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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

孤雁

The Lone Wild Goose

杜甫

Du Fu

咏物Ode to Objects 离乱Turmoil of Separation 孤寂Loneliness 五律Regulated Verse in Five-character Lines

孤雁不饮啄，飞鸣声念群。
\n谁怜一片影，相失万重云？
\n望尽似犹见，哀多如更闻。
\n野鸦无意绪，鸣噪自纷纷。

The lone goose neither drinks nor pecks,
Flying and calling, its voice longs for the flock.
Who pities this single shadow,
Lost among ten thousand layers of clouds?
Gazing to the end, it seems still to see,
In its many cries, it seems to hear them more.
The wild crows are listless,
Chattering and squawking on their own.

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Meaning

The poem describes a lone goose that, separated from its flock, refuses to eat or drink, flying and crying in longing for its companions. It laments its solitary shadow lost in vast clouds, imagining it still sees and hears its flock. The wild crows, indifferent, make their own noise, contrasting with the goose's deep attachment.

离群的孤雁既不饮水也不啄食，边飞边叫的声音里饱含对同伴的思念。有谁怜惜这天际孤零零的一片影子，它与雁群相失在万重云海之间？望断了天涯仿佛还看见伙伴的身影，哀鸣不绝好像更听到了同伴的呼唤。那野鸦全不解孤雁的念群之情，只顾自己鸣噪纷纷。

Appreciation

Written during Du Fu's wandering days in Kuizhou, this is a famous ode to an object that expresses the poet's own feelings. The entire poem revolves around the character 'lonely', depicting a lost goose that neither eats nor drinks, flying and crying in search of its companions. The first couplet 'flying and calling, its voice longs for the flock' is the backbone of the poem. The middle couplets contrast 'a single shadow' with 'ten thousand clouds', and 'gazing to the end' with 'many cries', fully expressing its loneliness and sorrow. The final couplet uses the wild crows as a foil, highlighting the goose's perseverance. In his later years, Du Fu's relatives and friends were scattered, and he drifted across the world; the goose's loneliness is his own. Object and self merge seamlessly. Pu Qilong praised it: 'To depict life to this point makes heaven weep.' Indeed, this is a model of scene and emotion blending in Du Fu's object-praising poems, showing his great skill in conveying the sorrow of displacement within a few lines.

【白话串讲】 “孤雁不饮啄，飞鸣声念群”——杜甫写孤雁：不吃不喝，叫着寻找同伴。“谁怜一片影，相失万重云”——“望尽似犹见，哀多如更闻”——“野鸦无意绪，鸣噪自纷纷”——野鸦不懂它的孤独。杜甫写雁，写的是自己。【意象与手法】紧扣“孤”字，写一只不饮不啄、穿飞哀鸣、苦觅同伴的失群孤雁。首联“飞鸣声念群”为一篇之骨，中二联以一片影对万重云、望尽对哀多极写其孤其哀，尾联以野鸦反衬愈显孤雁之执。物我交融、情景相生。【情感与主旨】作于杜甫流寓夔州期间，雁之孤即己之孤。杜甫晚年亲朋离散、漂泊天涯，以孤雁写尽乱离漂泊之痛，是杜甫咏物诗中沉郁顿挫的典范，浦起龙评“写生至此，天雨泣矣”。【名句点睛】常考“孤雁不饮啄，飞鸣声念群”以行动写孤雁念群之切；“谁怜一片影，相失万重云”以一片影对万重云写其孤其哀。

Background

Du Fu, courtesy name Zimei, styled himself Shaoling Ye Lao, was a great poet of the transition from the High Tang to the Mid Tang. This 'Lone Goose' was probably written during his wandering in Kuizhou or the lakes and Xiang River region, when in his later years he was displaced and separated from relatives, so he used the lone goose as a metaphor for himself. The theme of the lone goose had existed since ancient times, but Du Fu gave it profound melancholy. After the An Lushan Rebellion, wars continued, people were displaced, and literati also wandered. Du Fu himself fled with his family, brothers and sisters scattered. The goose's loss of its flock is precisely the poet's loss of companionship. In object-praising poetry, the ideal is to be neither too attached nor too detached. This poem is entirely about the goose, yet every line is about the poet: not drinking or eating, voice longing for the flock, a single shadow, ten thousand clouds—all convey the sorrow of separation and the pain of downfall. Reading this poem, one should know that it is not merely about an object but rather Du Fu's blood and tears depicting the isolation and danger of people in turbulent times. It is a natural expression of his deep ethical feelings and worldly sorrow, and is regarded as the crown of Tang object-praising poems.

杜甫，字子美，号少陵野老，盛唐转中唐之伟大诗人，此《孤雁》一作《孤雁不饮啄》，约作于其漂泊夔州或湖湘期间，晚年流离，亲属离散，故借孤雁以自况。孤雁为题，古已有之，至杜而沉郁特深。安史乱后，干戈不息，百姓流离，士人亦多播迁，杜甫自身携家避乱，弟妹各散，孤雁之失群，正是诗人之失侣。咏物诗贵不即不离，此诗全篇写雁，而句句是人；不饮啄、声念群、一片影、万重云，皆写离群之哀，亦写沦落之痛。读此诗当知非仅咏物，乃老杜以血泪写离乱中人之孤危，是其伦常之厚、身世之悲的自然流露，亦为唐人咏物之冠冕。此诗为杜咏物之冠冕，不即不离之间最见筋骨；孤雁之失群即诗人之失侣，安史乱后弟妹各散，伦常之厚、身世之悲皆寄于此微小禽鸟，故能穿越离乱直抵人心，非徒体物而已。老杜晚年漂泊湖湘，亲故凋零，孤雁正其自画像；以物写心，小而能大，一禽之哀遂成时代之叹，此即杜诗沉郁之真源，亦咏物之上乘。杜甫此诗约作于安史乱后漂泊夔州之时，孤身流寓，亲故凋零，故借孤雁以自况。大历年间社稷初定而疮痍未复，诗人老病孤舟，望断关山。孤雁之失群，实乃诗人之失侣；野鸦之纷纷，正喻世俗之喧嚣。咏物至此，已物我交融。杜诗每于细微物象中寄家国之痛，此篇以小见大，孤雁一声即是乱世孤臣之喟叹，学者多以为寓身世飘零与同道零落之悲。

Art

This poem observes the object with great subtlety and carries profound meaning. Eight lines fully portray the spirit of the lone goose. The opening two lines—'The lone goose neither drinks nor pecks, flying and calling, its voice longs for the flock'—show that because it longs for the flock, it neglects eating and drinking; its flying and calling are both sorrowful. The third and fourth lines—'Who pities this single shadow, lost among ten thousand layers of clouds'—contrast the single shadow with the vast clouds, the spatial disparity emphasizing its isolation and helplessness. The fifth and sixth lines—'Gazing to the end, it seems still to see, in its many cries, it seems to hear them more'—depict the gaze piercing the horizon and the cries lingering in the ears, half real, half illusion, utterly infatuated and deeply pained. The final couplet—'The wild crows are listless, chattering and squawking on their own'—uses the carefree crows to contrast the goose's longing for its flock, the contrast of noise and silence making its sorrow even more apparent. The whole poem has no idle words beyond the goose, yet the soul of the lone goose leaps off the page. This is the highest art of object-praising poetry, where the poet is neither too attached nor too detached, revealing Du Fu's strength.

此诗体物入微而托意深远，八句写尽孤雁之神。起二句孤雁不饮啄，飞鸣声念群，写其因念群而废饮啄，飞鸣皆哀，开篇即攫住失群之痛。三四句谁怜一片影，相失万重云，以一片对万重，以孤影对云海，空间悬殊，愈显孤单无告。五六句望尽似犹见，哀多如更闻，写望眼欲穿、哀鸣在耳，似真似幻，痴绝痛绝。结二句野鸦无意绪，鸣噪自纷纷，以野鸦之不知愁反衬孤雁之念群，喧寂相形，益见其哀。全诗无一雁字外的闲笔，而孤雁之魂已跃然，是为咏物上乘，不即不离之间最见老杜筋骨。八句写尽孤雁之神，由不饮啄而念群、由一片影而万重云、由望尽而哀多，层层深入；结以野鸦反衬，喧寂相形而益见其哀，章法细密而气脉沉郁，咏物至此乃不粘不脱，物我两忘。不饮啄写其痴，一片影写其孤，望尽哀多写其盼，野鸦鸣噪写其异；八句无一闲笔，而孤雁之魂跃然纸上，杜律之密于此可见。全诗八句皆围绕孤字展开，不饮啄写其坚贞，声念群写其情切，一片影对万重云写其渺小与阻隔。望尽似犹见哀多如更闻以错觉写执念，虚实相生，憨痴入骨。尾联野鸦无意绪鸣噪自纷纷以俗物反衬孤高，章法以对比作结。炼字如孤一片万重皆极精准，对仗工整而气脉流动，是杜律咏物浑成自然之范本，无一字无来处而读来如话。

Allusions

The chanting of the lone goose began in the Wei and Jin dynasties with Bao Zhao and Yu Xin, and reached its most poignant expression in Du Fu. 'Not drinking or eating' alludes to the nature of geese that when separated from the flock, they refuse to eat or drink, based on the 'Book of Rites' and works on birds. 'Ten thousand layers of clouds' uses the image of letters sent from the clouds, describing the height and distance of the goose formation. 'The wild crows are listless, chattering and squawking on their own' uses the vulgar noise of crows to contrast the purity and loftiness of the goose. The pairing of crow and goose also reflects the contrasting technique in Song Yu's 'Nine Arguments' where swallows depart and cicadas are silent. 'A single shadow' derives from lines by Jiang Yan and Li Bai about a solitary shadow. Du Fu imbues a tiny bird with the pain of home and country and the longing for kinship, inheriting the tradition of bixing (analogy and evocation) from Qu and Song and the object-praising tradition of Han and Wei. His style is uniquely profound and powerful, the finest example of using objects to convey the heart, where the small becomes great and the object becomes human.

孤雁之咏，始于魏晋，鲍照、庚信多有之，至杜甫而沉痛绝伦。不饮啄暗用雁失群则不饮不啄之习性，本于《礼记》与禽经诸书。万重云用云中谁寄锦书来之象，状雁阵之高远。野鸦无意绪，鸣噪自纷纷，以鸦之俗噪反衬雁之高洁孤迥，鸦雁对举，亦见宋玉《九辩》燕翩翩其辞归、蝉寂寞而无声之衬托法。一片影化用江淹、李白孤影相关之句。杜甫以禽鸟之微寄家国之痛、伦常之念，承屈宋比兴、汉魏咏物之统，而沉郁顿挫，自成一家，最是杜诗以物写心之典范，小而能大，物而能人。不饮啄本于《禽经》雁失群则不饮不啄之性，万重云状雁阵之高远，鸦雁对举承宋玉衬托之法；杜甫以禽鸟之微寄家国之痛与伦常之念，承屈宋比兴而自成沉郁之格，小而能大，物而能人。一片影化用前人孤影之句，野鸦无意绪则以俗噪反衬高洁，用典自然而寄托遥深，最见老杜融化前人、自铸伟词之本领。孤雁意象自汉魏以来即为失群哀鸣之典型，祢衡《鹦鹉赋》已开咏物寄身世之先，杜甫承之而更深沉。万重云化用古诗与楚辞远游之太空辽阔，以衬孤影之微。野鸦语带《庄子》鸱得腐鼠之嘲，暗讥俗辈纷扰。念群二字凝练儒者眷怀之意。此类用典皆融入物象，不使艰深，既存比兴之古法，又见少陵以家国之悲灌注于微物之独创。

Commentary

Every word in this poem describes the goose, but each line describes the poet himself. 'Not drinking or eating' does not mean it is not hungry, but that it forgets hunger because of longing for the flock. 'Voice longs for the flock' is not mere crying but an urgent call for companions. 'Who pities this single shadow' is a question to heaven and also self-pity: drifting across the world, who cares for me? 'Gazing to the end, it seems still to see, in its many cries, it seems to hear them more' writes the obsession of hoping for companions, as if one sees the poet standing at the edge of the clouds. In the end, the wild crows squabble, their noise highlighting the lone goose's solitude—the livelier the noise, the more desolate it feels. Du Fu's later years saw brothers and sisters scattered, friends lost. This lone goose is the poet's self-portrait. When object-praising reaches this point, it is neither attached nor detached; object and self become one. Reading it a thousand years later, one still hears a mournful cry among the clouds. Its profound melancholy lies in turning personal loneliness into universal human loneliness, thus crossing through turmoil and touching the heart directly.

此诗字字写雁，句句写己。不饮啄非不饥，乃因念群而忘饥；声念群非徒鸣，乃呼侣之迫切。谁怜一片影，是问天，亦是自伤：漂泊天涯，谁复恤我？望尽似犹见，哀多如更闻，写盼侣之痴，如见其人伫立云际。至野鸦鸣噪，以群鸦之纷纷反衬孤雁之茕独，热闹愈显凄凉。杜甫晚年弟妹离散、故旧凋零，此孤雁正是诗人自画像。咏物至此，不即不离，物我合一，千载下读之，犹觉云间一声哀鸣。其沉郁处，正在于把个人的孤单写成了人类的孤单，故能穿越离乱而直抵人心。字字写雁而句句写己，物我合一至此乃化；望尽似犹见、哀多如更闻，写盼侣之痴如见其人伫立云际，千载下读之犹觉云间一声哀鸣。谁怜一片影是问天亦自伤，野鸦鸣噪则热闹愈显凄凉。个人之孤遂成人类之孤，此即杜诗沉郁之真源；咏物至此，不即不离，以一雁写尽乱离中人之孤危，诚为千古绝唱。统观全篇，以一雁之孤写乱离中人之孤危，物我合一而沉郁之骨自见；老杜咏物之妙，正在不即不离之间，以小见大，以物写心，遂成千古之绝唱。八句无一闲笔，而孤雁之魂跃然纸上，杜律之密、情之厚于此并见，诚咏物之上乘，非徒体物而已。此诗不惟写雁，更是写人。念群二字是诗眼，孤雁之念念不忘，正是杜甫对君国师友终始不渝之痴。相失万重云写尽阻隔，望尽似犹见写尽执着，读之令人鼻酸。野鸦鸣噪以热闹反衬孤独，更显高洁之无人理解。大历诗人多工写景，唯杜甫能以一禽之微寄沧海之痛，沉郁顿挫，字字血泪。孤雁即少陵自身，失群之哀亦即时代之哀，是为咏物诗物我合一之极则。

Prosody

Reading note This is a five-character regulated verse (八句四十字), with middle couplets in parallel. The opening line '孤雁不饮啄' has the pattern 平仄仄仄仄, an irregular tone pattern, while the second line '飞鸣声念群' is 平平平仄平. The following lines mostly adhere to the standard, but the overall tonal flow conveys deep melancholy, showing Du Fu's mastery of using form to enhance meaning.此诗为五言律诗，八句四十字，押平声文韵（群、云、闻、纷，古音同属文部，唐韵相叶）。首联孤雁不饮啄（平仄仄仄仄），飞鸣声念群（平平平仄平），起手不入正格而见拗峭，恰合孤兀之情；颔联谁怜一片影（平平仄仄仄），相失万重云（平仄仄平平），影、云相对；颈联望尽似犹见（仄仄仄平仄），哀多如更闻（平平平仄平），流水对而情致绵长；尾联野鸦无意绪（仄平平仄仄），鸣噪自纷纷（平仄仄平平），结以平收。中二联对仗精严，而声情悲郁，与内容相表里。其拗峭之起、沉郁之结，于严整格律中见出风骨之孤峭，是杜律沉郁顿挫之代表，亦可见杜甫不以声律害意、因情变调的大家手段。此作五言律诗，八句四十字，押文韵，群云闻纷为韵脚，一韵到底。中间两联谁怜一片影相失万重云、望尽似犹见哀多如更闻皆工对，前联写空间之隔，后联写心理之幻，对仗中见层次。首联孤雁不饮啄飞鸣声念群叙起直入，尾联野鸦无意绪鸣噪自纷纷以景结情。平仄谐律，黏对无误，而气格沉郁，声情与孤哀相称，最见老杜五律之浑成风力。

Line by line

孤雁不饮啄，飞鸣声念群。

A lone goose, separated from its flock, neither drinks nor pecks; flying and calling, its voice is full of longing for its companions.

The lone eagle neither drinks nor pecks; in flight, its cry calls for the flock.

此联为全篇之骨。不饮啄三字，写孤雁因念群而废寝忘食，痴绝之态已具；飞鸣声念群则动静相生，于飞鸣之中传出念群之呼，声情凄切。杜甫不先写其孤，而先写其念，正见孤之深源于情之挚。浦起龙评「飞鸣声念群，一诗之骨」，确为的论。二句看似平铺，实则已将全诗的痴、哀、孤、高四字包孕其中，是杜诗炼意于浅处见深的典型。于起手即立定全篇情感之基调与精神之主轴，不言孤而孤已深，不言悲而悲已至，所谓立骨之法，于此可见其精。孤雁一声念群，实乃诗人自道流落夔州、故旧凋零之悲，物我交融至此已不分彼此。

This couplet is the bone of the whole poem. 'Neither drinks nor pecks' writes the lone eagle, so grieving for its flock that it forgets food and drink, its obsession complete; 'in flight, its cry calls for the flock' pairs movement and sound, the call for the flock heard in its crying flight, the voice and feeling piteous. Du Fu writes not its loneliness first but its longing, showing that the depth of loneliness springs from the depth of feeling. Pu Qilong said 'in flight, its cry calls for the flock is the bone of the poem' — a just verdict. The two lines seem plain, yet hold within them the whole poem's obsession, grief, loneliness, and loftiness; the opening fixes the emotional tone and the spiritual axis, and loneliness is deep though not spoken, grief present though not named.

谁怜一片影，相失万重云？

Who pities this single shadow, lost among ten thousand layers of clouds?

Who pities one small shadow, lost among ten thousand layers of cloud?

此联境界倏开，由近及远，由物及天。一片影之微，对万重云之阔，大小悬殊，极写孤雁之孤单与隔绝。谁怜二字，既是怜雁，亦是自怜，诗人于动荡离乱中年老漂泊，正亦天壤间一片孤影，无人怜惜。相失万重云，不仅写雁失其群，亦暗喻人失其亲、国失其序。一问之中，物我双写，沉郁顿挫，是杜诗即小见大、托物寓身世之妙。于渺小与苍茫的对照中见出时代之悲，以雁之失群写人之失所，一笔而兼写物情世运，是杜律含蓄沉痛的极致。失群之哀写尽阻隔，望尽似犹见写尽执着，痴态入骨，读之令人鼻酸。

This couplet suddenly opens the realm, from near to far, from object to sky. One small shadow against the vastness of ten thousand layers of cloud — small against vast, extreme, writing the lone eagle's solitude and separation. 'Who pities' is at once pity for the eagle and self-pity: the poet, old and drifting in the turmoil of the times, is himself a lone shadow between heaven and earth, pitied by none. 'Lost among ten thousand layers of cloud' writes not only the eagle's loss of its flock but man's loss of his kin, the age's loss of order. One question writes both object and self, subdued and measured, Du Fu's way of seeing the great in the small, lodging his own lot in the creature. In the contrast of the tiny and the vast is the grief of the age.

野鸦无意绪，鸣噪自纷纷。

The wild crows have no such feelings; they chatter and squawk on their own.

The wild crows have no care in the world, cawing and chattering in flocks.

尾联以野鸦反结，章法巧妙。野鸦鸣噪纷纷，全不解孤雁念群之哀，一味自得其乐，恰成庸俗与高洁之对照。无意绪三字，写野鸦之茫然无识，亦暗讽世人中只顾眼前、不解离乱之苦者。以鸦衬雁，孤雁之孤迥愈显；以纷纷之乱反衬一人之静，余韵冷峭。杜甫不直言孤雁之高，而高自在其中，是咏物诗「不即不离」结法之佳例。于反衬中收束全篇孤寂之旨，以喧闹衬孤寂，以俗反高雅，结得冷峻而余哀缭绕，是杜诗章法绵密、用意深沉的又一明证。野鸦鸣噪以热闹反衬孤独，更显孤雁之高洁无人理解，章法以俗物作结而意愈孤。

The closing couplet turns the wild crows against the eagle, the craft clever. The crows caw and chatter in flocks, wholly unmoved by the lone eagle's grief, enjoying themselves — the vulgar set against the lofty. The words 'no care in the world' write the crows' blank unknowing, and secretly satirize those in the world who care only for the moment and feel nothing of the turmoil. Setting the crow against the eagle, the eagle's isolation shows the more; setting the noisy flocks against the single still figure, the aftertaste is cold. Du Fu does not say the eagle is noble, yet the nobility is there — a fine example of the flower-portrait poem's 'neither clinging nor leaving' close. Noise sets off solitude, the vulgar set against the lofty, the close cold and cutting, the grief lingering.

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Word focus

孤 A key expression in this poem; read it with the Chinese note below. 题目与起句同出一「孤」字，是全诗精神所聚。孤者，失群也，然杜诗之孤不止于物，更在于人——漂泊孤臣、离散兄弟、乱离苍生，皆此一字之影。孤雁之不饮不啄、飞鸣念群，皆由此孤而生；一片影、万重云，皆由此孤而显。一个孤字，提纲挈领，贯穿首尾，使咏物之作升华为自伤身世之篇。是杜甫以一字立骨、以少总多之秘，亦见其于离乱中炼字以寄家国之痛的深沉笔力，于最寻常的一字中，凝聚了时代与个人双重飘零的悲怆，力重千钧。孤字一篇之眼，既写雁之失群亦写人之沦落，物我同悲自此一字立定。

念群 longing for the flock 念群二字，为孤雁之魂，亦为全诗之情核。群者，雁之伴侣，亦诗人所念之兄弟亲朋也。不饮不啄因念群，飞鸣因念群，望尽哀多亦因念群，一念字串起全篇痴绝之态。杜甫于离乱中作此，念群实即念国、念家、念故人，将乱世漂零之痛凝于二宇，语极平而情极深。是杜诗即物写心、沉郁处见温柔之一例，于微物中见出对人间聚散的深沉眷恋。此二字既是雁之本性，亦是人之常情，由物性及于人情，由个别达于普遍，遂使一首咏雁小诗获得穿越千古的共情力量。念群凝练儒者眷怀，孤雁之念念不忘正杜甫对君国师友终始不渝之痴。

孤雁