All poems

宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

临江仙·再用韵送祐之弟归浮梁

Linjiangxian: Sending My Younger Brother Youzhi Back to Fuliang, Again Using This Rhyme

辛弃疾

Xin Qiji

送别Farewell 哲理Philosophical reflection

钟鼎山林都是梦，人间宠辱休惊。
只消闲处过平生。
酒杯秋吸露，诗句夜裁冰。
记取小窗风雨夜，对床灯火多情。
问谁千里伴君行。
晚山眉样翠，秋水镜般明。

Bell and drum, mountain and forest — all of it is dream;
in this world, let honours and disgrace leave you unshaken.
Live out your life in quiet places, and that is enough.
In autumn the cup draws the dew; at night, lines of verse cut ice.
Remember the night of wind and rain by the small window,
when two beds shared one lamp and it was all so tender.
Ask: who will go a thousand li as your companion?
The evening hills are green as a brow; the autumn water bright as a mirror.

Listen

Meaning

Xin Qiji sends his younger brother Youzhi back to Fuliang, and the poem is an act of consolation rather than of lament. Wealth and official career, he says, and the life of a hermit alike, are dreams; let the brother refuse to be startled by favour or disgrace, and simply get through life in a quiet place, drinking the autumn dew and cutting lines of verse like ice at night. He then recalls the old nights of wind and rain by a small window with two beds and a single lamp, asks who will travel the thousand li with his brother, and closes on the green evening hills and the bright autumn water. The farewell is offered in the language of philosophical ease so that the parting may be borne.

钟鼎山林都是梦，人间宠辱休惊。只消闲处过平生。酒杯秋吸露，诗句夜裁冰。记取小窗风雨夜，对床灯火多情。问谁千里伴君行。晚山眉样翠，秋水镜般明。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The poem divides cleanly in two. The first half argues: everything ambitious and everything reclusive are equally illusory, so do not be knocked off balance by luck or insult, and do not aim at anything more than a quiet life. The second half keeps the argument but changes the temperature: it remembers a shared night of hardship, asks the brother's lonely question, and answers it with a landscape. [Structure] This is the commonshape of Chinese farewell verse written by men of substance — the first couplet rides a philosophical commonplace, and the last couplet saves the feeling by turning to scenery. [Imagery] Two sets of images do the work. The first is ascetic and cold: dew in the cup, lines of verse cut from ice. The second is intimate and warm: wind and rain, a small window, two beds, one lamp. [Emotion] The restraint is the point. Xin never says he will miss his brother; he expresses it by asking a question about someone else's journey and then looking away at the hills. That turning away is where the love is.

【白话串讲】辛弃疾写《临江仙·再用韵送祐之弟归浮梁》：“钟鼎山林都是梦，人间宠辱休惊”——“只消闲处过平生”——“酒杯秋吸露，诗句夜裁冰”——“记取小窗风雨夜，对床灯火多情”——“晚山眉样翠，秋水镜般明”——他送弟弟归浮梁——钟鼎山林都是梦。【意象与手法】此词写送别，以旷达写送别，是辛弃疾的名篇。上阕写旷达：「钟鼎山林都是梦，人间宠辱休惊。只消闲处过平生。酒杯秋吸露，诗句夜裁冰」写钟鼎山林都是梦、人间宠辱休惊——写尽人间宠辱的休惊；下阕写送行：「记取小窗风雨夜，对床灯火多情。问谁千里伴君行。晚山眉样翠，秋水镜般明」写记取小窗风雨夜、对床灯火多情——写尽对床灯火的夜。全词以旷达写送别，写尽人间宠辱的休惊与对床灯火的夜，是辛弃疾的代表作。【情感与主旨】此词写送别，以旷达写送别，是辛弃疾的名篇。此词为辛弃疾送其弟辛祐之归浮梁（今江西景德镇）而作，写其劝慰与送行。辛弃疾与弟祐之情深，此词写其送弟归乡。此词写钟鼎山林都是梦，人间宠辱休惊；只消闲处过平生；酒杯秋吸露，诗句夜裁冰；记取小窗风雨夜，对床灯火多情；问谁千里伴君行；晚山眉样翠，秋水镜般明。此词写旷达：钟鼎山林都是梦，人间宠辱休惊——写钟鼎山林都是梦、人间宠辱休惊，写尽人间宠辱的休惊；只消闲处过平生——写只消闲处过平生，写尽只消闲处的过平生；酒杯秋吸露，诗句夜裁冰——写酒杯秋吸露、诗句夜裁冰，写尽诗句夜裁冰的酒杯；记取小窗风雨夜，对床灯火多情——写记取小窗风雨夜、对床灯火多情，写尽对床灯火的夜；问谁千里伴君行——写问谁千里伴君行，写尽千里伴君的谁；晚山眉样翠，秋水镜般明——写晚山眉样翠、秋水镜般明，写尽秋水镜般的明。全词以旷达写送别——那「人间宠辱休惊」写尽人间宠辱的休惊，「对床灯火多情」写尽对床灯火的夜，写尽人间宠辱的休惊与对床灯火的夜，是理解辛弃疾送别词的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「钟鼎山林都是梦，人间宠辱休惊」写人间宠辱的休惊；「晚山眉样翠，秋水镜般明」写秋水镜般的明；以及全词以旷达写送别、以劝慰写旷达的手法。

Background

Xin Qiji (1140–1207), from Licheng in modern Jinan, is the greatest lyric poet of the Southern Song and is conventionally paired with Su Shi; with Li Qingzhao he is called one of the two 'quiet scholars' of Jinan. This ci was written when he saw his younger brother Xin Youzhi off on the road back to Fuliang, in modern Jingdezhen, Jiangxi — the title's 'again using this rhyme' marks it as one of a set of farewell poems exchanged with his brother. The brothers were close; Youzhi served as an official and was repeatedly sent away, and these parting poems form a small private sequence within Xin's corpus. The vocabulary of 'bell and drum' and 'mountain and forest' is drawn precisely from that set: office versus retirement, honour versus wood and water, and the offer to choose neither but a quiet middle.

此词写送别，以旷达写送别，是辛弃疾的名篇。辛弃疾（1140—1207），字幼安，号稼轩，历城（今山东济南）人，南宋豪放派词人，与苏轼并称「苏辛」，与李清照并称「济南二安」。此词为辛弃疾送其弟辛祐之归浮梁（今江西景德镇）而作，写其劝慰与送行。辛弃疾与弟祐之情深，此词写其送弟归乡。此词写钟鼎山林都是梦，人间宠辱休惊；只消闲处过平生；酒杯秋吸露，诗句夜裁冰；记取小窗风雨夜，对床灯火多情；问谁千里伴君行；晚山眉样翠，秋水镜般明。此词写旷达：「钟鼎山林都是梦，人间宠辱休惊」写钟鼎山林都是梦、人间宠辱休惊——写尽人间宠辱的休惊（钟鼎山林都是梦，人间宠辱休惊）；「只消闲处过平生」写只消闲处过平生——写尽只消闲处的过平生（只消闲处过平生）；「酒杯秋吸露，诗句夜裁冰」写酒杯秋吸露、诗句夜裁冰——写尽诗句夜裁冰的酒杯（酒杯秋吸露，诗句夜裁冰）；「记取小窗风雨夜，对床灯火多情」写记取小窗风雨夜、对床灯火多情——写尽对床灯火的夜（记取小窗风雨夜，对床灯火多情）；「问谁千里伴君行」写问谁千里伴君行——写尽千里伴君的谁（问谁千里伴君行）；「晚山眉样翠，秋水镜般明」写晚山眉样翠、秋水镜般明——写尽秋水镜般的明（晚山眉样翠，秋水镜般明）。全词以旷达写送别，写尽人间宠辱的休惊与对床灯火的夜，是理解辛弃疾送别词的重要篇章。

Art

The poem's central technique is turning a farewell into an argument that the farewell should be easy. It does this with four moves, each of which could stand alone. First, the discursive opening: 'bell and drum, mountain and forest, all of it is dream' is a philosophical Assertion in a lyric, and it is exactly the sort of thing the Song poets called writing prose in the form of a poem. Second, plain statement of a preferred life: 'live out your life in quiet places' offers not a refutation of ambition but a quieter alternative, which is more persuasive. Third, memory as consolation: the 'small window, wind and rain, two beds, one lamp' is the only warm passage, and it supplies the emotional return on the cold argument of the first half. Fourth, the mirrored close: the hills are compared to a woman's eyebrow and the water to a mirror, so that the brother's road is sent off in a picture of stillness. The two unwitting-like doubles in the middle — the dew and the ice — keep the tone light even while the subject is serious.

此词的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以议论写旷达。「钟鼎山林都是梦」以议论写旷达——那「人间宠辱休惊」写尽人间宠辱的休惊，以议论写尽人间宠辱的休惊。其二，以白描写闲居。「只消闲处过平生」以白描写闲居——那「酒杯秋吸露」写尽酒杯秋吸的露，以白描写尽只消闲处的过平生。其三，以回忆写多情。「记取小窗风雨夜」以回忆写多情——那「对床灯火多情」写尽对床灯火的夜，以回忆写尽对床灯火的夜。其四，以写景写送行。「晚山眉样翠」以写景写送行——那「秋水镜般明」写尽秋水镜般的明，以写景写尽秋水镜般的明。此外，此词上阕写人间宠辱的休惊，下阕写对床灯火的夜，由劝及送，正是送别词「以旷达写别」的写法。四重手法，使此词以旷达写送别，写尽人间宠辱的休惊与对床灯火的夜，是辛弃疾的代表作。又，此词以「酒杯秋吸露，诗句夜裁冰」写诗酒生涯，以「记取小窗风雨夜，对床灯火多情」写兄弟情谊，语淡而情深，正是辛词以小令写深情之处。

Allusions

Almost every noun in the first stanza belongs to a school of poetry rather than to nature. 'zhongding' (bells and tripod vessels) is shorthand for officialdom and the feasts that go with it. 'shanlin' (mountains and forest) is the older, non-official alternative — the reclusive life. 'chongru' is inherited directly from the Laozi, whose line on honour and disgrace is famously that both should be met with the same startled heart, and from the later maxim 'not shaken by honour or disgrace.' 'xilu' continues the Daoist habit of drinking dew, and 'caibing' extends the imagery of cold, pure composition. 'duichuang' carries the old promise of brothers sharing a bed through a stormy night. And 'meiyangcui' and 'jingbanming' are conventional courtly comparisons — the hills as a painted eyebrow, water as a polished mirror — used here to send the brother off with an image of calm.

此词的用语深植于送别与旷达传统。「钟鼎」令人想到「钟鼎」写钟鼎的意象——钟鸣鼎食，也令人想到「钟鸣鼎食」的意象；「山林」令人想到「山林」写山林的意象——也令人想到「山林隐逸」的意象；「宠辱」令人想到「宠辱」写宠辱的意象——《老子》宠辱若惊，也令人想到「宠辱不惊」的意象；「平生」令人想到「平生」写平生的意象——也令人想到「平生不解藏人善」的意象；「吸露」令人想到「吸露」写吸露的意象——也令人想到「餐霞饮露」的意象；「裁冰」令人想到「裁冰」写裁冰的意象——也令人想到「冰肌玉骨」的意象；「对床」令人想到「对床」写对床夜雨的意象——韦应物诗「宁知风雨夜，复此对床眠」，也令人想到「对床夜雨」的意象；「眉样翠」令人想到「眉样翠」写翠眉的意象——也令人想到「远山如黛」的意象；「秋水」令人想到「秋水」写秋水的意象——也令人想到「秋水共长天一色」（王勃）的意象；「镜般明」令人想到「镜般明」写镜明的意象——也令人想到「水清如镜」的意象。全词化用钟鼎、山林、宠辱、平生、吸露、裁冰、对床、眉样翠、秋水、镜般明的意象典故，以旷达写送别，正是辛弃疾「豪放」而善议论、承送别传统写旷达之本领。

Commentary

This is counted among the best farewell lyrics of the Southern Song, and modern readers single out 'bell and drum, mountain and forest, all of it is dream' as the line by which the poem is remembered. Qing critics valued the piece as 'a farewell written in an easy,-loose manner but with lofty boldness,' and the pairing of that cold opening with the warm memory of the small window is what makes the poem more than a decorative exercise. Its special station in the history of the form is that it keeps the philosophical mood of the Song lyric while still being a poem between two brothers — the public voice of a statesman who has given up, and the private voice of a man who has not finished grieving. Read alongside Xin's own 'Gutian Tian: Farewell to a Friend' (where the farewell is wept) and Su Shi's 'Linjiangxian: Returning to Lin Gao at Night,' the poem shows both halves of what a Song lyric can be.

此词历来被推为辛弃疾送别词的名篇，也是宋词写送弟归乡的代表。历代论者对此词评价极高：清人评此词「以旷达写送别，清旷豪放」；近人更指出「钟鼎山林都是梦，人间宠辱休惊」写人间宠辱的休惊，是此词的名句。在诗歌史上，此词的特殊价值在于：它以小令写尽人间宠辱的休惊与对床灯火的夜——那钟鼎，那山林，那都是梦，那人间，那宠辱，那休惊，那只消，那闲处，那过平生，那酒杯，那秋吸露，那诗句，那夜裁冰，那记取，那小窗，那风雨夜，那对床，那灯火，那多情，那问谁，那千里，那伴君行，那晚山，那眉样翠，那秋水，那镜般明，都写尽了辛弃疾笔下的临江仙再用韵送祐之弟归浮梁；那「秋水镜般明」更以写景写尽秋水镜般的明。此词与辛弃疾《鹧鸪天·送人》「唱彻《阳关》泪未干」同为送别名篇，一写「江头未是风波恶」的鹧鸪天送人，一写「人间宠辱休惊」的临江仙送祐之弟；一写泪别，一写旷达。两词对读，可见辛弃疾送别词的两面。对于今日读者，此词是理解辛弃疾送别词的窗口，也是宋词写送弟归乡的经典——那秋水镜般的明，穿越千年，仍在诉说着人间宠辱的休惊。

Prosody

Form Ci form: Linjiangxian, a short lyric of two stanzas of five lines each词·临江仙

Rhyme rhymes alike in the level tones of the -eng/-ing group — 'unshaken,' 'life,' 'ice' in the first stanza, and 'tender,' 'travel,' 'bright' in the second — carried on without a break for the whole piece.临江仙，上阕押「惊」「生」「冰」，下阕押「情」「行」「明」（庚青韵），一韵到底

Tone pattern The insistent, open vowels of this rhyme give the verse a wide, unhurried resonance, which matches the ease and lofty plainness of the argument; there are no abrupt stop rhymes anywhere, so nothing in the poem sounds like a reprimand.此词为临江仙小令，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节清旷，正合旷达的清旷。

Reading note The metre is the standard one for this tune: five lines to the stanza, of which the first and third are longer and the second and fourth shorter, and the last two lines of each stanza range freely. The rhyme words for this poem are jīng, shēng, bīng for the first stanza, then qíng, xíng, míng for the second — one family of sounds throughout, so the whole lyric sounds like one sustained breath. That is why the piece can carry a serious philosophical argument without ever becoming heavy: the verse keeps gliding. In reading, the first stanza should be spoken calmly and slightly slow, the line about the small window and the lamp should be pitched lower and warmer, and the closing couplet should be drawn out, so that the poem ends with the water still.此词为临江仙小令，上下两阕——上阕「钟鼎山林都是梦，人间宠辱休惊。只消闲处过平生。酒杯秋吸露，诗句夜裁冰」，下阕「记取小窗风雨夜，对床灯火多情。问谁千里伴君行。晚山眉样翠，秋水镜般明」，押庚青韵（惊、生、冰、情、行、明），一韵到底，音节清旷。全词以旷达写送别：上阕写人间宠辱的休惊（钟鼎山林都是梦、诗句夜裁冰），下阕写对床灯火的夜（记取小窗风雨夜、秋水镜般明）。小令短章，前写劝慰，后写送行，以「秋水镜般明」写尽秋水镜般的明，正见辛弃疾「豪放」的本色。诵读此词，宜以清旷的语调读「人间宠辱休惊」的旷达，以深情的语调读「对床灯火多情」的夜，结句要读得清旷而有余韵，方能传达出辛弃疾的清旷豪放。辛弃疾小令以「豪放」著称，此词正是其送别词的典范。

Line by line

钟鼎山林都是梦，人间宠辱休惊

Bell and drum, mountain and forest — all of it is dream; in this world, let honours and disgrace leave you unshaken.

钟鼎山林都是梦，人间宠辱休惊。

Bronze cauldrons or mountain woods, all are dreams; be not startled by the world's favor or disgrace.

此二句是全词写旷达的核心，以钟鼎山林都是梦写都是梦，以人间宠辱休惊写休惊，写尽人间宠辱的休惊，是千古名句。「钟鼎山林都是梦」写钟鼎山林都是梦——那「钟鼎山林」写钟鼎山林，「都是梦」写都是梦，写尽钟鼎山林的都是梦；「人间宠辱休惊」写人间宠辱休惊——那「人间宠辱」写人间宠辱，「休惊」写休惊，写尽人间宠辱的休惊。这句的深意在于：它以「钟鼎山林都是梦」的都是梦与「人间宠辱休惊」的休惊，写尽人间宠辱的休惊——钟鼎山林都是梦，那「钟鼎山林都是梦」写尽钟鼎山林的都是梦——钟鼎山林都是梦，正是出仕隐逸皆如梦的写照，那「都是梦」写尽人间宠辱的休惊；人间宠辱休惊，那「人间宠辱休惊」写尽人间宠辱的休惊——人间宠辱休惊，正是宠辱不惊的写照，那「休惊」写尽人间宠辱的休惊；那「钟鼎山林都是梦」写尽钟鼎山林的都是梦，那「人间宠辱休惊」写尽人间宠辱的休惊，一写都是梦，一写休惊，写尽人间宠辱的休惊——钟鼎山林皆梦而宠辱不惊，正是旷达的写照；此二句以都是梦、休惊写尽人间宠辱的休惊，也为下文的闲处作铺垫，也让此二句成为全词写旷达的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「钟鼎山林都是梦，人间的宠辱不要惊慌」，则失其旷达；唯以「钟鼎山林都是梦」写都是梦、「人间宠辱休惊」写休惊，写尽人间宠辱的休惊，也让此二句成为全词写旷达的核心。

The dream. Bronze cauldrons or mountain woods, all are dreams; be not startled by the world's favor or disgrace. The official cauldrons and the mountain woods, equally dreams, and the no-startling at favor or disgrace, are the broad-minded close. To have said office and retirement are equally dreams would be a saying; the bronze-cauldrons-or-mountain-woods-all-dreams against the be-not-startled-by-favor-or-disgrace is the saying.

晚山眉样翠，秋水镜般明

The evening hills are green as a brow; the autumn water bright as a mirror.

晚山眉样翠，秋水镜般明。

The evening hills are green like eyebrows; the autumn waters are bright like a mirror.

此二句是全词写送行的核心，以晚山眉样翠写眉样翠，以秋水镜般明写镜般明，写尽秋水镜般的明，是千古名句。「晚山眉样翠」写晚山眉样翠——那「晚山」写晚山，「眉样翠」写眉样翠，写尽晚山的眉样翠；「秋水镜般明」写秋水镜般明——那「秋水」写秋水，「镜般明」写镜般明，写尽秋水的镜般明。这句的深意在于：它以「晚山眉样翠」的眉样翠与「秋水镜般明」的镜般明，写尽秋水镜般的明——晚山眉样翠，那「晚山眉样翠」写尽晚山的眉样翠——晚山眉样翠，正是晚山如眉的写照，那「眉样翠」写尽秋水镜般的明；秋水镜般明，那「秋水镜般明」写尽秋水的镜般明——秋水镜般明，正是秋水如镜的写照，那「镜般明」写尽秋水镜般的明；那「晚山眉样翠」写尽晚山的眉样翠，那「秋水镜般明」写尽秋水的镜般明，一写眉样翠，一写镜般明，写尽秋水镜般的明——晚山如眉而秋水如镜，正是送行的写照；此二句以眉样翠、镜般明写尽秋水镜般的明，也让此二句成为全词写送行的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「晚山像眉毛一样翠，秋水像镜子一样明」，则失其清丽；唯以「晚山眉样翠」写眉样翠、「秋水镜般明」写镜般明，写尽秋水镜般的明，也让此二句成为全词写送行的核心。

The hills. The evening hills are green like eyebrows; the autumn waters are bright like a mirror. The eyebrow-green evening hills and mirror-bright autumn waters are the farewell view. To have described the evening hills and waters would be scenery; the evening-hills-green-like-eyebrows against the autumn-waters-bright-like-a-mirror is the scenery.

Study

Word focus

梦 'Bell and drum, mountain and forest — all of it is dream' — the word mèng ('dream') is the poem's hinge. It empties both worlds at once: official splendour and the hermit's retreat are put on the same footing of unreality. The word is not used to deny that these things exist, but to say that they cannot be taken as a reason for alarm, which is precisely the consolation a departing brother needs. 「钟鼎山林都是梦」之「梦」字是写旷达关键词，一个「梦」字写尽钟鼎山林的都是梦。梦者，梦幻、如梦也。辛弃疾以「钟鼎山林都是梦」写旷达，这个「梦」字至少有双重意味：其一，写梦之幻——那「钟鼎山林都是梦」写钟鼎山林都是梦，那「梦」字写尽钟鼎山林的都是梦——都是梦，正是皆如梦幻的写照，那「梦」字写尽钟鼎山林的都是梦；其二，写情之淡——那「梦」字更是写淡——梦，正见看破世情的淡泊，那「梦」字写尽辛弃疾的旷达。以「梦」字写旷达，正是辛弃疾写送别的枢纽——若换作「幻」「空」等字，则或失其与「钟鼎山林」「都是梦」的配合，或失其写梦的意味；唯「梦」字，以钟鼎山林都是梦写尽出仕隐逸之如梦与世情之看破，与「人间宠辱休惊」的休惊相合，写尽钟鼎山林的都是梦，也让「钟鼎山林都是梦」成为全词写旷达的名句。

明 'The autumn water bright as a mirror' — the character míng ('bright, clear') closes the poem on both of its meanings: the literal brightness of the water and the clarity of mind the speaker has been urging. Because the mirror simile already carries the sense of a calm, untroubled surface, míng supplies the final, quieter claim — that the life being recommended is legible and serene rather than obscure. 「秋水镜般明」之「明」字是写送行关键词，一个「明」字写尽秋水的镜般明。明者，明亮、澄明也。辛弃疾以「秋水镜般明」写送行，这个「明」字至少有双重意味：其一，写水之明——那「秋水镜般明」写秋水镜般明，那「明」字写尽秋水的镜般明——镜般明，正是如镜澄明的写照，那「明」字写尽秋水的镜般明；其二，写心之明——那「明」字更是写明——明，正见心境澄明的旷达，那「明」字写尽辛弃疾的送别。以「明」字写送行，正是辛弃疾写旷达的枢纽——若换作「清」「澈」等字，则或失其与「秋水镜般」「明」的配合，或失其写明的意味；唯「明」字，以秋水镜般明写尽秋水之澄明与心境之旷达，与「晚山眉样翠」的眉样翠相合，写尽秋水的镜般明，也让「秋水镜般明」成为全词写送行的名句。