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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

秋雨夜眠

Sleeping on a Rainy Autumn Night

白居易

Bai Juyi

闲适Leisure and Contentment 秋景Autumn Scenery

凉冷三秋夜，安闲一老翁。
卧迟灯灭后，睡美雨声中。
灰宿温瓶火，香添暖被笼。
晓晴寒未起，霜叶满阶红。

Cold and chill, a night in the last month of autumn;
At ease and unhurried, an old man.
He lies down late, after the lamp is out;
He sleeps sweetly amid the sound of rain.
The banked ashes keep the bottle-warmer's fire;
Incense is added to warm the quilt-cage.
Dawn clears, it is cold, he has not risen;
Frost-bitten leaves lie red across the steps.

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Meaning

Bai Juyi describes an old man's night and morning in late autumn. The season is cold, the rain falls, but the sleeper is entirely at ease: he goes to bed late, sleeps soundly to the sound of rain, keeps a little fire alive under his wine warmer, and perfumes his bedclothes. When morning clears and the air turns cold, he simply does not get up, and the frost-reddened leaves gather on the steps outside. The poem's subject is contentment in old age — a life whose comforts are small, whose weather is bitter, and whose occupant is undisturbed.

凉冷三秋夜，安闲一老翁。卧迟灯灭后，睡美雨声中。灰宿温瓶火，香添暖被笼。晓晴寒未起，霜叶满阶红。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] It is a cold night late in autumn; an old man is entirely at ease. He goes to bed after the lamp is out and sleeps beautifully to the sound of rain. Embers keep a warmer going, and incense scents the bedclothes. At dawn the sky clears and it is cold, but he has not got up; red frost-bitten leaves fill the steps. [Structure] An eight-line regulated poem arranged as night, sleep, warmth and morning. The first couplet sets the contrast — cold season, calm man — and every couplet after it confirms that contrast. [Imagery] The details are deliberately domestic: a lamp, rain heard from bed, ashes under a warmer, a quilt scented with incense, and red leaves at the door. [Feeling] There is no word of sorrow anywhere. Autumn rain and morning frost normally invite melancholy; here they are the very conditions of comfort, and the old man's refusal to rise is the poem's emblem of a life at peace with itself.

【白话串讲】白居易写《秋雨夜眠》：“凉冷三秋夜，安闲一老翁”——“卧迟灯灭后，睡美雨声中”——“灰宿温瓶火，香添暖被笼”——“晓晴寒未起，霜叶满阶红”——他写秋夜的安眠。【意象与手法】此诗写秋雨夜眠的闲适，以安闲写老境，是白居易的名篇。前四句写夜眠：「凉冷三秋夜，安闲一老翁」写凉冷三秋夜、安闲一老翁——写尽秋夜的安闲；「卧迟灯灭后，睡美雨声中」写卧迟灯灭后、睡美雨声中——写尽夜眠的安闲；后四句写晨起：「灰宿温瓶火，香添暖被笼」写灰宿温瓶火、香添暖被笼——写尽暖夜的安闲；「晓晴寒未起，霜叶满阶红」写晓晴寒未起、霜叶满阶红——写尽晨起的安闲。全诗以安闲写老境，写尽秋雨夜眠的闲适，是白居易的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写秋雨夜眠的闲适，以安闲写老境，是白居易的名篇。此诗写一位老翁在秋雨之夜的安眠与闲适。此诗写夜眠：凉冷三秋夜，安闲一老翁——写凉冷三秋夜、安闲一老翁，写尽秋夜的安闲；卧迟灯灭后，睡美雨声中——写卧迟灯灭后、睡美雨声中，写尽夜眠的安闲；灰宿温瓶火，香添暖被笼——写灰宿温瓶火、香添暖被笼，写尽暖夜的安闲；晓晴寒未起，霜叶满阶红——写晓晴寒未起、霜叶满阶红，写尽晨起的安闲。全诗以安闲写老境——那「睡美雨声中」写尽夜眠的安闲，「晓晴寒未起」写尽老翁的闲适，写尽秋雨夜眠的闲适，是理解白居易闲适诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「凉冷三秋夜，安闲一老翁」写秋夜的安闲；「卧迟灯灭后，睡美雨声中」写夜眠的安闲；「晓晴寒未起，霜叶满阶红」写老翁的闲适；以及全诗以安闲写老境、以平淡写闲适的手法。

Background

Bai Juyi (772-846), courtesy name Letian, styled the Hermit of Fragrant Mountain, was a native of Xiagui in present-day Weinan, Shaanxi, and one of the greatest Tang poets. In his later years he withdrew to Xiangshan near Luoyang and lived a retired life, and his leisure poems record the quiet pleasures of daily routine; this is one of them. The whole poem turns on a single word, ease, and is often read as a portrait of the contented temper Bai Juyi cultivated in old age. Its method is worth noting: autumn rain and morning frost are the stock ingredients of melancholy, yet the poem contains no complaint at all. The old man sleeps well precisely where another poet would lie awake, and he stays in bed precisely where another would rise, so that contentment is expressed by reversing every conventional expectation of the season.

此诗写秋雨夜眠的闲适，以安闲写老境，是白居易的名篇。白居易（772—846），字乐天，号香山居士，下邽（今陕西渭南）人，唐代伟大的诗人。白居易晚年退居洛阳香山，过着闲适的隐居生活，其闲适诗多写日常起居的安逸，此诗即其一。此诗写一位老翁在秋雨之夜的安眠与闲适：「凉冷三秋夜，安闲一老翁」写凉冷三秋夜、安闲一老翁——写尽秋夜的安闲；「卧迟灯灭后，睡美雨声中」写卧迟灯灭后、睡美雨声中——写尽夜眠的安闲；「灰宿温瓶火，香添暖被笼」写灰宿温瓶火、香添暖被笼——写尽暖夜的安闲；「晓晴寒未起，霜叶满阶红」写晓晴寒未起、霜叶满阶红——写尽晨起的安闲。此诗通篇写一「安」字，正是白居易晚年知足常乐、心宽体安的人生态度的写照。全诗以安闲写老境，写尽秋雨夜眠的闲适，是理解白居易闲适诗的重要篇章。再从全诗看，此诗无一「愁」字而闲适自见：秋雨本易引人愁思，而老翁反觉「睡美」；晓寒本易催人早起，而老翁偏「未起」——处处以逆笔写安闲，正是白居易晚年「知足常乐」心境的艺术化表达，也是其闲适诗「于平淡处见深味」的典范。

Art

Four techniques sustain the poem. First, contrast: cold weather is set against the calm man in the very first couplet, and the chill becomes the background against which ease is visible. Second, domestic detail: the lamp being out, the rain heard from bed, the banked ashes, the perfumed quilt — each is small and concrete, and together they build a world of modest sufficiency. Third, delicate close observation of warmth: fire under a bottle and incense in a bed-warmer are exactly the comforts of an old person, and naming them is itself an act of affection. Fourth, closure by scene: the poem ends outside the bedroom, on frost-reddened leaves across the steps, so that the sleeper's stillness is answered by the stillness of fallen leaves. The style is flat and unadorned, appropriate to a poem about contentment.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以对照写安闲。「凉冷三秋夜，安闲一老翁」以对照写安闲——那「凉冷」写尽秋夜的凉冷、「安闲」写尽老翁的安闲，以凉冷反衬安闲，以对照写尽秋夜的安闲。其二，以细节写夜眠。「卧迟灯灭后，睡美雨声中」以细节写夜眠——那「灯灭后」「雨声中」写尽灯灭而眠、雨中酣睡，以细节写尽夜眠的安闲。其三，以细腻写暖夜。「灰宿温瓶火，香添暖被笼」以细腻写暖夜——那「温瓶火」「暖被笼」写尽炉火温瓶、香暖被笼，以细腻写尽暖夜的安闲。其四，以景收写闲适。「晓晴寒未起，霜叶满阶红」以景收写闲适——那「寒未起」写尽晨寒而犹未起、「霜叶满阶红」写尽霜叶满阶的红艳，以景收写尽老翁的闲适。此外，此诗由夜写到晨，由秋雨写到霜叶，通篇无一愁字而闲适自见，正是白居易「平淡自然」的本色。四重手法，使此诗以安闲写老境，写尽秋雨夜眠的闲适，是白居易的代表作。

Allusions

Late autumn is the conventional season of decline, and rain and frost the conventional triggers of sorrow, both of which the poem quietly refuses. The old man at ease belongs to the tradition of contented retirement descended from Tao Yuanming, who picked chrysanthemums by the eastern fence and saw the southern mountain. The red leaves echo the famous line that frost-bitten foliage is redder than February flowers, but here they are simply what lies on the steps when a man sleeps late. Warming wine and scenting bedclothes are the ordinary apparatus of a comfortable household, deliberately unheroic. The poem's learning is thus mostly negative: it works by declining the allusions to melancholy that its season invites.

此诗的用语深植于闲适与秋夜的传统。「凉冷三秋夜」令人想到「三秋」写深秋的意象——「凉冷三秋夜」正是白居易的名句，也令人想到「凉冷」写凉冷的意象；「安闲一老翁」令人想到「安闲」写安闲的意象——「安闲一老翁」正是白居易的名句，也令人想到「老翁」写老翁的意象——「他皆任厚地」的老翁；「卧迟灯灭后」令人想到「灯灭后」写灯灭的意象——「卧迟灯灭后」正是白居易的名句，也令人想到「睡美雨声中」写雨中酣睡的意象；「灰宿温瓶火」令人想到「温瓶火」写温瓶炉火的意象——「灰宿温瓶火」正是白居易的名句，也令人想到「暖被笼」写暖被的意象——「香添暖被笼」正见暖夜的安逸；「晓晴寒未起」令人想到「寒未起」写晨寒未起的意象——「晓晴寒未起」正是白居易的名句，也令人想到「霜叶满阶红」写霜叶的意象——「霜叶红于二月花」（杜牧）。全诗化用雨声、温瓶、霜叶的意象，以安闲写老境，正是白居易「平淡自然」而善写日常、承陶渊明田园闲适传统写安逸的本领。

Commentary

The poem is ranked among Bai Juyi's finest leisure pieces and as a representative Tang poem of autumn contentment. Qing critics praised it as plain and natural; modern readers single out the couplet about sleeping beautifully to the sound of rain and the closing image of red leaves on the steps. Its value lies in its refusal of the expected mood: the season supplies every inducement to melancholy and the poet answers with comfort. Read beside 'Asking Liu the Nineteenth,' with its new wine and little red clay stove, it shows the same late style — small warm objects, quiet domestic pleasure, a friendly or solitary ease. It extends the tradition of contented retirement from Tao Yuanming into Tang regulated verse.

此诗历来被推为白居易闲适诗的名篇，也是唐人写秋夜闲适的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以安闲写老境，平淡自然」；近人更指出「卧迟灯灭后，睡美雨声中」写夜眠的安闲，「晓晴寒未起，霜叶满阶红」写老翁的闲适，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以八句的律诗写尽秋雨夜眠的闲适——那凉冷的三秋夜，那安闲的老翁，那灯灭后的迟卧，那雨声中的酣睡，那温瓶的灰宿，那暖被的香添，那晓晴的未起，那满阶的霜叶，都写尽了白居易笔下的秋夜闲适；那「睡美雨声中」更写尽雨夜酣睡的安闲。此诗与白居易《问刘十九》（「绿蚁新醅酒」）同为闲适名篇，一写「能饮一杯无」的冬日招饮（问刘十九），一写「睡美雨声中」的秋夜酣睡（秋雨夜眠）；又与陶渊明「采菊东篱下」的田园闲适传统一脉相承，可见白居易晚年对闲适生活的追求。对于今日读者，此诗是理解白居易闲适诗的窗口，也是中国诗写秋夜闲适的经典——那满阶的红叶，穿越千年，仍在诉说着老翁的安闲。

Prosody

Form Five-character regulated poem, eight lines诗·五言律诗

Rhyme A single level-tone rhyme carried through lines two, four, six and eight.五律，押「翁」「中」「笼」「红」韵（上平一东），一韵到底，对仗工整

Tone pattern A five-character regulated poem in a level rhyme with neat antithesis; the cadence is plain and unhurried, matching the contentment it describes.此诗为五言律诗，押平声韵，一韵到底，对仗工整，音节平淡，正合闲适的平淡。

Reading note The poem is arranged in four couplets: the cold night and the man at ease, going to bed and sleeping in rain, the fire and the perfumed quilt, and the clear cold morning with red leaves on the steps. The middle couplets are finely antithetical. Read it evenly and quietly, letting the closing scene of fallen leaves bring the poem to rest.此诗为五言律诗，八句四联——「凉冷三秋夜，安闲一老翁。卧迟灯灭后，睡美雨声中。灰宿温瓶火，香添暖被笼。晓晴寒未起，霜叶满阶红」，押「东」韵（翁、中、笼、红），一韵到底。颔联「卧迟灯灭后，睡美雨声中」与颈联「灰宿温瓶火，香添暖被笼」对仗工整。全诗以安闲写老境：首联写秋夜的安闲（凉冷三秋夜，安闲一老翁），颔联写夜眠的安闲（卧迟灯灭后，睡美雨声中），颈联写暖夜的安闲（灰宿温瓶火，香添暖被笼），尾联写晨起的闲适（晓晴寒未起，霜叶满阶红）。诵读此诗，宜以平淡的语调读「凉冷三秋夜」的秋夜，以安闲的语调读「睡美雨声中」的酣睡，结句「霜叶满阶红」要读得悠然而有余韵，方能传达出白居易的平淡自然。白居易律诗以「平淡自然」著称，此诗正是其闲适律诗的典范。

Line by line

卧迟灯灭后，睡美雨声中

He lies down late, after the lamp is out; he sleeps sweetly amid the sound of rain.

灯灭之后才迟迟躺下，在雨声中美美地入睡。

Lying down late, after the lamp is out; sleeping well, in the sound of the rain.

此二句是全诗写夜眠的核心，以灯灭后写迟卧，以雨声中写酣睡，写尽夜眠的安闲，是千古名句。「卧迟灯灭后」写灯灭之后才迟迟躺下——那「卧迟」写躺得迟，「灯灭后」写灯灭之后，写尽安闲的迟卧；「睡美雨声中」写在雨声中美美地入睡——那「睡美」写睡得很美，「雨声中」写在雨声之中，写尽酣睡的安闲。这句的深意在于：它以「卧迟灯灭后」的迟卧与「睡美雨声中」的酣睡，写尽夜眠的安闲——灯灭之后才迟迟躺下，那「卧迟灯灭后」写尽安闲的迟卧——不急于入睡，灯灭了才慢慢躺下，正是心无挂碍的安闲，那「卧迟」写尽老翁的从容；在雨声中美美地入睡，那「睡美雨声中」写尽酣睡的安闲——秋雨淅沥，不但不扰人，反助人酣睡，那「睡美」写尽雨夜酣睡的安逸；那「卧迟灯灭后」写尽安闲的迟卧，那「睡美雨声中」写尽酣睡的安闲，一写迟卧，一写酣睡，写尽夜眠的安闲——心无挂碍，故能卧迟、能睡美，正是老翁安闲的写照；此二句以迟卧、酣睡写尽夜眠的安闲，也让此二句成为全诗写夜眠的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「老人睡得很安稳」，则失其平淡之趣；唯以「卧迟灯灭后」写迟卧、「睡美雨声中」写酣睡，写尽夜眠的安闲，也让此二句成为全诗写夜眠的核心。

The two lines are the core of the poem's night sleep, writing the late lying-down through lying down late, after the lamp is out and the sound sleep through sleeping well, in the sound of the rain, exhausting the ease of the night's rest. Lying down late, after the lamp is out is precisely the picture of the carefree ease; sleeping well, in the sound of the rain precisely the picture of the rain's lullaby. The deep meaning: no care in the heart, hence the late lying and the sound sleep, precisely the picture of the old man's ease. One writes the late lying, one the sound sleep, exhausting the rest. Were it said plainly the old man sleeps peacefully, the plain charm would be lost; only through the late lying and the rainy sleep is the night's ease exhausted, making the lines the core of the poem.

晓晴寒未起，霜叶满阶红

Dawn clears, it is cold, he has not risen; frost-bitten leaves lie red across the steps.

晓来天晴而寒，仍不曾起身，只见霜叶落满台阶一片红。

Dawn clear, still cold, he has not risen; frosted leaves lie red on all the steps.

此二句是全诗的收束，以寒未起写闲适，以霜叶红写秋色，写尽老翁的闲适，是千古名句。「晓晴寒未起」写晓来天晴而寒仍不曾起身——那「晓晴寒」写晓晴而寒，「未起」写仍不曾起身，写尽老翁的闲适；「霜叶满阶红」写只见霜叶落满台阶一片红——那「霜叶」写经霜的红叶，「满阶红」写满阶的红色，写尽秋色的明艳。这句的深意在于：它以「晓晴寒未起」的未起与「霜叶满阶红」的秋色，写尽老翁的闲适——晓来天晴而寒仍不曾起身，那「晓晴寒未起」写尽老翁的闲适——秋晨虽晴而寒，老翁却懒得起身，那「未起」写尽闲适的慵懒；只见霜叶落满台阶一片红，那「霜叶满阶红」写尽秋色的明艳——经霜的红叶落满台阶，一片红艳，正是秋的明丽，那「满阶红」写尽秋色的粲然；那「晓晴寒未起」写尽老翁的闲适，那「霜叶满阶红」写尽秋色的明艳，一写未起，一写霜叶红，写尽老翁的闲适——寒未起而霜叶满阶，正是心闲之人眼中秋色愈显明丽；此二句以寒未起、霜叶红写尽老翁的闲适，也让此二句成为全诗收束的千古名句。若换作直说「老人懒得起床上班」，则失其诗意；唯以「晓晴寒未起」写闲适、「霜叶满阶红」写秋色，写尽老翁的闲适，也让此二句成为全诗的收束。

The two lines are the close of the poem, writing the leisure through dawn clear, still cold, he has not risen and the autumn colors through frosted leaves lie red on all the steps, exhausting the old man's leisure. Dawn clear, still cold, he has not risen is precisely the picture of the leisurely laziness; frosted leaves lie red on all the steps precisely the picture of the bright autumn. The deep meaning: the cold of the dawn and yet he does not rise, and the frosted leaves red on the steps — to the carefree heart the autumn colors grow the brighter. One writes the not-rising, one the frosted leaves, exhausting the leisure. Were it said plainly the old man is too lazy to get up, the poetry would be lost; only through the clear-cold not-rising and the red leaves on the steps is the old man's leisure exhausted, making the lines the immortal close of the poem.

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Word focus

安闲 In 'at ease and unhurried, an old man,' the phrase means calm, unhurried and free of care. It is the poem's single thesis: set against a cold late-autumn night in the opening couplet, it defines contentment as an inward state that weather cannot disturb. 「安闲一老翁」之「安闲」是写老境的关键词，一个「安闲」写尽老翁的安闲。安闲者，安逸闲适也。白居易以「安闲一老翁」写老翁，这个「安闲」至少有双重意味：其一，写老翁之态——那「安闲一老翁」写安闲的老翁，那「安闲」写尽老翁的安逸——秋夜凉冷而老翁安闲，那「安闲」写尽老翁的从容；其二，写心境之安——那「安闲」更是写心境——安闲者，心宽体安也，正是知足常乐的心境，那「安闲」写尽心境之安。以「安闲」写老翁，正是白居易写闲适的枢纽——若换作「安逸」「清闲」等词，则或失其与「凉冷」的对照，或失其写安闲的意味；唯「安闲」二字，以凉冷三秋夜中的安闲老翁写尽老翁的安逸与心境的安适，与「睡美雨声中」的睡美相合，写尽秋雨夜眠的闲适，也让「安闲一老翁」成为全诗写老境的名句。

睡美 In 'he sleeps sweetly amid the sound of rain,' the phrase means to sleep beautifully. It reverses the literary convention that autumn rain wakes the sorrowful, making the rain itself the condition of sound sleep rather than the cause of insomnia. 「睡美雨声中」之「睡美」是写酣睡的关键词，一个「睡美」写尽雨夜酣睡的安闲。睡美者，睡得香甜也。白居易以「睡美雨声中」写酣睡，这个「睡美」至少有双重意味：其一，写酣睡之状——那「睡美雨声中」写在雨声中美美地入睡，那「睡美」写尽酣睡的香甜——秋雨声中酣睡，那「睡美」写尽雨夜酣睡的安逸；其二，写心境之闲——那「睡美」更是写心境——睡美者，心无挂碍也，正是闲适心境的写照，那「睡美」写尽心境之闲。以「睡美」写酣睡，正是白居易写闲适的枢纽——若换作「酣睡」「熟睡」等词，则或失其写睡美的意味，或失其与「雨声中」的配合；唯「睡美」二字，以雨声中睡美写尽酣睡的香甜与心境的安闲，与「卧迟灯灭后」的卧迟相合，写尽秋雨夜眠的闲适，也让「睡美雨声中」成为全诗写酣睡的名句。