杜甫（712--770），字子美，是中国文学史上伟大的现实主义诗人，他的诗深刻地反映了唐朝由兴盛走向衰亡时期的社会面貌，具有丰富的社会内容，鲜明的时代色彩和强烈的政治倾向。他的诗激荡着热爱祖国、热爱人民的炽烈情感和不惜自我牺牲的崇高精神，因此被后人公认为“诗史”，诗人被尊称为“诗圣”。
　　杜甫一生写下了一千多首诗，其中著名的有《三吏》、《三别》、《兵车行》、《茅屋为秋风所破歌》、《丽人行》、《春望》等。杜甫诗充分表达了他对人民的深刻同情，揭露了封建社会剥削者与被剥削者之间的尖锐对立：“朱门酒肉嗅，路有冻死骨！”这千古不朽的诗句，被世世代代的中国人所铭记。“济时敢爱死，寂寞壮心惊！”这是杜甫对祖国无比热爱的充分展示，这一点使他的诗具有很高的人民性。杜甫的这种爱国热枕，在《春望》和《闻官军收河南河北》等名篇中，也表现得非常充沛。而在《三吏》、《三别》中，对广大人民忍受一切痛苦的爱国精神的歌颂，更把他那颗爱国爱民的赤子之心展现在读者面前。出自对祖国和人民的热爱，对统治阶级奢侈荒淫的面目和祸国殃民的罪行，必然怀有强烈的憎恨。这一点在不朽的名篇《兵车行》、《丽人行》中更是得到了淋漓尽致的表现。一个伟大爱国者的忧国忧民之情，必然在其它方面也有所表现。杜甫的一些咏物、写景的诗，甚至那些有关夫妻、兄弟、朋友的抒情诗中，也无不渗透着对祖国、对人民的深厚感情。总之，杜甫的诗是唐帝国由盛转衰的艺术记录。杜甫以积极的入世精神，勇敢、忠实、深刻地反映了极为广泛的社会现实，无论在怎样一种险恶的形势下，他都没有失去信心，在我国悠久的文学史上，杜甫诗歌的认识作用、借鉴作用、教育作用和审美作用都是难以企及的。

　　杜诗最大的艺术特色是，诗人常将自己的主观感受隐藏在客观的描写中，让事物自身去打动读者。例如《丽人行》中，诗人并没有直接去斥责杨氏兄妹的荒淫，然而从对他们服饰、饮食等方面的具体描述中，作者的爱憎态度已显露无遗。
　　杜诗语言平易朴素、通俗、写实，但却极见功力。他还常用人物独白和俗语来突出人物性格的个性化。
　　杜诗在刻画人物时，特别善于抓住细节的描写，如《北征》中关于妻子儿女的一段文字就是非常突出的例子。
　　杜甫诗风多变，但总体来看，可以概括为沉郁顿挫。这里的沉郁是指文章的深沉蕴蓄，顿挫则是指感情的抑扬曲折，语气、音节的跌宕摇曳。
　　所有这一切，确立了杜甫在三千多年的中国文学史上至高无上的“诗圣”的地位。
英文译文
　　Climbing a Terrace 杨宪益、戴乃迭译
　　Wind blusters high in the sky and monkeys wail; /
　　Clear the islet with white sand where birds are wheeling; /
　　Everywhere the leaves fall rustling from the trees, /
　　While on for ever rolls the turbulent Yangtse. /
　　All around is autumnal gloom and I, long from home, /
　　A prey all my life to ill health, climb the terrace alone; /
　　Hating the hardships which have frosted my hair, /
　　Sad that illness made me give up the solace of wine.
　　Climbing the Heights 柳无忌译
　　When winds rage and the sky is high, gibbons cry mournfully; /
　　Over white sands on a clear riverbank, birds fly and whirl. /
　　Leaves fall from deep woods – rustling and soughing; /
　　The Long River rolls on, forever, wave after wave. /
　　Ten thousand miles away in sad autumn, I often find myself a stranger; /
　　My whole life afflicted by sickness, I mount alone the high terrace. /
　　Beset by hardships, I resent the heavy frost on my temples; /
　　Dispirited, I have by now abandoned my cup of unstrained wine.
　　The Heights W. J. B. Fletcher译
　　The wind so fresh, the sky so high /
　　Awake the gibbons’ wailing cry. /
　　The isles clear-cut, the sand so white, /
　　Arrest the wheeling sea-gulls’ flight. /
　　Through endless space with rustling sound /
　　The falling leaves are whirled around. /
　　Beyond my ken a yeasty sea /
　　The Yangtze’s waves are rolling free. /
　　From far away, in autumn drear, /
　　I find myself a stranger here. /
　　With dragging years and illness wage /
　　Lone war upon this lofty stage. /
　　With troubles vexed and trials sore /
　　My locks are daily growing hoar: / Till Time, before whose steps I
　　pine, / Set down this failing cup of wine!
　　On the Heights ( I ) 许渊冲译
　　The wind so swift, the sky so steep, sad gibbons cry; /
　　Water so clear and sand so white, backward birds fly. /
　　The boundless forest sheds its leaves shower by shower; /
　　The endless river rolls its waves hour after hour. /
　　Far from home in autumn, I’m grieved to see my plight; /
　　After my long illness, I climb alone this height. /
　　Living in hard times, at my frosted hair I pine; /
　　Pressed by poverty, I give up my cup of wine.
　　On the Heights ( II ) 许渊冲译
　　The wind so swift and sky so wide, apes wail and cry; /
　　Water so clear and beach so white, birds wheel and fly. /
　　The boundless forest sheds its leaves shower by shower; /
　　The endless river rolls its waves hour after hour. /
　　A thousand miles from home in autumn, I’m grieved at autumn’s plight; /
　　Ill now and then for years, ,alone I’m on this height. /
　　Living in times so hard, at frosted hair I pine; /
　　Cast down by poverty, I have to give up wine.
　　Written on an Autumn Holiday Rewi Alley译
　　These days of autumn, the clouds /
　　Are high; wind rises in strength; /
　　Far away the cry of monkeys can /
　　Be heard, giving people a sorrowful /
　　Feeling; skimming the white sands /
　　And the water, waterfowl fly; falling /
　　Leaves rustle as they come through /
　　The air; The Yangtse seems endless /
　　With its waters rolling on incessantly; /
　　So many autumns have I now spent /
　　Away from home, with sickness for /
　　A companion; now do I climb high /
　　Above the river by myself, /
　　Troubles and sorrow have turned my hair /
　　Grey; sick and poor, I now
　　/ Even stop drinking wine!
　　I Climb High Florence Ayscough译
　　Wind is strong, sky is high, gibbons wail sadly; /
　　Shoals are bright, sand gleam white, birds fly in circles. /
　　Without bounds is the forest, leaves fall, swish, swish, they drop; /
　　No ending has Great River, swirl, swirl, it comes. /
　　Ten thousand li sad Autumn! Have been long a wanderer; /
　　A hundred years, many illnesses! Alone I climb the tower. /
　　Sorrows, hardships, bitterness, grief, thickly frosted hair on my brows,
　　Inert I sink to ground; all fellowship ended; I drink muddy wine in my cup.
　　A Long Climb Witter Bynn译
　　In a sharp gale from the wide sky apes are whimpering, /
　　Birds are flying homeward over the clear lake and white sand, /
　　Leaves are dropping down like the spray of a waterfall, /
　　While I watched the long river always rolling on. /
　　I have come three miles away. Sad now with autumn /
　　And with my hundred years of woe, I climb this height alone. /
　　Ill fortune has laid a bitter frost on my temples, /
　　Heart-ache and weariness are a thick dust in my wine.
　　Climbing the Heights 谢文通译
　　Swift wind and a high ceiling mournful the monkeys sound,
　　/ From island to white beach the birds are wheeling round.
　　/ Everywhere falling leaves fall rustling to
　　/ The waves of the Long River onrushing without bound.
　　/ Who grieves for Autumn a thousand miles from home
　　/ Despite lifelong illness I climb the terrace alone.
　　/ Hardships and bitterness frosting many a hair,
　　/ I abjure the cup of wine that stopped my moan.
　　On the Heights 李惟建译，翁显良校
　　High wind blowing, high clouds floating, gibbons wailing, /
　　Sandbars gleaming white, the waters rippling clear, /
　　Birds coming home, leaves rustling down -- /
　　And the great river rolls on, ceaseless. /
　　A stranger here, far, far, from home, /
　　I can’t help feeling sad in autumn. /
　　Life is short, my health failing, here I stand alone. /
　　Life is hard, my temples greying, /
　　I’m filled with regret. /
　　Down and out, can’t even drink now, /
　　Can’t even drink now…
　　An Ascent 徐忠杰译
　　A stiff breeze is up; the vault of heaven seems high. /
　　Monkeys on the hills are making their plaintive cry. /
　　The islets become clearer; the sandbanks, clean and white; /
　　Water-birds are hovering over them in their flight. /
　　For miles around, rustling leaves are falling without pause. /
　　The Yang-tze-kiang is tumbling on in its onward course. /
　　Far from home, autumn strikes me as adding to my grief. /
　　An invalid, I mount the heights alone for relief. /
　　Long suffering has left its cruel mark on my hair. /
　　I’ve ceased anew to drink in utter despair.
　　Mounting 吴钧陶译
　　From heaven high the winds are whirling down with monkey’s whine, /
　　And over the white sanded hursts the birds are cleaving fine. /
　　The boundless forests shed their yellow leaves with rustles; /
　　The everflowing Yangtze on its way rolls and wrestles. /
　　Autumn is chilling me – always a thousand-miles-roameer, /
　　Alone mounting the mountain, and a life-long sufferer. /
　　I deeply loathe my rime-like temples as in these hard times; /
　　Of late Senility yet forces me to give up wines!
　　【登高由来】
　　古代岁时民俗。即在节日登上山岭高处。其初多与避灾除厄的迷信传说关，后乃成为游览健身活动的一种。多在人日、正月十五日或其他节日举行。至魏晋后，因费长房、桓景传说，相率于九月九日（重九）进行，遂以为俗。较朝梁吴均《续齐谐记》：“汝南桓景随费长房游学累年，长房谓之曰：‘九月九日，汝家当有灾厄，急宜去令家人各作绎囊，盛茱萸以系臂，登高饮菊花酒，此祸可消。’景如言，举家登山，夕还家，见鸡狗牛羊一时暴死。长房闻之曰：代之矣。今世人第六至九日，登山饮酒，妇人带茱萸囊是也。”茱萸，传有避疫之效。《南齐书.礼志》：“宋武帝在彭城时，九日上项羽戏马台登高。”唐五维《九月九日忆山东兄弟》诗：“独在异乡为异客，每逢佳节倍思亲。遥知兄弟登高处，遍插茱萸少一人。”明刘侗、于奕正《帝京景物略.春场》：“九月九日，载酒具、茶炉、食榼，曰登高。香山诸山，高山也；法藏寺，高塔也；显灵宫、报国寺，高阁也，释不登。凭园亭，闯坊曲为娱耳。”清顾禄《清嘉录.九月.登高》：“登高，旧俗在吴山治平寺中牵羊赌彩，为摊钱之戏。今吴山顶机王殿，犹有鼓乐酬神，喧阗终日者。或借登高之名，遨游虎阜，箫鼓画船，更深乃返。”