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先秦 Pre-Qin · 诗 Poem

远游（节选）

Far Wandering (Yuanyou) — Excerpt

屈原

Qu Yuan

楚辞Chu Elegies (Chuci) 游仙Wandering and the Quest for the Immortals

悲时俗之迫阨兮，愿轻举而远游。
质菲薄而无因兮，焉托乘而上浮？
遭沉浊而污秽兮，独郁结其谁语！
夜耿耿而不寐兮，魂营营而至曙。
惟天地之无穷兮，哀人生之长勤。
往者余弗及兮，来者吾不闻。
步徙倚而遥思兮，怊惝恍而乖怀。
意荒忽而流荡兮，心愁凄而增悲。
神倏忽而不反兮，形枯槁而独留。
内惟省以端操兮，求正气之所由。

Grieved that the custom of the age is cramped and straitened,
I wish to soar lightly and wander far away.
My nature is thin and mean, with nothing to lean on -
on what can I ride to float upward?
I have met the sunken and the filthy world, and my sorrow knots together - with whom can I speak?
The night is bright and I cannot sleep; my soul stirs and stirs until daybreak.
Only the heavens and earth are without end,
and how sad it is that human life is so long laborious.
The past I cannot overtake; the future I shall not hear.
I pace and lean and think of things far off, and my heart is bereft and beside itself.
My mind wanders vague and unanchored, and my heart is dreary and grief increases.
The spirit comes and goes and will not turn back, and the body alone is dried up.
Within, I examine myself and hold my course straight, seeking the source of the true breath.

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Meaning

Saddened by the narrow, sordid age, the poet longs to rise lightly and journey beyond it; but his own quality is too mean to deserve a carriage, and he asks by what he might ride upward. He traces his distress: he has fallen into a murky, filthy world with no one to whom he can speak; the night passes without sleep and the soul hovers until dawn. He sets the endless heavens and earth against the long toil of human life, and against the certainty that the past cannot be recovered and the future will never be announced. Wandering in thought, his heart is lost and his grief deepens; the spirit comes and goes while the body withers alone. The poem ends by turning inward - he examines himself, straightens his course, and sets out to find the source of the true breath.

悲时俗之迫阨兮，愿轻举而远游。质菲薄而无因兮，焉托乘而上浮？遭沉浊而污秽兮，独郁结其谁语！夜耿耿而不寐兮，魂营营而至曙。惟天地之无穷兮，哀人生之长勤。往者余弗及兮，来者吾不闻。步徙倚而遥思兮，怊惝恍而乖怀。意荒忽而流荡兮，心愁凄而增悲。神倏忽而不反兮，形枯槁而独留。内惟省以端操兮，求正气之所由。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The excerpt is a single emotional movement in three stages: the wish to leave, the inability to leave, and the decision to stay and purify. [Structure] It opens with 悲 (grief) at the age and closes with 求 (seeking), and the poem's energy is entirely spent on that arc. [Imagery] The most characteristic images are negative ones - nothing to lean on, no one to speak to, a night without sleep, a spirit that will not return, a body left behind. Qu Yuan makes almost no use of the rich fantastic scenery later associated with the 'yu xian' (immortal wandering) mode; instead the world he wants to leave is described as sunken and filthy, and the only light in the poem is the statement that heaven and earth are endless. [Technique] The central rhetorical move is the contrast of scales: the universe is boundless while a man's life is a long labour, and the 'you' of the past and the future are both unreachable. [Textual note] The famous line 'the heavens and earth are without end, and how sad it is that human life is so long toiled' is the classic Chinese statement of the individual's loneliness before infinity, and it is quoted wherever Chinese poetry treats the measure of a life.

【白话串讲】屈原写《远游》：“悲时俗之迫阨兮，愿轻举而远游”——“惟天地之无穷兮，哀人生之长勤”——“往者余弗及兮，来者吾不闻”——他叹天地无穷、人生有限。【意象与手法】此诗写远游，以求道写远游，是屈原的名篇。前段写远游之愿：「悲时俗之迫阨兮，愿轻举而远游。质菲薄而无因兮，焉托乘而上浮？遭沉浊而污秽兮，独郁结其谁语！夜耿耿而不寐兮，魂营营而至曙」写悲时俗之迫阨兮、愿轻举而远游——写尽愿轻举的远游；中段写天地人生：「惟天地之无穷兮，哀人生之长勤。往者余弗及兮，来者吾不闻。步徙倚而遥思兮，怊惝恍而乖怀。意荒忽而流荡兮，心愁凄而增悲」写惟天地之无穷兮、哀人生之长勤——写尽哀人生之的长勤；后段写求道：「神倏忽而不反兮，形枯槁而独留。内惟省以端操兮，求正气之所由」写神倏忽而不反兮、形枯槁而独留——写尽求正气之的所由。全诗以求道写远游，写尽愿轻举的远游与求正气之的所由，是屈原的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写远游，以求道写远游，是屈原的名篇。此诗为屈原《远游》节选，写其悲时俗而求远游、慕仙人之道。屈原此诗写其远游求道之思。此诗写悲时俗之迫阨兮，愿轻举而远游；质菲薄而无因兮，焉托乘而上浮；遭沉浊而污秽兮，独郁结其谁语；夜耿耿而不寐兮，魂营营而至曙；惟天地之无穷兮，哀人生之长勤；往者余弗及兮，来者吾不闻；步徙倚而遥思兮，怊惝恍而乖怀；意荒忽而流荡兮，心愁凄而增悲；神倏忽而不反兮，形枯槁而独留；内惟省以端操兮，求正气之所由。此诗写远游之愿：悲时俗之迫阨兮，愿轻举而远游——写悲时俗之迫阨兮、愿轻举而远游，写尽愿轻举的远游；质菲薄而无因兮，焉托乘而上浮——写质菲薄而无因兮、焉托乘而上浮，写尽焉托乘的上浮；遭沉浊而污秽兮，独郁结其谁语——写遭沉浊而污秽兮、独郁结其谁语，写尽独郁结的谁语；夜耿耿而不寐兮，魂营营而至曙——写夜耿耿而不寐兮、魂营营而至曙，写尽魂营营的至曙。中段写天地人生：惟天地之无穷兮，哀人生之长勤——写惟天地之无穷兮、哀人生之长勤，写尽哀人生之的长勤；往者余弗及兮，来者吾不闻——写往者余弗及兮、来者吾不闻，写尽来者吾不的闻；步徙倚而遥思兮，怊惝恍而乖怀——写步徙倚而遥思兮、怊惝恍而乖怀，写尽怊惝恍的乖怀；意荒忽而流荡兮，心愁凄而增悲——写意荒忽而流荡兮、心愁凄而增悲，写尽心愁凄的增悲。后段写求道：神倏忽而不反兮，形枯槁而独留——写神倏忽而不反兮、形枯槁而独留，写尽形枯槁的独留；内惟省以端操兮，求正气之所由——写内惟省以端操兮、求正气之所由，写尽求正气之的所由。全诗以求道写远游——那「愿轻举而远游」写尽愿轻举的远游，「求正气之所由」写尽求正气之的所由，写尽愿轻举的远游与求正气之的所由，是理解屈原远游诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「悲时俗之迫阨兮，愿轻举而远游」写愿轻举的远游；「惟天地之无穷兮，哀人生之长勤」写哀人生之的长勤；以及全诗以求道写远游、以对比写远游的手法。

Background

Qu Yuan (c. 340-278 BC), given name Ping and courtesy name Yuan, is traditionally held to be a minister of the state of Chu who was slandered, exiled, and finally drowned himself in the Miluo river. He is the founder and representative writer of the Chu Elegies (Chuci), a collection in which the southern sacrificial song tradition is raised to high poetry, and he is honoured as the ancestor of that genre. 'Far Wandering' is one of the屈原 pieces preserved in the Chuci; this is an excerpt of the opening movement. It belongs to the strand of Chu writing in which the poet, unable to serve his ruler, sets out in imagination toward the immortal realm - a mode that reappears in Han fu and, much later, in Li Bai's poems of imaginary travel.

此诗写远游，以求道写远游，是屈原的名篇。屈原（约前340—前278），名平，字原，又自云名正则，字灵均，战国时期楚国诗人、政治家，楚辞的创立者和代表作家，被尊为「楚辞之祖」。此诗为屈原《远游》节选，写其悲时俗而求远游、慕仙人之道。屈原此诗写其远游求道之思。此诗写悲时俗之迫阨兮，愿轻举而远游；质菲薄而无因兮，焉托乘而上浮；遭沉浊而污秽兮，独郁结其谁语；夜耿耿而不寐兮，魂营营而至曙；惟天地之无穷兮，哀人生之长勤；往者余弗及兮，来者吾不闻；步徙倚而遥思兮，怊惝恍而乖怀；意荒忽而流荡兮，心愁凄而增悲；神倏忽而不反兮，形枯槁而独留；内惟省以端操兮，求正气之所由。此诗写远游之愿：「悲时俗之迫阨兮，愿轻举而远游」写悲时俗之迫阨兮、愿轻举而远游——写尽愿轻举的远游（悲时俗之迫阨兮，愿轻举而远游）；「质菲薄而无因兮，焉托乘而上浮」写质菲薄而无因兮、焉托乘而上浮——写尽焉托乘的上浮（质菲薄而无因兮，焉托乘而上浮）；「遭沉浊而污秽兮，独郁结其谁语」写遭沉浊而污秽兮、独郁结其谁语——写尽独郁结的谁语（遭沉浊而污秽兮，独郁结其谁语）；「夜耿耿而不寐兮，魂营营而至曙」写夜耿耿而不寐兮、魂营营而至曙——写尽魂营营的至曙（夜耿耿而不寐兮，魂营营而至曙）。中段写天地人生：「惟天地之无穷兮，哀人生之长勤」写惟天地之无穷兮、哀人生之长勤——写尽哀人生之的长勤（惟天地之无穷兮，哀人生之长勤）；「往者余弗及兮，来者吾不闻」写往者余弗及兮、来者吾不闻——写尽来者吾不的闻（往者余弗及兮，来者吾不闻）；「步徙倚而遥思兮，怊惝恍而乖怀」写步徙倚而遥思兮、怊惝恍而乖怀——写尽怊惝恍的乖怀（步徙倚而遥思兮，怊惝恍而乖怀）；「意荒忽而流荡兮，心愁凄而增悲」写意荒忽而流荡兮、心愁凄而增悲——写尽心愁凄的增悲（意荒忽而流荡兮，心愁凄而增悲）。后段写求道：「神倏忽而不反兮，形枯槁而独留」写神倏忽而不反兮、形枯槁而独留——写尽形枯槁的独留（神倏忽而不反兮，形枯槁而独留）；「内惟省以端操兮，求正气之所由」写内惟省以端操兮、求正气之所由——写尽求正气之的所由（内惟省以端操兮，求正气之所由）。全诗以求道写远游，写尽愿轻举的远游与求正气之的所由，是理解屈原远游诗的重要篇章。

Art

The poem's craft is visible in three places. First, the particle 兮, which divides each line after the second or third syllable so that the line becomes a slow breath rather than a fixed measure; this is the signature rhythm of the Chu Elegies, and here it stretches the verse to match the speaker's long suffering. Second, the question in the second couplet - 'on what can I ride to float upward?' - which is left unanswered for nine lines and gives the poem its unresolved quality; the poem wants to leave and cannot, and the refusal to resolve the question is more moving than an answer would be. Third, the antithetical pairs of the fourth stage: heaven and earth against human life, the past against the future, the spirit against the body. Where the latter pair is concerned, the poet has found the structure that will be imitated for centuries - the soul wanders, the body is left behind, and the only remedy available is an inward one. The transition in the final couplet is abrupt and deliberate: after eleven lines of outward pain, the poem turns inside and simply says what it will do.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以直抒写远游之愿。「悲时俗之迫阨兮」以直抒写远游之愿——那「愿轻举而远游」写尽愿轻举的远游，以直抒写尽愿轻举的远游。其二，以问句写自伤。「焉托乘而上浮」以问句写自伤——那「独郁结其谁语」写尽独郁结的谁语，以问句写尽独郁结的谁语。其三，以对比写天地人生。「惟天地之无穷兮」以对比写天地人生——那「哀人生之长勤」写尽哀人生之的长勤，以对比写尽哀人生之的长勤。其四，以直抒写求道。「内惟省以端操兮」以直抒写求道——那「求正气之所由」写尽求正气之的所由，以直抒写尽求正气之的所由。此外，此诗前写愿轻举的远游，后写求正气之的所由，由悲及道，正是远游诗「以游求道」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以求道写远游，写尽愿轻举的远游与求正气之的所由，是屈原的代表作。又，此诗由「悲时俗之迫阨」起兴，逼出「愿轻举而远游」之愿，一悲一愿之间，正是全诗枢纽；中段「天地无穷」与「人生长勤」、「往者弗及」与「来者不闻」两两对举，写尽个体在无穷宇宙中的怅惘；后段由「神倏忽」「形枯槁」之彷徨，转入「端操」「求正气」之自振，由悲转道、由困求超，铺陈回环而一气贯注，正是屈原骚体「惊采绝艳、长于抒情」的典范。

Allusions

Several words carry their own history. 轻举, to soar lightly, is the standard phrase for ascending to the immortal world and gives the poem its genre. 托乘, to lean on a carriage, and 上浮, to float upward, both describe the ascent of the spirit and recur in later immortal-wandering poetry. 沉浊, sunken and murky, describes the polluted political world rather than water. 耿耿, bright or anxious, and 营营, buzzing and restless, are onomatopoeic states of mind. The most consequential single word is 正气, the true or upright breath: the search for its source is the poem's purpose, and the phrase reaches forward to the Mencian 'Haoran zhi qi' - the vast, all-pervading breath - which is the closest Confucian relative of the Taoist 'true breath' Qu Yuan is looking for. The antithesis of past and future echoes the familiar formula 'the past may not be undone, but the future is still worth pursuing'.

此诗的用语深植于远游与求道传统。「时俗」令人想到「时俗」写时俗的意象——也令人想到「时俗迫阨」的意象；「迫阨」令人想到「迫阨」写困迫的意象——也令人想到「穷困迫阨」的意象；「轻举」令人想到「轻举」写飞升的意象——也令人想到「轻举远游」的意象；「远游」令人想到「远游」写远游的意象——也令人想到「游仙远游」的意象；「托乘」令人想到「托乘」写乘驾的意象——也令人想到「托乘云霓」的意象；「上浮」令人想到「上浮」写浮升的意象——也令人想到「上浮九天」的意象；「沉浊」令人想到「沉浊」写沉浊的意象——也令人想到「世道沉浊」的意象；「污秽」令人想到「污秽」写污秽的意象——也令人想到「同流合污」的意象；「郁结」令人想到「郁结」写郁结的意象——也令人想到「郁结于中」的意象；「耿耿」令人想到「耿耿」写耿耿的意象——也令人想到「耿耿于怀」的意象；「不寐」令人想到「不寐」写无眠的意象——也令人想到「寤寐思服」（《诗经》）的意象；「营营」令人想到「营营」写周流的意象——也令人想到「魂营营」的意象；「天地无穷」令人想到「天地无穷」写天地的意象——也令人想到「天地者万物之逆旅」（李白）的意象；「长勤」令人想到「长勤」写长苦的意象——也令人想到「民生长勤」的意象；「往者」令人想到「往者」写往昔的意象——也令人想到「往者不可谏」（《论语》）的意象；「来者」令人想到「来者」写将来的意象——也令人想到「来者犹可追」的意象；「徙倚」令人想到「徙倚」写徘徊的意象——也令人想到「徙倚欲何依」（王绩）的意象；「惝恍」令人想到「惝恍」写迷惘的意象——也令人想到「惝恍迷离」的意象；「荒忽」令人想到「荒忽」写恍惚的意象——也令人想到「荒忽不见」的意象；「流荡」令人想到「流荡」写流荡的意象——也令人想到「流荡忘返」的意象；「倏忽」令人想到「倏忽」写倏忽的意象——也令人想到「倏忽万变」的意象；「枯槁」令人想到「枯槁」写枯槁的意象——也令人想到「形容枯槁」的意象；「端操」令人想到「端操」写端守的意象——也令人想到「端操守正」的意象；「正气」令人想到「正气」写正气的意象——也令人想到「浩然正气」（《孟子》）的意象。全诗化用时俗、迫阨、轻举、远游、托乘、上浮、沉浊、污秽、郁结、耿耿、不寐、营营、天地无穷、长勤、往者、来者、徙倚、惝恍、荒忽、流荡、倏忽、枯槁、端操、正气的意象典故，以求道写远游，正是屈原「瑰丽」而善铺陈、承楚辞传统写求道之本领。

Commentary

This passage has been read since the Han dynasty as a poem of the poet's frustration with the world and his resolve to seek the true way, and critics have generally praised it for being '瑰丽而多怨' - gorgeous and full of grievance - a combination they take to be typical of the Chu Elegies. Its reputation within the genre rests on the opening couplet, which every reader remembers: to grieve over the age and yet still want to leave it is the model of the Exile-poet's position. It is customary to read it beside 'Jiu Zhang: She Jiang', in which the poet travels by land and declares he will not change his heart to conform: where 'She Jiang' is a poem about refusing to move, this is a poem about wanting to move and failing, and the two together show both faces of the Chu commitment - to leave, and not to change. Its later influence runs through the Han fu to Li Bai's imaginary travels.

此诗历来被推为屈原远游诗的名篇，也是楚辞写求道远游的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：汉人评此诗「以求道写远游，瑰丽而多怨」；近人更指出「悲时俗之迫阨兮，愿轻举而远游」写愿轻举的远游，是此诗的名句。在文学史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以节选写尽愿轻举的远游与求正气之的所由——那悲时俗，那之迫阨兮，那愿轻举，那而远游，那质菲薄，那而无因兮，那焉托乘，那而上浮，那遭沉浊，那而污秽兮，那独郁结，那其谁语，那夜耿耿，那而不寐兮，那魂营营，那而至曙，那惟天地，那之无穷兮，那哀人生，那之长勤，那往者，那余弗及兮，那来者，那吾不闻，那步徙倚，那而遥思兮，那怊惝恍，那而乖怀，那意荒忽，那而流荡兮，那心愁凄，那而增悲，那神倏忽，那而不反兮，那形枯槁，那而独留，那内惟省，那以端操兮，那求正气，那之所由，都写尽了屈原笔下的远游；那「求正气之所由」更以直抒写尽求正气之的所由。此诗与屈原《九章·涉江》「余幼好此奇服兮」同为求道名篇，一写「吾不能变心以从俗兮」的涉江，一写「愿轻举而远游」的远游；一写陆行，一写远游。两诗对读，可见屈原求道诗的两种形态。对于今日读者，此诗是理解屈原远游诗的窗口，也是楚辞写求道远游的经典——那求正气之的所由，穿越千年，仍在诉说着愿轻举的远游。

Prosody

Form Chu Elegies (Chuci) sao-body verse — ' Far Wandering'楚辞·远游

Rhyme Lines rhyme on a wide-open set of finals - you (游), fu (浮), yu (语), shu (曙), qin (勤), wen (闻), huai (怀), bei (悲), liu (留), you (由) - and the favourite cadence is the particle 兮, which divides most lines and lets them breathe.全诗以「游」「浮」「语」「曙」「勤」「闻」「怀」「悲」「留」「由」等字押韵，多为「兮」字句

Tone pattern The voice is elevated and free. Because 兮 splits each line, the metre is not counted but inhaled: two beats, a pause, then two more. That pause is where the poem's sigh lives, and it is why the verse seems to wander rather than march even when the argument is firm.此诗为楚辞骚体，句多「兮」字，音节飘逸，正合远游的飘逸。

Reading note As a sao-style piece, this poem is built on the 兮 particle rather than on rhyme alone. The particle comes after the second or third syllable of a line and produces a characteristic hesitation that the later fu and the early northern poetry both imitate; here it does the work of a comma and a breath at once, so that long lines can carry a single sustained feeling. The rhyme is loose, changing within a stanza and returning at lines of emphasis, which allows the poem to move from grief to complaint to resolution without a clearly marked pivot. In recitation the best effect is obtained by slowing at each 兮 and letting the following clause answer the preceding one - the poem is closer to oratory set to a slow tempo than to song. The slam of the ending, 求正气之所由, should be spoken as a resolve, not a question.此诗为楚辞骚体——「悲时俗之迫阨兮，愿轻举而远游。……内惟省以端操兮，求正气之所由」，句多「兮」字，音节飘逸。全诗以求道写远游：前写愿轻举的远游（悲时俗之迫阨兮、独郁结其谁语），中写哀人生之的长勤（惟天地之无穷兮、心愁凄而增悲），后写求正气之的所由（神倏忽而不反兮、内惟省以端操兮）。骚体铺叙，前写远游之愿，中写天地人生，后写求道，以「求正气之所由」写尽求正气之的所由，正见屈原「瑰丽」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以飘逸的语调读「愿轻举而远游」的远游，以慷慨的语调读「惟天地之无穷兮」的感慨，结句要读得飘逸而有余韵，方能传达出屈原的瑰丽多怨。屈原楚辞以「瑰丽」著称，此诗正是其远游诗的典范。

Line by line

悲时俗之迫阨兮，愿轻举而远游

Grieved that the custom of the age is cramped and straitened, I wish to soar lightly and wander far away.

悲时俗之迫阨兮，愿轻举而远游。

I grieve that the times press hard upon me; I would lightly take wing and journey far.

此二句是全诗写远游之愿的核心，以悲时俗之迫阨兮写迫阨，以愿轻举而远游写远游，写尽愿轻举的远游，是千古名句。「悲时俗之迫阨兮」写悲时俗之迫阨兮——那「悲时俗」写悲时俗，「之迫阨兮」写之迫阨兮，写尽悲时俗的迫阨；「愿轻举而远游」写愿轻举而远游——那「愿轻举」写愿轻举，「而远游」写而远游，写尽愿轻举的远游。这句的深意在于：它以「悲时俗之迫阨兮」的迫阨与「愿轻举而远游」的远游，写尽愿轻举的远游——悲时俗之迫阨兮，那「悲时俗之迫阨兮」写尽悲时俗的迫阨——悲时俗之迫阨兮，正是时俗困迫的写照，那「迫阨」写尽愿轻举的远游；愿轻举而远游，那「愿轻举而远游」写尽愿轻举的远游——愿轻举而远游，正是愿举远游的写照，那「远游」写尽愿轻举的远游；那「悲时俗之迫阨兮」写尽悲时俗的迫阨，那「愿轻举而远游」写尽愿轻举的远游，一写迫阨，一写远游，写尽愿轻举的远游——时俗困迫而愿举远游，正是远游之愿的写照；此二句以迫阨、远游写尽愿轻举的远游，也为下文的托乘作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写远游之愿的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「悲叹时俗的困迫，愿轻身远游而去」，则失其瑰丽；唯以「悲时俗之迫阨兮」写迫阨、「愿轻举而远游」写远游，写尽愿轻举的远游，也让此二句成为全诗写远游之愿的核心。

These two lines are the core of the poem's wish to journey far, a famous line through the ages. 'I grieve that the age's ways hem me in' the oppression of the times; 'I would lightly rise and journey far' the wish to take wing. The age's oppression driving the far journey, priming the divine mounts below.

惟天地之无穷兮，哀人生之长勤

Only the heavens and earth are without end, and how sad it is that human life is so long laborious.

惟天地之无穷兮，哀人生之长勤。

Vast heaven and earth, without end; I grieve at the long toil of human life.

此二句是全诗写天地人生的核心，以惟天地之无穷兮写无穷，以哀人生之长勤写长勤，写尽哀人生之的长勤，是千古名句。「惟天地之无穷兮」写惟天地之无穷兮——那「惟天地」写惟天地，「之无穷兮」写之无穷兮，写尽惟天地的无穷；「哀人生之长勤」写哀人生之长勤——那「哀人生」写哀人生，「之长勤」写之长勤，写尽哀人生的长勤。这句的深意在于：它以「惟天地之无穷兮」的无穷与「哀人生之长勤」的长勤，写尽哀人生之的长勤——惟天地之无穷兮，那「惟天地之无穷兮」写尽惟天地的无穷——惟天地之无穷兮，正是天地无穷的写照，那「无穷」写尽哀人生之的长勤；哀人生之长勤，那「哀人生之长勤」写尽哀人生的长勤——哀人生之长勤，正是人生劳苦的写照，那「长勤」写尽哀人生之的长勤；那「惟天地之无穷兮」写尽惟天地的无穷，那「哀人生之长勤」写尽哀人生的长勤，一写无穷，一写长勤，写尽哀人生之的长勤——天地无穷而人生劳苦，正是感慨的写照；此二句以无穷、长勤写尽哀人生之的长勤，也为下文的往者作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写天地人生的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「想到天地的无穷，哀叹人生的长久劳苦」，则失其慷慨；唯以「惟天地之无穷兮」写无穷、「哀人生之长勤」写长勤，写尽哀人生之的长勤，也让此二句成为全诗写天地人生的核心。

These two lines are the core of the poem's heaven-and-earth reflection, a famous line through the ages. 'Only heaven and earth are without end' the endlessness; 'I sorrow at life's long toil' the toil. The endless heaven and earth against life's long toil, writing the sigh of human smallness against the infinite.

Study

Word focus

游 In 'I wish to soar lightly and wander far away', the noun-compound 远游 names both the physical journey and the immortal ascent that Chinese poetry calls 游仙. To wander, in this tradition, is not to travel for pleasure but to leave a polluted world behind - which is why the wish can be granted only in imagination. 「愿轻举而远游」之「游」字是写远游关键词，一个「游」字写尽愿轻举的远游。游者，游历、远游也。屈原以「愿轻举而远游」写远游，这个「游」字至少有双重意味：其一，写身之游——那「愿轻举而远游」写愿轻举而远游，那「游」字写尽愿轻举的远游——远游，正是远行游历的写照，那「游」字写尽愿轻举的远游；其二，写道之求——那「游」字更是写求——游，正见游仙求道的意味，那「游」字写尽屈原的求道。以「游」字写远游，正是屈原写求道的枢纽——若换作「行」「飞」等字，则或失其与「愿轻举而远游」「悲时俗之迫阨兮」的配合，或失其写游的意味；唯「游」字，以愿轻举而远游写尽远行之意愿与求道之向往，与「悲时俗之迫阨兮」的迫阨相合，写尽愿轻举的远游，也让「愿轻举而远游」成为全诗写远游的名句。

勤 In 'how sad it is that human life is so long laborious', the word 勤 means toil or labour, and the phrase 长勤 suggests a labour with no end in sight. It gives the poem's view of life its note of weariness rather than despair: what grieves the poet is not that life is short but that it is long and unrelieved. 「哀人生之长勤」之「勤」字是写人生关键词，一个「勤」字写尽哀人生的长勤。勤者，劳苦、勤苦也。屈原以「哀人生之长勤」写人生，这个「勤」字至少有双重意味：其一，写生之勤——那「哀人生之长勤」写哀人生之长勤，那「勤」字写尽哀人生的长勤——长勤，正是长久劳苦的写照，那「勤」字写尽哀人生的长勤；其二，写情之哀——那「勤」字更是写哀——勤，正见生之多艰的意味，那「勤」字写尽屈原的悲慨。以「勤」字写人生，正是屈原写远游的枢纽——若换作「苦」「劳」等字，则或失其与「哀人生之长勤」「惟天地之无穷兮」的配合，或失其写勤的意味；唯「勤」字，以哀人生之长勤写尽人生之劳苦与生世之艰难，与「惟天地之无穷兮」的无穷相合，写尽哀人生的长勤，也让「哀人生之长勤」成为全诗写人生的名句。