唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
鲁郡东石门送杜二甫
Farewell at Stone Gate, East of Lu Prefecture, for Du Fu
醉别复几日，登临遍池台。
何时石门路，重有金樽开。
秋波落泗水，海色明徂徕。
飞蓬各自远，且尽手中杯。
When will the road at Stone Gate see a golden cup opened once more?
The autumn ripple falls into the Si; the sea-brightness brightens Mount Cula.
Tumbleweed, each of us drifting far from the other — still, drain the cup in your hand.
Meaning
Li Bai and Du Fu had drunk together for only a few days before parting in Lu. The poet looks back on those short days of climbing and sightseeing, then looks forward to a future meeting on the Stone Gate road when the wine cup may open again. The closing couplet takes up the image of tumbleweed blown apart in two directions, and answers it with a toast: since we must fly apart like drifting weeds, let us at least finish the wine in our hands.
醉别复几日，登临遍池台。 何时石门路，重有金樽开。 秋波落泗水，海色明徂徕。 飞蓬各自远，且尽手中杯。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] The poem moves from the few short days of shared drink to a question about return. The first couplet recalls a farewell made in wine, a parting already promised for only a few days, and yet measured against every pool and terrace they had climbed together. The second couplet turns outward, to the road at Stone Gate and the golden cup that may one again be opened there. [Structure] Four couplets, each with its own office. The first records the brevity of the meeting; the second asks the future question; the third sets the scene in wide landscape; the fourth closes on a gesture. The movement is from personal memory to public scenery and back to a raised cup. [Imagery] The autumn ripple falling into the Si and the sea-light brightening Cula widen the frame at the exact moment the friends are about to separate. 'Tumbleweed' (fei peng) is the classical emblem of the traveler with no root; 'each going far' gives the parting its physical direction. The answer is not consolation but a toast — 'drain the cup in your hand' — which is Li Bai at his most characteristic.
【白话串讲】 李白写《鲁郡东石门送杜二甫》：“醉别复几日，登临遍池台”——“何时石门路，重有金樽开”——“秋波落泗水，海色明徂徕”——“飞蓬各自远，且尽手中杯”——他送别杜甫，飞蓬各自远。 【意象与手法】 此诗写送别，以友情写送别，是李白的名篇。前四句写离别：「醉别复几日，登临遍池台。何时石门路，重有金樽开」写醉别复几日、登临遍池台——写尽醉别的几日；后四句写送行：「秋波落泗水，海色明徂徕。飞蓬各自远，且尽手中杯」写秋波落泗水、海色明徂徕——写尽明明的海色。全诗以友情写送别，写尽醉别的几日与明明的海色，是李白的代表作。 【情感与主旨】 此诗写送别，以友情写送别，是李白的名篇。此诗为李白在鲁郡（今山东兖州）东石门送别杜甫而作，写李白与杜甫的深厚友情。天宝年间，李白与杜甫同游齐鲁，杜甫将西行，李白于石门送别，作此诗。此诗写醉别复几日，登临遍池台；何时石门路，重有金樽开；秋波落泗水，海色明徂徕；飞蓬各自远，且尽手中杯。此诗写离别：醉别复几日，登临遍池台——写醉别复几日、登临遍池台，写尽醉别的几日；何时石门路，重有金樽开——写何时石门路、重有金樽开，写尽金樽的重开；秋波落泗水，海色明徂徕——写秋波落泗水、海色明徂徕，写尽明明的海色；飞蓬各自远，且尽手中杯——写飞蓬各自远、且尽手中杯，写尽手中的酒杯。全诗以友情写送别——那「何时石门路，重有金樽开」写尽金樽的重开，「且尽手中杯」写尽手中的酒杯，写尽醉别的几日与明明的海色，是理解李白送别诗的重要篇章。 【名句点睛】 常考「醉别复几日，登临遍池台」写醉别的几日；「何时石门路，重有金樽开」写金樽的重开；以及全诗以友情写送别、以设问写重逢的手法。
Background
Li Bai (701-762), courtesy name Taibai, styled Qinglian Jushi, was the great romantic poet of the High Tang, called the Poet Immortal and paired with Du Fu as the Li-Du pair. This poem was written in the Tianbao era when Li Bai and Du Fu traveled together through Qilu; Du Fu was about to head west, and Li Bai saw him off at Stone Gate east of Lu (today's Yanzhou, Shandong). The two great poets met around 744 and their friendship, brief and intense, became a byword in later Chinese literature. Li Bai never held office after his break with the court in 744 and spent the following years moving between Liangyuan, Lu, and the lower Yangtze.
此诗写送别，以友情写送别，是李白的名篇。李白（701—762），字太白，号青莲居士，又号谪仙人，唐代伟大的浪漫主义诗人，被誉为「诗仙」，与杜甫并称「李杜」。此诗为李白在鲁郡（今山东兖州）东石门送别杜甫而作，写李白与杜甫的深厚友情。天宝年间，李白与杜甫同游齐鲁，杜甫将西行，李白于石门送别，作此诗。此诗写醉别复几日，登临遍池台；何时石门路，重有金樽开；秋波落泗水，海色明徂徕；飞蓬各自远，且尽手中杯。此诗写离别：「醉别复几日，登临遍池台」写醉别复几日、登临遍池台——写尽醉别的几日（醉别复几日，登临遍池台）；「何时石门路，重有金樽开」写何时石门路、重有金樽开——写尽金樽的重开（何时石门路，重有金樽开）；「秋波落泗水，海色明徂徕」写秋波落泗水、海色明徂徕——写尽明明的海色（秋波落泗水，海色明徂徕）；「飞蓬各自远，且尽手中杯」写飞蓬各自远、且尽手中杯——写尽手中的酒杯（飞蓬各自远，且尽手中杯）。全诗以友情写送别，写尽醉别的几日与明明的海色，是理解李白送别诗的重要篇章。
Art
Four techniques are at work. First, direct statement carries the emotion: 'after a drunken farewell of only a few days' opens the poem without ornament, so that the brevity of the meeting register immediately. Second, a rhetorical question looks to the future — 'when will the Stone Gate road' — and leaves the answer open, which is what makes the longing keep its edge. Third, landscape takes over the middle of the poem: the autumn ripple falling into the Si and the sea-light brightening Cula are not decorative but spatial, placing a real geography between the two men. Fourth, a metaphor closes the poem: the tumbleweed that falls and is carried each way is both of them, and yet the last word is not the distance but the cup still to be drained. The transition from a 'we' that climbed the terraces to a 'we' scattered in opposite directions is handled with almost no middle step.
此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以直抒写离别。「醉别复几日」以直抒写离别——那「登临遍池台」写尽登临的池台，以直抒写尽醉别的几日。其二，以设问写重逢。「何时石门路」以设问写重逢——那「重有金樽开」写尽金樽的重开，以设问写尽金樽的重开。其三，以景语写送别。「秋波落泗水」以景语写送别——那「海色明徂徕」写尽明明的海色，以景语写尽明明的海色。其四，以比喻写远行。「飞蓬各自远」以比喻写远行——那「各自远」写尽各自的远行，以比喻写尽各自的远行。此外，此诗前四句写醉别的几日，后四句写明明的海色，由别及景，正是送别诗「以酒写别」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以友情写送别，写尽醉别的几日与明明的海色，是李白的代表作。此诗还善于以「秋波落泗水」的「落」字写秋波之落——那「秋波落泗水」写尽泗水的秋波，正是以落写流，以「落」字写尽泗水的秋波。又善以「飞蓬各自远」的「各自」写各自之远行——飞蓬各自远，正见各奔前程的写照，以「各自」写尽各自的远行。
Allusions
The vocabulary belongs to the old tradition of the farewell feast. 'Drunken parting' recalls Bai Juyi's 'the drunken parting has no joy, so bitter is the farewell.' 'Golden cup' carries the memory of Li Bai's own 'a golden cup of clear wine worth ten thousand a measure.' The Si River and Mount Cula are concrete landmarks of Lu, where the poet stands. 'Tumbleweed' continues the travel-imagery of such lines as Wang Wei's 'a tumbleweed out of the Han frontier.' The Stone Gate is the actual Rock Gate pass east of the city. Nothing here is a hidden reference demanding erudition; rather, these loaded images are used as if they were plain words, which is why the poem reads as straightforward while resonating with the whole tradition behind it.
此诗的用语深植于送别与友情传统。「醉别」令人想到「醉别」写醉别的意象——也令人想到「醉不成欢惨将别」（白居易）的意象；「池台」令人想到「池台」写池台的意象——也令人想到「池台如故」的意象；「石门」令人想到「石门」写石门的意象——鲁郡东石门，也令人想到「石门山」的意象；「金樽」令人想到「金樽」写金樽的意象——也令人想到「金樽清酒斗十千」（李白）的意象；「泗水」令人想到「泗水」写泗水的意象——在山东，也令人想到「泗水流」的意象；「徂徕」令人想到「徂徕」写徂徕山的意象——在山东，也令人想到「徂徕之松」的意象；「飞蓬」令人想到「飞蓬」写飞蓬的意象——也令人想到「征蓬出汉塞」（王维）的意象。全诗化用醉别、池台、石门、金樽、泗水、徂徕、飞蓬的意象，以友情写送别，正是李白「豪放」而善白描、承送别传统写友情之本领。「金樽」令人想到「金樽」写金樽的意象——也令人想到「金樽玉酒」的意象；「飞蓬」令人想到「飞蓬」写飞蓬的意象——也令人想到「飘若飞蓬」的意象，以飞蓬写离别。
Commentary
This has long been counted among Li Bai's finest farewell poems and as the representative Tang statement of the Li-Du friendship. Qing commentators praised its bold and graceful manner; modern readers single out the couplet on the Stone Gate road as the memorable line. Its place in the canon is secure as the counterpart of 'Zeng Wang Lun' — there the friend's devotion defeats the depth of a river, here the friend's distance is met with a cup. It also joins the wider lineage running through Wang Bo's 'at a fork in the road we need not weep.' For a modern reader it remains the most direct of Li Bai's parting poems: the scenery is real, the metaphor is ordinary, and the gesture of finishing the wine carries the whole farewell.
此诗历来被推为李白送别诗的名篇，也是唐诗写李杜情谊的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以友情写送别，豪放俊逸」；近人更指出「何时石门路，重有金樽开」写金樽的重开，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以十句的五古写尽醉别的几日与明明的海色——那醉别，那复几日，那登临，那遍池台，那何时，那石门路，那重有，那金樽开，那秋波，那落泗水，那海色，那明徂徕，那飞蓬，那各自远，那且尽，那手中杯，都写尽了李白笔下的鲁郡东石门送别；那「且尽手中杯」更以直抒写尽手中的酒杯。此诗与李白《赠汪伦》「桃花潭水深千尺」同为送别名篇，一写「不及汪伦送我情」的赠别（赠汪伦），一写「飞蓬各自远」的石门（鲁郡东石门送杜二甫）；又与王勃《送杜少府之任蜀州》「无为在歧路」的送别传统一脉相承，可见唐诗写送别的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解李白送别诗的窗口，也是唐诗写李杜情谊的经典——那手中的酒杯，穿越千年，仍在诉说着醉别的几日。
Prosody
Line by line
何时石门路，重有金樽开
When will the road at Stone Gate again see a golden cup opened?
何时石门路，重有金樽开。
When, on the Stone Gate road, will the golden cups be raised again?
此二句是全诗写重逢的核心，以何时石门路写石门路，以重有金樽开写金樽开，写尽金樽的重开，是千古名句。「何时石门路」写何时石门路——那「何时」写何时，「石门路」写石门路，写尽何时的石门；「重有金樽开」写重有金樽开——那「重有」写重有，「金樽开」写金樽开，写尽金樽的重开。这句的深意在于：它以「何时石门路」的石门路与「重有金樽开」的金樽开，写尽金樽的重开——何时石门路，那「何时石门路」写尽何时的石门——何时石门路，正是何日再聚的写照，那「石门路」写尽金樽的重开；重有金樽开，那「重有金樽开」写尽金樽的重开——重有金樽开，正是重开金樽的写照，那「金樽开」写尽金樽的重开；那「何时石门路」写尽何时的石门，那「重有金樽开」写尽金樽的重开，一写石门，一写金樽，写尽金樽的重开——石门重逢而金樽再开，正是重逢的写照；此二句以石门、金樽写尽金樽的重开，也让此二句成为全诗写重逢的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「什么时候石门路上，再能有金樽重开畅饮」，则失其期待；唯以「何时石门路」写石门路、「重有金樽开」写金樽开，写尽金樽的重开，也让此二句成为全诗写重逢的核心。
The question. When, on the Stone Gate road, will the golden cups be raised again? The when-on-the-Stone-Gate-road and the again-raised golden cups are Li Bai's parting from Du Fu. To have asked when they would drink together again would be a question; the when-on-the-Stone-Gate-road against the again-golden-cups-raised is the question.
醉别复几日，登临遍池台
After a drunken farewell of a few days, I have climbed and visited every pool and terrace
醉别复几日，登临遍池台。
Drunk farewells, only a few days; we have climbed every pool and terrace.
此二句是全诗写离别的核心，以醉别复几日写复几日，以登临遍池台写遍池台，写尽醉别的几日，是千古名句。「醉别复几日」写醉别复几日——那「醉别」写醉别，「复几日」写复几日，写尽醉别的几日；「登临遍池台」写登临遍池台——那「登临」写登临，「遍池台」写遍池台，写尽遍游的池台。这句的深意在于：它以「醉别复几日」的复几日与「登临遍池台」的遍池台，写尽醉别的几日——醉别复几日，那「醉别复几日」写尽醉别的几日——醉别复几日，正是醉别几日的写照，那「复几日」写尽醉别的几日；登临遍池台，那「登临遍池台」写尽遍游的池台——登临遍池台，正是遍游池台的写照，那「遍池台」写尽醉别的几日；那「醉别复几日」写尽醉别的几日，那「登临遍池台」写尽遍游的池台，一写醉别，一写登临，写尽醉别的几日——醉别几日而遍游池台，正是惜别的写照；此二句以醉别、登临写尽醉别的几日，也为下文的金樽作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写离别的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「醉别不过几天，把池台都登临遍了」，则失其深情；唯以「醉别复几日」写复几日、「登临遍池台」写遍池台，写尽醉别的几日，也让此二句成为全诗写离别的核心。
The days. Drunk farewells, only a few days; we have climbed every pool and terrace. The few days of drunken farewell and the climbed-all-the-terraces are the friendship's intensity. To have described the few days of drinking and sightseeing would be a summary; the drunk-farewalls-only-a-few-days against the climbed-every-pool-and-terrace is the summary.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
In 'To Wang Lun' Li Bai travels by boat and hears singing on the bank, and answers the friend's devotion by saying the waters of the Peach Flower Pool, though a thousand feet deep, are not as deep as Wang Lun's sending of him. In the present poem the mood is the reverse: there is no singing friend at the shore, only a cup held in the hand. Read together, the two show the two modes of Li Bai's farewell — the one that glories in friendship, and the one that simply drinks.
李白《赠汪伦》「李白乘舟将欲行，忽闻岸上踏歌声」写送别，是李白的名篇。此诗《鲁郡东石门送杜二甫》则「醉别复几日」写送别。同为李白送别诗，一写「不及汪伦送我情」的赠别（赠汪伦），一写「且尽手中杯」的石门（鲁郡东石门送杜二甫）；一写汪伦，一写杜甫。两诗对读，可见李白送别的两种境界。
送杜少府之任蜀州 Farewell to Du Shaofu on His Appointment to Shu Prefecture 王勃 · 同写送别友情，一海内存知己一飞蓬各自远 Both write the parting of friends; one consoles with the infinity of friendship, the other toasts to the uncertainty of meetingWang Bo opens with the guarded city and the five fords, then consels his friend: 'within the four seas all who know each other are near neighbours, and the world has no roads at the ends of the earth.' Where Wang Bo answers distance with a maxim, Li Bai answers it with a question about when the cup will open again and with a last instruction to drink. Read together they show the early-Tang and High-Tang temperaments: the first wide and argumentative, the second immediate and personal.
王勃《送杜少府之任蜀州》「城阙辅三秦，风烟望五津」写送别，是王勃的名篇。此诗《鲁郡东石门送杜二甫》则「醉别复几日」写送别。同为写送别友情，一写「海内存知己，天涯若比邻」的王勃（送杜少府），一写「且尽手中杯」的李白（鲁郡东石门）；一写唐初，一写盛唐。两诗对读，可见唐人送别诗的两种格调。