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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

留别王侍御维

Farewell to Wang Wei, Imperial Censor

孟浩然

Meng Haoran

送别Farewell 知音Bosom friend 仕隐Service and reclusion

寂寂竟何待，朝朝空自归。
欲寻芳草去，惜与故人违。
当路谁相假，知音世所稀。
秪应守索寞，还掩故园扉。

Silent, silent—what am I after all waiting for? Day on day, in vain I return alone.
I long to seek the fragrant grass and withdraw, yet grieve to part from my old friend.
Upon the road of power, who would grant me aid? Kindred spirits are rare in this world.
I can but keep my lonely vigil, and close again the gate of my native garden.

Listen

Meaning

The poet lingers in the capital, waiting day after day for some patron to advance him, yet returns home empty each evening. He wishes to retire to the hills like the fragrant grass of old, but hates to leave his friend Wang Wei. He laments that those in power give no help and true friends are scarce, and resolves at last to go home and shut his garden gate in lonely quiet.

日日寂寂,究竟还等什么呢?一天又一天,总是空空地独自归来。本想追寻芳草归隐而去,又可惜要与老友就此分别。当权在位的人谁肯援引相助呢,能称知音的世上有几个。

Appreciation

Written as Meng Haoran leaves Chang'an after failing the examination, the poem is a plain-spoken farewell charged with quiet grievance. Its power lies in direct statement softened by function words: the stacked reduplicatives and empty syllables trace a mood of isolation and futility. The closing turn from frustration to calm resignation captures the characteristic tension in High-Tang recluses between ambition and withdrawal.

【白话串讲】孟浩然离开长安，告别王维：“寂寂竟何待，朝朝空自归”——他在长安无人赏识。“当路谁相假，知音世所稀”——“秪应守索寞，还掩故园扉”——他说只好回乡。【意象与手法】全诗以直陈其事、直抒其情为骨。「寂寂」「朝朝」两组叠词回环往复，写尽滞留京师的寂寥焦灼；「竟」「空」两个虚字点出等待无望、奔波徒劳。「芳草」暗用《离骚》香草之喻点明归志，「惜」字流出对知音的眷恋；「当路谁相假，知音世所稀」以反诘写世态炎凉，末以「秪应守索寞，还掩故园扉」归于淡泊，白描见情，语淡味浓。【情感与主旨】孟浩然应举不第、离京归隐之际留别王维，既有对知音的深挚眷恋，更有「当路谁相假」的孤愤与自伤。归隐本是素志，却因「惜与故人违」而踟蹰，去留两难中愈见友情之重；末联归于守寞掩扉的平静，淡泊之下实藏深沉无奈，是盛唐寒士仕隐矛盾的生动写照。【名句点睛】「当路谁相假，知音世所稀」是全诗警策。一问一叹，把一己之困顿上升为对世道人情的普遍慨叹，反诘峭拔而沉郁顿挫，道尽千古失意文人的共同心声。

Background

This poem was written by Meng Haoran when he left the capital to return to Xiangyang, as a farewell to Wang Wei. Meng spent his early years in retirement on Mount Lumen, pleasing himself with poetry, and only travelled to the capital around forty, sitting the jinshi examination but failing—an event recorded in both the Old and New Tang Histories. 'Farewell to Wang Wei, Imperial Censor' was composed at this moment of disappointment, just before leaving Chang'an. While in the capital Meng associated with luminaries such as Wang Wei and Zhang Jiuling; Li Bai's poem to him praises his scorn of rank and love of clouds, proof of his lofty character. Wang Wei, then holding a censor's post, thought highly of Meng and presented him a parting poem urging retirement; Meng answered with this work. The title 'farewell' is at once a solemn leave-taking of a kindred spirit and a brooding, self-pitying cry that 'none in power lend a hand, kindred spirits are rare.' The closing lines, decisive in tone, lay bare the whole dilemma of advance or retreat, and stand as a vivid image of the uneasy conflict between career and reclusion felt by impoverished scholars of the High Tang. The poem is prized for its unaffected sincerity and is counted among Meng's quintessential pentametric regulated verses, also included in the Three Hundred Tang Poems.

此诗为孟浩然离京归襄阳时留别王维之作。孟浩然早年隐鹿门山,以诗自适,年四十方游京师,应进士而不第,事见《旧唐书·文苑传》与《新唐书·文艺传》。《留别王侍御维》即作于此次落第失意、将离长安之际。孟浩然于京师间游秘省,与王维、张九龄等朝中名流交游唱和,李白《赠孟浩然》称其「红颜弃轩冕,白首卧松云」,足见其清高之品。王维时为监察御史一类侍御之职,对孟浩然颇加推重,临别赠诗劝其归隐。孟浩然答以此作,题曰留别,既是对知己的郑重话别,也暗含「当路谁相假,知音世所稀」的孤愤与自伤。诗中「秪应守索寞,还掩故园扉」二句,语气决绝,已将出处进退之思和盘托出,是盛唐寒士在求仕与归隐之间深陷矛盾的生动写照。此诗情真语淡,不假雕饰,历来被视为孟浩然五律本色之作,《唐诗三百首》亦加收录。皮日休《郢州孟亭记》称其诗「遇景入咏,不拘奇抉异」,此篇正以平实语写深挚情,可与《岁暮归南山》「不才明主弃,多病故人疏」互相印证。另据《新唐书·文艺传》载,孟浩然「隐鹿门山,以诗自适」,曾有匿床避见、因诗忤上之说,事虽未必尽实,然可见其与长安官场缘悭一面。此诗即写于此番入京求仕而终归失望之际,「当路谁相假」一问既是个人遭遇的写照,亦暗含对整个仕途规则的冷峻审视。诗人以「秪应守索寞」自解,把退隐视为对命运的最后安排,淡泊之中实有深沉的无奈,这种矛盾心理正是理解此诗乃至孟浩然全部仕隐诗的关键。

Art

The poem is built on direct narration and forthright feeling, animated by function words that advance the emotion step by step. The opening couplet, 'Silent, silent—what am I waiting for? Day on day, in vain I return alone,' opens with the paired reduplicatives 'silent, silent' and 'day on day': the former paints a deserted courtyard, the latter the dragging passage of time, and their circling repetition conveys the loneliness and anxiety of a man stranded in the capital with no patron. The empty syllables 'after all' and 'in vain' are especially forceful—'after all' voices a hopeless waiting, 'in vain' confirms that all his running about was for nothing; like dots of ink they make abstract disappointment concrete. The second couplet sets 'I would seek' against 'yet grieve,' one reaching out, one drawing back, baring the agonising choice between leaving and staying; 'fragrant grass' covertly borrows the香草 trope of the Li Sao to signal his will to retire, while 'grieve' lets slip his attachment to Wang Wei as a friend. The third couplet is the poem's keenest stroke: the rhetorical 'who' lifts the line, and 'rare in this world' completes it, raising a private plight into a general sigh at human relations, lending weight and depth. The close, turning from indignation back to calm, uses the soft modifiers 'can but' and 'again' in a low, murmuring tone that seems to console himself yet hides infinite unwillingness. The whole is pure plain description—no allusion, no ornament—yet true feeling shows through, exactly the manner Shen Deqian praised as 'plain in language yet never thin in flavour,' the very essence of Meng Haoran's regulated verse.

此诗以直陈其事、直抒其情为骨,以虚字传神,层层递进。首联「寂寂竟何待,朝朝空自归」,连用「寂寂」「朝朝」两组叠词领起,前者状门庭冷落,后者写日复一日,叠字的回环往复,正传出滞留京师、无人引荐的寂寥与焦灼;「竟」「空」两个虚字尤为有力,「竟」字写出一种无望的等待,「空」字则坐实此前奔走尽属徒劳,两个副词如点睛之笔,使抽象的失意情绪顿然具象。颔联「欲寻芳草去,惜与故人违」,以「欲」与「惜」对举,一纵一收,将去留两难的矛盾心理剖白无遗,「芳草」暗用《离骚》香草美人之喻点明归隐之志,而「惜」字又流出对王维这位知音的眷恋,情致婉转。颈联「当路谁相假,知音世所稀」,是全诗警策,以反诘「谁」字振起,再以「世所稀」作补足,把一己之困顿上升为对世道人情的普遍慨叹,遂有浑厚之感。尾联「秪应守索寞,还掩故园扉」,由愤激转回淡泊,「秪应」「还」二虚字,语调低回,似劝慰自己,实则含无限不甘。全诗纯用白描,不用典实、不加藻饰而真情自见,正是沈德潜《唐诗别裁集》所谓「语淡而味终不薄」的典型作风,堪称孟浩然五律本色的集中体现。尤可注意者,全诗八句皆以第一人称口吻直接发声,句句不离「我」之处境,却毫无直露叫嚣之弊,原因在于诗人善以虚字与疑问调节语气,使强烈的情感始终在含蓄的节制中流淌。这种「以情驭语、以淡写浓」的功夫,正是孟浩然高于一般山水诗人的地方,也是盛唐律诗情感表达高度成熟的表现。诗题「留别」而不言「赠」,着一「留」字,更见依依不舍之情,一字之微,匠心自在。

Allusions

The poem's allusions are extremely subtle, mostly carried by imagery. 'Fragrant grass' reaches back to the Chuci Li Sao—'where is there no fragrant grass? why cling to your old dwelling?'—and to the 'Summons to the Recluse,' after which the fragrant grass came to bear thoughts of retirement and of the beloved; Meng's 'seek the fragrant grass' thus declares his retreat. 'Upon the road' comes from the Mencius—'upon the road in Qi'—where Zhao Qi glosses it as 'on the path of office,' so later men used 'upon the road' for those in power; 'who would grant me aid' laments that none in office lend support. 'Kindred spirit' derives from the Liezi, where Bo Ya played the qin and Zhong Ziqi understood it; when Ziqi died, Bo Ya broke his strings and never played again, so 'kindred spirit' became the name for a true friend—Meng uses it for Wang Wei, showing both the depth of their knowing and the pain of missed meeting. The last line, 'the gate of my native garden,' recalls Tao Yuanming's 'my fields grow wild, why not go home?' and his 'the three paths grown over, yet the pine and chrysanthemum remain,' images of retirement; Meng's body in Chang'an but heart in Xiangyang is the heir of the reclusive tradition since the Jin and Song. Wang Wei's 'Seeing Meng the Sixth Off to Xiangyang' urges 'shut your door and go out no more… I counsel you return to your old cottage,' answering exactly this poem's 'close again the gate of my native garden.' Read together the two show the Tang courtesy of parting verse and the mutual counsel of advance or retreat, and Meng's seamless melting of allusion.

此诗用典极隐,多以意象入诗。「芳草」一词远承《楚辞·离骚》「何所独无芳草兮,尔何怀乎故宇」及淮南小山《招隐士》「王孙游兮不归,春草生兮萋萋」之意,后世遂以芳草寄托归隐与怀人之思,孟浩然以「欲寻芳草去」点出归志即本于此。次言「当路」,语出《孟子·公孙丑上》「当路于齐」之文,赵岐注谓「当仕路」,后人遂以「当路」指掌权在位之人,此处「当路谁相假」即叹在位者无人援引。「知音」一典出《列子·汤问》,载伯牙善鼓琴、钟子期善听,子期既死,伯牙破琴绝弦,终身不复鼓,故「知音」遂为知己之代称,孟浩然以此称王维,既见相知之深,亦见失遇之痛。末句「故园扉」,令人想起陶渊明《归去来兮辞》「田园将芜胡不归」之叹及「三径就荒,松菊犹存」的归隐意象,孟浩然身在长安而心系襄阳故园,正是晋宋以来隐逸传统的嗣响。王维有《送孟六归襄阳》一诗,云「杜门不复出,久与世情疏。以此为长策,劝君归旧庐」,其劝归之语正与此诗「还掩故园扉」遥遥相应,二诗对读,可见唐人赠答之礼与出处相规之道,亦见孟浩然用典之融化无痕。再就「索寞」言之,此词本出《庄子》以来形容孤独寂寥之语,六朝诗中已多用以写失意士人之状,孟浩然以「守索寞」自况,并把它具象为「掩故园扉」的日常场景,由抽象到具象,情味顿出。又,「朝朝空自归」之「归」与「还掩故园扉」之「归」首尾相应,一写京师寓所之空归,一写襄阳故园之归掩,两个「归」字构成意义上的转折,正是此诗结构精妙处,亦见诗人用字前后呼应的匠心。

Commentary

Critics through the ages have esteemed Meng Haoran's pentametric regulated verse highly. Shen Deqian wrote that 'Xiangyang's poetry is won from quiet realization, hence its language is plain yet its flavour never thin—this is his poetic character'; this fits 'Farewell to Wang Wei' best, for the poem is unworked yet deep feeling lies within—proof of 'never thin flavour.' The late-Tang Pi Rixiu said his verse 'meets the scene and sings, not straining for the strange,' and this poem's strength within plainness answers that too. Chen Shidao records Su Shi's remark that 'Haoran's poetry is high in tonal quality but short in talent, like a brewer of palace wine without the ingredients'—though meant as a slight on his narrow material, the words 'high in quality' exactly catch Meng's victory through mood and tone; the line 'kindred spirits are rare' moves precisely because its tonal lingering is deep. The Three Hundred Tang Poems admits it as a model regulated verse, showing its canonical standing. The modern Yu Bixia also prized its closing for longing that spills beyond the words. All these notices show the poem won cross-era resonance through sincerity of temperament and plainness of language, and is an ideal text for understanding Meng's 'clear and light' style and the High-Tang scholar's mind.

历代评家于孟浩然五律推重备至。沈德潜《唐诗别裁集》论孟诗云:「襄阳诗从静悟得之,故语淡而味终不薄,此诗品也。」此评移用于《留别王侍御维》最为切当,全诗不事雕琢而深情内蕴,正是「味终不薄」之验。晚唐皮日休《郢州孟亭记》称其诗「遇景入咏,不拘奇抉异,令龌龊束人口者,涵涵然有干霄之兴」,本诗于平实语中见骨力,亦可当此语。陈师道《后山诗话》载苏轼语,谓「浩然之诗,韵高而才短,如造内法酒手而无材料尔」,此评虽是讥其取材之窄,然「韵高」二字恰道出孟浩然以情韵胜的特长,本诗「知音世所稀」一联之所以动人,正在韵致深长。《唐诗三百首》选入此诗,列为五律正宗,可见其在传统批评中的典范地位。近代俞陛云《诗境浅说》亦赏其结句,以为归思之切,溢于言外。凡此诸评,皆说明此诗以性情之真、语言之淡,赢得了跨越时代的共鸣,是理解孟浩然「清淡」诗风与盛唐寒士心态的绝佳文本。又,元人方回《瀛奎律髓》虽主江西诗派,然于孟浩然亦每致推崇,其论唐诗五律正宗往往以王孟并举,可见此诗一派在宋元诗学中的深远影响。近人闻一多《唐诗杂论》论孟浩然,谓其生活在禅的影响之下,故其诗淡得几乎无味,却又不是真的无味,此语虽非专评本篇,然移以论「秪应守索寞」之句亦甚贴切:守寂寞而不悲戚,掩扉而不怨怼,正是禅悦浸润下的淡泊心境。凡此种种,足见此诗不仅以其艺术成就立于诗史,更以其所呈现的士人精神,成为千百年来中国文人反复咏味的文本。

Prosody

Form Five-character regulated verse (pentametric lüshi)五言律诗

Rhyme Pingshui rhyme, upper level, fifth 'wei' category; rhyme feet are 'return (归),' 'part (违),' 'rare (稀),' 'gate (扉).'平水韵上平五微,韵脚为「归、违、稀、扉」

Tone pattern Oblique-onset stanza, first line not entering the rhyme; the opening couplet uses the paired-line mutual rescue of an irregularity, so the level-oblique pattern shows flexibility within strictness.仄起首句不入韵式,首联用对句相救之拗,平仄于严整中见变通

Reading note This is an oblique-onset, non-rhyming-first-line pentametric regulated verse, rhyming in the Pingshui upper-level fifth 'wei' category, with feet 'return,' 'part,' 'rare,' 'gate.' The 'wei' rhyme has a small mouth opening and a low, inward timbre, fitting the poem's forlorn, secluded mood and giving it a desolate, lingering quality. The opening line reads 'oblique-oblique-oblique-level-oblique,' and the answering line 'level-level-level-oblique-level,' where the level syllable 'in vain' on the third position rescues the irregularity and avoids a solitary level tone—the common paired-line rescue, showing Meng's ease within strict rules. The antitheses are firm: the second couplet 'seek' against 'grieve,' the third 'upon the road' against 'kindred spirit,' with empty and full words interlaced, the level-oblique flowing within the norm. The reduplicatives 'silent, silent' and 'day on day,' together with questioning and rhetorical tone, join sound and feeling, giving a circling, low cadence. Overall the music is steady yet not stiff, matching its plain-descriptive style, a representative work of the mature High-Tang pentametric verse.此诗为仄起首句不入韵式五言律诗,押平水韵上平五微,韵脚为「归、违、稀、扉」。微韵开口度较小,音色偏于低沉内敛,与诗中落寞索居之情正相谐合,读来自有苍凉低回之致。首联「寂寂竟何待,朝朝空自归」,出句为「仄仄仄平仄」,对句「朝朝空自归」作「平平平仄平」,即以对句第三字「空」之平声救出句之拗,亦避免了对句孤平,此即律诗中常见的对句相救之法,显示出孟浩然于严整中善用变通的功夫。全诗对仗工稳,颔联「欲寻」对「惜与」、颈联「当路」对「知音」,虚字与实字错综相配,平仄于规矩中见流动。诗中多用叠字如「寂寂」「朝朝」,兼以疑问、反诘语气,声情相兼,诵读时自有一种往复低回之致。整体而言,此诗声律平稳而不板滞,正与其白描见情的风格相表里,是盛唐五律成熟期的代表性作品,亦可见孟浩然于格律一道,信守而不拘泥的态度。

Line by line

寂寂竟何待，朝朝空自归。

Translation: 'Silent, silent—what am I after all waiting for? Day on day, in vain I return alone.' Note: The paired reduplicatives 'silent, silent' and 'day on day' voice the feeling through sound, picturing the lonely, daily, fruitless seeking of patrons in the capital. The rhetorical 'after all' spills out hopeless waiting and vain regret; the word 'in vain' is the very eye of the line, confirming all effort spent for nothing—grievous yet restrained. Fourteen characters, none laboured, yet isolation lives between the lines, setting the desolate key for the whole.

日日寂寂,究竟还等什么呢?一天又一天,总是空空地独自归来。

Silent - what can I still wait for? Day after day I return alone, for nothing.

首联连用「寂寂」「朝朝」两组叠字,以声传情,写出滞留京师、日复一日奔走求援却一无所获的落寞。「竟何待」三字以疑问出之,将无望的等待与徒劳的怅惘和盘托出;「空自归」的「空」字尤是诗眼,坐实此前种种努力皆成虚掷,语气沉痛而不失含蓄。十四个字无一着意之词,而孤寂之情自在言外,最能见孟浩然五律白描见情之本色,也为全诗定下苍凉的基调。同时,此联以「竟」「空」两个虚字互为勾连,一问一叹,把等待的无望与归来的虚空写足,为全诗铺设了苍凉的底色,也令下文的去留之思有了情感的起点。

The opening couplet uses silent and day-after-day two reduplication groups, transmitting feeling through sound, writing the lingering-in-capital, day-after-day running about seeking help yet gaining-nothing desolation. What can I still wait for? three characters comes in question form, laying out the hopeless waiting and futile disappointment; for nothing in return alone, one nothing is especially the poem's eye, grounding the previous efforts all become waste; tone poignant yet reserved. Fourteen characters not one deliberate word, yet loneliness self-present beyond the words; most showing Meng Haoran's five-character regulated-verse plain-description-seeing-feeling nature, also setting the poem's bleak keynote. Meanwhile, this couplet uses what-can and for-nothing two void words mutually hooking, one question one sigh, fully writing the waiting's hopelessness and the return's void; laying the bleak ground, also giving the later go-and-stay thought an emotional starting point.

欲寻芳草去，惜与故人违。

Translation: 'I long to seek the fragrant grass and withdraw, yet grieve to part from my old friend.' Note: 'I would' and 'yet grieve' stand opposed—one reaching out, one drawing back—layering the will to retire over the sorrow of leave-taking with great delicacy. 'Fragrant grass' covertly uses the Li Sao's香草 trope to give retirement a noble ground; 'old friend' points specifically to Wang Wei, showing how much this friendship weighed. The two pulls appear at once, preparing the later sigh 'kindred spirits are rare' and building toward the resolve 'close again the gate.'

本想追寻芳草归隐而去,又可惜要与老友就此分别。

I would seek fragrant grass and go, yet grieve to part from an old friend.

「欲」与「惜」对举,一纵一收,把归隐之志与惜别之情交叠写出,心理层次极为细腻。「芳草」暗用《离骚》香草之喻,为归隐找到高洁的底色;而「故人」特指王维,则见出这份交谊在孟浩然心中的分量。去留之间,两难俱现,情致婉转低回,为下文「知音世所稀」的慨叹预作铺垫,也为末联「还掩故园扉」的决断蓄势。且「欲寻芳草」与「惜与故人违」之间,还隐含着对自身出处的一种自觉审视:既已决意归隐,又为知己所系,这种两难恰恰证明了「知音世所稀」的深层感慨——正因为世少知音,故对仅有的知音愈发难舍。

Would and grieve set against each other, one release one hold, writing the seclusion resolve and the farewell feeling overlapping, psychological layers most refined. Fragrant grass secretly uses the Li Sao's fragrant-plant metaphor, finding a noble ground for seclusion; and old friend specifically refers to Wang Wei, hence showing this friendship's weight in Meng Haoran's heart. Between going and staying, the dilemma both present, feeling winding and lingering, preparing the later soulmates are rare in the world's sigh, also storing force for the last couplet's I will close the old garden gate's resolve. And between would seek fragrant grass and grieve to part from an old friend, there is also hidden a self-conscious examination of one's own going-or-staying: already resolved to seclude, yet bound by a soulmate; this dilemma precisely proves soulmates are rare in the world's deep sigh - precisely because the world has few soulmates, hence the harder to let go of the only one.

当路谁相假，知音世所稀。

Translation: 'Upon the road of power, who would grant me aid? Kindred spirits are rare in this world.' Note: This couplet is the poem's keenest stroke. 'Who would grant me aid' rises sharply with its rhetorical 'who,' condensing disappointment at the mighty into one word; the next line turns to a low sigh, raising a private failure into a general knowledge of the world, gaining heft and depth. The antithesis is neat yet flowing—question then sigh—moving from indignation to plainness, a model of Meng's strength within plainness, and has been recited through the ages.

当权在位的人谁肯援引相助呢,能称知音的世上有几个。

Who in power will lend me a hand? Soulmates are rare in the world.

此联为全诗警策。「当路谁相假」以反诘句振起,语势峭拔,把对权贵的失望凝聚于一个「谁」字;下句「知音世所稀」转作低回慨叹,将一己之失意上升为对整个世道人情的普遍认知,遂有浑厚沉郁的力度。二句对仗工整而不失流动,一问一叹之间,由愤激归于平实,是孟浩然于平淡中见骨力的典范之笔,历来为人传诵。由此可见,此联之工不仅在对仗,更在情思的层层递进:先以问句逼出愤激,再以叹句归于无奈,二十字中完成一次完整的情绪转折,堪称全诗的枢纽。

This couplet is the poem's alert stroke. Who in power will lend me a hand? uses rhetorical question to rise, tone sharp, condensing the disappointment in the powerful into one who. The next line soulmates are rare in the world turns to low sigh, elevating one's own disappointment into a universal cognition of the whole world's human feeling, hence having the deep-rich, somber force. The two lines' parallel refined yet not losing flow; between one question one sigh, from indignation returning to plainness; Meng Haoran's model brush of seeing bone-strength within plainness, through the ages recited. From this one sees, this couplet's refinement lies not only in the parallel, but in the thought layer-by-layer advancing: first using the question to force out indignation, then using the sigh to return to helplessness; within twenty characters completing a full emotional turn, worthy of being the whole poem's pivot.

Study

Word focus

空 Meaning: 'in vain,' 'empty.' Analysis: The word 'in vain' is the emotional hinge of the whole poem. Following the question 'after all,' the three words 'in vain I return' gather the chagrin that all his daily petitioning was futile: it speaks both of the body returning alone and of the heart left empty. This 'empty' is not a vague void but a concrete, bitter one—having failed the exam and found no patron, every hope has come to nothing, so a single 'in vain' cuts it off, clean yet endless in aftertaste, setting the desolate tone and opening the way to the closing 'close again the gate.' The word is the very bone of the poem; all later resolve and reluctance grows from it. 「空」字是全诗的情感枢纽。上承「竟何待」的疑问,「空自归」三字把连日奔走求谒皆成徒劳的怅惘一并收束:既写形体的独归,更写心境的落空。此「空」非泛泛之虚,而是有着具体人事背景的沉痛——应举不第、无人援引,一切希望皆成泡影,遂以一「空」字断之,干净利落而余味无穷,为全诗定下苍凉的基调,亦启末联「还掩故园扉」的决绝之想,一字而牵动全篇情脉。故「空」字实为全篇立骨之字,后文「守索寞」「掩扉」的种种决绝与无奈皆由此一字生根,读诗者当于此字会意。

惜 Meaning: 'to grieve,' 'to be loath.' Analysis: The word 'grieve' is full of feeling. He meant to retire, yet hesitates because of the 'old friend'; 'grieve' is the exact node of that hesitation. It grieves at parting from Wang Wei's rare understanding, grieves that a later meeting is unsure, and faintly grieves his own caught state between career and retreat. One 'grieve' shows both the wish to leave and the attachment to stay, more tender than plainly writing 'cannot bear to part,' and gives the later 'kindred spirits are rare' its footing—a fine stroke of diction at the join of feelings. 「惜」字极见情味。本欲归隐,却因「故人」而踟蹰,「惜」字正是这份踌躇的凝结点。它既惜与王维相知之难得,又惜此一别后会之难期,更隐隐惜自身仕隐两难之境地。一个「惜」字,使去意与留恋同时呈露,情感愈发缠绵,较之直写「不忍别」更见含蓄蕴藉,也使得下联「知音世所稀」的感慨有了着落,是炼字于情感交接处的妙笔。换言之,「惜」字所惜者,既是故人,亦是知音,更是自己这一去便再无凭依的出处,一字而含多重,正是炼字的最高境界。

稀 Meaning: 'rare,' 'sparse.' Analysis: The word 'rare' falls heavily. Kindred spirits were always hard to find; adding 'rare' makes Wang Wei's preciousness and the poet's bitter plight strike at once. 'Rare in this world,' said in plain tone, yet holds a cold look at the human ties of the High-Tang capital, matching the rhetorical 'who would grant me aid': if those in power give no hand and kindred spirits are nowhere to be met, then keeping lonely vigil and shutting the gate becomes the inevitable choice. Unremarkable yet deep, the word is the key turn from anger to calm. 「稀」字下语极重。世上知音,本已难得,着一「稀」字,则王维之可宝贵、遭际之可悲愤,双管齐下。「世所稀」三字以平淡口气说出,却蕴含着对盛唐帝都人际关系的冷眼观察,与「当路谁相假」的反诘互为表里:当路者既不肯援手,知音者又举世难逢,则守索寞、掩扉归隐,已是无可奈何中的必然选择。此字不奇而意深,正见炼字之妙,是全诗由愤转淡的关键节点。故「稀」字虽仅一字,却将「当路」之冷与「知音」之温、现实之薄与理想之厚尽数写出,堪称以一当十。