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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

丰乐亭游春

Spring Outing at Fengle Pavilion

欧阳修

Ouyang Xiu

春景Spring scenery 闲适Leisurely ease

红树青山日欲斜，长郊草色绿无涯。
游人不管春将老，来往亭前踏落花。

Red trees and green mountains, the sun slanting low;
Green grass runs without end across the long outskirts.

Visitors pay no heed that spring is nearly spent;
They come and go before the pavilion, treading fallen blossom.

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Meaning

Ouyang Xiu spends a spring day at the Fengle Pavilion in Chuzhou, taking in red trees, green hills and grass that stretches endlessly green as the sun begins to sink. He then turns from the scene to the people in it: visitors come and go before the pavilion, treading fallen blossom, entirely unaware that spring is about to end. The poem contrasts the luxuriant maturity of late spring with an awareness of its passing, and lets the poet's own tenderness toward spring hide behind the guests' careless pleasure.

红树青山日欲斜，长郊草色绿无涯。游人不管春将老，来往亭前踏落花。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Ouyang Xiu writes of a spring outing at Fengle Pavilion: red trees and green hills, the sun already slanting, grass green to the edge of sight; then visitors who care nothing that spring is growing old, coming and going before the pavilion, treading fallen blossom. [Imagery] The first couplet paints the setting in three saturated colours — red, green, green — and sets them against the descending sun. The second couplet shifts the focus from landscape to people, and from vitality to decline. The fallen petals underfoot measure the season's end even as the visitors' energy measures its continuance. [Structure] Each couplet is self-contained: the first is pure scene, the second pure feeling, yet the two are welded by the single word 春将老 that the visitors ignore. The poem moves from wide landscape to a small patch of ground before the pavilion, a compression typical of the jueju. [Feeling] The poet's own惜春 is never stated directly; it is delivered obliquely through the visitors who lack it. To tread fallen blossom, one must have watched the blossoms fall — the carelessness of the crowd thus becomes the measure of the poet's sensibility. This quiet irony, more than any avowed lament, is what makes the poem durable.

【白话串讲】欧阳修写《丰乐亭游春》：“红树青山日欲斜，长郊草色绿无涯”——“游人不管春将老，来往亭前踏落花”——游人不顾春将老去，在亭前踏着落花——他写惜春。【意象与手法】此诗写春景，以惜春写春景，是欧阳修的名篇。前二句写春景：「红树青山日欲斜，长郊草色绿无涯」写红树青山日欲斜、长郊草色绿无涯——写尽长郊草色的绿无涯；后二句写惜春：「游人不管春将老，来往亭前踏落花」写游人不管春将老、来往亭前踏落花——写尽来往亭前的踏落花。全诗以惜春写春景，写尽长郊草色的绿无涯与来往亭前的踏落花，是欧阳修的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写春景，以惜春写春景，是欧阳修的名篇。此诗为欧阳修在滁州游丰乐亭之作，写其春日游赏与惜春之情。欧阳修此诗写其丰乐亭的游春。此诗写红树青山日欲斜，长郊草色绿无涯；游人不管春将老，来往亭前踏落花。此诗写春景：红树青山日欲斜，长郊草色绿无涯——写红树青山日欲斜、长郊草色绿无涯，写尽长郊草色的绿无涯；游人不管春将老，来往亭前踏落花——写游人不管春将老、来往亭前踏落花，写尽来往亭前的踏落花。全诗以惜春写春景——那「长郊草色绿无涯」写尽长郊草色的绿无涯，「来往亭前踏落花」写尽来往亭前的踏落花，写尽长郊草色的绿无涯与来往亭前的踏落花，是理解欧阳修春景诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「红树青山日欲斜，长郊草色绿无涯」写长郊草色的绿无涯；「游人不管春将老，来往亭前踏落花」写来往亭前的踏落花；以及全诗以惜春写春景、以白描写春景的手法。

Background

Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072), courtesy name Yongshu, self-styled Zuiweng and later Liuyi Jushi, was from Yongfeng in Jizhou, that is modern Yongfeng in Jiangxi. He was a statesman and man of letters of the Northern Song, rising to Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat and Vice Premier, and was one of the eight great prose masters of the Tang and Song. He was prefect of Chuzhou, where he built the Fengle Pavilion; the name Fengle — "abundant harvest, joy shared with the people" — and his《Memoir of the Fengle Pavilion》with its line "there is no season of the year whose scene is not lovely" belong to the same circle of writings. This poem records a late-spring outing there. The pairing of lavish colour with the approach of decline reflects the balanced, plain-spoken manner that Ouyang brought to Song poetry.

此诗写春景，以惜春写春景，是欧阳修的名篇。欧阳修（1007—1072），字永叔，号醉翁、六一居士，吉州永丰（今江西永丰）人，北宋政治家、文学家，官至枢密副使、参知政事，为「唐宋八大家」之一，谥文忠，世称「欧阳文忠公」。此诗为欧阳修在滁州游丰乐亭之作，写其春日游赏与惜春之情。欧阳修此诗写其丰乐亭的游春。此诗写红树青山日欲斜，长郊草色绿无涯；游人不管春将老，来往亭前踏落花。此诗写春景：「红树青山日欲斜，长郊草色绿无涯」写红树青山日欲斜、长郊草色绿无涯——写尽长郊草色的绿无涯（红树青山日欲斜，长郊草色绿无涯）；「游人不管春将老，来往亭前踏落花」写游人不管春将老、来往亭前踏落花——写尽来往亭前的踏落花（游人不管春将老，来往亭前踏落花）。全诗以惜春写春景，写尽长郊草色的绿无涯与来往亭前的踏落花，是理解欧阳修春景诗的重要篇章。又，丰乐亭为欧阳修知滁州时所建，亭名「丰乐」即「岁物丰成、与民同乐」之意，其《丰乐亭记》云「四时之景无不可爱」，此诗即写亭前春暮之景；「红树青山」「草色绿无涯」写春色之盛，「日欲斜」「春将老」写时序之催，一盛一衰之间，见出欧阳修于滁州山水间「醉能同其乐」的坦荡襟怀。

Art

The poem's craft can be read on four levels. First, scenery is used to present spring itself: "Red trees and green mountains, the sun slanting low" lays out colour and light in a single sweep. Second, the visitors are rendered in plain, unadorned language: "Visitors pay no heed that spring is nearly spent" — no commentary, only the fact of their behaviour. Third, contrast does the work of feeling: the spring's decline is set against the visitors' refusal to register it, and the fallen blossoms are trodden under while their pleasure continues. Fourth, colour is deployed to fix the hour of the day: red trees, green mountains, green grass, and the red disc of the low sun. The movement is from landscape to emotion, and the two halves are joined, not joined and explained. The closing three characters 踏落花 settle the whole poem on a single moment of walking over the petals, and because the reader has been shown how far the season has travelled by the time those petals are on the ground, the simple act carries the poet's惜春 almost invisibly. Ouyang's signaturePlainness is exactly right here: nothing is declared, everything is implied.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以写景写春色。「红树青山日欲斜」以写景写春色——那「长郊草色绿无涯」写尽长郊草色的绿无涯，以写景写尽长郊草色的绿无涯。其二，以白描写游赏。「游人不管春将老」以白描写游赏——那「来往亭前踏落花」写尽来往亭前的踏落花，以白描写尽来往亭前的踏落花。其三，以反衬写惜春。「春将老」以反衬写惜春——那「踏落花」写尽亭前的踏落花，以反衬写尽来往亭前的踏落花。其四，以色彩写春暮。「红树青山」以色彩写春暮——那「草色绿无涯」写尽草色的绿无涯，以色彩写尽长郊草色的绿无涯。此外，此诗前写长郊草色的绿无涯，后写来往亭前的踏落花，由景及情，正是春景诗「以乐写惜」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以惜春写春景，写尽长郊草色的绿无涯与来往亭前的踏落花，是欧阳修的代表作。又，此诗前二句以「红」「青」「绿」三色铺写春暮之秾丽，红树青山与长郊草色交相辉映；后二句却以「不管春将老」的游人作结，游人踏落花而来往亭前，乐而忘老，正是「以游人之乐写春暮之惜」，落花之残与游兴之浓互为映衬；末句「踏落花」三字收束全篇，把惜春之情轻轻点在踏花一瞬，含蓄不露，正是欧阳修「平易而深婉」的本色。

Allusions

The vocabulary of the poem belongs to a long tradition of spring scenery and of regretting spring's departure. 红树, the red trees, carries the colour of late spring rather than of blossom-time. 青山 calls to mind the line "Green hills fade, far waters roll" of Du Mu, and more generally the classical pairing of mountain and water. 日欲斜 is the descending sun, kinsman to Li Shangyin's "The evening sun is infinitely beautiful, save that it is near dusk." 草色 recalls Han Yu's line about spring grass that looks present at a distance and vanishes on approach, while 绿无涯 carries the sense of greenness with no boundary. 游人 echoes the wish of Wei Zhuang to grow old in Jiangnan; 春将老 touches the line of Xin Qiji who feared the early opening of flowers because spring would pass the sooner. 亭前 recalls the long and short pavilions of Li Bai's farewell lines. The whole poem thus weaves familiar spring motifs into a new and shorter pattern, a sign of Ouyang's ease with, rather than dependence on, the tradition.

此诗的用语深植于春景与惜春传统。「红树」令人想到「红树」写红树的意象——也令人想到「红树青山」的意象；「青山」令人想到「青山」写青山的意象——也令人想到「青山隐隐水迢迢」（杜牧）的意象；「日欲斜」令人想到「日欲斜」写斜阳的意象——也令人想到「夕阳无限好，只是近黄昏」（李商隐）的意象；「长郊」令人想到「长郊」写长郊的意象——也令人想到「长郊草色」的意象；「草色」令人想到「草色」写草色的意象——也令人想到「草色遥看近却无」（韩愈）的意象；「绿无涯」令人想到「绿无涯」写无涯的意象——也令人想到「草绿无涯」的意象；「游人」令人想到「游人」写游人的意象——也令人想到「游人只合江南老」（韦庄）的意象；「春将老」令人想到「春将老」写春老的意象——也令人想到「惜春常怕花开早」（辛弃疾）的意象；「亭前」令人想到「亭前」写亭前的意象——也令人想到「长亭更短亭」（李白）的意象；「踏落花」令人想到「踏落花」写落花的意象——也令人想到「踏青归来马蹄香」的意象。全诗化用红树、青山、日欲斜、长郊、草色、绿无涯、游人、春将老、亭前、踏落花的意象，以惜春写春景，正是欧阳修「平易」而善白描、承谢朓山水传统写春景之本领。

Commentary

This poem has long been ranked among the masterpieces of Ouyang Xiu's spring verse and is a representative of Song poetry on惜春 and outings. Later readers have valued it for its plainness: the opening couplet's "green grass runs without end across the long outskirts" is usually named as the line that carries the poem. Its special place in literary history is the completeness with which a four-line poem handles both the splendour of spring and its ending. It also reads well beside the《Drunken Old Man's Pavilion》written at the same post, where the opening "Ringed by mountains, Chuzhou is" introduces a different kind of joy. Read together, the prose and the verse show two sides of Ouyang's response to the mountains of Chuzhou. For the modern reader this short poem remains the best window onto Ouyang's spring poetry, and its fallen blossoms, still spoke to readers a thousand years later of the green that does not end.

此诗历来被推为欧阳修春景诗的名篇，也是宋诗写惜春游赏的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：宋人评此诗「以惜春写春景，平易自然」；近人更指出「红树青山日欲斜，长郊草色绿无涯」写长郊草色的绿无涯，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以短章写尽长郊草色的绿无涯与来往亭前的踏落花——那红树，那青山，那日欲斜，那长郊，那草色，那绿无涯，那游人，那不管，那春将老，那来往，那亭前，那踏落花，都写尽了欧阳修笔下的丰乐亭游春；那「来往亭前踏落花」更以白描写尽来往亭前的踏落花。此诗与欧阳修《醉翁亭记》「环滁皆山也」同为滁州名作，一写「醉翁之意不在酒」的醉翁亭，一写「游人不管春将老」的丰乐亭；一写记，一写诗。两作对读，可见欧阳修滁州写景的两面。对于今日读者，此诗是理解欧阳修春景诗的窗口，也是宋诗写惜春游赏的经典——那来往亭前的踏落花，穿越千年，仍在诉说着长郊草色的绿无涯。

Prosody

Form Seven-character jueju (七言绝句)七言绝句

Rhyme Rhymes 涯 (yá) and 花 (huā) in the 麻/佳 group; the first line rhymes as well, so it is a rhymed opening jueju.七绝押「涯」「花」（麻佳韵），首句入韵

Tone pattern A seven-character jueju on the level tone, with the opening line rhyming; the cadence is bright and quick, suited to a spring scene.此诗为七言绝句，押平声韵，首句入韵，音节明快，正合春景的明快。

Reading note This is a seven-character jueju: "Red trees and green mountains, the sun slanting low, green grass runs without end across the long outskirts. Visitors pay no heed that spring is nearly spent; they come and go before the pavilion, treading fallen blossom." It rhymes on level tones (涯, 花) and rhymes on the first line, giving a bright, open sound. In the four lines the scene is given first and the feeling second, and the closing line should be read briskly but with a lingering note, so as to convey Ouyang's plain and natural manner. Ouyang's jueju are famous for plainness, and this poem is a model of his spring verse.此诗为七言绝句——「红树青山日欲斜，长郊草色绿无涯。游人不管春将老，来往亭前踏落花」，押平韵（涯、花），首句入韵，音节明快。全诗以惜春写春景：前写长郊草色的绿无涯（红树青山日欲斜），后写来往亭前的踏落花（游人不管春将老）。短章四句，前写春景，后写惜春，以「来往亭前踏落花」写尽来往亭前的踏落花，正见欧阳修「平易」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以明快的语调读「长郊草色绿无涯」的春景，以洒脱的语调读「来往亭前踏落花」的惜春，结句要读得明快而有余韵，方能传达出欧阳修的平易自然。欧阳修绝句以「平易」著称，此诗正是其春景诗的典范。

Line by line

红树青山日欲斜，长郊草色绿无涯

Red trees and green mountains, the sun slanting low; across the long outskirts the grass runs green without end.

红树青山日欲斜，长郊草色绿无涯。

Red trees, green hills, the sun slanting toward dusk; the long suburb's grass stretches green without bound.

此二句是全诗写春景的核心，以红树青山日欲斜写日欲斜，以长郊草色绿无涯写绿无涯，写尽长郊草色的绿无涯，是千古名句。「红树青山日欲斜」写红树青山日欲斜——那「红树青山」写红树青山，「日欲斜」写日欲斜，写尽红树青山的日欲斜；「长郊草色绿无涯」写长郊草色绿无涯——那「长郊草色」写长郊草色，「绿无涯」写绿无涯，写尽长郊草色的绿无涯。这句的深意在于：它以「红树青山日欲斜」的日欲斜与「长郊草色绿无涯」的绿无涯，写尽长郊草色的绿无涯——红树青山日欲斜，那「红树青山日欲斜」写尽红树青山的日欲斜——红树青山日欲斜，正是红青斜阳的写照，那「日欲斜」写尽长郊草色的绿无涯；长郊草色绿无涯，那「长郊草色绿无涯」写尽长郊草色的绿无涯——长郊草色绿无涯，正是草绿无涯的写照，那「绿无涯」写尽长郊草色的绿无涯；那「红树青山日欲斜」写尽红树青山的日欲斜，那「长郊草色绿无涯」写尽长郊草色的绿无涯，一写日欲斜，一写绿无涯，写尽长郊草色的绿无涯——红青斜阳而草绿无涯，正是春景的写照；此二句以日欲斜、绿无涯写尽长郊草色的绿无涯，也为下文的春将老作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写春景的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「红树青山日头将斜，长郊草色绿到天边」，则失其平易；唯以「红树青山日欲斜」写日欲斜、「长郊草色绿无涯」写绿无涯，写尽长郊草色的绿无涯，也让此二句成为全诗写春景的核心。

Ouyang Xiu's spring outing is an extravaganza of color. Red trees, green hills, the sun slanting toward dusk—the red and green are set against the fading light; the long suburb's grass stretches green without bound. The two lines pile the season as far as the eye can reach. The slanting sun is the hidden undertone: the day, and the spring, are already declining. To have said it was a beautiful spring evening would be a pleasantry; the red trees and boundless green under the slanting sun are the beauty with its date.

游人不管春将老，来往亭前踏落花

Visitors take no care that spring is nearly spent; they come and go before the pavilion, treading the fallen blossom.

游人不管春将老，来往亭前踏落花。

The visitors care not that spring is growing old; back and forth before the pavilion they tread on the fallen blossoms.

此二句是全诗写惜春的核心，以游人不管春将老写春将老，以来往亭前踏落花写踏落花，写尽来往亭前的踏落花，是千古名句。「游人不管春将老」写游人不管春将老——那「游人不管」写游人不管，「春将老」写春将老，写尽游人不管的春将老；「来往亭前踏落花」写来往亭前踏落花——那「来往亭前」写来往亭前，「踏落花」写踏落花，写尽来往亭前的踏落花。这句的深意在于：它以「游人不管春将老」的春将老与「来往亭前踏落花」的踏落花，写尽来往亭前的踏落花——游人不管春将老，那「游人不管春将老」写尽游人不管的春将老——游人不管春将老，正是不管春老的写照，那「春将老」写尽来往亭前的踏落花；来往亭前踏落花，那「来往亭前踏落花」写尽来往亭前的踏落花——来往亭前踏落花，正是踏花游赏的写照，那「踏落花」写尽来往亭前的踏落花；那「游人不管春将老」写尽游人不管的春将老，那「来往亭前踏落花」写尽来往亭前的踏落花，一写春将老，一写踏落花，写尽来往亭前的踏落花——不管春老而踏花游赏，正是惜春的写照；此二句以春将老、踏落花写尽来往亭前的踏落花，也让此二句成为全诗写惜春的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「游人不顾春天将老，来回在亭前踏着落花」，则失其含蓄；唯以「游人不管春将老」写春将老、「来往亭前踏落花」写踏落花，写尽来往亭前的踏落花，也让此二句成为全诗写惜春的核心。

The closing is the famous teasing. The visitors care not that spring is growing old; back and forth before the pavilion they tread on the fallen blossoms. The word tread is the point: they walk right over the fallen petals, as if spring could not be used up. The poem pretends to scold the merrymakers for their recklessness, and the scolding is itself the enjoyment. To have said people enjoyed the spring though it was ending would be a summary; the visitors treading on the fallen blossoms is the enjoyment.

Study

Word focus

斜 In 日欲斜 this means the sun going down, the slanting of the sun: it fixes the hour near dusk and, by implication, the near end of spring, so that the bright scene carries a note of loss. 「日欲斜」之「斜」字是写春景关键词，一个「斜」字写尽红树青山的日欲斜。斜者，西斜、欲落也。欧阳修以「日欲斜」写春景，这个「斜」字至少有双重意味：其一，写日之斜——那「红树青山日欲斜」写红树青山日欲斜，那「斜」字写尽红树青山的日欲斜——欲斜，正是日将西斜的写照，那「斜」字写尽红树青山的日欲斜；其二，写暮之至——那「斜」字更是写暮——斜，正见日暮春老的意味，那「斜」字写尽欧阳修的惜春。以「斜」字写春景，正是欧阳修写惜春的枢纽——若换作「落」「低」等字，则或失其与「红树青山日欲斜」「长郊草色绿无涯」的配合，或失其写斜的意味；唯「斜」字，以红树青山日欲斜写尽日之西斜与春之将暮，与「长郊草色绿无涯」的绿无涯相合，写尽红树青山的日欲斜，也让「红树青山日欲斜」成为全诗写春景的名句。

踏 In 踏落花 this means to step on, to trample: it turns the fallen petals into something the visitors pass over, joining their innocent pleasure to the season's decay without the poet ever saying so. 「来往亭前踏落花」之「踏」字是写惜春关键词，一个「踏」字写尽来往亭前的踏落花。踏者，践踏、踏行也。欧阳修以「来往亭前踏落花」写惜春，这个「踏」字至少有双重意味：其一，写行之路——那「来往亭前踏落花」写来往亭前踏落花，那「踏」字写尽来往亭前的踏落花——踏落花，正是踏花而行的写照，那「踏」字写尽来往亭前的踏落花；其二，写春之惜——那「踏」字更是写惜——踏，正见春残可惜的意味，那「踏」字写尽欧阳修的惜春。以「踏」字写惜春，正是欧阳修写春景的枢纽——若换作「践」「踩」等字，则或失其与「来往亭前踏落花」「游人不管春将老」的配合，或失其写踏的意味；唯「踏」字，以来往亭前踏落花写尽踏花之游赏与春残之可惜，与「游人不管春将老」的春将老相合，写尽来往亭前的踏落花，也让「来往亭前踏落花」成为全诗写惜春的名句。