All poems

唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

春题湖上

Spring on the Lake

白居易

Bai Juyi

西湖West Lake 春景Spring Scene

湖上春来似画图，乱峰围绕水平铺。
松排山面千重翠，月点波心一颗珠。
碧毯线头抽早稻，青罗裙带展新蒲。
未能抛得杭州去，一半勾留是此湖。

Spring comes on the lake like a painted picture,
Wild peaks crowd around, level water lies spread out.
Pines rank the mountain faces in a thousand folds of green,
A moon sets a pearl in the heart of the waves.
Green carpet threads push up the early rice;
Blue silk skirt-strings open in the new rushes.
I could not give up Hangzhou after all —
Half of my lingering is for this lake.

Listen

Meaning

Bai Juyi, governing Hangzhou, paints the West Lake of early spring as a picture assembled from pines, a moon-pearl in the water, young rice and new rushes. He then discloses the reason he cannot bear to leave: half of his reluctance belongs to this lake. The poem turns on a quiet paradox — the loveliest of scenes is precisely the one that holds him captive.

湖上春来似画图，乱峰围绕水平铺。松排山面千重翠，月点波心一颗珠。碧毯线头抽早稻，青罗裙带展新蒲。未能抛得杭州去，一半勾留是此湖。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The poet sets the season and the place in one stroke — 'like a painted picture' — and then fills the frame with things: peaks, water, pines, moon, rice, rushes. [Structure] Four couplets, each with its own work to do: the setting, the close-up, the far view, and finally the self. [Imagery] The central figure is the lake itself, imagined first as a canvas and then as a jeweled surface: the moon becomes 'a pearl in the heart of the waves.' The two mid-couplets both compress a whole field into one object — rice like threads drawn from a green carpetf green, rushes like a skirt of blue silk. [Turn] Only in the last couplet does the observer appear, and he appears as a man who is caught: 'Half of my lingering is for this lake.' The word lingering (gouliu) is a yardstick of attachment rather than of sightseeing, and it is the pivot on which the whole poem swings from description to confession.

【白话串讲】白居易写《春题湖上》：“湖上春来似画图，乱峰围绕水平铺”——“松排山面千重翠，月点波心一颗珠”——“碧毯线头抽早稻，青罗裙带展新蒲”——“未能抛得杭州去，一半勾留是此湖”——他写西湖春景——一半勾留是此湖。【意象与手法】此诗写景，以眷恋写景，是白居易的名篇。前六句写湖景：「湖上春来似画图，乱峰围绕水平铺。松排山面千重翠，月点波心一颗珠。碧毯线头抽早稻，青罗裙带展新蒲」写湖上春来似画图、乱峰围绕水平铺——写尽如画的湖上；后二句写眷恋：「未能抛得杭州去，一半勾留是此湖」写未能抛得杭州去、一半勾留是此湖——写尽勾留的西湖。全诗以眷恋写景，写尽如画的湖上与勾留的西湖，是白居易的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写景，以眷恋写景，是白居易的名篇。此诗为白居易任杭州刺史时题咏西湖春景之作，写西湖的如画春色与留恋之情。白居易曾为杭州刺史，疏浚西湖，此诗写其春游西湖，眷恋不忍去。此诗写湖上春来似画图，乱峰围绕水平铺；松排山面千重翠，月点波心一颗珠；碧毯线头抽早稻，青罗裙带展新蒲；未能抛得杭州去，一半勾留是此湖。此诗写湖景：湖上春来似画图，乱峰围绕水平铺——写湖上春来似画图、乱峰围绕水平铺，写尽如画的湖上；松排山面千重翠，月点波心一颗珠——写松排山面千重翠、月点波心一颗珠，写尽千重的翠松；碧毯线头抽早稻，青罗裙带展新蒲——写碧毯线头抽早稻、青罗裙带展新蒲，写尽新蒲的裙带；未能抛得杭州去，一半勾留是此湖——写未能抛得杭州去、一半勾留是此湖，写尽勾留的西湖。全诗以眷恋写景——那「湖上春来似画图」写尽如画的湖上，「一半勾留是此湖」写尽勾留的西湖，写尽如画的湖上与勾留的西湖，是理解白居易写景诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「湖上春来似画图，乱峰围绕水平铺」写如画的湖上；「松排山面千重翠，月点波心一颗珠」写千重的翠松；以及全诗以眷恋写景、以比喻写湖色的手法。

Background

Bai Juyi (772–846), courtesy name Letian, styled Xiangshan jushi, was a great realist poet of the Tang, born in Xin Zheng, Henan. He served as governor of Hangzhou, where he dredged and maintained the West Lake; the lake's surviving causeway is still called the White Causeway in his honour. This poem was written during that tenure, on a spring outing to the lake. Bai Juyi's popular, plain style — a poetry deliberately readable by everyone — found its fullest expression in the songs he wrote of Hangzhou and the lake.

此诗写景，以眷恋写景，是白居易的名篇。白居易（772—846），字乐天，号香山居士，又号醉吟先生，祖籍太原，生于河南新郑，唐代伟大的现实主义诗人，与元稹并称「元白」，与刘禹锡并称「刘白」。此诗为白居易任杭州刺史时题咏西湖春景之作，写西湖的如画春色与留恋之情。白居易曾为杭州刺史，疏浚西湖，此诗写其春游西湖，眷恋不忍去。此诗写湖上春来似画图，乱峰围绕水平铺；松排山面千重翠，月点波心一颗珠；碧毯线头抽早稻，青罗裙带展新蒲；未能抛得杭州去，一半勾留是此湖。此诗写湖景：「湖上春来似画图，乱峰围绕水平铺」写湖上春来似画图、乱峰围绕水平铺——写尽如画的湖上（湖上春来似画图，乱峰围绕水平铺）；「松排山面千重翠，月点波心一颗珠」写松排山面千重翠、月点波心一颗珠——写尽千重的翠松（松排山面千重翠，月点波心一颗珠）；「碧毯线头抽早稻，青罗裙带展新蒲」写碧毯线头抽早稻、青罗裙带展新蒲——写尽新蒲的裙带（碧毯线头抽早稻，青罗裙带展新蒲）；「未能抛得杭州去，一半勾留是此湖」写未能抛得杭州去、一半勾留是此湖——写尽勾留的西湖（未能抛得杭州去，一半勾留是此湖）。全诗以眷恋写景，写尽如画的湖上与勾留的西湖，是理解白居易写景诗的重要篇章。

Art

The dominant device is the sustained metaphor of the lake as a painted and bejewelled surface. 'Spring comes on the lake like a painted picture' proposes the comparison outright; every subsequent image confirms it — the water 'level and spread out' like laid ink, the moon set like a pearl, the rice like threads, the rushes like a skirt. Parallelism is perfect throughout: each couplet matches its grammatical structure and its colour scheme, green against blue, heavy against light. The artful reduction is remarkable: a whole agricultural landscape is compressed into two objects, and a whole lake into two more. Finally the poem practises what it preaches — the painter steps back from the canvas and reports that the picture has captured him.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以比喻写湖色。「湖上春来似画图」以比喻写湖色——那「乱峰围绕水平铺」写尽如画的湖上，以比喻写尽如画的湖上。其二，以对仗写湖景。「松排山面千重翠」以对仗写湖景——那「月点波心一颗珠」写尽波心的明珠，以对仗写尽千重的翠松。其三，以新蒲写田园。「碧毯线头抽早稻」以新蒲写田园——那「青罗裙带展新蒲」写尽新蒲的裙带，以新蒲写尽新蒲的裙带。其四，以直抒写眷恋。「一半勾留是此湖」以直抒写眷恋——那「未能抛得杭州去」写尽杭州的去留，以直抒写尽勾留的西湖。此外，此诗前六句写如画的湖上，后二句写勾留的西湖，由景及情，正是写景诗「以景写恋」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以眷恋写景，写尽如画的湖上与勾留的西湖，是白居易的代表作。此诗还善于以「乱峰围绕水平铺」的「围绕」「平铺」写峰湖之映衬——那「乱峰围绕水平铺」写尽围绕的乱峰，正是以围绕写湖，以「平铺」写尽如画的湖上。又善以「碧毯线头抽早稻」的「碧毯」写早稻之如毯——碧毯线头抽早稻，正见早稻如毯的写照，以「碧毯」写尽新蒲的裙带。

Allusions

'Painted picture' invokes the long Chinese tradition of describing landscape in painting terms, and 'pearl' echoes the Tang taste for luminous miniatures. 'Level water' recalls the poet's own famous line about the first levelness of the lake surface and the low-hanging cloud footprint. The green of a thousand folds and the pearl in the wave both belong to the convention of the jeweledBuddhist image, which Bai Juyi habitually reused for secular scenes. Most quietly, 'lingering' (gouliu) carries a legal and administrative flavour — an official's delay in residence — that fits a governor describing his own reluctance to depart.

此诗的用语深植于写景与眷恋传统。「画图」令人想到「画图」写图画的意象——也令人想到「如画江山」的意象；「乱峰」令人想到「乱峰」写群峰的意象——也令人想到「乱峰如画」的意象；「水平铺」令人想到「水平铺」写湖水的意象——也令人想到「水面初平云脚低」（白居易）的意象；「千重翠」令人想到「千重翠」写翠色的意象——也令人想到「千峰翠色」的意象；「一颗珠」令人想到「一颗珠」写珠子的意象——也令人想到「大珠小珠落玉盘」（白居易）的意象；「勾留」令人想到「勾留」写留恋的意象——也令人想到「勾留此地」的意象。全诗化用画图、乱峰、水平铺、千重翠、一颗珠、勾留的意象，以眷恋写景，正是白居易「通俗」而善比喻、承写景传统写眷恋之本领。「千重翠」令人想到「千重翠」写翠色的意象——也令人想到「一碧万顷」的意象；「新蒲」令人想到「新蒲」写新蒲的意象——也令人想到「细草新蒲」的意象，以新蒲写湖景。「青罗」令人想到「青罗」写青罗的意象——也令人想到「青罗带」的意象，以青罗写湖色。

Commentary

This has long ranked among the finest of Bai Juyi's landscape poems and stands as the representative Tang poem of West Lake spring. Late Qing readers praised its 'fresh and bright' plainness. Modern readers single out 'Pines rank the mountain faces in a thousand folds of green, / A moon sets a pearl in the heart of the waves' as the masterpiece couplet. The poem's special place is that it composes an entire scene and then admits the composition has taken hold of the composer. Read with 'Early Spring in Qiantang', the two Tang poems of the lake form a pair — one about the joy of walking, one about the pain of leaving — and both anticipate Su Shi's later portrait of West Lake as the beauty Xi Zu.

此诗历来被推为白居易写景诗的名篇，也是唐诗写西湖春景的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以眷恋写景，清新明丽」；近人更指出「松排山面千重翠，月点波心一颗珠」写千重的翠松，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以八句的七律写尽如画的湖上与勾留的西湖——那湖上，那春来，那似画图，那乱峰，那围绕，那水平铺，那松排，那山面，那千重翠，那月点，那波心，那一颗珠，那碧毯，那线头，那抽早稻，那青罗，那裙带，那展新蒲，那未能，那抛得，那杭州去，那一半，那勾留，那是此湖，都写尽了白居易笔下的春题湖上；那「一半勾留是此湖」更以直抒写尽勾留的西湖。此诗与白居易《钱塘湖春行》「孤山寺北贾亭西」同为西湖名篇，一写「最爱湖东行不足」的钱塘（钱塘湖春行），一写「一半勾留是此湖」的湖上（春题湖上）；又与苏轼《饮湖上初晴后雨》「欲把西湖比西子」的西湖传统一脉相承，可见中国诗写西湖的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解白居易写景诗的窗口，也是唐诗写西湖春景的经典——那勾留的西湖，穿越千年，仍在诉说着杭州的眷恋。

Prosody

Form Chinese poetry — seven-character regulated verse (Qi Yan Lü Shi)诗·七言律诗

Rhyme Regulated verse on the 'Yu' rhyme (上平七虞): tu picture, pu spread, zhu pearl, pu rushes, hu lake — one rhyme scheme maintained to the end, in the brightening tone of the level voice七律，押「图」「铺」「珠」「蒲」「湖」韵（上平七虞），一韵到底，音节明丽

Tone pattern A seven-character regulated poem on level-tone rhymes, single rhyme throughout, in a clear and bright rhythm that matches the luminosity of the scenery.此诗为七言律诗，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节明丽，正合写景的明丽。

Reading note Eight lines of seven characters, rhyming on the Yu rhyme (tu, pu, zhu, pu, hu) and held to the end. The first six lines compose the picture, the last two the feeling; the transition is smooth because the rhymes, all in the level tone, refuse to close with finality. Read the lake verses in a bright, unhurried voice; read the closing couplet warmly, with the following breath left unresolved, and Xu Yuanchang's plainness becomes audible underneath.此诗为七言律诗，八句——「湖上春来似画图，乱峰围绕水平铺。松排山面千重翠，月点波心一颗珠。碧毯线头抽早稻，青罗裙带展新蒲。未能抛得杭州去，一半勾留是此湖」，押「虞」韵（图、铺、珠、蒲、湖），一韵到底，音节明丽。全诗以眷恋写景：前六句写如画的湖上（湖上春来似画图、青罗裙带展新蒲），后二句写勾留的西湖（未能抛得杭州去、一半勾留是此湖）。八句短章，前写湖景，后写眷恋，以「一半勾留是此湖」写尽勾留的西湖，正见白居易「通俗」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以明丽的语调读「松排山面千重翠」的湖景，以眷恋的语调读「一半勾留是此湖」的西湖，结句要读得明丽而有余韵，方能传达出白居易的清新明丽。白居易律诗以「通俗」著称，此诗正是其写景诗的典范。

Line by line

未能抛得杭州去，一半勾留是此湖

I could not give up Hangzhou after all — half of my lingering is for this lake.

未能抛得杭州去，一半勾留是此湖。

I cannot bring myself to leave Hangzhou; half of what keeps me is this lake.

此二句是全诗写眷恋的核心，以未能抛得杭州去写抛得杭州，以一半勾留是此湖写是此湖，写尽勾留的西湖，是千古名句。「未能抛得杭州去」写未能抛得杭州去——那「未能抛得」写未能抛得，「杭州去」写杭州去，写尽杭州的去留；「一半勾留是此湖」写一半勾留是此湖——那「一半勾留」写一半勾留，「是此湖」写是此湖，写尽勾留的西湖。这句的深意在于：它以「未能抛得杭州去」的杭州去与「一半勾留是此湖」的是此湖，写尽勾留的西湖——未能抛得杭州去，那「未能抛得杭州去」写尽杭州的去留——未能抛得杭州去，正是抛不去杭州的写照，那「杭州去」写尽勾留的西湖；一半勾留是此湖，那「一半勾留是此湖」写尽勾留的西湖——一半勾留是此湖，正是半为西湖的写照，那「是此湖」写尽勾留的西湖；那「未能抛得杭州去」写尽杭州的去留，那「一半勾留是此湖」写尽勾留的西湖，一写杭州，一写此湖，写尽勾留的西湖——抛不去杭州而半为西湖，正是眷恋的写照；此二句以杭州、此湖写尽勾留的西湖，也让此二句成为全诗写眷恋的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「舍不得离开杭州，一半的原因是留恋这西湖」，则失其情味；唯以「未能抛得杭州去」写杭州去、「一半勾留是此湖」写是此湖，写尽勾留的西湖，也让此二句成为全诗写眷恋的核心。

Bai Juyi's farewell to Hangzhou confesses attachment in percentages. I cannot bring myself to leave: the admission is that the decision is beyond his will. Half of what keeps me is this lake—the arithmetic is charming, since it leaves the other half to the rest of the city, and the lake by itself claims fifty percent. The modesty of the fraction makes the love more believable than any wholehearted declaration. It is the closing of his governorship, and the line has become the classical way to say West Lake holds a visitor. To have said I was reluctant to leave Hangzhou would be vague; the half attributed to the lake is the precise affection.

松排山面千重翠，月点波心一颗珠

Pines rank the mountain faces in a thousand folds of green, a moon sets a pearl in the heart of the waves.

松排山面千重翠，月点波心一颗珠。

Pines rank the hillside in a thousand folds of green; the moon dots the heart of the waves like a single pearl.

此二句是全诗写湖景的核心，以松排山面千重翠写千重翠，以月点波心一颗珠写一颗珠，写尽千重的翠松，是千古名句。「松排山面千重翠」写松排山面千重翠——那「松排山面」写松排山面，「千重翠」写千重翠，写尽千重的翠松；「月点波心一颗珠」写月点波心一颗珠——那「月点波心」写月点波心，「一颗珠」写一颗珠，写尽波心的明珠。这句的深意在于：它以「松排山面千重翠」的千重翠与「月点波心一颗珠」的一颗珠，写尽千重的翠松——松排山面千重翠，那「松排山面千重翠」写尽千重的翠松——松排山面千重翠，正是松列山面的写照，那「千重翠」写尽千重的翠松；月点波心一颗珠，那「月点波心一颗珠」写尽波心的明珠——月点波心一颗珠，正是月映波心的写照，那「一颗珠」写尽千重的翠松；那「松排山面千重翠」写尽千重的翠松，那「月点波心一颗珠」写尽波心的明珠，一写翠松，一写明月，写尽千重的翠松——松列千重而月照波心，正是湖景的写照；此二句以翠松、明月写尽千重的翠松，也为下文的早稻作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写湖景的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「松树排列在山面重重叠叠的翠绿，月亮点在波心像一颗明珠」，则失其比喻；唯以「松排山面千重翠」写千重翠、「月点波心一颗珠」写一颗珠，写尽千重的翠松，也让此二句成为全诗写湖景的核心。

The couplet is a diptych of mountain and water. Pines rank the hillside in a thousand folds of green—the verb rank suggests rows on rows of ordered trees, layer upon layer up the slope. Then the moon: a single pearl dotted at the heart of the waves. The two images are counted against each other—a thousand folds of green against one pearl—and the small bright object against the vast dark hills is the classic West Lake picture. The verb dot is the exquisite touch: the moon is a point placed on the moving water as deliberately as a jeweller setting a stone. To have said the hills were green and the moon reflected in the water would lose both counting and the gem.

Study

Word focus

排 In 'Pines rank the mountain faces in a thousand folds of green,' pai means to arrange in ranks, and suggests both the orderly planting of the pines and the layering of their green — a single word that sets the mountain in order. Reed as 'ranking' rather than 'growing' is what makes the couplet read as a designed scene rather than a natural one. (About 30 words) 「松排山面千重翠」之「排」字是写湖景的关键词，一个「排」字写尽千重的翠松。排者，排列、排布也。白居易以「松排山面千重翠」写湖景，这个「排」字至少有双重意味：其一，写松之排——那「松排山面千重翠」写松排山面千重翠，那「排」字写尽千重的翠松——松排山面，正是松列山面的写照，那「排」字写尽千重的翠松；其二，写景之盛——那「排」字更是写盛——排，正见松林茂盛的排列，那「排」字写尽白居易的写景。以「排」字写湖景，正是白居易写眷恋的枢纽——若换作「列」「植」等字，则或失其与「松」「山面千重翠」的配合，或失其写排的意味；唯「排」字，以松排山面千重翠写尽松林之排列与翠色之千重，与「月点波心一颗珠」的明珠相合，写尽千重的翠松，也让「松排山面千重翠」成为全诗写湖景的名句。

勾 In 'half of my lingering is for this lake,' gou means to hook or catch, and gives lingering its passive, involuntary quality: the poet is caught by the lake rather than choosing to stay. It is a deliberately unpoetic, colleague-word choice that lends the confession its plainness and its weight. (About 30 words) 「一半勾留是此湖」之「勾」字是写眷恋的关键词，一个「勾」字写尽勾留的西湖。勾者，勾引、勾留也。白居易以「一半勾留是此湖」写眷恋，这个「勾」字至少有双重意味：其一，写留之勾——那「一半勾留是此湖」写一半勾留是此湖，那「勾」字写尽勾留的西湖——勾留，正是勾住停留的写照，那「勾」字写尽勾留的西湖；其二，写情之恋——那「勾」字更是写恋——勾，正见湖光勾人的眷恋，那「勾」字写尽白居易的眷恋。以「勾」字写眷恋，正是白居易写景的枢纽——若换作「留」「恋」等字，则或失其与「一半勾留」「是此湖」的配合，或失其写勾的意味；唯「勾」字，以一半勾留是此湖写尽湖光之勾留与留连之眷恋，与「未能抛得杭州去」的杭州相合，写尽勾留的西湖，也让「一半勾留是此湖」成为全诗写眷恋的名句。