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清 Qing · 诗 Poem

晓过灵石

Passing Lingshi at Dawn

赵执信

Zhao Zhixin

山水landscape 羁旅travel

野旷寒山出，天清白露繁。
暗泉流舍下，疏树隐烟村。
独往迷前径，迟回恋故园。
他乡明日路，空负眼前尊。

The wilds stretch open; the cold hills emerge; the sky is clear; the white dew lies thick.
A hidden spring flows beneath the cottages; sparse trees veil the misty village.
Alone I go, lost on the path ahead; lingering, I cling to my old home.
Tomorrow's road leads to another land; in vain I slight the cup before my eyes.

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Meaning

The open wilds, the cold hills show forth; the clear sky, the white dew lies thick. A hidden spring flows beneath the cottages; sparse trees veil the misty village. Going alone I lose the path ahead; lingering and turning, I cling to my distant home. Tomorrow I take the road to another land; in vain I slight the parting cup before my eyes.

原野空旷，寒山在晨光中显现；天色清朗，白露繁密地凝结。暗暗的泉水流过屋舍之下，稀疏的树木掩映着烟雾中的村庄。独自前行却迷失了前方的小路，徘徊迟疑间眷恋起远方的故园。明日又将踏上他乡之路，空自辜负了眼前这杯离别的酒尊。

Appreciation

This poem opens with a clear, cold morning scene and closes with the grief of travel, scene and feeling blended. The first couplet, 'The wilds stretch open; the cold hills emerge; the sky is clear; the white dew lies thick', the word 'emerge' writes the hills showing from the cold mist, 'thick' states the dew's density, the diction careful. The second, 'A hidden spring flows beneath the cottages; sparse trees veil the misty village', joins sight and sound, sparse and measured. The latter two couplets, 'Alone I go, lost on the path ahead; lingering, I cling to my old home', write the mind through motion; 'Tomorrow's road leads to another land; in vain I slight the cup before my eyes', closing with 'in vain', turns the sigh of drifting without root and slighting the good moment in one stroke, implicit and inexhaustible.

【白话串讲】 “野旷寒山出，天清白露繁”——赵执信清晨过灵石：野旷天清，白露繁。“独往迷前径，迟回恋故园”——他独自前行，留恋故园。“他乡明日路，空负眼前尊”——他乡的路，辜负了眼前的酒。【意象与手法】全诗前两联写景、后两联抒情，情景交融。首联「野旷寒山出，天清白露繁」以「出」「繁」二字炼晓景之动态与浓淡；颔联「暗泉流舍下，疏树隐烟村」视听兼写，疏淡有致；颈联「独往迷前径，迟回恋故园」由景入情，以动作写心理；尾联「他乡明日路，空负眼前尊」以「空负」收束，漂泊之慨含蓄不尽。【情感与主旨】赵执信因《长生殿》案被革职，自此放废家居、南北漫游。此诗写晓行过灵石所见所感：清晓寒山白露、暗泉烟村之景清冷疏淡，正映衬羁旅孤寂之心；独行迷路、迟回恋园，故园之思与漂泊之叹交织，而「空负眼前尊」更道出行役之人辜负良辰、身不由己的无奈。【名句点睛】常考首联「出」「繁」二字的炼字之妙；「暗泉流舍下，疏树隐烟村」的视听结合与疏淡意境；颈联「独往迷前径，迟回恋故园」以动作写心理的手法；尾联「空负眼前尊」与李白「莫使金樽空对月」的对读。

Background

Zhao Zhixin (1662-1744), style Shenfu, name Qiugu, of Yidu in Shandong, a jinshi of 1679, rose to Right Admonisher of the Heir Apparent. In 1689, impeached for watching The Everlasting Longing during the empress's mourning, he was dismissed and from then on lived at home, roaming north and south. Lingshi county in Shanxi's Fenzhou lay on the north-south road; the poet passed it in travel, at clear dawn and cold, and touched by the scene bore the grief of travel and thought of home, thus this work.

赵执信（1662—1744），字伸符，号秋谷，晚号饴山老人，山东益都（今青州）人，少负才名，十八岁中康熙十八年进士，选翰林院庶吉士，官至右春坊右赞善，与洪昇、王士禛等交游，为王士禛甥婿。康熙二十八年，佟皇后丧期，赵执信因观演洪昇《长生殿》被劾『国恤中宴饮观剧』，革职除名，同案牵涉者五十余人，史称《长生殿》案——这一事件断送了他的仕途，也成就了他此后数十年的山水漫游与诗名。他被革职后放废家居，遍游南北，经山西、陕西、河南、山东等地；灵石县在山西汾州府（今山西灵石县），地处汾河峡谷、秦晋通衢，为南北行旅必经之地，境内有介山、雀鼠谷等古迹，相传为介子推隐处。此诗当为诗人晓行过灵石时所作：清晓野旷天寒、白露未晞，泉声烟村触目萧疏，羁旅之愁与故园之思一时并集，遂成此作。诗中所恋『故园』即其山东益都故里，可推知作于北游山陕途中。赵执信论诗主『诗中有人』，著《谈龙录》力矫王士禛神韵说之空泛，此诗正是其诗学主张的实践。

Art

This poem opens with a clear, cold morning scene and closes with the grief of travel, scene and feeling blended. The first couplet, 'The wilds stretch open; the cold hills emerge...', 'emerge' writes the hills showing from the cold mist, 'thick' states the dew's density, the diction careful. The second, 'A hidden spring flows beneath the cottages; sparse trees veil the misty village', joins sight and sound, sparse and measured. The latter two couplets, 'Alone I go, lost on the path ahead; lingering, I cling to my old home', write the mind through motion; 'Tomorrow's road leads to another land; in vain I slight the cup before my eyes', closing with 'in vain', turns the grief of drifting without root and slighting the good moment in one stroke, implicit and inexhaustible.

全诗八句，前四句写景、后四句抒情，由景入情、脉络井然。首联『野旷寒山出，天清白露繁』写晓行所见之大景：『出』字赋寒山以动态，写其自晨雾中渐次显形；『繁』字状白露之浓密，点出清晓时分。一『出』一『繁』，动静相生，野旷天清之境立现。颔联『暗泉流舍下，疏树隐烟村』转写近景细物：『暗泉』以声写水，『疏树』『烟村』以影写村，视听兼具、疏淡有致，正是晓色朦胧中的典型画面，亦暗伏『迷前径』之伏笔。颈联『独往迷前径，迟回恋故园』由景入情，『独』『迷』写行路之孤与歧路之惑，『迟回』『恋』写徘徊眷恋之态，四字四层，羁愁宛然。尾联『他乡明日路，空负眼前尊』以『空负』收束：明日又将登程，眼前离酒难以为欢，由今及明、由景及慨，含蓄不尽。就层次言，全诗由远而近（旷野寒山至舍下烟村）、由景而情（前两联至后两联）、由今而明（眼前晓景至明日行路），三重推进一丝不乱；就对仗言，中二联工稳自然，『暗泉』对『疏树』、『流』对『隐』、『独往』对『迟回』、『迷』对『恋』，虚实相生。全诗景物清冷、情感低回，淡语含愁，最见赵执信峭刻深稳之诗风。

Allusions

'Zun' in the poem is a loan for 'zun' the wine vessel; in old poetry 'zun/zun' is the common allusion for parting and solitary drinking (as Li Bai's 'let not the golden cup face the moon empty'). 'Old home' is the traditional image of the travel poem, inheriting the pastoral home-thought of Tao Yuanming and Wang Wei. Combined, the poem uses no obscure affair, writing the journey in common language - a 'shallow words, deep feeling' manner, free of piling. Its writing of travel-grief in common language, without borrowed ornament yet the more sincere, may be called the true line of the clear-void school.

此诗用典甚少，皆融化于家常语中，属『浅语深情』一格。『尊』通『樽』，指酒器，为古诗离筵独酌之常见意象：李白《将进酒》『莫使金樽空对月』以金樽对月写豪兴，杜甫《客至》『樽酒家贫只旧醅』以樽酒写故人情深，此处『空负眼前尊』反其意而用之——有酒在手却无心饮、亦不忍饮，盖因明日又将远行，故园在望而不得归，遂觉辜负了眼前这杯离酒，也辜负了良辰与故人。『故园』为羁旅诗传统母题，自陶渊明《归去来兮辞》『归去来兮，田园将芜胡不归』、王维『故园东望路漫漫』以来，故园之思一脉相承，杜甫『露从今夜白，月是故乡明』更将故园之思与白露明月相连，此处着一『恋』字，愈见情深。『烟村』则暗合陶渊明《归园田居》『暧暧远人村，依依墟里烟』的田园意象——晨烟中的村庄本是人间的温暖，而在羁旅者眼中反成可望不可即的家园象征，愈衬行役之孤。『白露』出《诗经·蒹葭》『蒹葭苍苍，白露为霜』，兼有清冷时节与怀人之意。全诗以常见语写行旅，不假典饰而反见真挚，正得清空一派之正脉。

Commentary

Zhao Zhixin's poetic theory held 'a person in the poem', opposing the emptiness of Wang Shizhen's 'spirit-resonance' doctrine. This poem writes travel with truth; critics say it is 'clear yet not thin, cold yet with bone'. The modern Qian Zhongshu's Talk on Art, discussing early-Qing poetry, pairs Zhixin with Feng Ban, calling his poetry 'steep, carved, deep, stable'; this 'Passing Lingshi at Dawn', in pale words holding grief, exactly shows his 'person-in-it' intent.

赵执信论诗主『诗中有人』，其《谈龙录》与王士禛论争，力斥神韵说之空泛无着，主张诗当如龙之全体，必以真性情、真阅历为本；《长生殿》案后其诗多写羁旅山水，真率峭刻，正是『诗中有人』的实践——此诗晓行之景皆著我行旅之色彩，寒山、白露、暗泉、烟村无不映照孤寂之心。清人沈德潜《清诗别裁集》收其诗，推为清初名家；近人钱钟书《谈艺录》论清初诗，以赵执信与冯班并提，称其诗『峭刻深稳』，此《晓过灵石》淡语含愁，正见其峭刻中有深稳。在文学史上，赵执信与查慎行同为清初诗坛的重要诗人，其羁旅山水诗上承杜甫纪行诗之真、下开清代性灵一路之先声；尤其在与王士禛神韵说的论争中，他以『诗中有人』的实践为清诗注入真性情，其《谈龙录》所标举的『必使读者如其人』之说，实为袁枚性灵说的先导。在神韵说笼罩的诗坛中，赵诗独标真朴，不假雕饰而情深意切，自有其不可替代的价值，此诗正可为其诗学主张的样本。

Prosody

Form Five-character regulated poem (five-character lü)五言律诗

Rhyme Ping-shui rhyme, upper-level thirteenth yuan group (thick, village, home, cup)平水韵·上平十三元（繁、村、园、尊），一韵到底

Tone pattern First line not entering rhyme, oblique-onset oblique-close首句不入韵，仄起仄收；中二联对仗工稳

Reading note The middle two couplets neatly antithetical; 'wilds open - sky clear', 'hidden spring - sparse trees', 'alone go - lingering', 'another land - old home' answer closely.此诗为五言律诗，格律严谨而气韵清疏。押平水韵上平十三元韵，『繁、村、园、尊』四韵脚一韵到底；元韵属开口呼，音色清亮悠远，正合晓行清景与羁旅长吟的声情。首句『野旷寒山出』仄起仄收、不入韵，音节峭拔，与晓行起步的突兀感相应；中二联『暗泉流舍下，疏树隐烟村』『独往迷前径，迟回恋故园』对仗工稳，词性、结构两两相对：『暗泉』对『疏树』、『流』对『隐』、『舍下』对『烟村』，『独往』对『迟回』、『迷』对『恋』、『前径』对『故园』，工对中见流转，尤其『迷』『恋』二字以动词相对而皆写心理，虚实相生。全诗平仄合律、黏对无误，读来清冷流畅、一气流走，可见赵执信以情驭律、于严整中见疏淡的功力。

Line by line

野旷寒山出，天清白露繁

The wilds stretch open; the cold hills emerge; the sky is clear; the white dew lies thick.

原野空旷，寒山在晨光中显现出来；天色清朗，白露繁密地凝结。

The wilds are vast, and the cold mountains emerge in the dawn; the sky is clear, and the white dew lies thick.

首联写晓行所见，十字而境界全出。『野旷』写原野之空阔，为『寒山出』铺展背景：正因为野旷，寒山才得以在晨曦中清晰显现，『出』字赋静山以动态，仿佛山自晨雾中一步步走出来，炼字警拔；『天清』写天色之澄朗，为『白露繁』点明时令——秋晨天清气爽，露水凝结得格外繁密，『繁』字以表多之字写露，新奇而贴切。两句一旷一清、一出一繁，远景与天色相映，静中有动、清中有寒，既画出晓行图景的清冷疏朗，又为全诗定下萧瑟孤寂的基调，是典型的以景起兴、景中寓情。

The opening couplet writes the dawn journey's sights, the realm complete in ten characters. The wilds are vast spreads the background for the cold mountains emerge: precisely because the wilds are vast, the cold mountains can show clearly in the dawn light; the word emerge lends the still mountains motion, as if the mountains walked out of the morning mist step by step, the forging of the character keen. The sky is clear marks the season for the white dew lies thick — the autumn morning sky clear and bright, the dew condensing the more densely; the word thick, a word of multitude used for dew, novel and apt. Two lines: vast and clear, emerge and thick, the far prospect and the sky answering, stillness with motion, clearness with cold, at once painting the cold, spare picture of the dawn road and fixing the bleak, lonely tone of the poem, the typical rising on scene with feeling lodged in scene.

暗泉流舍下，疏树隐烟村

A hidden spring flows beneath the cottages; sparse trees veil the misty village.

暗暗的泉水流过屋舍之下，稀疏的树木掩映着烟雾笼罩的村庄。

A hidden spring flows below the cottage; sparse trees half hide the misty village.

颔联由远及近，转写舍下村前之景，视听兼具、疏淡有致。『暗泉流舍下』以声写水：泉流本有声，着一『暗』字，既写晓光未明、泉水幽暗之态，又写泉声隐约、若有若无之感，声景交融；『疏树隐烟村』以影写村：疏疏落落的树木掩映着晨雾中的村庄，『隐』字写烟村若隐若现、朦胧可辨，恰是晓色未开的典型画面。『暗』与『隐』相对，一写水之幽、一写村之朦，皆以隐约之笔写晓景之迷离，暗伏下联『迷前径』之惑——景之迷离正是心之迷茫的外化，景语即情语，羁旅苍凉之意已在景物中悄然渗出。

The second couplet moves from far to near, turning to the scene below the cottage and before the village, both sight and sound, spare and tasteful. A hidden spring flows below the cottage writes water through sound: the flowing spring has its sound, and the single word hidden writes both the unlighted dawn and the spring's dimness, the sound half-heard, scene and sound fused. Sparse trees half hide the misty village writes the village through shadow: the sparse trees veiling the village in the morning mist; the word hide writes the misty village's half-seen, dimly discernible outline, precisely the typical picture of the light not yet fully risen. Hidden and hide set against each other, one the water's seclusion, one the village's dimness, both writing the mistiness of the dawn scene through half-seen strokes, secretly preparing the confusion of losing the path ahead below — the scene's vagueness is the outer form of the heart's bewilderment, scene-language is feeling-language, and the bleakness of travel has already seeped through the landscape.

独往迷前径，迟回恋故园

Alone I go, lost on the path ahead; lingering, I cling to my old home.

独自前行却迷失了前方的小路，徘徊迟疑之间眷恋起远方的故园。

I go on alone, losing the path ahead; I linger and hesitate, longing for the old home.

颈联由写景转入写人，是全诗情景转关的关键。『独往』点出行役之孤，无人相伴，唯有晓色同行；『迷前径』语意双关，既写晓雾迷离、路径难辨的实景，又写人生歧路、归宿难明的漂泊之感；『迟回』状徘徊迟疑之态，『恋故园』则直揭心曲——因为眷恋故园，所以迟疑不前；因为不得不行，所以愈恋愈悲。四字四层，动作与心理相生：『独』『迷』是眼前的处境，『迟回』『恋』是内心的挣扎，由外而内、由景及情，羁旅之愁与故园之思至此和盘托出，为尾联的『空负』蓄足情绪。

The third couplet turns from scenery to person, the key turning of scene and feeling. Alone marks the loneliness of the journey, no companion, only the dawn walking with him. Losing the path ahead carries a double sense: at once the real scene of the misty dawn and the path hard to discern, and the drifting feeling of life's forking roads, the end hard to know. Linger and hesitate figures the irresolute pacing; longing for the old home speaks the heart directly — because he longs for the old home, he hesitates and does not go; because he must go, the longing the more grieves. Four characters, four layers, action and psychology begetting: alone and lost are the present lot, linger and long the inner struggle, from without to within, from scene to feeling; the grief of travel and the longing for home here fully disclosed, storing emotion for the empty neglect of the closing couplet.

他乡明日路，空负眼前尊

Tomorrow's road leads to another land; in vain I slight the cup before my eyes.

明日又将踏上他乡的路途，空自辜负了眼前这杯离别的酒。

Tomorrow's road lies in a strange land; in vain I neglect the cup before me.

尾联以『空负』收束全诗，点醒题旨。『他乡明日路』遥接首联晓行，将时间由今晨推向明日：今日已在他乡晓行，明日又将踏上更远的路途，行役无穷，归期无望；『空负眼前尊』则就地取景——眼前明明有酒，却无心饮、不忍饮，因为此酒一饮，便要与故园、与故人作别，而明日身在何方尚不可知。『空负』二字兜转全诗：辜负了眼前之酒，也辜负了故园之情、良辰之景。结句以淡语收浓愁，含蓄不尽，恰如论者所评赵诗『峭刻深稳』，淡语之中自有千钧之重。

The closing couplet ends on empty neglect, waking the theme. Tomorrow's road lies in a strange land carries from afar the dawn journey of the opening couplet, pushing time from this morning to tomorrow: today already on the dawn road in a strange land, tomorrow stepping onto a farther road, the journey endless, the day of return hopeless. In vain I neglect the cup before me takes the scene on the spot — the cup is there before the eyes, yet no heart to drink, no heart to bear to drink, for once this wine is drunk, he must part from the old home and the old friends, and where he will be tomorrow no one knows. The two words empty neglect turn the whole poem: neglecting the wine before the eyes, and neglecting the old home's feeling, the fair hour's scene. The close ends thick grief in plain words, restrained and unending, precisely as critics judge Zhao's verse — sharp-cut, deep and steady; within the plain words, a weight of a thousand jun.

Study

Word focus

出 'The cold hills emerge' - 'emerge' writes the hills slowly showing forth from the cold morning mist, giving the static scene a sense of arising, the first stroke of the dawn's clearing. 『野旷寒山出』之『出』字，是全诗第一炼字。寒山本为静物，着一『出』字，便写出山自晨雾晨曦中渐渐显现的动态过程：先是野旷天清的大背景，继而是山影由隐而显、由淡而浓，仿佛寒山主动走向旅人眼前。这一写法至少有四层妙处：其一，赋静景以动感，使晓景如画而又有画外之生机；其二，『出』与『野旷』呼应，正因为原野空阔无遮，山才得以显形，因果相生；其三，以山『出』写人『行』，山行晓色、景物随行旅推进，暗含行役不息的意味；其四，寒山『出』而旅人独往，一出一行、一静一动，物我相形，孤寂之感自见。一字而境界全出，炼字之功可见。

繁 'The white dew lies thick' - 'thick' states the dense, heavy dew, a careful, concrete word that makes the cold morning's dampness palpable. 『天清白露繁』之『繁』字，状露之密，新奇贴切。露本以『浓』『重』『多』形容，诗人独用『繁』字，将露珠之密比作繁花繁星之盛，既写出清晓露水凝结的浓重实感，又暗含秋意已深、岁华渐老的意味——露繁则秋深，秋深则触绪。『繁』与上句『出』相配，一写山之显现、一写露之繁密，一动一静、一远一近，把晓行的清冷景象写得层次分明。就声韵言，『繁』属上平十三元韵，音色开阔响亮，与『天清』的澄朗之境相合；就情韵言，露繁之景清冷萧瑟，正与羁旅孤寂之心相映，景语即情语，炼字之妙在于字面之外别有寄托。

空负 'In vain I slight' - 'in vain' turns the closing, condensing the drifting, rootless grief and the regret of slighting the good moment into two words, the poem's lingering sigh. 『空负眼前尊』之『空负』二字，是全诗的诗眼，兜转前文而点醒题旨。『空』为徒然之意，『负』为辜负之意，二字连用，道尽行役之人面对良辰美酒的无奈：眼前明明有酒可饮、有景可赏，却因明日又将远行、故园不得归而意兴阑珊，酒未饮而心已负。『空负』之用，妙在不止于眼前之酒——辜负的是这杯离酒，更是故园之情、难得的安宁时光；『空』字更透出人生行役、身不由己的苍凉，与李白『莫使金樽空对月』的豪兴相对，一空一满，可见两种人生姿态。二字收束全诗，举重若轻，淡语含愁，正是赵执信『峭刻深稳』诗风的结晶。