All poems

宋 Song · 诗 Poem

感旧

Reflections on the Past (Gan Jiu)

陆游

Lu You

感慨Moved by the past / Meditations 怀旧Nostalgia

当年书剑揖三公，谈舌如云气吐虹。
十丈战尘孤壮志，一簪华发醉秋风。
梦回松漠榆关外，身老桑村麦野中。
奇士久埋巴硖骨，灯前慷慨与谁同。

In those years I bowed, book and sword, before the Three Dukes;
My tongue flowed like cloud, my breath drew a rainbow.
Ten paces of battle dust orphaned a noble heart;
One hairpin of white hair set me drunk against the autumn wind.

The dream returns beyond the pine plains and the passes;
My body grows old among mulberry villages and wheat fields.
Long have the strange heroes mouldered in the Ba gorges;
Before the lamp, who shares this慷慨 of mine?

Listen

Meaning

Lu You looks back on his early years, when with book and sword he presented himself before the highest ministers and spoke with the force of a rainbow. He sets that against the present: a lone aspiration buried under ten feet of war dust, one pin of white hair, a dream that returns to the frontier while the body ages in a farming village. The poem closes on the heroes already dead and buried in the Ba gorges, leaving the poet alone with his compassion before the lamp at night.

当年书剑揖三公，谈舌如云气吐虹。十丈战尘孤壮志，一簪华发醉秋风。梦回松漠榆关外，身老桑村麦野中。奇士久埋巴硖骨，灯前慷慨与谁同。

Appreciation

[Structure] The octave is built on a single movement from the past to the present. The first four lines recall the years of ambitious service; the last four lay down the debt those years left. The two central couplets carry the turning — from the language of the courtroom to the language of the road. [Imagery] The contrasts are deliberately blunt: cloud and rainbow against dust and pin of white hair; pine plains and frontier passes against mulberry fields and wheat; a gathering of famous guests against a lamp with no companion. Very little is described and much is implied. [Diction] Two single characters do the whole poem's work. 孤 makes the lofty aspiration orphaned and unsupported, so that courage and isolation arrive together. 同 turns the closing question into a complaint about the present: no one at all shares what is still alive in him. [Feeling] This is not regret spoken for its own sake but a grief for what has been lost in public — an age of heroes, a circle of friends, a cause. Lu You's complaint is that the grandeur of the past has been buried elsewhere, in the Ba gorges, while he simply grows old.

【白话串讲】陆游写《感旧》：“当年书剑揖三公，谈舌如云气吐虹”——“十丈战尘孤壮志，一簪华发醉秋风”——“梦回松漠榆关外，身老桑村麦野中”——“奇士久埋巴硖骨，灯前慷慨与谁同”——他怀旧——灯前慷慨与谁同。【意象与手法】此诗写感慨，以怀旧写感慨，是陆游的名篇。前四句写当年：「当年书剑揖三公，谈舌如云气吐虹。十丈战尘孤壮志，一簪华发醉秋风」写当年书剑揖三公、谈舌如云气吐虹——写尽当年的豪情；后四句写感慨：「梦回松漠榆关外，身老桑村麦野中。奇士久埋巴硖骨，灯前慷慨与谁同」写梦回松漠榆关外、身老桑村麦野中——写尽身老的麦野。全诗以怀旧写感慨，写尽当年的豪情与身老的麦野，是陆游的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写感慨，以怀旧写感慨，是陆游的名篇。此诗为陆游晚年感怀旧事而作，追忆当年从军论政的豪情，感叹英雄老去、故人凋零。陆游早年曾入蜀从军，意气风发；晚年退居山阴，感怀旧友。此诗写当年书剑揖三公，谈舌如云气吐虹；十丈战尘孤壮志，一簪华发醉秋风；梦回松漠榆关外，身老桑村麦野中；奇士久埋巴硖骨，灯前慷慨与谁同。此诗写当年：当年书剑揖三公，谈舌如云气吐虹——写当年书剑揖三公、谈舌如云气吐虹，写尽当年的豪情；十丈战尘孤壮志，一簪华发醉秋风——写十丈战尘孤壮志、一簪华发醉秋风，写尽孤寂的壮志；梦回松漠榆关外，身老桑村麦野中——写梦回松漠榆关外、身老桑村麦野中，写尽身老的麦野；奇士久埋巴硖骨，灯前慷慨与谁同——写奇士久埋巴硖骨、灯前慷慨与谁同，写尽灯前的慷慨。全诗以怀旧写感慨——那「谈舌如云气吐虹」写尽当年的豪情，「灯前慷慨与谁同」写尽灯前的慷慨，写尽当年的豪情与身老的麦野，是理解陆游感慨诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「当年书剑揖三公，谈舌如云气吐虹」写当年的豪情；「梦回松漠榆关外，身老桑村麦野中」写身老的麦野；以及全诗以怀旧写感慨、以对照写今昔的手法。

Background

Lu You (1125–1210), courtesy name Wuguan, self-styled Fangweng, was from Shan Yin in Yuezhou, that is modern Shaoxing in Zhejiang. He was a poet, historian and patriot of the Southern Song, and one of the most productive poets in Chinese literary history. In his early years he went to Shu and served in the army, an experience whose memory recurred in his later writing; in old age he retired to live in the countryside. This poem was written in old age, when looking back had turned into complaint: the memory of the bold years in the south, the white hair, the dream of the frontier and the friends already dead. His《Book of Wrath》of the same period is the other well-known poem of the same sensibility.

此诗写感慨，以怀旧写感慨，是陆游的名篇。陆游（1125—1210），字务观，号放翁，越州山阴（今浙江绍兴）人，南宋文学家、史学家、爱国诗人。此诗为陆游晚年感怀旧事而作，追忆当年从军论政的豪情，感叹英雄老去、故人凋零。陆游早年曾入蜀从军，意气风发；晚年退居山阴，感怀旧友。此诗写当年书剑揖三公，谈舌如云气吐虹；十丈战尘孤壮志，一簪华发醉秋风；梦回松漠榆关外，身老桑村麦野中；奇士久埋巴硖骨，灯前慷慨与谁同。此诗写当年：「当年书剑揖三公，谈舌如云气吐虹」写当年书剑揖三公、谈舌如云气吐虹——写尽当年的豪情（当年书剑揖三公，谈舌如云气吐虹）；「十丈战尘孤壮志，一簪华发醉秋风」写十丈战尘孤壮志、一簪华发醉秋风——写尽孤寂的壮志（十丈战尘孤壮志，一簪华发醉秋风）；「梦回松漠榆关外，身老桑村麦野中」写梦回松漠榆关外、身老桑村麦野中——写尽身老的麦野（梦回松漠榆关外，身老桑村麦野中）；「奇士久埋巴硖骨，灯前慷慨与谁同」写奇士久埋巴硖骨、灯前慷慨与谁同——写尽灯前的慷慨（奇士久埋巴硖骨，灯前慷慨与谁同）。全诗以怀旧写感慨，写尽当年的豪情与身老的麦野，是理解陆游感慨诗的重要篇章。

Art

The poem works in four movements, each of which could be named. It recalls the past: "In those years I bowed, book and sword, before the Three Dukes," and the glory of that hour is carried entirely by the image of a tongue like cloud and a breath like a rainbow. It sets the present against that past, the dust of tenft of battle and the single hairpin of white hair. It moves from the outer to the inner world: the dream returns beyond the pine plains and the passes, while the body ages among mulberry fields and wheat. It closes with a question rather than a statement, and a question, since there is no answer, does the work of a lament. Two details show Lu You's habit of compression. The character 醉 in "One hairpin of white hair set me drunk against the autumn wind" binds drunkenness to old age in a single image, so that the whole season is felt in one gesture. 梦回 in "The dream returns beyond the pine plains" lets the frontier be re-entered without ever being travelled to. The octosyllabic line, rhymed throughout on the same sound, keeps the tone level and unhurried, which is why the abrupt question at the end lands so hard.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以追忆写当年。「当年书剑揖三公」以追忆写当年——那「谈舌如云气吐虹」写尽当年的豪情，以追忆写尽当年的豪情。其二，以对照写今昔。「十丈战尘孤壮志」以对照写今昔——那「一簪华发醉秋风」写尽华发的秋风，以对照写尽孤寂的壮志。其三，以梦境写关塞。「梦回松漠榆关外」以梦境写关塞——那「松漠榆关」写尽松漠的榆关，以梦境写尽身老的麦野。其四，以设问写慷慨。「灯前慷慨与谁同」以设问写慷慨——那「与谁同」写尽灯前的慷慨，以设问写尽灯前的慷慨。此外，此诗前四句写当年的豪情，后四句写身老的麦野，由昔及今，正是感慨诗「以今写昔」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以怀旧写感慨，写尽当年的豪情与身老的麦野，是陆游的代表作。此诗还善于以「一簪华发醉秋风」的「醉」字写华发之醉——那「一簪华发」写尽一簪的华发，正是以醉写秋，以「醉」字写尽华发的秋风。又善以「梦回松漠榆关外」的「梦回」写梦回之关塞——梦回松漠榆关外，正见梦萦关塞的深慨，以「梦回」写尽身老的麦野。

Allusions

The language grows out of the tradition of writing on the past and of nostalgia. 书剑, book and sword, stands for letters and arms together, and carries the sense of a life begun with both; 书剑飘零 is the phrase for such a life going nowhere. 三公, the Three Dukes, are the highest ministers of the state, and to bow before them marks a beginning in public life of the first order. 气吐虹, breathing a rainbow, is the idiom for speech of heroic force; 气贯长虹 is its famous relative. 战尘, the dust of battle, continues the line of Du Fu's "Beacons have burned for three months without end." 松漠 refers to the Anxi Protectorate established in the Zhenguan era, and 榆关, the elm pass, points to the northwest frontier. 巴硖, the gorges of Ba, recall Li Shangyin's "night rain on Ba mountain." Heroes already taken away and men growing old in wheat fields are the two standard postures of this poetry of feeling.

此诗的用语深植于感慨与怀旧传统。「书剑」令人想到「书剑」写文才武略的意象——也令人想到「书剑飘零」的意象；「三公」令人想到「三公」写三公的意象——也令人想到「位列三公」的意象；「气吐虹」令人想到「气吐虹」写气概如虹的意象——也令人想到「气贯长虹」的意象；「战尘」令人想到「战尘」写战尘的意象——也令人想到「烽火连三月」（杜甫）的意象；「松漠」令人想到「松漠」写松漠都督府的意象——唐贞观年间设，也令人想到「榆关」的意象；「巴硖」令人想到「巴硖」写巴峡的意象——也令人想到「巴山夜雨」（李商隐）的意象。全诗化用书剑、三公、气吐虹、战尘、松漠、巴硖的意象，以怀旧写感慨，正是陆游「沉郁」而善用典、承感慨传统写今昔之本领。「书剑」令人想到「书剑」写书剑的意象——也令人想到「学书学剑」的意象；「华发」令人想到「华发」写华发的意象——也令人想到「白了少年头」（岳飞）的意象，以华发写老去。「麦野」令人想到「麦野」写麦田旷野的意象——也令人想到「麦秀渐渐」的意象，以麦野写乡居。

Commentary

The poem has long been ranked among Lu You's finest meditations on the past and is representative of Song verse on the contrast between early promise and late decline. Later readers have singled out "Long have the strange heroes mouldered in the Ba gorges; before the lamp, who shares this慷慨 of mine?" as the line that carries the poem. Its place in literary history is as a document of a specific kind of loss: not personal misfortune but the disappearance of a whole generation of men who had shared a purpose. The poem also reads as a companion to the《Book of Wrath》, one writing "the iron horse and autumn wind of the Daxian pass" and the other writing the lamp at night; and it belongs to the same lineage as theci of the same author, where "my heart is still in the western sky, my body has grown old beside the sea." For the modern reader the poem is the best door onto Lu You's meditative verse.

此诗历来被推为陆游感慨诗的名篇，也是宋诗写怀旧今昔的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以怀旧写感慨，悲壮沉郁」；近人更指出「奇士久埋巴硖骨，灯前慷慨与谁同」写灯前的慷慨，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当年的豪情与身老的麦野——那当年，那书剑，那揖三公，那谈舌如云，那气吐虹，那十丈战尘，那孤壮志，那一簪华发，那醉秋风，那梦回，那松漠，那榆关外，那身老，那桑村，那麦野中，那奇士，那久埋，那巴硖骨，那灯前，那慷慨，那与谁同，都写尽了陆游笔下的感旧；那「灯前慷慨与谁同」更以设问写尽灯前的慷慨。此诗与陆游《书愤》（「早岁那知世事艰」）同为感慨名篇，一写「铁马秋风大散关」的壮志（书愤），一写「灯前慷慨与谁同」的感慨（感旧）；又与陆游《诉衷情·当年万里觅封侯》「胡未灭，鬓先秋」的怀旧一脉相承，可见南宋诗写怀旧今昔的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解陆游感慨诗的窗口，也是宋诗写怀旧今昔的经典——那灯前的慷慨，穿越千年，仍在诉说着身老的麦野。

Prosody

Form Poem · seven-character lüshi (七言律诗)诗·七言律诗

Rhyme An eight-line lüshi rhyming 公, 虹, 风, 中, 同 in the 一东 group, one rhyme sounded throughout; the cadence is solemn and sad.七律，押「公」「虹」「风」「中」「同」韵（上平一东），一韵到底，音节悲壮

Tone pattern A seven-character lüshi, rhymed on level tones and carried on a single rhyme from beginning to end; the cadence is grave, matching the mood.此诗为七言律诗，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节悲壮，正合感慨的悲壮。

Reading note This is a seven-character lüshi in eight lines — "In those years I bowed, book and sword, before the Three Dukes; my tongue flowed like cloud, my breath drew a rainbow..." — rhyming on the 东 sound (公, 虹, 风, 中, 同) and held on the same rhyme throughout, which gives the verse a long, unbroken, funereal breath. The first four lines deal with the early years and the last four with the present, and the whole is shaped by the question that ends it. Reading it, the early lines should be spoken with something of the force the poet once had, and the final couplet lowered, so that the complaint remains in the ear. Lu You's lüshi are famous for their depth and restraint, and this poem is a model of his meditative verse.此诗为七言律诗，八句——「当年书剑揖三公，谈舌如云气吐虹。十丈战尘孤壮志，一簪华发醉秋风。梦回松漠榆关外，身老桑村麦野中。奇士久埋巴硖骨，灯前慷慨与谁同」，押「东」韵（公、虹、风、中、同），一韵到底，音节悲壮。全诗以怀旧写感慨：前四句写当年的豪情（当年书剑揖三公、一簪华发醉秋风），后四句写身老的麦野（梦回松漠榆关外、灯前慷慨与谁同）。八句短章，前写当年，后写感慨，以「灯前慷慨与谁同」写尽灯前的慷慨，正见陆游「沉郁」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以悲壮的语调读「谈舌如云气吐虹」的当年，以低回的语调读「灯前慷慨与谁同」的慷慨，结句要读得悲壮而有余韵，方能传达出陆游的悲壮沉郁。陆游律诗以「沉郁」著称，此诗正是其感慨诗的典范。

Line by line

奇士久埋巴硖骨，灯前慷慨与谁同

Long have the strange heroes mouldered in the Ba gorges; before the lamp, who shares this generosity of spirit?

奇士久埋巴硖骨，灯前慷慨与谁同。

The remarkable man has long been buried in the earth of Gorge Ba; before the lamp, my fervor—who shares it now?

此二句是全诗写感慨核心，以奇士久埋巴硖骨写巴硖骨，以灯前慷慨与谁同写与谁同，写尽灯前的慷慨，是千古名句。「奇士久埋巴硖骨」写奇士久埋巴硖骨——那「奇士久埋」写奇士久埋，「巴硖骨」写巴硖骨，写尽巴硖的骨埋；「灯前慷慨与谁同」写灯前慷慨与谁同——那「灯前慷慨」写灯前慷慨，「与谁同」写与谁同，写尽灯前的慷慨。这句的深意在于：它以「奇士久埋巴硖骨」的巴硖骨与「灯前慷慨与谁同」的与谁同，写尽灯前的慷慨——奇士久埋巴硖骨，那「奇士久埋巴硖骨」写尽巴硖的骨埋——奇士久埋巴硖骨，正是奇士埋骨的写照，那「巴硖骨」写尽灯前的慷慨；灯前慷慨与谁同，那「灯前慷慨与谁同」写尽灯前的慷慨——灯前慷慨与谁同，正是慷慨无与的写照，那「与谁同」写尽灯前的慷慨；那「奇士久埋巴硖骨」写尽巴硖的骨埋，那「灯前慷慨与谁同」写尽灯前的慷慨，一写奇士，一写灯前，写尽灯前的慷慨——奇士埋骨而灯前独慨，正是怀旧的写照；此二句以奇士、灯前写尽灯前的慷慨，也让此二句成为全诗写感慨核心与千古名句。若换作直说「奇士的骸骨早已埋在巴峡，灯前慷慨又有谁与我相同」，则失其悲壮；唯以「奇士久埋巴硖骨」写巴硖骨、「灯前慷慨与谁同」写与谁同，写尽灯前的慷慨，也让此二句成为全诗写感慨核心。

Lu You remembers a dead friend. The remarkable man has long been buried in the earth of Gorge Ba—the friend, a kindred spirit, has been dust in the far gorges for years; before the lamp, my fervor—who shares it now? The question is the elegy: the old man still burns with the old enthusiasms, and the one man who would have understood them is in his grave. To have said I missed my dead friend would be grief; the fervor before the lamp with no one to share it is the grief.

当年书剑揖三公，谈舌如云气吐虹

In those years I bowed, book and sword, before the Three Dukes; my tongue flowed like cloud and my breath drew a rainbow.

当年书剑揖三公，谈舌如云气吐虹。

In those years, with sword and book, I bowed to the Three Dukes; my talk poured out like clouds, my breath like rainbows.

此二句是全诗写当年的核心，以当年书剑揖三公写揖三公，以谈舌如云气吐虹写气吐虹，写尽当年的豪情，是千古名句。「当年书剑揖三公」写当年书剑揖三公——那「当年书剑」写当年书剑，「揖三公」写揖三公，写尽书剑的当年；「谈舌如云气吐虹」写谈舌如云气吐虹——那「谈舌如云」写谈舌如云，「气吐虹」写气吐虹，写尽吐虹的豪气。这句的深意在于：它以「当年书剑揖三公」的揖三公与「谈舌如云气吐虹」的气吐虹，写尽当年的豪情——当年书剑揖三公，那「当年书剑揖三公」写尽书剑的当年——当年书剑揖三公，正是当年书剑的写照，那「揖三公」写尽当年的豪情；谈舌如云气吐虹，那「谈舌如云气吐虹」写尽吐虹的豪气——谈舌如云气吐虹，正是谈舌吐虹的写照，那「气吐虹」写尽当年的豪情；那「当年书剑揖三公」写尽书剑的当年，那「谈舌如云气吐虹」写尽吐虹的豪气，一写书剑，一写谈舌，写尽当年的豪情——书剑揖公而谈舌吐虹，正是当年的写照；此二句以书剑、谈舌写尽当年的豪情，也为下文的华发作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写当年的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「当年带着书剑去见三公，谈吐如云，气概如虹」，则失其豪迈；唯以「当年书剑揖三公」写揖三公、「谈舌如云气吐虹」写气吐虹，写尽当年的豪情，也让此二句成为全诗写当年的核心。

The flashback. In those years, with sword and book, I bowed to the Three Dukes—young, armed, educated, equal to the highest ministers; my talk poured out like clouds, my breath like rainbows. The two images (book-sword bowing to dukes, talk pouring out rainbows) are the whole swagger of the young patriot. The grandeur is set against the present lamp and grave. To have said I was ambitious and brilliant when young would be a recollection; the sword and book bowing to the dukes, the talk exhaling rainbows, are the youth.

Study

Word focus

孤 Meaning orphaned, alone, unsupported: in 十丈战尘孤壮志 it makes the great aspiration stand alone amid ten paces of battle dust, so that the poet's valour and his loneliness are felt together. 「十丈战尘孤壮志」之「孤」字是写壮志的关键词，一个「孤」字写尽孤寂的壮志。孤者，孤寂、孤单也。陆游以「十丈战尘孤壮志」写壮志，这个「孤」字至少有双重意味：其一，写志之孤——那「十丈战尘孤壮志」写十丈战尘孤壮志，那「孤」字写尽孤寂的壮志——孤壮志，正是壮志孤悬的写照，那「孤」字写尽孤寂的壮志；其二，写情之慨——那「孤」字更是写慨——孤，正见壮志难酬的感慨，那「孤」字写尽陆游的沉郁。以「孤」字写壮志，正是陆游写感慨的枢纽——若换作「空」「剩」等字，则或失其与「十丈战尘」「壮志」的配合，或失其写孤的意味；唯「孤」字，以十丈战尘孤壮志写尽壮志之孤悬与难酬之感慨，与「一簪华发醉秋风」的华发相合，写尽孤寂的壮志，也让「十丈战尘孤壮志」成为全诗写壮志的名句。

同 Meaning the same as, together with: in 灯前慷慨与谁同 the expected answer is that no one is the same, so the character turns the poet's compassion into an unshared emotion and the question into a complaint. 「灯前慷慨与谁同」之「同」字是写感慨核心的关键词，一个「同」字写尽灯前的慷慨。同者，相同、一同也。陆游以「灯前慷慨与谁同」写感慨，这个「同」字至少有双重意味：其一，写谁之同——那「灯前慷慨与谁同」写灯前慷慨与谁同，那「同」字写尽灯前的慷慨——与谁同，正是无人相同的写照，那「同」字写尽灯前的慷慨；其二，写情之孤——那「同」字更是写孤——同，正见无人共鸣的孤寂，那「同」字写尽陆游的沉郁。以「同」字写感慨，正是陆游写怀旧的枢纽——若换作「共」「齐」等字，则或失其与「灯前慷慨」「与谁」的配合，或失其写同的意味；唯「同」字，以灯前慷慨与谁同写尽慷慨之无与与无人之共鸣，与「奇士久埋巴硖骨」的巴硖骨相合，写尽灯前的慷慨，也让「灯前慷慨与谁同」成为全诗写感慨的名句。

感旧