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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

夏日南亭怀辛大

Summer Evening at the South Pavilion, Thinking of Xin the Elder

孟浩然

Meng Haoran

田园pastoral 怀人longing for a friend 名篇classic

山光忽西落，池月渐东上。
散发乘夕凉，开轩卧闲敞。
荷风送香气，竹露滴清响。
欲取鸣琴弹，恨无知音赏。
感此怀故人，中宵劳梦想。

The mountain light suddenly sets in the west; the pool moon gradually rises in the east. Loosening my hair I enjoy the evening cool; I open the window and lie at ease in the spacious quiet.
The lotus wind sends its fragrance; bamboo dew drips a clear sound. I would take my sounding zither to play, but grieve there is no connoisseur to appreciate.
Moved by this I think of my old friend; at midnight I weary myself with dreams of him.

Listen

Meaning

On a summer evening the poet cools himself at the South Pavilion: mountain light fades, the pool moon rises, lotus fragrance and bamboo-dew sounds fill the air. He would play his zither but has no kindred spirit to hear it, and so his thoughts turn to his absent friend Xin. The poem moves from serene leisure to quiet longing, capturing a hermit's idle joy shadowed by the ache for true companionship.

山上的夕光忽然向西落下，池边的明月渐渐从东边升起。我披散着头发在傍晚乘凉，推开窗户悠闲地躺在敞亮的地方。荷风送来阵阵清香，竹叶上的露水滴落，发出清脆的声响。想取出鸣琴来弹奏一曲，可惜没有知音来欣赏。感念于此，不由得怀念起故人，夜半时分还在劳神思念、梦想着他。

Appreciation

The art follows time's order from sunset to midnight, letting scene flow into feeling. The first six lines are pure imagery—mountain light, pool moon, loosened hair, open window, lotus wind, bamboo dew—in fresh, still-and-moving pictures; the words 'suddenly' and 'gradually' mark time's passage, 'send' and 'drip' catch the faint wind and dew. The last lines turn from scene to feeling via the 'connoisseur' allusion, linking the cool night seamlessly to thoughts of a friend. The language is plain and natural yet deeply flavored—Meng Haoran's signature 'light yet savory' style.

【白话串讲】孟浩然在夏日南亭怀念辛大：“山光忽西落，池月渐东上”。“荷风送香气，竹露滴清响”——“欲取鸣琴弹，恨无知音赏”——“感此怀故人，中宵劳梦想”——他想弹琴，可惜没有知音。【意象与手法】此诗为孟浩然夏日傍晚在南亭乘凉怀友之作，是山水田园诗的名篇。全诗以时间为序，从日落月出写到夜深怀人，境界由景入情、由闲入思。前六句纯写景：山光、池月、散发、开轩、荷风、竹露，意象清丽，动静相生；「忽」「渐」二字写光阴流转，「送」「滴」二字写风露之微，体物入神。后四句由景生情：欲弹琴而恨无知音，遂因琴而怀故人，以「知音」一典将夏夜之闲与怀友之思自然衔接，妙合无痕。全诗语言平淡自然，而情味深长，正是孟浩然「淡而有味」诗风的典范。【情感与主旨】此诗写夏日乘凉之闲适与怀友之深情。前六句的闲适是为后文怀人作铺垫：良辰美景、独处清凉，正宜弹琴会友，可惜知音不在，于是「感此怀故人」。这种由闲适转入孤寂、由景转入情的情感脉络，写出了独处之人对友情的渴望与思念。诗中「恨无知音赏」既是对知音难觅的感慨，也是古代士人怀才不遇心理的委婉流露。全诗情调闲雅而略带惆怅，是孟浩然隐逸情怀与友谊深情的结合。【名句点睛】「荷风送香气，竹露滴清响」为千古名句：以「送」「滴」二字写风荷竹露之微响轻香，由嗅觉写到听觉，体物精细入微，是唐诗中写夏夜之景最清绝的一联。

Background

Meng Haoran (689–740), courtesy name Haoran, of Xiangyang (modern Hubei), is the representative poet of the High-Tang landscape-and-pastoral school, alongside Wang Wei called 'Wang and Meng.' He never held office, living as a hermit on Lumeng Mountain and dying a commoner; his poems mostly write landscape, pastoral, and hermit feeling. In the title, 'Xin the Elder' is the poet's friend, eldest among brothers, his name no longer certain—some say Xin E—with whom Meng was close; Meng has another poem 'Seeing Xin Off to E' in the capital, showing their frequent friendship. This poem writes a summer evening cooling at the South Pavilion and missing Xin. The South Pavilion is a pavilion by the poet's dwelling; on a summer evening he rests there, sees mountain light set and pool moon rise, lotus wind send fragrance and bamboo dew drip sound, and in the mood would take the qin to play but grieves no connoisseur shares it, thus from qin to man, deeply missing the distant friend until midnight sleepless. It shows a daily fragment of Meng's hermit life: mountains and waters for company, qin and wine for self-pleasure, yet the heart still craving a soulmate—the true portrait of a hermit 'body in the woods, heart with friends.' The High-Tang hermit fashion flourished; Meng's plain brush writing true feeling made this a model of pastoral friend-longing, recorded in many anthologies.

孟浩然（六八九—七四零），字浩然，襄阳（今湖北襄阳）人，盛唐山水田园诗派的代表诗人，与王维并称「王孟」。他一生未曾入仕，隐居鹿门山，以布衣终老，诗多写山水田园与隐逸情怀。此诗题中「辛大」为孟浩然的友人，排行老大，其名已不可确考，一说为辛谔，与孟浩然交谊甚笃，孟诗中另有《都下送辛大之鄂》等作，可见二人往来之密。此诗写夏日傍晚在南亭乘凉、怀念辛大之事。南亭是诗人居所旁的亭榭，夏日傍晚，诗人纳凉其间，见山光西落、池月东升，荷风送香、竹露滴响，兴之所至，欲取琴而弹，却恨无知音共赏，于是由琴及人，深怀远方的友人，直至中宵不寐。此诗体现了孟浩然隐居生活的一个日常片段：山水为伴、琴酒自娱，而内心仍渴望知己，正是隐士「身在林泉、心系友朋」的真实写照。盛唐隐逸风气盛行，孟浩然此诗以平淡之笔写真淳之情，遂成田园诗怀人题材的典范，历代选本多予收录。

Art

This is a five-character ancient poem, its structure threaded by time as warp and feeling as weft, moving from scene to feeling, clearly layered. The first six lines write scene, led by 'the mountain light suddenly sets in the west, the pool moon gradually rises in the east'—'suddenly' and 'gradually' write the time's passing from dusk to night; 'loosening my hair I enjoy the evening cool, I open the window and lie at ease' write the figure's act, loose hair and open window, a Wei-Jin gentleman's carefree bearing; 'the lotus wind sends its fragrance, bamboo dew drips a clear sound' use 'send' and 'drip' to perfection: lotus wind sends fragrance is smell, bamboo dew drips clear sound is hearing, engaging the senses to make the summer night's coolness touchable and audible. The last four lines turn from scene to feeling: 'I would take my sounding zither to play' writes the mood arising, the fine hour fit to play; 'but grieve there is no connoisseur to appreciate' turns feeling, the qin present yet no appreciator, one 'would' and one 'grieve' shifting mood from ease to melancholy; 'moved by this I think of my old friend, at midnight I weary myself with dreams' uses 'moved by this' to connect, from qin to man, the longing for the distant friend arising to midnight. The whole first real then empty, first scene then feeling; the clearer the scene, the deeper the loneliness, the truer the friend-longing—typical of Meng's 'light words yet never thin flavor.' Especially, the scenic arrangement is crafted: the first four lines 'mountain light, pool moon, loose hair, open window' are what the eye sees and body dwells, with 'suddenly' and 'gradually' writing time's flow, hinting the wistful 'fine scene does not last'; the middle two 'lotus wind, bamboo dew' with 'send' and 'drip' write faint wind and dew, turning from outer to inner, far to near; at 'I would take my sounding zither' man and self meet, the qin sound not yet raised yet the connoisseur already gone, hence the turn 'grieve no connoisseur,' then from qin to man, from now to past, ending in 'at midnight I weary myself with dreams.' Eight lines, five couplets, layered like peeling a banana, each link tight, seemingly effortless yet feeling deep—a model of 'wonder in the plain, richness in the light.'

此诗为五言古诗，章法以时间为经、以情为纬，由景入情，层次分明。前六句写景，以「山光忽西落，池月渐东上」领起，一「忽」一「渐」写出日落月升的时序流转，点明傍晚到入夜的推移；「散发乘夕凉，开轩卧闲敞」写人物的活动，散发开轩，一派魏晋名士的萧散风度；「荷风送香气，竹露滴清响」以「送」「滴」二字传神：荷风送来香气，是嗅觉；竹露滴下清响，是听觉，五感并用，把夏夜的清凉写得可触可闻。后四句由景生情：「欲取鸣琴弹」写兴发，良辰美景正宜操琴；「恨无知音赏」写情转，琴有而赏者无人，一「欲」一「恨」，情绪由闲适转为惆怅；「感此怀故人，中宵劳梦想」以「感此」承接，由琴及人，怀远之情油然而生，直至中宵。全诗前实后虚、先景后情，景物愈清幽，孤独愈深长，怀人之情愈见真挚，是孟浩然诗「语淡而味终不薄」的典型。尤可玩味者，此诗写景之情态安排极具匠心：前四句写「山光」「池月」「散发」「开轩」，是诗人目之所见、身之所处，以「忽」「渐」二字写光阴流转，暗含「好景不常在」的怅惘；中二句「荷风」「竹露」以「送」「滴」写风露之微，转入耳鼻之觉，境界由外及内、由远及近；至「欲取鸣琴弹」而人我相接，琴声未起而知音已杳，遂有「恨无知音赏」之一转，再由琴及人、由今及昔，落笔于「中宵劳梦想」。全诗八句五联，层次如剥蕉，环环相扣，不见着力而情致自深，是「平中见奇、淡中藏腴」的典范。

Allusions

The allusions are invisible, the most notable being 'connoisseur' (zhi yin), with 'sounding zither' and 'loosening hair' echoing Wei-Jin grace. First, 'connoisseur': the Liezi tells Boya played qin well, Zhong Ziqi listened well; when Ziqi died, Boya broke his qin and cut the strings, never playing again; later 'connoisseur' means a soul who truly appreciates. The line 'I would take my sounding zither to play, but grieve there is no connoisseur to appreciate' transforms this allusion—the qin waits for the connoisseur, the connoisseur gone, the qin need not be played; within lies the deep sigh of the rare connoisseur and the implicit confession of unmet talent. Second, 'sounding zither': the Shijing has 'the qin and se at your side, all is calm and good'; Wei-Jin gentlemen amused themselves with the qin, Ji Kang's 'gazing off the returning goose, hand waving the five strings' especially its orthodoxy; Meng's loose hair, open window, taking the qin to play inherits this hermit grace, the qin becoming an elegant symbol of leisure. Third, 'loosening hair': the Hou Hanshu records the Eastern-Han worthy Yuan Hong loosening hair to renounce the world; Wei-Jin gentlemen also took loosened hair as uninhibited; 'loosening hair I enjoy the evening cool' writes the poet's unrestrained, hinting the hermit identity. Fourth, 'midnight': the deep night, ancient poems often write 'midnight' for solitary musing, like Ruan Ji 'at midnight cannot sleep'; Meng's 'at midnight I weary myself with dreams' inherits this friend-longing tradition. The allusions melt into daily scene, showing grace without trace.

此诗用典不着痕迹，最著者是「知音」一典，另有「鸣琴」「散发」等处的魏晋风流遥承。其一，「知音」：《列子·汤问》载伯牙善鼓琴，钟子期善听，子期死，伯牙破琴绝弦，终身不复鼓琴，后世遂以「知音」喻知心赏鉴之人。诗中「欲取鸣琴弹，恨无知音赏」，正是化用此典——琴待知音而弹，知音既无，则琴亦可以不弹，其间暗含对知音难觅的深沉感慨，也委婉道出诗人怀才不遇、知己难逢的心境。其二，「鸣琴」：《诗经》有「琴瑟在御，莫不静好」，魏晋名士以琴自娱，嵇康「目送归鸿，手挥五弦」尤为其宗；孟浩然散发开轩、取琴欲弹，正是承此隐逸风流，琴成为闲居生活的雅致象征。其三，「散发」：《后汉书》记东汉名士袁闳散发绝俗，魏晋名士亦以披发为放达之态；诗中「散发乘夕凉」写诗人不拘礼法的萧散形象，暗含隐士身份。其四，「中宵」：夜半时分，古诗常以「中宵」写独处沉思，如阮籍「中夜不能寐」；孟浩然「中宵劳梦想」正承此怀人传统。诸典融入日常情景，不见用典之迹而自得风流。

Commentary

This poem is a famous piece among Meng Haoran's landscape-pastoral works, praised by critics for its scenic craft and friend-longing truth. Qing critic Shen Deqian's 'Tang Poetry Selections' says Meng 'light in words yet never thin in flavor'—this poem is the footnote: no line is strange, yet 'the lotus wind sends its fragrance, bamboo dew drips a clear sound' observes things minutely, clear and eternal; Su Shi's 'picture in poetry' fits here too. The couplet 'I would take my sounding zither to play, but grieve there is no connoisseur to appreciate' entrusts feeling to the qin, exhausting the scholar's sigh of the rare connoisseur; later writers on 'connoisseur' often cite it, its meaning exceeding friend-longing to life's fortunes. Compared with Wang Wei's 'Bamboo Lodge'—'alone in the bamboo grove, playing qin and whistling; deep forest none know, the bright moon comes to shine'—Wang writes self-content in solitude, Meng writes friend-thought in solitude; both qin and hermit, one self-sufficient one friend-longing, showing the shared-yet-different personalities of High-Tang landscape-pastoral poets. This poem, from a daily summer-cooling trifle, writes the hermit's leisure and craving for friendship; plain in language yet deep in flavor—the model of Meng's 'nature as foundation' poetics, and one of the most famed Tang summer pieces. In literary history, it inherits Tao Yuanming's 'in the fifth-sixth month, lying by the north window, when cool wind comes, I take myself for an antique man' leisure tradition, and opens the Song literati's 'summer scene' pure-cool style, raising the 'summer' topic from heat-avoidance record to friend-longing lyric vehicle; its 'lotus wind' and 'bamboo dew' became classic symbols of summer-night scene, often imitated—showing its deep influence. Read with 'Passing the Old Friend's Village' and 'Mooring at Jiande River,' it presents Meng's overall 'light yet flavorful, quiet yet thoughtful' manner—not a poet of strangeness but of plain writing deep feeling, like clear tea, faint at first yet mellow in aftertaste.

此诗是孟浩然山水田园诗中的名篇，历代评家极赏其中写景之工与怀人之真。清人沈德潜《唐诗别裁》评孟浩然「语淡而味终不薄」，此诗正是注脚：全诗无一句奇崛，而「荷风送香气，竹露滴清响」等句，体物入微，清绝千古，苏轼所谓「诗中有画」移评此诗亦无不可。诗中「欲取鸣琴弹，恨无知音赏」一联，以琴寄怀，道尽士人知音难觅之慨，后世论「知音」者多引之，其意蕴已超出怀人而及于人生际遇。与王维《竹里馆》「独坐幽篁里，弹琴复长啸」相比，王诗写独处之自得，孟诗写独处之思友，同是琴与隐逸，而一自足一怀人，可见盛唐山水田园诗人同中有异的个性。此诗以夏夜纳凉的日常小事，写出隐士生活的闲雅与对友情的渴望，语言平淡而情味深长，正是孟浩然「以自然为宗」诗学的典范，亦是唐诗中夏日题材最负盛名的篇章之一。从文学史看，此诗上承陶渊明「五六月中，北窗下卧，遇凉风暂至，自谓是羲皇上人」的闲适传统，下启宋代文人「夏景词」的清幽一格，把「夏日」这一题材由避暑纪事提升为怀人言志的抒情载体；诗中「荷风」「竹露」二象，更成为后世写夏夜之景的经典符号，苏轼「荷风送香气」屡被效仿，可见其影响之深。此诗与《过故人庄》《宿建德江》等作并观，恰可完整呈现孟浩然诗「淡而有味、静而多思」的总体风貌——他不是以奇崛取胜的诗人，而是以平易写深情的诗人，读此诗如品清茶，初觉其淡，回味方知其醇。

Prosody

Form Five-character ancient-style poem (wugu)五言古诗

Rhyme Rhymes with the rising-tone 'yang' rhyme: shang, chang, xiang, shang, xiang, one rhyme throughout; the oblique-tone rhymes are short and restrained, the sound suiting the summer night's clear seclusion.押上声「养」韵：上（shǎng）、敞（chǎng）、响（xiǎng）、赏（shǎng）、想（xiǎng），一韵到底，仄声韵脚短促收敛，声情与夏夜清幽之境相称。

Tone pattern Five-character ancient poem, not bound by regulated tonal rules, flowing in natural tones. The rhythm is slow and舒缓; the 'two-two-three' footing like 'mountain light / suddenly / sets west,' with lines like 'loosening my hair I enjoy the evening cool' and 'I open the window and lie at ease' flowing in one breath; closed on oblique rhymes, the phrasing distinct, read like a clear breeze, composed and leisurely.五言古诗，不拘近体格律，以自然声调行文。全诗节奏舒缓，「二二三」音步如「山光／忽／西落」，间以「散发乘夕凉」「开轩卧闲敞」等句，一气流转；仄韵收束，句读分明，读来如清风徐来，从容闲雅。

Reading note This is a five-character ancient poem, not following the strict level-oblique and antithesis of regulated verse but excelling in natural flow and expressive sound—typical of Meng's 'ancient poem for leisure feeling.' The five-character gushi rose from Han-Wei, matured by High-Tang; Li Bai and Meng Haoran both excelled. This poem follows time's order from 'mountain light sets' to 'midnight dreams,' ten lines five couplets, first six scene then four feeling—the Han-Wei ancient poem's 'scene into feeling' norm, while the fine scene and true feeling are Meng's own. In rhyme, the rising-tone yang rhyme, short and oblique, fits the summer-night cool and quiet melancholy; and the rhyme words write place, state, sound, and thought, the rhyme closely tied to meaning. Not bound by level-oblique yet antithesis natural—'the lotus wind sends its fragrance, bamboo dew drips a clear sound' is neat yet lively, showing Meng's skill blending regulated lines into ancient form. The sound is gentle, the mood clear and secluded—the ultimate of five-character ancient summer-night friend-longing, and the sonic embodiment of Meng's 'light yet flavorful' style.此诗为五言古诗，体制上不遵近体平仄对仗之严，而以自然流转、声情并茂见长，是孟浩然「以古诗写闲情」的典型。五古源于汉魏，至盛唐而体格大成，李白、孟浩然皆善为之；此诗以时间为序，从「山光西落」写到「中宵梦想」，十句五联，前六句写景、后四句抒情，章法上正是汉魏古诗「由景入情」的常格，而写景之细、抒情之真则属孟氏本色。用韵上，押上声养韵，仄韵短促，正合夏夜清凉、闲愁暗生之调；且「上」「敞」「响」「赏」「想」五字，或写方位、或写状态、或写声音、或写情思，韵脚与诗意紧密相扣。全诗不拘平仄而对偶自然，「荷风送香气，竹露滴清响」一联，工整而不失灵动，足见孟浩然于古诗中化用律句、律古相济的功力。此诗声情和缓、意境清幽，是五言古诗中写夏夜怀人的绝唱，亦是孟浩然「淡而有味」诗风在声律上的体现。

Line by line

山光忽西落，池月渐东上。散发乘夕凉，开轩卧闲敞。

The mountain light suddenly sets in the west, the pool moon gradually rises in the east; loosening my hair I enjoy the evening cool, I open the window and lie at ease in the spacious quiet.

山上的夕光忽然向西落下，池边的明月渐渐从东边升起。我披散着头发在傍晚乘凉，推开窗户悠闲地躺在敞亮的地方。

The mountain glow suddenly sinks in the west; the pool moon slowly rises in the east. With hair unbound I enjoy the evening cool; opening the window, I lie at ease in the open.

开篇四句写夏夜之景与人，奠定全诗闲适基调。「山光忽西落」着一「忽」字，写夕光消失之快，暮色骤临，时间感极强；「池月渐东上」着一「渐」字，写明月升起之缓，与「忽」相对，一急一缓，写出日月交替的从容与倏忽。两句一西一东、一落一升，空间上形成对称，画面完整。「散发乘夕凉」写动作：披发解带，正是夏夜纳凉的寻常情态，却暗含魏晋名士的萧散风度；「开轩卧闲敞」写姿态：推窗而卧，身居敞亮之地，一个「闲」字，点出心境的闲适。四句由景及人，景是清凉的夏夜，人是散淡的隐士，景物与人物相互映衬，为后文「欲取鸣琴弹」的雅兴与「恨无知音赏」的惆怅作了铺垫。

The opening four lines write the summer night's scenery and the man, establishing the poem's leisurely keynote. The mountain glow suddenly sinks in the west uses suddenly, writing the glow's quick vanishing, dusk arriving abruptly, a strong sense of time. The pool moon slowly rises in the east uses slowly, writing the moon's slow ascent, set against suddenly - one fast one slow, writing the alternation of sun and moon's calm and haste. The two lines one west one east, one sinking one rising, form a spatial symmetry, the picture complete. With hair unbound I enjoy the evening cool writes the action: unbinding hair and girdles, the ordinary posture of summer-evening cool-seeking, yet secretly carrying the Wei-Jin worthies' detached bearing. Opening the window, I lie at ease in the open writes the posture: pushing the casement, lying in the bright place; one leisure fixes the mind's ease. The four lines move from scenery to person: scenery the cool summer night, person the detached recluse, scenery and person setting each other off, preparing the refined impulse for the zither and the wistfulness of no understanding ear below.

荷风送香气，竹露滴清响。欲取鸣琴弹，恨无知音赏。

The lotus wind sends its fragrance, bamboo dew drips a clear sound; I would take my sounding zither to play, but grieve there is no connoisseur to appreciate.

荷风送来阵阵清香，竹叶上的露水滴落，发出清脆的声响。想取出鸣琴来弹奏一曲，可惜没有知音来欣赏。

Wind from the lotus sends fragrance; dew on bamboo drops with a clear sound. I long to take up my zither and play, yet regret no understanding ear is here.

这四句是全诗最精妙处，写景体物与抒情寄意并臻佳境。「荷风送香气」从嗅觉落笔：风是「荷风」，香是「荷香」，一个「送」字写出风主动把香气送来的情态，仿佛清风有意；「竹露滴清响」从听觉落笔：露滴竹叶，声音本极细微，着一「滴」字而清脆可闻，「清响」二字写其清越，以动写静，愈显夏夜之幽静。两句一香一声、一动一静，嗅觉听觉并用，把夏夜写得可感可闻，是唐诗中体物入微的典范。「欲取鸣琴弹」承此良辰美景，兴发而欲操琴；「恨无知音赏」陡转，琴待知音而弹，知音不在，雅兴顿减，一「欲」一「恨」，情绪由闲适转为惆怅，自然引出下文怀人。以琴写情，含蓄深婉，是孟浩然诗中「淡而有味」的极致。

These four lines are the poem's finest, scenery, perception, and feeling all at their height. Wind from the lotus sends fragrance starts from smell: wind is lotus wind, fragrance lotus fragrance; one sends writes the wind actively bringing the scent, as if the breeze had intention. Dew on bamboo drops with a clear sound starts from hearing: dew dripping on bamboo leaves, the sound faint, yet with one drop it becomes crisp and audible; clear sound writes its limpid ring, writing stillness through motion, the summer night's quiet all the more marked. The two lines one fragrance one sound, one motion one stillness, smell and hearing together, making the summer night sensible and audible - Tang poetry's model of perceiving things to the finest. I long to take up my zither and play continues this fair hour, fancy stirring to play; yet regret no understanding ear is here turns abruptly - the zither waits for the understanding ear; the ear absent, the impulse instantly fades; one long one regret, feeling turning from ease to wistfulness, naturally leading to the missing of the friend below. Writing feeling through the zither, reserved and deep - Meng Haoran's extreme of plain yet flavorful verse.

感此怀故人，中宵劳梦想。

Moved by this I think of my old friend; at midnight I weary myself with dreams of him.

感念于此，不由得怀念起故人，夜半时分还在劳神思念、梦想着他。

Moved by this, I think of my old friend; at midnight my dreams are troubled with longing.

末二句点明主旨，收束全诗。「感此」二字上承「欲取鸣琴弹，恨无知音赏」：因琴而无知音，因无知音而思故人，思绪层层递进，衔接自然无痕。「怀故人」直揭诗题「怀辛大」，点出全诗怀友之旨；「中宵劳梦想」写怀思之深：中宵即夜半，夜深人静而思念不息，一「劳」字写思念之劳神费心，足见情之深挚。这两句以平淡之语收束，而余味悠长：前文铺写的清凉夏夜、闲适心境、雅兴与惆怅，至此都汇聚为对故人的深长思念。全诗由傍晚写到中宵，由景物写到情怀，以「怀」字为枢纽，将夏夜之美与怀友之情融为一体，正是孟浩然「语淡味永」诗风的收束。

The last two lines name the theme, resolving the poem. Moved by this continues the zither and no understanding ear: because the zither has no ear, because no ear, the old friend is missed; thought advances layer by layer, the join natural without seam. I think of my old friend directly reveals the title's missing Xin Da, naming the poem's theme of missing a friend; at midnight my dreams are troubled with longing writes the depth of missing: midnight means the middle of the night, the hour deep and silent, yet longing unceasing; one troubled writes the toil and care of missing, showing the feeling's sincerity. These two lines close in plain words, yet the savor is long: the cool summer night, the leisurely mind, the refined impulse and the wistfulness, all converge here into the deep longing for the old friend. The poem moves from dusk to midnight, from scenery to feeling, taking missing as the hinge, fusing the summer night's beauty with the longing for a friend - precisely Meng Haoran's language plain, savor long close.

Study

Word focus

送 In 'the lotus wind sends its fragrance,' the word 'send' is the finest stroke of observation. Wind is formless, fragrance also formless; the word 'send' makes the clear breeze seem to have feeling, actively bringing the lotus scent to the person—not wind blowing, scent scattering, but wind 'sending' scent, turning passive to active, formless to feeling. Its ingenuity is threefold: first, it writes the dynamic process of breeze brushing lotus, scent coming slowly, the olfactory image gaining direction and rhythm through 'send'; second, 'send' implies human expectation—the poet rests at ease, awaiting the cool breeze, thus feels wind 'sending' scent, the object's initiative is the person's expectation; third, 'send' opposes the next line's 'drip,' one light one clear, one wind one dew, writing the summer night's coolness minutely. Had it been 'blow' or 'float,' it would be flat and spiritless; only 'send' writes the feelingless object with feeling, bringing the lotus scent to the face—clear and eternal. 「荷风送香气」之「送」字，是全诗体物最精的一笔。风本无形，香气本亦无形，一个「送」字，却使清风仿佛有了情意，主动把荷香送到人前——不是风自吹、香自散，而是风「送」香来，化被动为主动，化无形为有情。此字之妙有三：其一，写出微风拂荷、香气徐来的动态过程，嗅觉意象因「送」而有了方向与节奏；其二，「送」字暗含人的期待与感知——诗人正处闲敞之处，静候凉风，故觉风送香来，物的主动实是人的期待；其三，「送」与下句「滴」相对，一轻一清，一风一露，写夏夜之清凉入微入神。若换作「吹」「飘」等字，便觉平直无神；唯「送」字以有情之笔写无情之物，使荷香扑面而来，清绝千古。

滴 In 'bamboo dew drips a clear sound,' the word 'drip' writes stillness through sound, the finishing touch of the whole poem's hearing. The dew on bamboo leaves is tiny, its dripping sound almost inaudible, yet the poet writes it with 'drip' and describes it 'clear sound,' as if in the silent summer night the dew's sound is clearly heard. Its ingenuity is 'writing stillness through movement': the clearer the dew sound, the stiller the environment, like 'cicada noise makes the forest quieter,' one 'drip' sinks the summer night's quiet to the bone. Also, 'drip' with 'clear sound' gives the sound texture and clarity, making the formless hearing visible; opposing the last line's 'send,' wind sending scent is olfactory flow, dew dripping sound is hearing's ornament, one empty one solid, weaving the cool symphony of summer night. Had it been 'fall' or 'drop,' the sound would feel dull and heavy; only 'drip' is light and crisp, fitting the tiny dew—a model of Tang word-craft 'observing things minutely.' 「竹露滴清响」之「滴」字，以声写静，是全诗听觉描写的点睛之笔。竹叶上的露水本极细微，滴落之声几乎不可闻，诗人却以「滴」字写出，且以「清响」状其声之清越，仿佛在万籁俱寂的夏夜，露滴之声清晰可闻。此字之妙在于「以动写静」：露滴之声愈清，愈衬出环境的幽静，正如「蝉噪林逾静」之理，一「滴」字反使夏夜的静谧深入骨髓。同时，「滴」与「清响」相配，声有质感、有清浊，把无形的听觉写得如见其形；又与上句「送」相对，风送香是嗅觉的流动，露滴响是听觉的点缀，一虚一实，共同织成夏夜的清凉交响。若换作「落」「坠」等字，便觉声响钝重；唯「滴」字轻灵清脆，恰合露水之微，是唐诗炼字「体物入微」的典范。