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南北朝 Northern and Southern Dynasties · 诗 Poem

拟咏怀·其十一

Imitating Yong Huai, No. 11

庾信

Yu Xin

伤时lamenting the times 怀国longing for the homeland 用典use of allusion

摇落秋为气，凄凉多怨情。
啼枯湘水竹，哭坏杞梁城。
天亡遭愤战，日蹙值愁兵。
直虹朝映垒，长星夜落营。
楚歌饶恨曲，南风多死声。
眼前一杯酒，谁论身后名！

The swaying fall makes autumn's mood,
desolate, full of resentful feeling.
Weeping withers the bamboos by the Xiang,
wailing crumbles the walls of Qiliang's town.
Heaven dooms us, we meet wrathful battle,
the realm shrinks, we face sorrowful troops.
A straight rainbow lights the ramparts at dawn,
a long star falls upon the camp at night.
Chu songs are rich with tunes of hate,
the southern wind carries many sounds of death.
Before me only a cup of wine,
who cares for fame after death!

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Meaning

A lament on the fall of Liang, the poem piles omen upon omen of doom — weeping that withers bamboo, a doomed battle, ill stars — and ends in bitter resignation with a cup of wine and no thought for posterity.

草木凋零，秋意萧瑟已成天地之气，满目凄凉，胸中多的是怨恨之情。那哭声能把湘水边的斑竹啼得枯死，能把杞梁战死的城墙哭得崩塌。天意要亡我邦国，遭遇的是令人愤恨的败战，国土一天天收缩，只落得满营愁苦的士兵。长虹清晨横映在军营的壁垒之上，长星夜里坠落在营中。楚歌里满是含恨的曲调，南风中多的是衰亡的死声。眼前只剩这一杯酒了，谁还去计较身后的名声！

Appreciation

The poem opens by transmuting Song Yu's famous autumn line into a mood of desolate resentment, setting the keynote of grief. Its middle eight lines are almost wholly allusive — the weeping consorts, the grieving wife, Heaven's doom, the shrinking realm, the ominous rainbow and falling star, the Chu songs and dying wind — yet the allusions flow as one current of mounting despair. Written after the fall of Jiangling and the loss of Liang, the closing cup of wine, pretending to careless ease, is in truth a cry of helpless rage; the plainer it sounds, the more desolate it is.

【白话串讲】 “摇落秋为气，凄凉多怨情”——庾信写秋：凄凉多怨。“啼枯湘水竹，哭坏杞梁城”——“眼前一杯酒，谁论身后名”——眼前只有一杯酒，谁还在乎身后名？他身陷北朝，回不了南方。【意象与手法】起句化用宋玉悲哉秋之为气也，一笔奠定全篇悲怨的基调。中间八句几乎句句用典：湘妃啼竹、杞妻哭城言亡国之痛，天亡、日蹙言败亡之势，直虹、长星言不祥之兆，楚歌、南风言必败之征。典与典相叠而气脉贯注，是庾信后期沉郁顿挫的典型笔法。【情感与主旨】此诗悼江陵之陷与梁室之亡，痛定思痛，故怨而近愤。诗人身羁北朝、不得南归，既哀故国之覆，又愧一身之存；结句以一杯酒推开身后之名，表面旷达，实为无可奈何的愤激之词，读来分外沉痛。【名句点睛】眼前一杯酒，谁论身后名——十字之中，有江山之痛，有身世之悲，也有自弃自嘲，语极平淡而意极苍凉，是庾信乡关之思中最沉郁的收束。

Background

Yu Xin, style name Zishan, was famous in his youth for palace-style verse at Liang; sent as an envoy to Western Wei, he was caught by the fall of Jiangling and the end of Liang, and remained in the North, rising to general, never allowed home. The twenty-seven Imitating Yong Huai poems imitate Ruan Ji's Yong Huai; this is the eleventh, mourning specifically the defeat of Emperor Yuan of Liang at Jiangling.

庾信字子山，南阳新野人，南北朝时期最负盛名的辞赋家与诗人。他早年在梁朝以宫体诗擅名，与徐陵齐名，世称徐庾体，绮丽轻艳，为一时之冠。梁元帝承圣三年，庾信奉命出使西魏，恰值西魏大军南下、江陵陷落、梁室倾覆，他遂被强留于北朝，先后仕西魏、北周，官至骠骑大将军、开府仪同三司，位望虽隆而乡关之思终身不解，直至老死北地，不得南归。国破家亡、羁身异域的巨大变故，使他后期的创作一变早年的绮靡，转为苍劲沉郁、深情绵邈，《拟咏怀》二十七首即其代表。此组诗拟阮籍《咏怀》而作，收于《庾子山集》，借咏怀之名抒亡国之痛、羁旅之悲，是其晚年心血所聚。此为第十一首，专悼梁元帝江陵之败与梁朝的覆亡：痛定思痛，追数亡征，故通篇怨而近愤，是二十七首中最为沉痛激烈的一篇。杜甫所谓庾信平生最萧瑟、暮年诗赋动江关，正指此类作品而言。

Art

Twelve lines in all: the opening sets the autumnal tone, eight middle lines pair allusions, and the last two break away to close. The allusions are strung in clear order — first the wailing of a fallen state, then the momentum of defeat, then the ill omens, finally the sounds of certain loss — like layered waves, then suddenly reined in by a single cup of wine, whose force lies entirely in the close.

全诗十二句，章法谨严而气脉贯注。起以悲秋定调，中八句连用典故成对，末二句忽然荡开作结，力量全在收处。首联摇落秋为气、凄凉多怨情，化用宋玉悲秋之意，先以萧瑟秋气笼罩全篇，为下文的亡国之痛铺设苍凉的底色。中间四联几乎句句用典而层次井然：啼枯湘竹、哭坏杞城写亡国之哭，天亡愤战、日蹙愁兵写败亡之势，直虹映垒、长星落营写不祥之兆，楚歌恨曲、南风死声写必败之音——由哭而势、而兆、而音，如层浪相推，步步逼紧，把江陵陷落、梁室将亡的惨象层层叠写，愈叠愈重。正当悲怨之情蓄积至满、几乎无可再进之际，末联忽以眼前一杯酒、谁论身后名陡然收住，由极哀跌入颓放，以一杯浊酒推开身后之名，表面旷达而实为无可奈何的愤激之辞。这种蓄势极足而收束极冷的写法，使全诗的悲慨在结尾一顿之间迸发无余，是庾信后期沉郁顿挫笔法的典型体现。

Allusions

Swaying fall makes autumn's mood adapts Song Yu's Nine Arguments: 'Alas, the mood of autumn — the plants sway and wither.' Weeping withers the Xiang bamboos uses the legend of the two consorts of Shun, whose tears spotted the bamboo. Wailing crumbles Qiliang's town uses the story of Qiliang, killed in war, whose wife's crying collapsed the city wall. Heaven dooms echoes Xiang Yu: 'Heaven destroys me, not the fault of war.' Straight rainbow lights the ramparts — the Jin History of Astronomy takes a rainbow touching ground as a sign of bloodshed. Long star falls on the camp was an ancient omen of a commander's death. Chu songs uses Xiang Yu surrounded at Gaixia by Chu songs on four sides. Southern wind carries many sounds of death comes from the Zuo Zhuan: 'the southern wind is not vigorous, rich in sounds of death.'

此篇几乎句句用典，用典之密、之切，为庾信后期诗的显著特征。摇落秋为气，化用宋玉《九辩》悲哉秋之为气也，萧瑟兮草木摇落而变衰，以悲秋起兴。啼枯湘水竹，用舜之二妃娥皇女英哭舜、泪洒湘竹而成斑之说，斑竹又名湘妃竹，此借写哭之惨、泪之竭。哭坏杞梁城，用春秋齐人杞梁战死、其妻向城痛哭而城为之崩的故事，见《列女传》，此借写悲哭之能动天地。天亡遭愤战，用项羽垓下之败自叹此天之亡我、非战之罪也，借写国运已尽而犹作困兽之斗。直虹朝映垒，《晋书·天文志》以虹头尾至地、直贯为流血兵灾之象，此借天象写凶兆。长星夜落营，古以长星、彗星陨落为主将殒命之兆，此写败征。楚歌饶恨曲，用项羽垓下夜闻四面楚歌、以为汉尽得楚地的典故，写围困之绝。南风多死声，本《左传·襄公十八年》晋乐官闻楚师之歌而曰南风不竞、多死声，楚必无功，以乐律占胜负，此写必败之音。诸典层层相扣，皆指向一个亡国的主题。

Commentary

Du Fu said Yu Xin's later writing grew ever more accomplished, his mighty brush free and far-ranging, and that Yu Xin in his late years was most desolate, his poems and rhapsodies moving the river passes — words that point exactly to the grave, vigorous works like the Imitating Yong Huai.

杜甫于庾信推崇备至，《咏怀古迹》其一云庾信平生最萧瑟、暮年诗赋动江关，《戏为六绝句》又云庾信文章老更成、凌云健笔意纵横，皆特指其晚年羁北之后所作的《拟咏怀》《哀江南赋》一类沉郁苍劲之篇，而此第十一首正是其中的压卷之作。历代论庾信者，多以其晚年诗赋为南北朝文学的最高成就，谓其融南朝的辞采与北地的风骨于一炉，遂能于绮丽中见苍劲、于用典中见性情。此篇以密集的典故叠写江陵之败、梁室之亡，而以眼前一杯酒、谁论身后名收束，论者尤称其结句沉郁苍凉、举重若轻：满腔的家国之痛、身世之悲，至此惟以一杯浊酒了之，表面颓放而骨里沉痛，愈见其无可奈何的悲愤。清人评庾信拟咏怀，谓其怨而不怒、哀而弥深，得阮籍咏怀之遗意而自成沉挚一格，此篇实为二十七首中情辞最切、感慨最深者，故向被推为子山拟咏怀之冠。

Prosody

Form Five-character ancient poem五言古诗

Rhyme Imitating Ruan Ji's Yong Huai form; rhyme on alternate lines, with rhyme words qing, cheng, bing, ying, sheng, ming, in the eight Geng level-tone group of Pingshui rhyme, one rhyme throughout; the four middle couplets are neatly antithetical.仿阮籍咏怀体，隔句押韵，韵脚为情、城、兵、营、声、名，属平水韵下平八庚，一韵到底

Tone pattern One rhyme throughout; the four middle couplets are neatly antithetical.五言古体而近于律，中间四联对仗工稳，平仄虽不尽合近体律度，然音节谐协、气脉贯通

Reading note This piece mourns the fall of Liang; the two middle couplets pile images of defeat — Xiang bamboo and Qiliang, straight rainbow and long star, Chu song and southern wind — and close with a cup of wine and no care for posterity's name, grave and desolate, the finest of Zishan's Imitating Yong Huai.此篇为拟阮籍咏怀体的五言古诗，声律上兼具古体的浑朴与近体的工整。全诗十二句，隔句押韵，韵脚情、城、兵、营、声、名同属平水韵下平八庚，一韵到底，庚韵开口洪亮而略带清劲，与全篇苍凉悲愤的情调相合，读来一气贯注、沉郁有力。就对仗而言，中间四联几乎句句成对，啼枯对哭坏、湘水竹对杞梁城、直虹对长星、朝映垒对夜落营、楚歌对南风、饶恨曲对多死声，对仗极为工稳精切，而典故层层相叠、意脉贯通，遂使工整的对偶非但不显板滞，反而如层浪叠推，把亡国之象步步逼紧。平仄上此诗虽为古体、不尽合近体的粘对之律，然其音节谐协、抑扬有致：起联舒缓以定调，中四联凝重以叠象，末联则陡然一顿、由重转轻，以眼前一杯酒、谁论身后名收束，声情随之由沉郁而颓放。全篇于严整的对仗中见古体的自由，于密集的用典中见流转的气脉，正是庾信晚年融南朝辞采与北地风骨于一炉的典范，也是拟咏怀二十七首中声律与情辞最为浑成的一篇。

Line by line

摇落秋为气，

The swaying fall makes autumn's mood,

草木凋零，秋意萧瑟已成天地之气，

Leaves are falling; autumn has become the air,

此句化用宋玉九辩悲哉秋之为气也，萧瑟兮草木摇落而变衰之意，以悲秋起兴，为全篇奠定苍凉的基调。摇落二字置于句首，先声夺人：草木凋零、万物摇落，本是自然之秋，而在诗人笔下已成为一种弥漫天地的萧瑟之气。以秋为气三字，把具体的草木凋残上升为普遍的天地悲凉，遂使个人的亡国之痛得以安放于宇宙时序的大背景中。起句即笼罩全篇，使下文的怨情、亡征、死声皆浸润在这一片秋气之中，是以景起情、以物象定调的高妙开篇。

The autumn. Leaves are falling; autumn has become the air. The leaves-falling-autumn-air are the opening. To have become the air would be a becoming; the leaves-are-falling-autumn-has-become-the-air is the becoming.

哭坏杞梁城。

wailing crumbles the walls of Qiliang's town.

能把杞梁战死的城墙哭得崩塌。

Her weeping crumbled the Qiliang wall.

此句用杞梁妻哭夫崩城之典，与上句啼枯湘水竹对举，写悲哭之能感天动地。杞梁战死沙场，其妻向城痛哭，城为之崩，是古来至悲之事；诗人借此写亡国之哭的惨烈——那哭声不但能把湘妃之竹啼得枯死，更能把坚固的城墙哭得崩塌。坏字下得极重，把无形的悲声化为有形的毁坏，怨深而动地。此句表面写古事，实则句句关合梁亡：江陵城破、宗社倾覆，正是一场哭坏了的城，用典而不着痕迹，借他人之酒杯浇自家之块垒，是庾信以典写痛的绝好手笔。

The wall. Her weeping crumbled the Qiliang wall. The weeping-crumbled-Qiliang-wall is the allusion. To have crumbled the wall would be a crumbling; the her-weeping-crumbled-the-qiliang-wall is the crumbling.

长星夜落营。

a long star falls upon the camp at night.

长星夜里坠落在营中。

A long star fell at night upon the camp.

此句与上句直虹朝映垒对举，以天象示凶，写败亡之兆。古人以长星、彗星陨落为主将殒命、大军将败之征，长星夜落营五字，正是以星坠军营写主将星亡、败局已定的不祥之象。一朝一夜，直虹映于清晨、长星落于深夜，凶兆昼夜相接、无时或已，把江陵将陷、梁师必败的绝望氛围渲染到极致。诗人不直言败亡，而借天文星象层层暗示，使亡国之势如宿命般不可挽回，既合于古人天人感应的观念，又以冷峻的天象反衬人间的哀痛，是中间四联叠写亡征中最具苍茫之气的一笔。

The star. A long star fell at night upon the camp. The long-star-fell-night-camp is the omen. To have fallen upon the camp would be a falling; the a-long-star-fell-at-night-upon-the-camp is the falling.

谁论身后名！

who cares for fame after death!

谁还去计较身后的名声！

Who cares for fame after death!

此句为全篇的收束，由前十句的极哀陡然跌入颓放，以一声反诘作结。上文层层叠写亡国之哭、败亡之势、不祥之兆、必败之音，悲怨蓄积至满；至末联忽以眼前一杯酒承接，说眼前只剩这一杯浊酒可以浇愁，身后的名声又何足计较。谁论二字是反问，也是自弃：家国已亡、此身羁北，功名事业尽成泡影，惟求一醉而已。表面看似旷达超脱，骨子里却是走投无路、万念俱灰的愤激之辞。以最平淡的语气收束最深沉的悲痛，语淡而情苦，正是沉郁至极的表现，读来分外苍凉。

The name. Who cares for fame after death! The who-cares-fame-after-death is the close. To have cared for fame would be a caring; the who-cares-for-fame-after-death is the caring.

Study

Word focus

枯 The characters ku and huai — both verb-complement structures — show remarkable force; 'wither' and 'collapse' turn formless grief into visible ruin. 枯字见于啼枯湘水竹一句，与下句哭坏杞梁城的坏字并为中间叠典的传神之字。啼、哭本是无形之声，湘竹之枯、城墙之坏本是有形之毁，诗人以啼枯、哭坏两个动补结构，把无形的悲声化为可见的毁坏——哭声竟能把湘妃斑竹啼得枯死，把杞梁城墙哭得崩塌。枯字极见笔力：它既承湘妃泪竹之典而写泪尽声竭、哀极而枯，又以草木之枯与全篇的秋气摇落遥相呼应，使亡国之悲具象为一种触目可见的枯败之象。一字之中，典故、情感、物象三者浑融，正是庾信以字驭典、化虚为实的高妙处。

饶 The word rao paired with duo conveys the pervading hate-tunes and death-sounds; without a single word of grief, the grief becomes unstoppable. 饶字见于楚歌饶恨曲一句，与下句南风多死声的多字并出，写恨曲死声之弥漫无尽。饶训多、丰足，饶恨曲即满是含恨的曲调。楚歌本用项羽垓下四面楚歌之典，写围困之绝、末路之悲；诗人以饶字状之，谓这楚歌之中处处是恨、无一非恨，恨意之浓、之满，几乎要满溢出来。饶字与多字对举，一言曲之恨、一言声之死，触处皆是亡国之音，不著一个悲字而悲不可遏。以一个饶字写情绪的充盈弥漫，使抽象的恨具有了可以计量、几乎泛滥的质感，可见庾信炼字之精、体物之细。