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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

秋浦歌

Song of Qiupu

李白

Li Bai

抒怀Express Feelings 愁思Melancholy Thoughts

白发三千丈，缘愁似个长。
不知明镜里，何处得秋霜。

My white hair seems three thousand yards long,
Because my sorrow is as long.
And in the bright mirror I don't know
From where comes autumn frost so long.

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Meaning

The poet uses extreme exaggeration to describe his long white hair, which he attributes to the depth of his sorrow. Looking into the mirror, he wonders in a self-mocking tone where the frost-like white hair came from, expressing helplessness and melancholy over aging and unfulfilled ambitions.

满头的白发仿佛有三千丈那么长，只因为心中的愁绪也像这般悠长。对着明亮的镜子端详自己，竟不知是从哪里得来的这一头如秋霜般的白发。诗人以极度夸张之笔，把无形的愁绪化为有形可感的白发，诙谐自嘲之中深藏迟暮之悲与壮志难酬之痛，读来震撼人心。

Appreciation

The opening line 'White hair three thousand yards long' is a startling exaggeration that concretizes the intangible sorrow. The second line explains the cause-effect relationship between white hair and worry. The last two lines shift to a mirror scene, with a rhetorical question that blends humor and pathos. The poem exemplifies Li Bai's romantic style, turning deep emotion into vivid imagery.

【白话串讲】 “白发三千丈，缘愁似个长”——李白的愁，能长出三千丈的白发。明明在夸张，读起来却觉得真实：一个人的忧愁可以有多长，李白给出了最狂的答案。【意象与手法】此诗二十字而奇气纵横，是李白五言绝句中最见浪漫本色的一首。首句「白发三千丈」凭空落墨，以匪夷所思的夸张夺人心魄，将白发之长度推到极限，先声夺人；次句「缘愁似个长」以因果句式点破谜底，说明白发之长全因愁绪之长，化虚为实、无理而妙；三句「不知明镜里」陡然从夸张跌回日常的镜前场景，以「不知」写蓦然照镜时的惊愕；末句「何处得秋霜」以设问收束，将白发、秋霜、愁思融为一体。全诗起于奇、承以理、转于实、合以问，章法灵动，虚实相生，谐谑中见沉痛，是典型的太白浪漫笔法。【情感与主旨】李白于天宝年间漫游秋浦，时年近半百，长安赐金放还之后政治理想落空，漂泊江湖而壮志难酬。此诗以对镜自照写白发之惊，实为对生命迟暮、功业无成的一声浩叹。三千丈的白发是夸张，似个长的愁是直说，明镜秋霜则把年华老去写得触目惊心。诗人表面诙谐自嘲，骨子里却是深沉的悲凉，这种以戏谑写悲哀的手法，正是李白独有的苦笑式抒情，读来令人笑中含泪。【名句点睛】「白发三千丈，缘愁似个长」二句为千古名句，妙在以无理之语写有情之理：白发纵长，何至三千丈？而愁到极处，便觉白发也长到无边，夸张越离奇，愁情越真切。严羽《沧浪诗话》谓其「发想超然，非人力可到」，即指这种超越常理而归于真情的想象。后世写愁写老之句，如苏轼「多情应笑我早生华发」、陆游「胡未灭，鬓先秋」，皆难脱此藩篱。

Background

Qiupu (in present-day Guichi, Anhui) was a silver and copper mining area in the Tang dynasty. Li Bai traveled here between 748–753 CE during the Tianbao era, writing a series of seventeen poems titled 'Songs of Qiupu', of which this is the fifteenth. At nearly fifty years old, his political aspirations had failed, and he wandered in self-pity over aging and unfulfilled ambitions. The scenery of Qiupu inspired these poems, which mix local color with personal lament.

《秋浦歌》组诗共十七首，此为其第十五首，作于唐玄宗天宝年间（约753年前后）李白漫游秋浦时。秋浦即今安徽池州贵池区一带，唐代以产银、铜闻名，山水清丽，李白晚年流寓于此，先后写下十七首五言绝句，或写当地冶炼工人的劳作，或写秋浦山水风物，或抒个人愁怀，此首即以对镜见白发写尽人生迟暮、壮志未酬之悲。其时李白年过半百，自天宝三载（744）被赐金放还离开长安，十余年间浪迹江湖，求仕无门、报国无路，空怀济世之志而一事无成。秋浦多山多水，霜秋易感，诗人于萧瑟秋光中照见满头白发，万千愁绪一时涌上心头，遂以极度夸张之笔写出这二十字绝唱。关于组诗的具体作年，历来有开元、天宝两说，然从诗中「两鬓入秋浦，一朝飒已衰」等句看，当作于诗人晚年漂泊时期，与组诗其他篇章正相印证，可见迟暮之叹非一时之感，而是积郁已久的生命浩叹。

Art

In just twenty characters, the poem bursts with extraordinary imagination. The first line opens with the shocking exaggeration 'white hair three thousand yards long'. The second line links white hair to sorrow, making the abstract tangible. The last two lines move from hyperbole to realistic description, ending with a self-mocking question. The structure—startling start, clear cause, turning question, implicit sigh—shows Li Bai's romantic flair.

此诗艺术之妙，在于以二十字的小篇幅完成一次由奇入真、由虚入实、由笑入悲的情感腾跃，章法上起、承、转、合四层分明。首句「白发三千丈」凭空落墨，不写镜、不写人，先以一个骇人听闻的数字制造悬念，使读者先惊其奇；次句「缘愁似个长」紧承其下，以「缘」字点明因果，解释白发之所以如此之长，全因愁绪之深，夸张之语至此有了情理依据，此谓之承；三句「不知明镜里」笔锋一转，由天外奇想跌回日常的镜前场景，诗人的视线从想象的白发回到现实中的明镜，语气也从惊叹转为自语，此谓之转；末句「何处得秋霜」以设问作结，明知故问，将白发之白与秋霜之白叠合，把惊愕、感慨、自嘲尽收一问之中，此谓之合。四句之间，虚（三千丈、愁）与实（明镜、霜）交错，夸张与白描并用，诙谐与沉痛并存，是李白「清水出芙蓉」之外的另一副笔墨。此外，此诗与组诗中「炉火照天地，红星乱紫烟」的壮美写实恰成对照，可见李白五绝既能写雄奇，亦能写深情，一题多面而各极其妙。

Allusions

The image of white hair follows the tradition of lamenting old age seen in Cao Pi's 'Letter to Wu Zhi' ( 'hair turned white' ) and ancient poems. The 'three thousand yards' exaggeration derives from Zhuangzi's vastness and Chu Ci's romanticism. 'Autumn frost' as a metaphor for white hair was used by Pan Yue in 'Rhapsody on Autumn' and by Li Bai himself in other poems, evoking desolation and sorrow.

此诗虽二十字，却熔铸了丰富的意象传统与修辞渊源。其一是「白发」意象的悠长传统：从《诗经》「今我不乐，日月其除」的岁月之叹，到汉乐府「少壮不努力，老大徒伤悲」，再到潘岳《秋兴赋》「斑鬓髟以承弁兮」，叹老嗟卑一直是士人文学的母题，李白「白发三千丈」正是对这一传统的极端化发挥。其二是「三千丈」的夸张之法，渊源可溯至《庄子》寓言「水击三千里」的想象规模与《楚辞》「带长铗之陆离兮」的铺张扬厉，李白以「三千丈」量白发，正合其「笔落惊风雨」的浪漫气魄。其三是「秋霜」喻白发的修辞系统：古人以霜雪喻发色之白、之寒，李白尤爱此喻，其《将进酒》「君不见高堂明镜悲白发，朝如青丝暮成雪」、《秋浦歌》其四「两鬓入秋浦，一朝飒已衰」皆以白、霜、雪写年华飞逝，此首更将「秋」字点出，既写白发之色白如霜，又暗含秋之肃杀与生命之衰飒，意象凝练而意蕴多重。其四是「明镜」一物，承六朝闺怨与文人叹老的双重传统，镜前自照本是思妇伤春、士人感时的惯常场景，李白借镜写心，使二十字的短章蕴含了汉魏以来叹老传统的全部重量，举重若轻，正是大家手笔。

Commentary

Yan Yu (Song dynasty): 'Li Bai's imagination transcends worldly things, as in 'white hair three thousand yards'—beyond human reach.' Hu Yinglin (Ming): 'Li Bai's 'white hair three thousand yards'—language strange but emotion true.' Wang Qi (Qing): 'Worry causes white hair, white hair shows worry—mutual causation, marvelously eternal.' This poem is the ultimate in exaggerated sorrow.

此诗自问世以来，历代评家无不惊叹其奇，而归于其真。宋代严羽《沧浪诗话》评曰：「太白发想，超然物外，如『白发三千丈』，非人力可到」，以为这种想象已超越人力可及的范围，直入化境。明代胡应麟《诗薮》则谓「太白『白发三千丈』，语奇而情真」，指出奇语背后是至真的情感。清代王琦注《李太白全集》更从情理上疏通：「因愁致白，因白见愁，辗转相生，妙绝千古」，以「辗转相生」四字道破白发与愁绪互为因果的妙理。今人赏析此诗，多从夸张修辞与浪漫主义立论，以为「三千丈」是夸张的极致，「似个长」是比喻的通感，全诗以无理之语写有情之理，遂成写愁的千古绝唱。此诗之价值还在以小见大：二十字写尽一位天才诗人的暮年悲凉，白发、愁、明镜、秋霜四个意象环环相扣，无一字赘余，足见李白五绝炉火纯青的功力。它也是理解李白晚年心态的关键文本，与《将进酒》之狂放、《行路难》之悲慨参看，可见盛唐气象之下天才诗人的另一面人生。

Prosody

Form Five-character ancient verse (not strictly regulated)五言绝句（仄起首句不入韵式）

Rhyme Rimes '长' (cháng) and '霜' (shuāng), level tone in 'seven yang' rhyme category; first line ends with '丈' (zhàng) in oblique tone, not riming.押平声阳韵（平水韵下平七阳），「长」「霜」二字入韵，一韵到底；首句「丈」字仄收，不入韵。

Tone pattern Ancient style, free from regulated verse constraints; language plain but imagination extraordinary.仄仄平平仄，平平仄仄平，仄平平仄仄，仄仄仄平平，全诗平仄合律，无孤平、无三平调，节奏为二二一（如白发、三千、丈），末句以入声「得」字顿挫作结。

Reading note This is one of the 'Songs of Qiupu' series. Uses hyperbole for sorrow, embodying Li Bai's romanticism; 'autumn frost' for white hair is a traditional image.此诗为五言绝句，仄起首句不入韵式，押平声七阳韵，「长」「霜」一韵到底，首句「丈」字仄收不入韵，为律绝正格。全诗平仄为「仄仄平平仄，平平仄仄平，仄平平仄仄，仄仄仄平平」，完全合律，可见李白虽以天才纵逸著称，于近体格律亦游刃有余。七阳韵属洪亮开阔的韵部，「长」「霜」二字收音悠长，读来朗朗上口，然诗人却以这样明亮的声韵写最深沉的愁，声情与辞情形成微妙的反衬，愈显悲凉。句式上全为二二一节奏，如「白发、三千、丈」「缘愁、似个、长」，顿挫分明，恰合诗人一叹三叹的语气。二十字的短制，起承转合俱全，起于奇、承以理、转于实、合以问，章法之精整在五绝中罕有其匹。此诗与《静夜思》同为李白五绝名篇，一写静夜乡思之温柔，一写镜前白发之激越，可见李白五绝既有「床前明月光」的清水芙蓉，亦有「白发三千丈」的奇崛纵横，题材与声情俱各极其妙。

Line by line

白发三千丈，

White hair, three thousand zhang long,

满头的白发仿佛有三千丈那么长。

The white hair on my head seems fully three thousand zhang long.

起句「白发三千丈」凭空落墨，以极度夸张先声夺人。白发本以长度论尺寸，诗人却以「三千丈」量之，将满头白发推向不可思议的长度，骇人心目，令人顿生此愁该有多深的悬念。这句的妙处在于无理而妙：人发之白，长不过数尺，何来三千丈？正因其不合常理，才逼出下句「缘愁似个长」的解答，使读者明白白发之长乃愁绪之长的外化。以有形之长度写无形之愁，化虚为实，是李白浪漫主义夸张的典范。同时「白发」二字直揭迟暮主题，为全诗定下悲凉基调，而「三千丈」的奇崛又使悲凉不流于颓丧，反带几分豪迈自嘲之气，这种悲中见奇、奇中藏悲的笔法，正是李白抒情诗独一无二的风神。

The opening, 'white hair, three thousand zhang long', falls from the void, seizing the ear through the extreme exaggeration. White hair is measured in inches, and the poet measures it in 'three thousand zhang', pushing the full head of white hair to the unbelievable length, startling the eye and the heart, at once raising the suspense of how deep this grief must be. The beauty of the line is the wonderful unreasonableness: human hair, grown white, is at most a few feet, how comes three thousand zhang? Precisely because it is beyond reason, it forces out the next line's answer, 'for grief is like this in length', making the reader understand that the white hair's length is the outward form of the grief's length. Writing the formless grief through the formed length, turning the unreal to the real, the model of Li Bai's romantic exaggeration. At once the words 'white hair' directly reveal the theme of declining years, tuning the poem's desolate keynote, and the strangeness of 'three thousand zhang' keeps the desolation from falling to the abject, carrying a touch of the bold self-mockery; this brush of grief within the strange, strangeness within the grief, is precisely the unique spirit of Li Bai's lyric verse.

缘愁似个长。

for grief is like this in length.

只因为心中的愁绪也像这般悠长。

Only because the grief in my heart is just as long.

次句「缘愁似个长」紧承首句，以「缘」字点破白发之长的根由，完成由奇入理的转折。「缘」即因为，一字绾合因果，将上句骇人的夸张落到愁情上，白发之所以三千丈，全因心中愁绪也如这般悠长；「似个」是当时口语，意为像这样，以白话入诗，亲切自然，如与人语，冲淡了夸张的突兀。「长」字一语双关，既指白发之长，又指愁绪之长，物我同一，虚实相生。此句的深意在于：诗人不写愁的滋味、愁的形态，只以「长」字作比，便使无形之愁有了长度、有了分量，可感可触；同时以愁释白，也暗示白发非生理之衰，而是心理之忧的累积，为后文「何处得秋霜」的设问埋下伏笔。两句合观，先奇后理、先惊后叹，章法之妙已见一斑。

The next line, 'for grief is like this in length', carries on the opening, the word 'for' naming the cause of the white hair's length, completing the turn from wonder to reason. 'For' means because, one word tying the cause and effect, landing the above's startling exaggeration on the grief: the white hair's three thousand zhang, all because the grief in the heart is just as long; 'like this' the colloquial of the time, meaning 'like this', the vernacular in verse, intimate and natural, as if speaking with a man, softening the exaggeration's abruptness. The word 'length' the double meaning, at once the white hair's length and the grief's length, thing and self one, the real and the unreal giving birth. The depth of the line: the poet writes not the taste of grief, not the shape of grief, only through the word 'length' comparing, and the formless grief at once has length, has weight, sensible and touchable; at once explaining the white through the grief, it hints the white hair is not the physical decline, but the accumulation of the mental care, the groundwork for the later question of 'whence this autumn frost'. The two lines read together, first wonder then reason, first startlement then sigh, the craft's beauty already seen.

不知明镜里，

I know not, in the bright mirror,

竟不知道在明亮的镜子里，

I know not, in the bright mirror,

第三句「不知明镜里」笔锋陡转，由天外奇想跌回日常的镜前场景，是全诗由虚入实的关键。「不知」二字写诗人蓦然对镜时的惊愕，仿佛这满头白发来得毫无征兆、难以置信，语气中满含自嘲与无奈；「明镜」点出照镜之举，为末句「秋霜」的比喻提供现实载体，同时也暗含镜中窥年华的传统意象。此句的妙处在于以平实语承奇绝语：前两句是飞腾的想象，此句忽然收束为眼前的白描，一放一收，节奏顿挫，使全诗不流于浮夸，而归于真切。「不知」的诘问口吻更透出诗人面对衰老时的恍惚与不甘，一位天才诗人不愿承认却不得不承认岁月无情的复杂心理，尽在这五字之中。

The third line, 'I know not, in the bright mirror', the brush turns abruptly, from the sky-high fancy falling back to the daily scene before the mirror, the key of the poem's turn from the unreal to the real. The words 'I know not' the poet's sudden amazement at the mirror, as if this full head of white hair came without warning, beyond belief, the tone full of self-mockery and helplessness; 'the bright mirror' naming the act of the mirror, providing the real carrier for the closing metaphor of 'autumn frost', and at once secretly holding the traditional image of peering at the years in the mirror. The beauty of the line is carrying the wonder through the plain words: the first two lines are the soaring imagination, and this line suddenly gathers to the before-the-eyes plain writing, one release one gathering, the rhythm turned, keeping the whole from falling to the bombast, and returning to the true. The 'I know not' questioning tone further shows the poet's trance and unwillingness before aging, a genius poet's complex psychology of refusing to admit and yet having to admit the years' relentlessness, all within these five words.

何处得秋霜。

whence this autumn frost has come.

从哪里得来这一头如秋霜般的白发。

whence this white hair, like autumn frost, has come.

末句「何处得秋霜」以设问收束全诗，将白发、秋霜、愁思熔于一炉，含蓄不尽。「秋霜」喻白发，既写发色之白如霜，又暗含秋之肃杀与生命的衰飒，比直言白发更添一层苍凉；「何处得」明知故问，仿佛白发是从别处染来，而非自身生长，这种不肯直认的语气正是诗人自我宽解式的诙谐，然诙谐之下，迟暮之悲、壮志之慨沛然莫御。以问作结，答案自在读者心中——秋霜来自岁月，来自愁绪，来自半生蹉跎，于是二十字的短章在问号处生出无限余味。此句与首句遥相呼应：起于「白发三千丈」之奇，结于「何处得秋霜」之问，奇而复归平淡，夸张而复归真切，整首诗如同一声长长的叹息，从想象的高空落回现实的镜前，余音袅袅，不绝如缕。

The closing line, 'whence this autumn frost', closes the whole in question, fusing the white hair, the autumn frost, and the grief in one furnace, the restraint unending. 'The autumn frost' figures the white hair, both writing the hair's whiteness like frost, and secretly holding the autumn's killing air and life's decline, adding a layer of desolation to the plain saying of white hair; 'whence' the asking while knowing the answer, as if the white hair were dyed from elsewhere, not grown from within, this tone of refusing to admit directly is precisely the poet's self-consoling wit, and beneath the wit, the grief of declining years and the sigh for the high will pour out unchecked. Closing in question, the answer of itself in the reader's heart — the autumn frost comes from the years, from the grief, from the half-life wasted; hence the short piece of twenty words gives birth to the infinite aftertaste at the question mark. This line echoes from afar the opening: beginning in the wonder of 'white hair, three thousand zhang', closing in the question of 'whence this autumn frost', the wonder returning to the plain, the exaggeration returning to the true, the whole like one long sigh, falling from the imagined height back to the real mirror, the lingering sound, unending.

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Word focus

三千丈 Three thousand yards: Exaggerated number for the length of white hair, turning intangible sorrow into tangible form, astonishing and typical of Li Bai's romantic hyperbole. 「三千丈」是此诗的诗眼之一，以极度夸张的数字写白发之长，化无形之愁为有形之物，是李白浪漫主义夸张的典范。「三千」非实指，而是以数量之巨极言长度之不可测；「丈」为长度单位，本用于量物，此处移用于量发，物我混同，奇崛惊人。数字入诗，妙在虚实之间：若说三尺则太实，若说万丈则太浮，「三千丈」恰在可惊与可感之间，既超出常理，又不失具体可感，遂成千古夸张的极致。此词之妙更在与「缘愁」呼应：白发之长即愁绪之深，夸张之数实为深情之量，无理之语归于有情之理，故严羽谓其发想超然，非人力可到。后世写白发者多矣，而「三千丈」一出，余者皆黯然失色，正因这一个数字里凝聚了天才诗人全部的生命悲慨与想象力量。

缘 Because: The word '缘' reveals that the cause of long white hair is deep sorrow, showing cause and effect. 「缘」字（因为）是全诗由奇入理的关键，也是李白炼字如金的一个缩影。首句「白发三千丈」是惊人之语，若无「缘」字的绾合，便成了无根之谈；有此一字，白发之长立得情理依据——不是发自长，而是愁深使然。「缘」字以果溯因，将白发与愁两件事焊接成因果链，化虚为实、无理而妙，全诗的奇警由此有了内在的逻辑支撑。从修辞看，「缘」是因果连词入诗，以议论句法写抒情内容，打破了五绝惯以写景起句的套路，显示出李白以气运笔、不主故常的特点。从情感看，「缘」字把愁推为白发之源，也暗含诗人对自身处境的省思：白发非天意，乃心事；衰老非岁月之过，乃壮志难酬之累。一个虚词，既构章法，又见性情，正是大家手段。

秋霜 Autumn frost: Metaphor for white hair, capturing both the whiteness and the bleakness of autumn, concise and poignant. 「秋霜」是全诗的结穴之词，喻白发而兼含多重意蕴，意象凝练，堪称诗眼。其一写色：霜色白，恰肖白发之白，以霜拟发，直观而鲜明。其二写时：霜生于秋，秋为岁之暮、万物肃杀之时，以「秋」字点白发，暗合诗人年近半百的生命晚境，季节之秋与人生之秋叠合，苍凉自见。其三写感：霜性寒而肃杀，触之生凉，以此写白发，则迟暮之感、衰飒之气扑面而来。其四写问：「何处得」三字以设问出之，仿佛白发是外来之物、凭空而得，不肯直认的诙谐中藏着沉痛。四重意蕴集中于二字，故全诗二十字，唯此二字最耐咀嚼。李白诗中霜雪代指白发的用法屡见，如「朝如青丝暮成雪」，然此首「秋霜」兼时空与感受，包孕最丰，遂成此类意象的巅峰。

秋浦歌