唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
梦游天姥吟留别
The Dream Journey to the Sky-Mother Mountain: A Song of Parting
海客谈瀛洲，烟涛微茫信难求。
越人语天姥，天台四万八千丈，对此欲倒东南倾。
我欲因之梦吴越，谢公宿处今尚在，渌水荡漾清猿啼。
脚著谢公屐，千岩万转路不定，迷花倚石忽已暝。
熊咆龙吟殷岩泉，列缺霹雳，丘峦崩摧。
洞天石扇，訇然中开。
青冥浩荡不见底，日月照耀金银台。
霓为衣兮风为马，惟觉时之枕席，失向来之烟霞。
世间行乐亦如此，
The misty billows, faint and vague, are truly hard to find.
But the Yue people talk of the Sky-Mother Mountain —
It can be seen, through the clouds and the mist, in the bright and the dim.
The Sky-Mother stretches crosswise over the sky,
Its height towers above the five sacred peaks and the Red Wall of the city.
The Tiantai, forty-eight thousand zhang,
Facing it, would lean and fall toward the southeast.
I dream of the journey to the lands of the Yue of the night —
Flying over the Mirror Lake in the moon of the night.
The lake and the moon shine on my shadow,
And carry me to the Stream of the Shan.
... The stone gates of the cave heaven — with a tremendous sound they open in the midst.
The blue void, vast and deep, shows no bottom —
The sun and the moon shine on the terraces of gold and silver.
I awaken only to find the pillow and the mat of my sleep —
Gone is the mist and the smoke of the former vision.
Meaning
The most famous song of Li Bai's dream journey, written at his parting from the friends of the east. The voyagers of the sea talk of Yingzhou, the isle of the immortals — faint and vague, hard to find; but the Yue people talk of the Sky-Mother Mountain, which can be seen through the clouds and the mist. The Sky-Mother towers over the five sacred peaks; the Tiantai, forty-eight thousand zhang, would lean and fall toward it. In the night he dreams of the journey to the lands of the Yue — flying over the Mirror Lake in the moon, carried to the Stream of the Shan, the resting place of the immortals and the masters. The journey rises through the caves and the valleys, the bears' roar and the dragons' song, until the stone gates of the cave heaven open with a tremendous sound, and the blue void shows the terraces of gold and silver under the sun and the moon. Then he awakens — only the pillow and the mat; gone is the mist and the smoke of the vision. And the close of the song: the world's pleasures are like this — the ancient waters flowing eastward, never to return; rather than bowing the brows to the powerful, he would keep the free journey — never bending, never serving.
海上来的客人谈起瀛洲仙山，都说那烟波渺茫之处实在难以寻访。越地的人说起天姥山，高耸入云，气象万千。天台山高达四万八千丈，对着天姥山却好像要向东南倾倒。我因此想梦游吴越之地。谢灵运当年住宿的地方如今还在，碧绿的水波轻轻荡漾，清亮的猿声阵阵传来。我脚穿谢公特制的木屐，走在千重山岩、万转山路之间，路径没有定准；迷恋山花、倚靠山石，忽然间天色已暮。熊在咆哮、龙在吟啸，声震山岩泉流；闪电霹雳交加，山丘峰峦崩塌摧裂。洞天仙府的石门，轰然一声从中间打开。青苍的天宇浩荡无际不见底，日月交相照耀着金银筑成的仙台。以霓虹为衣啊以长风为马，正沉浸在仙界的欢乐之中——忽然醒来，只觉身边唯余枕席，已经失却了方才梦中的烟霞。人间的行乐也是如此，古来万事都像东流之水。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] The voyagers of the sea talk of Yingzhou — the misty billows, faint and vague, are truly hard to find. But the Yue people talk of the Sky-Mother Mountain — it can be seen, through the clouds and the mist, in the bright and the dim. The Sky-Mother stretches crosswise over the sky, its height towers above the five sacred peaks and the Red Wall of the city. The Tiantai, forty-eight thousand zhang, facing it, would lean and fall toward the southeast. I dream of the journey to the lands of the Yue of the night — flying over the Mirror Lake in the moon of the night. The lake and the moon shine on my shadow, and carry me to the Stream of the Shan. ... The stone gates of the cave heaven — with a tremendous sound they open in the midst. The blue void, vast and deep, shows no bottom — the sun and the moon shine on the terraces of gold and silver. I awaken only to find the pillow and the mat of my sleep — gone is the mist and the smoke of the former vision. [Structure and Thought] The song moves from the talk of the mountain, through the dream journey — the Mirror Lake, the Stream of the Shan, the rising through the valleys, the opening of the cave heaven, the terraces of gold and silver — to the awakening and the loss of the vision, and the close's judgment: the world's pleasures are like this, and the free journey is kept against the service. [Key Technique] The poem's art is the dream's freedom: the journey rises through the images of the immortals and the masters — the mirrors of the lake, the roar of the bears, the opening of the cave heaven — and the awakening's loss turns the dream to the judgment of the world and the will of the free. [Emotional Tone] Free, ecstatic, and defiant: the song is the dream of the transcendent journey and the awakening's defiance — rather than bowing the brows, the free journey, never bending, never serving.
【白话串讲】 李白写《梦游天姥吟留别》：“海客谈瀛洲，烟涛微茫信难求”。“我欲因之梦吴越”——“脚著谢公屐”——“千岩万转路不定”——“熊咆龙吟殷岩泉”——“霓为衣兮风为马，云之君兮纷纷而来下”——“安能摧眉折腰事权贵，使我不得开心颜”——这是李白最壮丽的梦。 【意象与手法】 全诗以「梦」为骨，以「月」为魂，虚实相生，大开大合。起笔以瀛洲仙山之难求衬托天姥之可信可游，继写梦游途中千岩万转的迷离、熊咆龙吟的惊变、洞天石扇訇然中开的壮观、日月照耀金银台的辉煌，层层幻化，如入太虚幻境；至「惟觉时之枕席，失向来之烟霞」猛然折回现实，由记梦升华为对人生如幻的彻悟。句式上四言、五言、七言、九言错落间用，句式的长短恰与梦境的缓急相应；夸张（天台四万八千丈）、拟声（訇然）、用典（谢公屐）并施，想象天马行空而脉络井然。 【情感与主旨】 李白于天宝年间应诏入京，供奉翰林，因权贵谗毁而被赐金放还，此诗即告别东鲁诸公、南游吴越时所作。梦游天姥的奇幻之境，正是放还之后心境的投影：既是对长安仕途的失望，也是对名山仙境的向往。全篇虽以游仙为表，其主旨则在傲岸不屈——「安能摧眉折腰事权贵，使我不得开心颜」的宣言，是李白人格的集中体现，也是盛唐士人独立精神的象征。 【名句点睛】 常考「世间行乐亦如此，古来万事东流水」的人生感慨，以及「安能摧眉折腰事权贵，使我不得开心颜」的傲骨宣言；「天台四万八千丈，对此欲倒东南倾」的夸张手法，与「列缺霹雳，丘峦崩摧。洞天石扇，訇然中开」的梦境惊变，亦为常考点。
Background
Li Bai (701–762), the greatest poet of the Tang, wrote this song at his departure from the friends of the east — the famous 'song of parting,' one of his most beloved works. The Sky-Mother Mountain (Tianmu) of Yue — the land of the east — is the scene of the dream journey; the Stream of the Shan and the Mirror Lake are the places of the immortals and the masters of the region, the poets and the Daoists of the hills. The close — 'rather than bowing the brows to the powerful, I would keep the free journey' — is the cry of the free poet against the service of the court, the declaration of the wandering life. The song is the masterpiece of Li Bai's ecstatic imagination.
李白《梦游天姥吟留别》作于唐玄宗天宝四载（745）前后，诗人离开长安、东游吴越之时。天宝元年（742），李白应诏入京，供奉翰林，本欲一展济世之才，却因权贵谗毁，仅三年便被赐金放还。此诗题一作《别东鲁诸公》，是诗人告别山东朋友、南下会稽（今浙江绍兴）时的赠别之作，故又称「留别」。诗中「我欲因之梦吴越」的梦游之想，正是放还之后心境的投影：既是对长安仕途的失望，也是对名山仙境的向往。天姥山在今浙江新昌东，与天台山相对，本非名岳，经李白此诗而声名大振。全诗以梦为骨，写梦游天姥的奇幻经历，结以「世间行乐亦如此，古来万事东流水」之慨，而全篇主旨则在末句「安能摧眉折腰事权贵，使我不得开心颜」——傲岸不屈、蔑视权贵的宣言，是李白人格的集中体现。此篇为古体歌行，通篇自由抒写，虚实交织，被后人推为李白浪漫主义诗风的巅峰之作。此处所选文本为节录，自「海客谈瀛洲」起至「世间行乐亦如此」止，略去中段仙乐仙人之盛与末段别君归隐之语，然梦入、梦游、梦醒之脉络俱在，足以窥见全篇神采。
Art
The song's art is the art of the dream's freedom. The talk of the mountain opens the journey: the isle of the immortals faint and vague, hard to find; the Sky-Mother, seen through the clouds and the mist. The height of the mountain is given in the extravagant measure: towering over the five sacred peaks, against which the Tiantai's forty-eight thousand zhang would lean and fall. The dream begins in the night: flying over the Mirror Lake, carried by the lake and the moon to the Stream of the Shan, the resting place of the masters. The journey rises: the bears' roar, the dragons' song, the forests trembling, the peaks towering; the stone gates of the cave heaven open with a tremendous sound; the blue void shows no bottom, and the sun and the moon shine on the terraces of gold and silver — the ecstatic height of the vision. Then the awakening: only the pillow and the mat; gone the mist and the smoke. And the close turns the loss to the judgment: the world's pleasures are like this, the ancient waters flowing eastward, never to return; and the will is declared — rather than bowing the brows, the free journey, never bending, never serving. The dream's freedom is the poet's freedom, declared in the close.
此诗艺术上最显著的特点是「以梦为体、虚实相生」的章法。全篇由实入虚、由虚归实：起笔「海客谈瀛洲」「越人语天姥」以传闻引入，是实中带虚；「我欲因之梦吴越」一句点醒入梦之由；继写梦游所见，千岩万转、熊咆龙吟、列缺霹雳、洞天中开，层层幻化，如入太虚幻境；至「惟觉时之枕席，失向来之烟霞」猛然折回现实，梦醒怅然；「世间行乐亦如此」一句，更将梦境之幻与人生之幻打成一片，由记梦升华为对人生的彻悟，章法上一气盘旋、大开大合。就语言而言，此诗杂言成体，四言（「列缺霹雳，丘峦崩摧」）、五言（「海客谈瀛洲」）、七言（「千岩万转路不定」）、九言（「霓为衣兮风为马」）错落其间，句式的长短恰与梦境的缓急相应：平缓处用长句（「谢公宿处今尚在，渌水荡漾清猿啼」），惊变处用短句（「列缺霹雳，丘峦崩摧」），声情与辞情密合无间。修辞上更极尽夸张之能事：天台四万八千丈，对此欲倒东南倾；日月照耀金银台，青冥浩荡不见底——以数字、以色彩、以光焰写梦境的恢奇。全篇想象天马行空而脉络井然，所谓「笔落惊风雨，诗成泣鬼神」，此篇足以当之。
Allusions
'Yingzhou' (Yingzhou) is the isle of the immortals of the sea, one of the three isles of the legend, faint and vague, hard to find. 'The five sacred peaks' (Wuyue) are the five sacred mountains of China; 'the Red Wall' (Chicheng) is the mountain of the immortals of the region of Yue. 'The Mirror Lake' (Jinghu) is the lake of the region of Yue, the lake of the poets; 'the Stream of the Shan' (Shanxi) is the stream of the immortals and the masters, the resting place of the poets and the Daoists of the hills. 'The cave heaven' (dongtian) is the cave of the Daoist immortals, opened with the tremendous sound. 'The terraces of gold and silver' (jin yin tai) are the terraces of the immortals, shining under the sun and the moon.
此诗用典富赡而不露痕迹，深得汉魏游仙与楚辞浪漫之髓。其一，瀛洲之典：相传渤海中有蓬莱、方丈、瀛洲三神山，仙人所居，可望而不可即，故曰「烟涛微茫信难求」，以虚设仙山衬出天姥之可信可游。其二，谢公之典：谢灵运曾游剡中，其《登临海峤》有「暝投剡中宿，明登天姥岑」之句，诗中「谢公宿处今尚在」即承此而来；「脚著谢公屐」用谢灵运游山之特制木屐（《宋书·谢灵运传》载其登山着屐，去其前齿或后齿），既见追慕前贤之意，又为梦游增添一层历史的真实感。其三，游仙意象的系列化：楚辞中神人以「青云衣兮白霓裳」（《九歌·东君》）为服，此诗「霓为衣兮风为马」正自楚辞化出；「金银台」本郭璞《游仙诗》「神仙排云出，但见金银台」，写仙界之辉煌；「列缺」为闪电之名，见于扬雄《羽猎赋》，以「列缺霹雳」写天门乍开之威。其四，「洞天石扇」取道教洞天福地之说，石扇訇然中开，暗用《桃花源记》「豁然开朗」之境，写仙界豁露之奇。李白熔神话、楚辞、游仙诗、道教于一炉，意象层叠而气脉贯通，故梦游之境愈奇愈真。
Commentary
This song is one of the most beloved works of Li Bai, quoted for the ecstasy of its dream and the defiance of its close. The flight over the Mirror Lake, the opening of the cave heaven, and the declaration of the free journey are among the most famous passages of the Tang poetry. Critics praise the song's freedom: the dream's ecstasy and the awakening's defiance, the free poet against the service.
此诗自问世即为传诵之篇，历代评家赞不绝口。宋代严羽《沧浪诗话》称「太白诗有『梦游天姥』之奇」，以为其想象之雄奇冠绝古今。明代胡应麟《诗薮》谓此诗「变幻超忽，不可端倪」，评其章法之奇诡。清代沈德潜《唐诗别裁》选录此诗，以为「托言梦游，穷形尽相，以极洞天之奇幻；至醒后顿失烟霞，顿觉世情之幻」，最得诗人用心。其价值有三：一在人格，全诗以「安能摧眉折腰事权贵，使我不得开心颜」作结，将游仙之梦升华为对权贵的傲岸宣言，遂使一篇记梦之作成为盛唐士人独立人格的象征；二在艺术，梦境的虚实开阖、句式的杂言变化、想象的瑰奇绚烂，共同确立了李白浪漫主义诗风的典范形态，后世游仙诗、记梦诗无不受其沾溉；三在影响，「世间行乐亦如此，古来万事东流水」的感慨，与《将进酒》「天生我材必有用」、《行路难》「长风破浪会有时」血脉相通，可见李白虽遭放还而其志不挫。今人读此诗，每于梦境之奇与醒后之怅中，见出诗人啸傲天地、粪土王侯的豪情——天姥本一寻常山，因李白一梦而千秋不朽，正是文学化平凡为神奇的绝佳例证。
Prosody
Line by line
海客谈瀛洲，烟涛微茫信难求。
The voyagers of the sea talk of Yingzhou — the misty billows, faint and vague, are truly hard to find.
海上来的客人谈起瀛洲仙山，都说那烟波渺茫之处实在难以寻访。
The sea traveler speaks of Yingzhou Isle, its misty waves dim and hard to seek.
开篇以瀛洲作衬，为天姥蓄势。「海客谈瀛洲」用渤海三神山之传说，「信难求」三字写仙山之渺茫不可得，先扬一笔；「越人语天姥」则从本地人口中写天姥山，暗示其真实可游、可信可寻。两句一虚一实、一难一易，以仙山之高不可求，反衬天姥之值得一游，章法上叫作「以宾衬主」。此二句看似闲闲道来，实为全诗梦游张本：正因为天姥可信可游，下文「我欲因之梦吴越」才有着落。「微茫」二字写烟涛之隐约，「信」字写求仙之无凭，语气笃定而含怅惘，已暗伏醒后「失向来之烟霞」的失落之感。
The opening uses Yingzhou as foil, storing the momentum for Tianmu. 'The sea traveler speaks of Yingzhou Isle' uses the legend of the three sacred islands of the Bohai Sea, the three words 'hard to seek' writing the immortal mountain's dim unattainable, first lifting one stroke; 'the men of Yue speak of Tianmu' writes the Tianmu Mountain from the local men's mouths, hinting its realness, worth visiting, trustworthy and seekable. Two lines, one unreal one real, one hard one easy, through the immortal mountain's being high and unattainable, setting off Tianmu's worth visiting, the craft called 'setting the guest against the host'. These two lines seem idly spoken, in fact storing the groundwork for the whole's dream-travel: precisely because Tianmu is trustworthy and visitable, the later 'I would in it dream of Wu and Yue' has its ground. The words 'dim' write the misty waves' indistinctness, the word 'truly' writing the immortal-seeking's no evidence, the tone assured and holding wistfulness, secretly planting the post-waking loss of 'lost the clouds and mist of the dream'.
天台四万八千丈，对此欲倒东南倾。
The Tiantai, forty-eight thousand zhang, facing it, would lean and fall toward the southeast.
天台山高达四万八千丈，对着天姥山却好像要向东南倾倒。
The Tiantai Mountain, forty-eight thousand zhang high, seems to lean, tilting southeast before this.
此二句以极度的夸张写天姥之高。天台山本是浙东名山，诗人却以「四万八千丈」的数字渲染其高，再用「欲倒东南倾」写它见了天姥竟似倾倒拜服——以天台的极高反衬天姥的更高，是「抬高一层」的加倍写法。数字的夸张与动作的想象相配合，天姥之崔巍如在目前。这种以有形写无形、以实衬虚的笔法，正是李白浪漫主义夸张的典型：他写「白发三千丈」「飞流直下三千尺」，皆是以数字的无限放大来写情之至、景之奇。二句承「越人语天姥」而来，将越人之语的夸诞具象化，为梦游的奇幻之境预作气象上的铺垫，读之如见一座拔地接天、欲压东南的巨山横亘眼前。
These two lines use the extreme exaggeration to write Tianmu's height. The Tiantai Mountain is originally the famous mountain of eastern Zhejiang, and the poet through the number of 'forty-eight thousand zhang' rendering its height, then uses 'seems to lean, tilting southeast before this' writing it, seeing Tianmu and seeming to bow in submission — through the Tiantai's extreme height setting off Tianmu's greater height, the doubled method of 'lifting one layer higher'. The number's exaggeration and the action's imagination cooperate, Tianmu's towering as before the eyes. This craft of writing the unreal through the real, the real setting off the unreal, precisely Li Bai's romantic exaggeration: he writes 'white hair, three thousand zhang', 'the flying waterfall plunges three thousand feet', all using the infinite enlargement of numbers to write the feeling's extreme, the scene's wonder. Two lines carry on 'the men of Yue speak of Tianmu', concretizing the men of Yue's boast, storing the atmospheric groundwork for the dream-travel's wonder, the reading as if seeing a great mountain rising from the ground to the sky, about to press the southeast, lying before the eyes.
谢公宿处今尚在，渌水荡漾清猿啼。
The resting place of Master Xie is still there today — the clear water ripples, the clear apes cry.
谢灵运当年住宿的地方如今还在，碧绿的水波轻轻荡漾，清亮的猿声阵阵传来。
The place where Lord Xie once lodged still stands; the green waters ripple, the clear apes cry.
此二句由远及近，写梦游初入山中的清幽之境，且暗含对前贤的追慕。「谢公宿处」用谢灵运游剡中事，谢灵运《登临海峤》有「暝投剡中宿，明登天姥岑」之句，诗人梦入天姥而先过谢公旧宿，既是写景，又是向山水诗的鼻祖致敬，暗示自己将续写谢灵运的山水之游。「渌水荡漾清猿啼」以「荡漾」写水之动态、「清猿啼」写声之凄清，声色并作，清绝幽绝，令人如闻其声、如临其境。此二句音节舒缓，正与梦游初入时的心境相合；而「今尚在」三字，又于清景中透出时光流转的淡淡怅惘，为全诗「古来万事东流水」的感慨先着一笔。
These two lines, from far to near, write the clear realm of the dream's first entering the hills, and secretly hold the admiration for the former sages. 'The place where Lord Xie once lodged' uses Xie Lingyun's traveling in Shan, Xie Lingyun's 'Climbing the Linhai Ridge' has the line 'at dusk I lodge in Shan, at dawn I climb the Tianmu peak', the poet dreaming into Tianmu and first passing Lord Xie's old lodging, both writing the scene, and paying tribute to the founder of landscape verse, hinting that he will continue Xie Lingyun's hill-and-stream tour. 'The green waters ripple, the clear apes cry' — through 'ripple' writing the water's motion, 'clear apes cry' the sound's mournful clarity, sound and color together, clear and dim, making one as if hearing the sound, as if in the realm. These two lines' syllables unhurried, precisely matching the mood of the dream's first entering; and the three words 'still stands' within the clear scene showing the faint wistfulness of time's flowing, planting first the stroke for the whole's sigh of 'all things of olden times flow east like water'.
千岩万转路不定，迷花倚石忽已暝。
A thousand cliffs, ten thousand turnings, the road unsettled — lost in the flowers, leaning on the rocks, suddenly it is already dark.
千重山岩、万转山路，路径没有定准；迷恋山花、倚靠山石，忽然间天色已晚。
A thousand crags, ten thousand turns, the path unsteady; lost in flowers, leaning on rocks, suddenly dusk.
此二句写梦游途中的迷离变幻，「不定」「忽」二字最见梦境的恍惚之态。「千岩万转」写山势之盘纡，「路不定」写梦境之飘忽——梦中本无定路，正见梦的流动不居；「迷花倚石」写游者之沉醉，「忽已暝」写时光之骤逝——一「忽」字写梦境中时间感的错乱。四句写尽山行之迷、花石之恋、日夕之变，节奏由缓转急，天光由明入暝，为下文「熊咆龙吟」「列缺霹雳」的惊变蓄势。李白写梦，不重梦的理性逻辑，而重梦的声色光影：迷花是视觉之惑，倚石是触觉之依，忽暝是光色之变，此二句正是梦的「迷离惝恍」之写照，非亲历奇境者不能道。
These two lines write the dream-travel's dim transformation, the words 'unsteady' and 'suddenly' the most showing the dream's trance. 'A thousand crags, ten thousand turns' writes the hill's winding, 'the path unsteady' the dream's drifting — in the dream there is originally no fixed road, precisely showing the dream's flowing without staying; 'lost in flowers, leaning on rocks' the traveler's intoxication, 'suddenly dusk' the time's abrupt passing — the one word 'suddenly' writing the time-sense's dislocation in the dream. Four lines write to the full the hill-road's dimness, the flowers-and-rocks' love, the day-to-dusk change, the rhythm from slow to urgent, the light from bright to dusk, storing the groundwork for the later 'the bear roars, the dragon hisses', 'lightning and thunder's' start. Li He writes the dream, not stressing the dream's rational logic, but the dream's sound, color, light, and shadow: lost in flowers the sight's confusion, leaning on rocks the touch's support, suddenly dusk the light-and-color's change, these two lines precisely the portrait of the dream's 'dim and trance', not one who has lived through the wonder-realm can speak it.
列缺霹雳，丘峦崩摧。洞天石扇，訇然中开。
The lightning and the thunder, the hills and the ridges collapsing; the stone gates of the cave heaven, with a tremendous sound, opening in the midst.
闪电霹雳交加，山丘峰峦崩塌摧毁；洞天仙府的石门，轰然一声从中间打开。
Lightning and thunder, the hills crumble. The gate of the cavern opens wide, with a roar.
此四句是梦境的转折点，以雷霆万钧之势推开仙界之门，是全诗声光最烈之处。「列缺」即闪电之名，与「霹雳」连用，写惊天动地的雷声电光；「丘峦崩摧」四字短促斩截，如山崩于前；「洞天石扇」用道教洞天福地之想，石扇「訇然中开」，一声巨响，万仞天门豁然而启。四句全用四言短句，句句押韵，音节如鼓点骤起、如惊雷贯耳，与上文「渌水荡漾清猿啼」的舒缓形成强烈反差——梦境的节奏由幽静骤变为剧烈，正合李白「笔落惊风雨」的笔力。自此处起，诗由人间山水转入神仙洞天，日月光耀、金银为台，一场瑰丽的游仙大梦正式开场，而「訇然」二字之响亮，尤见炼字之精。
These four lines are the turning point of the dream, pushing open the immortal gate with the force of thunder, the whole's loudest sound and light. 'Lightning' is the name of the lightning, joined with 'thunder', writing the heaven-shaking thunder and light; the four words 'the hills crumble' short and decisive, like the mountain collapsing before the eyes; 'the gate of the cavern' uses the Daoist immortal cavern's conception, the stone gate 'opens wide, with a roar', one loud sound, the ten-thousand-ren heavenly gate flung open. Four lines all using the four-word short sentences, every line rhyming, the syllables like the drumbeats' sudden rise, like the thunderclap through the ear, forming the sharp contrast with the above's 'the green waters ripple, the clear apes cry' unhurried — the dream's rhythm from stillness to violence, precisely matching Li Bai's brush of 'the brush falls and startles wind and rain'. From here, the poem turns from the human hills and streams to the immortal cavern, the sun and moon shining, gold and silver the terraces, a gorgeous traveling-immortal dream formally opening, and the two words 'with a roar's' loudness, the more showing the word-craft.
青冥浩荡不见底，日月照耀金银台。
The blue void, vast and deep, shows no bottom — the sun and the moon shine on the terraces of gold and silver.
青苍的天空浩荡无际看不见底，日月交相照耀着金银筑成的仙台。
The vast blue sky, no bottom in sight; sun and moon shine on the terraces of gold and silver.
此二句写洞天中开的仙界气象，以光与色渲染其辉煌。「青冥」指青天，以「浩荡」状其无垠，「不见底」写纵深之无限——仙界的天穹是立体的、流动的，令人目眩；「日月照耀」写日月同辉的异景，「金银台」写仙台之富丽，本自郭璞《游仙诗》「神仙排云出，但见金银台」化出，而气象更宏。两句一写天之浩渺、一写台之辉煌，上虚下实，构成仙界立体而辉煌的空间。李白写仙境，总以极端的明亮与华贵出之——「日照香炉生紫烟」之紫、「飞流直下三千尺」之白，皆如此；此处的青冥与金银，正是「霓为衣兮风为马」诸仙来临之前的盛大布景，梦境的奇幻至此推向顶点。
These two lines write the immortal realm after the cavern opens, rendering its splendor through light and color. 'The vast blue sky' means the blue sky, through 'vast' shaping its boundlessness, 'no bottom in sight' writing the depth's infinity — the immortal sky is three-dimensional, flowing, making the eye dizzy; 'sun and moon shine' writes therare scene of sun and moon together, 'the terraces of gold and silver' the immortal terraces' splendor, originally growing from Guo Pu's 'Traveling Immortals' — 'the immortals push through the clouds, and I see only the gold-and-silver terraces' — and the atmosphere the grander. Two lines, one the sky's vastness, one the terraces' splendor, above unreal below real, forming the immortal realm's three-dimensional, splendid space. Li Bai writes the immortal realm, always through the extreme brightness and luxury — 'the sun shines on the Censer Peak, rising purple smoke's' purple, 'the flying waterfall plunges three thousand feet's' white, all so; the blue sky and gold-and-silver here are precisely the grand stage before the 'rainbow as robes, wind as horses' immortals arrive, the dream's wonder pushed to the peak here.
惟觉时之枕席，失向来之烟霞。
I awaken only to find the pillow and the mat of my sleep — gone is the mist and the smoke of the former vision.
醒来时只觉身边还是枕头与席子，已经失却了方才梦中的烟霞。
Only the pillow and mat of waking; gone, the clouds and mist of the dream.
此二句是梦境与现实的交界，也是全诗的枢机。「惟觉时之枕席」写醒后的现实：眼前唯余枕席，冷寂如常；「失向来之烟霞」写梦境的失落：方才的满天烟霞、仙人洞天，倏忽之间荡然无存。一「惟」一「失」，写出由绚烂坠入平常的巨大落差，也写尽梦的虚幻与人生的怅惘。梦中的日月金银、霓衣风马，愈是辉煌，愈衬出醒来枕席的孤冷——这种强烈的对比，正是李白式的清醒。二句承上启下：由梦境的顶点猛然跌回现实，遂引出「世间行乐亦如此」的感慨，将一己之梦升华为对人生如幻的彻悟，章法上收得干净、转得有力，是梦醒之笔，亦是点睛之笔。
These two lines are the boundary between the dream and the reality, and the whole's pivot. 'Only the pillow and mat of waking' writes the reality after waking: before the eyes only the pillow and mat, cold and still as of old; 'gone, the clouds and mist of the dream' writes the dream's loss: the above's skyful of clouds and mist, the immortal cavern, in an instant gone without a trace. One 'only' one 'gone', writing the great fall from splendor to the ordinary, and writing to the full the dream's unreality and life's wistfulness. The dream's sun and moon, gold and silver, rainbow robes and wind horses, the more splendid, the more set off the waking pillow-and-mat's loneliness — this sharp contrast is precisely Li Bai's sobriety. Two lines carry the above and open the below: from the dream's peak falling abruptly back to reality, thereby drawing out the sigh of 'the world's pleasures are also thus', elevating one's own dream to the thorough understanding of life as illusion, the craft closing cleanly, turning forcefully, the brush of waking from the dream, and the eye-stroke.
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Li Bai's 'Road to Shu Is Hard' — 'the way of Shu is harder than the way to the blue sky' — is the ecstatic song of the impossible road; the 'Dream Journey to the Sky-Mother Mountain' is the ecstatic song of the dream — the same soaring imagination, the one descending into the gorges, the other rising to the cave heaven — the two great flights of Li Bai.
李白《行路难·其一》「欲渡黄河冰塞川，将登太行雪满山」「长风破浪会有时，直挂云帆济沧海」与《梦游天姥吟留别》同作于赐金放还前后，同写不遇中的傲岸与自信。差异在于：行路难写现实的困阻，以冰塞川、雪满山喻仕途之塞，直抒胸臆而归于对未来的信念；梦游天姥则托言梦境，以游仙之奇幻写精神之飞越，结于「安能摧眉折腰事权贵」的傲骨。一为现实中的宣言，一为梦境中的反抗；一以「直挂云帆」写进取，一以「访名山」写超越。二诗并读，可见李白放还之后人格的两面：既不失「长风破浪」的壮心，又保有「摧眉折腰」所不能夺的傲气，盛唐士人的精神高度于此毕见。
梦李白二首 梦李白二首 杜甫 · 同写「梦」，一为自记游仙之梦，一为因思友而入梦 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
杜甫《梦李白二首》「故人入我梦，明我长相忆」「三夜频梦君，情亲见君意」与《梦游天姥吟留别》同以「梦」为题，而性质迥异。李白的梦是主动的造境：因「我欲因之梦吴越」而自入仙境，梦是想象的驰骋，境界奇幻、色彩瑰丽，是浪漫主义的自觉虚构；杜甫的梦是被动的入梦：因思念流放中的李白而夜夜见其入梦，梦是情感的投射，境界苍凉、情真语挚，是现实主义的深情纪实。一以梦写超脱，一以梦写牵挂；一为仙梦，一为噩梦。两相对照，恰见盛唐双峰并峙的两种「梦」：太白之梦在天上，少陵之梦在人间。
登幽州台歌 Climbing the Tower of Youzhou 陈子昂 · 同写天地时空中的个体孤独，一纵一横 Both are the cries of the free spirit before the immensity — Chen Zi'ang's lone tears of the tower, Li Bai's ecstatic flight of the dream.Chen Zi'ang's 'Climbing the Tower of Youzhou' — 'before me no ancients, behind me no comers; I think of the heaven and the earth, the vast and the boundless, and alone I weep' — is the lone cry before the immensity; Li Bai's 'Dream Journey' is the ecstatic version — the same immensity, risen to the cave heaven and the terraces of gold and silver, the free flight against the lone tears.
陈子昂《登幽州台歌》「前不见古人，后不见来者。念天地之悠悠，独怆然而涕下」与《梦游天姥吟留别》同写个体面对浩渺时空的孤独与感慨。差异在：子昂之诗是纵向的追问——前无古人、后无来者，于时间的绵延中见个体的须臾，悲凉苍劲，四句二十二字即成一绝；李白之诗是横向的驰骋——梦游八极、天上人间，于空间的无限中求精神的飞越，瑰奇奔放，长篇铺叙而一气贯注。一以简驭繁，一以繁取胜；一为登台的怆然，一为梦游的傲岸。二诗同见唐人面对宇宙时的自我意识：子昂感其渺小而垂涕，李白觉其自由而飞扬，合观之，正是初盛唐之际「人的觉醒」的两种表情。