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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

塞下曲·其三

Song Beyond the Frontier, No. 3

卢纶

Lu Lun

边塞frontier 军旅military life 写景scenery

月黑雁飞高，单于夜遁逃。
欲将轻骑逐，大雪满弓刀。

The moon is dark, the wild geese fly high;
under cover of night the Chanyu slips away.
We are about to send light cavalry in pursuit -
heavy snow already lies thick on bow and sword.

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Meaning

On a moonless night the enemy chieftain breaks out and flees, and the Tang commander prepares to give chase with light cavalry. The poem stops at the instant before the charge, with snow piling on the soldiers' weapons.

月色昏暗，大雁惊飞得很高；敌酋单于趁黑夜悄然溃逃。将军正要率领轻装骑兵追击，漫天大雪已落满了弓箭与大刀。

Appreciation

The first line is all atmosphere: a black sky and startled geese tell us both how dark the night is and how much is stirring beneath it. The second line reports the flight in a single clean stroke. The real skill is in the ending, which refuses the expected battle and gives instead a motionless picture of snow on drawn weapons, so that the tension is left entirely outside the words. Twenty syllables contain no idle phrase, and what is left unsaid conveys both the bitter cold of the frontier and the discipline of the army. It is a model of the Tang quatrain in which the sentence breaks off and the meaning runs on.

【白话串讲】 “月黑雁飞高，单于夜遁逃”——卢纶写边塞夜战：月黑雁飞，单于逃走。“欲将轻骑逐，大雪满弓刀”——将军要率轻骑追击，大雪落满了弓刀。二十个字，写出一场紧张的战斗。【意象与手法】起句“月黑雁飞高”以景写夜之阴沉与军情之急，雁惊暗示人马扰动；“单于夜遁逃”叙事利落，一笔勾出敌方溃败。最妙在末句：不写追逐之酣战，而写大雪满弓刀之静景，以景结情、留白不尽，张力全在言外。【情感与主旨】此诗为《塞下曲》组诗第三首，写唐军乘夜破敌、穷追猛打的气势。表面写“遁逃”“欲逐”，内里歌颂将士果决骁勇、不避苦寒的战斗意志，也侧面烘托中唐边军整肃的军容。【名句点睛】 “大雪满弓刀”——五个字无一动词写战，却以漫天风雪与满刃寒光写出迫人之威；于出击前一瞬收束，余味比写杀声更烈。

Background

Lu Lun's Songs Beyond the Frontier, sometimes titled as responses to Vice Director Zhang, form a set of six written around the Xingyuan and Zhenyuan years of Emperor Dezong's reign. They speak of Tang armies through the figures of Han generals and reflect the frontier defenses and the courage of the soldiers in the mid-Tang. Lu Lun was one of the Ten Talents of the Dali era, and the set has long been counted among the finest frontier quatrains; this third piece, on a night pursuit in the snow, is the most widely loved of them.

卢纶，字允言，河中蒲（今山西永济）人，中唐诗人，「大历十才子」之一。其《塞下曲》组诗共六首，写边塞军旅之事，此为其三。卢纶曾入浑瑊河中元帅府为判官，亲历军幕，故写边塞颇得实感，非书生悬想。中唐藩镇之乱虽平，而西北边患（吐蕃、回纥）仍频，朝廷赖朔方、河西诸军镇守。此诗所写，正是唐军乘夜破敌、敌军首领趁暗溃逃、我军整备轻骑将追的一幕。题中「塞下曲」本为乐府横吹曲辞，多写边塞征战，卢纶借旧题写当代军容，既承盛唐高岑边塞之绪，又带中唐整肃写实之风。值得注意的是，诗中并无具体地名战事，而写「单于夜遁逃」「欲将轻骑逐」的瞬间场面，于出击前一刻戛然收住，留白无穷，遂成唐人边塞绝句中最负盛名的一首，与李白、王昌龄同题之作并传。卢纶亲历军幕，故写边塞得实感，中唐边患仍频而军容整肃，此诗写雪夜追敌之一瞬，于将发未发处收束，遂成唐人边塞绝句之名篇。

Art

The first two lines narrate - a dark moon, startled geese, the chieftain in flight - and the last two arrest the action at the moment before the cavalry sets out, closing with snow lying thick on bow and sword. Scene stands in for battle and stillness for movement. Not a syllable is wasted, and the blank space at the end holds both the harshness of the frontier and the might of the army.

此诗艺术上最精绝处在「以景结情、留白不尽」。前两句「月黑雁飞高，单于夜遁逃」写敌情：起句纯写景，月色昏暗、雁惊飞高，以「雁飞高」暗写人马扰动、军情之急——雁惊必因地面有变；次句叙事利落，「单于夜遁逃」一笔勾出敌方趁黑溃败。后两句「欲将轻骑逐，大雪满弓刀」陡转写我军：将军正欲率轻骑追剿，诗却于此将发未发之际戛然收束，不写追逐之酣战、不写斩获之捷报，而只写「大雪满弓刀」的寒景。这一收束极高明：大雪满刃的静景，反衬将士不避苦寒、整装待发的骁勇，张力全在言外；读者自可想见雪夜追奔的壮阔，而诗不着一字。由动（遁逃）到静（满弓刀），由叙事到写景，情景相生而余味无穷，是唐人绝句「不写之写」的典范，亦见卢纶军幕阅历锤炼出的凝练笔力。由动到静、由叙事到写景，情景相生而余味无穷，末以大雪满弓刀之静景反衬将士之毅，留白之妙为唐人绝句之典范。

Allusions

Chanyu was the title of the supreme ruler of the Xiongnu and here stands for the enemy commander. Light cavalry means horsemen moving fast without heavy gear. Bow and sword stand for weapons generally, and the snow lying thick on them shows both the depth of the snowfall and the strict order and vigilance of the troops.

诗中数处用典与名物，皆关边塞传统。其一「单于」，本匈奴君主之称号，《汉书》载匈奴称其君为撑犁孤涂单于，后世诗词多以「单于」泛指北方敌酋，此处即敌首之代称，非实指某一部族。其二「轻骑」，轻装疾进的骑兵，自古为追敌制胜之兵，《史记·项羽本纪》「汉王乃令骑将灌婴以五千骑追」即用轻骑追亡，此处写我军反应之迅捷。其三「弓刀」，弓箭与大刀，代指将士戎装，《诗经·小雅·出车》「弓矢斯张」已见弓刀入诗，唐人边塞诗尤多「弓刀」意象（如「弓刀万里知」）。其四「塞下曲」为乐府旧题，属横吹曲辞，多咏征戍，卢纶借题写当代军旅，是乐府精神在唐代的延续。诸语或典或实，经诗人剪裁，把一场雪夜追敌的紧张场面写得既合古制又有新意，边塞诗的厚重传统于此可见一斑。单于轻骑弓刀皆边塞常语，经诗人剪裁，把一场雪夜追敌写得既合古制又有新意，乐府边塞之厚重传统于此可见一斑。

Commentary

The Qing anthologist Hengtang Tuishi included this piece in Three Hundred Tang Poems and praised the vast, bleak spirit that leaps off the page. The modern critic Yu Biyun observed that the closing line ends on a scene and yet the heroic temper shows through of itself.

此诗历来推为卢纶《塞下曲》组诗之冠，亦为唐人边塞绝句代表作。宋人尤赏其末句之含蓄，以为「不著一字，尽得风流」。明胡应麟《诗薮》论唐人绝句，以卢纶此篇与王昌龄、李白同题并提，谓其「语语是景，语语是情」。近人论边塞诗，每以「大雪满弓刀」与王维「大漠孤烟直，长河落日圆」、王昌龄「黄沙百战穿金甲」并观，同写边地苦寒而气格各异：王诗壮阔，王昌龄沉毅，卢诗则以一「满」字写尽风雪之威与将士之毅，于出击前一瞬收束，馀味比直写杀声更烈。要之，此诗胜不在铺陈战功，而在捕捉「将逐未逐」的紧张临界——大雪满刃的静，比追奔的动更慑人心。卢纶以十才子之身份写边塞，能脱去齐梁绮靡，得盛唐遗响而自具中唐整肃，诚难得。此篇亦足见绝句「咫尺应须论万里」的张力。此篇与王维大漠、王昌龄黄沙并观，同写边地苦寒而各擅其胜，卢诗胜在捕捉将发未发之紧张一瞬，诚不写之写之巅峰。

Prosody

Form Five-character quatrain五言绝句（仄起首句入韵）

Rhyme Rhymes on gao, tao, and dao, in the second xiao rhyme of the lower level tone, held to the end, with a bleak and vigorous sound.押下平二萧韵：高、逃、刀。萧韵清越，与雪夜边塞的空阔声情相称；首句「高」以平声起，次句「逃」承，末句「刀」收，三韵一脉，于紧张中见悠远，宜曼声诵之而气不散。

Tone pattern The first line opens on an oblique tone; the first two lines narrate plainly and the last two turn sharply on the words for about to and for heavy snow. There is no strict parallelism, yet the breath runs unbroken, which gives the poem the bold, open manner of frontier verse.首句「月黑雁飞高」仄仄仄平平，声情暗沉如夜色；次句「单于夜遁逃」平仄仄仄平，叙事利落；三句「欲将轻骑逐」仄平平仄仄，转写我军之迅；末句「大雪满弓刀」仄仄仄平平，以平声收束，声转开阔。四句平仄交替，由沉到扬，与由敌遁到我备、由动到静的章法相合，读来如观雪夜军次，气韵沉雄。

Reading note In twenty syllables Lu Lun records an entire night's pursuit; narration, scene, and gathering force all lie outside the words. It is a model of the Tang frontier miniature in which no effort is visible and the power arrives anyway.卢纶《塞下曲》六首中此篇最负盛名，其成功全在章法的「临界收束」：前两句写敌情（月黑惊雁、单于夜遁），后两句写我军（欲将轻骑逐），而于「欲逐」将发未发之际，陡以「大雪满弓刀」的静景收住，不写追逐之酣战、不写斩获之捷，留白无穷。这种「以景结情」的手法，使张力全在言外——雪满弓刀的寒与将士之毅互为表里，比直写杀声更烈。在乐府「塞下曲」传统中，此诗既承盛唐高岑边塞之雄，又具中唐整肃写实之风；与李白、王昌龄同题并观，卢诗胜在捕捉「将发未发」的紧张一瞬，王维「大漠孤烟直」之壮阔、王昌龄「黄沙百战穿金甲」之沉毅，至此又添一「静中蓄动」的范本。要之，此篇以二十字写一场雪夜追敌，咫尺论万里，诚唐人边塞绝句「不写之写」的巅峰之一，对理解绝句留白艺术极有助益。

Line by line

月黑雁飞高，单于夜遁逃。

The moon is dark and the geese fly startled and high; the enemy Chanyu slips away under cover of night. The black night and the frightened birds create the tension, and the flat statement of the flight hides a blade inside the stillness.

月色昏暗，大雁惊飞得很高；敌酋单于趁黑夜悄然溃逃。

The moon is dark, the wild geese fly high; the chanyu flees by night.

起联两句，一句写景、一句叙事，而景中已藏叙事之因，是边塞诗极高的起手。首句「月黑雁飞高」纯写环境：月被云遮而天色漆黑，大雁受惊高飞——雁本宿于洲渚，深夜忽飞，必因地面人马扰动，故五个字已暗写军情之急、敌我之动，所谓「不写敌而敌已见」。次句「单于夜遁逃」以叙事补足：原来惊雁之由，是敌酋趁暗溃逃。「单于」泛指敌首，点明这是一场夜间的溃败而非对决。两句一果一因、由景及事，节奏紧促如军报传到，把「月黑惊雁—敌酋夜遁」的连锁写得干净利落。尤为精妙者，起句全用仄声收「高」字，声情暗沉，与夜色之黑、军情之紧相称，起调即把读者拉入风雪前夜的紧张空气之中，为后文「欲逐」蓄满势。

The opening couplet, one line scene, one line narrative, and the cause of the narrative already hidden in the scene, the frontier verse's highest opening. The first line, 'the moon is dark, the wild geese fly high', pure scene: the moon hidden by clouds, the sky pitch black, the geese startled into high flight — the geese roost on the islets, and fly at dead of night only because of the disturbance of men and horses on the ground, so five words already secretly write the urgency of the military situation, the movement of foe and friend, the so-called 'the foe not written, and the foe already seen'. The next line, 'the chanyu flees by night', fills in the narrative: the cause of the startled geese is the enemy chief's fleeing under cover of dark. 'The chanyu' the enemy chief in general, naming this as a night rout, not a pitched battle. Two lines, one effect one cause, from scene to event, the rhythm tight as a military dispatch arriving, writing the chain of 'moon-dark startled geese — chief flees by night' cleanly and neatly. Especially fine: the opening line closes on the level tone 'high', the tone and mood dark, fitting the night's blackness and the situation's tension, the opening tune pulling the reader at once into the tense air of the night before the snow, storing the fullest momentum for the 'we would lead the pursuit' below.

欲将轻骑逐，大雪满弓刀。

The general is about to lead light cavalry in pursuit when heavy snow settles over bow and blade. The moment before the charge holds all the keenness of the attack, and closing on a scene rather than a battle lets the martial spirit appear without being asserted.

将军正要率领轻装骑兵追击，漫天大雪已落满了弓箭与大刀。

We would lead the light cavalry in pursuit; the great snow has covered the bows and swords.

后联是全诗最见匠心之处，也是唐人绝句「以景结情」的典范。前句「欲将轻骑逐」写我军反应：将军立刻要率轻骑追剿，「欲将」二字写将发未发、决断在即的紧张——一个「轻」字见兵力精悍、行动迅捷，与敌军「夜遁逃」的狼狈恰成对照。按常理，下句当写追奔斩获，诗人却于此陡然收住，只写「大雪满弓刀」的静景：漫天风雪落满将士的弓刀。这一收束极高明：它不写战而战意自见——大雪满刃，写尽苦寒之烈，也写尽将士不避风雪、整装待发的骁勇；由动转静，张力全在言外。读者自可想见雪夜衔枚疾追的壮阔，而诗不着一字，留白无穷。一个「满」字尤力，既写雪之密，亦写将士之毅（弓刀皆满，人无退意）。将发未发之际收束，比直写杀声更耐寻味，遂成千古名句。

The closing couplet is the most crafted part of the poem, and the model of the Tang quatrain's 'closing in scene'. The upper line, 'we would lead the light cavalry in pursuit', writes our army's response: the general at once leads the light cavalry in pursuit, the words 'we would lead' writing the tension of the about-to-start, the decision at hand — the one word 'light' the picked troops' prowess, the swift action, set against the enemy's 'flees by night' rout. By rule, the next line should write the pursuit and the capture; yet the poet stops short here, writing only the still scene of 'the great snow has covered the bows and swords': the sky-filling snow fallen on the soldiers' bows and blades. This close is most clever: it writes not the battle, and the battle will shows itself — the snow covering the blades writes the bitter cold to the utmost, and the soldiers' bravery of not shunning the snow and wind, ready and armed; turning from motion to stillness, the tension all beyond the words. The reader imagines the grandeur of the snow-night silent pursuit, and the poem not one word, the blankness boundless. The one word 'covered' is forceful, both the snow's thickness and the soldiers' resolve (the bows and blades all covered, and no man's will to retreat). Closing at the about-to-start moment is the more savoring than a plain writing of the clash, and it became a famous line through the ages.

Study

Word focus

高 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「月黑雁飞高」的「高」字，看似寻常，实是全句的诗眼与伏笔。雁本栖于洲渚草泽，夜飞已异，而偏写「高」飞，愈见惊惶之甚——必是地面人马骤动，惊起群雁直上夜空。诗人不写「雁惊飞」而写「雁飞高」，以「高」字兼写高度与惊态，含蓄蕴藉而信息饱满。更重要的是，这一个「高」字是后句「单于夜遁逃」的因：读者由雁之飞高，自然推知地面有变，再由次句点破是敌酋溃逃，景与事由此咬合。炼字之妙在「以果显因」——用雁飞之状反衬人事之动，不著一字写军而军情已急。一个「高」字，举起了起句全部的紧张感，亦见卢纶观察之细、剪裁之精，是中唐写实边塞诗「即小见大」的范例。

欲 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「欲将轻骑逐」的「欲」字，是全诗章法的关键，意为「将要、打算」。它写将军决断在即、行动将启却尚未发动的临界状态——一个「欲」字把最紧张的一瞬定格：令已将下，骑已待发，而诗恰恰在此收束。正是这个「未发」让后面「大雪满弓刀」得以以静景代之：若已「逐」则须写追奔，既「欲」则可停于将发。诗人以「欲」字制造悬念与留白，把读者的想象引向雪夜疾追的后续，而自己不赘一字。虚字之工，在举重若轻——一个「欲」字举起了整场战斗的张力，使全诗停在最高压的临界点。若换作「已率轻骑逐」，便直白无味、张力尽泄。可见卢纶锤炼虚字以控节奏的本领，亦见唐人绝句「贵在含蓄」的章法智慧。

满 The word for covering shows how deeply the snow has settled on bow and blade, revealing both the cold of the frontier and the strict readiness of the troops. 「大雪满弓刀」的「满」字，是末句乃至全诗的力点，既写物象更写精神。雪之「满」弓刀，极写风雪之密之骤，将士立于雪夜，弓上刀上皆积白，画面严寒逼人；而「满」又暗写人之不动——弓刀满雪而人屹立待发，无一退避之态，苦寒之烈反衬军容之整、斗志之坚。一个「满」字以静写动、以景写情，把「欲逐」的果决化为可视的寒光雪影，比直写「奋勇追敌」有力十倍。它与「欲」字呼应：将发未发，而风雪已满刃，时间的凝固感与空间的压迫感交织，遂成唐人边塞诗中「于无声处听惊雷」的一例。炼字之妙在俗中见奇，以最寻常的「满」字举起了最不寻常的苍茫气象，足证卢纶「语语是景，语语是情」的造诣。