杂诗·仆夫早严驾

Meaning

Cao Zhi describes a journey he is about to begin against an enemy state, and then describes the journey failing. The chariot is ready, the destination is named, and the road is sufficient — but the crossing is impossible for want of a boat, and the great course of ten thousand li cannot be run. What remains is a decision taken in midst of powerlessness: an idle life was never his wish, and he would rather bear the burden of the state's worries. The poem is short, and its whole weight falls on the gap between a will that could ride ten thousand li and a present that offers no boat.

仆夫早严驾，吾行将远游。远游欲何之，吴国为我仇。将骋万里途，东路安足由。江介多悲风，淮泗驰急流。愿欲一轻济，惜哉无方舟。闲居非吾志，甘心赴国忧。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The speaker's servant prepares the chariot early because his master is setting out far away. Asked where the journey tends, the answer is that Wu is the enemy that must be attacked; but the road he is on, the road east, is the wrong one, and the rivers on the way can only be crossed if one has a boat. There is no boat. The poem therefore turns from the intention to the impasse, and resolves itself in a line of resolve: idleness was never my goal, and I would rather carry the realm's cares.<br>[Structure] The six lines move in rising then falling arcs: the opening is a plain statement of departure, the second pairs a question with the name of a foreign enemy, the third answers the question by rejecting a road, the middle couplet adds the difficulty of water, the fifth states the obstacle and the frustration, and the sixth refuses both the obstacle and the frustration.<br>[Imagery] Wind and water do the emotional work. The sorrowful wind and the racing river describe a journey that is itself hostile, and the boat is the image of the obstacle made concrete: a small light crossing (a ferry) is what he wants, and the great double hull he needs is what he lacks. The final couplet takes the image of the state as a burden and offers to carry it, so the poem's two halves — the impossible journey and the accepted duty — meet in the same direction of travel.

【白话串讲】 曹植写《杂诗·仆夫早严驾》：“仆夫早严驾，吾行将远游”——“远游欲何之，吴国为我仇”——“将骋万里途，东路安足由”——“愿欲一轻济，惜哉无方舟”——“闲居非吾志，甘心赴国忧”——他说闲居不是志向，愿为国赴难。 【意象与手法】 此诗写报国，以壮志写报国，是曹植的名篇。前段写远游：「仆夫早严驾，吾行将远游。远游欲何之，吴国为我仇。将骋万里途，东路安足由」写仆夫早严驾、吾行将远游——写尽将骋万里的远游；中段写悲风：「江介多悲风，淮泗驰急流。愿欲一轻济，惜哉无方舟」写江介多悲风、淮泗驰急流——写尽惜哉无方的方舟；后段写志：「闲居非吾志，甘心赴国忧」写闲居非吾志、甘心赴国忧——写尽甘心赴国的国忧。全诗以壮志写报国，写尽将骋万里的远游与甘心赴国的国忧，是曹植的代表作。 【情感与主旨】 此诗写报国，以壮志写报国，是曹植的名篇。此诗为曹植杂诗之一，写其报国之志与壮志难酬之慨。曹植此诗写其欲征吴而不得的悲愤。此诗写仆夫早严驾，吾行将远游；远游欲何之，吴国为我仇；将骋万里途，东路安足由；江介多悲风，淮泗驰急流；愿欲一轻济，惜哉无方舟；闲居非吾志，甘心赴国忧。此诗写远游：仆夫早严驾，吾行将远游——写仆夫早严驾、吾行将远游，写尽吾行将的远游；远游欲何之，吴国为我仇——写远游欲何之、吴国为我仇，写尽吴国为我的一仇；将骋万里途，东路安足由——写将骋万里途、东路安足由，写尽东路安足由；江介多悲风，淮泗驰急流——写江介多悲风、淮泗驰急流，写尽淮泗驰的急流；愿欲一轻济，惜哉无方舟——写愿欲一轻济、惜哉无方舟，写尽惜哉无方的方舟；闲居非吾志，甘心赴国忧——写闲居非吾志、甘心赴国忧，写尽甘心赴国的国忧。全诗以壮志写报国——那「将骋万里途」写尽将骋万里的远游，「甘心赴国忧」写尽甘心赴国的国忧，写尽将骋万里的远游与甘心赴国的国忧，是理解曹植报国诗的重要篇章。 【名句点睛】 常考「仆夫早严驾，吾行将远游」写吾行将的远游；「闲居非吾志，甘心赴国忧」写甘心赴国的国忧；以及全诗以壮志写报国、以直抒写壮志的手法。

Allusions

Several of the poem's words come out of the older Chinese of exile and campaign. Fu, the charioteer, recalls the line of Qu Yuan where the charioteer groans and the horses murmur — the voice of a journey made unwilling. Yan jia, making ready the chariot, belongs to the same register of departure. Yuan you, a far journey, is carried back from 'I would faintly soar and fare afar' in the Yuan you of Qu Yuan, and the phrase 'a hundred li of road' in the Ballad of Mulan. The eastward road and the river crossing evoke the campaign against Wu, and the idiom of crossing in a light craft appears throughout the anthology. Most pointedly, the couplet about idleness and national concern answers the older language of loyalty — the lines of Lu You, that though his office was low he never dared forget the concern of the state, carry the same claim centuries later. The poem's language is therefore not invented but drawn from the shared vocabulary of service.

此诗的用语深植于报国与壮志传统。「仆夫」令人想到「仆夫」写车夫的意象——也令人想到「仆夫悲余马怀兮」（屈原）的意象；「严驾」令人想到「严驾」写备车的意象——也令人想到「严驾出北郭」的意象；「远游」令人想到「远游」写远游的意象——也令人想到「愿轻举而远游」（屈原）的意象；「吴国」令人想到「吴国」写吴国的意象——也令人想到「吴国为我仇」的意象；「万里途」令人想到「万里途」写万里的意象——也令人想到「万里赴戎机」（《木兰诗》）的意象；「东路」令人想到「东路」写东路的意象——也令人想到「东路安足由」的意象；「江介」令人想到「江介」写江畔的意象——也令人想到「江介遗风」的意象；「悲风」令人想到「悲风」写悲风的意象——也令人想到「江介多悲风」的意象；「淮泗」令人想到「淮泗」写淮泗的意象——也令人想到「淮泗之间」的意象；「急流」令人想到「急流」写急流的意象——也令人想到「急流勇退」的意象；「轻济」令人想到「轻济」写轻渡的意象——也令人想到「一苇可航」的意象；「方舟」令人想到「方舟」写方舟的意象——也令人想到「方舟济河」的意象；「闲居」令人想到「闲居」写闲居的意象——也令人想到「闲居非吾志」（曹植）的意象；「国忧」令人想到「国忧」写国忧的意象——也令人想到「位卑未敢忘忧国」（陆游）的意象。全诗化用仆夫、严驾、远游、吴国、万里途、东路、江介、悲风、淮泗、急流、轻济、方舟、闲居、国忧的意象，以壮志写报国，正是曹植「骨气奇高」而善直抒、承建安风骨传统写报国之本领。

Commentary

This has long been counted among Cao Zhi's poems of service to the state, and among the poems of the Jian'an masters that record a heroic will checking itself against circumstances. The reception has rested on two lines in particular: 'gladly I bear the realm's cares', which is read as the poet's refusal of ease, and the figure of the missing boat, which readers have taken variously as an obstacle of policy, of rank, or of the brother who holds the throne. The poem's fame rests on the tension rather than on the resolution: what Cao Zhi gives himself in this piece is a man with a chariot, a destination, and no vehicle to cross by, and the last line does not remove the obstacle but simply declares which side of it he will stand on. Read beside 'The White Horse', where he gives the gift of life to another for the sake of the realm, this poem shows the other half of his service — that a life could be given to the state only from inside a position from which it was withheld.

此诗历来被推为曹植报国诗的名篇，也是建安诗写壮志难酬的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：南朝钟嵘评曹植「骨气奇高，词采华茂」，清人更评此诗「以壮志写报国，慷慨悲壮」；近人指出「闲居非吾志，甘心赴国忧」写甘心赴国的国忧，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以乐府古题写尽将骋万里的远游与甘心赴国的国忧——那仆夫，那早严驾，那吾行，那将远游，那远游，那欲何之，那吴国，那为我仇，那将骋，那万里途，那东路，那安足由，那江介，那多悲风，那淮泗，那驰急流，那愿欲，那一轻济，那惜哉，那无方舟，那闲居，那非吾志，那甘心，那赴国忧，都写尽了曹植笔下的杂诗仆夫早严驾；那「甘心赴国忧」更以直抒写尽甘心赴国的国忧。此诗与曹植《白马篇》「白马饰金羁」同为报国名篇，一写「捐躯赴国难，视死忽如归」的白马篇，一写「愿欲一轻济，惜哉无方舟」的杂诗；一写游侠，一写自身。两诗对读，可见曹植报国诗的两面。对于今日读者，此诗是理解曹植报国诗的窗口，也是建安诗写壮志难酬的经典——那甘心赴国的国忧，穿越千年，仍在诉说着将骋万里的远游。

Prosody

Line by line

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