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潼关[1]吏
士卒何草草，
筑城潼关道。
大城铁不如，
小城万丈余。
借问潼关吏：
“修关还备胡[2]？”
要[3]我下马行，
为我指山隅：
“连云列战格，
飞鸟不能逾。
胡来但自守，
岂复忧西都[4]。
丈人[5]视要处，
窄狭容单车。
艰难奋[6]长戟，
万古用一夫。”
“哀哉桃林[7]战，
百万化为鱼。
请嘱防关将，
慎勿学哥舒！”
唐军在邺城战败后，恐怕洛阳失守，又在潼关修筑工事。杜甫经过时，向潼关吏了解情况。问答中穿插了叙事和议论，这和《新安吏》《石壕吏》不同。《潼关吏》前四句是总写，“草草”是辛苦的意思。杜甫问后，没有立刻写关吏的回答，而是插了两句叙事，然后才描写关山险阻，请杜甫老丈放心，只要一夫当关，就可以万夫莫开。关吏的话使诗人想起了桃林之败，于是发了几句议论。原来三年前叛军进攻潼关，守将哥舒翰要坚守，但宰相杨国忠促战，哥舒翰不得不出关迎敌，在灵宝以西的桃林塞大战，结果全军覆没，很多士兵葬身鱼腹。杜甫听了关吏自信的话，发了一番感慨，要守将谨慎从事，不能再蹈哥舒翰的覆辙。从诗中可以看出杜甫忠君爱国爱民之心。
注释：
[1]潼关：地名，位于华州华阴县东北，今陕西省渭南市潼关县北。
[2]备胡：抵御安史叛军。
[3]要：同“邀”，邀请。
[4]西都：指长安。
[5]丈人：关吏对杜甫的尊称。
[6]奋：挥动。
[7]桃林：桃林塞，指河南省灵宝市以西至潼关一带的地方。
Officer at the Western Pass
How hard do soldiers work and toil,
Building ramparts on western soil!
Iron-clad bastions high and low
Like walls along the mountain go.
I ask an officer near by
If against foes are built walls high.
He asks me to dismount and look
Around and points to mountain nook.
The forts on the peaks scrape the sky,
Over them even birds can’t fly.
When come the foe, we guard the wall,
There’s no fear for the capital.
He shows me the narrow pass too,
Only single chariots file through.
When guarded with long spear by one,
The fortress can be forced by none.
But defeated at Peach Grove, alas!
Ten thousand men slain at the pass.
Please tell the general guarding here:
Be not defeated as that year!
《潼关吏》是唐代伟大诗人杜甫创作的一首五古，为“三吏三别”之一。此诗借潼关吏之口描述潼关天险，表达了诗人对当初桃林一战溃败的遗憾，希望守关将士们一定要以史为鉴，好好利用潼关天险保卫长安的安全。以缓急有致、神情毕现、形象鲜明的对话描写表现人物的心理和神态，是此诗主要特色。
The poem “Officer at the Western Pass” is a poem written by Du Fu, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, and is one of the “Three Officials and Three Farewells”. The poem uses the mouth of a Tongguan official to describe the danger of Tongguan, expressing the poet’s regret over the defeat in the battle of Taolin and his hope that the soldiers must learn from history and make good use of the danger of Tongguan to defend Chang’an. The main feature of the poem is that the poet expresses the psychology and attitude of the characters by describing the dialogues in a slow and sharp manner.
