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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

登楼

Climbing the Tower

杜甫

Du Fu

感怀Emotion 登临Climbing high

花近高楼伤客心，万方多难此登临。
锦江春色来天地，玉垒浮云变古今。
北极朝廷终不改，西山寇盗莫相侵。
可怜后主还祠庙，日暮聊为梁甫吟。

Blossoms near the tall tower wound the traveler's heart; in a time of troubles on every side I climb this tower.
The spring of the Jin River comes from heaven and earth; the floating clouds of Mount Yu Lei transform the ancient and the now.
The Pole Star court after all will not change; western hills, you raiders, do not invade.
Pitiful that the Later Lord still has his shrine; at dusk I faintly chant the Liangfu song.

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Meaning

In spring Du Fu climbs a tower in Chengdu and, far from rejoicing at the blossoms, is wounded by them because the realm is in turmoil. He reads the eternal landscape against shifting times, affirms the dynasty's unshaken legitimacy, and closes by comparing himself to the unsummoned Zhuge Liang.

繁花近倚高楼，反倒伤了游子之心，值此万方多难之时我登上此楼。锦江的春色从天地间涌来，玉垒山的浮云变幻着古往今来。北极星般的朝廷终究不可动摇，西山的寇盗切莫再来侵扰。可叹那后主刘禅还享有祠庙祭祀，日暮时分我姑且吟诵一曲《梁甫吟》。

Appreciation

The first line writes sorrow through joyous scene, a reversed path that doubles the grief. The second couplet sets vast spring scenery against historical flux, time and space interlaced. The third couplet's firm antithesis spills loyal anger. The close uses allusion to end unspoken. The regulated verse is exact yet deep in feeling.

【白话串讲】 “花近高楼伤客心，万方多难此登临”——杜甫登上成都的楼，花开得正好，心却伤透了。“北极朝廷终不改”——他相信大唐不会倒，可眼前满眼是乱。【意象与手法】全诗以登临为线索，起句「花近高楼伤客心」以乐景反衬哀情，翻案出奇，开篇即定沉郁基调；颔联「锦江春色来天地，玉垒浮云变古今」壮景中含历史苍茫，时空交错；颈联「北极朝廷终不改，西山寇盗莫相侵」对仗工稳，忠愤溢于言表；尾联用典收束，含蓄不尽。景、情、史、理交融，律切而情深。【情感与主旨】广德二年春，杜甫自梓州返成都，时严武重镇剑南，吐蕃虽退出长安仍扰边，藩镇未靖，国步多艰。诗人登楼望远，忧国伤时，既寄望朝廷中兴，又忧心边患未除，遂借登临之景抒家国之忧，以古人自况，写尽一代诗人在多难之秋的忠爱与悲慨。【名句点睛】常考：一、首句「花近高楼伤客心」以乐景写哀情的手法与效果；二、颔联「来天地」「变古今」的意境与时空感；三、尾联「后主」「梁甫吟」二典的讽喻与自况之深意。

Background

In spring of the second year of Guangde (764) Du Fu returned from Zizhou to Chengdu; Yan Wu had re-secured Jiannan, but Tibetans, though withdrawn from Chang'an, still harried the border and warlords were unquiet. Climbing a Chengdu tower and seeing the Jin River and Yu Lei, his care for the troubled realm surged, and he wrote this restrained, stirring work.

广德二年（764年）春，杜甫自梓州携家重返成都。此时距安史之乱平定虽已数年，而国事依然多艰：吐蕃一度攻陷长安，虽旋即退出，仍不断扰边；严武虽重镇剑南，然藩镇割据之势已成，兵戈未息，民生凋敝。诗人再度登临成都城楼，望锦江春色、玉垒浮云，抚今追昔，感慨万端。此时杜甫年五十三岁，漂泊半生，老病缠身，然忧国之心未尝少衰。他身在西南一隅，心系朝廷安危，眼见万方多难而回天无力，遂借登临所见之景抒家国之忧，兼以古人自况，写成此沉郁顿挫之作。诗中「北极朝廷终不改，西山寇盗莫相侵」一联，正透出他对唐室中兴的坚定信念与对边患未息的深切忧惧；而「可怜后主还祠庙」则借古讽今，暗含对当权者用人失当、朝政昏聩的隐忧。全诗由景入情、由情入史，将个人的漂泊之痛融入时代的多难之中，是杜甫晚年登临诗的代表作之一。后人论此诗，常以「万方多难」四字为诗眼，谓其以一人之登临写一代之疮痍，由眼前之花柳而见天下之分崩，正可见老杜以天下为己任、位卑未敢忘忧国的博大襟怀。

Art

The first line 'blossoms near the tall tower wound the traveler's heart' uses joyous scene to counter sorrow, a reversed path. The second couplet 'spring of the Jin River comes from heaven and earth; floating clouds of Yu Lei transform the ancient and the now' holds historical vastness within grand scenery, time and space interlaced. The third couplet's firm antithesis spills loyal anger. The close ends on allusion, meaning unexhausted. Exact yet deep.

此诗章法谨严，起承转合浑然一体。首联「花近高楼伤客心，万方多难此登临」以乐景写哀情：繁花近楼本是赏心乐事，反更触动客子之心，翻案出奇，开篇即定下全诗悲慨沉郁的基调；「万方多难」四字点出时局，为登临张本。颔联「锦江春色来天地，玉垒浮云变古今」由近及远、由实入虚：锦江春色奔涌而来，似自天地间铺开，写景壮阔；玉垒浮云舒卷变幻，暗喻人间世事之无常，时空交错，壮景中含历史苍茫。颈联「北极朝廷终不改，西山寇盗莫相侵」转入时事议论，以北极星喻朝廷，对仗工稳，忠愤之气溢于言表。尾联「可怜后主还祠庙，日暮聊为梁甫吟」用典收束，借刘禅讽喻当代，以诸葛亮自况，含蓄不尽，余韵悠长。全诗景、情、史、理四者交融，以登临之景写家国之忧，以古人往事寄当世之慨，律切情深，沉郁顿挫，堪称杜律登临之作的典范。四联之中，写景、抒怀、议时、咏古四层递进，层次分明而一气贯通，如江流九折而势不可遏；对仗之工、炼字之精、声情之谐，皆臻化境，足为后世律诗立下楷式。

Allusions

'Pole Star' figures the court, from the Analects 'govern by virtue, like the North Star,' meaning the center that all turn to and cannot shake, the Tang's legitimate line. 'Later Lord' is Liu Shan of Shu, foolish yet still enshrined; 'Liangfu song' is what Zhuge Liang liked to chant when farming. The poet contrasts Liu Shan to mirror himself as the unsummoned Zhuge, seeing his will in history, feeling laid deep.

「北极」喻朝廷，语出《论语·为政》「为政以德，譬如北辰，居其所而众星共之」，北辰即北极星，居中不动而众星拱卫，杜甫取此以喻唐室正统不可动摇，足见其忠爱之忱。「西山寇盗」指吐蕃，广德年间吐蕃屡犯西陲，杜甫以「莫相侵」三字寄望边患平息，语带愤激，既是警敌，亦是壮己。「后主」指蜀汉后主刘禅，宠信黄皓、任用非人而亡国，成都武侯祠旁有先主庙与后主祠，杜甫登楼望见，感叹昏庸如刘禅者犹享祠庙香火，暗讽当朝用人失当、祸乱之源未除。「梁甫吟」为乐府曲名，相传诸葛亮躬耕陇亩时好为《梁甫吟》以咏怀见志；杜甫日暮吟此，自比隐而未遇的诸葛亮，既见其怀才不遇之悲，亦寓待时济世之志。二典连用，一讽一咏，古今对照，将个人之慨与家国之忧熔于一炉，咏史见志，寄慨遥深，最见杜诗用典精切而意蕴丰厚的特色。且此诗用典不着痕迹，如盐入水，读者不察其用典而自感其旨之深，正所谓善用事者化典于无迹，此正杜诗用事之最高境界。

Commentary

Song poet Lu You said of him 'see how vast his breast, a lake of ten thousand acres within,' praising this poem's weather. Ming critic Hu Yinglin's Poetry Improvisations ranked it among 'where is Du not sacred in seven-character regulated verse'; later readers called 'blossoms near the tall tower' a supreme climbing line.

此诗历代评价极高，为杜甫七律登临名篇。宋人陆游评杜甫胸次云「看渠胸次湛空阔，中有水中万顷之陂」，以万顷陂塘之气象许此诗，谓其胸襟开阔、境界浩茫；明人胡应麟《诗薮》论七言律诗，推杜甫为圣境，谓「七言律诗，何处非杜之圣境」，此诗即在其中；清人更誉「花近高楼」一联为登临绝唱，以为乐景哀情、情景交融，古今罕匹。此诗之价值，一在其思想之深：于万方多难之际登高望远，忧国忧民而不失信念，兼以古贤自期，境界高远；二在其艺术之精：乐景哀情、时空交错、典重语工，章法森然而情韵流转；三在其影响之远：后世登临之作，凡写家国兴亡、身世飘零者，多承其绪，如文天祥《金陵驿》诸作皆可见其流风。今日读之，仍能感其沉郁之气、忠爱之心，故历千年而不朽，为唐诗中不可多得之巨制。要之，此诗以二十八字写尽一代之多难，以两联熔铸古今之兴亡，气格之高、寄托之深，冠绝有唐登临之作，足令后之览者临文嗟悼，不能自已。

Prosody

Form Seven-character regulated verse (qilü)七言律诗

Rhyme Pingshui rhyme, lower-level twelfth Qin (心, 临, 今, 侵, 吟)平水韵·下平十二侵（心、临、今、侵、吟）

Tone pattern First line enters rhyme; level-onset first-line pattern首句入韵，平起首句格；全诗一韵到底，声调低沉绵长。

Reading note A famous Du Fu climbing poem; the two middle couplets antithesize with precision, scenery grand and feeling sad, restrained and stirring.此诗为七言律诗，属近体诗中最严整之体式。全诗八句四联，一韵到底，押平水韵下平十二侵韵，韵字为「心、临、今、侵、吟」，皆为侵韵本字，声调低沉绵长，正与全诗沉郁悲慨之情相合。首句「花近高楼伤客心」即入韵，属平起首句入韵格，平仄安排大体合律，中二联对仗精严：「锦江春色」对「玉垒浮云」，「来天地」对「变古今」；「北极朝廷」对「西山寇盗」，「终不改」对「莫相侵」，字字工稳，句句精警。杜律之妙，在以严整之格律写跌宕之情感：格律愈严，情感愈见沉著；对仗愈工，气象愈见宏阔。此诗为杜甫晚年七律登临名篇，与《登高》并为杜律双璧，其格律之精严、声情之相谐，足为后世七律之典范，历来为诗家所称道。

Line by line

花近高楼伤客心，万方多难此登临。

Blossoms near the tall tower wound the traveler's heart; in a time of troubles on every side I climb this tower.

繁花近倚高楼，反令客子伤心；值此万方多难之际，我登临此楼。

Blossoms near the high tower grieve the wanderer's heart; in these hard times for every quarter, I climb here.

首联开篇即奇：繁花近楼，本是赏心乐事，诗人却偏说「伤客心」，以乐景反衬哀情，一倍增其哀。花愈盛而心愈伤，正因万方多难、国步维艰，盛景与危时构成强烈反差，故「伤」字一出，全篇悲慨之调立定。「万方多难」四字，既点出登临之时局背景，亦为下文锦江、玉垒之景与朝廷、寇盗之议张本。此联以登临起，以感慨承，起笔高迈而不失沉痛，将一个时代的多难与一个游子的孤怀凝于十四字之中，开篇即见杜诗沉郁顿挫之风。

The opening couplet is strange from the first: blossoms near the tower are originally a delight, yet the poet says they grieve the wanderer's heart, using joyous scenery to set off grief, doubling the grief. The more splendid the blossoms, the more wounded the heart, precisely because of the hard times for every quarter and the state's hard going, the splendor and the peril forming a sharp contrast; hence once the word grieve appears, the whole's grief-stricken key is fixed. The four words hard times for every quarter at once point the time background of the climb, and lay a ground for the later Brocade River and Jade Terrace scenery and the court and bandits discourse. This couplet opens in the climb and carries on in the sigh, the opening high-minded yet not without the bitter, condensing an age's adversity and a wanderer's lonely heart in fourteen characters, the opening at once showing Du's brooding and measured style.

锦江春色来天地，玉垒浮云变古今。

The spring of the Jin River comes from heaven and earth; the floating clouds of Mount Yu Lei transform the ancient and the now.

锦江春色自天地间奔涌而来，玉垒山的浮云变幻着古往今来。

The spring hues of the Brocade River come from heaven and earth; on Jade Terrace Mountain the floating clouds change through all ages.

颔联写登楼所见之壮景，而壮景中含历史苍茫。「来天地」写锦江春色铺天盖地、奔涌而来，化静为动，气势磅礴，将春之浩荡写得如在目前；「变古今」写玉垒浮云舒卷无常，以云的变幻暗喻人世的兴衰代谢。一「来」一「变」，一写空间之广，一写时间之远，时空交错，气象宏阔。春色年年相似而世事日日不同，以恒物衬多变时事，其意深远：锦江之春愈壮丽，愈反衬时局之可忧，乐景哀情于此复现，为颈联的时事议论与尾联的咏史抒怀作了最自然的过渡。

The jaw couplet writes the grand scenery seen from the tower, and within the grand scenery the vastness of history. Come from heaven and earth writes the Brocade River's spring hues spreading sky and earth, surging in, turning stillness to motion, the force majestic, writing the spring's vastness as if before the eye. Change through all ages writes the floating clouds of Jade Terrace Mountain unrolling and rolling without rule, the clouds' change secretly meta-phoring human affairs' rise and fall. One come, one change, one writing the space's breadth, one the time's distance, space and time interwoven, the air vast. The spring hues year on year the same, yet human affairs day by day different, using the constant thing to set off the changing times, the meaning deep: the more grand the Brocade River's spring, the more it sets off the times' peril, the joyous scenery and grief recurring, making the most natural transition for the neck couplet's discourse on the times and the tail couplet's historical song.

北极朝廷终不改，西山寇盗莫相侵。

The Pole Star court after all will not change; western hills, you raiders, do not invade.

朝廷如北极星般终究不可动摇，西山寇盗切莫再来侵扰。

The court, like the polestar, shall not be moved; bandits of the western hills, do not invade.

颈联由写景转入时事，是全诗忠愤之情的直接流露。「北极」喻朝廷，语出《论语》北辰之喻，言唐室正统如北极星居其所而不移，可见杜甫虽身处西南、目睹多难，对朝廷依然抱有坚定的信念；「终不改」三字斩钉截铁，正气凛然。「西山寇盗」指屡犯西陲的吐蕃，「莫相侵」以警告之辞出之，既是忧边患之深，亦是壮国威之气。一正一反，对仗工稳，忠愤溢于言表，读之令人感其忠爱之笃。此联之妙，在以议论为诗而不失诗味，将个人的忧国之情凝为掷地有声的誓言，为全诗情感的高峰。

The neck couplet turns from scenery to the times, the direct outpouring of the whole's loyal indignation. The polestar meta-phors the court, from the Analects' polestar allusion, meaning the Tang orthodoxy like the polestar dwelling in its place unmoved; showing that Du Fu, though in the southwest and seeing the adversity, still holds a firm faith in the court. The three words shall not be moved are decisive, the upright air awe-inspiring. The bandits of the western hills mean the Tubo repeatedly raiding the western border, do not invade issuing as a warning, at once the deep concern for the border peril and the show of national might. One upright one warning, the parallelism wrought, loyal indignation overflowing the words, reading it moves one with the depth of the loyal love. The beauty of this couplet lies in making poetry of argument yet not losing the poetic savor, condensing the personal concern for the country into an oath that strikes the ground, the peak of the whole's feeling.

可怜后主还祠庙，日暮聊为梁甫吟。

Pitiful that the Later Lord still has his shrine; at dusk I faintly chant the Liangfu song.

可叹蜀汉后主刘禅至今还享有祠庙祭祀，日暮时分我姑且吟诵一曲《梁甫吟》。

Alas, the Last Ruler still has his temple; at dusk I hum a song of Liangfu.

尾联用典收束，含蓄不尽，为全诗点睛之笔。「后主」指刘禅，昏庸亡国而犹享祠庙，杜甫登楼望见，借古讽今，暗讽当朝宠佞失政、祸根未除，一个「可怜」既叹古人，亦伤今事。「梁甫吟」为诸葛亮躬耕时好吟之曲，杜甫日暮吟之，自比怀才未遇的诸葛亮，既寄其济世之志，亦见其请缨无路之悲。「日暮」二字双关，既是眼前落日之景，亦暗喻国运如日之西沉。全诗以登临起，以咏古结，古今对照，咏史见志，将家国之忧与身世之感熔于一炉，余韵悠长，耐人寻味。

The tail couplet closes in allusion, reserved and unexhausted, the eye-dotting stroke of the whole. The Last Ruler means Liu Shan, fatuous and losing the state yet still enjoying the temple sacrifice; Du Fu climbing the tower sees it, using the past to satirize the present, secretly satirizing the court's favoring of the wicked and the unchecked root of trouble; the single word pity at once sighs for the ancients and grieves the present. The Song of Liangfu is the Zhuge Liang's favored lay when he farmed; Du Fu humming it at dusk, comparing himself to the unrecognized Zhuge Liang, at once lodging his will to save the age and showing his grief of having no way to offer. The two words at dusk are double: at once the present setting sun, and secretly meta-phoring the state's fortune like the sun sinking west. The whole opens in the climb and closes in the historical song, past and present set against each other, the history showing the bent, fusing the family-state concern and the self's lot in one furnace, the aftertone long, to be enjoyed.

Study

Word focus

伤 The 'wound' (伤) in 'blossoms near the tall tower wound the traveler's heart' reverses joyous scene into sorrow with one word, setting the whole poem's grieving key. 「花近高楼伤客心」之「伤」字，是全诗立骨之字，一字逆转，顿生波澜。繁花近楼，本应赏心悦目，诗人却以「伤」字点破，乐景反触哀情，使花之繁盛反成心伤之媒，哀情因乐景之衬而加倍沉痛。此字之妙，在于将「以乐景写哀情」的手法凝于一字：若直写时局之忧，便显平直；经「伤」字一转，则登临之悲、家国之痛、身世之慨尽在其中，定下全篇悲慨的基调。且「伤」字与下句「万方多难」呼应，所伤者非止一己之漂泊，更伤国之多难，由小我之悲推向家国之忧，感情境界顿觉阔大，故一字而气象万千，最见杜甫炼字之功。

来 The 'come' (来) in 'spring of the Jin River comes from heaven and earth' writes spring rushing toward one, turning stillness to motion, with majestic force. 「锦江春色来天地」之「来」字，写春色之奔涌扑面，化静为动，气势磅礴，为全诗最壮阔之景注入了勃勃生机。春色本是无形之物，着一「来」字，便如潮水般自天地间涌至，极言锦江春色之浩瀚无边；「来天地」三字，将空间无限拓展，春色似与天地同来，境界宏阔，气象万千。此字之妙，在以动写静：一「来」字使满目春光由静态的铺陈变为动态的奔涌，读者仿佛亲见春色挟锦江碧波滚滚而至。且「来」字与下句「变」字相对，一来一变，一写空间一写时间，将登楼所见之壮景与古今代谢之苍茫熔于一句，炼字精警而意境深远。

聊 The 'faintly' (聊) in 'at dusk I faintly chant the Liangfu song' means 'just, helplessly,' showing ambition unspent, consoling himself only in chanting. 「日暮聊为梁甫吟」之「聊」字，意谓姑且、暂且，极写无可奈何之情，是尾联传神之眼。杜甫自比诸葛亮，本有济世之志，然身处西南一隅，请缨无路、报国无门，故只能于日暮之际「聊」为吟咏，聊以自遣。一「聊」字，将壮志难伸的悲慨、无人赏识的孤愤、强作排遣的无奈，尽收其中：若直写悲愤，便显激烈；着一「聊」字，则于淡淡的语气中见出深深的沉痛，愈平淡愈见其哀。且「聊」字与「日暮」呼应，暮色苍茫之中，老诗人独吟梁甫，其境何其悲凉，其情何其深挚，含蓄不尽，余韵悠长，最见杜诗沉郁顿挫、以淡写浓的艺术匠心。

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