汉 Han · 诗 Poem
行行重行行
On and On, Ever On and On
行行重行行，与君生别离。
相去万余里，各在天一涯。
道路阻且长，会面安可知？
胡马依北风，越鸟巢南枝。
相去日已远，衣带日已缓。
浮云蔽白日，游子不顾返。
思君令人老，岁月忽已晚。
弃捐勿复道，努力加餐饭。
Alive we part from one another.
Ten thousand li apart from each other,
Each at one edge of the sky.
The road is blocked and long,
When can we ever meet again?
Hu horses yearn for the north wind,
Yue birds nest on southern branches.
Since we parted, days grow longer,
My belt grows looser day by day.
The drifting clouds obscure the bright sun,
The wanderer does not think of return.
Thinking of you makes one old,
The years suddenly grow late.
Cast it away, say no more,
Just strive to eat more meals.
Meaning
A woman speaks of her bitter separation from her wandering husband, describing the vast distance between them, her own wasting body, and her fear that he may be delayed or changed. She ends by suppressing her grief and urging him to take care of himself.
走啊走啊不停地走，与你活着分离各一方。相距远隔万余里，彼此各在天的一方。道路阻隔又漫长，何时会面怎可料知？胡马依恋北风，越鸟筑巢向南枝。别离的日子已久远，衣带渐宽人渐瘦。浮云遮住了白日，游子不肯回还。思念你教人衰老，岁月匆匆已迟晚。抛开忧怨不必再提，只愿你努力加餐保重身。
Appreciation
As the first of the 'Nineteen Old Poems,' this piece is a song of longing born in the turbulent late Eastern Han. Written in the voice of a deserted wife, it expresses deep, helpless yearning for a distant wanderer. The opening 'On and on, ever on and on' uses four repeated characters and a 'again' to create a slow, heavy rhythm of endless traveling. The poem then expands across space with 'ten thousand li' and 'each at one edge of the sky,' before suddenly shifting to the famous metaphor of horses and birds that long for their native soil—a silent rebuke to the wanderer's failure to return. The second half traces the woman's growing thinness, her suspicion that 'drifting clouds' have obscured the sun, and her final, forced resolution to 'cast it away' and bid him eat well. Zhong Rong praised the old poems for their truth of feeling, scene, event, and intent; this poem indeed embodies the 'ancestor of a thousand years of parting sorrow' in its deeply human, restrained pathos.
【白话串讲】 “行行重行行，与君生别离”——古诗十九首写离别：走啊走，你我生生别离。“相去万余里，各在天一涯”——“胡马依北风，越鸟巢南枝”——“思君令人老，岁月忽已晚”——“弃捐勿复道，努力加餐饭”——她劝他保重。最朴素也最深情的叮嘱。 【意象与手法】 起笔“行行重行行”连叠四“行”、以一“重”字绾结，复沓的声调压出相隔日远的沉重；“胡马依北风，越鸟巢南枝”忽作比兴，以禽兽怀土反衬游子不归；后半由“衣带日已缓”写憔悴，由“浮云蔽白日”疑游子变心，终以“弃捐勿复道，努力加餐饭”强自宽解。 【情感与主旨】 东汉末年动荡岁月中的相思离乱之歌，以思妇口吻抒写对远行游子的深挚思念与无可奈何的怅惘。把寻常思妇之情写得曲折深婉、哀而不伤，陈绎《诗谱》许为“千古离愁之祖”。 【名句点睛】 常考“行行重行行，与君生别离”以叠字写相隔日远；“弃捐勿复道，努力加餐饭”以平实叮咛化万千怨思。
Background
'On and On, Ever On and On' is the first of the 'Nineteen Old Poems' collected in the Wen Xuan (Selections of Refined Literature), where it appears without attribution. Some early sources, like the Yutai Xinyong, assign it to Mei Sheng of the Western Han, but this is generally rejected by scholars. It was likely composed by an anonymous literatus in the late Eastern Han, a time of social chaos: corrupt rule under Emperors Huan and Ling, the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and constant warfare that forced men to leave home for official posts, study, or forced labor. Parting while alive often felt like death, as reflected in the lines 'Alive we part from one another' and 'When can we ever meet again?' The poem captures a universal condition of the era, yet it transcends its moment through its exquisite artistry. The Nineteen Old Poems mark a crucial step in the development of five-character poetry from folk song to self-conscious literary creation, and this piece, placed first in the Wen Xuan, has been celebrated as a 'mother of poetry.'
《行行重行行》原列《古诗十九首》第一首，载于《文选》卷二十九，并见《玉台新咏》等，作者无考，当为东汉末年的文人五言诗（或经乐府润色）。其产生的时代背景，是汉末社会剧烈动荡：桓灵之际朝政昏乱，黄巾之乱继起，董卓之乱后诸侯割据，战乱频仍、徭役繁重，士人游宦与百姓流离并行，生离往往等于死别。诗中「与君生别离」「道路阻且长，会面安可知」正折射这种「出则无期、归则无日」的乱世离愁。游子久出不返，思妇空闺独守，本是汉魏之际普遍的社会图景，诗人借此一案写尽天下离人之痛。值得注意的是，《十九首》虽多写游子思妇，却已脱乐府民歌的集体歌唱，而为文人「惊心动魄、一字千金」的抒情杰作，标志着五言诗由民间乐府走向文人自觉创作的关键一步。萧统编《文选》特置卷首，亦见其「风余诗母」的地位。就文献授受言，此诗见于萧统《文选》卷二十九，与其余十八首合编而总题《古诗十九首》，《文选》并不署名；徐陵《玉台新咏》则将其归入枚乘名下，然枚乘为西汉初人，诗中语汇气格皆晚出，故其说不可信。钟嵘《诗品》推古诗为「文温以丽，意悲而远」，谓其体源出于《国风》，又疑或为建安中曹、王所制，可见六朝人于其时代已难确指；近世学者多据语言、风格与社会内容，定为东汉末桓灵之世的文人所作。就士人处境言，汉末察举、游学、辟召之途皆须远离乡里，太学生动辄数万，加以戍役、贾贩，故「行行」不归乃一代人的常态。另须指出，此诗虽以思妇口吻发端，然汉末文人惯以闺音自寄，故亦有以为通篇实是游子自伤、假托妇人立言者。二解并存而不相碍：无论出于谁之口，那份「出则无期、归则无日」的悬荡，本是乱世共有的心声。
Art
The poem's art lies first in its use of reduplication and repetition: 'On and on, ever on and on' (行行重行行) piles four 'xing' around a 'zhong,' mimicking endless steps and expanding distance, while its drawn-out sound sets a mournful tone from the start. The structure moves from outer space to inner feeling: the first four lines exaggerate distance (ten thousand li, sky's edge, blocked and long road); the next two lines introduce a sudden comparison of the Hu horse and Yue bird, contrasting creatures' attachment to home with the wanderer's indifference. Then time takes over: 'days grow longer' and 'belt grows looser' show physical wasting; 'drifting clouds obscure the bright sun' hints at suspicion and obstacle; and the final couplet forces a cheerful note that only deepens the preceding sorrow. The poem is plain and unadorned, yet every line turns with exquisite subtlety. Liu Xie said the ancient poems approach nature through human skill, and here the interplay of scene and emotion, the gradual acceleration of time through the repeated 'already' (日已…日已…忽已), and the abrupt suppression of grief in the last line all demonstrate the highest craftsmanship. It is a masterpiece of 'common words carrying the deepest feeling.'
本诗艺术之妙，首在叠字与复沓营造的节奏张力。「行行重行行」五字中四「行」一「重」，以字面的重复模拟步履的连绵与距离的延展，声调纡缓如叹息，未及抒情已先笼悲雾，诚为创调。其结构由远及近、由外而内：前四句极写空间之遥（万里、天涯、阻长），中二句「胡马依北风，越鸟巢南枝」突以比兴宕开，借物之怀乡反逼人之不归，手法似断实连；「相去日已远，衣带日已缓」转写时间之久与形体之瘦，由景入情；「浮云蔽白日」设喻游子或为他人所惑，心理波澜暗生；末二句强作豁达，以「努力加餐饭」收束，反衬前文愁思之深。全诗不假雕绘，纯以白描与比兴层层转进，情致吞吐往复，浅语皆深。刘勰谓「古诗之妙，人巧已极，殆近天工」，此诗正其代表：看似顺口道来，实则起承转合、情景互藏，无一闲句。此诗最难企及处，在以极浅之语成极深之情，通篇无一僻字、无一显露的成典（唯「胡马」「越鸟」一联稍见故实），而层次之多、转折之密，几乎句句翻新。其骨架实由两条轴线交织而成：前半主空间，「万余里」「天一涯」「阻且长」层层推远；后半主时间，「日已远」「日已缓」「忽已晚」节节紧逼。空间之不可越与时间之不可留合而围之，绝望遂无隙可逃。三个「已」字尤为节拍所在：两个「日已」写渐变之程，一个「忽已」作陡然之顿，缓者愈缓，急者愈急，时间的加速感全从虚字中来。情绪的走向亦极曲折：由怨（不顾返）而疑（浮云蔽日）而惧（岁月忽晚）而自宽（努力加餐），末二句「弃捐勿复道」是一个自我压抑的动作——抒情主体把已经涌到唇边的怨怼硬生生按下，于是余味全在未说之处。与乐府相较，此诗无本事、无姓名、无情节，纯为情绪的流动，正是五言诗由民间歌唱走向文人抒写的确证。
Allusions
The phrase 'alive we part' comes from the Chu Ci, 'Sad cannot be the parting while alive' (悲莫悲兮生别离), establishing the poem's grief from the start. The couplet about the Hu horse and Yue bird derives from the Han Shi Waizhuan ('the Dai horse covets the north wind, the flying bird nests in its old branch') and the Wu Yue Chunqiu ('the Yue bird nests on southern branches'), using the instinct of beasts to love their native soil as a foil for the wanderer's forgetting home. 'My belt grows looser' became a famous image of lovesickness, later echoed by Liu Yong's 'the belt grows loose, yet I will not repent.' 'The drifting clouds obscure the bright sun' is an old metaphor for slander or temptation, carrying echoes of the Li Sao. Finally, 'strive to eat more meals' is a common Han saying of care, also seen in 'Drinking Horses at the Great Wall.' These allusions are so seamlessly woven that they become natural speech, yet they enrich the poem with cultural depth. The line 'Thinking of you makes one old' also appears in another of the Nineteen Old Poems, showing the shared vocabulary of the era, revitalized here by its placement before 'the years suddenly grow late.'
诗中意象多有所本而能翻新。「生别离」语出《楚辞·九歌·少司命》「悲莫悲兮生别离」，原指活着分开的至哀，诗人拈来冠于篇中，奠定悲调；「胡马依北风，越鸟巢南枝」一联，化用《韩诗外传》「代马依北风，飞鸟栖故巢」与《吴越春秋》越鸟南栖之典，以禽兽犹知怀土，反衬游子忘归，比兴天然，遂成千古名句。「衣带日已缓」写消瘦，启后世「衣带渐宽终不悔」（柳永）之先声，以形销写魂销。「浮云蔽白日」喻小人蔽贤或游子移情，亦见《古诗》「浮云蔽白日，游子不顾返」同源表达，白日象君、浮云象谗，暗承《离骚》「蔽美」之喻。「加餐饭」则为汉魏诗中常见的平实叮咛（亦见《饮马长城窟行》「上言加餐饭」），以日常语结深情。这些意象或源自楚辞、或本于谚语，经诗人熔铸，皆成离愁书写的固定语汇，泽被六朝以降无数相思之作。诗中数语实为当时习用之成辞，非一诗所私有。「思君令人老」一句亦见于《古诗十九首》之《冉冉孤生竹》，可知乃时人共用的熟语，诗人取之而不觉其熟，正因置于「岁月忽已晚」之前，遂生新意。「胡马」「越鸟」之对举，亦本于汉人语习：胡在极北、越在极南，两汉文章常以「胡越」并称以指绝远，诗人借此对举，一举而兼得三义——地之遥、性之各安其土、人之反不如物。「浮云蔽白日」的取象，远承《楚辞》以蔽日喻蔽明的比喻系统，故历来有两解：一谓游子为新好所惑，一谓贤者为谗邪所蒙；两解并不相排，因思妇之疑本兼「他有所欢」与「彼遭阻厄」两端，正是「不知」才最折磨人。「弃捐」义为抛置、搁下，「努力」为汉人劝勉之常语，二者皆口头习用，诗人以最不修饰的字面收束满纸曲折，遂令通篇的雅怨落到人间的实处。
Commentary
The opening couplet draws us into an endless journey of separation. The next two lines magnify distance to the edge of the world. The fifth and sixth lines sigh that the road is blocked and meeting is impossible. Then the sudden image of horses and birds reverses the charge: even animals know where they belong, so why does he not return? The middle section moves from distance to time, from travel to emaciation, as her belt grows loose. The eleventh and twelfth lines introduce doubt—perhaps he has been delayed or beguiled. Then 'thinking of you makes one old' inverts the natural order: it is not time that ages her, but love. The last couplet presses down all sorrow into a single practical wish: 'try to eat well.' The poem is a masterpiece of suppressed emotion, with every word plain yet every turn profound. It has been praised by Zhong Rong as 'true feeling, true scene, true deed, true intent,' and by later critics as the archetype of parting sorrow in Chinese poetry.
首二句「行行重行行，与君生别离」以叠字起势，写行人愈去愈远，自己却是活活分离，悲已先至。三四句「相去万余里，各在天一涯」推开空间，万里与天涯互文，言彼此悬隔之极。五六句「道路阻且长，会面安可知」承「阻长」而叹会面无期，用《秦风·蒹葭》「道阻且长」成句而情更苦。七八句「胡马依北风，越鸟巢南枝」忽作比兴，物尚怀土，人何独否，反诘游子。九十句「相去日已远，衣带日已缓」由空间转时间，由远转瘦，写相思销磨形体。十一二句「浮云蔽白日，游子不顾返」疑其或惑于他好、或阻于时势，怨中含惧。十三四句「思君令人老，岁月忽已晚」叹流年催老，迟暮惊心。末二句「弃捐勿复道，努力加餐饭」强抑怨艾，唯祝游子保重，千言化作一语温存。通篇如思妇独语，由远忆近、由疑转宽，情波九折而终归于厚，最是五言抒情之极则。若按章法细分，全诗恰成四层，每层四句：一至四写别与远，五至八叹会难与不归，九至十二写形销与疑心，十三至十六写迟暮与自宽。层与层之间皆以句式的变换为界：「会面安可知」是疑问，「游子不顾返」是断语，一问一断，情绪于此起落最剧。「思君令人老，岁月忽已晚」二句尤须细辨因果：不是岁月催人老，而是思君使人老；人既已老，故回顾流年愈觉其晚。此一倒因为果的写法，把外在的时间完全内化为心理的时间，是全诗最深的一笔。末二句历来有两读：一以为思妇自宽，谓且多进饮食以待君归；一以为转嘱游子，愿其在外自爱。两解并存而各有其味，也正是此诗含蓄之极的明证——话已说尽而意仍未定，读者遂各以自己的心境为之补足。通篇不著一个「怨」字，而怨在其中；不作一句决绝之语，而绝望自见，此所以为五言抒情之极则。
Prosody
Line by line
行行重行行，与君生别离。
You go on and on, ever more, and yet we part while still alive—the opening's four 'go' words and a 'again' create an endless, heavy rhythm, while 'alive we part' gives the separation its deepest grief.
On and on, farther still, we are parted alive from each other.
开篇十字，乃中国诗歌叠字起笔的绝唱。「行行」叠用已见步履不绝，「重行行」再加「重」字，如叠浪推远，把空间之遥、时间之久、行役之疲一并压出；四个「行」字读来舌僵气缓，天然是一声长叹。下接「与君生别离」，以《楚辞》「悲莫悲兮生别离」的至哀定语收束，点明这并非寻常送别，而是乱世中不知归期的活拆。起笔即把「远行」与「死别」的等价关系揭出，为全诗定调。后人效此者甚众，如「青青河畔草，郁郁园中柳」之叠字发端，皆受其沾溉。十字之中，叙事（行）、抒情（别）、节奏（叠）三者合一，不待铺陈已令人心折，故王世贞评为「千古离愁之祖」的开篇，实非过誉。
The opening. On and on, farther still, we are parted alive from each other. The doubled walking and the Chuci phrase parted-alive (the worst grief of all) set the poem's whole sorrow. To have said he went farther and we were parted would be a summary; the on-and-on-farther-still and the parting-alive are the summary.
胡马依北风，越鸟巢南枝。
Hu horses long for the north wind, Yue birds nest on southern branches—even animals love their homeland, rebuking the wanderer through contrast.
The northern horse shelters in the north wind; the southern bird nests on the southern bough.
此联为全诗最醒目的比兴，也是中国诗史上「托物起兴」的典范。胡马生于北地，故依北风；越鸟巢于南枝，皆就土性而安，诗人借禽兽怀土之常情，反衬游子久客不归之反常，手法「突如其来」而效果强烈。其妙在表面写物、骨里写人：既然连无知的马鸟都知恋故土，远行的「君」又何忍忘返？相较直说「君何不归」，以物反衬更婉、更沉、更无可辩。典出《韩诗外传》《吴越春秋》，经此诗点化遂成乡愁书写的原型意象，后世「鸟飞反故乡兮，狐死必首丘」之思皆与其同调。两句对仗工整而语带天籁，处于「阻且长」的绝望与「衣带缓」的憔悴之间，如异峰突起，使平板叙远骤生波澜，足见古诗「语浅意深、似断实连」的结构智慧。
The animals. The northern horse shelters in the north wind; the southern bird nests on the southern bough. The two creatures, each keeping to its own climate, shame the man who does not return: beasts know home, but he does not. To have said animals love their home regions would be a comparison; the northern horse in the north wind and the southern bird on the southern bough are the comparison.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Compare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
《涉江采芙蓉》写「涉江采芙蓉，兰泽多芳草。采之欲遗谁？所思在远道」，以采芳赠远起兴，结于「同心而离居，忧伤以终老」；《行行重行行》则以行人远去、思妇空闺展开。二者同写「同心离居」之痛，一从「欲遗」的悬想落笔，一从「行行」的实写起势；一结于「终老」的绝望，一结于「加餐」的宽慰。并读可见《十九首》虽各为断章，却共享「远道、离居、忧伤」的意象群与「浅语深悲」的格调，是研究东汉五言抒情诗整体风貌的孪生文本。
静夜思 In the Quiet Night 李白 · 同以「远」写思，一为闺中离愁一为客中乡思，情感机制相通 Both use distance and longing, one from a woman in her chamber, one from a traveler at night, yet they share a similar emotional mechanism.Li Bai's quatrain turns on moonlight and suddenly looking up and down to evoke homesickness, compressing all feeling into a single instant. The Han poem expands sorrow through endless distance and time. Comparing them shows how the same theme was handled in the archaic style and in the high Tang's luminous concision.
李白《静夜思》「床前明月光，疑是地上霜。举头望明月，低头思故乡」以望月写客居之思，《行行重行行》以「相去万余里」写闺中之思，二者皆以极简白描写极深相思，且都借「空间之远」引爆「心头之近」。差异在：唐人小诗凝练如画，汉诗纡徐如诉；太白思乡直露于「低头」一瞬，本诗愁思延展于「行行」万里。比较可见，从汉魏「逐层转进」到盛唐「一瞬收束」，离愁书写由繁富走向空明，而「以远写思」的基因一脉相承。