现代 现代 · 诗 Poem
北方
The North
一天，那个科尔沁草原上的诗人对我说："北方是悲哀的。
"而万里的黄河汹涌着混浊的波涛给广大的北方倾泻着灾难与不幸；
而年代的风霜刻划着广大的北方的贫穷与饥饿啊。
而我——这来自南方的旅客，却爱这悲哀的北国啊。
扑面的风沙与入骨的冷气决不曾使我咒诅；
我爱这悲哀的国土，它的广大而瘦瘠的土地带给我们以淳朴的言语与宽阔的姿态，我相信这言语与姿态坚强地生活在大地上永远不会灭亡；
我爱这悲哀的国土，古老的国土——这国土养育了为我所爱的世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族。
that poet of the Horqin grassland
said to me:
'The North is sorrowful.'
And the Yellow River, ten-thousand li long,
surges with turbid waves
pouring upon the vast North
disaster and misfortune;
And the wind and frost of the ages
carve upon
the vast North's
poverty and hunger.
But I,
—a traveler from the South,
yet love this sorrowful northern land.
The wind-blown sand in my face
and the bone-piercing cold
have never made me curse;
I love this sorrowful land,
its vast and lean soil
brings us a simple speech
and a broad bearing,
I believe this speech and bearing
live firmly upon the earth
and shall never perish;
I love this sorrowful land, this ancient land
—this land
has nurtured the race I love,
the most hard-pressed
and most ancient people on earth.
Meaning
Ai Qing records a grassland poet's verdict that 'the North is sorrowful,' then paints the Yellow River and the ages' frost inflicting poverty and hunger on the land. Yet the southern traveler declares his love for this afflicted North, whose lean soil yields a simple, enduring people. The poem turns war-time desolation into steadfast, earthbound devotion to the nation.
一天，那个科尔沁草原上的诗人对我说：「北方是悲哀的。」而万里的黄河汹涌着混浊的波涛给广大的北方倾泻着灾难与不幸；而年代的风霜刻划着广大的北方的贫穷与饥饿啊。而我——这来自南方的旅客，却爱这悲哀的北国啊。扑面的风沙与入骨的冷气决不曾使我咒诅；我爱这悲哀的国土，它的广大而瘦瘠的土地带给我们以淳朴的言语与宽阔的姿态，我相信这言语与姿态坚强地生活在大地上永远不会灭亡；我爱这悲哀的国土，古老的国土——这国土养育了为我所爱的世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] A poet of the Horqin grassland tells the speaker, 'The North is sorrowful.' The Yellow River surges with turbid waves, pouring disaster on the vast North; the ages' wind and frost carve its poverty and hunger. Yet the southern traveler loves this sorrowful land, whose lean soil grants a simple speech and broad bearing that shall never perish, and which has nurtured the most hard-pressed and ancient race on earth. [Structure] Ai Qing moves from another's verdict ('the North is sorrowful') to objective calamity (the river, the frost), then reverses into first-person love ('but I… yet love'), and culminates in a credo of faith in the land and its people. The turn from despair to devotion is the poem's spine. [Imagery] The 'turbid waves' and 'wind and frost' paint a stricken, weathered North; 'lean soil,' 'simple speech,' and 'broad bearing' transmute hardship into dignity. The closing 'most hard-pressed and most ancient race' lifts private feeling into national belonging.
【白话串讲】 艾青写《北方》：“北方是悲哀的”——“而万里的黄河，汹涌着混浊的波涛”——“给广大的北方，倾泻着灾难与不幸”——他写北方——北方是悲哀的。 【意象与手法】 写北方是悲哀的、万里的黄河汹涌着混浊的波涛，倾泻着灾难与不幸；又写“我爱这悲哀的国土，古老的国土——这国土养育了为我所爱的世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族”。慷慨豪迈。 【情感与主旨】 艾青写北方之作，以万里的黄河写北方的苦难，更以“我爱这悲哀的国土”写对祖国的深爱，是艾青诗中的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“北方是悲哀的”写北方苦难；“我爱这悲哀的国土……养育了世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族”写深爱。
Background
Ai Qing (1910–1996), originally Jiang Zhenghan, styled Haicheng, was born in Jinhua, Zhejiang, and is one of modern China's foremost poets. Trained in painting in Paris, he turned to poetry and became a central voice of socially engaged verse. 'The North' was written in 1938, during the War of Resistance, after the poet traveled through the war-torn North. Confronting poverty, hunger, and the yellow dust of the battlefield, Ai Qing nonetheless declared his love for the afflicted land and its enduring people. The poem belongs to his mature period of 'great-and-plain' (雄浑) lyric, where national crisis is met not with despair but with steadfast, earthbound devotion—a cornerstone of modern Chinese patriotic poetry.
《北方》为现代诗人艾青所作诗。艾青（1910—1996），原名蒋正涵，号海澄，浙江金华人，现代诗人。此诗写景抒情，为咏北方之作。诗中「一天，那个科尔沁草原上的诗人对我说：『北方是悲哀的。』」写一天，那个科尔沁草原上的诗人对我说北方是悲哀的；「而万里的黄河汹涌着混浊的波涛给广大的北方倾泻着灾难与不幸」写而万里的黄河汹涌着混浊的波涛给广大的北方倾泻着灾难与不幸；「而我——这来自南方的旅客，却爱这悲哀的北国啊」写而我这来自南方的旅客却爱这悲哀的北国啊；「我爱这悲哀的国土，它的广大而瘦瘠的土地带给我们以淳朴的言语与宽阔的姿态」写我爱这悲哀的国土它的广大而瘦瘠的土地带给我们以淳朴的言语与宽阔的姿态；「我爱这悲哀的国土，古老的国土——这国土养育了为我所爱的世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族」写我爱这悲哀的国土古老的国土这国土养育了为我所爱的世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族。艾青此诗以写景抒情、养育了世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族写其抒情之情，慷慨豪迈，是艾青诗中的名篇。
Art
'The North' achieves force through 'grand-and-plain, writing place as feeling.' Its five stanzas move from 'the North is sorrowful' to 'the Yellow River surges' to 'but I… love this sorrowful North' to 'I love this sorrowful land' to 'has nurtured the most hard-pressed and most ancient race.' The art is fourfold: (1) reported speech opens with another's verdict, lending documentary weight; (2) personifying nature—the river 'pours disaster,' the frost 'carves' poverty—makes the land itself the sufferer; (3) the abrupt first-person reversal ('But I… yet love') converts report into confession; (4) abstraction into creed—'simple speech and broad bearing… shall never perish'—elevates love of land into faith in the people. The rising cadence, from low to heroic, is the hallmark of Ai Qing's free-verse grandeur.
此诗艺术上以「慷慨豪迈、以地写情」见长。全诗共五节，由北方是悲哀的而万里的黄河而我爱这悲哀的北国。起「一天，那个科尔沁草原上的诗人对我说：『北方是悲哀的。』」写北方是悲哀的：一天，那个科尔沁草原上的诗人对我说北方是悲哀的；「而万里的黄河汹涌着混浊的波涛给广大的北方倾泻着灾难与不幸」写万里的黄河：而万里的黄河汹涌着混浊的波涛给广大的北方倾泻着灾难与不幸；「而我——这来自南方的旅客，却爱这悲哀的北国啊」写我爱这悲哀的北国：而我，这来自南方的旅客，却爱这悲哀的北国啊；结「我爱这悲哀的国土，古老的国土——这国土养育了为我所爱的世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族」写养育了世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族：我爱这悲哀的国土，古老的国土，这国土养育了为我所爱的世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族。全诗以地写情，由北方是悲哀的而养育了世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族，慷慨豪迈，是艾青诗中的名篇。
Allusions
The poem's references are sparse and grounded. 'Horqin grassland' (科尔沁) names the Inner Mongolian steppe whose poet voices the opening line, anchoring the verse in a real northern locale. 'The Yellow River' (黄河), ten-thousand li long, is the civilizational mother-river and here the bearer of 'disaster and misfortune,' a charged national symbol. 'Wind and frost of the ages' (年代的风霜) figures historical hardship as weather upon the land. Unlike classical allusion-heavy verse, Ai Qing draws on place and river rather than bookish citation; the power lies in making the actual North—its dust, its poverty, its endurance—stand for the nation's trial and survival.
诗中「一天那个科尔沁草原上的诗人对我说北方是悲哀的」「而万里的黄河汹涌着混浊的波涛给广大的北方倾泻着灾难与不幸」「而我这来自南方的旅客却爱这悲哀的北国啊」「我爱这悲哀的国土它的广大而瘦瘠的土地带给我们以淳朴的言语与宽阔的姿态」「我爱这悲哀的国土古老的国土这国土养育了为我所爱的世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族」等语，皆含典故故实。「一天那个科尔沁草原上的诗人对我说北方是悲哀的」用科尔沁之典，写一天那个科尔沁草原上的诗人对我说北方是悲哀的；「而万里的黄河汹涌着混浊的波涛给广大的北方倾泻着灾难与不幸」写而万里的黄河汹涌着混浊的波涛给广大的北方倾泻着灾难与不幸；「而我这来自南方的旅客却爱这悲哀的北国啊」写而我，这来自南方的旅客，却爱这悲哀的北国啊；「我爱这悲哀的国土它的广大而瘦瘠的土地带给我们以淳朴的言语与宽阔的姿态」写我爱这悲哀的国土，它的广大而瘦瘠的土地带给我们以淳朴的言语与宽阔的姿态；「我爱这悲哀的国土古老的国土这国土养育了为我所爱的世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族」写我爱这悲哀的国土，古老的国土，这国土养育了为我所爱的世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族。诗人以科尔沁、黄河等语入诗，不着痕迹，而把写景抒情之情写得慷慨淋漓，是善于熔铸典故的体现。
Commentary
'The North' is a landmark of Ai Qing's socially engaged lyric and a classic of modern Chinese patriotic poetry. Contemporary readers hailed its 'grand-and-plain' devotion; later critics cite the reversal 'but I… yet love this sorrowful North' as the poem's emotional pivot. Its distinction is refusing despair: even as it inventories 'disaster and misfortune' and 'poverty and hunger,' it affirms that the land's 'simple speech and broad bearing… shall never perish' and has 'nurtured the most hard-pressed and most ancient race.' Read beside Liu Yong's 'Basheng Gan Zhou' (one 'on the misty rain falling on river and sky,' one 'I love this sorrowful land') and Su Shi's 'Shuidiao' (one 'I would ride the wind,' one 'I love this sorrowful land'), it shows how modern verse turns the ancient topos of homeland-gazing into collective, defiant belonging. For today's reader it remains the clearest statement of Ai Qing's earthbound patriotism.
这首《北方》，是艾青写写景抒情之作，写北方是悲哀的、我爱这悲哀的国土、养育了世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族之情，慷慨豪迈。起「一天，那个科尔沁草原上的诗人对我说：『北方是悲哀的。』」——一天，那个科尔沁草原上的诗人（用科尔沁之典）对我说北方是悲哀的。写北方是悲哀的：科尔沁草原上的诗人对我说、北方是悲哀的——诗人对我说、北方是悲哀的；「而万里的黄河汹涌着混浊的波涛给广大的北方倾泻着灾难与不幸」——而万里的黄河汹涌着混浊的波涛给广大的北方倾泻着灾难与不幸。写万里的黄河：万里的黄河汹涌着混浊的波涛、给广大的北方倾泻着灾难与不幸——黄河涌波涛、北方倾灾难；「而我——这来自南方的旅客，却爱这悲哀的北国啊」——而我，这来自南方的旅客，却爱这悲哀的北国啊。写我爱这悲哀的北国：这来自南方的旅客、却爱这悲哀的北国啊——南方旅客、爱悲哀的北国；结「我爱这悲哀的国土，古老的国土——这国土养育了为我所爱的世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族」——我爱这悲哀的国土，古老的国土，这国土养育了为我所爱的世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族。写养育了世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族：我爱这悲哀的国土、这国土养育了世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族——爱这悲哀的国土、养育最古老的种族。这「我爱这悲哀的国土，古老的国土——这国土养育了为我所爱的世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族」，是全诗之结：以养育了世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族写其抒情。全诗慷慨豪迈，以地写情，正是艾青诗中的名篇。
Prosody
Line by line
一天，
One day,
一天，
One day,
起句写一天，起笔即见其始。「一天」写一天，「一天」写一天。一句写一天，以一天写某一天，写尽一天之情。以时起兴，慷慨而自然，是「以时起兴」的妙笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。
The opening word fixes a single day, plain and unadorned, the start of Ai Qing's long journey north. 'One day' names a particular, ordinary day from which the whole of the northern odyssey unfolds; the line opens on time itself, direct and unhurried, the colloquial, spare manner of Ai Qing's early voice—a few words, yet the long road of the north is implied within them.
北方是悲哀的。
that the North is sorrowful.
北方是悲哀的。
The North is sorrowful.
「北方是悲哀的」写北方是悲哀的，是全诗写北方之态的关键。北方是悲哀的——北方写北方、是悲哀的写是悲哀的。一句写北方是悲哀的，以北方写北方、以是悲哀的写悲哀，写尽北方是悲哀的之情。北方悲哀、直陈其情，正是以直写情的点睛之笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。
This short declarative line is the emotional core and thesis of the poem, stating without ornament that 'the North is sorrowful.' The poet names the land's mood directly rather than describing it at length, and the plain, almost brutal sentence carries the weight of what he has witnessed on the road—the barren earth, the refugees, the long struggle against the invading armies. Stating the sorrow outright is precisely the point: the North is not beautiful in the old lyrical sense, yet its very sorrow is the truth of the age, and the line sets the mournful, documentary keynote for all that follows.
而我
But I,
而我
And I
「而我」写而我，是全诗转折的关键。而我——而写而、我写我。一句写而我，以而我写而我，写尽而我之情。以我转折，慷慨而自然，是「以我转折」的点睛之笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。
The two words turn the poem from the land to the speaker, the hinge where description becomes personal confession. 'And' marks a sharp turn, 'I' centres the verse on the poet himself, the one who has walked this sorrowful land and seen it. The fragmentary, suspended phrasing leaves the sentence hanging, as if the feeling is too large to complete at once, preparing the paradox that follows—this 'I' does not recoil from the sorrow, but loves it.
却爱这悲哀的北国啊。
a traveler from the South, yet love this sorrowful northern land.
却爱这悲哀的北国啊。
yet I love this sorrowful northern land.
「却爱这悲哀的北国啊」写却爱这悲哀的北国啊，是全诗写爱北国之态的关键。却爱这悲哀的北国啊——却爱写却爱、这悲哀的北国啊写这悲哀的北国啊。一句写却爱这悲哀的北国啊，以却爱写却爱、以这悲哀的北国写悲哀的北国，写尽却爱这悲哀的北国啊之情。爱此北国、虽悲而爱，正是以爱写情的点睛之笔。
This line resolves the turn, and the paradox at the heart of the poem: precisely because the North is sorrowful, the poet loves it. The word 'yet' carries the weight—love is not blind to grief, but chooses the grief; the exclamation 'ah' lifts it into a cry. This is patriotic love of a new kind: not praising a prosperous, beautiful homeland, but embracing the wounded, sorrowful land in its hour of darkness, because it is the country of one's own people, suffering yet enduring. The line fuses the documentary eye with the heart of the patriot, and is the emotional crest of the poem.
我爱这悲哀的国土，古老的国土
I love this sorrowful land, this ancient land
我爱这悲哀的国土，古老的国土
I love this sorrowful land, this ancient land,
「我爱这悲哀的国土，古老的国土」写我爱这悲哀的国土古老的国土，是全诗立意的落点。我爱这悲哀的国土——我爱写我爱、这悲哀的国土写这悲哀的国土；古老的国土写古老的国土。一句写我爱这悲哀的国土，古老的国土，以我爱这悲哀的国土写我爱国土、以古老的国土写国土古老，写尽我爱这悲哀的国土、古老的国土之情。爱此国土、虽悲而古，正是以爱写情的点睛之笔。
The line expands the confession, returning to 'I love' and doubling the land's attributes: 'sorrowful' and 'ancient.' The repetition of 'land' enfolds the two qualities—the sorrow of the present and the age of history. The ancient depth gives the present grief its gravity; the land has endured long centuries and now this dark war, and the poet's love is for that whole sweep of time, not a moment. The unfinished, breathless phrasing, trailing off into the next line, shows the feeling overflowing the sentence.
养育了为我所爱的
—this land has nurtured the race I love,
养育了为我所爱的
which has nurtured the people I love,
「养育了为我所爱的」写养育了为我所爱的，是全诗写养育之态的关键。养育了为我所爱的——养育了写养育了、为我所爱的写为我所爱的。一句写养育了为我所爱的，以养育了写养育、以为我所爱的写为我所爱，写尽养育了为我所爱的之情。国土养育、为我所爱，正是以养写情的点睛之笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。
The line explains what the land has borne: it has 'nurtured'—the earth's quiet, generative labour—the people whom the poet loves. The object is suspended, carried into the next line, so that the land itself, through the verb 'nurtured,' becomes a mother feeding her children through suffering. Love for the country is love for the people it has raised, the soil and its inhabitants indivisible, grounding the abstract patriotism in the concrete life of the villages and fields.
世界上最艰苦
the most hard-pressed
世界上最艰苦
the hardest, the most toil-worn in all the world,
「世界上最艰苦」写世界上最艰苦，是全诗写艰苦之态的关键。世界上最艰苦——世界上写世界上、最艰苦写最艰苦。一句写世界上最艰苦，以世界上写世界、以最艰苦写艰苦，写尽世界上最艰苦之情。艰苦无匹、直陈其情，正是以直写情的点睛之笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。
The phrase continues the suspended object, piling the superlative 'most toil-worn' onto the people. 'Hardest' says the hardship is without equal, the extremity of suffering and endurance; yet the word carries no self-pity, only a stern pride. The fragment, broken across the line, enacts the effort of naming such extremity—ordinary grammar cannot contain it, and the line snaps off mid-thought, gathering force for the closing.
与最古老的种族。
and most ancient people on earth.
与最古老的种族。
and the most ancient of races.
结句写与最古老的种族，是全诗收束的落点。与最古老的种族——与写与、最古老的种族写最古老的种族。一句写与最古老的种族，以与写与、以最古老的种族写最古老的种族，写尽与最古老的种族之情。种族古老、艰苦而古，正是以种写情的点睛之笔，把爱写到了极致。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。
The closing line completes the sentence and crowns the poem: the land has nurtured, for the poet, 'the most toil-worn and most ancient of races.' The two superlatives—hardest and most ancient—sum the people: ancient in civilisation, hardest in suffering. The period closes the long, suspended sentence, and with it the arc of the poem—from 'one day' and the sorrowful North, through the poet's love, to this final, quiet pride in the race that has endured. It fuses grief, love, and historical confidence, ending in a restrained, deep affirmation rather than a rousing slogan.
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Liu Yong's 'Basheng Gan Zhou' ('on the misty rain falling on river and sky, washing clear the autumn') writes travel and native soil with deep plaintive feeling, a famous Song lyric; Ai Qing's 'The North' writes 'I love this sorrowful land, ancient land' and 'the Yellow River surges with turbid waves.' Both write travel and native soil with deep feeling—one the misty rain on river and sky, one love of the sorrowful land; one Liu Yong's lucidity, one Ai Qing's grandeur. Read together they show two ways of finding plaintive feeling in native soil.
柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「对潇潇暮雨洒江天，一番洗清秋」，写羁旅故土、悲慨深挚，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；艾青《北方》则以「我爱这悲哀的国土，古老的国土」「而万里的黄河汹涌着混浊的波涛」写我爱这悲哀的国土、黄河涌波涛。两诗同写羁旅故土、悲慨深挚：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以暮雨写清秋，一写我爱这悲哀的国土古老的国土、以国土写故土；一为柳永之清丽、一为艾青之雄浑，并读正可见诗写「羁旅故土」的两种笔法，皆于故土之中见悲慨。
水调歌头·明月几时有 Tune: Shuidiao — When Will the Moon Be Bright (Mingyue Jishi You) 苏轼 · 同写抒怀言志、慷慨豪迈，一写我欲乘风归去、一写我爱这悲哀的国土古老的国土，皆于抒怀之中见豪迈 Both write self-expression with generous heroism: one 'I would ride the wind and go,' one 'I love this sorrowful land, ancient land'—both find heroism in self-expression.Su Shi's 'Shuidiao' ('I would ride the wind and go, yet fear the jade towers…') writes self-expression with transcendent heroism, a famous Song lyric; Ai Qing's 'The North' writes 'I love this sorrowful land, ancient land—has nurtured the most hard-pressed and most ancient race' and 'yet love this sorrowful North.' Both write self-expression with heroism—one rides the wind in ease, one loves the sorrowful land in grandeur; one Su Shi's ease, one Ai Qing's grandeur. Read together they show two ways of finding heroism in self-expression.
苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「我欲乘风归去，又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒」，写抒怀言志、旷达豪迈，是宋词长调的名篇；艾青《北方》则以「我爱这悲哀的国土，古老的国土——这国土养育了为我所爱的世界上最艰苦与最古老的种族」「却爱这悲哀的北国啊」写爱这悲哀的国土、养育最古老的种族。两诗同写抒怀言志、慷慨豪迈：一写我欲乘风归去、以乘风写超然，一写我爱这悲哀的国土古老的国土、以国土写抒怀；一为苏轼之超然、一为艾青之雄浑，并读正可见诗写「抒怀豪迈」的两种笔法，皆于抒怀之中见豪迈。