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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

江畔独步寻花·其一

Along the River, Strolling Alone in Search of Flowers · One

杜甫

Du Fu

春景Spring Scenery 赏花Flower Viewing

江上被花恼不彻，无处告诉只颠狂。
走觅南邻爱酒伴，经旬出饮独空床。

The blossoms on the river vex me without rest;
With nowhere to unload the feeling, I am only wild and giddy.
I set out for the south lane to find a companion who loves wine,
But after ten days of drinking away from home my bed stands empty.

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Meaning

The opening quatrain of Du Fu's set on strolling by the river in search of flowers finds him exasperated by his own pleasure: the blossoms on the river will not let him be, and since there is no one to tell, he gives himself up to a dangerous gaiety. He then goes looking for a neighbour who drinks, only to find that after ten days of outings his own bed has been left empty. What looks like comedy is the portrait of a man who can neither settle nor be alone.

江上被花恼不彻，无处告诉只颠狂。走觅南邻爱酒伴，经旬出饮独空床。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The flowers vex him, but vex him into a kind of delight; with nowhere to say it, he goes wild. He searches the south lane for a drinking companion and finds, on coming home, that his bed has stood empty for ten days. [Structure] Two couplets of opposite direction. The first turns feeling outward, the second turns it back on the poet's own conduct, and the joke of the ending is that both movements are the same ailment. [Imagery] Blossoms that 'vex' are unusual: normally flowers are sweet or sad. Here the flowers behave like an insistence that cannot be answered, and the 'ten days' of the last line gives the comedy a quantity, which is what makes it funny rather than merely odd. [Sentiment] Du Fu is known for gravity, and this quatrain is one of the places where his humour breaks out: the mood is light, careless, even abandoned, and it is carried by two ordinary words, 'not through with it' and 'empty'.

【白话串讲】杜甫写《江畔独步寻花·其一》：“江上被花恼不彻，无处告诉只颠狂”——“走觅南邻爱酒伴，经旬出饮独空床”——他被花惹恼，想找人喝酒——南邻的酒伴出门多日——他写独自寻花的狂。【意象与手法】此诗写赏花，以春景写赏花，是杜甫的名篇。前二句写被花恼：「江上被花恼不彻，无处告诉只颠狂」写江上被花恼不彻、无处告诉只颠狂——写尽被花恼的颠狂；后二句写觅酒伴：「走觅南邻爱酒伴，经旬出饮独空床」写走觅南邻爱酒伴、经旬出饮独空床——写尽觅伴的落空。全诗以春景写赏花，写尽被花恼的颠狂与觅伴的落空，是杜甫的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写赏花，以春景写赏花，是杜甫的名篇。此诗为杜甫《江畔独步寻花》七绝组诗之开篇。上元元年（760）杜甫在成都浣花溪畔建成草堂，春日江畔花开，杜甫独步寻花，欲与酒伴共赏，而酒伴外出经旬不归，遂作此诗，写独步寻花的颠狂与落寞。此诗写被花恼：江上被花恼不彻，无处告诉只颠狂——写江上被花恼不彻、无处告诉只颠狂，写尽被花恼的颠狂；走觅南邻爱酒伴，经旬出饮独空床——写走觅南邻爱酒伴、经旬出饮独空床，写尽觅伴的落空。全诗以春景写赏花——那「无处告诉只颠狂」写尽被花恼的颠狂，「经旬出饮独空床」写尽觅伴的落空，写尽被花恼的颠狂与觅伴的落空，是理解杜甫赏花诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「江上被花恼不彻，无处告诉只颠狂」写被花恼的颠狂；「走觅南邻爱酒伴，经旬出饮独空床」写觅伴的落空；以及全诗以春景写赏花、以直抒写颠狂的手法。

Background

Du Fu (712-770) spent the last decade of his life drifting along the rivers near Chengdu in the patronage of local officials; the set of poems on strolling in search of flowers belongs to about 760-761, when he had settled there for a while. The group moves from the rigours and comedy of the first poem through scenes of abundance to the fear of the last, and this first piece sets the key: pleasure that is impossible to share. Du Fu's quatrains of these years are lighter than his famous verse of the late rebellion, and this one is a favourite example of that lighter manner.

此诗写赏花，以春景写赏花，是杜甫的名篇。杜甫（712—770），字子美，号少陵野老，巩县（今河南巩义）人，唐代诗人，与李白并称「李杜」，被尊为「诗圣」，其诗被称为「诗史」。此诗为杜甫《江畔独步寻花》七绝组诗之开篇。上元元年（760）杜甫在成都浣花溪畔建成草堂，春日江畔花开，杜甫独步寻花，欲与酒伴共赏，而酒伴外出经旬不归，遂作此诗，写独步寻花的颠狂与落寞。此诗写被花恼：「江上被花恼不彻，无处告诉只颠狂」写江上被花恼不彻、无处告诉只颠狂——写尽被花恼的颠狂（江上被花恼不彻，无处告诉只颠狂）；「走觅南邻爱酒伴，经旬出饮独空床」写走觅南邻爱酒伴、经旬出饮独空床——写尽觅伴的落空（走觅南邻爱酒伴，经旬出饮独空床）。全诗以春景写赏花，写尽被花恼的颠狂与觅伴的落空，是理解杜甫赏花诗的重要篇章。杜甫于上元元年（760）春在成都浣花溪畔营建草堂，此诗作于定居草堂后的次年春。其时杜甫生活相对安定，遂有寻花觅伴的闲情。组诗《江畔独步寻花》共七首，写沿江独步、寻花赏景的经历，此首开篇写寻伴不遇，为后六首独步赏花作铺垫。

Art

The poem's single method is exaggeration by plain statement. 'Vexed without rest' applies an unwelcome emotion to something pleasant; 'nowhere to tell it' explains the itch and multiplies it; 'only wild and giddy' refuses to name a bigger word, so the feeling stays small and confidential. The second couplet then supplies the comic arithmetic - ten days of outings against one empty bed - and lets the two lines contradict each other without a comment. The rhyme on the broad 'ang' sound holds the whole piece in a light, easy voice, and the single word 'du,' alone, is placed at the end of the last line where it can do the most damage. Nothing is explained and nothing is moralised, which is why the humour survives reading.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以直抒写颠狂。「江上被花恼不彻」以直抒写颠狂——那「恼不彻」写尽被花恼的无奈，以直抒写尽赏花的颠狂。其二，以对照写独游。「无处告诉只颠狂」以对照写独游——那「无处告诉」「只颠狂」写尽无人可告的独游，以对照写尽赏花的落寞。其三，以动作写觅伴。「走觅南邻爱酒伴」以动作写觅伴——那「走觅」写尽觅伴的急切，以动作写尽寻伴的兴致。其四，以白描写落空。「经旬出饮独空床」以白描写落空——那「独空床」写尽酒伴的未归，以白描写尽觅伴的落空。此外，此诗前二句写被花恼的颠狂，后二句写觅伴的落空，由恼及觅，正是赏花诗「以独写乐」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以春景写赏花，写尽被花恼的颠狂与觅伴的落空，是杜甫的代表作。此诗还善于以「江上被花恼不彻」的「不彻」写花之多的程度——那「不彻」写被花撩拨得没完没了，正是花多得让人应接不暇的写照。又善以「走觅」「经旬」的对照写寻伴的急切与等待的漫长——走觅是即刻的行动，经旬是旬日的久等，一急一久，见出独游的无奈。

Allusions

The specific reference is to the drinking companions of the south lane, an everyday figure in Du Fu's Chengdu years; his poems of this period are full of borrowing cups and wandering off to drink. The broader setting is the tradition of the flower-crazy poet, who in Chinese verse is rarely a dignified figure. The geography also points to the ordinary quarter of the city, where the court poet's familiar complaints suddenly sound like his neighbours'. Nothing in the poem is obscure, and its effect depends entirely on that plainness.

此诗的用语深植于赏花与独游传统。「被花恼」令人想到「被花恼」写被花恼的意象——也令人想到「多情却被无情恼」（苏轼）的意象；「颠狂」令人想到「颠狂」写癫狂的意象——也令人想到「颠狂柳絮随风舞」的意象；「无处告诉」令人想到「无处告诉」写无人可告的意象——也令人想到「欲将心事付瑶琴」的意象；「南邻」令人想到「南邻」写南邻的意象——杜甫草堂南邻即其酒伴斛斯融，也令人想到「南村群童」的意象；「独空床」令人想到「独空床」写空床的意象——也令人想到「客舍空床」的意象。全诗化用被花恼、颠狂、无处告诉、南邻、独空床的意象，以春景写赏花，正是杜甫「沉郁」之外亦见诙谐、承赏花传统写独游之本领。「南邻」指杜甫草堂南邻的邻居，即其《江畔独步寻花·其二》所咏的「稠花乱蕊畏江滨，行步欹危实怕春」中的酒伴——据考为斛斯融，杜甫另有《过南邻朱山人水亭》诗，故「南邻爱酒伴」有明确的实指。

Commentary

It is unusual for Du Fu to close a quatrain on a kitchen detail, and this one has been enjoyed for exactly that reason; commentators call the last couplet comic, and note how the word for empty turns the promise of company into the fact of solitude. In the sequence as a whole the first poem stands as the preface: where the later poems find flowers that can be shared, this one insists that the first stirrings of spring are an private trouble. Modern readers value it as evidence that the weight of Du Fu's verse did not exclude pleasantry.

此诗历来被推为杜甫赏花诗的名篇，也是《江畔独步寻花》组诗的开篇。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以春景写赏花，风趣中含孤寂」；近人更指出「江上被花恼不彻，无处告诉只颠狂」写被花恼的颠狂，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以四句的绝句写尽被花恼的颠狂与觅伴的落空——那江上，那被花恼，那不彻，那无处告诉，那颠狂，那走觅，那南邻，那爱酒伴，那经旬，那出饮，那独空床，都写尽了杜甫笔下的寻花；那「经旬出饮独空床」更以白描写尽觅伴的落空。此诗与杜甫《江畔独步寻花·其六》（「黄四娘家花满蹊」）同为寻花名篇，一写「千朵万朵压枝低」的花满（其六），一写「无处告诉只颠狂」的独游（其一）；又与王维《红牡丹》「花心愁欲断」的咏花传统一脉相承，可见中国诗写赏花的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解杜甫赏花诗的窗口，也是中国诗写独步寻花的经典——那空床的酒伴，穿越千年，仍在诉说着独游的落寞。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (qiyan jueju)诗·七言绝句

Rhyme Rhymes on the lower ping sheng of the 'ang' group throughout: 'kuang' (giddy) and 'chuang' (bed).七绝，押「狂」「床」韵（下平七阳），一韵到底，音节明快

Tone pattern A seven-character quatrain with plain rhymes held to the end, in a brisk, unpretending voice.此诗为七言绝句，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节明快，正合赏花的明快。

Reading note Four seven-character lines rhyming on the broad -ang sound, which gives the poem a light, conversational fall. The pauses come after the fourth and seventh characters, so each line reads quickly and the couplets are short enough to be spoken in one breath. The rhythm serves the comedy: nothing is heaved or slowed, and the last word, the empty bed, lands on the rhyme where a serious poet would be expected to linger. Du Fu's quatrains of the Chengdu years are generally quicker than his later work, and this is among the quickest.此诗为七言绝句，四句——「江上被花恼不彻，无处告诉只颠狂。走觅南邻爱酒伴，经旬出饮独空床」，押「阳」韵（狂、床），一韵到底，音节明快。全诗以春景写赏花：前二句写被花恼的颠狂（江上被花恼不彻、无处告诉只颠狂），后二句写觅伴的落空（走觅南邻爱酒伴、经旬出饮独空床）。四句短章，前写颠狂，后写落空，以「经旬出饮独空床」写尽觅伴的落空，正见杜甫「沉郁」之外亦见诙谐的本色。诵读此诗，宜以明快的语调读「无处告诉只颠狂」的颠狂，以略带诙谐的语调读「经旬出饮独空床」的落空，结句要读得明快而有余韵，方能传达出杜甫的风趣中含孤寂。杜甫绝句以「浑成」著称，此诗正是其赏花绝句的典范。

Line by line

江上被花恼不彻，无处告诉只颠狂

The blossoms on the river vex me without rest; with nowhere to unload the feeling, I am only wild and giddy.

江上被花恼不彻，无处告诉只颠狂。

Beside the river, teased past bearing by the flowers, with no one to tell, I am simply wild.

此二句是全诗写颠狂的核心，以江上被花恼不彻写被花恼，以无处告诉只颠狂写只颠狂，写尽被花恼的颠狂，是千古名句。「江上被花恼不彻」写江上被花恼不彻——那「江上」写江上，「被花恼不彻」写被花恼不彻，写尽被花恼的无奈；「无处告诉只颠狂」写无处告诉只颠狂——那「无处告诉」写无处告诉，「只颠狂」写只颠狂，写尽无处告诉的颠狂。这句的深意在于：它以「江上被花恼不彻」的被花恼与「无处告诉只颠狂」的只颠狂，写尽被花恼的颠狂——江上被花恼不彻，那「江上被花恼不彻」写尽被花恼的无奈——被花恼不彻，正是花多撩人的写照，那「恼不彻」写尽赏花的颠狂；无处告诉只颠狂，那「无处告诉只颠狂」写尽无处告诉的颠狂——无处告诉，正是无人共赏的写照，那「只颠狂」写尽赏花的落寞；那「江上被花恼不彻」写尽被花恼的无奈，那「无处告诉只颠狂」写尽无处告诉的颠狂，一写被恼，一写独游，写尽被花恼的颠狂——被花恼而无处告，正是独步寻花的写照；此二句以被花恼、只颠狂写尽被花恼的颠狂，也为下文的觅伴作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写颠狂的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「花太多，我一个人看不过来」，则失其风趣；唯以「江上被花恼不彻」写被花恼、「无处告诉只颠狂」写只颠狂，写尽被花恼的颠狂，也让此二句成为全诗写颠狂的核心。

The wildness. Beside the river, teased past bearing by the flowers, with no one to tell, I am simply wild. The flowers that tease past bearing and the wildness with no one to tell are Du Fu's spring. To have said he was maddened by flowers would be a mood; the by-the-river-teased-past-bearing-by-the-flowers against the no-one-to-tell-simply-wild is the mood.

走觅南邻爱酒伴，经旬出饮独空床

I set out for the south lane to look for a companion who loves wine, but after ten days of drinking away my bed stands empty.

走觅南邻爱酒伴，经旬出饮独空床。

I run to find my wine-loving neighbor to the south; he has been out drinking for ten days, and the bed is empty.

此二句是全诗写落空的核心，以走觅南邻爱酒伴写走觅，以经旬出饮独空床写独空床，写尽觅伴的落空，是千古名句。「走觅南邻爱酒伴」写走觅南邻爱酒伴——那「走觅」写走觅，「南邻爱酒伴」写南邻爱酒伴，写尽走觅的急切；「经旬出饮独空床」写经旬出饮独空床——那「经旬」写经旬，「出饮独空床」写出饮独空床，写尽经旬的空床。这句的深意在于：它以「走觅南邻爱酒伴」的走觅与「经旬出饮独空床」的空床，写尽觅伴的落空——走觅南邻爱酒伴，那「走觅南邻爱酒伴」写尽走觅的急切——走觅酒伴，正是欲与共赏的写照，那「走觅」写尽寻伴的兴致；经旬出饮独空床，那「经旬出饮独空床」写尽经旬的空床——经旬出饮，正是酒伴未归的写照，那「独空床」写尽觅伴的落空；那「走觅南邻爱酒伴」写尽走觅的急切，那「经旬出饮独空床」写尽经旬的空床，一写走觅，一写空床，写尽觅伴的落空——走觅酒伴而空床独归，正是寻伴不遇的写照；此二句以走觅、空床写尽觅伴的落空，也让此二句成为全诗写落空的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「邻居不在家，只好自己看花」，则失其诙谐；唯以「走觅南邻爱酒伴」写走觅、「经旬出饮独空床」写独空床，写尽觅伴的落空，也让此二句成为全诗写落空的核心。

The neighbor. I run to find my wine-loving neighbor to the south; he has been out drinking for ten days, and the bed is empty. The running to the wine neighbor and the empty bed are the comic failure. To have said the neighbor was away would be an event; the run-to-find-the-south-neighbor-wine-companion against the out-drinking-for-ten-days-alone-empty-bed is the event.

Study

Word focus

恼 'Nao,' to vex, to fret. Most often a disagreeable word, here applied to flowers, and that impropriety is what makes the line funny; it also implies the poet has no defence against his own pleasure. 「江上被花恼不彻」之「恼」字是写颠狂的关键词，一个「恼」字写尽被花恼的无奈。恼者，撩拨、烦扰也。杜甫以「江上被花恼不彻」写颠狂，这个「恼」字至少有双重意味：其一，写花之恼——那「江上被花恼不彻」写江上被花恼不彻，那「恼」字写尽被花恼的无奈——被花恼，正是花多撩人的写照，那「恼」字写尽赏花的颠狂；其二，写情之痴——那「恼」字更是写痴——恼，正见爱花成痴的颠狂，那「恼」字写尽杜甫的爱花。以「恼」字写颠狂，正是杜甫写赏花的枢纽——若换作「迷」「醉」等字，则或失其与「被花」「不彻」的配合，或失其写恼的意味；唯「恼」字，以江上被花恼不彻写尽被花恼的无奈与爱花成痴的颠狂，与「无处告诉只颠狂」的颠狂相合，写尽被花恼的颠狂，也让「江上被花恼不彻」成为全诗写颠狂的名句。

独 'Du,' alone, by oneself. It closes the poem after the empty bed, so the word for company in the second line and the word for solitude in the fourth point at the same failure. 「经旬出饮独空床」之「独」字是写落空的关键词，一个「独」字写尽空床的落寞。独者，独自、孤单也。杜甫以「经旬出饮独空床」写落空，这个「独」字至少有双重意味：其一，写床之独——那「经旬出饮独空床」写经旬出饮独空床，那「独」字写尽空床的孤单——独空床，正是酒伴未归的写照，那「独」字写尽觅伴的落空；其二，写己之孤——那「独」字更是写孤——独，正见独步的孤单，那「独」字写尽赏花的落寞。以「独」字写落空，正是杜甫写赏花的枢纽——若换作「空」「虚」等字，则或失其与「经旬出饮」「空床」的配合，或失其写独的意味；唯「独」字，以经旬出饮独空床写尽空床的孤单与独步的孤寂，与「无处告诉只颠狂」的无处告诉相合，写尽觅伴的落空，也让「经旬出饮独空床」成为全诗写落空的名句。