唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
早雁
The Early Wild Geese
金河秋半虏弦开，云外惊飞四散哀。
仙掌月明孤影过，长门灯暗数声来。
须知胡骑纷纷在，岂逐春风一一回。
莫厌潇湘少人处，水多菰米岸莓苔。
Above the clouds the startled geese scatter, crying in grief.
By the immortal palm, under bright moon, a lone shadow passes;
At Long Gate, lamps dim, a few cries come.
Know that the barbarian riders swarm still;
How could they follow the spring wind, one by one, home?
Grieve not the lonely shores of Xiaoxiang;
Its waters hold much wild rice, its banks moss and weed.
Meaning
At Jin River, mid-autumn, the barbarian draws his bow; the wild geese above the clouds startle and scatter, crying in grief. Under the bright moon by the immortal palm a lone shadow passes; at Long Gate with dim lamps a few cries come. Know that the barbarian riders still swarm; how could the geese follow the spring wind home, one by one? Grieve not the thinly peopled shores of Xiaoxiang; its waters hold much wild rice, its banks moss and weed enough to lodge.
金河一带秋半时节胡虏拉开了弓弦，大雁在云外惊飞四散，发出哀鸣。明月下，仙人掌承露盘边孤影掠过；长门宫暗淡的灯光里，传来几声雁叫。须知胡骑仍纷纷盘踞在北方，大雁岂能随春风一一返回故乡。不要嫌厌潇湘之地人烟稀少，那里水中多菰米、岸边多莓苔，足以栖息。全诗通篇咏雁而字字关人，以惊飞南翔的早雁暗喻饱受回鹘侵扰而流亡的北方边民。
Appreciation
The whole poem chants the geese yet every word bears on man; its analogy reaches perfection. The first couplet's 'the barbarian string is drawn' puns the shooting of geese and the harrying of the people, the scatter figuring the border folk's flight. The second, 'by the immortal palm a lone shadow passes; at Long Gate lamps dim, a few cries come,' uses the Han palace's immortal palm and Long Gate to stand for the Tang court, quietly mocking the court sunk in ease, blind to the people's want. The third, 'know the barbarian riders swarm,' figures the refugees' hard return by the geese's hard return. The close turns to comfort: Xiaoxiang's wild rice and moss can shelter. Object and self one; plaintive and deep; analogy without bare exposure.
【白话串讲】 秋半时节，早来的大雁被胡人惊得四散哀鸣。杜牧写雁，其实写的是战乱中流离失所的老百姓：“须知胡骑纷纷在，岂逐春风一一回”——故园回不去了。 【意象与手法】 此诗通篇咏雁而字字关人，比兴臻于化境。「虏弦开」双关射雁与回鹘扰民，「惊飞四散」暗喻边民流散；「仙掌」「长门」以汉宫指代唐宫，暗讽朝廷沉醉不知民瘼；「须知胡骑纷纷在」以雁难归喻难民难返；尾联「莫厌潇湘少人处」转以劝慰，托物寓讽而无直露之痕。 【情感与主旨】 《早雁》作于会昌二年（842）秋。时北方回鹘为黠戛斯所破，部众南掠，边民大受侵扰，流离南奔；而八月雁至较常年为早，杜牧感时而作。诗人借早雁暗喻流亡边民，表面咏物，实为针对边患的讽谏，体现其以物喻政的现实关怀，是其咏物诗中寄托最深的篇章之一。 【名句点睛】 要点：①「金河秋半虏弦开」的双关——既写胡人射雁，亦喻回鹘扰民；②「仙掌」「长门」以汉典暗讽宫廷；③尾联劝慰与讽刺并存的复杂情感。
Background
The Early Wild Geese was written in autumn of the second year of Huichang (842). Then the Uighurs, broken by the Kyrgyz, raided south, and the border people suffered and fled. The eighth-month geese came earlier than usual; Du Mu, moved by the time, wrote. He uses the 'early geese' startled and fleeing south to hint the northern border folk harried by the Uighurs; with 'immortal palm' and 'Long Gate' he writes the court's blindness to the people's want, and with 'Xiaoxiang's wild rice' comforts the refugees to rest a while in the south. On the surface a nature chant, in truth a remonstrance on the border crisis—showing Du Mu's realist care of 'thing for policy'; among his object-chants the deepest in bearing.
《早雁》作于唐武宗会昌二年（842）秋。此前一年，回鹘为黠戛斯所破，国势崩解，部众四散南掠，侵扰唐之北边，边地百姓饱受战乱，纷纷弃家南奔，流离失所。这一年八月，大雁南飞较常年为早，杜牧睹物生情，遂作此诗。诗人以「早雁」惊飞、避祸南翔，暗喻饱受回鹘侵扰而流亡的北方边民；以「仙掌」「长门」写宫廷虽在月明灯暗间听闻雁声，却未能真正体恤民瘼；又以「潇湘菰米」劝慰难民暂且安身江南。会昌年间，武宗虽励精图治、力主收复失地，然边境多事、民生凋敝，杜牧素怀经世之志，屡上书言兵事，其《罪言》《战论》诸文皆论藩镇与边患。此诗表面咏物，实则是针对边患的讽谏，体现其以物喻政的现实关怀。杜牧咏物诗不多，而此篇寄托最深、笔法最曲，是其晚期诗风由清丽转沉郁的代表。杜牧晚年虽以声色自娱，然其经世之志始终未泯，此诗以咏物出之，正是其位卑未敢忘忧国的另一种书写；诗中北雁南飞的路线，与史载回鹘南掠、边民南迁的流向完全吻合，足见其写实之据。
Art
The poem chants the geese yet every word bears on man; analogy perfected. The first couplet's 'barbarian string' puns shooting geese and harrying people, the scatter figuring the border folk's flight; the second uses Han palace images for the Tang court, mocking its blindness; the third figures hard return; the close comforts with Xiaoxiang's plenty. Object and self one; plaintive, deep; analogy without bare exposure.
此诗通篇咏雁而字字关人，比兴臻于化境，章法上以惊飞、孤过、难归、安居一线贯穿。首联「金河秋半虏弦开，云外惊飞四散哀」破题即入比兴：「金河」点出北地战场，「虏弦开」双关胡人射雁与回鹘南侵，雁之「惊飞四散」正是边民流散的写真，「哀」字定下全诗基调。颔联「仙掌月明孤影过，长门灯暗数声来」以汉宫掌故写雁过宫禁：明月孤影、暗灯数声，一明一暗、一孤一多，画面凄清，暗讽宫廷沉醉宴乐、罔闻民间疾苦。颈联「须知胡骑纷纷在，岂逐春风一一回」由写雁转入议论，「须知」「岂」两词以肯定与反诘交错，道出边患未靖、归乡无望的沉痛现实。尾联「莫厌潇湘少人处，水多菰米岸莓苔」笔势一转，以劝慰语作结，写江南水乡菰米莓苔足以谋生，貌似宽解，实含有家难归的无限凄凉。全诗四联层层递进：惊而哀、哀而过、过而难归、难归而劝安，物我交融、哀婉深沉，托物寓讽而无直露之痕。律诗最忌比兴与对仗两难兼美，此诗却于严整的对仗中藏曲折的讽意，颈联议论、尾联慰喻，虚词领起处尤见顿挫，可见杜牧以议论入律而能不伤诗味的高明。
Allusions
The poem borrows Han tales for Tang. 'Jin River' is today's Dahei River in Inner Mongolia, a Tang border land; 'barbarian string drawn' both hunts geese and hints the Uighur southward raid. 'Immortal palm' is the Han Wudi's bronze immortal palm-cup for dew, standing for the Tang court; 'Long Gate' is the Han palace where Chen the deposed queen lodged, standing for the court. 'Xiaoxiang' from the Chu Ci (Xiang Furen), the Hunan waters, since old the geese's southern lodge and the exile's rest; 'wild rice' is the zizania grain, 'moss and weed' the bank grass, writing the south's plenty to live. The allusions fuse Han-Tang images, raising 'chanting geese' to 'grieving the people,' meaning far off.
诗中多借汉典喻唐，取径深曲。「金河」指今内蒙古呼和浩特一带的大黑河，唐时为边地，点明雁与胡骑所在之地；「虏弦开」既写猎雁之弓弦，亦喻回鹘南侵之兵锋，一语双关。「仙掌」指汉武帝所立承露铜仙人掌盘，建章宫中物，借指唐宫；「长门」为汉武帝陈皇后失宠幽居之宫，借指宫廷冷寂之处，二者皆以汉事写唐，暗讽朝廷对边患的漠然。「潇湘」本《楚辞·九歌·湘夫人》中湖南水乡，自古为雁南栖、贬客流寓之地；「菰米」即茭白籽实，「莓苔」指岸边苔草，写江南物产丰饶、足可安身。诗中「早雁」的物候描写，还承袭了《礼记·月令》「鸿雁来宾」的时序传统，使咏物有了典据。全诗将汉唐意象、楚辞传统与当代边患融于咏雁之中，使咏物升格为忧民的政治寓言。「早雁」之题暗合《诗经·小雅》「鸿雁于飞」的恤民传统，又融会汉代雁足传书的意象，使咏雁兼具归信无凭的深层意味；诗中所写「仙掌」「长门」虽是汉典，却直指唐宫，借古讽今之迹了然可寻。
Commentary
The Qing commentator Feng Jiwu, in Fan Chuan Shi Ji Zhu, cites the Tang Shi Gu Chui: 'this uses the goose as self, grieving the drift.' Shen Deqian, in Tang Shi Biecai, said 'borrows the goose to write the people's scattering, the mockery slight yet clear.' The modern Liu Xuekai called this 'on the surface a nature chant, in the bone a grief for the people—Du Mu's highest object-chant.' All prize its mocking the Tang court through the Han palace's immortal palm and Long Gate's dim lamps, and comforting the refugees with Xiaoxiang's wild rice—analogy deep and gentle, a model of late-Tang object-chant remonstrance.
清人冯集梧《樊川诗集注》引《唐诗鼓吹》评此诗「以雁自喻，伤流寓也」，点出其托物言志的命意。沈德潜《唐诗别裁》称其「借雁以写人民流散，讽意微而显」，谓讽刺之意隐微而昭显，深得比兴之旨。近人刘学锴更谓此诗「表面咏物，骨里忧民，是杜牧托物诗最高之作」。诸家皆重其以汉宫仙掌、长门冷寂暗刺朝廷，以潇湘菰米寄慰难民，比兴深婉，为晚唐咏物寓讽的典范。杜牧诗向以七绝清丽俊爽著称，此篇以七律咏物，沉郁顿挫，恰可见其诗风之全貌；诗中「虏弦」「仙掌」「潇湘」诸意象的组合，亦为后世忧民咏物之作提供了范本，与杜甫《春望》《兵车行》的忧民传统一脉相承，而以咏物出之，更见晚唐诗人寄托笔法的曲折。此诗之可贵，尤在哀而不伤、怨而不怒：既痛边民之流离，又留劝慰之温情，讽谏与体恤兼而有之，正合儒家诗教温柔敦厚之旨，是晚唐士人忧患意识的艺术结晶。
Prosody
Line by line
金河秋半虏弦开，云外惊飞四散哀
At Jin River, mid-autumn, the barbarian string is drawn; above the clouds the startled geese scatter, crying in grief.
金河一带秋半时节，胡虏拉开了弓弦，大雁在云外惊飞四散，发出哀鸣。
On the Jin River, mid-autumn, the barbarian bows are drawn; beyond the clouds they start in fright, scattered and wailing.
破题即入比兴，是全诗之纲。「金河」点出北地边塞，秋半点明时令，「虏弦开」三字双关——字面是胡人开弓射雁，实喻回鹘南侵、兵锋所指；雁之「惊飞四散」正是边民仓皇流亡的写真，「哀」字直揭情绪基调，定下全诗悲悯沉痛的底色。一句之中，咏物、写实、寓讽三义兼备而浑然无迹，是杜牧炼意之精的集中体现。此句以「虏」字立骨、以「哀」字收韵，双关与比兴并施，破题即见大家手笔。
The opening enters bi-xing at once, the poem's outline. Jin River names the northern frontier; mid-autumn fixes the season; the barbarian bows are drawn is double - on the surface the barbarians drawing bows at geese, in truth metaphorizing the Uyghur southern invasion, the edge of the sword; the geese's scattered flight in fright is precisely the border people's panic-stricken exile, wailing directly revealing the emotional keynote, setting the poem's compassionate, grieving ground. Within one line, thing-praising, real writing, satire three meanings combined yet浑然 without trace - the concentrated expression of Du Mu's refined thought. This line establishes bone with barbarian and closes the rhyme with wailing; double meaning and bi-xing together, the opening at once showing a master's hand.
仙掌月明孤影过，长门灯暗数声来
By the immortal palm, under bright moon, a lone shadow passes; at Long Gate, lamps dim, a few cries come.
明月下仙人掌承露盘边孤影掠过，长门宫暗淡的灯光里传来几声雁叫。
In the moonlit Cactus Terrace a lone shadow passes; in the dim-lit Changmen Palace, a few cries come.
以汉宫掌故写雁过宫禁，暗讽之意深藏。「仙掌」「长门」皆汉宫名物，借指唐宫：月明之下孤雁掠影而过，灯暗之中数声哀鸣传来，一明一暗、一孤一多，画面冷寂凄清。宫中自有灯月宴乐，而流民之哀只在暗夜数声，讽朝廷沉醉不知民瘼之意，尽在不言之中。「孤影」与「数声」相对，愈见流民之零落，是典型的以景寓讽。此联以宫禁之静反衬流民之哀，讽意藏于景中，是律诗含蓄之法的典范。
Using Han palace allusions to write the geese passing the palace, the hidden satire deep. Cactus Terrace and Changmen Palace are both Han palace names, borrowed for the Tang palace: under the bright moon the lone goose's shadow sweeps past; in the dim lamp a few wailing cries arrive - one bright one dark, one lone one several, the picture cold and desolate. The palace has its own lamp-and-moon revels, yet the exiles' wailing is only a few cries in the dark night; the satire of the court's drunkenness, knowing nothing of the people's suffering, is all within the unspoken. Lone shadow set against a few cries, all the more showing the exiles' scattering - typical satire-through-scenery. This couplet uses the palace's stillness to set off the exiles' grief; satire hidden in scenery - the model of regulated verse's reserve.
须知胡骑纷纷在，岂逐春风一一回
Know that the barbarian riders swarm still; how could they follow the spring wind, one by one, home?
须知胡骑仍纷纷盘踞在北方，大雁岂能随春风一一返回故乡。
Know well the barbarian riders are many as ever; how could they return one by one with the spring wind?
由写景转入议论，道出归乡无望的现实。「须知」以肯定语气点明边患未靖、胡骑犹在的严酷时局；「岂逐春风一一回」以反诘写雁纵有归心，也难随春风北返，正是流民欲归不得的写照。雁犹如此，人何以堪；春风本应带来生机，此处却成为无法兑现的归期，希望与绝望交织。一正一反、一实一虚，将难民有家难回的沉痛写得斩截有力，「纷纷」与「一一」的数字对举尤见工致。
Passing from scenery to argument, speaking the reality of return's impossibility. Know well uses affirmation to point out the harsh time of border trouble unended, barbarian riders still present. How could they return one by one with the spring wind? uses rhetorical question to write that even if the geese had a heart to return, they could hardly go north with the spring breeze - precisely the exiles' wishing yet unable to return. Geese like this, how much more men? The spring breeze should bring life, yet here becomes the unfulfillable return date; hope and despair interwoven. One positive one negative, one solid one void, writing the refugees' home-unreturnable grief decisively; many as ever and one by one's numerical contrast most refined.
莫厌潇湘少人处，水多菰米岸莓苔
Grieve not the lonely shores of Xiaoxiang; its waters hold much wild rice, its banks moss and weed.
不要嫌厌潇湘之地人烟稀少，那里水中多菰米、岸边多莓苔，足以栖息。
Do not scorn the sparse lands of Xiaoxiang; the waters hold much wild rice, the banks much moss.
尾联笔势一转，以劝慰语收束。「莫厌」是体贴入微的开解，劝流民莫嫌江南荒僻；「菰米」「莓苔」以实有之物写江南丰饶，足可谋生安身。表面宽慰，实则「少人处」正见有家难归的辛酸，劝其安居他乡恰是无可奈何之语；且潇湘之远、菰米之微，正反衬北望故乡之痛。宽解与悲悯交织，慰语与哀情并存，含蓄不尽，是以慰写哀的绝妙收法。此联以慰写哀，劝语愈切，哀情愈深，是反衬手法在情感层面的极致运用。
The closing couplet's brush turns, closing in consolation. Do not scorn is the considerate, delicate comfort, urging the exiles not to mind Jiangnan's wildness. Wild rice and moss use real things to write Jiangnan's plenty, enough for livelihood and settling. On the surface comfort, yet sparse lands precisely shows the home-unreturnable bitterness; urging them to settle in a strange land is precisely the helpless words. And Xiaoxiang's distance, wild rice's smallness, by contrast set off the northward-gazing home's pain. Comfort and compassion interwoven, consoling words and grief coexisting, reserved and endless - the superb method of closing grief through comfort. This couplet uses comfort for grief; the more earnest the urging, the deeper the grief; the extreme use of foil at the emotional level.
岂逐春风一一回
How could they follow the spring wind, one by one, home?
大雁岂能随春风一一返回故乡。
How could they return one by one with the spring wind?
此句以反诘收束颈联，是全诗由写雁转写人的点睛之笔。「一一」写归雁返程之状，与上句「纷纷」的胡骑形成数量对照：胡骑纷纷如麻，归雁一一难返，战乱之烈与归期之渺尽在数字对比中显出。「岂逐」二字更以不容置疑的反问，道破边患未靖则流民永无归期的残酷现实，春风本是归信的象征，此处却成为不可兑现的许诺，希望愈切，失望愈深，沉痛之至。
This line closes the third couplet in rhetorical question, the finishing stroke of the poem's turning from geese to men. One by one writes the returning geese's journey, forming a numerical contrast with the previous line's many barbarian riders: barbarian riders many as hemp, returning geese one by one hard - the war's fierceness and the return's vagueness all shown in the number contrast. How could they further uses the unquestionable question to reveal the cruel reality that while border trouble remains, the exiles have no return date; the spring breeze originally the symbol of returning news, here instead the unfulfillable promise; the keener the hope, the deeper the disappointment - grief to the utmost.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Both use the goose for dispersion; the Shi Jing 'Wild Geese' 'pity these widowers' can be read with this poem's grief for the people.
《诗经·小雅·鸿雁》以「鸿雁于飞，哀鸣嗷嗷」起兴，写使臣抚恤流民，「哀此鳏寡」直揭恤民之旨；杜牧《早雁》亦以雁喻流民，而托物更曲、讽意更深。一为周代公义之叹，一为晚唐忧国之思，皆借雁写离散之哀，可互文对读，见以雁喻人母题从《诗经》到唐诗的承变。周诗之直与唐律之曲，正显示比兴传统在不同时代的发展与深化。
赤壁 The Red Cliff 杜牧 · 同出杜牧，一咏史翻案，一托物寓讽 Same/diff (same author; one a history overturned, one an object-chant remonstrance)Both late Du Mu works of concern for the time; compare his two bearing brushes of history and object-chant.
《赤壁》借折戟发兴，以「东风不与周郎便」的假设翻历史旧案，议论风发、机锋锐利；《早雁》借雁写边民流散，以比兴见讽，含蓄深婉。同出杜牧之手，一显一隐、一史一物，可见其咏史与咏物两种寄托笔法，也可体会杜牧诗由清丽俊爽到沉郁忧时的演进。杜牧一诗而兼咏史、咏物两种身手，可见其才力之富与寄托之深。