唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
别房太尉墓
Parting from the Tomb of Minister Fang
他乡复行役，驻马别孤坟。
近泪无干土，低空有断云。
对棋陪谢傅，把剑觅徐君。
唯见林花落，莺啼送客闻。
I halt my horse to part from your lonely grave.
Tears fall so near there is no dry earth;
In the low sky hang fractured clouds.
I recall playing go, attending Minister Xie;
Now I bear a sword, seeking the lord Xu.
All I see is forest blossoms falling—
An oriole's cry seeing the guest off, heard.
Meaning
Du Fu pauses on his travels to bid farewell at the grave of his late patron and friend Fang Guan. Overwhelmed with grief, he evokes their past friendship (likened to Xie An) and his own fidelity (likened to Ji Zha's sword), then leaves as blossoms fall and an oriole sings—emotion sealed in scene.
我远在他乡，又要辗转行役，驻马与你这座孤坟告别。泪水滴落，坟前的土地都未曾干过；低空中，飘着几缕断云。想当年与你对弈，如同陪伴谢安；如今又像季札挂剑般，来寻徐君之墓。如今只见林花纷纷飘落，莺啼声声，像是在送我这远来的客人。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] Again on official travel in a strange land, the poet reins in his horse to take leave of Fang Guan's solitary tomb. His tears soak the earth; broken clouds drift in the low sky. He remembers playing go with the minister like Xie An, and now, like Ji Zha with his sword, comes to honour a dead friend. Only falling blossoms and an oriole's farewell song remain. [Structure] Narrative opening (arrival at the grave), grief-tableau (tears, clouds), allusive memento of friendship (Xie, Xu), and a scene-ending close (blossoms, oriole). [Allusion] The Xie An and Ji Zha references dignify the bond and the poet's loyalty beyond death. [Tone] Restrained, deep, elegiac—Du Fu at his most devoted.
【白话串讲】 杜甫写《别房太尉墓》：“他乡复行役，驻马别孤坟”——“近泪无干土，低空有断云”——“对棋陪谢傅，把剑觅徐君”——“唯见林花落，莺啼送客闻”——他祭别房太尉墓——近泪无干土。 【意象与手法】 “他乡复行役，驻马别孤坟”写驻马别孤坟；“近泪无干土，低空有断云”以泪湿坟土、云断低空写悲情之深；“对棋陪谢傅，把剑觅徐君”以谢傅徐君二典写知交之道；结以“唯见林花落，莺啼送客闻”以林花落莺啼写哀思不尽。一往情深。 【情感与主旨】 杜甫途经阆州凭吊故友房琯之墓所作，写行役中凭吊故人的苍凉与知交之谊，以“近泪无干土”写悲情之深，是杜甫悼亡怀友诗中的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“近泪无干土，低空有断云”以泪湿坟土写悲情；“对棋陪谢傅，把剑觅徐君”以谢傅徐君写知交。
Background
Du Fu (712–770) wrote this at the tomb of Fang Guan (d. 763), a high minister and personal patron whom Du Fu had defended at great political cost. Fang, posthumously 'Taiwei' (a title of honour), was a friend of genuine intellectual kinship. The poem belongs to Du Fu's late exile years in the southwest, when he repeatedly visited the graves of lost friends, and is a touchstone of Tang elegiac friendship poetry.
《别房太尉墓》为唐代诗人杜甫所作五言律诗。房太尉即房琯，字次律，河南缑氏人，唐玄宗朝曾任宰相，肃宗朝因陈涛斜之败而罢相，后贬为汉州刺史、阆州刺史，宝应二年（763）卒于阆州，赠太尉。杜甫与房琯交谊深厚，房琯为相时，杜甫任左拾遗，曾因上疏救房琯而触怒肃宗，几遭贬谪，可见二人交谊之深。房琯卒后，杜甫流寓成都，闻其讣而作《祭故相国清河房公文》。广德二年（764），杜甫将离阆州，途经房琯墓前，驻马凭吊，赋此诗以别。诗中「他乡复行役」写自己客居他乡、又将远行；「驻马别孤坟」写凭吊故人之墓；「近泪无干土，低空有断云」写悲情之深、哀思之重；「对棋陪谢傅，把剑觅徐君」用谢安、季札之典写知交之情；「唯见林花落，莺啼送客闻」以景写情，写凭吊后的寂寥。此诗是杜甫悼亡怀友之作，一往情深，既见其对房琯的深切追念，亦见其宦途飘零、知交零落的身世之悲，是杜甫五律中哀婉深挚的名篇。
Art
The poem binds narration, grief, and allusion into a tight elegy. The opening places the poet 'again on official travel,' a rootless frame that makes the grave-visit poignant. The second couplet externalizes sorrow: tears leave 'no dry earth,' and 'fractured clouds' mirror his broken state—image and mood perfectly matched. The third couplet is the emotional core: 'playing go with Minister Xie' honours Fang as a statesman-scholar (Xie An), while 'bearing a sword, seeking lord Xu' declares Du Fu's own fidelity (Ji Zha's pledged sword). The close abandons statement for pure scene—falling blossoms and an oriole's cry—so feeling dissolves into landscape, the classical 'ending with scene' that leaves grief resonant and unspoken.
此诗艺术上以「叙事用典相融、以景结情」见长。全诗八句，前四句写凭吊之状，后四句写追思之情。首联「他乡复行役，驻马别孤坟」叙事起笔：客居他乡，又将辗转行役，行经此处，驻马与故友的孤坟告别，「他乡」「行役」写己身之飘零，「孤坟」写故友之寂寞，一飘零一寂寞，起笔即见苍凉。颔联「近泪无干土，低空有断云」写凭吊之悲：泪水滴落，坟前之土未曾干过；低空之中，飘着断云。「无干土」极写泪之多、悲之深，「断云」以景写哀，天亦含悲。颈联「对棋陪谢傅，把剑觅徐君」用两个典故写知交之情：谢安之对弈、季札之挂剑，皆写生死不渝之交谊，以古人之情写己与房琯之情。尾联「唯见林花落，莺啼送客闻」以景作结：凭吊既毕，只见林花飘落，莺啼声声，似在送客。花落莺啼，写尽凭吊后的寂寥与哀思，以景结情，含蓄不尽。全诗由叙事而写悲、由用典而写情、由写景而收束，章法井然，哀婉深挚，是杜甫五律中以真情动人的典范。
Allusions
Minister Xie is Xie An (320–385), the Eastern Jin statesman famed for composure and love of go; comparing Fang Guan to him elevates the friend as a noble, cultured minister. 'Lord Xu' alludes to Ji Zha of Wu, who, finding the lord Xu dead, hung his promised sword on the tree as a pledge kept beyond death—here Du Fu figures his own unbroken loyalty to Fang. Both allusions turn personal mourning into a timeless image of friendship and fidelity.
诗中「对棋陪谢傅，把剑觅徐君」连用两典，皆写知交生死之情。「谢傅」即东晋名相谢安，谢安雅量高致，常与客对弈，淝水之战时犹与人对弈而神色自若，后世以「谢傅棋」为雅事。杜甫以「对棋陪谢傅」写自己当年与房琯的交游，以谢安之比房琯，见其雅量与交谊。「把剑觅徐君」用季札挂剑之典：春秋时吴公子季札出使，途经徐国，徐君喜爱其佩剑而口未言，季札心许之；及返，徐君已死，季札解剑挂于徐君墓树而去，以践心诺。杜甫以季札比己，以徐君比房琯，写其生死不渝之交谊——房琯虽逝，而己之情意不改，如季札挂剑。两典连用，皆写知交之情，典雅而深挚，把诗人对亡友的追念写得含蓄而沉痛，是杜甫善于用典以写深情的典范。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。
Commentary
This elegy is among Du Fu's most cherished tributes to friendship, admired for its restraint: grief is shown, not declared, through wet earth, broken clouds, and the final silent blossoms. The dual allusions (Xie An, Ji Zha) are praised for dignifying both the deceased and the mourner. Alongside his 'Moonlit Night: Remembering My Younger Brothers' and 'Traveling at Night, I Write of My Feelings,' it shows Du Fu's late mastery of the regulated elegy.
这首《别房太尉墓》，是杜甫凭吊故友房琯之作，写得一往情深、哀婉动人。首联「他乡复行役，驻马别孤坟」，写自己客居他乡，又要辗转行役，途经此处，驻马与故友的孤坟告别。一个「复」字，写尽行役之频繁、身世之飘零；一个「孤」字，写尽故友身后之寂寞。飘零的行人，凭吊寂寞的孤坟，起笔便是一派苍凉。颔联「近泪无干土，低空有断云」，写凭吊之悲：泪水滴落，坟前的土都未曾干过，可见其悲之深、情之切；低空中飘着断云，仿佛天地也为这哀思而含悲。「无干土」三字，极写泪之多，虽不无夸张，却正见真情之至。颈联「对棋陪谢傅，把剑觅徐君」，用谢安对弈、季札挂剑两个典故，写自己与房琯的知交之情——当年陪他对弈，如同陪谢安；今日来别，又如季札挂剑于徐君墓前。两个典故，一写生前之交游、一写死后之践诺，把生死不渝的交谊写得含蓄而深挚。尾联「唯见林花落，莺啼送客闻」，凭吊既毕，只见林花飘落、莺啼声声，似在送客。花落莺啼，本是寻常春景，此刻却染上了哀思的颜色。全诗由叙事而写悲、由用典而写情、由写景而收束，一往情深，正是「诗圣」悼亡怀友之作的典范，读之令人低回不已。
Prosody
Line by line
他乡复行役，驻马别孤坟。
In a foreign land, again bound to serve and travel; I halt my horse to part from your lonely grave.
我远在他乡，又要辗转行役，行经此处，驻马与你这座孤坟告别。
In a strange land, again on the road, I rein in my horse to take leave of this lonely grave.
首联叙事起笔，写凭吊之状与身世之悲。「他乡复行役」写自己客居他乡，又要辗转行役，「他乡」见其羁旅之身，「复」字见其行役之频繁、奔波之无定；「驻马别孤坟」写行经此处，驻马与故友的孤坟告别，「孤坟」写故友身后之寂寞，一个「别」字，见其对亡友的郑重与深情。两句一写己身之飘零、一写故友之寂寞，飘零的行人凭吊寂寞的孤坟，起笔即见苍凉，为全诗奠定了哀婉深挚的基调。
The opening couplet narrates, writing the posture of mourning and the grief of lot. In a strange land, again on the road writes that, lodging in a strange land, I am again on the road; the words strange land show the traveler's state, and the word again shows the frequency of the road and the wandering's uncertainty. I rein in my horse to take leave of this lonely grave writes that, passing here, I rein in to say farewell to the old friend's lonely grave; the lonely grave writes the old friend's loneliness after death, and the single word take leave shows the reverence and deep feeling for the dead friend. The two lines, one writing one's own drifting, one writing the old friend's loneliness, the drifting mourner mourning the lonely grave, the opening at once desolate, fixing the plaintive and deep key of the whole.
近泪无干土，低空有断云。
Tears fall so near there is no dry earth; in the low sky hang fractured clouds.
泪水滴落，坟前的土地都未曾干过；低空中，飘着几缕断云。
About the grave, no dry soil for my tears; in the low sky, a few broken clouds.
颔联写凭吊之悲，是全诗最沉痛处。「近泪无干土」写泪水滴落，坟前之土未曾干过，「无干土」极写泪之多、悲之深，虽不无夸张，却正见其对亡友的真情至性；「低空有断云」写低空中飘着断云，「断云」以景写哀，仿佛连天空也为之含悲。两句一写泪湿坟土、一写云断低空，一实一虚，把凭吊之悲写得深沉而苍凉。诗人不直写自己如何悲痛，而以此泪土断云写之，情与景交融，正是「以物写情」的妙笔，读之令人动容。
The jaw couplet writes the grief of mourning, the most painful place of the whole. About the grave, no dry soil for my tears writes that, tears falling, the soil before the grave has not dried; no dry soil writes to the utmost the abundance of tears and the depth of grief, not without exaggeration, yet exactly showing the true feeling for the dead friend. In the low sky, a few broken clouds writes the broken clouds drifting in the low sky; the broken clouds write grief through scenery, as if even the sky shared the grief. The two lines, one writing the tears wetting the grave soil, one writing the clouds breaking in the low sky, one solid one void, writing the mourning grief deep and desolate. The poet does not directly write his own grief, but writes it through this tear-soil and broken cloud, feeling and scenery fused, the fine brush of writing feeling through the object, moving the reader.
对棋陪谢傅，把剑觅徐君。
I recall playing go, attending Minister Xie; now I bear a sword, seeking the lord Xu.
想当年与你对弈，如同陪伴谢安；如今又如季札挂剑，来寻徐君之墓。
Once I faced you at chess, as with Duke Xie; now, sword in hand, I seek Lord Xu.
颈联连用两典，写知交之情，是全诗最见深意处。「对棋陪谢傅」用谢安之典，写自己当年与房琯的交游——谢安雅量高致、好与人对弈，杜甫以谢安比房琯，写当年陪其对弈的知交之乐；「把剑觅徐君」用季札挂剑之典，写今日来别亡友——季札心许徐君之剑，及返而徐君已死，遂挂剑墓树以践心诺，杜甫以季札自比，写其对房琯生死不渝的情谊。两典一写生前之交游、一写死后之践诺，把诗人对亡友的追念与知交之情，写得典雅而深挚，含蓄蕴藉，是杜甫善于用典以写深情的典范。
The neck couplet uses two allusions together, writing the feeling of understanding friends, the deepest place of the whole. Once I faced you at chess, as with Duke Xie uses the allusion to Xie An, writing the old friendship with Fang Guan - Xie An, of high grace, loved playing chess with others; Du Fu compares Fang Guan to Xie An, writing the old delight of facing him at chess. Now, sword in hand, I seek Lord Xu uses the allusion to Ji Zha hanging the sword, writing today's farewell to the dead friend - Ji Zha had promised his heart's sword to Lord Xu, and on his return Lord Xu was dead, so he hung the sword on the grave tree to keep the heart's promise; Du Fu compares himself to Ji Zha, writing his deathless friendship for Fang Guan. The two allusions, one writing the friendship in life, one writing the promise after death, write the poet's cherishing of the dead friend and the feeling of understanding friends, elegant and deep, reserved, the model of Du's skill in using allusions to write deep feeling.
唯见林花落，莺啼送客闻。
All I see is forest blossoms falling—an oriole's cry seeing the guest off, heard.
凭吊既毕，只见林花纷纷飘落，莺啼声声，仿佛在送我这远来的客人。
I see only the forest flowers falling; the oriole's cry is heard, as if seeing the guest off.
尾联以景作结，写凭吊后的寂寥与哀思。「唯见林花落」写只见林花纷纷飘落，「唯见」见其举目所见、唯有落花，一片寂寥；「莺啼送客闻」写莺啼声声，仿佛在送这远来的客人，「送客」二字以物拟人，使莺啼也染上了离别的哀伤。花落莺啼，本是寻常春景，此刻却都成了哀思的注脚。诗人不直写凭吊后的悲伤，而以此落花莺啼写之，以景结情，含蓄不尽，读之令人低回。两句把全诗的哀婉之情收束于一片寂寥的春景之中，是五律「以景结情」的典范之笔。
The tail couplet closes in scenery, writing the solitude and grief after mourning. I see only the forest flowers falling writes that I see only the forest flowers falling; the words only see show that, raising the eyes, there is nothing but fallen flowers, a whole solitude. The oriole's cry is heard, as if seeing the guest off writes the oriole's cries, as if seeing off the traveler from afar; the words seeing the guest off personify the bird, making the oriole's cry carry the grief of parting. The flowers falling and the oriole crying are originally common spring scenery, yet at this moment all become the footnotes of grief. The poet does not directly write the grief after mourning, but writes it through these fallen flowers and oriole cries, closing feeling in scenery, reserved and endless, moving the reader to linger. The two lines gather the whole's plaintive feeling into a lonely spring scene, the model brush of the regulated verse's closing feeling in scenery.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
That poem laments brothers scattered by war under a shared moon; this one mourns a dead friend at his grave. Both spring from Du Fu's southwest exile and share his restrained, deep sorrow.
杜甫《月夜忆舍弟》「露从今夜白，月是故乡明」，写战乱中思念离散的弟弟，「有弟皆分散，无家问死生」写尽乱离之悲，是杜甫怀亲的名篇；《别房太尉墓》则写凭吊亡友房琯，「近泪无干土，低空有断云」写悼亡之悲，是杜甫怀友的名篇。两诗一怀在世之亲、一悼已故之友，一写「无家问死生」的牵挂、一写「把剑觅徐君」的践诺，同是杜甫于乱世流离中对亲情友情的深情流露，并读正可见「诗圣」于家国之悲中那份至深的人间真情。
旅夜书怀 Traveling at Night, I Write of My Feelings 杜甫 · 同写身世飘零，一以天地沙鸥写江湖孤寂，一以驻马孤坟写知交零落，皆可见诗人晚景之悲 Same poet, same wandering-exile mood'Traveling at Night' opens 'a fine breeze ripples the grassy shore' as the poet drifts lonely as a gull; here he halts his horse at a friend's grave. Both regulated octets voice late-exile rootlessness, one cosmic, one elegiac.
杜甫《旅夜书怀》「飘飘何所似，天地一沙鸥」，写晚年漂泊江湖、孤寂无依的身世之悲，以天地沙鸥写尽飘零，是杜甫自写身世的名篇；《别房太尉墓》则写行役途中凭吊亡友，「他乡复行役，驻马别孤坟」写羁旅飘零，「近泪无干土」写知交零落之悲。两诗同写身世飘零：一以天地之大写己身之孤，一以孤坟之寂写知交之亡，皆是杜甫晚年于流离中对人生孤寂的深切体认。对读二诗，正可见「诗圣」于家国与身世双重悲凉中的深沉感慨。