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汉 Han · 诗 Poem

精列

The Fine Ordering (Jinglie)

曹操

Cao Cao

哲理Philosophy 时序Time and Season 抒情Lyric

厥初生，造划之陶物，莫不有终期。
莫不有终期。
圣贤不能免，何为怀此忧？
愿螭龙之驾，思想昆仑居。
思想昆仑居。
见期于迂怪，志意在蓬莱。
志意在蓬莱。
周礼圣徂落，会稽以坟丘。
会稽以坟丘。
陶陶谁能度？
君子以弗忧。
年之暮奈何，时过时来微。

At the very beginning of the birth,
The creating and the molding of the things, none is without the term of the end.
None is without the term of the end.
The sages and the worthies cannot be exempt, why then should one cherish this grief?
I wish for the chariot of the horned dragon, and think of the dwelling of the Kunlun.
I think of the dwelling of the Kunlun.
I see my term in the strange and the fantastic, and my mind's aim is in the Penglai.
My mind's aim is in the Penglai.
The Zhou rites and the sages passed away, and Kuaiji became the mound of the tomb.
Kuaiji became the mound of the tomb.
The joyous and the easy, who can pass through it? The gentleman does not grieve for it.
The evening of the years, what is to be done? The time passes and the time to come is faint.

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Meaning

A yuefu of Cao Cao's later years, written in the dozen years after the Battle of the Red Cliff (208) to his death (220). The poem faces directly the necessity of the 'none is without the term of the end' of the ten thousand things and the 'the sages and the worthies cannot be exempt' of the death: 'at the very beginning of the birth, the creating and the molding of the things, none is without the term of the end,' and 'the sages and the worthies cannot be exempt, why then should one cherish this grief?'—the necessity of the death and the questioning of the grief; then the wish of the immortals: 'I wish for the chariot of the horned dragon, and think of the dwelling of the Kunlun... my mind's aim is in the Penglai,' the wish of the transcendence; and the fall: 'the Zhou rites and the sages passed away, and Kuaiji became the mound of the tomb,' the sages and the sage-kings all returning to the tombs, the negation of the immortality; and the close, 'the joyous and the easy, who can pass through it? The gentleman does not grieve for it. The evening of the years, what is to be done? The time passes and the time to come is faint'—the free-and-easy of the 'the gentleman does not grieve' and the faint of the 'the time passes and the time to come is faint,' the real mood of Cao Cao's later years: clearly recognizing the death, yet not willing to sink in the grief.

天地最初的生机（万物始生）啊——天地造划、陶铸的万物，没有一样不有终结的期限。没有一样不有终结的期限。圣贤也逃不过这终结，既然如此，又何必为此忧怀呢？但愿能乘上螭龙拉的车驾，心中向往着昆仑山上的仙境居所。心中向往着昆仑居。期望于神仙怪异之事，志意在于蓬莱仙山。志意在于蓬莱。制礼作乐的圣哲也终归殂落，如大禹葬于会稽，只剩下一座坟丘。只剩下一座坟丘。谁能像陶陶然和乐的人那样超然度过呢？君子因此不再忧愁。年岁已暮，无可奈何，时光已过，来日无多了。

Appreciation

The poem is short in form yet strict in composition, the feeling advancing layer on layer. It rises with the three-character 'at the very beginning of the birth,' drawing the vision to the very beginning of the heaven and the earth; then the 'the creating and the molding of the things, none is without the term of the end' proposes the proposition of the whole poem: the ten thousand things have the end; 'the sages and the worthies cannot be exempt' pushes the proposition to the utmost, then 'why then should one cherish this grief?' turns at once, from the grief to the free-and-easy. The middle turns to the wandering of the immortals: 'I wish for the chariot of the horned dragon, and think of the dwelling of the Kunlun... my mind's aim is in the Penglai,' the wish of the transcendence; and 'the Zhou rites and the sages passed away, and Kuaiji became the mound of the tomb' falls suddenly, with the fact of the sages and the sage-kings all returning to the mounds of the tombs, calmly negating the wish of the wandering of the immortals; and the close, 'the joyous and the easy, who can pass through it? The gentleman does not grieve for it,' the free-and-easy of the gentleman, and the 'the time passes and the time to come is faint' the faint and the desolate of the evening of the years, the whole poem from the grief to the wish to the free-and-easy, the real mood of the later years of Cao Cao.

【白话串讲】曹操写《精列》：“厥初生，造划之陶物，莫不有终期”——万物都有终结。“圣贤不能免，何为怀此忧”——“愿螭龙之驾，思想昆仑居”——“志意在蓬莱”——他叹人生有终，想求仙。【意象与手法】全诗以万物有终的清醒立骨，以复沓章法咏叹（莫不有终期、思想昆仑居等句反复重唱）；中段游仙之想（螭龙、昆仑、蓬莱）与圣贤必死（会稽坟丘）的冷静相碰撞，终以陶陶谁能度、君子以弗忧的设问自答收束，一波三折，由悲而幻、由幻而醒、由醒而达。【情感与主旨】此诗写曹操晚年对生死的思考：万物有终、圣贤不免的清醒认识，游仙长生的浪漫企慕，与君子弗忧的达观自解，三者交织，正是曹操暮年既知天命、又不甘沉溺忧惧的真实心态，也见其借乐府旧题写新意的创作主张。【名句点睛】圣贤不能免，何为怀此忧以设问由悲转达；陶陶谁能度？君子以弗忧以自答收束全篇，达观中见苍凉，是建安风骨慷慨任气的深层体现。

Background

The poem is a yuefu of Cao Cao's later years, of the 'Harmonious Songs,' written in the dozen years after the Battle of the Red Cliff (208) to his death (220). In his early years Cao Cao took the pacification of the world as his aim, and in the thirteenth year of Jian'an was defeated at the Red Cliff, the enterprise of the unification obstructed; thereafter he went through the death of Xun Yu, the great plague of Jian'an, and other changes, and in his later years, with the many illnesses, his thought on the problem of the life and the death grew ever deeper. The poem is the product of this background: facing directly the necessity of the 'none is without the term of the end' of the ten thousand things and the 'the sages and the worthies cannot be exempt' of the death, and the wish of the immortals of the 'the chariot of the horned dragon' and the 'the mind's aim is in the Penglai,' and finally closing with the free-and-easy of the 'the gentleman does not grieve,' the real mood of Cao Cao's later years: clearly recognizing the death, yet not willing to sink in the grief. With the 'Tortoise Lives Long,' the 'Gazing at the Vast Ocean,' and the 'Though the Cold Pine' the poems of the later years of the same vein.

《精列》是曹操晚年的乐府诗，属《相和歌辞》，约作于建安十三年（208）赤壁之战以后至其逝世前（220）的十余年间。曹操早年以平定天下为志，建安十三年败于赤壁，统一之业受阻；此后又历经荀彧之死、建安大疫等变故，暮年多病，对生死问题的思考日益深挚。《精列》即此背景下的产物：诗中直面万物有终、圣贤不能免的必然，又生出愿螭龙之驾、志意在蓬莱的游仙之想，终以君子以弗忧的达观收束，正是曹操晚年既清醒认识死亡、又不甘于沉溺忧惧的真实心态。此诗与《龟虽寿》《短歌行》《观沧海》等同为曹操乐府的代表作，体现了其借乐府旧题写新意的创作主张与清峻通脱的建安诗风，也是研究曹操晚年生命观的第一手材料。诗中造划、陶物等古语，亦见曹操以古为体、以质为文的一贯作风，与建安文坛尚通脱、重气韵的风气相合。由此诗亦可见，曹操虽为一代枭雄，而其于生死之际的思索，与常人之忧乐并无二致，尤显其人性的深度。

Art

The art is the strict composition and the feeling advancing layer on layer: the rise with the very beginning of the heaven and the earth, the proposition of the 'none is without the term of the end,' the push of the 'the sages and the worthies cannot be exempt,' the turn of the 'why then should one cherish this grief,' the wish of the wandering of the immortals, the fall of the negation, and the close of the free-and-easy—from the grief to the wish to the free-and-easy, the deep and the desolate of the later years of Cao Cao.

此诗体制短小而章法谨严，情感层层推进。起以厥初生三言起兴，把视野拉到天地之初；继以造划之陶物、莫不有终期提出全诗命题：万物有终；圣贤不能免把命题推到极致，随即何为怀此忧一转，由悲入达。中段转入游仙：愿螭龙之驾、思想昆仑居、志意在蓬莱，写超越之愿；而周礼圣徂落、会稽以坟丘猛然一跌，以圣贤圣王皆归丘土的事实，冷静地否定游仙之想的现实性——昆仑蓬莱可望而不可即，圣贤尚且不免，何况凡人？终以陶陶谁能度、君子以弗忧的设问自答收束，归于达观。全诗一波三折：有终之忧、游仙之愿、圣贤之死、君子弗忧，四层转折，由悲而幻、由幻而醒、由醒而达，在极短的篇幅内完成一次完整的生命思考。手法上以复沓强化咏叹（每句重复）、以设问推进思辨（何为怀此忧／陶陶谁能度）、以典实证哲理（会稽坟丘），古朴而不失跌宕，正是曹操诗沉雄悲壮的典型。

Allusions

The allusions of the poem are few, yet all from the classics, the ancient air full. 'The creating and the molding' takes the meaning of the creating and the molding of the ten thousand things by the heaven and the earth, its thought from the generation of the 'the Way gives birth to the one, the one gives birth to the two' of the Laozi and the cosmology of the response of the heaven and the man of the Han, the pottery-maker's making of the vessels for the creating of the heaven and the earth, the common metaphor of the Han. 'I wish for the chariot of the horned dragon' inherits the tradition of the wandering of the immortals of the 'driving the green dragon and the white chi as the team' of the 'Crossing the River' of the Nine Chapters of the Songs of Chu; and the 'Kunlun' and the 'Penglai' are the dwelling places of the immortals of the Chinese mythology, the wish of the transcendence of the poem.

此诗用典不多，而皆取之经典，古意盎然。造划与陶物取天地造化陶铸万物之意，其思想源于《老子》道生一、一生二的生成论与汉代天人感应的宇宙观，以陶工制器喻天地造物，是汉人习见的比喻。愿螭龙之驾承《楚辞·九章·涉江》驾青虬兮骖白螭的游仙传统，螭龙、青虬皆龙属，自屈原始，龙驾已是游仙诗中飞升的固定坐骑。思想昆仑居、志意在蓬莱并举两大仙山：昆仑为西王母所居、众神之都（见《山海经》），蓬莱为海上三神山之一（见《史记·封禅书》），秦汉以来帝王求仙多以此二山为标的，曹操诗中并提，正见其游仙之思承自战国秦汉以来的求仙文化。会稽以坟丘用大禹葬于会稽之典（《史记·夏本纪》载帝禹东巡狩、至于会稽而崩），以大禹之圣、之功而终成坟丘，印证圣贤不能免的命题。陶陶谁能度化用《诗经·王风·君子阳阳》君子陶陶之句，以和乐之态写超脱之境。全诗典故皆化于议论与咏叹之中，古朴质实，正是汉乐府质胜于文的本色。

Commentary

The poem is the most profound of Cao Cao's poems of the wandering of the immortals and the key document of the understanding of the mood of the later years of Cao Cao. The critics of the later ages of the poetry of Cao Cao mostly praise its 'the air and the rhyme deep and grand,' and this poem is precisely the desolation in the depth and the grandeur: facing the necessity of the 'none is without the term of the end' of the ten thousand things, Cao Cao does not make the manner of the young child, but with the 'why then should one cherish this grief' and the 'the gentleman does not grieve' the free-and-easy of the hero, yet the faint of the 'the time passes and the time to come is faint' reveals the desolation of the hero in his later years, the deepest reflection of the life and the death of the Jian'an literature.

《精列》是曹操游仙诗中思想最深的一首，也是理解曹操晚年心态的关键文献。历代论曹操诗者，多推其气韵沉雄（敖陶孙《诗评》），此诗正见其沉雄中的苍凉：面对万物有终的必然，曹操不作小儿女之态，而是以何为怀此忧的理性、以君子以弗忧的达观自我开解，这种清醒与旷达的结合，正是建安风骨慷慨任气的深层内涵。就游仙诗史言，汉乐府游仙诗多写求仙之愿，而《精列》的独特处在于：既写游仙之愿，又清醒地以圣贤不能免否定其现实可能，终归于弗忧——这种在浪漫与理性之间的摇摆与平衡，使此诗超越了单纯求仙诗的境界，成为诗人对生死问题的哲学思考。曹操以乐府旧题写如此深挚的个人情怀，开建安文人诗借古题写新意的先河，对曹植《远游篇》及后世游仙诗皆有影响。此诗虽不如《短歌行》《观沧海》之广为传诵，然其思想之深刻，实为曹操诗中别具一格之作。

Prosody

Form Yuefu old title of the 'Harmonious Songs' (mixed-verse)乐府《相和歌辞》古题（杂言）

Rhyme The whole mainly on the level rhymes: qi, ju, lai, qiu, you, wei, of the ancient zhi, yu, you, wei rhymes joined, the yuefu free in the rhyme全篇以平声韵为主：期、居、莱、丘、忧、微，属上古之、鱼、幽、微诸部通押，乐府用韵较近体宽松；句末重复上句（莫不有终期／思想昆仑居等），一唱三叹。

Tone pattern The 'at the very beginning of the birth' is far, the 'none is without the term of the end' is heavy, the 'I wish for the chariot of the horned dragon' is grand, and the 'the time passes and the time to come is faint' is desolate—the whole from the birth to the death to the free-and-easy, the desolation of the hero carried by the rhyme句式三言、五言杂用，每两句一组、复沓成节，音节古拙而回环往复，如歌谣之叠唱。

Reading note The free ancient rhymes carry the reflection of the life and the death, the deep and the desolate of the later years.《精列》属乐府《相和歌辞》，为汉乐府旧题，古辞不传，曹操依题新作。精列一题，其义旧说不一，或谓精气之流行、或谓魂灵之游，曹操以此题写人生短促与游仙之愿，正是借旧题写新意的乐府传统。体制上，此诗为杂言：厥初生为三言起兴，造划之陶物、莫不有终期为五言，句式长短相间，音节古朴；最可注意者是复沓的章法——莫不有终期、思想昆仑居、志意在蓬莱、会稽以坟丘，每句之后皆重复一遍，如《诗经》之重章叠句、汉乐府之和声，一唱三叹，回环往复，把万物有终、游仙之愿的题旨反复咏叹，强化了情感的浓度。用韵上，期、居、莱、丘、忧、微皆平声，属上古之、鱼、幽、微诸部，汉乐府用韵较近体宽松，不避通押，正合其古拙的声情。此诗虽短，而音节之古朴、章法之复沓，在汉乐府中独具一格，可见曹操借古乐府写时事、以复古为革新的诗学主张，也见其于乐府旧题中自铸新辞的创造精神。

Line by line

厥初生，

At the very beginning of the birth, (The rise with the three characters: the vision drawn to the very beginning of the heaven and the earth, the rise of the poem.)

天地最初的生机（万物始生）啊，万物由此而出，生生不息。

In the very beginning,

厥初生三字，是《精列》的起兴，写天地初生、万物肇始。厥，其、那，为上古汉语的语助词；初生即始生，指宇宙万物最初的诞生。以厥初生开篇，一下子把视野拉到时间的原点——不是从眼前的草木荣枯说起，而是从天地之始说起，为全篇讨论万物有终的命题立下宏阔的框架。此三字与《诗经》厥初生民（《大雅·生民》）同一句法，曹操乐府喜用古语，正见其取径风雅、以古为体的本色。三字一短句，音节古拙，如钟磬初鸣，为全诗的苍茫悲慨定下基调。

The poem opens at the origin. In the very beginning. The three-character line reaches for the world's start before arguing about its end. The archaic particle gives the tone of an ancient hymn. To have said in the beginning would be a start; the archaic in-the-very-beginning is the start.

造划之陶物，莫不有终期。

The creating and the molding of the things, none is without the term of the end. (The proposition: the creating and the molding of the ten thousand things by the heaven and the earth, none without the term of the end, the first proposition of the poem.)

天地造划、陶铸的万物，没有一样不有终结的期限。

All things the Creator shapes and molds have their appointed end.

此两句提出全诗的核心命题：万物皆有终期。造划即造化（划通化），指天地创造化育之力；陶物以陶工制器喻天地造物——陶铸万物，如窑烧陶，器物既成，终有毁时。一个陶字，把天地造物的过程写得具体可感，也暗含万物皆为人所造之器、器有尽时的隐喻。莫不有终期以双重否定写全称判断：无一例外，皆有终期。此句的哲学意味极浓：曹操直面万物有终的事实，不作回避，这种清醒的理性精神，正是其游仙诗与一般求仙诗的根本区别——他不自欺。

The proposition. All things the Creator shapes and molds have their appointed end. The potter metaphor (shapes like clay) makes the world a fired vessel, and every vessel breaks. The double negative (there is nothing without an end) is the full claim. To have said all things end would be a fact; the molded clay with its appointed end is the fact.

圣贤不能免，何为怀此忧？

The sages and the worthies cannot be exempt, why then should one cherish this grief? (The push and the turn: the sages and the worthies cannot be exempt from the death, and the 'why then should one cherish this grief' turns from the grief to the free-and-easy.)

圣贤也逃不过这终结的期限，既然如此，又何必为此忧怀呢？

Even sages cannot escape it; why then nurse this sorrow?

此两句由万物推及人类，再推及圣贤，层层收拢。圣贤不能免五字，把人类中最杰出者（圣、贤）也拉入有终期的必然之中——圣贤尚且不免，何况常人？这是把死亡的普遍性推到极致。然而紧接着何为怀此忧一转，却由悲转达：既然圣贤皆不能免，忧伤又有何用？此问句是全诗由悲入达的枢纽：曹操不因死亡之必然而陷入绝望，反而由此推出弗忧的结论。这种知其不可奈何而安之的达观，与《龟虽寿》神龟虽寿、犹有竟时……养怡之福、可得永年的思想一脉相承：正视有终，而求精神的永年。

The deduction. Even sages cannot escape it; why then nurse this sorrow? The poem first extends death to the sages, then asks what good grief does. The question is the turn from despair to acceptance. To have said even the wise die, so why grieve would be a consolation; the sages not escaping and the question about nursing sorrow are the consolation.

愿螭龙之驾，思想昆仑居。

I wish for the chariot of the horned dragon, and think of the dwelling of the Kunlun. (The wish of the immortals: the chariot of the horned dragon and the dwelling of the Kunlun, the wish of the transcendence.)

但愿能乘上螭龙拉的车驾，心中向往着昆仑山上的仙境居所。

I would I had a chariot drawn by hornless dragons; my heart longs for the dwelling on Kunlun.

此两句转入游仙之想，是全诗浪漫想象的高潮。螭龙是传说中无角的龙，《楚辞·九章·涉江》有驾青虬兮骖白螭之句，曹操愿乘螭龙之驾，正是承楚辞游仙传统，以龙驾飞升，超越尘世的桎梏。思想昆仑居写心向往之：昆仑是西王母所居、众神之山，在中国神话中是最高的仙山。愿、思想两词一表愿望、一表心念，写游仙之思的迫切与绵长。此两句与下文志意在蓬莱相承，昆仑、蓬莱两大仙山并提，把求仙之愿写到极致；而愿、思想皆出以向往之辞，正见其求仙是心愿而非现实，清醒与浪漫并存。

The yearning. I would I had a chariot drawn by hornless dragons; my heart longs for the dwelling on Kunlun. The immortals' mount (dragons) and immortals' mountain (Kunlun) are the poem's fantasy, knowingly entertained. The longing is the poem's frankness about its own wish. To have said he dreamed of immortals would be a wish; the dragon-chariot and the heart's longing for Kunlun are the wish.

周礼圣徂落，会稽以坟丘。

The Zhou rites and the sages passed away, and Kuaiji became the mound of the tomb. (The fall: the sages and the sage-kings all returning to the mounds of the tombs, the calm negation of the wish of the immortals.)

制礼作乐的圣哲也终归殂落，如大禹葬于会稽，只剩下一座坟丘。

The sage who made the rites is gone; at Kuaiyi there is only a burial mound.

此两句是全诗最沉痛的句子，也是清醒与浪漫的碰撞点。徂落即殂落，死亡；周礼圣指制礼作乐的圣人（后世通行本多作周孔圣，即周公、孔子）——连制礼作乐、垂范万世的圣人都死了；会稽以坟丘用大禹葬于会稽之典：大禹治水功盖万世，而终葬会稽，只剩坟丘一抔土。圣人之殂、圣王之王（禹），皆归于一丘之土，这是对有终期最沉重的印证，也是对前文游仙之想最冷静的否定：昆仑、蓬莱虽可向往，而圣贤皆死，仙山何在？两句以史实证哲理，字字千钧，全诗的苍凉之感至此达到顶点，而陶陶谁能度的达观正由此逼出。

The rebuttal. The sage who made the rites—Du Zhou, the model lawgiver—is gone; at Kuaiyi, where Yu the Great is buried, there is only a mound. The immortals' mountains are fantasies, but the sages' graves are facts. The two dead worthies are the poem's real answer to the dragon-chariot wish. To have said even the sages died would be a fact; the dead lawgiver and the single mound at Kuaiyi are the fact.

陶陶谁能度？君子以弗忧。

The joyous and the easy, who can pass through it? The gentleman does not grieve for it. (The close: the free-and-easy of the 'the gentleman does not grieve,' the return of the hero, the real mood of the later years.)

谁能像陶陶然和乐的人那样超然度过呢？君子因此不再忧愁。

Who can live that long, that joyous span? The wise man therefore does not grieve.

结句以设问与自答收束全篇，是曹操式达观的完成。陶陶是和乐的样子，《诗经·王风·君子阳阳》君子陶陶即其源；度可解为度过（此生）或超度（生死）。陶陶谁能度以反问提出：谁能真的陶陶然超脱生死之忧？答案即君子以弗忧：唯君子能不以死生为忧。此两句由年之暮奈何、时过时来微的感叹直逼而来：年暮已不可奈何，时过而来日微茫，忧亦无益，不如弗忧。全诗由莫不有终期的清醒，经愿螭龙之驾的浪漫，至君子以弗忧的达观，走完一个由悲到求仙再到超越的完整心路，正是曹操晚年人生哲学的诗化总结。

The ending. Who can live that long, that joyous span? The wise man therefore does not grieve. The joyful, unhurried span is the ideal; since no one reaches it, the wise man chooses not to grieve. The conclusion is acceptance rather than denial. To have said the wise accept death would be a conclusion; the unanswerable who and the wise man not grieving are the conclusion.

Study

Word focus

造划 The creating (to create and to divide). The word of the creation: 'the creating and the molding of the things'—the creating of the ten thousand things by the heaven and the earth, the first proposition of the poem, the necessity of the term of the end. 造划之陶物之造划，即造化，指天地的创造化育之力（划为化之通假或异写）。此词之妙在以划代化：造化本是抽象概念，而划字含划分、开辟之意，仿佛天地以巨手划开混沌、创造万物，比造化更具动作感与形象感。曹操乐府喜用古语古字，此词正见其取径上古、以古为雅的风格。与下文陶物相配，造划写开辟之始，陶物写陶铸之工，一开一铸，把天地造物的过程写得如在目前。后世注家于此词多存异文（一作造化），而造划之古拙，恰合汉乐府的质实本色，是理解曹操诗风的一个细节点。

陶 To mold. The word of the making: 'the creating and the molding of the things'—the pottery-maker's making of the vessels for the creating of the heaven and the earth, the common metaphor of the Han, the molding of the ten thousand things. 造划之陶物之陶字，义为陶铸、化育，以制陶喻天地造物。陶工制器，抟土为坯、入窑烧成，器之成毁皆有定时；天地陶铸万物，亦然。一个陶字，把造物的过程具象为制陶的工艺，也暗含器成必毁、物生必终的隐喻——陶器易碎，万物有终，这一比喻为下文莫不有终期的命题提供了最形象的注脚。此字又兼有陶然、陶冶之义，与结句陶陶谁能度遥相呼应：同是陶字，一写天地造物之工，一写君子和乐之态，首尾回环，可见曹操用字之讲究。

螭龙 The horned dragon. The word of the immortals: 'I wish for the chariot of the horned dragon'—the chariot of the horned dragon of the wandering of the immortals, inheriting the tradition of the Songs of Chu, the wish of the transcendence. 愿螭龙之驾之螭龙，传说中无角的龙，是游仙诗中典型的坐骑意象。《楚辞·九章·涉江》驾青虬兮骖白螭已开以龙为驾的先河，曹操承之而更简净：不铺陈车驾之盛，只螭龙之驾四字，写出飞升仙界的愿望。螭龙非实有之物，正因其非实有，才见游仙之思的虚幻与迫切：凡人不能乘龙，唯仙人能之，故愿螭龙之驾实是以飞升之愿写超越生死之忧的渴望。此词与下句昆仑居相配，龙驾与仙山，一行动一居止，把游仙的想象落实为可望的图景，浪漫而不失庄重，正是曹操游仙诗质实中含浪漫的风格。

微 Faint. The word of the close: 'the time passes and the time to come is faint'—the faint of the time to come, the desolation of the evening of the years, the faint of the hero's later years. 时过时来微之微字，义为衰微、将尽，是全诗收束的关键字。时过，是时光已经过去；时来微，是来日已然无多——微字写尽暮年之感：不是来日方长，而是来日微茫。此字下得极准：若作少、短，则直白无味；微字既写时间之将尽（微光、微茫），又暗含人生之渺小（微末），一字双关，把年之暮奈何的感叹推到极致。全诗由莫不有终期的万物之终，收束到时过时来微的己身之暮，命题从普遍回到个人，苍凉之感如在目前；而正是这微字逼出的紧迫，才使君子以弗忧的达观显得尤为可贵。

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