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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

感遇·其二

Gan Yu · Second

陈子昂

Chen Zi'ang

咏怀reflection 哲理philosophy

兰若生春夏，芊蔚何青青。
幽独空林色，朱蕤冒紫茎。
迟迟白日晚，袅袅秋风生。
岁华尽摇落，芳意竟何成。

Orchid and ruxiang grow in spring and summer,
How lush and green their leaves appear!
Alone in its seclusion, it vainly holds the forest's beauty;
Red petals crown the purple stem.
Slowly the white day declines;
Softly the autumn wind arises.
The year's glory all shaken loose and fallen—
What, then, becomes of the fragrant intent?

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Meaning

The orchid and the ruxiang grow in the spring and summer seasons, their leaves thick and how green they are. In seclusion it alone vainly holds the forest's fair hue; red blossoms open upon the purple stem. Yet the white day slowly wanes, and the soft autumn wind quietly rises. The year's glory at last shakes loose and falls—this fragrant intent, in the end, what can it become?

兰草与杜若生长在春夏时节，枝叶茂密，是多么青葱。它幽雅独处，空有林间秀色；朱红的花朵绽放在紫色的茎上。然而白昼渐渐迟暮，袅袅的秋风悄然吹起。一年芳华终将凋零摇落，这芬芳的心意，究竟又能成就什么呢？

Appreciation

The first four lines 'Orchid and ruxiang grow in spring and summer... red petals crown the purple stem' write at length the orchid's lush beauty in spring and summer, with 'lush and green' and 'red petals, purple stem' bright in colour, using the happy scene to set off the later sorrow. The last four lines 'Slowly the white day declines... what becomes of the fragrant intent' turn sharply, with 'the white day declines' and 'the autumn wind arises' writing the shift of seasons, and 'shaken loose' and 'what becomes' writing the empty aging of glory. The whole uses the flowering grass's rise and fall to allegorize life's lot, with bi-xing bearing meaning, from flourishing to decline, deep and implicit—a typical embodiment of Chen Zi'ang's championing of 'Han-Wei bone'.

【白话串讲】 “兰若生春夏，芊蔚何青青”——陈子昂写兰草和杜若：春夏生长，一片青青。“迟迟白日晚，袅袅秋风生。岁华尽摇落，芳意竟何成”——秋天一到，花都落了，芳香又能怎样？他写花，是写自己的怀才不遇。【意象与手法】前四句“兰若生春夏……朱蕤冒紫茎”极写兰若（香草）在春夏的繁盛秀丽，“芊蔚青青”“朱蕤紫茎”色彩鲜丽，以乐景衬后文之【情感与主旨】陈子昂《感遇》诗三十八首，多写于受排挤、政治抱负不得伸展之时，借咏物以抒怀。“其二”以兰若自况【名句点睛】中高考常从“托物言志”“比兴寄托”与“楚辞影响”命题。常考：一、兰若的象征义，答以香草喻诗人高洁品格与才德

Background

Chen Zi'ang's 'Gan Yu' poems, thirty-eight in all, were mostly written when he was crowded out and his political ambition could not unfold; he used object-chant to voice his breast. The second takes the orchid and ruxiang as his own image. Chen Zi'ang was first favoured by Empress Wu, then crowded out by the powerful minister Wu Youyi and others; his counsel was not heeded and his great resolve unmet. This poem was likely written in his defeated retirement or banishment, borrowing the orchid's spring glory and autumn fall to allegorize that the worthy is used in his prime and cast off in his decline, lodging the grief of his times and the sorrow that time waits for no man—a representative of his 'archaist' bone-poetry.

《感遇·其二》为唐代诗人陈子昂所作。陈子昂（约659—700），字伯玉，梓州射洪人，初唐诗人，开盛唐一代诗风，有“诗骨”之称。此诗写兰若之荣枯：兰若生春夏，芊蔚何青青；幽独空林色，朱蕤冒紫茎；迟迟白日晚，袅袅秋风生；岁华尽摇落，芳意竟何成。全诗以兰草与杜若（兰若）起兴，写其生春夏之荣、遭秋风之衰，寄托怀才不遇之慨，是陈子昂感遇诗的名篇。陈子昂以《感遇》三十八首著称，此诗即其代表——以香草写君子，以岁华摇落写怀才不遇。

Art

The first four lines 'Orchid and ruxiang grow in spring and summer... red petals crown the purple stem' write at length the orchid's lush beauty in spring and summer, with 'lush and green' and 'red petals, purple stem' bright in colour, using the happy scene to set off the later sorrow. The last four 'Slowly the white day declines; softly the autumn wind arises. The year's glory all shaken loose and fallen—what, then, becomes of the fragrant intent' turn sharply, with 'the white day declines' and 'the autumn wind arises' writing the shift of seasons, and 'shaken loose' and 'what becomes' writing the empty aging of glory. The whole allegorizes life's lot by the flowering grass's rise and fall, with bi-xing bearing meaning, from flourishing to decline, deep and implicit—typical of Chen Zi'ang's 'Han-Wei bone'.

《感遇·其二》艺术上以比兴的深婉与语言的古雅见长。全诗八句，层层写来：前四句写兰若之荣——“兰若生春夏，芊蔚何青青”写其生于春夏、枝叶茂盛，“幽独空林色，朱蕤冒紫茎”写其幽独空林、花红叶紫；后四句写兰若之衰——“迟迟白日晚，袅袅秋风生”写白日将晚、秋风已生，“岁华尽摇落，芳意竟何成”写岁华摇落、芳意成空。全诗以兰若写君子：生春夏之荣，是其才德之美；遭秋风之衰，是其遭时不遇；芳意成空，是其怀才不遇。以香草比兴，含蓄深婉，正是陈子昂感遇诗“骨力”的风格。

Allusions

'Orchid and ruxiang'—orchid and ruxiang—comes from the Chu Ci tradition of using orchid, ruxiang and such fragrant plants to stand for the gentleman's pure character (as in the Li Sao, 'by the Yuan grows angelica, by the Li grows orchid'); Chen Zi'ang follows this bi-xing tradition to image himself—an imagistic allusion, not a narrative one. 'The year's glory all shaken loose' transforms the Chu Ci 'the plants shake loose and change to decay', quietly holding Song Yu's sorrow of autumn. 'The fragrant intent' also follows the Chu Ci habit of using fragrance for virtue and aim. The whole uses the Chu Ci fragrant-plant and autumn-sorrow motifs to lodge his fate, the allusion and meaning fused whole.

《感遇·其二》用典在“兰若”与“朱蕤”。“兰若”指兰草与杜若，皆香草，出《楚辞》以香草喻君子的传统；“朱蕤”指红花，“紫茎”指紫茎，皆写兰若之美，出《楚辞》写香草的笔法；“岁华”指岁时，“摇落”指凋零，出《楚辞·九辩》“草木摇落而变衰”。全诗以这些《楚辞》的意象写兰若，以香草比兴，正是承屈原《离骚》以香草喻君子的传统。陈子昂以“汉魏风骨”为宗，其感遇诗正是对建安风骨与楚辞比兴的继承，此诗即以香草写君子、以摇落写不遇的典范。

Commentary

Chen Zi'ang's 'Gan Yu' follows Ruan Ji's 'Yong Huai' above and opens the way for Li Bai's 'Gu Feng' below, and has long been highly rated. Yuan Haowen's 'On Poetry' ('if we weigh his merit by the Wu-pacifying deed, we should cast Zi'ang in gold') pushes his archaist merit to the utmost. Moderns often read the second beside Zhang Jiuling's 'Gan Yu' and Li Bai's 'Gu Feng' as the crown of Tang reflection-poem cycles; his doctrine of 'xing tuo' (bearing meaning) truly sounded the prologue of High-Tang bone.

《感遇·其二》是陈子昂感遇诗的名篇，也是初唐诗歌复兴“汉魏风骨”的代表作。此诗以兰若写君子、以摇落写不遇，比兴深婉，向为论者称道。论者多赏其“幽独空林色”的写法——以兰若之幽独写君子之孤高，“空林色”三字更见其超然；而“岁华尽摇落，芳意竟何成”写芳意成空，怀才不遇之慨深沉。陈子昂以《感遇》三十八首著称，其诗以“骨力”与“比兴”为宗，此诗正是其代表——以香草写君子，以岁华写不遇，开盛唐诗歌的端绪。

Prosody

Form Five-character ancient poem (Gan Yu cycle)五言古诗

Rhyme Geng-qing shared rhyme (green, stem; arise, become—lower-level eight geng and nine qing same group)《感遇·其二》为五言古诗，八句，押仄声韵。此诗用韵：夏、青（庚部）、色、茎（职部）、晚、生（庚部）、落、成（庚部），随段落转韵，音节古拙。五言古诗句式自然，宜于写比兴之作。

Tone pattern Ancient-style poem, not bound by strict level-oblique五言古诗以气韵古朴、音节疏朗见长。此诗前四句写兰若之荣，音节舒展，如草木之盛；后四句写兰若之衰，音节转沉，如秋风之起。全诗以五言写兰若之荣枯，声情与内容相合，正是陈子昂“汉魏风骨”的古拙风格。

Reading note Gan Yu is a five-character ancient cycle, not following near-style rules, prizing Han-Wei bone, hence much archaic tune.《感遇·其二》为五言古诗，是陈子昂感遇诗的名篇。此诗以兰若写君子：前写兰若生春夏之荣，芊蔚青青、幽独空林，是其才德之美；后写兰若遭秋风之衰，岁华摇落、芳意成空，是其遭时不遇。以香草比兴、以摇落写不遇，含蓄深婉，正是承屈原《离骚》以香草喻君子的传统。陈子昂以《感遇》三十八首开盛唐诗歌之端，其诗以“汉魏风骨”与“比兴”为宗，此诗正是其代表。

Line by line

兰若生春夏，芊蔚何青青。幽独空林色，朱蕤冒紫茎。

Orchids and duroa grow in spring and summer, how lush and green they spread.

兰草与杜若生在春夏之间，枝叶茂盛，何其青青。它幽独地开着，使林中群芳都显失色；红花覆盖着紫色的茎。

Orchids and duroa flourish in spring and summer, their leaves lush, how green and abundant. They bloom in seclusion, putting all the forest's flowers to shame; red blossoms crown their purple stems.

前四句写兰若之荣，是比兴的起兴。“兰若生春夏”写其生之时——“兰若”指兰草与杜若，生春夏之间；“芊蔚何青青”写其盛之貌——“芊蔚”写枝叶茂盛，“青青”写其青翠；“幽独空林色”写其幽独——“幽独”写其孤芳自赏，“空林色”写其使林中群芳失色；“朱蕤冒紫茎”写其色之美——“朱蕤”写红花，“紫茎”写紫茎，红紫相映。四句写兰若之荣：生于春夏、枝叶青青，是其才德之美；幽独空林、朱蕤紫茎，是其高洁之姿。以“幽独”写其孤高，以“空林色”写其超群，正是以兰若写君子——才德之美，幽独之高，尽在其中。

The first four lines write the orchid and duroa in their glory, the rising of the poem's metaphor. 'Orchids and duroa grow in spring and summer' names the season; 'how lush and green they spread' names their luxuriance. 'In seclusion they outshine the forest' — solitary beauty that makes all other flowers pale; 'red blossoms crown the purple stems' — red and violet answering each other. The four lines write their flourishing: born in spring and summer, green-leaved — the beauty of talent and virtue; solitary and outshining — the stance of the noble. Through the orchid the poet figures the gentleman: ability and integrity, solitude and height, all contained.

迟迟白日晚，袅袅秋风生。岁华尽摇落，芳意竟何成。

The slow sun declines; the soft autumn wind rises. The year's charm all falls away — what has fragrance ever achieved?

白日缓缓地西沉，袅袅的秋风渐起。岁华将尽，兰若尽皆摇落凋零，那芬芳的心意究竟成就了什么？

Slowly the daylight wanes; a gentle autumn wind springs up. The year's grace is all withered and fallen — what has that fragrant longing come to?

后四句写兰若之衰，是比兴的寄托。“迟迟白日晚”写白日将晚——“迟迟”写日之缓沉，暗含时光流逝；“袅袅秋风生”写秋风已生——“袅袅”写秋风之起，写秋之将至；“岁华尽摇落”写岁华凋零——“摇落”写兰若凋落，出《楚辞·九辩》“草木摇落而变衰”；“芳意竟何成”写芳意成空——“芳意”写兰若之芳心，亦写君子之怀抱，“竟何成”写其终无所成。四句由白日而秋风、由岁华而摇落，写兰若之衰：生春夏之荣，遭秋风之衰，芳意成空。以兰若之荣枯写君子之遇与不遇：才德虽美，而遭时不遇，芳意终成空。这一收束，正是陈子昂怀才不遇之慨，含蓄深婉而骨力不凡。

The last four lines write the plants' decline, the poem's allegorical burden. 'Slowly the daylight wanes' carries the passage of time; 'a soft autumn wind rises' announces autumn's coming. 'The year's grace all falls away' — the verb 'fall away' adapts the Verses of Chu, 'plants and trees fall and turn to decay'; 'what has fragrance ever achieved' — 'fragrant longing' is both the orchid's heart and the gentleman's aspiration, and 'what has it achieved' its ending in nothing. The four lines move from daylight to autumn wind, from the year's grace to falling leaves: spring's glory met by autumn's decay, fragrant longing ending in void. Through the orchid's rise and fall the poet figures the gentleman's fortune or its lack: virtue beautiful, yet born in the wrong time, longing ending in nothing. This closing is Chen Zi'ang's grievance of unrecognized talent, restrained and deep, with uncommon sinew.

Study

Word focus

芊蔚 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “芊蔚何青青”之“芊蔚”，写草木枝叶茂盛之貌，是全诗写兰若之荣的关键词。“芊蔚”出《楚辞》“芳菲菲兮”一系的写香草之词，写枝叶之茂盛青翠。这一词以“芊蔚”写兰若生春夏之盛，与“青青”相承，兰若的生机与茂盛如在目前。以“芊蔚”写香草，正是承《楚辞》以香草喻君子的笔法——君子才德之美，如兰若之芊蔚。

幽独 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “幽独空林色”之“幽独”，写兰若幽然独处，是全诗写君子孤高的关键词。“幽”写其幽静，“独”写其独处——兰若生春夏，幽然独处林中。这一词写兰若之孤高：不是众芳争艳，而是幽独自处；不是倚赖群芳，而是空林独色。以“幽独”写兰若，正是以兰若写君子——才德高洁者，往往幽独自守，正是陈子昂怀才不遇而孤高自守的写照。

摇落 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “岁华尽摇落”之“摇落”，写草木凋零，是全诗写兰若之衰的关键词。“摇落”出《楚辞·九辩》“草木摇落而变衰”，写秋风起而草木凋零。这一词以“摇落”写兰若遭秋风之衰：岁华将尽，兰若尽皆摇落。以“摇落”写香草之凋，正是承楚辞写草木零落的传统——君子才德虽美，而遭时不遇，如兰若之摇落。

芳意 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “芳意竟何成”之“芳意”，写兰若之芳心，亦写君子之怀抱，是全诗寄托的关键词。“芳”写其芬芳，“意”写其心意——兰若之芳意，即君子之怀抱。这一词以“芳意”写兰若之芬芳与君子之怀抱合一：兰若生春夏之荣，是芳意之盛；遭秋风之衰，是芳意之摧；“竟何成”写其终无所成。以“芳意竟何成”收束，正是陈子昂怀才不遇的悲慨——才德虽美，而芳意成空。