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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

浪淘沙·帘外五更风

To the Tune 'Rippling Waves': Wind at the Fifth Watch Outside the Curtain

李清照

Li Qingzhao

闺怨Boudoir Longing 感怀Recollection

帘外五更风,吹梦无踪。
画楼重上与谁同?
记得玉钗斜拨火,宝篆成空。
回首紫金峰,雨润烟浓。
一江春浪醉醒中。
留得罗襟前日泪,弹与征鸿。

Outside the curtain, the wind of the fifth watch;
It blows the dream away, with no trace.
Climbing the painted tower again - who is with me?
I remember the jade hairpin, tilted, stirring the fire; the carved incense has burned to empty air.
Turning back - the Purple Gold Peak,
Wet with rain, thick with mist.
A river of spring waves, in waking or in drink.
What remains of the tears I shed the other day on my silk robe:
I wipe them for the wild geese flying north.
Listen

Meaning

At the fifth watch a wind outside the curtain scatters the dream. Climbing the painted tower again, the question is with whom. A memory opens: the jade hairpin tilted to stir the fire, and the incense that has burned to nothing. Turning back, the peak is wet with rain under thick mist, and a river of spring waves rolls under them. The tears once shed on the silk robe are still there, but they can only be handed to the wild geese flying past. The poem gathers a mourning for the dead husband out of the ordinary furniture of a sleepless night.

帘外五更风,吹梦无踪。 画楼重上与谁同? 记得玉钗斜拨火,宝篆成空。 回首紫金峰,雨润烟浓。 一江春浪醉醒中。 留得罗襟前日泪,弹与征鸿。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The wind at the fifth watch finishes off the dream. Someone climbs the painted tower again and finds no company; a memory of the hairpin stirring the fire returns while the incense is already gone. Behind them the peak is wet and misty, the spring river heaves, and the tears on the robes have nowhere to go except out with the wild geese.<br>[Structure] The upper stanza works outward from the wind that takes the dream away; the lower stanza turns from the sleeping room to the river and lets the tears leave on the geese.<br>[Imagery] Almost everything is domestic or geographical - hairpin, incense, robe, tower, peak, river - and each carries a piece of the past without ever being called a memory.<br>[Technique] The dream is what is lost; the recollection is what remains, and by the end the two are mingled, since the wind that blew the dream away is the same wind outside the curtain.

【白话串讲】 李清照写《浪淘沙·帘外五更风》:“帘外五更风,吹梦无踪”——“画楼重上与谁同”——“记得玉钗斜拨火,宝篆成空”——“回首紫金峰,雨润烟浓”——“留得罗襟前日泪,弹与征鸿”——她写梦醒后的孤寂。 【意象与手法】 此词写怀人,以愁绪写怀人,是李清照的名篇。上片写独上画楼:「帘外五更风,吹梦无踪。画楼重上与谁同?记得玉钗斜拨火,宝篆成空」写帘外五更风、吹梦无踪——写尽吹梦的五更风;下片写回首紫金峰:「回首紫金峰,雨润烟浓。一江春浪醉醒中。留得罗襟前日泪,弹与征鸿」写回首紫金峰、雨润烟浓——写尽紫金的烟浓。全词以愁绪写怀人,写尽吹梦的五更风与紫金的烟浓,是李清照的代表作。 【情感与主旨】 此词写怀人,以愁绪写怀人,是李清照的名篇。此词写李清照对亡夫赵明诚的思念,有论者以为悼亡之作。赵明诚逝后,李清照怀念不已,五更风起,吹梦无踪,独上画楼,回首紫金峰(紫金山,在今南京),一江春浪,泪弹征鸿。此词写帘外五更风、吹梦无踪;画楼重上与谁同;记得玉钗斜拨火、宝篆成空;回首紫金峰、雨润烟浓;一江春浪醉醒中;留得罗襟前日泪、弹与征鸿。此词写独上画楼:帘外五更风,吹梦无踪——写帘外五更风、吹梦无踪,写尽吹梦的五更风;画楼重上与谁同——写画楼重上与谁同,写尽与谁的重上;记得玉钗斜拨火,宝篆成空——写记得玉钗斜拨火、宝篆成空,写尽成空的宝篆;回首紫金峰,雨润烟浓——写回首紫金峰、雨润烟浓,写尽紫金的烟浓;一江春浪醉醒中——写一江春浪醉醒中,写尽醉醒的春浪;留得罗襟前日泪,弹与征鸿——写留得罗襟前日泪、弹与征鸿,写尽弹泪的征鸿。全词以愁绪写怀人——那「吹梦无踪」写尽吹梦的五更风,「弹与征鸿」写尽弹泪的征鸿,写尽吹梦的五更风与紫金的烟浓,是理解李清照悼亡词的重要篇章。 【名句点睛】 常考「帘外五更风,吹梦无踪」写吹梦的五更风;「留得罗襟前日泪,弹与征鸿」写弹泪的征鸿;以及全词以愁绪写怀人、以设问写离情的手法。

Background

Li Qingzhao (1084 to about 1155), styled Yi'an jushi, was from Zhangqiu in Shandong and is known as the foremost woman poet of the Song and often as the first talent of her age. She married Zhao Mingcheng, and their years together were spent on antiquarian books and a shared taste; after he died and after the capital fell to the Jurchen, she was left alone, wandering in the south and rebuilding her collection from fragments. This lyric is generally read as a poem to her dead husband, and its furniture - the tower climbed alone, the incense burnt out, the tears given to the geese - fits that reading.

此词写怀人,以愁绪写怀人,是李清照的名篇。李清照(1084—约1155),号易安居士,齐州章丘(今山东济南)人,宋代婉约派词人,有「千古第一才女」之称。此词写李清照对亡夫赵明诚的思念,有论者以为悼亡之作。赵明诚逝后,李清照怀念不已,五更风起,吹梦无踪,独上画楼,回首紫金峰(紫金山,在今南京),一江春浪,泪弹征鸿。此词写帘外五更风、吹梦无踪;画楼重上与谁同;记得玉钗斜拨火、宝篆成空;回首紫金峰、雨润烟浓;一江春浪醉醒中;留得罗襟前日泪、弹与征鸿。此词写独上画楼:「帘外五更风,吹梦无踪」写帘外五更风、吹梦无踪——写尽吹梦的五更风(帘外五更风,吹梦无踪);「画楼重上与谁同」写画楼重上与谁同——写尽与谁的重上(画楼重上与谁同);「记得玉钗斜拨火,宝篆成空」写记得玉钗斜拨火、宝篆成空——写尽成空的宝篆(记得玉钗斜拨火,宝篆成空);「回首紫金峰,雨润烟浓」写回首紫金峰、雨润烟浓——写尽紫金的烟浓(回首紫金峰,雨润烟浓);「一江春浪醉醒中」写一江春浪醉醒中——写尽醉醒的春浪(一江春浪醉醒中);「留得罗襟前日泪,弹与征鸿」写留得罗襟前日泪、弹与征鸿——写尽弹泪的征鸿(留得罗襟前日泪,弹与征鸿)。全词以愁绪写怀人,写尽吹梦的五更风与紫金的烟浓,是理解李清照悼亡词的重要篇章。

Art

The poem proceeds by loss. The wind takes the dream; climbing the tower produces a question with no answer; the memory of the hairpin and the fire recalls a household that has ended, and the word for the incense is precisely the one that says it has gone. The two lines about the peak and the spring river move the scene from indoors to a landscape that will not notice any of it. The final couplet applies the classic image of writing on a letter and sending it with a wild goose, but reverses it: the tears are not carried out, only wiped toward the geese, which is to say they are not carried anywhere. That small frustration is the poem's ending. The voice throughout is plain and low, with no rhetorical point made at any stage.

此词的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一,以景语写五更风。「帘外五更风」以景语写五更风——那「吹梦无踪」写尽吹梦的清风,以景语写尽吹梦的五更风。其二,以设问写独上。「画楼重上与谁同」以设问写独上——那「与谁同」写尽与谁的重上,以设问写尽与谁的重上。其三,以追忆写宝篆。「记得玉钗斜拨火」以追忆写宝篆——那「宝篆成空」写尽成空的宝篆,以追忆写尽成空的宝篆。其四,以托物写泪痕。「弹与征鸿」以托物写泪痕——那「罗襟前日泪」写尽前日的泪痕,以托物写尽弹泪的征鸿。此外,此词上片写吹梦的五更风,下片写紫金的烟浓,由风及泪,正是怀人词「以泪写情」的写法。四重手法,使此词以愁绪写怀人,写尽吹梦的五更风与紫金的烟浓,是李清照的代表作。此词还善于以「画楼重上与谁同」的「重上」写重上之独——那「画楼重上」写尽重上的画楼,正是以重写独,以「与谁同」写尽与谁的重上。又善以「记得玉钗斜拨火」的「记得」写追忆之深——记得玉钗斜拨火,正见往事的追忆,以「记得」写尽成空的宝篆。

Allusions

The wild geese of the closing line belong to the tradition of sending letters north on a goose's wing, a convention Li Qingzhao herself uses elsewhere when she speaks of the geese returning with a letter. The painted tower descends from the Tang habit of writing about beautiful towers, as in the line about the painted tower east of the cassia hall. The jade hairpin and the carved incense are plain objects, but the incense shape known as the precious seal suggests the writing of a name into smoke that then vanishes. The fifth watch is the depth of the night and the hour when a sleepless house is at its quietest and loudest in memory.

此词的用语深植于怀人与愁绪传统。「五更风」令人想到「五更风」写五更风的意象——也令人想到「夜半钟声到客船」(张继)的意象;「画楼」令人想到「画楼」写华美楼阁的意象——也令人想到「画楼西畔桂堂东」(李商隐)的意象;「玉钗」令人想到「玉钗」写玉钗的意象——也令人想到「玉钗头上风」的意象;「宝篆」令人想到「宝篆」写盘香的意象——篆字盘香,也令人想到「篆香」的意象;「紫金峰」令人想到「紫金峰」写紫金山的意象——在今南京,也令人想到「钟山」的意象;「征鸿」令人想到「征鸿」写远飞鸿雁的意象——也令人想到「雁字回时」(李清照)的意象。全词化用五更风、画楼、玉钗、宝篆、紫金峰、征鸿的意象,以愁绪写怀人,正是李清照「婉约」而善白描、承悼亡传统写愁绪之本领。「玉钗」令人想到「玉钗」写玉钗的意象——也令人想到「钗头凤」的意象;「宝篆」令人想到「宝篆」写盘香的意象——篆字盘香如宝篆,也令人想到「篆香袅袅」的意象,以宝篆写成空之香。

Commentary

Regarded as one of Li Qingzhao's finest lyrics on longing and often placed among her mourning poems. Qing readers admired its heavy, restrained grief; later commentators note how little of the poem is devoted to grief itself - one line of direct feeling in eight - and that its power comes from the accumulation of small objects. It is usually read with Wuling Spring, where the same poet weighs a whole life in the image of a boat that cannot hold her sorrow, and with Su Shi's Song of the Jiang City, which opens the same tradition of writing about a dead wife.

此词历来被推为李清照悼亡词的名篇,也是宋词写怀人愁绪的代表。历代论者对此词评价极高:清人评此词「以愁绪写怀人,沉痛深婉」;近人更指出「留得罗襟前日泪,弹与征鸿」写弹泪的征鸿,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吹梦的五更风与紫金的烟浓——那帘外,那五更风,那吹梦,那无踪,那画楼,那重上,那与谁同,那记得,那玉钗斜拨火,那宝篆成空,那回首,那紫金峰,那雨润烟浓,那一江春浪,那醉醒中,那留得罗襟,那前日泪,那弹与,那征鸿,都写尽了李清照笔下的浪淘沙;那「弹与征鸿」更以托物写尽弹泪的征鸿。此词与李清照《武陵春》(「风住尘香花已尽」)同为怀人名篇,一写「只恐双溪舴艋舟」的春愁(武陵春),一写「吹梦无踪」的怀人(浪淘沙);又与苏轼《江城子》「十年生死两茫茫」的悼亡传统一脉相承,可见中国词写悼亡的传统。对于今日读者,此词是理解李清照悼亡词的窗口,也是宋词写怀人愁绪的经典——那弹泪的征鸿,穿越千年,仍在诉说着紫金的烟浓。

Prosody

Form Ci - the tune 'Rippling Waves' (Lang Tao Sha), two stanzas词·浪淘沙
Rhyme Level-tone rhymes throughout - feng (wind), zong (trace), tong (with), kong (empty), nong (mist), zhong (among), hong (geese) - one level rhyme carried across both stanzas.浪淘沙,押「风」「踪」「同」「空」「浓」「中」「鸿」韵(平声),平韵到底
Tone pattern The sustained level rhymes, with no oblique rhyme anywhere, hold the whole lyric on one long undulating sound, which suits grief that neither rises nor resolves.此词为浪淘沙词调,押平声韵,一韵到底,音节沉痛,正合怀人的沉痛。
Reading note A medium-length lyric in two stanzas, the upper dealing with the wind and the lost dream and the lower with the peak, the river and the tears. The rhyme words are almost all in the same open group, so the sound itself does not change tempo. Read the first line short and sharp, and the closing line with a long pause after 'north'.此词为浪淘沙词调,两片——上片「帘外五更风,吹梦无踪。画楼重上与谁同?记得玉钗斜拨火,宝篆成空」;下片「回首紫金峰,雨润烟浓。一江春浪醉醒中。留得罗襟前日泪,弹与征鸿」,押平韵(风、踪、同、空、浓、中、鸿),一韵到底,音节沉痛。全词以愁绪写怀人:上片写吹梦的五更风(帘外五更风、宝篆成空),下片写紫金的烟浓(回首紫金峰、弹与征鸿)。两片短章,前写五更风,后写泪痕,以「弹与征鸿」写尽弹泪的征鸿,正见李清照「婉约」的本色。诵读此词,宜以沉痛的语调读「吹梦无踪」的五更风,以低回的语调读「弹与征鸿」的泪痕,结句要读得沉痛而有余韵,方能传达出李清照的沉痛深婉。李清照词以「婉约」著称,此词正是其悼亡词的典范。

Line by line

留得罗襟前日泪,弹与征鸿

What remains of the tears I shed the other day on my silk robe: I wipe them for the wild geese flying north.

留得罗襟前日泪,弹与征鸿。

I have kept on my silk lapel the tears of yesterday; I will flick them to the distant wild geese.

此二句是全词写泪痕的核心,以留得罗襟前日泪写前日泪,以弹与征鸿写征鸿,写尽弹泪的征鸿,是千古名句。「留得罗襟前日泪」写留得罗襟前日泪——那「留得罗襟」写留得罗襟,「前日泪」写前日泪,写尽前日的泪痕;「弹与征鸿」写弹与征鸿——那「弹与」写弹与,「征鸿」写征鸿,写尽弹泪的征鸿。这句的深意在于:它以「留得罗襟前日泪」的前日泪与「弹与征鸿」的征鸿,写尽弹泪的征鸿——留得罗襟前日泪,那「留得罗襟前日泪」写尽前日的泪痕——留得罗襟,正是罗襟留泪的写照,那「前日泪」写尽弹泪的征鸿;弹与征鸿,那「弹与征鸿」写尽弹泪的征鸿——弹与征鸿,正是弹泪寄雁的写照,那「征鸿」写尽弹泪的征鸿;那「留得罗襟前日泪」写尽前日的泪痕,那「弹与征鸿」写尽弹泪的征鸿,一写留泪,一写弹鸿,写尽弹泪的征鸿——罗襟留泪而弹与征鸿,正是怀人的写照;此二句以罗襟、征鸿写尽弹泪的征鸿,也让此二句成为全词写泪痕的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「罗襟上还留着前天的泪,擦掉弹给远飞的鸿雁」,则失其沉痛;唯以「留得罗襟前日泪」写前日泪、「弹与征鸿」写征鸿,写尽弹泪的征鸿,也让此二句成为全词写泪痕的核心。

The tears. I have kept on my silk lapel the tears of yesterday; I will flick them to the distant wild geese. The kept tears of yesterday and the flicked-to-the-wild-geese are the unsendable longing. To have said she flicked her tears to the geese would be a gesture; the kept-on-the-silk-lapel-the-tears-of-yesterday against the flick-to-the-distant-wild-geese is the gesture.

帘外五更风,吹梦无踪

Outside the curtain, the wind of the fifth watch; it blows the dream away, with no trace.

帘外五更风,吹梦无踪。

Beyond the curtains, the fifth-watch wind blows; it blows the dream away without a trace.

此二句是全词写五更风的核心,以帘外五更风写五更风,以吹梦无踪写无踪,写尽吹梦的五更风,是千古名句。「帘外五更风」写帘外五更风——那「帘外」写帘外,「五更风」写五更风,写尽帘外的五更风;「吹梦无踪」写吹梦无踪——那「吹梦」写吹梦,「无踪」写无踪,写尽吹梦的无踪。这句的深意在于:它以「帘外五更风」的五更风与「吹梦无踪」的无踪,写尽吹梦的五更风——帘外五更风,那「帘外五更风」写尽帘外的五更风——帘外五更风,正是帘外晨风的写照,那「五更风」写尽吹梦的五更风;吹梦无踪,那「吹梦无踪」写尽吹梦的无踪——吹梦无踪,正是吹散残梦的写照,那「无踪」写尽吹梦的五更风;那「帘外五更风」写尽帘外的五更风,那「吹梦无踪」写尽吹梦的无踪,一写五更风,一写吹梦,写尽吹梦的五更风——五更风起而吹梦无踪,正是怀人的写照;此二句以五更风、吹梦写尽吹梦的五更风,也为下文的画楼作铺垫,也让此二句成为全词写五更风的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「帘外五更的风,把梦都吹得无影无踪了」,则失其深婉;唯以「帘外五更风」写五更风、「吹梦无踪」写无踪,写尽吹梦的五更风,也让此二句成为全词写五更风的核心。

The wind. Beyond the curtains, the fifth-watch wind blows; it blows the dream away without a trace. The fifth-watch wind and the dream-blown-without-trace are Li Qingzhao's dawn. To have described the early morning wind would be scenery; the beyond-the-curtains-fifth-watch-wind against the blows-the-dream-away-without-a-trace is the scenery.

Study

Word focus

无 'Nothing' - wu; wu zong, without a trace, here the dream having gone without leaving anything behind. 「吹梦无踪」之「无」字是写吹梦的关键词,一个「无」字写尽吹梦的无踪。无者,没有、无有也。李清照以「吹梦无踪」写吹梦,这个「无」字至少有双重意味:其一,写踪之无——那「吹梦无踪」写吹梦无踪,那「无」字写尽吹梦的无踪——无踪,正是踪迹全无的写照,那「无」字写尽吹梦的五更风;其二,写情之失——那「无」字更是写失——无,正见梦失无着的怅惘,那「无」字写尽李清照的愁绪。以「无」字写吹梦,正是李清照写怀人的枢纽——若换作「没」「不」等字,则或失其与「吹梦」「踪」的配合,或失其写无的意味;唯「无」字,以吹梦无踪写尽残梦之无踪与梦失之怅惘,与「帘外五更风」的五更风相合,写尽吹梦的五更风,也让「吹梦无踪」成为全词写吹梦的名句。
弹 'Wipe, flick' - tan; to flick something off the sleeve, so the phrase is to flick the tears out toward the flying geese. 「弹与征鸿」之「弹」字是写泪痕的关键词,一个「弹」字写尽弹泪的征鸿。弹者,弹拭、弹落也。李清照以「弹与征鸿」写泪痕,这个「弹」字至少有双重意味:其一,写泪之弹——那「弹与征鸿」写弹与征鸿,那「弹」字写尽弹泪的征鸿——弹与征鸿,正是弹泪寄雁的写照,那「弹」字写尽弹泪的征鸿;其二,写情之托——那「弹」字更是写托——弹,正见托泪寄意的深情,那「弹」字写尽李清照的愁绪。以「弹」字写泪痕,正是李清照写怀人的枢纽——若换作「拭」「挥」等字,则或失其与「留得罗襟前日泪」「征鸿」的配合,或失其写弹的意味;唯「弹」字,以弹与征鸿写尽弹泪之寄雁与托泪之深情,与「留得罗襟前日泪」的前日泪相合,写尽弹泪的征鸿,也让「弹与征鸿」成为全词写泪痕的名句。

Related Reading

武陵春 武陵春 李清照 · 同李清照怀人名篇,一风住尘香一五更吹梦 Related reading

Compare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.

李清照《武陵春》「风住尘香花已尽,日晚倦梳头」写怀人,是李清照的名篇。此词《浪淘沙·帘外五更风》则「帘外五更风」写怀人。同为李清照怀人名篇,一写「只恐双溪舴艋舟」的载愁(武陵春),一写「吹梦无踪」的怀人(浪淘沙);一写暮春,一写五更。两词对读,可见李清照怀人词的两种境界。

浪淘沙令·帘外雨潺潺 To the Tune 'Rippling Waves': Rain Drizzles Outside the Curtain 李煜 · 同写浪淘沙帘外,一帘外雨潺潺一帘外五更风 Two lyrics of the same tune and the same opening scene - rain and wind outside the curtain

Li Yu's lyric of the same tune keeps to the same room and asks whether the spring is nearly over, and its dream is the one in which he does not know he is a captive; Li Qingzhao's replaces the rain with the fifth-watch wind and the withered spring with a river that rises. The tune and the setting are shared, the situation is not.

李煜《浪淘沙令》「帘外雨潺潺,春意阑珊」写怀人,是李煜的名篇。此词《浪淘沙·帘外五更风》则「帘外五更风」写怀人。同为写浪淘沙帘外,一写「梦里不知身是客」的春意(李煜浪淘沙),一写「吹梦无踪」的五更风(李清照浪淘沙);一写李煜,一写李清照。两词对读,可见宋词写浪淘沙的传统。