感遇十二首 四

Meaning

The poet compares himself to a lone swan goose that has flown in from the sea and dare not approach the ponds, and contrasts it with a pair of jeweled kingfishers nesting proudly on the mythical three-pearl tree, heedless of the sling's pellet. From this he draws the moral that conspicuous beauty and brilliance invite envy and attack, so he chooses to vanish into the boundless dark, beyond the fowler's reach. The poem is a veiled reflection on the dangers of court life and the wisdom of withdrawal.

孤鸿海上来池潢不敢顾侧见双翠鸟巢在三珠树矫矫珍木巅得无金丸惧美服患人指高明逼神恶今我游冥冥弋者何所慕

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] A lone swan goose crosses the sea and will not even glance at the ponds; a pair of kingfishers, gorgeous and exposed, perch on the mythical three-pearl tree. Beautiful robes attract pointing fingers, and blazing height draws even the envy of spirits, so the poet vanishes into the boundless dark where no fowler can follow. [Structure] The twelve lines unfold in five movements: the goose's arrival, the birds' exposure, the warning of the golden pellet, the general maxim, and the poet's vanishing. The contrast between the solitary goose and the paired, flamboyant kingfishers carries the whole argument. [Imagery] Sea, pond, pearl tree, sling pellet, fine robes, and fowler form one symbolic system: safety lies in distance and obscurity, danger in brilliance and height.

【白话串讲】 张九龄写《感遇十二首其四》：“孤鸿海上来，池潢不敢顾”——“侧见双翠鸟，巢在三珠树”——“美服患人指，高明逼神恶”——“今我游冥冥，弋者何所慕”——他写孤鸿——美服患人指。 【意象与手法】 “孤鸿海上来，池潢不敢顾”写孤鸿；“侧见双翠鸟，巢在三珠树”写双翠鸟巢三珠树；“美服患人指，高明逼神恶”写美服高明之患；结以“今我游冥冥，弋者何所慕”写游冥冥。警拔咏怀。 【情感与主旨】 张九龄写感遇咏怀之作，以孤鸿自喻、双翠鸟喻权贵，写“美服患人指，高明逼神恶”的戒惧，是张九龄感遇诗中的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“孤鸿海上来，池潢不敢顾”以孤鸿写戒惧；“美服患人指，高明逼神恶”写高处之患。

Allusions

The three-pearl tree (sanzhushu) is a mythical tree of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, said to grow by the Red River with fruits like pearls; here it evokes the jeweled brilliance of the court. The 'golden pellet' (jinwan) recalls the gilded pellets used in aristocratic hunting — the instant doom of a conspicuous bird. Kingfishers (cuiniao) were prized for their turquoise feathers, which adorned the caps and carriages of the powerful, so the paired birds flaunting on high stand for flattered officials. Most important, the closing 'fowler' (yizhe) echoes Yang Xiong's Fa Yan: 'The wild goose flies deep into the dark; what can the fowler do to it?' — an ancient formula for escaping a dangerous world by vanishing beyond reach.

诗中「孤鸿海上来池潢不敢顾」「侧见双翠鸟巢在三珠树」「矫矫珍木巅得无金丸惧」「美服患人指高明逼神恶今我游冥冥弋者何所慕」等语，皆含典故故实。「孤鸿海上来池潢不敢顾」用孤鸿之典（孤鸿写失群之雁），写孤鸿海上来池潢不敢顾；「侧见双翠鸟巢在三珠树」用三珠树之典（三珠树写神话树），写侧见双翠鸟巢在三珠树；「矫矫珍木巅得无金丸惧」用金丸之典（金丸写弹丸），写矫矫珍木巅得无金丸惧；「美服患人指高明逼神恶今我游冥冥弋者何所慕」用弋者之典（弋者写射鸟之人），写美服患人指高明逼神恶今我游冥冥弋者何所慕。诗人用孤鸿、三珠树、金丸、弋者之典入诗，不着痕迹，而把感遇咏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

Of Zhang Jiuling's twelve 'Ganyu' poems, this is the most famous; its couplet 'Fine robes incur men's pointing; lofty brilliance draws even spirits' envy' passed into common speech as a caution against conspicuous success. Critics have prized the poem for what they call 'wind and bone' (fenggu): the lean, sinewy quality of Chen Zi'ang's verse combined with a tact that keeps resentment entirely inside metaphor. Anthologies from the Song dynasty onward have placed it among the finest five-character ancient poems of the Tang, and modern readers often read the goose's flight from the pond as Zhang's own withdrawal from the factional struggles that ended his chancellorship.

这首《感遇十二首 四》，是张九龄写感遇咏怀之作，写孤鸿海上来、侧见双翠鸟、矫矫珍木巅、弋者何所慕之情，警拔咏怀。起「孤鸿海上来池潢不敢顾」——孤鸿海上来池潢不敢顾。写孤鸿海上来：孤鸿海上来、池潢不敢顾——海上来、不敢顾；「侧见双翠鸟巢在三珠树」——侧见双翠鸟巢在三珠树。写侧见双翠鸟：侧见双翠鸟、巢在三珠树——双翠鸟、三珠树；「矫矫珍木巅得无金丸惧」——矫矫珍木巅得无金丸惧。写矫矫珍木巅：矫矫珍木巅、得无金丸惧——珍木巅、金丸惧；结「美服患人指高明逼神恶今我游冥冥弋者何所慕」——美服患人指高明逼神恶今我游冥冥弋者何所慕。写弋者何所慕：美服患人指、高明逼神恶、今我游冥冥、弋者何所慕——患人指、逼神恶、游冥冥、何所慕。这「美服患人指高明逼神恶今我游冥冥弋者何所慕」，是全诗之结：以弋者何所慕写其咏怀。全诗警拔咏怀，以鸿写情，正是张九龄诗中的名篇。

Prosody

Line by line

Related Reading