All poems

宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

点绛唇·采药归来

Dian Jiang Chun: Returning from Gathering Herbs

陆游

Lu You

隐逸Hermitage / Seclusion 闲适Easy Leisure

采药归来，独寻茅店沽新酿。
暮烟千嶂。
处处闻渔唱。
醉弄扁舟，不怕黏天浪。
江湖上，遮回疏放。
作个闲人样。

Returning from gathering herbs,
Searching alone for the thatched inn to buy fresh wine.
Dusk smoke over a thousand ridges.
Everywhere I hear the fishermen singing.
Drunken, I play with my little boat,
With no fear of waves that stick to the sky.
Out on the rivers and lakes,
At length my wild, untrammelled self.
I will just cut the figure of an idle man.

Listen

Meaning

Lu You, retired from office and living at home in the late years of his life, writes of an ordinary day: gathering herbs, buying wine at the thatched inn, listening to the fishermen singing in the evening haze, and then getting drunk and steering his small boat out on the river, unafraid of waves that rise to the sky. He ends by saying he will simply play the part of an idle man - a half-mocking self-description that hides how much the idleness was forced on him. The poem is light in touch, and its lightness is the point.

采药归来，独寻茅店沽新酿。暮烟千嶂。处处闻渔唱。醉弄扁舟，不怕黏天浪。江湖上，遮回疏放。作个闲人样。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Lu You writes of coming home from gathering herbs, buying new wine at a roadside inn, and then getting drunk in a boat on the river. [Structure] The cipai Dian Jiang Chun has two stanzas, the first of which holds the quiet half of the day and the second the bold half. The order matters: leisure is established first - herbs, inn, dusk smoke, fishing songs - and only then is the release taken - the boat, the waves that touch the sky, the idle man. [Imagery] The images are all of the lower and outside world: the herb, the thatched inn, the hazy ridges, the fishing boat, the small boat, the waves. Lu You takes nothing sublime for his hermitage; he takes what a working retiree would actually touch in a day. [Feeling] Under the ease there is aStrategy of self-defence. One line of the whole poem is bound up with the word 'idle', and it is spoken with a shrug rather than a sigh; the hardest words in the poem are the four at the end, where Lu You says he will only act the part.

【白话串讲】陆游写《点绛唇·采药归来》：“采药归来，独寻茅店沽新酿”——“暮烟千嶂。处处闻渔唱”——“醉弄扁舟，不怕黏天浪”——“江湖上，遮回疏放。作个闲人样”——他写采药归来的闲适——作个闲人样。【意象与手法】此词写隐逸，以闲适写隐逸，是陆游的名篇。上片写采药：「采药归来，独寻茅店沽新酿。暮烟千嶂。处处闻渔唱」写采药归来、暮烟千嶂、处处闻渔唱——写尽采药的闲适；下片写醉舟：「醉弄扁舟，不怕黏天浪。江湖上，遮回疏放。作个闲人样」写醉弄扁舟、不怕黏天浪、作个闲人样——写尽醉舟的疏放。全词以闲适写隐逸，写尽采药的闲适与醉舟的疏放，是陆游的代表作。【情感与主旨】此词写隐逸，以闲适写隐逸，是陆游的名篇。此词写陆游晚年家居时采药沽酒、醉卧扁舟的隐逸生活。陆游晚年罢官家居山阴，以渔樵自适，多写此类隐逸闲适之词。此词写采药：采药归来，独寻茅店沽新酿——写采药归来、独寻茅店沽新酿，写尽采药的闲适；暮烟千嶂。处处闻渔唱——写暮烟千嶂、处处闻渔唱，写尽暮景的渔唱；醉弄扁舟，不怕黏天浪——写醉弄扁舟、不怕黏天浪，写尽醉舟的疏放；江湖上，遮回疏放。作个闲人样——写江湖上、遮回疏放、作个闲人样，写尽江湖的闲人。全词以闲适写隐逸——那「处处闻渔唱」写尽采药的闲适，「作个闲人样」写尽醉舟的疏放，写尽采药的闲适与醉舟的疏放，是理解陆游隐逸词的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「采药归来，独寻茅店沽新酿」写采药的闲适；「醉弄扁舟，不怕黏天浪」写醉舟的疏放；以及全词以闲适写隐逸、以醉写疏放的手法。

Background

Lu You (1125-1210), courtesy name Wuguan, styled Fangweng, was from Yuezhou Shanyin (today's Shaoxing, Zhejiang). He never stopped wanting to recover the lost northern territories, but the age, not he, decided that this would remain a wish, and after long service he retired to live at home among the farmers. Gathering herbs, buying wine and drifting in a boat were his daily round, and he wrote many poems of exactly this kind. The name Fangweng - Old Recluse - is the title he took for himself; this ci shows how the reputation was earned. The word zhe hui in the last stanza means this time round and is a colloquialism, which gives the poem its easy voice.

此词写隐逸，以闲适写隐逸，是陆游的名篇。陆游（1125—1210），字务观，号放翁，越州山阴（今浙江绍兴）人，南宋爱国诗人。此词写陆游晚年家居时采药沽酒、醉卧扁舟的隐逸生活。陆游晚年罢官家居山阴，以渔樵自适，多写此类隐逸闲适之词。此词写采药：「采药归来，独寻茅店沽新酿」写采药归来、独寻茅店沽新酿——写尽采药的闲适（采药归来，独寻茅店沽新酿）；「暮烟千嶂。处处闻渔唱」写暮烟千嶂、处处闻渔唱——写尽暮景的渔唱（暮烟千嶂，处处闻渔唱）；「醉弄扁舟，不怕黏天浪」写醉弄扁舟、不怕黏天浪——写尽醉舟的疏放（醉弄扁舟，不怕黏天浪）；「作个闲人样」写作个闲人样——写尽江湖的闲人（江湖上，遮回疏放。作个闲人样）。全词以闲适写隐逸，写尽采药的闲适与醉舟的疏放，是理解陆游隐逸词的重要篇章。陆游晚年长期家居山阴（今浙江绍兴），自号放翁，以诗酒自娱，采药、沽酒、泛舟是其日常生活。他虽心怀恢复中原之志，然报国无门，故以江湖闲人为自解，此词正是其「放翁」名号的写照。词中「遮回疏放」的「遮回」即这回、这一次，口语入词，正见其放达。

Art

The poem's talents are four. First, plain description for the opening: returning from gathering herbs and buying fresh wine need no embellishment at all, and the plainness is what makes the poem credible. Second, scenery for the middle: the haze of evening over a thousand ridges and the singing of fishermen everywhere are not beautiful in themselves but are the surroundings of a contented man. Third, drunkenness for the turn: playing with the little boat and fearing nothing say in two words what the whole retirement means. Fourth, self-description for the close: to cut a figure of an idle man is laughter turned on oneself. The poem also pairs stillness and movement - the stillness of the inn and the motion of the boat - and closes the movement with the most emphatic words in the piece. Above all, it brings colloquial speech into the lyric: the phrase this time round and the blunt I will just are the mark of the Southern Song poets who wrote the ci as prose in verse, Lu You and Xin Qiji among them.

此词的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以白描写采药。「采药归来，独寻茅店沽新酿」以白描写采药——那「采药归来」「沽新酿」写尽采药沽酒，以白描写尽采药的闲适。其二，以景写闲适。「暮烟千嶂。处处闻渔唱」以景写闲适——那「暮烟千嶂」「渔唱」写尽暮景渔歌，以景写尽田园的闲适。其三，以醉写疏放。「醉弄扁舟，不怕黏天浪」以醉写疏放——那「醉弄」「不怕」写尽醉舟的无畏，以醉写尽江湖的疏放。其四，以自称写闲人。「作个闲人样」以自称写闲人——那「作个闲人」写尽闲人的自嘲，以自称写尽江湖的闲适。此外，此词上片写采药的闲适，下片写醉舟的疏放，由静及动，正是隐逸词「以闲写志」的写法。四重手法，使此词以闲适写隐逸，写尽采药的闲适与醉舟的疏放，是陆游的代表作。此词还善于以「不怕」写疏放——那「不怕黏天浪」以直抒的口气写对巨浪的无畏，一个「不怕」写尽江湖的豪迈，与前文「独寻茅店」的闲静相对，一静一动，写尽放翁的疏放。又善以口语入词，那「遮回疏放。作个闲人样」以口语直说，正见辛弃疾、陆游等词人以文为词、以口语入词的特色。

Allusions

Gathering herbs is the act of the hermit: the Nine Songs of the Chu ci speak of gathering the three blossoms among the mountains, and Tao Yuanming's line I pick chrysanthemums beneath the eastern fence is the same gesture. The thatched inn recalls the inn of the travelling poor, and Wen Tingyun's line at dawn the cock crows beneath thatched inn's moon. Fishing songs go back to the image of the fisherman's evening song that fills the rivers and lakes. The little boat carries the story of Fan Li, who after the conquest of Wu took a small boat and floated on the rivers and lakes - hence the small boat as the emblem of retiring after public service, the same image that Su Shi later used in I would fain have a little boat, and given my remaining life to the rivers and seas. The waves that stick to the sky are the great waves of the bold poets, and Lu You recalls them here only to show that he needs no longer fear them.

此词的用语深植于隐逸与江湖传统。「采药」令人想到「采药」写隐逸的意象——《楚辞·九歌》「采三秀兮于山间」，也令人想到「采菊东篱下」（陶渊明）的意象；「茅店」令人想到「茅店」写野店的意象——温庭筠《商山早行》「鸡声茅店月」，也令人想到「客舍青青柳色新」（王维）的意象；「渔唱」令人想到「渔唱」写渔歌的意象——也令人想到「渔舟唱晚」（王勃）的意象；「扁舟」令人想到「扁舟」写泛舟的意象——《史记》载范蠡「乘扁舟浮于江湖」，也令人想到「小舟从此逝，江海寄余生」（苏轼）的意象；「黏天浪」令人想到「黏天浪」写巨浪的意象——也令人想到「惊涛拍岸」（苏轼）的意象。全词化用采药、茅店、渔唱、扁舟的意象，以闲适写隐逸，正是陆游「放翁」而善写闲适、承隐逸传统写疏放的本领。「采药」为古代隐士常事，神农尝药、葛洪采药，皆与隐逸仙道相关，正见陆游以采药自况隐逸。又「扁舟」用范蠡泛舟五湖之典——勾践灭吴后范蠡携西施「乘扁舟浮于江湖」，后遂以「扁舟」为功成身退、江湖归隐之代称，苏轼「小舟从此逝，江海寄余生」亦用此意。而「渔唱」承王勃《滕王阁序》「渔舟唱晚」之意，写尽江湖的宁静。

Commentary

This ci is esteemed as one of Lu You's best poems of retirement and one of the best of the Southern Song on the theme of the rivers and lakes. Qing judges called it easy and unrestrained, and modern readers quote the line about the little boat and the sky-clinging waves as the poem's hinge. Its place in the history of the ci is as a link in the chain of hermit-poetry: it meets Su Shi's promise to keep a little boat and entrust his remaining years to river and sea, and the same tradition runs through it, while its companion, Lu You's Bu Suan Zi on the plum, comes from the same period and the same retirement, but chooses serving its own integrity instead of easy ease.

此词历来被推为陆游隐逸词的名篇，也是南宋词写江湖闲适的代表。历代论者对此词评价极高：清人评此词「以闲适写隐逸，疏放旷达」；近人更指出「醉弄扁舟，不怕黏天浪」写醉舟的疏放，是此词的名句。在词史上，此词的特殊价值在于：它以双调的点绛唇写尽采药的闲适与醉舟的疏放——那采药归来，那茅店，那新酿，那暮烟，那千嶂，那渔唱，那扁舟，那黏天浪，那江湖，那闲人样，都写尽了陆游笔下的江湖；那「作个闲人样」更以自称写尽江湖的闲适。此词与陆游《卜算子·咏梅》（「驿外断桥边」）同为晚年名篇，一写「零落成泥碾作尘」的孤傲（咏梅），一写「作个闲人样」的疏放（点绛唇）；又与苏轼「小舟从此逝，江海寄余生」的江湖传统一脉相承，可见宋人写江湖隐逸的传统。对于今日读者，此词是理解陆游隐逸词的窗口，也是中国词写江湖的经典——那醉卧扁舟的放翁，穿越千年，仍在诉说着江湖的疏放。

Prosody

Form Ci, to the tune Dian Jiang Chun词·点绛唇

Rhyme Rhymes on the -ang sound (rhyme group 23, going -euphony) throughout: wine, ridges, song, wave and figure.押「酿」「嶂」「唱」「浪」「样」韵（去声二十三漾），一韵到底，音节疏放

Tone pattern The tune Dian Jiang Chun uses the deflected tone and holds one rhyme to the end; the cadence is loose and open, which suits the untrammelled mood.此词为点绛唇词牌，押仄声韵，一韵到底，音节疏放，正合江湖的疏放。

Reading note This is the double-stanza Dian Jiang Chun, four lines in the first stanza and five in the second, forty-one characters in all - returning from gathering herbs, searching alone for the thatched inn to buy fresh wine; dusk smoke over a thousand ridges; everywhere I hear the fishermen singing; drunken, I play with my little boat, with no fear of waves that stick to the sky; out on the rivers and lakes, at length my wild, untrammelled self, I will just cut the figure of an idle man. It rhymes on the -ang sound throughout and never changes, and the open unhurried rhythm is exactly right for the subject. The poem is a hermit's ci: the first stanza gives the quiet of the day, the second the release of the boat. The short double stanza moves from calm to boldness and closes on the words that carry the most weight, showing again the plain and unbounded manner of Lu You. In reading aloud, take the first stanza slowly and the boat line with lifted head, and leave the closing line to fall flat. Lu You's ci are famous for their bold, open spirit, and this is the model among his hermit poems.此词为《点绛唇》双调，上片四句、下片五句，共四十一字——「采药归来，独寻茅店沽新酿。暮烟千嶂。处处闻渔唱。醉弄扁舟，不怕黏天浪。江湖上，遮回疏放。作个闲人样」，押「漾」韵（酿、嶂、唱、浪、样），一韵到底，音节疏放。全词以闲适写隐逸：上片写采药的闲适（采药归来、处处闻渔唱），下片写醉舟的疏放（醉弄扁舟、作个闲人样）。双调短章，上写闲适，下写疏放，以「作个闲人样」写尽江湖的疏放，正见陆游「放翁」疏放的本色。诵读此词，宜以疏放的语调读「采药归来」的闲适，以旷达的语调读「醉弄扁舟」的疏放，结句要读得疏放而有余韵，方能传达出陆游的疏放旷达。陆游词以「豪放旷达」著称，此词正是其隐逸词的典范。

Line by line

醉弄扁舟，不怕黏天浪

Drunken, I play with my little boat, with no fear of waves that stick to the sky.

醉弄扁舟，不怕黏天浪。

Drunk, I play with my small boat, not fearing the waves that glue themselves to the sky.

此二句是全词写疏放的核心，以醉弄扁舟写舟，以不怕黏天浪写浪，写尽醉舟的疏放，是千古名句。「醉弄扁舟」写醉弄扁舟——那「醉弄」写醉弄，「扁舟」写扁舟，写尽醉中的泛舟；「不怕黏天浪」写不怕黏天浪——那「不怕」写不怕，「黏天浪」写黏天浪，写尽巨浪的无畏。这句的深意在于：它以「醉弄扁舟」的舟与「不怕黏天浪」的浪，写尽醉舟的疏放——醉弄扁舟，那「醉弄扁舟」写尽醉中的泛舟——醉中弄舟，正是放达的写照，那「醉弄」写尽江湖的疏放；不怕黏天浪，那「不怕黏天浪」写尽巨浪的无畏——不怕黏天巨浪，正是豪迈的写照，那「不怕」写尽江湖的疏放；那「醉弄扁舟」写尽醉中的泛舟，那「不怕黏天浪」写尽巨浪的无畏，一写舟，一写浪，写尽醉舟的疏放——醉舟弄浪，不畏天浪，正是江湖的疏放；此二句以舟、浪写尽醉舟的疏放，也让此二句成为全词写疏放的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「我划船很自在」，则失其豪迈；唯以「醉弄扁舟」写舟、「不怕黏天浪」写浪，写尽醉舟的疏放，也让此二句成为全词写疏放的核心。

The ci's opening is drunk bravado. Drunk, I play with my small boat, not fearing the waves that glue themselves to the sky. The waves that reach the clouds should terrify; the poet, drunk, plays with his boat instead. The word play is the defiance—the river is a toy, the weather a companion. It is the riverside freedom of an old man who has outlived the court. To have said I rowed my boat in big waves would be adventure; playing drunk with sky-high waves is the freedom.

采药归来，独寻茅店沽新酿

Returning from gathering herbs, searching alone for the thatched inn to buy fresh wine.

采药归来，独寻茅店沽新酿。

Home from gathering herbs, I seek out alone a thatched shop to buy the new brew.

此二句是全词写闲适的核心，以采药归来写归，以独寻茅店沽新酿写沽酒，写尽采药的闲适，是千古名句。「采药归来」写采药归来——那「采药」写采药，「归来」写归来，写尽采药的归途；「独寻茅店沽新酿」写独寻茅店沽新酿——那「独寻茅店」写独寻茅店，「沽新酿」写沽新酿，写尽沽酒的闲适。这句的深意在于：它以「采药归来」的归与「独寻茅店沽新酿」的沽酒，写尽采药的闲适——采药归来，那「采药归来」写尽采药的归途——采药归来，正是闲人的日常，那「归来」写尽采药的从容；独寻茅店沽新酿，那「独寻茅店沽新酿」写尽沽酒的闲适——独寻茅店，沽取新酿，正是独饮的写照，那「独寻」写尽江湖的闲适；那「采药归来」写尽采药的归途，那「独寻茅店沽新酿」写尽沽酒的闲适，一写归，一写沽酒，写尽采药的闲适——采药归来而沽酒独酌，正是闲人的写照；此二句以归、沽酒写尽采药的闲适，也为下片的醉舟作铺垫，也让此二句成为全词写闲适的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「我采药回家喝酒」，则失其闲逸；唯以「采药归来」写归、「独寻茅店沽新酿」写沽酒，写尽采药的闲适，也让此二句成为全词写闲适的核心。

The opening stanza sets the day. Home from gathering herbs, I seek out alone a thatched shop to buy the new brew. The herb-gathering is the retired scholar's medicine and pretext; the thatched shop is the village wineshop; alone is the luxury. The sequence—herbs, then wine—makes a whole day of a life. It is the idyll Lu You allows himself between the war poems. To have said I gathered herbs and then bought wine would be a diary; the solo search for the new brew at the thatched shop is the idyll.

Study

Word focus

独 Alone, by oneself. In searching alone for the thatched inn to buy fresh wine it means both that no one accompanied him and that he wanted no one to; the solitude is what makes the wine his own. Words like self or lonely would lose the sense of a chosen quiet. 「独寻茅店沽新酿」之「独」字是写闲适的关键词，一个「独」字写尽江湖的闲适。独者，独自、一人也。陆游以「独寻茅店沽新酿」写闲适，这个「独」字至少有双重意味：其一，写行之独——那「独寻茅店沽新酿」写独寻茅店沽新酿，那「独」字写尽独行的自在——独寻茅店，正是无人相伴的写照，那「独」字写尽采药的从容；其二，写心之闲——那「独」字更是写闲——独，正见心境的闲适，那「独」字写尽江湖的疏放。以「独」字写闲适，正是陆游写隐逸的枢纽——若换作「自」「孤」等字，则或失其与「寻」「沽新酿」的配合，或失其写独的意味；唯「独」字，以独寻茅店沽新酿写尽独行的自在与心境的安闲，与「作个闲人样」的闲人相合，写尽采药的闲适，也让「独寻茅店沽新酿」成为全词写闲适的名句。

弄 To play with, to dabble in. In drunken, I play with my little boat it suggests handling the boat the way one handles a toy in drink - light, pointless, delightful - rather than navigating it. It is the single word that turns travel into pleasure. 「醉弄扁舟」之「弄」字是写疏放的关键词，一个「弄」字写尽醉舟的疏放。弄者，拨弄、把玩也。陆游以「醉弄扁舟」写疏放，这个「弄」字至少有双重意味：其一，写舟之戏——那「醉弄扁舟」写醉弄扁舟，那「弄」字写尽泛舟的戏弄——醉中弄舟，正是戏水为乐，那「弄」字写尽江湖的疏放；其二，写醉之狂——那「弄」字更是写狂——弄，正见醉态的狂放，那「弄」字写尽醉舟的疏放。以「弄」字写疏放，正是陆游写隐逸的枢纽——若换作「驾」「泛」等字，则或失其与「醉」「扁舟」的配合，或失其写弄的意味；唯「弄」字，以醉弄扁舟写尽泛舟的戏弄与醉态的狂放，与「不怕黏天浪」的不怕相合，写尽醉舟的疏放，也让「醉弄扁舟」成为全词写疏放的名句。