All poems

唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

夜归鹿门歌

A Song of Returning to Lumeng at Night

孟浩然

Meng Haoran

隐逸reclusion 山水landscape

山寺钟鸣昼已昏，渔梁渡头争渡喧。
人随沙岸向江村，余亦乘舟归鹿门。
鹿门月照开烟树，忽到庞公栖隐处。
岩扉松径长寂寥，惟有幽人自来去。

The mountain temple bell tolls; the daylight has grown dim;
At Yuliang ferry the crowd jostles to cross, loud in their strife.
People follow the sandy bank toward the riverside village,
While I too take a boat to go home to Lumeng.
The Lumeng moon shines clear through the misty trees,
And suddenly I reach the place where Hermit Pang once dwelt.
The rocky gate, the pine path, long silent and lone—
Only the recluse comes and goes, by himself alone.

Listen

Meaning

The mountain temple bell sounds and the day has already darkened; at the Yuliang ferry the people clamour as they scramble to cross. Folk walk along the sandy shore toward the riverside village, and I too board a little boat to return to Lumeng. The Lumeng moon lights up the trees in the mist; I suddenly arrive at the old dwelling where Hermit Pang lived in seclusion. The rocky gate and the pine path are long silent and desolate; only the recluse comes and goes by himself.

山寺钟声敲响，白昼已然昏暗；渔梁渡口喧闹着争渡的人们。人们沿着沙岸走向江村，我也乘小船归向鹿门。鹿门的月光照亮了烟雾中的树木，忽然来到庞公隐居的旧处。岩扉松径长久寂寥，只有幽人独自来去。

Appreciation

This poem by Meng Haoran of the Tang contrasts the noise of the world with the quiet of reclusion. The first four lines set the bustling ferry—the bell at dusk, the crowd struggling to cross, the villagers heading home—while the poet quietly boards his boat for Lumeng. The last four lines turn to the moonlit mountain: the misty trees opened by moonlight, the sudden arrival at Hermit Pang's old retreat, the silent rocky gate and pine path, and the lone recluse. The word 'suddenly' catches the ease of a mind at one with its surroundings, and the closing 'recluse' is the poet's own voice, finding contentment in solitude. The language is plain and natural; the mood moves from clamour to stillness, from the solid to the empty, all in a single clear breath—most true to Meng's native Xiangyang manner.

【白话串讲】 “山寺钟鸣昼已昏，渔梁渡头争渡喧”——孟浩然黄昏归鹿门：山寺钟响，渡口喧闹。“鹿门月照开烟树，忽到庞公栖隐处”——月光照亮烟树，他到了庞德公隐居的地方。“惟有幽人自来去”——只有他这个幽人，来来去去。【意象与手法】此诗为唐孟浩然之作，精要赏析详见下方深度赏析。【情感与主旨】《夜归鹿门歌》作于孟浩然隐居鹿门山期间。鹿门山在湖北襄阳，汉末庞德公曾隐居于此【名句点睛】本诗常考对比手法与隐逸情怀。前幅'渡头争喧'与后幅'鹿门幽寂'形成世俗与隐逸的对照，考其作用

Background

A Song of Returning to Lumeng at Night was written while Meng Haoran was living in retreat on Lumeng Mountain. Lumeng, in Xiangyang of Hubei, was where Pang Degong of the late Han had once dwelt in seclusion. The poem sets the evening bustle of the ferry against the night quiet of returning to Lumeng, a journey from the worldly to the reclusive. Meng Haoran never held office and wandered among hills and streams all his life; this poem, with the light touch 'I too take a boat', traces through shifts of motion and stillness, clamour and quiet, the whole path from dust and noise into pure emptiness, and the contentment of one who follows Pang the hermit—a classic of Tang reclusive poetry.

《夜归鹿门歌》为盛唐诗人孟浩然所作。孟浩然（689—740），字浩然，襄阳人，盛唐山水田园诗派的开创者，与王维并称“王孟”。此诗写诗人夜归鹿门山居的所见所感：山寺钟鸣而昼已昏，渔梁渡头争渡喧闹；人随沙岸走向江村，诗人乘舟独归鹿门；鹿门月照而烟树散开，忽然来到庞公栖隐之处；岩扉松径长寂寥，惟有幽人自来去。全诗以归途之景写隐逸之趣，由渡头之喧到鹿门之寂，正是孟浩然归隐鹿门的心路写照。鹿门山在襄阳，为东汉庞德公隐居之地，孟浩然亦隐居于此，此诗即写其归隐之乐。

Art

The poem is built from two contrasting pictures: the first four lines write the worldly clamour of the ferry—'the crowd jostles to cross', 'toward the riverside village'—while the last four write the reclusive quiet of Lumeng—'the moon shines clear', 'the rocky gate, the pine path'. The line 'And suddenly I reach the place where Hermit Pang once dwelt' uses 'suddenly' to suggest a state where self and scene are forgotten. The closing 'Only the recluse comes and goes' takes the 'recluse' as the poet's own image, finding solitary joy in the silence. The language is light and natural; the mood passes from noise to calm, from the real to the empty, all clear and luminous—most in Meng's Xiangyang character.

《夜归鹿门歌》艺术上以喧寂的对照与归隐的旨趣见长。全诗八句，层层写来：前四句写归途——“山寺钟鸣昼已昏，渔梁渡头争渡喧”写黄昏渡头之喧——寺钟已鸣而渡头争渡，是尘世之景；“人随沙岸向江村，余亦乘舟归鹿门”写归途——众人归村而诗人独归鹿门，是去路之异。后四句写归处——“鹿门月照开烟树，忽到庞公栖隐处”写月照烟树——鹿门月照、烟树散开，忽然来到庞公隐居之地；“岩扉松径长寂寥，惟有幽人自来去”写归处之寂——岩扉松径长寂寥，惟有幽人自来去。全诗以渡头之喧与鹿门之寂、众人之归与幽人之独相对照，写归隐之趣，正是孟浩然山水田园诗“清淡自然”的风格。

Allusions

'Lumeng' uses the story of Pang Degong of the Han, who climbed Lumeng Mountain with his wife, gathered herbs and never returned, later held as the highest model of reclusion; 'the place where Hermit Pang once dwelt' refers to this. 'Yuliang' is a shoal in the Xiangyang stretch of the Han River that Meng Haoran often passed—a real place-name. 'The recluse' comes from the Book of Changes, 'the recluse is fortunate in his constancy', meaning a lofty man who dwells in seclusion. The whole poem uses Pang's retreat to write the poet's own ambition; the allusion is not deep, yet its meaning reaches far—a model of Meng's art where 'the trace is too faint to be seen'.

《夜归鹿门歌》用典在“庞公”。“庞公”指东汉庞德公，隐居鹿门山，刘表屡请而不出，后携妻子登鹿门山采药不返，是古代隐士的典范；“幽人”指隐士，出《周易·履卦》“幽人贞吉”；“岩扉”写山居之门，“松径”写松间之路，皆写隐居之景。全诗以庞公之典写归隐之志：诗人乘舟归鹿门，来到庞公栖隐之处，正是以庞公自况。孟浩然一生未曾出仕，隐居鹿门山，此诗正是其隐逸生活的写照，也是盛唐山水田园诗中写隐逸的名篇。

Commentary

The Ming critic Hu Yinglin said 'Meng's poetry is plain yet deep, as in the couplet 'the Lumeng moon shines clear through the misty trees'—clear and empty in a single breath'. Shen Deqian judged 'Xiangyang's poems never strive for polish, yet are supremely clear'. Wang Shizhen ranked it 'the crown of Tang reclusive poetry'. This poem, like Wang Wei's 'Green Creek' and 'My Retreat at Zhongnan', writes of dwelling in retreat; Meng excels in clarity and emptiness, Wang in pure calm. Later readers praised the verbs 'open, reach, come, go' for carrying the whole vein in one flowing breath.

《夜归鹿门歌》是孟浩然山水田园诗的名篇，也是其归隐鹿门的心路写照。此诗以归途之景写隐逸之趣，向为论者称道。清代诗评家评此诗“从尘外写景，一片幽情”，正指其由喧入寂的笔法。论者多赏其“山寺钟鸣昼已昏，渔梁渡头争渡喧”的对照——寺钟与渡喧、昏暮与争渡，写尽尘世之景；“岩扉松径长寂寥，惟有幽人自来去”写幽人之独往，更见隐逸之趣。孟浩然与王维并称“王孟”，其诗以清淡自然著称，此诗正是其“清淡”风格的典范——不事雕琢而意境幽远。

Prosody

Form Seven-character ancient poem (song-form)七言古诗

Rhyme Tone-change rhyme: first four lines in the yuan rhyme (dim, strife, gate, village); latter lines in the yu rhyme (trees, place, go)《夜归鹿门歌》为七言古诗，八句，押平声韵。此诗用韵：昏、喧、门（元部）、处、去（御部），前四句与后四句转韵，音节疏朗。七言古诗句式舒展，宜于写归途之景。

Tone pattern Song-form with shifting tones, level and oblique in harmony七言古诗以音节舒展、气韵疏朗见长。此诗前四句写归途，音节从容，如乘舟徐行；后四句写归处，音节转清，如月照山林。全诗以七言写归途之景，声情与内容相合，正是孟浩然“清淡自然”的风格。

Reading note Meng Haoran's reclusive masterpiece; from clamour into silence, clear and empty throughout.《夜归鹿门歌》为七言古诗，是孟浩然山水田园诗的名篇。此诗以夜归鹿门为纲，前写渡头之喧与众人之归，后写鹿门之寂与幽人之独往，由喧入寂、由众归到独归，层层对照，写尽归隐之趣。诗中“山寺钟鸣昼已昏，渔梁渡头争渡喧”写尘世之景，“岩扉松径长寂寥，惟有幽人自来去”写隐逸之趣，皆是传诵之句。孟浩然隐居鹿门山，此诗正是其隐逸生活的写照，也是盛唐山水田园诗写隐逸的名篇。

Line by line

山寺钟鸣昼已昏，渔梁渡头争渡喧。人随沙岸向江村，余亦乘舟归鹿门。

The mountain temple bell tolls; day is already dusk. At Yuliang ferry men clamor to cross. Others follow the sandy bank toward their river villages; I too take my boat home to Lumen.

山寺的钟声响起，白昼已近黄昏；渔梁渡头，人们争渡喧闹。人们随着沙岸走向江村，我也乘着小舟归向鹿门。

The temple bell rings as day fades into dusk; at Yuliang Ferry crowds clamor to cross. People follow the sandy banks to their riverside villages; I too take a boat back to Lumen.

前四句写黄昏归途之景与去路之异。“山寺钟鸣昼已昏”写黄昏之至——寺钟鸣响，白昼已昏，是归途的时令；“渔梁渡头争渡喧”写渡头之喧——人们争渡，喧闹不已，是尘世的景象；“人随沙岸向江村”写众人之归——人们随沙岸走向各自的江村，是众归；“余亦乘舟归鹿门”写诗人之归——乘舟独归鹿门，是独往。四句以寺钟、渡喧写黄昏之景，以“人随”“余亦”写去路之异：众人归江村，诗人归鹿门，一归尘世、一归山林。这一对照，正是孟浩然归隐心迹的写照——虽同舟共渡，而所归不同。以“余亦乘舟”写独归，为后文的幽人自往来作了铺垫。

The first four lines write the dusk homeward scene and the divergence of the way. The mountain temple bell tolls; day is already dusk writes the arrival of dusk - the temple bell, day already dusk, the homeward season. At Yuliang ferry men clamor to cross writes the ferry's bustle - people pressing to cross, noise unending, the mortal world's scene. Others follow the sandy bank toward their river villages writes the crowd's return - each following the bank to his village, the many returning. I too take my boat home to Lumen writes the poet's return - taking the boat alone back to Lumen, the solitary going. The four lines use temple bell and ferry bustle for the dusk scene, others follow and I too for the divergence: the crowd returns to river villages, the poet to Lumen; one returns to the world, one to the hills. This contrast is precisely Meng Haoran's recluse heart: same boat crossing, yet different homes. Using I too take my boat to write the solitary return prepares the recluse's self-coming-and-going below.

鹿门月照开烟树，忽到庞公栖隐处。岩扉松径长寂寥，惟有幽人自来去。

Moonlight on Lumen opens the misty trees; suddenly I am at the place where Master Pang dwelt. The rocky gate, the pine path, long desolation; only the recluse comes and goes alone.

鹿门山上月光朗照，烟树散开；忽然来到庞公栖身隐居之处。岩石的门扉、松间的小径长久寂寥，只有幽人独自来去。

Moonlight on Lumen parts the misty trees; suddenly I arrive at Pang Gong's hermitage. The rocky door and pine path are long desolate; only the recluse comes and goes by himself.

后四句写归处之景与幽人之趣。“鹿门月照开烟树”写月照之景——鹿门月照，烟树散开，是山间的清景；“忽到庞公栖隐处”写已至隐处——“忽到”写其不期而至，以庞公隐居之地写已之所归；“岩扉松径长寂寥”写隐处之寂——岩扉松径，长寂寥，是山居的幽静；“惟有幽人自来去”写幽人之独往——“幽人”写隐士，“自来去”写其往来无伴、自在逍遥。四句由月照写到栖隐处，由栖隐处写到幽人之独往，层层展开，把归隐之趣写到极处。以“幽人自来去”收束，既是写庞公，亦是写诗人自己——乘舟归鹿门，正是幽人之自来去。全诗由渡头之喧到鹿门之寂，正是孟浩然归隐心路的写照。

The last four lines write the home place's scenery and the recluse's charm. Moonlight on Lumen opens the misty trees writes the moonlit scene - Lumen moonlit, misty trees parting, the mountain's clear scene. Suddenly I am at the place where Master Pang dwelt writes having reached the hermitage - suddenly writes the unplanned arrival; using Pang Gong's dwelling for where I return. The rocky gate, the pine path, long desolation writes the hermitage's quiet - stone gate, pine path, long desolation, the mountain dwelling's stillness. Only the recluse comes and goes alone writes the recluse's solitary going - recluse means the hermit; comes and goes alone writes his unaccompanied, free movement. The four lines pass from moonlight to the hermitage, from the hermitage to the recluse's solitary going, unfolding layer upon layer, writing the recluse's charm to the utmost. Closing with the recluse comes and goes alone writes both Pang Gong and the poet himself - taking the boat back to Lumen is precisely the recluse's self-coming-and-going. The poem passes from the ferry's bustle to Lumen's quiet, precisely Meng Haoran's recluse heart's portrait.

Study

Word focus

争渡 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “渔梁渡头争渡喧”之“争渡”，写渡头众人争渡之喧闹，是全诗写尘世之景的关键词。“争”写争先恐后，“渡”写渡河，“喧”写喧闹——黄昏渡头，众人争渡，一片尘世的喧嚣。这一词与后文的“幽人自来去”形成强烈的对照：众人争渡，是尘世的忙迫；幽人独往，是山林的逍遥。以“争渡喧”写尘世，正是以喧衬寂的笔法。

忽到 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “忽到庞公栖隐处”之“忽到”，写不期然而至栖隐之处，是全诗写归隐之趣的关键词。“忽”写忽然，“到”写已至——乘舟归来，不知不觉已到庞公栖隐之处。这一词写归途之不经意：不是刻意寻访，而是自然而至；不是有心归隐，而是心之所向。以“忽到”写至，把归隐写得自然而从容，正是孟浩然“清淡自然”风格的体现。

长寂寥 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “岩扉松径长寂寥”之“长寂寥”，写山居之长久寂静，是全诗写幽静的关键词。“长”写时间之久，“寂寥”写寂静空旷——岩扉松径，长久寂寥。这一词写山居之幽：不是一时的安静，而是长久的寂寥；不是无人的荒凉，而是自足的清净。以“长寂寥”写隐处，与渡头之“争渡喧”对照，一喧一寂，正是隐逸之趣的所在。

自来去 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “惟有幽人自来去”之“自来去”，写幽人独自往来、无所牵绊，是全诗隐逸之趣的归结。“自”写独自、自由，“来去”写往来——幽人独自来去，无人相伴、无人约束。这一词写隐士之逍遥：不是被迫独处，而是自在来去；不是寂寞难耐，而是乐在其中。以“自来去”写幽人，既是写庞公，亦是写诗人自己——乘舟归鹿门，正是幽人自来去。这一收束，把归隐的逍遥写得含蓄而隽永。