拟挽歌辞
（三首其一）
有生必有死，早终非命促。
昨暮同为人，今旦在鬼录。
魂气散何之？枯形寄空木。
娇儿索[1]父啼，良友抚我哭。
得失不复知，是非安能觉？
千秋万岁后，谁知荣与辱。
但恨在世时，饮酒不得足。
陶渊明一生究竟是只活了五十几岁，还是活到63岁，至今都有争议，因此这一组自挽的诗是否是诗人临终前绝笔也就有了分歧。“有生必有死，早终非命促”指人有生必有死，即使死得早也不算短命。这一句体现诗人对生死观的中心思想，虽看似平淡却实有至理。“得失不复知，是非安能觉”，死去就不知道得与失了，哪还会有是非之感？诗人对人生的感悟是人死后一了百了，再无知觉，不如在世的时候多喝几杯酒，体现出诗人旷达的人生态度。“但恨在世时，饮酒不得足”指只恨今生在世时，饮酒不足太遗憾，最后以幽默诙谐的诗句写出肺腑之言。
注释：
[1]索：寻找。
An Elegy for Myself
(I)
Where there is life, there must be death;
In due time we’ll breathe our last breath.
Last night we lived and filled our posts;
Today my name’s among the ghosts.
Where is my soul fled far away?
But shriveled forms in coffin stay.
My children miss their father, crying;
My friends caress my body, sighing.
For gain or loss I no more care;
Right or wrong is not my affair.
Thousands of years will pass away,
And shame and glory of today.
But I regret, while living still,
I have not drunk wine to my fill.
