唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
垂老别
Parting at Old Age
四郊未宁静，垂老不得安。
子孙阵亡尽，焉用身独完。
投杖出门去，同行为辛酸。
幸有牙齿存，所悲骨髓干。
男儿既介胄，长揖别上官。
老妻卧路啼，岁暮衣裳单。
孰知是死别，且复伤其寒。
此去必不归，还闻劝加餐。
土门壁甚坚，杏园度亦难。
势异邺城下，纵死时犹宽。
人生有离合，岂择衰老端。
忆昔少壮日，迟回竟长叹。
万国尽征戍，烽火被冈峦。
积尸草木腥，流血川原丹。
何乡为乐土，安敢尚盘桓。
弃绝蓬室居，塌然摧肺肝。
My children and grandchildren all perished in battle—of what use is it that I alone survive intact?
I cast away my staff and go out the gate; my fellow conscripts ache with sorrow.
Lucky that my teeth remain; what grieves me is that my marrow is dried.
A man once in armor, I bow with a long salute and take leave of my officer.
My old wife lies weeping by the road, her clothing thin at year's end.
Who knows this is a parting unto death? Yet still I grieve for her cold.
Henceforth I shall surely not return, yet I hear her urge me to eat more.
The walls of Tumen are very firm; the crossing at Xingyuan is also hard.
The situation differs from that beneath Yecheng; even if I die, time is still ample.
In life there is meeting and parting—shall one choose the hour of age?
I recall my youthful days of vigor, lingering on, and at last heave a long sigh.
All the realm is conscripted; beacon fires clothe the hills and peaks.
Heaped corpses make the grass and trees reek; flowing blood dyes the plains and rivers red.
What land is a happy land? How dare I linger still?
I forsake my thatched dwelling; it collapses within me and rends my heart and liver.
Meaning
The suburbs are not yet calm; in failing age I know no peace. My children and grandchildren all died in battle—what use is my lone survival? I throw down my staff and go out, and my fellow conscripts grieve for me. My teeth remain, but my marrow is dried. Once armored, I salute my officer and leave. My old wife lies wailing by the road, thin-clad at year's end. Who knows this is a parting unto death—yet I still sorrow for her cold. I shall not return, yet hear her urge me to eat well. The walls of Tumen are strong; Xingyuan hard to cross; the case differs from Yecheng, and even death is not yet near. Life has partings—shall age be spared? I remember my youth and sigh. The whole realm is at war; corpses stink, blood dyes the land. What happy land remains? I forsake my hut, and my heart is torn.
四郊还不得安宁，我垂老之年也不得安身。子孙都已阵亡殆尽，我还保全这残躯有什么用。我扔下拐杖出门去，同行的人都为我心酸。幸而牙齿还存着，可悲的是骨髓已经干枯。男儿既已穿上铠甲，便长揖一礼，告别上官。老妻躺在路边啼哭，岁暮天寒，衣衫单薄。谁知道这一别就是死别，我且再为她伤心那衣裳的单寒。此去必定不能回来了，还听到她劝我多加餐饭。土门的壁垒很是坚固，杏园的渡口也难以渡过。形势与邺城之下不同，纵然战死，时间也还宽缓。人生自有离合，岂能选择衰老之年。想起往昔少壮之时，徘徊不去，终究只能长叹。普天之下都在征戍，烽火燃遍山冈。积尸使草木都带着腥气，流血的川原一片殷红。何处才是乐土，我怎敢还在此徘徊留恋。抛弃这蓬草做的居室，坍塌般摧折了我的心肝。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] The suburbs are not yet at peace; in failing age I find no rest. My children and grandchildren all perished in battle—of what use is it that I alone survive intact? I cast away my staff and go out the gate; my fellow conscripts ache with sorrow. Lucky that my teeth remain; what grieves me is that my marrow is dried. A man once in armor, I bow with a long salute and take leave of my officer. My old wife lies weeping by the road, her clothing thin at year's end. Who knows this is a parting unto death? Yet still I grieve for her cold. Henceforth I shall surely not return, yet I hear her urge me to eat more. The walls of Tumen are very firm; the crossing at Xingyuan is also hard. The situation differs from that beneath Yecheng; even if I die, time is still ample. In life there is meeting and parting—shall one choose the hour of age? I recall my youthful days of vigor, lingering on, and at last heave a long sigh. All the realm is conscripted; beacon fires clothe the hills and peaks. Heaped corpses make the grass and trees reek; flowing blood dyes the plains and rivers red. What land is a happy land? How dare I linger still? I forsake my thatched dwelling; it collapses within me and rends my heart and liver. [Imagery and Method] This is one of Du Fu's 'Three Partings,' in the first person of an old man, writing the tragedy of being conscripted in extreme age—the most desolate of his realist poems. The whole unfolds in the old man's voice: 'suburbs not at peace, no rest in age' the unending war; 'children all dead, of what use my lone survival' life without wish; 'cast away my staff, fellow conscripts ache' the resolve; 'old wife lies weeping, thin clothing' the parting's misery; 'who knows death-parting, yet grieve for her cold' the pain and care; 'Tumen walls firm' his self-consolation; 'all the realm conscripted, beacon fires' the age's depth; closing 'I forsake my hut, rend my heart' the tearing pain. From conscription's grief to parting's pain, to self-consolation to the age's lament, layered and rising, bleak and solemn. [Emotion and Theme] Written spring 759, one of the 'Three Partings.' Through an old man's first-person account it writes how war devours the common people. He is at life's dusk, his children dead in war, yet still conscripted. The poem writes his casting away the staff, parting from his wife, self-consoling, witnessing the age's plight, closing with 'I forsake my hut, rend my heart.' It holds both the old man's solemnity (children gone yet still serves) and his bleakness (conscribed in age, death-parting from wife), and an indictment of war ('heaped corpses reek') and care for the age ('all the realm conscripted'). Its most moving point: Du Fu writes this old man's 'knowing certain death yet going' solemnity and 'death-parting yet caring' deep love—not a coward fearing death, but a bleak figure drained by war yet serving with his remnant body. Both indictment of war and pity for the drained ordinary man, the most desolate and solemn of the Three Partings.
【白话串讲】 杜甫写《垂老别》：“四郊未宁静，垂老不得安”——“子孙阵亡尽，焉用身独完”——儿孙都战死了，他一个老人还要从军。“老妻卧路啼，岁暮衣裳单”——“孰知是死别，且复伤其寒”——“人生无家别，何以为蒸黎”——他写垂老从军的悲凉。 【意象与手法】 此诗是杜甫「三别」之一，以垂老者的第一人称自述，写垂暮之年仍被迫从军的惨剧，是杜甫现实主义诗篇中最苍凉的一首。全诗以老者的口吻展开：「四郊未宁静，垂老不得安」写战乱不息、老不得安；「子孙阵亡尽，焉用身独完」写子孙尽亡、生无可恋；「投杖出门去，同行为辛酸」写弃杖从军、同行心酸；「老妻卧路啼，岁暮衣裳单」写老妻送别的凄惨；「孰知是死别，且复伤其寒」写死别之痛与牵挂；「土门壁甚坚，杏园度亦难」以下，诗人以战事与形势自我宽解；「万国尽征戍，烽火被冈峦」写国难的深重；末以「弃绝蓬室居，塌然摧肺肝」作结，写抛弃家园的撕心之痛。全诗由从军之悲到送别之痛，由自我宽解到国难之叹，层层递进，苍凉悲壮。 【情感与主旨】 此诗作于唐肃宗乾元二年（759）春，是杜甫「三别」之一。诗以一个垂老之人的自述，写出了战乱中百姓被战争彻底吞噬的惨状。主人公已是垂暮之年，子孙都在战乱中阵亡殆尽，本应安度余生，却仍被征召入伍。诗中写他弃杖从军（「投杖出门去」）、与老妻诀别（「老妻卧路啼」「孰知是死别」）、自我宽解（「土门壁甚坚」「纵死时犹宽」）、目睹国难（「万国尽征戍，烽火被冈峦」），最后以「弃绝蓬室居，塌然摧肺肝」写抛弃家园的撕心之痛。诗中既有老者的悲壮（子孙尽亡而犹思报国），也有老者的悲凉（垂老从军、死别老妻），更有对战争的控诉（「积尸草木腥，流血川原丹」）与对国难的忧心（「万国尽征戍」）。全诗最动人之处，在于杜甫写出了这个老者「明知必死仍勇往」的悲壮与「死别老妻仍牵挂」的深情——他不是一个怯懦的怕死者，而是一个被战争榨干一切、却仍以残躯报国的苍凉身影。这既是对战争的控诉，也是对在战争中耗尽生命的普通人的悲悯，是「三别」中最苍凉、最悲壮的一首。 【名句点睛】 常考“老妻卧路啼，岁暮衣裳单”写老妻送别的凄惨场景；“孰知是死别，且复伤其寒”写明知死别仍牵挂其寒暖的刻骨之痛。
Background
Written spring of the second year of Qianyuan (759), one of Du Fu's 'Three Partings.' After the Tang armies' defeat at Yecheng (Xiangzhou), Du Fu, returning from Luoyang to Huazhou, saw the ruin and wrote the 'Three Officials and Three Partings.' This writes an old man still conscripted: his children all dead in war, yet levied. 'Cast away my staff and go out' his resolve; 'old wife lies weeping by the road' her grief; 'who knows this is a parting unto death' the premonition; 'Tumen walls firm, Xingyuan crossing hard' the Heyang defenses; 'the situation differs from Yecheng' his self-consolation. The last 'all the realm conscripted… heaped corpses reek' is Du Fu's general indictment. With 'The Newlywed's Parting' and 'The Homeless' it forms the Three Partings—newlywed, old, homeless—this the most bleak and solemn, Du Fu's deepest pity for the individual.
此诗作于唐肃宗乾元二年（759）春，是杜甫「三别」之一。此前，唐军九节度使围攻相州（邺城）大败，史称「相州之败」。战后，杜甫从洛阳回华州任所，途经河南一带，目睹战乱后的惨状，写下「三吏三别」六首诗。《垂老别》写的是垂老之人仍被迫从军的惨状。诗中主人公已是垂暮之年，子孙都在战乱中阵亡（「子孙阵亡尽，焉用身独完」），却仍被征召入伍。诗中「投杖出门去」写其弃杖从军，「同行为辛酸」写同行者的同情，「老妻卧路啼，岁暮衣裳单」写老妻送别的凄惨，「孰知是死别，且复伤其寒」写死别的预感与牵挂，「此去必不归，还闻劝加餐」写老妻强忍悲痛劝其加餐的深情。诗中「土门壁甚坚，杏园度亦难」写河阳一带的防务（土门即土门关，杏园即杏园渡，皆在河阳一带），「势异邺城下，纵死时犹宽」写此去与邺城之败形势不同、或许尚有一线生机，是老者自我宽解之辞，愈见其悲。末段「万国尽征戍，烽火被冈峦。积尸草木腥，流血川原丹」写安史之乱中普天之下的惨状，是杜甫对战争的总体控诉。此诗与《新婚别》《无家别》合称「三别」，分别以「新婚」「垂老」「无家」三种身份写战乱中的生离死别，而《垂老别》是其中情感最苍凉、最悲壮的一首，也是杜甫「诗圣」精神中对个体生命最沉痛的悲悯之一。
Art
Four aspects. First, the first-person bleak monologue: the old man's voice layers his mind—from 'no rest in old age' to 'children all dead' to 'cast away my staff' to 'old wife weeps' to 'the situation differs' to 'I forsake my hut'—rich and bleak. Second, vivid action and detail: 'cast away my staff' (he needed it, now throws it—resolve); 'old wife lies weeping' (too weak to stand); 'hear her urge me to eat more' (she knows death yet urges food)—utmost poignancy. Third, the tension of consolation vs bleak: 'Tumen walls firm' 'even if I die, time ample' is his comfort, yet 'who knows death-parting' 'shall not return' affirms his fate—the harder he consoles, the deeper the bleak, the most sorrowful tension. Fourth, from person to state: 'all the realm conscripted…' lifts private grief to age-indictment, 'writing the age through a person.'
此诗的艺术特色可从四个层面解析。其一，第一人称的苍凉自述。全诗以垂老者的第一人称自述，层层铺写其从军前后的心理：从「垂老不得安」的悲叹，到「子孙阵亡尽」的生无可恋，到「投杖出门去」的决绝，到「老妻卧路啼」的牵挂，到「势异邺城下」的自我宽解，到「弃绝蓬室居」的撕心之痛——心理层次丰富而苍凉，把一个垂老从军者的复杂心绪写得淋漓尽致。其二，动作与细节的传神。「投杖出门去」的弃杖（老者本需拄杖，如今弃杖从军，动作中见其决绝与悲壮）、「老妻卧路啼」的卧啼（老妻无力站立，卧于路旁啼哭）、「还闻劝加餐」的劝餐（老妻明知死别，仍强忍悲痛劝其加餐），皆是极传神的细节，写尽人间至悲。其三，宽解与悲凉的张力。诗中「土门壁甚坚」「势异邺城下，纵死时犹宽」是老者自我宽解之辞，而「孰知是死别」「此去必不归」又直承其必死之命——宽解越努力，悲凉越深重，这种「明知必死犹自宽解」的张力，正是全诗最沉痛之处。其四，由个人到国家的推宕。「万国尽征戍，烽火被冈峦。积尸草木腥，流血川原丹」由个人的遭遇推及普天之下的惨状，把个人的悲凉升华为对时代的控诉，是「以个人写时代」的笔法。四重手法层层推进，使此诗成为「三别」中最苍凉、最悲壮的一首。
Allusions
Its images root in the shi-jing, Yuefu, and 'nineteen old poems.' 'The suburbs not yet calm' the 'four suburbs many ramparts' of war; 'children all dead, of what use my lone survival' a rhetorical 'of what use.' 'Cast away my staff'—the old need a staff (Liji 'at fifty staff at home, sixty in the village'); throwing it shows war's break of rite and humanity. 'Long salute' the ancient bow, his dignity in grief. 'Old wife lies weeping' echoes the Shijing farewell; 'year's end thin clothing' her poverty. 'Who knows death-parting, yet grieve for her cold' borrows the 'nineteen old poems' 'not a full hundred years, forever a thousand-year worry.' 'Hear her urge me to eat more' borrows the Yuefu 'add a meal'—the wife's deep love. 'Tumen' 'Xingyuan' Heyang place-names; 'the situation differs from Yecheng' contrasts the defeat. 'All the realm conscripted' 'beacon fires'; 'heaped corpses reek, blood dyes red' borrows the Yuefu 'white bones bared in the wild' and Cao Cao. 'I forsake my thatched dwelling' the Shijing 'peng men' poor home; 'rend my heart and liver' the pain. The whole borrows shi-jing, Yuefu, old poems to write wartime through the old man—Du Fu's 'write current affairs in old forms.'
此诗的意象与用语深植于古诗传统与杜甫「诗史」精神。「四郊未宁静」的「四郊」写战乱波及四方（《诗经·小雅·小弁》「四郊多垒」即写战乱），「垂老不得安」写老不安生。「子孙阵亡尽，焉用身独完」的「焉用」是反问（「哪里用得着」），写生无可恋的决绝。「投杖出门去」的「投杖」写弃杖从军——老者本需拄杖，如今扔下拐杖从军，动作中见其决绝，令人想到《礼记》「五十杖于家，六十杖于乡」的养老制度，垂老之人本应安养，如今却弃杖从军，正见战争对礼制与人道的破坏。「长揖别上官」的「长揖」，是古礼中较恭敬的拱手礼，老者以长揖与上官告别，不失体统，愈见其悲壮。「老妻卧路啼」令人想到《诗经·邶风·谷风》「行道迟迟，中心有违」的送别，而「岁暮衣裳单」写老妻的贫寒。「孰知是死别，且复伤其寒」化用《古诗十九首》「生年不满百，常怀千岁忧」的悲慨。「此去必不归，还闻劝加餐」的「劝加餐」，化用汉乐府《饮马长城窟行》「长跪读素书，书中竟何如：上言加餐食，下言长相忆」——老妻劝其加餐，正是这乐府中「加餐食」的深情。「土门」「杏园」是河阳一带的地名（土门关、杏园渡），写防务。「势异邺城下」写与邺城之败形势不同，「纵死时犹宽」写或许尚有一线生机。「万国尽征戍，烽火被冈峦」的「烽火」，写战火之盛，「积尸草木腥，流血川原丹」化用汉乐府「白骨露于野，千里无鸡鸣」的惨状与曹操「白骨露于野」的诗句，写战争之惨。末句「弃绝蓬室居，塌然摧肺肝」的「蓬室」，写贫贱的居所（《诗经》「蓬门」意象），「摧肺肝」写撕心之痛。全诗化用诗经、乐府、古诗的意象与传统，以垂老者的口吻写战乱之惨，正是杜甫「以古诗写时事」的本领。
Commentary
Long ranked the most bleak and solemn of the Three Partings, the most sorrowful 'old man conscripted' in Chinese poetry. Critics prize it: Qiu Zhao'ao's 'Du Poems Annotated' says 'writes the old conscript's suffering, every word sour to the heart'; Pu Qilong's 'Reading Du Mind Opened' calls 'this parting most bitter, yet the words most solemn'—the old man's voice, bleak and solemn. Its special value: among the Three Partings it uses 'old age' to write war's ultimate devouring of the individual—he has nothing to live for yet still serves; knows death yet still cares for his wife's cold. This weave of 'solemn' and 'bleak' is Du Fu's extreme of wartime humanity: not the battlefield's glory but life exhausted; not the hero's boldness but the common man's helplessness and endurance. With the other two it forms the Three Partings; its uniqueness is writing war at the life-stage most needing rest. For today it is a window on Du Fu's 'poet-sage' spirit and the An Lushan history, and a model of 'grieve for the people's hardship'—that old conscript's back, that 'rend my heart,' still accuses war across a millennium.
此诗历来被推为杜甫「三别」中最苍凉、最悲壮的一首，也是中国诗歌史上写「老人从军」最沉痛的篇章。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人仇兆鳌《杜诗详注》评此诗「写出垂老从军之苦，语语酸心」，浦起龙《读杜心解》更称「此别最惨，而词最壮」，皆指出此诗以垂老者的口吻写从军之惨，悲壮苍凉。在文学史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它是「三别」中以「垂老」身份写战争的作品，通过一个子孙尽亡、仍被征召的老者，写出了战争对个体生命的终极吞噬——他早已生无可恋，却仍以残躯从军；他明知此去必死，却仍牵挂老妻的寒暖。这种「悲壮」与「苍凉」的交织，正是杜甫笔下战争中人性的极致：不是战场的壮烈，而是生命的耗尽；不是英雄的慷慨，而是普通人的无奈与坚韧。此诗与《新婚别》《无家别》合称「三别」，分别以「新婚」「垂老」「无家」三种身份写战乱中的别离，而《垂老别》的独特处，在于它以「垂老」这一人生最需安养的阶段写战争，更见其残酷。对于今日读者，此诗是理解杜甫「诗圣」精神与安史之乱历史的窗口，也是感受中国文学「哀民生之多艰」传统的典范——那垂老从军的背影，那「塌然摧肺肝」的悲叹，穿越千年，仍在拷问着战争的罪恶。
Prosody
Line by line
老妻卧路啼，岁暮衣裳单。
My old wife lies weeping by the road, her clothing thin at year's end.
老妻躺在路边啼哭，岁暮天寒，衣衫单薄。
My old wife lies by the road and weeps; the year ends, and her garments are thin.
这两句写老妻送别的凄惨，是「三别」中最令人心碎的画面之一。「老妻卧路啼」写老妻之态——老妻无力站立，卧在路边啼哭，「卧路啼」三字极惨：不是站着流泪，而是卧在路边哭，可见其衰老与悲痛之极，也可见贫苦之家连相送的力气都没有；「岁暮衣裳单」写老妻之寒——岁暮天寒，而老妻衣裳单薄，「衣裳单」与「岁暮」相照，写尽贫寒之家的凄凉——天寒无衣可御，丈夫又要出征，这单薄的衣裳，如何挨过这个冬天？两句一写「啼」、一写「寒」，一写情之悲、一写身之寒，把老妻送别时的双重悲苦写得淋漓尽致。杜甫以最平实的语言写最凄惨的场景，不夸张、不渲染，却字字锥心。「岁暮衣裳单」五字，尤其以「衣裳单」这一最具体的细节，写出了战乱中百姓生活的全面崩溃——丈夫出征、老妻无衣、岁暮天寒，一个人生的全部苦楚，都浓缩在这五字之中。
The two lines write the old wife's pitiable seeing-off, one of the most heart-breaking pictures of the three partings. My old wife lies by the road and weeps writes the old wife's state - she cannot stand, but lies by the road weeping; the three words lies by the road and weeps are uttermost pitiable: not standing and weeping, but lying by the road, showing her great age and extreme grief, and showing that the poor family has not even the strength to see him off. The year ends, and her garments are thin writes the old wife's cold - the year-end cold, yet her garments thin; the thin garments set against the year-end, writing to the full the poor family's desolation - cold weather with no clothes against it, and the husband must now go to war; how shall these thin garments endure the winter? The two lines, one writing the weeping, one writing the cold, one the grief of feeling, one the cold of the body, write to the full the old wife's double bitterness at seeing him off. Du Fu writes the most pitiable scene in the plainest language, without exaggeration or coloring, yet every character pierces the heart. The five characters the year ends, and her garments are thin, especially through the concrete detail of the thin garments, write the total collapse of the people's life in the war - the husband conscripted, the old wife with no clothes, the year-end cold, all the bitterness of a life condensed in these five.
弃绝蓬室居，塌然摧肺肝。
I forsake my thatched dwelling; it collapses within me and rends my heart and liver.
抛弃这蓬草做的居室，坍塌般摧折了我的心肝。
I cast off this thatched hovel and leave; in the collapse, my lungs and liver are broken.
这两句是全诗的结尾，也是情感最沉痛的一笔，以「弃绝蓬室居」写尽从军者的撕心之痛。「弃绝蓬室居」写抛弃家园——「蓬室」是贫贱的居所（以蓬草为屋，写其贫寒），「弃绝」写彻底抛弃，老者抛下这仅有的栖身之所，踏上从军之路，此去必死，这「弃绝」便是永别；「塌然摧肺肝」写撕心之痛——「塌然」写心志的坍塌，「摧肺肝」写五脏俱摧，那抛弃家园、踏上死路的一刻，他的肺肝仿佛都被摧折了。这两句的妙处在于：全诗前文，老者一直强作悲壮（投杖出门、长揖别官、自宽「纵死时犹宽」），而到了末二句，那强撑的悲壮终于坍塌——当他真正抛下家园、踏上征途时，那撕心之痛再也无法掩饰，「塌然摧肺肝」五字，是老者情感的总爆发，也是全诗情感的总收束。这两句以「弃绝」的动作与「摧肺肝」的痛感，写尽了一个垂老从军者最后的崩溃，比呼天抢地的悲号更令人心碎，正是杜甫「于无声处听惊雷」的功力，也让这首《垂老别》在撕心裂肺中收束，余哀不尽。
The two lines are the whole's close, and the most painful stroke of feeling, writing to the full the conscript's heart-tearing pain through I cast off this thatched hovel and leave. I cast off this thatched hovel and leave writes the abandonment of the home - the thatched hovel the dwelling of the poor (a hut of thatch, writing their poverty), cast off writing the total abandonment, the old man casting aside this only shelter and stepping onto the road of service, this departure surely death, and this cast off is the eternal parting. In the collapse, my lungs and liver are broken writes the heart-tearing pain - in the collapse writes the mind's falling-in, broken lungs and liver writing the vitals all crushed; in that moment of abandoning the home and stepping onto the road of death, his lungs and liver seem crushed. The beauty of the two lines lies in: through the whole, the old man has forced a heroic posture (casting aside his staff and going out, bowing to the officer, comforting himself that even dying, the time is still ample), yet in the last two lines that forced heroism at last collapses - when he truly casts aside the home and steps onto the campaign, the heart-tearing pain can no longer be hidden; the five characters in the collapse, my lungs and liver are broken are the total eruption of the old man's feeling, and the total close of the whole's feeling. The two lines, through the act of casting off and the pain of the broken lungs and liver, write to the full the last collapse of the old conscript, more heart-breaking than any loud lament, exactly Du Fu's craft of hearing the thunder in the silence, and letting this Parting in Old Age close in the heart-tearing, the after-grief unending.
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'The Newlywed's Parting'—'married at dusk, parting at dawn, is it not too hurried'—writes the new bride's grief the day after her wedding, the tender 'new parting' of the Three Partings; this 'Parting at Old Age'—'the suburbs not yet calm, in failing age no rest; children all dead, of what use my lone survival'—writes the old man whose progeny are gone yet still conscripted, the heavy 'old parting.' Both are wartime separations: one at marriage (life's sweetest), one at old age (life's bitterest); one in the bride's voice of deep love, one in the old man's voice of solemn grief. Read together they show the Three Partings' full range across ages and stations, and war's indiscriminate ruin of every stage of life—whether the sweetness of new marriage or the settle of old age, all ground to pieces.
《新婚别》「暮婚晨告别，无乃太怱忙」写新婚次日即离别的新妇之悲，是「三别」中「新别」的凄婉；此诗《垂老别》则「四郊未宁静，垂老不得安。子孙阵亡尽，焉用身独完」，写垂老之人子孙尽亡、仍被征召的惨状，是「三别」中「老别」的沉痛。同为战乱中的生离，一别于新婚（人生最甜之时），一别于垂老（人生最苦之时）；一以新妇的口吻写深情，一以老者的口吻写悲壮。两诗对读，可见杜甫「三别」以不同年龄、不同身份写战争离别的全面，也可见战争对人生各阶段的无差别摧残——无论是新婚的甜蜜还是垂老的安顿，都被战争碾碎。
梦李白·其一 Dreaming of Li Bai I 杜甫 · 同为杜甫怀人之作，一写生离一写死别 Both are Du Fu's parting poems—one life-parting, one death-parting.'Dreaming of Li Bai I'—'parting by death already stills the voice, parting in life ever aches'—writes Du Fu dreaming of Li Bai in exile, the pang of life-parting, his deep friendship; this 'Parting at Old Age'—'who knows this is a parting unto death, yet still I grieve for her cold'—writes the old man's grief of death-parting from his wife, his heavy family love. Both are Du Fu's 'parting' poems: one life-parting from a friend (dreaming of Li Bai), one death-parting from his wife (old-age parting); one 'ever aches' of lingering care, one 'still grieve for her cold' of bone-deep attachment. Read together they show Du Fu's consistent deep feeling for 'friend' and 'kin,' and his two realms of writing parting—a friend's parting one may still hope to meet, a wife's parting already death.
《梦李白·其一》「死别已吞声，生别常恻恻」写杜甫梦到流放中的李白，以「生别常恻恻」写生离之痛，是杜甫怀友的深情之作。此诗《垂老别》则「孰知是死别，且复伤其寒」，写垂老者与老妻的死别之痛，是杜甫写亲情的沉痛之作。同是杜甫写「别」，一写与友人的生离（梦李白），一写与老妻的死别（垂老别）；一以「常恻恻」写绵长的挂念，一以「且复伤其寒」写刻骨的牵挂。两诗对读，可见杜甫对「友」与「亲」的深情一以贯之，也可见其写「别」的两种境界——友人之别尚可相望，老妻之别已是死别。
十五从军征 Fifteen Years of Conscription 佚名（汉乐府） · 同写征人暮年之悲，一写归一无写从军 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
汉乐府《十五从军征》「十五从军征，八十始得归」写老兵暮年归家，家园荒芜、亲故凋零的惨状，是汉乐府中征人暮年之悲的经典。杜甫《垂老别》则「四郊未宁静，垂老不得安」，写垂老之人仍被征召从军，是唐诗中征人暮年之悲的典范。同为「征人暮年」母题，汉乐府写「八十始得归」的归而无家，杜甫写「垂老不得安」的垂老从军；一写征役之久的终点，一写征役之惨的起点。两诗对读，可见中国战争诗「征人暮年」母题的千年传承，也可见杜甫「三吏三别」对汉乐府现实主义传统的继承与深化。