宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
采桑子·时光只解催人老
Tune: 'Cai Sang Zi' — Time Only Knows to Urge Men to Age
时光只解催人老，不信多情，长恨离亭，泪滴春衫酒易醒。
梧桐昨夜西风急，淡月胧明，好梦频惊，何处高楼雁一声？
The wutong trees met last night's urgent west wind; a pale moon, dim and bright. Sweet dreams are often startled — from what high tower comes a single wild-goose cry?
Meaning
A lyric of lament on passing time and separation. The upper part personifies time as a heartless force that ages us and ignores love, then settles on tears at the parting pavilion and wine that sobriety soon breaks. The lower part paints an autumn night — wutong trees in the west wind, a hazy moon, broken dreams — and ends on a single goose's cry from a distant tower, leaving the sorrow to echo unanswered.
时光只解催人老，不信多情，长恨离亭，泪滴春衫酒易醒。 梧桐昨夜西风急，淡月胧明，好梦频惊，何处高楼雁一声？
Appreciation
Yan Shu, chief of the early Song lyric, here turns the 'Cai Sang Zi' to quiet grief over time and parting. [Plain Paraphrase] Time knows only how to hasten our aging and has no faith in deep feeling; long is the grief at the parting pavilion, tears on the spring robe, wine easily sobered. Last night the wutong met the urgent west wind; a faint moon, dim yet bright; sweet dreams repeatedly broken — from what tower comes a single goose's cry? [Structure] The upper stanza moves from a philosophical opening ('time only knows to urge men to age') to intimate heartbreak ('tears on my spring robe'), reasoning then feeling. The lower stanza is pure scene: wind, moon, broken dreams, and one distant sound, withheld of any commentary. [Imagery] The wutong and west wind anchor the autumn; the 'pale moon, dim and bright' blurs the boundary of sight; the single goose's cry, asked but unanswered, leaves the poem suspended in longing. The restraint — feeling shown only through scene — is Yan Shu's signature 'warm yet reserved' elegance.
【白话串讲】 晏殊写《采桑子·时光只解催人老》：“时光只解催人老，不信多情，长恨离亭，泪滴春衫酒易醒”——“梧桐昨夜西风急，淡月胧明，好梦频惊，何处高楼雁一声”——他叹时光催人老。 【意象与手法】 此词写惜时，以离愁写惜时，是晏殊的名篇。上阕写光阴：「时光只解催人老，不信多情，长恨离亭，泪滴春衫酒易醒」写时光只解催人老、不信多情、长恨离亭——写尽泪滴春衫的易醒；下阕写秋夜：「梧桐昨夜西风急，淡月胧明，好梦频惊，何处高楼雁一声」写梧桐昨夜西风急、淡月胧明、好梦频惊——写尽何处高楼雁的一声。全词以离愁写惜时，写尽泪滴春衫的易醒与何处高楼雁的一声，是晏殊的代表作。 【情感与主旨】 此词写惜时，以离愁写惜时，是晏殊的名篇。此词为晏殊写其惜时伤别之情，写其对光阴的感慨。晏殊此词写时光催老与离恨。此词写时光只解催人老，不信多情，长恨离亭，泪滴春衫酒易醒；梧桐昨夜西风急，淡月胧明，好梦频惊，何处高楼雁一声。此词写光阴：时光只解催人老，不信多情，长恨离亭，泪滴春衫酒易醒——写时光只解催人老、不信多情、长恨离亭，写尽泪滴春衫的易醒；梧桐昨夜西风急，淡月胧明，好梦频惊，何处高楼雁一声——写梧桐昨夜西风急、淡月胧明、好梦频惊，写尽何处高楼雁的一声。全词以离愁写惜时——那「泪滴春衫酒易醒」写尽泪滴春衫的易醒，「何处高楼雁一声」写尽何处高楼雁的一声，写尽泪滴春衫的易醒与何处高楼雁的一声，是理解晏殊惜时词的重要篇章。 【名句点睛】 常考「时光只解催人老，不信多情，长恨离亭」写泪滴春衫的易醒；「何处高楼雁一声」写何处高楼雁的一声；以及全词以离愁写惜时、以拟人写惜时的手法。
Background
Yan Shu (991–1055), courtesy name Tongshu, from Linchuan (modern Fuzhou, Jiangxi), was a Northern Song statesman who rose to grand councilor and was posthumously titled Yuanxian, hence 'Yan Yuanxian.' A founding master of the Song lyric, he and his son Yan Jidao are called the 'Two Yans.' His verse is celebrated for温润 (warm, refined) grace. This lyric voices his regret over passing time and separation — a constant theme in his work. Written in the polished, restrained manner of the late-Tang Five-Dynasties tradition he inherited, it stands among the finest early-Song treatments of time and parting.
此词写惜时，以离愁写惜时，是晏殊的名篇。晏殊（991—1055），字同叔，抚州临川（今江西抚州）人，北宋政治家、文学家，官至宰相，谥元献，世称「晏元献」，北宋词坛大家，与其子晏几道合称「二晏」。此词为晏殊写其惜时伤别之情，写其对光阴的感慨。晏殊此词写时光催老与离恨。此词写时光只解催人老，不信多情，长恨离亭，泪滴春衫酒易醒；梧桐昨夜西风急，淡月胧明，好梦频惊，何处高楼雁一声。此词写光阴：「时光只解催人老，不信多情，长恨离亭，泪滴春衫酒易醒」写时光只解催人老、不信多情、长恨离亭——写尽泪滴春衫的易醒（时光只解催人老，不信多情，长恨离亭，泪滴春衫酒易醒）；「梧桐昨夜西风急，淡月胧明，好梦频惊，何处高楼雁一声」写梧桐昨夜西风急、淡月胧明、好梦频惊——写尽何处高楼雁的一声（梧桐昨夜西风急，淡月胧明，好梦频惊，何处高楼雁一声）。全词以离愁写惜时，写尽泪滴春衫的易醒与何处高楼雁的一声，是理解晏殊惜时词的重要篇章。
Art
The art unfolds in four moves. First, personification of time: 'time only knows to urge men to age' gives abstraction a willful, indifferent character, while 'believes not in deep feeling' turns the cosmic force into a heartless counterpart to human love. Second, plain sketch for grief: 'long I grieve at the parting pavilion' and 'tears fall on my spring robe, and wine soon sobers' render sorrow without ornament, the sobriety literal and emotional at once. Third, scene-painting for the autumn night: 'the wutong met last night's urgent west wind' and 'a pale moon, dim and bright' build a cold, uncertain world. Fourth, scenic closure: 'from what high tower comes a single wild-goose cry?' ends on a question and a sound, leaving the feeling to reverberate. The upper stanza reasons then feels; the lower is pure image; from day to night, the poem 'writes feeling through scene.' Notably the upper opens with a rational line and closes with an emotional one, while the lower progresses through wind, moon, dream, and cry, the final unanswered question embodying Yan Shu's deeper, more elusive mode beyond his usual opulence.
此词的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以拟人写光阴。「时光只解催人老」以拟人写光阴——那「不信多情」写尽时光的不信多情，以拟人写尽时光只解的催人老。其二，以白描写离恨。「长恨离亭」以白描写离恨——那「泪滴春衫酒易醒」写尽泪滴春衫的易醒，以白描写尽泪滴春衫的易醒。其三，以写景写秋夜。「梧桐昨夜西风急」以写景写秋夜——那「淡月胧明」写尽淡月的胧明，以写景写尽好梦频惊的秋夜。其四，以景结写余韵。「何处高楼雁一声」以景结写余韵——那「好梦频惊」写尽好梦频的惊，以景结写尽何处高楼雁的一声。此外，此词上阕写泪滴春衫的易醒，下阕写何处高楼雁的一声，由昼及夜，正是惜时词「以景写情」的写法。四重手法，使此词以离愁写惜时，写尽泪滴春衫的易醒与何处高楼雁的一声，是晏殊的代表作。又，此词上阕是「以理语起、以情语结」：先说时光催老之无情，再落到「长恨离亭」「泪滴春衫」之别情；下阕纯以景语写秋夜之凄清，西风、淡月、好梦、雁声四层递进，末句「何处高楼雁一声」以一问收束，雁声渺渺、余情不尽，正是晏殊「温润而有富贵气」之外的深婉一路。
Allusions
The language rests in the traditions of time and parting. 'Time' and 'urge men to age' echo the old sigh 'the years urge men to grow old'; 'deep feeling' recalls Liu Yong's 'since ancient times deep feeling grieves at parting.' 'Parting pavilion' evokes Li Bai's 'where is the homeward road? long pavilions and shorter'; 'spring robe' the old line 'the spring robe still bears her small-maid stitching'; 'wine soon sobers' echoes Liu Yong's 'where shall I sober tonight.' 'Wutong' summons Li Qingzhao's 'the wutong, again fine rain,' and 'west wind' Yan Shu's own 'last night the west wind withered the green trees'; 'high tower' and 'wild-goose cry' recall Li Qingzhao's 'the wild goose passes — and my heart aches.' Drawing on this store, Yan Shu writes regret over time through parting, his warm plainness carrying the late-Tang lyric legacy.
此词的用语深植于惜时与离愁传统。「时光」令人想到「时光」写时光的意象——也令人想到「时光只解催人老」的意象；「催人老」令人想到「催人老」写催老的意象——也令人想到「岁月催人老」的意象；「多情」令人想到「多情」写多情的意象——也令人想到「多情自古伤离别」（柳永）的意象；「离亭」令人想到「离亭」写离亭的意象——也令人想到「何处是归程？长亭更短亭」（李白）的意象；「春衫」令人想到「春衫」写春衫的意象——也令人想到「春衫犹是，小蛮针线」的意象；「酒易醒」令人想到「酒易醒」写酒醒的意象——也令人想到「今宵酒醒何处」（柳永）的意象；「梧桐」令人想到「梧桐」写梧桐的意象——也令人想到「梧桐更兼细雨」（李清照）的意象；「西风」令人想到「西风」写西风的意象——也令人想到「昨夜西风凋碧树」（晏殊）的意象；「淡月」令人想到「淡月」写淡月的意象——也令人想到「淡月疏星」的意象；「胧明」令人想到「胧明」写朦胧的意象——也令人想到「月色胧明」的意象；「好梦」令人想到「好梦」写好梦的意象——也令人想到「好梦留人睡」（范仲淹）的意象；「高楼雁」令人想到「高楼雁」写雁声的意象——也令人想到「雁过也，正伤心」（李清照）的意象。全词化用时光、催人老、多情、离亭、春衫、酒易醒、梧桐、西风、淡月、胧明、好梦、高楼雁的意象，以离愁写惜时，正是晏殊「温润」而善拟人、承晚唐五代词传统写惜时之本领。
Commentary
Long honored as a masterpiece of Yan Shu's time-laments and a representative early-Song treatment of passing years, the lyric draws high praise: Qing critics called it 'regret through parting, warm and reserved,' and modern readers single out 'time only knows to urge men to age... long I grieve at the parting pavilion' as its famous lines. In lyric history its special worth is the small form holding both philosophical opening and suspended close — tears on the robe above, a lone goose's cry below. It pairs with Yan Shu's 'Huan Xi Sha · A New Song, a Cup of Wine' ('flowers fall, beyond help; swallows return, as if known'): one laments spring, the other autumn; read together they show his two faces. For today's reader it opens his time-lyrics, and that single goose's cry still speaks of sobering tears across the ages.
此词历来被推为晏殊惜时词的名篇，也是宋初词写光阴的代表。历代论者对此词评价极高：清人评此词「以离愁写惜时，温润含蓄」；近人更指出「时光只解催人老，不信多情，长恨离亭」写泪滴春衫的易醒，是此词的名句。在词史上，此词的特殊价值在于：它以小令写尽泪滴春衫的易醒与何处高楼雁的一声——那时光，那只解，那催人老，那不信，那多情，那长恨，那离亭，那泪滴，那春衫，那酒易醒，那梧桐，那昨夜，那西风急，那淡月，那胧明，那好梦，那频惊，那何处，那高楼，那雁一声，都写尽了晏殊笔下的采桑子时光只解催人老；那「何处高楼雁一声」更以景结写尽何处高楼雁的一声。此词与晏殊《浣溪沙·一曲新词酒一杯》「无可奈何花落去」同为惜时名篇，一写「似曾相识燕归来」的浣溪沙，一写「何处高楼雁一声」的采桑子；一写伤春，一写悲秋。两词对读，可见晏殊惜时词的两面。对于今日读者，此词是理解晏殊惜时词的窗口，也是宋初词写光阴的经典——那何处高楼雁的一声，穿越千年，仍在诉说着泪滴春衫的易醒。
Prosody
Line by line
时光只解催人老，不信多情，长恨离亭，泪滴春衫酒易醒
Time only knows to urge men to grow old; it believes not in deep feeling. Long I grieve at the parting pavilion; tears fall on my spring robe, and wine soon sobers.
时光只解催人老，不信多情，长恨离亭，泪滴春衫酒易醒。
Time only knows how to hurry men into old age; it does not believe in tender hearts. Endless the grief at the parting pavilion; tears wet the spring robe, and the wine wears off too soon.
此四句是全词写光阴的核心，以时光只解催人老写催人老，以不信多情写多情，以长恨离亭写离亭，以泪滴春衫酒易醒写易醒，写尽泪滴春衫的易醒，是千古名句。「时光只解催人老」写时光只解催人老——那「时光只解」写时光只解，「催人老」写催人老，写尽时光只解的催人老；「不信多情」写不信多情——那「不信」写不信，「多情」写多情，写尽不信的多情；「长恨离亭」写长恨离亭——那「长恨」写长恨，「离亭」写离亭，写尽长恨的离亭；「泪滴春衫酒易醒」写泪滴春衫酒易醒——那「泪滴春衫」写泪滴春衫，「酒易醒」写酒易醒，写尽泪滴春衫的易醒。这句的深意在于：它以「时光只解催人老」的催人老、「不信多情」的多情、「长恨离亭」的离亭与「泪滴春衫酒易醒」的易醒，写尽泪滴春衫的易醒——时光只解催人老，那「时光只解催人老」写尽时光只解的催人老——时光只解催人老，正是岁月催人的写照，那「催人老」写尽泪滴春衫的易醒；不信多情，那「不信多情」写尽不信的多情——不信多情，正是时光无情的写照，那「多情」写尽泪滴春衫的易醒；长恨离亭，那「长恨离亭」写尽长恨的离亭——长恨离亭，正是长恨别离的写照，那「离亭」写尽泪滴春衫的易醒；泪滴春衫酒易醒，那「泪滴春衫酒易醒」写尽泪滴春衫的易醒——泪滴春衫酒易醒，正是泪落酒醒的写照，那「易醒」写尽泪滴春衫的易醒；那「时光只解催人老」写尽时光只解的催人老，那「不信多情」写尽不信的多情，那「长恨离亭」写尽长恨的离亭，那「泪滴春衫酒易醒」写尽泪滴春衫的易醒，一写催人老，一写多情，一写离亭，一写易醒，写尽泪滴春衫的易醒——岁月催人而离恨难消，正是惜时的写照；此四句以催人老、多情、离亭、易醒写尽泪滴春衫的易醒，也为下文的梧桐作铺垫，也让此四句成为全词写光阴的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「时光只会催人老，不信人间多情，长恨离亭，泪滴春衫酒易醒」，则失其温润；唯以「时光只解催人老」写催人老、「不信多情」写多情、「长恨离亭」写离亭、「泪滴春衫酒易醒」写易醒，写尽泪滴春衫的易醒，也让此四句成为全词写光阴的核心。
Yan Shu complains not about time but about its indifference. Time knows only one trick—hurrying men into old age; it refuses to believe in tender hearts, as if it were a blunt official who could not credit love. Against that deaf clock, the lover at the parting pavilion has only tears on his spring robe and wine that wears off too soon. The two consolations, weeping and drinking, both fail: the tears keep falling, and the wine sobers just when it is needed. The poem's famous polish is the politeness of the complaint. To have said time flies and parting is sad would be generic; time's disbelief in tenderness is the specific grievance.
梧桐昨夜西风急，淡月胧明，好梦频惊，何处高楼雁一声
The wutong trees met last night's urgent west wind; a pale moon, dim and bright. Sweet dreams are often startled — from what high tower comes a single wild-goose cry?
梧桐昨夜西风急，淡月胧明，好梦频惊，何处高楼雁一声。
Last night the west wind was urgent in the paulownia; the pale moon glimmered dimly; sweet dreams were shattered again and again—from some tall tower, where, came a single goose's cry.
此四句是全词写秋夜的核心，以梧桐昨夜西风急写西风急，以淡月胧明写胧明，以好梦频惊写频惊，以何处高楼雁一声写雁一声，写尽何处高楼雁的一声，是千古名句。「梧桐昨夜西风急」写梧桐昨夜西风急——那「梧桐昨夜」写梧桐昨夜，「西风急」写西风急，写尽梧桐昨夜的西风急；「淡月胧明」写淡月胧明——那「淡月」写淡月，「胧明」写胧明，写尽淡月的胧明；「好梦频惊」写好梦频惊——那「好梦」写好梦，「频惊」写频惊，写尽好梦的频惊；「何处高楼雁一声」写何处高楼雁一声——那「何处高楼」写何处高楼，「雁一声」写雁一声，写尽何处高楼的雁一声。这句的深意在于：它以「梧桐昨夜西风急」的西风急、「淡月胧明」的胧明、「好梦频惊」的频惊与「何处高楼雁一声」的雁一声，写尽何处高楼雁的一声——梧桐昨夜西风急，那「梧桐昨夜西风急」写尽梧桐昨夜的西风急——梧桐昨夜西风急，正是西风催桐的写照，那「西风急」写尽何处高楼雁的一声；淡月胧明，那「淡月胧明」写尽淡月的胧明——淡月胧明，正是月色朦胧的写照，那「胧明」写尽何处高楼雁的一声；好梦频惊，那「好梦频惊」写尽好梦的频惊——好梦频惊，正是好梦屡断的写照，那「频惊」写尽何处高楼雁的一声；何处高楼雁一声，那「何处高楼雁一声」写尽何处高楼的雁一声——何处高楼雁一声，正是高楼雁唳的写照，那「雁一声」写尽何处高楼雁的一声；那「梧桐昨夜西风急」写尽梧桐昨夜的西风急，那「淡月胧明」写尽淡月的胧明，那「好梦频惊」写尽好梦的频惊，那「何处高楼雁一声」写尽何处高楼的雁一声，一写西风急，一写胧明，一写频惊，一写雁一声，写尽何处高楼雁的一声——西风催桐而高楼雁唳，正是秋夜的写照；此四句以西风急、胧明、频惊、雁一声写尽何处高楼雁的一声，也让此四句成为全词写秋夜的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「梧桐昨夜西风急，淡月朦胧，好梦频频惊醒，何处高楼雁叫一声」，则失其含蓄；唯以「梧桐昨夜西风急」写西风急、「淡月胧明」写胧明、「好梦频惊」写频惊、「何处高楼雁一声」写雁一声，写尽何处高楼雁的一声，也让此四句成为全词写秋夜的核心。
The second stanza is a single night broken open. The west wind in the paulownia is urgent; the moon shines through a haze, neither bright nor dark; a sweet dream keeps being shattered—and then, from somewhere on some high tower, a single goose cries out. The lonely cry is the poem's most famous stroke: after the vagueness of wind and mist and broken sleep, that one sharp note of sound fixes everything, and the question where refuses to locate it, so it hangs in the air. The goose is the traditional symbol of a letter, and a letter that never comes. To have said I woke from dreams to hear a goose would be anecdote; the unanswered where is the loneliness.
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Yan Shu's 'Huan Xi Sha · A New Song, a Cup of Wine' ('flowers fall, beyond help; swallows return, as if known') laments time. This 'Cai Sang Zi' also laments it with 'time only knows to urge men to age.' Both are his time-lyrics — one's 'flowers fall, beyond help' is a shi-like lyric, the other's 'a single goose's cry' a ci; one on spring, one on autumn. Read together they show his two faces.
晏殊《浣溪沙·一曲新词酒一杯》「无可奈何花落去，似曾相识燕归来」写惜时，是晏殊的名篇。此词《采桑子·时光只解催人老》则「时光只解催人老」写惜时。同晏殊惜时词，一写「无可奈何花落去」的浣溪沙，一写「何处高楼雁一声」的采桑子；一写伤春，一写悲秋。两词对读，可见晏殊惜时词的两面。
相见欢·无言独上西楼 Tune: 'Xiang Jian Huan' — Wordless, Alone I Climb the West Tower 李煜 · 同写秋夜离愁，一寂寞梧桐深院锁清秋一梧桐昨夜西风急 Both write autumn-night parting grief: one 'lonely wutong locks the clear autumn in a deep court,' one 'the wutong met last night's west wind.'Li Yu's 'Xiang Jian Huan' ('wordless, alone I climb the west tower; the moon like a hook. Lonely wutong locks the clear autumn in a deep court') writes parting grief. This 'Cai Sang Zi' writes it with 'the wutong met last night's west wind.' Both are autumn-night parting lyrics — one's 'what cannot be cut, what cannot be untangled' is an exiled king's, the other's 'a single goose's cry' a courtier's; one on fallen kingdom, one on passing time. Read together they show two realms of autumn grief.
李煜《相见欢》「无言独上西楼，月如钩。寂寞梧桐深院锁清秋」写离愁，是李煜的名篇。此词《采桑子·时光只解催人老》则「梧桐昨夜西风急」写离愁。同写秋夜离愁，一写「剪不断，理还乱」的相见欢，一写「何处高楼雁一声」的采桑子；一写亡国，一写惜时。两词对读，可见秋夜离愁的两种境界。