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魏晋 Wei-Jin · 诗 Poem

短歌行

Short Song

曹操

Cao Cao

求贤Seeking Talent 言志Expressing Ambition 四言Four-Character Meter

对酒当歌，人生几何！
譬如朝露，去日苦多。
慨当以慷，忧思难忘。
何以解忧？
唯有杜康。
青青子衿，悠悠我心。
但为君故，沉吟至今。
呦呦鹿鸣，食野之苹。
我有嘉宾，鼓瑟吹笙。
山不厌高，海不厌深。
周公吐哺，天下归心。

Facing wine I sing, how long can life remain?
Like morning dew, so many days are gone in pain.
My heart is stirred with sorrow hard to forget.
What can ease my grief? Only Du Kang wine, I bet.
Blue blue your collar, long long my yearning deep.
Just for your sake, I have chanted in my sleep.
Deer cry out, eating field grass sweet.
When I have worthy guests, with lute and flute I greet.
The mountain never tires of height,
The sea never tires of depth.
Like Duke Zhou who spat out food, all hearts to me will yield.

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Meaning

The poem opens with a lament on life's brevity, then shifts to a passionate desire for talented people to join the poet. Using allusions from the Book of Songs and the story of Duke Zhou, Cao Cao expresses his ambition to unite the empire under his rule.

面对美酒，正该放声高歌，人生能有多少时光！好比清晨的露水，逝去的日子苦于太多。慷慨高歌之际，胸中忧思难以忘怀。用什么来排遣忧愁？只有那杜康美酒。青青的是你的衣襟，悠悠的是我的情心。只因为贤才的缘故，我沉吟思慕直到如今。呦呦鹿鸣，啃食野地青苹。我若有嘉宾到来，定当鼓瑟吹笙相迎。山不嫌高，海不嫌深。正如周公一饭三吐哺，天下人心终将归顺于我。

Appreciation

Cao Cao's 'Short Song' is a masterpiece of expressing a ruler's ambition while using vivid imagery and classical allusions. The 'worry' that runs through the poem is not for personal fate but for the lack of worthy ministers. The blend of personal emotion and political vision creates a powerful, heroic tone.

【白话串讲】 “对酒当歌，人生几何”——曹操举着酒杯感叹人生太短，然后话锋一转：天下的人才，都到我这里来吧。一首诗，前半生愁，后半生豪，写尽了一个政治家的格局。【意象与手法】全诗以四言为主，熔《诗经》成句与自建警句于一炉。开篇以“朝露”喻人生短暂，兴起全篇之“忧” 【情感与主旨】此诗约作于建安十三年（208年）赤壁之战前后。时曹操已据北方，正图南下统一，却深感人才不足、霸业未成【名句点睛】常考求贤若渴的主旨与“周公吐哺”用典；分析化用《诗经》成句（子衿、鹿鸣）的妙处

Background

Written around 208 AD during the Battle of Red Cliffs, Cao Cao, having united the north, sought more talents to accomplish his southern conquest. The poem reflects his anxiety over insufficient talent and his grand ambition.

《短歌行》属汉乐府相和歌辞平调曲，本为可以入乐的旧题。所谓短歌、长歌之别，据古人解题，在于乐曲声调的长短缓急，而不在篇幅的长短，故短歌行之名与此诗之长并不矛盾。曹操以旧题作新辞，是其乐府创作的一贯做法。此诗的作年，旧说多定于建安十三年（二〇八）赤壁之战前后：其时曹操已扫平袁绍父子、北定乌桓，据有中原，正谋南下以成统一之业，而人才不足、霸业未定之忧亦最深，与诗中所抒发的求贤之切、时光之促极为相合；后世小说家演为赤壁江上横槊赋诗之事，情景动人，然属虚构，读者不可据以为史。诗中所写宴饮之场景，一般认为是曹操宴请宾客、当筵歌之的实境，其功用近于以歌代言：既倾吐胸中之忧，又向天下之士示以求贤的诚意，故此诗既是抒情之作，也带有政治宣示的意味。就文本而论，通行全篇共三十二句，此处所录为其首尾各段，中间尚有明明如月、月明星稀诸节，读者若欲得其全貌，宜取全篇合观。作品最早见于《宋书·乐志》，后收入《乐府诗集》卷三十。文学脉络上，此诗以四言为体而大量熔铸《诗经》成句，上承风雅之音，下开建安慷慨之调，是汉魏之际四言诗的最高成就之一。

Art

The poem uses four-character lines, integrating direct quotations from the Book of Songs and original metaphors. The structure moves from personal melancholy to a welcoming of guests, ending with a grand declaration of ambition, typical of Jian'an poetry's 'deep emotion and extended meaning.'

此诗最堪注意者，是它在同一篇中完成了由忧到喜、由叹到誓的完整情绪转换，而转换处皆有承接，绝无生硬之感。开篇对酒当歌、人生几何以宴饮之乐起，而乐中即含慨叹，一句之内已有起伏；譬如朝露、去日苦多以极常见的物象喻人生之短，笔调沉重下落。慨当以慷、忧思难忘承其意而正面点出忧字，何以解忧、唯有杜康则以自问自答收束此段，语气看似放开，其实无奈——酒能解者，唯一时耳。至青青子衿、悠悠我心忽然换调：所忧者原来不止年寿之短，而是贤才之未得，于是通篇的忧有了具体的着落，情绪也由沉郁转为恳切。呦呦鹿鸣、食野之苹一段更转为宴乐的想象，鼓瑟吹笙，气氛顿开，是全诗最明亮处。末以山不厌高、海不厌深作比，再以周公吐哺、天下归心收结，由虚愿转为实志，气象雄阔而斩然收住。全诗章法为忧—求—待—誓四层递进，层层有转而脉络不断。修辞上兼用比喻（朝露、山海）、设问（何以解忧）、叠字（青青、悠悠、呦呦）、用典（子衿、鹿鸣、吐哺）诸法，而最见功力者是化用成句：整段引《诗经》而气脉仍是自己的，旧句入新篇如自家语，此非胸中先有一段大气象者不能办。

Allusions

The lines 'Blue your collar' and 'Deer cry out' quote the Book of Songs to express longing for talents and hospitality. 'Duke Zhou spitting out food' refers to the legendary minister who paused his meal three times to receive visitors, showing respect for talents.

此诗用典之密与化典之化，皆为汉魏诗中所罕见。青青子衿、悠悠我心二句径取《诗经·郑风·子衿》原文，本篇为女子思念所欢之词，衿指衣领，青衿为学子之服；曹操取其思念之切，而移其对象为贤才，遂使儿女之思变为求士之诚，一转而境界全变。呦呦鹿鸣、食野之苹与我有嘉宾、鼓瑟吹笙四句则几乎全录《诗经·小雅·鹿鸣》，《鹿鸣》本为天子宴群臣嘉宾之乐歌，鹿得美草而呼群同食，以喻主人之乐与贤者共之；曹操整段搬用，用意极显——他以主人自居，预设一场宾主俱欢的盛筵，向天下之士发出邀请。山不厌高、海不厌深化用《管子·形势解》所言海不辞水、故能成其大，山不辞土石、故能成其高之意，以山海之不拒纳喻己之广收人才。周公吐哺则出《史记·鲁周公世家》：周公戒其子伯禽，自言身为文王之子、武王之弟、成王之叔父，于天下不为不贵，然一饭三吐哺以起待士，犹恐失天下之贤人；曹操引之，既标举其求贤的姿态，亦暗以周公自比，其政治意涵不可忽视。杜康相传为古之善造酒者，后以人名代酒。字词训诂上有数处聚讼：对酒当歌之当，一训为对、面对，与对字同义连用；一训为应当、正该，谓面对美酒正该高歌，二说皆通行，而以后说语气更活。去日苦多之苦为副词，义即甚、极，谓已逝之日多得可叹，非苦痛之苦。慨当以慷即慷慨的分言拆用，为汉魏习语。山不厌高之厌义为满足、嫌弃，不厌即不以为多、不加拒绝。

Commentary

Critics praise Cao Cao's poetic vigor. Modern scholar Yu Guanying noted that the poem 'shows a will to conquer the world amid worry,' a perfect blend of personal sorrow and political ambition.

曹操诗的历史评价，以钟嵘《诗品》所云曹公古直、甚有悲凉之句最为要言不烦：古直谓其不假雕琢而自有骨力，悲凉谓其底色苍茫而不流于萎靡。以此评本篇，古直可指其四言的质朴与《诗经》成句的自然嵌入，悲凉则可指人生几何、譬如朝露一段的时光之叹。后世论者多以此诗为建安风骨的代表：所谓建安风骨，正是那种情感慷慨、气势沉雄、语言质实而不加藻饰的品格，而本篇兼备诸要素，故常被举为标本。评家于此诗尤重两点：一是化用《诗经》而不见痕迹。以整段成句入诗，最易成为拼贴，而此诗读来一气贯注，如自家肺腑之言，故被视为用古而不为古所用的范例。二是政治情怀与文学抒情的融合。求贤本是政令之事，一入此诗则化为悠悠我心的思慕、鼓瑟吹笙的想望，读者只觉其情深而不觉其为号召，此即以文学行政治之实而两不相碍。传播史上，此诗自《宋书·乐志》《乐府诗集》著录以来即为乐府名篇，历代总集选录不绝；至元明以后，因小说《三国演义》敷演赤壁横槊赋诗一节，此诗遂随小说与戏曲深入民间，成为最广为人知的曹操作品。今人读之，须辨明二事：横槊赋诗之说出于小说，非史实；周公吐哺、天下归心非自夸之语，而是以周公之待士自励，其中的期许与担当须一并体会。

Prosody

Form Four-character ancient poem (Yuefu 'Pingdiao' song)四言乐府诗，属汉乐府相和歌辞平调曲旧题《短歌行》，短歌之名指乐曲声调短促，非谓篇幅

Rhyme Mainly four-character, rhymes shift with emotion (e.g., ge/duo, wang/kang, xin/jin, ping/sheng, shen/xin), not strict.隔句押韵而数句一换，本段韵脚依次为何、多（歌部），忘、康（阳部），心、今（侵部），苹、笙（耕部），深、心（侵部），随情绪的转折而更换韵部

Tone pattern Steady four-character rhythm, interspersed with prose syntax for variation.通篇四言，作二二节奏；其时近体平仄之律未立，故以句式的整齐、叠字的运用与虚字的疏通取节，如食野之苹之之字、慨当以慷之以字皆为调节音节而设

Reading note Throughout, quotes from the Book of Songs and allusions, with a thread of worry–thinking–welcoming–ambition.四言诗至汉末已不复为主流，曹操却以之写出一代之音，其成功首先在于对节奏板重的克服。四言每句只作二二两拍，若一味平列，极易呆滞；此诗则以三法破之：一是叠字，青青、悠悠、呦呦分置各段，音色柔婉，与四言的方正相济；二是虚字，食野之苹之之、慨当以慷之以、何以解忧之何以，皆于固定节奏中生出顿挫；三是句式变化，何以解忧、唯有杜康以设问自答成一顿，山不厌高、海不厌深以对句成一势，读来遂有起伏。更值得注意的是换韵之法。全篇隔句押韵而数句一换，每换一韵即换一层情绪：歌部之何、多音开而下坠，正合人生短促之叹；阳部之忘、康音洪亮，与慷慨解忧相应；侵部之心、今音闭而深，恰状思慕之绵密；耕部之苹、笙音清亮，遂见宴乐之欢；末又归于侵部之深、心，声情收敛而沉着，与天下归心的郑重相合。韵随情转，情因韵显，此即乐府诗以声为体的本色。可见此诗虽通篇熔铸《诗经》成句，而声律的经营全是自己的，故读来一气贯注，绝无缀合之迹。

Line by line

对酒当歌，人生几何！

Before wine, facing song - how much is a life!

面对美酒，正该放声高歌，人生能有多少时光！

Facing wine and song - how long is a life?

开篇八字，乐与哀同时并至，是全诗情绪的总纲。对酒当歌写宴饮之盛：酒在前，歌将起，正是人生极欢之境；然下句人生几何忽然一问，把这份欢乐置于时间的悬崖之上——欢愈盛则愈觉其短，酒愈美则愈知其不可久。当字有二解：或训为对，与上字同义连用；或训为应当，谓正该高歌，后说语气更活，且与下句的追问相激。几何为问语而不待答，是感叹而非疑问。此二句为后世无数感叹人生短促之作所本，其力量在于不作回避：不是先忧后乐，而是在最乐之时直面最忧之事。

These eight characters open the poem with joy and sorrow together, the poem's emotional keynote. Before wine, facing song writes the feast's peak; how much is a life? suddenly places this joy on time's cliff. The more splendid the joy, the shorter it feels; the better the wine, the sooner it ends. The line is the source of countless later poems on life's brevity; its power lies in not flinching - at the moment of greatest joy, the poet faces the deepest sorrow.

譬如朝露，去日苦多。

Like morning dew, the days gone are only too many.

好比清晨的露水，逝去的日子苦于太多。

Like morning dew, the days gone are sorely many.

此联承上句的追问而给出形象。朝露为汉魏诗中最常见的人生之喻：其形至美，其命至短，日出即消，无从挽留，故以之喻人生，不需解说而人人可感。譬如二字明标比喻，语气朴直，正是四言诗的本色。去日苦多之苦为副词，义即甚、极，谓已逝之日多得可叹；不说来日无多而说去日苦多，角度极妙——前者是对未来的忧惧，后者是对既往的清算，而清算已毕，则所余可用之时不言自明。全联无一奇字，然沉重之感如实压下，为下文的忧思难忘作足铺垫。

This couplet gives the image for the question. Morning dew is the Han-Wei poem's most common metaphor for life: beautiful yet short, gone at sunrise, irrecoverable. Like morning dew states the simile plainly. The days gone are only too many: the苦 is an adverb meaning very, too - the gone days are painfully many. The line does not say future days are few, but that past days are painfully many - a settlement of accounts, not a fear of the future. The couplet has no strange word, yet the weight presses down, preparing the longing to follow.

青青子衿，悠悠我心。

Blue, blue is your collar; long, long is my heart.

青青的是你的衣襟，悠悠的是我的情心。

Blue, blue your collar; long, long my heart.

此二句径取《诗经·郑风·子衿》原文，而所指已变。原诗为女子思念所欢之辞，青衿是对方的衣领，悠悠是自己无尽的牵念；曹操整句搬来，只把思念的对象换成天下的贤才，于是政治性的求士被写成了近乎恋慕的深情。这一转极高明：若直言求贤若渴，语虽切而味薄；用子衿之句，则思慕之专、等待之久、情意之缠绕皆借旧诗的音节自然传出，而读者亦不觉其为号召。青青、悠悠两组叠字前后相对，一状色之鲜明，一状情之绵长，声音回环，遂使这两句成为全诗最柔的一处，与前段的沉郁、后段的雄阔恰成三种声口。

These two lines take the Book of Songs's Zi Jin directly, yet the reference changes. The original is a woman's longing for her lover; Cao Cao takes the whole line and changes the object to talented men. The political search for worth is written as almost lover-like longing. The blue-collar and long-heart doubled adjectives give the line a softness that is the poem's gentlest moment, contrasting with the preceding gravity and the following grandeur. The allusion makes the summons to talent sound like love, not command.

呦呦鹿鸣，食野之苹。

Yo, yo cries the deer, eating the wild artemisia.

呦呦鹿鸣，啃食野地青苹。

Yo-ho, the deer cry, eating the wild wormwood.

此句出《诗经·小雅·鹿鸣》，《鹿鸣》为天子宴群臣嘉宾的乐歌，其取象之意在于：鹿得美草而鸣声呼群，与同类共食而不独享，正合主人乐与贤者共之的胸怀。曹操引此，遂把前文的思慕转为一场可以预见的欢宴，气氛由沉郁一变而为明朗。呦呦为拟声叠字，声轻而远，读之如闻鹿鸣于野；食野之苹五字加一之字舒缓其节，画面遂显安然。此处引诗尚有一层深意：《鹿鸣》本为天子燕飨之乐，用之于己，即以主人、以人君之位自处，其志之大已在言外。

This line comes from the Book of Songs's Deer Call, the royal banquet song for worthy guests. The deer, finding good grass, cries to call its companions - sharing, not monopolizing. Cao Cao's citation turns the previous longing into an anticipated feast, the mood turning from gloom to brightness. The yo-yo sound word and the eating-wild-grass image give the line calmness; the citation also implicitly places the poet in the royal host position, his ambition unspoken.

周公吐哺，天下归心。

The Duke of Zhou spat out his food, and all under heaven turned to him.

正如周公一饭三吐哺，天下人心终将归顺于我。

The Duke of Zhou spat out his meal, and all the hearts under heaven turned to him.

结二句由虚愿转为实志，收得极重。周公吐哺出《史记·鲁周公世家》：周公自言身分已极尊贵，然犹一饭三吐哺以起待士，唯恐失天下之贤人。曹操引此，一则标举待士的极致姿态——连进食都要中断，何况其他；二则暗以周公自比，其中既有辅弼王室的自我定位，也有经营天下的雄心，读者不可只作谦辞看。天下归心四字则是全诗最后的落点：所求非一二人才，而是天下之心；而所以能得天下之心者，正在于前文所写的那份思慕与诚意。以史事作结，不作豪言而气势自足，与开篇的人生几何遥相呼应——时光有限，故求贤愈急；求贤既诚，则短促的人生自有其可成之业。

The closing two lines turn from wish to resolve, closing with weight. The Duke of Zhou spat out his food comes from the Records: the Duke, though of the highest station, still interrupted his meal three times to receive scholars, fearing to lose worthies. Cao Cao cites this both to model the utmost reception of scholars and to compare himself to the Duke - not mere modesty, but ambition. All under heaven turned to him is the poem's final landing: the desire is not for one or two scholars, but for the hearts of all under heaven. The historical reference closes the poem without boast, with the force earned by the preceding longing.

Study

Word focus

当 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 对酒当歌之当，是此诗最著名的训诂争议之一。一说当训为对，与上字同义连用，谓面对着酒、面对着歌，汉魏语中当有对、向之义，此说于字例有据；一说当训为应当、正该，谓面对美酒正该放声高歌，此说使句中含一劝勉与自纵的语气，与下句人生几何的追问相激而愈见张力。二说皆通行，而后说于情味更胜：唯有先说正该高歌，才见出下文的忽然一问是自乐中生出的自惊。无论取何解，此字皆是全句的关节所在：它规定了开篇的姿态究竟是静观还是纵情，而曹操诗的慷慨之气，自以纵情一路更为相合。

苦 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 去日苦多之苦，须作副词读，义即甚、极、很，非苦痛之苦。汉魏语中此用法习见，如古人言苦寒、苦多，皆以苦表程度之深。明此，则句意为已逝之日多得可叹，语气是清算而非哀号。此字之妙在于分寸：若作苦痛解，则全句变成对时光的抱怨，情绪外露而格调转低；作程度副词解，则只是平静地陈述一个事实，而事实本身已足够沉重，不必再加渲染。曹操诗好用这类朴质的口语虚字承担情绪，字面愈不用力，压下来的分量愈重，此即钟嵘所谓古直之处。

厌 Means 'to be tired of' or 'to reject', here used negatively to imply boundless acceptance. 山不厌高、海不厌深之厌，义为满足、嫌弃，不厌即不以为多、不加拒绝，与今语讨厌之厌有别。此二句化用《管子·形势解》海不辞水、故能成其大，山不辞土石、故能成其高之意，而以厌字代辞字，语气更进一层：辞是不推却，厌是不嫌多，前者为被动的容纳，后者为主动的欲得。以此喻求贤，则不仅来者不拒，且愈多愈善，其胸襟之阔与需求之切同时可见。且山海本为体量之极，以极大者尚不自足为喻，则己之求贤无有止境之意不言而明，两句十字而气象吞吐，是全诗由柔转刚的枢纽。

沉吟 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 沉吟二字状思念之态极为精微。沉谓深沉，吟谓低声哦咏，合而言之，是把心事在口中反复低回而终不成言的样子——既非高声呼唤，也非默然无语，而是欲说未说、说而未尽。以此写思慕贤才之情，最见其久与其专：至今二字更把这一状态拉长为漫长的等待，可见所求非一日之念。此二字又与前文的悠悠相承：悠悠状心之绵长，沉吟状形之低回，一内一外，人物的神情遂宛然可见。以写儿女之情的笔墨写国士之思，而毫无轻佻之感，正因其下有天下归心的大志托底。

短歌行