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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

旅宿

A Night at an Inn

杜牧

Du Mu

愁思Melancholy 羁旅Life on the Road 写景Landscape

旅馆无良伴，凝情自悄然。
寒灯思旧事，断鴈警愁眠。
远梦归侵晓，家书到隔年。
湘江好烟月，门系钓鱼船。

In the inn I have no good companion; absorbed in thought, I sit alone in silence.
Beneath the cold lamp I recall old times; the cry of a stray goose startles my troubled sleep.
My far-off dream of home came only as dawn drew near; the letter from my family arrived a year too late.
Over the Xiang River the misty moon is beautiful; moored at the door, a fishing boat.

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Meaning

A traveler spends a lonely night at an inn: with no true companion, he sits silent under a cold lamp, old memories stirred by the cry of a stray goose. His homesick dream reaches home only near dawn, and his family's letter arrives a year late. The poem closes on the misty moon over the Xiang River and a fishing boat moored at a door, an image of quiet retreat that lets his sorrow ease into calm.

旅馆中没有好的同伴，我凝神默想，独自悄然无声。寒灯之下追思往事，失群孤雁的惊啼惊醒我的愁眠。回乡的远梦直到破晓才做成，家书寄到手上已是隔年。湘江之上烟月正好，江边门前系着钓鱼的小船——我何时才能归去，也系一叶钓舟，垂钓江湖呢？

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Alone at a wayside inn, the poet finds no congenial companion; sitting in silence, he recalls the past by a cold lamp until a stray goose's cry startles his fretful sleep. His dream of home comes only as dawn breaks, and the letter from his family has taken a year to arrive. The moonlit mist over the Xiang River and a fishing boat moored at a door open a sudden vista of escape. [Structure] The poem moves in a wave: loneliness, then homesickness, then release. The first couplet states the traveler's solitude; the middle couplets deepen it through cold lamp and lost goose, dream and letter; the closing couplet turns to landscape, letting the mood broaden from sorrow to open resignation. [Imagery] Visual images (cold lamp, misty moon) blend with sound (the goose's cry). The stray goose doubles as a self-portrait of the lonely wanderer, while the moored fishing boat quietly suggests the reclusive life he longs for.

【白话串讲】杜牧写旅宿：“旅馆无良伴，凝情自悄然”——旅馆没有好同伴。“寒灯思旧事，断鴈警愁眠”——“远梦归侵晓，家书到隔年”——“湘江好烟月，门系钓鱼船”——他写漂泊的孤寂。【意象与手法】全诗以「旅馆」起笔，以「钓鱼船」收束，由孤寂写到思乡、再由思乡宕开为江湖之想，章法一波三折。首联直写孤独，颔联以寒灯、断雁写客夜怀旧与惊梦，颈联以「远梦」「家书」对举写乡思之深之远，尾联笔锋陡转，以湘江烟月、钓鱼船的闲适之景结情，于惆怅中见旷达。【情感与主旨】此诗写羁旅客舍的孤寂与思乡之情，以失群孤雁自喻客中独处，以家书隔年到写音书阻隔，乡思入骨；结句由愁思宕开为归隐江湖之想，哀而不伤、愁而不滞，见出晚唐诗人于漂泊中自我宽解的旷达。【名句点睛】常考「断鴈警愁眠」与「家书到隔年」——以孤雁惊啼写愁眠之浅、以家书隔年到写故乡之遥，时空对举，把物理距离化为心理时间的煎熬，是写羁旅乡思的千古名句。

Background

Du Mu (803-852), courtesy name Muzhi, was a leading Late Tang poet from Wanjing, near the capital. He served on the staffs of regional commissioners and later as prefect of Huang, Chizhou, and Muzhou. This poem on lodging at an inn is hard to date precisely; it was likely written while he traveled between posts through the region of the Xiang River. Late Tang factionalism and declining imperial power blocked men of talent, and the homesickness and weariness of travel here mirror the mood of displaced scholars.

杜牧（803—852），字牧之，晚唐诗人，京兆万年人。此诗写羁旅客舍之情，具体作年难考，当为杜牧游宦或赴任途中客居旅馆时作。杜牧出身世家，少有经世之志，然一生多在幕府与州郡之间辗转：先后为江西、宣歙、淮南等使府幕僚，又历黄州、池州、睦州刺史，「十年一觉扬州梦，赢得青楼薄幸名」正是其幕府生涯的自嘲。此诗或作于其任刺史期间往返京洛、途经湘江一带时。晚唐国势日衰，朋党倾轧，杜牧「平生五色线，愿补舜衣裳」的抱负难以伸展，羁旅之中尤感身世飘零。诗中「断鴈」（失群孤雁）自喻，「家书到隔年」写音书阻隔，皆可见诗人客中孤独、乡思深切的心境。此诗以旅馆为背景，写尽一个晚唐才士在客舍中的孤寂与乡愁，是晚唐羁旅诗中的名篇，历代选本多录。杜牧一生「刚直有奇节」，敢论列大事，而晚唐政局已不可为，其羁旅诗中的乡愁与归思，正是才士失意于时的心影。

Art

The poem opens on the inn and closes on the fishing boat, tracing an arc from solitude to a thought of retirement. The first couplet states loneliness directly: no good companion means not the absence of people but of kindred spirits. The second couplet braids sight and sound, a cold lamp for old memories, a goose broken from its flock startling fretful sleep; the word startle jolts not only sleep but the numb heart. The third couplet converts distance into time: the dream reaches home only near dawn, the letter arrives a year late, so spatial separation becomes psychological torment. The final couplet shifts to a quiet scene of mist, moon, and a moored boat, ending on landscape rather than emotion, the classic technique of closing in scene that leaves the longing unspoken.

全诗以「旅馆」起笔，以「钓鱼船」收束，由孤寂写到思乡、再由思乡宕开为江湖之想，章法一波三折。首联「旅馆无良伴，凝情自悄然」直写孤独——「无良伴」不是无人而是无「良伴」，知音难觅的落寞淡淡流出，「凝情」「悄然」写凝神无语之态。颔联「寒灯思旧事，断鴈警愁眠」一写灯下怀旧、一写雁声惊梦，视觉与听觉交织；「断鴈」以失群之雁自喻，暗含孤栖之痛，「警」字写雁声惊破愁眠，惊的不仅是梦，更是客心。颈联「远梦归侵晓，家书到隔年」以时间写空间——归梦直到破晓方至家，家书隔年方到手，梦之远、书之迟，加倍写出家乡之遥，是「以虚写实」的妙笔。尾联「湘江好烟月，门系钓鱼船」笔锋一转，以渔舟闲适之景结情，于惆怅中见旷达，言外有归隐之志，深得「以景结情」之旨，全诗于此悠然收束。全诗以「旅」起、以「钓」结，由「无良伴」的孤到「钓鱼船」的闲，情感经历了一个由紧到松、由愁到旷的过程，章法之妙正在这收放之间。

Allusions

The stray goose echoes the old image of a goose separated from its flock, a standing emblem of the lone traveler; geese were also believed to carry letters on their feet, as in the Han tale of Su Wu, so the broken flock secretly ties to the late-arriving letter that follows. The cold lamp continues the Six Dynasties tradition of the lonely lamp as an emblem of homesickness. The Xiang River is the cultural land of Qu Yuan and Jia Yi, where talented men wept over unrecognized worth; the moored fishing boat alludes to Jiang Taigong fishing by the Wei and Yan Guang fishing on the Fuchun, symbols of withdrawal from office.

诗中故实与意象多承羁旅乡思的传统。「断鴈」用雁阵失群之喻——雁行有序，失群则孤，以孤雁自喻客中独处，孤独不言自见；又雁足传书（《汉书·苏武传》载苏武以雁足系书）为家书意象的源头，此处「断鴈」兼含音书难托之意，与下句「家书到隔年」暗暗呼应。「寒灯」承六朝以来「孤灯」思乡的传统意象，灯下怀旧，愈冷愈愁。「湘江」为潇湘文化符号——屈原行吟、贾谊垂涕之地，才士不遇的故实附丽于此，杜牧过湘江而写烟月，暗含对古来才士飘零的感怀；「钓鱼船」则用姜太公渭水垂钓、严子陵富春江垂钓的渔隐典故，以归隐之想化解羁旅之愁。尾联以景结情，不说破而意在言外，正是晚唐诗人「含蓄」之旨的体现。此外「凝情」二字暗用江淹《别赋》「黯然销魂者，唯别而已矣」的黯然之思，「悄然」又见白居易「共看明月应垂泪」的孤客传统——杜牧熔铸前代羁旅、乡思、渔隐三类意象于一炉，而归于「清丽俊爽」的自家面目。

Commentary

This poem is a standard selection in Tang anthologies; Shen Deqian of the Qing dynasty included it in his Tang Shi Bie Cai, praising the truthfulness of its travel scenes. Among Late Tang five-character regulated verses, Xu Hun and Du Mu are often named together: Xu Hun excelled at couplets and atmospheric grandeur, while Du Mu's strength is clear beauty and crisp vigor. Paired with Wen Tingyun's Early Departure from Mount Shang as twin jewels of Tang travel poetry, this poem differs in method, for Wen wins on densely packed images while Du Mu wins on the interplay of feeling, event, and the bending of time.

此诗为历代唐诗选本必录的羁旅名篇，清代沈德潜《唐诗别裁》录之，评其「旅况之真」，即景真情切、不事雕琢之意。晚唐五律，论者多以许浑、杜牧并称：许浑工于「山雨欲来风满楼」式的对仗与气象，杜牧则以「清丽俊爽」见长，此诗「旅馆无良伴」「断鴈警愁眠」皆以寻常语写深挚情，正是杜牧本色。诗中「断鴈警愁眠」「家书到隔年」写客愁入骨，而结句以「钓鱼船」宕开，哀而不伤、愁而不滞，见出杜牧诗「豪而艳、宕而丽」的风格。此诗与温庭筠《商山早行》并称唐人羁旅双璧，然温诗以「鸡声茅店月，人迹板桥霜」的密集意象取胜，杜诗则以情事相生、虚实相间的章法见长，一以意象胜、一以情致胜，各极其妙。此诗之妙又在以「小」写「大」：一灯、一雁、一梦、一船，皆是寻常物事，而客愁乡思、身世之感尽在其间；结句不写归而写钓船，不言愁而愁自解，正是「羚羊挂角，无迹可求」的含蓄境界，故历代论唐诗者皆不忍割弃。

Prosody

Form Five-character regulated verse (lüshi), oblique-tone opening with the first line not rhyming.五言律诗（仄起首句不入韵）

Rhyme It rhymes on the level-tone xian group: ran, mian, nian, chuan, one rhyme throughout, never changed.押平水韵下平一先韵，韵脚为「然、眠、年、船」，一韵到底，通篇不换。

Tone pattern The poem begins on an oblique tone; the middle two couplets are strictly parallel, cold lamp answering stray goose and far dream answering family letter, and even the closing couplet is paired, a rare all-four-couplets regularity for a five-character lüshi.全诗仄起，「旅馆无良伴」为仄仄平平仄，首句不入韵；中二联对仗精工——「寒灯」对「断鴈」、「远梦」对「家书」，名词、动词、时间词一一相俪；尾联「湘江好烟月，门系钓鱼船」亦成对，是全篇四联皆对的工稳之作。

Reading note The verse is a model of Du Mu's five-character regulated form. The third couplet's opening oblique tones mimic the abrupt cry of the goose, so sound and image reinforce each other, while the closing line, a fishing boat moored at the door, returns to even level tones that match the calm of closing in scenery.此诗为五言律诗正格，格律极为工整，是杜牧五律的典范。平仄上，首句「旅馆无良伴，凝情自悄然」仄起不入韵（仄仄平平仄，平平仄仄平）；颔联「寒灯思旧事，断鴈警愁眠」以「寒/断」「灯/鴈」「思/警」「旧事/愁眠」相俪，虚实相生；颈联「远梦归侵晓，家书到隔年」以「远/家」「梦/书」「归/到」「侵晓/隔年」相对，工稳中见流动；尾联「湘江好烟月，门系钓鱼船」亦以「湘江/门系」「好烟月/钓鱼船」相对，四联皆对，是五律中少见的严密。用韵上，四韵皆属下平一先，韵脚「然、眠、年、船」收音轻细悠长，正宜写客夜低回之情。声情上，颔联「断鴈警愁眠」前三字仄声连用（仄仄仄平平），声情急促，正与雁声惊梦的意象相应，是「声情相济」的佳例；结句「门系钓鱼船」平平仄仄平，声调归于平缓，与以景结情的收束相合。全诗对仗、用韵、声情三者和谐，为晚唐五律中的典范之作。

Line by line

旅馆无良伴，凝情自悄然。

In the inn I have no good companion; lost in thought, I sit alone in silence.

旅馆中没有好的同伴，我凝神静思，独自悄然无声。

In the inn there is no good companion; I gather my thoughts and sit quietly, alone.

首联直起，点破全篇基调。「旅馆」二字开门见山，点明客中处境，一个「旅」字带出漂泊之感；「无良伴」写孤独——不是无人，而是无「良伴」，淡淡的遗憾中见出知音难觅的落寞，客舍中纵有他人，也非知己；「凝情自悄然」写神态——凝神静思、悄然无语，「凝」字见出心事重重、若有所思，「自」字写无人可语、只能自守的孤寂，「悄然」叠用，音韵低回，与旅馆的冷寂相合。两句由境及人、由外及内，把羁旅的底色先行铺定，不写愁而愁已满纸；全诗之愁，皆由「无良伴」三字生发，起笔平实而针线细密。

The opening couplet rises straight, naming the whole's keynote. 'In the inn' opens the scene, naming the traveler's lot, the word 'inn' bringing the drifting feeling; 'no good companion' writes the solitude — not that there is no one, but no 'good companion', the slight regret showing the loneliness of finding no soulmate, however many others in the inn, none is the confidant; 'I gather my thoughts and sit quietly, alone' writes the bearing — gathered thoughts, silent, the word 'gather' showing the weight on the mind, 'alone' the loneliness of no one to speak with, sitting by oneself, 'quietly' doubled, the low return of the tone, matching the inn's cold stillness. Two lines, from scene to man, from without to within, the traveling's groundwork laid first, not writing grief and grief already fills the page; the whole's grief all grows from 'no good companion', the opening plain and the stitchwork fine.

寒灯思旧事，断鴈警愁眠。

Beneath the cold lamp I recall old times; the cry of a stray goose startles my troubled sleep.

寒灯之下追思往事，失群孤雁的惊啼惊醒我的愁眠。

Beneath the cold lamp I think of old times; a broken goose's cry startles my grief-filled sleep.

颔联写客夜怀旧与惊梦，是全诗情感最浓处。「寒灯」点出夜之深、境之冷——灯是「寒」的，客心也是寒的，灯下「思旧事」，往事如烟而客心愈孤，思旧愈深、离乡愈远；「断鴈警愁眠」转写听觉——失群孤雁掠空哀啼，「警」字如惊雷破梦，惊醒的不仅是睡眠，更是麻木的客心：愁眠本浅，雁声一来便醒，醒了便更愁。「断鴈」以孤雁自喻，妙在不明说孤独，而借物象自见——雁失群而鸣，人离乡而愁，物我同悲；「断」字又暗含音书断绝之意，为下句「家书到隔年」伏笔。灯与雁、视觉与听觉、旧事与今愁，两句交织成寒夜羁旅的完整情境，是此诗最著名的对句。

The neck couplet writes the traveler's night nostalgia and the startled dream, the poem's most concentrated feeling. 'The cold lamp' names the night's depth, the scene's cold — the lamp is 'cold', the traveler's heart too cold, beneath the lamp 'I think of old times', the past like smoke and the heart the lonelier, the deeper the nostalgia the farther from home; 'a broken goose's cry startles my grief-filled sleep' turns to hearing — the lone goose parted from its flock cries across the sky, the word 'startles' like a thunderclap breaking the dream, startling not only the sleep but the numb traveler's heart: the grief-sleep is shallow, and at the goose's cry it wakes, and waking is the greater grief. 'A broken goose' figures the self through the lone goose, the beauty in not saying the loneliness, but letting the object show it — the goose parted from the flock and cries, the man far from home and grieves, thing and self share the grief; the word 'broken' secretly holds the meaning of broken messages, the groundwork for the later 'a letter from home arrives a year late'. Lamp and goose, sight and hearing, old times and present grief, two lines woven into the complete scene of the cold night travel, the poem's most famous couplet.

远梦归侵晓，家书到隔年。

My far-off dream of home came only as dawn drew near; the letter from my family arrived a year too late.

回乡的远梦直到破晓才做成，家书寄到手上已是隔年。

The far dream of returning reaches only dawn; a letter from home arrives a year late.

颈联以时空对举写思乡之切、之远，是千古名句。「远梦归侵晓」——梦本可越千里而归，然梦短情长：远梦做到「侵晓」（逼近破晓）方归到家，醒来已是天光，写尽「梦短故乡遥」的怅惘，仿佛归乡之愿连梦都难以成全；「家书到隔年」——书信寄到手上需隔年之久，以时间之漫长写空间之阻隔，「到」字含盼书之久、得书之迟的双重辛酸——家书不是没有，而是太迟、太远。两句一梦一书、一虚一实，皆以「远」「隔」为眼，把物理距离化为心理时间的煎熬：梦里归家之遥、书中传信之迟，双管齐下，把羁旅乡思写到极致。对仗之工、情思之切，读之令人低回，是晚唐五律中写乡愁的巅峰之句。

The following couplet, through the space-time pairing, writes the homesickness's keenness and distance, a famous line through the ages. 'The far dream of returning reaches only dawn' — the dream might cross a thousand li home, yet the dream is short and the feeling long: the far dream reaches home only at 'dawn' (near daybreak), and waking is already light, writing the full wistfulness of 'the dream is short, the home far', as if the wish to return could not be fulfilled even in dream; 'a letter from home arrives a year late' — the letter reaching the hand needs the time of a whole year, writing the space's block through the length of time, the word 'arrives' holding the double bitterness of the long waiting for the letter and the lateness of its coming — the home letter is not absent, but too late, too far. Two lines, one dream one letter, one unreal one real, both taking 'far' and 'late' as the eye, turning the physical distance into the psychological time's torment: the dream's home-return's distance, the letter's message's lateness, both at once, writing the traveling homesickness to the extreme. The couplet's craft and the feeling's keenness, the reading makes one low and long, the peak of the late-Tang five-word regulated verse's homesickness.

湘江好烟月，门系钓鱼船。

Fine mist and moon lie over the Xiang River; moored at the door, a fishing boat.

湘江之上烟月正好，江边门前系着钓鱼的小船。

The Xiang River's mist and moon are fair; by the door, a fishing boat is moored.

尾联笔锋陡转，由愁思宕开为闲适之景，以景结情，是全诗的点睛之笔。「湘江好烟月」写湘水烟波与月色之美，境界忽开——烟月朦胧，江天如画，与前文的寒灯、断雁形成明暗对照；「门系钓鱼船」写江边渔家门前系着一叶小舟，一幅恬静的渔村图画。妙在不说破：这钓鱼船是实见之景，还是诗人想象中的归隐之舟？烟月虽好，人却漂泊；渔舟闲系，而我不得归——以他人之闲适反衬己之羁旅，惆怅更深；但亦可读作诗人自期：他日归去，门前亦系一叶钓舟，垂钓江湖，了此余生。愁而不滞、哀而不伤，正是杜牧「俊爽」本色，全诗于此悠然收束，言尽而余味无穷。

The closing couplet turns abruptly, from the grief opening out to the leisured scene, closing in scene, the eye of the poem. 'The Xiang River's mist and moon are fair' writes the Xiang waters' misty waves and the moon's beauty, the realm suddenly opened — the mist and moon dim, the river and sky like a painting, forming the light-dark contrast with the above's cold lamp and broken goose; 'by the door, a fishing boat is moored' writes the fishing village's door mooring a small boat, a quiet picture of the fishing village. The beauty is in not explaining: is this fishing boat a scene really seen, or the boat of retirement imagined by the poet? The mist and moon though fair, the man is drifting; the fishing boat idly moored, and I cannot return — setting the other's leisure against my own travel, the grief the deeper; but it may also be read as the poet's self-hope: some day returning, a fishing boat moored by the door, fishing on the rivers and lakes, ending the rest of life. Grieved without stagnating, sorrowful without wounding, precisely Du Mu's 'bright and free' nature, the whole closing at leisure, the words ended and the aftertaste endless.

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Word focus

断 Broken or severed, describing a goose parted from its flock. It works on three levels at once: the lone bird mirrors the poet's solitude, its intermittent cries echo his fitful sleep, and it hints that letters borne by geese are cut off, foreshadowing the late-arriving letter in the next couplet. 「断鴈警愁眠」之「断」字，写失群孤雁，是全句的愁眼。「断」本指断绝、离散，移以写雁，则雁之离群、声之断续、音书之断绝，多重意涵一时并集：一、断鴈即失群之雁，以孤雁自喻客中独处，不明写孤独而孤独自见，是「以物写我」的典范；二、「断」与「警」相激——断断续续的雁声惊破愁眠，那断续的哀鸣正似客心欲断还续的愁绪，声情相济；三、暗含「音书断」之意，与下句「家书到隔年」呼应——断雁难托锦书，正如家书隔年方到，音问之难、乡思之切，皆由此「断」字带出。一字而兼物象、心境、事理三层，炼字之精，于此可见，是杜牧五律中「以一字立骨」的典型。

侵 To encroach or approach: the dream of home lasts until dawn nearly breaks. The word stresses the dream's persistence and reluctance to end, and the cruel way daybreak invades and destroys it, marking the passage of the sleepless night. 「远梦归侵晓」之「侵」字，写时间之逼近，是全句的着力点。「侵」本为「渐进、迫近」之意，此处写梦归故里一直做到「侵晓」（逼近破晓），妙在：一、以「侵」写梦之绵长——梦从夜深做到天将明，可见乡思之深之切、不肯醒来，梦越不肯醒，越见归心之炽；二、「侵」与「远」对举——梦虽远归，终被晓光「侵」破，醒来面对的仍是旅馆寒灯，梦愈长、醒愈痛，破晓之光仿佛是来催梦的，残忍而无奈；三、「侵晓」点出破晓之刻，为全诗夜境划出时间的边界——天已明而人未归，怅惘更深，且「侵晓」与上句「愁眠」呼应，一夜未得好眠，天明而梦亦散。一字写尽梦短情长、欲留不得的况味，是「炼时间之字」的佳例。

系 To moor or tie up: the fishing boat tied at the door is static and at rest, in contrast to the restless traveler. It quietly embodies the reclusive life the poet longs for, and its stillness gathers the poem's turbulence into calm. 「门系钓鱼船」之「系」字，是全诗收束的诗眼。「系」写船泊门前的静态——船系住了，人却系不住；钓舟得闲，客身难归。妙在：一、以静写闲——系舟之景恬静安闲，与上文「警愁眠」的惊扰形成张弛对照，全诗情绪于此稍稍平复，愁绪被这一叶系舟轻轻托住；二、暗喻归隐——系舟待钓，是渔隐生活的标志，诗人借此表达对功名羁旅的厌倦与归隐江湖的向往，「系」字正是漂泊之身对归宿的想象；三、「系」与首句「旅馆」遥应——旅馆无良伴，钓船自可系，客身无着而钓舟有泊，惆怅中见出自我宽解。一「系」字轻轻收住全篇波澜，而余情如湘江烟月，袅袅不尽，是「以一字收束万钧」的妙笔。

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