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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

满江红·中秋寄远

Man Jiang Hong: Mid-Autumn, Written to Someone Far Away

辛弃疾

Xin Qiji

中秋Mid-Autumn 怀人Missing Someone

快上西楼，怕天放、浮云遮月。
但唤取、玉纤横笛，一声吹裂。
谁做冰壶凉世界，最怜玉斧修时节。
问嫦娥、孤令有愁无？
应华发。
云液满，琼杯滑。
长袖舞，清歌咽。
叹十常八九，欲磨还缺。
但愿长圆如此夜，人情未必看承别。
把从前、离恨总成欢，归时说。

Hurry up the western tower — I am afraid the sky will let go and drifting cloud will hide the moon.
Just call for a jade-fingered girl with a flute held across her lips; one breath and the note splits open.
Who made this cool world inside an ice jar? Most to be loved is the season when the jade axe repairs it.
I ask Chang'e, all alone as you are — do you have sorrow? You must have hair gone white by now.
The cloud-wine is brimming; the jade cups slide.
Long sleeves dance; a clear song catches in the throat.
I sigh: in ten things, eight or nine go wrong; the moon is ground down and yet wanes again.
I only wish that it stay round as this night, and human feeling need not always be read as a parting.
Turn all the old separation and resentment into joy, and tell it when I come home.

Listen

Meaning

A Mid-Autumn night with someone far away in the poet's thoughts. He hurries up the west tower for fear the cloud will cover the moon, and summons a flute-player whose single note is said to split the air. Then the moon becomes an ice-cool world with a jade axe mending it, and he puts a question to Chang'e in her solitude — do you have sorrow, and is your hair white now? The second half brings the cup brimming, dancing and a song that catches; then the sigh that in ten things eight or nine go wrong, the moon ground only to wane again; and then the wish that the moon stay round as this night, that human feeling need not always mean separation, and that all the old grief be turned into joy and kept to be told when he comes home.

快上西楼，怕天放、浮云遮月。但唤取、玉纤横笛，一声吹裂。谁做冰壶凉世界，最怜玉斧修时节。问嫦娥、孤令有愁无？应华发。云液满，琼杯滑。长袖舞，清歌咽。叹十常八九，欲磨还缺。但愿长圆如此夜，人情未必看承别。把从前、离恨总成欢，归时说。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The first lines are a race against the weather: up the tower quickly before the cloud takes the moon. Then the moon is imagined as a cool world that a jade axe mends, and the poet asks the lonely moon-goddess whether she is sad and grey. The second half turns to the living scene of wine, dance and a caught song, and then to the plain sigh that things so rarely go right, and closes on three wishes. [Structure] The poem moves outward from the poet's haste to the moon itself, then inward to a single question, then back to the table, and the last three wishes are stacked so that each one lowers the pressure a little. [Imagery] The best images are the two that are not pictures of a moon: the cool world inside an ice jar, and the moon as something ground down only to wane. Around them is the ordinary furniture of a feast — wine, cups, long sleeves, a song. [Tone] The lyric is famous for holding two temperatures at once: the flaring high spirits of the first lines and the quiet, almost tender complaint at the end, which is what makes the closing wishes land.

【白话串讲】辛弃疾写《满江红·中秋寄远》：“快上西楼，怕天放、浮云遮月”——“但唤取、玉纤横笛，一声吹裂”——“问嫦娥、孤令有愁无？应华发”——“叹十常八九，欲磨还缺”——他写中秋——叹十常八九，欲磨还缺。【意象与手法】此词写中秋，以怀人写中秋，是辛弃疾的名篇。上片写赏月：「快上西楼，怕天放、浮云遮月。但唤取、玉纤横笛，一声吹裂」写快上西楼、怕天放、浮云遮月——写尽赏月的急切；下片写怀人：「云液满，琼杯滑。长袖舞，清歌咽。叹十常八九，欲磨还缺」写云液满、琼杯滑、长袖舞、清歌咽——写尽怀人的清歌。全词以怀人写中秋，写尽赏月的急切与怀人的清歌，是辛弃疾的代表作。【情感与主旨】此词写中秋，以怀人写中秋，是辛弃疾的名篇。此词为辛弃疾中秋赏月、怀念远方之人所作，写月夜之景与离别之情。上片写快上西楼、怕天放、浮云遮月；但唤取、玉纤横笛、一声吹裂；谁做冰壶凉世界，最怜玉斧修时节；问嫦娥、孤令有愁无、应华发。下片写云液满、琼杯滑；长袖舞、清歌咽；叹十常八九、欲磨还缺；但愿长圆如此夜，人情未必看承别；把从前、离恨总成欢、归时说。此词写赏月：快上西楼，怕天放、浮云遮月——写快上西楼、怕天放、浮云遮月，写尽赏月的急切；但唤取、玉纤横笛，一声吹裂——写但唤取、玉纤横笛、一声吹裂，写尽吹裂的横笛；谁做冰壶凉世界，最怜玉斧修时节——写谁做冰壶凉世界、最怜玉斧修时节，写尽玉斧的修月；问嫦娥、孤令有愁无？应华发——写问嫦娥、孤令有愁无、应华发，写尽嫦娥的华发；云液满，琼杯滑——写云液满、琼杯滑，写尽琼杯的云液；长袖舞，清歌咽——写长袖舞、清歌咽，写尽清歌的呜咽；叹十常八九，欲磨还缺——写叹十常八九、欲磨还缺，写尽欲磨的圆缺；但愿长圆如此夜，人情未必看承别——写但愿长圆如此夜、人情未必看承别，写尽长圆的期盼；把从前、离恨总成欢，归时说——写把从前、离恨总成欢、归时说，写尽离恨的归说。全词以怀人写中秋——那「一声吹裂」写尽吹裂的横笛，「把从前、离恨总成欢」写尽离恨的归说，写尽赏月的急切与怀人的清歌，是理解辛弃疾中秋词的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「快上西楼，怕天放、浮云遮月」写赏月的急切；「但愿长圆如此夜，人情未必看承别」写长圆的期盼；以及全词以怀人写中秋、以问月写离情的手法。

Background

Xin Qiji (1140–1207) was from Licheng and never stopped hoping to recover the northern lands; he was in and out of office and lived long stretches in retirement, and lyrics like this one belong to those intervals. He was a practitioner of the bold manner, though this poem is among his more supple ones. The Mid-Autumn festival is the night on which the moon is supposed to be at its fullest, and the whole tradition — drinking under it, writing to someone absent, asking the moon-goddess — is available to him; what he does is to bring the tradition to a point and then refuse to stop at the customary consolation.

此词写中秋，以怀人写中秋，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」，有「词中之龙」之称。此词为辛弃疾中秋赏月、怀念远方之人所作，写月夜之景与离别之情。上片写快上西楼、怕天放、浮云遮月；但唤取、玉纤横笛、一声吹裂；谁做冰壶凉世界，最怜玉斧修时节；问嫦娥、孤令有愁无、应华发。下片写云液满、琼杯滑；长袖舞、清歌咽；叹十常八九、欲磨还缺；但愿长圆如此夜，人情未必看承别；把从前、离恨总成欢、归时说。此词写赏月：「快上西楼，怕天放、浮云遮月」写快上西楼、怕天放、浮云遮月——写尽赏月的急切（快上西楼，怕天放、浮云遮月）；「但唤取、玉纤横笛，一声吹裂」写但唤取、玉纤横笛、一声吹裂——写尽吹裂的横笛（但唤取、玉纤横笛，一声吹裂）；「谁做冰壶凉世界，最怜玉斧修时节」写谁做冰壶凉世界、最怜玉斧修时节——写尽玉斧的修月（谁做冰壶凉世界，最怜玉斧修时节）；「问嫦娥、孤令有愁无？应华发」写问嫦娥、孤令有愁无、应华发——写尽嫦娥的华发（问嫦娥、孤令有愁无？应华发）；「云液满，琼杯滑」写云液满、琼杯滑——写尽琼杯的云液（云液满，琼杯滑）；「长袖舞，清歌咽」写长袖舞、清歌咽——写尽清歌的呜咽（长袖舞，清歌咽）；「叹十常八九，欲磨还缺」写叹十常八九、欲磨还缺——写尽欲磨的圆缺（叹十常八九，欲磨还缺）；「但愿长圆如此夜，人情未必看承别」写但愿长圆如此夜、人情未必看承别——写尽长圆的期盼（但愿长圆如此夜，人情未必看承别）；「把从前、离恨总成欢，归时说」写把从前、离恨总成欢、归时说——写尽离恨的归说（把从前、离恨总成欢，归时说）。全词以怀人写中秋，写尽赏月的急切与怀人的清歌，是理解辛弃疾中秋词的重要篇章。

Art

The poem's main device is the series of conversions: one feeling is turned into another and then into another. Fear that cloud will hide the moon becomes a flute-note that splits the air; the moon becomes an ice jar and a mended world; the moon-goddess becomes a friend to be asked about grey hair; the turning of the year becomes a sigh about eight things in ten; and the sigh becomes three wishes. The second device is compression in the middle — 'in ten things, eight or nine go wrong' is one line carrying the whole sadness of the festival, and it is said without any ornament. The third is the address to Chang'e, which lets a mythological figure do the work of a companion. The closing three clauses refuse the ordinary ending of a moon poem: the poet does not console himself with the moon being shared by men at a distance, but asks that the separation itself be turned into something he can tell when he comes home.

此词的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以直抒写急切。「快上西楼」以直抒写急切——那「快上西楼」写尽登楼的急切，以直抒写尽赏月的急切。其二，以想象写吹笛。「一声吹裂」以想象写吹笛——那「玉纤横笛」写尽吹裂的笛声，以想象写尽吹裂的横笛。其三，以用典写修月。「最怜玉斧修时节」以用典写修月——那「玉斧修月」用《酉阳杂俎》玉斧修月典写修月，以用典写尽玉斧的修月。其四，以设问写嫦娥。「问嫦娥、孤令有愁无」以设问写嫦娥——那「孤令有愁无」写尽嫦娥的愁绪，以设问写尽嫦娥的华发。此外，此词上片写赏月的急切，下片写怀人的清歌，由月及人，正是中秋词「以月写怀」的写法。四重手法，使此词以怀人写中秋，写尽赏月的急切与怀人的清歌，是辛弃疾的代表作。此词还善于以「谁做冰壶凉世界」的「谁做」写冰壶之设问——那「冰壶凉世界」写尽清凉的月宫，正是以问写境，以「谁做」写尽玉斧的修月。又善以「云液满，琼杯滑」的「满」「滑」写杯酒之满滑——那「云液满」「琼杯滑」写尽满滑的琼杯，以「满」「滑」写尽琼杯的云液。

Allusions

The mythic furniture is the common stock of the Mid-Autumn. Chang'e is the moon-goddess who took the immortal drug and cannot come down, and the question of her loneliness is the standard one; the poet's addition is the white hair, which makes her the same age as he is. The jade axe repairing the moon comes from the tale of axe-men at work in the moon recorded in a Tang collection of notes about monstrous things, and it is used here to explain why the moon is so cool and so intact. The ice jar is the cool clear globe of the sky: the same image gives the name of the season and the name of the place. The flute held across the lips and the long sleeves and the clear song are the table's own furniture; the cloud-wine is the festival wine.

此词的用语深植于中秋与怀人传统。「西楼」令人想到「西楼」写西楼的意象——也令人想到「月满西楼」（李清照）的意象；「玉纤横笛」令人想到「玉纤」写玉手的意象——也令人想到「玉人吹笛」的意象；「冰壶凉世界」令人想到「冰壶」写玉壶的意象——也令人想到「一片冰心在玉壶」（王昌龄）的意象；「玉斧修月」令人想到「玉斧修月」写修月的典故——《酉阳杂俎》载月中仙人修月，也令人想到「玉斧修成玉兔宫」的意象；「嫦娥」令人想到「嫦娥」写月神的意象——也令人想到「嫦娥应悔偷灵药」（李商隐）的意象；「华发」令人想到「华发」写白发的意象——也令人想到「早生华发」（苏轼）的意象。全词化用西楼、玉纤横笛、冰壶、玉斧修月、嫦娥、华发的意象典故，以怀人写中秋，正是辛弃疾「豪放」而善用典、承中秋传统写离情之本领。「玉斧修月」令人想到「玉斧修月」写修月的典故——《酉阳杂俎》载月中仙人修月，也令人想到「修月斧」的意象；「云液」令人想到「云液」写美酒的意象——也令人想到「琼浆玉液」的意象，以云液写酒之美。

Commentary

This has long been counted among the finest of Xin Qiji's moon lyrics, and readers have usually pointed to the two temperatures — the flaring opening, the high flute-note, the jade axe, and then the low sigh and the three wishes. The line that most rewards attention is the plain one about eight or nine things in ten going wrong, which is the only unornamented statement in the poem and the pivot of the whole. Its place is beside Su Shi's Shui Diao Ge Tou, written from a similar festival with a similar absence, where the same question of the moon's fullness is answered with a wish that men may last long and see the same moon from a thousand miles; here the answer is harder, and ends not with sharing the moon but with the promise to carry the grief home and tell it there.

此词历来被推为辛弃疾中秋词的名篇，也是宋词写中秋怀人的代表。历代论者对此词评价极高：清人评此词「以怀人写中秋，豪放中有深婉」；近人更指出「但愿长圆如此夜，人情未必看承别」写长圆的期盼，是此词的名句。在词史上，此词的特殊价值在于：它以两片的长调写尽赏月的急切与怀人的清歌——那快上西楼，那怕天放，那浮云遮月，那但唤取，那玉纤横笛，那一声吹裂，那谁做冰壶凉世界，那最怜玉斧修时节，那问嫦娥，那孤令有愁无，那应华发，那云液满，那琼杯滑，那长袖舞，那清歌咽，那叹十常八九，那欲磨还缺，那但愿长圆如此夜，那人情未必看承别，那把从前，那离恨总成欢，那归时说，都写尽了辛弃疾笔下的满江红；那「把从前、离恨总成欢」更以期盼写尽离恨的归说。此词与苏轼《水调歌头》（「明月几时有」）同为中秋名篇，一写「但愿人长久」的水调歌头（水调歌头），一写「但愿长圆如此夜」的满江红（满江红）；又与《酉阳杂俎》玉斧修月的典故传统一脉相承，可见中国词写中秋的传统。对于今日读者，此词是理解辛弃疾中秋词的窗口，也是宋词写中秋怀人的经典——那欲磨还缺的明月，穿越千年，仍在诉说着长圆的期盼。

Prosody

Form A ci lyric in the tune Man Jiang Hong, two stanzas词·满江红

Rhyme Rhymes on entering tones — moon, split, season, white, slide, catch, wane, parting, tell — one rhyme through the whole lyric. Every line closes on the same short clipped sound, which gives the piece its restless, high-strung cadence.满江红，押「月」「裂」「节」「发」「滑」「咽」「缺」「别」「说」韵（入声），仄韵到底

Tone pattern The tune is long and uneven; the short clauses of the upper stanza are: hurry, afraid, just call, one breath. The few long lines in the middle carry the myth, and the closing clause in the lower stanza is the longest breath in the piece.此词为满江红词调，押入声仄韵，一韵到底，音节激昂，正合中秋的激昂。

Reading note The upper stanza races: tower, cloud, flute, moon, Chang'e. The lower stanza slows — the cup, the dance, the caught song, the sigh, and then the three wishes. Because the rhyme is one entering-tone rhyme, nothing in the piece is allowed to ring; every ending is a snap, and the short clauses in the upper stanza exploit this. Read the opening with impatience, let the myth lines be cool and level, and hold the last clause open so that the promise of telling it at home is left hanging. This is among the most worked of the bold manner's lyrics and also one of its most tender.此词为满江红词调，两片——上片「快上西楼，怕天放、浮云遮月。但唤取、玉纤横笛，一声吹裂。谁做冰壶凉世界，最怜玉斧修时节。问嫦娥、孤令有愁无？应华发」；下片「云液满，琼杯滑。长袖舞，清歌咽。叹十常八九，欲磨还缺。但愿长圆如此夜，人情未必看承别。把从前、离恨总成欢，归时说」，押入声仄韵（月、裂、节、发、滑、咽、缺、别、说），一韵到底，音节激昂。全词以怀人写中秋：上片写赏月的急切（快上西楼、玉斧修时节），下片写怀人的清歌（云液满琼杯滑、但愿长圆如此夜）。两片短章，前写赏月，后写怀人，以「把从前、离恨总成欢」写尽离恨的归说，正见辛弃疾「豪放」的本色。诵读此词，宜以激昂的语调读「一声吹裂」的横笛，以深婉的语调读「把从前、离恨总成欢」的归说，结句要读得激昂而有余韵，方能传达出辛弃疾的豪放深婉。辛弃疾词以「豪放」著称，此词正是其中秋词的典范。

Line by line

但愿长圆如此夜，人情未必看承别

I only wish that it stay round as this night — and human feeling need not always be taken as a parting.

但愿长圆如此夜，人情未必看承别。

Would the moon were always as round as tonight; yet human feelings may not be held to that same standard.

此二句是全词写期盼的核心，以但愿长圆如此夜写长圆，以人情未必看承别写看承别，写尽长圆的期盼，是千古名句。「但愿长圆如此夜」写但愿长圆如此夜——那「但愿长圆」写但愿长圆，「如此夜」写如此夜，写尽长圆的期盼；「人情未必看承别」写人情未必看承别——那「人情未必」写人情未必，「看承别」写看承别，写尽人情的看承。这句的深意在于：它以「但愿长圆如此夜」的长圆与「人情未必看承别」的看承别，写尽长圆的期盼——但愿长圆如此夜，那「但愿长圆如此夜」写尽长圆的期盼——但愿长圆，正是但愿月圆的写照，那「如此夜」写尽长圆的期盼；人情未必看承别，那「人情未必看承别」写尽人情的看承——人情未必看承别，正是人情未必待别的写照，那「看承别」写尽长圆的期盼；那「但愿长圆如此夜」写尽长圆的期盼，那「人情未必看承别」写尽人情的看承，一写长圆，一写人情，写尽长圆的期盼——月圆如此而人情别样，正是离人的写照；此二句以长圆、人情写尽长圆的期盼，也让此二句成为全词写期盼的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「但愿月亮像今夜这样常圆，可人情未必能像看待团圆一样看待离别」，则失其深婉；唯以「但愿长圆如此夜」写长圆、「人情未必看承别」写看承别，写尽长圆的期盼，也让此二句成为全词写期盼的核心。

The moon. Would the moon were always as round as tonight; yet human feelings may not be held to that same standard. The would-the-moon-be-always-round against the human feelings' likely falling short is the longing. To have wished the moon stayed full would be a wish; the would-the-moon-be-always-as-round-as-tonight against the human-feelings-may-not-be-held-to-the-same-standard is the wish.

快上西楼，怕天放、浮云遮月

Hurry up the western tower — I am afraid the sky will let go and the drifting cloud will hide the moon.

快上西楼，怕天放、浮云遮月。

Quick, up to the west tower, fearing the sky will loose drifting clouds to veil the moon.

此三句是全词写急切的核心，以快上西楼写西楼，以怕天放、浮云遮月写遮月，写尽赏月的急切，是千古名句。「快上西楼」写快上西楼——那「快上」写快上，「西楼」写西楼，写尽快上的西楼；「怕天放、浮云遮月」写怕天放、浮云遮月——那「怕天放」写怕天放，「浮云遮月」写浮云遮月，写尽遮月的浮云。这句的深意在于：它以「快上西楼」的快上与「怕天放、浮云遮月」的遮月，写尽赏月的急切——快上西楼，那「快上西楼」写尽快上的西楼——快上西楼，正是急上西楼的写照，那「快上」写尽赏月的急切；怕天放浮云遮月，那「怕天放、浮云遮月」写尽遮月的浮云——怕天放浮云遮月，正是怕云遮月的写照，那「遮月」写尽赏月的急切；那「快上西楼」写尽快上的西楼，那「怕天放、浮云遮月」写尽遮月的浮云，一写快上，一写怕遮，写尽赏月的急切——急上西楼而怕云遮月，正是赏月之心的写照；此三句以快上、遮月写尽赏月的急切，也为下文的吹笛作铺垫，也让此三句成为全词写急切的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「快点上西楼，怕天上有浮云遮住月亮」，则失其急切；唯以「快上西楼」写西楼、「怕天放、浮云遮月」写遮月，写尽赏月的急切，也让此三句成为全词写急切的核心。

The haste. Quick, up to the west tower, fearing the sky will loose drifting clouds to veil the moon. The haste up the tower and the fear of cloud-veiled moon are the impatience. To have hurried to watch the moon would be a haste; the quick-up-to-the-west-tower against the fearing-the-sky-will-loose-clouds-to-veil-the-moon is the haste.

Study

Word focus

快 In 'hurry up the western tower', the adverb means quickly or at once. It is the first word of the lyric and it carries the whole opening haste: the poet is not strolling toward the moon but running, because the moon might not be there. A quieter word would leave the poem without its first impulse, and this single syllable is what sets the flaring opening in motion. 「快上西楼」之「快」字是写急切的关键词，一个「快」字写尽快上的西楼。快者，赶快、快些也。辛弃疾以「快上西楼」写急切，这个「快」字至少有双重意味：其一，写登之快——那「快上西楼」写快上西楼，那「快」字写尽快上的西楼——快上西楼，正是急上西楼的写照，那「快」字写尽赏月的急切；其二，写心之迫——那「快」字更是写迫——快，正见赏月心切的情迫，那「快」字写尽辛弃疾的急切。以「快」字写急切，正是辛弃疾写中秋的枢纽——若换作「速」「急」等字，则或失其与「上西楼」「怕天放」的配合，或失其写快的意味；唯「快」字，以快上西楼写尽登楼之急切与赏月之心切，与「怕天放、浮云遮月」的怕天放相合，写尽赏月的急切，也让「快上西楼」成为全词写急切的名句。

咽 In 'long sleeves dance; a clear song catches in the throat', the verb is to catch and stop in the throat, as a sound does when it cannot get out. It is the lyric's only sound-image of the human voice, placed beside the flute-note that split the air at the opening, and it tells the reader precisely what has happened to the feast: the dancing goes on, but the song has become a suppressed thing, and the poet's feeling shows through the interruption. 「长袖舞，清歌咽」之「咽」字是写清歌的关键词，一个「咽」字写尽清歌的呜咽。咽者，哽咽、幽咽也。辛弃疾以「长袖舞，清歌咽」写清歌，这个「咽」字至少有双重意味：其一，写歌之咽——那「长袖舞，清歌咽」写长袖舞、清歌咽，那「咽」字写尽清歌的呜咽——清歌咽，正是歌声哽咽的写照，那「咽」字写尽怀人的清歌；其二，写情之悲——那「咽」字更是写悲——咽，正见离别伤怀的悲绪，那「咽」字写尽辛弃疾的深婉。以「咽」字写清歌，正是辛弃疾写怀人的枢纽——若换作「噎」「泣」等字，则或失其与「长袖舞」「清歌咽」的配合，或失其写咽的意味；唯「咽」字，以长袖舞清歌咽写尽清歌之呜咽与离别之伤怀，与「叹十常八九」的感叹相合，写尽怀人的清歌，也让「清歌咽」成为全词写清歌的名句。