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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

早秋山中作

Written in the Mountains in Early Autumn

王维

Wang Wei

隐居Hermitage 秋景Autumn Scene

无才不敢累明时，思向东溪守故篱。
岂厌尚平婚嫁早，却嫌陶令去官迟。
草间蛩响临秋急，山里蝉声薄暮悲。
寂寞柴门人不到，空林独与白云期。

With no talent I dare not burden the enlightened age; I wish to turn east to the stream and keep my old fence.
How could I tire that Shang Ping married his children off early, and yet I blame that I left office too late?
In the grass the cricket's chirping quickens at the approach of autumn; in the hills the cicada's song is sad at dusk.
A lonely bramble gate, and no one comes; in the empty wood I keep tryst alone with the white clouds.

Listen

Meaning

Wang Wei asks to be left alone. He says he has no talent and will not trouble the good government of the age, so he wants to return to his old fence by the eastern stream. The second couplet plays two retired officials against himself — Shang Ping who finished his family duties and withdrew early, Tao Yuanming who resigned late — and the autumn scene that follows is thin and quiet: crickets quickening, cicadas sad at dusk. The last line gives the whole poem away: at his lonely gate in an empty wood, his only companion is the white cloud.

无才不敢累明时，思向东溪守故篱。岂厌尚平婚嫁早，却嫌陶令去官迟。草间蛩响临秋急，山里蝉声薄暮悲。寂寞柴门人不到，空林独与白云期。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The poem is made mostly of small sounds and one visual. Outside, autumn arrives in the grass and the trees — the cricket hurrying, the cicada crying at dusk. Inside, a gate nobody visits and a wood with nobody in it. The poet's only interlocutor is a cloud. [Structure] The two opening lines are theory — why he wants to leave; the second couplet is biography, using two earlier hermits to measure himself; the third is pure scene; the fourth closes on the single image that sums up the life he has chosen. [Imagery] Everything is quiet and pale: an old fence, thin grass, a quickening cricket, a sad cicada, an empty wood, white clouds. Wang Wei never says 'I am lonely' or 'I am content'; he only arranges the images so that both can be felt.

【白话串讲】王维写《早秋山中作》：“无才不敢累明时，思向东溪守故篱”——“岂厌尚平婚嫁早，却嫌陶令去官迟”——“草间蛩响临秋急，山里蝉声薄暮悲”——“寂寞柴门人不到，空林独与白云期”——他写早秋山中的归隐心。【意象与手法】此诗写隐逸，以秋景写隐逸，是王维的名篇。前四句写归隐：「无才不敢累明时，思向东溪守故篱。岂厌尚平婚嫁早，却嫌陶令去官迟」写无才不敢累明时、思向东溪守故篱——写尽归隐的心志；后四句写秋景：「草间蛩响临秋急，山里蝉声薄暮悲。寂寞柴门人不到，空林独与白云期」写草间蛩响临秋急、山里蝉声薄暮悲——写尽秋日的蛩声。全诗以秋景写隐逸，写尽归隐的心志与秋日的蛩声，是王维的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写隐逸，以秋景写隐逸，是王维的名篇。此诗为王维早秋山中闲居而作，写归隐之志与秋日之景。王维中年后笃信佛理，常隐居辋川，此诗写其早秋山中作诗，抒归隐情怀。此诗写无才不敢累明时，思向东溪守故篱；岂厌尚平婚嫁早，却嫌陶令去官迟；草间蛩响临秋急，山里蝉声薄暮悲；寂寞柴门人不到，空林独与白云期。此诗写归隐：无才不敢累明时，思向东溪守故篱——写无才不敢累明时、思向东溪守故篱，写尽归隐的心志；岂厌尚平婚嫁早，却嫌陶令去官迟——写岂厌尚平婚嫁早、却嫌陶令去官迟，写尽陶令的去官；草间蛩响临秋急，山里蝉声薄暮悲——写草间蛩响临秋急、山里蝉声薄暮悲，写尽秋日的蛩声；寂寞柴门人不到，空林独与白云期——写寂寞柴门人不到、空林独与白云期，写尽白云的独期。全诗以秋景写隐逸——那「无才不敢累明时」写尽归隐的心志，「空林独与白云期」写尽白云的独期，写尽归隐的心志与秋日的蛩声，是理解王维隐逸诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「无才不敢累明时，思向东溪守故篱」写归隐的心志；「草间蛩响临秋急，山里蝉声薄暮悲」写秋日的蛩声；以及全诗以秋景写隐逸、以用典写归隐的手法。

Background

Wang Wei (c. 701–761), styled Mo Jie, passed the jinshi examination at twenty-one and served the Tang court, but after the rebellion of An Lushan he was forced to accept an official position under the occupiers and was afterwards severely criticized for it. He spent his later years at a house in the hills south of Chang'an, where he practised Buddhism, kept the office of censor in name, and spent his days in painting and poetry with his friend Pei Di. His poems of this period are short, quiet and devoted to landscape. This regulated verse belongs to that circle of hermit poems, in which the mountains are a plain statement about where he wanted to be.

此诗写隐逸，以秋景写隐逸，是王维的名篇。王维（701—761），字摩诘，号摩诘居士，河东蒲州（今山西永济）人，唐代诗人、画家，与孟浩然并称「王孟」。此诗为王维早秋山中闲居而作，写归隐之志与秋日之景。王维中年后笃信佛理，常隐居辋川，此诗写其早秋山中作诗，抒归隐情怀。此诗写无才不敢累明时，思向东溪守故篱；岂厌尚平婚嫁早，却嫌陶令去官迟；草间蛩响临秋急，山里蝉声薄暮悲；寂寞柴门人不到，空林独与白云期。此诗写归隐：「无才不敢累明时，思向东溪守故篱」写无才不敢累明时、思向东溪守故篱——写尽归隐的心志（无才不敢累明时，思向东溪守故篱）；「岂厌尚平婚嫁早，却嫌陶令去官迟」写岂厌尚平婚嫁早、却嫌陶令去官迟——写尽陶令的去官（岂厌尚平婚嫁早，却嫌陶令去官迟）；「草间蛩响临秋急，山里蝉声薄暮悲」写草间蛩响临秋急、山里蝉声薄暮悲——写尽秋日的蛩声（草间蛩响临秋急，山里蝉声薄暮悲）；「寂寞柴门人不到，空林独与白云期」写寂寞柴门人不到、空林独与白云期——写尽白云的独期（寂寞柴门人不到，空林独与白云期）。全诗以秋景写隐逸，写尽归隐的心志与秋日的蛩声，是理解王维隐逸诗的重要篇章。

Art

The poem's elegance is in its apparent inconclusiveness. The second couplet is a paradox: the poet admires Shang Ping for completing marriage and family duties early and then withdrawing, yet finds himself blaming Tao Yuanming for resigning too late — that is, he is ashamed that he himself stayed in office for so long. The contradiction is left hanging, which is what makes the poem honest instead of a advertisement. The third couplet then does the work of scene without one interpretive word, and the fourth draws the conclusion from the images already laid down: if nobody comes and the wood is empty, then what remains is the cloud. Wang Wei's technique here is to keep the feeling out of the line and into the arrangement, so that the last two characters — 'tryst with the white clouds' — arrive as a natural completion rather than a claim.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以直抒写归隐。「无才不敢累明时」以直抒写归隐——那「思向东溪守故篱」写尽东溪的故篱，以直抒写尽归隐的心志。其二，以用典写去官。「岂厌尚平婚嫁早」以用典写去官——那「尚平」用尚平典写去官，以用典写尽陶令的去官。其三，以秋声写悲凉。「草间蛩响临秋急」以秋声写悲凉——那「山里蝉声薄暮悲」写尽薄暮的蝉声，以秋声写尽秋日的蛩声。其四，以空林写孤独。「空林独与白云期」以空林写孤独——那「独与白云期」写尽白云的独期，以空林写尽白云的独期。此外，此诗前四句写归隐的心志，后四句写秋日的蛩声，由志及景，正是隐逸诗「以景写志」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以秋景写隐逸，写尽归隐的心志与秋日的蛩声，是王维的代表作。此诗还善于以「岂厌尚平婚嫁早」的「岂厌」写归隐之不厌——那「岂厌尚平婚嫁早」写尽尚平的婚嫁，正是以岂写问，以「岂厌」写尽陶令的去官。又善以「寂寞柴门人不到」的「人不到」写柴门之寂寞——寂寞柴门人不到，正见门无车马的写照，以「人不到」写尽白云的独期。

Allusions

Shang Ping, also called Shang Chang, was a reclusive hermit of the Later Han who finished arranging his daughters' marriages and then, with his wife, withdrew to live on the mountains — the earliest model of the perfect retirement. 'Tao Ling' is Tao Yuanming, who held the post of magistrate of Pengze and resigned after a few days rather than bow before a subdivision clerk; 'leaving office late' is the poet's gentle self-indictment for having lingered in officialdom. The white cloud is the classical emblem of the unattached hermit, and the 'bramble gate' is the poor man's boundary from Tao Yuanming's tradition.

此诗的用语深植于隐逸与秋景传统。「无才」令人想到「无才」写无才的意象——也令人想到「无才便是德」的意象；「明时」令人想到「明时」写清明之世的意象——也令人想到「生逢明时」的意象；「东溪」令人想到「东溪」写东溪的意象——也令人想到「东皋」的意象；「故篱」令人想到「故篱」写旧篱笆的意象——也令人想到「采菊东篱下」（陶渊明）的意象；「尚平」令人想到「尚平」写尚平的意象——东汉尚长（尚平），也令人想到「尚平婚嫁」的意象；「陶令」令人想到「陶令」写陶渊明的意象——陶渊明曾为彭泽令，也令人想到「陶令归去」的意象；「白云」令人想到「白云」写白云的意象——也令人想到「白云深处有人家」（杜牧）的意象。全诗化用无才、明时、东溪、故篱、尚平、陶令、白云的意象典故，以秋景写隐逸，正是王维「浑成」而善用典、承隐逸传统写秋景之本领。「明时」令人想到「明时」写清明之世的意象——也令人想到「盛世明时」的意象；「东溪」令人想到「东溪」写东溪的意象——也令人想到「东溪钓」的意象，以东溪写归隐。

Commentary

The closing couplet — 'A lonely bramble gate, and no one comes; in the empty wood I keep tryst alone with the white clouds' — is one of the most admired lines of Wang Wei's later manner, praised for turning a complaint into a picture without a single emotional word. Later commentators read the poem as an ordinary expression of a poet's retirement, but modern readers have noticed the edge in it: the poet is not peacefully retired, he is quitting after a scandal and saying so indirectly. It is read beside 'Autumn Dusk in the Mountains' and Tao Yuanming's 'Drinking Wine No. 5', which set the two standards it plays against.

此诗历来被推为王维隐逸诗的名篇，也是唐诗写早秋山居的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以秋景写隐逸，淡远清寂」；近人更指出「空林独与白云期」写白云的独期，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以八句的七律写尽归隐的心志与秋日的蛩声——那无才，那不敢累明时，那思向，那东溪，那守故篱，那岂厌，那尚平，那婚嫁早，那却嫌，那陶令，那去官迟，那草间，那蛩响，那临秋急，那山里，那蝉声，那薄暮悲，那寂寞，那柴门，那人不到，那空林，那独与，那白云期，都写尽了王维笔下的早秋山中作；那「空林独与白云期」更以空林写尽白云的独期。此诗与王维《山居秋暝》「空山新雨后」同为隐逸名篇，一写「明月松间照」的山居（山居秋暝），一写「空林独与白云期」的早秋（早秋山中作）；又与陶渊明「采菊东篱下」的隐逸传统一脉相承，可见唐诗写隐逸的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解王维隐逸诗的窗口，也是唐诗写早秋山居的经典——那独期的白云，穿越千年，仍在诉说着归隐的心志。

Prosody

Form Seven-character regulated verse (qi yan lü shi), eight lines诗·七言律诗

Rhyme One rhyme on the 'zhi' group (shi, li, chi, bei, qi), level tone throughout; the unbroken vowel gives the poem its still, unhurried sound.七律，押「时」「篱」「迟」「悲」「期」韵（上平四支），一韵到底，音节清寂

Tone pattern The regular regulated pattern with level tones on the even lines; the smooth alternation never strains, matching the poem's air of ease.此诗为七言律诗，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节清寂，正合隐逸的清寂。

Reading note Read the opening two lines as self-explanation, slowly; the second couplet should be spoken without resolving, because the poet leaves his contradiction open; the third couplet is pure listening, so let the sounds in it carry the line; and the final couplet should settle, with the last clause arriving soft and far away, since the cloud is meant to be seen at the edge of sight.此诗为七言律诗，八句——「无才不敢累明时，思向东溪守故篱。岂厌尚平婚嫁早，却嫌陶令去官迟。草间蛩响临秋急，山里蝉声薄暮悲。寂寞柴门人不到，空林独与白云期」，押「支」韵（时、篱、迟、悲、期），一韵到底，音节清寂。全诗以秋景写隐逸：前四句写归隐的心志（无才不敢累明时、却嫌陶令去官迟），后四句写秋日的蛩声（草间蛩响临秋急、空林独与白云期）。八句短章，前写归隐，后写秋景，以「空林独与白云期」写尽白云的独期，正见王维「浑成」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以清寂的语调读「草间蛩响临秋急」的秋声，以淡远的语调读「空林独与白云期」的独期，结句要读得清寂而有余韵，方能传达出王维的淡远清寂。王维律诗以「浑成」著称，此诗正是其隐逸诗的典范。

Line by line

空林独与白云期

In the empty wood I keep tryst alone with the white clouds.

空林独与白云期。

In the empty woods, I alone keep tryst with the white clouds.

此句是全诗写孤独的核心，以空林独与写独与，以白云期写白云期，写尽白云的独期，是千古名句。「空林独与白云期」写空林独与白云期——那「空林独与」写空林独与，「白云期」写白云期，写尽白云的独期。这句的深意在于：它以「空林独与」的独与与「白云期」的白云期，写尽白云的独期——空林独与白云期，那「空林独与白云期」写尽白云的独期——空林独与，正是空林独处的写照，那「独与」写尽白云的独期；白云期，那「白云期」写尽白云的独期——白云期，正是与云相约的写照，那「白云期」写尽白云的独期；那「空林独与白云期」写尽白云的独期，那「独与」写尽空林的独处，一写空林，一写白云，写尽白云的独期——空林独处而与云相约，正是隐逸的写照；此句以空林、白云写尽白云的独期，也让此句成为全诗写孤独的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「空寂的林中独自与白云相约」，则失其淡远；唯以「空林独与」写独与、「白云期」写白云期，写尽白云的独期，也让此句成为全诗写孤独的核心。

The line is the core of the poem's solitude, an age-famed line. In the empty woods, I alone keep tryst with the white clouds: empty woods alone, the solitary place; keep tryst with the white clouds, the assignation with clouds. The hidden art: alone in the empty forest, appointing a meeting with the drifting clouds, writes the recluse's life of no other company; to have said baldly that in the quiet woods I meet the white clouds alone would lose the distant quiet, and the line is the heart of the poem.

草间蛩响临秋急，山里蝉声薄暮悲

In the grass the cricket's chirping quickens at the approach of autumn; in the hills the cicada's song is sad at dusk.

草间蛩响临秋急，山里蝉声薄暮悲。

Crickets chirp urgently in the grass as autumn nears; in the hills the cicadas' cry sounds sad in the dusk.

此二句是全诗写秋声的核心，以草间蛩响临秋急写临秋急，以山里蝉声薄暮悲写薄暮悲，写尽秋日的蛩声，是千古名句。「草间蛩响临秋急」写草间蛩响临秋急——那「草间蛩响」写草间蛩响，「临秋急」写临秋急，写尽临秋的蛩响；「山里蝉声薄暮悲」写山里蝉声薄暮悲——那「山里蝉声」写山里蝉声，「薄暮悲」写薄暮悲，写尽薄暮的蝉声。这句的深意在于：它以「草间蛩响临秋急」的临秋急与「山里蝉声薄暮悲」的薄暮悲，写尽秋日的蛩声——草间蛩响临秋急，那「草间蛩响临秋急」写尽临秋的蛩响——草间蛩响临秋急，正是草间蛩鸣的写照，那「临秋急」写尽秋日的蛩声；山里蝉声薄暮悲，那「山里蝉声薄暮悲」写尽薄暮的蝉声——山里蝉声薄暮悲，正是山里蝉鸣的写照，那「薄暮悲」写尽秋日的蛩声；那「草间蛩响临秋急」写尽临秋的蛩响，那「山里蝉声薄暮悲」写尽薄暮的蝉声，一写蛩响，一写蝉声，写尽秋日的蛩声——草间蛩急而山里蝉悲，正是秋日的写照；此二句以蛩响、蝉声写尽秋日的蛩声，也为下文的柴门作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写秋声的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「草间的蟋蟀临秋叫得急促，山里的蝉声到傍晚显得悲凉」，则失其意境；唯以「草间蛩响临秋急」写临秋急、「山里蝉声薄暮悲」写薄暮悲，写尽秋日的蛩声，也让此二句成为全诗写秋声的核心。

The two lines are the core of the poem's autumn sounds, an age-famed couplet. Crickets chirp urgently in the grass as autumn nears: the grass crickets and the urgent note as autumn draws near. In the hills the cicadas' cry sounds sad in the dusk: the mountain cicadas and the sad hour of dusk. The hidden art: the crickets grow urgent as autumn comes, the cicadas sad in the falling dusk; the two insect voices together write the very sound of early autumn in the hills, and prepare the woodcutter's gate that follows. To have said baldly that the crickets chirp urgently in the grass and the cicadas sound sad in the evening would lose the mood, and the couplet is the heart of the poem.

Study

Word focus

急 Ji, 'rapid, urgent'. The cricket's chirping is said to quicken as autumn comes near, so the sound is not a fixed picture but a accelerating one; the word carries both the season's approach and the poet's alertness to it. 「草间蛩响临秋急」之「急」字是写秋声的关键词，一个「急」字写尽临秋的蛩响。急者，急促、急切也。王维以「草间蛩响临秋急」写秋声，这个「急」字至少有双重意味：其一，写响之急——那「草间蛩响临秋急」写草间蛩响临秋急，那「急」字写尽临秋的蛩响——临秋急，正是临秋声急的写照，那「急」字写尽秋日的蛩声；其二，写秋之迫——那「急」字更是写迫——急，正见秋意迫人的时令，那「急」字写尽王维的隐逸。以「急」字写秋声，正是王维写隐逸的枢纽——若换作「促」「紧」等字，则或失其与「草间蛩响」「临秋」的配合，或失其写急的意味；唯「急」字，以草间蛩响临秋急写尽蛩响之急促与秋意之迫人，与「山里蝉声薄暮悲」的薄暮悲相合，写尽秋日的蛩声，也让「草间蛩响临秋急」成为全诗写秋声的名句。

期 Qi, 'to keep an appointment, to look for'. Applied to a cloud, it makes the cloud a partner in a mutual promise; the poet's solitude is therefore not loneliness but a chosen engagement with the mountain. 「空林独与白云期」之「期」字是写孤独的关键词，一个「期」字写尽白云的独期。期者，相约、期待也。王维以「空林独与白云期」写孤独，这个「期」字至少有双重意味：其一，写云之期——那「空林独与白云期」写空林独与白云期，那「期」字写尽白云的独期——白云期，正是与云相约的写照，那「期」字写尽白云的独期；其二，写情之淡——那「期」字更是写淡——期，正见与云相期的淡远，那「期」字写尽王维的隐逸。以「期」字写孤独，正是王维写隐逸的枢纽——若换作「约」「待」等字，则或失其与「空林独与」「白云」的配合，或失其写期的意味；唯「期」字，以空林独与白云期写尽白云之相约与独处之淡远，与「寂寞柴门人不到」的柴门相合，写尽白云的独期，也让「空林独与白云期」成为全诗写孤独的名句。