唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
病马
The Sick Horse
騄耳何年别渥洼，病来颜色半泥沙。
四蹄不凿金砧裂，双眼慵开玉箸斜。
堕月兔毛干觳觫，失云龙骨瘦牙槎。
平原好放无人放，嘶向秋风苜蓿花。
Fallen ill, your coat is half mud and sand.
Your four hooves unshod, the golden anvil is cleft;
Your two eyes too weary to open, jade-tears aslant.
The moon-hare's fur has dried and trembles;
Robbed of clouds, your dragon-bone is gaunt, teeth jagged.
The plains are good for grazing, yet none sets you free—
You neigh toward the autumn wind and the alfalfa flower.
Meaning
Cao Tang personifies a once-noble heavenly steed, now sick and abandoned: its coat muddy, hooves cracked, eyes weeping, frame gaunt. Though the plains await, no one tends it; it can only neigh at the autumn wind and alfalfa. The poem is a poignant allegory of the neglected worthy or fallen hero.
騄耳何年别渥洼，病来颜色半泥沙。四蹄不凿金砧裂，双眼慵开玉箸斜。堕月兔毛干觳觫，失云龙骨瘦牙槎。平原好放无人放，嘶向秋风苜蓿花。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] The heavenly steed Lü'er, born of the Wo Wa lake, has fallen ill: its coat is mud and sand, its hooves unshod and split, its eyes too tired to open, weeping jade-tears. Its moon-pale fur is dry and trembling; its dragon-like frame is gaunt, its teeth jagged. The good plains lie open, but no one frees it to graze—it only neighs at the autumn wind and the alfalfa blooms. [Structure] A noble origin (Wo Wa, Lü'er), a catalogue of the sickness (coat, hooves, eyes, fur, frame), and a desolate close (empty plain, lone neigh). [Imagery] Every image is precious turned to ruin: golden anvil, jade-tears, dragon-bone—the diction of glory now inverted into decay. [Tone] Desolate, elegiac, allegorical—a 'thing-poem' that mourns the neglected worthy.
【白话串讲】 曹唐写《病马》：“騄耳何年别渥洼，病来颜色半泥沙”——“四蹄不凿金砧裂，双眼慵开玉箸斜”——“平原好放无人放，嘶向秋风苜蓿花”——他写病马——平原好放无人放。 【意象与手法】 “騄耳何年别渥洼，病来颜色半泥沙”写病马失群；“四蹄不凿金砧裂，双眼慵开玉箸斜”写病马之状；“堕月兔毛干觳觫、失云龙骨瘦牙槎”写瘦骨；结以“平原好放无人放，嘶向秋风苜蓿花”写病马嘶秋风。咏物托怀、苍凉深沉。 【情感与主旨】 曹唐咏病马之作，写病马失渥洼、瘦骨嶙峋而无人放牧的遭遇，以病马自喻怀才不遇、老病飘零，是咏物托怀的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“騄耳何年别渥洼，病来颜色半泥沙”写病马失群；“平原好放无人放，嘶向秋风苜蓿花”以病马嘶秋风写怀才不遇。
Background
Cao Tang (fl. 9th c.), a Tang poet best known for 'immortal poems' and refined yongwu (object-poems). 'The Sick Horse' belongs to the tradition of using a horse to figure the loyal but neglected servant or the fallen hero—a vein running from Du Fu's 'Ill-fated Horse' and Cao Zhi's 'Valley of the Shadowed Deer.' The names Lü'er (one of King Mu of Zhou's eight famous steeds) and Wo Wa (the miraculous lake whence Han Wudi's heavenly horses came) establish the animal's celestial, regal pedigree, making its decline the more lamentable.
《病马》为唐代诗人曹唐所作诗。曹唐（约850年前后在世），字尧宾，桂州人，唐代诗人。此诗写咏物托怀，为咏病马之作。诗中「騄耳何年别渥洼，病来颜色半泥沙」写騄耳何年别渥洼，病来颜色半泥沙；「四蹄不凿金砧裂，双眼慵开玉箸斜」写四蹄不凿金砧裂，双眼慵开玉箸斜；「堕月兔毛干觳觫，失云龙骨瘦牙槎」写堕月兔毛干觳觫，失云龙骨瘦牙槎；「平原好放无人放，嘶向秋风苜蓿花」写平原好放无人放，嘶向秋风苜蓿花。曹唐此诗以咏物托怀、嘶向秋风苜蓿花写其托怀之情，苍凉托怀，是曹唐诗中的名篇。此篇《病马》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《病马》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。
Art
The poem's craft is sustained allegory through degraded splendour. Cao Tang opens with the horse's mythic birth (Lü'er, Wo Wa), then systematically dismantles its glory: 'golden anvil' (the forge that shod it) lies cleft, 'jade-tears' slide from weary eyes, the 'moon-hare fur' is dry and trembling (a Mencius allusion), the 'dragon-bone' frame is gaunt. Each image takes a term of nobility and shows it broken—a rhetorical structure of falling status. The close widens to the empty plain and a single neigh toward autumn wind and alfalfa, where the unattainable good pasture mirrors the unrecognized worth. Regulated form and dense allusion make the decay feel ritualized, almost funerary.
此诗艺术上以「苍凉托怀、以马写情」见长。全诗共八句四联，由騄耳何年别渥洼而四蹄不凿金砧裂而堕月兔毛干觳觫。起「騄耳何年别渥洼，病来颜色半泥沙」写騄耳何年别渥洼：騄耳何年别渥洼，病来颜色半泥沙；「四蹄不凿金砧裂，双眼慵开玉箸斜」写四蹄不凿金砧裂：四蹄不凿金砧裂，双眼慵开玉箸斜；「堕月兔毛干觳觫，失云龙骨瘦牙槎」写堕月兔毛干觳觫：堕月兔毛干觳觫，失云龙骨瘦牙槎；结「平原好放无人放，嘶向秋风苜蓿花」写嘶向秋风苜蓿花：平原好放无人放，嘶向秋风苜蓿花。全诗以马写情，由騄耳何年别渥洼而嘶向秋风苜蓿花，苍凉托怀，是曹唐诗中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。
Allusions
Lü'er is one of King Mu of Zhou's eight famous steeds, and Wo Wa the miraculous lake in the Hexi Corridor from which Han Wudi's 'heavenly horses' were said to appear—both mark the horse's supernal lineage. 'Jade-tears' is a classical term for tears streaming like jade chopsticks. 'Trembling' comes from Mencius' 'the trembling ox,' here transferred to the horse's shivering coat. 'Dragon-bone' figures the horse's frame as that of a dragon, the traditional metaphor for a fine steed; 'alfalfa' was the fodder brought back with the heavenly horses from the Western Regions.
诗中「騄耳何年别渥洼病来颜色半泥沙」「四蹄不凿金砧裂双眼慵开玉箸斜」「堕月兔毛干觳觫失云龙骨瘦牙槎」「平原好放无人放嘶向秋风苜蓿花」等语，皆含典故故实。「騄耳何年别渥洼病来颜色半泥沙」用騄耳、渥洼之典（騄耳写骏马，渥洼写产马之地），写騄耳何年别渥洼病来颜色半泥沙；「四蹄不凿金砧裂双眼慵开玉箸斜」写四蹄不凿金砧裂双眼慵开玉箸斜；「堕月兔毛干觳觫失云龙骨瘦牙槎」用龙骨之典（龙骨写骏马骨骼），写堕月兔毛干觳觫失云龙骨瘦牙槎；「平原好放无人放嘶向秋风苜蓿花」写平原好放无人放嘶向秋风苜蓿花。诗人用騄耳、渥洼之典入诗，不着痕迹，而把咏物托怀之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。
Commentary
'The Sick Horse' is read as a classic Tang yongwu allegory of the neglected worthy—its splendour-in-ruin mirroring the loyal servant or capable man left to decay by an indifferent age. Admirers praise its disciplined degradation of noble imagery and its quiet, unsentimental close. Alongside Du Fu's horse poems, it shows how the Tang turned the animal lyric into a vehicle for political and existential lament.
这首《病马》，是曹唐写咏物托怀之作，写騄耳何年别渥洼、四蹄不凿金砧裂、堕月兔毛干觳觫、嘶向秋风苜蓿花之情，苍凉托怀。起「騄耳何年别渥洼，病来颜色半泥沙」——騄耳何年别渥洼，病来颜色半泥沙。写騄耳何年别渥洼：騄耳何年别渥洼、病来颜色半泥沙——别渥洼、半泥沙；「四蹄不凿金砧裂，双眼慵开玉箸斜」——四蹄不凿金砧裂，双眼慵开玉箸斜。写四蹄不凿金砧裂：四蹄不凿金砧裂、双眼慵开玉箸斜——金砧裂、玉箸斜；「堕月兔毛干觳觫，失云龙骨瘦牙槎」——堕月兔毛干觳觫，失云龙骨瘦牙槎。写堕月兔毛干觳觫：堕月兔毛干觳觫、失云龙骨瘦牙槎——干觳觫、瘦牙槎；结「平原好放无人放，嘶向秋风苜蓿花」——平原好放无人放，嘶向秋风苜蓿花。写嘶向秋风苜蓿花：平原好放无人放、嘶向秋风苜蓿花——无人放、苜蓿花。这「平原好放无人放，嘶向秋风苜蓿花」，是全诗之结：以嘶向秋风苜蓿花写其托怀。全诗苍凉托怀，以马写情，正是曹唐诗中的名篇。
Prosody
Line by line
騄耳何年别渥洼，病来颜色半泥沙。
Lü'er, when did you leave the Wo Wa lake? Fallen ill, your coat is half mud and sand.
騄耳何年别渥洼，病来颜色半泥沙。
In what year did the Luer leave the Wowa springs? Since it fell ill, half its coat is mud.
起句写騄耳何年别渥洼，起笔即见其騄耳。「騄耳何年别渥洼」用騄耳、渥洼之典写騄耳何年别渥洼，「騄耳何年」写騄耳何年、「别渥洼」写别渥洼；「病来颜色半泥沙」写病来颜色半泥沙，「病来颜色」写病来颜色、「半泥沙」写半泥沙。一句写騄耳何年别渥洼病来颜色半泥沙，以騄耳何年别渥洼写别渥洼、以病来颜色半泥沙写半泥沙，写尽騄耳何年别渥洼、病来颜色半泥沙之情。以马起兴，苍凉而托怀，是「以马起兴」的妙笔。
The opening line writes in what year did the Luer leave the Wowa springs, the Luer at once. It uses the allusions to the legendary steed Luer and the Wowa springs; the words in what year write the wonder of the past parting. Since it fell ill, half its coat is mud writes the horse's sickly state. The line writes to the full the feeling of the steed's leaving the springs and the mud on its coat. Rising through the horse, desolate and lodging the breast, the fine brush of rising through the horse.
四蹄不凿金砧裂，双眼慵开玉箸斜。
Your four hooves unshod, the golden anvil is cleft; your two eyes too weary to open, jade-tears aslant.
四蹄不凿金砧裂，双眼慵开玉箸斜。
Its four hoofs no longer strike the golden anvil; its eyes lazily open, the jade chopsticks aslant.
此句写四蹄不凿金砧裂，是全诗写四蹄之态的关键。「四蹄不凿金砧裂」写四蹄不凿金砧裂，「四蹄不凿」写四蹄不凿、「金砧裂」写金砧裂；「双眼慵开玉箸斜」写双眼慵开玉箸斜，「双眼慵开」写双眼慵开、「玉箸斜」写玉箸斜。一句写四蹄不凿金砧裂双眼慵开玉箸斜，以四蹄不凿金砧裂写金砧裂、以双眼慵开玉箸斜写玉箸斜，写尽四蹄不凿金砧裂、双眼慵开玉箸斜之情。以蹄写情，苍凉而托怀，是「以蹄写情」的点睛之笔。
This line writes its four hoofs no longer strike the golden anvil, the key of the whole's writing the four hoofs. The words four hoofs no longer strike write the lameness; the golden anvil writes the hard chipping of a healthy hoof. Its eyes lazily open, the jade chopsticks aslant writes the heavy lids and the trailing tears. The line writes to the full the feeling of the hoofs no longer striking and the eyes lazily opening. Writing feeling through the hoof, desolate and lodging the breast, the eye-dotting brush.
堕月兔毛干觳觫，失云龙骨瘦牙槎。
The moon-hare's fur has dried and trembles; robbed of clouds, your dragon-bone is gaunt, teeth jagged.
堕月兔毛干觳觫，失云龙骨瘦牙槎。
The moon's rabbit fur, dry and trembling; the cloud-lost dragon bone, gaunt and jagged.
此句写堕月兔毛干觳觫，是全诗写兔毛之态的关键。「堕月兔毛干觳觫」写堕月兔毛干觳觫，「堕月兔毛」写堕月兔毛、「干觳觫」写干觳觫；「失云龙骨瘦牙槎」用龙骨之典写失云龙骨瘦牙槎，「失云龙骨」写失云龙骨、「瘦牙槎」写瘦牙槎。一句写堕月兔毛干觳觫失云龙骨瘦牙槎，以堕月兔毛干觳觫写干觳觫、以失云龙骨瘦牙槎写瘦牙槎，写尽堕月兔毛干觳觫、失云龙骨瘦牙槎之情。以骨写情，苍凉而托怀，是「以骨写情」的点睛之笔。
This line writes the moon's rabbit fur, dry and trembling, the key of the whole's writing the rabbit fur. The words moon's rabbit fur write the white coat; dry and trembling writes the gaunt shivering. The cloud-lost dragon bone, gaunt and jagged uses the dragon-bone allusion to write the fallen steed's frame, gaunt and jagged. The line writes to the full the feeling of the dry trembling and the jagged gauntness. Writing feeling through the bone, desolate and lodging the breast, the eye-dotting brush.
平原好放无人放，嘶向秋风苜蓿花。
The plains are good for grazing, yet none sets you free—you neigh toward the autumn wind and the alfalfa flower.
平原好放无人放，嘶向秋风苜蓿花。
The plain is fine for grazing, yet no one grazes it; it neighs toward the autumn wind over the alfalfa flowers.
结句写嘶向秋风苜蓿花，是全诗立意的落点。「平原好放无人放」写平原好放无人放，「平原好放」写平原好放、「无人放」写无人放；「嘶向秋风苜蓿花」写嘶向秋风苜蓿花，「嘶向秋风」写嘶向秋风、「苜蓿花」写苜蓿花。一句写平原好放无人放嘶向秋风苜蓿花，以平原好放无人放写无人放、以嘶向秋风苜蓿花写苜蓿花，写尽平原好放无人放、嘶向秋风苜蓿花之情。以嘶写情，苍凉而托怀，是全诗最动人处，也是「以嘶写情」的点睛之笔。
The closing line writes it neighs toward the autumn wind over the alfalfa flowers, the landing of the whole's bent. The words the plain is fine for grazing, yet no one grazes it write the lack of a groom. It neighs toward the autumn wind over the alfalfa flowers writes the neighing in the autumn over the forage. The line writes to the full the feeling of no one grazing and the neighing at the alfalfa flowers. Writing feeling through the neigh, desolate and lodging the breast, the most moving place of the whole and the eye-dotting brush.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Su Shi's lyric voices lofty longing freed of care; Cao Tang's poem laments a noble steed fallen into neglect. Both elevate a figure above the ordinary, but one soars, the other decays.
苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全」，写托怀感怀、苍凉旷达，是宋词长调的名篇；曹唐《病马》则以「騄耳何年别渥洼，病来颜色半泥沙」「嘶向秋风苜蓿花」写半泥沙、苜蓿花。两诗同写托怀感怀、苍凉旷达：一写人有悲欢离合、以悲欢写离合，一写騄耳何年别渥洼病来颜色半泥沙、以病马写托怀；一为苏轼之旷达、一为曹唐之苍凉，并读正可见诗写「托怀感怀」的两种笔法，皆于托怀之中见苍凉。
八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Ba Sheng Gan Zhou: Facing the Rivulets of Dusk Rain Falling on River and Sky 柳永 · 同写秋风凝望、苍凉清丽，一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、一写平原好放无人放嘶向秋风苜蓿花，皆于秋风之中见凝望 Both end on a windswept, lonely noteLiu Yong's lyric closes on river-and-sky melancholy; Cao Tang's sick horse neighs at autumn wind and alfalfa. Both end with a solitary figure against nature, one a lover, one a neglected worthy.
柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「对潇潇暮雨洒江天，一番洗清秋」，写秋风凝望、苍凉清丽，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；曹唐《病马》则以「平原好放无人放，嘶向秋风苜蓿花」「堕月兔毛干觳觫」写苜蓿花、干觳觫。两诗同写秋风凝望、苍凉清丽：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以暮雨写清秋，一写平原好放无人放嘶向秋风苜蓿花、以秋风写托怀；一为柳永之清丽、一为曹唐之苍凉，并读正可见诗写「秋风凝望」的两种笔法，皆于秋风之中见凝望。