Listen to this article任政 行书：许浑《咸阳城东楼》
【释文】一上高城万里愁，蒹葭杨柳似汀洲。溪云初起日沉阁，山雨欲来风满楼。鸟下绿芜秦苑夕，蝉鸣黄叶汉宫秋。行人莫问当年事，渭水寒声日夜流。
【款识】许浑咸阳城东楼一首，一九七三年初冬，任政。
【简析】
这首诗题目有两种不同文字，今采此题，而弃“咸阳城东楼”的题法。何也？一是醒豁，二是合理。看来“西”字更近乎情理，──而且“晚眺”也是全诗一大关目。
同为晚唐诗人的李义山，有一首《安定城楼》，与许丁卯这篇，不但题似，而且体同（七律），韵同（尤部），这还不算，再看李诗头两句：“迢递高城百尺楼，绿杨枝外尽汀洲。”这实在是巧极了，都用“高城”，都用杨柳，都用“汀洲”。然而，一比之下，他们的笔调，他们的情怀，就不一样了。义山一个“迢递”，一个“百尺”，全在神超；而丁卯一个“一上”，一个“万里”，端推意远。神超多见风流，意远兼怀气势。
“一”上高城，就有“万”里之愁怀，这正是巧用了两个不同意义的“数字”而取得了一种独特的艺术效果。万里之愁，其意何在呢？诗人笔下分明逗露──“蒹葭杨柳似汀洲”。一个“似”字，早已道破，此处并无什么真的汀洲，不过是想象之间，似焉而已。然而为何又非要拟之为汀洲不可？须知诗人家在润州丹阳，他此刻登上咸阳城楼，举目一望，见秦中河湄风物，居然略类江南。于是笔锋一点，微微唱叹。万里之愁，正以乡思为始。盖蒹葭秋水，杨柳河桥，本皆与怀人伤别有连。愁怀无际，有由来矣。
以上单说句意。若从诗的韵调丰采而言，如彼一个起句之下，着此“蒹葭杨柳似汀洲”七个字，正是“无意气时添意气，不风流处也风流”。再从笔法看，他起句将笔一纵，出口万里，随后立即将笔一收，回到目前。万里之遥，从何写起？一笔挽回，且写眼中所见，潇潇洒洒，全不呆滞，而笔中又自有万里在。仿批点家一句：此开合擒纵之法也。
话说诗人正在凭栏送目，远想慨然，──也不知过了多久，忽见一片云生，暮色顿至；那一轮平西的红日，已然渐薄溪山，──不一时，已经隐隐挨近西边的寺阁了，──据诗人自己在句下注明：“南近磻溪，西对慈福寺阁。”形势了然。却说云生日落，片刻之间，“天地异色”，那境界已然变了，谁知紧接一阵凉风，吹来城上，顿时吹得那城楼越发空空落落，萧然凛然。诗人凭着“生活经验”，知道这风是雨的先导，风已飒然，雨势迫在眉睫了。
景色迁动，心情变改，捕捉在那一联两句中。使后来的读者，都如身在楼城之上，风雨之间，遂为不朽之名作。何必崇高巨丽，要在写境传神。令人心折的是，他把“云”“日”“雨”“风”四个同性同类的“俗”字，连用在一处，而四者的关系是如此地清晰，如此地自然，如此地流动，却又颇极错综辉映之妙，令人并无一丝一毫的“合掌”之感，──也并无组织经营、举鼎绝膑之态。云起日沉、雨来风满，在“事实经过”上是一层推进一层，井然不紊；然而在“艺术感觉”上，则又分明象是错错落落，“参差”有致。“起”之与“沉”，当句自为对比，而“满”之一字本身亦兼虚实之趣──曰“风满”，而实空无一物也；曰空空落落，而益显其愁之“满楼”也。“日”“风”两处，音调小拗，取其峭拔，此为诗人喜用之句格。
那么，风雨将至，“形势逼人”，诗人是“此境凛乎不可久留”，赶紧下楼匆匆回府了呢？还是怎么？看来，他未被天时之变“吓跑”，依然登临纵目，独倚危栏。
何以知之？你只看它两点自明：前一联，虽然写得声色如新，气势兼备，却要体味那个箭已在弦，“引而不发，跃如也”的意趣。诗人只说“欲”来，笔下精神，全在虚处。而下一联，鸟不平芜，蝉吟高树，其神情意态，何等自在悠闲，哪里是什么“暴风雨”的问题？
讲到此处，不禁想起，那不知名氏的一首千古绝唱《忆秦娥》：“……乐游原上清秋节，咸阳古道音尘绝。音尘绝，西风残照，汉家陵阙。”诗人许浑，也正是在西风残照里，因见汉阙秦陵之类而引起了感怀。
咸阳本是秦汉两代的故都，旧时禁苑，当日深宫，而今只绿芜遍地，黄叶满林，唯有虫鸟，不识兴亡，翻如凭吊。“万里”之愁乎？“万古”之愁乎？
行人者谁？过客也。可泛指古往今来是处征人游子，当然也可包括自家在内。其曰莫问，其意却正是欲问，要问，而且“问”了多时了，正是说他所感者深矣！
“故国东来渭水流”，大意是说，我闻咸阳古地名城者久矣，今日东来，至此一览──而所见无几，唯“西风吹渭水”，系人感慨矣。
结句可谓神完气足。气足，不是气尽，当然也不是语尽意尽。此一句，正使全篇有“状难写之景，如在目前；含不尽之意，见于言外”的好处，确有悠悠不尽之味。渭水之流，自西而东也，空间也，其间则有城、楼、草、木、汀洲……；其所流者，自古及今也，时间也，其间则有起、沉、下、鸣、夕、秋……。三字实结万里之愁，千载之思，而使后人读之不禁同起无穷之感。如此想来，那么诗人所说的“行人”，也正是空间的过客和时间的过客的统一体了。
另欣赏：孙其峰
孙其峰 隶书：许浑《咸阳城东楼》
【款识】略
【Simple Translation】
The Tang Dynasty ended the division between the Northern and Southern Dynasties, eliminated the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, and opened up new territories to the outside world. The establishment of the imperial examination system opened up a channel for the majority of secular landowning intellectuals to enter the political arena. Both the Li Tang Dynasty and the emerging secular landowning class were on the rise. The sense of heroism and aggressiveness, and the sense of upward investment, became the spirit of the times during this period, which was reflected in literary and artistic works, resulting in the so-called “sound of the Sheng Tang”.
Chen Zi’ang’s song “Looking at Chu from Jingmen” was written at the age of twenty-one when he first entered Chu from Shu. This was the first time he left his hometown in Shehong County, Zizhou, Sichuan Province, and was preparing to go east to Luoyang to pursue his career. Like the Tang Dynasty, the young poet was full of confidence and longing for the future, and was full of novelty about the outside world. When he entered Chu through Jingmen, he wrote this magnificent poem in five lines.
”I am far away from the Witch Gorge, and I am looking down to Zhangtai. The mountains and rivers of Ba are all gone, but the smoke at Jingmen is open.” . The poem begins with four place names in a row, closely following the word “Du” in the poem’s title “Du Jingmen”, highlighting the speed of the boat’s journey. The use of the verbs “to go, down, exhaust, and open” gives the poem a strong sense of motion. We seem to see a light boat upside down, the dangerous and beautiful Wu Gorge is far behind it, the boat sailed straight into the homeland of Chu.
The first couplet of the five lines is not necessary, but the poet uses “distant” and “look out”, which are written lightly and smoothly, and the excitement and joy are all in it. When the boat leaves Jingmen, the poet’s eyes are suddenly opened up, and the world seems to have suddenly become wide and wide. The river was misty and smoky. The mysterious change of nature made the young poet astonished, confused and delighted, and aroused endless imagination.
If “the mountains and rivers of Ba are exhausted, and the smoke of Jingmen is open” is about the scene on the river, then “the city is divided into pale wilderness, and the trees are broken by white clouds” is about the scenery on both sides of the river. Looking far into the distance, the Chu sky is vast. The green and pale wilderness is boundless, and the outline of one or two towns can be seen occasionally from afar. At the end of the field of vision, the woods are like a belt, faintly connected with white clouds. A thousand miles of river plain opened itself to the poet who came to Chu for the first time, welcoming the talented scholar from Shu. Looking at this wonderful and beautiful scenery, it is natural to think of the people and events that took place in this ancient land; to think of Confucius’ miserable and desperate life when he passed through Chu; to think of Qu Yuan’s sorrowful and depressing song on the riverside; to think of Xiang Yu’s magnificent words “he can take over” in the face of the Qin emperor’s war of honor; to think of the sages and philosophers who have passed away and the new generation who are coming back. -So the poet looked up to the sky and sang, “Today, the mad singer, who knows that he has come to Chu.” The poet refers to Lu Tong, a famous hermit of Chu at the end of Spring and Autumn Period. He was very talented, but refused to join the civil service, and did many things that were contemptuous of the world. Here the poet uses this allusion to compare himself with the high talent and conceit of Jiju: but today the poet sings wildly and enters Chu, not for the purpose of seclusion, but for the purpose of seeking fame and ambition. I wonder how the young poet would feel if he were to come back to life and see the young poet singing wildly into Chu.
This poem is written with vigor and momentum. The first six stanzas are about the scene, and the last two stanzas are about the people, which are bold and elegant. The magnificent scenery of nature and the poet’s exuberant image are intertwined, giving the poem distinctive characteristics of its time and personality. It is no wonder that some people call it “the first masterpiece describing the situation of Jingmen in the early Tang Dynasty”.
