唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
逢入京使
Meeting an Envoy to the Capital
故园东望路漫漫，双袖龙钟泪不干。
马上相逢无纸笔，凭君传语报平安。
We meet on horseback with no paper or brush; I beg you to carry a word: tell them I am well.
Meaning
Looking east toward my old garden, the road is long and far, without end; my two sleeves are wet and my tears never dry. Meeting on horseback in haste, with no paper or brush, I must ask you to carry a message and report that I am safe.
向东回望故乡，路途漫长望不到尽头；双袖被泪水沾湿，涕泪纵横总也擦不干。骑在马上仓促相逢，身边没有纸笔，只好托您带个口信，捎句话儿回家报个平安。
Appreciation
The whole wins by plain description, every word native yet the feeling long. The first line 'Eastward I look toward my old home, the road is long and far' writes the distance of space and the depth of home-thought by action; 'my two sleeves are wet, tears never drying' passes feeling by detail, the sorry state of tears wetting the sleeves showing the keenness of homesickness. The last two, in the haste of 'meeting on horseback', close with the two colloquial words 'no paper or brush' and 'report I am well', showing comfort in the helpless and depth in the plain. No ornament yet naturally whole — truly 'not seeking craft yet craft of itself'.
【白话串讲】 岑参在去西域的路上遇到回京的使者：“故园东望路漫漫，双袖龙钟泪不干”——他太想家了。“马上相逢无纸笔，凭君传语报平安”——来不及写信，请你带句话：我平安。 【意象与手法】 全诗以白描取胜，语语本色而情韵悠长。首句「故园东望路漫漫」以动作写空间之远、归思之深；「双袖龙钟泪不干」以细节传神，泪湿双袖的狼狈姿态见出思乡之切；后两句于「马上相逢」的仓促中，以「无纸笔」「报平安」两个口头语收束，于无奈中见宽慰，于平实中见深挚。 【情感与主旨】 本诗约作于唐玄宗天宝八载（749），岑参首次远赴安西（今新疆库车一带）任职，途中遇自边塞入京的使者，仓促作此。时诗人离家日远，前路漫漫，正值思乡情切，遂将征人思家、匆匆托语的情态写得真切动人。 【名句点睛】 「马上相逢无纸笔，凭君传语报平安」为千古名句，以家常口语写尽行旅思家之态，天然浑成，不事雕琢而情味自深。
Background
This poem was likely written in the eighth year of Tianbao (749), when Cen Shen first went far to Anxi (today's Kuqa, Xinjiang) to take post, and on the way met an envoy entering the capital from the frontier, and hastily made this. The poet was daily farther from home, the road long, just when homesick. 'Meeting an envoy to the capital' is the chance meeting of an envoy reporting to court. With no adornment, from the real chance of the road, he writes the marching man's home-thought and hurried entrusting, true and moving — a natural masterpiece of High Tang frontier homesickness verse.
本诗约作于唐玄宗天宝八载（749），岑参首次远赴安西（今新疆库车一带）任职，途中遇自边塞入京的使者，仓促作此。岑参出身官宦世家，早年怀抱建功立业的理想，两度出塞，亲历边地军旅生活，故其边塞诗多雄奇瑰丽之作。然此诗却一反其惯常的奇崛笔法，纯以朴素家常的语言写成：时诗人离家日远，前路漫漫，正值思乡情切之际，忽于马上与入京使者相逢，欲写家书而仓促无纸笔，遂托使者带口信报平安。一个「逢」字点出相遇之偶然，一个「凭」字写尽托付之无奈，这看似平凡的生活细节，却被诗人捕捉入诗，将征人思家、匆匆托语的情态写得真切动人，成为盛唐边塞诗中抒写乡思的天然佳作。岑参两度出塞，前后在西域生活约六年，其边塞诗以雄奇瑰丽著称，然此诗却以家常语写真性情，可见其诗并非只有奇崛一路。此诗作于首次赴安西途中，诗人正值壮年，虽有建功之志，然初离故园，乡思难抑，遂将这种复杂的心绪凝于「报平安」三字之中，是理解岑参由中原赴边地心路历程的珍贵记录。
Art
The whole wins by plain description, every word native yet the feeling long. The first line writes the distance of space and the depth of home-thought by action; 'my two sleeves are wet, tears never drying' passes feeling by detail, the sorry state of tears wetting the sleeves showing keen homesickness. The last two, in the haste of 'meeting on horseback', close with the two colloquial bits 'no paper or brush' and 'report I am well', showing comfort in the helpless and depth in the plain. No ornament yet naturally whole — truly 'not seeking craft yet craft of itself'.
全诗以白描取胜，语语本色而情韵悠长，是「不求工而自工」的典范。首句「故园东望路漫漫」以动作写空间之远、归思之深，「东望」点出故乡在东方，「漫漫」写路途之遥，望而不可即，思乡之情溢于言表；次句「双袖龙钟泪不干」以细节传神，泪湿双袖的狼狈姿态见出思乡之切，「不干」二字写泪流不止，将内心的悲痛外化为可见的形态。后两句「马上相逢无纸笔，凭君传语报平安」是全诗最动人的部分：行色匆匆，马上相逢，无纸无笔，只能托人带口信，而千言万语归结为「报平安」三字，将深挚的挂念化为最朴素的要求。全诗不事渲染而天然浑成，正是所谓「清水出芙蓉，天然去雕饰」的境界。全诗二十八字，前两句写思乡之痛，后两句写托语之切，前后转折而气脉贯通：正因为「路漫漫」「泪不干」的乡思太深，才有「无纸笔」的遗憾与「报平安」的急迫，情感层层推进，至「报平安」而达于平淡，然平淡之中蕴藏着最深的牵挂，这正是盛唐绝句「以浅语写深情」的至高境界。
Allusions
The poem uses no clear allusion, made wholly of the real scene before the eye and common speech. 'Long-zhong' (wet, bedraggled) is read as tears soaking the collar, dripping and wet, or as aged and beaten — here both the sorry state of tears down the sleeves, not to be taken as old age. 'I beg you to carry a word' is also the common reason of travellers entrusting a spoken message on the post road. The whole wins by life's truth, not by old tales — just the plain, natural manner of High Tang frontier verse.
本诗无明显用典，纯以眼前实景、口头常语成篇，这恰是此诗的艺术特色所在。「龙钟」一词，历来有两解：一说为涕泪沾襟、濡湿淋漓之貌，与「泷冻」音近相通；一说为衰老颓唐之态。此处结合「双袖」「泪不干」的语境，当以解作泪痕满袖的狼狈之态为胜，不必坐实为年迈。「凭君传语」亦为当时驿路行人托带口信的常情常理，并无出典。全诗以生活本真取胜，不借古事、不事藻绘，却正因为这份质朴，反而获得了超越雕琢的力量，正见盛唐边塞诗质朴自然之风，也说明至情之文不必用典，真情本身就是最好的修辞。此外，诗中以「故园」称故乡，而非「家乡」「桑梓」，亦别有深意：「故园」一词在唐诗中常与「东望」「万里」相连，如李白「故园东望路漫漫」即其先例，暗含游子对故园的眷恋与归期未卜的怅惘；「传语」则写出口信之托，非书信可比，更见行色匆匆、别无他法的无奈，皆以常语写深情，不见用典痕迹而情味自足。
Commentary
This poem is long called a frontier swan-song. Ming Zhong Xing said 'only common words, yet every one moves'. Shen Deqian said 'what all have lived through, yet none had said — therefore wonderful'. It writes the whole state of travel and home-thought in unadorned spoken words, natural, free of carving, thus a true stroke for a thousand years, often a model for the 'lotus from clear water' style.
此诗向称边塞绝唱，历代论者评价甚高。明代钟惺评此诗「只是常语，却字字动人」，点出全诗以家常口语动人心的特点；清人沈德潜《唐诗别裁》谓此诗「人人所曾历，却未经人道，故妙」，以为写的是人人皆有的行旅思家经验，却只有诗人第一个将其入诗，故妙不可言。近人论此诗，多推其为「以白描写至情」的范例，以为其不加藻饰的口头语写尽行旅思家之态，天然去雕饰，遂成千古传真之笔。全诗的价值正在于：它将一次偶然的马上相逢、一句匆忙的「报平安」，升华为人人可感的普遍乡愁，二十八个字中没有一个生僻字，却字字落在人心上，是唐诗中「人人胸臆中语」而「未经人道」的绝佳例证。此外，此诗在清代被收入《唐诗三百首》，成为家喻户晓的名篇，其「马上相逢无纸笔，凭君传语报平安」一联，更成为后世写行旅思家的经典意象，被小说、戏曲反复化用，可见其跨越时代的感染力，也是唐诗「以真情感人」传统的绝佳例证。
Prosody
Line by line
故园东望路漫漫，双袖龙钟泪不干
Eastward I look toward my old home, the road is long and far; my two sleeves are wet, tears never drying.
向东回望故乡，路途漫长望不到尽头；双袖被泪水沾湿，涕泪纵横总也擦不干。
Looking east toward my home, the road stretches endless; my two sleeves are drenched, the tears will not dry.
首二句以动作与细节写思乡之深。「故园东望路漫漫」写诗人向东回望故乡，「东望」一个动作，点出故乡所在的方位与诗人眷恋的方向，「路漫漫」以叠字写路途之遥远，望而不可即，归思之深已在不言中。次句「双袖龙钟泪不干」转写自身情态，泪湿双袖、涕泪纵横，「龙钟」写泪痕满袖的狼狈，「不干」写泪流不止，将内心的悲痛外化为可见可触的形象。两句一写空间之远、一写情态之切，由外而内、由远及近，把征人离家日远的悲情写得真切动人，也为后两句的托语报平安蓄足了情感势能。尤须体会者，前两句的痛切正是后两句平淡托语的底色：唯其思乡之痛如此之深，「报平安」三字才显得如此之重，诗人以泪写痛、以语写情，前后映照，正是盛唐绝句以浅语写深情、以淡语写至情的典范，读诗者须于这看似平淡的转折处细加体会。
The opening two lines write the depth of homesickness through action and detail. Looking east toward my home, the road stretches endless writes the poet looking east toward home, the single act looking east pointing home's direction and the poet's longing's direction, the road stretches endless using the reduplication for the road's distance, sight yet beyond reach, the depth of the homeward thought already in silence. The second line, my two sleeves are drenched, the tears will not dry turns to his own mien, tears wetting both sleeves, tears running, drenched writing the plight of sleeves full of tears, will not dry writing the tears unceasing, externalizing the inner grief into a visible palpable image. The two lines, one writing the space's distance, one the mien's keenness, from without to within, from far to near, writing the conscript's daily-growing distance from home truly and movingly, and gathering the emotional force for the later two lines' entrusted word of safety. Especially to feel: the first two lines' keen grief is exactly the ground of the later two lines' plain entrusted word - precisely because the homesickness is so deep, the three words tell them I am safe weigh so heavy, the poet writing grief through tears and feeling through words, the before and after mirroring each other, exactly the high Tang quatrain's model of writing deep feeling in plain words and utmost feeling in pale words, the reader must feel the seemingly plain turn with care.
马上相逢无纸笔，凭君传语报平安
We meet on horseback with no paper or brush; I beg you to carry a word: tell them I am well.
骑在马上仓促相逢，身边没有纸笔，只好托您带个口信，捎句话儿回家报个平安。
We meet on horseback, no paper no brush; I trust you with a word - tell them I am safe.
后两句是全诗最动人的部分，以口语收束，于无奈中见宽慰、平实中藏深情。「马上相逢」点出相遇之仓促，行色匆匆，无暇驻足；「无纸笔」三字道出无法修书的无奈，欲写家书而不可得；于是「凭君传语报平安」，千言万语、万般牵挂，竟归结为「报平安」三字。这看似平淡的三个字，却包含了最深的挂念：身在万里之外，家人最盼的不过平安二字，而诗人也深知此理，故于仓促之间，唯以此相托。全句以口头常语写成，天然浑成，正因真情发于内心，不假雕饰，反而具有动人心魄的力量，是「人人胸臆中语，却未经人道」的典范。又，「无纸笔」三字与「凭君传语」的衔接，写尽行旅中的仓促与无奈，然正是这不得已的口信，比任何华美的家书都更见真情，所谓「语淡情真」，此诗足以当之。
The last two lines are the whole's most moving part, closing in spoken words, seeing comfort in helplessness and deep feeling hidden in the plain. We meet on horseback points the meeting's haste, the traveling hurry, no time to stop. The three words no paper no brush utter the helplessness of being unable to write, wishing to send a letter yet unable; hence I trust you with a word - tell them I am safe, the thousand words and ten thousand cares at last condensed into the three words tell them I am safe. These seemingly plain three words hold the deepest care: ten thousand li away, what the family most hopes for is but safety, and the poet knows this well, hence in the haste entrusting only this. The whole line written in everyday speech, natural and fused, precisely because the true feeling issues from the heart, unadorned, it has instead a heart-stirring force, the model of words in every breast yet never uttered by man. Again, the joining of no paper no brush and I trust you with a word writes to the full the haste and helplessness of the journey; yet precisely this unavoidable oral word, more than any ornate letter, shows the true feeling, the so-called words pale yet feeling true, this poem deserves.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Wang writes missing brothers on a festival, Cen writes entrusting a word to an envoy met on the road; both write deep home-longing in plain words — compare their triggers and expression.
王维《九月九日忆山东兄弟》「独在异乡为异客，每逢佳节倍思亲」与本诗同写行旅之中的思亲之情，皆以本色语写深挚乡思。差异在：王诗写佳节思兄弟，以「倍思亲」直抒其情，又推己及人写「遥知兄弟登高处」，是典型的直抒与设想结合；岑诗写途遇使者托语，以「无纸笔」「报平安」的口语实录，是白描与叙事结合。一为节日里强烈的思念，一为行途中仓促的牵挂，触发点不同而情感同样深挚，可见盛唐诗人写思乡题材的多样笔法，并读更能体会「思乡」这一永恒母题的丰富表现。
静夜思 Quiet Night Thought 李白 · 同以平易语言写思乡 Same (both write homesickness in plain, easy language)Li's moon stirs sorrow, Cen's tears and entrusted word; both are 'words in every breast' — see the natural, true manner of High Tang homesickness verse.
李白《静夜思》「床前明月光，疑是地上霜。举头望明月，低头思故乡」与本诗同以最平易的语言写思乡之情，皆属「人人胸臆中语」而「未经人道」的名篇。差异在：李诗写静夜独处、望月思乡，意境清冷幽远，以月为媒，思乡之情含蓄蕴藉；岑诗写马上相逢、托语报安，情境真实急切，以事为凭，思乡之情直白动人。一静一动、一含蓄一直率，却都以白描之笔写真挚之情，可见盛唐思乡诗自然真率之风的两面，并读正能体会唐诗「语浅情深」的至高境界。