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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

军城早秋

Early Autumn at the Military City

严武

Yan Wu

昨夜秋风入汉关，朔云边月满西山。
更催飞将追骄虏，莫遣沙场匹马远。

Last night the autumn wind blew through the Han Pass;
Northern clouds and the frontier moon filled the western hills.
Again I urge our flying general to hunt the arrogant foe,
Not a single horse shall escape the battlefield!
Listen

Meaning

Yan Wu, a Tang general-poet who governed Sichuan, opens with a night of autumn wind sweeping through the Han Pass, northern clouds and frontier moonlight flooding the western hills, a frontier night charged with coming battle. Then he issues the order: urge the flying general on to pursue the invaders, and let not one enemy horse escape. The poem fuses landscape and command into one breath of martial resolve.

昨夜秋风入汉关，朔云边月满西山。更催飞将追骄虏，莫遣沙场匹马远。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Last night the autumn wind entered the Han Pass; northern clouds and the frontier moon filled the western hills. Again I urge the flying general to chase the proud invaders: let not a single horse escape the battlefield. [Structure] Two couplets, two planes: the first is the frontier night (wind, clouds, moon), the second is the general's command (pursue, not one escape). The first couplet supplies the stage and the mood; the second supplies the action. The poem moves from the weather of the world to the will of the commander, and the two fuse. [Imagery] Autumn wind enters the pass gives the wind the force of an invasion, for the wind is the enemy's advance and the defense answers in kind. Northern clouds and the frontier moon fill the western hills is a vast, cold panorama, the whole sky pressed onto the hills. Against this cold immensity the final command burns: not a single horse, the poet's resolve hard as the moonlight.

【白话串讲】 严武写《军城早秋》：“昨夜秋风入汉关，朔云边月满西山”——“更催飞将追骄虏，莫遣沙场匹马远”——他写军城早秋——更催飞将追骄虏。 【意象与手法】 “昨夜秋风入汉关，朔云边月满西山”写秋风入关；“更催飞将追骄虏”写催将追敌；结以“莫遣沙场匹马远”写不令匹马逃。慷慨激昂。 【情感与主旨】 严武写军城早秋之作，写秋风入关、催将追虏的军令之严与必胜之志，是边塞诗中的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“昨夜秋风入汉关，朔云边月满西山”写秋风入关；“更催飞将追骄虏，莫遣沙场匹马远”写追敌之志。

Background

Yan Wu (726-765), courtesy name Jiying, was a native of Huayin in Huazhou (present-day Shaanxi). A soldier-statesman, he twice governed Jiannan (Sichuan) as military governor and is best remembered as the patron who secured Du Fu a refuge in Chengdu, where the poet lived at his thatched hut. Early Autumn at the Military City is his only widely anthologized poem, written at a frontier garrison, most likely during his Sichuan commands in the 760s, when Tibetan forces repeatedly pressed the western borders. The poem's voice is that of a commander who is also a poet: the frontier night and the order to pursue are one continuous act of will.

《军城早秋》为唐代诗人严武所作诗。严武（726—765），字季鹰，华州华阴（今陕西华阴）人，唐代诗人，曾镇蜀。此诗写边塞写景，为军城早秋之作。诗中「昨夜秋风入汉关，朔云边月满西山」写昨夜秋风入汉关，朔云边月满西山；「更催飞将追骄虏，莫遣沙场匹马远」写更催飞将追骄虏，莫遣沙场匹马远。严武此诗以边塞写景、莫遣沙场匹马远写其边塞之情，慷慨激昂，是严武诗中的名篇。此篇《军城早秋》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《军城早秋》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《军城早秋》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。

Art

The poem's art is writing resolve through landscape. The first couplet sets a night charged with meaning: autumn wind enters the Han Pass gives the wind the momentum of an invading army, so wind and enemy are one; northern clouds and the frontier moon fill the western hills presses the whole cold sky onto the hills, a vast, ominous panorama that is also a battlefield in waiting. The second couplet turns to the command: again I urge the flying general, where flying general alludes to the Han general Li Guang, whose speed the poet demands of his own officers, and not a single horse sets the aim of total victory. Two couplets, one weather and one order, fuse into a single gesture: the night's cold becomes the morning's certainty. Few poems of four lines carry so much martial force.

此诗艺术上以「慷慨激昂、以景写情」见长。全诗共四句，由昨夜秋风入汉关而朔云边月满西山而更催飞将追骄虏。起「昨夜秋风入汉关，朔云边月满西山」写昨夜秋风入汉关：昨夜秋风入汉关，朔云边月满西山；「更催飞将追骄虏，莫遣沙场匹马远」写莫遣沙场匹马远：更催飞将追骄虏，莫遣沙场匹马远。全诗以景写情，由昨夜秋风入汉关而莫遣沙场匹马远，慷慨激昂，是严武诗中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。

Allusions

Han Pass (Hanguan) is the ancient gateway of the Han homeland, a metonym for the frontier passes guarding China against the north and west. Flying general (feijiang) is Li Guang of the Western Han, the Flying General whose cavalry struck fear into the Xiongnu; addressing his own commander as Fei Jiang both compliments and demands. Arrogant foe (jiaolu) is the standard term for a presumptuous enemy. Not a single horse echoes the classical idiom of leaving the enemy not even a rider, total destruction, as in the old phrase not one horse returns. The autumn wind entering the pass also answers a long frontier tradition in which the first cold wind announces the season of campaign, from the northern dynasties' the north wind rolls the grass, the horses grow thin onward.

诗中「昨夜秋风入汉关朔云边月满西山」「更催飞将追骄虏莫遣沙场匹马远」等语，皆含典故故实。「昨夜秋风入汉关朔云边月满西山」写昨夜秋风入汉关朔云边月满西山；「更催飞将追骄虏莫遣沙场匹马远」用飞将之典（飞将写李广），写更催飞将追骄虏莫遣沙场匹马远。诗人以飞将之典入诗，不着痕迹，而把边塞写景之情写得慷慨淋漓，是善于熔铸典故的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。

Commentary

This is Yan Wu's most famous poem and a small masterpiece of the frontier quatrain. Its power lies in the fusion of the two couplets: the first paints a night in which the whole frontier, wind, clouds, moon, seems already at war; the second speaks with the flat certainty of command. Again I urge the flying general to hunt the arrogant foe, not a single horse shall escape the battlefield: the tone admits no possibility of failure, and the poem ends like a trumpet. Critics have noted how the cold immensity of northern clouds and the frontier moon fill the western hills makes the human will that follows seem all the harder, for nature is vast and cold, but the commander's resolution is harder still. In four lines Yan Wu captures the whole ethic of the frontier: watch the night, then leave the enemy nothing.

这首《军城早秋》，是严武写边塞写景之作，写昨夜秋风入汉关、更催飞将追骄虏、莫遣沙场匹马远之情，慷慨激昂。起「昨夜秋风入汉关，朔云边月满西山」——昨夜秋风入汉关，朔云边月满西山。写昨夜秋风入汉关：昨夜秋风入汉关、朔云边月满西山——秋风入汉关、边月满西山；「更催飞将追骄虏，莫遣沙场匹马远」——更催飞将追骄虏（飞将用李广之典），莫遣沙场匹马远。写莫遣沙场匹马远：更催飞将追骄虏、莫遣沙场匹马远——飞将追骄虏、莫遣匹马远。这「更催飞将追骄虏，莫遣沙场匹马远」，是全诗之结：以莫遣沙场匹马远写其边塞。全诗慷慨激昂，以景写情，正是严武诗中的名篇。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (qijue), four lines, two couplets; oblique-tone opening, first line rhymed.诗（七言绝句）
Rhyme The poem rhymes on the shan category: guan, shan, yuan, a single rhyme, broad and sonorous, carrying the frontier's wide spaces into the sound.此诗为七言绝句，共四句，两句一联。押平声韵：「山」「远」押删愿部韵。诗体依绝句而定，句式整齐，音节随情起伏，正与写边塞写景的慷慨激昂相称，也见其以绝句写边塞的自然。
Tone pattern The first couplet is slow and vast, its images (wind, clouds, moon) filling the night; the second couplet quickens into short, imperative clauses (urge, pursue, not a single horse), the rhythm itself becoming a command. From cold immensity to hard resolve, the sound performs the poem's turn.句式上，「昨夜秋风入汉关，朔云边月满西山」写昨夜秋风入汉关，音节苍劲；「更催飞将追骄虏，莫遣沙场匹马远」写莫遣沙场匹马远，音节昂扬。全诗音节随情起伏，由苍劲而昂扬，正合绝句「含蓄」之妙，读来如边塞写景、莫遣沙场匹马远之音，慷慨而动人。
Reading note A seven-character quatrain of writing resolve through landscape. The first couplet paints the frontier night (wind through the pass, clouds and moon over the western hills), vast and cold; the second couplet issues the command (urge the flying general, not one horse escapes), hard and swift. Read the first couplet slowly and widely, the second in the clipped rhythm of orders, especially not a single horse shall escape, to convey the commander's certainty.此诗为七言绝句，是严武写边塞写景之作，也是其诗中的名篇。全诗的艺术特色在于「慷慨激昂、以景写情」：「昨夜秋风入汉关，朔云边月满西山」写昨夜秋风入汉关、「更催飞将追骄虏，莫遣沙场匹马远」写莫遣沙场匹马远。全诗慷慨激昂，以景写情。尤为精妙者，是「更催飞将追骄虏，莫遣沙场匹马远」用飞将之典；而「昨夜秋风入汉关，朔云边月满西山」写尽边塞之秋，正是严武诗「慷慨激昂」的典范，为历代选本所常收。《军城早秋》一诗之所以读来声情并茂，正在于诗人以声韵配合情思、以节奏烘托意境，音节之长短、平仄之起伏，皆与诗意相为表里，此亦可见中国古典诗歌声律之美与匠心之工。

Line by line

昨夜秋风入汉关，朔云边月满西山。

Last night the autumn wind blew through the Han Pass; northern clouds and the frontier moon filled the western hills.

昨夜秋风入汉关，朔云边月满西山。

Last night the autumn wind entered the Han passes; northern clouds and border moon fill the western hills.

首二句写昨夜秋风入汉关，起笔即见其秋。「昨夜秋风入汉关」写昨夜秋风入汉关，「昨夜秋风」写昨夜秋风、「入汉关」写侵入汉关；「朔云边月满西山」写朔云边月满西山，「朔云边月」写朔云边月、「满西山」写满西山。两句一写昨夜秋风入汉关、一写朔云边月满西山，以昨夜秋风入汉关写秋风入关、以朔云边月满西山写云月满山，写尽昨夜秋风入汉关、朔云边月满西山之情。以秋起兴，慷慨而激昂，是「以秋起兴」的妙笔。

The first two lines write last night's autumn wind entering the passes, the start. 'Last night the autumn wind entered the Han passes' — the autumn wind invading the frontier; 'northern clouds and border moon fill the western hills' — the northern clouds and border moon filling the hills. Rising through autumn, stirring and impassioned, the start of the military scene.

更催飞将追骄虏，莫遣沙场匹马远。

Again I urge the flying general to hunt the arrogant foe; not a single horse shall escape the battlefield.

更催飞将追骄虏，莫遣沙场匹马远。

Urge the flying general to pursue the haughty foe; let not a single horse escape far across the battlefield.

尾二句写莫遣沙场匹马远，是全诗立意的落点。「更催飞将追骄虏」写更催飞将追骄虏，用飞将之典写更催飞将追骄虏；「莫遣沙场匹马远」写莫遣沙场匹马远，「莫遣」写莫让、「沙场匹马远」写沙场匹马逃走。两句一写更催飞将追骄虏、一写莫遣沙场匹马远，以更催飞将追骄虏写飞将追虏、以莫遣沙场匹马远写不遣匹马，写尽更催飞将追骄虏、莫遣沙场匹马远之情。以将写志，慷慨而豪迈，是全诗最动人处，也是「以将写志」的点睛之笔。

The last two lines write 'let not a single horse escape', the poem's landing. 'Urge the flying general to pursue the haughty foe' uses the allusion to the Flying General; 'let not a single horse escape far across the battlefield' — let not one enemy horse flee the field. Through the general it writes the will, stirring and bold, the poem's most moving point: the order to pursue until not a single horse returns, the soldier's ruthlessness and resolve.

Study

Word focus

昨夜 Last night: the poem opens on the recent past, as though the commander, at dawn, is still feeling the night's wind. Two words set the poem in motion, for the battle is already beginning before the poem speaks. 「昨夜」写昨夜秋风入汉关，是写昨夜之态的关键。「昨夜秋风入汉关」着一「昨夜」，写昨夜——着一「昨夜」，写昨夜秋风入汉关，见其秋之骤。两字写尽昨夜之态，是「以词写时」的妙笔。「昨夜」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
入 Entered: the autumn wind enters the Han Pass like an invading army. One verb gives weather the force of an enemy advance, so that the command to pursue answers the wind's own entry. 「入」字写秋风入汉关，是写风入关之态的关键。「昨夜秋风入汉关」着一「入」，写侵入——着一「入」字，写秋风入汉关，见其风之劲。一字写尽入关之态，是「以一字写势」的点睛之词。「入」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
满 Filled: northern clouds and the frontier moon fill the western hills. The verb presses the whole sky onto the mountains, so the frontier night is complete, cold, and charged, a world waiting for the order that follows. 「满」字写朔云边月满西山，是写月满山之态的关键。「朔云边月满西山」着一「满」，写满——着一「满」字，写朔云边月满西山，见其月之满。一字写尽满山之态，是「以一字写盛」的点睛之词。「满」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
莫遣 Do not let: the flat negative of command, not one horse is to be let escape. Two words that admit no negotiation, closing the poem with the certainty of total victory. 「莫遣」写莫遣沙场匹马远，是写莫让之态的关键。「莫遣沙场匹马远」着一「莫遣」，写莫让——着一「莫遣」，写莫遣沙场匹马远，见其志之坚。两字写尽莫遣之态，是「以词写志」的点睛之词。「莫遣」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

Related Reading

浣溪沙·一曲新词酒一杯 Huanxisha, A Cup of Wine for a New Song 晏殊 · 同写感怀言志、无可奈何，一写无可奈何花落去、一写昨夜秋风入汉关朔云边月满西山，皆于感怀之中见边塞 Both weigh loss: Yan Shu lets the flowers fall helplessly, Yan Wu lets no enemy horse escape, resignation against resolve, two answers to time and fortune.

Yan Shu's Huanxisha (Helplessly the flowers fall away; the swallows return as if we knew them) accepts what time takes; Yan Wu's Early Autumn at the Military City (Again I urge the flying general, not a single horse shall escape) refuses to let anything escape. One is the lyric of acceptance, the other of command; read together, they span the Chinese poetic range from yielding to willing.

晏殊《浣溪沙·一曲新词酒一杯》「无可奈何花落去，似曾相识燕归来」，写感怀言志，是宋词小令的名篇；严武《军城早秋》则以「昨夜秋风入汉关，朔云边月满西山」「更催飞将追骄虏，莫遣沙场匹马远」写秋风入汉关、飞将追骄虏。两诗同写感怀言志、无可奈何：一写无可奈何花落去、以花落燕归写惜时，一写昨夜秋风入汉关朔云边月满西山、以秋风写边塞；一为晏殊之温润、一为严武之苍劲，并读正可见诗写「感怀边塞」的两种笔法，皆于感怀之中见边塞。

 水调歌头·明月几时有 Shuidiaogetou, When Will the Moon Be Bright 苏轼 · 同写言志抒怀、慷慨豪迈，一写我欲乘风归去、一写更催飞将追骄虏莫遣沙场匹马远，皆于言志之中见豪迈 Both carry heroic breath: Su Shi would ride the wind to the moon palaces, Yan Wu urges the flying general across the battlefield, transcendence against martial will, two kinds of grandeur.

Su Shi's Shuidiaogetou (I would ride the wind and return home, yet I fear those jade towers and jade halls, the cold of high places) seeks freedom beyond the world; Yan Wu's quatrain (Again I urge the flying general to hunt the arrogant foe) plunges into the world at its most dangerous. One ascends, one advances; together they show two faces of heroic ambition in Chinese poetry.

苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「我欲乘风归去，又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒」，写言志抒怀、旷达豪迈，是宋词长调的名篇；严武《军城早秋》则以「更催飞将追骄虏，莫遣沙场匹马远」「昨夜秋风入汉关，朔云边月满西山」写飞将追骄虏、秋风入汉关。两诗同写言志抒怀、慷慨豪迈：一写我欲乘风归去、以乘风写超然，一写更催飞将追骄虏莫遣沙场匹马远、以飞将写志；一为苏轼之超然、一为严武之雄健，并读正可见诗写「言志豪迈」的两种笔法，皆于言志之中见豪迈。