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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

江乡故人偶集客舍

Meeting an Old Friend by Chance at an Inn in the River Country

戴叔伦

Dai Shulun

羁旅Sojourning 重逢Reunion 送别Farewell

天秋月又满，城阙夜千重。
还作江南会，翻疑梦里逢。
风枝惊暗鹊，露草泣寒虫。
羁旅长堪醉，相留畏晓钟。

The autumn sky, the moon full once again;
The walls of the city, night upon night in depth.
Again we gather as in the south of the river,
And I half wonder if I meet you in a dream.
The wind in the branches startles the hidden magpies;
The dew on the grass makes the cold insects weep.
A sojourner long fit only to be drunk,
I fear the morning bell that parts us at dawn.

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Meaning

Dai Shulun, sojourning far from home, meets a fellow countryman by chance at an inn on an autumn night when the moon is full. The reunion in the river country is so unexpected that he 'half wonders if he meets in a dream'—the more one longs for reunion, the more one fears it is a dream. The night wind startles the magpies, the cold insects weep in the dew, and the two old friends drink late into the night, dreading the morning bell that will part them. The joy of the meeting and the dread of the parting are held together in one autumn night.

竟在江南客舍重开同乡之会,反倒怀疑自己是在梦中相逢。晚风吹动树枝,惊起巢中的乌鹊;露水沾湿秋草,寒虫如泣如诉。羁旅之人只愿长醉不醒,相互挽留,却害怕晓钟敲响离别时刻。

Appreciation

The poem excels in using the setting to set off the feeling and hiding a surge beneath the calm narration. The first couplet, 'the autumn sky, the moon full once again; the walls of the city, night upon night in depth,' points to the season and the scene with autumn and the full moon, the word 'again' carrying the drift of the years and the long sojourn, and 'night upon night' writing the depth of the night and the height of the walls, a vast and lonely ground for the chance meeting. The second couplet, 'again we gather as in the south of the river, and I half wonder if I meet you in a dream,' is the poem's most moving stroke: the 'again' writes the unexpected joy, and 'half wonder' turns the joy into a daze—the more one longs for reunion, the more one fears it is a dream, the subtle revelation of a long-sojourner's heart, of the same art as Du Fu's 'facing each other as in a dream.' The third couplet turns suddenly to the scene, the wind startling the magpies and the dew weeping the insects, the cold of the autumn night and the uncertainty of meeting and parting woven together.

【白话串讲】戴叔伦在异乡客舍偶遇故人：“天秋月又满，城阙夜千重”。“还作江南会，翻疑梦里逢”——他怀疑是在梦里重逢。“风枝惊暗鹊，露草泣寒虫”——“羁旅长堪醉，相留畏晓钟”——他们怕天亮分别。【意象与手法】以环境烘托与心理刻画见长。「月又满」「夜千重」写尽客秋夜深，为偶集设下苍凉背景；「还作江南会，翻疑梦里逢」着一「翻」字，把重逢的欣喜转成疑梦的恍惚，最见心理之细；「风枝惊暗鹊，露草泣寒虫」以动衬静、以声写哀；末以「畏晓钟」把别情凝于一声钟响。月满、夜深、晓钟三个时间刻度串联一夕聚散，脉络井然。【情感与主旨】戴叔伦羁旅江南，客舍偶遇同乡故人，把酒话旧，天明又将各奔东西。诗中既有「翻疑梦里逢」的惊喜恍惚，更有「相留畏晓钟」的怅惘无奈，把久客者聚散无常的悲欢写得入木三分，也是中唐乱世里无数羁旅行役者共同心绪的真实投影。【名句点睛】「还作江南会，翻疑梦里逢」以「还」「翻」两个虚字写重逢之喜与疑梦之惑，虚字传神，把久别重逢者患得患失的心态写尽，与杜甫「相对如梦寐」同一机杼而愈趋平淡，是中唐写重逢心理的绝唱。

Background

Dai Shulun, courtesy name Yougong, a native of Jintan, Runzhou, was a mid-Tang poet who served as prefect of Fuzhou and military commissioner of Rongguan; in his old age he begged to become a Daoist, and was famous for his verse. 'Meeting an Old Friend by Chance at an Inn in the River Country' writes of a chance gathering with a fellow countryman at an inn while sojourning, drinking and talking of old times, and the parting at dawn. In the Tang, scholars traveled, sought office, and joined staffs, often gone for years; to meet a countryman in a strange land was the greatest joy, yet the meeting was brief, and so the poem holds both the joy of reunion and the 'half wonder if it is a dream' and the 'fear of the morning bell.' Mid-Tang poets wrote much of sojourning and parting; this poem, entering a full-moon autumn night, became a famous piece of the kind.

戴叔伦字幼公,润州金坛人,中唐诗人,曾任抚州刺史、容管经略使,有惠政,晚年上表请为道士,以诗名世。《江乡故人偶集客舍》写诗人羁旅他乡,于客舍之中与同乡故人偶然相聚,把酒话旧,天明又将各奔东西的情景。诗题「江乡」点明聚会之地当在江南水乡,「偶集」二字道出相逢的偶然与难得。唐代士人漫游干谒、赴举入幕,动辄数年不归,他乡遇故本是人生至乐,而聚散匆匆,转瞬又将离别,故诗中既有重逢之喜,更有「翻疑梦里逢」的恍惚与「相留畏晓钟」的怅惘。据《唐才子传》卷五所载,戴叔伦「为人温雅,善举止」,其诗多写羁旅、酬赠,情致深婉,诗名与刘长卿、钱起诸人相接。中唐诗人多有羁旅离思之作,此诗以客中偶聚为切入点,把同乡之谊、身世之感融入一个秋夜月圆的场景之中,遂成为此类题材中的名篇,历代选本多所收录,与司空曙「乍见翻疑梦」、李益「问姓惊初见」诸作同属写久别重逢心理的名篇。另有考者谓,戴叔伦历任州县,晚年又逢藩镇之乱,萍踪浪迹,故其诗中「羁旅」之感特深。此诗虽写一次具体的客舍偶集,实则凝聚了诗人数十载行役生涯的共同体验,「偶集」之「偶」正从无数次「不偶」的飘零中反衬而出,故读此诗不宜仅作一时一事的应酬之作看。又,诗题一作《客夜与故人偶集》,「客夜」二字更直白地点出环境,与「江乡」互为表里,可见版本异文亦有助理解诗旨。

Art

The art lies in rendering feeling through setting and hiding a surge beneath the narration. The first couplet points to the season and the scene, the word 'again' carrying the drift of the years and 'night upon night' the depth of the night, a vast and lonely ground. The second couplet is the most moving: 'again we gather' writes the unexpected joy, 'half wonder if I meet you in a dream' turns the joy into a daze, the subtle revelation of a long-sojourner's heart, of the same art as Du Fu's 'facing each other as in a dream.' The third couplet turns suddenly to the scene—the wind startling the magpies, the dew weeping the insects—the cold of the night and the uncertainty of meeting and parting woven together. The closing couplet, 'a sojourner long fit only to be drunk, I fear the morning bell,' names the theme: the deeper the pleasure of reunion, the more dreaded the bell of parting.

此诗善于以环境的渲染烘托情感,又于叙事中暗藏波澜。首联「天秋月又满,城阙夜千重」,以「秋」「月满」双点时令与景物,着一「又」字,暗含岁月迁流、客居日久之意;「城阙夜千重」则用「千重」写夜之深、城之高,营造出宏阔而孤寂的背景,为「偶集」设下苍凉的底子。颔联「还作江南会,翻疑梦里逢」是全诗最动人的一笔:「还」字写出意外的欣喜,「翻疑」二字却将欣喜转成恍惚——越是渴望重逢,越怕重逢是梦,这一心理的婉转揭示,把久客他乡者逢见故人时的复杂心绪写得入木三分,与杜甫「相对如梦寐」同一机杼。颈联「风枝惊暗鹊,露草泣寒虫」,忽以景语宕开,写夜风摇枝、惊起栖鹊,露草含凉、寒虫低泣,以动衬静、以声写哀,秋夜的萧瑟与聚散的无常于此交织。尾联「羁旅长堪醉,相留畏晓钟」收束全篇:「长堪醉」写羁旅之人只愿长醉不醒,「畏晓钟」则怕钟声催晓、明朝又要分手,一个「畏」字道尽别情。全诗由会到别,脉络井然,情随景转,极尽顿挫之致,是中唐律诗中情景交融的典范之作。值得玩味的是,全诗由「月满」而「惊鹊」而「畏晓钟」,时间线索暗中贯穿:月满之时夜已深,风枝惊鹊夜未央,晓钟既闻天将明,聚时之短随着时间的推移步步逼紧,读者的心绪也随之绷紧,这正是叙事笔法引入抒情诗后所取得的特殊效果。又,「惊」「泣」二字皆以拟人出之,使秋夜草木皆若有情,与诗人心中聚散无常的惊悸暗相呼应,景语即情语,于此益明。又,此诗全篇以时间为经、以情意为纬,月满、夜深、晓钟,三个时间刻度串联起一夕之聚散,而「偶集」之「偶」与「翻疑」之「疑」、「畏晓钟」之「畏」,三个心理动词又绾住重逢之喜与将别之哀,时空与情思交织,结构细密而气脉贯通,足见作者营构之工。

Allusions

'The walls of the city' comes from the Book of Songs, 'wandering about, on the walls of the city' of the Airs of Zheng, where the city walls stand for the city and the capital; Dai Shulun's 'the walls of the city, night upon night in depth' writes the deep empty city of the night, the image taken from the Songs and made new. 'Half wonder if I meet you in a dream' reaches far back to Du Fu's 'facing each other as in a dream,' the dreamlike feeling of reunion after separation, a motif repeated again and again in Tang verse. 'Sojourner' comes from the Zuozhuan's 'the sojourning minister,' the one lodging far from home; Dai Shulun calls himself so, his feeling of drifting plain. The 'morning bell' of the temple, sounding at dawn, is the bell that parts the friends, the emblem of the brief meeting.

「城阙」一词典出《诗经·郑风·子衿》「挑兮达兮,在城阙兮」,本指城楼,后世以「城阙」代指京都或城池,戴叔伦以「城阙夜千重」写客舍所在之地的深夜空城,意象取自《诗经》而气象一新。「翻疑梦里逢」远承杜甫《羌村三首》其一「夜阑更秉烛,相对如梦寐」之意,写乱离之后重逢的如梦之感,成为唐人诗中一再重复的母题,杜牧「多情却似总无情」亦写聚散,而此诗以「翻疑」二字直写心理,最为传真。「羁旅」一词出《左传·庄公二十二年》「羁旅之臣」之语,指寄居作客之人,后世遂以羁旅为行旅异乡之泛称,戴叔伦以此自称,自伤身世漂泊之意宛然。至于「晓钟」,令人想起温庭筠《商山早行》「鸡声茅店月,人迹板桥霜」的早行意象群,以及张继《枫桥夜泊》「夜半钟声到客船」的钟声意象:钟声在唐诗中既是时间的刻度,也常是别离的号令,戴叔伦「相留畏晓钟」正是对这一意象传统的精妙化用,把无形的别情落实为对一声钟响的畏惧。再就「月又满」言之,「满」字暗用「月圆人未圆」的民俗意象,月之圆与人之聚相映,而离别在即,更见月圆之刺眼,此层意蕴与张若虚《春江花月夜》的月夜意象遥相呼应。又,「江南会」之「江南」与「江乡」首尾相应,点出此地此会皆在江南,而「还作」二字更暗示此前已有别离,今番重逢实属侥幸,一「还」字绾住聚散,情味绵长。

Commentary

This poem has always been valued by anthologists. Gao Bing's Classification of Tang Poetry placed Dai Shulun among the mid-Tang poets who carried on the tradition; Shen Deqian's Selection of Tang Poetry included this piece for its true feeling and plain words, fitting his taste for 'plain words whose flavor is not thin.' Xin Wenfang's Biographies of Talented Men of the Tang praised Dai's verse as clear and graceful, and the couplet 'the wind in the branches startles the hidden magpies; the dew on the grass makes the cold insects weep'—writing a feeling heart through the cold scene—bears this out. Yu Biyun of the modern age, in his Talks on the Poetry of the Realm, praised such verses of meeting old friends on the road for their true feeling and sincere words.

戴叔伦此诗历来为选家所重。明高棅《唐诗品汇》列戴叔伦于中唐「接武」之列,其论中唐诸家谓声律渐密而气骨稍弱,反观此诗,则于密丽中仍见真味,可见戴氏在中唐诗坛承前启后的位置。清沈德潜《唐诗别裁集》于中唐律诗多有甄录,此诗以情真语朴见长,正合其「语淡而味终不薄」的取径。辛文房《唐才子传》记戴叔伦事,称其诗清婉,此诗「风枝惊暗鹊,露草泣寒虫」一联,以清冷之景写含情之心,正可印证清婉之评。近代俞陛云《诗境浅说》评此类客中逢故之作,尝谓其情真语挚,读之如见其人,移评此诗亦无不可。至于「翻疑梦里逢」一句,自来与司空曙「乍见翻疑梦」并称,被视作中唐诗人写久别重逢心理最传神的两笔,历代诗话屡屡称引,足见其艺术影响力之深远,也可见中唐诗人于人情幽微处共同的敏感与追求。此外,明人选本多将此诗与《客中月》《除夜宿石头驿》等同题之作并观,以为戴叔伦最擅于羁旅题材中捕捉微茫的情绪,此诗「翻疑梦里逢」正是这一能力的集中体现。清人论中唐送别诗,谓其缠绵之致胜于盛唐之雄浑,而其病亦在琐屑,以此诗观之,其缠绵处确有过人之处,而其格调亦不流于琐屑,正可见戴叔伦于中唐诸家中自具卓识。今人研读唐诗,每以中唐为转折,此诗正是观察这一转折的绝佳样本。若就诗歌史之承传言之,戴叔伦此诗上承杜甫《赠卫八处士》「今夕复何夕,共此灯烛光」的乱离相逢之思,下开晚唐许浑、温庭筠一派羁旅诗的先声,其「翻疑梦里逢」五字,尤为此后无数写重逢诗所反复化用,可谓影响深远。又,此诗末联「羁旅长堪醉,相留畏晓钟」,以醉避离、以钟促离,一欲留而一将散,字里行间有一种无可奈何的沉痛,这正是中唐诗人于日常细节中捕捉时代悲哀的典型手法,值得读者细细涵泳。

Prosody

Form Five-character regulated verse五言律诗

Rhyme Level-tone dong and dong rhymes joined: zhong, feng, chong, zhong平水韵东冬通押,韵脚为「重、逢、虫、钟」

Tone pattern Beginning on an oblique tone without the first line in rhyme, many lines ending on oblique tones, the sound low and lingering仄起首句不入韵,句中多仄声收束,声情低回

Reading note A five-character regulated verse beginning on an oblique tone without the first line in rhyme, rhyming on zhong, feng, chong, zhong—the dong and dong rhyme-groups joined, not the strictest practice, but already common among mid and late Tang poets.此诗为仄起首句不入韵式五言律诗。韵脚为「重、逢、虫、钟」,其中「逢」属平水韵上平二冬,「重、钟」亦属二冬,而「虫」属上平一东,东、冬二韵通押,在近体诗中虽非常格,然中晚唐诗人已渐开其例,戴叔伦于此正可视为声律渐宽风气之先声,选家亦不以失韵为病。首联「天秋月又满,城阙夜千重」,出句「平平仄仄仄」,末三字连用仄声形成三仄尾,对句「平仄仄平平」以平声起调,音调起伏较大,正与秋夜月满而羁怀黯然的情绪相称。全诗颔联、颈联对仗工稳,「还作」对「翻疑」、「江南」对「梦里」、「风枝」对「露草」、「惊」对「泣」,虚实相生,平仄于对偶中自然谐协。通篇多用仄声字收束句中音节,声情沉郁低回,读来有一种压抑的顿挫感,与其主题中聚散匆匆的怅惘恰相表里,堪称声情并茂之作,也是中唐五律于声律渐宽中寻求新变的例证。

Line by line

还作江南会，翻疑梦里逢。

Again we gather as in the south of the river, and I half wonder if I meet you in a dream. (The poem's most moving stroke: the 'again' writes the unexpected joy, and 'half wonder' turns the joy into a daze—the more one longs for reunion, the more one fears it is a dream.)

竟在江南客舍重开同乡之会,反倒怀疑自己是在梦中相逢。

After all we meet in Jiangnan; I suspect it is a dream.

此联以「还」字写意外之喜,以「翻疑」二字转出恍惚之情,心理层次曲折细腻。久客他乡之人,日思夜想者正是故人音讯,一旦真个相逢,反而不敢信以为真,这一「疑」字写尽了愿望实现时的患得患失。与杜甫「相对如梦寐」同一神理,而语言更趋平淡,是中唐诗人于细腻处见功力的名句,千百年来传诵不衰,也是理解此诗情感核心的钥匙。且此联由「还」而「翻」,两个虚字一实一虚,把客中逢故的惊喜与迷惘写得层次分明,极见炼字之细,是中唐诗人于心理描写上精益求精的明证。

This couplet uses after-all to write the unexpected joy, uses I-suspect to turn out the trance feeling, psychological layers winding and refined. The long-exiled person's day-and-night thought is precisely old-friend news; once truly meeting, instead not daring to believe it real; this one suspect exhausts the wish-fulfillment's gain-and-loss anxiety. With Du Fu's facing-each-other-like-a-dream same spirit, yet language more plain; mid-Tang poets' skill-in-fineness famous line, recited through the ages, also the key to understanding this poem's emotional core. And this couplet from after-all to I-suspect, two void words one solid one void, writing the guest-meeting-old-friend's surprise and bewilderment with clear layers, most showing word-refining fineness; mid-Tang poets' psychological-description refinement proof.

风枝惊暗鹊，露草泣寒虫。

The wind in the branches startles the hidden magpies; the dew on the grass makes the cold insects weep. (The third couplet turns suddenly to the scene: the wind startling the magpies and the dew weeping the insects, the cold of the autumn night and the uncertainty of meeting and parting woven together.)

晚风吹动树枝,惊起巢中的乌鹊;露水沾湿秋草,寒虫如泣如诉。

Wind in the branches startles hidden magpies; dew on the grass makes cold insects weep.

此联由情转景,以动写静、以声写哀。「惊」字写出风摇枝动、栖鹊乍飞的刹那动态,「泣」字将寒虫之鸣拟为呜咽,秋夜的萧瑟与不安由此浸透纸背。明写景物,暗中却呼应着聚散无常、人生如露的感怀,为尾联「畏晓钟」的别情埋下伏笔,是情景交融的佳句,也可见戴叔伦于工整对仗中灌注情思的本领。又,「惊暗鹊」「泣寒虫」分别从动作与声音落笔,一俯一仰,一禽一虫,把秋夜的动与静、声与色交织成一片,而诗人凝听细看的姿态亦宛然在目。

This couplet turns from feeling to scenery, using motion to write stillness, sound to write grief. Startle writes the wind-shaken branch, the roosting magpie's sudden-flight instant motion. Weep拟 the cold insect's cry as sobbing; the autumn night's bleakness and unease hence soaks through the paper. Openly writing scenery, secretly echoing gathering-and-scattering-无常, life-like-dew feeling; planting伏笔 for the closing couplet's fearing-the-dawn-bell parting feeling; a scenery-feeling-fused fine line, also showing Dai Shulun's skill of infusing feeling into refined parallel. Also, startles hidden magpies and makes cold insects weep respectively take off from action and sound, one down one up, one bird one insect; weaving the autumn night's motion and stillness, sound and color into one sheet; and the poet's listening-and-gazing posture vividly present.

羁旅长堪醉，相留畏晓钟。

A sojourner long fit only to be drunk, I fear the morning bell that parts us at dawn. (The closing couplet names the theme: the sojourner's long fit only to be drunk, and the deeper the pleasure of reunion, the more dreaded the morning bell of parting.)

羁旅之人只愿长醉不醒,相互挽留,却害怕晓钟敲响离别时刻。

In exile we should be forever drunk; we linger, fearing the dawn bell.

尾联直抒胸臆,而情味极深。「长堪醉」并非真嗜酒,而是愿以沉醉延宕相聚的时光;「畏晓钟」一个「畏」字,把怕离别、怕天明的心情一语道破。钟声是客观的报时,在诗人笔下却成了催人的离讯,主客之间「相留」的殷勤与无奈,尽在这一醉一畏之中,余韵悠长,令人怅然,是全诗情感收束的绝佳一笔。要之,「畏晓钟」三字以最日常的声音写最深刻的别情,化无形为有形,是中唐律诗以细节传情的典型手法,足为后世取法。

The closing couplet speaks the heart directly, yet feeling most deep. Should be forever drunk is not true wine-loving, but wishing to delay the meeting time through intoxication. Fearing the dawn bell one fears character speaks the fear of parting, fear of dawn in one phrase. The bell is objective time-reporting, yet under the poet's brush becomes the催人 parting message; host and guest's lingering hospitality and helplessness all within this one drunk one fear, aftertaste long, making one sigh; the whole poem's emotional close superb stroke. In sum, fearing the dawn bell three characters use the most everyday sound to write the deepest parting feeling, converting the invisible into the visible; mid-Tang regulated verse's detail-transmits-feeling typical method, worthy of later generations' practice.

Study

Word focus

偶 By chance. The word of the title and the theme: the meeting is 'by chance,' and it is precisely the chance nature of the gathering in a strange land that makes it precious and its brevity poignant. 诗题「偶集」之「偶」是全诗的关节所在。他乡客舍,故人得遇,纯属偶然;而正因其偶然,相逢之喜愈真,离别之痛愈切。「偶」字统领全篇,使首联「月又满」的时令感、颔联「翻疑梦」的恍惚感、尾联「畏晓钟」的惜别感,都有了内在的因果。一个「偶」字写出人生聚散的无常,笔力举重若轻,是理解全诗结构命意的关键。要之,诗题一字实为解读全诗的锁钥,「偶」字所承载的无常之感贯穿首尾,使全篇的抒情有了坚实的现实根基,不可轻忽。

翻 Half, on the contrary. The key of the second couplet: 'half wonder if I meet you in a dream'—the joy of reunion turning into a daze, the more one longs the more one fears, the subtle psychology of the long sojourner written in one word. 「翻疑梦里逢」之「翻」是反转、反而之意,为全诗最见神采的虚字。不曰「疑是梦」,而曰「翻疑梦」,着一「翻」字,则意外相逢的惊喜与难以置信,全在语气转折中自然流出,心理的真实感陡然增强。此字以虚写实,使一联之内情感回环,与司空曙「乍见翻疑梦」之「翻」字异曲同工,皆善用虚字传神之典范,可见中唐诗人对虚字运用的共同自觉。此「翻」字与「疑」字相配,词气流转,把一种近乎本能的怀疑写得自然熨帖,较直陈「疑是梦」者远为高妙。

畏 To fear. The closing word: 'I fear the morning bell'—the bell of the temple at dawn parts the friends, and the deeper the pleasure of the reunion, the more dreaded the bell; the dread of parting held in the word 'fear.' 「相留畏晓钟」之「畏」是尾联的诗眼。「畏」的对象竟是晓钟,把怕离别的心情寄托于怕天明的具体感受之上,新颖而真切。若非深情,何所畏惧?此一字将主客相互挽留、不忍分手的情态写得既含蓄又沉痛,较之直写「惜别」高明远甚,为全诗收束出不尽之致,也可见戴叔伦炼字于情感出口处的用心。要之,「畏」字以心理动词作结,使全诗的感情收束有了支点,亦使别情从景物渲染转入心灵直诉,为读者留下无尽的回味。