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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

江城子·孤山竹阁送述古

Jiang Cheng Zi: Bamboo Pavilion at Solitary Hill, Farewell to Shu Gu

苏轼

Su Shi

送别Farewell 相思Longing

翠蛾羞黛怯人看，掩霜纨，泪偷弹。
且尽一尊，收泪唱阳关。
漫道帝城天样远，天易见，见君难。
画堂新构近孤山，曲阑干，为谁安。
飞絮落花，春色属明年。
欲棹小舟寻旧事，无处问，水连天。

Painted brows, shy eyebrows, shrinking from being seen;
She wraps her white silk fan and steals a tear.
Drain this one cup — wipe the tears and sing of Yang Pass.
Do not say the capital is as far as the sky; the sky is easy to see, seeing you is hard.
The new painted hall stands near Solitary Hill; the curved balustrade — for whom was it set up?
Flying willow down, fallen petals: next year belongs to spring.
I want to take a small boat to look for the old days; there is nowhere to ask, and the water joins the sky.

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Meaning

Su Shi gives a farewell banquet at the bamboo pavilion on Solitary Hill for his friend Chen Xiang, who is leaving Hangzhou for the capital. At the feast his singing girls weep and are made to stop and sing the parting song of Yang Pass; the poet then says the capital is not the problem — seeing the friend again is. He looks at the new hall with its balustrade built for somebody who will not return, remarks that next year's spring will come without them, and ends on the wish to row out in a small boat to find the old days, which the water offers only as sky.

翠蛾羞黛怯人看，掩霜纨，泪偷弹。且尽一尊，收泪唱阳关。漫道帝城天样远，天易见，见君难。画堂新构近孤山，曲阑干，为谁安。飞絮落花，春色属明年。欲棹小舟寻旧事，无处问，水连天。

Appreciation

[Structure] The upper stanza is the banquet and its tears; the lower stanza is what remains when the banquet is over — a half-built hall, a season turning, and a boat that can go nowhere. The shift from people to place is the poem's argument. [Emotion] The line 'the sky is easy to see, seeing you is hard' turns a distance into a category question: distance can be measured, but the rarity of the meeting is what actually hurts, and the poet makes the sky the cheaper of the two. [Image] The curved balustrade 'for whom was it set up?' is the poem's unbearable object. A railing exists to be leaned on, and it has been newly built for a farewell that will never be used. Su Shi, usually the most buoyant of poets, spends this whole middle stanza on a useless ornament, and the effect is of a party that has already ended.

【白话串讲】苏轼写《江城子·孤山竹阁送述古》：“翠蛾羞黛怯人看，掩霜纨，泪偷弹”——“且尽一尊，收泪唱阳关”——“漫道帝城天样远，天易见，见君难”——“欲棹小舟寻旧事，无处问，水连天”——他送别陈襄——天易见，见君难。【意象与手法】此词写送别，以婉约写送别，是苏轼的名篇。上片写饯别：「翠蛾羞黛怯人看，掩霜纨，泪偷弹。且尽一尊，收泪唱阳关」写翠蛾羞黛怯人看、掩霜纨、泪偷弹——写尽饯别的泪眼；下片写送行：「画堂新构近孤山，曲阑干，为谁安。飞絮落花，春色属明年」写画堂新构近孤山、曲阑干、为谁安——写尽送行的春色。全词以婉约写送别，写尽饯别的泪眼与送行的春色，是苏轼的代表作。【情感与主旨】此词写送别，以婉约写送别，是苏轼的名篇。此词为苏轼送别诗友陈襄（字述古）之作。陈襄出知杭州，与苏轼交好，苏轼任杭州通判时，陈襄调任南都（应天府），苏轼在孤山竹阁为其饯行，作此词送之。上片写翠蛾羞黛而怯人看，掩霜纨而泪偷弹；且尽一尊而收泪唱阳关；漫道帝城天样远，天易见而见君难。下片写画堂新构近孤山，曲阑干而为谁安；飞絮落花，春色属明年；欲棹小舟寻旧事，无处问而水连天。此词写饯别：翠蛾羞黛怯人看，掩霜纨，泪偷弹——写翠蛾羞黛怯人看、掩霜纨、泪偷弹，写尽饯别的泪眼；且尽一尊，收泪唱阳关——写且尽一尊、收泪唱阳关，写尽阳关的骊歌；漫道帝城天样远，天易见，见君难——写漫道帝城天样远、天易见、见君难，写尽见君的艰难；画堂新构近孤山，曲阑干，为谁安——写画堂新构近孤山、曲阑干、为谁安，写尽曲阑的孤山；飞絮落花，春色属明年——写飞絮落花、春色属明年，写尽明年的春色；欲棹小舟寻旧事，无处问，水连天——写欲棹小舟寻旧事、无处问、水连天，写尽无问的旧事。全词以婉约写送别——那「收泪唱阳关」写尽阳关的骊歌，「春色属明年」写尽明年的春色，写尽饯别的泪眼与送行的春色，是理解苏轼送别词的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「翠蛾羞黛怯人看，掩霜纨，泪偷弹」写饯别的泪眼；「漫道帝城天样远，天易见，见君难」写见君的艰难；以及全词以婉约写送别、以景语写离情的手法。

Background

Su Shi served as vice-prefect (tongpan) of Hangzhou in 1074 and again from 1077, and Chen Xiang (1017–1080), courtesy name Shu Gu, was a friend and fellow official who had been prefect there. When Chen was transferred to the southern capital, Su Shi gave a farewell banquet at the bamboo pavilion on Solitary Hill — a place he had built with the monk who lived there — and wrote this lyric. The piece belongs to the group of Su Shi's middle-period works in which the bold style and the graceful style meet.

此词写送别，以婉约写送别，是苏轼的名篇。苏轼（1037—1101），字子瞻，号东坡居士，眉州眉山（今四川眉山）人，北宋文学家、书画家，唐宋八大家之一，与辛弃疾并称「苏辛」。此词为苏轼送别诗友陈襄（字述古）之作。陈襄出知杭州，与苏轼交好，苏轼任杭州通判时，陈襄调任南都（应天府），苏轼在孤山竹阁为其饯行，作此词送之。上片写翠蛾羞黛而怯人看，掩霜纨而泪偷弹；且尽一尊而收泪唱阳关；漫道帝城天样远，天易见而见君难。下片写画堂新构近孤山，曲阑干而为谁安；飞絮落花，春色属明年；欲棹小舟寻旧事，无处问而水连天。此词写饯别：「翠蛾羞黛怯人看，掩霜纨，泪偷弹」写翠蛾羞黛怯人看、掩霜纨、泪偷弹——写尽饯别的泪眼（翠蛾羞黛怯人看，掩霜纨，泪偷弹）；「且尽一尊，收泪唱阳关」写且尽一尊、收泪唱阳关——写尽阳关的骊歌（且尽一尊，收泪唱阳关）；「漫道帝城天样远，天易见，见君难」写漫道帝城天样远、天易见、见君难——写尽见君的艰难（漫道帝城天样远，天易见，见君难）；「画堂新构近孤山，曲阑干，为谁安」写画堂新构近孤山、曲阑干、为谁安——写尽曲阑的孤山（画堂新构近孤山，曲阑干，为谁安）；「飞絮落花，春色属明年」写飞絮落花、春色属明年——写尽明年的春色（飞絮落花，春色属明年）；「欲棹小舟寻旧事，无处问，水连天」写欲棹小舟寻旧事、无处问、水连天——写尽无问的旧事（欲棹小舟寻旧事，无处问，水连天）。全词以婉约写送别，写尽饯别的泪眼与送行的春色，是理解苏轼送别词的重要篇章。

Art

The poem works by keeping the grief in objects rather than in feeling. The singing girl's stolen tear is hidden, the cup is drained by command, the song of Yang Pass is a quotation from a predecessor; and in the second stanza Su Shi turns to the pavilion, the balustrade, the willow down, the petals, the boat and the water. The rhetorical climax, 'the sky is easy to see, seeing you is hard', is built as a couple of unequal clauses so that the second one lands as a correction. The ending is the most controlled thing in the poem: three short phrases — 'no place to ask', 'the water', 'the sky' — state a wish and then deny it in the same breath, so the poem closes on the landscape rather than on the friend.

此词的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以细节写泪眼。「翠蛾羞黛怯人看」以细节写泪眼——那「掩霜纨、泪偷弹」写尽偷弹的粉泪，以细节写尽饯别的泪眼。其二，以用典写骊歌。「收泪唱阳关」以用典写骊歌——那「阳关」用《阳关三叠》典写骊歌，以用典写尽阳关的骊歌。其三，以对照写见难。「天易见，见君难」以对照写见难——那「天易见」写尽见天的容易，以对照写尽见君的艰难。其四，以景语写离情。「飞絮落花，春色属明年」以景语写离情——那「飞絮落花」写尽落花的春色，以景语写尽明年的春色。此外，此词上片写饯别的泪眼，下片写送行的春色，由泪及景，正是送别词「以泪写别」的写法。四重手法，使此词以婉约写送别，写尽饯别的泪眼与送行的春色，是苏轼的代表作。此词还善于以「且尽一尊，收泪唱阳关」的「且尽」写尽酒之快——那「且尽一尊」写尽一尊的快饮，正是以酒写别，以「且尽」写尽阳关的骊歌。又善以「欲棹小舟寻旧事」的「寻旧事」写寻旧之痴——欲棹小舟寻旧事，正见寻访旧游的痴情，以「寻旧事」写尽无问的旧事。

Allusions

'Sing of Yang Pass' is the parting song known in three stanzas, written by Wang Wei from a line of his poem 'Farewell to Yuan Er on His Mission to Anxi', and it is the standard farewell formula of Tang and Song verse. 'Sky' and 'judging' both point to the convention of 'the edge of the sky' as the far end of the world, which makes the sky easy to see. 'Solitary Hill' carries the memory of the hermit Lin Bu who lived there in a boat. 'Willow down' is the plant whose name sounds like the word for parting, and 'next year's spring' answers the many farewell poems that console a friend by promising him another spring.

此词的用语深植于送别与婉约传统。「翠蛾」令人想到「翠蛾」写翠眉的意象——也令人想到「蛾眉」的意象；「羞黛」令人想到「羞黛」写含羞黛眉的意象——也令人想到「黛眉」的意象；「霜纨」令人想到「霜纨」写白绢的意象——也令人想到「纨扇」的意象；「阳关」令人想到「阳关」写《阳关三叠》的意象——王维《送元二使安西》，也令人想到「劝君更尽一杯酒」的意象；「帝城」令人想到「帝城」写帝都的意象——也令人想到「长安」的意象；「孤山」令人想到「孤山」写杭州孤山的意象——也令人想到「孤山处士」（林逋）的意象。全词化用翠蛾、羞黛、霜纨、阳关、帝城、孤山的意象，以婉约写送别，正是苏轼「清旷」而善婉约、承送别传统写离情之本领。「翠蛾」令人想到「翠蛾」写翠眉的意象——也令人想到「蛾眉」「翠黛」的意象；「霜纨」令人想到「霜纨」写白绢的意象——也令人想到班婕妤《团扇诗》「常恐秋节至」的意象，以霜纨写掩泪之巾。「阳关」令人想到「阳关」写《阳关三叠》的意象——王维《送元二使安西》「西出阳关无故人」，也令人想到「阳关三叠」的意象，以阳关写骊歌之凄。

Commentary

Qing readers described the lyric as 'lingering and deep' (chan mian shen wan), and modern readers quote 'the sky is easy to see, seeing you is hard' as the line that explains the poem's odd, compressed grief. Its importance is as a farewell written by a poet who never wrote conventional farewells: instead of promising a further meeting, it produces an inventory of things that cannot be used — a railing built for nobody, a boat with nowhere to ask. It is usually placed beside Su Shi's 'Jiang Cheng Zi' of the tenth month, the dream of his dead wife, where the same tune is used for a grief with no consolation at all.

此词历来被推为苏轼送别词的名篇，也是宋词写送别离情的代表。历代论者对此词评价极高：清人评此词「以婉约写送别，缠绵深婉」；近人更指出「漫道帝城天样远，天易见，见君难」写见君的艰难，是此词的名句。在词史上，此词的特殊价值在于：它以两片的中调写尽饯别的泪眼与送行的春色——那翠蛾，那羞黛，那怯人看，那掩霜纨，那泪偷弹，那且尽一尊，那收泪唱阳关，那漫道帝城，那天样远，那天易见，那见君难，那画堂新构，那近孤山，那曲阑干，那为谁安，那飞絮，那落花，那春色属明年，那欲棹小舟，那寻旧事，那无处问，那水连天，都写尽了苏轼笔下的江城子；那「春色属明年」更以景语写尽明年的春色。此词与苏轼《江城子·乙卯正月二十日夜记梦》（「十年生死两茫茫」）同为江城子名篇，一写「相顾无言，惟有泪千行」的悼亡（记梦），一写「收泪唱阳关」的送别（送述古）；又与王维《送元二使安西》「劝君更尽一杯酒」的送别传统一脉相承，可见中国词写送别的传统。对于今日读者，此词是理解苏轼送别词的窗口，也是宋词写送别离情的经典——那连天的水色，穿越千年，仍在诉说着送行的春色。

Prosody

Form Ci to the tune 'Jiang Cheng Zi' (江城子), two stanzas of the middle length词·江城子

Rhyme A single level-tone chain: kan (seen), tan (to dry), guan (pass), nan (hard), shan (hill), an (safeguard), nian (year), tian (sky)江城子，押「看」「弹」「关」「难」「山」「安」「年」「天」韵（平声），平韵到底

Tone pattern Long, open level vowels; the rhyme is wide, so the verse seems to keep talking rather than to sing, which is appropriate to a toast at a farewell.此词为江城子词调，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节缠绵，正合送别的缠绵。

Reading note The tune is unusual in allowing short clauses, and here it is used to produce the poem's breathless, half-escaped phrases: 'steals a tear', 'seeing you is hard', 'for whom was it set up', 'nowhere to ask'. Each of these ends or begins without completing the sentence, and the level rhymes give them time to hang. Read 'wipe the tears and sing of Yang Pass' briskly, then let 'the sky is easy to see, seeing you is hard' slow down; the uneven line lengths are what keep this lyric from sounding like a lament.此词为江城子词调，两片——上片「翠蛾羞黛怯人看，掩霜纨，泪偷弹。且尽一尊，收泪唱阳关。漫道帝城天样远，天易见，见君难」；下片「画堂新构近孤山，曲阑干，为谁安。飞絮落花，春色属明年。欲棹小舟寻旧事，无处问，水连天」，押平韵（看、弹、关、难、山、安、年、天），一韵到底，音节缠绵。全词以婉约写送别：上片写饯别的泪眼（翠蛾羞黛怯人看、收泪唱阳关），下片写送行的春色（画堂新构近孤山、春色属明年）。两片短章，前写泪眼，后写春色，以「春色属明年」写尽明年的春色，正见苏轼「清旷」而善婉约的本色。诵读此词，宜以缠绵的语调读「掩霜纨，泪偷弹」的泪眼，以低回的语调读「春色属明年」的春色，结句要读得缠绵而有余韵，方能传达出苏轼的缠绵深婉。苏轼词以「清旷」著称，此词正是其送别词的典范。

Line by line

漫道帝城天样远，天易见，见君难

Do not say the capital is as far as the sky; the sky is easy to see, but seeing you is hard.

漫道帝城天样远，天易见，见君难。

Do not say the capital is distant as the sky; the sky is easy to see, but seeing you is hard.

此句是全词写见难的核心，以漫道帝城天样远写天样远，以天易见、见君难写见君难，写尽见君的艰难，是千古名句。「漫道帝城天样远」写漫道帝城天样远——那「漫道帝城」写漫道帝城，「天样远」写天样远，写尽帝城的遥远；「天易见，见君难」写天易见、见君难——那「天易见」写天易见，「见君难」写见君难，写尽见君的艰难。这句的深意在于：它以「漫道帝城天样远」的天样远与「天易见，见君难」的见君难，写尽见君的艰难——漫道帝城天样远，那「漫道帝城天样远」写尽帝城的遥远——漫道帝城，正是莫说帝城的写照，那「天样远」写尽见君的艰难；天易见，见君难，那「天易见，见君难」写尽见君的艰难——天易见而见君难，正是天可见君难见的写照，那「见君难」写尽见君的艰难；那「漫道帝城天样远」写尽帝城的遥远，那「天易见，见君难」写尽见君的艰难，一写天远，一写见难，写尽见君的艰难——帝城天远而见君更难，正是离别的写照；此句以天远、见难写尽见君的艰难，也让此句成为全词写见难的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「别说京城远得像天一样，天还容易见，见你却难」，则失其巧思；唯以「漫道帝城天样远」写天样远、「天易见，见君难」写见君难，写尽见君的艰难，也让此句成为全词写见难的核心。

The seeing. Do not say the capital is distant as the sky; the sky is easy to see, but seeing you is hard. The capital's sky-distance against the sky-easy-to-see but you-hard-to-see is the parting point. To have said the capital was far but the friend was farther would be a saying; the do-not-say-the-capital-is-distant-as-the-sky against the sky-easy-to-see-seeing-you-hard is the saying.

飞絮落花，春色属明年

Flying willow down and fallen petals: the splendour of spring belongs to next year.

飞絮落花，春色属明年。

Catkins fly, flowers fall; the spring color belongs to next year.

此二句是全词写春色的核心，以飞絮落花写落花，以春色属明年写明年，写尽明年的春色，是千古名句。「飞絮落花」写飞絮落花——那「飞絮」写飞絮，「落花」写落花，写尽飞絮的落花；「春色属明年」写春色属明年——那「春色属」写春色属，「明年」写明年，写尽明年的春色。这句的深意在于：它以「飞絮落花」的落花与「春色属明年」的明年，写尽明年的春色——飞絮落花，那「飞絮落花」写尽飞絮的落花——飞絮落花，正是暮春飞絮的写照，那「落花」写尽明年的春色；春色属明年，那「春色属明年」写尽明年的春色——春色属明年，正是春色留待明年的写照，那「明年」写尽明年的春色；那「飞絮落花」写尽飞絮的落花，那「春色属明年」写尽明年的春色，一写落花，一写明年，写尽明年的春色——飞絮落花而春色明年，正是别后之春的写照；此二句以落花、明年写尽明年的春色，也让此二句成为全词写春色的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「柳絮飞、花儿落，春天要等到明年了」，则失其深婉；唯以「飞絮落花」写落花、「春色属明年」写明年，写尽明年的春色，也让此二句成为全词写春色的核心。

Next year. Catkins fly, flowers fall; the spring color belongs to next year. The falling catkins and the spring deferred to next year are the post-parting spring. To have said the spring was over would be a statement; the flying-catkins-falling-flowers against the spring-color-belongs-to-next-year is the statement.

Study

Word focus

偷 In 掩霜纨，泪偷弹, 偷 means to do something on the sly. The tear is not wiped away but produced privately, hidden behind the white fan, so 偷 records both the shame of weeping at a banquet and the effort not to be found doing it; one word makes the performance of compositeness part of the picture. 「掩霜纨，泪偷弹」之「偷」字是写泪眼的关键词，一个「偷」字写尽偷弹的粉泪。偷者，偷偷、暗自也。苏轼以「掩霜纨，泪偷弹」写泪眼，这个「偷」字至少有双重意味：其一，写泪之偷——那「掩霜纨，泪偷弹」写掩霜纨、泪偷弹，那「偷」字写尽偷弹的粉泪——泪偷弹，正是暗中弹泪的写照，那「偷」字写尽饯别的泪眼；其二，写情之忍——那「偷」字更是写忍——偷，正见强忍泪水的深婉，那「偷」字写尽苏轼的婉约。以「偷」字写泪眼，正是苏轼写送别的枢纽——若换作「暗」「悄」等字，则或失其与「掩霜纨」「泪偷弹」的配合，或失其写偷的意味；唯「偷」字，以掩霜纨泪偷弹写尽粉泪之偷弹与强忍之深婉，与「收泪唱阳关」的收泪相合，写尽饯别的泪眼，也让「掩霜纨，泪偷弹」成为全词写泪眼的名句。

难 In 天易见，见君难, 难 is the word the whole couplet is built on: the sky can be seen, the friend cannot. By putting 易 (easy) and 难 (hard) side by side the poet reduces the farewell to a comparison of two kinds of meeting, and the hardness is no longer geographical but personal. 「天易见，见君难」之「难」字是写离情的关键词，一个「难」字写尽见君的艰难。难者，艰难、难得也。苏轼以「天易见，见君难」写离情，这个「难」字至少有双重意味：其一，写见之难——那「天易见，见君难」写天易见、见君难，那「难」字写尽见君的艰难——见君难，正是君面难见的写照，那「难」字写尽饯别的泪眼；其二，写情之重——那「难」字更是写重——难，正见离情之重的深挚，那「难」字写尽苏轼的婉约。以「难」字写离情，正是苏轼写送别的枢纽——若换作「艰」「苦」等字，则或失其与「天易见」「见君难」的配合，或失其写难的意味；唯「难」字，以天易见见君难写尽见君之艰难与离情之深挚，与「天样远」的天远相合，写尽饯别的泪眼，也让「天易见，见君难」成为全词写离情的名句。