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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

戏为六绝句

Playfully Writing Six Quatrains

杜甫

Du Fu

论诗poetry 组诗poetry 文学批评Theme 六绝句Theme

庾信文章老更成，凌云健笔意纵横。
今人嗤点流传赋，不觉前贤畏后生。
王杨卢骆当时体，轻薄为文哂未休。
尔曹身与名俱灭，不废江河万古流。
纵使卢王操翰墨，劣于汉魏近风骚。
龙文虎脊皆君驭，历块过都见尔曹。
才力应难跨数公，凡今谁是出群雄。
或看翡翠兰苕上，未掣鲸鱼碧海中。
不薄今人爱古人，清词丽句必为邻。
窃攀屈宋宜方驾，恐与齐梁作后尘。
未及前贤更勿疑，递相祖述复先谁。
别裁伪体亲风雅，转益多师是汝师。

Yu Xin's writing matured as he grew old,
His cloud-towering brush ranged free and far.
The men of today sneer and pick at his inherited fu,
Not seeing that the ancients themselves stand in awe of the younger men.

Wang, Yang, Lu, and Luo set the style of their age,
Yet the flippant mock their writings without cease.
Your bodies and names alike will pass away,
But the rivers and streams will flow for ten thousand years.

Even if Lu and Wang took up the brush,
They fell below Han and Wei, yet neared the Airs and Odes.
Dragons' patterns and tigers' crests — all are yours to drive;
You pass the towns at a leap, and we see what you are.

True talent can hardly outleap those masters —
Who in all this age is the hero above the crowd?
Some may gaze on kingfishers perched on the orchid flowers,
But none has dragged the whale from the blue-green sea.

I do not slight the men of today, nor disdain the ancients —
Clear words and lovely phrases must always be my neighbors.
I secretly climb toward Qu Yuan and Song Yu, to ride beside them,
Fearing only to follow in the rear of Qi and Liang.

That we fall short of the ancients admits no doubt —
Each age transmits the former, and who first began?
Sort out the false bodies and embrace the Airs and Odes;
To turn to many masters is to make them all your masters.

Listen

Meaning

Du Fu's famous series of six quatrains on poetry — a playful but profound critical manifesto. The first praises Yu Xin, whose writing matured with age, and rebukes the ignorant who sneer at him. The second defends the 'Four Elites of the Early Tang' (Wang Bo, Yang Jiong, Lu Zhaolin, Luo Binwang) against flippant mockery, with the immortal image: 'your bodies and names will pass away, but the rivers and streams flow for ten thousand years.' The third argues that even where Lu and Wang fall short of Han and Wei, they approach the ancient Airs and Odes. The fourth contrasts the small beauties of contemporary verse (kingfishers on orchid flowers) with the great achievement that no one has reached (dragging the whale from the blue-green sea). The fifth declares his own ideal: to love both the ancients and the moderns, to ride beside Qu Yuan and Song Yu, and to fear only falling into the decadence of Qi and Liang. The sixth sums up his doctrine: the ancients must be transmitted, false styles must be discarded, and 'to turn to many masters is to make them all your masters.' The poem is at once a defense of the great precursors, an attack on critical ignorance, and a statement of Du Fu's own poetics.

庾信的文章到老年来更加成熟，凌云般的健笔意境纵横奔放。如今的人嗤笑指点他流传的辞赋，却不觉前贤足以令后生敬畏。王杨卢骆是当时的文体风貌，轻薄之徒讥笑他们从不停休。你们这些人身名终将一同湮灭，却不妨碍江河万古奔流。纵使卢王挥毫运墨作文，也稍逊汉魏而接近风骚传统。龙文虎脊般的骏马皆任你驾驭，越过都市方显出你们之平庸。才力本就难以超越这几位大家，当今谁又是超群出众的英雄。有人只赏翡翠栖于兰苕之上，却未能擒鲸鱼于碧海之中。不鄙薄今人而热爱古人，清词丽句必定与之相邻为友。私下追攀屈原宋玉当与之并驾，唯恐落入齐梁柔靡之后尘。不及前贤更毋庸怀疑，递相传承又该先效法谁人。甄别裁去伪体而亲近风雅，转益多师才是你的老师。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The six quatrains form a small treatise in verse. I: Yu Xin's writing matured with age, his brush soaring free; the men of today sneer at his fu, not seeing that the ancients stand in awe of the young. II: The Four Elites set the style of their time, yet the flippant mock them endlessly; your names will die, but the rivers flow forever. III: Even where Lu and Wang are weaker than Han and Wei, they approach the Airs and Odes; the fine steeds are yours to drive, and crossing the towns reveals your worth. IV: Talent cannot leap beyond those masters; who today is the hero? Some see the kingfisher on the orchid, none drags the whale from the green sea. V: I slight neither modern nor ancient — clear words and lovely phrases are my neighbors; I climb to ride beside Qu and Song, fearing only to trail Qi and Liang. VI: That we fall short of the ancients is certain; each age transmits the former, and who began? Sort out the false, embrace the Airs and Odes — and to turn to many masters is to make them all your masters. [Structure and Thought] The six quatrains are arranged as a critical argument: three on the unfairly mocked precursors (Yu Xin, the Four Elites), one on the true scale of achievement, one on the poet's own ideal, and one summing up the doctrine of inheritance and selection. [Key Technique] The series works by critical imagery: the rivers flowing forever, the kingfisher and the whale, the racing steed — each image compresses a judgment into a picture. [Emotional Tone] Playful in title but earnest in substance: the tone of a master who knows his craft, defends his predecessors, and sets the standard for his age.

【白话串讲】杜甫写《戏为六绝句》评论诗歌：“庾信文章老更成，凌云健笔意纵横”。“尔曹身与名俱灭，不废江河万古流”——你们这些批评的人身名俱灭，江河照样万古长流。“王杨卢骆当时体”——他评价初唐四杰。“不薄今人爱古人”——他不偏薄今人。他用诗论诗，开了先河。【意象与手法】六首以组诗论诗，层层递进。其一尊庾信“老更成、凌云健笔”，斥今人妄加嗤点；其二为初唐四杰张目，“尔曹身与名俱灭，不废江河万古流”以奔流江河喻四杰文章之永恒；其五提出“不薄今人爱古人”；其六“别裁伪体亲风雅，转益多师是汝师”点明博采众长、以风雅为归的宗旨。嬉笑怒骂、理致深密。【情感与主旨】中国文学史上最早以组诗形式论诗的杰作，开创论诗绝句体裁，对元好问《论诗三十首》、王士禛论诗绝句影响深远。既破除贵古贱今与贵今贱古两种偏执，又确立杜甫兼收并蓄的文学史观。【名句点睛】常考“尔曹身与名俱灭，不废江河万古流”以江河喻四杰文章之永恒；“别裁伪体亲风雅，转益多师是汝师”以转益多师写博采众长。

Background

These six quatrains were written by Du Fu in the late years of his life, probably in the early 760s, at a time when critical fashions in the literary world were dismissing the great figures of the past. The 'Four Elites of the Early Tang' — Wang Bo, Yang Jiong, Lu Zhaolin and Luo Binwang — had been attacked by critics for the ornate, courtly style of their age; the Six Dynasties masters from Yu Xin down through Qi and Liang had long been the whipping boys of those who prized only the 'ancient' style of Han and Wei. Du Fu's series defends the precursors, sets the true scale of poetic achievement, and states his own doctrine of wide inheritance. It is one of the earliest and most influential poems of literary criticism in Chinese literature, and it establishes Du Fu as not only the greatest poet but a decisive theorist of the tradition.

《戏为六绝句》是杜甫约在宝应元年前后写的一组论诗之作，也是中国文学史上最早以组诗形式系统谈诗的作品，直接开创了「论诗绝句」这一重要体裁，后世元好问《论诗三十首》、王士禛《戏仿元遗山论诗绝句》、赵翼《论诗》皆其嗣响。要读懂这组诗，得先看见它背后那场争论。杜甫所处的时代，诗坛正弥漫着两种偏执：一边是贵古贱今，动辄把《诗经》楚辞以降一概奉为神品，贬低近人；另一边是贵今贱古，尤其初唐诗风转变后，轻薄之徒讥笑庾信、初唐四杰（王杨卢骆）的文章「纤巧」「未工」，以为己胜前贤。杜甫自己正站在创作的盛年，既饱读古书，又锐意创新，眼看时人妄加嗤点、尔曹自大，便忍不住以「戏」为名，嬉笑怒骂地出来正本清源。题中的「戏」字极要紧。它不是儿戏，而是「以游戏笔墨写严肃主张」，是用绝句的轻巧外壳，包一场关于文学遗产该怎么看待的认真论辩。这组诗的核心命题，是怎样对待文学传统——既不薄今人，也不迷信古人，而要别裁伪体、转益多师。一个诗人肯放下抒情，专写「诗该怎么写」，本身就说明杜甫对自己的诗学主张极有自信。这也是为什么这组诗不但是名篇，更是研究杜甫文学思想的钥匙：它把杜甫「兼收并蓄、以风雅为归」的文学史观，说得又俏皮又透彻。

Art

The art of the six quatrains is the art of criticism made poetry. Each quatrain compresses a critical position into an image: the sneering critics of the first, the flowing rivers of the second, the racing steeds of the third, the kingfisher and the whale of the fourth, the climb to ride beside Qu Yuan and Song Yu of the fifth, and the summing doctrine of the sixth. The series moves from defense through scale-setting to self-definition, and the famous images — 'the rivers flow for ten thousand years,' 'no one has dragged the whale from the blue-green sea,' 'to turn to many masters is to make them all your masters' — have entered the permanent vocabulary of Chinese literary criticism.

这组诗的艺术，在于它把一篇完整的诗学论文，拆成了六首可独立又可连读的小绝句，每首攻一个靶点，层层推进，逻辑极其严密。其一尊庾信，破「古人皆可嗤」；其二为四杰张目，破「今人胜古」；其三其四论卢王与汉魏风骚的关系，主张兼取、不废古调；其五提出「不薄今人爱古人」的总原则；其六以「别裁伪体亲风雅，转益多师是汝师」收束，点出批判继承、博采众长的宗旨。它的「戏」法，集中体现在反讽与比喻。其二「尔曹身与名俱灭，不废江河万古流」，以奔流江河喻四杰文章之永恒，以「身名俱灭」反衬轻薄讥笑者之速朽，嬉笑中藏着最锋利的史识；其四「或看翡翠兰苕上，未掣鲸鱼碧海中」，用翡翠栖兰苕的小景，对比碧海掣鲸的大境，把「格局小」与「气象大」写成两个画面，不著批评而高下自见。这种「以象代议」的写法，让说理诗不枯燥，反有诗的肌理。更难的是，六首虽各说一事，气脉却一贯：由批妄评，到立标准，到指路径，到收宗旨，像一位老师由破到立地讲完一堂课。看似游戏，实则章法森然。这正是杜甫「以文为诗、以论入绝」的本领——他把散文的逻辑、赋的笔力，都压进了二十字的小绝里，却仍保有绝句的跳脱与锋芒。

Allusions

Yu Xin (513–581) was the great poet of the Northern and Southern Dynasties whose mature style, forged in exile, was later prized as the ancestor of the Tang; 'Wang, Yang, Lu, Luo' are the Four Elites of the Early Tang; 'Han and Wei' and 'the Airs and Odes' (Feng and Sao — the Book of Songs and the Songs of Chu) are the ancient standards; Qu Yuan and Song Yu are the founders of the Chu tradition; 'Qi and Liang' are the southern courts whose decadent style was the byword for poetic decline; 'the whale from the blue-green sea' is the great subject and great achievement that no one has dared; 'dragons' patterns and tigers' crests' (longwen huji) are the markings of the finest horses — here, the equipment of the great poets; 'the kingfisher on the orchid flower' (feicui lan shao) is the small pretty verse of the day, lovely but trivial.

这组诗几乎句句用典或暗引，是读杜诗不可绕开的「用典教科书」。其一「庾信文章老更成」，庾信是南朝宫体大家，入北周后文风转沉郁苍凉，杜甫推其为「老成」典范，暗用庾信《哀江南赋序》「文章老更成」之意；「凌云健笔」则化用司马相如《大人赋》「飘飘有凌云之气」。其二「王杨卢骆当时体」，王勃杨炯卢照邻骆宾王即初唐四杰；「尔曹身与名俱灭」反用《左传》「身与名俱灭」的常语，翻成讥诮；「不废江河万古流」则以江水喻文脉不绝，典出《论语》「逝者如斯」与左思「振衣千仞冈」一脉的气魄。其三「龙文虎脊」用汉文帝「龙文、赤汗」良马典，喻四杰之才足堪驾驭大文；「历块过都」出扬雄《河东赋》，言骏马过都邑如历小块，喻才之迅捷。其四「翡翠兰苕」「鲸鱼碧海」分喻小景与大境；其五「屈宋」指屈原宋玉，「齐梁」指齐梁柔靡诗风；其六「风雅」直指《诗经》国风大雅，是杜甫诗学的最高归趋。把这些典一一拆开，会发现杜甫不是在掉书袋，而是用一部诗史的坐标，给当时争论中的各方定了位——谁该尊、谁该戒、路该往哪走，全在典故的明暗里。这也是「戏为」二字的真本事：戏的是轻薄之徒，庄的是千秋诗统。

Commentary

These six quatrains are the most famous poem of literary criticism in the Chinese tradition, quoted for twelve centuries as Du Fu's critical testament. The images have become proverbs: 'the rivers flow for ten thousand years' for imperishable achievement, 'the whale from the blue-green sea' for the great task no one dares, 'to turn to many masters is to make them all your masters' for the doctrine of wide inheritance. The series is read today both as a defense of the precursors and as the clearest statement of the poetics that made Du Fu himself the supreme poet of the tradition.

《戏为六绝句》在杜诗里地位特殊：它不是抒情杰作，却是诗学纲领。自宋以来，论诗绝句一体大行，谁都绕不开杜甫这组开山之作。元好问《论诗三十首》首章即「汉谣魏什久纷纭」，明显承杜氏「递相祖述」之问；王士禛、赵翼更直以组诗论诗，皆杜甫之遗法。清人浦起龙《读杜心解》评此组「一题包括，层层辨难，是千秋诗史断案」，最得其要。其中「尔曹身与名俱灭，不废江河万古流」一联，尤为脍炙人口，几乎成了替一切受谤的杰作翻案的公理；而结句「转益多师是汝师」，则被后世奉为取法前人的金针。近人论杜甫，多指出这组诗的价值在破除了两种偏执——贵古贱今与贵今贱古，确立了兼收并蓄的文学史观。钱钟书《谈艺录》论「诗中体制」，亦看重杜氏以绝句论诗的开体之功。值得一提的是，杜甫写此组时自称「戏为」，语气幽默，却无半分轻佻；后人不解，或以为游戏之作不足深究，那是误读了「戏」字。真正的戏，是以举重若轻的方式说最重的话。这组诗表面在替庾信、四杰抱不平，实则是在替「如何正确对待传统」立一个千年不刊的标准。它既是批评，也是宣言；既是杜诗自评的注脚，也是中国诗学批评史的奠基石。

Prosody

Form Six seven-character quatrains (qijue) forming a single critical series七言绝句六首（组诗，每首四句，近体七绝，粘对工整，首句多不入韵）

Rhyme Each quatrain rhymes independently in the standard pattern; the series as a whole moves from the defense of Yu Xin, through the Four Elites and the scale of achievement, to the summing doctrine.六首各自押韵：其一成、横押庚青韵；其二休、流押尤韵；其三骚、曹押豪韵；其四雄、中押东钟韵；其五邻、尘押真谆韵；其六谁、师押支韵。逐首换韵，随论题转换而变，声情各宜。

Tone pattern The tone is conversational and critical, sharpened by the compressed images; the famous closing lines of each quatrain — the flowing rivers, the whale, the many masters — deliver their judgments with the finality of aphorism.七绝常格，首句多仄起不入韵，二四句押平韵，平仄合律，读来斩截有力，与论辩的锋芒相称。

Reading note This is Du Fu's 'Playfully Writing Six Quatrains,' the founding series of poems on poetry in Chinese literature. Written in seven-character quatrains, the six poems judge the poets: Yu Xin matured with age; the 'four masters' of the early Tang set the age's style; the critics themselves will pass while the rivers flow; the true scale is the whale of the blue-green sea, not the kingfisher on the orchid flower; and the final counsel — sort out the false bodies, embrace the Airs and Odes, and turn to many masters. The series is Du Fu's critical testament in verse.六首论诗绝句，声律上却毫不马虎，首首合七绝之格，可见杜甫「以游戏笔写严整体」的自觉。值得注意的是换韵：每首论一个对象，便换一个韵部，成横、休流、骚曹、雄中、邻尘、谁师，韵随题转，像六次不同的语气——赞庾信用庚青的清阔，讥尔曹用尤韵的悠长，劝多师用支韵的从容。这种「以韵换调」的细密，让说理诗也有了音乐的层次。更妙在句式。七绝本宜抒情，杜甫却用来议论，靠的是「以象代议」与「反讽收束」：每首末句往往是一个斩截的判断（不废江河万古流、转益多师是汝师），仄收或平收都干脆利落，不拖泥带水。读这组诗，宜把它当作一篇六章的短文来读，章法之密、逻辑之清，在唐人绝句中极为罕见——它证明绝句不只能写情，也能载道、能论学，开了宋人「以议论为诗」的先声。

Line by line

庾信文章老更成，凌云健笔意纵横。

Yu Xin's writing matured as he grew old; his cloud-towering brush ranged free and far.

庾信的文章到老年来更加成熟，凌云般的健笔意境纵横奔放。

Yu Xin's writing grew more mature with age; his soaring brush swept forward in untrammeled power.

这是组诗第一首的开篇，也是杜甫替庾信正名的第一句话。庾信本以宫体绮丽闻名，入北周后身世飘零，文风转沉郁苍凉，杜甫用一个「老更成」三字，道尽其晚年文章由丽转深、由巧转厚的过程——「老」是年齿也是阅历，「成」是成熟更是大成。凌云健笔意纵横，则以司马相如「凌云之气」作比，写庾信笔力之健、意境之阔。这两句表面赞人，实则在立一个标准：什么是好文章？是经历淘洗后的老成，是纵横奔放的健笔，而不是少年浮华。它一上来就破了「今人嗤点流传赋」的轻狂，等于先树一个古人典范，让后文的「尔曹」之讥有了对照的靶子。

This is the opening of the first poem in the group, and Du Fu's first word rehabilitating Yu Xin. Yu Xin was known for the gorgeous palace style; after entering Northern Zhou, adrift, his writing turned somber and desolate. Du Fu uses three characters - old yet more mature - to exhaust his late years' turning from gorgeous to deep, from clever to weighty: old is age and experience; mature is ripeness, and the ripeness of a master. Soaring brush swept forward in untrammeled power uses Sima Xiangru's soaring qi as comparison, writing the strength of Yu Xin's brush and the breadth of his mood. These two lines praise a man on the surface, yet establish a standard: what is good writing? The maturity forged by experience, the untrammeled strong brush, not youthful glitter. At the start it breaks the frivolity of modern critics sneering at the transmitted rhapsodies - first setting an ancient model, giving the later barbarians' sneer a target to contrast against.

尔曹身与名俱灭，不废江河万古流。

Your bodies and names alike will pass away, but the rivers and streams will flow for ten thousand years.

你们这些人身名终将一同湮灭，却不妨碍江河万古奔流。

You lot will perish, body and name alike; the rivers roll on for ten thousand ages.

这是全组最锋利、也最出名的一联。尔曹指那些轻薄为文、哂笑四杰的人；身与名俱灭，是冷峻的预言——你们的讥笑随你们一同消亡；不废江河万古流，则以奔流江河喻四杰文章之永恒，毁谤无损其分毫。一灭一流，反差惊心，把「谁笑谁」的历史答案说得斩钉截铁。杜甫的狠，在不骂人而只下判断：他不用怒斥，只用时间做裁判。这一联后来成了替一切受谤杰作翻案的公理，因为它道破了一个朴素真理——速朽的是嘲客，不朽的是文章。以「戏」笔写史识，嬉笑中藏着最重的分量，正是杜诗「嬉笑怒骂皆成文章」的标本。

This is the group's sharpest, most famous couplet. You lot means those writing frivolously and sneering at the Four Heroes; body and name alike perish is the cold prophecy - your sneers vanish with you. The rivers roll on for ten thousand ages uses the flowing rivers as metaphor for the Four Heroes' eternal writing; slander harms it not a whit. One perishes, the other flows: the contrast shocking, the historical answer to who laughs at whom is decisive. Du Fu's ruthlessness lies in not cursing, only judging: he uses no invective, only time as referee. This couplet later became the axiom of rehabilitating every slandered masterpiece, because it speaks a plain truth - what decays fast is the mocker; what is immortal is the writing. Using playful brush for historical judgment, the heaviest weight hidden in laughter - precisely Du Fu's specimen of laughter and curses alike making literature.

不薄今人爱古人，清词丽句必为邻。

I do not slight the men of today, nor disdain the ancients — clear words and lovely phrases must always be my neighbors.

不鄙薄今人而热爱古人，清词丽句必定与之相邻为友。

I neither scorn the modern nor cease to love the ancients; fine words and lovely lines I claim as neighbors.

这是组诗第五首的核心主张，也是杜甫文学史观的「总原则」。薄今爱古或薄古爱今，都是偏执；杜甫说「不薄今人爱古人」，是要两头都爱——古人要爱，今人也不该一笔抹倒。清词丽句必为邻，则进一步说：只要是好的词句，无论古今，都该引为邻居、亲近取法。这一句极见杜甫的胸襟：他不是泥古派，也不是维新派，而是「唯美是取」的实用主义者。把「清词丽句」从古今之争里解放出来，等于告诉时人，争论谁高谁低没意义，认字、认句、认境界才是正经。这也是为什么他既能尊庾信，又能容卢王，还能追屈宋——标准只有一个：好。

This is the core proposition of the group's fifth poem, the total principle of Du Fu's literary view. To belittle the modern or to belittle the ancient are both prejudice; Du Fu says neither scorn the modern nor cease to love the ancients - love both: ancients must be loved, moderns must not be swept away. Fine words and lovely lines I claim as neighbors goes further: as long as the phrasing is fine, ancient or modern, it should be taken as neighbor and model. This line most shows Du Fu's breadth: he is neither an antiquarian nor an innovator, but a pragmatist taking beauty wherever it lies. Freeing fine words and lovely lines from the ancient-modern dispute tells the age that arguing who is higher is meaningless; recognizing words, lines, and realm is the proper business. This is why he can honor Yu Xin, tolerate Lu and Wang, and still pursue Qu and Song - there is but one standard: good.

别裁伪体亲风雅，转益多师是汝师。

Sort out the false bodies and embrace the Airs and Odes; to turn to many masters is to make them all your masters.

甄别裁去伪体而亲近风雅，转益多师才是你的老师。

Weed out the false forms and draw near the odes; learn broadly from many masters - that is your teacher.

这是组诗的结句，也是全篇眼目，等于把前面五首的破与立，收成一句话的方法论。别裁伪体，是批判地甄别、裁去那些浮伪的体式——主要指齐梁以降柔靡无骨的诗风；亲风雅，是把《诗经》国风大雅作为最高的归趋，立了一个价值的终点。转益多师是汝师，则是路径：不要只拜一个老师，要博采众长，凡可取法者皆可为师。这七个字，是把「怎样学诗」说到了底——既要裁伪（有判断力），又要亲雅（有方向），还要多师（有胸襟）。杜甫自己就是这么做的：熟读六经、转益多师，终成集大成者。此句因此不但是诗论，也是杜甫一生的夫子自道，被后世奉为学诗金针。

This is the group's closing line, the whole's eye, reducing the first five poems' breaking and establishing into one methodological sentence. Weed out the false forms means critically sifting and cutting away the floating, false manners - chiefly the soft, boneless verse after Qi and Liang. Draw near the odes takes the Book of Songs's airs and great odes as the highest end, setting a value destination. Learn broadly from many masters - that is your teacher is the path: do not worship one master only, but gather widely; whatever can be learned from is a teacher. These seven words carry how to study poetry to the end: cut the false (judgment), draw near the odes (direction), learn from many (breadth). Du Fu himself did so: deeply read in the classics, learning from many, becoming the synthesizer. This line is therefore not only poetics but Du Fu's lifelong self-portrait, honored since as the golden needle for learning verse.

Study

Word focus

老更成 'More mature in age' — Yu Xin's writing perfected by his years, the standard of the matured art. 老更成三字，是杜甫论庾信的定评，也是一个极高的诗学判断。它不取「少年才尽」的成见，而说文章随阅历愈老愈成——「老」是沉淀，「成」是大成。这背后是杜甫自己的信念：好诗不靠天资的锋利，靠生命的厚度。后来他评李白「清新庾开府」，评己「晚节渐于诗律细」，都与「老更成」同一逻辑。这三个字，替所有大器晚成的作者撑了腰。

尔曹 'You fellows, you of the present' — the flippant critics of the age, addressed with contempt. 尔曹是「你们这帮人」，带轻蔑的第二人称复数，杜甫用来指轻薄讥笑四杰之徒。这个词的分量在它的「群体判决」意味：不是指某一个对手，而是指一整个浮躁的舆论群体。用尔曹而不用「世人」「今人」，语气更近当面呵斥，嬉笑怒骂的「戏」味正从此出。它让这组论诗诗有了对话的对象，也有了战斗的姿态。尔曹二字在杜诗里并非孤例，其戏为六绝句之外的赠答中亦常以此称浅薄之辈，可见杜甫论诗时确有当世之敌在胸，并非无的放矢。正因有了这个具体的讥笑群体，后面不废江河万古流的历史判决才显得有的放矢、锋芒毕露。若无尔曹这声当面之喝，全组的戏便少了那股棱角，论辩也会沦为隔空自语。一个复数代词，立起了整组诗的战场。

不废 'Will not be abolished, will not fail' — the rivers and streams that will not be stopped by the critics. 不废江河万古流，「不废」二字极稳，是「不会中断、不会被废除」之意。它写江河，实写文脉——四杰文章如江河，任你讥笑，它自奔流万古。一个「不」字加一个「废」字，把毁谤的无力写得透透的。比起说「四杰不朽」，「不废」更有一种任凭风浪起的从容，是杜甫以史家之眼下的断语。不废与万古流相配，构成一个不可撼动的意象：江河不因嘲客的聒噪而断流，正如真文章不因一时的嗤点而减色，时间是最公正的裁判。杜甫用不废而不用永存，语更平、意更稳，透出一种事实本就如此、何须多辩的史识自信。这一稳，恰好反衬尔曹身与名俱灭之轻——一重一轻、一稳一灭，全组的史论骨架便立在这两个词的对仗之上。

翡翠兰苕 / 鲸鱼碧海 'The kingfisher on the orchid flower / the whale in the blue-green sea' — the pretty miniature against the grand design, the two scales of the poetic art. 这是其四里一对对照意象。翡翠栖于兰苕，是小巧明丽、可供赏玩的小景，喻格局狭小的清词丽句；鲸鱼碧海，是巨鲸跃于深海，喻气象宏大的大制作。杜甫不直说「小者不如大者」，而让两个画面并置，高下自见。这一对比，把「什么是大诗」写成了视觉本身，是「以象代议」的典范，也影响了后世「碧海掣鲸」成为形容雄健诗风的成语。

转益多师 'To turn and profit from many masters' — the final counsel: make all the masters your masters. 转益多师是汝师，是全组最被后世引用的四个字。转是转借、博采，益是增益，多师是拜多人为师。它主张学诗不可守一先生之言，而要广泛取法、转益其长。这四个字把杜甫「集大成」的秘诀说破，也成为千年来学诗作文的不二法门。语气上是谆谆教诲，姿态上却仍是「戏为」的俏皮——像一位老师说完严肃道理，最后俏皮地眨一下眼：多师，便是你真正的师。