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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

画堂春·落红铺径水平池

Hua Tang Chun: Red Petals Lay the Path, the Water Ranks the Pool

秦观

Qin Guan

春愁Spring sorrow

落红铺径水平池，弄晴小雨霏霏。
杏园憔悴杜鹃啼，无奈春归。
柳外画楼独上，凭阑手捻花枝。
放花无语对斜晖，此恨谁知。

Red petals lie along the path, the water has levelled the pool; a light rain is clearing into fine mist.
The apricot garden is haggard and the cuckoo cries — there is nothing to be done about spring's going.
Past the willows I climb the painted tower alone, hand on the balustrade, a flower branch twixt finger and thumb.
I let the flower go and say nothing, and face the evening sunlight: this grief, who knows?

Listen

Meaning

Late spring in the garden: fallen petals cover the path, the pond has filled to its brim, and a light rain is turning over into mist; the apricot garden looks haggard and the cuckoo calls that spring is leaving. The speaker then climbs a painted tower alone, holds a flower branch between finger and thumb, lets it drop without speaking, and asks who knows this grief. The poem is a study in helplessness — nothing in it can be acted on, not the season, not the flower, and not the feeling.

落红铺径水平池，弄晴小雨霏霏。杏园憔悴杜鹃啼，无奈春归。柳外画楼独上，凭阑手捻花枝。放花无语对斜晖，此恨谁知。

Appreciation

[Structure] The upper stanza is entirely about the season falling apart, and the lower stanza is entirely about a person who cannot do anything about it. The transition is made by a single preposition: the tower stands beyond the willows, so the view changes from garden to self without a hinge. [Action as feeling] The two verbs of the last stanza carry the poem. 'Hand on the balustrade' is a held posture — she or he will not go in or come down. 'Let the flower go' is a release that is also a decision. 'Say nothing' is the poem's topic: the grief is exactly the part that cannot be spoken. [Image] The cuckoo, in Chinese as in the West, is a bird of departure, and here it is the only voice in the poem; the apricot garden is said to be haggard rather than to have fallen, so the decline is transferred from the flowers to the place. The closing picture — a person and a setting sun and a discarded branch — is as close as this poetry gets to a photograph.

【白话串讲】秦观写《画堂春·落红铺径水平池》：“落红铺径水平池，弄晴小雨霏霏”——“杏园憔悴杜鹃啼，无奈春归”——“柳外画楼独上，凭阑手捻花枝”——“放花无语对斜晖，此恨谁知”——他写春归的惆怅。【意象与手法】此词写春暮，以闺怨写春暮，是秦观的名篇。上阕写春归：「落红铺径水平池，弄晴小雨霏霏。杏园憔悴杜鹃啼，无奈春归」写落红铺径水平池、弄晴小雨霏霏——写尽无奈春归的落红；下阕写闺怨：「柳外画楼独上，凭阑手捻花枝。放花无语对斜晖，此恨谁知」写柳外画楼独上、凭阑手捻花枝——写尽此恨谁知的花枝。全词以闺怨写春暮，写尽无奈春归的落红与此恨谁知的花枝，是秦观的代表作。【情感与主旨】此词写春暮，以闺怨写春暮，是秦观的名篇。此词为秦观写春暮之景与闺中之情，写其对春归的无奈。秦观此词写春暮的落红与闺人的惆怅。此词写落红铺径水平池，弄晴小雨霏霏；杏园憔悴杜鹃啼，无奈春归；柳外画楼独上，凭阑手捻花枝；放花无语对斜晖，此恨谁知。此词写春归：落红铺径水平池，弄晴小雨霏霏——写落红铺径水平池、弄晴小雨霏霏，写尽弄晴小雨的霏霏；杏园憔悴杜鹃啼，无奈春归——写杏园憔悴杜鹃啼、无奈春归，写尽无奈春归的杜鹃；柳外画楼独上，凭阑手捻花枝——写柳外画楼独上、凭阑手捻花枝，写尽凭阑手捻的花枝；放花无语对斜晖，此恨谁知——写放花无语对斜晖、此恨谁知，写尽此恨谁知的花枝。全词以闺怨写春暮——那「无奈春归」写尽无奈春归的落红，「此恨谁知」写尽此恨谁知的花枝，写尽无奈春归的落红与此恨谁知的花枝，是理解秦观春暮词的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「落红铺径水平池，弄晴小雨霏霏」写弄晴小雨的霏霏；「放花无语对斜晖，此恨谁知」写此恨谁知的花枝；以及全词以闺怨写春暮、以动作写闺怨的手法。

Background

Qin Guan (1049–1100), courtesy name Shaoyou, self-styled Huaihai Jushi, was from Gaoyou in Yangzhou. He was one of the 'Four Disciples of Su Shi' and, though he passed the examinations late, went on to a career ruined by his association with the reformers' opponents and by travel into exile in the far south. His lyrics are the purest examples of the Song 'graceful' manner, and he is known for taking a tiny subject and making it complete. This short lyric is among the best known of his spring verses.

此词写春暮，以闺怨写春暮，是秦观的名篇。秦观（1049—1100），字少游，一字太虚，号淮海居士，扬州高邮（今江苏高邮）人，北宋婉约派词人，与黄庭坚、晁补之、张耒合称「苏门四学士」，世称「淮海先生」。此词为秦观写春暮之景与闺中之情，写其对春归的无奈。秦观此词写春暮的落红与闺人的惆怅。此词写落红铺径水平池，弄晴小雨霏霏；杏园憔悴杜鹃啼，无奈春归；柳外画楼独上，凭阑手捻花枝；放花无语对斜晖，此恨谁知。此词写春归：「落红铺径水平池，弄晴小雨霏霏」写落红铺径水平池、弄晴小雨霏霏——写尽弄晴小雨的霏霏（落红铺径水平池，弄晴小雨霏霏）；「杏园憔悴杜鹃啼，无奈春归」写杏园憔悴杜鹃啼、无奈春归——写尽无奈春归的杜鹃（杏园憔悴杜鹃啼，无奈春归）；「柳外画楼独上，凭阑手捻花枝」写柳外画楼独上、凭阑手捻花枝——写尽凭阑手捻的花枝（柳外画楼独上，凭阑手捻花枝）；「放花无语对斜晖，此恨谁知」写放花无语对斜晖、此恨谁知——写尽此恨谁知的花枝（放花无语对斜晖，此恨谁知）。全词以闺怨写春暮，写尽无奈春归的落红与此恨谁知的花枝，是理解秦观春暮词的重要篇章。

Art

The poem's method is to make feeling visible as handwriting of the body: hand on the rail, fingers on a branch, branch released, mouth closed. Nothing is explained, and no emotion word appears until the closing question. This is why the poem reads as modern — its grief is given as action rather than as statement. The diction is equally deliberate: 'levelled' and 'haggard' are plain words doing careful work, and the counted sound of 'who knows' at the end is the oldest device in Chinese poetry, used here not for rhetorical force but for the admission that there is no answer. The cuckoo's cry supplies the only music, and it is a cry of departure that no one in the garden answers.

此词的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以写景写春暮。「落红铺径水平池」以写景写春暮——那「弄晴小雨霏霏」写尽弄晴小雨的霏霏，以写景写尽弄晴小雨的霏霏。其二，以拟人写春归。「杏园憔悴」以拟人写春归——那「杜鹃啼」写尽无奈春归的杜鹃，以拟人写尽无奈春归的杜鹃。其三，以动作写闺怨。「凭阑手捻花枝」以动作写闺怨——那「柳外画楼独上」写尽柳外画楼的独上，以动作写尽凭阑手捻的花枝。其四，以细节写此恨。「放花无语对斜晖」以细节写此恨——那「此恨谁知」写尽此恨谁知的花枝，以细节写尽此恨谁知的花枝。此外，此词上阕写无奈春归的落红，下阕写此恨谁知的花枝，由景及人，正是春暮词「以景写情」的写法。四重手法，使此词以闺怨写春暮，写尽无奈春归的落红与此恨谁知的花枝，是秦观的代表作。又，此词前后章法极细：上阕先写景之衰（落红、小雨、杏园憔悴），下阕转写人之态——「独上」「凭阑」「捻花枝」「放花」「无语」「对斜晖」，一连串动作特写，把闺人惜春而无奈的心绪层层外化，最后以「此恨谁知」一问收束，余恨不尽，正是秦观「以动作传情」的看家本领。

Allusions

Fallen petals, mist and the cuckoo form the standard wardrobe of the farewell-to-spring poem, and 'there is nothing to be done' restates Yan Shu's line on the falling flowers. The cuckoo carries its own tradition as the bird that calls the exiled or the dying. The painted tower and the balustrade follow Li Yu's farewell to the throne, where the same architecture stands for a self with nowhere to go. 'Whose grief' in the old question form that the Tang lyric inherited. Even the apricot garden, a famous meeting place of Chang'an, quietly recalls the public city that the speaker has left for a private tower.

此词的用语深植于春暮与闺怨传统。「落红」令人想到「落红」写落花的意象——也令人想到「落红不是无情物」（龚自珍）的意象；「铺径」令人想到「铺径」写铺路的意象——也令人想到「花落知多少」的意象；「水平池」令人想到「水平池」写满池的意象——也令人想到「春水池塘」的意象；「弄晴」令人想到「弄晴」写弄晴的意象——也令人想到「弄晴莺舌」的意象；「小雨」令人想到「小雨」写小雨的意象——也令人想到「天街小雨润如酥」（韩愈）的意象；「霏霏」令人想到「霏霏」写雨雪的意象——也令人想到「雨雪霏霏」（《诗经》）的意象；「杏园」令人想到「杏园」写杏园的意象——也令人想到「杏园春宴」的意象；「憔悴」令人想到「憔悴」写憔悴的意象——也令人想到「为伊消得人憔悴」（柳永）的意象；「杜鹃啼」令人想到「杜鹃啼」写杜鹃的意象——也令人想到「杜鹃啼血」的意象；「春归」令人想到「春归」写春归的意象——也令人想到「春归何处」（黄庭坚）的意象；「画楼」令人想到「画楼」写画楼的意象——也令人想到「画楼东畔」的意象；「凭阑」令人想到「凭阑」写凭栏的意象——也令人想到「独自莫凭栏」（李煜）的意象；「斜晖」令人想到「斜晖」写斜阳的意象——也令人想到「斜晖脉脉水悠悠」（温庭筠）的意象。全词化用落红、铺径、水平池、弄晴、小雨、霏霏、杏园、憔悴、杜鹃啼、春归、画楼、凭阑、斜晖的意象，以闺怨写春暮，正是秦观「婉约」而善细节、承春暮传统写闺怨之本领。

Commentary

Qing readers called the poem 'graceful and reticent' (wan li han xu), and modern anthologies take 'I let the flower go and say nothing, and face the evening sunlight' as the line on which the whole lyric turns. Its standing is that of a model of how much can be made to depend on gesture: the poem needs no external material, no biographical event, and no named emotion. It is often paired with Qin Guan's own 'Huan Xi Sha: A faint cold air ascends the small tower', which treats the same season with a lighter touch, and with Li Yu's farewell to the southern Tang, which asks the same question about a grief that has a cause and cannot be answered either.

此词历来被推为秦观春暮词的名篇，也是宋词写春暮闺怨的代表。历代论者对此词评价极高：清人评此词「以闺怨写春暮，婉丽含蓄」；近人更指出「放花无语对斜晖，此恨谁知」写此恨谁知的花枝，是此词的名句。在诗歌史上，此词的特殊价值在于：它以小令写尽无奈春归的落红与此恨谁知的花枝——那落红，那铺径，那水平池，那弄晴，那小雨，那霏霏，那杏园，那憔悴，那杜鹃啼，那无奈，那春归，那柳外，那画楼，那独上，那凭阑，那手捻花枝，那放花，那无语，那对斜晖，那此恨，那谁知，都写尽了秦观笔下的画堂春落红铺径水平池；那「放花无语对斜晖」更以细节写尽此恨谁知的花枝。此词与秦观《浣溪沙·漠漠轻寒上小楼》「漠漠轻寒上小楼」同为春暮名篇，一写「自在飞花轻似梦」的浣溪沙，一写「放花无语对斜晖」的画堂春；一写轻愁，一写深恨。两词对读，可见秦观春暮词的两种情味。对于今日读者，此词是理解秦观春暮词的窗口，也是宋词写春暮闺怨的经典——那此恨谁知的花枝，穿越千年，仍在诉说着无奈春归的落红。

Prosody

Form Ci to the tune 'Hua Tang Chun' (画堂春), a small double stanza词·画堂春

Rhyme One level-tone chain in the zhi–wei group: chi (pool), fei (mist), gui (return), zhi (branch), hui (light), zhi (know) — held throughout画堂春，上阕押「池」「霏」「归」，下阕押「枝」「晖」「知」（平声支微韵），一韵到底

Tone pattern Level, high, narrow vowels; the rhyme board is close, so the lines seem to crowd each other and the poem sounds compressed rather than flowing.此词为画堂春小令，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节婉转，正合闺怨的婉转。

Reading note The tune has two stanzas of four lines; here the rhymes are all in the i/ei sounds, which are bright and close together, so the whole lyric has an almost singsong narrowness that suits a poem about a private grief with no place to go. Read 弄晴小雨霏霏 quietly, and 放花无语对斜晖 slowly — the two lines that matter are not the loudest. The short final line (three characters to the rhyme) drops out of the pattern, which is exactly the effect of the question it ends on. Qin Guan's small lyrics are usually judged on this kind of unnoticed arithmetic.此词为画堂春小令，上下两阕——上阕「落红铺径水平池，弄晴小雨霏霏。杏园憔悴杜鹃啼，无奈春归」，下阕「柳外画楼独上，凭阑手捻花枝。放花无语对斜晖，此恨谁知」，押平韵（池、霏、归、枝、晖、知），一韵到底，音节婉转。全词以闺怨写春暮：上阕写无奈春归的落红（落红铺径水平池、杏园憔悴杜鹃啼），下阕写此恨谁知的花枝（凭阑手捻花枝、放花无语对斜晖）。小令短章，前写春归，后写闺怨，以「此恨谁知」写尽此恨谁知的花枝，正见秦观「婉约」的本色。诵读此词，宜以婉转的语调读「弄晴小雨霏霏」的春暮，以低回的语调读「放花无语对斜晖」的闺怨，结句要读得婉转而有余韵，方能传达出秦观的含蓄低回。秦观小令以「婉约」著称，此词正是其春暮词的典范。

Line by line

落红铺径水平池，弄晴小雨霏霏

Red petals lie along the path and the water has levelled the pool, while a clearing rain drifts in fine mist.

落红铺径水平池，弄晴小雨霏霏。

Fallen red flowers cover the path; the pool lies level; fine drizzle toys with the clearing sky.

此二句是全词写春暮的核心，以落红铺径水平池写水平池，以弄晴小雨霏霏写霏霏，写尽弄晴小雨的霏霏，是千古名句。「落红铺径水平池」写落红铺径水平池——那「落红铺径」写落红铺径，「水平池」写水平池，写尽落红铺径的水平池；「弄晴小雨霏霏」写弄晴小雨霏霏——那「弄晴小雨」写弄晴小雨，「霏霏」写霏霏，写尽弄晴小雨的霏霏。这句的深意在于：它以「落红铺径水平池」的水平池与「弄晴小雨霏霏」的霏霏，写尽弄晴小雨的霏霏——落红铺径水平池，那「落红铺径水平池」写尽落红铺径的水平池——落红铺径水平池，正是落红满径的写照，那「水平池」写尽弄晴小雨的霏霏；弄晴小雨霏霏，那「弄晴小雨霏霏」写尽弄晴小雨的霏霏——弄晴小雨霏霏，正是小雨霏微的写照，那「霏霏」写尽弄晴小雨的霏霏；那「落红铺径水平池」写尽落红铺径的水平池，那「弄晴小雨霏霏」写尽弄晴小雨的霏霏，一写水平池，一写霏霏，写尽弄晴小雨的霏霏——落红满径而小雨霏微，正是春暮的写照；此二句以水平池、霏霏写尽弄晴小雨的霏霏，也为下文的杏园作铺垫，也让此二句成为全词写春暮的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「落花铺满小径池水涨平，弄晴的小雨纷纷地下着」，则失其清丽；唯以「落红铺径水平池」写水平池、「弄晴小雨霏霏」写霏霏，写尽弄晴小雨的霏霏，也让此二句成为全词写春暮的核心。

The late spring. Fallen red flowers cover the path; the pool lies level; fine drizzle toys with the clearing sky. The path of petals, the level pool, and the drizzle playing with the clearing are the late-spring close. To have described the late-spring garden would be scenery; the fallen-petals-on-the-path-and-level-pool against the fine-drizzle-toying-with-the-clearing-sky is the scenery.

放花无语对斜晖，此恨谁知

I let the flower go and say nothing, and face the evening sunlight: this grief, who knows?

放花无语对斜晖，此恨谁知。

I set down the flowers in silence, facing the slanting sun; who knows this grief?

此二句是全词写闺怨的核心，以放花无语对斜晖写斜晖，以此恨谁知写谁知，写尽此恨谁知的花枝，是千古名句。「放花无语对斜晖」写放花无语对斜晖——那「放花无语」写放花无语，「对斜晖」写对斜晖，写尽放花无语的斜晖；「此恨谁知」写此恨谁知——那「此恨」写此恨，「谁知」写谁知，写尽此恨的谁知。这句的深意在于：它以「放花无语对斜晖」的斜晖与「此恨谁知」的谁知，写尽此恨谁知的花枝——放花无语对斜晖，那「放花无语对斜晖」写尽放花无语的斜晖——放花无语对斜晖，正是放花望夕的写照，那「无语」写尽此恨谁知的花枝；此恨谁知，那「此恨谁知」写尽此恨的谁知——此恨谁知，正是此恨难诉的写照，那「谁知」写尽此恨谁知的花枝；那「放花无语对斜晖」写尽放花无语的斜晖，那「此恨谁知」写尽此恨的谁知，一写斜晖，一写谁知，写尽此恨谁知的花枝——放花望夕而此恨难诉，正是闺怨的写照；此二句以斜晖、谁知写尽此恨谁知的花枝，也让此二句成为全词写闺怨的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「放下花无语地对着斜阳，这恨有谁知道」，则失其含蓄；唯以「放花无语对斜晖」写斜晖、「此恨谁知」写谁知，写尽此恨谁知的花枝，也让此二句成为全词写闺怨的核心。

The grief. I set down the flowers in silence, facing the slanting sun; who knows this grief? The silent facing of the sunset and the who-knows-this-grief question are the inner chamber's complaint. To have said she grieved in silence would be a statement; the setting-down-flowers-silently-facing-the-sunset against the who-knows-this-grief is the statement.

Study

Word focus

捻 In 凭阑手捻花枝, 捻 means to twist or roll between finger and thumb. It is a small, nervous, possessive gesture — the flower is not broken from the branch, only held — and it contrasts with the 放 that follows: the same hand that keeps the branch also lets it fall, which is why the two lines belong to one movement rather than to two states. 「凭阑手捻花枝」之「捻」字是写闺怨关键词，一个「捻」字写尽凭阑手捻的花枝。捻者，捻弄、捻搓也。秦观以「凭阑手捻花枝」写闺怨，这个「捻」字至少有双重意味：其一，写手之捻——那「凭阑手捻花枝」写凭阑手捻花枝，那「捻」字写尽凭阑手捻的花枝——手捻，正是捻弄花枝的写照，那「捻」字写尽凭阑手捻的花枝；其二，写心之乱——那「捻」字更是写乱——捻，正见心绪烦乱的意味，那「捻」字写尽秦观的婉约。以「捻」字写闺怨，正是秦观写春暮的枢纽——若换作「折」「摘」等字，则或失其与「凭阑手捻花枝」「放花无语对斜晖」的配合，或失其写捻的意味；唯「捻」字，以凭阑手捻花枝写尽捻弄之细节与心绪之烦乱，与「放花无语对斜晖」的无语相合，写尽凭阑手捻的花枝，也让「凭阑手捻花枝」成为全词写闺怨的名句。

放 In 放花无语对斜晖, 放 means to set down, to let go. It is the release of something the hand has been keeping, and because it happens in silence and under the evening sun, the act is at once a surrender to the season and a refusal to speak of the feeling it causes; the poem's whole helplessness is contained in this one verb. 「放花无语对斜晖」之「放」字是写闺怨关键词，一个「放」字写尽放花无语的斜晖。放者，放下、放开也。秦观以「放花无语对斜晖」写闺怨，这个「放」字至少有双重意味：其一，写花之放——那「放花无语对斜晖」写放花无语对斜晖，那「放」字写尽放花无语的斜晖——放花，正是放下花枝的写照，那「放」字写尽放花无语的斜晖；其二，写情之收——那「放」字更是写收——放，正见欲语还休的意味，那「放」字写尽秦观的婉约。以「放」字写闺怨，正是秦观写春暮的枢纽——若换作「弃」「掷」等字，则或失其与「放花无语对斜晖」「此恨谁知」的配合，或失其写放的意味；唯「放」字，以放花无语对斜晖写尽放下之迟疑与欲语之还休，与「此恨谁知」的谁知相合，写尽放花无语的斜晖，也让「放花无语对斜晖」成为全词写闺怨的名句。