唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
梦李白·其二
Dreaming of Li Bai: The Second of Two Poems
浮云终日行，游子久不至。
三夜频梦君，情亲见君意。
告归常局促，苦道来不易。
江湖多风波，舟楫恐失坠。
出门搔白首，若负平生志。
冠盖满京华，斯人独憔悴。
孰云网恢恢，将老身反累。
千秋万岁名，寂莫身后事。
yet the wanderer has so long not come.
Three nights running I dreamed of you —
so warmly close, it shows your heart.
When you took your leave you were always uneasy,
bitterly telling me how hard the journey was.
On rivers and lakes the storms are many;
I fear your boat and oars will be lost.
Going out the door you scratch your white head,
as if your life's ambition had failed you.
Caps and carriages fill the capital;
you alone stand worn and wasted.
Who says Heaven's net is vast?
In old age you are burdened all the more.
A name that will last a thousand autumns, ten thousand years —
lonely, the business of the life behind you.
Meaning
Missing Li Bai, who had been exiled to Yelang, Du Fu dreamed of him three nights in a row and wrote this poem. In the dream Li Bai seems hurried and anxious, as if the journey had been dangerous. Waking, Du Fu contrasts the capital full of successful officials with his friend's solitary exhaustion, protests Heaven's injustice toward a genius in his old age, and concludes that even an immortal posthumous fame cannot console a man who suffered in life. The poem is a testament to the Du Fu–Li Bai friendship and a lament for genius gone unrewarded.
浮云终日飘行，游子却久久不见归来。一连三夜频频梦见你，情亲意厚，足见你的心意。你告归时常常局促不安，苦苦述说来一趟不容易。江湖上风波很多，恐怕船桨会失坠。你出门时搔着白首，仿佛辜负了平生的志向。冠盖满布京华，唯独你憔悴潦倒。谁说天网恢恢疏而不漏，你年已老迈却反遭牵累。千秋万岁的名声，寂寞的是身后的情事。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] Floating clouds move all day, yet the wanderer does not return. Three nights in succession Du Fu dreams of Li Bai, and the warmth of the dreams proves his friend's true feeling. In the dream Li Bai takes his leave uneasily and speaks bitterly of how hard the road has been, of the storms on the rivers and lakes that threaten to swamp his boat. Du Fu sees him scratch his white head at the door, as if his life's ambitions had come to nothing. Waking, Du Fu cries out that while caps and carriages crowd the capital, this one man alone is wasted with care, and he mocks the saying that Heaven's net is wide: the aging poet has only been burdened the more. Even a fame lasting ten thousand years, he concludes, is a lonely matter that belongs to the afterlife. [Structure] The poem moves in four layers: the frequency of the dreams, their content, the anguish of waking, and finally philosophical reflection. Each stage carries the emotion deeper, from affection to worry, from indignation to resignation. [Imagery] 'Caps and carriages fill the capital; you alone stand worn and wasted' uses the crowd of officials to set off Li Bai's solitude, the contrast of 'fill' and 'alone' striking like a hammer blow. The closing paradox — eternal fame against the loneliness of death — gives the friendship a universal, tragic dimension.
【白话串讲】 杜甫写《梦李白·其二》：“浮云终日行，游子久不至”——“三夜频梦君，情亲见君意”——连续三夜梦见李白。“冠盖满京华，斯人独憔悴”——“孰云网恢恢，将老身反累”——“千秋万岁名，寂寞身后事”——他叹李白憔悴。 【意象与手法】 此诗是杜甫《梦李白二首》之二，写因思念而三夜频梦李白、因梦而叹其不遇，是杜甫怀人诗的另一名篇。前四句写梦的频繁与情谊：「浮云终日行，游子久不至」以浮云写游子漂泊，暗喻李白流放；「三夜频梦君，情亲见君意」写三夜频梦、情亲意厚。中四句写梦中的情形：「告归常局促，苦道来不易」写李白梦中告归的局促，欲言又止；「江湖多风波，舟楫恐失坠」写其路途的艰险。后四句写梦醒的感慨：「出门搔白首，若负平生志」写李白搔首叹息、壮志未酬的憔悴；「冠盖满京华，斯人独憔悴」以冠盖满京华反衬李白独憔悴，是千古名句；「孰云网恢恢，将老身反累」以反讽写天网恢恢之不公；「千秋万岁名，寂莫身后事」写身后之名的寂寥，是流传千古的感慨。全诗由梦之频到梦之形到梦之叹，层层深入，是杜甫怀人诗中「叹不遇」的巅峰。 【情感与主旨】 此诗作于唐肃宗乾元元年（758）秋或乾元二年（759），与《梦李白·其一》同时，时李白因永王璘事件被流放夜郎。杜甫得知李白被流放的消息后，忧思成梦，三夜频梦李白，写下此诗。诗中「三夜频梦君，情亲见君意」写思念之深，「告归常局促，苦道来不易」写李白梦中告归的局促与欲言又止，「江湖多风波，舟楫恐失坠」写其路途的艰险，「出门搔白首，若负平生志」写其壮志未酬的憔悴，「冠盖满京华，斯人独憔悴」写其不遇的处境，「孰云网恢恢，将老身反累」写天网恢恢之不公，「千秋万岁名，寂莫身后事」写身后之名的寂寥。全诗最动人之处，在于杜甫对李白「不遇」的深切同情与不平——李白满腹才华、名满天下，却流放夜郎、潦倒憔悴；京华冠盖如云，唯独他独憔悴。那「冠盖满京华，斯人独憔悴」的对仗，写尽了一个天才在时代中的孤独与不遇，是千古名句；「千秋万岁名，寂莫身后事」更以哲思写身后之名，既是对李白的宽慰，也是对所有天才命运的感慨。此诗是杜甫怀人诗中「叹不遇」的巅峰，也是「李杜友谊」最动人的见证之一。 【名句点睛】 常考“三夜频梦君，情亲见君意”写思念之深、情谊之厚；“冠盖满京华，斯人独憔悴”以京华冠盖反衬李白独憔悴，是千古不平之鸣。
Background
Du Fu wrote this poem, the second of 'Dreaming of Li Bai,' around 759, after learning that Li Bai had been exiled to Yelang for his involvement with Prince Yong's rebellion in 757. Li Bai (701–762) was the greatest poet of the High Tang, yet his official career ended after only three years as an imperial academician, and the An Lushan Rebellion brought him conviction and exile. Du Fu, who revered Li Bai's genius ('His brush crashes, startling wind and rain; his poems complete, moving ghosts and gods'), was consumed by worry and dreamed of him repeatedly. In this poem Du Fu not only mourns his friend's fate but indicts an age that lets a supreme talent perish in obscurity, making the poem both a private elegy of friendship and a public protest on behalf of all unrecognized genius.
此诗作于唐肃宗乾元元年（758）秋或乾元二年（759），是杜甫《梦李白二首》的第二首。李白于至德二载（757）因卷入永王李璘的叛乱事件被长流夜郎，乾元元年启程前往流放地。杜甫在长安或秦州得知消息，忧思成梦，写下《梦李白二首》。此诗写杜甫「三夜频梦」李白，梦中李白「告归常局促，苦道来不易」，醒后杜甫发出「冠盖满京华，斯人独憔悴」「千秋万岁名，寂莫身后事」的感慨。李白是杜甫最敬重的朋友，也是盛唐最伟大的诗人，却一生仕途坎坷：早年入长安求仕，被唐玄宗任为翰林供奉，仅三年便「赐金放还」；安史之乱中，因误投永王李璘而获罪流放。杜甫对李白的遭遇深为不平：他深知李白的才华（「笔落惊风雨，诗成泣鬼神」），也深知其「冠盖满京华，斯人独憔悴」的不遇。诗中「孰云网恢恢，将老身反累」以反讽写天网恢恢之说不公——李白年已老迈，却反遭流放之累，那「网恢恢」的天道，何曾放过这个无辜的天才？「千秋万岁名，寂莫身后事」更以哲思写身后之名——即使李白的名声能传千秋万岁，那也只是身后寂寞的事，于眼前的困顿何补？这既是对李白的宽慰（你的名声必将不朽），也是对现实的不满（你的遭遇何其不公）。此诗与《梦李白·其一》合为《梦李白二首》，是杜甫怀人诗的巅峰，也是理解「李杜友谊」与盛唐天才命运的核心作品。
Art
The poem's artistry works on four levels. First, feeling is written through a dream in deepening layers: the dream's frequency, its anxious content, the danger of the journey, the white head scratched at the door, and finally the waking indignation. Second, metaphor is exact: 'drifting clouds travel the whole day long' makes the exiled Li Bai a cloud blown without anchor, both literal (his wanderings) and symbolic (the instability of his fate). Third, contrast carries enormous force: 'Caps and carriages fill the capital; you alone stand worn and wasted' sets the multitude of officials against one wasted genius, 'fill' against 'alone,' the capital's glitter against his decline. Fourth, irony indicts Heaven: 'Who says Heaven's net is vast?' turns the Laozi saying that Heaven's net lets nothing slip into a bitter question, protesting a cosmos that punishes an innocent old man. These four devices combine to make the poem the summit of Du Fu's poetry of friendship.
此诗的艺术特色可从四个层面解析。其一，以梦写情的层层深入。全诗由「三夜频梦」的频繁，到「告归局促」的梦境，到「江湖风波」的忧心，到「搔白首」的憔悴，再到「冠盖京华」的感慨与「千秋万岁」的哲思，由梦之频到梦之形到梦之叹，层层深入，把对李白的思念、忧心与不平层层写出。其二，比喻的贴切。「浮云终日行，游子久不至」以浮云写游子的漂泊——李白如浮云般漂泊天涯，久久不见归来，「浮云」既是写实（李白流放途中如浮云飘荡），也是写情（其命运如浮云无定）。其三，反衬与对仗的力度。「冠盖满京华，斯人独憔悴」以「冠盖满京华」反衬「斯人独憔悴」——满京华的达官贵人（冠盖）与独憔悴的李白，形成强烈的对照，「满」与「独」、「京华」与「憔悴」，字字相对，写尽天才的不遇，是千古名句。其四，以反讽写不平。「孰云网恢恢，将老身反累」以「孰云」的反问与「网恢恢」的成语反讽——谁说天网恢恢疏而不漏？李白何罪之有，竟遭流放之累？这反讽，是杜甫对天道不公的质问，也是为李白鸣不平的呐喊。四重手法层层推进，使此诗成为杜甫怀人诗中「叹不遇」的巅峰。
Allusions
'Drifting clouds' echoes the Nineteenth-Century Old Poems' 'drifting clouds hide the sun, the wanderer does not return,' casting Li Bai's exile into an ancient line of wandering. 'Three nights running I dreamed of you' recalls the Shijing's sleepless longing, 'I think of you awake and asleep.' 'The storms on rivers and lakes' draws on Zhuangzi's drifting unmoored boat and on the fear for a journey's end. 'Scratching his white head' recalls Cao Cao's anxious 'scratching his head, hesitating.' 'Caps and carriages' — the insignia of high officials — makes the capital a forest of privilege, against which Li Bai's 'worn and wasted' solitude stands like Zuo Si's protest that 'the noble occupy high seats while the worthy sink to low posts.' 'Heaven's net is vast' quotes the Laozi's 'Heaven's net is vast; though loose, it lets nothing slip,' which Du Fu twists into bitter irony. 'A name lasting ten thousand years' answers the Old Poems' 'life is not metal or stone' and Cao Cao's 'life is brief' with the cold comfort of posthumous fame. Through these echoes Du Fu writes private friendship in the accent of the whole tradition.
此诗的意象与用语深植于古诗传统。「浮云终日行」化用《古诗十九首》「浮云蔽白日，游子不顾返」的意象——浮云蔽日，游子不归，杜甫以「浮云」写李白流放途中的漂泊，暗含「游子不顾返」的忧心；「游子久不至」更以「游子」称李白，把他流放的身影与古诗中漂泊的游子相连。「三夜频梦君」写思念之深，令人想到《诗经》「寤寐思服」「辗转反侧」的相思；「情亲见君意」写梦中见其情意，以梦证情。「告归常局促」写李白梦中告归的局促，暗含其身处逆境的拘谨；「苦道来不易」写其言语的艰难，欲言又止。「江湖多风波，舟楫恐失坠」化用《庄子》「泛若不系之舟」与《楚辞》「风起于青萍之末」的意象，写李白流放途中的艰险，也暗含对其前途的忧心。「出门搔白首」写李白搔首的憔悴，令人想到曹操「搔首踟蹰」；「若负平生志」写其壮志未酬，暗含李白「大道如青天，我独不得出」的感叹。「冠盖满京华，斯人独憔悴」以「冠盖」（达官贵人的车马冠冕）写京华的繁华，以「憔悴」写李白的潦倒，是千古名句，令人想到左思「世胄蹑高位，英俊沉下僚」的咏史不平。「孰云网恢恢」化用《老子》「天网恢恢，疏而不失」——老子的「天网恢恢」本指天道公正，杜甫以「孰云」反问，讽刺天道之不公；「将老身反累」写李白年迈反遭牵累，暗含对其遭遇的不平。「千秋万岁名，寂莫身后事」化用《古诗十九首》「人生非金石，岂能长寿考」与曹操「对酒当歌，人生几何」的感慨，以哲思写身后之名。全诗化用古诗、老子、庄子的意象与传统，以梦写情、以叹写愤，正是杜甫「以古写情、化典于梦」的本领。
Commentary
This second of the two 'Dreaming of Li Bai' poems is the source of two of Chinese literature's most famous lines: 'Caps and carriages fill the capital; you alone stand worn and wasted' and 'A name that will last a thousand autumns — lonely, the business of the life behind you.' Critics have long ranked it among the greatest poems of friendship: Qing commentators called the first couplet 'a cry of injustice for all ages' and praised the poem for using the bond of friendship to voice the wrongs of the world. Its special value in literary history lies in lifting a private sorrow into a universal lament for unrecognized genius: the wasted Li Bai stands for every talented person whom the age has discarded. Together with the first poem, which fears for Li Bai's very survival, this one completes Du Fu's grief — he fears for his friend's life and burns at his friend's neglect, making the pair the fullest monument of the Du Fu–Li Bai friendship.
此诗历来被推为杜甫《梦李白二首》中的名篇，也是「冠盖满京华，斯人独憔悴」「千秋万岁名，寂莫身后事」等千古名句的出处。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人仇兆鳌《杜诗详注》评「冠盖满京华，斯人独憔悴」为「千古不平之鸣」，浦起龙《读杜心解》更称此诗「以朋友之谊，写天下之不平」，皆指出此诗既是怀友之作，也是为天才鸣不平之作。在文学史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它把对李白个人的深情升华为对「天才不遇」这一普遍命运的感慨——「冠盖满京华，斯人独憔悴」，写的不只是李白，更是古往今来所有「怀才不遇」者的命运；「千秋万岁名，寂莫身后事」，写的不只是李白的名声，更是所有天才「生前寂寞、身后成名」的宿命。这种「以个人写时代、以友写天下」的笔法，正是杜甫「诗圣」精神的高度。此诗与《梦李白·其一》合为《梦李白二首》，从「忧其生死」到「叹其不遇」，完整呈现了杜甫对李白的深情。对于今日读者，此诗是理解李杜友谊与盛唐天才命运的窗口，也是感受中国文学「怀才不遇」母题的典范——那「独憔悴」的李白、「寂寞身后事」的感慨，穿越千年，仍在为所有怀才者发声。
Prosody
Line by line
冠盖满京华，斯人独憔悴。
Caps and carriages fill the capital; you alone stand worn and wasted.
冠盖满布京华，唯独你憔悴潦倒。
Crowns and canopies fill the capital; this man alone is worn away.
这两句是全诗情感最强烈的一笔，也是千古名句，以「冠盖满京华」反衬「斯人独憔悴」，写尽天才的不遇。「冠盖满京华」写京华的繁华——长安的达官贵人（冠盖，指贵族的车马冠冕）满布京华，那「满」字写尽京华的喧嚣与权贵的众多；「斯人独憔悴」写李白的潦倒——唯独这个满腹才华的诗人（斯人，指李白），憔悴潦倒、流放天涯，「独」字与「满」字相对，写出李白的孤独与不遇。两句对仗精工（冠盖对斯人、满对独、京华对憔悴），「满」与「独」的对照，字字千钧：京华越是繁华，李白的憔悴越显；权贵越是众多，李白的孤独越深。这两句的深意在于：它不是杜甫一人的感慨，而是对「天才不遇」这一普遍命运的控诉——那满京华的冠盖，可有几人及得上李白的才华？而那独憔悴的斯人，正是这时代最璀璨却被辜负的天才。以反衬写不平，以对照写孤独，正是这两句成为千古名句的原因，也让「斯人独憔悴」成为无数怀才不遇者的写照。
These two lines are the whole's most emotional stroke, and a famous line through the ages, through 'crowns and canopies fill the capital' setting off 'this man alone is worn away', writing to the full the genius's no meeting. 'Crowns and canopies fill the capital' writes the capital's splendor — Chang'an's grandees (crowns and canopies, meaning the nobles' carriages and crowns) fill the capital, the word 'fill' writing to the full the capital's bustle and the nobles' number; 'this man alone is worn away' writes Li Bai's downfall — only this poet full of talent (this man, meaning Li Bai), worn away and drifting to the world's edge, the word 'alone' set against 'fill', writing Li Bai's loneliness and no meeting. Two lines, the couplet exquisite (crowns-and-canopies against this man, fill against alone, capital against worn-away), the contrast of 'fill' and 'alone', every word a thousandweight: the more splendid the capital, the more Li Bai's worn-away shows; the more numerous the nobles, the deeper Li Bai's loneliness. The depth of the lines lies in: it is not Du Fu's personal sigh, but the accusation of the universal fate of 'the genius's no meeting' — of the crowns and canopies filling the capital, how many equal Li Bai's talent? And that 'this man alone is worn away' is precisely this age's brightest and yet betrayed genius. Writing the injustice through the foil, the loneliness through the contrast, precisely the reason these two lines become a famous line through the ages, and making 'this man alone is worn away' the portrait of countless unrecognized talents.
千秋万岁名，寂莫身后事。
A name that will last a thousand autumns, ten thousand years — lonely, the business of the life behind you.
千秋万岁的名声，寂寞的是身后的情事。
Fame for a thousand autumns, ten thousand years; lonely is the life after death.
这两句是全诗哲思最深的一笔，以「千秋万岁名」写身后之名的永恒，以「寂莫身后事」写身后的寂寥，是流传千古的感慨。「千秋万岁名」写名之不朽——即使李白的名声能传千秋万岁、永垂不朽，那毕竟是身后之事；「寂莫身后事」写身之寂寞——而「身后事」本身是寂寞的：那千载名声，于眼前的困顿何补？于生前的寂寞何益？两句一写「名」的永恒、一写「身」的寂寥，在「名」与「身」的对照中，写尽对「身后之名」的清醒认识。这两句的深意在于：它既是对李白的宽慰（你的名声必将不朽，千秋万岁后人们仍将记住你），也是对现实的不满（纵然身后成名，也弥补不了生前的寂寞与流放之苦）——那「千秋万岁名」，是天才的宿命；那「寂莫身后事」，是天才的悲哀。杜甫以此作结，把对李白命运的感慨提升到对「身后之名」的哲思层面，既深沉又苍凉，千百年来引起了无数共鸣——每一个怀才不遇者，都曾在心中默念过这两句。以「千秋万岁」写永恒，以「寂莫」写苍凉，正是杜甫哲思的极致。
These two lines are the whole's deepest philosophical stroke, through 'fame for a thousand autumns, ten thousand years' writing the posthumous fame's eternity, through 'lonely is the life after death' writing the posthumous loneliness, a sigh chanted through the ages. 'Fame for a thousand autumns, ten thousand years' writes the fame's immortality — even if Li Bai's fame may pass a thousand autumns, ten thousand years, forever, that is after all the thing after death; 'lonely is the life after death' writes the body's loneliness — and 'the life after death' itself is lonely: that thousand-year fame, what help to the present hardship? What benefit to the living years' loneliness? Two lines, one writing the 'fame's' eternity, one writing the 'body's' loneliness, in the contrast of 'fame' and 'body', writing to the full the sober understanding of 'posthumous fame'. The depth of the lines lies in: it is at once the comfort to Li Bai (your fame will surely be immortal, after a thousand autumns and ten thousand years people will still remember you), and the dissatisfaction with reality (even if famed after death, it cannot make up for the living years' loneliness and the exile's suffering) — that 'fame for a thousand autumns, ten thousand years' is the genius's fate; that 'lonely is the life after death' is the genius's grief. Du Fu closes with this, raising the sigh for Li Bai's fate to the philosophical layer of 'posthumous fame', both deep and desolate, for a thousand years arousing countless echoes — every unrecognized talent has murmured these two lines in the heart. Writing the eternity through 'a thousand autumns, ten thousand years', writing the desolation through 'lonely', precisely Du Fu's philosophical extreme.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
The first poem, 'I fear it is not your living soul, the road is long and unknowable,' voices Du Fu's dread for Li Bai's survival; this second poem, 'Caps and carriages fill the capital; you alone stand worn and wasted,' voices his grief at his friend's neglect. One fears death, the other protests injustice; read together they show Du Fu's complete devotion.
《梦李白·其一》「恐非平生魂，路远不可测」，以「疑其死」写对李白生死的忧惧，以「无使蛟龙得」写对前路的忧心，是《梦李白二首》中「忧生」之作。此诗《梦李白·其二》则「冠盖满京华，斯人独憔悴」，以「独憔悴」写李白的不遇，以「千秋万岁名，寂莫身后事」写身后之名，是《梦李白二首》中「叹遇」之作。同题组诗，一写「恐非平生魂」的忧惧（其一），一写「斯人独憔悴」的感慨（其二）；一忧其生死，一叹其不遇。两诗对读，可见杜甫对李白命运的深切牵挂——既忧其生死，又叹其不遇，正是「李杜友谊」最完整的见证。
天末怀李白 Thinking of Li Bai from the World's End 杜甫 · 同一诗人同一怀李白，一写愁一写叹 The same poet missing the same friend: one writes anxious affection, the other indignant reflection.'Thinking of Li Bai from the World's End,' with its 'Cool wind rises at the world's end; how are you, my lord?' and 'You should speak with the wronged ghost, casting your poem to the Miluo,' writes the sorrow of Li Bai's unjust exile in autumn winds. This poem writes the same friendship as protest: one is gentle worry, the other burning indignation.
《天末怀李白》「凉风起天末，君子意如何。鸿雁几时到，江湖秋水多」写秋风中怀念李白，以「应共冤魂语，投诗赠汨罗」写对李白冤屈的感慨，是杜甫怀李白的另一名篇。此诗《梦李白·其二》则「冠盖满京华，斯人独憔悴」，写对李白不遇的感慨，以「千秋万岁名，寂莫身后事」写身后之名，是杜甫怀李白时「叹遇」的巅峰。同为怀李白，一写「凉风天末」的愁念，一写「冠盖京华」的感慨；一忧其冤屈，一叹其不遇。两诗对读，可见杜甫对李白遭遇的深切同情——既忧其冤，又叹其不遇，正是「李杜友谊」的深情写照。
将进酒 Bring in the Wine 李白 · 同为李白命运之叹，一自叹一他叹 Two laments over Li Bai's fate: one self-lament, one lament by a friend.Li Bai's 'Heaven has made me, I must have a use; a thousand in gold, spent, will come again' turns fate into wine-soaked confidence, a self-lament that never doubts his own worth. Du Fu's poem, 'Caps and carriages fill the capital; you alone stand worn and wasted,' turns the same fate into grief and protest. In wine Li Bai finds heroism; in dreams Du Fu finds devotion — the two faces of a friendship that neither man could outlive.
李白《将进酒》「天生我材必有用，千金散尽还复来」「与尔同销万古愁」以纵酒写自信与豪放，是李白「自叹」命运之作——他相信自己「天生我材必有用」。杜甫《梦李白·其二》则「冠盖满京华，斯人独憔悴」「千秋万岁名，寂莫身后事」，以怀人写对李白不遇的感慨，是杜甫「他叹」李白命运之作。同为李白命运的书写，李白自叹「天生我材必有用」的自信，杜甫他叹「斯人独憔悴」的不平；一在酒中见豪情，一在梦中见深情。两诗对读，可见李白与杜甫对同一命运的不同态度，也可见「李杜友谊」的珍贵——李白相信自己，杜甫心疼李白。