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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

金陵酒肆留别

Parting at a Wine Shop in Jinling

李白

Li Bai

送别Farewell 羁旅Traveling far from home

风吹柳花满店香，吴姬压酒唤客尝。
金陵子弟来相送，欲行不行各尽觞。
请君试问东流水，别意与之谁短长。

Wind blows willow catkins till the whole shop is sweet;
Wu girls press the new wine and call the guests to taste.
The young men of Jinling come to see me off;
I would go yet linger - each drains his cup to the dregs.
I ask you: try asking the eastward-flowing river -
This feeling of parting, against it, which runs longer?

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Meaning

Leaving Jinling (Nanjing), Li Bai is feted by local friends in a riverside wine shop. Willow catkins, sweet wine, and Wu girls create a warm, fragrant scene; friends who cannot bear to part keep draining their cups. The poem closes by asking whether the eastward river or the feeling of parting runs longer - turning the sorrow of farewell into a graceful, open-ended image that is Li Bai's signature.

春风吹拂柳花，满店飘香，吴地的女子压酒劝客品尝。金陵的子弟前来相送，想走又不走，大家各自干尽了杯中酒。请你试问那东流的江水，离别的深情，与它相比谁短谁长？

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Wind blows willow catkins until the shop is full of fragrance; the Wu girl presses the new wine and calls guests to taste. The young men of Jinling come to see me off; wanting to go yet lingering, each drains his cup. I ask you to try asking the eastward river: the feeling of parting against it - which is longer? [Structure] Six lines in two movements: the first four build scene and action, the last two lift the feeling into a question. From fragrance to cups to river, the poem rises from the senses to infinity. [Imagery] Willow catkins, new wine, and a calling girl fill the shop with color and sound; the river then carries the whole scene away eastward. The joy of the first half doubles the ache of the second. [Technique] The famous detail 'wanting to go yet lingering' catches the psychology of parting in four words, and the closing comparison lets the river measure the friendship - a weight that cannot be weighed.

【白话串讲】李白写《金陵酒肆留别》：“风吹柳花满店香，吴姬压酒唤客尝”——“金陵子弟来相送，欲行不行各尽觞”——“请君试问东流水，别意与之谁短长”——他问：离情别意与东流水，哪个更长？【意象与手法】此诗是李白漫游金陵、离别送行时所作，写友人送别的深情，是李白送别诗中的名篇。前两句写景：「风吹柳花满店香，吴姬压酒唤客尝」，柳花飘香、吴姬压酒，写出暮春酒肆的欢快氛围，柳絮飞香、酒香四溢，视听嗅俱全，是李白诗中少有的秾丽之景；中两句写送别：「金陵子弟来相送，欲行不行各尽觞」，金陵的年轻朋友们前来送行，将走未走、频频举杯，「欲行不行」四字写尽依依惜别之情；末二句抒情：「请君试问东流水，别意与之谁短长」，以东流的江水比别意的深长，一问收束，余韵悠长。全诗前写景、中写人、后抒情，由欢快的酒肆到深情的送别，由实景到虚问，情感层层递进，是李白送别诗中最深情隽永的一首。【情感与主旨】此诗是李白游历金陵（今南京）时，与友人离别之作，约作于开元十四年（726）前后。李白于开元十三年出蜀漫游，次年游至金陵，结识了许多朋友。金陵是六朝古都，地处长江下游，是当时繁华的大都会，李白在此盘桓，与金陵的年轻朋友们结下了深厚情谊。此诗即写其离开金陵、友人相送的情景：暮春的酒肆里，柳花飘香、吴姬压酒，友人前来送别，将走未走、频频举杯，最后，诗人以东流的江水为喻，问那别意与江水谁短谁长。诗中既有对金陵风物与友情的留恋，也有游子漂泊的淡淡惆怅，更有「海内存知己」的深情。值得注意的是，李白此诗虽是留别之作，却无一般送别诗的悲切，而有一种潇洒俊逸的气度——那「请君试问东流水」的一问，问得从容、问得深情，把离别的愁绪化作了对友情的珍重。全诗情调明快而隽永，正见李白青年时代「飘逸潇洒」的本色，也是理解李白重友情、重然诺性格的重要作品。【名句点睛】常考“风吹柳花满店香，吴姬压酒唤客尝”写暮春酒肆的欢快氛围；“请君试问东流水，别意与之谁短长”以东流江水比别意深长，一问收束、余韵悠长。

Background

Li Bai (701-762), the great Romantic poet of the High Tang, wrote this poem around 726 (the fourteenth year of Kaiyuan), when he was about twenty-six and newly embarked on his travels after leaving Sichuan in 725. Jinling (present-day Nanjing), capital of the Six Dynasties and a prosperous metropolis on the Yangtze, was one of the first great cities of his wanderings; there he formed close friendships with local young men. The poem is an early masterpiece, written at the moment the young poet, cups in hand, first tasted the sweetness and sorrow of parting.

此诗为李白游历金陵时所作，约在唐玄宗开元十四年（726）前后，时李白二十六岁左右，正是其出蜀漫游的初期。李白于开元十三年（725）「仗剑去国，辞亲远游」，沿长江东下，先至扬州，后游金陵（今南京）。金陵是六朝古都，秦淮河畔、朱雀桥边，处处是历史的繁华与烟水的气息，李白在此盘桓，结识了许多年轻的朋友，「金陵子弟」即指这些人。此诗写其离开金陵时，友人在酒肆为其饯行、依依惜别的场景。诗中「风吹柳花满店香」写暮春的酒肆，柳絮纷飞、酒香四溢；「吴姬压酒唤客尝」写吴地女子压酒劝客，是金陵酒肆的典型风情；「金陵子弟来相送，欲行不行各尽觞」写友人送别的深情，将走未走、频频举杯；末二句「请君试问东流水，别意与之谁短长」以东流的江水为喻，写别意的深长。金陵地处长江下游，江水东流，正合「东流水」之景，李白以眼前之景写心中之情，情景交融。此诗是李白青年时代的送别名篇，与其《黄鹤楼送孟浩然之广陵》同为长江边上的送别诗，一送友人、一别金陵子弟，皆可见李白重友情、重然诺的性格，也可见其青年时代诗歌「清新俊逸」的风貌。

Art

Four techniques carry the poem. First, a joyful scene for a deep feeling: the fragrance and bustle of the wine shop make the coming parting harder, and the delight of the first half doubles the regret of the second. Second, a miraculous detail: 'wanting to go yet lingering' catches, in four words, the hesitation of both guest and host - to stay is impossible, to leave is unbearable. Third, the river comparison: instead of declaring sorrow, Li Bai weighs it against the eastward flow, so that the longer the river runs, the longer the friendship seems. Fourth, the ending turns from fact to question; the poem closes on an unanswered query whose echo is its charm.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个层面解析。其一，以乐景写深情的手法。全诗前两句写酒肆的欢快（柳花飘香、吴姬压酒），是「乐景」；后四句写送别的深情（欲行不行、别意如江水），是「深情」。以乐景写深情，正是王夫之所谓「以乐景写哀，以哀景写乐，一倍增其哀乐」——酒肆越欢快，离别越难舍；柳花越香，别意越浓。其二，「欲行不行」的细节传神。「欲行不行各尽觞」七字，写友人将走未走、频频举杯的情态，「欲行不行」四个字，把送别时那种想走又舍不得走、想留又不得不走的微妙心理写得活灵活现，比千言万语的惜别更动人。其三，以江水写别意的妙喻。「请君试问东流水，别意与之谁短长」以东流的江水比别意的深长，是千古名句——江水东流，长流不息，而别意与之相比，竟不知谁短谁长，可见别意之深长。这一比喻妙在「以物写情、以长写长」，江水之无穷，正见别意之无穷；同时，「试问」二字又为这比喻添了一层亲切与灵动。其四，由实入虚的收束。全诗前四句写实景（柳花、吴姬、觞酒），末二句转虚问（试问东流水），由实入虚，把离别的深情推向「问」而不答的余韵中，言有尽而意无穷。四重手法层层推进，使此诗成为李白送别诗中最深情隽永的一首，也是其「清水出芙蓉」诗风的典型。

Allusions

Willow catkins: the willow (homophone with 'stay') has opened the Chinese farewell tradition since the Book of Songs - 'when I left then, the willows swayed' - and catkins filling the shop prepare the farewell to come. The Wu girl: girls of the old land of Wu, the very signature of Jiangnan, which Li Bai celebrates again in his poems on Wu wine. Pressing the wine: the final step of brewing, when new wine is pressed from the ferment and offered fresh. The eastward river: water flowing east has signified passing time since Confucius stood by a river and said 'it passes like this, never ceasing day or night'. Draining the cups echoes the farewell-cup custom later immortalized by Wang Wei's 'I urge you to drain one more cup of wine'.

此诗的意象与用语深植于江南风物与送别传统，几乎不用典而韵味深厚。「风吹柳花满店香」的柳花（柳絮），是暮春江南的典型风物，柳与「留」谐音，自古便是送别的意象（《诗经·小雅·采薇》「昔我往矣，杨柳依依」即以此开送别意象之先河），李白以柳花入送别诗，正是承此传统。「吴姬压酒唤客尝」的「吴姬」，写吴地的酒家女子，金陵古属吴地，「吴姬」正是江南风情的标志（李白《对酒》「吴姬十五细马驮」亦写吴姬），「压酒」是酿酒的术语（新酒酿熟时压榨取酒），「唤客尝」则写酒家招徕客人的热情，一句写尽金陵酒肆的风情。「金陵子弟」写金陵的年轻朋友，「子弟」一词令人想到「江南子弟」「金陵王气」等历史记忆，为这送别添了一层金陵的地域色彩。「欲行不行各尽觞」暗用《诗经》「我有旨酒，以燕乐嘉宾之心」与王维「劝君更尽一杯酒」的劝酒送别传统，而「各尽觞」的「各」字，更写出宾主双方共同的深情。末二句「请君试问东流水，别意与之谁短长」以东流水写别意，令人想到《论语》「子在川上曰：逝者如斯夫，不舍昼夜」的流水意象与送别诗中「望水思人」的传统（如柳永「念去去，千里烟波」），而以「问」出之，更见灵动。全诗用典不着痕迹，化江南风物与送别传统于平淡的语言中，正是李白「以家常语写深情」的高妙，也是其青年诗风「清新俊逸」的体现。

Commentary

This is one of Li Bai's most beloved farewell poems and a standard example of writing feeling through scene in Tang verse. Critics praise the first couplet's lavish fragrance and the closing couplet's lingering charm, and the line 'wanting to go yet lingering' has become the classic summary of the psychology of parting. Unlike Wang Wei's stern 'one more cup' for a journey west beyond the Yang Pass, or Gao Shi's bold 'fear not that ahead you have no friends', Li Bai parts with grace and sparkle: the sorrow is real but worn lightly, like the fragrance of willows in a wine shop. The final question, echoing down the Qinhuai for a thousand years, teaches readers how the High Tang transformed grief into beauty.

此诗历来被推为李白送别诗中的名篇，也是唐代送别诗中「以景写情」的典范。历代论者多激赏「风吹柳花满店香」的秾丽与「请君试问东流水，别意与之谁短长」的隽永：清人王琦注《李太白全集》引前人评语，谓此诗「语意俊爽，情致缠绵」，近人更指出「欲行不行各尽觞」七字写尽送别时的微妙心理，是「以细节写深情」的典范。在送别诗史上，此诗的独特价值在于：它不像王维《送元二使安西》那样以「劝君更尽一杯酒」写壮别的苍凉，也不像高适《别董大》那样以「莫愁前路无知己」写豪迈的慰勉，而是以东流的江水写别意的深长，把离愁写得既深切又灵动。诗中那「风吹柳花」的暮春、「吴姬压酒」的风情、「欲行不行」的留恋、「东流水」的遥问，构成了一幅金陵送别的生动画卷，既有江南风物的清新，又有离愁别绪的隽永，正是李白「清水出芙蓉，天然去雕饰」诗风的最佳体现。此诗对后世影响深远，后世写金陵送别、写江南风情者，多受其影响。对于今日读者，此诗是进入李白青年诗风的钥匙，也是感受中国送别诗「以景写情、以喻传情」艺术的范本——那一声「谁短长」的试问，穿越千年，仍在秦淮河畔回荡。

Prosody

Form Seven-character ancient-style verse (short qigu)七言古诗（短篇）

Rhyme The poem rhymes on the level-tone yang group: fragrant (xiang), taste (chang), cup (shang), and long (chang), with the first line entering the rhyme; the broad, open resonance suits the river-and-friendship theme.押下平七阳韵，韵脚为「香」「尝」「觞」「长」。首句「花」字平声入韵，属首句入韵之格。韵脚「香」「尝」「觞」「长」皆属阳部，韵音悠长开阔，与「满店香」「谁短长」的绵长意境相谐。

Tone pattern Six lines in free ancient style: the first two move quickly with the shop's bustle, the middle two slow with the reluctance of the cups, and the last two stretch out long, the final 'long' dissolving like the river itself.此诗为七言短古，共六句，韵脚为「香」「尝」「觞」「长」。全诗音节流丽：前两句写景，节奏明快（风吹柳花、吴姬压酒）；中两句写送别，节奏舒缓（欲行不行、各尽觞）；末二句抒情，节奏悠长（试问东流水、谁短长），以「长」字收束，余韵绵长。声调上，全诗以平声阳韵为韵脚，韵音开阔悠长，与「满店香」「别意深长」的意境相谐。

Reading note This short ancient-style poem shows Li Bai's early ease: no regulated turns, just the music of speech rising into song. The four yang-rhyme words - fragrant, taste, cup, long - carry the poem from the shop's fragrance to the river's length. Read it at two speeds: brisk for the wine shop, slow and long for the closing question, letting 'which runs longer' float away.此诗是七言短古，共六句，押平声阳韵，格律自由而音节流丽，正是李白七古中「短小而隽永」的一类。全诗六句两层：前四句写景与送别（风吹柳花、吴姬压酒、金陵子弟、欲行不行），节奏明快而情意缠绵；末二句抒情（试问东流水、谁短长），以一问收束，节奏悠长而余韵无穷。声调上，全诗以「香」「尝」「觞」「长」四个阳韵字为韵脚，韵音开阔悠长，正合「满店香」的氤氲与「别意长」的绵长。诵读此诗，宜以明快的节奏读前四句的风情与送别，以悠长的语调读末二句的试问，尤其「别意与之谁短长」七字，要读得轻而长，仿佛那离愁真的随江水东流而去。李白七古以「豪放」著称，此诗却以「隽永」见长，正是其七古中清新俊逸的一类，也是其青年诗风的代表。

Line by line

风吹柳花满店香，吴姬压酒唤客尝。

Wind blows willow catkins till the whole shop is sweet; Wu girls press the new wine and call the guests to taste.

春风吹拂柳花，满店飘香，吴地的女子压酒劝客品尝。

Wind blows willow catkins; the whole shop is fragrant; the Wu girl presses the wine and bids the guests taste.

起句写金陵酒肆的暮春风情，有声有色，是李白诗中少有的秾丽之景。「风吹柳花满店香」写风与花——春风吹拂，柳花纷飞，满店都飘着柳花的清香，「满店香」三字，把柳花香与酒香融为一体，写出暮春酒肆的氤氲氛围；「吴姬压酒唤客尝」写人与酒——吴地的女子正在压酒（新酒酿熟时压榨取酒），并热情地招呼客人品尝，「压酒」写酒家的忙碌，「唤客尝」写酒家的热情，一个「唤」字，写出吴姬招徕客人的娇俏生动。两句一写景、一写人，柳花之香与吴姬之情，共同营造出金陵酒肆那欢快温馨的氛围。值得注意的是，这两句虽是写景写人，却为后文的送别作了铺垫：酒肆越是欢快，离别越是难舍；「满店香」的欢愉，正是「欲行不行」的深情的前奏。以乐景写深情，正是此诗的匠心所在，也是李白「以实写虚」的本领。

The opening writes the late-spring charm of the Jinling wine shop, sound and color, one of Li Bai's few lush scenes. 'Wind blows willow catkins; the whole shop is fragrant' — spring wind, flying catkins, the shop filled with scent, 'the whole shop is fragrant' fusing catkin fragrance and wine aroma, the warm air of a late-spring tavern; 'the Wu girl presses the wine and bids the guests taste' — the Wu maiden pressing the wine when the new brew is ready, and warmly inviting the guests, 'presses' the busy vintner, 'bids' her lively coaxing. One line scene, one line person, the catkin fragrance and the girl's warmth together making the cheerful, gentle air of the Jinling tavern. Notably, though scene and person, they prepare the farewell: the merrier the tavern, the harder the parting; the joy of 'the whole shop fragrant' is the prelude to the deep feeling of 'wanting to go, not going'.

请君试问东流水，别意与之谁短长。

I ask you: try asking the eastward-flowing river - this feeling of parting, against it, which runs longer?

请你试问那东流的江水，离别的深情，与它相比谁短谁长？

I ask you to question the eastward flowing river: which is the longer, the river or our parting grief?

这两句是全诗情感的高潮，也是千古传诵的名句，以东流水写别意的深长。「请君试问东流水」是设问——诗人请友人试问那东流的江水，「试问」二字，语气亲切而灵动，仿佛不是庄重的抒情，而是随意的打趣；「别意与之谁短长」是反问——离别的深情，与那东流的江水相比，谁短谁长？这一问，含蓄而隽永：江水东流，昼夜不息，长流无穷，而诗人说别意与之相比，竟不知谁短谁长，可见别意之深长，犹胜江水。这两句的妙处在于「以长写长」：不直说「别意深长」，而拿江水来比，让读者自己去体会；同时，金陵地处长江下游，「东流水」正是眼前之景，以眼前之景写心中之情，情景交融，毫无隔阂。而「谁短长」的一问，更是问而不答，把离别的深情留在那绵长的余韵中，言有尽而意无穷。两句以一问收束全诗，把金陵子弟送别的深情、诗人对友情的珍重，都融入了那东流的江水中，千百年来，无数读者读到这一问，都不禁为之动容。

These two lines are the emotional peak and a famous couplet, using the eastward river for the length of parting grief. 'I ask you to question the eastward flowing river' is a rhetorical question — he asks his friend to question the river eastward, 'question' a warm, lively tone, as if not solemn lyric but a casual jest; 'which is the longer, the river or our parting grief?' the counter-question: the deep feeling of parting, set against the eastward river, which is longer? The question is restrained and memorable: the river flows east, day and night, endless; yet the poet says of the parting grief beside it, he cannot tell which is longer — the grief's depth exceeds the river's. The art is 'using the long for the long': not saying plainly that the grief is long, but setting it against the river, letting the reader feel; and Jinling lies on the lower Yangzi, the eastward river is the very scene before them, present scenery bearing present feeling, no barrier. The question that asks without answering leaves the deep farewell in the long aftersound.

Study

Word focus

唤 Calls, hails: the Wu girl's bright summons to taste the new wine - a market-lane voice full of life that makes the whole shop, and the poem, spring alive. 「唤」字是写金陵酒肆风情的关键字，一个动词写出吴姬的娇俏与酒家的热闹，看似平常而极见功力。唤者，招呼、叫唤也。李白以「吴姬压酒唤客尝」写吴地女子，一个「唤」字，至少写出三层意味：其一，写声音之脆——「唤」是清脆的招呼声，不像「邀」那样文雅，不像「请」那样客气，而是带着市井烟火气的热情招呼，正合吴姬娇俏的声口；其二，写动作之亲——「唤客尝」是主动招呼客人品尝新酒，一个「唤」字写出酒家待客的热情与亲切，仿佛那吴姬正笑盈盈地招呼着诗人；其三，写氛围之活——「唤」字让整个酒肆活了起来，柳花飘香的静景中，有了这清脆的「唤」声，画面便有了生气。若换作「邀」「请」等字，则或失其市井的烟火气，或失其娇俏的声口；唯「唤」字，既写声音，又写热情，正是金陵酒肆风情最生动的写照。这一个「唤」字，让那吴姬压酒唤客的画面永远定格在读者眼前，也为这首送别诗添了一抹亮色。

试问 Try asking: a casual, intimate form of question; the lightness of 'try' carries the weight of feeling, as if the deepest words were spoken most lightly. 「试问」二字是全诗情感最灵动的一笔，以虚问写深情，妙趣横生。试问，即「试着问问」，是唐人诗中常见的设问语气。李白以「请君试问东流水」写别意，这「试问」至少有双重意味：其一，写问的亲切——不是庄重的发问，而是「试」着问一问，语气随意而亲切，仿佛诗人正与友人并肩而立，指着江水闲聊：你看那江水，我们的别意与它谁长？其二，写问的深情——「试问」越是随意，越见情感的深沉——真正的深情，往往藏在看似不经意的问话里，那「谁短长」的一问，看似打趣，实是心头最重的话。若换作「试看」「遥问」等字，则或失其亲切的语气，或失其灵动的意味；唯「试问」二字，把离别的深情放在一个轻松的设问中，以轻写重、以淡写浓，正是李白「举重若轻」的本领。这两个字，让那「谁短长」的一问有了生命，也让这首送别诗的结尾在轻灵的语调中，沉淀下最深的离愁。