All poems

唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

奉济驿重送严公四韵

Seeing Lord Yan Off Again at Fengji Post Station: Four Rhymes

杜甫

Du Fu

远送从此别，青山空复情。
几时杯重把，昨夜月同行。
列郡讴歌惜，三朝出入荣。
江村独归处，寂寞养残生。

I have escorted you far, and from here we part; the blue hills are lovingly full of feeling, and all in vain.
When shall we raise our cups together again? Last night we walked together beneath the moon.
The commanderies sing your praise and are loath to lose you; through three reigns you have gone in and out with honour.
I go back alone to my riverside village, to nurse the remainder of my life in solitude.

Listen

Meaning

The poem was written when Du Fu accompanied his patron and friend Yan Wu on the first stage of his journey to the capital and had to turn back. It mingles grief at the separation with gratitude: he recalls the moonlit walk of the previous night, wonders when they will drink together again, praises Yan Wu's administration and his standing through three reigns, and closes on the bleak picture of himself returning alone to his village to live out his remaining years.

远远地送你，从此便成永别，青山空自多情地伫立着。不知何时才能与你再次举杯共饮，昨夜我们还一同在月下同行。你治下的各郡百姓都讴歌惋惜你的离去，你历仕三朝、出将入相，何等荣耀。而我独自回到江村，在寂寞中消磨这残生。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] I have come far with you and now we part; the hills are full of feeling to no purpose. When shall our cups be raised again? Last night we walked beneath the same moon. Every commandery sings of you and grudges your going; through three reigns you have served in and out with glory. I return alone to the river village, to tend the broken remainder of my days. [Structure] A regulated octave in two halves. The first two couplets are intimate: parting, the hills, the cups, the moonlit walk. The third couplet is ceremonial praise, and the fourth turns sharply back to the poet's own destitution. [Imagery] The blue hills keep their feeling while the friends must separate - nature's permanence against human helplessness. Last night's shared moon and tomorrow's empty cup measure the distance between past and future. The final couplet's contrast is stark: his friend's honour at court against his own loneliness. [Effect] The poem moves from deep affection through public tribute to private desolation, and the contrast is what makes it unbearable.

【白话串讲】杜甫写《奉济驿重送严公四韵》：“远送从此别，青山空复情”——“几时杯重把，昨夜月同行”——“列郡讴歌惜，三朝出入荣”——“江村独归处，寂寞养残生”——他再送严武——几时杯重把。【意象与手法】首联“远送从此别，青山空复情”以青山之多情反衬别后之空寂；颔联“几时杯重把，昨夜月同行”以昨夜之欢聚对照今日之别离；颈联“列郡讴歌惜，三朝出入荣”颂严武之政绩荣耀；尾联“江村独归处，寂寞养残生”写自己独归江村、寂寞残生。一送一别、一荣一枯。【情感与主旨】杜甫送别好友严武之作，写别离之深与政绩之荣，兼写自己独归江村的寂寞，于深情中见身世之慨，是杜甫送别诗中的名篇。【名句点睛】常考“远送从此别，青山空复情”以青山写别后空寂；“几时杯重把，昨夜月同行”以昨夜月同行写欢聚之别。

Background

Du Fu (712 - 770), courtesy name Zimei, called himself the Old Man of Shaoling and is revered as the Poet Sage, his work known as poetry-history. After years of flight he settled at Chengdu, where Yan Wu, governor of Jiannan and his close friend, supported him and helped build the thatched cottage. In the summer of 762 Yan Wu was summoned to the capital, and Du Fu accompanied him as far as Fengji post station near Mianzhou; since he had already written one farewell, this is called a second seeing-off. The poem is therefore both a personal farewell and a document of dependence: Yan Wu was Du Fu's shelter in a disordered age. Yan Wu died soon after reaching court, so these lines became in effect a last leave-taking.

《奉济驿重送严公四韵》为唐代诗人杜甫所作五言律诗。杜甫（712—770），字子美，自号少陵野老，河南巩县人，唐代伟大的现实主义诗人，世称「诗圣」，其诗被称为「诗史」。此诗作于唐代宗宝应元年（762）夏。严公即严武，杜甫好友，时任成都尹、剑南节度使，对杜甫多有照拂，杜甫流寓成都时即依靠严武的资助，筑草堂而居。是年严武奉召入朝，杜甫一路相送，送至绵州奉济驿，赋此诗以赠。「重送」者，因前此已有一首送行诗，故曰重送。诗中「远送从此别」写送行之远、别意之深；「几时杯重把，昨夜月同行」追叙昨夜月下同行之欢；「列郡讴歌惜，三朝出入荣」颂严武政绩与历仕三朝之荣耀；「江村独归处，寂寞养残生」则写自己送别后独归江村、寂寞度日之况。严武入朝后不久即病逝，杜甫此诗竟成与好友的诀别之作。全诗于送别之中，既见对好友的深情与感恩，亦见身世飘零、无所依傍的悲凉，是杜甫送别诗中的名篇，也是研究杜、严交谊的重要诗作。

Art

The poem's power comes from the collision of two registers inside one octave. The first half is handled with the tenderness of private friendship - the hills that feel, the cup that may be raised again, the moon under which they walked last night - and the remembered moon works as a silent third presence binding the two men. The third couplet suddenly adopts the public manner: balanced, laudatory, official, with commanderies and reigns in neat antithesis. Then the last couplet drops back to the first person and to a bare, unflattering word for the rest of his life. That movement - intimacy, ceremony, abandonment - is the structure of the whole feeling. Du Fu also uses the hills to carry the emotion outward at the start: because the landscape is full of a feeling that can change nothing, the grief is shown to be larger than either man.

此诗艺术上以「时空对照、情真意挚」见长。全诗八句，前四句写送别之情，后四句写严武之荣与己身之悲。首联「远送从此别，青山空复情」以「远送」起笔，写送行之远、别意之深，而「青山空复情」更以拟人之笔，写青山空自含情伫立——山犹多情，而人终将别去，「空」字见别后之空虚。颔联「几时杯重把，昨夜月同行」以今昔对照：昨夜月下同行、杯酒言欢，今日却要相别，不知何时才能重把酒杯，「几时」一问，把对重逢的期盼与对离别的怅惘一并写出。颈联「列郡讴歌惜，三朝出入荣」转写严武之政绩与荣耀：「列郡讴歌」写百姓爱戴，「三朝出入」写历仕玄宗、肃宗、代宗三朝、出将入相之荣。尾联「江村独归处，寂寞养残生」笔锋一转，写自己送别后独归江村，寂寞度日，「独」「残」二字，写尽身世之飘零与晚景之凄凉。全诗一送一别、一荣一枯、一热一冷，层层对照，于深情中见身世之慨，正是杜甫以章法之开阖写情感之起伏的典范。

Allusions

The hills that keep their feeling echo the convention of the landscape as a companion to human parting, found in earlier farewell poetry, where mountains and rivers are said to be moved by a separation they cannot prevent. The question about raising cups again recalls the recurring motif of the interrupted drinking party, the emblem of friendship broken by office or war. Praise of an administrator in terms of the songs of the commanderies derives from the old ideal of the good governor commemorated in local song, while service through three reigns invokes the highest official distinction. The closing phrase for the remnant of life belongs to Du Fu's late vocabulary of exhaustion, in which a man describes himself as a leftover.

诗中「列郡」「三朝」等语，涉严武之仕历与政绩。严武两镇剑南，官至检校吏部尚书、郑国公，「列郡讴歌惜」写其治下各郡百姓的歌颂与挽惜，以政绩之实写其得民之心；「三朝出入荣」写其历仕玄宗、肃宗、代宗三朝，出为节度使、入为卿相之荣耀，语含敬重与推崇。「江村独归处」之「江村」，指杜甫在成都浣花溪畔的草堂，他自称「江村」，如《江村》诗「清江一曲抱村流」即写此。此诗用「列郡」「三朝」等语写严武之荣，以「江村」「残生」写己身之悲，一荣一枯，对照鲜明，既见诗人对好友政绩的真诚推许，亦见其在好友离去后无所依傍的孤寂，是杜甫于送别诗中寄寓身世感慨的体现。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。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

Critics have valued the poem as much for what it reveals as for how it is made. It is one of the fullest statements of the bond between Du Fu and Yan Wu, and therefore a central document for the poet's Chengdu years. Readers have singled out the second couplet, in which a question about the future is answered by a memory of the night before, as an example of Du Fu's ability to compress a whole relationship into two lines. Others have drawn attention to the honesty of the ending: at the moment of honouring a great man, the poet records his own abandonment without self-pity, and the restraint is what gives the close its force. The poem is regularly cited whenever Du Fu's later manner - plain, grave, autobiographical - is discussed.

这首《奉济驿重送严公四韵》，是杜甫送别好友严武之作，写得情真意挚、感慨深沉。严武是杜甫在成都最有力的依靠，此番奉召入朝，杜甫一路远送，送至奉济驿，依依不舍之情溢于言表。首联「远送从此别，青山空复情」，「远送」二字见其送行之远、情谊之深；「青山空复情」以青山拟人，写山犹含情而人将别去，别后之空寂已隐约可见。颔联「几时杯重把，昨夜月同行」，追叙昨夜月下同行、杯酒言欢之乐，而「几时」一问，把这份欢乐悬置在不知何日重逢的怅惘之中，今昔对照，情味深长。颈联「列郡讴歌惜，三朝出入荣」，盛赞严武之政绩与荣耀，是出于真心的推许，也是对其此去前程的祝福。尾联「江村独归处，寂寞养残生」，笔锋陡转，写自己送别之后，独归江村，在寂寞中消磨残生——「独」字见其形单影只，「残生」见其晚景凄凉。严武一去，杜甫在成都便失去依靠，此诗的尾联，写尽了诗人对好友的依恋与对自身飘零的悲凉。全诗一荣一枯、一热一冷，深情与感慨交织，正是「诗圣」于送别之际见人生之慨的典范，读之令人动容。

Prosody

Form A five-character regulated octave (wuyan lüshi) in the recent-style form, eight lines in four couplets, with antithesis in the middle couplets.五言律诗（近体，仄起式）

Rhyme A single level-tone rhyme in the even lines, drawn from a long, resonant final shared by the words for feeling, walking, honour and life. The sustained rhyme suits a poem about an attachment that will not come to an end.全诗押平声韵「情」「行」「荣」「生」，韵脚同属庚青类（情、行、荣、生），一韵到底，韵部宽舒而音调悠长。五律以平韵谐畅为常，此诗「情」「行」「荣」「生」四韵音色绵长，正与送别之情的深长相称；「生」字收束全篇，与「残生」之句相映，韵脚亦含身世之悲，声情与辞情相凑。

Tone pattern Level and oblique tones follow the regulated pattern, with the caesura after the second syllable of each line. The first couplets read quietly and slowly, the third is fuller and more formal in sound, and the last falls to a plain, almost flat close appropriate to exhaustion.句式上，首联「远送从此别，青山空复情」仄起，以「别」「情」顿挫，写送别之情；颔联「几时杯重把，昨夜月同行」以问句、追忆写今昔对照，音节起伏含情；颈联「列郡讴歌惜，三朝出入荣」对仗工整，「讴歌」「出入」相对，写严武之荣，音节庄重；尾联「江村独归处，寂寞养残生」以「生」字平收，音节转沉，情调由颂扬归于悲凉。全诗平仄相间、音节随情起伏，读来如诗人于驿亭目送友人远去的怅惘低语，深挚而悲凉。

Reading note In five-syllable lines, every word must count, and Du Fu makes the compression do emotional work: the repeated word for together in the second couplet binds the two friends across the line break. The rhyme on the final word for life closes the poem on an open sound that refuses to resolve, leaving the reader with the sense of an ending that is not an ending.此诗为五言律诗，是杜甫送别诗中的名篇，也是研究杜甫与严武交谊的重要诗作。全诗的艺术特色在于「时空对照、以荣衬枯」：首联「远送从此别，青山空复情」以「远送」写情谊之深，以「青山空复情」写别后之空寂；颔联「几时杯重把，昨夜月同行」以今昔对照，一写重逢之渺茫、一写昨夜之欢愉；颈联「列郡讴歌惜，三朝出入荣」盛赞严武之政绩与荣耀；尾联「江村独归处，寂寞养残生」笔锋陡转，写自己独归江村、寂寞残生。全诗一送一别、一荣一枯、一热一冷，层层对照，于深情中见身世之慨。尤为动人者，是尾联以严武之「荣」反衬己身之「残」，把诗人对好友的依恋、感恩与自身飘零的悲凉一并写出，情深而意切。此诗作后不久严武即病逝，竟成诀别之作，更见其情之真、其悲之深，为后世所称赏。

Line by line

远送从此别，青山空复情。

I have escorted you far; from here we part. The blue hills keep their feeling, and all in vain.

远远地送别你，从此便成真正的离别，那青山空自多情地伫立着，似也含情。

I have seen you far on our way; from this parting, the green hills stand in vain, full of feeling.

首联起笔写别，情意深长。「远送从此别」写送行之远、别意之深，「远」字见其一路相送、不忍遽别，一个「从此别」更点出这并非寻常分别，而是自此天各一方；「青山空复情」以拟人写景，青山空自含情伫立，仿佛也在为这离别而动情，「空」字见其有情而不能留人，别后之空虚落寞已隐然其中。两句一写送别之情、一写别后之境，情与景交融，把诗人对好友的依依不舍与对别离的怅惘，写得含蓄而深挚，为全诗定下了深情怅惘的基调。

The opening couplet opens with the parting, the feeling deep and long. I have seen you far on our way writes the far escort and the deep parting, the word far showing the一路 escort and the loth to part, the three words from this parting further pointing that this is no ordinary parting, but from now on the skies between. The green hills stand in vain, full of feeling personifies the scenery, the green hills in vain feelingful standing, as if moved by this parting, the word in vain showing the feeling yet unable to keep the man, the emptiness after the parting already hidden within. The two lines, one writing the feeling of seeing off, one the state after parting, feeling and scenery fused, writing the poet's loth to part from the dear friend and the wistfulness of parting, reserved and deep, fixing the whole's deep-wistful key.

几时杯重把，昨夜月同行。

When shall we raise our cups together again? Last night we walked together beneath the moon.

不知何时才能与你再次举杯共饮，昨夜我们还一同在月下同行呢。

When shall we lift the cup again? Last night we walked together in the moon.

颔联以今昔对照写别情，是全诗最动人的一联。「几时杯重把」以问句写对重逢的期盼，「几时」见其不知何日才能再会，重逢之渺茫与期盼之殷切一并写出；「昨夜月同行」追叙昨夜月下同行、把酒言欢之乐，一个「昨夜」，把这份欢乐写得如在目前。两句一写未来之渺茫、一写昨日之欢愉，以昨之乐衬今之别，今昔对照之下，离别之怅惘愈显深长。诗人不直写依依不舍，而以此设问与追忆写之，情真意挚，含蓄蕴藉，正是杜甫以时空对照写深情的妙笔。

The jaw couplet writes the parting in the contrast of now and then, the whole's most moving couplet. When shall we lift the cup again? writes the hope of reunion in a question, the word when showing not knowing on what day to meet again, the vagueness of reunion and the eagerness of hope together. Last night we walked together in the moon recalls last night's walking together in the moonlight and the wine's joy, the two words last night writing this joy as if before the eye. The two lines, one writing the future's vagueness, one the yesterday's joy, using yesterday's joy to set off today's parting, the now-then contrast making the parting's wistfulness the longer. The poet does not directly write the loth to part, but writes it through this question and recollection, the feeling true and earnest, reserved and pregnant, exactly Du Fu's fine brush of writing deep feeling through space-time contrast.

列郡讴歌惜，三朝出入荣。

The commanderies sing your praise and grudge your going; through three reigns you have gone in and out with honour.

你治下的各郡百姓都讴歌惋惜你的离去；你历仕三朝，出将入相，何等荣耀。

The towns sang your praise and grieve your going; through three reigns you have moved in and out, honored.

颈联转写严武之政绩与荣耀，是诗人出于真心的推许。「列郡讴歌惜」写严武治下各郡百姓的歌颂与挽惜，「讴歌」见其得民之心，「惜」字见其离去之为人所念；「三朝出入荣」写其历仕玄宗、肃宗、代宗三朝，出为节度使、入为卿相之荣耀，「出入」二字写其出将入相之经历，「荣」字见其仕途之显赫。两句一写民望、一写官荣，盛赞严武之政绩与地位，既是真心推许，也是对其此去前程的祝福与期望。然盛赞之下，亦暗含诗人自愧不如、身世飘零之意，为尾联之悲作了反衬，是「以荣衬枯」的布局之笔。

The neck couplet turns to Yan Wu's achievements and glory, the poet's genuine esteem. The towns sang your praise and grieve your going writes the people's praise and regret in the towns under Yan's rule, the word sang showing his winning the people's hearts, the word grieve showing his departure being missed. Through three reigns you have moved in and out, honored writes his serving Xuanzong, Suzong, and Daizong, as military governor abroad and chief minister at home, the two words moved in and out writing his rise as general and minister, the word honored showing his illustrious career. The two lines, one writing the people's trust, one the office's glory, highly praising Yan's achievements and station, at once genuine esteem and the blessing and hope for his road ahead. Yet beneath the high praise, secretly holding the poet's own sense of falling short and his drifting lot, setting off the tail couplet's grief, the layout of using glory to set off the withered.

江村独归处，寂寞养残生。

The place to which I return alone, the riverside village - in solitude to nurse the remainder of my life.

而我独自回到江村的草堂，在寂寞中消磨这残生。

To the riverside village I return alone, in loneliness to nurse out my remaining years.

尾联笔锋陡转，写自己送别后的境况，是全诗情感的高潮。「江村独归处」写自己送别严武后，独归成都浣花溪畔的江村草堂，「独」字见其形单影只、无所依傍；「寂寞养残生」写其在寂寞中消磨残年，「寂寞」见其晚景之凄凉，「残生」见其生命之迟暮。两句与前联严武之「三朝出入荣」形成强烈对照——严武荣耀入朝，而自己独守江村、寂寞残生，一荣一枯，愈见诗人身世之飘零与对好友的依恋。严武一去，杜甫在成都便失去依靠，此联写尽了诗人的孤寂与悲凉，是全诗情感最沉痛处，读之令人动容。

The tail couplet's pen turns abruptly, writing the poet's own lot after seeing off, the climax of the whole's feeling. To the riverside village I return alone writes the poet's returning alone to the thatched cottage by Huanhua Stream after seeing Yan off, the word alone showing his single figure without support. In loneliness to nurse out my remaining years writes his spending his last years in loneliness, the word loneliness showing the desolation of his later years, the word remaining years the late life. The two lines form a sharp contrast with the preceding couplet's Yan's through three reigns honored - Yan gloriously entering court, the poet alone guarding the riverside village, lonely and with his remaining years, one glory one withered, the more showing the poet's drifting lot and his attachment to the friend. Yan gone, Du Fu in Chengdu loses his support, this couplet writing to the full the poet's loneliness and desolation, the whole's most bitter place, reading it moves one.

Study

Word focus

远送 To escort far. The adverb of distance measures affection: the poet has already gone beyond the customary point of leave-taking, so the length of the escort becomes the proof and the cost of the friendship. 「远送」写送行之远、情谊之深，「远」字见其一路相送、不忍遽别。严武入朝，杜甫自成都送至绵州奉济驿，数百里相送，情意之重尽在「远送」二字。着一「远」字，把这份依依不舍的情谊与送别的郑重写尽，也为全诗奠定了深情怅惘的基调，是起笔见情的妙笔。「远送」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

空复情 Full of feeling, and all in vain. The two words pit the landscape's constancy against human helplessness: the hills will go on feeling long after the friends have separated, and their feeling can accomplish nothing. 「空复情」写青山空自含情伫立，「空」字是全联乃至全诗的关键——青山虽多情，却终不能留人，别后之空虚落寞尽在「空」字之中。诗人不直写己之不舍，而托青山之多情写之，以物写情，含蓄蕴藉；「复」字更见其情之再三、依依难舍。三字于拟人中寄深情，是「以景写情」的点睛之笔。「空复情」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

几时 At what time, when. A bare interrogative that introduces the only question in the poem and leaves it unanswered; it carries the whole uncertainty of two men separated in an age of war, who cannot know whether they will meet again. 「几时」以问句写对重逢的期盼与渺茫，是全诗情感起伏的关键。「几时杯重把」一问，既见其殷切期盼再次相聚，又见其不知何日才能再会的怅惘，「几时」二字把期盼与渺茫一并写出。着一问，便使昨日之欢愉与今日之别离、未来之重逢交织一处，今昔对照之下，离别之惆怅愈显深长。「几时」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

残生 The remnant of a life. A deliberately unheroic word for old age, suggesting something broken off and left over. Set against the honours of the previous line, it marks the distance between the friend's public glory and the poet's private exhaustion. 「残生」即残年余生，写诗人晚景之凄凉与身世之飘零。「寂寞养残生」着一「残」字，既是写生命之迟暮，亦是写身世之衰微——好友一去，自己独守江村，无所依傍，唯在寂寞中消磨残年。「残」字与颈联严武之「荣」字形成强烈对照，一荣一枯，愈见诗人身世之悲，是尾联以一字写尽晚景凄凉的妙笔。「残生」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。