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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

夜归鹿门歌

Returning by Night to Lumen

孟浩然

Meng Haoran

山水Landscape 田园Pastoral life

山寺钟鸣昼已昏，渔梁渡头争渡喧。
人随沙路向江村，岩扉松径长寂寥，惟有幽人夜来去。

The bell of the mountain temple rings, the daylight has already darkened;
At the Yuliang ferry, the people striving to cross are loud.They follow the sand road toward the river village,
While I, in my boat, return alone to Lumen.
At the gate of Lumen, the moon opens the misty trees,
And suddenly I reach the rock walls and the pine path of the retired.
Long, long lonely are the rock gates and the pine path —
Only the quiet one comes and goes in the night.

Listen

Meaning

A poem of the night return to the hermitage at Lumen, written by Meng Haoran. The bell of the mountain temple rings, the daylight has already darkened; at the Yuliang ferry, the people striving to cross are loud — the evening of the ferry, the crowd of the world. They follow the sand road toward the river village, while he, in his boat, returns alone to Lumen — the separation of the ways, the crowd to the village, the poet to the mountain. At the gate of Lumen, the moon opens the misty trees, and suddenly he reaches the rock walls and the pine path of the retired — the hermitage of the retired, the moon opening the way. Long, long lonely are the rock gates and the pine path — only the quiet one comes and goes in the night — the solitude of the hermitage, the quiet one's comings and goings. The poem is the return of the recluse: the loud ferry of the world left behind, and the lonely quiet of the hermitage reached in the night.

山寺的晚钟响起，白日已尽、天色已昏；渔梁渡口，归家的人们争相渡船，人声喧闹。人们沿着沙路走回各自的江村；我则独自走向鹿门山——石门与松径之间一片长久的寂寥，只有我这个幽居之人夜夜独自往来。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The bell of the mountain temple rings, the daylight has already darkened; at the Yuliang ferry, the people striving to cross are loud. They follow the sand road toward the river village, while I, in my boat, return alone to Lumen. At the gate of Lumen, the moon opens the misty trees, and suddenly I reach the rock walls and the pine path of the retired. Long, long lonely are the rock gates and the pine path — only the quiet one comes and goes in the night. [Structure and Thought] The poem moves from the evening of the ferry and the loud crowd, through the separation of the ways — the village of the others, the boat of the poet — to the moon opening the misty trees and the reaching of the hermitage, and the close's solitude: long, long lonely, only the quiet one coming and going in the night. [Key Technique] The poem's art is the return of the recluse: the loud ferry of the world left behind in the first scene, the lonely quiet of the hermitage reached in the close — the two scenes of the world and the mountain, separated by the boat and the moon. [Emotional Tone] Quiet, lonely, and serene: the poem is the return of the recluse, the world's ferry left behind and the hermitage's quiet reached, the solitude chosen.

【白话串讲】孟浩然写《夜归鹿门歌》：“山寺钟鸣昼已昏，渔梁渡头争渡喧”。“人随沙路向江村”——“岩扉松径长寂寥，惟有幽人夜来去”——他写自己归隐鹿门山。【意象与手法】全诗以「归」为线，前后两段对照：前段写渡口之喧（钟声、争渡），后段写山居之寂（岩扉、松径），以渡头的「喧」反衬山中的「寂」，以众人的「归村」反衬幽人的「归山」，两两对照中见出诗人弃尘归隐的自觉选择。【情感与主旨】孟浩然早年隐居鹿门山，此诗写其日暮归山的日常，于钟声、渡喧、沙路、松径的铺叙中，流露超然物外、自得其乐的隐逸情怀，是盛唐山水田园诗中写「归隐」最纯粹的一首。【名句点睛】「岩扉松径长寂寥，惟有幽人夜来去」以岩扉松径的寂寥与幽人独往的形象收束，画出一个在月色中独自出入山门的隐者剪影，境界幽峭，遂成隐逸诗的名句。

Background

Meng Haoran (689–740), the great poet of the landscape and the hermitage, wrote this poem of the return to Lumen — the mountain where the retired Pang Gong lived, the hermitage of the region. The poem is the classic of the recluse's return: the loud ferry of the evening, the crowd following the sand road to the river village, while the poet returns alone in his boat to the mountain; the moon opens the misty trees, and he reaches the rock walls and the pine path of the retired — Pang Gong, the retired of Lumen. The close — 'only the quiet one comes and goes in the night' — is the solitude of the hermitage, the poet's own quiet coming and going.

孟浩然（689—740），襄阳（今湖北襄阳）人，盛唐山水田园诗派代表诗人，与王维并称「王孟」。孟浩然早年隐居襄阳城东南的鹿门山——鹿门山为东汉襄阳名士庞德公隐居之所：庞德公拒绝刘表征辟，携妻登鹿门山采药不返，山因此成为隐逸的象征圣地；孟浩然《登鹿门山怀古》曾明言「昔闻庞德公，采药遂不返……今我何其羡，鹿门隐士闲」，可见其对庞德公的追慕与自觉的承继。此诗《夜归鹿门歌》写日暮自汉江渡口归鹿门山居所的情景，是孟浩然隐居生活最真实的记录。孟浩然一生「隐」与「仕」矛盾交织：四十岁前隐居鹿门，四十岁赴长安应进士不第，失意而归，终身布衣；此诗当作于他隐居鹿门或应举失意归隐之后，诗中「幽人」自指，于渡头争渡的喧闹与山中寂寥的对照中，透出看透尘世后的超然。值得注意的是，孟浩然虽终生未仕，其隐居却非愤世嫉俗，而是带有「隐而自适」的平静——他的隐是性情所至、安然自得的隐，不是「终南捷径」式的待价而沽，此诗正是这种心态的结晶，也是中国隐逸诗史上「以日常写隐居」的先声。

Art

The poem's art is the art of the recluse's return. The evening is given in the two scenes: the bell of the mountain temple rings, the daylight darkened; at the Yuliang ferry, the people striving to cross are loud — the temple bell and the loud ferry, the evening of the world. The separation of the ways: they follow the sand road toward the river village, while he, in his boat, returns alone to Lumen — the crowd to the village, the poet to the mountain, the ways divided. The reaching of the hermitage: at the gate of Lumen, the moon opens the misty trees, and suddenly he reaches the rock walls and the pine path of the retired — the moon opening the way to the hermitage. And the close gives the solitude: long, long lonely are the rock gates and the pine path — only the quiet one comes and goes in the night — the solitude of the hermitage, the quiet chosen. The world's ferry and the mountain's quiet, divided by the boat and the moon.

此诗是孟浩然山水诗中少有的七言古体，章法以「对照」为骨。前两句写归途所见：首句「山寺钟鸣昼已昏」以钟声点出黄昏——山寺晚钟敲响，白日已尽，声音将日暮的信息传遍江畔，起笔便有一种「声先于景」的苍茫感；次句「渔梁渡头争渡喧」写渡口之喧，渔梁是汉江边的渡口，黄昏时分，归家的人们争相上船，人声嘈杂，与首句钟声的悠远形成「静—闹」的对位。第三句「人随沙路向江村」写众人归向：人们沿着沙路走回各自的江村，各归其所，其乐融融。后两句转写山中：「岩扉松径长寂寥」以石门松径写山居之幽深，「长寂寥」三字点出寂寥非一日之寂，而是山居的常态；「惟有幽人夜来去」画龙点睛，幽人（隐士）即诗人自指，在月色中独自出入石门松径，「来去」二字写其行动的自如与孤独。全诗两段，前写尘世之喧（钟声、争渡、归村），后写山中之寂（岩扉、松径、幽人），喧与寂、众与独、归俗与归隐，三层对照层层递进，而诗人的情感倾向——弃喧取寂、舍众就独——在不言之中已然分明，正是孟诗「语淡而味永」的典型章法。

Allusions

'Lumen' (Lumen) is the mountain of the region, where the retired Pang Gong — Pang Degong — lived of old; 'the retired' (youren) is the quiet one, the recluse — Pang Gong and the poet himself. 'The Yuliang ferry' (Yuliang) is the ferry of the river, the scene of the evening's crowd. The poem carries the plain allusions of the place, its art the return of the recluse.

此诗用典深隐于地名与意象之中，最见孟浩然「以淡写雅」的本领。其一是鹿门山与庞德公的本事：庞德公乃东汉襄阳名士，刘表数请不出，携妻入鹿门山采药不返，事见《后汉书·逸民传》与习凿齿《襄阳耆旧记》；鹿门山因庞德公而成为隐逸的圣地，孟浩然自比庞公，隐居其间，「岩扉松径」正是庞公当年栖隐之处的写照，诗中「幽人」暗合庞公「幽居」的风范——此诗表面写归家，实则是向着隐逸传统的一次「精神归宗」。其二是「渔梁」这一地名：渔梁渡在汉江边，为襄阳南门外古渡，「渔梁」二字自带渔人舟楫的江湖气息，与「山寺」「岩扉」的方外之境形成俗与雅的对位。其三是「幽人」一词，出《周易·履卦》「履道坦坦，幽人贞吉」，本指幽静守正之人，后世遂为隐士的代称，孟浩然以「幽人」自指，暗合《易》理中的「贞吉」之旨——守正自持，故能安然。其四是「岩扉松径」的意象谱系：石门、松径是汉魏以来隐者居所的典型符号，左思《招隐诗》「石泉漱琼瑶，纤鳞或浮沉」、陶渊明《归去来兮辞》「三径就荒，松菊犹存」皆以径写隐，孟浩然以「岩扉松径」写山居，正是这一隐逸意象谱系的自然承续。全诗无一处用典痕迹，而处处有文化底蕴，正是盛唐诗歌「以意运典」的化境。

Commentary

This poem is one of the classics of the recluse's return, quoted for the quiet of its close. The loud ferry left behind, the moon opening the misty trees, and the quiet one coming and going in the night are among the most admired passages of Meng Haoran's landscape. Critics praise the poem's serenity: the world's ferry and the mountain's quiet, the solitude chosen.

《夜归鹿门歌》是孟浩然隐逸诗的代表作，也是盛唐山水田园诗中写「归隐」最纯粹的一篇。历代评家论孟浩然，多赏其「淡」：苏轼谓其「韵高而才短」，闻一多《唐诗杂论》更称孟浩然的诗「淡到看不见诗了，才是真正孟浩然的诗」——此诗正是「淡」的极致：不写理想、不写悲愤，只写日暮渡头与山中幽人的日常，而隐者的安适与超然尽在其中。此诗的价值有三：其一，它以「对照」的章法写隐逸，渡喧与山寂、众归与独往，两两相形，归隐的自觉选择不言自明，这种「以对立写抉择」的手法对后世隐逸诗影响深远；其二，它把「归隐」写成了「回家」——鹿门山不是避世的处所，而是诗人真正意义上的归宿，这种「隐即家」的安顿感，使此诗区别于一般的牢骚之作，达到了隐逸诗罕见的从容境界；其三，它是「鹿门」意象的奠基之作，此后鹿门山因孟浩然而成为与终南山并称的隐逸符号，唐人皮日休《郢州孟亭记》谓孟浩然「遇景入咏，不拘奇抉异」，正可为此诗作注。全诗以钟声起、以幽人来去结，声影相续，余韵悠长，是盛唐「以古体写隐逸」的典范。

Prosody

Form Heptasyllabic ancient-style poem (qiyan gexing), with the two shifts of the rhyme七言古诗（歌行体）

Rhyme The poem shifts its rhyme with the movement: the xuan rhymes of the ferry and the boat, then the shu rhymes of the mountain and the close — the two rhymes of the world and the mountain.前段押平声「元」韵：昏、喧、村为韵脚，属《平水韵》上平十三元韵，一韵贯连，声调明亮而略带苍茫；末两句以「寥」「去」散收，不押韵而自成顿挫，正合歌行「以散句收束、一唱三叹」的体例。

Tone pattern The cadence is that of the return: the even opening with the bell and the ferry, the turning with the boat and the moon, and the close's long, quiet fall with the solitude of the quiet one.七言古体不拘平仄，全诗以七字句为主，节奏为「四三」式：「山寺钟鸣／昼已昏，渔梁渡头／争渡喧」，前段声调急促（争渡喧），后段「岩扉松径／长寂寥，惟有幽人／夜来去」由平转仄、由紧转缓，声情随境流转。

Reading note The poem's sound matches its quiet: the shifting rhymes carry the movement from the ferry to the mountain, and the close — 'yanfei songjing chang jiliao, weiyou youren ye laiqu' — falls with the long loneliness, the sound of the quiet one coming and going in the night.此诗为七言古诗（歌行体），是孟浩然集中少见的古体之作，体制上正合「歌」之名——以七言句叙写归山之事，不追求近体对仗与平仄，而以句式的参差、声情的流转为胜。全诗前段以「昏、喧、村」三字押平声「元」韵，一韵贯连，写黄昏渡头之事，声调明亮而略带苍茫；后两句转出，以「寂寥」「来去」散收，不押韵而自成顿挫，如一声长叹，把山中的寂寥与幽人的独往推向余韵——这种「前韵后散」的结构，正是歌行体「有韵有散、可歌可诵」的典型形态。句法上全为七言，而句意顿挫分明：「山寺钟鸣」与「昼已昏」构成因果，「渔梁渡头」与「争渡喧」构成场景，前四字写地点意象、后三字写动作声响，读来如分镜头般清晰；末句「惟有幽人夜来去」以「惟有」领起，收束全篇。孟浩然长于五言，此诗以七言古体写隐逸，笔致疏朗而不失顿挫，可见其「遇景入咏，不拘奇抉异」（皮日休《郢州孟亭记》）的一贯风格，也说明歌行体在盛唐初期正走向「以淡为宗」的审美。

Line by line

山寺钟鸣昼已昏，渔梁渡头争渡喧。

The bell of the mountain temple rings, the daylight has already darkened; at the Yuliang ferry, the people striving to cross are loud.

山寺的晚钟响起，白日已尽、天色已昏；渔梁渡口，人们争相渡船，人声喧闹。

The mountain temple bell tolls; day is already dusk. At Yuliang ferry, people clamor to cross.

首两句以「声」写黄昏江畔的全景，一静一动、一远一近。山寺晚钟是悠远的佛寺之声，「鸣」字写出钟声的传响，与「昼已昏」相接，以声音宣告日暮的到来——钟声从山中传来，苍茫而悠长，为整个黄昏定下基调；渔梁渡头则是近处的人声，「争渡喧」三字写足黄昏归家的急切与热闹——渡船有限而归心似箭，「争」字见拥挤，「喧」字闻嘈杂。两句之间，钟声之清越与渡喧之嘈杂并置，听觉上形成鲜明对位；而「昼已昏」的苍茫暮色统摄全境，为渡头的喧闹笼上一层日暮的紧迫感。这「一喧」正是尘世的缩影：众人皆在暮色中赶路归家，为生计奔忙、为团聚急切——这是诗人所离开的世界，也是他反观的尘相，为后文山中的「长寂寥」预作铺垫。

The first two lines write the dusk riverside panorama through sound, one still one moving, one far one near. The mountain temple bell tolls is the distant temple sound; tolls writes the bell's echoing, joined with day is already dusk, declaring nightfall through sound - the bell from the mountains, vast and long, setting the keynote for the whole dusk. Yuliang ferry is the near voices; clamor to cross exhausts the eagerness and bustle of dusk home-going - boats limited, hearts flying home; clamor shows the crowd, bustle the noise. Between the two lines, the bell's clarity and the ferry's noise juxtapose, forming a sharp auditory contrast; and the vast dusk of day already dusk governs the whole, laying the dusk urgency over the ferry's bustle. This one bustle is precisely the mortal world's miniature: all hurry home in the twilight, running for livelihood, eager for reunion - this is the world the poet leaves, and the mortal scene he looks back on, preparing the mountain's long desolation below.

人随沙路向江村，

They follow the sand road toward the river village,

人们沿着沙路，各自走回自己的江村。

People follow the sandy road toward their river villages,

此句由渡头之喧转入归途之景，一个「随」字写尽众人顺路而归的自然与随意——沙路在黄昏中蜿蜒，人们三三两两踏上归途，「向江村」点明各自的方向：江边村落错落，炊烟将起，那是属于世俗人家的温暖归处。「人」与「江村」相对，暗示人群之众与归宿之繁；而众人皆有归处、皆向温暖的江村而行，恰恰反衬出诗人随后将走向的鹿门山是另一条路、另一种归宿。此句在结构上是「桥」：它把渡口的喧闹引向归村的热闹，又以此热闹为下句山中的「寂寥」铺开落差——众人归村之暖，正是幽人入山之寂的前奏，章法上承前启后，是全诗由「人境」转入「山境」的枢轴。一个「随」字、一个「向」字，写尽世俗生活的秩序与安然，而这秩序正是诗人所离弃的。

This line passes from the ferry's bustle to the homeward scenery; one follow exhausts the natural ease of all going home along the road - the sandy road winding in the dusk, people in twos and threes taking the way home; toward their river villages fixes each direction: riverside hamlets scattered, cooking smoke about to rise, the warm dwellings of mortal households. People set against river villages hints the crowd's multitude and the abodes' abundance; and all have a home, all walking toward the warm river village, precisely setting off the Lumen Mountain the poet will next walk toward - another road, another ending. Structurally this line is the bridge: it leads the ferry's bustle toward the village-going warmth, and uses this warmth to spread the contrast for the mountain's desolation below - the village warmth is precisely the prelude to the recluse entering the hills; the craft connects before and after, the pivot of the poem's passing from the human world to the mountain world. One follow, one toward, exhausts mortal life's order and ease; and this order is precisely what the poet leaves behind.

岩扉松径长寂寥，惟有幽人夜来去。

Long, long lonely are the rock gates and the pine path — only the quiet one comes and goes in the night.

石门与松间小路一片长久的寂寥，只有我这个幽居之人夜夜独自往来。

The rocky gate, the pine path, long desolation; only the recluse comes and goes by night.

末两句是全诗的高潮与归宿，由「人境」陡转入「山境」，境界为之一变。「岩扉」指鹿门山居的石门，「松径」指松林间的小路，二者皆是隐者居所的典型意象：石门长闭、松径幽深，暗示山中少有人迹；「长寂寥」的「长」字，写出寂寥非一日之寂，而是长久的、常态的孤独——山中岁月，日日如是。「惟有幽人夜来去」画龙点睛：幽人（隐士）即诗人自指，在月光下独自出入石门松径，「来去」二字写其行动的自如与孤独——无人相随，亦无人拦阻，独往独来中自有一种超然。若说前文的渡喧是人世的「动」，此处的寂寥便是山中的「静」；众人向江村是「归俗」，幽人入松径是「归隐」。喧与寂、众与独、俗与隐，三层对照在此收束，一个在月色中独行于松径的隐者剪影，成为盛唐隐逸诗中最动人的画面之一。

The last two lines are the poem's climax and ending, abruptly passing from the human world to the mountain world, the realm changing at once. The rocky gate means the stone door of the Lumen mountain dwelling; the pine path the path among pines; both typical recluse-dwelling images: the stone door long closed, the pine path deep, hinting few traces in the hills. Long desolation's long writes the loneliness not of one day, but of the long-standing, normal solitude - mountain days, every day so. Only the recluse comes and goes by night is the dragon's eye: the recluse (the hermit) is the poet himself, alone entering and leaving the stone gate and pine path in the moonlight; come and go writes the ease and solitude of his movement - no companion, no one barring; in solitary coming and going there is a transcendence. If the ferry bustle above is the mortal world's motion, this desolation is the mountain's stillness; the crowd toward the river villages is returning to the world, the recluse entering the pine path is returning to the hills. Bustle and stillness, crowd and solitude, world and hermit - three layers of contrast resolve here; a hermit's silhouette walking alone in the moonlight on the pine path becomes one of the most moving pictures of High-Tang recluse poetry.

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Word focus

争 'Striving' — the people striving to cross, loud — the world's loudness at the ferry. 「渔梁渡头争渡喧」之「争」字，是写黄昏渡口最传神的一笔。暮色四合，渡船有限，归心似箭的人们抢着上船，「争」字写足这种拥挤与急切：不是「候渡」的安闲，不是「登渡」的从容，而是「争渡」的纷攘——动作上争先恐后，声音上嘈杂喧闹，一字兼写形声。此字的社会内涵尤深：众人之所以「争」，正因他们眷恋尘世的家、眷恋江村的温暖，黄昏对于他们是一日奔波的终点，归家是急切而必然的选择。孟浩然冷眼旁观这「争」，心中自有另一归宿——他随后转入的山中寂寥，恰以众人的「争」为对照。一个「争」字，写出尘世的全部躁动，也写出隐者超然物外的精神高度，是「以一字写一世相」的典范，后人多以「争渡」写黄昏渡口（如李清照「争渡，争渡，惊起一滩鸥鹭」），其源正出于此。

长 'Long, long' — the rock gates and the pine path long, long lonely — the enduring solitude. 「岩扉松径长寂寥」之「长」字，是山中寂寥的点睛之笔。若只写「寂寥」，则是一时一地的静；著一「长」字，寂寥便成了常态——石门长闭、松径长幽，山中岁月日日如是，无人造访，无人喧哗。「长」字有双重意味：一是时间之长，日复一日、年复一年，山居的孤独是持久的生活状态，而非偶然的清静；二是程度之深，「长寂寥」比「甚寂寥」「空寂寥」多一层恒常的意味，仿佛寂寥本身成为山居的属性。这个字还暗中回应前文的「昼已昏」——黄昏的过渡被「长」字延伸为永恒的山中情境：当渡头的人声散去、江村的灯火亮起，山中依旧是长久的寂寥，而幽人就在这寂寥中安然来去。一字之深，见出孟浩然对隐逸生活的真切体认——他不是偶尔入山寻幽的过客，而是以山为家、与寂寥相守的归人。

幽人 'The quiet one' — the recluse, the poet, coming and going in the night — the solitude chosen. 「惟有幽人夜来去」之「幽人」二字，是全诗的自画像，也是隐逸身份的自觉认定。「幽人」出《周易·履卦》「履道坦坦，幽人贞吉」，本指幽静独处、守正自持之人，后世遂为隐士的代称；孟浩然以「幽人」自指，既表明其隐居鹿门的事实，又暗含以古之幽人自期的意味——庞德公当年采药鹿门，正是「幽人」的先例。二字之妙在「幽」：幽者，深也、静也、暗也，既写所居之地的幽深（岩扉松径），又写其人品性的幽静自守；「幽人」而非「隐人」「闲人」，多一层与世无涉的孤高。「夜来去」三字与之配合，写幽人在月色中独往独来，无声无伴，其身影与松径岩扉融为一体——这正是孟浩然心中理想的人格：不慕荣利、不逐喧哗，如幽兰生于空谷，自开自落。二字成为后世写隐士的经典用语，其源头在此。