PoemBridge
Start learning
All poems

近现代 近现代 · 文 Prose

翡冷翠山居闲话

Idle Talk from a Florentine Hillside

徐志摩

Xu Zhimo

散文prose 写景scenery 名篇masterpiece

在这里出门散步去，上山或是下山，在一个晴好的五月的向晚，正像是去赴一个美的宴会，像是去赴一个清幽的花园，去赴一个诗人们的约会。

Going out from here for a walk, up the hill or down, on a fine evening in May, is exactly like going to a beautiful banquet, like going to a quiet garden, like going to an appointment with the poets.
Listen

Meaning

Going out from here for a walk, whether up the hill or down, is a leisurely ramble, just stroll as you please. On a clear and beautiful May evening, the feeling is exactly like going to a beautiful banquet, like going to a quiet garden's appointment, like going to a meeting among poets. The piece is a model of Xu Zhimo's 'flowing and unrestrained' prose style: with the parallel advance of 'like going to…' it flows in one breath, three 'going to' words raising a simple walk into an appointment, writing the ordinary hillside path as a pilgrim's road to beauty; the language runs like flowing clouds and water, bright in rhythm, everywhere flowing with the poet's delight and fervor. It writes the leisure of hillside life and the intoxication with natural beauty: in Xu's hand, walking is not walking but 'going to a beautiful banquet,' 'going to an appointment with the poets'—he aestheticizes life, sanctifies nature, conveying the life-ideal of 'the artisticization of life.'

在这里出门去散步，无论是上山还是下山，都是惬意的闲行，随意走走就好。在一个晴朗美好的五月傍晚，正像是去赴一场美的宴会，像是去赴一个清幽的花园之约，去赴一场诗人们之间的约会。

Appreciation

Plain Paraphrase: In the hillside dwelling life at Firenze (Florence), going out for a walk, whether up or down, on a clear May evening, the feeling is exactly like going to a beautiful banquet—like going to a quiet garden's appointment, like going to a meeting among poets. Artistic Features: This is a model of Xu Zhimo's 'flowing and unrestrained' prose style: with the parallel advance of 'like going to…' in one breath, three 'going to' words raise a walk into an appointment, writing the ordinary hillside path as a pilgrim's road to beauty; language runs like flowing clouds and water, bright in rhythm, everywhere flowing with the poet's delight and fervor. Emotional Theme: It writes the leisure of hillside life and the intoxication with natural beauty: in Xu's hand, walking is not walking but 'going to a beautiful banquet,' 'going to an appointment with the poets'—he aestheticizes life, sanctifies nature, conveying the life-ideal of 'the artisticization of life.' Famous Lines: 'Exactly like going to a beautiful banquet' uses 'going to a banquet' to figure walking, turning the ordinary into the magical, among the most poetic metaphors in Xu's prose.

【白话串讲】 徐志摩写《翡冷翠山居闲话》：“在这里出门散步去，上山或是下山，在一个晴好的五月的向晚”——“正像是去赴一个美的宴会”。“你一个人漫游的时候，你就会在青草里坐地仰卧”——他说一个人独游最自由，“什么都可以想，什么都可以不想”。 【意象与手法】 这是徐志摩散文「流丽奔放」风格的典范：以「像是去赴……」的排比递进一气呵成，三个「赴」字把散步升华为赴约，把寻常的山路写成美的朝圣之路；语言如行云流水，节奏明快，处处流动着诗人的欣喜与热忱。 【情感与主旨】 写山居生活的闲适与对自然之美的沉醉：在徐志摩笔下，散步不是走路，而是「赴美的宴会」「赴诗人们的约会」——他把生活诗化、把自然神圣化，传达出「生活的艺术化」的人生理想。 【名句点睛】 「正像是去赴一个美的宴会」以「赴宴」喻散步，化平凡为神奇，是徐志摩散文中最富诗意的比喻之一。

Background

'Idle Talk from a Florentine Hillside' is a famous piece among Xu Zhimo's prose, collected in the essay collection 'Scales of Paris.' 'Firenze' is Xu Zhimo's famous transliteration of the Italian city Florence (Firenze)—he disliked 'Florence' as too vulgar, deliberately translated it as the three characters 'Firenze,' taking its sound-near beauty of meaning: the cold of jadeite, the clear of emerald-green, exactly fitting this Renaissance city's artistic temperament. Xu Zhimo (1897–1931), from Haining, Zhejiang, modern poet and essayist, representative of the crescent school, studied in Britain and America, deeply influenced by Anglo-American romantic poetry and aestheticism; his poetry is light and flowing, his prose hailed 'the poet's prose,' language bold and unrestrained, imagination strange. This piece writes one walking experience during his hillside dwelling in Florence: a May evening, fine weather, he goes up and down the hill, writing the walk as going to a 'beautiful banquet.' Around 1925, Xu traveled Europe, passing Italy; facing the Renaissance holy land and the bright mountains south of the Alps, his poetic feeling burst forth, hence this piece. The ease of 'going out for a walk' and the joy of 'going to beauty's banquet' are exactly the流露 of Xu's 'spirit' literary view—he held literature should express the true self and the joy of life; this piece is exactly the 'spirit' writing of 'I as I am,' with 'What I Know of Cambridge' among the representatives of Xu's landscape prose.

《翡冷翠山居闲话》是徐志摩散文中的名篇，收入散文集《巴黎的鳞爪》。「翡冷翠」是徐志摩对意大利城市佛罗伦萨（Firenze）的著名音译——他嫌「佛罗伦萨」太俗，特意译为「翡冷翠」三字，取其音近意美：翡翠之冷、翠色之清，恰合这座文艺复兴名城的艺术气质。徐志摩（1897—1931），浙江海宁人，现代诗人、散文家，新月派代表人物，曾先后留学英美，深受英美浪漫主义诗歌与唯美主义思潮影响，其诗风轻盈流丽，散文则被誉为「诗人的散文」，语言恣肆奔放、想象奇诡。此篇所写，是他在意大利翡冷翠山间居住时的一次散步体验：五月的向晚，晴好的天气，他出门上山下山，把散步写成了赴一场「美的宴会」。1925年前后，徐志摩游历欧洲，行经意大利，面对文艺复兴的圣地与阿尔卑斯山南麓的明媚山水，诗情勃发，遂有此文。文中「出门散步去」的闲适、「赴美之宴」的欣悦，正是徐志摩「性灵」文学观的流露——他主张文学应表现真实的自我与生命的欢乐，此篇即为「我之为我」的性灵书写，与《我所知道的康桥》等同为徐志摩山水散文的代表作。

Art

The piece is modern prose (lyric scenery prose); its art may be summed in three points: metaphor in strands, parallel advance, flowing rhythm. In metaphor, the whole's core is one great metaphor—comparing 'walking' to 'going to a banquet': going out for a walk is going to 'beauty's banquet,' to 'a quiet garden,' to 'an appointment with poets,' three metaphors same mold yet deepening layer by layer—'beauty's banquet' writes beauty's abundance, 'quiet garden' writes the realm's stillness, 'appointment with poets' writes feeling's refinement, writing one ordinary walk as going to a grand ceremony, turning ordinary into magical, exactly the unfolding of Xu's 'wings of imagination.' In parallel, 'like going to… like going to… going to…' three 'going to' words lead a parallel in one breath, like three folded waves pushing higher, pushing feeling to climax; in the parallel 'beauty's banquet' 'quiet garden' 'appointment with poets' three object-images turn ever finer, the syllable's rhythm also turns ever faster (banquet four characters, garden five, appointment six), the literary force like climbing higher and higher. In rhythm, the opening 'Going out from here for a walk, up the hill or down' begins in loose sentences, composed as strolling; 'on a clear May evening' marks time, tone gentle; then three 'going to' sentences in strands, rhythm from slow to fast, like step from slow to quick, mood from leisure to joy. The whole is but dozens of characters, yet contains the complete structure of rise-develop-turn-gather: rise from 'going out,' develop from 'hillside path,' turn at the 'banquet' metaphor, gather at 'appointment with poets' high style, a model of 'small length writing great realm' prose sketch.

此文的文体是现代散文（抒情写景散文），其艺术特色可括为「比喻连珠、排比递进、节奏流丽」三端。就比喻言，全篇的核心是一个大比喻——把「散步」比作「赴宴」：出门散步去，是去赴「美的宴会」、赴「清幽的花园」、赴「诗人们的约会」，三个比喻同一机杼而层层深化——「美的宴会」写美之丰盛，「清幽的花园」写境之幽静，「诗人们的约会」写情之高雅，把一次寻常的散步写得如赴盛典，化平凡为神奇，正是徐志摩「想象之翼」的展开。就排比言，「像是去赴……像是去赴……去赴……」三个「赴」字领起的排比一气呵成，如三叠波浪层层推高，把情感推向高潮；排比中「美的宴会」「清幽的花园」「诗人们的约会」三个宾语意象愈转愈精，音节的节奏也愈转愈快（美的宴会四字、清幽的花园五字、诗人们的约会六字），文势如登高而愈上。就节奏言，开头「在这里出门散步去，上山或是下山」以散句从容起笔，如信步而行；「在一个晴好的五月的向晚」点明时间，语调和缓；随即三个「赴」字句连珠而出，节奏由缓入疾，如步履由慢转快、心绪由闲转喜。全文不过数十字，却包含了起承转合的完整结构：起于「出门」，承于「山径」，转于「赴宴」之喻，合于「诗人们的约会」之高格，是「以小篇幅写大境界」的散文小品典范。

Allusions

The piece's cultural substance is rooted in both Chinese and Western literary traditions. First, the tradition of 'walking aesthetics': in Western literature, walking is the warm bed of philosophy and poetic feeling—Rousseau's 'Reveries of a Solitary Walker' writes contemplation through strolling, Thoreau's 'Walden' writes nature through walking, Wordsworth writes lake poetry through lakeside walking; Xu, steeped in Anglo-American literature, raises 'walking' to aesthetic activity and spiritual roam, 'going out for a walk' exactly inherits this tradition; in Chinese literature, 'walking to where the water ends, sitting watching the clouds rise' (Wang Wei), 'calmly see the southern mountain' (Tao Yuanming) of landscape joy also take leisure walking as the path to the Way, Xu's walking combines China and West, both Rousseau's stroll and Tao Yuanming's leisure. Second, the cultural source of the 'banquet' metaphor: 'banquet' in Chinese culture is the classic of joyful meeting (winding stream floating cups, the Lanting gathering), 'appointment with poets' more secretly fits the Chinese-Western poetic-meeting tradition—China has the Lanting gathering, the West Garden elegant gathering, the West has the lake poets, the Renaissance's literary gatherings; Xu writing walking as 'going to an appointment with poets' is taking natural landscape as the place of poetic assembly, secretly implying pilgrimage to the art holy land. Third, the cultural meaning of the 'Firenze' transliteration: the three characters 'Firenze' translate a city into a work of art—the cold of jadeite is the Renaissance's rational light, the clear of emerald is the Tuscany hills' brightness, one transliteration itself is poetry, showing Xu's aesthetic self-awareness of language, also his life-philosophy of 'the artisticization of life'—he sees hills as poetry, walking as poetry, transliteration as poetry.

此文的文化意蕴，深植于中西两方面的文学传统。其一是「散步美学」的传统：西方文学中，散步是哲思与诗兴的温床——卢梭《一个孤独漫步者的遐想》以漫步写沉思，梭罗《瓦尔登湖》以漫步写自然，华兹华斯以湖区散步写湖畔诗，徐志摩深受英美文学浸染，把「散步」提升为审美活动与精神漫游，「出门散步去」正承此传统；中国文学中，「行到水穷处，坐看云起时」（王维）、「悠然见南山」（陶渊明）的山水之乐，亦以闲步为得道之径，徐志摩的散步中西合璧，既是卢梭式的漫步，也是陶渊明式的闲行。其二是「赴宴」之喻的文化渊源：「宴」在中国文化中是欢会之典（曲水流觞、兰亭雅集），「诗人们的约会」更暗合中西诗会传统——中国有兰亭之会、西园雅集，西方有湖畔诗派、文艺复兴的文人雅集，徐志摩以「赴诗人们的约会」写散步，是把自然山水当作诗的集会之地，暗含对艺术圣地的朝圣之意。其三是「翡冷翠」译名的文化意味：翡冷翠三字把一座城市译成一件艺术品——翡翠之冷是文艺复兴的理性之光，翠色之清是托斯卡纳山水的明媚，一个译名本身即是诗，可见徐志摩对语言文字的审美自觉，也可见他「生活的艺术化」的生命哲学——他看山是诗、走路是诗、译名也是诗。

Commentary

Though but a sketch among Xu Zhimo's prose, 'Idle Talk from a Florentine Hillside' is the purest presentation of his literary ideal. In literary value, the piece shows all of Xu's prose features: language's flow (read like spring water trickling), imagination's strangeness (walking becomes a banquet), feeling's fervor (infinite devotion to beauty and nature), regarded by critics as the specimen of 'the poet's prose'—Zhu Ziqing once said Xu's prose 'has a flavor too thick to melt,' this piece exactly its most condensed example; Mao Dun said Xu 'first wrote prose with a poetic brush,' this piece can be its footnote. In intellectual value, the piece condenses Xu's 'artisticization of life' view of life—he writes walking as a banquet, hillside dwelling as a poetic realm, holding one should treat daily life with an aesthetic attitude; this 'artistic life' ideal is the projection of the May Fourth individual-emancipation thought in literature, also influenced Lin Yutang's 'art of life' and Liang Shiqiu's 'elegant-shed sketch' line of leisure prose. In influence, the transliteration 'Firenze' spread for its beauty, still one of Florence's most common elegant Chinese names; this piece with 'What I Know of Cambridge' 'Sunrise at Mount Tai' together established Xu's place in modern prose history—he does not win by thought's depth but by feeling's purity and language's flow, this piece exactly the extreme of this 'pure feeling.'

《翡冷翠山居闲话》虽只是徐志摩散文中的一个小品，却是其文学理想最纯粹的呈现。就文学价值言，此篇体现了徐志摩散文的全部特色：语言的流丽（读之如泉水淙淙）、想象的奇诡（散步成赴宴）、情感的热烈（对美与自然的无限倾心），被评论家视为「诗人的散文」的标本——朱自清曾称徐志摩散文「有浓得化不开的情味」，此篇正是其「情味」最浓缩的一例；茅盾论徐志摩「第一个用诗意的笔写散文」，此篇可为注脚。就思想价值言，此篇浓缩了徐志摩「生活的艺术化」的人生观——他把散步写成赴宴、把山居写成诗境，主张人应当以审美态度对待日常生活，这种「艺术化人生」的理想，是五四时期个性解放思潮在文学上的投影，也影响了其后林语堂「生活的艺术」、梁实秋「雅舍小品」一脉的闲适散文。就影响言，「翡冷翠」这一译名因其美感而广为流传，至今仍是佛罗伦萨最通行的中文雅称之一；此篇与《我所知道的康桥》《泰山日出》等，共同奠定了徐志摩在现代散文史上的地位——他不是以思想深度胜，而是以感觉的纯粹与语言的流丽胜，此篇正是这种「纯粹的感觉」的极致。

Prosody

Form Modern lyric prose (sketch, the poet's prose)现代抒情散文（小品文，诗人的散文）
Rhyme Not rhyming, proceeds in natural rhythm of prose language, yet the syllable arrangement shows great craft: 'a clear May evening' three attributives unfolding layer by layer, syllables bright; 'like going to a beautiful banquet, like going to a quiet garden, going to an appointment with poets' three parallel sentences, syllables from short to long, beat from fast to slow, like three folded tides pushing higher, the prose music of 'making force through parallel.'不押韵，以散文语言的自然节奏行文，而音节的安排极见匠心：「晴好的五月的向晚」三组定语层层铺展，音节明快；「像是去赴一个美的宴会，像是去赴一个清幽的花园，去赴一个诗人们的约会」三个排比句，音节由短渐长、节拍由快渐慢，如三叠潮水层层推高，是「以排比造声势」的散文音律。
Tone pattern The pattern begins in short sentences, closes in long: 'Going out from here for a walk, up the hill or down' in short sentences speaks leisurely, like strolling; 'on a clear May evening' slightly longer, like pausing to look around; 'exactly like going to a beautiful banquet' raises the metaphor, tone rising; 'like going to a quiet garden, going to an appointment with poets' closes in parallel long sentences, like climbing three steps, feeling rising higher and higher, the whole tone from leisure to joy to intoxication, in one breath.句式以短句起、长句收：「在这里出门散步去，上山或是下山」以短句闲闲道来，如信步；「在一个晴好的五月的向晚」稍长，如驻足四望；「正像是去赴一个美的宴会」起喻，语调节奏上扬；「像是去赴一个清幽的花园，去赴一个诗人们的约会」以排比长句收束，如连登三级、情绪愈涨愈高，全篇语调由闲适而欣悦而沉醉，一气呵成。
Reading note The beauty of the piece's voice lies in 'prose's rhythm and the poet's mood beating in sync.' The opening 'Going out from here for a walk' rises in nine characters, composed in syllable, like pushing open the hillside door, strolling out; 'up the hill or down' pauses in six characters, 'or' reads light and casual, in syllable exactly the 'either way' carelessness, the walk's leisure naturally showing. 'On a clear May evening' shows the wonder of syllable most: 'from a' three characters gently lift, like the lens slowly drawing back; 'clear' three characters with alliteration (qing) bright, like daylight suddenly bright; 'May's' three characters level, like warm wind on the face; 'evening' two characters close, like dusk gathering—three attributives plus one head word, syllables adding layer by layer, read like stepping into that most beautiful moment. Then 'exactly like going to a beautiful banquet' turns with 'exactly like,' tone from narration to exclamation, like the poet suddenly pausing, clapping and laughing; 'beauty's banquet' four characters (mei de yan hui) with labial and nasal sounds, read rich and gorgeous, like the banquet's abundance. The last two parallels 'like going to a quiet garden, going to an appointment with poets'—former 'quiet garden' (qing you de hua yuan) bright in syllable, like the garden gate slowly opening; latter 'appointment with poets' (shi ren men de yue hui) long in syllable, like the poets' figures in dusk gradually going deeper; two 'like' like two echoes, pushing the 'banquet' metaphor to the poetic realm. The whole text from 'leisure' to 'joy,' from 'real' to 'unreal,' the syllable's rise and fall exactly the walker's mood's rise and fall—Xu said 'prose is the dividing of poetry's lines,' this piece though not divided, everywhere is poetry's rhythm.此篇的声情之美，在于「散文的节奏与诗人的心绪同步律动」。开篇「在这里出门散步去」以九个字平起，音节从容，如推开山居之门、信步而出；「上山或是下山」六字一顿，「或是」二字读来轻松随意，音节上正是「左也成、右也成」的无所谓，散步的闲情在声调中自然流露。「在一个晴好的五月的向晚」一句最见音节之妙：「在一个」三字轻轻托起，如镜头缓缓拉开；「晴好的」三字双声（qing）而明快，如天光乍亮；「五月的」三字平缓，如暖风拂面；「向晚」二字收束，如暮色四合——三个定语加一个中心词，音节层层加码，读来如一步步走进那最美的时刻。随即「正像是去赴一个美的宴会」以「正像是」三字转折，语气由叙述转为感叹，如诗人忽然驻足、拍手而笑；「美的宴会」四字（mei de yan hui）唇齿音与鼻音相间，读来丰腴华美，如盛宴之丰盛。末二句排比「像是去赴一个清幽的花园，去赴一个诗人们的约会」——前句「清幽的花园」（qing you de hua yuan）音节清亮，如园门徐开；后句「诗人们的约会」（shi ren men de yue hui）音节绵长，如暮色中诗人的身影渐行渐深；两个「像是」如两记回音，把「赴宴」的比喻推至诗性之境。整段文字由「闲」入「喜」、由「实」入「虚」，声调的起伏正是散步者心绪的起伏——徐志摩说「散文是诗的分行」，此篇虽不分行，却处处是诗的节奏。

Line by line

在这里出门散步去，上山或是下山，

The opening two lines write the most ordinary action in the plainest words, setting the 'idle talk' tone. 'From here' three characters lightly point the place—the Florentine hillside dwelling, spoken as to an old friend, exactly the footnote of 'idle talk': not composing formally, but speaking leisurely; 'going out for a walk' five characters write the action, 'go' carrying zest and lightness, as if the voice not ended and the person already risen; 'up the hill or down' more wonderful—'or' writes the walk's purposelessness: no need to mind direction, up the hill also, down also, the path is only path, walking a share of leisure. The two lines have not one adjective, not one metaphor, yet already write 'leisure' full: the hillside's stillness, mood's ease, step's lightness, all in the casual 'either up or down.' This plainest language writing the lightest mood is exactly Xu's prose's excellence—he is not without rhetoric, but here restrains rhetoric, with 'idle talk' posture storing force for the later 'beauty's banquet' gorgeous metaphor, first restrain then release, contrast sharp.

在这里出门去散步，无论是上山还是下山，都是惬意的闲行，随意走走就好。

Here, step out for a walk—up the hill or down,

起笔两句以最朴素的语句写最日常的动作，是全篇「闲话」语气的定调。「在这里」三字轻轻点出地点——翡冷翠的山居，仿佛对老友说话一般随意，正是「闲话」二字的注脚：不是端然作文，而是闲闲道来；「出门散步去」五个字写动作，「去」字带着兴致与轻快，仿佛话音未落人已起身；「上山或是下山」更妙——「或是」二字写散步的无目的性：不必计较方向，上山也可、下山也可，路只是路，走的是一份闲情。两句没有一处形容，没有一个比喻，却已把「闲适」二字写足：山居之静、心情之闲、步履之轻，尽在「或上或下」的随意之中。这种以最素的语言写最淡的心境，正是徐志摩散文的高明处——他不是没有辞藻，而是此处收敛辞藻，以「闲话」之态为后文「美的宴会」的华丽比喻蓄势，先抑后扬，对比鲜明。

The walk. Here, step out for a walk—up the hill or down. The stepping out and the up-or-down hill are the opening. To have stepped out for a walk would be a walk; the here-step-out-for-a-walk-up-the-hill-or-down is the walk.

在一个晴好的五月的向晚，正像是去赴一个美的宴会，

This line is the whole's turn and sublimation, from 'idle talk's' plainness suddenly into 'banquet's' splendor, the poem's eye. 'On a clear May evening' marks time: May is the season between spring and summer, all things abundant, 'clear' writes weather's brightness, 'evening' writes dusk's tenderness—three attributives limiting layer by layer, writing a concrete moment into the most beautiful moment; 'exactly like going to a beautiful banquet' turns lightly with 'exactly like,' speaking the walk's feeling in one phrase: 'going to a banquet' is the solemnity of dressing to attend, 'beauty's banquet' is beauty's gathering abundance—ordinary walking, in the poet's eye, is going to a grand ceremony named 'beauty,' with nature as seat. 'Beauty's banquet' four characters are the whole metaphor's outline: the later 'quiet garden' 'appointment with poets' all spring from this, and 'banquet's' image gives the walk ceremony—the hillside path is the corridor, dusk the bright lamps, plants and trees the guests, the poet the honored guest at the banquet. One metaphor raises 'walking' to 'pilgrimage,' exactly the most moving unfolding of Xu's 'wings of imagination.'

在一个晴朗美好的五月傍晚，那感觉正像是去赴一场美的宴会。

on a fine clear May evening, it is just like going to a feast of beauty,

此句是全篇的转折与升华，由「闲话」的朴素陡然转入「赴宴」的华彩，是全篇的诗眼所在。「在一个晴好的五月的向晚」点明时间：五月是春夏之交、万物丰盈的季节，「晴好」写天气之明丽，「向晚」写黄昏之温柔——三个定语层层限定，把一个具体的时刻写成了最美的时刻；「正像是去赴一个美的宴会」以「正像是」三字轻转，把散步的感觉一语道破：「赴宴」是盛装以待的郑重，「美的宴会」是美之荟萃的丰盛——寻常的散步，在诗人眼中竟是赴一场以「美」为名、以自然为席的盛典。「美的宴会」四字是全篇比喻的总纲：下文的「清幽的花园」「诗人们的约会」皆由此生发，而「宴会」的意象更赋予散步以仪式感——山径是长廊、暮色是华灯、草木是宾客，诗人是赴宴的贵宾。一个比喻，把「走路」升华为「朝圣」，这正是徐志摩「想象之翼」最动人的一次展开。

The feast. on a fine clear May evening, it is just like going to a feast of beauty. The fine May evening and the feast of beauty are the turn. To have likened the walk to a feast would be a simile; the on-a-fine-clear-may-evening-it-is-just-like-going-to-a-feast-of-beauty is the simile.

像是去赴一个清幽的花园，去赴一个诗人们的约会。

The closing line two 'going to' in parallel, unfolding 'beauty's banquet' into two more concrete, deeper realms, the whole's emotional peak and close. 'Like going to a quiet garden' writes the realm's stillness: 'quiet' contrasts subtly with the banquet's bustle—this banquet is not carriages full, but a quiet garden meeting, still, refined, unshowy, exactly the hillside walk's true flavor; 'garden' image continues from 'banquet,' making 'beauty' concrete—the hillside in dusk, plants lush, exactly a natural garden. 'Going to an appointment with poets' advances a layer: from 'garden' to 'poets'—this is not only beauty's banquet but poetry's appointment; the walking poet (Xu himself) is going to an appointment with ancient poets, with the earth's poetic soul; 'poets' plural holds deep meaning—not one's appointment, but the poets' gathering, as if Li Bai, Shelley, Wordsworth all walk with him in dusk. Two 'going to' echo the opening 'going out for a walk's' 'go,' the walk finally confirmed as a poetic pilgrimage, the whole closing at the highest, lingering, exactly like the hillside path in dusk, walking deeper and deeper.

像是去赴一个清幽的花园之约，像是去赴一场诗人们之间的约会。

like going to a secluded garden, going to a tryst with the poets.

结句两个「赴」字排比而出，把「美的宴会」展开为两重更具体、更幽深的境界，是全篇情感的顶点与收束。「像是去赴一个清幽的花园」写境之幽：「清幽」二字与「宴会」的喧闹形成微妙的对照——这宴不是车马盈门的盛宴，而是清幽的花园之会，幽静、清雅、不事张扬，正是山居散步的真味；「花园」意象承「宴会」而来，把「美」落实为具体的场景——暮色中的山间，草木扶疏，正是一座天然的花园。「去赴一个诗人们的约会」更进一层：由「花园」升到「诗人」——这不仅是美的宴会，更是诗的约会；山径上行走的诗人（徐志摩自称），正走向与古代诗人、与天地诗魂的约会；「诗人们」的复数更含深意——不是一人之约，而是诗人之群的雅集，仿佛李白、雪莱、华兹华斯皆在暮色中同行。两个「赴」字与开篇「出门散步去」的「去」字遥相呼应，散步最终被确认为一场诗性的朝圣，全篇在最高处收束，余韵悠长，恰如暮色中的山径，愈走愈深。

The poets. like going to a secluded garden, going to a tryst with the poets. The secluded garden and the poets' tryst are the close. To have trysted with the poets would be a tryst; the like-going-to-a-secluded-garden-going-to-a-tryst-with-the-poets is the tryst.

Study

Word focus

赴 The 'going to' in 'exactly like going to a beautiful banquet' is the whole's key verb, also the hinge of Xu's aestheticizing walking. 'Going to' means to go toward, to hasten to ('Shuowen': 'going to, to hasten'), originally used for 'going to an appointment' 'going to a banquet' 'going to a post' and such solemn goings; Xu uses it for walking, replacing the plainest verb 'go' with 'going to,' the ordinary going out at once gains ceremony. Its wonders are three: first, 'going to' writes solemnity—going to a banquet needs fine dress, going to an appointment needs punctuality, 'going to' gives the walk a solemn posture, as if at the path's end waits a long-host (beauty); second, 'going to' writes initiative—'going to' is active hastening, not idle wandering, the poet is not 'going out to stroll' but 'rushing to a beauty's appointment,' initiative and fervor all in one 'going to'; third, 'going to' runs the whole—'going to a beautiful banquet' 'going to a quiet garden' 'going to an appointment with poets' three 'going to' in one line, like three bugle calls, playing the walk's journey as a march to the appointment. One verb's replacement, the whole's realm thereby changes—exactly Xu's diction wonder: he does not seek new words, but gives old words new poetry. 「正像是去赴一个美的宴会」之「赴」字，是全篇最关键的动词，也是徐志摩将散步诗化的枢纽。「赴」训为前往、奔赴（《说文》：「赴，趋也」），本用于「赴约」「赴宴」「赴任」等郑重之行，徐志摩以之写散步，把「去」这个最平淡的动词置换为「赴」，寻常的出门立刻有了仪式感。其妙有三：其一，以「赴」写郑重——赴宴须盛装、赴约须守时，「赴」字赋予散步以庄重的姿态，仿佛山径那头有一位等候已久的东道主（美）；其二，以「赴」写主动——「赴」是主动奔赴，不是闲荡偶至，诗人不是「出去走走」，而是「赶赴一场美的约会」，主动性与热忱尽在一个「赴」字；其三，以「赴」贯全篇——「去赴一个美的宴会」「去赴一个清幽的花园」「去赴一个诗人们的约会」三个「赴」字一线贯穿，如三声号角，把散步的行程奏成赴约的进行曲。一个动词的置换，全篇的境界为之而变，这正是徐志摩炼字之妙：他不是寻找新词，而是赋予旧词以新的诗意。
晴好 The 'clear' in 'on a clear May evening' is the wonderful brush writing weather, also the whole's bright tone's tuning. 'Clear' means weather fine, cloudless ('Shuowen': 'clear, rain then night clears, stars appear'); 'good' means beautiful; 'clear and good' used together is not the simple repeat of 'fine,' but adds a subjective aesthetic judgment to weather—the sky not only fine, but fine just right, fine pleasing to the heart. Its wonders are three: first, 'good' writes subjective—'clear' is objective weather, 'good' is subjective judgment, the two together write objective weather as weather to the heart, as if the sky also fine for the walk, the object-and-self joy naturally arising; second, with 'May' 'evening' alliterates in interest—'clear good' (qing hao) alliteration, 'evening' (xiang wan) rhymes, read light and bright, in syllable exactly the brightness of late spring evening; third, paves for the later 'beauty's banquet'—a banquet needs good weather, the clear sky is exactly beauty's grand ceremony's opening, one 'clear and good,' the whole's bright tone is set. Xu writes scenery often feeling from scene, mood turning with scene, 'clear and good' two characters exactly this 'feeling and scene blended's' first brush. 「在一个晴好的五月的向晚」之「晴好」二字，是写天气的妙笔，也是全篇明快基调的定音。「晴」训为天气晴朗、无云（《说文》：「晴，雨而夜除星见也」），「好」训为美好，「晴好」连用，不是「晴朗」的简单重复，而是给天气加了一层主观的审美判断——天不仅晴，而且晴得恰到好处、晴得令人欢喜。其妙有三：其一，以「好」写主观——「晴」是客观的天象，「好」是主观的评价，二字连用，把客观天气写成了合心的天气，仿佛天也为散步而晴，物我同乐的意味油然而生；其二，与「五月」「向晚」叠韵成趣——「晴好」（qing hao）双声，「向晚」（xiang wan）叠韵，读来轻快明亮，音节上正是暮春向晚的明媚；其三，为后文「美的宴会」铺垫——宴会须有好天气，晴好之天正是美的盛典的开幕，一个「晴好」，全篇的明丽基调便定了下来。徐志摩写景往往即景生情、情随景转，「晴好」二字正是这种「情景交融」的最初一笔。
诗人们的约会 The 'appointment with poets' in 'going to an appointment with poets' is the whole metaphor's end, also the condensation of Xu's artistic ideal. 'Appointment with poets' literally means the gathering among poets, its cultural source deep: China has the Lanting gathering—Wang Xizhi and forty-odd famous scholars winding stream floating cups, one cup one song, the thousand-year classic of 'appointment with poets'; the West has the lake poets—Wordsworth, Coleridge and others roaming the lake district together, the modern echo of 'appointment with poets'; and Firenze itself is the hometown of Renaissance poets Dante, Petrarch. Xu using 'appointment with poets' to figure walking, its deep meaning three: first, writes the self-awareness of 'I am also a poet'—the one walking the hillside is not an ordinary walker, but one among the poets, this appointment I also have a share, conceit holding fervor; second, writes the belief of 'nature is poetry'—the appointment place is the hillside, the appointment companion is poets, nature and poem here one, walking is reading poem, is writing poem; third, writes the ideal of 'artisticization of life'—raising the most daily walk to the most poetic gathering, exactly Xu's 'artisticization of life' view of life's most vivid expression. Four characters' metaphor, Chinese-Western poetics, ancient and modern gatherings all contained, the peak of Xu's prose imagination. 「去赴一个诗人们的约会」之「诗人们的约会」，是全篇比喻的终点，也是徐志摩艺术理想的浓缩。「诗人们的约会」字面上指诗人之间的雅集，其文化渊源深远：中国有兰亭雅集——王羲之等四十余位名士曲水流觞、一觞一咏，是「诗人们的约会」的千古典范；西方有湖畔诗派——华兹华斯、柯尔律治等诗人结伴漫游湖区，是「诗人们的约会」的近代回响；而翡冷翠本身即是文艺复兴诗人但丁、彼特拉克的故乡。徐志摩以「诗人们的约会」喻散步，其深意有三：其一，写「我亦是诗人」的自觉——走在山径上的不是普通散步者，而是诗人群中之一员，这约会我也有份，自负之中含着热忱；其二，写「自然即诗」的信念——约会之地是山野，约会之侣是诗人，自然与诗在此合一，散步即读诗、即写诗；其三，写「艺术生活化」的理想——把最日常的散步升华为最诗性的聚会，正是徐志摩「生活的艺术化」人生观最生动的表达。四字之喻，中西诗学、古今雅集尽纳其中，是徐志摩散文想象力的巅峰之作。

Related Reading

我所知道的康桥 What I Know of Cambridge 徐志摩 · 同出徐志摩之手，同为山水散文名篇，一写山居一写剑桥 Both by Xu Zhimo, both landscape-prose masterpieces; one writes hillside one writes Cambridge

'What I Know of Cambridge' is Xu Zhimo's long prose recalling Cambridge life, with 'Idle Talk from a Florentine Hillside' both representatives of Xu's landscape prose, both writing 'beauty of nature and joy of heart.' They differ in length and brush: the Cambridge piece runs thousands of words, writing Cambridge's four seasons dawn and dusk, the Cam's soft ripples and willows, broad and detailed in brush, Xu's prose's grand work; the Firenze piece is but dozens of words, writing one hillside-walk experience, refined and condensed in brush, Xu's prose's sketch. Their common ground: both take 'walking' as clue (the Cam stroll of the Cambridge piece, the hillside path of the Firenze piece), both write nature as a hall of beauty (the Cambridge's 'dew on the grass,' the Firenze's 'beauty's banquet'), both brim with infinite devotion to nature and beauty. Read together, see Xu's landscape prose's two forms 'great' and 'small': the great like a long river rushing, the small like a clear spring, yet his 'artisticization of life' ideal runs through all.

《我所知道的康桥》是徐志摩追忆剑桥（康桥）生活的长篇散文，与《翡冷翠山居闲话》同属徐志摩山水散文的代表作，同写「自然之美与心灵之乐」。差异在篇幅与笔致：康桥文洋洋数千言，写剑桥的四季晨昏、康河的柔波垂柳，笔致开阔周详，是徐志摩散文的鸿篇；翡冷翠文寥寥数十言，写山居散步的一次体验，笔致精粹浓缩，是徐志摩散文的小品。相同处在于：二者皆以「散步」为线索（康桥文的康河漫步、翡冷翠文的山径漫步），皆把自然写成美的殿堂（康桥的「草上的露珠儿」、翡冷翠的「美的宴会」），皆洋溢着对自然与美的无限倾心。合观二文，可见徐志摩山水散文「大」与「小」的两种体制：大者如长河奔流、小者如清泉一泓，而其「生活的艺术化」的理想一以贯之。

 再别康桥·正式 Saying Goodbye to Cambridge Again (formal) 徐志摩 · 同一康桥情结的诗与散文，一诗一文互证互文 The same Cambridge complex in poem and prose; one poem one prose mutually confirming

'Saying Goodbye to Cambridge Again'—'gently I go, as gently I came'—writes Cambridge's love in poem, with 'Idle Talk from a Florentine Hillside' both by Xu, both writing 'beauty of nature and feeling of parting.' They differ in form and tone: Saying Goodbye is poem, with 'gently' 'quietly' reduplicatives and 'golden willow' 'watercress' 'Cam' images writing parting's regret, tone low and returning; Firenze is prose, with the 'banquet' metaphor and parallel rhythm writing the walk's joy, tone bright and soaring. One poem one prose, one sorrow one joy, exactly the two faces of Xu's temperament: for Cambridge a 'again goodbye's' regret, for Firenze a 'first going's' joy. Their common ground: both write nature as art (Cambridge's 'the golden willow by the river, the bride in the setting sun,' Firenze's 'beauty's banquet'), both see hills and water with the poet's eye. Read together, see Xu's creative feature of 'poem and prose mutually confirming'—the same love of beauty and nature condenses into image in poem, turns into metaphor in prose.

《再别康桥》「轻轻的我走了，正如我轻轻的来」以诗写康桥之恋，与《翡冷翠山居闲话》同出徐志摩之手，同写「山水之美与离别之情」。差异在文体与情调：再别康桥是诗，以「轻轻」「悄悄」的复沓与「金柳」「青荇」「康河」的意象写离别的惆怅，情调低回婉转；翡冷翠山居闲话是散文，以「赴宴」的比喻与排比的节奏写散步的欣悦，情调明快飞扬。一诗一散、一愁一喜，恰是徐志摩性情的两面：对康桥是「再别」的怅惘，对翡冷翠是「初赴」的欢欣。相同处在于：二者皆把自然写成艺术（康桥的「那河畔的金柳，是夕阳中的新娘」、翡冷翠的「美的宴会」），皆以诗人的眼睛看山水。合观二文，可见徐志摩「诗与散文互文」的创作特点——同一份对美与自然的爱，在诗中凝为意象，在散文中化为比喻。

 荷塘月色 Moonlight over the Lotus Pond 朱自清 · 同为现代写景散文名篇，一为诗人的热烈一为学者的静美 Both modern scenery prose masterpieces; one the poet's fervor one the scholar's quiet beauty

Zhu Ziqing's 'Moonlight over the Lotus Pond' writes the hazy beauty of the lotus pond under the moon, with 'Idle Talk from a Florentine Hillside' both famous modern prose of scenery and lyric, yet different in style: the Firenze piece is the poet's prose—strange imagination (walking becomes a banquet), fervent feeling (going to an appointment with poets), flowing language, the 'too thick to melt' fervent beauty; the Lotus Pond is the scholar's prose—delicate observation ('the leaves rise high from the water, like the skirts of dancing girls'), restrained feeling ('these days my heart is not quite peaceful'), clear and beautiful language, the 'faint to no trace' quiet-beauty realm. One writes May evening's clear hillside path, one writes summer night's quiet lotus pond; one the active fervor of 'going to beauty's banquet,' one the silent reverie of 'dwelling alone in thought.' Read together, see modern prose's two great directions—Xu's 'lyric romantic school' and Zhu's 'realistic fine-prose school,' also see the 'May Fourth' generation's different temperaments and aesthetic pursuits in prose.

朱自清《荷塘月色》写月下荷塘的朦胧之美，与《翡冷翠山居闲话》同属现代散文写景抒情的名篇，而风格迥异：翡冷翠文是诗人的散文——想象奇诡（散步成赴宴）、情感奔放（赴诗人们的约会）、语言流丽，是「浓得化不开」的热烈之美；荷塘月色是学者的散文——观察细腻（「叶子出水很高，像亭亭的舞女的裙」）、情感内敛（「这几天心里颇不宁静」）、语言清丽，是「淡到不着痕迹」的静美之境。一写五月向晚的晴好山径，一写夏夜月下的清幽荷塘；一者「赴美之宴」的主动热忱，一者「独处幽思」的静默怅惘。合观二文，可见现代散文的两大路向——徐志摩的「抒情浪漫派」与朱自清的「写实美文派」，也可见「五四」一代文人在散文中的不同性情与不同美学追求。