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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

杨万里·闲居初夏午睡起

Idle at Home, Waking from an Early-Summer Nap

杨万里

Yang Wanli

田园pastoral 闲适leisurely 童趣Theme

闲居初夏午睡起梅子留酸软齿牙，芭蕉分绿与窗纱。
日长睡起无情思，闲看儿童捉柳花。

The plum's sourness stays, softening my teeth;
The banana shares its green with the window screen.
The long day, I wake from napping with no mood at all—
Idle, I watch the children chase the willow catkins.

Listen

Meaning

The sour taste of the plum still lingers between my teeth; the banana lends a spread of green to the window screen. The summer day is long; waking from my afternoon nap I am utterly without errand or mood, and idle I watch the children chasing the drifting willow catkins.

梅子的酸味还留在齿牙之间，芭蕉把一片绿意分给了窗纱。夏日昼长，午睡醒来，百无聊赖、无所思虑，便闲闲地看着孩子们追逐扑捉飘飞的柳絮，自有一番悠然自得的乐趣。

Appreciation

This poem's art lies in its 'living' and 'fine' quality. The first line 'the plum's sourness stays, softening my teeth' starts from taste, the word 'stays' writing the sourness lingering long, full of everyday breath. The second line 'the banana shares its green with the window screen' is especially fine—the word 'shares' personifies the banana's green, as if the colour actively soaks into the window screen, and the still thing at once gains motion and feeling. The last two lines turn from object to person: 'the long day, I wake with no mood at all' writes the true state of summer languor, and 'idle, I watch the children chase the willow catkins' closes on childhood play, the word 'idle' the poem's eye—seemingly without mood, yet with a knowing pleasure. The whole is unworked yet full of life, exactly the 'living method' of Chengzhai's manner.

【白话串讲】 “梅子留酸软齿牙，芭蕉分绿与窗纱”——杨万里午睡起来，吃了几颗梅子，闲看儿童捉柳花。一个退休的人，把夏天过成了诗。【意象与手法】全诗以活字与细字为骨，四句二十八字写活初夏午睡初醒的一瞬。首句从味觉落笔，梅子留酸软齿牙，留字写酸意之久、软字写齿牙之态，味觉与触觉相通，生活气息扑面而来；次句转视觉，芭蕉分绿与窗纱，分字以拟人笔法写绿意主动浸润窗纱，化静为动，物我相亲，是诚斋体观物视角的典范。前两句一入口一入目，两样寻常节物便织成清新的初夏图景。后两句由物及人：日长睡起无情思写夏日慵懒本态，为全诗蓄势；闲看儿童捉柳花以童趣收束，闲字为诗眼，看似无情思，实则以闲观趣、因趣会心。全诗不事雕琢、不用典故，纯以白描与拟人写活日常琐事，正是诚斋体死蛇解弄活的活法精髓，也体现了宋诗以俗为雅、于平淡中觅真趣的审美追求。【情感与主旨】此诗写初夏午睡初醒的即目所见与悠然心境。梅子的酸味、芭蕉的绿意、漫长的白昼、儿童捉柳花的嬉戏，四件琐事组合成一幅生气盎然的初夏闲居图。情感的表层是慵懒——日长睡起无情思，百无聊赖；深层却是闲适与欣悦——正因为心无挂碍，才能从容地注视儿童捉柳花的欢快场面，在童趣中获得会心之乐。全诗的主旨在于表现闲居生活的恬淡自足，以及诗人对日常细微生趣的敏锐感受，反映了南宋士人退居田园后以闲为乐、于平淡中觅取真趣的生活态度，也透出杨万里童心未泯、与万物平等相亲的人格底色。【名句点睛】芭蕉分绿与窗纱是此诗最脍炙人口的名句，分字堪称诗眼。绿意本属芭蕉，诗人却写芭蕉主动把绿分给窗纱，一个分字使静物顿生生命与情味：化静为动，绿影如水般浸润窗纱；化物为友，芭蕉与窗纱之间有了亲昵的交流；以一分写满，绿意之浓盛跃然纸上。钱钟书评杨万里把颜色写成会走动、会分给别人的东西，正是就此字而言。一句七字，满纸绿意与闲情俱活，是诚斋体炼字艺术的绝佳示范。

Background

Yang Wanli (style Chengzhai) wrote this during his retirement at his home in Jishui, depicting what he saw on first waking one early-summer noon. Yang wrote over twenty thousand poems in his life; early he studied the Jiangxi school, mid-life turned to Wang Anshi and the Tang, and finally created his own 'Chengzhai manner', known for writing the everyday with a living method, drawing on the moment, humorous and lively. This poem is typical: nothing but the sour plum, the green banana, the long day, the children chasing catkins, yet it writes the leisure of retirement and the poet's sensitivity to tiny living charms vividly, reflecting the Song taste of 'finding true delight in the plain'. It belongs with his 'A Small Pool' and the two-poem set 'Idle at Home, Waking from an Early-Summer Nap' as famous small pastoral pieces.

此诗是杨万里闲居家乡吉水时所作《闲居初夏午睡起》二绝句中的第一首。杨万里（1127—1206），字廷秀，号诚斋，吉州吉水人，南宋中兴四大诗人之一，与陆游、范成大、尤袤齐名。他一生作诗两万余首，早年学江西诗派，专意于字句的锻炼与典故的铺排，中年以后幡然醒悟，尽焚少作，转而师法自然，主张就地取材、信手拈来，最终独创诚斋体，以活法写活景、以口语入诗，形成新鲜活泼、幽默风趣的独特风格。此诗即诚斋体的典型之作：所写不过梅酸、蕉绿、昼长、儿童捉柳花数件眼前琐事，却将初夏的物候特征与闲居的悠然心境写得历历如画。据研究者考证，此诗当写于孝宗淳熙年间杨万里丁忧或退居家乡期间，其时诗人远离官场纷争，心境恬淡，方能从午睡初醒的寻常片刻中捕捉到如此生动的诗趣，反映了两宋之交以来文人由庙堂转向田园、于平淡日常中觅取真趣的审美取向。

Art

This poem's art lies in its 'living' and 'fine' quality. The first line 'the plum's sourness stays, softening my teeth' starts from taste, the word 'stays' writing the sourness lingering, full of life's breath; the second line 'the banana shares its green with the window screen' is especially good—the word 'shares' personifies the banana's green, as if the colour actively gives a share to the window screen, and the still scene at once gains motion and flavour. The latter two lines turn from thing to person: 'the long day, I wake with no mood at all' writes the native state of summer laziness, paving the way for 'idle, I watch the children chase the willow catkins'; the word 'idle' is the poem's eye, seeming without mood yet truly with a knowing delight. The whole, unworked, brims with life—precisely Chengzhai's 'living method' of 'making a dead snake wriggle'.

此诗之妙，妙在一个活字与一个细字。全诗由两个层次构成：前两句写物，后两句写人，由物及人、层层递进。首句梅子留酸软齿牙，从味觉落笔，留字写梅酸之味久久不去，软字更以触觉通味觉，齿牙为酸所软，一留一软，把吃梅后的生理感受写得真切可感，生活气息扑面而来；次句芭蕉分绿与窗纱，从视觉落笔，分字最见功力——绿意本属芭蕉，此处却写成芭蕉主动把绿意分给窗纱，拟人化笔法使静物顿生动态与情味，仿佛绿意如水般浸润窗纱，物我之间有了亲昵的交流。后两句由静物转入人事：日长睡起无情思写夏日昼长、午睡初醒的慵懒本态，为全诗蓄势；闲看儿童捉柳花以儿童嬉戏的动态画面收束全诗，闲字为诗眼，看似无情思，实则因闲得趣、以闲观趣，在儿童的纯真活泼中觅得会心之乐。全诗不事雕琢、不用典故，纯以白描与拟人写活初夏一瞬，正是诚斋体死蛇解弄活的活法之精髓。

Allusions

This poem uses no clear allusion, purely plain-describing the delight of the present retirement, exactly fitting Chengzhai's creed of 'not piling up allusions, seeking lines in what is before the eye'. 'Willow catkins' are willow seeds; in old poetry they often write their drifting (as Yan Shu's 'the spring wind knows not how to forbid the poplar catkins'), but here it writes children chasing and catching them, turning a fresh, lively new idea, not falling into the old lament for spring. 'Plum' and 'banana' are typical early-summer signs; the poet takes them as they come, composing a fresh early-summer picture from ordinary season-things, embodying the Song poetic turn of 'making the common elegant, the familiar new'.

此诗几乎不用典，纯以白描写当下闲居之趣，这本身正是诚斋体的鲜明主张——杨万里论诗反对堆垛典故、闭门造车，主张不听陈言只听天、就眼前景物觅句，以为翻尽诗书才落笔未必是好诗。诗中梅子、芭蕉皆为初夏典型物候：梅子留酸写梅实初成、酸味正浓，芭蕉分绿写蕉叶新展、绿意盈窗，两样寻常节物一入口一入目，即构成清新的初夏图景，体现宋人以俗为雅、以故为新的审美取向。柳花即柳絮，在古典诗词中素与飘零、离愁相连，如晏殊春风不解禁杨花、蒙蒙乱扑行人面写杨花恼人，苏轼细看来不是杨花、点点是离人泪更以杨花写尽漂泊之感；此诗却一反伤春旧套，写儿童追逐扑捉柳絮的欢快场面，把飘零之物写成嬉戏之具，翻出活泼新意。一典不用而诗意自足，正是诚斋体就眼前事、写眼前景，以自然为师的绝佳体现。诗题闲居初夏午睡起本身即含闲适自足之意，与陶渊明采菊东篱下的田园精神遥相呼应，而杨万里以更贴近日常的口语笔调写出，使古老的田园母题获得了崭新的生活质感，这正是诚斋体化俗为雅、推陈出新的关键所在。

Commentary

Song critic Zhou Bida called Chengzhai's poetry 'living and free', and this poem best fits. Qing critic Liu Xizai, in Yi Gai, said 'Chengzhai's poetry comes near the two words transparent and free'. The modern Qian Zhongshu, in Song Poems Selected and Annotated, praises his 'skill at scenery, fresh and lively', and uses 'the banana shares its green' as example, saying 'he writes colour as something that can walk and can give a share to others'. Qian further said Yang Wanli 'suddenly opened the scenery before his brows and wrote a feeling no one else had written'. All value his 'Chengzhai manner' of finding lively life in the trifling everyday.

杨万里此诗历代传诵，评价极高。宋人周必大称诚斋诗活脱，此诗最当之——四句二十八字，无一字用力而处处生机；清人刘熙载《艺概》以透脱二字评诚斋，谓其诗于寻常眼前景中见出活泼机趣，此诗正是透脱的样本。近人钱钟书《宋诗选注》论杨万里最精，称其擅长写景，新鲜活泼，尤以芭蕉分绿为例，指出他把颜色写成会走动、会分给别人的东西，又言杨万里忽然打通了眉睫前的风光，写出别人没写过的感觉，可谓的评。就诗史意义而言，此诗代表了诚斋体对江西诗派的反拨：江西派以文字为诗、以才学为诗，诚斋则回归自然与日常，从儿童捉柳花这样的琐细场景中发现诗意，把诗从书斋引回生活，其清新活泼的风格上承晚唐王、孟一脉的田园趣味，下启范成大田园诗及后世闲适小品，影响深远。四句小诗而能容纳如此丰富的美学追求，故能传诵千年而不衰。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain七言绝句（七绝，平起平收，首句入韵）

Rhyme Ping-shui rhyme, lower-level six ma group (teeth, screen, catkins)押平水韵下平六麻韵，韵脚为牙、纱、花，一韵到底，韵字皆开口呼，音调响亮明快

Tone pattern First line enters rhyme, level-onset level-close平起平收，首句入韵，全诗平仄谐婉，音节轻快流利，四句皆以平声收句，声情闲适

Reading note Language plain as talk, light in measure, fit for pastoral leisure.此诗为七言绝句，是近体诗中体制最短小、最宜于抒写即兴感受的体裁。押下平六麻韵，牙、纱、花三字皆属开口呼韵母，发音响亮而舒展，与初夏晴和的物候、闲适自得的心境相谐，声情明快。格律上属平起平收、首句入韵的常见格式：首句梅子留酸软齿牙，平仄为平仄平平仄仄平，次句芭蕉分绿与窗纱为平平平仄仄平平，三句日长睡起无情思为仄平仄仄平平仄（思字此处读去声，为仄），末句闲看儿童捉柳花为平平平平仄仄平，全诗平仄谐婉，一三句仄收、二四句平收，形成扬抑交替的节奏。绝句篇幅虽小，章法却自有讲究：此诗前两句写景、后两句写人，由物及人、由静入动，结句以动态画面收束，余味悠然，正是绝句起承转合的精熟运用。语言上全用口语白描，不用典、不雕琢，音节如话家常而韵律天成，宜于诵读，体现了诚斋体以活法入律诗、以口语合声律的追求，是七绝中少见的生活化典范。

Line by line

梅子留酸软齿牙

The plum's sourness stays, softening my teeth;

梅子的酸味还留在齿牙之间，把牙齿都酸软了。

The plum's sourness lingers in the teeth, making them soft and aching.

首句写初夏食梅的生理感受，从味觉切入，是全诗生活气息最浓的一句。梅子二字点明时令，初夏正是梅实初成、酸味正浓的时节；留字最妙，写酸味入口之后久久盘桓于齿牙之间，不肯散去，一个留字把味觉的时间性写了出来，仿佛舌尖仍能感到那丝丝酸意；软字更进一层，以触觉通味觉，齿牙为酸所软，本是极细微的生理反应，诗人却敏锐地捕捉入诗，写出吃梅后那种酥软酸涩的独特感受。这一句不写景、不抒情，只写一个最寻常的生活细节，却因观察之细、体验之真而诗意盎然，正见诚斋体就地取材、以俗为雅的本领。同时，留酸的余味也为全诗定下初夏午后慵懒绵长的基调，与后文日长睡起的倦意一脉相通，味觉之留与时光之长暗暗呼应，可谓无意而工。

The opening line writes the early-summer's plum-eating's physical feeling, from the taste's entry, the whole poem's life-air's densest line. The plum two words' pointing out the season, early-summer's precisely the plum-fruit's first-ripe and the sourness's richest season; the liu word's the most wondrous, writing the sourness's entry-after's long-loitering in the teeth, the no-willing's dispersing, the one liu word's the taste's temporality's written out, as if the tongue's tip's still's feeling that thread of sourness; the ruan word's the one-layer further, using the touch's synesthesia for the taste, the teeth's by-the-sourness-softened's originally the extremely fine physical reaction, and yet the poet's the acute-catching-into-poem, writing the plum-eat's after that soft-sour unique feeling. This line's no scene-writing and no feeling-writing, only writing the most ordinary life detail, and yet because of the observation's fineness-and-experience's truth's the poetic-abundance, precisely seeing the Chengzhai-style's on-the-spot's materials and vulgar-as-elegant craft. At the same time, the lingering-sourness's aftertaste's also the whole poem's establishing the early-summer-afternoon's languor-long tone, with the below's long-day's sleep's weariness's the one-breath-through, the taste's lingering and the time's length's secretly echoing, may's called the unintentional-and-yet-finished.

芭蕉分绿与窗纱

The banana shares its green with the window screen.

芭蕉把一片绿意分给了窗纱，绿影映上纱窗。

The banana plant shares its green with the window gauze.

次句是全诗最见锤炼功力的句子，分字堪称诗眼。芭蕉叶大而绿，初夏时新叶舒展、绿意浓得化不开，本是静态的景物；诗人却用一个分字，把绿意写成可以馈赠、可以转移的东西——芭蕉仿佛慷慨地把自己的绿分给窗纱，绿影于是主动爬上纱窗，静物瞬间有了生命与情味。此字妙在三点：一是拟人，分是人的动作，移用于芭蕉，物我之间便有了亲昵的交流；二是化静为动，绿意本无行迹，经分字点化，便如水般流动浸润；三是化整为分，一片浓绿分与窗纱，既写出绿之充足，又写出绿之玲珑。钱钟书评杨万里把颜色写成会走动、会分给别人的东西，正是就分字而言。此句与首句一视觉一味觉，分绿与留酸对举，一主动一被动，均以一字活全句，充分展现了诚斋体炼字的巧思。

The second line is the whole poem's craft-refinement's most-visible line, the fen word's called the poetic eye. The banana leaf's large-and-green, early-summer's the new-leaf's unfurled and the green's rich-to-the-point's no-thinning, originally the static scenery; and yet the poet's using the one fen word, turning the green's into the giveaway-and-transferable thing — the banana as if generously's giving its green to the window gauze, the green-shadow's thus's the active climbing of the window screen, the static object's the instant's the life-and-feeling. This word's wonder in three points: one's the personification, the fen's the human action, the applied-to-the-banana, the thing-and-self's between's hence the intimate exchange; two's the static-to-motion's turning, the green's originally the no-trace, after the fen-word's transmutation, then's like-the-water's flowing-and-steeping; three's the whole-to-part's division, one-piece-rich-green's shared-with-the-window-gauze, at once writing the green's abundance, and yet writing the green's exquisiteness. Qian Zhongshu's reviewing Yang Wanli's turning the color into the walking-and-giveaway thing's precisely's on-the-fen-word. This line with the opening's one-sight-one-taste, the shared-green and lingering-sourness's parallel, one-active-one-passive, both using the one-word's animating-the-whole-line, fully displaying the Chengzhai-style's character-refining's cleverness.

日长睡起无情思

The long day, I wake from napping with no mood at all—

夏日昼长，午睡醒来，百无聊赖，无所思虑。

The long summer day's sleep over, I have no mood at all.

第三句由写物转入写人，是全诗由景入情、由静入动的过渡。日长写夏日白昼之长，初夏昼长夜短，午后尤觉漫漫，一个长字既写实景，又暗含闲居生活的缓慢节奏；睡起写午睡初醒，慵懒未消；无情思三字是全句的关键——表面上写醒来后百无聊赖、意绪阑珊，似乎什么兴致都没有，实际上却为末句的闲看蓄足了势。此处无情思并非真的无情，而是闲情的一种表现形态：正因为无所事事、心无挂碍，才能把全副心神投向窗外儿童捉柳花的游戏，在看似无聊的闲适中觅得最纯粹的快乐。此句以平淡口语直写心境，不加雕饰，与首二句的精致炼字形成对比，正是诚斋体拙中见巧、以淡为真的笔法。且日长、睡起、无情思层层递进，写出初夏午后慵懒绵长的时光质感，为结句的会心之乐作了最自然的情感铺垫。

The third line from the thing-writing's turning to the person-writing, the whole poem's scene-to-feeling and stillness-to-motion transition. The long-day writing the summer's day-length, early-summer's long-day-and-short-night, the afternoon's the more's the endless, the one chang word's at once writing the real scene, and yet secretly carrying the idle-life's slow rhythm; the sleep-over writing the nap's just-awake, the languor's not-yet-gone; the no-mood-at-all three words' the whole line's key — the surface's writing the waking's after's boredom-and-listlessness, as-if's what-delight's none, actually's and yet storing the force for the close's idle-watching. Here the no-mood's not the true no-feeling, and yet the idle-feeling's a manifestation-form: precisely because of the nothing-to-do-and-no-heart-tie, then able the whole-heart's turning to the window's children-catch-catkins play, in the seeming-bored leisure's seeking the purest joy. This line using the plain colloquial's direct-mood-writing, no carving, with the opening-two-lines' refined-character's forming the contrast, precisely the Chengzhai-style's the-clumsy-within-sees-the-clever and the plain-as-truth brush. And the long-day, sleep-over, no-mood layer-on-layer's advance, writing the early-summer-afternoon's languor-long time-texture, storing the most-natural emotional ground for the close's knowing-smile joy.

闲看儿童捉柳花

Idle, I watch the children chase the willow catkins.

闲闲地看着孩子们追逐扑捉飘飞的柳絮，自有一番悠然自得的乐趣。

Idly I watch the children catch willow catkins.

结句是全诗的点睛之笔，闲字为全诗诗眼，儿童捉柳花则把全诗的情绪推至高潮。闲字承接上句无情思而来，却翻出新意：无情思是慵懒的闲，闲看则是会心的闲——诗人午睡初醒，百无聊赖，恰见窗外儿童嬉逐柳花，童心烂漫、笑语盈盈，不觉为之驻足凝眸，在儿童的天真活泼中觅得一片盎然生机，无聊之闲遂转化为赏玩之闲。儿童捉柳花五字，一捉字把儿童追逐扑捉柳絮的动态写得活灵活现：柳絮随风飘忽，儿童追扑嬉笑，一飘一捉之间，画面充满动感与童趣。诗人写儿童，实则以儿童之活泼反衬自身之闲适，又在观照童趣中获得心灵的净化与愉悦。全诗至此，由味觉而视觉、由静物而人事、由慵懒而欣悦，层层推进，在儿童捉柳花的欢快画面中悠然收束，余味不尽，正是宋人小诗以动写静、以趣写闲的绝妙境界。

The closing line is the whole poem's telling stroke, the xian word's the whole poem's poetic eye, the children-catch-catkins's turning the whole poem's emotion's pushed to the climax. The xian inheriting the above's no-mood, and yet the new-meaning's turning: the no-mood's the languid leisure, the idle-watching's the knowing-smile leisure — the poet's nap's just-awake, the boredom, precisely's seeing the window's children's playful-chase-the-catkins, the childlike innocence's vivid-and-the-laughter's abundant, unwittingly's the stopping-gaze, in the children's innocence-and-liveliness's seeking the abundant vitality, the boredom-leisure's thus's turning into the viewing-leisure. The children-catch-willow-catkins five words, the one zhuo word's writing the children's chase-and-swatter-the-catkins motion's vivid: the catkins' wind's drifting, the children's chase-and-laughter, one-drift-one-swatter's between, the picture's motion-and-childlike-abundance's full. The poet's writing the children, actually's using the children's liveliness's setting-off-the-own-leisure, and yet in the childlike-watching's obtaining the soul's purification-and-delight. The whole poem to here, from the taste's to the sight, from the still-object's to the human-affair, from the languor's to the delight, layer-on-layer's advance, on the children-catch-catkins's cheerful picture's the leisurely close, the aftertone endless, precisely the Song short-poem's motion-writes-stillness and wit-writes-leisure's wondrous realm.

Study

Word focus

分 Personifies the banana's green, as if it actively gives a share to the window screen, still made moving, giving the ordinary scene sudden life and motion—the wonder of Chengzhai's living method. 分字是芭蕉分绿与窗纱一句的诗眼，也是诚斋体炼字的著名范例。绿意本属芭蕉自身，诗人却以分字写出芭蕉把绿意馈赠给窗纱的主动姿态，妙处有三：其一，化静为动——芭蕉本是静物，分字赋予它人的动作与意志，绿影仿佛主动向窗纱浸润蔓延，静止的画面顿时流动起来；其二，化物为友——分是人与人之间的亲昵行为，移用于芭蕉与窗纱之间，物与物便有了情感交流，也暗透出诗人与自然万物平等相亲、物我两忘的心境，这正是诚斋体观物视角的核心；其三，以一分写满——绿意能分与窗纱，正见芭蕉绿意之浓盛，满园绿色仿佛要溢出来，分字以少总多，举重若轻。若作映绿、染绿，则仅写光影关系，呆板无神；一经分字点化，满纸绿意便活了起来，故钱钟书以此字为杨万里写景新鲜的典范。

留 Writes the sour aftertaste of the plum not leaving, the taste prolonged, making a trifling thing flavourful. 留字在梅子留酸软齿牙一句中，写的是酸味在齿间的持续，是诚斋体以细取胜的代表字。留本指滞留、停留，此处写梅子的酸味入口之后久久盘桓不去，把味觉的时间性写了出来：一般写酸，只写其味之烈，此字则写其味之久，仿佛酸意化作有形之物，赖在齿牙之间不肯走，舌尖至今还能感到那丝丝缕缕的酸涩。此字之妙在于以虚写实、以味写时：酸味本是转瞬即逝的生理感受，经留字点化，便与日长睡起的夏日午后融成一体——初夏的时光正如这酸味一般悠长绵软，赖在生活里不肯走。且留字为主动还是被动，颇可玩味：既是酸味自留，也是诗人留之，物我之间似有一种含情的胶着。与次句分字的主动馈赠相对，留字写被动的盘桓，一留一分，两个动词便把初夏午后的闲适慵懒写活了。

闲 The poem's eye. On the surface lazy and without mood, in truth a leisurely, knowing content; it commands the whole poem's calm delight. 闲字是闲看儿童捉柳花的诗眼，也是全诗情感结构的枢纽。此字有双重意蕴：表层是慵懒之闲，即日长睡起无情思的百无聊赖、无所事事；深层则是会心之闲，即超脱尘务、心无挂碍之后，方能以悠然的目光欣赏儿童嬉戏的活泼生趣。二字看似矛盾而实则统一——正因为闲得无所事事，才能闲得从容不迫，把全部心神投向窗外的童趣；也正因为闲，才不被功利俗务所扰，得以与天地万物平等相处，见出儿童捉柳花这样寻常场景中的诗意。此字妙在统摄全篇：首句的梅酸、次句的蕉绿，皆因闲人闲目而愈显亲切；日长睡起无情思，因闲而无情思，又因闲而能看、能赏、能会心。若以忙人视之，捉柳花不过是寻常儿童游戏，唯闲者能从中读出天真与生机。一个闲字，把南宋士人退居田园后的心境写得通透澄明，是理解全诗乃至诚斋体闲适精神的总钥匙。