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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

苏溪亭

At Suxi Pavilion

戴叔伦

Dai Shulun

苏溪亭上草漫漫，谁倚东风十二阑。
燕子不归春事晚，一汀烟雨杏花寒。

Over Suxi Pavilion the grass spreads wild and wide —
Who leans on the twelve-twined rail in the eastern breeze?
The swallows have not returned; the business of spring is late:
One misty sandbar, rain on the apricot blossoms, cold.
Listen

Meaning

At Suxi Pavilion on a late spring day, Dai Shulun sees the grass spreading wild and unbounded and wonders who is leaning on the carved rail in the east wind. The swallows — the birds that should mark spring's return — have not come back; spring is ending; and over one sandbar hangs misty rain on cold apricot blossoms. The landscape is a waiting made visible: the poem's quiet ache of someone awaited in vain.

苏溪亭上草漫漫，谁倚东风十二阑。燕子不归春事晚，一汀烟雨杏花寒。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Over Suxi Pavilion the grass spreads endlessly; who leans on the twelve-twined rail in the east wind? The swallows have not returned and spring's affairs are late; over one sandbar hangs misty rain, and the apricot blossoms are cold. [Structure] The poem is a seven-character quatrain of two couplets: the first sets a scene and asks an unanswerable question; the second, without answering it, dissolves the question into a landscape — the swallows' absence says spring is over, and the misty rain and cold blossoms say the heart is out of season. [Imagery] Grass in wild abundance, a wind-leaning figure, absent swallows, rain-chilled apricot: each image is left deliberately vague, and their combination — rather than any single line — produces the poem's signature effect, 'subtle and deeply indirect' (hanxu shenwan).

【白话串讲】 戴叔伦写《苏溪亭》：“苏溪亭上草漫漫，谁倚东风十二阑”——“燕子不归春事晚，一汀烟雨杏花寒”——他写苏溪亭——一汀烟雨杏花寒。 【意象与手法】 “苏溪亭上草漫漫，谁倚东风十二阑”写亭上草漫漫；“燕子不归春事晚”写燕子不归；结以“一汀烟雨杏花寒”以一汀烟雨写春寒。含蓄深婉。 【情感与主旨】 戴叔伦写苏溪亭之作，写亭上草漫漫、燕子不归与一汀烟雨杏花寒的春景，于景中寓怀人，是写景诗中的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“苏溪亭上草漫漫，谁倚东风十二阑”写亭上草漫漫；“燕子不归春事晚，一汀烟雨杏花寒”以一汀烟雨写春寒。

Background

Dai Shulun (732–789), courtesy name Yougong, was a Mid-Tang poet from Jintan in Runzhou (present-day Jiangsu). He held several provincial posts and moved in the literary circle of the Dali era. Little is certain about the occasion of this quatrain — it is read variously as a poem of waiting for a friend, for a lover, or simply for spring itself. What matters is the season: late spring, when the swallows have gone and the apricot blossoms stand in chilly rain, a moment Chinese poets had long coded as the end of things.

《苏溪亭》为中唐诗人戴叔伦所作诗。戴叔伦（约732—约789），字幼公，润州金坛（今江苏金坛）人，中唐诗人。此诗写景怀人。诗中「苏溪亭上草漫漫，谁倚东风十二阑」写苏溪亭上草漫漫，谁倚东风十二阑；「燕子不归春事晚，一汀烟雨杏花寒」写燕子不归春事晚，一汀烟雨杏花寒。戴叔伦此诗以写景怀人、一汀烟雨杏花寒写其怀人之情，含蓄深婉，是戴叔伦诗中的名篇。此篇《苏溪亭》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《苏溪亭》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《苏溪亭》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 works through restraint and indirection. The opening couplet sets abundance against anonymity: grass 'spreading endlessly' fills the eye, yet the figure at the rail is nobody we can name — 'who' makes the scene a question. The second couplet answers with absence: swallows, which in Chinese poetry are birds of return, have not returned; spring's work is done. Then comes the celebrated close — 'one sandbar, misty rain, apricot blossoms cold' — where three textures (rain, sandbar, blossom) and one temperature (cold) fuse into a single mood. Not one word states the poet's feeling; the feeling is entirely in the weather.

此诗艺术上以「含蓄深婉、以景写情」见长。全诗共四句，由苏溪亭上草漫漫而谁倚东风十二阑而燕子不归春事晚。起「苏溪亭上草漫漫，谁倚东风十二阑」写苏溪亭上草漫漫：苏溪亭上草漫漫，谁倚东风十二阑；「燕子不归春事晚，一汀烟雨杏花寒」写一汀烟雨杏花寒：燕子不归春事晚，一汀烟雨杏花寒。全诗以景写情，由苏溪亭上草漫漫而一汀烟雨杏花寒，含蓄深婉，是戴叔伦诗中的名篇。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

The 'twelve railings' (shi'er lan) belong to the vocabulary of boudoir and pavilion poetry, where leaning on a rail is the classic posture of waiting and longing. Swallows returning in spring and building nests by one's eaves carry associations of faithful return; their non-return here inverts that expectation. 'Cold apricot blossoms' belong to the late-spring (mochun) tradition of melancholy: by the time apricots bloom, spring is already saying goodbye. None of these is a formal allusion; all are conventional resonances the poet lets speak for him.

诗中「苏溪亭上草漫漫谁倚东风十二阑」「燕子不归春事晚一汀烟雨杏花寒」等语，皆含典故故实。「苏溪亭上草漫漫谁倚东风十二阑」写苏溪亭上草漫漫谁倚东风十二阑（十二阑写十二曲阑干）；「燕子不归春事晚一汀烟雨杏花寒」写燕子不归春事晚一汀烟雨杏花寒。诗人以十二阑、燕子不归等语入诗，不着痕迹，而把写景怀人之情写得真切可感，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 quatrain is Dai Shulun's best-known poem and a favorite of anthologies; Qing commentators praised its 'flavor beyond flavor' (wei zai wai). Its closing image — misty rain over a sandbar, apricot blossoms cold — has become a shorthand for the tender sadness of late spring, echoed by later poets and lyricists alike. Modern readers often place it beside Yan Shu's 'flowers fall, swallows return' as the two poles of spring sorrow: Yan Shu's regret is warm and resigned, Dai Shulun's is cool and wordless.

这首《苏溪亭》，是戴叔伦写景怀人之作，写苏溪亭上草漫漫、燕子不归春事晚、一汀烟雨杏花寒之情，含蓄深婉。起「苏溪亭上草漫漫，谁倚东风十二阑」——苏溪亭上草漫漫，谁倚东风十二阑。写苏溪亭上草漫漫：苏溪亭上草漫漫、谁倚东风十二阑——苏溪亭草漫漫、倚东风十二阑；「燕子不归春事晚，一汀烟雨杏花寒」——燕子不归春事晚，一汀烟雨杏花寒。写一汀烟雨杏花寒：燕子不归春事晚、一汀烟雨杏花寒——燕子不归、烟雨杏花寒。这「燕子不归春事晚，一汀烟雨杏花寒」，是全诗之结：以一汀烟雨杏花寒写其怀人。全诗含蓄深婉，以景写情，正是戴叔伦诗中的名篇。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), a four-line song form诗（七言绝句）
Rhyme The poem rhymes on lan (rail) and han (cold), both of the han-shan rhyme group; the broad, open vowels of the rhyme draw out the sound of the scene, matching the spread of the grass and the drift of the rain.此诗为七言绝句，共四句，两句一联。押平声韵：「阑」「寒」押寒删部韵。诗体依绝句而定，句式整齐，音节随情起伏，正与写景怀人的含蓄深婉相称，也见其以绝句写怀人的自然。
Tone pattern In the standard seven-character quatrain pattern, level and oblique tones alternate in every line, and the two couplets contrast: the opening line rolls outward on soft, even syllables like the grass itself, while the third line turns clipped and falling; the final line sinks on its last note, 'han', leaving the ear in the cold.句式上，「苏溪亭上草漫漫，谁倚东风十二阑」写苏溪亭上草漫漫，音节清丽；「燕子不归春事晚，一汀烟雨杏花寒」写一汀烟雨杏花寒，音节低回。全诗音节随情起伏，由清丽而低回，正合绝句「含蓄」之妙，读来如写景怀人、一汀烟雨杏花寒之音，含蓄而动人。
Reading note The quatrain is the most musical of the regulated forms — four lines, one turn. Dai Shulun uses that turn exactly: the first couplet spreads wide (grass to the horizon, wind, rail), the second contracts into the cold of a single sandbar. The rhyme words 'lan' and 'han' hold the two halves together acoustically, so the poem begins in breadth and ends in a shiver.此诗为七言绝句，是戴叔伦写景怀人之作，也是其诗中的名篇。全诗的艺术特色在于「含蓄深婉、以景写情」：「苏溪亭上草漫漫，谁倚东风十二阑」写苏溪亭上草漫漫、「燕子不归春事晚，一汀烟雨杏花寒」写一汀烟雨杏花寒。全诗含蓄深婉，以景写情。尤为精妙者，是「燕子不归春事晚，一汀烟雨杏花寒」以烟雨杏花写怀人；而「苏溪亭上草漫漫，谁倚东风十二阑」以倚阑写情，正是戴叔伦诗「含蓄深婉」的典范，为历代选本所常收。《苏溪亭》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

苏溪亭上草漫漫，谁倚东风十二阑。

Over Suxi Pavilion the grass spreads wild and wide; who leans on the twelve-twined rail in the eastern breeze?

苏溪亭上草漫漫，谁倚东风十二阑。

Thick grass spreads over the Suxi Pavilion; who is it leaning on the twelve balustrades in the east wind?

首二句写苏溪亭上草漫漫，起笔即见其景。「苏溪亭上草漫漫」写苏溪亭上草漫漫，「苏溪亭上」写苏溪亭上、「草漫漫」写草漫漫；「谁倚东风十二阑」写谁倚东风十二阑，「谁倚」写谁倚着、「东风十二阑」写东风十二阑。两句一写苏溪亭上草漫漫、一写谁倚东风十二阑，以苏溪亭上草漫漫写亭上草、以谁倚东风十二阑写倚阑，写尽苏溪亭上草漫漫、谁倚东风十二阑之情。以景起兴，含蓄而深婉，是「以景起兴」的妙笔。

The first two lines set the scene at the Suxi Pavilion. Thick grass spreads over the Suxi Pavilion opens in scenery: grass running riot about the pavilion. Who is it leaning on the twelve balustrades in the east wind? Who at once introduces an unidentified figure leaning on the railings in the spring breeze; twelve balustrades suggests pacing the rails from end to end, the restlessness of longing. The poem begins from scenery, reserved and deep: grass growing wild marks a place abandoned to the seasons, and the unknown leaner among the rails becomes the poem's hidden heart - a masterly raising feeling through scenery, setting a tone of vague, tender waiting.

燕子不归春事晚，一汀烟雨杏花寒。

The swallows have not returned — the business of spring is late; one misty sandbar, rain on the apricot blossoms, cold.

燕子不归春事晚，一汀烟雨杏花寒。

The swallows have not returned; the spring is late - over the sandbar, misty rain chills the apricot blossoms.

尾二句写一汀烟雨杏花寒，是全诗立意的落点。「燕子不归春事晚」写燕子不归春事晚，「燕子不归」写燕子不归、「春事晚」写春事已晚；「一汀烟雨杏花寒」写一汀烟雨杏花寒，「一汀烟雨」写一汀烟雨、「杏花寒」写杏花寒。两句一写燕子不归春事晚、一写一汀烟雨杏花寒，以燕子不归春事晚写春事晚、以一汀烟雨杏花寒写烟雨花寒，写尽燕子不归春事晚、一汀烟雨杏花寒之情。以景写情，含蓄而深婉，是全诗最动人处，也是「以景写情」的点睛之笔。

The last two lines are the poem's landing. The swallows have not returned; the spring is late - swallows absent, spring already waning; over the sandbar, misty rain chills the apricot blossoms - the whole islet veiled in rain, the apricot blossoms cold. One line writes the lateness of spring, the other the coldness of flowers in rain. Swallows that do not return stand for the traveler who has not come back; apricot blossoms shivering in misty rain mirror the watcher's chilly waiting. Writing feeling through scenery, this is the poem's most moving point, the consummate stroke of scenery as emotion: the longing is never spoken, yet the swallows, the rain, and the cold blossoms speak it all.

Study

Word focus

漫漫 Spreading endlessly — describes grass growing lush and boundless, setting a scene of unchecked, untended growth that mirrors a season past its prime and a mood without edges. 「漫漫」写草漫漫，是写草长之态的关键。「苏溪亭上草漫漫」着一「漫漫」，写无边——着一「漫漫」，写草漫漫，见其草之盛。两字写尽漫漫之态，是「以词写形」的妙笔。「漫漫」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。
倚 To lean upon — the posture of someone lingering at the rail, a classic gesture of waiting and longing, here left anonymous by the question 'who'. 「倚」字写谁倚东风十二阑，是写倚阑之态的关键。「谁倚东风十二阑」着一「倚」，写倚靠——着一「倚」字，写谁倚东风十二阑，见其倚阑之态。一字写尽倚阑之情，是「以一字写态」的点睛之词。「倚」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。
不归 Not to return — swallows are supposed to come back with spring; their absence signals spring's end and, by implication, the non-return of the one awaited. 「不归」写燕子不归春事晚，是写燕不归之态的关键。「燕子不归春事晚」着一「不归」，写不归——着一「不归」，写燕子不归，见其春事之晚。两字写尽不归之情，是「以词写迟」的点睛之词。「不归」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。
寒 Cold — transfers the chill of the misty rain onto the apricot blossoms themselves; a single word suffuses the whole scene with emotional coldness. 「寒」字写杏花寒，是写杏花寒之态的关键。「一汀烟雨杏花寒」着一「寒」，写寒——着一「寒」字，写杏花寒，见其花之寒。一字写尽杏花寒之情，是「以一字写寒」的点睛之词。「寒」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 to a New Song (Huanxisha · Yiqu Xinci Jiu Yibei) 晏殊 · 同写春景怀人、无可奈何，一写无可奈何花落去、一写燕子不归春事晚，皆于春景之中见怀人 Both brood over spring scenes and helpless regret — one over falling flowers, one over swallows that have not returned — and both find longing within spring.

Yan Shu's 'Huanxisha' ('Helpless, the flowers fall away; the swallows seem to have returned, as if we knew them') writes spring sorrow and regret; it is a celebrated Song lyric. Dai Shulun's 'Suxi Pavilion' writes 'the swallows have not returned — spring's affairs are late' and 'one sandbar of misty rain, apricot blossoms cold.' Both brood over spring and helplessness: one uses falling flowers and returning swallows to mourn time, the other unreturned swallows and cold apricot blossoms to voice longing; one is Yan Shu's warmth, the other Dai Shulun's cool freshness — two ways of writing 'spring sorrow.'

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」，写春景怀人，是宋词小令的名篇；戴叔伦《苏溪亭》则以「燕子不归春事晚，一汀烟雨杏花寒」「苏溪亭上草漫漫，谁倚东风十二阑」写燕子不归、烟雨杏花寒。两诗同写春景怀人、无可奈何：一写无可奈何花落去、以花落燕归写惜时，一写燕子不归春事晚、以燕子不归写怀人；一为晏殊之温润、一为戴叔伦之清新，并读正可见诗写「春景怀人」的两种笔法，皆于春景之中见怀人。

 晏殊·蝶恋花·槛菊愁烟兰泣露 Dielianhua: The Chrysanthemums by the Rail Sigh in Mist, the Orchids Weep with Dew (Dielianhua · Jianju Chouyan Lan Qilu) 晏殊 · 同写倚阑凝愁、独自凝望，一写罗幕轻寒燕子双飞去、一写谁倚东风十二阑，皆于倚阑之中见凝愁 Both write leaning on a rail in frozen sorrow — one with swallows flying off in pairs, one with an anonymous figure in the east wind — and both find frozen grief in the posture.

Yan Shu's 'Dielianhua' ('The chrysanthemums by the rail sigh in mist, the orchids weep with dew; the curtains are light with chill, the swallows fly off in pairs') writes the sorrow of leaning on a rail; it is a celebrated Song lyric on melancholy. Dai Shulun's 'Suxi Pavilion' writes 'who leans on the twelve-twined rail in the east wind' and 'apricot blossoms cold.' Both lean on a rail in frozen sorrow: one uses the swallows' double flight to write grief, the other the anonymous leaning figure; one is Yan Shu's warmth, the other Dai Shulun's cool freshness — two ways of writing 'sorrow at the rail.'

晏殊《蝶恋花·槛菊愁烟兰泣露》「槛菊愁烟兰泣露。罗幕轻寒，燕子双飞去」，写倚阑凝愁，是宋词写愁的名篇；戴叔伦《苏溪亭》则以「苏溪亭上草漫漫，谁倚东风十二阑」「一汀烟雨杏花寒」写倚东风十二阑、烟雨杏花寒。两诗同写倚阑凝愁、独自凝望：一写罗幕轻寒燕子双飞去、以燕去写愁，一写谁倚东风十二阑、以倚阑写愁；一为晏殊之温润、一为戴叔伦之清新，并读正可见诗写「倚阑凝愁」的两种笔法，皆于倚阑之中见凝愁。