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青春

Youth (Qingchun)

席慕蓉

Xi Murong

现代诗Modern Poetry 青春Youth 追忆Reminiscence 怅惘Wistfulness

所有的结局都已写好，所有的泪水也都已启程，却忽然忘了是怎么样的一个开始，在那个古老的不再回来的夏日。

All the endings have already been written, all the tears have already set out on the journey, yet I suddenly forget what kind of a beginning it was, in that ancient summer that does not come back.

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Meaning

A famous poem of Xi Murong, written in 1979, collected in the collection 'The Youth without Regret' (1983). The whole poem of two stanzas and four lines, this excerpt being the first stanza, writes the 'looking back': the opening, 'all the endings have already been written, all the tears have already set out on the journey'—the two parallel sentences of the 'all... already...' writing the youth as a completed thing—the endings written, like the book closed; the tears setting out, like the train departed—the two 'already' writing the irrevocability of the youth; 'yet I suddenly forget what kind of a beginning it was'—the turn, the forgetting of the beginning, the vagueness of the memory; 'in that ancient summer that does not come back'—the close, the ancient summer that does not come back, the remoteness of the youth. The poem, with the plain and the shallow language, writes the common wistfulness of the youth, and can move all the people.

所有的结局都早已写好，所有的泪水也都已经启程出发，却忽然忘记了那是一个怎样的开始，在那个古老的、再也回不去的夏日。

Appreciation

The art of this poem lies in the 'the writing of the most common wistfulness with the extremely clear and shallow language, and the moving of all the people.' The whole poem of two stanzas and four lines, the first stanza (the excerpt) writing the 'looking back': the opening with the two parallel sentences of the 'all the endings have already been written, all the tears have already set out on the journey' writing the youth as a completed thing—the endings written, like the book closed; the tears setting out, like the train departed—the two 'already' the irrevocability of the youth, the past already past; 'yet I suddenly forget what kind of a beginning it was'—the turn, the forgetting of the beginning, the memory of the youth vague, the wistfulness of the forgetting; 'in that ancient summer that does not come back'—the 'ancient' and the 'does not come back' the remoteness and the irrevocability of the youth, the wistfulness of the close. The whole poem, with the plain and the shallow language and the clear and the colloquial tone, the common wistfulness of the youth written with the simple, the eternal resonance of the youth of all the people.

【白话串讲】席慕蓉写《青春》：“所有的结局都已写好，所有的泪水也都已启程，却忽然忘了是怎么样的一个开始，在那个古老的不再回来的夏日”——“含着泪，我一读再读，却不得不承认，青春是一本太仓促的书”——她写青春仓促。【意象与手法】诗以「所有的……都已……」的排比起势，两个「都已」写尽青春的「完成态」；「却忽然忘了」以转折宕开，由结局折回开始；「古老的」「不再回来的」两个修饰语层层限定，把夏日推向不可企及的远方。全诗意象单纯（结局、泪水、开始、夏日）而意蕴丰富，语言清丽如口语，节奏舒缓如回忆，是席慕蓉「清浅见深」诗风的典型。【情感与主旨】此诗写对青春逝去的追忆与怅惘：青春之所以珍贵，正因为它「不再回来」；而人之所以怅惘，是因为回望时只记得结局与泪水，却忘了最初的美好。「忘了开始」不是真的遗忘，而是岁月把开始推得太远——远到如同古老的夏日，只能在记忆的尽头依稀辨认。这是人人共通的青春体验，也是此诗能引起广泛共鸣的原因。【名句点睛】「在那个古老的不再回来的夏日」是全诗情感最浓的一句：「古老」写时间之远，「不再回来」写永逝之痛，「夏日」是青春最典型的意象——热烈、明亮、漫长，而终究要过去。一句之中，把青春的珍贵与不可复返写得淋漓尽致，令人低回不已。

Background

Xi Murong (1943–), born in Chongqing, Sichuan, ancestral home in the Ming'an Banner of the Chahar League of Inner Mongolia, of the Mongolian nationality, original name Mulun Xilianbo (the 'the great river' of the Mongolian), the famous Taiwanese woman poet, essayist, and painter. She moved to Hong Kong with her family in 1949 and to Taiwan in 1954, and after graduating from the art department of the Taiwan Normal University went to Belgium for the advanced study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Brussels, specializing in the oil painting, and returned to Taiwan to teach in 1966. Xi Murong began the creation in the 1960s, and in 1981 published her first collection of poems, the 'Seven Miles of Fragrance,' sweeping Taiwan, the sales record of the collections of poems of Taiwan, and thereafter the 'The Youth without Regret' (1983) and other collections. This poem was written in 1979, collected in the 'The Youth without Regret,' when Xi Murong was over thirty, looking back on the youth of the past, the wistfulness of the passage of the years, the poem the eternal resonance of the youth of all the people.

席慕蓉（1943—），生于四川重庆，祖籍内蒙古察哈尔盟明安旗，蒙古族，原名穆伦·席连勃（蒙古语「大江河」之意），台湾著名女诗人、散文家、画家。她1949年随家迁居香港，1954年迁居台湾，台湾师范大学艺术系毕业后赴比利时布鲁塞尔皇家艺术学院深造，专攻油画，1966年返台任教。席慕蓉1960年代开始创作，1981年出版第一部诗集《七里香》，风靡台湾，一纸风行，创下台湾诗集销售纪录，其后《无怨的青春》（1983）、《时光九篇》（1987）等接连问世，成为1980年代台湾「新女性诗歌」的代表人物。《青春》一诗收入《无怨的青春》，作于1979年，时年诗人三十六岁，正当人生由青年向中年过渡之际。席慕蓉的诗以清丽婉约见长，多写爱情、青春、乡愁与时光的咏叹，《青春》正是其「时光咏叹」主题的代表作——全诗以「青春是本太仓促的书」收束，把青春写成一本仓促翻完的书，怅惘之情溢于言表。此诗作于台湾经济起飞、都市化加速的背景下，现代人在快节奏的生活中日益感到青春的易逝，席慕蓉以清浅的诗句写出这普遍的时代情绪，遂能引发跨越地域与年代的广泛共鸣。

Art

The art is the 'the writing of the common wistfulness with the extremely clear and shallow language': the two parallel sentences of the 'all... already...' writing the youth as a completed thing, the two 'already' the irrevocability, the turn of the forgetting of the beginning, and the close of the 'ancient summer that does not come back'—the plain and the shallow, the clear and the colloquial, the eternal resonance of the youth.

此诗的艺术，在「以极清浅的语言写极普通的怅惘，而能打动所有人」。全诗两节四行，第一节（即本节所选）写「回首」：起笔以「所有的结局都已写好，所有的泪水也都已启程」两个「所有的……都已……」的排比句，把青春写成一件已完成的事物——结局写好，如书已合卷；泪水启程，如列车已发——两个「都已」都是「完成时态」，青春的「完成感」扑面而来。第三句「却忽然忘了是怎么样的一个开始」以「却忽然」转折，由结局折回开始，笔势一宕：「忘了」二字是全诗的关键——不是「记得」而是「忘了」，追忆中最先浮起的竟是遗忘本身，怅惘由此而生。末句「在那个古老的不再回来的夏日」以两个修饰语层层收束：「古老」写时间之远，「不再回来」写永逝之不可追，最后落在「夏日」这一青春最典型的意象上——热烈、明亮、漫长，而终究要过去。全诗结构为「排比—转折—收束」：两个排比句铺陈青春的完成态，一个转折句引出追忆的怅惘，一个限定句把怅惘定格于不可复返的夏日。语言上不用一个生僻字，句句如口语，而「写好」「启程」「忘了」「不再回来」四个动词短语，把青春的完成、泪水的远行、记忆的模糊、时间的永逝写得层层递进，正是席慕蓉「浅语深情」的本领。

Allusions

Though this poem is a modern new poem, its emotional core is deeply rooted in the long tradition of the 'the cherishing of the time and the lamenting of the spring' of the Chinese literature. The theme of the 'youth' in the classical Chinese poetry has a long history: the 'Long Song' of the Han yuefu, 'the young and the strong do not work hard, and the old and the gray are left with the vain sorrow,' first opens the sigh of the cherishing of the time; Du Qiuniang's 'The Golden Dress,' 'the advise you not to cherish the golden dress, the advise you to cherish the time of the youth,' the admonition of the cherishing of the youth; and the 'the flowers may be again and again picked' of the 'The Moon of the Fifteenth' of the yuefu, the 'the flowers can be reborn, and the man never again young' of the 'the evening of the years' of the modern. The poem, with the 'all the endings have already been written' and the 'ancient summer that does not come back,' the modern expression of the ancient motif of the cherishing of the time, the deep feeling of the youth of the Chinese literature.

此诗虽为现代新诗，其情感内核却深植于中国文学「惜时伤春」的悠久传统。「青春」主题在中国古典诗词中源远流长：汉乐府《长歌行》「少壮不努力，老大徒伤悲」首开惜时之叹；杜秋娘《金缕衣》「劝君莫惜金缕衣，劝君惜取少年时」以劝勉出之；晏殊《浣溪沙》「无可奈何花落去，似曾相识燕归来」以怅惘出之——青春与时光的咏叹，是古典诗词最恒久的母题之一。席慕蓉此诗正是这一传统在现代新诗中的回响：「所有的结局都已写好」是「无可奈何」的现代变奏，「不再回来的夏日」是「花落去」的现代转译，而全诗怅惘而不颓唐、追忆而不沉溺的调子，又近于李清照「物是人非事事休，欲语泪先流」的含蓄与节制。更可注意的是，「夏日」意象的选择：中国古典惜时诗多写春（春去花落、春恨秋悲），席慕蓉却选择「夏日」——夏日热烈、漫长、明亮，是青春最贴切的象征，而「古老的不再回来的夏日」，把一个具体的夏日推入时间的深处，如一张褪色的老照片，比「春天」的意象更具现代生活的质感。此诗以古典的怅惘之情，装进现代口语的瓶子，正是席慕蓉「旧情新酿」的创造。

Commentary

The 'Youth' is one of the most widely circulated poems of Xi Murong and the most famous 'hymn of the youth' of the Chinese-speaking world since the 1980s. In the background of the creation, this poem was written in 1979, collected in the 'The Youth without Regret' (1983), when Xi Murong was over thirty, looking back on the youth of the past, the wistfulness of the passage of the years; and in the reception, the poem, with the plain and the shallow language, writes the common wistfulness of the youth, and can move all the people, has been recited and anthologized by countless readers, the eternal resonance of the youth; and in the artistic achievement, the poem, with the four lines, the 'all the endings have already been written, all the tears have already set out on the journey' and the 'ancient summer that does not come back,' the youth written with the concise and the deep, the very model of the modern lyric.

《青春》是席慕蓉流传最广的诗作之一，也是1980年代以来华语世界最著名的「青春咏叹」诗篇。就创作背景言，此诗作于1979年，收入《无怨的青春》（1983），其时席慕蓉已三十六岁，诗名初起而渐趋成熟，此诗与《七里香》《一棵开花的树》等共同奠定了她「清丽婉约、深情浅语」的诗风，使她成为台湾「新女性诗歌」中影响最大、读者最广的诗人之一。就接受史言，《青春》自发表以来，被无数人抄录、传诵、引用，成为一代代青年回望青春时最先想起的诗句；「青春是本太仓促的书」更成为流行语，被反复引用，可见其情感的普遍性与穿透力。就文学史言，席慕蓉的诗在1980年代的台湾乃至整个华语世界引发「席慕蓉现象」——其诗以清浅的语言写普遍的人情（青春、爱情、乡愁），打破现代诗「艰深晦涩」的壁垒，让诗歌重新走近大众读者，对此后华语现代诗的通俗化、抒情化转向产生了深远影响。《青春》一诗，正是这一「席慕蓉现象」的典型样本：以最清浅的语言，写出最普遍的怅惘，让每一个读者都能在其中照见自己的青春。

Prosody

Form Modern free verse (clear and colloquial lineated poem)现代自由诗（清浅口语化的分行诗）

Rhyme Not rhymed, the rhythm formed by the parallel and the repetition of the sentence-forms and the turn of the tone不押韵，以句式的排比复沓与语气的转折形成节奏。两个「所有的……都已……」的排比句结构相同、音节相当，如潮水连涌；「却忽然忘了」以短句转折，节奏一顿；「在那个古老的不再回来的夏日」以长句收束，音节绵长低回，如潮水退去。

Tone pattern The 'all the endings have already been written' is calm, the 'all the tears have already set out' is heavy, the 'yet I suddenly forget' is wistful, and the 'does not come back' is faint—the whole from the completion to the forgetting to the remoteness, the wistfulness of the youth carried by the tone语气由陈述而转折而低回：「都已写好」「都已启程」是平静的陈述，如数家珍；「却忽然忘了」是轻声的自语，恍然如梦；「古老的不再回来的」是低回的咏叹，一字一顿。全诗语调舒缓、清浅、克制，如午后回忆往事，不悲不怨，而怅惘自深。

Reading note The parallel sentence-forms and the turn carry the wistfulness of the youth, the eternal resonance of the passage of the years.此诗的声情，是「以舒缓的节奏写绵长的怅惘」，全靠排比的复沓与转折的停顿。起句「所有的结局都已写好」——「所有的」三字轻轻铺开，「结局都已写好」六字平稳收住，音节均匀，如翻开一本旧书；次句「所有的泪水也都已启程」——句式复沓而略加变化（「也都已」三字），音节如潮水再涌，「启程」二字略一扬起，如列车启动的汽笛，悲伤的来势被轻轻点出。两句排比，读来如两个相同的浪头，把「完成」与「悲伤」稳稳拍在岸上。第三句「却忽然忘了是怎么样的一个开始」——「却忽然」三字轻轻一转，是全诗节奏的枢纽：前两句的平稳在此微微一颤，「忘了」二字拖长，如怔忡的一瞬，「是怎么样的一个开始」渐次低缓，如记忆的模糊。末句「在那个古老的不再回来的夏日」——是全诗节奏的收束与情感的沉落：「在那个」三字轻起，「古老」二字一顿，「不再回来的」五字一字一顿，如钟声一下一下敲在心头，「夏日」二字最后落定，余音袅袅。全诗读来，如一个人在黄昏的窗前翻看旧相册：翻到结局，停了停；翻到泪水，停了停；忽然怔住——开始是怎么样的呢？而在那个古老的不再回来的夏日，一切答案都已沉入时间的深处。席慕蓉以排比的复沓、转折的停顿、长句的低回，把青春的完成、悲伤的远行、记忆的模糊、时间的永逝，织成一张舒缓而绵密的声情之网。

Line by line

所有的结局都已写好，所有的泪水也都已启程，

All the endings have already been written, all the tears have already set out on the journey, (The opening: the two parallel sentences of the 'all... already...' writing the youth as a completed thing, the endings written and the tears set out, the irrevocability of the youth.)

所有的结局都早已写好，所有的泪水也都已经启程出发。

All the endings have been written, all the tears have already set out,

起笔两个「所有的……都已……」的排比句，把青春写成一件「已完成」的事物，时间的完成感扑面而来。「所有的结局都已写好」——如一本早已合卷的书，结局已定，无可更改，一个「写」字，把人生写成一场早已落笔的书写，宿命感油然而生；「所有的泪水也都已启程」——泪水不是「流下」而是「启程」，如列车、如舟船，早已出发，正在路上，一个「启程」把悲伤写成一场必然到来的远行，其势不可挡。两句合观，「结局」与「泪水」并举：青春之书以结局为终，以泪水为伴——回望青春，最先浮现的竟是既定的结局与咸涩的泪水，这正是「过来人」的视角：只有青春已逝，才能看清它的结局与泪水。两个「都已」连用，句式复沓，如潮水连涌，把「完成」二字反复敲定，为下句「却忽然忘了」的转折蓄足张力。

The endings. All the endings have been written, all the tears have already set out. The written endings and the set-out tears are the opening. To have written the endings would be a writing; the all-the-endings-have-been-written-all-the-tears-have-already-set-out is the writing.

却忽然忘了是怎么样的一个开始，在那个古老的不再回来的夏日。

yet I suddenly forget what kind of a beginning it was, in that ancient summer that does not come back. (The close: the forgetting of the beginning and the ancient summer that does not come back, the remoteness and the irrevocability of the youth, the wistfulness of the close.)

却忽然忘记了那是一个怎样的开始，在那个古老的、再也回不去的夏日。

yet suddenly I forget what the beginning was like, in that old summer that will not return.

两句是全诗的情感核心，由「结局」折回「开始」，怅惘由此而生。「却忽然忘了」四字是全诗的转折枢纽：前句刚说「结局都已写好、泪水都已启程」，此句却说「忘了开始」——记得结局而忘了开始，记得泪水而忘了初心，这正是追忆的普遍困境：岁月愈久，最初的美好愈被冲淡，反而尘埃落定后的怅惘愈见清晰。「是怎么样的一个开始」——「怎么样」三字写得极妙：不是「忘了开始」，而是忘了「是怎么样的」开始，一个模糊的、说不清道不明的开始，如晨雾中的远景，依稀可辨而不可把捉。「在那个古老的不再回来的夏日」以两个修饰语层层收束：「古老」写时间之远，「不再回来」写永逝之痛，落在「夏日」上——热烈、明亮、漫长而终究要过去的夏日，正是青春最贴切的象征。全句由「忘了」的模糊，落到「不再回来」的确凿，怅惘之情如潮水漫上心头，令人低回不已。

The summer. yet suddenly I forget what the beginning was like, in that old summer that will not return. The forgotten beginning and the old summer that will not return are the close. To have forgotten the beginning would be a forgetting; the yet-suddenly-i-forget-what-the-beginning-was-like-in-that-old-summer-that-will-not-return is the forgetting.

Study

Word focus

写好 To be written. The word of the endings: 'all the endings have already been written'—the endings written, like the book closed, the completion of the youth, the irrevocability. 「所有的结局都已写好」之「写好」，是全诗第一个关键动词，其妙在一个「好」字。「写」训书写，「好」训完毕、完成——结局不是「写下」而是「写好」，是已经写完、已经定稿、无可更改的：如一本书合上卷页，如一场戏落下帷幕，如一段旅程走到终点。这个「好」字有四重意味：其一，完成态——「写好」是过去完成时，青春的结局早已落定，人只能在回首时阅读它，而不能修改它；其二，宿命感——「写好」暗含一种先定的意味：结局仿佛早已写就，等待人一步步走到它面前，青春的走向由此带上宿命的色彩；其三，平静的哀伤——「写好」二字语气平静，不悲不怨，如陈述一件事实，而这平静本身就是最大的怅惘——连结局都已被「好」好写定，人复何言？其四，呼应下文——「写好」与「启程」「忘了」同为动词短语，构成青春「完成—远行—遗忘」的三重奏。两字之炼，把青春的既定与不可更改写得入木三分。

启程 To set out on the journey. The word of the tears: 'all the tears have already set out on the journey'—the tears set out, like the train departed, the two 'already' the irrevocability of the youth. 「所有的泪水也都已启程」之「启程」，是全诗最出人意料的动词。「启程」本用于人、车、船出发上路，席慕蓉却用以写「泪水」——泪水不是「流下」「落下」「涌出」，而是「启程」：如列车驶出站台，如舟船扬帆起航，悲伤成了一场注定出发的远行，其势已不可挽。「启程」二字有四重妙处：其一，主动性——泪水「启程」，仿佛悲伤自己动身，向人扑面而来，比「流下」的被动态更具来势；其二，必然性——「启程」意味着出发既成、无可回头，泪水之来势如列车之出站，不可阻挡，青春的悲伤由此带上必然的意味；其三，时间性——「启程」是过程的开始，泪水「启程」意味着悲伤将伴随青春的全程，乃至绵延到此后的一生；其四，呼应性——「启程」与上句「写好」呼应，结局写好、泪水启程，青春的完成与悲伤的远行同时发生，怅惘的基调由此奠定。以「启程」写泪水，是席慕蓉「陌生化」修辞的妙笔，清浅中见奇警。

不再回来 Does not come back. The word of the summer: 'that ancient summer that does not come back'—the ancient summer that does not come back, the remoteness and the irrevocability of the youth, the wistfulness of the close. 「在那个古老的不再回来的夏日」之「不再回来」，是全诗情感最重的四个字，也是「青春」主题的点题之笔。「不再」训永远不能，「回来」训归来、复返——夏日一去，永不复返；青春一逝，永不再来。这四个字的沉重，在于它的绝对性：不是「难以回来」，不是「暂时离开」，而是「不再回来」——把一切追忆、悔恨、祈愿的余地全部封死，时间的不可逆性被写到极致。其妙有三：其一，「回来」的主语是「夏日」，而读者深知其指「青春」——以夏日代青春，以物代人，含蓄而深切；其二，「古老」与「不再回来」连用，前写时间之远，后写永逝之痛，两个修饰语如两道闸门，把夏日锁进不可企及的远方；其三，此四字与全诗的情绪构成张力——正因为「不再回来」，才「忘了开始」，才「泪水启程」，一切的怅惘都由此而生；而怅惘之中，又恰恰因为这「不再回来」，青春才显出其不可替代的珍贵。四个字，写尽青春的珍贵与永逝，是整首诗情感的归结点。

青春