PoemBridge
Start learning
All poems

唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

暮春归故山草堂

Returning to My Old Mountain Cottage in Late Spring

钱起

Qian Qi

谷口春残黄鸟稀，辛夷花尽杏花飞。
始怜幽竹山窗下，不改清阴待我归。

At Valley Mouth late spring, the yellow birds are few;
the magnolia flowers are spent, the apricot petals fly.
Only now do I love the hidden bamboo beneath the mountain window,
unchanged, its clear shade waiting for my return.
Listen

Meaning

In late spring the poet returns to his old mountain cottage and finds the valley's flowers fading and its birds grown scarce. Amid this season of loss, one thing remains constant: the bamboo outside his window still spreads its cool shade, as if it had been waiting for him. The poem uses the fading of spring flowers to contrast with the bamboo's faithfulness, expressing the poet's attachment to his mountain home and his longing for a life of quiet retirement.

谷口春残黄鸟稀，辛夷花尽杏花飞。始怜幽竹山窗下，不改清阴待我归。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] At the mouth of the valley spring is ending: the orioles have grown few, the magnolia blossoms have fallen, and apricot petals drift through the air. Yet beneath the cottage window the secluded bamboo stands as it always did, its cool shade unaltered, as though it had been waiting all along for its master's return. [Structure] In just four lines the poem stages a small drama of loss and constancy: the first couplet shows spring departing, the second reveals what has endured. The turn on 'only now' (shi lian) makes the bamboo's fidelity an emotional discovery rather than a mere description. [Imagery] Fading flowers and flying petals stand for the transience of the world's beauty; the unchanging shade of bamboo stands for a friendship with nature that outlasts the seasons. The bamboo 'waiting for my return' quietly humanizes the landscape, so the reclusive heart finds its counterpart in the plant.

【白话串讲】 钱起写《暮春归故山草堂》：“谷口春残黄鸟稀，辛夷花尽杏花飞”——“始怜幽竹山窗下，不改清阴待我归”——他暮春归草堂——不改清阴待我归。 【意象与手法】 “谷口春残黄鸟稀，辛夷花尽杏花飞”写春残花尽；“始怜幽竹山窗下”写幽竹；结以“不改清阴待我归”以幽竹不改清阴写待归。清新明快。 【情感与主旨】 钱起写暮春归草堂之作，写春残黄鸟稀、杏花飞而幽竹不改清阴待归，以幽竹写故山之念，是写归隐情结的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“谷口春残黄鸟稀，辛夷花尽杏花飞”写春残花尽；“始怜幽竹山窗下，不改清阴待我归”以幽竹写待归。

Background

Qian Qi (c. 710–c. 782), courtesy name Zhongwen, was from Wuxing (present-day Huzhou, Zhejiang) and was one of the 'Ten Talents of the Dali era' in the Mid-Tang period. He served in various provincial posts and was known for polished, fresh landscape verse. This poem belongs to his reclusive landscape poetry. In the Tang imagination, returning to one's old mountain cottage meant more than travel: it was a gesture toward withdrawal from official life. Written as the poet comes home in late spring, the poem turns a season of decay into an encounter with faithfulness, expressing the Mid-Tang recluse's wish to find in nature a constancy that the world of office rarely offers.

《暮春归故山草堂》为中唐诗人钱起所作诗。钱起（约710—约782），字仲文，吴兴（今浙江湖州）人，中唐诗人，为大历十才子之一。此诗写景归隐，为暮春归草堂之作。诗中「谷口春残黄鸟稀，辛夷花尽杏花飞」写谷口春残黄鸟稀，辛夷花尽杏花飞；「始怜幽竹山窗下，不改清阴待我归」写始怜幽竹山窗下，不改清阴待我归。钱起此诗以写景归隐、不改清阴待我归写其归隐之情，清新明快，是钱起诗中的名篇。此篇《暮春归故山草堂》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《暮春归故山草堂》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。

Art

The poem's art lies in writing feeling through scenery with fresh, quick strokes. The opening couplet stacks fading images — late spring, few orioles, spent magnolias, flying apricot petals — to build an atmosphere of loss in fourteen characters, using the passing of spring to set the stage. Then the word 'love' (lian) turns the scene: only now does the poet notice the bamboo beneath his window, and the phrase 'unchanged' (bu gai) sets the bamboo's constancy against spring's departures. The closing words 'waiting for my return' give the bamboo a human attentiveness, so that the plant becomes a faithful friend. The contrast between decaying blossoms and constant shade, handled with the lightness of a quatrain, is what gives the poem its lasting freshness.

此诗艺术上以「清新明快、以景写情」见长。全诗共四句，由谷口春残黄鸟稀而辛夷花尽杏花飞而始怜幽竹山窗下。起「谷口春残黄鸟稀，辛夷花尽杏花飞」写谷口春残黄鸟稀：谷口春残黄鸟稀，辛夷花尽杏花飞；「始怜幽竹山窗下，不改清阴待我归」写始怜幽竹山窗下：始怜幽竹山窗下，不改清阴待我归。全诗以景写情，由谷口春残黄鸟稀而始怜幽竹山窗下，清新明快，是钱起诗中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。

Allusions

The poem works less through learned allusion than through the symbolic weight of its plants. The yellow oriole, magnolia, and apricot blossom are conventional images of spring's beauty in Tang poetry; here their fading marks the season's end. Bamboo, by contrast, had long stood in the Chinese tradition for the upright gentleman who keeps his integrity through all seasons, an association reaching back to the Shijing and to the bamboo-loving recluses of the Jin dynasty. By setting the evergreen bamboo against the fallen blossoms, Qian Qi draws on this entire tradition of bamboo as a symbol of constancy, yet expresses it through such plain, personal detail that the symbolism never feels borrowed.

诗中「谷口春残黄鸟稀辛夷花尽杏花飞」「始怜幽竹山窗下不改清阴待我归」等语，皆含典故故实。「谷口春残黄鸟稀辛夷花尽杏花飞」写谷口春残黄鸟稀辛夷花尽杏花飞；「始怜幽竹山窗下不改清阴待我归」写始怜幽竹山窗下不改清阴待我归。诗人以黄鸟、辛夷、幽竹等语入诗，不着痕迹，而把写景归隐之情写得真切可感，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。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

This quatrain is one of Qian Qi's best-known poems and a favorite in anthologies of Tang quatrains. Its appeal rests on a small but perfect contrast: the fading of spring — few orioles, spent magnolias, flying apricot petals — is set against the bamboo's 'unchanged clear shade waiting for my return.' Critics have especially praised the word 'love' in 'only now do I love the hidden bamboo,' which turns a landscape description into an act of recognition, as if the poet sees the bamboo's faithfulness for the first time precisely because everything else has left. The ending gives the plant a human loyalty, quietly expressing the reclusive heart's wish for a friend in nature who will not depart. Fresh, natural, and unfailingly warm, the poem embodies the Dali-era taste for clear, restrained landscape lyricism.

这首《暮春归故山草堂》，是钱起写景归隐之作，写谷口春残黄鸟稀、始怜幽竹山窗下、不改清阴待我归之情，清新明快。起「谷口春残黄鸟稀，辛夷花尽杏花飞」——谷口春残黄鸟稀，辛夷花尽杏花飞。写谷口春残黄鸟稀：谷口春残黄鸟稀、辛夷花尽杏花飞——谷口春残、黄鸟稀、辛夷尽、杏花飞；「始怜幽竹山窗下，不改清阴待我归」——始怜幽竹山窗下，不改清阴待我归。写始怜幽竹山窗下：始怜幽竹山窗下、不改清阴待我归——幽竹山窗下、不改清阴待我归。这「始怜幽竹山窗下，不改清阴待我归」，是全诗之结：以不改清阴待我归写其归隐。全诗清新明快，以景写情，正是钱起诗中的名篇。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (qijue), four lines in two couplets诗（七言绝句）
Rhyme The poem rhymes on the level-tone words fei (to fly) and gui (to return), both in the wei rhyme group. Its neat, musical rhyme matches the poem's fresh, bright mood and shows how naturally the quatrain form can carry a reclusive feeling.此诗为七言绝句，共四句，两句一联。押平声韵：「飞」「归」押微部韵。诗体依绝句而定，句式整齐，音节随情起伏，正与写景归隐的清新明快相称，也见其以绝句写归隐的自然。
Tone pattern The opening couplet, 'At Valley Mouth late spring, the yellow birds are few; the magnolia flowers are spent, the apricot petals fly,' has a clear, delicate cadence; the closing couplet, 'Only now do I love the hidden bamboo beneath the mountain window, unchanged, its clear shade waiting for my return,' turns bright and warm. The cadence shifts from delicate to warm, fitting the quatrain's art of suggestion and reading like the very sound of a homecoming in late spring.句式上，「谷口春残黄鸟稀，辛夷花尽杏花飞」写谷口春残黄鸟稀，音节清丽；「始怜幽竹山窗下，不改清阴待我归」写始怜幽竹山窗下，音节明快。全诗音节随情起伏，由清丽而明快，正合绝句「含蓄」之妙，读来如写景归隐、不改清阴待我归之音，清新而动人。
Reading note This seven-character quatrain is Qian Qi's poem of returning to his mountain cottage, one of his most celebrated works. Its hallmark is freshness and feeling written through scenery: the first couplet shows late spring's fading, the second the bamboo's unchanging shade waiting for its master. The closing couplet, with the bamboo's constant shade standing for fidelity in nature, makes the plant a friend who does not depart, and gives the poem its enduring warmth.此诗为七言绝句，是钱起写景归隐之作，也是其诗中的名篇。全诗的艺术特色在于「清新明快、以景写情」：「谷口春残黄鸟稀，辛夷花尽杏花飞」写谷口春残黄鸟稀、「始怜幽竹山窗下，不改清阴待我归」写始怜幽竹山窗下。全诗清新明快，以景写情。尤为精妙者，是「始怜幽竹山窗下，不改清阴待我归」以幽竹写情；而「谷口春残黄鸟稀，辛夷花尽杏花飞」以春残写景，正是钱起诗「清新明快」的典范，为历代选本所常收。《暮春归故山草堂》一诗之所以读来声情并茂，正在于诗人以声韵配合情思、以节奏烘托意境，音节之长短、平仄之起伏，皆与诗意相为表里，此亦可见中国古典诗歌声律之美与匠心之工。

Line by line

谷口春残黄鸟稀，辛夷花尽杏花飞。

At Valley Mouth late spring, the yellow birds are few; the magnolia flowers are spent, the apricot petals fly.

谷口春残黄鸟稀，辛夷花尽杏花飞。

At the valley mouth, spring is late; the orioles are few, the magnolias done, the apricot blossoms flying.

首二句写谷口春残黄鸟稀，起笔即见其春残。「谷口春残黄鸟稀」写谷口春残黄鸟稀，「谷口春残」写谷口春残、「黄鸟稀」写黄鸟稀少；「辛夷花尽杏花飞」写辛夷花尽杏花飞，「辛夷花尽」写辛夷花尽、「杏花飞」写杏花飞。两句一写谷口春残黄鸟稀、一写辛夷花尽杏花飞，以谷口春残黄鸟稀写春残、以辛夷花尽杏花飞写花尽，写尽谷口春残黄鸟稀、辛夷花尽杏花飞之情。以景起兴，清新而明快，是「以景起兴」的妙笔。

The opening two lines write 'at the valley mouth, spring is late; the orioles are few', the start. 'At the valley mouth, spring is late; the orioles are few' — the valley mouth's late spring, the orioles' thinness; 'the magnolias done, the apricot blossoms flying' — the magnolias' end, the apricot blossoms' flight. Rising through the scene, fresh and bright, the start of the verse.

始怜幽竹山窗下，不改清阴待我归。

Only now do I love the hidden bamboo beneath the mountain window; unchanged, its clear shade waits for my return.

始怜幽竹山窗下，不改清阴待我归。

Only now I love the quiet bamboo by the mountain window, which has not changed its cool shade, waiting for my return.

尾二句写始怜幽竹山窗下，是全诗立意的落点。「始怜幽竹山窗下」写始怜幽竹山窗下，「始怜」写才怜爱、「幽竹山窗下」写山窗下的幽竹；「不改清阴待我归」写不改清阴待我归，「不改清阴」写不改清阴、「待我归」写等我归来。两句一写始怜幽竹山窗下、一写不改清阴待我归，以始怜幽竹山窗下写怜幽竹、以不改清阴待我归写清阴待归，写尽始怜幽竹山窗下、不改清阴待我归之情。以竹写情，清新而深婉，是全诗最动人处，也是「以竹写情」的点睛之笔。

The closing two lines write 'only now I love the quiet bamboo by the mountain window', the poem's landing. 'Only now I love the quiet bamboo by the mountain window' — only now the love, the quiet bamboo by the mountain window; 'which has not changed its cool shade, waiting for my return' — the unchanged cool shade, waiting for my return. Writing feeling through the bamboo, fresh and deep, the poem's most moving point: among all the late-spring fading, the quiet bamboo alone keeps its old shade and waits for the wanderer's home — the constancy of the natural world set against the mutability of human affairs.

Study

Word focus

稀 'Few' describes the thinning of the orioles and is the key word for late spring's decline: where the valley once rang with birds, now only scattered calls remain. One syllable captures the season's emptying and sets the mood of loss that the bamboo will answer. 「稀」字写黄鸟稀，是写黄鸟稀少的关键。「谷口春残黄鸟稀」着一「稀」，写稀少——着一「稀」字，写黄鸟稀，见其鸟之稀。一字写尽稀少之态，是「以一字写少」的妙笔。「稀」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。
尽 'Spent' describes the magnolia blossoms fallen to their end, the key word for flowers passing: the magnolia's glory is over, its petals gone. Where 'few' marks the birds' decline, 'spent' marks the flowers' end, and together they lay out the whole spectacle of spring departing. 「尽」字写辛夷花尽，是写花尽之态的关键。「辛夷花尽杏花飞」着一「尽」，写尽——着一「尽」字，写辛夷花尽，见其花之尽。一字写尽花尽之态，是「以一字写落」的点睛之词。「尽」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。
怜 'Love' marks the poet's turn from loss to constancy, the key word of the closing couplet: only now, amid the season's departures, does he truly love the bamboo. The word converts a landscape detail into an act of recognition, deepening the poem's warmth. 「怜」字写始怜幽竹山窗下，是写怜爱之情的关键。「始怜幽竹山窗下」着一「怜」，写怜爱——着一「怜」字，写始怜幽竹山窗下，见其爱竹之情。一字写尽怜爱之情，是「以一字写爱」的点睛之词。「怜」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。
不改 'Unchanged' is the pivotal phrase of the poem, setting the bamboo's constancy against spring's departures: while blossoms fall and birds thin, the bamboo's cool shade holds firm. Two words make the plant a emblem of fidelity and give the homecoming poet a nature that does not betray him. 「不改」写不改清阴待我归，是写不改之态的关键。「不改清阴待我归」着一「不改」，写不改变——着一「不改」，写不改清阴待我归，见其不变之态。两字写尽不改之情，是「以词写恒」的点睛之词。「不改」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。

Related Reading

山园小梅 The Little Plum in the Mountain Garden 林逋 · 同写归隐清雅、以物寄情，一写疏影横斜水清浅暗香浮动月黄昏、一写始怜幽竹山窗下不改清阴待我归，皆于归隐之中见寄情 Both poems write the elegance of retirement and feeling entrusted to a plant, one through plum blossoms, one through bamboo.

Lin Bu's 'Sparse shadows slant across the shallow water; a hidden fragrance floats in the moonlight at dusk' writes the recluse's refinement through plum blossom, the supreme song of Song-dynasty flower poetry. Qian Qi writes the recluse's homecoming through bamboo's 'unchanged shade waiting for my return.' One sings of a flower's cold purity, the other of a plant's faithfulness; together they show two ways Chinese poetry lodges the reclusive heart in the garden.

林逋《山园小梅》「疏影横斜水清浅，暗香浮动月黄昏」，写梅之清雅、归隐之趣，是宋诗咏物的绝唱；钱起《暮春归故山草堂》则以「始怜幽竹山窗下，不改清阴待我归」「谷口春残黄鸟稀，辛夷花尽杏花飞」写幽竹待我归、谷口春残。两诗同写归隐清雅、以物寄情：一写疏影横斜水清浅暗香浮动月黄昏、以梅写清雅，一写始怜幽竹山窗下不改清阴待我归、以幽竹写归隐；一为林逋之清逸、一为钱起之清新，并读正可见诗写「归隐寄情」的两种笔法，皆于归隐之中见寄情。

 浣溪沙·一曲新词酒一杯 Huanxisha: A Cup of Wine, a New Song 晏殊 · 同写春景感怀、无可奈何，一写无可奈何花落去、一写辛夷花尽杏花飞，皆于春景之中见无可奈何 Both poems meditate on spring scenery with a sigh of helplessness, one over falling flowers, one over blossoms spent.

Yan Shu's 'Helpless, the flowers fall away; the swallows seem to return, half-remembered' grieves time's passage amid spring scenery, the most famous Song lyric on the pathos of spring. Qian Qi's 'magnolia flowers are spent, apricot petals fly' writes the same season's end, yet finds in the bamboo an unchanging comfort. One yields to the melancholy of falling flowers, the other is consoled by what endures.

晏殊《浣溪沙·一曲新词酒一杯》「无可奈何花落去，似曾相识燕归来」，写春景感怀，是宋词小令的名篇；钱起《暮春归故山草堂》则以「谷口春残黄鸟稀，辛夷花尽杏花飞」「不改清阴待我归」写辛夷花尽、幽竹待归。两诗同写春景感怀、无可奈何：一写无可奈何花落去、以花落燕归写惜时，一写辛夷花尽杏花飞、以花尽写春残；一为晏殊之温润、一为钱起之清新，并读正可见诗写「春景无可奈何」的两种笔法，皆于春景之中见无可奈何。