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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

登楼

Climbing the Tower

杜甫

Du Fu

咏史historical 怀古nostalgic 愁思melancholy

花近高楼伤客心，万方多难此登临。
锦江春色来天地，可怜后主还祠庙，日暮聊为梁甫吟。

Flowers near the tall tower wound the traveler's heart; in these troubled times across the land I climb to look. The spring hues of Jinjiang sweep in from heaven and earth,
Pitiful—the Later Lord still shares the shrine; at dusk I hum the 'Liangfu Yin' to ease my mind.

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Meaning

Du Fu climbs a tower in troubled times and is moved to grief rather than joy by the spring scenery. He laments that the incompetent Later Lord of Shu still enjoys a shrine, and at dusk sings the 'Liangfu Yin' to express his unfulfilled ambition to serve the state like Zhuge Liang. The poem weaves personal exile with national crisis into a single melancholy vision.

繁花临近高楼，却更教客居他乡的我伤心；正当天下多难之时，我登上了此楼。锦江的春色仿佛自天地间浩荡而来。可叹昏庸的蜀后主刘禅还配享在先主庙中（借此讽喻当世君主之昏庸），日暮时分，我姑且吟咏一曲《梁甫吟》以自遣怀抱。

Appreciation

The poem is a model of Du Fu's 'profound and restrained' (chenyu duncuo) style, opening with the device of setting grief against a joyful scene. Its structure moves from scenery to feeling, then to history, and finally to aspiration, building layer upon layer with majestic breadth. The famous couplet 'Flowers near the tower wound the traveler's heart; in troubled times I climb' sets the mournful yet grand tone that has been recited through the ages.

【白话串讲】杜甫登楼：“花近高楼伤客心，万方多难此登临”——万方多难，他登楼伤心。“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”——他借后主讽当朝。【意象与手法】起句「花近高楼伤客心」以乐景写哀，花愈美而心愈伤；「万方多难」点出时局，为全诗立骨。锦江春色来天地，气象雄浑，与国难之重形成对照。尾联「可怜后主还祠庙，日暮聊为梁甫吟」借咏史讽喻当世，以诸葛自期，章法由景入情、由情入史、由史归志，沉郁顿挫。【情感与主旨】全诗抒发客居飘零之悲与忧国伤时之痛：国难当头而春色如故，君昏不悟而壮志难酬，遂于日暮吟诗自遣。个人身世之感与国家兴亡之悲打成一片，是杜甫「以天下为己任」情怀的典型流露。【名句点睛】「花近高楼伤客心，万方多难此登临」为全诗警策：繁花近楼、乐景生哀，万方多难、登临伤时，两句即定下全诗悲慨雄浑的基调，历来传诵。

Background

Climbing the Tower is one of Du Fu's celebrated seven-character regulated poems, composed around the spring of 764 (the second year of the Guangde era) when the fifty-three-year-old poet was living in exile in Chengdu by the Huanhua Stream. The year before, in 763, the Tibetans captured Chang'an and Emperor Daizong fled to Shanzhou before Guo Ziyi recovered the capital; that winter the Tibetans also took Song, Wei, and Bao prefectures, throwing Shu into alarm. Amid such incessant warfare and rebellion, Du Fu climbed the tower and wrote this poem; the phrase 'troubled times across the land' sums up the era of regional warlords, Tibetan incursions, and a wandering court. 'Flowers near the tower wound the traveler's heart' sets grief upon a happy scene, while 'Pitiful—the Later Lord still shares the shrine' satirizes the contemporary ruler's favoritism toward eunuchs by alluding to the Shu emperor Liu Shan, and 'at dusk I hum the Liangfu Yin' compares the poet to Zhuge Liang, whose ambitions went unfulfilled. The present text is an excerpt of the original eight-line poem, yet its sequence of climbing, viewing, recalling antiquity, and expressing feeling remains complete and is regarded as a pinnacle of Du Fu's late regulated verse.

《登楼》是杜甫七言律诗名篇，约作于唐代宗广德二年（764）春，时杜甫五十三岁，流寓成都，寓居浣花溪畔草堂。此前一年（广德元年，763）秋，吐蕃攻陷长安，代宗仓皇出奔陕州，郭子仪等收复京师；同年冬，吐蕃又攻陷松州、维州、保州，剑南西山诸州相继陷落，蜀中震动。国难频仍、兵戈未息，杜甫正是在这样的时局下登楼远眺，写下了这首诗。诗中「万方多难」四字，正是对当时藩镇割据、吐蕃入寇、朝廷播迁局势的概括。「花近高楼伤客心」以乐景写哀情，「可怜后主还祠庙」借蜀汉后主刘禅讽喻当朝君主宠任宦官、疏于朝政，「日暮聊为梁甫吟」则自比躬耕南阳、好为《梁甫吟》的诸葛亮，寄寓济世之志难伸的感慨。今本所录文本为原诗节选（原诗八句，尚有「玉垒浮云变古今」「北极朝廷终不改，西山寇盗莫相侵」等句），然其意脉完整：登临、览景、怀古、抒怀，四者次第展开，沉郁顿挫，气象雄浑，是杜甫晚年律诗的巅峰之作。

Art

This poem is strictly structured yet majestically broad, a model of the 'profound and restrained' manner of Du Fu's regulated verse. The opening line 'Flowers near the tower wound the traveler's heart' breaks in from nowhere: flowers should delight the eye, yet the traveler is wounded by them, doubling the grief by setting it against a happy scene and fixing the mournful tone from the start. The second line explains the cause of grief—the nation in peril—while the couplet on Jinjiang's spring hues uses the verb 'come' to render the spring as surging from heaven and earth, the height of expansive description. The closing line turns from scenery to history: the Later Lord sharing the shrine satirizes the foolish ruler of the day, and 'at dusk' darkly hints at a declining state, while 'I hum the Liangfu Yin' compares the poet to Zhuge Liang, whose time to aid the realm never came. The whole moves from scene to feeling, from feeling to history, and from history to aspiration, each layer deeper than the last, revealing the old master's commanding power.

此诗章法严整而气象雄浑，是杜律「沉郁顿挫」风格的典范。起句「花近高楼伤客心」即破空而入：花本悦目，而客子见之反伤其心，以乐景写哀，一倍增其哀，起笔已定全诗悲慨之基调。次句「万方多难此登临」补足伤心的原因——国难当头，登楼本为遣怀，而所见所感尽成伤心之由。颔联「锦江春色来天地」以「来」字写春色自天地间浩荡奔涌，气象阔大，是写景之极致；惜选本未录其对句「玉垒浮云变古今」，否则今古对照、俯仰天地的气象更见完整。颈联（选本未录）「北极朝廷终不改，西山寇盗莫相侵」直写朝廷根基之固与寇盗之不足畏。尾联「可怜后主还祠庙，日暮聊为梁甫吟」由览景转入怀古：成都武侯祠（昭烈庙）中后主刘禅像配享，诗人借以讽喻当世君昏；「日暮」既是实写时近黄昏，亦暗喻国运日蹙；「聊为梁甫吟」自比诸葛亮，欲效其匡济之志而不得其时，惆怅之意尽在言外。全诗由景入情、由情入史、由史归志，一层深似一层，足见老杜笔力之雄。

Allusions

The allusions are precise and all bear on the rise and fall of the state. First, 'the Later Lord still shares the shrine': in the Wuhou Temple at Chengdu, the image of Liu Shan—the Shu emperor who favored the eunuch Huang Hao and lost his kingdom—was enshrined alongside Zhuge Liang, a fact the poet uses to satirize his own ruler's similar indulgence of eunuchs such as Cheng Yuanshen and Yu Chaoen. Second, the 'Liangfu Yin': according to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang 'tilled the fields and loved to sing the Liangfu Yin'; the poem, a mournful old yuefu tune, let Du Fu compare himself to the sleeping dragon whose time had passed. Third, 'Jinjiang': a tributary of the Min River flowing past Chengdu, named for the bright brocade rinsed there; the poet's thatched cottage stood on its banks, lending local intimacy to the verse. Within four lines, reminiscence, satire, and self-comparison intertwine, the allusions seamlessly fused with intent.

此诗用典精切，均关国家兴亡之大事。其一，「后主还祠庙」：成都武侯祠本祀诸葛亮，后又配享刘备昭烈庙，后主刘禅之像亦在配享之列。刘禅宠信宦官黄皓，终致亡国被掳，「可怜后主还祠庙」谓亡国之君犹得配享祠庙，实为讽喻——当时代宗宠任宦官程元振、鱼朝恩，朝政昏乱，与刘禅之宠黄皓如出一辙，故诗人借古讽今，深致痛心。其二，「梁甫吟」：《三国志·蜀书·诸葛亮传》载，诸葛亮「躬耕陇亩，好为《梁父吟》」，《梁甫吟》本乐府古题，相传为葬歌，言齐相晏婴以二桃杀三士之事，声调悲凉慷慨。杜甫于日暮吟之，自比卧龙，欲匡济天下而时势不许，「聊为」二字，尽见抱负与无奈的张力。其三，「锦江」：岷江支流，流经成都，相传蜀人濯锦于江中而锦色鲜明，故名；杜甫草堂即在锦江之滨，以本地风物入诗，亲切而见地望。四句之中，怀古、讽今、自喻三者交织，典与意密合无间，非博览经史而又深于用世之志者不能为。

Commentary

This poem has long been regarded as a representative of Du Fu's 'lofty and profound' seven-character regulated verse and appears in virtually every historical anthology. The Qing critic Fang Dongshu praised it as 'majestic in atmosphere, enveloping the universe,' a judgment much quoted since. Written against the backdrop of 'troubled times across the land,' it records what the poet saw, felt, and pondered on his climb: grief at the flowers near the tower, spring filling heaven and earth while the state remains imperiled, a foolish ruler enshrined while a wise one is rare, and a dusk song while ambition goes unfulfilled—personal fate and national fate become one, the natural outpouring of Du Fu's conviction to 'take the world as his own responsibility.' Compared with Spring View, written when Chang'an was occupied by rebels, this later poem is more solemn and majestic, showing the maturity of his late style. Its influence reached Lu You and Wen Tianxiang, who inherited its spirit of climbing and chanting in troubled times.

此诗向被视为杜甫七律「高华沉郁」之代表，历代选本几无不录。清代方东树《昭昧詹言》评《登楼》云：「气象雄伟，笼盖宇宙」，又谓其律法精严，此评最为后世称引。全诗于「万方多难」的时代背景下，写登临所见、所感、所思：花近楼而伤心，春来天地而国难未已，后主犹配享祠庙而明君难遇，日暮吟诗而壮志难酬——个人身世之感与国家兴亡之悲打成一片，正是杜甫「以天下为己任」情怀的自然流露。与《春望》相比，《春望》写于长安陷贼之时，悲愤急切；《登楼》写于吐蕃入寇、代宗播迁之后，沉痛而更见雄浑，可见杜甫晚年诗境之老成。此诗对后世影响深远：唐人咏成都、咏武侯祠者多矣，而此诗以登临之作为冠；宋人陆游、文天祥登临怀古之作，皆承其「万方多难」「日暮吟诗」的精神血脉。读《登楼》，不仅读一诗，实可读见一个诗人在国难中挺立的身影。千载之下，花近高楼、日暮吟诗之景犹在目前，其「以天下为己任」的士人精神，亦随此诗长存于中国诗歌的血脉之中。

Prosody

Form Seven-character regulated poem (excerpt; the second line of the chin-couplet and the neck-couplet are omitted)七言律诗（所录为节选，缺颔联对句与颈联）

Rhyme Rhymes with the level-tone 'qin' rhyme; the first line enters the rhyme, sustained throughout. Rhyme words 'xin,' 'lin,' and 'yin' (the original also has 'jin' and 'qin') belong to the twelfth 'qin' rhyme group of the Pingshui rhyme table—a narrow rhyme whose somber sound matches the 'profound and restrained' style.押平声「侵」韵，首句入韵，一韵到底。韵脚为「心」「临」「吟」（原诗尚有「今」「侵」），皆属《平水韵》下平十二侵部，韵部窄而声情沉郁，正合「沉郁顿挫」之风格。

Tone pattern Oblique-inception with the first line entering the rhyme; the tonal pattern is harmonious: the opening line follows the pattern for 'oblique-oblique-level-level-oblique-oblique-level' (with the usual freedom in the first, third, and fifth positions), the second and third lines are neatly antithetical, the cadence is crisp and sonorous, befitting the majestic intent.仄起首句入韵式，平仄谐和：首句「花近高楼伤客心」（平仄平平平仄平）合「仄仄平平仄仄平」之格（一三五不论），二、三句对仗工稳，声调铿锵，朗朗上口，与雄浑之意相称。

Reading note Climbing the Tower is a standard seven-character regulated poem, oblique-inception with the first line entering the rhyme, using the twelfth 'qin' rhyme of the lower level tone, sustained throughout. The 'qin' rhyme is a narrow one, yet Du Fu gallops freely within it; the syllables are weighty and the sense flows, which is why later critics so often cite this poem when praising Du's regulated verse for its 'grand voice and vigorous spirit.' The regulated form requires antithesis in the middle two couplets; the original chin-couplet 'Jinjiang's spring hues come from heaven and earth, / Yulei's floating clouds change the ancient and modern' sets heaven and earth against ancient and modern, spring hues against floating clouds—a spatial-temporal contrast of vast magnitude, a famous pairing through the ages; the neck-couplet 'The Northern Pole's court never changes, / The western mountains' bandits dare not invade' sets court against bandits, 'never changes' against 'dare not invade,' solemn and impassioned. The present excerpt keeps only the head couplet, the chin-couplet's first line, and the tail couplet; though incomplete, the outline of a single climbing act remains, with the head opening the topic and the tail closing it. Du's regulated verse most exemplifies 'restraint and cadence': the sudden opening, the low closing, the resounding antithesis in the middle, and the plaintive close—rising and falling, lifting and dropping—is precisely the sonic realization of 'profound and restrained.' This poem should be read slowly and sung aloud, to feel how its solemn, majestic music and its mournful feeling merge into one.《登楼》为标准的七言律诗，仄起首句入韵式，押下平十二侵韵，一韵到底。「侵」韵属窄韵，杜甫偏能于窄韵中驰骋，音节沉著而意脉流走，故前人评杜律「声宏气壮」者多举此诗。律诗体制要求中二联对仗，原诗颔联「锦江春色来天地，玉垒浮云变古今」以天地对古今、以春色对浮云，时空对照，气象宏阔，是千古名对；颈联「北极朝廷终不改，西山寇盗莫相侵」以朝廷对寇盗、以终不改对莫相侵，义正词严，声情激越。今选本仅录首联、颔联出句与尾联，虽不完整，然首联点题、尾联收束，登临一体的轮廓仍在。杜律最讲「顿挫」：起句突兀、结句低回，中间对仗处音响宏亮，收束处声情凄婉，一扬一抑、一起一落，正是「沉郁顿挫」四字在声律上的落实。读此诗宜缓声长吟，体会其音节之沉雄与情意之悲慨如何相融为一。

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 these troubled times across the land I climb to look.

繁花临近高楼，反而令客居他乡的我伤心；正逢天下多难之际，我登上了这座高楼。

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

起句十字，已具全诗悲慨之骨。「花近高楼」是乐景：春色烂漫，繁花似锦，正当登临赏玩之时；而「伤客心」三字陡转，以乐景写哀，一倍增其哀——客子之心本自多愁，见花开而念国难、念身世，乐景反成伤心之媒。次句「万方多难此登临」补足伤之由：所谓「万方多难」，指当时吐蕃入寇、藩镇跋扈、朝廷播迁，天下处处多难；一个「此」字，点出登临之际正是国难当头之日，登楼非为赏景，实为忧时。两句一景一情、一乐一哀，情与景对照映发，起笔即见沉郁顿挫之致，为全诗定下雄浑悲慨的基调，亦见杜诗「句句皆关系国家」的用世本色。

The opening ten characters already hold the whole's grief-stricken bone. Blossoms near the high tower is joyous scenery: spring in riot, blossoms like brocade, the very time to climb and enjoy; yet the three words grieve the wanderer's heart turn abruptly, writing grief through joyous scenery, doubling the grief - the wanderer's heart already full of sorrow, seeing the bloom and thinking of the national peril and his own lot, the joyous scenery become the grief's medium. The second line, in these hard times for every quarter, I climb here, completes the cause of the grief: the so-called hard times for every quarter means the Tubo invasion, the warlords' arrogance, the court's flight, the land hard-pressed everywhere; the single word this points that the moment of climbing is exactly the day of national peril, the climb not for scenery but for concern for the age. The two lines, one scenery one feeling, one joy one grief, feeling and scenery set off each other, the opening at once showing the brooding and measured, fixing the whole's grand grief-stricken key, and showing Du's way of every line touching the state.

锦江春色来天地，

The spring hues of the Jinjiang River sweep in from heaven and earth,

锦江的春色仿佛自天地之间浩荡而来，铺满天地。

The spring hues of the Brocade River come rolling from heaven and earth,

此句写登楼所见之景，气象雄浑，为全诗最阔大处。「锦江春色」是实景：成都锦江之滨，春意盎然；「来天地」则是想象之词——春色不限于一江一隅，而是自天地间浩荡奔涌而至，充塞六合。一个「来」字最为有力：春色不是静静地在那里，而是如潮水般「来」到眼前，赋予静景以动的气势，写出春之繁盛与天地之阔大。然此乐景与「万方多难」的时局恰成反衬：天地春色如故，而人间战乱方殷，宇宙之永恒与人事之纷扰对照，正见老杜「以天地为心」的胸襟。可惜选本所录止于此句，未及其对句「玉垒浮云变古今」——玉垒山浮云之变与锦江春色之来，一今一古、一动一静，若得合观，气象更见完整。

This line writes the scenery seen from the tower, the air grand, the broadest place of the whole. The spring hues of the Brocade River is real scenery: by the Chengdu Brocade River, spring in fullness; come from heaven and earth is the imagined word - the spring hues not limited to one river, but rolling from heaven and earth, filling the six directions. The single word come is the most forceful: the spring hues are not quietly there, but like a tide coming before the eye, giving the still scenery a moving force, writing the spring's abundance and heaven and earth's breadth. Yet this joyous scenery sets off the hard times for every quarter: the spring hues of heaven and earth as before, yet the human war raging, the universe's eternity and human affairs' turmoil set against each other, exactly showing Old Du's heart of heaven and earth. It is a pity the anthology stops at this line, not reaching its paired line the floating clouds of Jade Terrace Mountain change through all ages - the clouds' change and the spring's coming, one ancient one modern, one moving one still, together seen, the air the more complete.

可怜后主还祠庙，日暮聊为梁甫吟。

Pitiful—the Later Lord still shares the shrine; at dusk I hum the 'Liangfu Yin' to ease my mind.

可叹亡国的蜀后主刘禅还配享在先主庙中（借此讽喻当世君主之昏庸），日暮时分，我姑且吟唱一曲《梁甫吟》以寄托怀抱。

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

尾联由览景转入怀古抒怀，是情感之归宿。「可怜后主还祠庙」：成都武侯祠配享刘禅之像，诗人见之而叹——亡国之君犹得配享，正如当朝君主宠任宦官、昏聩误国而不自知，借古讽今，笔锋直指时君。以「可怜」领起，怜后主实是伤当代，痛惜之中含着绝望的清醒。「日暮聊为梁甫吟」收束全诗：日暮既写登临之久、时局之晚，亦暗喻国运之日薄西山；「聊为」二字，透出无可奈何的勉强——欲效诸葛亮匡济天下，而世无其君、时无其会，只能聊以吟诗自遣。一个「聊」字，把报国无门的悲凉写得极沉痛。全诗以登临起、以吟诗结，景、史、志三者交融，沉郁顿挫，余韵苍凉，是杜甫忧国情怀最沉着的告白。

The tail couplet turns from the scenery to the historical song, the landing of the feeling. Alas, the Last Ruler still has his temple: in Chengdu's Marquis Wu temple, Liu Shan's image shares the sacrifice, the poet seeing it and sighing - the lost-state ruler still sharing the sacrifice, exactly like the present ruler favoring the eunuchs, fatuous and ruining the state without knowing it, using the past to satirize the present, the pen-point straight at the present ruler. Led by the word pity, pitying the Last Ruler is in truth grieving the present, the regret holding a despairing clarity. At dusk I hum a song of Liangfu closes the whole: dusk at once writing the long climb and the age's lateness, and secretly meta-phoring the state's fortune nearing its sunset; the two words hum a show the helpless reluctance - wishing to emulate Zhuge Liang's saving the world, yet the age has no such ruler and no such hour, only the poetry to while it away. The single word hum writes to the utmost the desolation of having no way to serve the country. The whole opens in the climb and closes in the song, scenery, history, and will fused, brooding and measured, the aftertone desolate, Old Du's most settled confession of his concern for the state.

Study

Word focus

伤 The 'wound' (shang) in 'flowers near the tower wound the traveler's heart' is the emotional eye of the poem: blossom is by nature emotionless, yet the traveler is grieved by it because of the 'troubled times across the land'—the fairer the scene, the heavier the contrast with the nation's peril, making this a doubled grief 'set against a happy scene' rather than ordinary sorrow. 「花近高楼伤客心」之「伤」字，是全诗情感之眼。花本无情，近楼何伤？而客子见之伤心，实因「万方多难」——春色愈美，愈反衬国难之重；花开愈盛，愈见客心之悲。此「伤」字写的是「以乐景写哀」的加倍之哀，非泛泛之愁，而是糅合了身世飘零、国事日非、壮志难酬的沉痛。杜诗最善用「伤」：「感时花溅泪」之泪、「白头搔更短」之搔，与此「伤客心」同一机杼，皆由景物触发深沉的忧时之痛。一个「伤」字，已把「客」（客居）、「楼」（登临）、「万方多难」（时局）三者绾合为一，起句即见举重若轻的锤炼之功。

来 The 'come' (lai) in 'the spring hues of Jinjiang come from heaven and earth' is a model of scenic diction: spring, a static scene, is given the verb 'come' so it surges like a flood from heaven and earth, turning the still into the moving and opening a vast vista; set against 'troubled times,' it heightens the contrast between the eternal spring and human strife. 「锦江春色来天地」之「来」字，是写景炼字之典范。春色本为静景，着一「来」字，遂如洪流奔涌、自天地间浩荡而至，化静为动，气象顿开。「来」字点出春色之主动、之充盈：不是人看春色，而是春色挟天地之势扑面而来，将登楼者裹入无边的春意之中。此字与「万方多难」对照，愈见天地之春常存而人间之难未已，宇宙之浩荡与人事之纷扰，尽在一「来」一「难」之间。杜诗炼字，常于动词处用力，如「吴楚东南坼」之「坼」、「星垂平野阔」之「垂」，皆以一字写尽气象；「春色来天地」之「来」，正是同一功力，雄浑而不见斧凿之痕。

聊 The 'merely' (liao) in 'at dusk I merely hum the Liangfu Yin' is the key word of the closing couplet: liao means 'just' or 'reluctantly.' Comparing himself to Zhuge Liang, the poet wished to 'raise the ruler to the level of Yao and Shun,' yet with the state in peril and himself old and adrift, he can only 'merely' chant to console himself—a word that captures the full gap between ambition and reality, the sorrow of a gift for statecraft with no arena to use it. 「日暮聊为梁甫吟」之「聊」字，是尾联诗眼，最见老杜心事。聊者，姑且、勉强之意。梁甫吟是诸葛亮躬耕时好吟之曲，杜甫自比卧龙，本欲「致君尧舜上」，然国难当头而身老飘零，报国无门，只能于日暮之际「聊为」吟唱——不是欣然吟之，而是无可奈何、聊以自遣。一个「聊」字，写尽抱负与现实的落差：有诸葛之志而无诸葛之遇，有济世之才而无用武之地，于是千言万语，都咽成一声「聊为」的叹息。与「可怜」二字呼应，怜君亦自怜，讽世亦自伤，沉痛入骨。杜诗善以虚字传神，「聊」「且」「空」等字一出，往往正是情感最深处，此「聊」字可为明证。

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