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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

送李少府时在客舍作

Seeing Off Deputy Li, Composed at an Inn

高适

Gao Shi

相逢旅馆意多违，暮雪初晴候雁飞。
主人酒尽君未醉，薄暮途遥归不归。

We meet at an inn — our wishes go sadly awry;
evening snow has just cleared, and the migratory geese fly past.
The host's wine is finished, yet you are still not drunk;
dusk gathers, the road is long — will you go home, or stay?
Listen

Meaning

At an inn on his travels Gao Shi meets his friend Deputy Li, and their meeting is full of thwarted wishes — friends who part as soon as they meet. Evening snow has just cleared and migratory geese fly overhead; the host's wine runs out while Li is still sober; at dusk, with the road long, Gao Shi asks the unanswered question: will you go, or stay? The question is the friendship itself — reluctance to part spoken as hesitation.

相逢旅馆意多违，暮雪初晴候雁飞。主人酒尽君未醉，薄暮途遥归不归。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Two travelers meet at an inn, and the meeting itself is a disappointment: what they wish for cannot be, for they must part again. Evening snow has just cleared; migratory geese fly overhead, bound somewhere far. The host's wine is finished, yet the friend is still not drunk — the wine should have carried them further — and now dusk is falling and the road is long. 'Will you go home, or stay?' The question has no answer; it is the poem's heart. [Structure] Two couplets, complete and balanced: the first sets place, mood, and season — an inn, thwarted wishes, snow clearing at dusk, geese flying south; the second narrows to the farewell cup and the parting moment. The closing question, 'will you go home, or stay,' leaves the ending open, the poem stopping at the hesitation itself. [Imagery] Inn, thwarted wishes, evening snow, migratory geese, drained wine, gathering dusk, long road — a cold, spare landscape in which friendship has no room to unfold. The geese flying south touch the wanderer's own homelessness; the unfilled cup and the long road measure how short the meeting was.

【白话串讲】 高适写《送李少府时在客舍作》：“相逢旅馆意多违，暮雪初晴候雁飞”——“主人酒尽君未醉，薄暮途遥归不归”——他客舍送别——薄暮途遥归不归。 【意象与手法】 “相逢旅馆意多违，暮雪初晴候雁飞”写相逢旅馆；“主人酒尽君未醉”写酒尽未醉；结以“薄暮途遥归不归”以问句写归不归。豪迈羁旅。 【情感与主旨】 高适写客舍送别之作，写旅馆相逢、暮雪候雁与酒尽未醉、薄暮途遥的豪迈别情，是高适送别诗中的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“相逢旅馆意多违，暮雪初晴候雁飞”写相逢旅馆；“主人酒尽君未醉，薄暮途遥归不归”写豪迈别情。

Background

Gao Shi (c. 704–765), courtesy name Dafu, a native of Bohai (modern Hebei), was one of the great frontier poets of the High Tang, his verse bold and generous. This quatrain was written at an inn while seeing off Li, a county deputy, and it shows the frontier poet's art in miniature: not the trumpet call of the border but the quiet note of parting between travelers. Gao Shi's own early life was spent in hardship and wandering — years of failed ambitions in the north before his late rise — and poems like this carry the authentic tone of the road: men meeting briefly in inns, each with somewhere else to be.

《送李少府时在客舍作》为唐代诗人高适所作诗。高适（约704—765），字达夫，渤海蓚人，唐代诗人，以边塞诗著称。此诗写送别羁旅，为客舍送别之作。诗中「相逢旅馆意多违，暮雪初晴候雁飞」写相逢旅馆意多违，暮雪初晴候雁飞；「主人酒尽君未醉，薄暮途遥归不归」写主人酒尽君未醉，薄暮途遥归不归。高适此诗以送别羁旅、薄暮途遥归不归写其羁旅之情，豪迈羁旅，是高适诗中的名篇。此篇《送李少府时在客舍作》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《送李少府时在客舍作》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 'parting carried by snow, feeling left in a question.' Two couplets, two registers: the first fixes the scene — an inn meeting, wishes awry, evening snow clearing, migratory geese flying — and in four images states the whole condition of the wanderer's life; the second narrows to the cup and the hour: the host's wine is finished, the friend not yet drunk, dusk falling, the road long. The closing 'will you go home, or stay?' is the poem's masterstroke: instead of a blessing or a scene, the poet ends on a question that admits he does not want the parting, and lets the answer stay open. The un-drunk cup and the un-answered question do the same work — both mark what cannot be completed. Spare, cold, and plain, the poem's boldness is entirely in what it leaves unsaid.

此诗艺术上以「豪迈羁旅、以雪写情」见长。全诗共四句两联，由相逢旅馆意多违而主人酒尽君未醉。起「相逢旅馆意多违，暮雪初晴候雁飞」写相逢旅馆意多违：相逢旅馆意多违，暮雪初晴候雁飞；结「主人酒尽君未醉，薄暮途遥归不归」写主人酒尽君未醉：主人酒尽君未醉，薄暮途遥归不归。全诗以雪写情，由相逢旅馆意多违而薄暮途遥归不归，豪迈羁旅，是高适诗中的名篇。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 'migratory geese' are the seasonal geese whose flights north and south mark the year's turning; in Tang poetry they are the wanderer's familiars, for as letters were once imagined carried by geese, so their southward flight at the year's deep end stirs the traveler's wish to be home. 'Evening snow clearing' belongs to the cold-season scenery of parting — snow clearing toward dusk signals the year's end and the lateness of the road. Neither image is a formal allusion; both are the standing coinage of farewell, and their force here is seasonal: geese fly south, homeward, while the two friends must part in the cold.

诗中「相逢旅馆意多违暮雪初晴候雁飞」「主人酒尽君未醉薄暮途遥归不归」等语，皆含典故故实。「相逢旅馆意多违暮雪初晴候雁飞」用候雁之典（候雁写随季节迁徙的雁），写相逢旅馆意多违暮雪初晴候雁飞；「主人酒尽君未醉薄暮途遥归不归」写主人酒尽君未醉薄暮途遥归不归。诗人用候雁之典入诗，不着痕迹，而把送别羁旅之情写得真切可感，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 poem, 'Seeing Off Deputy Li, Composed at an Inn,' is Gao Shi's farewell written at an inn, where two travelers meet only to part. The opening line, 'We meet at an inn — our wishes go sadly awry,' states the whole regret in a single breath: the meeting itself is a disappointment because it cannot last. 'Evening snow has just cleared, and the migratory geese fly past' sets the season and the mood — snow clearing at dusk, geese flying south — the year at its deep end and the wanderer far from home. 'The host's wine is finished, yet you are still not drunk' narrows to the cup: the wine that should have carried the friendship further runs out before the guest is even tipsy, quietly measuring how short the meeting was. 'Dusk gathers, the road is long — will you go home, or stay?' ends on an unanswered question: dusk is falling, the road is long, and the poet cannot bear to give the answer for his friend. The un-drunk cup and the un-answered question do the same work — both mark what cannot be completed. Spare, cold, and plain, the poem's boldness is in what it leaves unsaid, and it has been anthologied as a masterpiece of the parting quatrain.

这首《送李少府时在客舍作》，是高适写送别羁旅之作，写相逢旅馆意多违、主人酒尽君未醉、薄暮途遥归不归之情，豪迈羁旅。起「相逢旅馆意多违，暮雪初晴候雁飞」——相逢旅馆意多违，暮雪初晴候雁飞。写相逢旅馆意多违：相逢旅馆意多违、暮雪初晴候雁飞——意多违、候雁飞；结「主人酒尽君未醉，薄暮途遥归不归」——主人酒尽君未醉，薄暮途遥归不归。写主人酒尽君未醉：主人酒尽君未醉、薄暮途遥归不归——君未醉、归不归。这「主人酒尽君未醉，薄暮途遥归不归」，是全诗之结：以薄暮途遥归不归写其羁旅。全诗豪迈羁旅，以雪写情，正是高适诗中的名篇。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-syllable quatrain (qijue) — regulated-style verse诗（七言绝句）
Rhyme The poem rhymes on 'fei' and 'gui,' both in the level-tone wei rhyme group, one rhyme to the end. The level-tone rhyme gives the quatrain a broad, open cadence; ending the poem on 'gui' — the very word for 'going home' — lets the rhyme itself echo the poem's final question.此诗为七言绝句，共四句两联。押韵：「飞」「归」押微部韵。前两句起、后两句转合，平仄相间，正与写送别羁旅的豪迈羁旅相称，也见其以七绝写羁旅的凝练。
Tone pattern The four lines follow the regulated alternation of level and oblique tones, the first couplet slow and cold — evening snow, flying geese — and the second couplet pressing toward dusk, the short clauses of the last line ('will you go home, or stay') breaking the even rhythm at exactly the point of hesitation. The regulated form's composure suits a parting held in check: nothing cries out, and the restraint is the style.句式上，「相逢旅馆意多违，暮雪初晴候雁飞」写相逢旅馆意多违，音节豪迈；结「主人酒尽君未醉，薄暮途遥归不归」写主人酒尽君未醉，音节悠长。全诗音节随情起伏，由豪迈而悠长，正合七绝「凝练」之妙，读来如送别羁旅、薄暮途遥归不归之音，豪迈而动人。
Reading note This seven-syllable quatrain shows Gao Shi's frontier art in miniature — not the trumpet call of the border but the quiet note of parting between travelers. Its art lies in 'parting carried by snow, feeling left in a question': the first couplet fixes the inn meeting, the thwarted wishes, the clearing snow, the flying geese; the second narrows to the drained cup and the long road. The marvel is the ending, 'dusk gathers, the road is long — will you go home, or stay?' — a question left unanswered, so the parting stops at its own hesitation. Spare, cold, and plain, the poem's boldness is in what it leaves unsaid, and it has been anthologized as a masterpiece of the parting quatrain.此诗为七言绝句，是高适写送别羁旅之作，也是其诗中的名篇。全诗的艺术特色在于「豪迈羁旅、以雪写情」：「相逢旅馆意多违，暮雪初晴候雁飞」写相逢旅馆意多违、「主人酒尽君未醉，薄暮途遥归不归」写主人酒尽君未醉。全诗豪迈羁旅，以雪写情。尤为精妙者，是「暮雪初晴候雁飞」用候雁之典；而「薄暮途遥归不归」写尽归不归，正是高适诗「豪迈羁旅」的典范，为历代选本所常收。《送李少府时在客舍作》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

相逢旅馆意多违，暮雪初晴候雁飞。

We meet at an inn — our wishes go sadly awry; evening snow has just cleared, and the migratory geese fly past.

相逢旅馆意多违，暮雪初晴候雁飞。

Meeting at the inn, our moods much at odds; the evening snow just cleared, the waiting geese fly.

起句写相逢旅馆意多违，起笔即见其相逢。「相逢旅馆意多违」写相逢旅馆意多违，「相逢旅馆」写相逢旅馆、「意多违」写意多违；「暮雪初晴候雁飞」用候雁之典写暮雪初晴候雁飞，「暮雪初晴」写暮雪初晴、「候雁飞」写候雁飞。一句写相逢旅馆意多违暮雪初晴候雁飞，以相逢旅馆意多违写意多违、以暮雪初晴候雁飞写候雁飞，写尽相逢旅馆意多违、暮雪初晴候雁飞之情。以逢起兴，豪迈而羁旅，是「以逢起兴」的妙笔。

The opening line writes 'meeting at the inn, our moods much at odds', the start. 'Meeting at the inn, our moods much at odds' — the meeting at the inn, the moods at odds; 'the evening snow just cleared, the waiting geese fly' uses the waiting-geese allusion — the evening snow cleared, the geese flying. One line, rising through the meeting, bold and traveler-like, the start of the farewell verse.

主人酒尽君未醉，

The host's wine is finished, yet you are still not drunk;

主人酒尽君未醉，

The host's wine is spent, and you are not yet drunk,

此句写主人酒尽君未醉，是全诗写酒尽之态的关键。「主人酒尽」写主人酒尽，「主人」写主人、「酒尽」写酒尽；「君未醉」写君未醉，「君」写君、「未醉」写未醉。一句写主人酒尽君未醉，以主人酒尽写酒尽、以君未醉写君未醉，写尽主人酒尽君未醉之情。以酒写情，豪迈而羁旅，是「以酒写情」的点睛之笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。

This line writes 'the host's wine is spent, and you are not yet drunk', the key image. 'The host's wine is spent' — the host, the wine spent; 'you are not yet drunk' — you, not yet drunk. Writing feeling through wine, bold and traveler-like, the eye of the poem: the cup emptied and the friend not yet drunk — the reluctance to part measured in the wine's unspent force.

薄暮途遥归不归。

Dusk gathers, the road is long — will you go home, or stay?

薄暮途遥归不归。

dusk falls, the road far — will you return, or not?

结句写薄暮途遥归不归，是全诗立意的落点。「薄暮途遥」写薄暮途遥，「薄暮」写薄暮、「途遥」写途遥；「归不归」写归不归，「归不归」写归不归。一句写薄暮途遥归不归，以薄暮途遥写途遥、以归不归写归不归，写尽薄暮途遥归不归之情。以归写情，豪迈而羁旅，是全诗最动人处，也是「以归写情」的点睛之笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。

The closing line writes 'dusk falls, the road far — will you return, or not?', the poem's landing. 'Dusk falls, the road far' — the dusk, the far road; 'will you return, or not?' — the question. Writing feeling through the return, bold and traveler-like, the poem's most moving point: the dusk coming on and the road long, the question whether he will return hangs unanswered — the parting's shadow falling over the very wine they share.

Study

Word focus

相逢 'Xiang feng,' to meet — here to meet by chance on the road. Two travelers meeting at an inn should be a comfort; placed against 'our wishes go sadly awry,' the word turns bitter, for this meeting is only the prelude to another parting. 「相逢」写相逢旅馆意多违，是写相逢之态的关键。「相逢旅馆意多违」着一「相逢」，写相逢——着一「相逢」，写相逢旅馆意多违，见其逢之相。两字写尽相逢之态，是「以词写逢」的妙笔。「相逢」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。
暮雪 'Mu xue,' evening snow — snow falling toward dusk, just now clearing. The cold, late imagery sets the season at the year's deep end and gives the parting its spare, colorless mood; the clearing sky offers no warmth, only the geese flying south. 「暮雪」写暮雪初晴候雁飞，是写暮雪之态的关键。「暮雪初晴候雁飞」着一「暮雪」，写暮雪——着一「暮雪」，写暮雪初晴候雁飞，见其雪之暮。两字写尽暮雪之态，是「以词写雪」的点睛之词。「暮雪」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。
主人 'Zhu ren,' the host of the inn — the minor figure whose wine runs out. His exhausted stock is what makes the second couplet move: the cup that should seal the friendship fails before the friend is drunk, measuring the meeting's brevity. 「主人」写主人酒尽君未醉，是写主人之态的关键。「主人酒尽君未醉」着一「主人」，写主人——着一「主人」，写主人酒尽君未醉，见其人之主。两字写尽主人之态，是「以词写主」的点睛之词。「主人」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。
薄暮 'Bo mu,' the gathering dusk — 'thin dusk,' light failing by degrees. The word presses the hour forward and forces the question: the road is long, night is coming, and the friend must decide. Time itself becomes the parting's engine. 「薄暮」写薄暮途遥归不归，是写薄暮之态的关键。「薄暮途遥归不归」着一「薄暮」，写薄暮——着一「薄暮」，写薄暮途遥归不归，见其暮之薄。两字写尽薄暮之态，是「以词写暮」的点睛之词。「薄暮」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。

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水调歌头·明月几时有 Prelude to Water Melody: 'Bright moon, when will you appear?' 苏轼 · 同写羁旅感怀、豪迈旷达，一写人有悲欢离合、一写相逢旅馆意多违暮雪初晴候雁飞，皆于羁旅之中见豪迈 Both write the wanderer's feelings; Su Shi consoles himself with philosophical breadth, Gao Shi holds the parting in a single unanswered question.

Su Shi's 'Prelude to Water Melody' — 'Men have sorrow and joy, parting and reunion; the moon has its dark and clear, its waxing and waning — this has been hard since ancient times' — accepts parting through reason and ends by wishing the friend that though ten thousand miles apart they share the moon's beauty. Gao Shi's 'Seeing Off Deputy Li' holds the parting at an inn and ends on 'will you go home, or stay?' Su Shi answers his own question; Gao Shi leaves his open. One is Song philosophical breadth, the other Tang restraint — two ways of standing in the same wind of separation.

苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全」，写羁旅感怀、豪迈旷达，是宋词长调的名篇；高适《送李少府时在客舍作》则以「相逢旅馆意多违，暮雪初晴候雁飞」「薄暮途遥归不归」写候雁飞、归不归。两诗同写羁旅感怀、豪迈旷达：一写人有悲欢离合、以悲欢写离合，一写相逢旅馆意多违暮雪初晴候雁飞、以相逢写羁旅；一为苏轼之旷达、一为高适之豪迈，并读正可见诗写「羁旅感怀」的两种笔法，皆于羁旅之中见豪迈。

 八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Eight Beats of Ganzhou Song: 'Facing the pattering evening rain on the river sky' 柳永 · 同写客舍凝望、豪迈清丽，一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、一写相逢旅馆意多违暮雪初晴候雁飞，皆于客舍之中见凝望 Both gaze from a stopping-place into the traveler's distance; Liu Yong's inn scene is clear and lush, Gao Shi's spare and cold.

Liu Yong's 'Eight Beats of Ganzhou Song' writes the inn at dusk — 'I watch the red fading flowers on the long road' — in the lush manner of the song lyric, a parting that can be dwelt on at length. Gao Shi's 'Seeing Off Deputy Li' is an inn parting compressed to four lines, ending in the unanswered 'will you go home, or stay?' Liu Yong is clear and diffuse, Gao Shi spare and severe; the same inn parting yields two textures — one of autumn rain and red flowers, one of evening snow and a drained cup — together showing how differently Tang and Song poets can hold the same moment of leave-taking.

柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「对潇潇暮雨洒江天，一番洗清秋」，写客舍凝望、豪迈清丽，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；高适《送李少府时在客舍作》则以「相逢旅馆意多违，暮雪初晴候雁飞」「主人酒尽君未醉」写候雁飞、君未醉。两诗同写客舍凝望、豪迈清丽：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以暮雨写清秋，一写相逢旅馆意多违暮雪初晴候雁飞、以旅馆写羁旅；一为柳永之清丽、一为高适之豪迈，并读正可见诗写「客舍凝望」的两种笔法，皆于客舍之中见凝望。