唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
野望
Gazing Over the Wilds
东皋薄暮望，徙倚欲何依。
树树皆秋色，山山唯落晖。
牧人驱犊返，猎马带禽归。
相顾无相识，长歌怀采薇。
pacing to and fro—on what shall I lean?
Tree after tree wears the colour of autumn;
hill after hill holds only the setting light.
The herdsman drives his calves home;
the hunter's horse returns with game.
We look at one another, none of us acquainted—
I sing aloud and long for the gatherers of ferns.
Meaning
At dusk I gaze far out from the eastern height, pacing about with nothing on which to rest my heart. Every tree has taken on the colour of autumn; every hill keeps nothing but the last of the sunset. The herdsmen drive their calves back home, and the hunters ride in with the game they have taken. We look at each other, yet not one of them is a man I know, and so I sing aloud, longing for those ancient recluses who lived on ferns.
傍晚时分，我站在东皋高地纵目远望，徘徊流连，心中却不知该归依何处。放眼望去，每一棵树都染上了秋天的颜色，每一座山都只剩下落日的余晖。放牧的人赶着小牛犊归来，打猎的人骑着马带着猎物回家。大家彼此相望，却没有一个相识的人，于是我放声长歌，追怀那采薇而食的古代高士。
Appreciation
The poem paints an autumn evening in the fields in plain strokes, and its world is spare and far. The first couplet, 'on the eastern height at dusk I gaze afar, pacing to and fro—on what shall I lean?', begins with a man who has nothing to hold to, and feeling is already inside the scene. The second, 'tree after tree wears the colour of autumn, hill after hill holds only the setting light', uses doubled words to spread out a wide and silent country, exact in parallel and grand in reach. The third turns to human movement, with the herdsman's calves and the hunter's game, and stillness is measured by motion. The last turns to solitude—'we look at one another, none of us acquainted'—and closes with the ancient gatherers of ferns. From scene to feeling, from without to within, the poem is quiet on the surface and deep beneath.
【白话串讲】 “树树皆秋色，山山唯落晖”——王绩在黄昏眺望田野：树树秋色，山山落晖。牧人赶牛回来，猎人带着猎物回家。“相顾无相识，长歌怀采薇”——没有认识的人，他只能长歌当哭。 【意象与手法】 全诗以白描手法勾勒田园秋暮，意境萧疏淡远。首联以「望」字领起，「徙倚欲何依」把彷徨无依的心绪直接托出，情寓景中；颔联「树树皆秋色，山山唯落晖」用叠字与对仗铺展苍茫秋景，静穆辽阔，是传诵不衰的名句；颈联「牧人驱犊返，猎马带禽归」写人事动态，以动衬静；尾联「相顾无相识」转出孤寂，「长歌怀采薇」以古代隐士收束。全诗由景及情、由外而内，情景交融，平淡中见深沉。 【情感与主旨】 王绩身处隋末唐初易代之际，三仕三隐，性嗜酒而喜田园，自号东皋子。此诗约作于辞官归隐东皋之时。诗中既有隐处田园的安闲，更有「相顾无相识」的孤独——田园之美不能消解入世无门、知音难觅的寂寥，故以「长歌怀采薇」追慕伯夷、叔齐，寄托不仕新朝、守节自高的怀抱。 【名句点睛】 「树树皆秋色，山山唯落晖」是唐诗写秋的名句：以叠字写满目秋意，以「唯」字写落日余晖的独占，于苍茫静穆中见出诗人内心的孤独，为全诗定下萧疏淡远的基调。
Background
Wang Ji (585-644) lived through the change of dynasty at the end of the Sui and the beginning of the Tang, served three times and three times withdrew, loved wine and the fields, and styled himself the Master of the Eastern Height. This poem was written about the time he resigned office in the early Tang and retired to that place; the 'eastern height' of the poem is his own retreat. Climbing at dusk to look far out, he saw the autumn country lying still and the herdsmen and hunters coming home, and 'we look at one another, none of us acquainted' says the loneliness of his retirement, so that he sings aloud and longs for the fern-gatherers, admiring the purity of Bo Yi and Shu Qi. The poem gives the first voice to Tang poetry of the fields, and its manner is bland and far.
王绩（约589—644），字无功，号东皋子，绛州龙门（今山西河津）人，隋末唐初重要诗人。他出身世家，兄王通为隋末大儒，然王绩一生仕途坎壈：隋大业中举孝廉，授秘书省正字，因嗜酒自请为六合县丞；唐武德年间待诏门下省，人问其乐，答曰「良酝可恋耳」，时称「斗酒学士」；贞观初弃官归里，隐于东皋。三仕三隐的经历，使其对易代之际的政治倾轧有深切体认。此诗约作于唐初归隐东皋之后，写薄暮登高远望所见所感。东皋本指水边高地，陶渊明《归去来兮辞》有「登东皋以舒啸」之句，王绩取以为号、以名其居，足见其追慕陶潜、自甘隐逸的心态。诗题《野望》脱胎于六朝咏物写景传统，但王绩将个人身世之慨融入田园晚景，在唐代开田园诗先声。值得注意的是，初唐宫廷诗坛仍笼罩齐梁余风，务为绮丽；王绩此诗以素朴白描写日常所见，平淡自然，别立一宗，为盛唐王维、孟浩然山水田园诗派导夫先路，在诗歌史上具有承前启后的意义。
Art
The poem writes an autumn evening in the fields in plain strokes, and its atmosphere is spare and distant. The first couplet begins with a man pacing with nothing to lean upon, so that feeling is lodged in the scene; the second, with the doubled 'tree after tree' and 'hill after hill', spreads a wide and silent autumn, exact in parallel and calm in its reach; the third writes human movement, the herdsman driving his calves and the hunter's horse bearing game, using motion to set off the stillness; the last turns to solitude with 'we look at one another, none of us acquainted' and closes with the old recluses in 'I sing aloud and long for the gatherers of ferns'. From scene to feeling and from outward to inward, scene and emotion merge, and beneath the plainness lies depth.
全诗四联八句，章法谨严而气韵流动，以「望」字为眼，以「怀」字收束，由景及情、由实入虚。首联点出时间（薄暮）、地点（东皋）与情态（徙倚无依），「欲何依」三字直写彷徨，起笔即情寓景中，为全篇定下孤寂基调。颔联写远望所见之静态大景：「树树皆秋色」以叠字铺满秋意，「山山唯落晖」以「唯」字收拢落日余晖，两句一「皆」一「唯」，写秋色之普遍、落晖之独存，对仗工稳而境界苍茫。颈联笔锋一转，写近处人事动态：牧人驱犊、猎马带禽，各归其所，以动衬静，愈显田野之安详；然「返」「归」二字暗与首联「欲何依」形成对照——万物皆有归处，唯诗人彷徨无依。尾联「相顾无相识」点破孤独，「长歌怀采薇」以古贤自励，由写景转入抒怀。全诗以白描为主，不事雕琢，叠字、对仗、用典皆融化于平淡叙述之中，所谓「不着一字，尽得风流」，正是其高处。沈德潜评此诗「起手须如此直写，方见气骨」，正道出其以直写见骨力、以平淡见深沉的特色。
Allusions
The allusions all bear on reclusion. The 'eastern height' properly means high ground by the water, and Tao Yuanming's Return Home has a line about climbing the eastern height to whistle at ease, from which Wang Ji took the name of his retreat and of himself; the word for pacing to and fro comes from the Songs of Chu, where the poet walks alone in indecision; and 'gathering ferns' uses the story from the Records of the Grand Historian of Bo Yi and Shu Qi, who hid on Mount Shouyang and lived on ferns, standing for pure reclusion and the refusal to serve two houses. Every allusion touches the theme of withdrawal, giving the pastoral scene a deep cultural burden.
此诗用典多关隐逸，皆融化无痕。其一「东皋」：《归去来兮辞》「登东皋以舒啸，临清流而赋诗」，陶渊明以「东皋」为归隐啸咏之地，王绩取以为号并写入诗题，是隐逸文化中「命名即立志」的典型。其二「徙倚」：出自《楚辞·哀时命》「独徙倚而彷徉」，写徘徊不定、心无所主之态，屈原以来遂成忧思彷徨的固定语码，此处暗含骚人失意之悲。其三「采薇」：《史记·伯夷列传》载伯夷、叔齐义不食周粟，隐于首阳山采薇而食，终于饿死；后世遂以「采薇」喻坚守节操、不仕二姓。王绩身历隋唐易代，虽曾出仕，终归隐东皋，「长歌怀采薇」既是对古高士的追慕，也是对自己出处抉择的自白。此外，颔联「树树」「山山」的叠字写法，上承《诗经》「采采芣苢」、《古诗十九首》「行行重行行」的重言传统；「落晖」意象则遥启盛唐「白日依山尽」「长河落日圆」的落日诗境。诸典故与意象源流皆指向隐逸与易代两个母题，使一首小诗负载深厚的历史文化积淀。
Commentary
The poem has been called the finest pastoral piece of the early Tang. The Ming critic Hu Yinglin said that Wang Ji's Gazing Over the Wilds is 'all sincerity, and it opened the gate for Wang Wei and Meng Haoran'. Shen Deqian of the Qing remarked that 'an opening must be written as straight as this if it is to show bone and force'. Writing the thought of reclusion with a bland and distant brush, it carries on the legacy of the Six Dynasties and prepares the landscape and pastoral school of the High Tang, and its place in literary history is important.
此诗历来被视为唐代田园诗的开山之作。明人胡应麟《诗薮》谓「王绩《野望》一片真率，开王（维）、孟（浩然）门庭」，又言王无功擅词场、与王杨卢骆并驱，虽不免过誉，却点出其承先启后之功。清人沈德潜《唐诗别裁》评「起手须如此直写，方见气骨」，重在肯定其直写胸臆、不事涂饰的气骨；纪昀评《瀛奎律髓》亦谓其「自然疏淡」。近人闻一多则从文学史角度指出，王绩生于初唐而神游晋宋，其诗为陶渊明传统在唐代的第一次回响。在诗歌史上的位置，此诗上承陶渊明的平淡、谢灵运的清丽，下启王维、孟浩然、储光羲一脉，与杜甫晚年「江碧鸟逾白」一类白描小诗亦精神相通。尤可注意者，诗人将个人易代之感与田园晚景打成一片，使「隐逸」由生活姿态升华为审美境界，故论者常以「以隐者之心写隐者之景」概括其特色。此诗另具文体史意义：初唐五律尚未定型，王绩此作平仄合律、对仗工整，为早期合格的五言律诗之一，与沈佺期、宋之问的律体建设相先后，说明律诗的成熟并非仅宫廷诗人之功。
Prosody
Line by line
东皋薄暮望，徙倚欲何依。
At dusk I gaze far out from the eastern height, pacing to and fro with nothing to lean upon.
傍晚我站在东皋高地纵目远望，徘徊流连，却不知该归依何处。
At dusk I gaze from the eastern heights, pacing to and fro, knowing not where to turn.
首联以「望」字领起全篇，点明时间（薄暮）、地点（东皋）与情态（徙倚）三要素。薄暮是日之将尽，东皋是隐者之地，望是远眺之态，三者结合，已透出黄昏易感、隐处多思的基调。妙在「徙倚欲何依」五字：「徙倚」出自楚辞，写徘徊往复之态，本为身体动作，此处兼写心神无主；「欲何依」以疑问句直问归处，将抽象的孤独感化为可感的寻求动作。此时正是牧人归家、猎人返舍之际，万物各有所归，而诗人独立高冈，不知何依，起笔即埋伏下全诗「归」与「无归」的张力，为尾联「相顾无相识」的孤独作了铺垫。
The opening couplet leads the whole poem with gaze, fixing time (dusk), place (eastern heights), and state (pacing). Dusk is day's end; eastern heights is the recluse's place; gaze the far-looking attitude; the three together already reveal the keynote of dusk's susceptibility and the hermitage's brooding. The subtlety lies in pacing to and fro, knowing not where to turn: pacing comes from the Songs of Chu, writing the wandering back and forth, originally bodily action, here also the mind's restlessness; knowing not where to turn directly asks for the place of reliance in an interrogative, converting abstract loneliness into a sensible seeking action. It is the hour when herdsmen return home and hunters come back; all things have their return, yet the poet stands alone on the high ridge, knowing not where to lean - the opening already plants the tension of return and no-return, preparing the closing look at each other, none known.
树树皆秋色，山山唯落晖。
Every tree is in autumn hues; every mountain holds only the sinking sun.
每一棵树都染上秋天的颜色，每一座山都只剩下落日的余晖。
Every tree shows autumn colors; every mountain glows only with the setting sun.
此联是唐人写秋的名句，妙在叠字与虚字的配合。「树树」「山山」以叠字铺开，写秋色之遍被、无所不在，视野由近及远、由树及山，满目苍然；「皆」字坐实秋色之普遍，「唯」字则收束画面，使天地间只余落晖一抹，苍茫中透出孤寂。从修辞看，此联对仗工稳而意象清空，「皆」「唯」两个虚字一放一收、一广大一收敛，写出秋暮由明亮转黯淡的瞬息光感，也暗喻诗人由骋目到凝神的心路。从渊源看，「树树」「山山」的重言上承诗经楚辞，下启杜甫「无边落木萧萧下」的铺陈笔法。此联不写人而人在其中——满目秋色、独对落晖的，正是那个「欲何依」的诗人，景物愈空阔，孤独愈深重，是为「以景写情」的典范。
This couplet is a Tang famous line on autumn, its subtlety in the reduplicative and the empty words. Every tree and every mountain are reduplicative, spreading autumn color's everywhere presence; the field of vision from near to far, from tree to mountain, all苍然. All seats the universality of autumn color; only contracts the picture, leaving heaven and earth with one stroke of setting sun; desolation showing solitude within. Rhetorically, the couplet's parallel is steady and the imagery limpid; all and only, one empty word releasing, one contracting, one vast one restrained, writing the instant light-shift of autumn dusk from bright to dim, and secretly the poet's mind from scanning to gazing. By source, tree by tree and mountain by mountain continue the Book of Songs and Songs of Chu reduplication, opening Du Fu's boundless falling leaves. This couplet writes no man, yet man is within it - the one facing the autumn colors and setting sun is precisely the poet who knows not where to turn; the vainer the scenery, the deeper the loneliness - the model of writing feeling through scenery.
相顾无相识，长歌怀采薇。
We look at each other - none known to me. I chant a long song, longing for the fern-gatherers.
彼此相望却没有一个相识的人，于是我放声长歌，追怀那采薇而食的古代隐士。
We look at each other, yet no one knows me; I sing aloud, longing for the fern-pickers of old.
尾联由景入情，是全诗情感的总爆发。「相顾无相识」直写隐处之孤独：田野之间，牧人猎者往来如织，却无一相识之人，可见诗人虽归隐田园，心绪仍不得安宁——他不是安然于田园的隐士，而是失意于时世的诗人，田园于他既是归宿亦是牢笼。「长歌怀采薇」以典收束：伯夷、叔齐义不食周粟，采薇首阳，王绩借此表明不随波逐流、守节自高的心志，而「长歌」二字又见慷慨悲凉，非寻常隐士的闲适之音。此联与首联「徙倚欲何依」遥相呼应：由「无所依」到「怀采薇」，诗人最终在古贤身上找到了精神的依归，全诗由彷徨起、以坚定结，章法圆合。以古人化解今愁，正是中国士人失意时最普遍的精神姿态。
The closing couplet passes from scenery to feeling, the poem's total emotional eruption. We look at each other, yet no one knows me directly writes the hermitage's loneliness: between the fields, herdsmen and hunters pass like shuttle, yet not one known face; showing the poet, though retired to the fields, still at peace not of mind - he is not a hermit content with the fields, but a poet disappointed of the age; the fields for him are both home and cage. I sing aloud, longing for the fern-pickers of old closes in allusion: Boyi and Shuqi, righteous in not eating Zhou grain, gathering fern on Shouyang; Wang Ji uses this to show his will not to drift with the current, keeping integrity high; and long song shows the generous grief, not the ordinary recluse's leisure. This couplet echoes the opening pacing to and fro, knowing not where to turn: from no reliance to longing for the fern-pickers, the poet at last finds spiritual reliance in the ancients; the poem opens in wandering, closes in resolve, the craft round. Using the ancients to dissolve modern grief is precisely the most common spiritual posture of the Chinese scholar in disappointment.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Wang Wei's 'I walk to the place where the water ends' writes the freedom of the recluse, Wang Ji's 'I sing aloud and long for the gatherers of ferns' his loneliness; the difference of mind between early and High Tang poems of retirement may be compared.
王维《终南别业》「行到水穷处，坐看云起时」写隐逸之自得，王绩《野望》「长歌怀采薇」写隐逸之孤寂，同为唐代隐逸诗的代表，心境却判然有别。王维晚年亦官亦隐，辋川山水是其精神家园，故诗中充满随缘任运的安闲；王绩身处易代之际，归隐带有避世守节的无奈，故诗中始终有一缕「欲何依」的彷徨。从写法看，王诗以动态过程写心境（行、坐、看），王绩以静态画面写心境（望、徙倚、长歌）；王诗之隐是解脱，王绩之隐是坚持。二诗对读，可见唐代隐逸诗由初唐的孤寂清高走向盛唐的圆融自足之轨迹，亦见同一母题下诗人个性与时代气质的分殊。
山行 Travelling in the Mountains 杜牧 · 同写秋景，一萧疏一明丽的两种笔致 Same (both write autumn scenes)Du Mu overturns the usual key of autumn with frosted leaves redder than second-month flowers, while Wang Ji writes its bleakness in 'tree after tree wears the colour of autumn'; the two brushes of Tang poets in painting autumn may be compared.
杜牧《山行》「停车坐爱枫林晚，霜叶红于二月花」与王绩《野望》「树树皆秋色，山山唯落晖」同写秋日山野之景，而格调迥异。王绩以白描与叠字铺陈秋之萧疏：满目秋色、独对落晖，景物苍茫而情思孤寂，是「悲秋」传统的延续。杜牧则翻新出奇：秋山石径、白云人家已足清远，更以「霜叶红于二月花」的比喻反写秋之绚烂，于衰飒中见生机，是「我言秋日胜春朝」一路的张扬。就艺术手段言，王绩重铺叙与对仗，以景写情、含蓄内敛；杜牧重比喻与点染，以情写景、明快外放。二诗并读，恰见唐人写秋的两极：一以淡远胜，一以明丽胜；一承宋玉悲秋、陶潜田园，一启晚唐小杜的俊爽，可见「秋」母题在不同诗人笔下的千面。