魏晋 Wei-Jin · 诗 Poem
归园田居·其二
Returning to Garden and Field II
野外罕人事，穷巷寡轮鞅。
白日掩荆扉，虚室绝尘想。
时复墟曲中，披草共来往。
相见无杂言，但道桑麻长。
桑麻日已长，我土日已广。
常恐霜霰至，零落同草莽。
By daylight I close the thorn gate; the empty room cuts off dusty thought.
Now and then in the village bend I part the grass and go among my neighbors.
When we meet, no idle talk — we speak but of mulberry and hemp.
The mulberry and hemp grow daily taller; my acres widen daily more.
I ever fear the frost and sleet will come, and all fall like the weeds.
Meaning
Beyond the fields there are few worldly dealings; in the remote lane the carts are few. By day he closes the brushwood gate; the empty room cuts off dusty thoughts. Now and then in the village's bends he parts the grass to visit his neighbors. When they meet there is no idle talk, only talk of how the mulberry and hemp grow. The mulberry and hemp grow taller daily, his land spreads wider daily. He often fears the frost and sleet will come and all wither like the wild grass.
乡野之外少有世俗的交游，偏僻的巷子里车马稀少。白日里掩上柴门，空寂的居室断绝了尘俗的念头。间或来到村落曲折处，拨开草丛与邻人往来。相见没有闲言碎语，只说桑麻长得怎样。桑麻一天天长高，我的田地一天天拓宽。常怕寒霜冰霰降临，使作物零落如同荒草。
Appreciation
This piece is the second of Tao Yuanming's five 'Returning to Garden and Field' poems, written about 406 CE, just after he left office to live in retirement. It writes the quiet life after returning to the fields and meeting the farmers. Its art is all 'plain description yet rich in taste': the first four lines use the verbs 'few', 'scarce', 'close', 'cut off' to layer the stillness of retirement, from the outer scene (open country, poor lane) into the inner (the empty room, cut-off thought); then 'now and then in the village bend' turns to a live stillness, parting grass to meet the farmers, language plain yet full of life. The close 'I ever fear the frost and sleet' drops a slight worry into the calm, so the quiet scene does not turn empty, true and near. The whole is pale in word yet rich in meaning — most the 'craft-natural' wonder of Tao's verse.
【白话串讲】 “野外罕人事，穷巷寡轮鞅”——陶渊明归隐后：野外少人情往来，小巷少车马。“相见无杂言，但道桑麻长”——见面不谈别的，只聊庄稼长得怎样。“常恐霜霰至，零落同草莽”——他就怕霜冻，毁了他的庄稼。 【意象与手法】 艺术全在「白描而味厚」：前四句以「罕」「寡」「掩」「绝」四个动词叠写归隐之静，由外境（野外、穷巷）入内心（虚室绝想），层层收敛；「时复墟曲中」一转写动静相生，与农人「披草」往来，语言如话却盎然有致。结句「常恐霜霰至」于恬淡中落一微忧，使恬静之境不流于空。 【情感与主旨】 本篇为陶渊明《归园田居》五首之二，约作于东晋义熙二年（406）辞官归隐之初。此前诗人任彭泽令仅八十余日即「不为五斗米折腰」去职，自此躬耕终身。诗中「野外罕人事」「虚室绝尘想」正写其脱离官场樊笼后的心理释然，「披草共来往」「但道桑麻长」写与邻里农夫的真率交游。 【名句点睛】 常考：一、内容概括，须答「写归田后远离尘嚣、与农人交往的恬淡生活」；二、艺术，分析白描手法与「语淡味腴」的风格；三、「虚室」用《庄子》典的妙处。
Background
This is the second of Tao Yuanming's five 'Returning to Garden and Field' poems, written about 406 CE (the second year of Yixi in the Eastern Jin), just after he left the Pengze magistrate post after barely eighty-odd days, refusing to bow for five pecks of rice, and farmed for life. 'In the wilds, few are the worldly ties' and 'the empty room cuts off dusty thought' exactly write his relief after leaving the official cage; 'parting grass to meet neighbors' and 'only of mulberry and hemp we speak' write his true, easy friendship with the farmer-neighbors. It is both a record of Tao's early retirement life and mood, and the base-type of his pastoral 'natural' aesthetic.
本篇为陶渊明《归园田居》五首之二，约作于东晋安帝义熙二年（406）辞官归隐之初。陶渊明（约365—427），字元亮，一说名潜，字渊明，浔阳柴桑（今江西九江）人，中国田园诗的开山祖师。此前他任彭泽令仅八十余日，因不愿「为五斗米折腰」向乡里小儿，遂挂冠去职，自此躬耕终身，时年四十一岁。归田之初，诗人由「误落尘网中」的仕途重返「方宅十余亩」的田园，心境为之一变。此诗正写其归隐初期的心境：前四句写「野外罕人事」「虚室绝尘想」的离尘之静，是脱离官场樊笼后的心理释然；中四句写「披草共来往」「但道桑麻长」的邻里交游，是躬耕生活的日常实录；结二句「常恐霜霰至」微露忧色，写出农事之忧。全诗以白描写归田生活，平淡中见真味，是陶渊明田园诗「自然」美学的基型，也是理解其「归隐」精神世界的起点。陶渊明归田之后，并非高卧林下、不问农事，而是真正「躬耕自资」：种豆锄草、采菊观云，其田园诗正是这种生活实践的直接产物；此诗写「披草共来往」「但道桑麻长」的邻里交游，非与农夫杂处者不能道，其「自然」诗风之根基，正在于这种与土地、与农人共呼吸的真实生活。
Art
The art is all 'plain description yet rich in taste': the first four lines use the four verbs 'few', 'scarce', 'close', 'cut off' to layer the stillness of retirement, from the outer (open country, poor lane) into the inner (empty room, cut-off thought), step by step drawn in; 'now and then in the village bend' turns to a live stillness, meeting farmers through grass, language like talk yet full of life. The close 'I ever fear the frost and sleet' drops a slight worry into the calm, so the quiet scene does not turn empty, true and near. The whole pale in word yet rich in meaning — most the 'craft-natural' wonder of Tao's verse.
艺术全在「白描而味厚」。前四句以「罕」「寡」「掩」「绝」四个动词叠写归隐之静，由外境（野外、穷巷）入内心（虚室绝想），层层收敛：野外罕人事、穷巷寡轮鞅，是写居处之僻、交游之稀；白日掩荆扉、虚室绝尘想，是写人事之绝、尘念之断，由外而内，把「归」的彻底写足。「时复墟曲中」一转，由静入动、由独处入交往：「披草共来往」写拨开草丛与邻人往来，动作朴拙而情谊真挚；「相见无杂言，但道桑麻长」更以农事真语写返璞之境——不谈名利、不说闲话，只说桑麻长势，语言如话而盎然有致，正是「不设色而自工」的至境。结句「常恐霜霰至，零落同草莽」于恬淡中落一微忧：既写出了农民对霜霰的真实忧惧，也使恬静的田园之境不流于空，真实近人。整体语淡意腴，白描中见深情，最见陶诗「化工」之妙，是「质而实绮，癯而实腴」的典范。此外，全诗以「静」字立骨而静中有动：前四句写离尘之静，中四句写交游之动，后四句写农事之忧，动静忧乐交织，正是田园生活的全貌；「相见无杂言，但道桑麻长」以最朴素的对话写最醇厚的乡情，语言之淡与情味之腴相映成趣，是「以俗为雅」的极致，也是陶诗「语淡味腴」的典型例证。
Allusions
The poem uses no recondite classic; it is all pastoral scene and speech. 'Empty room' quietly uses the Zhuangzi's 'an empty room breeds bright light', meaning a clear, still mind cut off from dusty thought — the Daoist word aiding the reclusive scene, without a seam. 'Mulberry and hemp' is Tao's signature farming image (as in 'Returning to Garden' 'mulberry and bamboo cast long shade'), not an allusion yet his own vocabulary. The references melt in naturally, no trace of borrowed erudition.
本诗无经史僻典，纯以田园常景常语成篇，正是陶渊明「豪华落尽见真淳」的本色。「虚室」暗用《庄子·人间世》「虚室生白，吉祥止止」之典：虚室指空明的心室，生白指生出光明，庄子以「虚室生白」喻心志空明、排除杂念则智慧光明自生，陶渊明「虚室绝尘想」用此典而融化无痕，以道家庄子之语助写隐逸之境，不着痕迹；「桑麻」为陶渊明诗中标志性的农事意象（又如《归园田居·其一》「桑竹垂余荫」、其五「狗吠深巷中」的田园图景），虽非典故而自成陶氏语汇，是他以农夫身份入诗、以农事写人生的独特标志。「披草」写拨开草丛行走，是田野间最真实的动作，非躬耕者不能道。全诗所引皆自然融化，不见隶事痕迹，正见陶渊明「用典如不用」的境界，其平淡之语实含深厚的哲思与真切的生活经验。「白日掩荆扉」又暗含《庄子》「吾将曳尾于涂中」的隐逸精神与儒家「穷则独善其身」的出处之义：掩扉非避世，而是绝尘想、全真性，道家之虚静与儒家之操守在此合一，这正是陶渊明「外儒内道」思想的体现，也是其田园诗哲思深厚的根源。
Commentary
The Song critic Su Shi greatly praised Tao's poetry, saying 'plain yet truly ornate, lean yet truly rich'. The Qing critic Shen Deqian's Ancient Poems Source says 'it flows naturally from the breast, no axe-mark'. Moderns hold this piece writes the truest reclusive interest in the most daily farming speech; seeming flat yet with its own archaic grace, it is the unpassable model of the pastoral 'natural' vein. That at the plainest it shows the truest interest — later learners of Tao are many yet like-Tao are few, precisely because this 'flows naturally from the breast' cannot be learned.
宋·苏轼极推陶诗，谓「质而实绮，癯而实腴」，又言「渊明诗初看若散缓，熟看有奇句」，此诗正合此评。清·沈德潜《古诗源》评陶诗「胸中自然流出，无斧凿痕」，此篇以最日常的农事语写最真率的隐趣，看似平淡而自有淳古之风，是田园诗「自然」一脉不可逾之范。近人论此诗，多着眼于其「语淡味腴」：全诗无一奇字、无一丽句，而静境、交游、农事、忧惧，层次分明、情味悠长，正是「至平凡处见至真趣」。后之学陶者众而似陶者稀，正因这份「胸中自然流出」的非学可及——它不是技巧的产物，而是陶渊明以生命实践（辞官归田、躬耕自给）写出的生活真味。此诗在中国诗歌史上的意义，在于确立了田园诗的基本范式：以农事日常为题材、以平淡自然为风格、以隐逸情怀为内核，后世王维、孟浩然、范成大等田园诗人皆承此脉。此诗对后世的影响，可举两例：王维《辋川闲居》写「寂寞掩柴扉，苍茫对落晖」，其「掩扉」之境直承陶诗；范成大《四时田园杂兴》写农事之忧乐，亦可见陶诗「常恐霜霰至」的忧农传统，陶渊明作为田园诗之祖，其「自然」美学的每一要素，皆在此诗中奠立，其影响之深，无出其右。
Prosody
Line by line
野外罕人事，穷巷寡轮鞅
In the open country, few are the worldly affairs; in the poor lane, scarce the wheel and trace.
乡野之外少有世俗的交游，偏僻的巷子里车马稀少。
In the wilds there is little social call; in the poor lane, few carriage tracks.
以「罕」「寡」领起，写离尘之静，是归隐心境的外化，起笔即定全诗基调。「野外罕人事」写乡野之外少有世俗的交往应酬，「人事」指官场社会的交际往来，一个「罕」字写出「人」之稀；「穷巷寡轮鞅」写偏僻的巷子里车马稀少，「轮鞅」以车马代指官宦权贵的来访，一个「寡」字写出「车」之少。两句对举，人与车俱稀，正见归田之后脱离了官场的送往迎来，也暗含对当年「尘网」中的喧闹的否定——当年车马盈门之地，如今门可罗雀，而诗人乐此不疲。此联不写「乐」而「静」中自见其乐，以白描写心境，正是陶渊明「不著一字情语而情自深」的笔法，为下文「虚室绝尘想」的内心之静作铺垫。
The opening uses rare and few to write the dust-free quiet, the externalization of the reclusive mood. In-the-wilds-little-social-call writes the rural lack of official social visits; rare writes the scarcity of people. In-the-poor-lane-few-carriage-tracks writes the remote lane's few carriages; carriage-tracks stand for official visitors; few writes the scarcity of cars. The two lines set people and cars both rare, showing the freedom from official comings and goings, and secretly negating the former dusty-net bustle - where once carriages filled the gate, now there are none, and the poet delights. The couplet writes quiet not joy, and joy shows through quiet; plain description of mood is Tao's method of no feeling-word yet deep feeling.
白日掩荆扉，虚室绝尘想
In broad daylight I shut the thorn gate; the empty room cuts off dusty thoughts.
白日里掩上柴门，空寂的居室断绝了尘俗的念头。
At midday I shut the wicker gate; the empty room is free of dusty thoughts.
由外境之静写到内心之净，是「归」的最高境界，亦是陶诗用典于无痕的典范。「白日掩荆扉」写大白天掩上柴门——不是夜眠，而是主动闭门谢客，「荆扉」以荆条编成的柴门写居处之简陋，白日掩门更见其与世隔绝的自觉；「虚室绝尘想」写空寂的居室断绝了尘俗的念头，「虚室」暗用《庄子·人间世》「虚室生白」之典，以空室喻空明之心，尘想既绝，心中便如虚室生白，澄澈光明。两句一外一内：掩门是外在的隔绝，绝想是内在的澄明，由掩门到绝想，写出归隐后身心俱静、尘俗不扰的彻底自由。此联以极平淡之语写极深彻之境，正是陶渊明「结庐在人境，而无车马喧」的同一境界，用典而不见典，淡语而含道机。
This couplet moves from external quiet to inner purity, the highest realm of return. In-broad-daylight-I-shut-the-thorn-gate writes shutting the wicker gate in daytime - not night sleep but actively closing the door to visitors; thorn gate writes the humble dwelling, and closing it by day shows the self-conscious isolation. The-empty-room-cuts-off-dusty-thoughts uses Zhuangzi's empty-room-begets-light allusion, the empty room metaphorizing the clear mind; dusty thoughts cut off, the heart is like an empty room filled with light. One external, one internal: shutting the door is external isolation, cutting off thoughts is inner clarity. This couplet uses the plainest words for the deepest realm, Tao's结庐-in-human-realm-yet-no-carriage-noise same state, allusion yet invisible allusion, plain words holding Dao.
相见无杂言，但道桑麻长
When we meet, no idle talk — we speak but of mulberry and hemp.
相见没有闲言碎语，只说桑麻长得怎样。
When we meet, no idle words - only talk of how the hemp grows.
以农事真语写返璞之境，质朴中见淳厚交情，是陶诗本色的集中体现。「相见无杂言」写与邻人相见，没有官场式的客套寒暄、名利闲谈，「无杂言」三字既是写实——农人相见本无闲话可聊，更是写意——正见彼此都是本分人，言谈之纯正如人心之纯朴；「但道桑麻长」写开口只说桑麻的长势，「但」字点出话头的单一，「桑麻长」三字更是点睛：以桑麻的长势为唯一话题，正是农耕生活中最实在的关切，也暗含庄稼人最朴素的生活愿望。此联以「无」写「有」：不言名利而见其淡泊，不言交情而见其真率，两句如话，而田园的恬静、邻里的淳朴、诗人的自得尽在其中，是「以最浅之语写最深之境」的绝唱，也是陶渊明田园诗「自然」美学的典范。
This couplet uses farming plainness to write the unadorned realm, simple yet warm. When-we-meet-no-idle-words writes meeting neighbors without official pleasantries or fame talk; no-idle-words is both fact (farmers have no gossip) and meaning - both are plain people, speech as pure as heart. Only-talk-of-how-the-hemp-grows writes the only topic is the hemp's growth; only points to the single topic, hemp-growth is the finishing stroke: the only concern is the crop, the farmer's simplest wish. This couplet uses no for have: no fame talk shows detachment, no friendship talk shows frankness. Two lines like speech, yet the field's quiet, neighbors' simplicity, poet's contentment are all in it - the masterpiece of shallow words for deep realm.
桑麻日已长，我土日已广
Day by day the hemp and mulberry grow; day by day my fields spread wider.
桑麻一天天长高，我的田地一天天拓宽。
Day by day the mulberry and hemp grow; day by day my fields widen.
以「日已」的复沓写农事之进展，字里行间见躬耕者的欣慰，是陶诗以平淡语写真喜悦的妙笔。「桑麻日已长」写桑麻一天天长高，是作物之荣；「我土日已广」写自己的田土一天天拓宽，是垦殖之成。两句以「日已」复沓，写出一种日复一日、渐进累积的过程感：桑麻之长非一日之功，田土之广非一夕之成，正是躬耕者日日守望、岁岁开垦的累积。此联的喜悦不在欢呼，而在「日已」二字流露的踏实的满足——看着亲手种植的桑麻日日生长、亲手开辟的田土日日宽广，这份由劳作换来的欣慰，比任何功名都更实在。同时，「我土」的「我」字也见亲耕亲垦的主人翁感，与「归园田居」的题旨相合，是陶渊明以农夫自居、以农事为乐的直接流露。
This couplet uses the repeated day-by-day to write farming progress, the tiller's quiet joy between the lines. Day-by-day-the-hemp-grows writes the crops' thriving. Day-by-day-my-fields-spread-wider writes the land's reclamation. The day-by-day repetition writes the gradual, cumulative process: hemp growth is not one day's work, field expansion not one night's achievement - the daily watching, yearly reclaiming of the tiller. The joy is not cheering but the steady satisfaction in day-by-day: watching the hemp grow, watching the fields widen, this labor-earned contentment is more real than any title. The my-fields' my shows the owner's sense of personally plowed land, consistent with the return-to-fields theme.
常恐霜霰至，零落同草莽
I ever fear the frost and sleet will come, and all fall like the weeds.
常怕寒霜冰霰降临，使作物零落如同荒草。
I often fear the frost and sleet will come, scattering them like wild grass.
于恬淡落一微忧，使静境不空，真实近人，是全诗章法圆融的关键一笔。「常恐霜霰至」写常常担心寒霜冰霰降临——霜霰是农作物的天敌，一场霜霰便可能使一年的辛劳化为乌有，「常恐」二字见忧之持久，这正是躬耕者特有的忧惧，非亲历农事者不能道；「零落同草莽」写作物零落如同荒草——辛辛苦苦种出的庄稼与野草同归于尽，一年的辛劳付诸东流，此句的意象触目惊心，把农事之忧写得具体而深重。此联的妙处在于「以忧衬乐」：前文写尽田园之静、交游之朴、桑麻之荣，忽然落此一忧，反而使整个田园生活更真实、更完整——陶渊明不是把田园写成诗意的乌托邦，而是如实写出其中的辛劳与忧惧，正因有霜霰之忧，桑麻之喜才更真切，静境也因此不流于空疏，此即「语淡味腴」的深层所在。
This couplet adds a small worry to the quiet, making the stillness not empty, real and human, the key structural stroke. I-often-fear-the-frost-and-sleet-will-come writes the constant dread of frost and sleet - the crop's enemy, one frost can erase a year's labor; often-fear writes the lasting dread, the tiller's special anxiety, only known by farmers. Scattering-them-like-wild-grass writes the crops falling like weeds - the hard-won harvest ending like wild grass, a year's labor gone. The couplet's subtlety is using worry to set off joy: after the field's quiet, neighbors' simplicity, hemp's thriving, suddenly this worry makes the pastoral life more real and complete. Tao does not write the fields as a poetic utopia but honestly writes their labor and dread; because of the frost-dread, the hemp-joy is more vivid, the stillness not empty. This is the depth of plain words with rich taste.
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Both from the 'Returning to Garden and Field' sequence; I writes the will to leave office for the fields, II writes the quiet of meeting neighbors after return — read the pastoral panorama together.
两诗同出陶渊明《归园田居》组诗，一为开篇、一为续作，恰成归隐心境的完整图景。《其一》「少无适俗韵，性本爱丘山」直抒弃官归田之志，「误落尘网中，一去三十年」「久在樊笼里，复得返自然」以尘网樊笼喻官场，写挣脱束缚的狂喜，情感激荡；《其二》则写归田之后「野外罕人事」「虚室绝尘想」的日常静境与「相见无杂言，但道桑麻长」的农事交游，情感平静。一写归之志、一写归之境；一为弃旧图新的决绝、一为安于田亩的恬淡。两诗并读，正见陶渊明由「归」到「居」的完整心路，亦是其田园诗由宣言到实践的印证。
归园田居·其三 Returning to Garden and Field III 陶渊明 · 同写躬耕，其三写劳作之勤，其二写邻里之朴，合见陶氏田园全貌 Same (author / sequence)Both write farming; III 'plant beans below the southern hill' writes labor's toil, II writes the neighbors' plainness — together the full face of Tao's fields.
两诗同出《归园田居》组诗，皆写躬耕生活而侧重点不同。《其三》「种豆南山下，草盛豆苗稀。晨兴理荒秽，带月荷锄归」写早出晚归的劳作之勤，「衣沾不足惜，但使愿无违」更写劳作虽苦而志向不改，是躬耕者的自画像；《其二》则写劳作之余的邻里交游，「披草共来往」「但道桑麻长」写与农人的真率往来，是田园生活的人情面。一写劳作、一写人情；一写「勤」、一写「朴」。两诗并读，可见陶渊明田园诗的完整图景：既有「带月荷锄归」的辛勤，也有「但道桑麻长」的淳厚，劳作与交游、辛劳与恬淡交织，正是其躬耕生活的真实全貌。