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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

送魏万之京

Seeing Off Wei Wan on His Journey to the Capital

李颀

Li Qi

朝闻游子唱离歌，昨夜微霜初渡河。
鸿雁不堪愁里听，云山况是客中过。
关城树色催寒近，御苑砧声向晚多。
莫见长安行乐处，空令岁月易蹉跎。

This morning I heard you, the wandering traveler, sing a song of parting;
last night, in the season's first frost, you crossed the Yellow River.
In the depths of sorrow I cannot bear to hear the wild geese;
how much less the cloud-wrapped mountains you will cross as a stranger.
At the frontier pass the tree colors hasten the cold's approach;
in the imperial park the washing-blocks grow thick toward dusk.
Do not dally in Chang'an's places of pleasure —
you will only let the years slip by in vain.

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Meaning

Li Qi sees off the young poet Wei Wan, who is traveling to Chang'an to seek his fortune. Beginning with the frosty crossing of the Yellow River, the poem fills the autumn journey with wild geese and clouded mountains, the cold-colored trees of the pass and the washing-block sounds of the capital. It ends not with the usual tears but with earnest advice: do not waste your youth in the capital's pleasures.

清晨听到你这位远行的游子唱起离别的歌，昨夜微霜初降，你已渡过黄河。离愁之中，不忍听那鸿雁的哀鸣，况且你还要在愁云惨淡的山峦间奔波。潼关一带的树色已催得寒气渐近，长安宫苑里傍晚的捣衣声愈发繁密。切莫留恋长安城里寻欢作乐的场所，免得空让大好岁月白白流逝。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] This morning I heard your parting song; last night, in the first frost, you had already crossed the Yellow River. Laden with sorrow, I cannot bear even the cry of the wild geese — and you still have the clouded mountains to cross as a stranger. At the pass the autumn trees seem to hurry the cold along; in the imperial gardens the washing-blocks grow busier toward evening. Do not be seduced by Chang'an's pleasures and let your years run to waste. [Structure and Technique] The poem moves in four stages: narration, scenery, the road ahead, and exhortation. The opening couplet uses inverted time order — first the morning song, then a backward glance at the night crossing — packing time, place and occasion into a single stroke. The second couplet layers grief outward with the two function words 'cannot bear' and 'how much more,' fusing landscape with feeling. [Emotion] The closing couplet is the poem's moral center: instead of urging 'don't forget me,' the poet warns against the dissipations of the capital. Coming from a man who had himself stalled in a petty official post, the advice carries the weight of experience, and the farewell rises into a serious meditation on youth and ambition.

【白话串讲】李颀写《送魏万之京》：“朝闻游子唱离歌，昨夜微霜初渡河”——“鸿雁不堪愁里听，云山况是客中过”——“关城树色催寒近，御苑砧声向晚多”——“莫见长安行乐处，空令岁月易蹉跎”——他送魏万——空令岁月易蹉跎。【意象与手法】于深秋起笔，以霜、雁、云山铺写旅途之愁，以关城、砧声渲染长安秋意，层层逼出对友人的牵挂；尾联以“莫见长安行乐处，空令岁月易蹉跎”作劝勉。情真语挚、意象苍茫。【情感与主旨】李颀送魏万入京之作，写旅途之愁与长安秋意，尾联劝勉勿蹉跎岁月，是盛唐七律中送别言志的名篇。【名句点睛】常考“鸿雁不堪愁里听，云山况是客中过”写旅途之愁；“莫见长安行乐处，空令岁月易蹉跎”写劝勉。

Background

Li Qi (c. 690–c. 751), a native of Zhaojun, passed the jinshi examination in 735, served briefly as a county sheriff, and then retired to the Song and Ying rivers, counting Wang Wei, Gao Shi and Wang Changling among his friends. Wei Wan — later known as Wei Hao — was a young man from Boling who idolized Li Bai, followed him thousands of li, and eventually compiled the poet's works into the 'Collected Poems of Li Hanglin.' His journey to Chang'an was a bid for recognition and office. Li Qi wrote this farewell around the Tianbao era; its fame is confirmed by its place in the 'Three Hundred Tang Poems,' where it stands as a model of the High Tang seven-character regulated verse.

《送魏万之京》为盛唐诗人李颀的一首七言律诗。李颀（约690—约751），赵郡人，开元二十三年进士，曾任新乡县尉，久不调迁，遂归隐嵩山、颍水之间。他工于诗歌，尤擅七言歌行与送别之什，与王维、高适、王昌龄等交游唱和，其诗风骨遒劲、气象雄浑，颇得盛唐刚健之致。诗题中的「魏万」即魏颢，博陵人，后更名颢，是李白的崇拜者与挚友，曾不远数千里追随李白，编录其诗为《李翰林集》，李白集中亦有《送王屋山人魏万还王屋》一诗相赠。魏万当时正值壮年，才名初起，此行前往京都长安，当是为求取功名、赴试干谒。李颀与魏万交谊深厚，故于送别之际，既写尽秋日旅途的苍凉，又殷殷嘱其珍惜年华、勿耽行乐。此诗约作于天宝年间李颀送魏万北上入京之时，诗中「昨夜微霜初渡河」点出时令与行程，「关城」「御苑」则预想其前路所经。全诗融别情、羁愁、秋色与劝勉于一炉，字里行间透出长者对后辈的深切关怀，是盛唐送别诗中情辞兼胜的代表作，历代选本如《唐诗三百首》皆收录之，足见其在唐人七律中的地位。

Art

The poem's excellence lies in its layered progression from grief to counsel. The opening couplet begins with a flashback: 'this morning' we hear the song, 'last night' the frosty crossing — the word 'first' in 'first frost' does double duty, marking the season and hinting at the hardships ahead. The second couplet turns from the ear to the eye: wild geese and clouded mountains are ordinary travel sights, but 'cannot bear' and 'how much more' pile grief upon grief until every scene is dyed with feeling. The third couplet swings forward to the road and the capital: the verb 'hasten' personifies the tree colors as if autumn itself were pursuing the traveler, while the thickening sound of washing-blocks at dusk conjures the whole city making winter clothes — a sound that carries worry for the friend's comfort. The close shifts from scenery to reason without sermonizing: 'do not dally' sounds like an elder's voice, and 'slip by in vain' lands the poem's whole weight on the waste of time.

此诗艺术上以「借景写愁、层层推进」见长。首联「朝闻游子唱离歌，昨夜微霜初渡河」以倒叙起笔：先写清晨听到游子唱离歌，再追溯昨夜微霜渡河，点出时令与行程，「微霜」二字既写秋气之肃杀，又暗含旅途之艰辛，为全诗定下苍凉的基调。颔联「鸿雁不堪愁里听，云山况是客中过」由实入虚：鸿雁南飞、云山重叠，本是旅途常见之景，诗人却以「不堪」「况是」两个虚词绾合，把眼前景与心中愁融为一体，层层加重羁旅之悲，是典型的以景写情、情景双关之笔。颈联「关城树色催寒近，御苑砧声向晚多」转写前路与长安：一个「催」字赋予树色以人格，寒气仿佛被萧疏的树色一步步逼来；「砧声向晚多」则以捣衣之声写长安秋深，声景相融，暗示友人将至的京城正值寒衣时节，牵挂之意宛然。尾联「莫见长安行乐处，空令岁月易蹉跎」以劝勉收束，由景入理，点明题旨。全诗四联，叙事、写景、抒情、议论层层转进，情景虚实相生，炼字精工而不露斧凿，气脉流转而章法谨严，尽显李颀七律雄浑苍劲、情辞兼胜的大家手笔。

Allusions

The poem's allusions are cultural rather than textual. 'Chang'an's places of pleasure' taps into the city's image, celebrated since Han fu poetry and in Lu Zhaolin's 'Chang'an: Ancient Thoughts,' as the capital of wealth and amusement — Li Qi deliberately inverts that tradition, warning against the very pleasures the city was famous for. 'To let time slip' (cuotuo) descends from the Chu ci's laments over wasted talent and the Jin-era ambition of 'fearing that no merit will be established,' embodying the classical anxiety about time and achievement. The wild geese echo the Book of Songs tradition of geese as emblems of wandering, and the 'clouded mountains' recall Yu Xin's homesick verses on the bitterness of travel. Li Qi never displays these sources; he dissolves them into the scene so that the advice gains weight from the whole tradition of exhortation behind it.

诗中「长安行乐处」一语，暗承汉代以来长安繁华游乐之传统，可溯至枚乘《七发》以来都邑赋对京都享乐生活的铺陈，及至卢照邻《长安古意》「长安大道连狭斜，青牛白马七香车」对长安市井游乐之盛极一时的描写，使「长安」成为富贵行乐、名利角逐的代名词。李颀此处正反用其意：不劝友人在长安行乐，反告诫其「莫见长安行乐处」，以免「空令岁月易蹉跎」。「蹉跎」一词，亦见于《楚辞·九辩》「骐骥伏匿而不见兮，凤凰高飞而不下；鸟兽犹知怀德兮，何云贤士之不处」中岁月虚度的忧思，及《世说新语》所记周处、祖逖辈「恐功名之不立」的进取之心，凝结着古人惜时自勉的深厚传统。诗人化用这些文化记忆，把个人的别情放在功名岁月的大背景下考量，使送别小诗具有了励志的深意。此外，颔联「鸿雁」「云山」亦暗含《诗经·小雅·鸿雁》以鸿雁喻流民奔波之意与庾信「客游经岁月，羁旅故情多」的羁旅之叹，均被诗人熔入眼前景中，不着痕迹。此诗用典，不炫博、不堆砌，而是化用文化意象以深化情境，使劝勉之辞愈显厚重，正见李颀融典入诗、以古映今的高超手段。

Commentary

What moves readers is the fusion of parting with the friend's future and the passage of time. The first two couplets steep frost, geese and mountains in sorrow; the third couplet, turning to the capital's tree colors and washing-block sounds, also reveals the poet's own knowledge of officialdom's chill — Li Qi had himself languished in a low post, so his warning carries a veteran's sobriety. The final couplet deepens the poem from private sorrow into a grave exhortation about youth and ambition. Nowhere does the poem whimper or lecture; the sorrow stays 'mournful but not wounding,' in the High Tang manner. Anthologized in the 'Three Hundred Tang Poems,' it remains one of the finest farewell poems in the seven-character form, its closing lines as quotable today as any classical motto on the value of time.

这首送别诗之所以感人至深，在于它把眼前的离别与友人的前程、岁月的流逝绾合得浑然一体。前两联写秋日送别的苍凉：微霜、鸿雁、云山，无不浸染着离愁，诗人以「不堪」「况是」递进，把客观景物点化为层层加码的愁绪，读来如见友人踽踽独行于深秋古道之上。第三联笔锋暗转，由途中所见写到长安风物，「树色催寒」「砧声向晚」，既有对友人抵京后景况的悬想，也透出诗人自己对官场风霜的体认——李颀本人久沉下僚，深知长安秋声里的冷暖，故嘱咐中带着过来人的警醒。尾联更进一层，不写「勿念我」，而劝「莫见长安行乐处」，以「岁月蹉跎」相砥砺，把依依别情升华为对青春功业、人生价值的郑重叮咛。全诗无一句凄恻之语，而深情自在其中；无一句说教之态，而劝勉之意自明，正是盛唐送别诗「哀而不伤、怨而不怒」风范的典型体现。诵读全篇，秋色、别情、壮志、友情交织如画，余韵悠长，令人低回不尽，堪称唐人七律送别中的上乘之作。

Prosody

Form Seven-character regulated verse (qilü): eight lines in four couplets, both middle couplets in strict parallelism; opening line begins on a level tone and ends level七言律诗（近体律诗，平起式）

Rhyme The rhyme words are he (river), guo (to pass), duo (many) and tuo (to waste time), all level-tone words in the ge rhyme group (xia ping 5) of the pingshui system, rhyming on every even line with one rhyme throughout. The ge rhyme is open and prolonged, matching the poem's vast autumn horizons and the lingering cadence of its counsel. The four rhyme words also track the argument: the crossing, the journey, the washing-blocks, the warning.全诗押平声韵，韵脚为「河」「过」「多」「跎」，同属平水韵下平五歌韵，一韵到底，韵律谐婉流利。歌韵发音开阔悠长，恰与送别之际苍茫辽远的秋景相称，读来声情摇曳、余韵不绝。四韵脚分布于四联之末，首联「河」点行程，颔联「过」写羁旅，颈联「多」状砧声，尾联「跎」收劝勉，韵脚与诗意相随相生，声韵节奏与情感脉络契合无间。

Tone pattern The opening line 'chao wen you zi chang li ge' begins on a level tone and closes level, setting an even, measured pace. The second couplet 'hong yan bu kan chou li ting' / 'yun shan kuang shi ke zhong guo' is strictly antithetical in both syntax and tone, its level-oblique alternation giving the verse a rising and falling rhythm. The third couplet 'guan cheng shu se cui han jin' / 'yu yuan zhen sheng xiang wan duo' pairs assonance and echo against each other, marrying sound to sense. The closing couplet 'mo jian chang an xing le chu' / 'kong ling sui yu yi cuo tuo' begins on an oblique tone and ends level, settling the argument. Throughout, the level-tone rhyme carries the verse while oblique tones interrupt, producing an undulating rhythm that matches the poet's tone: desolate in scenery, resolute in counsel.句式上，全诗平仄谐协，合乎七律格律。首句「朝闻游子唱离歌」平起平收，声调舒徐；颔联「鸿雁不堪愁里听，云山况是客中过」对仗工稳，平仄相间，读来顿挫有致；颈联「关城树色催寒近，御苑砧声向晚多」双声叠韵错落，声情并茂；尾联「莫见长安行乐处，空令岁月易蹉跎」仄起平收，收束沉稳。全诗以平声韵统摄，句中仄声字间出，形成起伏跌宕的节奏，恰与诗人于苍凉中见昂扬的笔调相应，声情与辞情相得益彰。

Reading note The poem is a model of the High Tang seven-character lüshi: fifty-six characters, strict form, yet the argument flows freely. Li Qi breaks with the stock farewell formula of gazing on scenery and lamenting the parting by adopting a four-stage progression — narration, scenery, emotion, exhortation. The couplets alternate virtual and actual: the frosty crossing is past, the geese and mountains are felt sorrow, the pass and the capital are anticipated, the warning is present counsel. Two small hinge-words do enormous work: 'hasten' gives the season legs, 'cannot bear' and 'how much more' escalate the grief, and 'in vain' welds regret and warning into a single phrase. Anthologized since the Ming in the 'Three Hundred Tang Poems,' it shows how completely the High Tang lüshi could fuse scene, feeling and reason.此诗为七言律诗，全诗八句五十六字，章法谨严而气脉流转。诗人突破一般送别诗「即景抒情、直写离愁」的窠臼，而采用「叙事—写景—言情—劝勉」的四联递进结构：首联倒叙点题，交代时地人事；颔联以鸿雁云山写旅途之愁，情景双关；颈联转写前路与长安风物，以「催」「多」等字炼出深秋气象；尾联翻进一层，以劝勉作结，把别情升华为对岁月功业的警醒。四联之间，虚实相生、动静相济，写景处不着一愁字而愁绪满纸，议论处不露说教态而意味深长。其所以能如此，端赖炼字之精与虚词之用：一个「催」字赋予物候以生命，一对「不堪」「况是」使愁绪层层递进，一个「空令」把惋惜与警醒熔铸于瞬间。盛唐七律至此，已臻情景理浑融无间之境，故《唐诗三百首》等历代选本皆录此篇，足见其艺术生命力之长久。

Line by line

朝闻游子唱离歌，昨夜微霜初渡河。

This morning I heard you, the wandering traveler, sing a song of parting; last night, in the season's first frost, you crossed the Yellow River.

清晨听到你这位远行的游子唱起离别之歌，想起昨夜微霜初降之时，你已渡过黄河，踏上征途。

At dawn I hear the wayfarer sing the parting song; last night, a light frost, when first you crossed the river.

起句以倒叙手法写离别场景，「朝闻」「昨夜」两词勾连时间，先写耳之所闻，再追溯脚之所行，既点出送别的地点在黄河之滨，又暗示友人连夜赶路、行色匆匆。「游子唱离歌」五字，把送别写得既真切又洒脱，未着一字「愁」，而离愁已在歌声中漾开。「微霜」二字尤堪玩味：霜而不言寒，着一「微」字，恰写出深秋初寒、尚不酷烈的时令特征，也暗合友人此去前程未卜、寒暖难料的况味。两句一前一后、一听一想，画面跳跃而气脉贯通，以极经济的笔墨交代了时间、地点、人物与事由，为全诗定下苍凉而不悲戚的基调，也见出李颀七律起笔即老到不凡的功力。

The opening line writes the parting scene in backward narration, the two words 'at dawn' and 'last night' linking the time, first the ear's hearing, then tracing the feet's walking, at once naming the parting place on the Yellow River's bank, and hinting the friend's night-long haste, the hurried look. The five words 'the wayfarer sing the parting song' write the parting both true and free, not one word 'grief', and the parting feeling already rippling in the song. The words 'light frost' the more to be chewed: frost without saying cold, the one word 'light' precisely writing the deep autumn's first chill, not yet bitter, and secretly matching the friend's lot of an uncertain road, the warmth and cold unknown. Two lines, one before one after, one hearing one imagining, the picture jumping and the breath running through, the most economical brush giving the time, place, person, and cause, tuning the poem's desolate without grieving keynote, and showing Li Qi's mature, uncommon craft of the seven-character regulated verse's opening.

鸿雁不堪愁里听，云山况是客中过。

In the depths of sorrow I cannot bear to hear the wild geese; how much less the cloud-wrapped mountains you will cross as a stranger.

离愁满怀之际，不忍去听那鸿雁的哀鸣，何况你还要在云雾缭绕的山峦之间跋涉而过。

The wild geese, in grief, are more than I can bear to hear; the clouded hills, worse, passed while a guest.

颔联由叙事转入抒情，是全诗写愁的着力处。鸿雁南飞本与羁旅相类，诗人在「愁里」听之，更觉其鸣声凄切，故曰「不堪」；云山重叠本是旅途常见之景，诗人着一「客中」点破行役之苦，故曰「况是」。「不堪」「况是」两个虚词层层递进，把愁绪由一己之耳闻推向友人之路遇，情景双关，虚实相生。尤妙在以「愁里」「客中」两语点染，使客观景物全部染上主观情感，读来如见秋空孤雁、寒山行客相对成愁。两句虽未直写别情，而离愁已浓得化不开，正是盛唐律诗「以景写情、含蓄不露」的典范，也为尾联的劝勉蓄足了势。

The neck couplet turns from narrative to lyric, the part where the poem's grief puts its force. The wild geese flying south are of themselves like the traveler, and the poet, hearing them 'in grief', feels the cry the more grieved, hence 'more than I can bear'; the layered clouded hills are the common road scene, and the poet, with one word 'while a guest', reveals the road's toil, hence 'worse'. 'More than I can bear' and 'worse', the two function words layer on layer, pushing the grief from the self's hearing to the friend's road, scene and feeling double-edged, the real and the unreal giving birth. The more exquisite, the coloring through 'in grief' and 'while a guest', making the objective scenery all dyed with the subjective feeling, the reading as if seeing the autumn sky's lone goose and the cold-hill traveler facing each other in grief. Two lines, though not writing the parting feeling directly, the grief already thick beyond dissolving, precisely the High Tang regulated verse's model of 'writing feeling through scene, restrained and unshown', storing the fullest groundwork for the closing exhortation.

莫见长安行乐处，空令岁月易蹉跎。

Do not dally in Chang'an's places of pleasure; you will only let the years slip by in vain.

切莫贪恋长安城中寻欢作乐的繁华去处，免得白白让大好岁月轻易流逝、一事无成。

See not Chang'an as a place for pleasure; lest the years be spent in vain.

尾联是全诗的题旨所在，也是送别诗中最见性情的警句。诗人不劝友人保重身体、勤寄音书，而独独叮嘱其「莫见长安行乐处」，看似突兀，实则深意存焉——长安繁华，最易令人沉迷其中、消磨壮志，故以「空令岁月易蹉跎」相警。「空令」二字饱含惋惜，「易蹉跎」三字则点出岁月易逝的紧迫，劝勉中带着过来人的沉痛。这一嘱咐，既是长辈对后辈的殷切期望，也暗含诗人对自己半生沉沦下僚的反思与自警，将个人身世之感融入对友人的叮咛之中。以劝勉收束全篇，使苍凉的秋景、缠绵的别情最终归于昂扬的进取之气，格局顿开，正是盛唐送别诗高出一格之处。

The closing couplet is the theme of the poem, and the aphorism where the farewell verse shows its character most. The poet exhorts the friend not to take care of his health, nor to send frequent letters, but charges him alone with 'see not Chang'an as a place for pleasure' — seemingly abrupt, in fact holding deep meaning: Chang'an's splendor most easily sinks one in indulgence, wearing away the high will, hence the warning of 'lest the years be spent in vain'. The words 'lest' hold a deep regret, the words 'spent in vain' naming the urgency of the years' easy passing, the exhortation carrying the grief of one who has been through it. This charge is at once the elder's earnest hope for the younger, and secretly the poet's own reflection and self-warning on his half-life stuck in the low offices, fusing the personal lot into the charge to the friend. Closing the whole in exhortation, the desolate autumn scene and the lingering parting feeling at last return to the spirited will to advance, the scope suddenly opened, precisely what raises the High Tang farewell verse a notch.

Study

Word focus

催 'Cui' (to hasten, urge) in 'the tree colors hasten the cold's approach' gives the formless cold a pace, as if the thinning autumn colors were driving it forward step by step. It personifies the season while implying the urgency of the journey: as the traveler presses north, the cold presses with him, and the two arrive together. 「催」字见于颈联「关城树色催寒近」，是全诗炼字的精妙之处。寒本无形无色，难言其来去，诗人着一「催」字，便把寒气写得有了脚程：仿佛那萧疏的关城树色一天天凋零，正一步步把寒气逼到眼前。「催」字既是物候变化的拟人化写照，又暗含行程的紧迫——友人一路向北，寒气越催越近，长安在前，深秋在即，行程与物候同步推移，读来如在目前。此字看似寻常，实则以动写静、以形写气，使抽象的寒气具象可感，也为后文「砧声向晚多」的寒衣意象作了铺垫，足见李颀炼字之精、造境之工。

砧声 'Zhensheng' is the sound of washing-blocks — beating cloth to full it before making winter clothes. In classical verse the sound carries late autumn, cold garments, and the longing of those at home for absent travelers. Here the thickening blocks at dusk in the imperial park signal a capital deep in autumn, every household hurrying to make warm clothes, and every sound a stitch of worry for the friend. 「砧声」指捣衣之声，是古典诗歌中极富深意的意象。古时制寒衣须先捣练，故砧声多与深秋、寒衣、闺中思念、游子羁旅相联系。诗人写「御苑砧声向晚多」，以长安宫苑里傍晚渐密的捣衣声，点出京城秋意已深、家家户户正赶制寒衣的时令，同时暗写友人抵京后即将面对的孤寒与冷暖。「向晚多」三字，既写砧声随时间推移而愈密，又以声衬静、以动写寂，烘托出深秋长安的苍茫气象。一个「多」字，更把千家万户的砧声汇聚成一片萧瑟的声浪，为全诗增添了一层萦绕不去的听觉上的愁绪，见出诗人以声写境、声情并茂的高明。

蹉跎 'Cuotuo' means to let time slip by wasted. From the Chu ci onward it has gathered the anxiety of unfulfilled talent. With 'easily' before it, it stresses how fast the years pass and how hard merit is to win — the warning lifts the farewell from private sorrow to a serious charge about the value of a young man's life, and quietly echoes the poet's own stalled career. 「蹉跎」意为虚度光阴、白白错过时机，是尾联的点睛之词。此词最早见于《楚辞·九辩》「众皆竞进以贪婪兮，凭不厌乎求索」所流露的失志之慨，后世诗人常借以感叹岁月空逝、壮志未酬，凝结着中国人惜时自勉的文化心理。李颀以「岁月易蹉跎」相警，着一「易」字，写出光阴流逝之快、功业成就之难，劝勉友人勿耽于长安行乐、虚掷年华。此词一出，全诗的格局由个人的离愁别绪猛然抬升到对人生价值的郑重思考，别情顿化为砥砺之志。选用此词，亦暗含诗人对自身仕途偃蹇的隐痛，故警语愈显沉挚，堪称全诗立骨之字。