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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

题金陵渡

Inscribed at the Jinling Ferry

张祜

Zhang Hu

羁旅travel 夜景night scene 江行river journey

金陵津渡小山楼，一宿行人自可愁。
潮落夜江斜月里，两三星火是瓜州。

By the ferry at Jinling, a little hillside tower,
A passing traveler lodges one night, and sorrow comes of its own.
The tide has ebbed in the night river beneath the slanting moon,
Those two or three specks of light are Guazhou.

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Meaning

A traveler lodges one night by the ferry and, sleepless, watches the ebbing tide and distant lights—the poem closes a vast night of loneliness onto a single named shore across the river.

金陵渡口有一座小小的山楼，我在这里投宿一夜，作为行客自然满怀愁绪。夜深潮落，江面横着一弯斜月；远处两三点闪烁的灯火，那便是瓜州了。

Appreciation

The first two lines state the traveler's sorrow plainly; the last two are pure scene, with no word of sadness. Yet this is a view only an insomniac could see: the ebbed tide means deep night, the slanting moon means near dawn, the two or three lights mean a far, straining gaze. Where is the sorrow? In this one sleepless watching. Ending on scene rather than feeling, the poem is reserved to the point of silence.

【白话串讲】 “金陵津渡小山楼，一宿行人自可愁”——张祜夜宿金陵渡口的小楼。“潮落夜江斜月里，两三星火是瓜州”——潮落月斜，远处两三灯火，那是瓜州。一幅宁静的夜泊图。【意象与手法】前两句直陈客愁，后两句纯然写景，不再提一个愁字。妙在这景是失眠人才看得见的景：潮落是深夜，斜月是将晓，两三星火是极目远眺。愁在何处？愁就在这一夜未眠的注视里。以景结情，含蓄至极。【情感与主旨】羁旅之愁本是唐诗常调，此诗胜在不铺陈、不感叹，只把一夜所见轻轻托出。尤其末句“两三星火是瓜州”，一个“是”字如指点、如自语，把无边夜色收束到一个具体的地名上——那是明日要去的地方，也是此刻到不了的地方。【名句点睛】 “潮落夜江斜月里，两三星火是瓜州”——十四字里有潮、有江、有月、有火、有地名，画面层层推远，而愁绪层层加深。张祜以此二句名传千古。

Background

Zhang Hu was a mid-to-late Tang poet who never held office and wandered the Jiangnan region for years. The Jinling ferry is the present-day Xijin ferry northwest of Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, a key crossing on the south bank of the Yangzi facing Guazhou (south of Hanjiang, Yangzhou) across the river—a vital north-south junction in the Tang. The poem was likely written as he lodged one night in the ferry's guest tower, to cross north the next day.

张祜，字承吉，中唐诗人，清河（今河北清河）人，一作南阳人，以宫词与山水小诗著称，性耿介，屡遭元稹排抑，长期漫游江湖，晚年隐居丹阳。此诗题「金陵渡」，即今江苏镇江西北的长江渡口（唐时金陵渡在润州，非今南京），诗人行旅经此，夜宿渡口小楼，因有此作。中唐文人行旅频繁，羁旅之愁为唐诗常调，而张祜此篇胜在写愁不着痕迹——他并不铺陈离情，只把一夜未眠所见的江景轻轻托出。对岸的瓜州（瓜洲，在长江北岸，与金陵渡隔江相望）是明日即将前往或遥望之地，此刻却只是两三点灯火。张祜一生蹭蹬，虽曾献诗求进而终不遇，其山水小诗多清远孤寂，此篇以极淡之笔写极深之愁，正见其「不以力胜、以韵胜」的诗风，亦为中唐绝句「清空」一脉的代表，与盛唐壮阔、晚唐纤巧皆异其趣。张祜一生蹭蹬，山水小诗多清远孤寂，此篇以极淡之笔写极深之愁，正见其不以力胜、以韵胜之诗风，亦为中唐清空一脉之代表。

Art

The structure splits feeling and scene: the first two lines set the mood with 'sorrow comes of its own,' the last two are all scene yet the sorrow shows—a classic 'ending on scene.' The scene moves near to far, dark to light: the ebbed tide at his feet, the slanting moon on the river mid-ground, the two or three lights far off, the gaze pushing ever outward as the loneliness grows. The last line closes with the declarative 'are Guazhou,' flat in tone yet endless in aftertaste.

此诗艺术上最见「以景结情、不着一字」的含蓄之妙。前两句「金陵津渡小山楼，一宿行人自可愁」直陈客愁，点明地点（渡口小楼）、身份（行人）、心境（自可愁），是平实的起手；后两句「潮落夜江斜月里，两三星火是瓜州」却纯然写景，不再提一个愁字。妙在这景是失眠的人才看得见的景：潮落是深夜之证，斜月是将晓之象，两三星火是极目远眺对岸瓜州的点点灯火。愁在何处？愁就在这一夜未眠、由夜半到拂晓的静静注视里。诗人以「是」字收束，如指点、如自语，把一个具体的地名轻轻安放在无边夜色之中——那是明日要去的地方，也是此刻到不了的地方。全诗由情入景、以景融情，前实后虚，章法疏淡而意味深长，是唐人绝句「不写之写」的典型，较之直抒「愁杀行人」者高明十倍。前实后虚、由情入景，以景融情，末以是字收束把渺远灯火与具体地名绾合，愁绪因之落点，清空之妙为唐人绝句之范。

Allusions

The poem uses no allusion, winning purely by plain sketch and place names. Jinling ferry and Guazhou are real sites; place names in a poem carry their own sense of north-south separation and endless travel.

诗中地名与物象皆真切可指，亦含行旅传统。其一「金陵渡」，唐时指润州（今镇江）西北长江边的渡口，地当南北要津，行旅辐辏；需注意此「金陵」非今南京，而是润州古称之一，后人每误读。其二「小山楼」，即渡口旁的客舍小楼，为行人羁宿之所，唐人题「驿楼」「山楼」者多写客愁（如许浑「题潼关驿楼」）。其三「瓜州」，即瓜洲，在长江北岸、扬州以南，与金陵渡隔江相望，为南北漕运要冲，唐宋诗词中每以「瓜洲」写离舟宿泊（如王安石「钟山只隔数重山」之瓜洲）。其四「斜月」，即偏西将落的残月，古诗中以「斜月」写夜深将晓（如张若虚「斜月沉沉藏海雾」），此处标时间之推移。诸多寻常地名与夜景经诗人剪裁，便成一幅「江楼不寐图」，地名之实与愁思之虚相映，羁旅诗的地理感与情感张力于此可见。金陵渡瓜州斜月皆真切可指，地名之实与愁思之虚相映，羁旅诗之地理感与情感张力于此可见，小景而意境不小。

Commentary

Shen Deqian's 'Tang Poetry: Selected' says Zhang Hu's quatrains have 'winding feeling, attaining the intent of the Airs.' Yu Biaoyun's 'Poetic Realm, Simply Told, Continued' says of this poem: 'lodging by night in the river tower, lying awake to the tide, seeing fishing fires afar—the flavor of travel is drawn as if before the eyes.'

此诗向与张继《枫桥夜泊》并提，同写夜泊江上之客愁，而各极其致。明人辑《唐诗千家诗》选此篇，评其「清远闲静，自在流出」。近人论中唐绝句，每以张祜与杜牧并论，而张祜山水小诗尤擅「清空」：不堆垛、不雕饰，以一缕淡愁系于江月星火之间。末句「两三星火是瓜州」尤为人称赏——一个「是」字如老友闲指，把渺远的灯火与具体的地名绾合，愁绪遂有了落点；前人谓「着一『是』字，神情便出」，正此谓也。较之张继「江枫渔火对愁眠」之浓，张祜此诗更淡；淡非浅，乃把千言客愁收进两三点灯火，于无声处见惊心。在唐人羁旅诗中，此篇以「小」取胜：小楼、小渡、两三星火，而意境不小，诚中唐绝句清空一派的代表，对后世宋人小景诗（如姜夔「二十四桥仍在」）亦有启导。此篇与张继枫桥并提而偏淡，淡非浅乃以小李写大愁，诚中唐清空诗风之顶点，亦启宋人小景诗之先声。，其清空之境足为宋人小景诗之先声，不以力胜而以韵胜，价值自在。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (level-tone opening, first line rhyming)七言绝句（平起首句入韵）

Rhyme Rhymes on the you category of the eleventh rhyme group: lou, chou, zhou.押下平十一尤韵：楼、愁、州。尤韵悠远沉郁，与江夜羁愁的声情相称；三韵一脉平顺，末字「州」以平声收束，余韵悠长如江声不尽，宜曼声歌之而愁不自禁。

Tone pattern The whole poem's music is calm, with no awkward lines, fitting the still night and wide river; the last line ends on a level tone, the voice easing with endless resonance.首句「金陵津渡小山楼」平起入韵，起调疏淡如展画卷；次句「一宿行人自可愁」承以平声，愁意从容；三句「潮落夜江斜月里」转写夜景，仄声较多、声情稍紧；末句「两三星火是瓜州」以平收而意尽，声转开阔而情转深。四句平仄交替、由缓到淡，与由情入景、以景融情的章法相合，读来如江风拂面、愁绪暗生。

Reading note Of twenty-eight characters, the first half is feeling, the second half scene, the weight entirely on the latter—a fine variant of the quatrain's 'empty front, solid back, closing the empty by the solid.'张祜此篇为中唐绝句「清空」一派的代表，其成功全在「先点愁、后藏愁」的章法：起联直书「一宿行人自可愁」，似已把客愁说破，后联却陡然转入纯景——潮落、斜月、两三星火、瓜州，不着一字愁而愁自在江月星火之间。这种「以景结情」的手法，使张力全在言外，较之直抒「愁杀」者高明十倍。尤其末句「两三星火是瓜州」的「是」字，以口语天然写出彻夜凝望后的恍惚与确认，把空间（隔江）、时间（明朝）、人情（羁旅）三层意思压缩进一个判断句，前人谓「着一『是』字，神情便出」。与张继《枫桥夜泊》并观，同写夜泊客愁而张继偏浓、张祜偏淡，淡非浅，乃以小李（小楼、小渡、星火）写大愁。要之，此篇以二十八字写一夜不寐，咫尺见万里，诚中唐羁旅绝句「不写之写」的巅峰之一，对理解唐人小景诗「清空」美学极有助益，亦启宋人姜夔一脉之先声。

Line by line

金陵津渡小山楼，一宿行人自可愁。

At the Jinling ferry, a small hilltop tower; a traveler lodging one night has his fill of sorrow.

金陵渡口边有座小山楼，我这个赶路人在此借宿一晚，心里自然满怀愁绪。

By the Jinling ferry rises a small tower on the hill; I, a traveler passing through, spend one night here and cannot help but be full of sorrow.

起联两句，一句写地、一句写人，平实起手而客愁已点。首句「金陵津渡小山楼」以地名铺开空间：渡口本为行旅聚散之地，自带离情；「小山楼」三字尤妙，山楼临江、形制小巧，既见羁旅之清寒，也暗含诗人孤身独宿的寂寞——楼之「小」反衬愁之「大」。次句「一宿行人自可愁」直点身份与心境：「行人」自道羁旅，「一宿」写暂泊，「自可愁」三字看似平淡交代（行客本就该愁），实则以「自可」的从容口吻反衬愁之无可回避，不呼号而哀意自深。两句一景一人、一外一内，把读者直接安顿在江边小楼的孤灯之下。值得注意的是，诗人于此已把「愁」字点破，仿佛后文当尽情抒发，孰料后联竟一字不提愁而纯写江景——这种「先破后藏」的章法，正为此诗含蓄之妙埋下伏笔，起手愈实，收束愈空。

The opening couplet: one line place, one line person, plain in manner yet traveler's sorrow already named. At the Jinling ferry, a small hilltop tower unfolds space through a place-name: a ferry is where travelers gather and scatter, parting feeling inherent; small hilltop tower is exquisite - a tower by the river, small in form, showing both the chill of travel and the solitude of lodging alone; the tower's small sets off the sorrow's great. A traveler lodging one night has his fill of sorrow fixes identity and mood: traveler names the wanderer; one night writes the brief anchorage; has his fill of sorrow seems a plain note (travelers are bound to grieve), yet the calm tone of has its fill sets off the unavoidability of sorrow - no outcry, yet grief deep of itself. One line scene, one person; one outer, one inner - the reader is settled at once under the lonely lamp of the small riverside tower. Notably, the poet has already broken the word sorrow, as if feeling should pour forth below; yet the next couplet never mentions sorrow again, writing only river scenery. This structure - broken first, then hidden - stores up the poem's reserve: the more solid the opening, the emptier the close.

潮落夜江斜月里，两三星火是瓜州。

The tide falls on the night river beneath the slanting moon; two or three sparks of firelight are Guazhou.

夜深潮水退落，江面横着一弯斜月；远处两三点闪烁的灯火，那便是瓜州了。

Late at night the tide ebbs, a slanting moon lies on the river; two or three flickering sparks in the distance mark Guazhou.

后联是全诗最精绝处，亦唐人绝句「以景结情」的典范。前句写江上夜景：潮落写夜已深，斜月写时将晓，一「落」一「斜」把时间由午夜推向拂晓的漫长过程悄悄画出——这正是「一宿行人」彻夜未眠的见证，愁意全在这无声的流逝里。后句「两三星火是瓜州」于极目远眺中收束：对岸瓜州的点点灯火，是明日将去或永远遥望之地。「是」字最耐寻味，如诗人闲中指点、如不自语的自语，把一个具体的地名轻轻安放在无边夜色中，愁绪因之有了落点。两三点灯火，渺远而温暖，反衬此岸小楼的孤清；「是瓜州」三字把空间（隔江相望）与时间（明朝将渡）一并绾合，不言愁而愁自在江月星火之间。十四字潮、江、月、火、地名层层推远，而羁愁层层加深，张祜以此二句名传千古，诚中唐清空诗风的顶点。

The second couplet is the poem's finest, a model of the Tang quatrain closing in scenery. The tide falls on the night river beneath the slanting moon: tide falling writes the late hour; slanting moon writes the near dawn - fall and slant quietly trace the long passage from midnight to daybreak, the very witness of the traveler's sleepless night; all sorrow lies in this silent flowing. Two or three sparks of firelight are Guazhou closes the far gaze: the scattered lights on the opposite bank are Guazhou, the place to cross tomorrow or to gaze at forever. The word is is most to savor - like the poet idly pointing, like a soliloquy not meant to be heard, settling a concrete place-name lightly into the boundless night and giving sorrow a landing point. Two or three sparks, remote and warm, set off the solitude of the tower on this shore; is Guazhou knits together space (river between) and time (crossing at dawn) - sorrow is never named, yet lives among river, moon, and sparks. Fourteen characters: tide, river, moon, fire, place-name recede layer by layer, and exile-sorrow deepens layer by layer. Zhang Hu made these two lines famous for a thousand years - truly the apex of the clear, empty mid-Tang manner.

Study

Word focus

自可 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「一宿行人自可愁」的「自可」二字，是起句中极有分寸的虚词，意为「自然、本该」。诗人不说「愁杀人」「愁奈何」，而说行客「自可愁」——仿佛愁是羁旅的题中应有之义，不必大惊小怪。这种从容平淡的口吻，反而把愁写得无可逃避、深入骨髓：它不是一时的激动，而是行人身份自带的状态。虚字之妙在举重若轻，「自可」以最淡的语气举起了最沉的身世之感，亦见张祜「不以力胜」的诗风。更妙在它与后联形成章法呼应：既然愁已「自可」点破，后文便无需再提，尽付江月星火，先实后虚、先破后藏，这个「自可」正是转折的枢纽。一个寻常虚词，既定了客愁的基调，又放行了后文的含蓄，炼字之巧在看似不经意处。

是 In the last line 'Those two or three specks of light are Guazhou,' 'are' is both a judgment and a recognition. Gazing in the dark, he suddenly knows it is Guazhou—at that moment tomorrow's journey, tonight's loneliness, and the river's barrier all rush in; one word, a thousand weights. 「两三星火是瓜州」的「是」字，是全诗的诗眼，也是古人赏此句的关键。它本是最普通的判断动词，此处却用得神情毕出：诗人于江楼不寐，极目对岸，遥见两三点灯火明灭，便轻轻指点道「那是瓜州啊」。一个「是」字，如老友闲谈、如孤客自语，把渺远的灯火与具体的地名绾合为一，愁绪因之落到了实处——瓜州是明日将渡或永难即之地，此刻只是两三点温温的光。前人评「着一『是』字，神情便出」，正谓此字以口语的天然，写出了彻夜凝望后的那种恍惚与确认，亲切而苍凉。它不动声色地把空间（隔江）、时间（明朝）、人情（羁旅）三层意思压缩进一个判断句，不言愁而愁自深。若换「望瓜州」「指瓜州」便失其闲远，唯「是」字最宜此清空之境，足见张祜炼虚字以摄神的高手手段。

斜 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「潮落夜江斜月里」的「斜」字，写月之偏西将落，是全句的时间密码，亦是无声的愁痕。月本圆明，而用「斜」字，便见夜之深、更之尽——斜月西沉，正是拂晓前夕，恰好印证「一宿行人」由夜半到天明的彻夜未眠。诗人不写「落月」「残月」而写「斜月」，「斜」更具动态与画面感：一弯月光斜铺江面，与退落的潮水相映，江天一片空濛。这个字把不可见的时间流逝，化为可见的月影偏移，景语即情语——月的「斜」暗喻人的「倚」（倚楼不寐）。炼字之妙在俗中见巧，以最寻常的「斜」字举起了全联的时空纵深与羁愁长度，与「两三星火」的渺远呼应，共同织成一幅清寒的江楼不寐图，足证中唐绝句「于浅处见深」的造诣。