All poems

唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

黄鹤楼

Yellow Crane Tower

崔颢

Cui Hao

怀古Nostalgia for the past 乡愁Homesickness 登临Climbing and overlooking

昔人已乘黄鹤去，此地空余黄鹤楼。
黄鹤一去不复返，白云千载空悠悠。
晴川历历汉阳树，芳草萋萋鹦鹉洲。
日暮乡关何处是，烟波江上使人愁。

The sage on yellow crane was gone amid clouds white.
To what avail is Yellow Crane Tower left here?
Once gone, the yellow crane will ne'er on earth alight;
Only white clouds still float in vain from year to year.
By sunlit river trees can be count'd one by one;
On Parrot Islet sweet green grass grows fast and thick.
Where is my native land beyond the setting sun?
The mist-veiled waves of River Han make me homesick.

Listen

Meaning

The poet ascends the Yellow Crane Tower, recalls the legend of an immortal riding a crane, and feels the passage of time and his own homesickness. The first half laments the past, the second half describes the present view and his longing for home.

昔日的仙人已乘黄鹤飞去，这里只空留下一座黄鹤楼。黄鹤一去再不返回，唯有白云千百年里空自悠悠。晴天里汉阳的树木清晰可数，鹦鹉洲上芳草长得茂盛连片。日暮时分我的故乡究竟在何处，江上烟波迷茫，教人平添无尽乡愁。

Appreciation

The poem opens with a mythic past, using repetition of 'yellow crane' and 'empty' to create a vast, timeless atmosphere. Then it shifts to bright, clear scenery, contrasting with the melancholy homesickness in the final couplet. The structure is innovative: the first four lines are loose and free, the last four are strictly parallel.

【白话串讲】传说李白登上黄鹤楼本想题诗，看到崔颢这首，叹服道：眼前有景道不得。仙人黄鹤、白云千载——崔颢用一首诗，让黄鹤楼成了唐诗的最高地标。【意象与手法】此诗前四句一气流转，以「黄鹤」「白云」「空」等意象回环复沓，几乎全用散行古调，不拘平仄对仗；后四句忽而收敛为工整的律联，「晴川历历汉阳树，芳草萋萋鹦鹉洲」叠字对仗、色彩明丽，以乐景衬哀情。全篇由虚入实、由古及今、由景入情，前散后整，跌宕生姿。【情感与主旨】崔颢于开元十一年（723）前后登武昌黄鹤楼而作。诗人借仙人乘鹤的传说起笔，以日暮乡愁收束，将神话、江山、历史与个人之思熔于一炉，抒发怀古的怅惘与羁旅思乡之情。相传李白登楼见此诗，叹「眼前有景道不得，崔颢题诗在上头」而为之搁笔。【名句点睛】常考吊古思乡主题与「昔人已乘黄鹤去」的仙人传说；「晴川历历汉阳树，芳草萋萋鹦鹉洲」的叠字对仗与乐景衬哀；「日暮乡关何处是，烟波江上使人愁」的设问结情。严羽《沧浪诗话》推此诗为「唐人七言律诗第一」。

Background

Cui Hao wrote this poem around 723 AD while climbing the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuchang. Legend says Li Bai was so impressed that he abandoned his own attempt to write a poem on the same subject. It is often hailed as the greatest seven-character regulated verse of the Tang dynasty.

崔颢（约704—754），汴州（今河南开封）人，盛唐诗人。早年诗多浮艳，晚岁出入边塞，风格一变而为风骨凛然。此诗为其开元十一年（723）前后登武昌黄鹤楼所作，具体年月文献无征，多据其行踪推断。相传李白登楼本欲题诗，见此作后叹曰：「眼前有景道不得，崔颢题诗在上头」，遂搁笔而去。此说虽出后人记载、未必尽实，却足见此诗在当时人心目中的分量。黄鹤楼始建于三国孙吴黄武二年（223），临长江而峙，登楼可尽览江汉交汇之胜，自古为登临胜地；唐人登楼怀古、即景生愁，已成诗歌传统，崔颢此作正是这一传统中境界最为宏阔、情韵最为悠长的一篇。诗以仙人乘鹤的传说起笔，以日暮乡愁收束，将神话、历史、江山与个人之思熔于一炉，被严羽《沧浪诗话》推为「唐人七言律诗第一」，后世遂有「千古绝唱」「七律之冠」之誉，亦可见盛唐诗人登高临远、吞吐古今的普遍胸襟与开阔气象。

Art

The poem flows naturally: the first half uses ancient-style freedom with repeated characters, the second half adopts strict regulated-verse parallelism. The couplet '晴川历历汉阳树，芳草萋萋鹦鹉洲' is vivid and colorful, using bright scenery to deepen the sorrow.

此诗艺术上最突出的特点，是以古调写律体、以气运辞，破七律常格而生奇变。前四句一气贯注，写仙人乘鹤、黄鹤不返、白云悠悠，几乎全用散行，不拘平仄对仗，如「黄鹤一去不复返」连用仄声而气势不减；只在「昔人」「黄鹤」「此地」「白云」等意象的往复回环中见章法。三见「黄鹤」、两用「空」字，复沓而不觉重复，反而造成一种苍茫的旋律感，仿佛仙踪渺然、时光空逝的叹息在字里行间回荡。后四句忽而收敛为工整的律联：「晴川历历汉阳树，芳草萋萋鹦鹉洲」以叠字对仗、色彩明丽，写出登楼所见的实景；「日暮乡关何处是，烟波江上使人愁」以设问对结句，将前文的缥缈与后文的明丽一并收束于乡愁。全诗由虚入实、由古及今、由景入情，前散后整，跌宕生姿。此外，「历历」「萋萋」的叠字既写景物之清晰繁茂，又暗用《楚辞》「王孙游兮不归，春草生兮萋萋」之意，明丽之中已含迟暮与思归之愁，以乐景写哀情，更见情韵之深。

Allusions

The opening refers to the legend of the immortal Zi'an (or Fei Yi) riding a yellow crane. Parrot Isle (鹦鹉洲) is named after Mi Heng's 'Parrot Rhapsody'. The poem seamlessly blends myth, history, and personal emotion.

「昔人已乘黄鹤去」用黄鹤楼得名之传说。《南齐书·州郡志》载，仙人子安曾乘黄鹤过此，楼因得名；又有三国蜀汉费祎登仙、每乘黄鹤憩于此楼之说。无论子安抑或费祎，此典都为全诗罩上一层缥缈的神话色彩，仙去楼存，起笔即见空寂。「晴川历历汉阳树，芳草萋萋鹦鹉洲」写登楼实景，而鹦鹉洲得名于东汉名士祢衡：祢衡恃才傲物，为江夏太守黄祖所杀，葬于洲上，其《鹦鹉赋》辞采华茂，洲因以名。崔颢笔下的萋萋芳草，既写眼前秋色，也暗暗牵连着祢衡的悲剧命运与文人怀才不遇的千古慨叹。「日暮乡关何处是」之设问，则承汉乐府「悲歌可以当泣，远望可以当归」的乡愁传统。全篇以传说起、以实景承、以乡愁收，典故与即景浑然一体，不着痕迹，正是盛唐诗人用典如「水中着盐、饮之乃知」的高境。此外，「白云千载空悠悠」亦暗合游仙传统中白云苍狗、世事无常之叹；黄鹤楼历六朝至唐屡毁屡建，登楼者代有其人，诗人一己之怀古遂借传说与故实升华为对时光永恒的追问，用典虽多而浑然一体。

Commentary

Yan Yu's 'Canglang's Remarks on Poetry' calls this the best seven-character regulated verse. Li Bai's 'Climbing the Phoenix Tower' shows its influence. Many critics consider it superior to Li Bai's similar works.

此诗自问世以来，历代评价极高。严羽《沧浪诗话》云：「唐人七言律诗，当以崔颢《黄鹤楼》为第一。」此后诸家选本多奉为圭臬。元人辛文房《唐才子传》亦载李白搁笔之传说，虽未必实录，却成诗坛千古佳话。李白后来作《登金陵凤凰台》，句法章次显受此诗影响，尤以「凤凰台上凤凰游，凤去台空江自流」对「昔人已乘黄鹤去，此地空余黄鹤楼」为近，后人遂有「崔李优劣」之争；多数论者以为崔诗浑然天成，李诗效颦而终不能掩，清人沈德潜《唐诗别裁》即谓「太白推服，岂虚语哉」。在文学史意义上，《黄鹤楼》的价值不仅在其为七律之冠，更在以古调入律、以气驭辞的成功实践，为盛唐律诗的解放提供了范本；其怀古与乡愁交织的主题，亦成为唐人登临诗的基本模式。此诗传诵千年，至今仍是中国诗歌史上「以孤篇立名」的典范。历代诗人登临题咏，莫不受其笼罩；《黄鹤楼》遂与岳阳楼、滕王阁题咏并称千古名胜之诗，其怀古之思与乡愁之切，融神话、江山、历史、个人于一体，千载之下犹能动人心魄，实为唐诗中情与景、古与今、虚与实完美交融的极致。

Prosody

Form Seven-character regulated verse (variant: first four lines ancient-style, last four lines regular)七言律诗（仄起首句不入韵，前四句用古调、后四句合律，为七律变格）

Rhyme Rhyming at the end: lou, you, zhou, chou (all in the same rhyme group, ping tone)押下平十一尤韵：楼、悠、洲、愁；首句「去」字仄收不入韵。

Tone pattern First four lines: free in tonal pattern; last four lines: more strict首联「昔人已乘黄鹤去，此地空余黄鹤楼」平仄多拗；颔联「黄鹤一去不复返」连用仄声，全不拘律，以古歌行笔调写之；颈联「晴川历历汉阳树，芳草萋萋鹦鹉洲」始转工整对仗，尾联「日暮乡关何处是，烟波江上使人愁」亦合律。全篇前散后整，平仄由拗入正，声情随之由苍茫转明丽、由明丽转沉郁。

Reading note Uses repetition of '黄鹤' and '空' to create a circling effect, breaking the usual regulated-verse rules for expressive power.此诗在格律上的最大特色，是以古调写律体：前三联多拗句散行，几乎不受七律平仄对仗之缚，至颈联方整为工对，故严羽推为「唐人七言律诗第一」，实赖此破格生奇之功。七律自沈佺期、宋之问定型以来，多严整工稳；崔颢独以歌行气脉入律，前半散行写怀古之缥缈，后半整对写登临之实景，虚实相生、骈散互济，开七律变格之先。此体至李白《登金陵凤凰台》而益著，然终以崔颢此作为浑然天成之极。清人评此诗「以古诗为律诗，其格最古」，正指其于法度之外见气韵、于工稳之中见奔放，为后人提供了一条「合律而不为律缚」的写作范式。

Line by line

昔人已乘黄鹤去，此地空余黄鹤楼。

The immortal has ridden the yellow crane away, leaving only the empty tower. This couplet establishes the sense of loss and the passage of time.

仙人已乘黄鹤飞去，此地只空留下一座黄鹤楼。

The immortal long ago rode off on the yellow crane; here, the tower alone remains.

起笔即以神话传说领起。「乘」字写仙人飘然而去，「空余」二字写人去楼空，一座巍然的高楼在「空」字的笼罩下顿显苍茫孤寂。诗人不先写楼之高峻、江之浩荡，而先从仙踪的渺然写起，将登楼怀古的基调一举奠定——楼因人而名，人既已去，楼遂成空壳，怀古的怅惘便由这「空余」二字自然流出。首联两句一实一虚、一人一楼，对举中已含今昔之变，为全篇定下苍茫空寂的底色。

The opening begins with the legend. The word 'rode' writes the immortal's floating departure; 'alone remains' writes the man gone and the tower empty, a towering building wrapped in the word 'empty' at once vast and solitary. Rather than the tower's height or the river's breadth, he begins with the vanished immortal, setting the elegiac tone — the tower is named for the man, and since he is gone, the tower is a shell. One real, one imagined, man and tower, the change of past and present contained.

黄鹤一去不复返，白云千载空悠悠。

The yellow crane never returns; only white clouds drift for a thousand years. It contrasts the fleeting human world with eternal nature.

黄鹤一去再不返回，唯有白云千百年里空自悠悠飘浮。

The yellow crane once gone and never returning, the white clouds through a thousand years drift on.

「不复返」写仙踪之不可追，「空悠悠」写白云之无尽时。两句以黄鹤之短暂与白云之永恒对举，将人事的倏忽与天地的长久并置，时空的苍茫之感油然而生。这里「空」字第二次出现，与首联的「空余」呼应——首联之空是楼中无人，此联之空是天外无鹤，两「空」相叠，怀古之思愈转愈深。诗人不写悲而悲自见，不写愁而愁已满纸，全以意象的对照与时间的绵延出之，正是盛唐七律以气驭景、不落言筌的高境。

'Never returning' writes the untraceable immortal; 'drift on' the endless clouds. The brief crane set against the eternal cloud, human haste against heaven's duration, the vastness of time and space rising. The word 'empty' appears a second time, echoing 'alone remains' above — the first emptiness is no man in the tower, this emptiness is no crane beyond the sky; two 'empties' deepening the elegy. Not a word of grief, yet grief fills the page, all through the contrast of images and the stretch of time.

晴川历历汉阳树，芳草萋萋鹦鹉洲。

The clear river, the distinct trees of Hanyang, and the lush grass on Parrot Isle. This bright scenery contrasts with the melancholy of the final couplet, using joy to set off sorrow.

晴天里汉阳的树木清晰可数，鹦鹉洲上芳草茂盛连片。

In the clear sunlight, the trees of Hanyang stand out; on Parrot Isle, the fragrant grass grows thick.

此联由缥缈的神话忽转眼前实景，章法上陡然一变。「历历」写晴日下汉阳树木之清晰，一洗前文空茫；「萋萋」写鹦鹉洲上芳草之繁茂，叠字对仗，色彩明丽，境界开阔而明亮。然而乐景之中暗藏哀思：「萋萋」暗用《楚辞》「春草生兮萋萋」的怀人之典，芳草连天而游子未归，明丽的反面正是思归的惆怅。以乐景写哀情，一倍增其哀；由虚入实的章法转换，也使全诗的节奏由舒缓变为明快，再转入日暮的苍茫，跌宕有致。

This couplet turns abruptly from the misty legend to the real scene, a sharp change of design. 'Stand out' writes the trees of Hanyang clear in the sunlight, washing away the earlier vagueness; 'grow thick' writes the lush grass on Parrot Isle, doubled words matched, the colors bright and open. Yet joyous scene hides sorrow: 'grow thick' borrows the Verses of Chu longing, fragrant grass reaching the sky while the wanderer does not return. Writing grief through joyous scene doubles the grief; the turn from void to real quickens the rhythm.

日暮乡关何处是，烟波江上使人愁。

At dusk, where is my homeland? The misty river makes me sorrowful. The poem ends with a rhetorical question and a scene of mist, blending homesickness with the vast landscape.

日暮时分，我的故乡究竟在何处？江上烟波迷茫，教人平添无尽的乡愁。

At dusk, where is my home? The misty river makes me grieve.

尾联以设问收束，是全诗情感的总爆发。「日暮」点明时间，为全诗笼上一层苍茫的暮色；「乡关何处是」直问故乡之所在，然而望尽天涯，唯见「烟波江上」一片迷茫，问而不答，愁绪便在这迷茫中无限延展。由神话、江山、历史一路铺排，至此骤然收归个人的乡愁，大而化小、小而弥深；「使人愁」三字直揭题旨，而烟波渺渺的形象又使这愁绪含蓄不尽、余味无穷。全诗以传说起、以实景承、以乡愁收，起结照应，浑融无迹，故能压卷千古。

The closing couplet ends in a question, the total outbreak of feeling. 'At dusk' sets the hour, wrapping the poem in a vast twilight; 'where is my home?' asks after home, yet gazing to the horizon he sees only the misty river — asked, not answered, and the sorrow stretches in that vagueness. From myth, river, and history it suddenly contracts to personal homesickness, the great made small and the small the deeper; 'makes me grieve' names the theme, while the misty image leaves the grief unending. The poem begins in legend, continues in real scene, ends in homesickness.

Study

Word focus

空余 / 空悠悠 The two 'empty' (空) characters echo each other, emphasizing the emptiness left by the immortal and the futility of time. 「空余」与「空悠悠」两处「空」字前后呼应，是此诗炼字的关键。首联「此地空余黄鹤楼」，一「空」字写仙去楼存、繁华落尽，高楼徒存而生机已渺；颔联「白云千载空悠悠」，再一「空」字写黄鹤不返、白云徒飘，天地的恒久与人事的倏忽在这「空」中相遇。两「空」一在楼、一在云，一近一远、一实一虚，将怀古的怅惘与时光的浩叹织成一片。若去此二字，诗意顿减：正是这看似寻常的「空」字，使全诗笼罩在空寂苍茫的氛围里，虚处传神，不着一字悲叹而悲情自满。

历历 / 萋萋 The reduplicated words vividly describe the clarity of the trees and the luxuriance of the grass, creating a bright, beautiful scene that contrasts with the poet's inner sadness. 「历历」「萋萋」皆叠字，一写汉阳树木之清晰分明，一写鹦鹉洲芳草之繁茂连片，对仗工整而声韵悦耳。叠字之妙，在兼得形神：「历历」以视觉之分明，写晴日登临、江山如画的明丽之景；「萋萋」以绵密的语感，写芳草无际、生意盎然的晚秋之色。更深一层，「萋萋」暗用《楚辞·招隐士》「王孙游兮不归，春草生兮萋萋」的典故，芳草与思归之间早有传统的联想，故明丽之中暗藏迟暮与乡思，为尾联的「使人愁」预埋伏笔。以叠字写景而兼情，以对仗见工而气不滞，正是盛唐律联的典型笔法。

何处是 This rhetorical question 'where is...' directly expresses the poet's homesickness, leaving the answer to the endless misty river, deepening the emotion. 「日暮乡关何处是」以「何处是」设问收束全篇，是此诗由铺景转入抒情的关键转折。「何处」本为寻常问语，置于「日暮乡关」之后，便有了双重意味：既是地理之问——故乡在何方；更是精神之问——归宿在何处。诗人登楼所见愈广，愈觉故乡之渺远难寻；所问愈切，所答愈渺，唯余「烟波江上」的迷茫。「何处是」三字问而不答，把前文铺排的传说、江山、芳草尽数收拢于这一问之中，乡愁由此从个人的漂泊升华为普遍的苍茫，含蓄不尽，余韵悠长，正是「以问结情」的典范。

黄鹤楼