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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

不见

Not Seeing Him

杜甫

Du Fu

怀友missing a friend

不见李生久，佯狂真可哀。
世人皆欲杀，吾意独怜才。
敏捷诗千首，飘零酒一杯。
匡山读书处，头白好归来。

For so long I have not seen Li Sheng; his feigned madness is truly pitiable.
All the world wants him dead, and mine alone is the mind that cherishes his talent.
A thousand poems in a burst of speed; adrift in the world, a cup of wine.
At the reading place on Mount Kuang, come home now that your hair is white.

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Meaning

Du Fu hears no news of Li Bai and writes to him. He says that the world wants Li Bai dead and that he alone still cherishes his gift; that Li Bai's poems come thousands at a time while his life is a single cup of wine adrift; and he asks him, now that his hair is white, to come home again to the mountain where he studied as a boy. The poem is short, and its whole weight falls on the contrast between what the world wishes and what Du Fu believes.

不见李生久，佯狂真可哀。世人皆欲杀，吾意独怜才。敏捷诗千首，飘零酒一杯。匡山读书处，头白好归来。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Du Fu opens with the plain fact, that he has not seen Li Sheng for so long, and then with a judgement: his pretended madness is truly pitiable. The world wishes him dead; only I, says Du Fu, still care for his gift. Then, in a single couplet, the two halves of Li Bai — a thousand poems written in a burst of speed, and one cup of wine with a life adrift. The last lines point to Mount Kuang in Sichuan, where Li Bai studied as a boy, and ask him to return now that his hair is white. [Structure] The four couplets proceed by widening rather than developing: the person, then the world's verdict on him, then his achievement and his ruin, then his home. Each couplet is a complete statement, and the poem moves by repeating the same loyalty at greater depth. [Imagery] There is hardly an image in the usual sense; the power comes from the plainest words — not seeing, all want him dead, only I cherish his talent. Two concrete details carry the whole argument: the thousand poems, which are his glory, and the single cup of wine, which is his entire remaining life. Du Fu's style is here at its most severe, and the severity is what gives the poem its force.

【白话串讲】杜甫写《不见》：“不见李生久，佯狂真可哀”——“世人皆欲杀，吾意独怜才”——“敏捷诗千首，飘零酒一杯”——“匡山读书处，头白好归来”——他思念李白——世人都想杀他，只有我怜惜他的才华。【意象与手法】此诗怀李白而感慨，以怜才写深情，是杜甫的名篇。前四句写怀人：「不见李生久，佯狂真可哀」写不见李生久、佯狂真可哀，「世人皆欲杀，吾意独怜才」写世人皆欲杀、吾意独怜才——写尽对李白的怜惜；后四句写感慨：「敏捷诗千首，飘零酒一杯」写敏捷诗千首、飘零酒一杯，「匡山读书处，头白好归来」写匡山读书处、头白好归来——写尽对李白的思念与期盼。全诗以怜才写深情，写尽对李白的思念，是杜甫的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗怀李白而感慨，以怜才写深情，是杜甫的名篇。此诗作于唐肃宗上元二年（761），杜甫在成都时。李白因永王璘案被流放夜郎，途中遇赦，漂泊于当涂、金陵一带。杜甫久不见李白，思念而作此诗。此诗写怀人：不见李生久，佯狂真可哀——写不见李生久、佯狂真可哀，写尽对李白佯狂的哀怜；世人皆欲杀，吾意独怜才——写世人皆欲杀、吾意独怜才，写尽众人欲杀而杜甫独怜才；敏捷诗千首，飘零酒一杯——写敏捷诗千首、飘零酒一杯，写尽李白的诗才与飘零；匡山读书处，头白好归来——写匡山读书处、头白好归来，写尽对李白归来的期盼。全诗以怜才写深情——那「世人皆欲杀，吾意独怜才」写尽众人欲杀而杜甫独怜才，「匡山读书处，头白好归来」写尽对李白归来的期盼，写尽对李白的思念，是理解杜甫怀李白诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「不见李生久，佯狂真可哀」写对李白佯狂的哀怜；「世人皆欲杀，吾意独怜才」写众人欲杀而杜甫独怜才；「敏捷诗千首，飘零酒一杯」写李白的诗才与飘零；「匡山读书处，头白好归来」写对李白归来的期盼；以及全诗以怜才写深情的手法。

Background

Du Fu (712–770), courtesy name Zimei, was from Gong county in Henan; he is the great realistic poet of the Tang, honoured as the Poetry Sage. The poem was written in 761, in the Shangyuan era of Emperor Suzong, while Du Fu was living in Chengdu. Li Bai had been exiled to Yelang after the affair of Prince Yong, then pardoned on the way there, and was wandering around Dangtu and Nanjing. The title carries the old note 'no news of Li Bai recently,' and this is one of several poems Du Fu wrote for Li Bai, among them 'Remembering Li Bai in Spring' and the two 'Dreaming of Li Bai.'

此诗怀李白而感慨，以怜才写深情，是杜甫的名篇。杜甫（712—770），字子美，巩县（今河南巩义）人，唐代伟大的现实主义诗人，人称「诗圣」。此诗作于唐肃宗上元二年（761），杜甫在成都时。李白因永王璘案被流放夜郎，途中遇赦，漂泊于当涂、金陵一带。杜甫久不见李白，思念而作此诗。此诗写怀人：「不见李生久，佯狂真可哀」写不见李生久、佯狂真可哀——写尽对李白佯狂的哀怜；「世人皆欲杀，吾意独怜才」写世人皆欲杀、吾意独怜才——写尽众人欲杀而杜甫独怜才；「敏捷诗千首，飘零酒一杯」写敏捷诗千首、飘零酒一杯——写尽李白的诗才与飘零；「匡山读书处，头白好归来」写匡山读书处、头白好归来——写尽对李白归来的期盼。全诗以怜才写深情，写尽对李白的思念，是理解杜甫怀李白诗的重要篇章。此诗题作「不见」，题下原注「近无李白消息」，正见杜甫对李白近况的牵挂。诗以「不见李生久」起，以「头白好归来」结，前写相思之深、中写怜才之切、后写盼归之殷，八句之间，一往情深。尤其「世人皆欲杀，吾意独怜才」二句，以举世与己对照，写尽杜甫在李白举世不容之际独持公论的胆识与高谊，是杜甫怀李白诸诗中最为深挚的一首。

Art

The central device is the contrast of two parties: the world that wants Li Bai dead and the one friend who does not. 'All the world wants him dead, and mine alone is the mind that cherishes his talent' states the argument in ten characters with no ornament at all. The second device is the pairing of abundance and poverty within one couplet — a thousand poems against a single cup of wine — which compresses a whole career into a single line. The third is the total absence of the poetic self except as a judge: Du Fu never describes his own feelings, he only records his position. The closing couplet is entirely practical, an address, a place, an invitation. Everything is plain, and none of it can be replaced.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以直陈写思念。首联「不见李生久，佯狂真可哀」以直陈写思念——那「不见李生久」写尽久不见的思念、「佯狂真可哀」写尽对佯狂的哀怜，以直陈写尽对李白的思念。其二，以对照写怜才。颔联「世人皆欲杀，吾意独怜才」以对照写怜才——那「世人皆欲杀」写尽众人欲杀、「吾意独怜才」写尽杜甫独怜才，以对照写尽对李白才的怜惜。其三，以概括写诗才。颈联「敏捷诗千首，飘零酒一杯」以概括写诗才——那「敏捷诗千首」写尽诗才的敏捷、「飘零酒一杯」写尽身世的飘零，以概括写尽李白的诗才与飘零。其四，以期盼收束写深情。尾联「匡山读书处，头白好归来」以期盼收束写深情——那「匡山读书处」写尽李白的读书之地、「头白好归来」写尽对归来的期盼，以期盼收束，写尽对李白的深情。四重手法，使此诗以怜才写深情，写尽对李白的思念，是杜甫的代表作。

Allusions

'Li Sheng' is Li Bai, called by the respectful 生 attached to his surname, the same usage that gives us 'Du Sheng' for Du Fu. 'Feigned madness' (佯狂) recalls the madman of Chu who pretended insanity to escape service and so was left alone; it carries the sense of harmless eccentricity that the world can safely ignore. 'Mount Kuang' is Daxiang Mountain in Zhangming, Sichuan, where Li Bai is said to have studied as a boy. 'A cup of wine' alludes to Li Bai's own reputation for drinking — one cup of wine and a hundred poems — so that the wine in this couplet is both a fact and an echo of his verse.

此诗的用语深植于怀友与感慨的传统。「不见李生久」令人想到「不见」写不见的意象——「不见李生久」正是杜甫的名句，也令人想到「李生」写李白（称生）的意象；「佯狂真可哀」令人想到「佯狂」写佯装癫狂的典故——楚狂接舆佯狂避世，也令人想到「真可哀」写真可哀的意象——李白佯狂避祸，真可哀怜；「世人皆欲杀」令人想到「世人皆欲杀」写众人欲杀的意象——李白遭忌，也令人想到「皆欲杀」写皆欲杀的意象；「吾意独怜才」令人想到「怜才」写怜惜才士的意象——「怜才」，也令人想到「吾意独怜才」写独怜其才的意象；「敏捷诗千首」令人想到「敏捷」写文思敏捷的意象——「敏捷诗千首」，也令人想到「诗千首」写诗作之多的意象；「飘零酒一杯」令人想到「飘零」写飘泊的意象——「漂泊西南天地间」（杜甫），也令人想到「酒一杯」写饮酒的意象——李白斗酒诗百篇；「匡山读书处」令人想到「匡山」写大匡山的意象——李白少时读书于匡山（四川彰明），也令人想到「读书处」写读书之地的意象；「头白好归来」令人想到「头白」写白头的意象——「头白好归来」，也令人想到「好归来」写当归来的意象。全诗化用楚狂、匡山读书的典故与意象，以怜才写深情，正是杜甫「沉郁顿挫」而善用对照、承怀友传统写思念的本领。

Commentary

The poem has long been cherished as the finest of Du Fu's poems to Li Bai, and especially for the couplet that sets the whole world against one man's judgement. Later readers have noted that Du Fu, who spent his own life in official obscurity, should have been the last to pronounce on Li Bai's worth, and that the line is therefore the clearest evidence of his friendship. In the history of the poetry of friendship, 'all the world wants him dead, and mine alone is the mind that cherishes his talent' is frequently quoted as the moment when Chinese verse first gave a poet's talent an unbiased witness.

此诗历来被推为杜甫怀李白诗的名篇，也是唐人写李白的最佳诗篇之一。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以怜才写深情，真挚动人」；近人更指出「世人皆欲杀，吾意独怜才」写众人欲杀而杜甫独怜才，「敏捷诗千首，飘零酒一杯」写李白的诗才与飘零，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以八句的律诗写尽对李白的思念——那不见李生久的久别，那佯狂真可哀的哀怜，那世人皆欲杀的孤危，那吾意独怜才的深情，那敏捷诗千首的才，那飘零酒一杯的醉，那匡山的读书处，那头白好归来的期盼，都写尽了杜甫对李白的思念；那「世人皆欲杀，吾意独怜才」更写尽举世欲杀而杜甫独怜才的高谊。此诗与杜甫《春日忆李白》（「白也诗无敌，飘然思不群」）同为怀李白名篇，一写「渭北春天树」的春日思念（春日忆李白），一写「世人皆欲杀，吾意独怜才」的乱世怜才（不见）；又与《梦李白二首》「水深波浪阔，无使蛟龙得」的牵挂一脉相承，可见杜甫对李白情谊之深。对于今日读者，此诗是理解杜甫李白友情的窗口，也是中国诗写知己的经典——那匡山的读书处，穿越千年，仍在诉说着杜甫对李白的深情。

Prosody

Form A regulated poem in five characters to the line (wuyan lushi), eight lines in four couplets诗·五言律诗

Rhyme One rhyme, held to the end: 哀 ai, 才 cai, 杯 bei, 来 lai — the huai group of the upper level tone. The unbroken rhyme makes the poem read as a single sustained lament rather than a set of separate lines.五律，押「哀」「才」「杯」「来」韵（上平十灰），一韵到底，对仗工整

Tone pattern Every line ends in a level tone on the same vowel, so the cadence closes gently each time and then returns, like a sigh repeated. The shortest line in the poem, 'adrift in the world, a cup of wine,' is the speediest, and 'come home now that your hair is white' is the longest, drawn out for the invitation. Read with a slow, heavy voice, especially on 'all the world wants him dead,' the metre becomes the poem's argument.此诗为五言律诗，押平声韵，一韵到底，对仗工整，音节沉郁，正合感慨的沉郁。

Reading note This is Du Fu at his most restrained. The measure permits nothing extraneous, and the poem uses none: no colour, no landscape, no ornament of the kind found in his richer work. What remains is a judgement, a pair of facts and an invitation, and the craft is visible only in the choices — the placement of the two contrast couplets in the second and third positions, where a regulated poem might expect development, and the return to the plainest possible vocabulary in the last line. His lushi are known for 沉郁顿挫, and this is the model of it.此诗为五言律诗，八句四联——「不见李生久，佯狂真可哀。世人皆欲杀，吾意独怜才。敏捷诗千首，飘零酒一杯。匡山读书处，头白好归来」，押「灰」韵（哀、才、杯、来），一韵到底。颔联「世人皆欲杀，吾意独怜才」与颈联「敏捷诗千首，飘零酒一杯」对仗工整。全诗以怜才写深情：首联写不见与哀怜（不见李生久，佯狂真可哀），颔联写怜才（世人皆欲杀，吾意独怜才），颈联写诗才与飘零（敏捷诗千首，飘零酒一杯），尾联写期盼（匡山读书处，头白好归来）。诵读此诗，宜以沉郁的语调读「世人皆欲杀」的孤危，以深情的语调读「吾意独怜才」的怜才，结句「头白好归来」要读得期盼而有余韵，方能传达出杜甫的沉郁顿挫。杜甫律诗以「沉郁顿挫」著称，此诗正是其怀友律诗的典范。

Line by line

世人皆欲杀，吾意独怜才

All the world wants him dead, and mine alone is the mind that cherishes his talent.

世人都想杀他，只有我独独怜惜他的才。

The whole world would have him killed; I alone cherish his genius.

此二句是全诗写怜才的核心，以皆欲杀写孤危，以独怜才写深情，写尽对李白才的怜惜，是千古名句。「世人皆欲杀」写世人都想杀他——那「世人」写世人，「皆欲杀」写都想杀，写尽李白遭世人嫉恨的孤危；「吾意独怜才」写只有我独独怜惜他的才——那「吾意独怜才」写我独独怜惜他的才，写尽杜甫对李白才的怜惜。这句的深意在于：它以「世人皆欲杀」的皆欲杀与「吾意独怜才」的独怜才，写尽对李白才的怜惜——世人都想杀他，那「世人皆欲杀」写尽李白遭世人嫉恨的孤危——李白才高招忌，世人皆欲杀之，那「皆欲杀」写尽李白处境的孤危；只有我独独怜惜他的才，那「吾意独怜才」写尽杜甫对李白才的怜惜——举世皆欲杀，而唯我独怜其才，那「独怜才」写尽杜甫对李白才的怜惜与高谊；那「世人皆欲杀」写尽李白遭世人嫉恨的孤危，那「吾意独怜才」写尽杜甫对李白才的怜惜，一写皆欲杀，一写独怜才，写尽对李白才的怜惜——世人皆欲杀，吾意独怜才，正是杜甫以举世为敌而独怜其才的深情，也是知己之谊的最高境界；此二句以皆欲杀、独怜才写尽对李白才的怜惜，也让此二句成为全诗写怜才的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「大家都讨厌李白，只有我喜欢他」，则失其凝练；唯以「世人皆欲杀」写孤危、「吾意独怜才」写怜才，写尽对李白才的怜惜，也让此二句成为全诗写怜才的核心。

Du Fu's elegy on Li Bai is built on one brutal contrast. The whole world, he says, would have Li Bai killed—his genius had made him enemies, his wanderings had made him suspect, and after the rebellion the age was baying for his blood. Against that unanimous rage, Du Fu sets himself: I alone cherish his talent. The two adverbs carry the whole friendship—all, against alone; the world against one man. It is the highest form of loyal praise, a critic standing against his age to defend a friend, and it has become the classical type of devoted literary friendship. To have said everyone disliked Li Bai while I liked him would lose the moral weight; the death-sentence from the world is the measure of the love.

敏捷诗千首，飘零酒一杯

A thousand poems in a burst of speed; adrift in the world, a single cup of wine.

文思敏捷写诗千首，一生飘零唯酒一杯。

Quick of wit, he wrote a thousand poems; drifting through life, he has only a cup of wine.

此二句是全诗写李白的核心，以敏捷诗千首写诗才，以飘零酒一杯写身世，写尽李白的诗才与飘零，是千古名句。「敏捷诗千首」写文思敏捷写诗千首——那「敏捷」写文思敏捷，「诗千首」写诗作千首，写尽李白的诗才；「飘零酒一杯」写一生飘零唯酒一杯——那「飘零」写一生飘零，「酒一杯」写唯酒一杯，写尽李白的飘零。这句的深意在于：它以「敏捷诗千首」的诗才与「飘零酒一杯」的飘零，写尽李白的诗才与飘零——文思敏捷写诗千首，那「敏捷诗千首」写尽李白的诗才——李白文思敏捷，诗作千首，那「敏捷」写尽李白诗才的敏捷；一生飘零唯酒一杯，那「飘零酒一杯」写尽李白的飘零——诗才如此，而身世飘零，唯有酒一杯相伴，那「飘零」写尽李白身世的飘零；那「敏捷诗千首」写尽李白的诗才，那「飘零酒一杯」写尽李白的飘零，一写诗才，一写飘零，写尽李白的诗才与飘零——才高而命薄，正是李白一生的写照，那「诗千首」与「酒一杯」的对照，写尽才高与飘零的对比；此二句以敏捷诗千首、飘零酒一杯写尽李白的诗才与飘零，也让此二句成为全诗写李白的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「李白很有才但很落魄」，则失其凝练；唯以「敏捷诗千首」写诗才、「飘零酒一杯」写飘零，写尽李白的诗才与飘零，也让此二句成为全诗写李白的核心。

The couplet compresses Li Bai's whole fate into two measures of imbalance. A thousand poems, struck off in a flash—this is the genius, the inexhaustible quickness that astonished his age. One cup of wine, drifting through life—this is the man, homeless, untitled, ending in trouble. The numbers argue with each other: a thousand against one, genius against destitution. Du Fu does not moralize; he sets the output of a lifetime against the single resource the poet had left, and the disproportion is the biography. To have said Li Bai was gifted but unsuccessful would flatten the contrast; the thousand poems against the one cup are the tragedy made countable.

Study

Word focus

佯狂 'Feigned madness' — pretended wildness. In 'his feigned madness is truly pitiable' the word carries two things at once: that Li Bai's wildness was deliberate, a way of surviving dangerous times, and that this deliberate behaviour is itself the thing to be pitied. The double meaning is why the line cannot be translated simply as 'he is mad.' 「佯狂真可哀」之「佯狂」是写李白的关键词，一个「佯狂」写尽李白佯装癫狂的悲哀。佯狂者，佯装癫狂也。杜甫以「佯狂真可哀」写李白，这个「佯狂」至少有双重意味：其一，写李白之狂——那「佯狂真可哀」写佯狂真可哀，那「佯狂」写尽李白的狂放——李白以狂放著称，然其狂实为佯狂，那「佯狂」写尽李白佯装的狂放；其二，写哀怜之深——那「佯狂」更是写哀——佯狂避祸，真可哀怜，那「佯狂」写尽对李白佯狂的哀怜。以「佯狂」写李白，正是杜甫写哀怜的枢纽——若换作「狂放」「颠狂」等词，则或失其写佯装的意味，或失其与「真可哀」的呼应；唯「佯狂」二字，以佯装癫狂写尽李白佯狂避祸的悲哀与杜甫的哀怜，与「世人皆欲杀」的皆欲杀相合，写尽对李白的怜惜，也让「佯狂真可哀」成为全诗写哀怜的名句。

独 'Alone, only.' In 'mine alone is the mind that cherishes his talent' this single character does all the work of the couplet: it turns the world's unanimity into the poet's solitary dissent, and it is the reason that 'all the world' in the line above is emphatic. Remove it and the sentence loses its edge entirely. 「吾意独怜才」之「独」字是写深情的字眼，一个「独」字写尽众人皆杀而唯我怜才的深情。独者，唯独、只有也。杜甫以「吾意独怜才」写怜才，这个「独」字至少有双重意味：其一，写怜才之专——那「吾意独怜才」写我独独怜惜他的才，那「独」字写尽怜才的专一——举世皆欲杀，唯我独怜才，那「独」字写尽怜才的专一；其二，写深情之厚——那「独」字更是写深情——独怜才，正见杜甫以举世为敌而独怜其才的深情，那「独」字写尽知己之谊的深厚。以「独」字写怜才，正是杜甫写深情的枢纽——若换作「唯」「只」等字，则或失其与「世人皆欲杀」的对照，或失其写唯我独怜的凝练；唯「独」字，以一字写尽众人皆杀而唯我怜才的深情与高谊，与「世人皆欲杀」的皆欲杀相对照，写尽对李白才的怜惜，也让「吾意独怜才」成为全诗写深情的名句。

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