宋 Song · 诗 Poem
秋日闲居
Autumn Days in Idle Retirement
茅屋秋风斗破除，萧骚浑似浣溪居。
青山侍坐从吾好，黄帽笼头与俗疏。
赖有园官能送菜，可无溪友解留鱼。
从今辄莫惭枵腹，一饱须烦插架书。
As bleak and tattered as the dwelling by Huanxi.
Green mountains sit beside me, just as my heart desires;
A yellow straw hat covers my head, aloof from the world.
Luckily the garden keeper still sends me fresh greens,
And who but a streamside friend would keep me fish?
From now on, let me never be ashamed of an empty belly—
For one full meal, I need only turn to my shelves of books.
Meaning
Shen Yuqiu, a celebrated Southern Song official, writes of his quiet retirement. The autumn wind has torn his thatched hut to tatters, yet he compares it to Du Fu's famous Huanxi thatched hall, turning ruin into elegance. Green mountains sit with him like honored guests, a yellow straw hat keeps him aloof from the world, the garden keeper brings him vegetables, and a streamside friend keeps him fish. Though poor, he declares he need never be ashamed of hunger—his shelves of books are food enough. The poem celebrates the joy of living simply, in the company of mountains, friends, and books.
秋风把茅屋吹得七零八落,这萧瑟破败的样子,倒像极了杜甫的浣花溪草堂。青山像侍者一样陪坐,任随我的喜好;头戴黄帽,笼着头,自甘与世俗疏远。幸有负责菜园的官家送我时蔬,又岂能没有溪畔的朋友为我留住鲜鱼。从今往后不必再为腹中饥饿而惭愧,若求一饱,还须麻烦书架上的藏书呢。
Appreciation
A seven-character regulated verse that blends allusion with plain description to write the delight of frugal retirement. The opening line uses the colloquial 'dou' (suddenly) to paint the wind tearing the thatch, then the next line instantly turns the wreck into elegance by comparing it to Du Fu's Huanxi cottage—turning the vulgar into the refined from the very first couplet. The middle couplets set green mountains and a straw hat, garden greens and streamside fish, in careful parallel, while the closing couplet, in a self-mocking tone, declares that books are food enough. The whole poem is humorous yet dignified—laughing aloud while the heart stays firm—the mark of the finest Song dynasty leisure poetry.
【白话串讲】 沈与求写秋日闲居：“茅屋秋风斗破除，萧骚浑似浣溪居”——他自比杜甫的浣花溪。“赖有园官能送菜，可无溪友解留鱼”——“一饱须烦插架书”——他写清贫的自在。 【意象与手法】 通篇以用事与白描结合,以自嘲为骨。首联茅屋秋风斗破除以口语入诗,浑似浣溪居化俗为雅;青山侍坐、黄帽笼头写闲居所对;园官送菜、溪友留鱼以两件乡居小事对仗,生活气息扑人;尾联枵腹与插架书对举,以书为饱,安贫之志跃然纸上。 【情感与主旨】 诗人以杜甫浣花草堂自比,写秋日闲居之乐而寓安贫之志。与山为伴、与俗疏远,园官送菜、溪友留鱼,清贫而友朋足慰;末联以腹中藏书自足,自嘲中见庄重,忧而不伤,贫而不戚,正是南宋初年士大夫以闲居养志、以淡为归的风调。 【名句点睛】 “一饱须烦插架书”以自嘲收束全篇,腹之饥与书之富对举,语似玩笑而意极庄重,把闲居的贫窘升华为精神的自足,读书自足之志、安贫乐道之趣尽在其中。
Background
Shen Yuqiu (1086–1137), courtesy name Bixian, was a native of Deqing, Huzhou, and a famous upright minister of the early Southern Song, serving as Privy Councilor and Vice Grand Councilor. His collected works are called Guixi ji after the Guixi stream near his home. This poem, written during his retirement in middle or later life, compares his own thatched hut with Du Fu's Huanxi cottage, writes of companionship with the mountains and distance from the world, and ends by declaring books a sufficient meal. Against the turmoil of the Jingkang and southward flight era, it shows the other side of a man famous for forthright remonstrance—the quiet, self-sustaining life of the countryside.
沈与求字必先,湖州德清人,政和五年进士,历官至知枢密院事,参知政事,为南宋初年名臣,以直谏称,卒谥忠敏,文集名《龟溪集》,以所居德清龟溪名之。此诗题曰秋日闲居,当为其中年或晚年退居乡里时所作。诗中茅屋秋风,萧骚浑似浣溪居,以杜甫浣花草堂自比,写居处之简陋;青山侍坐从吾好,黄帽笼头与俗疏,写与山为伴、与俗疏远的闲居之趣;赖有园官能送菜,可无溪友解留鱼,则写乡居生计,得园官送菜、溪友留鱼,清贫而友朋足慰;末联从今辄莫惭枵腹,一饱须烦插架书,以腹中藏书自足,安贫乐道之意显然。沈与求身处靖康南渡之际,朝政纷纭,其诗文多关世故,而此诗却纯写闲居,恬淡自适,可见其性格中既有抗直的一面,亦有林泉的一面。南宋初年,士大夫多置别业于湖山之间,退食之日徜徉其中,此诗即此类闲适诗的一篇。沈与求生平见《宋史》卷三七二本传及《四库全书总目·龟溪集提要》。又按,沈与求立朝以敢言著称,而退居则澹然自守,此诗所写,正是其另一面的生活;南宋初年,士人每于军国倥偬之余,寄情山水书卷,以养其气,此诗茅屋青山、园蔬溪鱼、插架读书,诸般意象,正可见此种以闲居养志的风尚,于乱世尤见其可贵。
Art
The poem combines allusion with plain speech throughout. The first couplet borrows Du Fu's 'autumn wind' scene to compare the poet's hut with the Huanxi dwelling, instantly elevating wreckage to elegance. 'Green mountains sit attending' borrows Li Bai's 'never tired of looking at each other, only the Jingting Mountain' to make the mountain a friend; 'yellow hat' is the farmer's straw hat of the Daoist, marking his separation from the world. The garden keeper sending greens and the streamside friend keeping fish are two small incidents of country life set in perfect parallel—meager livelihood, warm human feeling. The closing 'shame of an empty belly, books for a meal' ends in self-mockery that carries real dignity. The language is steady and flowing, mixing colloquial speech, allusion, and plain description into the Song ideal of self-possession and tranquility.
此诗为七言律诗,通篇以用事与白描结合,写闲居之乐而寓安贫之志,是南宋初年士大夫闲适诗的代表作。首联茅屋秋风斗破除,萧骚浑似浣溪居,借杜甫茅屋秋风之诗境自比,斗破除三字以口语入诗,写出秋风破屋、茅草乱飞的狼狈,而下一句浑似浣溪居,立即将狼狈转化为风雅,以浣花溪边的杜子美自况,化俗为雅,起笔即见手段。青山侍坐从吾好,黄帽笼头与俗疏,写日常所对,青山如宾如友,黄帽即农笠,笼头自嘲其老态,从吾好与俗疏对举,襟怀坦荡。赖有园官能送菜,可无溪友解留鱼,以两件乡居小事对仗,园官送菜、溪友留鱼,皆用杜诗本事,而写得亲切有味,生计虽薄,情味却厚。从今辄莫惭枵腹,一饱须烦插架书,以自嘲口吻收束,枵腹之饥以书为饱,安贫读书之志跃然纸上。全诗对仗工稳而语势流畅,俗语、典故、白描熔于一炉,忧而不伤,贫而不戚,正是宋人闲适诗以理自持、以淡为归的风调。又全诗以自嘲为骨,斗破除之狼狈、黄帽笼头之老态、枵腹之饥,皆以诙谐出之,而诙谐之中,自有安贫乐道的庄重,笑口常开而心实贞定,正是宋人闲适诗的上乘格调,较之愁叹之音,更见胸次。
Allusions
'Autumn wind tearing the thatch' draws on Du Fu's 'Song of My Thatched Cottage Unroofed by the Autumn Wind,' and 'Huanxi dwelling' refers to Du Fu's thatched hall by the Huanhua Stream in Chengdu, which became the emblem of a poor scholar's home. 'Garden keeper sending greens' uses Du Fu's poem title 'The Garden Keeper Sends Vegetables.' 'Streamside friend keeping fish' recalls Du Fu's 'Song of Watching Fishing.' 'Green mountains sitting attending' echoes Li Bai's 'Sitting Alone Facing Mount Jingting.' 'Yellow hat' comes from the Book of Han, later meaning the garb of Daoists and farmers. 'Empty belly' (xiaofu) appears in Han Yu's preface to the Jingtan poetry exchange, and 'shelves of books' (chajia) comes from Han Yu's line about Marquis Ye's thirty thousand volumes on the shelves. The allusions are drawn mostly from Du Fu and Han Yu, whose bones support the poet's leisurely Song-tone themes.
茅屋秋风,化用杜甫《茅屋为秋风所破歌》茅飞渡江洒江郊,高者挂罥长林梢,下者飘转沉塘坳,及床头屋漏无干处之句意,诗人以杜甫自比,浣溪居即杜甫成都浣花溪畔之草堂,杜诗《狂夫》有万里桥西一草堂,百花潭水即沧浪之句,浣溪居三字遂成后世贫士居所的代称。园官送菜,用杜甫《园官送菜》诗题本事,杜诗有序,谓园官送菜,而菜色有叹,诗人借写乡人馈蔬之情。溪友留鱼,或化用杜甫《观打鱼歌》绵州江水之东津,鲂鱼鱍鱍色胜银,兼取溪居友渔之意,以与园官送菜作对。青山侍坐,化用李白《独坐敬亭山》相看两不厌,只有敬亭山之意,以山为友;黄帽,本《汉书·佽飞》注黄帽习水者之服,后世亦以黄冠黄帽指道士农夫之装,笼头即戴在头上,诗人自嘲老拙之状。枵腹,指空腹饥饿,韩愈《荆潭唱和诗序》有枵腹之语,宋人沿用;插架,出韩愈《送诸葛觉往随州读书》邺侯家多书,插架三万轴,以插架书代指藏书,诗人以一饱自须于书,安贫乐道之意显豁。诸典多本杜、韩,参《杜诗详注》仇兆鳌注本及韩集诸通行注本。又此诗用典,独多杜、韩,盖其一生心折二家,园官送菜、插架万轴,一写食、一写书,皆取二家习语而翻出新意,以杜韩之骨,运闲居之趣,是南宋诗人学唐而化于宋调的好例,其熔铸之功,于此可见。
Commentary
The Siku quanshu summary of the Guixi ji praises Shen Yuqiu's poetry for its lofty bones and elegant severity, without faint or flashy sounds, matching the man himself. His leisure poems, of which this is a representative, are often read together with other retirement pieces in the collection as fine examples of 'Du Fu's bones and Han Yu's allusions' turned into the Song mode. While Qing critics like Shen Deqian and Li E gave most attention to You Mao, Yang Wanli, Fan Chengda, and Lu You among the Southern Song, Shen's collection survived through the Siku editors, and modern students of early Southern Song poetry are giving him renewed attention.
沈与求集名《龟溪集》,其诗在南宋初年颇为世重。《四库全书总目·龟溪集提要》谓其诗风骨高骞,典雅精严,不作纤靡之音,一如其为人,又谓其文能持平议论,多与国是相关。宋人论沈诗,王明清《挥麈录》曾记其与人论诗语,见其于诗学亦有心解。沈与求与李光、汪藻等同时交游,皆以文学政事名,其诗兼有台阁之庄与山林之逸,此诗即其山林一面的代表。历代选本录南宋初年诗者,多取此诗与《龟溪集》中闲居诸作并观,谓其能以杜诗之骨、韩诗之典写乡居之乐,是学唐而化于宋调的好例。清人沈德潜、厉鹗等论宋诗,于南渡诸家多致意于尤、杨、范、陆,沈与求辈尝为所掩,然其集赖四库馆臣著录而传,今人研究南宋初诗坛者,渐加留意,此诗正可作为重新认识沈与求诗风的一把钥匙。又沈与求集行世后,明人清人各有刊本,《四库全书》据两淮马裕家藏本著录,提要谓其诗文皆有法度,此诗以家常语写闲居乐,正见其法度自在,不事雕琢而规矩森然,是研究南宋初年士人精神生活的重要文本。
Prosody
Line by line
茅屋秋风斗破除，萧骚浑似浣溪居。
The autumn wind tears my thatched hut to pieces, as bleak and tattered as the dwelling by Huanxi. (The opening couplet: the colloquial 'dou' paints the wind's sudden violence, then the comparison to Du Fu's Huanxi cottage instantly turns ruin into elegance.)
秋风把茅屋吹得七零八落,这萧瑟破败的样子,倒像极了杜甫的浣花溪草堂。
The thatch hut, in the autumn wind, is beaten to bits; its bleakness is exactly like the home by the Huan Stream.
起句以口语斗破除写秋风破屋的狼狈,下句却以浣溪居自比,把狼狈转成风雅,化俗为雅,见出诗人安贫的襟抱。萧骚二字兼写风声与屋宇萧疏之态,浑似一词轻轻一兜,便与杜甫的苦雨茅屋、广厦之愿发生遥远的精神呼应,虽不言贫而贫居之状、自得之情并见。浑似二字轻轻一兜,便与杜甫的苦雨茅屋、广厦之愿发生遥远的精神呼应,虽不言贫而贫居之状、自得之情并见,起笔即以杜诗为骨,立定全诗取法的渊源。
The opening line uses the colloquial beaten to bits to write the plight of the autumn wind breaking the hut, and the second compares oneself to the home by the Huan Stream, turning plight into elegance, the vulgar into the refined, showing the poet's breast of being content in poverty. The two words bleak write at once the sound of the wind and the thinness of the dwelling; the word as if, with a light gathering, forms a distant spiritual echo with Du Fu's hut in the bitter rain and his wish for a great mansion. Though no word of poverty, the state of the poor dwelling and the feeling of contentment both appear; the opening takes Du's poetry as its bone, establishing the source of the whole poem's method.
青山侍坐从吾好，黄帽笼头与俗疏。
Green mountains sit beside me as my heart desires; a yellow straw hat covers my head, aloof from the world. (The middle couplet: mountains as honored companions and the farmer's hat as a badge of distance from the world—at once elegant and plain, near and far.)
青山像侍者一样陪坐,任随我的喜好;头戴黄帽,笼着头,自甘与世俗疏远。
The green mountain waits on me as I sit, following my liking; a yellow hat covers my head, estranged from the vulgar.
此联写闲居所对,青山侍坐,以山为宾朋,从吾好见其率性;黄帽笼头,以老农自处,与俗疏见其孤介。一雅一俗,一近一远,两句对仗而气韵流动,诗人的形象活脱脱立在青山草屋之间。不着议论,而闲居之乐、避世之志俱在眼前,是宋诗写意传神的好句。青山侍坐,以山为宾朋,从吾好见其率性;黄帽笼头,以老农自处,与俗疏见其孤介,一雅一俗,一近一远,两句对仗而气韵流动,诗人的形象活脱脱立在青山草屋之间,不着议论而襟抱全出。
This couplet writes what the leisure dwelling faces: the green mountain waits on me as I sit, taking the mountain as guest and friend, and following my liking shows his following his nature; a yellow hat covers my head, taking his place as an old farmer, and estranged from the vulgar shows his lone integrity. One refined one vulgar, one near one far; the two lines are parallel yet the breath flows, and the poet's image stands vividly between the green mountain and the thatch hut. No argument, yet the joy of the leisure dwelling and the will to flee the age are both before the eyes, the fine line of Song poetry writing spirit through vivid outline. The poet's image is vividly set between the green mountain and the thatch hut, no argument yet the breast fully appears.
赖有园官能送菜，可无溪友解留鱼。
Luckily the garden keeper still sends me vegetables; could the stream-side friend fail to keep me fish? (The third couplet brings two small facts of country life into the poem: the garden keeper sending greens and the stream-side friend keeping fish, the meanness of daily need against the constancy of friends' gifts, plain as household talk, the contentment of a man at peace with poverty.)
幸有负责菜园的官家送我时蔬,又岂能没有溪畔的朋友为我留住鲜鱼。
By good fortune, the garden steward sends vegetables; can there be no stream friend who knows to keep a fish?
此联以乡居两件小事入诗,园官送菜、溪友留鱼,清贫中见人情之厚。赖有与可无,一感一疑,写日常所需之薄与友朋馈遗之常,娓娓如话家常,而安贫知足之意自见。用杜甫园官送菜诗题本事而不露痕迹,生活气息扑人,是宋诗以琐事写性情的成功笔墨。园官送菜、溪友留鱼,清贫中见人情之厚,赖有与可无,一感一疑,写日常所需之薄与友朋馈遗之常,娓娓如话家常,而安贫知足之意自见,是宋诗以琐事写性情的成功笔墨,亲切而有余味。
This couplet enters the poem through two small matters of country dwelling - the garden steward sending vegetables, the stream friend keeping a fish - showing the thickness of human feeling within poverty. By good fortune and can there be no, one gratitude one doubt, write the thinness of the daily need and the constancy of friends' gifts, flowing like household talk, and the meaning of being content in poverty appears of itself. It uses the fact of Du Fu's poem on the garden steward sending vegetables without a trace, the breath of life striking the face, the successful brush of Song poetry writing character through small matters. Within poverty one sees the thickness of human feeling; the gratitude and the doubt write the thinness of the daily need and the constancy of friends' gifts, flowing like household talk, and the meaning of being content in poverty appears, friendly with aftertone.
从今辄莫惭枵腹，一饱须烦插架书。
From now on, let me never be ashamed of an empty belly—for one full meal, I need only turn to my shelves of books. (The closing couplet: self-mockery that carries real dignity, declaring books a sufficient meal and resting the poem on the will to live simply and read.)
从今往后不必再为腹中饥饿而惭愧,若求一饱,还须麻烦书架上的藏书呢。
From now on, never be ashamed of the empty belly; for one full meal, I must trouble the books on my shelves.
尾联以自嘲作结,枵腹之饥却以一饱归诸插架之书,腹之饥与书之富对举,读书自足之志、安贫乐道之趣,尽在这一句解嘲之中。辄莫是宋人口语,须烦亦带诙谐,语似玩笑而意极庄重,把闲居的贫窘升华为精神的自足,是全诗神完气足的点睛之笔。以书为饱,是雅人之言,亦是穷士之言,腹之饥与书之富对举,读书自足之志、安贫乐道之趣,尽在这一句解嘲之中,语似玩笑而意极庄重,把闲居的贫窘升华为精神的自足,是全诗的点睛之笔。
The closing couplet closes in self-mockery: the hunger of the empty belly is yet referred for one full meal to the books on the shelves, the belly's hunger and the books' wealth set against, and the will to be content in study and the delight of finding the Way in poverty are all within this one line of self-relief. Never is Song colloquial, and must trouble also carries wit; the words seem a jest yet the meaning most solemn, sublimating the poverty of the leisure dwelling into spiritual self-sufficiency, the eye of the whole poem's complete spirit. To take books as fullness is the word of the elegant, and also of the poor scholar; the belly's hunger and the books' wealth set against, the will to be content in study and the delight of finding the Way in poverty are all within this one line of self-relief, the words seeming a jest yet the meaning most solemn, sublimating the poverty of the leisure dwelling into spiritual self-sufficiency, the eye of the whole poem.
Study
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杜甫《狂夫》万里桥西一草堂,百花潭水即沧浪,写成都草堂风物,风含翠筿娟娟净,雨裛红蕖冉冉香,又自叹厚禄故人书断绝,恒饥稚子色凄凉,于美景中翻出贫病之慨。沈与求此诗直以浣溪居自比,然其青山侍坐、溪友留鱼,友朋之乐胜于杜之书断,一饱以书自足,故杜诗贫而悲,沈诗贫而安,同一草堂茅屋,一为乱世之叹,一为承平之闲,境界因时代而异。杜诗贫而悲,沈诗贫而安,同一茅屋草堂,一为乱世之叹,一为承平之闲,境界因时代而异,然杜诗之仁心,沈诗之自持,皆不失为士人处穷厄时的人格典范,可相映而观。
读山海经·其一 Reading the Classic of Mountains and Seas, No. 1 陶渊明 · 同写闲居读书自乐 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
陶渊明《读山海经》孟夏草木长,绕屋树扶疏,既耕亦已种,时还读我书,写耕余读书之乐,是隐逸者以书自娱的典范。沈与求此诗枵腹须烦插架书,亦以读书为精神之饱,然渊明读书是真隐者之日常,与求读书是闲居者之寄托,一为躬耕的余暇,一为养志的生涯,其安贫乐道之趣相通,而生活基础各异,对读可见两种闲居的况味。渊明读书是真隐者的日常,与求读书是闲居者的寄托,一为躬耕的余暇,一为养志的生涯,其安贫乐道之趣相通,而生活基础各异,对读可见两种闲居的况味,亦可追索宋人学陶的轨迹。
村居书喜 村居书喜 陆游 · 同为南宋乡居闲适之诗 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
陆游《村居书喜》红桥梅市晓山横,白塔樊江春水生,写山阴乡居的春景与农事,社日近时看赛社,邻翁合处话丰年,一派熙熙。沈与求此诗写秋日闲居,青山黄帽、园官溪友,亦是乡居风味,然陆游身处临安争战之后的山阴,诗境多明朗,与求诗境偏于萧疏,同是南宋乡居,一偏田园之乐,一偏林泉之味,可见南渡士人闲适诗内部的多样色调。陆游乡居诗境多明朗,沈诗境偏于萧疏,同是南宋乡居,一偏田园之乐,一偏林泉之味,可见南渡士人闲适诗内部的多样色调,而两人皆以书生自处,以诗书为性命,则又是同代士人的共同底色。