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汉 Han · 诗 Poem

陌上桑

At the Mulberry Lane (Mosang Sang) — A Yuefu Song of Immersion

曹操

Cao Cao

游仙Wandering among the Immortals

驾虹霓，乘赤云，登彼九疑历玉门。
济天汉，至昆仑，见西王母谒东君。
交赤松，及羡门，受要秘道爱精神。
食芝英，饮醴泉，柱杖桂枝佩秋兰。
绝人事，游浑元，若疾风游欻飘翩。
景未移，行数千，寿如南山不忘愆。

Driving the rainbow banner, riding the red cloud, ascending the Nine Doubtful hills and passing the Jade Gate.
Crossing the heavenly river, reaching Kunlun, to see the Queen Mother of the West and salute the Lord of the East.
Meeting Red Pine and Xianmen, receiving the secret way and loving the spirit.
Eating the essence of the fungus, drinking the sweet spring, leaning on a cassia staff and wearing autumn orchids.
Cutting off human affairs, wandering in the Great Origin, swift as a wind.
Before the shadow has moved, thousands of li are passed; a life as long as the southern mountain, never forgetting the wrong.

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Meaning

Cao Cao's poem describes a journey made entirely in imagination: he drives a rainbow banner through the red cloud, passes the九疑 hills and the Jade Gate, crosses the heavenly river to Kunlun, and heaves sighs of relief at meeting the Queen Mother of the West and the Lord of the East. He then meets the immortal Red Pine and the Daoist Xianmen, receives the secret method and keeps the spirit; he eats the es sence of the fungus and drinks the sweet spring, leaning on a cassia staff and wearing autumn orchids. At last he abandons human affairs and wanders in the Great Origin, so fast that thousands of li pass in a single shadow, and he prays for a life as long as the southern mountain - while quietly remembering not to forget his wrongs.

驾虹霓，乘赤云，登彼九疑历玉门。济天汉，至昆仑，见西王母谒东君。交赤松，及羡门，受要秘道爱精神。食芝英，饮醴泉，柱杖桂枝佩秋兰。绝人事，游浑元，若疾风游欻飘翩。景未移，行数千，寿如南山不忘愆。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Six short stanzas, each of three or four lines, describing an ascent through the heavens. [Structure] The poem moves without pausing: journey, reception, instruction, diet, dispatch, and finally a wish. Each stanza changes scene rather than modifying the last, so that the poem reads like a series of rapid dissolves. [Imagery] The poet uses almost no malevolent or frightening detail; the world above is a guest-house of famous names - the Queen Mother, the Lord of the East, Red Pine, Xianmen - and the supernatural supplies are simply items on a menu: fungus, sweet spring, cassia, orchid. [Technique] The short lines, mostly three syllables, give the poem a hard, repeated drum-beat, and the accumulation of place-names is what produces the sense of speed. [Comment] What keeps the poem from pure play is the last line. After a catalogue of immortal blessings, the poet adds that he will not forget his transgressions - an unusually moral note to end an immortal journey on, and precisely what makes this 'you xian' poem recognisably Cao Cao's.

【白话串讲】曹操写《陌上桑》：“驾虹霓，乘赤云，登彼九疑历玉门”——“济天汉，至昆仑，见西王母谒东君”——“食芝英，饮醴泉，柱杖桂枝佩秋兰”——“绝人事，游浑元”——他写游仙。【意象与手法】此诗写游仙，以求道写游仙，是曹操的名篇。前段写游历：「驾虹霓，乘赤云，登彼九疑历玉门。济天汉，至昆仑，见西王母谒东君」写驾虹霓、乘赤云、登彼九疑历玉门——写尽见西王母的东君；中段写访仙：「交赤松，及羡门，受要秘道爱精神。食芝英，饮醴泉，柱杖桂枝佩秋兰」写交赤松、及羡门、受要秘道爱精神——写尽柱杖桂枝的秋兰；后段写超然：「绝人事，游浑元，若疾风游欻飘翩。景未移，行数千，寿如南山不忘愆」写绝人事、游浑元、若疾风游欻飘翩——写尽寿如南山的不忘愆。全诗以求道写游仙，写尽见西王母的东君与寿如南山的不忘愆，是曹操的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写游仙，以求道写游仙，是曹操的名篇。此诗为曹操陌上桑之作，写其游仙求道之思。曹操此诗写其驾虹霓的游仙。此诗写驾虹霓，乘赤云，登彼九疑历玉门；济天汉，至昆仑，见西王母谒东君；交赤松，及羡门，受要秘道爱精神；食芝英，饮醴泉，柱杖桂枝佩秋兰；绝人事，游浑元，若疾风游欻飘翩；景未移，行数千，寿如南山不忘愆。此诗写游历：驾虹霓，乘赤云，登彼九疑历玉门——写驾虹霓、乘赤云、登彼九疑历玉门，写尽登彼九疑的历玉门；济天汉，至昆仑，见西王母谒东君——写济天汉、至昆仑、见西王母谒东君，写尽见西王母的东君；交赤松，及羡门，受要秘道爱精神——写交赤松、及羡门、受要秘道爱精神，写尽受要秘道的一精神；食芝英，饮醴泉，柱杖桂枝佩秋兰——写食芝英、饮醴泉、柱杖桂枝佩秋兰，写尽柱杖桂枝的秋兰；绝人事，游浑元，若疾风游欻飘翩——写绝人事、游浑元、若疾风游欻飘翩，写尽若疾风游的飘翩；景未移，行数千，寿如南山不忘愆——写景未移、行数千、寿如南山不忘愆，写尽寿如南山的不忘愆。全诗以求道写游仙——那「见西王母谒东君」写尽见西王母的东君，「寿如南山不忘愆」写尽寿如南山的不忘愆，写尽见西王母的东君与寿如南山的不忘愆，是理解曹操游仙诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「驾虹霓，乘赤云，登彼九疑历玉门」写登彼九疑的历玉门；「食芝英，饮醴泉，柱杖桂枝佩秋兰」写柱杖桂枝的秋兰；以及全诗以求道写游仙、以铺陈写游仙的手法。

Background

Cao Cao (155-220), courtesy name Mengde, came from Pei Guo Qiao county (modern Bozhou, Anhui) and rose through the turmoil of the late Han to become the effective ruler of the north and the founder of the Cao Wei. As a man of letters he is the opening figure of the Jian'an age; with his sons Cao Pi and Cao Zhi he is known as one of the 'Three Cao'. His poetry, written in the old yuefu forms, characteristically combines a statesman's concern with life and the state and a personal interest in longevity and the immortal realm. 'Mosang Sang' is one of several of his pieces on wandering among the immortals, a subject on which he wrote both in the manner of the Chu Elegies in imitation and in the plainer three-syllable yuefu style used here.

此诗写游仙，以求道写游仙，是曹操的名篇。曹操（155—220），字孟德，小字阿瞒，沛国谯县（今安徽亳州）人，东汉末年杰出的政治家、军事家、文学家，曹魏政权的奠基者，建安文学的开创者，与其子曹丕、曹植合称「三曹」。此诗为曹操陌上桑之作，写其游仙求道之思。曹操此诗写其驾虹霓的游仙。此诗写驾虹霓，乘赤云，登彼九疑历玉门；济天汉，至昆仑，见西王母谒东君；交赤松，及羡门，受要秘道爱精神；食芝英，饮醴泉，柱杖桂枝佩秋兰；绝人事，游浑元，若疾风游欻飘翩；景未移，行数千，寿如南山不忘愆。此诗写游历：「驾虹霓，乘赤云，登彼九疑历玉门」写驾虹霓、乘赤云、登彼九疑历玉门——写尽登彼九疑的历玉门（驾虹霓，乘赤云，登彼九疑历玉门）；「济天汉，至昆仑，见西王母谒东君」写济天汉、至昆仑、见西王母谒东君——写尽见西王母的东君（济天汉，至昆仑，见西王母谒东君）；「交赤松，及羡门，受要秘道爱精神」写交赤松、及羡门、受要秘道爱精神——写尽受要秘道的一精神（交赤松，及羡门，受要秘道爱精神）；「食芝英，饮醴泉，柱杖桂枝佩秋兰」写食芝英、饮醴泉、柱杖桂枝佩秋兰——写尽柱杖桂枝的秋兰（食芝英，饮醴泉，柱杖桂枝佩秋兰）；「绝人事，游浑元，若疾风游欻飘翩」写绝人事、游浑元、若疾风游欻飘翩——写尽若疾风游的飘翩（绝人事，游浑元，若疾风游欻飘翩）；「景未移，行数千，寿如南山不忘愆」写景未移、行数千、寿如南山不忘愆——写尽寿如南山的不忘愆（景未移，行数千，寿如南山不忘愆）。全诗以求道写游仙，写尽见西王母的东君与寿如南山的不忘愆，是理解曹操游仙诗的重要篇章。

Art

The poem's central device is accumulation by catalogue. Rather than narrate the ascent, Cao names its stages - rainbow banner, red cloud, Nine Doubtful hills, Jade Gate, heavenly river, Kunlun - and lets the reader supply the motion; the effect is of a film edited so fast that each frame is a place-name. Three further techniques reinforce this. First, the short lines: mostly three syllables, occasionally four or five, so that the rhythm is like a drum repeated without variation, which suits a poem about unhurried speed. Second, the plainness of the diction - fungus, spring water, cassia staff, chicken, orchid are household materials used as immortal ones, which keeps the fantastic at the level of plain speech. Third, the closing gesture: the catalogue of blessings is cut short by a single moral clause, 'never forgetting the wrong'. That clause is what makes the poem a Cao Cao poem; the poet is not merely fantasising immortality but checking, in the middle of it, that the wish has not made him forget who he is. The transition from 绝人事 (cutting off human affairs) to 不忘愆 (not forgetting the fault) is the poem's pivot, and it is very quietly made.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以铺陈写游历。「驾虹霓」以铺陈写游历——那「乘赤云，登彼九疑历玉门」写尽登彼九疑的历玉门，以铺陈写尽登彼九疑的历玉门。其二，以列仙写访仙。「见西王母谒东君」以列仙写访仙——那「交赤松，及羡门」写尽交赤松的羡门，以列仙写尽交赤松的羡门。其三，以白描写服食。「食芝英」以白描写服食——那「饮醴泉，柱杖桂枝佩秋兰」写尽柱杖桂枝的秋兰，以白描写尽柱杖桂枝的秋兰。其四，以夸张写超然。「景未移，行数千」以夸张写超然——那「寿如南山不忘愆」写尽寿如南山的不忘愆，以夸张写尽寿如南山的不忘愆。此外，此诗前写见西王母的东君，后写寿如南山的不忘愆，由游及寿，正是游仙诗「以游求寿」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以求道写游仙，写尽见西王母的东君与寿如南山的不忘愆，是曹操的代表作。又，此诗通篇以游仙铺陈为体：起笔「驾虹霓，乘赤云」一虚一实，见游兴之凌云；「济天汉，至昆仑，见西王母谒东君」以三言短句连用三个动作，一句一景、一步一境，写尽天上之壮游；中段「交赤松，及羡门」罗列仙人，「受要秘道爱精神」点出访仙之目的，转写服食：「食芝英，饮醴泉，柱杖桂枝佩秋兰」三句连缀服食之具，芝、泉、桂、兰皆仙家之物，色彩清丽；末以「绝人事，游浑元」收束，见其弃世求仙之决绝，「若疾风游欻飘翩」状游仙之迅疾，「景未移，行数千」以时间之短对空间之远，「寿如南山不忘愆」以不忘过愆作结，求仙而不忘自省，正是曹操「游仙而不流于虚诞」的独特之处。

Allusions

The poem is a compendium of the standard equipment of Chinese immersion poetry. 虹霓, the rainbow banner, and 赤云, the red cloud, are the usual conveyances of a celestial traveller. 九疑, the Nine Doubtful hills, and 玉门, the Jade Gate, are the southern and western extremes of the known world, crossed on the way up rather than across. 天汉, the heavenly river (the Milky Way), and 昆仑, Kunlun, are the two fixed points of the immortal geography; the Queen Mother of the West appears in the Classic of Mountains and Seas and in later Daoist texts, and the Lord of the East, her counterpart, comes from the Chu Elegies' 'Dong Jun'. 赤松 refers to the Red Pine (Chi Songzi) and 羡门 to Xianmen Gao, both immortals listed in the Records of the Grand Historian. The diet - fungus essence, sweet spring, cassia, orchid - follows theDaoist 服食 tradition, the orchid recalling the Chu line 'I make a string of autumn orchids to wear as a ornament'. The closing image of the southern mountain continues the convention of long life, and 愆, the wrong, turns the poem back towards the Confucian self.

此诗的用语深植于游仙与求道传统。「虹霓」令人想到「虹霓」写虹霓的意象——也令人想到「虹霓吐颖」的意象；「赤云」令人想到「赤云」写赤云的意象——也令人想到「赤云千里」的意象；「九疑」令人想到「九疑」写九疑山的意象——也令人想到「九疑山上白云飞」的意象；「玉门」令人想到「玉门」写玉门关的意象——也令人想到「孤城遥望玉门关」（王昌龄）的意象；「天汉」令人想到「天汉」写银河的意象——也令人想到「天汉横空」的意象；「昆仑」令人想到「昆仑」写昆仑山的意象——也令人想到「登昆仑兮食玉英」（屈原）的意象；「西王母」令人想到「西王母」写西王母的意象——《山海经》西王母，也令人想到「王母蟠桃」的意象；「东君」令人想到「东君」写日神的意象——《楚辞·九歌·东君》，也令人想到「日神东君」的意象；「赤松」令人想到「赤松」写赤松子的意象——《史记》赤松子，也令人想到「赤松子游」的意象；「羡门」令人想到「羡门」写羡门高的意象——《史记》羡门高，也令人想到「羡门仙人」的意象；「秘道」令人想到「秘道」写秘道的意象——也令人想到「长生秘道」的意象；「精神」令人想到「精神」写精神的意象——也令人想到「爱养精神」的意象；「芝英」令人想到「芝英」写灵芝的意象——也令人想到「芝英玉醴」的意象；「醴泉」令人想到「醴泉」写甘泉的意象——也令人想到「醴泉涌流」的意象；「桂枝」令人想到「桂枝」写桂枝的意象——也令人想到「桂棹兮兰桨」（《九歌》）的意象；「秋兰」令人想到「秋兰」写秋兰的意象——也令人想到「纫秋兰以为佩」（屈原）的意象；「人事」令人想到「人事」写人事的意象——也令人想到「绝人事」的意象；「浑元」令人想到「浑元」写天地的意象——也令人想到「混沌元气」的意象；「疾风」令人想到「疾风」写疾风的意象——也令人想到「疾风知劲草」的意象；「飘翩」令人想到「飘翩」写飘然的意象——也令人想到「飘翩若神」的意象；「南山」令人想到「南山」写南山的意象——也令人想到「寿比南山」的意象；「不忘愆」令人想到「不忘愆」写省愆的意象——也令人想到「吾日三省吾身」（《论语》）的意象。全诗化用虹霓、赤云、九疑、玉门、天汉、昆仑、西王母、东君、赤松、羡门、秘道、精神、芝英、醴泉、桂枝、秋兰、人事、浑元、疾风、飘翩、南山、不忘愆的意象典故，以求道写游仙，正是曹操「气韵沉雄」而善铺陈、承楚辞游仙传统写求道之本领。

Commentary

This is one of the standard pieces in the Jian'an repertoire of 'you xian' - poems of wandering among the immortals - and it is prized for the way it keeps the grand manner of the Chu Elegies while writing in the plainest possible yuefu line. Later critics quote Zhong Rong's judgement of Cao Cao, '古直, and often bits of bleak sadness', and see this poem confirming the first half of that verdict: its language is deliberately unadorned and its pace is relentless. Within Cao's own corpus it is usually paired with 'The Tortoise Though Long-Lived', where the same preoccupation with longevity is handled by argument rather than by fantasy - there the poet says that even the tortoise must die and answers with a horse still willing to run a thousand li. Read together, the two show the two halves of the same mind: one escapes upward, the other accepts the limit and refuses to be diminished by it.

此诗历来被推为曹操游仙诗的名篇，也是建安诗写游仙求道的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：钟嵘评曹操「曹公古直，甚有悲凉之句」，清人更评此诗「以求道写游仙，沉雄瑰丽」；近人指出「驾虹霓，乘赤云，登彼九疑历玉门」写登彼九疑的历玉门，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以乐府三言写尽见西王母的东君与寿如南山的不忘愆——那驾，那虹霓，那乘，那赤云，那登彼，那九疑，那历，那玉门，那济，那天汉，那至，那昆仑，那见，那西王母，那谒，那东君，那交，那赤松，那及，那羡门，那受，那要秘道，那爱，那精神，那食，那芝英，那饮，那醴泉，那柱杖，那桂枝，那佩，那秋兰，那绝，那人，那事，那游，那浑元，那若，那疾风，那游欻，那飘翩，那景，那未移，那行，那数千，那寿如，那南山，那不忘愆，都写尽了曹操笔下的陌上桑；那「寿如南山不忘愆」更以夸张写尽寿如南山的不忘愆。此诗与曹操《龟虽寿》「神龟虽寿」同为求道名篇，一写「老骥伏枥，志在千里」的龟虽寿，一写「驾虹霓，乘赤云」的陌上桑；一写自励，一写游仙。两诗对读，可见曹操求道诗的两面。对于今日读者，此诗是理解曹操游仙诗的窗口，也是建安诗写游仙求道的经典——那寿如南山的不忘愆，穿越千年，仍在诉说着见西王母的东君。

Prosody

Form Yuefu ballad in the ancient style — 'Mosang Sang' (three-syllable line dominant)乐府·陌上桑

Rhyme A song mostly of three syllables with occasional longer lines, rhyming on men (门), jun (君), shen (神), lan (兰), pian (翩), qian (愆) — the final -n range, which closes with a low, resonant hum.陌上桑，三言为主，间以杂言，押「门」「君」「神」「兰」「翩」「愆」等韵

Tone pattern The voice is urgent and level, like a drum repeated. Because the long lines are rare, there is little variety: the poem rises by repetition rather than by modulation, and the effect is of something that cannot be slowed down.此诗为乐府陌上桑，三言为主，音节峻急，正合游仙的峻急。

Reading note The prosody is worth noticing for what it leaves out. The dominant three-syllable line is the oldest layer of Chinese verse, and Cao Cao uses it here exactly as he uses it in his martial ballads - as a hammer, not as a measure. The rhyme on the final -n is heavy and closed, which gives a sense of arrival rather than of floating; even the ascent in the poem lands. The mixed line lengths (three, four, five, six syllables) are typical of the yuefu and are one of the things that distinguish this poem from the more regular五言 of the same period. In recitation the lines should run together without caesura - the poem wants to be heard as a continuous run of short breath-sentences. The last line, with its moral qualification, should be spoken slower than the rest, as a change of subject.此诗为乐府陌上桑——「驾虹霓，乘赤云，登彼九疑历玉门。……景未移，行数千，寿如南山不忘愆」，三言为主，间以杂言，押韵（门、君、神、兰、翩、愆），音节峻急。全诗以求道写游仙：前写见西王母的东君（驾虹霓、济天汉），中写柱杖桂枝的秋兰（交赤松、食芝英），后写寿如南山的不忘愆（绝人事、景未移）。乐府铺叙，前写游历，中写访仙，后写超然，以「寿如南山不忘愆」写尽寿如南山的不忘愆，正见曹操「气韵沉雄」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以峻急的语调读「驾虹霓，乘赤云」的游历，以超然的语调读「寿如南山不忘愆」的超然，结句要读得峻急而有余韵，方能传达出曹操的沉雄瑰丽。曹操乐府以「气韵沉雄」著称，此诗正是其游仙诗的典范。

Line by line

驾虹霓，乘赤云，登彼九疑历玉门

Driving the rainbow banner, riding the red cloud, ascending the Nine Doubtful hills and passing the Jade Gate.

驾虹霓，乘赤云，登彼九疑历玉门。

Riding the rainbow, mounting red clouds, I climb the Jiuyi peaks and pass the Jade Gate

此三句是全诗写游历的核心，以驾虹霓写虹霓，以乘赤云写赤云，以登彼九疑历玉门写历玉门，写尽登彼九疑的历玉门，是千古名句。「驾虹霓」写驾虹霓——那「驾」写驾，「虹霓」写虹霓，写尽驾的虹霓；「乘赤云」写乘赤云——那「乘」写乘，「赤云」写赤云，写尽乘的赤云；「登彼九疑历玉门」写登彼九疑历玉门——那「登彼九疑」写登彼九疑，「历玉门」写历玉门，写尽登彼九疑的历玉门。这句的深意在于：它以「驾虹霓」的虹霓、「乘赤云」的赤云与「登彼九疑历玉门」的历玉门，写尽登彼九疑的历玉门——驾虹霓，那「驾虹霓」写尽驾的虹霓——驾虹霓，正是驾霓而行的写照，那「虹霓」写尽登彼九疑的历玉门；乘赤云，那「乘赤云」写尽乘的赤云——乘赤云，正是乘云而游的写照，那「赤云」写尽登彼九疑的历玉门；登彼九疑历玉门，那「登彼九疑历玉门」写尽登彼九疑的历玉门——登彼九疑历玉门，正是登山历关的写照，那「历玉门」写尽登彼九疑的历玉门；那「驾虹霓」写尽驾的虹霓，那「乘赤云」写尽乘的赤云，那「登彼九疑历玉门」写尽登彼九疑的历玉门，一写虹霓，一写赤云，一写历玉门，写尽登彼九疑的历玉门——驾霓乘云而登山历关，正是游历的写照；此三句以虹霓、赤云、历玉门写尽登彼九疑的历玉门，也为下文的昆仑作铺垫，也让此三句成为全诗写游历的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「驾着虹霓乘着赤云，登上九疑山历经玉门」，则失其瑰丽；唯以「驾虹霓」写虹霓、「乘赤云」写赤云、「登彼九疑历玉门」写历玉门，写尽登彼九疑的历玉门，也让此三句成为全诗写游历的核心。

The ride. Riding the rainbow, mounting red clouds, I climb the Jiuyi peaks and pass the Jade Gate. The rainbow and red-cloud ride and the climbed Jiuyi and Jade Gate are the journey. To have ridden the rainbow would be a riding; the riding-the-rainbow-mounting-red-clouds-i-climb-the-jiuyi-peaks-and-pass-the-jade-gate is the riding.

食芝英，饮醴泉，柱杖桂枝佩秋兰

Eating the essence of the fungus, drinking the sweet spring, leaning on a cassia staff and wearing autumn orchids.

食芝英，饮醴泉，柱杖桂枝佩秋兰。

I eat the magic fungus, drink the sweet spring, lean on a cassia staff and wear autumn orchids

此三句是全诗写服食的核心，以食芝英写芝英，以饮醴泉写醴泉，以柱杖桂枝佩秋兰写秋兰，写尽柱杖桂枝的秋兰，是千古名句。「食芝英」写食芝英——那「食」写食，「芝英」写芝英，写尽食的芝英；「饮醴泉」写饮醴泉——那「饮」写饮，「醴泉」写醴泉，写尽饮的醴泉；「柱杖桂枝佩秋兰」写柱杖桂枝佩秋兰——那「柱杖桂枝」写柱杖桂枝，「佩秋兰」写佩秋兰，写尽柱杖桂枝的秋兰。这句的深意在于：它以「食芝英」的芝英、「饮醴泉」的醴泉与「柱杖桂枝佩秋兰」的秋兰，写尽柱杖桂枝的秋兰——食芝英，那「食芝英」写尽食的芝英——食芝英，正是餐芝食英的写照，那「芝英」写尽柱杖桂枝的秋兰；饮醴泉，那「饮醴泉」写尽饮的醴泉——饮醴泉，正是饮泉服食的写照，那「醴泉」写尽柱杖桂枝的秋兰；柱杖桂枝佩秋兰，那「柱杖桂枝佩秋兰」写尽柱杖桂枝的秋兰——柱杖桂枝佩秋兰，正是柱杖佩兰的写照，那「秋兰」写尽柱杖桂枝的秋兰；那「食芝英」写尽食的芝英，那「饮醴泉」写尽饮的醴泉，那「柱杖桂枝佩秋兰」写尽柱杖桂枝的秋兰，一写芝英，一写醴泉，一写秋兰，写尽柱杖桂枝的秋兰——餐芝饮泉而柱杖佩兰，正是服食的写照；此三句以芝英、醴泉、秋兰写尽柱杖桂枝的秋兰，也为下文的浑元作铺垫，也让此三句成为全诗写服食的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「吃灵芝英，饮甘醴泉，拄桂枝杖佩秋兰」，则失其古直；唯以「食芝英」写芝英、「饮醴泉」写醴泉、「柱杖桂枝佩秋兰」写秋兰，写尽柱杖桂枝的秋兰，也让此三句成为全诗写服食的核心。

The fare. I eat the magic fungus, drink the sweet spring, lean on a cassia staff and wear autumn orchids. The eaten fungus and drunk spring and the cassia staff and autumn orchids are the close. To have eaten the fungus would be an eating; the i-eat-the-magic-fungus-drink-the-sweet-spring-lean-on-a-cassia-staff-and-wear-autumn-orchids is the eating.

Study

Word focus

驾 In 'driving the rainbow banner', the verb 驾 means to harness and ride - of vehicles, of horses, and by extension of anything one rides through the air. It is the verb the whole tradition uses for the immortal's ascent, and its plainness (we would say 'drive') is what makes the fantasy sound matter-of-fact. 「驾虹霓」之「驾」字是写游历关键词，一个「驾」字写尽驾的虹霓。驾者，驾御、乘坐也。曹操以「驾虹霓」写游历，这个「驾」字至少有双重意味：其一，写霓之驾——那「驾虹霓」写驾虹霓，那「驾」字写尽驾的虹霓——驾虹霓，正是驾霓而行的写照，那「驾」字写尽驾的虹霓；其二，写志之雄——那「驾」字更是写雄——驾，正见凌云之志的意味，那「驾」字写尽曹操的气魄。以「驾」字写游历，正是曹操写求道的枢纽——若换作「乘」「御」等字，则或失其与「驾虹霓」「乘赤云」的配合，或失其写驾的意味；唯「驾」字，以驾虹霓写尽虹霓之驾御与凌云之志气，与「乘赤云」的赤云相合，写尽驾的虹霓，也让「驾虹霓」成为全诗写游历的名句。

寿 In 'a life as long as the southern mountain', the noun 寿 means a span of life or longevity, and 'southern mountain' is the conventional image of duration. The word connects the poem to the whole Daoist search for long life, and the enclosing clause 不忘愆 turns the wish inward. 「寿如南山不忘愆」之「寿」字是写求道关键词，一个「寿」字写尽寿如南山的忘愆。寿者，长寿、寿年也。曹操以「寿如南山不忘愆」写求道，这个「寿」字至少有双重意味：其一，写年之寿——那「寿如南山不忘愆」写寿如南山不忘愆，那「寿」字写尽寿如南山的不忘愆——寿如南山，正是寿比南山的写照，那「寿」字写尽寿如南山的不忘愆；其二，写道之求——那「寿」字更是写求——寿，正见求寿长生的意味，那「寿」字写尽曹操的求道。以「寿」字写求道，正是曹操写游仙的枢纽——若换作「年」「命」等字，则或失其与「寿如南山不忘愆」「景未移，行数千」的配合，或失其写寿的意味；唯「寿」字，以寿如南山不忘愆写尽南山之长寿与求道之不忘，与「景未移，行数千」的行数千相合，写尽寿如南山的不忘愆，也让「寿如南山不忘愆」成为全诗写求道的名句。

陌上桑