮年绝笔之盼、一写中年书愤之悲，共见陆游一生恢复之志；而论宋诗以议论为诗、以才学为诗而能不失性情，则足与黄庭坚、陈师道并观，而以其爱国热血独标高格。学者论陆诗，多以「悲愤出诗人」评之，此篇正其注脚。此诗与《示儿》一悲壮一沉痛，共见陆游毕生以诗为恢复呼号之志；历来选本必录，堪称南宋爱国诗之双璧，光焰至今不灭，读之令人奋起。千载以还，读此诗犹能想见其攘臂奋呼之状，爱国之音，感人至深。

Prosody

Form 七言律诗 (仄起首句入韵)诗（七言律诗）

Rhyme 押上平十五删韵: 艰, 山, 关, 斑, 间押平声删山韵，艰、山、关、斑、间同属平水韵上平十五删，一韵到底，声情沉雄悲壮。

Tone pattern Middle two couplets have perfect parallelism; the second couplet uses nominal juxtaposition; the third couplet contrasts 'frontier' and 'mirror' in a flowing parallel.七言律诗，首联仄起，早岁那知世事艰仄仄仄平仄仄平，中原北望气如山平平平仄仄平平，中二联对仗精工，颔联纯名词列锦，平仄合律，尾联亦协。

Reading note The four couplets follow a clear structure of initiation, development, transition, and conclusion. The nominal imagery in the second couplet is a hallmark of Lu You's patriotic regulated verse.《书愤》为七言律诗，章法严谨而气格悲壮。首联叙事起，颔联以列锦对仗写戎马战史，颈联抒情转悲，尾联以古人为结，起承转合分明。押韵上，艰、山、关、斑、间同属平水韵十五删，一韵贯通，声情沉雄而略带苍凉，与书愤之题相协。平仄方面，中二联对仗最为精工：颔联楼船夜雪对铁马秋风，全以名词意象叠加，不露斧痕；颈联塞上长城对镜中衰鬓，虚实相对。尾联出师一表对千载谁堪，亦工。整体格律与内容相生，是以律法助悲壮的典范，亦见放翁七律中年老成、以议论为诗而不失性情之妙。其律严而气畅，正中见奇。

Line by line

早岁那知世事艰，中原北望气如山。

In youth I did not know the world's hard ways; Northward, my spirit like the mountains rose. This line uses a rhetorical question to express the naivety of youth contrasted with towering ambition.

年轻时哪里懂得世事的艰难，北望中原，胸中豪气如山岳般郁结。

In my early years I knew not the world's hardships; gazing north at the Central Plains, my spirit stood mountain-high.

首联为全诗起笔，写少年壮志与人生反差之伏脉。早岁那知世事艰以反语出之，年少时哪懂得世事艰难，暗含后来饱经挫败的辛酸；中原北望气如山紧承，写北望沦陷中原、胸中豪气郁结如山。气如山三字极有力量，既状豪情之盛，亦暗喻其郁积难舒。这一联由不知到北望，由轻到重，为后文空自许的悲慨埋下张力——正因当年气如山，方显今日之空成哀。起笔即见放翁一生志事的概貌，是七律发端的范例。其气象之宏，已为全篇定调。

The opening couplet is the whole poem's opening, writing the young-lofty-will-and-life-contrast's hidden thread. In-my-early-years-I-knew-not-the-world's-hardships in the ironic words, the youth's how-not-knowing-the-world's-hardships, secretly carrying the later repeated-setback's bitterness; gazing-north-at-the-Central-Plains-my-spirit-stood-mountain-high tightly inherits, writing the north-gazing at the occupied Central Plains and the breast's spirit's mountain-like massing. The spirit-mountain-high three characters the force extreme, at once shaping the lofty feeling's fullness, and secretly the massing's hard-to-unfetter. This couplet, from the not-knowing to the north-gazing, from the light to the heavy, storing the tension for the below's the-vain-self-expectation grief — precisely because of that year's mountain-high spirit, today's the-empty-finished sorrow the clearer. The opening at once seeing Fangweng's whole-life cause's outline, the regulated-verse-opening model. Its grandeur already setting the whole piece's tone.

楼船夜雪瓜洲渡，铁马秋风大散关。

At night, our warships braved the snow at Guazhou Ferry; In autumn, iron-clad horsemen dashed through wind at Dasanguan Pass. This couplet uses six nouns without verbs to paint a vivid picture of military campaigns.

还记得当年瓜洲渡口，楼船踏着夜雪进发；大散关前，铁骑踏着秋风驰骋。

Towers of ships in the night snow at Guazhou ferry; armored horses in the autumn wind at Dasan Pass.

颔联为全诗最著称之句，亦宋诗对仗的千古绝唱。两句纯用名词意象叠加——楼船、夜雪、瓜洲渡，铁马、秋风、大散关，不着一个动词，而当年戎马生涯、抗金战场的壮阔如在目前。列锦手法（以意象并置成境）于此发挥到极致：夜雪写艰苦，秋风写萧飒，楼船铁马写军容，瓜洲大散写前线，色调雄阔苍凉。此联实写陆游早年军幕经历，是对「气如山」的具体注脚，亦是对隆兴北伐的隐忆。对仗工稳而气象宏阔，于静列中见动态，是放翁以诗笔写战史的奇笔。后世学此联者众，终难及其神完气足。

The neck couplet is the whole poem's most renowned line, and Song regulated verse's antithesis swan song through the ages. Two lines purely using noun imagery's superposition — towers of ships, night snow, Guazhou ferry, armored horses, autumn wind, Dasan Pass, not one verb, and yet that year's military life and the Jin-resistant battlefield's grandeur as if before the eyes. The columned-screen technique (imagery's juxtaposition forming the realm) here played to the extreme: the night snow writing the hardship, the autumn wind writing the bleakness, the towers-ships-and-armored-horses writing the army's dignity, the Guazhou-and-Dasan writing the front line, the tone grand and bleak. This couplet the real writing of Lu You's early military-mess service, the concrete annotation of the spirit-mountain-high, and the hidden memory of the Longxing northern expedition. The antithesis's craft and the grandeur, within the still-listing seeing the motion, Fangweng's poem-brush writes-the-war-history wondrous stroke. The later scholars learning this couplet many, and yet finally hard to reach its spirit-complete-and-force-fullness.

塞上长城空自许，镜中衰鬓已先斑。

Vainly I claimed myself a Great Wall on the frontier; In the mirror, my hair is already gray. The word 'vainly' marks a sharp turn from past hopes to present reality.

我曾以塞上长城自我期许，到头来却成空幻，镜中只见衰老的鬓发早已斑白。

I held myself the Great Wall of the frontier, in vain; in the mirror my aging temples are already streaked.

颈联由昔入今，是全诗情感的转折点。塞上长城用檀道济自比万里长城之典，写诗人当年以捍边名将自我期许；空字急转，写此志终成虚幻。镜中衰鬓已先斑以对镜见白发写岁月蹉跎、功业未就，已先二字尤沉，写白发之早、报国之晚。空与已形成对照，一写志之落空，一写身之先老，悲慨交集。这一联将颔联的雄阔战史拉回个人暮年的无奈，由外境转入内身，情感由壮转悲，是「书愤」二字的核心落点。其对照之烈，读之令人扼腕。

The neck couplet from the past turning to the present, the whole poem's emotional turning point. The-frontier's-Great-Wall uses Tan Daoji's self-comparison-to-the-ten-thousand-li-Great-Wall allusion, writing the poet's that-year's self-expectation as the frontier-guarding famous general; the vain word's sudden turn, writing this vow's final unreality. In-the-mirror-my-aging-temples-are-already-streaked writing the mirror's white hair for the years' frittering and the merit's non-achievement, the already-before two words the more grief-stricken, writing the white hair's earliness and the country-service's lateness. The vain and the already forming the contrast, one the vow's falling-through and one the body's first-aging, the grief-sigh interweaving. This couplet pulling the neck couplet's grand war-history back to the personal late-years' helplessness, from the outer scene to the inner body, the emotion from stirring to grief, the book-grief two words' core landing. Its contrast's fierceness, reading it makes the heart clench.

出师一表真名世，千载谁堪伯仲间。

The Memorial to the Throne shines in history; Who in a thousand years can compare with Zhuge Liang? The poet compares himself to Zhuge Liang, expressing both admiration and frustration at his own unfulfilled potential.

诸葛亮的《出师表》真可名传后世，千百年来，有谁能与他比肩并称。

His Memorial on Dispatch of Troops truly lives in the ages; through a thousand years, who can stand his equal?

尾联以诸葛亮收束全篇，是书愤之志的升华。出师一表真名世，既赞孔明《出师表》的千古名世，亦暗以诸葛亮自况——二人同抱恢复之志、同遭时命之阻。千载谁堪伯仲间以千年之问作结，表面推许孔明无人能及，实则以「伯仲」自居，写己志与孔明同调。这一问将个人之愤升格为千载同悲的志士之恨，举重若轻。结句不直抒胸臆而托于古人之评，含蓄而沉痛，是放翁七律以议论收束、余味悠长的范例。其以古证今，志节凛然。

The tail couplet closing the whole piece on Zhuge Liang, the book-grief's will sublimation. His-Memorial-on-Dispatch-of-Troops-truly-lives-in-the-ages, at once praising Kongming's Memorial's through-the-ages renown, and secretly the self-comparison to Zhuge Liang — the two sharing the recovery will, and the same fate's obstruction. Through-a-thousand-years-who-can-stand-his-equal closing on the thousand-year question, the surface's praising Kongming's the unmatched, in truth the self-placing-through-the-equal, writing his own will's same-key-as-Kongming. This question elevating the personal grief to the thousand-year-shared-grief's martyr resentment, the heavy-held-light. The close not direct-uttering-and-yet-entrusted-to-the-ancient's judgment, restrained and grief-stricken, Fangweng's regulated-verse closing-on-argument's model, the aftertaste long. Its ancient-proves-the-present, the will's austerity awe-inspiring.

Study

Word focus

空 The word 'vainly' in line 5 nullifies all past hopes, concentrating the poet's indignation and marking the emotional pivot from pride to sorrow. 空字是颈联乃至全诗的眼目。塞上长城空自许，以空字写当年以捍边名将自许的壮志终成虚幻，一字而兜转前文所有豪情。它与首联气如山、颔联楼船铁马形成强烈反差——曾经的雄阔越是分明，此刻的落空越是沉痛。空不仅是志之未酬，更是时命之无可奈何，含诗人对主和派压抑与岁月虚度的双重愤懑。一个空字，把「书愤」的愤字从外境收归内心，是全诗情感由壮转悲的关键转捩。其力千钧，是陆诗炼字之最著者之一。

气如山 A metaphor comparing spirit to mountains, expressing both the grandeur of the poet's ambition and the weight of his pent-up emotion. 气如山三字是首联写壮志的核心意象。以山岳喻胸中豪气，既状其盛大坚凝，亦暗喻其郁积难舒、如山压胸。它与后文镜中衰鬓的柔弱、空自许的虚幻形成刚柔、虚实的反差，使全诗气脉由如山之盛跌至斑白之衰。这一比喻将抽象的家国之志具象为可感的山岳，力度十足，是放翁以壮语起篇、奠定悲壮基调的范例，亦见宋诗善用比喻以议论入诗的特点。其起如高山，结如低谷，章法之势由此而生。

伯仲 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 伯仲本指兄弟长幼之序（伯为长、仲为次），引申为不相上下、高下相当。尾联千载谁堪伯仲间，以伯仲写诸葛亮《出师表》的千古无匹，表面推许古人，实则以「伯仲」暗喻己志与孔明同调。一词而兼赞古与自况，含蓄蕴藉，既不流于自夸，又见志节之高。伯仲间的「间」字收束千年之问，使结句有余韵。用典雅正而用意深曲，是放翁七律炼字炼意的典型。其以谦退之辞，写自负之志，恰得诗教之中道。

书愤