唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
秋词·其一
Song of Autumn · First
自古逢秋悲寂寥，我言秋日胜春朝。
晴空一鹤排云上，便引诗情到碧霄。
In the clear sky a single crane breaks through the clouds and rises, drawing my poetic thought to the azure heavens.
Meaning
Since ancient times, when men meet autumn they mourn its loneliness and desolation; I say the autumn day surpasses the bright spring morning. In the clear sky a single white crane breaks through the clouds and rises straight to the ninth heaven, and at once draws my poetic feeling up to the blue vault.
自古以来，人们每逢秋天便悲叹寂寞萧瑟；我却说，秋日的景致胜过明媚的春天。晴朗的天空中，一只白鹤振翅推开云层直上九霄，顿时把我的诗情也引向了那碧蓝的天际。
Appreciation
The whole sets 'mourn' against 'surpass', rising from the void, first stating the new thesis. The first two lines state feeling directly, with 'I say' flatly overturning the case, showing a character unwilling to follow the crowd. The last two close with scene, sketching the broad picture of 'In the clear sky a single crane breaks through the clouds and rises'; the white crane pierces the autumn sky, 'breaks' full of force, turning still to moving; 'drawing my poetic thought to the azure heavens' lifts the concrete crane into rising poetic thought, lodging object and will, the mood open and strong, sweeping away autumn's decline, giving one a lift.
【白话串讲】 “自古逢秋悲寂寥，我言秋日胜春朝”——刘禹锡说：都说秋天悲凉，我偏说秋天胜过春天。“晴空一鹤排云上，便引诗情到碧霄”——一只白鹤冲破云霄，把诗情带到天上。被贬之人的豪气。 【意象与手法】 全诗以「悲」与「胜」构成鲜明对比，破空而起，先立新论：前两句直抒胸臆，以「我言」斩钉截铁地翻案，见不肯随俗的个性；后两句以景结情，「晴空一鹤排云上」以「排」字化静为动，白鹤凌云、冲破秋空，托物言志，「便引诗情到碧霄」将具象之鹤升华为昂扬诗思，意境开阔雄健，一扫秋气衰飒。 【情感与主旨】 此诗约作于刘禹锡被贬朗州司马期间。永贞革新失败，诗人远谪湘楚，心境郁愤而不减豪情，一反宋玉以来悲秋的传统，借秋日晴空之景抒写昂扬奋发之心，既见其倔强刚毅的胸襟，亦暗含对贬谪逆境的傲然超脱。 【名句点睛】 常考「自古逢秋悲寂寥，我言秋日胜春朝」的翻案手法与对比结构，及「排云一鹤」托物言志的象征意味：白鹤即诗人自况，冲破云层即冲破逆境，昂扬诗情直上碧霄，是逆境自持的精神写照。
Background
Liu Yuxi, for joining Wang Shuzhen's reform (the Yongzhen reform) which failed, in the first year of Yongzhen (805) was banished to be magistrate of Langzhou (today's Changde, Hunan), aged thirty-four. In the ten years at Langzhou his heart was angry yet his spirit unbroken. This poem was likely written there, in autumn. Since Song Yu's 'Jiu Bian': 'alas that autumn's air is — desolate, the plants shed and fade', men meeting autumn have mourned; Liu Yuxi reverses the tradition, using the clear autumn sky to voice a high, striving heart, showing both his stubborn, firm breast and a proud transcendence of banishment.
刘禹锡（772—842），字梦得，中唐诗人，与柳宗元并称「刘柳」，与白居易并称「刘白」。唐顺宗永贞元年（805），刘禹锡参与以王叔文为首的永贞革新，推行罢宫市、禁五坊小儿、抑制藩镇宦官等一系列新政，仅百余日即告失败，顺宗被迫禅位，革新派惨遭贬逐，史称「二王八司马」事件，刘禹锡被贬为朗州（今湖南常德）司马，时年三十四岁。谪居朗州的十年间，诗人心境郁愤而不减豪情，常借诗明志。《秋词》即作于朗州任上，当在元和元年至九年之间。朗州地处湘西，地僻民稀，司马一职实为安置贬官的闲职，刘禹锡居此九年，寄情诗文，与当地士人唱和，并尝以《砥石赋》自砺，其《望洞庭》「湖光秋月两相和」亦写朗州秋景，可见秋色实为诗人谪居生活中的亮色。自宋玉《九辩》「悲哉秋之为气也」以来，文人逢秋多生悲叹，刘禹锡却一反传统，于贬谪逆境中高唱「我言秋日胜春朝」，借秋日晴空之景抒写昂扬奋发之心，既见其倔强刚毅的胸襟，亦暗含对政治打击的傲然超脱，是「诗豪」本色在困境中的集中展现。
Art
The whole sets 'mourn' against 'surpass', rising from the void, first stating the new thesis. The first two lines state feeling directly, with 'I say' flatly overturning the case, showing a character unwilling to follow the crowd. The last two close with scene, sketching the broad picture of 'a single crane breaks through the clouds and rises': the white crane pierces the autumn sky, 'breaks' full of force, turning still to moving; 'drawing my poetic thought to the azure heavens' lifts the concrete crane into rising poetic thought, lodging object and will, the mood open and strong, sweeping autumn's decline, giving one a lift.
此诗仅四句，却以对比与翻案构成强大的张力。前两句「自古逢秋悲寂寥，我言秋日胜春朝」直抒胸臆：「自古」二字总括宋玉以来千年的悲秋传统，「我言」二字以斩钉截铁的口吻立下翻案之论，一「悲」一「胜」的鲜明对比，见出诗人不肯随俗的个性与睥睨传统的勇气。后两句「晴空一鹤排云上，便引诗情到碧霄」以景结情：秋日晴空如洗，一鹤振翅排云直上，白鹤的矫健与晴空的澄澈相映，打破了秋之寂寥的刻板印象；「排」字极具力度，化静为动，写出白鹤冲开云层的动态与气势；「便引诗情到碧霄」由实入虚，将具象之鹤升华为昂扬的诗思，诗情随鹤飞升而直上九霄，托物言志，意境开阔雄健。全诗先议后景、以景证议，二十八字一气流转，一扫秋气衰飒，予人奋发向上之感，在历代咏秋诗中独树一帜。修辞上，「悲」对「胜」、「寂寥」对「春朝」、「一鹤」对「诗情」、「排云」对「碧霄」，字面工稳而虚实相生，议论句与写景句一虚一实、一理一象，相映成趣；全诗四句，前两句如金石掷地，后两句如白鹤冲天，由理入景、由景见志，二十八字中完成了一次对千年悲秋传统的漂亮翻案，其艺术上的成功，正在于以最凝练的形式承载了最充沛的意气。
Allusions
The poem transforms the traditional 'mourning autumn' allusion. Song Yu's 'Jiu Bian' opens: 'Alas that autumn's air is — desolate, the plants shed and fade', and since then 'mourning autumn' became a chief motif, poets using autumn for sorrow of parting and fate. Liu Yuxi aims at this long tradition, summing the former men with 'Since old times men meeting autumn have mourned', then overturning with 'I say the autumn day surpasses the spring dawn'. The 'crane breaking the clouds' also darkly uses the crane as an immortal bird, symbol of purity and rising — lodging will in object to show mind.
此诗用典不在字面而在传统。「自古逢秋悲寂寥」所概括的，正是中国文学中源远流长的悲秋传统：宋玉《九辩》开篇「悲哉秋之为气也，萧瑟兮草木摇落而变衰」，将秋与悲联结，此后曹丕《燕歌行》「秋风萧瑟天气凉」、杜甫《登高》「万里悲秋常作客」等皆承此脉，悲秋遂成古典诗歌的重要母题。刘禹锡此诗正针对这一悠久传统而发，以「自古」总括前人，随即以「我言秋日胜春朝」翻案，是「以传统为对手」的创作。诗中「一鹤排云」暗用鹤的文化意象：鹤为仙禽，素来象征高洁、长寿与冲举之志，《诗经》有「鹤鸣于九皋，声闻于天」之句，历代诗文多以鹤喻高士，刘禹锡借白鹤凌云写自己的孤傲与不屈，托物以明志，虽不用典而自然融会了深厚的文化积淀。尤可注意者，「一鹤排云」的意象还暗含道家仙禽的传统：东汉《列仙传》载王子乔乘白鹤驻于缑氏山巅，仙人乘鹤之说自此流行，鹤遂与冲举、仙游相连，刘禹锡写鹤之排云直上，正借这一文化积淀暗寓自己的冲举之志与对世俗贬谪的超越，其「诗豪」气概，正在这乘鹤凌霄的意象中得到升华。
Commentary
This poem has long been praised. Song critics praised its 'heroic air seen beyond the words'. Moderns hold Liu reverses Song Yu's mourning-autumn tradition, opening autumn's new realm with the 'poet-hero's' brush. Shen Deqian's Tang Shi Bie Cai says 'the second half bursts with heroic air', enough to show his high breast. Anthologies often print it as a model for youth's self-holding in hard times — also showing its cross-age spiritual worth.
《秋词》其一历来备受称赏，是咏秋诗中的翻案名篇。宋代诗评家即赞其「英迈之气，见于言外」，清人沈德潜《唐诗别裁》亦谓其「下半首英气勃发」，都指出此诗雄健昂扬的特质。刘禹锡一生屡遭贬谪（朗州、连州、夔州、和州），却能「以诗豪之笔开秋日新境」，其《再游玄都观》《酬乐天扬州初逢席上见赠》等篇同样于逆境中见豪情，《秋词》正是这种「诗豪」精神最凝练的呈现。今人论唐诗之秋，多以「悲秋」与「颂秋」双峰并峙：杜甫《登高》写悲秋之极致，刘禹锡《秋词》写颂秋之先声。此诗入选历代多种选本与今日语文教材，被视为逆境自持、昂扬进取的精神范本，其「秋日胜春朝」的翻案之论，跨越千年仍能予人以振奋，体现了唐诗乐观健朗精神的一面。刘禹锡《秋词》共二首，其二「山明水净夜来霜，数树深红出浅黄。试上高楼清入骨，岂如春色嗾人狂」写秋色之明净清骨，与此首「晴空一鹤排云上」的阔大昂扬恰成呼应，一以清骨胜、一以气象胜，合观之，诗人对秋的深情与对悲秋传统的翻案便更加完整，故历代选本或以二首并录，或独取此首，而皆以此首为「诗豪」精神的代表。
Prosody
Line by line
自古逢秋悲寂寥
Since of old, men meet autumn and grieve its loneliness,
自古以来，人们每逢秋天便悲叹寂寞萧瑟。
Since ancient times, men meet autumn and sigh for its loneliness and desolation.
起句总括中国文学中源远流长的悲秋传统，为下文的翻案立下靶子。「自古」二字将时间推至渺远的过去，宋玉《九辩》「悲哉秋之为气也，萧瑟兮草木摇落而变衰」开其端，此后曹丕、杜甫等历代诗人多承此脉，逢秋而悲，几成咏秋的定式；「逢秋悲寂寥」五字即对此传统的凝练概括，「逢」字写秋与人的相遇，「悲」字写这种相遇的固定情感反应，「寂寥」点出悲秋的核心情绪——寂寞、萧瑟、凋零。此句的好处在于举重若轻：不引经据典罗列前人的悲秋之作，而以「自古」二字一笔总揽，既见其学养之深、对传统的了然，又为下句「我言」的反诘蓄足势能，先立靶而后破靶，章法上的翻案因此更有力量。
The opening sums up the long-flowing grief-of-autumn tradition in Chinese literature, setting the target for the reversal below. The words 'since of old' push the time to the dim past: Song Yu's 'grieving, ah, the autumn air! bleak, the grasses and trees shaking and falling into decline' opened it, and since then Cao Pi, Du Fu, and the poets of the ages have carried this vein, grieving at autumn, almost the fixed form of the autumn chant; the five words 'meet autumn and grieve its loneliness' are the condensed summary of this tradition, 'meet' the meeting of autumn and man, 'grieve' the fixed emotional response to this meeting, 'loneliness' naming the core emotion of the autumn grief — solitude, bleakness, falling. The beauty of the line is the light hand on the heavy burden: not citing the allusions and listing the ancients' autumn grief, but with the words 'since of old' gathering it in one stroke, showing both the depth of learning and the full knowledge of the tradition, and storing the fullest momentum for the next line's 'I say' rejoinder; first setting up the target and then breaking it, the reversal of craft the more forceful.
我言秋日胜春朝
I say, the autumn day surpasses the spring morning.
我却说，秋日的景致胜过明媚的春天。
I say, the autumn scene surpasses the bright spring.
此句是全诗立论的核心，也是翻案的关键一笔。「我言」二字以第一人称直陈己见，斩钉截铁、不容置疑，与上句「自古」的众口一词形成尖锐对峙，一个「我」字凸现出诗人睥睨传统、不肯随俗的个性；「秋日胜春朝」以「胜」字作断语，将秋与春这对传统审美中的悲喜两极倒转过来——世人皆以春为明媚、以秋为萧瑟，诗人偏说秋胜于春。「胜」字看似武断，实有深意：春朝之胜在繁花似锦、热闹明媚，而秋日之胜在晴空澄澈、天高气爽，一重外在的绚烂、一重内在的清明，诗人扬秋抑春，正是扬清峻而抑浮华。此句与上句一破一立、一抑一扬，二十八字中先立新论，语气之自信、见识之超卓，已为后两句的写景张本。
This line is the core of the poem's thesis, and the key stroke of the reversal. The words 'I say' state his own view in the first person, decisive and unassailable, forming a sharp confrontation with the above 'since of old' common voice; the one word 'I' brings out the poet's scorning of tradition, his refusal to follow the crowd. 'The autumn day surpasses the spring morning' — the word 'surpasses' the verdict, reversing the grief-joy poles of autumn and spring in the traditional aesthetics — the world takes spring for bright, autumn for bleak, and the poet insists autumn surpasses spring. The word 'surpasses' seems arbitrary, and holds deep meaning: the spring morning's excellence lies in the rich flowers, the bustling brightness; the autumn day's excellence lies in the clear sky, the high, bracing air — one the outer splendor, one the inner clarity; the poet exalts autumn and suppresses spring, precisely exalting the clear and stern and suppressing the gaudy. This line and the above, one breaking one establishing, one suppressing one raising, within twenty-eight words first setting up the new thesis, the confidence of tone and the extraordinary insight already storing the groundwork for the scenic writing of the last two lines.
晴空一鹤排云上
In the clear sky, one crane pushes through the clouds,
晴朗的天空中，一只白鹤振翅推开云层直上九霄。
In the clear sky, a white crane beats its wings, pushing through the clouds to the highest heavens.
此句以景结情，是「秋日胜春朝」的形象证明，也是全诗最富画面感、最见力度的一句。「晴空」二字写秋日之天澄澈如洗，一扫悲秋者眼中秋之阴沉，正是「胜春朝」的依据；「一鹤」写孤鹤独飞，不写群鸟而写一鹤，正是诗人孤高自许的写照；「排云上」三字是句眼，「排」字本义为推开、冲开，写白鹤振翅冲破云层、直上九霄的动势，化静为动，极具力度，仿佛不是云挡鹤、而是鹤排云，白鹤的矫健勇决之气扑面而来。「排」字与「上」字相连，更写出一往无前的上升之势，与秋空的澄澈相映，构成一幅开阔雄健的秋空图。此句托物言志：排云之鹤正是诗人自况，冲破云层即冲破贬谪的逆境，其昂扬奋发、睥睨一切的气概，尽在鹤的飞升之中。
This line closes in scene, the image-proof of 'the autumn day surpasses the spring morning', and the poem's most pictorial, most forceful line. 'The clear sky' the autumn sky washed clean, sweeping away the autumn-grievers' gloom, precisely the ground of 'surpasses the spring morning'; 'one crane' the lone crane flying alone, writing not the flock but one crane, precisely the portrait of the poet's lonely self-esteem; the three words 'pushes through the clouds' the line's eye, 'pushes' the original meaning to push aside, to break through, writing the white crane's beating wings and breaking through the clouds to the highest heavens, turning still to motion, the force extreme, as if not the clouds bar the crane but the crane pushes the clouds, the white crane's vigor and resolve striking the face. 'Pushes' joined with 'up', the more writing the forward, unstoppable rising, set off with the autumn sky's clarity, forming an open, vigorous picture of the autumn sky. This line entrusts the will through the thing: the cloud-pushing crane is precisely the poet's self-figure, breaking through the clouds is breaking through the adversity of exile, his soaring, defiant spirit all within the crane's ascent.
便引诗情到碧霄
and at once leads the poetry of my heart up to the azure sky.
顿时把我的诗情也引向了那碧蓝的天际。
At once it leads the poetry of my heart up to the blue sky.
结句由实入虚，将具象的飞鹤升华为昂扬的诗思，是全诗意境的完成。「便引」写感应之迅捷，鹤才排云而上，诗情便随之飞升，物我之间毫无间隔；「诗情」二字点出诗人观鹤时的内在反应，鹤之飞升唤起诗之昂扬；「到碧霄」写诗情所至之高之远，碧霄即晴空之极处，诗情直上九霄，与飞鹤并翔，胸次之开阔、气象之雄健，于此尽出。此句的妙处，在于以虚写实：鹤飞是眼前之景（实），诗情上碧霄是心中之境（虚），由实入虚、托物言志，将个人的昂扬心志化为可感的空间意象，物我交融，意境浑然。沈德潜评此诗「下半首英气勃发」，正指这由鹤及情的飞升之势——秋日因一鹤而生动，诗情因一鹤而高远，悲秋的千年传统，到此被一鹤排云、诗情上霄的雄姿一扫而空。
The closing line turns from the real to the unreal, elevating the concrete flying crane into the soaring poetic thought, the completion of the poem's realm. 'At once leads' the swiftness of the response — the crane has just pushed through the clouds, and the poetry of the heart soars with it, no gap between thing and self; 'the poetry of my heart' naming the poet's inner response at watching the crane, the crane's ascent arousing the poetry's soaring; 'up to the azure sky' the height and the far of the poetry's reach, the azure sky the extreme of the clear sky, the poetry rising to the highest heavens, soaring with the flying crane, the openness of the breast and the vigor of the air all out here. The beauty of the line is writing the real through the unreal: the crane's flight the scene before the eyes (real), the poetry to the azure sky the realm within the heart (unreal), from the real to the unreal, entrusting the will through the thing, turning the personal soaring will into a sensible space-image, thing and self fused, the realm whole. Shen Deqian's praise of this poem's 'second half bristling with heroic air' points precisely at this ascending sweep from crane to feeling — the autumn grows alive through one crane, the poetry grows high through one crane, the thousand-year grief-of-autumn tradition here swept clean by the cloud-pushing crane and the poetry to the heavens.
自古逢秋悲寂寥，我言秋日胜春朝。
Since of old, men meet autumn and grieve its loneliness; I say, the autumn day surpasses the spring morning.
自古以来，人们每逢秋天便悲叹寂寞萧瑟；我却说，秋日的景致胜过明媚的春天。
Since ancient times, men meet autumn and sigh for its loneliness; I say, the autumn scene surpasses the bright spring.
此二句合观，可见全诗「先破后立」的章法与对比手法的运用。上句「自古逢秋悲寂寥」总括千年悲秋传统，下句「我言秋日胜春朝」以「我言」二字翻案立论，一「悲」一「胜」，一传统一个体，一被动承袭一主动立说，构成鲜明的对比与尖锐的对峙。这种对比不是简单的修辞，而是两种人生态度的交锋：悲秋者感时伤逝、自怜自艾，以秋为衰颓之象；诗人则于秋中见清峻、见生机、见高远，以秋为胜春之境。语言上，「自古」的宏阔与「我言」的决绝相映，「悲寂寥」的低回与「胜春朝」的高昂相对，音节与情调都随情感陡转。此二句破空而起、先立新论，为后两句的写景张本，是「起笔不凡」的典范，也奠定了全诗昂扬奋发的基调。
These two lines, read together, show the poem's craft of 'first breaking then establishing' and the use of contrast. The upper line, 'since of old, men meet autumn and grieve its loneliness', sums up the thousand-year autumn-grief tradition; the lower, 'I say, the autumn day surpasses the spring morning', the reversal and thesis through 'I say'; one 'grieve' one 'surpass', one tradition one individual, one passive inheritance one active assertion, forming the sharp contrast and confrontation. This contrast is not simple rhetoric, but the clash of two attitudes to life: the autumn-grievers feel the time's grief and the self's pity, taking autumn as the image of decline; the poet sees in autumn the clear sternness, the life, the height, taking autumn as the realm surpassing spring. In language, the breadth of 'since of old' and the resolve of 'I say' set off, the low return of 'grieve its loneliness' and the high lift of 'surpasses the spring morning' opposed, the rhythm and the mood turning abruptly with the feeling. These two lines break the air and rise, first setting up the new thesis, storing the groundwork for the scenic writing below, the model of the 'uncommon opening', and tuning the whole's soaring, vigorous keynote.
晴空一鹤排云上，便引诗情到碧霄。
In the clear sky, one crane pushes through the clouds, and at once leads the poetry of my heart up to the azure sky.
晴朗的天空中，一只白鹤振翅推开云层直上九霄，顿时把我的诗情也引向了那碧蓝的天际。
In the clear sky, a white crane beats its wings, pushing through the clouds to the highest heavens, and at once leads my poetic feeling up to the blue sky.
此二句合观，可见全诗「以景结情、托物言志」的收束艺术。前句写景：「晴空一鹤排云上」，以澄澈的秋空为背景，写孤鹤排云直上，画面开阔而充满动势，是「秋日胜春朝」的形象证明；后句抒情：「便引诗情到碧霄」，由鹤之飞升引出诗情之飞升，将眼前的实景化为心中之境，景与情由此贯通。二句一实一虚、一物一我，先写鹤之排云，再写情之凌霄，物我相感、情景交融，将昂扬的诗思凝定在碧霄这一高远开阔的空间意象上，余韵悠长。就全诗言，前两句以议论立论，此二句以形象证之，议论不空、写景不滞，先议后景、以景结情，二十八字一气流转，是七绝「以意胜」的典型。排云之鹤与凌霄诗情，正是诗人贬谪而不屈、逆境而自振的精神写照。
These two lines, read together, show the poem's closing art of 'closing in scene, entrusting the will through the thing'. The upper line writes scene: 'in the clear sky, one crane pushes through the clouds', the clear autumn sky the background, the lone crane pushing through the clouds, the picture open and full of motion, the image-proof of 'the autumn day surpasses the spring morning'; the lower writes feeling: 'and at once leads the poetry of my heart up to the azure sky', from the crane's ascent drawing the poetry's ascent, turning the real scene before the eyes into the realm within the heart, scene and feeling thus threaded through. Two lines, one real one unreal, one thing one self, first writing the crane's cloud-pushing, then the feeling's sky-soaring, thing and self responding, scene and feeling fused, the soaring poetic thought fixed on the high, open space-image of the azure sky, the aftertaste long. As for the whole, the first two lines argue the thesis, these two prove it in image, the argument not empty, the scene not stagnant, argument first then scene, closing in scene, twenty-eight words flowing in one breath, the typical quatrain's 'the idea prevails'. The cloud-pushing crane and the sky-soaring poetry are precisely the portrait of the poet exiled and unbroken, in adversity self-raising.
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One mournful, one bold — see the two typical Tang moods of autumn; compare their mood and theme.
杜牧《秋夕》（银烛秋光冷画屏，轻罗小扇扑流萤）与刘禹锡《秋词》同写秋天，而情调一幽冷一昂扬，恰成唐人咏秋的两种典型。《秋夕》写秋夜深宫，银烛、画屏、流萤、牵牛织女星，营造出清冷幽寂的氛围，以秋夜之静写宫女的孤寂，情感低回含蓄；刘禹锡《秋词》写秋日晴空，一鹤排云、诗情凌霄，以秋日之阔写诗人的昂扬，情感高亢奋发。杜牧于秋中见清冷之美，刘禹锡于秋中见开阔之美；一以静境写孤寂，一以动境写豪情；一哀而不伤，一壮而不悲。二诗并读，可见唐人咏秋并非只有悲秋一途：秋可以幽冷，也可以壮阔；可以引人愁思，也可以催人奋发。同写一秋，而心境、意境迥别，正见诗歌之妙在于「以我观物，故物皆著我之色彩」。
秋兴八首·其一 Autumn Meditations · First 杜甫 · 异：同咏秋而情调迥别，一悲秋之极致一颂秋之先声 Different (both on autumn yet far different in tone)Du's desolate riverscape bears the grief of his fate, Liu's autumn sky and single crane show boldness in exile; compare 'mourning autumn' and 'reversing autumn'.
杜甫《秋兴八首》其一（玉露凋伤枫树林，巫山巫峡气萧森）与刘禹锡《秋词》同咏秋景，而情调一悲一豪，恰可代表悲秋与颂秋两大传统的两极。杜诗写夔州秋日，玉露凋伤、江间波浪、塞上风云，秋之萧森与身世之悲、故国之思交织，是悲秋传统的集大成之作，秋在他笔下是「万里悲秋常作客」的沉郁苍凉；刘诗写朗州秋日，晴空一鹤、诗情凌霄，秋之开阔与贬谪中的豪情相融，是颂秋传统的先声，秋在他笔下是「秋日胜春朝」的昂扬奋发。二诗一沉郁顿挫、一明快高亢，一以秋写忧、一以秋写志，同是贬谪漂泊之作，而杜甫将悲愁沉入秋景，刘禹锡将豪情托于秋空，对读可见中国文人面对秋与逆境时的两种精神姿态，也可见盛唐之悲与中唐之豪的时代差异。
山行 Mountain Journey 杜牧 · 同：皆以秋景写昂扬明朗之趣，翻秋之常调 Same (both write bright, uplifting interest through autumn scene)Du Mu's 'frost leaves redder than February flowers' and Liu's 'autumn day surpasses the spring dawn' both reverse autumn's common tone; read together for the variety of Tang autumn thought.
杜牧《山行》（远上寒山石径斜，白云生处有人家）与刘禹锡《秋词》同属唐人咏秋中的明朗一派，皆一反悲秋的常调，于秋景中见昂扬之趣。《山行》写秋日山行，寒山石径、白云人家，一路秋色，末以「霜叶红于二月花」作结，将经霜的枫叶与二月的春花相比，红艳胜春，是杜牧对秋色的礼赞；刘禹锡《秋词》以「我言秋日胜春朝」立论，以排云之鹤证明秋之开阔，是刘禹锡对秋日的翻案。二诗一写霜叶之红、一写晴空之阔，一以色彩胜、一以气象胜，而「秋胜于春」的立意则如出一辙，可见盛唐之后，唐人咏秋已由悲秋一途渐生明朗昂扬的新调。杜牧之明朗近于闲适的赏玩，刘禹锡之昂扬出于贬谪中的自振，同中有异，并读最能见唐人秋思的多样面貌。