唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
云
The Cloud
千形万象竟还空，映水藏山片复重。
无限旱苗枯欲尽，悠悠闲处作奇峰。
It mirrors the water, hides behind the hills, sheet upon sheet;
Countless drought-stricken shoots are withering to nothing,
Yet leisurely it piles into strange peaks far away.
Meaning
The poem portrays clouds that drift and transform while crops below perish in drought, satirizing those in power who idle unconcerned while the people suffer.
云朵千变万化到头来终归空幻，它倒映水中、藏匿山后，一片接着一片。可田里无数枯焦的禾苗眼看就要旱死，它却优哉游哉地在远处凝成座座奇峰。
Appreciation
The first two lines dwell on the cloud's endless changing and leisure, seeming to praise but really blaming. The last two lines turn sharply: as the drought kills the seedlings, the cloud 'leisurely piles into strange peaks,' indifferent to human thirst. The stark contrast between crisis below and ease above creates a biting irony. The cloud becomes a personification of neglectful, self-absorbed authority. Critics praise its cold, sharp satiric edge, rare among late-Tang object poems.
【白话串讲】 “千形万象竟还空，映水藏山片复重”——来鹄写云：千变万化却不下雨。“无限旱苗枯欲尽，悠悠闲处作奇峰”——旱苗都快枯死了，云还在天上悠闲地堆成奇峰。他讽刺那些高高在上、不干实事的人。 【意象与手法】前两句铺写云之变幻闲适，“竟还空”“片复重”见其虚无与悠游；后两句陡转，以“无限旱苗枯欲尽”的危急反衬云之“悠悠闲处作奇峰”，形成强烈反差与讽刺。 【情感与主旨】借旱中闲云讽刺那些身居其位、不顾民瘼的权贵与懒政者，寄托诗人对民生疾苦的关切与愤慨。 【名句点睛】“悠悠闲处作奇峰”——以云的悠然反写旱情之急，冷峻反讽，力透纸背。
Background
Lai Hu was a late-Tang poet from Yuzhang (present-day Nanchang) who failed the jinshi exam around 860–874. 'The Cloud' was likely written amid frequent droughts and suffering, using the cloud to voice grievance and hint at politics.
《云》为唐代来鹄所作，是写千形万象、闲云作峰的咏物诗。来鹄（生卒年不详），一作来鹏，豫章人，唐代诗人。此诗：千形万象竟还空，映水藏山片复重。无限旱苗枯欲尽，悠悠闲处作奇峰。全诗写千形万象、闲云作峰，是来鹄诗的名篇。
Art
The first two lines exaggerate the cloud's changing ease, seeming to praise but actually blaming; the last lines drop to the crisis of withered seedlings and the cloud's 'leisurely strange peaks' — first raise then lower, contrast becomes satire.
《云》艺术上以千形万象的描摹与闲云作峰的讽喻见长。全诗四句：首写千形万象——“千形万象竟还空，映水藏山片复重”写千形万象竟还空、映水藏山片复重；末写旱苗奇峰——“无限旱苗枯欲尽，悠悠闲处作奇峰”写无限旱苗枯欲尽、悠悠闲处作奇峰。全诗以千形万象写闲云作峰，正是来鹄诗讽喻的笔法。
Allusions
No learned allusion; it simply personifies the cloud's nature to carry feeling.
《云》用典在“千形万象”“竟还空”“映水藏山”“片复重”“旱苗”“枯欲尽”“悠悠闲处”“作奇峰”。“千形万象”写千形万象；“竟还空”写竟还空；“映水藏山”写映水藏山；“片复重”写片复重；“旱苗”写旱苗；“枯欲尽”写枯欲尽；“悠悠闲处”写悠悠闲处；“作奇峰”写作奇峰。全诗以这些意象写千形万象、闲云作峰，用典自然而讽喻自见，正是来鹄诗的笔法。
Commentary
The poem uses object to satirize person; earlier readers call it 'cold and sharp with an admonishing tone,' distinctive among late-Tang object poems.
《云》是来鹄诗的名篇，也是唐诗中写咏物讽喻的代表作。此诗写千形万象、闲云作峰，向为论者称道。论者多赏其千形万象的描摹与闲云作峰的讽喻——“千形万象竟还空，映水藏山片复重”写千形万象竟还空、映水藏山片复重，讽喻之极；“无限旱苗枯欲尽，悠悠闲处作奇峰”写无限旱苗枯欲尽、悠悠闲处作奇峰，更见其刺。来鹄此诗以闲云不雨写讽喻，正是其代表——以千形万象写闲云作峰，正是其诗风。
Prosody
Line by line
千形万象竟还空，映水藏山片复重。
A thousand shapes and ten thousand forms — all, in the end, nothing; mirrored in waters, hidden in hills, now a sheet, now piled.
千形万象竟还空，映水藏山片复重。
A thousand shapes and ten thousand forms, yet in the end all is empty; mirrored on the water, hidden among hills, now a single sheet, now piled deep.
首写千形万象竟还空、映水藏山片复重，是全诗写千形万象的起点。“千形万象竟还空”写千形万象竟还空——“千形万象竟还空”写千形万状、终究成空——千形万象竟还空；“映水藏山片复重”写映水藏山片复重——“映水藏山片复重”写映水藏山、片片复重重——映水藏山片复重。二句写千形万象竟还空、映水藏山片复重：千形万象竟还空，映水藏山片复重。以“千形万象竟还空”写千形万象、究竟还空，以“映水藏山片复重”写映水藏山、片片重重，正是来鹄诗写千形万象的起点——千形万象，映水藏山。
The first two lines write 'a thousand shapes and ten thousand forms', the start. 'A thousand shapes and ten thousand forms — all, in the end, nothing' — the myriad shapes, in the end coming to nothing; 'mirrored in waters, hidden in hills, now a sheet, now piled' — mirrored on the waters, hidden in the hills, single sheets then piled masses. It is the start of Lai Hu's cloud picture: the myriad shapes, the water and hills.
无限旱苗枯欲尽，悠悠闲处作奇峰。
Countless drought-seared seedlings are withering away; idly, at leisure, it takes the shape of towering peaks.
无限旱苗枯欲尽，悠悠闲处作奇峰。
Boundless drought-seared seedlings are all but withered; yet the clouds, calm and at ease, go on shaping fantastic peaks.
末写无限旱苗枯欲尽、悠悠闲处作奇峰，是全诗写闲云作峰的归结。“无限旱苗枯欲尽”写无限旱苗枯欲尽——“无限旱苗枯欲尽”写无限旱苗、枯将欲尽——无限旱苗枯欲尽；“悠悠闲处作奇峰”写悠悠闲处作奇峰——“悠悠闲处作奇峰”写悠悠闲处、化作奇峰——悠悠闲处作奇峰。二句写无限旱苗枯欲尽、悠悠闲处作奇峰：无限旱苗枯欲尽，悠悠闲处作奇峰。以“无限旱苗枯欲尽”写旱苗枯尽、农人之望，以“悠悠闲处作奇峰”写悠悠闲处、云作奇峰，正是来鹄诗写闲云作峰的归结——旱苗枯尽，闲云作峰。
The last two lines write 'countless drought-seared seedlings', the close. 'Countless drought-seared seedlings are withering away' — the endless drought-stricken shoots, nearly all dead, the farmers' hope; 'idly, at leisure, it takes the shape of towering peaks' — the cloud, calm and unhurried, forming fantastic peaks. It is the close of Lai Hu's cloud: the seedlings dying, the idle cloud making peaks. The satire cuts deep: while the crops perish for rain, the cloud lounges in useless, beautiful shapes — the poem's quiet accusation.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
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