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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

二月二日·白居易

The Second Day of the Second Month

白居易

Bai Juyi

二月二日新雨晴，草芽菜甲一时生。
轻衫细马春年少，十字津头一字行。

On the second day of the second month, fresh rain has cleared;
grass-shoots and the first cabbage leaves have all come up at once.
Light gowns, slender horses, the young men of spring -
at the crossroads ferry-head they file along in a single line.
Listen

Meaning

The poem catches the second day of the second month just after a rain: everything in the kitchen gardens has sprouted overnight, and the young men of the town have put on their light spring clothes, mounted their slim horses and set off in a procession from the ferry crossing. It is a picture of a seasonal holiday observed without ceremony. The theme is the ordinary, shared gladness of early spring in a town by the water.

二月二日新雨晴，草芽菜甲一时生。轻衫细马春年少，十字津头一字行。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] On the second of the second month the new rain has cleared; the grass tips and the first leaves of the cabbages have all sprouted together. In light jackets, on slender horses, the lads of spring - at the crossroads landing-place they go by in one long line.
[Structure] The first couplet belongs to the earth: rain, shoots, new leaves. The second belongs to the people: clothes, horses, a procession. The poem joins the two by the single word spring, so that the bursting of the vegetables and the high spirits of the young men are seen as one event.
[Imagery] The images are domestic and unpretentious - cabbage leaves, light gowns, thin horses. There is no blossom, no moon, no wine. Deliberately humble detail is what gives the poem its freshness.
[Mood] The tone is brisk and cheerful. The last line's image of a long single file of riders is comic and affectionate at once: the poet is smiling at the young men rather than admiring them.

【白话串讲】 白居易写《二月二日》：“二月二日新雨晴，草芽菜甲一时生”——“轻衫细马春年少，十字津头一字行”——他写踏青——轻衫细马春年少。 【意象与手法】 “二月二日新雨晴，草芽菜甲一时生”写新雨草芽；“轻衫细马春年少，十字津头一字行”写踏青少年。轻快闲适。 【情感与主旨】 白居易写春日踏青之作，写二月二日新雨初晴、草芽菜甲新生与轻衫细马少年踏青的情景，展现春日闲适之趣，是白居易闲适诗的代表。 【名句点睛】 常考“二月二日新雨晴，草芽菜甲一时生”写新雨草芽；“轻衫细马春年少，十字津头一字行”写踏青少年。

Background

Bai Juyi (772-846), courtesy name Letian, later known as the Hermit of Xiangshan, was born in Xiagui and became the most widely read poet of his age. He is famous for the deliberate plainness of his language - the story goes that he read his verses to an old peasant woman and revised anything she could not follow - and for a large class of works he called leisure poems, written in the intervals of an official career that took him from the capital to Hangzhou, Suzhou and finally Luoyang. The second day of the second month falls in early spring, when the first rain was traditionally said to bring up the year's growth, and in some regions it was a day for outings and for eating spring pancakes. This quatrain is a leisure poem in miniature: a holiday noticed in passing, in the language of ordinary speech.

《二月二日·白居易》为唐代诗人白居易所作诗。白居易（772—846），字乐天，号香山居士，下邽人，唐代诗人。此诗写春日闲适，为二月二日之作。诗中「二月二日新雨晴，草芽菜甲一时生」写二月二日新雨晴，草芽菜甲一时生；「轻衫细马春年少，十字津头一字行」写轻衫细马春年少，十字津头一字行。白居易此诗以春日闲适、十字津头一字行写其闲适之情，轻快闲适，是白居易诗中的名篇。此篇《二月二日·白居易》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《二月二日·白居易》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。

Art

The poem's method is accumulation of the ordinary. Nothing here would have been considered poetic material by an earlier generation: cabbage leaves, thin horses, a ferry crossing. Bai Juyi's skill is to arrange these items so that they generate pleasure by their very plainness. The first couplet uses one adverb - at once - to convey the suddenness of spring growth, and that single word does more than any description could. The second couplet proceeds by synecdoche: light gowns and slender horses stand for the young men themselves, so that we see a line of bright clothes and fine animals rather than a crowd of faces. The closing image of the single file is the poem's wit: the holiday excitement is expressed as discipline and order, a procession forming at the crossroads. It is a comic, affectionate way of saying that everyone had the same idea on the same morning.

此诗艺术上以「轻快闲适、以春写情」见长。全诗共四句两联，由二月二日新雨晴而轻衫细马春年少。起「二月二日新雨晴，草芽菜甲一时生」写二月二日新雨晴：二月二日新雨晴，草芽菜甲一时生；结「轻衫细马春年少，十字津头一字行」写轻衫细马春年少：轻衫细马春年少，十字津头一字行。全诗以春写情，由二月二日新雨晴而十字津头一字行，轻快闲适，是白居易诗中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。

Allusions

The poem makes no learned reference, and that is itself a statement. Bai Juyi's programme of plainness deliberately rejects the quotation and the elaborate phrase, and here he carries it through completely: the date, the rain, the vegetables and the young men are all named directly. The second day of the second month does carry a folk association with the first spring thunder and with the dragon raising its head, and the custom of going out to greet the spring was well established in the Tang capital. Bai Juyi needs none of this. He relies on the reader recognising the morning from experience, and the absence of allusion is what allows the scene to feel unposed.

诗中「二月二日新雨晴草芽菜甲一时生」「轻衫细马春年少十字津头一字行」等语，皆含典故故实。「二月二日新雨晴草芽菜甲一时生」写二月二日新雨晴草芽菜甲一时生；「轻衫细马春年少十字津头一字行」写轻衫细马春年少十字津头一字行。诗人以草芽、菜甲等语入诗，不着痕迹，而把春日闲适之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。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。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。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

Critics have always grouped this piece with Bai Juyi's leisure poems and praised it for the same reasons they praised him generally: clarity, warmth and an eye for what other poets walked past. Later readers singled out the closing line as the kind of detail only a poet who liked people would notice - the fact that a holiday crowd organises itself into a line at a ferry crossing. Some commentators observed that the poem's charm comes from its lack of a point: it does not moralise about youth or spring's brevity, it simply records a morning. In an age when most spring poems end in lament for the passing season, a spring poem that ends in a smile is itself a small achievement, and the piece is still quoted for that reason.

这首《二月二日·白居易》，是白居易写春日闲适之作，写二月二日新雨晴、轻衫细马春年少、十字津头一字行之情，轻快闲适。起「二月二日新雨晴，草芽菜甲一时生」——二月二日新雨晴，草芽菜甲一时生。写二月二日新雨晴：二月二日新雨晴、草芽菜甲一时生——新雨晴、一时生；结「轻衫细马春年少，十字津头一字行」——轻衫细马春年少，十字津头一字行。写轻衫细马春年少：轻衫细马春年少、十字津头一字行——春年少、一字行。这「轻衫细马春年少，十字津头一字行」，是全诗之结：以十字津头一字行写其闲适。全诗轻快闲适，以春写情，正是白居易诗中的名篇。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (qi yan jue ju), four lines of seven syllables, in two couplets, composed in the regulated manner.诗（七言绝句）
Rhyme The second and fourth line-endings share one level-tone rhyme; the first line joins it and the third does not, giving the standard pattern in which the turn at line three is clearly audible.此诗为七言绝句，共四句两联。押韵：「生」「行」押庚部韵。前两句起、后两句转合，平仄相间，正与写春日闲适的轻快闲适相称，也见其以七绝写闲适的凝练。
Tone pattern Level and oblique syllables alternate in the prescribed way, so the first couplet sounds quick and light - appropriate to new growth - while the second couplet lengthens, and the closing line's level ending lets the image of the single file stretch out across the ferry crossing.句式上，「二月二日新雨晴，草芽菜甲一时生」写二月二日新雨晴，音节轻快；结「轻衫细马春年少，十字津头一字行」写轻衫细马春年少，音节悠长。全诗音节随情起伏，由轻快而悠长，正合七绝「凝练」之妙，读来如春日闲适、十字津头一字行之音，轻快而动人。
Reading note The short, regular rhythm is part of the poem's character: it moves like a procession, one measured step after another, and the repeated numerals in the final line give the sound a neat, marching balance. Form and content agree - a tidy line of riders described in a tidy line of verse.此诗为七言绝句，是白居易写春日闲适之作，也是其诗中的名篇。全诗的艺术特色在于「轻快闲适、以春写情」：「二月二日新雨晴，草芽菜甲一时生」写二月二日新雨晴、「轻衫细马春年少，十字津头一字行」写轻衫细马春年少。全诗轻快闲适，以春写情。尤为精妙者，是「二月二日新雨晴」写尽新雨晴；而「十字津头一字行」写尽一字行，正是白居易诗「轻快闲适」的典范，为历代选本所常收。《二月二日·白居易》一诗之所以读来声情并茂，正在于诗人以声韵配合情思、以节奏烘托意境，音节之长短、平仄之起伏，皆与诗意相为表里，此亦可见中国古典诗歌声律之美与匠心之工。

Line by line

二月二日新雨晴，草芽菜甲一时生。

On the second day of the second month, fresh rain has cleared; grass-shoots and the first cabbage leaves have all come up at once.

二月二日新雨晴，草芽菜甲一时生。

On the second day of the second month, the new rain has cleared; grass shoots and vegetable sprouts rise all at once.

起句写二月二日新雨晴，起笔即见其新雨。「二月二日新雨晴」写二月二日新雨晴，「二月二日」写二月二日、「新雨晴」写新雨晴；「草芽菜甲一时生」写草芽菜甲一时生，「草芽菜甲」写草芽菜甲、「一时生」写一时生。一句写二月二日新雨晴草芽菜甲一时生，以二月二日新雨晴写新雨晴、以草芽菜甲一时生写一时生，写尽二月二日新雨晴、草芽菜甲一时生之情。以春起兴，轻快而闲适，是「以春起兴」的妙笔。

The opening line writes on the second day of the second month, the new rain has cleared; grass shoots and vegetable sprouts rise all at once, the spring rain. The words the new rain has cleared write the clearing, grass shoots and vegetable sprouts rise all at once the sprouting. The line writes to the full the feeling of the cleared rain and the sudden sprouts. Rising through spring, the light and leisurely opening.

轻衫细马春年少，

Light gowns, slender horses, the young men of spring.

轻衫细马春年少，

In a light gown, on a slender horse, a springtime lad,

此句写轻衫细马春年少，是全诗写春年之态的关键。「轻衫细马」写轻衫细马，「轻衫」写轻衫、「细马」写细马；「春年少」写春年少，「春年」写春年、「少」写少。一句写轻衫细马春年少，以轻衫细马写细马、以春年少写春年少，写尽轻衫细马春年少之情。以衫写情，轻快而闲适，是「以衫写情」的点睛之笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。

This line writes in a light gown, on a slender horse, a springtime lad, the young rider. The words light gown, slender horse write the dress and the mount, springtime lad the youth. The line writes to the full the feeling of the light gown and slender horse. Writing the rider through the gown and horse, the poem's middle.

十字津头一字行。

At the crossroads ferry-head they file along in a single line.

十字津头一字行。

along the crossroads ferry he rides in a single line.

结句写十字津头一字行，是全诗立意的落点。「十字津头」写十字津头，「十字」写十字、「津头」写津头；「一字行」写一字行，「一字」写一字、「行」写行。一句写十字津头一字行，以十字津头写津头、以一字行写一字行，写尽十字津头一字行之情。以行写情，轻快而闲适，是全诗最动人处，也是「以行写情」的点睛之笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。

The closing line writes along the crossroads ferry he rides in a single line, the riding. The words the crossroads ferry write the place, in a single line the riding. The line writes to the full the feeling of the ferry cross and the single riding. Writing the riding through the ferry, the poem's close.

Study

Word focus

新雨 The fresh rain, the first good rain of the season. It is the cause of everything that follows in the couplet, and the word fresh carries the sense of renewal rather than of discomfort. 「新雨」写二月二日新雨晴，是写新雨之态的关键。「二月二日新雨晴」着一「新雨」，写新雨——着一「新雨」，写二月二日新雨晴，见其雨之新。两字写尽新雨之态，是「以词写雨」的妙笔。「新雨」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
草芽 Grass shoots or sprouting tips. A deliberately small, domestic detail: the poet notices the first growth in a kitchen garden rather than blossom in a park, which is characteristic of his plain style. 「草芽」写草芽菜甲一时生，是写草芽之态的关键。「草芽菜甲一时生」着一「草芽」，写草芽——着一「草芽」，写草芽菜甲一时生，见其芽之草。两字写尽草芽之态，是「以词写芽」的点睛之词。「草芽」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
轻衫 Light gowns, the thin spring clothes put on as soon as the weather allows. The word stands for the season and for the young men at once, since their eagerness to dress lightly is part of the holiday. 「轻衫」写轻衫细马春年少，是写轻衫之态的关键。「轻衫细马春年少」着一「轻衫」，写轻衫——着一「轻衫」，写轻衫细马春年少，见其衫之轻。两字写尽轻衫之态，是「以词写衫」的点睛之词。「轻衫」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
十字 The cross-shape of the crossroads. Paired against the single stroke of the following line, it produces the poem's small verbal joke: many roads meeting, and out of them one straight line of riders. 「十字」写十字津头一字行，是写十字之态的关键。「十字津头一字行」着一「十字」，写十字——着一「十字」，写十字津头一字行，见其字之十。两字写尽十字之态，是「以词写字」的点睛之词。「十字」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

Related Reading

水调歌头·明月几时有 Song lyric to the tune Shui diao ge tou: 'The bright moon, when did it first appear?' 苏轼 · 同写闲适感怀、轻快旷达，一写人有悲欢离合、一写二月二日新雨晴草芽菜甲一时生，皆于闲适之中见轻快 Both works deal with the human condition in a seasonal or celestial frame, but one stays entirely with the crowd and the other ascends to argument.

Su Shi's lyric moves from a festival night to the laws of parting and reunion and ends in a philosophical consolation. Bai Juyi's quatrain refuses to leave the ferry crossing: there is no generalisation, only a line of young men in light gowns. The comparison shows two legitimate ways of writing about a holiday - to extract its meaning, or to let the scene stand as its own meaning.

苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全」，写闲适感怀、轻快旷达，是宋词长调的名篇；白居易《二月二日·白居易》则以「二月二日新雨晴，草芽菜甲一时生」「十字津头一字行」写一时生、一字行。两诗同写闲适感怀、轻快旷达：一写人有悲欢离合、以悲欢写离合，一写二月二日新雨晴草芽菜甲一时生、以草芽写闲适；一为苏轼之旷达、一为白居易之轻快，并读正可见诗写「闲适感怀」的两种笔法，皆于闲适之中见轻快。

 八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Song lyric to the tune Ba sheng gan zhou: 'Against the whispering evening rain that sweeps the river sky' 柳永 · 同写津头凝望、轻快清丽，一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、一写二月二日新雨晴草芽菜甲一时生，皆于津头之中见凝望 Both are set at a river crossing and use rain, but to entirely different emotional ends.

Liu Yong's evening rain washes the autumn clean and leaves his speaker chilled and far from home; the river crossing is a place of separation. Bai Juyi's rain has just cleared, the season is spring, and the same kind of ferry landing is where a holiday begins. Reading them together shows how little the setting determines a poem: weather and a riverbank serve equally for loneliness and for communal cheer.

柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「对潇潇暮雨洒江天，一番洗清秋」，写津头凝望、轻快清丽，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；白居易《二月二日·白居易》则以「二月二日新雨晴，草芽菜甲一时生」「轻衫细马春年少」写一时生、春年少。两诗同写津头凝望、轻快清丽：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以暮雨写清秋，一写二月二日新雨晴草芽菜甲一时生、以草芽写闲适；一为柳永之清丽、一为白居易之轻快，并读正可见诗写「津头凝望」的两种笔法，皆于津头之中见凝望。