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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

咏鹅

Ode to the Goose

骆宾王

Luo Binwang

咏物object-chant 童趣child's delight

鹅，鹅，鹅，曲项向天歌。
白毛浮绿水，红掌拨清波。

Goose, goose, goose—
With curved neck you sing toward the sky.
White feathers float on the green water;
Red feet paddle the clear ripples by.

Listen

Meaning

Goose, goose, goose—with bent long neck it sings joyfully toward the sky. Its white feathers float upon the green water; its red feet stir the clear, bright ripples.

鹅，鹅，鹅——弯着长长的脖子，朝着天空引吭高歌。洁白的羽毛轻轻地浮在碧绿的水面上，红红的脚掌在清清的水波里轻轻拨动。

Appreciation

This little ode opens with three cries of 'goose,' a child's onomatopoeia that seizes the ear before the eye, as if the bird's call were heard first. The next line, 'With curved neck you sing toward the sky,' catches both shape and sound. The closing couplet sets stillness (floating) against motion (paddling) and weaves four colors—white, green, red, clear—into a living picture. Every line writes the goose and nothing but the goose, yet it is alive with a child's wonder; the poem is both a notebook sketch and a child's joy, a model of the elementary-primer manner.

【白话串讲】 “鹅，鹅，鹅，曲项向天歌”——骆宾王七岁时写下的《咏鹅》，是中国孩子学诗的第一课。一千三百多年了，每个中国孩子都会背。【意象与手法】全诗十八字，先声后形，由声入画。起句「鹅，鹅，鹅」三叠拟声，先声夺人，如闻其鸣；次句「曲项向天歌」写形写声合一，勾出鹅引颈高歌的神态；三四句「白毛浮绿水，红掌拨清波」以白、绿、红、清四色设色，以「浮」「拨」一静一动写鹅游水之态，构图如画，童趣盎然。【情感与主旨】骆宾王（约619—687）为「初唐四杰」之一，婺州义乌人，七岁能诗，有神童之誉。此诗相传为其七岁即兴之作，虽属传说，却足见其早慧。全诗纯以小儿眼光观物，无典无寄托，只写鹅之声、形、色、动，天真烂漫，是咏物诗与童诗结合的最早典范之一。【名句点睛】高频考点：一、指出诗中的色彩词（白、绿、红、清）与动词（歌、浮、拨）及其作用——四色交错如画，动静相生写活鹅态；二、体会儿童视角的天真——直呼其名、拟声起兴，正是儿童观物的本色。

Background

Luo Binwang (c. 619–687) was one of the 'Four Paragons of the Early Tang.' This poem is said to have been improvised when he was seven; though a legend, it amply shows his early brilliance. The poem praises the barnyard goose purely through a child's eye, fresh and delightful.

骆宾王（约619—687），字观光，婺州义乌（今浙江义乌）人，与王勃、杨炯、卢照邻并称「初唐四杰」。他出身寒微，七岁能属文，有「神童」之誉；成年后曾为道王李元庆府属、武功主簿、长安主簿，迁侍御史，因上书论事触忤权贵而下狱，在狱中作《在狱咏蝉》以自况；后贬临海县丞，郁郁不得志，弃官而去。光宅元年（684），徐敬业在扬州起兵讨伐武则天，骆宾王为幕僚，草《讨武曌檄》，兵败后不知所终，或云被杀，或云亡命为僧，事迹扑朔迷离。今存诗百余首，以咏物、怀古、骈文见长。关于《咏鹅》的来历，宋人计有功《唐诗纪事》引《唐朝新纂》（一作《国史异纂》），称骆宾王七岁时，有客以鹅为题命赋，他应声而作「鹅鹅鹅，曲项向天歌，白毛浮绿水，红掌拨清波」；元人辛文房《唐才子传》亦有类似记载。此说虽属传闻，却与其七岁能文的早慧记载相合，历来为蒙学所乐道。从作品本身看，此诗纯以儿童眼光观察家鹅，直呼其名、拟声起兴、铺陈色彩，不作任何寄托，正是儿童观物的天然形态；其创作年代若果真在七岁，则此诗是中国文学史上现存最早的儿童诗之一，其天真烂漫与骆宾王日后「露重飞难进」的慷慨沉郁恰成对照，见出同一诗人生命的两极。唐代初年，声律渐趋完备，诗歌题材亦由宫廷走向生活，此诗以最平常的家禽入诗，正可见初唐诗歌题材下移的趋向。

Art

The opening triple 'goose, goose, goose' is onomatopoeic, seizing the ear before the eye, as if one heard it honk; the next line, 'with curved neck you sing toward the sky,' writes both form and sound. 'White feathers float on the green water; red feet paddle the clear ripples' sets stillness (floating) against motion (paddling), and meshes the four colors white, green, red, clear into a pictured composition. Every line writes the goose yet never clings heavily; child's delight and painterly intent are both present.

此诗艺术上以「先声、次形、后色、终动」八字概之，章法虽简而层次分明。起句「鹅，鹅，鹅」三字连叠，是全诗最见匠心的开篇：它不是一般的咏叹，而是摹仿呼鹅之声、鹅鸣之声的拟声词，一字一顿，先声夺人，如闻其鸣；又以直呼其名的方式起兴，正是儿童初见鹅时脱口而出的惊喜口吻，天真之态扑面而来。次句「曲项向天歌」由声转形：「曲项」写鹅颈弯曲的体态——这是鹅最鲜明的特征，「向天歌」写其引颈高歌的姿态，「曲」而后「向天」，写出歌前的蓄势，形神兼备；「歌」字以拟人法写鹅鸣，把动物的啼叫写成人的歌唱，亲切而有情味。三四句转写鹅游水之态，纯用白描设色：「白毛浮绿水，红掌拨清波」，白对绿、红对清（青），四色交错，浓淡相映，如一幅明净的水彩画；「浮」写鹅身轻稳、静浮水面，是静态，「拨」写红掌划水、轻快灵动，是动态，一静一动，画面立刻活了起来。从构图看，红掌为前景，白毛为中景，绿水为背景，层次分明；从修辞看，三四句为工整的对偶，且「白毛」对「红掌」、「浮」对「拨」、「绿水」对「清波」，虽为童谣而暗合律对，可见作者虽幼而声律素养已成。全诗十八字，由声而形、由形而色、由色而动，句句写鹅而笔笔生动，无典无寄托，正是咏物诗「写生」一途的本色，也是儿童视角与艺术匠心完美结合的典范。

Allusions

The poem uses no deep allusion; it is an object-and-ode nursery rhyme. Its 'curved neck' became a standard way of writing the goose's posture in later goose odes. Posterity often pairs it with Li Bai's 'Moonlight before my bed' as a model of first-reader verse.

此诗无深典，纯以即物即咏出之，然其艺术手法在传统中皆有渊源，可作「无典之典」观。其一，拟声起兴承《诗经》传统：《诗经》开篇即以「关关雎鸠」的鸟鸣声起兴，《鹿鸣》以「呦呦鹿鸣」发端，皆是以物之声引出所咏之物；「鹅，鹅，鹅」三叠拟声，正是这一「以声起兴」古老手法的童谣化运用，使全诗一开篇便声情并茂。其二，咏物写生承六朝咏物诗传统：屈原《橘颂》开咏物言志之端，至六朝咏物诗转重「体物」，钟嵘《诗品》推重「巧构形似之言」，谢朓、何逊等以小诗写景状物，多工于形似；骆宾王此诗写鹅之曲项、白毛、红掌、清波，正是「巧构形似」的儿童版——同一作者《在狱咏蝉》托物言志（借蝉之高洁自况），与《咏鹅》之纯写形似并举，恰可见咏物诗「言志」与「写生」两途并行的传统。其三，设色之法承六朝山水诗：谢灵运「池塘生春草」「春晚绿野秀」等句以色彩写景，唐人青绿山水亦尚设色，「白毛浮绿水，红掌拨清波」以四色构景，正是诗画相通之处。其四，童谣体承汉魏乐府民谣的自然天成：《敕勒歌》「天苍苍，野茫茫」以口语状景而气象浑成，此诗以儿语状物而天真烂漫，同属以最浅之语写最活之物的路数。故虽不用典，而其渊源深植于中国诗歌「即物起兴」「体物写生」的传统之中。

Commentary

The Song poet Lu You once sighed that 'as a child I only loved white feathers float on the green water.' Moderns say the poem 'writes the liveliest creature in the plainest words,' opening the later path of picture-inscribed, object-chanting children's verse.

此诗历来被视为咏物诗与童诗的典范，评家多拈出其「以最浅语写最活物」的特点。宋人王应麟《困学纪闻》载骆宾王七岁咏鹅之事，将其列入神童佳话；宋末元初方回《瀛奎律髓》虽不收此诗（以其为古体童谣），而历来说诗者莫不津津乐道。明人《唐诗归》评初唐四杰诗，谓骆宾王诗「多激昂慷慨语」，而《咏鹅》以一片天真出之，正见其才气纵横、无所不可。清人编《千家诗》等蒙学选本，此诗几乎必收，与孟浩然《春晓》、李白《静夜思》、贺知章《咏柳》并列，成为中国儿童最早接触的唐诗之一；近人论童诗，多以《咏鹅》为「神品」，以为十八字中声、形、色、动俱全，无一字虚设，是「口语入诗」的极致。就文学史而言，此诗价值有三：其一，它是现存最早的以儿童视角咏物的唐诗，开后世儿童诗一脉（如陆游《牧牛儿》、袁枚《所见》「牧童骑黄牛」等），在中国儿童文学史上具有开创意义；其二，它证明咏物诗不必寄托深意，纯以「体物」写生亦可成佳构，与骆宾王《在狱咏蝉》的托物言志并观，恰可见初唐咏物诗形神兼备、两途并进的面貌；其三，它的语言之浅、画面之明、声韵之谐，示范了「深入浅出」的至高境界，故能历千年而不衰，至今仍是汉语儿童诗歌教育的起点。

Prosody

Form Five-character ancient poem (nursery-rhyme form)五言古绝（童谣体，两句一联，共四句）

Rhyme Ge (sing) and bo (ripples) rhyme in the level-tone ge group押平水韵下平五歌韵，韵脚为「歌、波」，一韵到底。歌韵属开口响韵，收音悠长响亮，声情轻快明朗，正合童谣宜于吟诵的特点。

Tone pattern Ancient form, no strict level-oblique古体不拘近体平仄，然「白毛浮绿水，红掌拨清波」十字大体合律（平平平仄仄，平仄仄平平），对仗亦工，虽为古绝而暗含律句之美；「鹅，鹅，鹅」三叠以一字一顿的节拍出之，如呼如唤。

Reading note Not a strict regulated poem; near a folk children's song.此诗为五言古绝，即古体绝句，不守近体平仄粘对之律，而自有其声情之美，本质上是一首文人化的童谣。「鹅，鹅，鹅」三字连叠起句，一字一顿，形成「一、一、一」的急骤节拍，恰如连声呼鹅、又似鹅鸣相和，先声夺人；这种以叠词拟声开篇的手法，直接来自民间儿歌（如后世儿歌「小白兔，白又白」之属），是「口语入诗」的极致。次句「曲项向天歌」五字声调由低而高：「曲项」二字仄仄，低回内敛，「向天歌」三字仄平平，由仄转平、由低转高，正模拟鹅颈上扬、歌声喷发之势，声情与辞情高度合一。三四句「白毛浮绿水，红掌拨清波」对仗工整，平仄大体相对（白仄毛平浮平绿仄水仄，红平掌仄拨仄清平波平），读来流利谐婉，如水流之自然；韵脚「歌、波」皆属下平五歌韵，开口响亮、余音悠长，正合鹅鸣之清越与水面之开阔。全诗十八字，节奏先急后缓、先促后舒：三叠起句之急促，与结句「拨清波」之舒缓，形成张弛有致的韵律；又因句句用韵之宽（古绝可不句句押韵，此诗二四句押韵，首句以叠字起而不入韵），更近儿歌的自然口吻。作为儿童最早接触的唐诗，《咏鹅》的声律堪称典范：它证明诗歌不必高深，只要声、情、画三者谐和，最浅之语亦能成为最美的歌谣，此诗千余年来为童蒙必读，其声律之美正是重要原因。

Line by line

鹅，鹅，鹅，曲项向天歌。

Goose, goose, goose—with curved neck you sing toward the sky.

鹅啊，鹅啊，鹅啊——你弯着长长的脖子，朝着天空引吭高歌。

Goose, goose, goose - with curved neck you sing toward the sky.

起句「鹅，鹅，鹅」三字连叠，是全诗最见功力也最见天真的开篇。这三个字既是呼鹅之声，又是摹鹅之鸣，一字一顿，先声夺人，如闻其声而见其物；以直呼其名的方式起兴，正是儿童初见鹅时那种又惊又喜、脱口而出的口吻，天真烂漫之态跃然纸上。若作泛泛的「咏鹅」式起笔，便失却这份扑面而来的生活气息。次句「曲项向天歌」紧承其声而写其形：「曲项」二字准确抓住鹅颈弯曲这一最鲜明的体态特征，一个「曲」字写出颈的弧线，一个「向天」写出歌的方向，曲而后向天，正见引颈高歌前的蓄势；「歌」字以拟人法写鹅鸣，把动物的啼叫升华为人的歌唱，亲切而有情味，也暗示小诗人眼中万物皆有灵、皆可歌的童心。两句由声入形，形声合一，一只引颈长鸣的白鹅已呼之欲出。

The opening line goose, goose, goose, threefold reduplication, is the poem's most skillful and most childlike start. These three characters are at once the call to the goose and the mimicry of its cry; one character one beat, seizing the ear at once, as if hearing the sound and seeing the creature. Opening by directly naming it is precisely the child's surprised, delighted, spontaneous tone at first sight of a goose; the childlike naivete leaps onto the page. A generic praising-the-goose opening would lose this onrushing life. The next line, with curved neck you sing toward the sky, follows the sound and writes the shape: curved neck accurately seizes the goose's most striking posture, the curved neck's arc; toward the sky writes the singing direction; curving then skyward, precisely the gathering momentum before the loud cry. Sing personifies the goose's cry, raising the animal's call to human song, intimate and feeling-rich, also hinting the child-poet's eye in which all things have spirit and can sing. The two lines pass from sound to shape, sound and shape one; a white goose craning its neck to sing is ready to leap forth.

白毛浮绿水

White feathers float on the green water;

洁白的羽毛轻轻地浮在碧绿的水面上，悠然自得。

White feathers float on the green water.

「白毛浮绿水」五字纯用白描设色，是全诗由写声写形转入写色写静的转折，也是中国诗歌史上最著名的色彩构图之一。「白」与「绿」两色对举，一明一暗、一浅一深，相互映衬，画面明净鲜亮；「浮」字最见体物之工：鹅身轻、羽毛疏，浮于水面而不沉不没，正是鹅游水时特有的安闲姿态——若作「游」则太泛，作「立」则不切，唯「浮」字写尽鹅之轻稳与水的托举，静中见态，悠然自得。这句写的是静态，却并非静止：水面微波轻漾，白鹅随波起伏，一个「浮」字里藏着极细微的动态。从儿童视角看，白毛与绿水是大自然中对比最鲜明的两种颜色，小诗人一眼便捕捉到这强烈的色块对比，正见其对色彩的天生敏感；而从艺术技巧看，以「白毛」对下句「红掌」、「绿水」对下句「清波」，四色交织、两两成对，暗合律诗对仗之法，却是浑然天成、不假雕琢，这正是「以最浅语写最活物」的妙处。

White feathers float on the green water uses pure plain drawing with color, the poem's turn from writing sound and shape to writing color and stillness, also one of Chinese poetry's most famous color compositions. White and green set against each other, one bright one dark, one light one deep, mirroring each other; the picture limpid and bright. Float is most skillful at rendering the thing: the goose's body light, feathers loose, floating on the water without sinking - precisely the leisure of the goose swimming; if one used swim it would be too vague, stand too unfit; only float exhausts the goose's light stability and the water's support, posture within stillness,悠然 content. This line writes the static, yet not motionless: the water's small ripples, the white goose rising and falling with the waves; one float hides the subtlest motion. From the child's view, white feathers and green water are nature's sharpest color contrast; the child-poet catches this strong color block at a glance, showing his innate color sensitivity. And in artistic craft: white feathers against the next line's red feet, green water against clear waves - four colors interwoven, paired, secretly matching regulated verse's parallel, yet浑然 natural, unhewn; precisely the subtlety of writing the liveliest creature in the shallowest words.

红掌拨清波

Red feet paddle the clear ripples by.

红红的脚掌在清清的水波里轻轻划动，漾开一圈圈涟漪。

Red feet paddle the clear waves.

「红掌拨清波」是全诗的收束，以动破静，使整幅画面活了起来。「红」对上句「白」、「清」对上句「绿」，色彩由两色扩为四色，画面更加丰满；「拨」字是全句的诗眼，写出红掌划水的轻快与随意——不是「划」的用力，也不是「拍」的沉重，而是「拨」的轻巧，如拨琴弦，暗含节奏与韵律，水波便在掌下轻轻漾开。与上句「浮」字相映，「浮」是静，「拨」是动，一静一动，鹅的安闲与活泼兼而有之，形象立体而生动。全诗至此，由「鹅，鹅，鹅」的听觉，到「曲项向天歌」的形声，到「白毛浮绿水」的色静，再到「红掌拨清波」的色动，声、形、色、动四层递进，层层分明又浑然一体；末句以动态收束，余味是水面荡漾的清波与鹅渐游渐远的身影，画面之外犹有画，正是儿童诗「状难写之景如在目前」的典范。十八字写尽一鹅，而满纸天真烂漫之气扑面而来。

Red feet paddle the clear waves is the poem's close, breaking stillness with motion, making the whole picture alive. Red sets against the previous white; clear sets against green; color expands from two to four, the picture fuller. Paddle is the line's eye: writing the red feet's light, casual parting of the water - not the force of stroke, nor the heaviness of slap, but the lightness of paddle, like plucking a string, secretly holding rhythm; the waves gently spread beneath the feet. Set against the previous float, float is stillness, paddle is motion; one still one moving, the goose's leisure and liveliness both present, the image round and vivid. The poem here: from goose, goose, goose's hearing, to curved neck singing's sound-shape, to white feathers floating's color-stillness, to red feet paddling's color-motion; sound, shape, color, motion four layers advancing, clear yet whole; the closing in motion, the aftertaste the spreading clear waves and the goose swimming farther away; beyond the picture there is still picture - precisely the children's poem's model of rendering the hard-to-render scene as before the eyes. Eighteen characters exhaust one goose, and childlike naivete fills the page.

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Word focus

浮 Writes the goose's light, steady poise, showing its ease in stillness. 「白毛浮绿水」之「浮」字，是全诗写静景最见功力的字，也是体物入微的典范。鹅游水中，羽毛疏而体轻，故能安然浮于水面，不沉不没、不疾不徐——「浮」字正写出这种轻盈安闲之态，兼含水的托举与鹅的从容两层意思。若易为「游」，则失其静美，只见动作不见姿态；若易为「立」，则水浅而失其韵味；唯「浮」字写出鹅与水的关系：水承之而鹅受之，悠然自得。此字之妙还在「静中藏动」：水面本有微波，白鹅随波起伏，「浮」字看似写静，实含极细微的浮动，为下句「拨」字的动态蓄势。从儿童视角看，一个小孩看鹅游水，最先注意到的正是那白毛轻轻浮在水面上的样子，「浮」字正是儿童眼中最直观、最鲜明的印象。以此字写鹅，鹅之安闲、水之清碧、画面之明净，一时俱现，故陆游有「儿时只爱白毛浮绿水」之叹，可见此字感人至深。

拨 Writes the feet's quick stirring of the water, breaking stillness with motion, full of life. 「红掌拨清波」之「拨」字，是全诗的诗眼，以一字写活全诗。鹅游水时，红掌在水下交替划动，动作轻快而有节律，「拨」字正是这动作最传神的写照：它不是「划」的用力向前，也不是「拍」的溅起水花，而是「拨」的轻巧灵动——如拨琴弦、如拨水面浮萍，力量恰到好处，姿态从容不迫，涟漪便一圈圈漾开。「拨」字兼含三种妙处：一是写出动作的轻与快，与「浮」的静形成对照，一静一动，鹅的安闲与活泼兼而有之；二是暗含声音与节奏，仿佛能听见红掌拨水时那「哗啦」的轻响，与起句「鹅，鹅，鹅」的鸣声遥相呼应，全诗有声有色；三是「拨」的对象是「清波」，掌与波相触而波生文，「拨」字使无情的清波也有了灵动的生命。若易为「划」「动」等字，则平板无味；唯「拨」字轻灵天成，正合儿童眼中鹅游水时那可爱的样子。

曲 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「曲项向天歌」之「曲」字，一字写尽鹅的特征体态，是「体物」之工的极致。鹅与鸡鸭不同，其颈细长而常呈弯曲之姿，低头啄食时曲，引颈高歌时亦曲，「曲项」二字正是对这一独特体态的准确概括，非细观鹅者不能道。此字之妙有三：一是写形，弯曲的颈项构成优美的弧线，为画面定下柔和的基调；二是写势，「曲」而后「向天」，先曲后伸，正是引颈高歌前的蓄势——弯曲的颈项一挺，歌声便喷薄而出，一个「曲」字里藏着由静到动的过程；三是传神，「曲项」的姿态中还带着鹅特有的骄矜与从容，仿佛一位高傲的歌者在整装亮相。以一字写一禽之态而神形兼备，正是钟嵘所谓「巧构形似之言」；而这样的体物之功，竟出自一个七岁儿童之手，更见其天生慧眼。后世咏鹅者众，然论写鹅之形态，终无出「曲项」二字之右者，可见此字生命力之强。

歌 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「曲项向天歌」之「歌」字，以拟人法写鹅鸣，是全诗童心的集中体现，也是最见情味的一个字。鹅的叫声本是刺耳的「嘎嘎」声，小诗人却偏以「歌」字写之，这不是不懂事，而正是儿童「万物有灵」心理的天然流露——在孩子眼里，鹅弯着脖子朝天长叫，不是在聒噪，而是在唱歌；它仿佛与天地共鸣，向着天空抒发自己的欢快。「歌」字一落，鹅便不再是单纯的家禽，而成了有灵性、有情感的歌唱者，与人类平等而亲切。这一拟人化的写法，与后世「两个黄鹂鸣翠柳」的「鸣」、「春江水暖鸭先知」的「知」同一机杼，都是以童心观物、以有情写无情；而「向天歌」三字更赋予鹅一种昂扬的姿态——向着天空高歌，何等自在畅快。若易为「叫」「鸣」等字，虽写实而失其天真；唯「歌」字既传鹅鸣之声，又见童心之趣，一字而境界全出，正是儿童诗「无理而妙」的典型。

咏鹅