明 Ming · 词 Ci lyric
浣溪沙·燕垒雏空日正长
Huan Xi Sha — The Swallow Nest Empty, the Day Long
燕垒雏空日正长，一川残雨映斜阳。
鸬鹚晒翅满鱼梁。
榴叶拥花当北户，竹根抽笋出东墙。
小庭孤坐懒衣裳。
Cormorants dry their wings, filling the fish-weir.
Pomegranate leaves embrace blossoms before the north window; bamboo shoots push from the roots beyond the east wall.
In the small court I sit alone, too lazy to straighten my robe.
Meaning
A ci poem of early-summer leisure, painting a bright, alive courtyard—empty swallow nest, cormorants, pomegranate, bamboo shoots—then turning to the speaker alone and idle, his lethargy hinting at quiet loneliness.
燕巢已空、雏鸟飞尽，白日正长；一川残雨映着斜阳。鸬鹚晾着翅膀，落满鱼梁。石榴叶簇拥花朵正对北窗，竹根抽出新笋出了东墙。我在小院里独自闲坐，懒得把衣裳整饬。
Appreciation
The upper part writes distant scenery: the swallow nest, lingering rain, slanting sun, cormorants—wild charm in sparse light; the lower part writes close scenery: pomegranate flowers, bamboo shoots—fine detail with life. The whole lays out bright, idle scenery only to contrast the closing 'in the small court I sit alone, too lazy to straighten my robe,' using happy scene to write sorrowful feeling, a clever arrangement. The poem writes the loneliness and lethargy of early-summer retirement; the full vitality against 'sit alone, too lazy' forms a contrast, revealing the poet's faint desolation when retired or adrift, in a clear, gentle register.
【白话串讲】 “燕垒雏空日正长，一川残雨映斜阳”——杨基写夏景：燕巢空了，日长。“鸬鹚晒翅满鱼梁”——“榴叶拥花当北户，竹根抽笋出东墙”——“小庭孤坐懒衣裳”——他一个人坐在小院里，懒得整衣。 【意象与手法】上片写远景：燕垒、残雨、斜阳、鸬鹚，疏淡中见野趣；下片写近景：榴花、竹笋，工细中见生机。全词以明丽闲淡的景物铺排反衬“小庭孤坐懒衣裳”的慵懒孤寂，是以乐景写哀情的巧妙布局。 【情感与主旨】词写初夏闲居的孤寂与慵懒。满目生机（榴花、竹笋、鸬鹚）与“孤坐懒衣裳”形成反差，透露出诗人退居或漂泊中无所依傍的淡淡落寞，格调清婉。 【名句点睛】“小庭孤坐懒衣裳。”——前面洋洋洒洒写尽初夏生机，末句忽然收束到“孤坐”“懒”二字，以形写神，将闲居的落寞与慵懒一笔点透，余味淡远。
Background
Yang Ji (1326–after 1378), styled Meng Zai, also known as Mei An, was an early-Ming poet, grouped with Gao Qi, Zhang Yu, and Xu Ben as the Four Masters of Wu. Huan Xi Sha — The Swallow Nest Empty, the Day Long was written on an early-summer retirement scene, probably during his retirement or travels.
《浣溪沙·燕垒雏空日正长》为明代杨基所作，是写夏日小庭、孤坐懒衣裳的词。杨基（1326—约1378），字孟载，号眉庵，吴县人，明代诗人。此词：燕垒雏空日正长，一川残雨映斜阳。鸬鹚晒翅满鱼梁。榴叶拥花当北户，竹根抽笋出东墙。小庭孤坐懒衣裳。全词写夏日小庭、孤坐懒衣裳，是杨基词的名篇。
Art
The upper part writes the distant sparingly, the lower part the near finely, near and far answering; throughout it lays out bright idle scene, and the closing 'in the small court I sit alone, too lazy to straighten my robe' uses happy scene for sorrowful feeling, form and spirit born together—a representative gentle brush of early-Ming ci.
《浣溪沙·燕垒雏空日正长》艺术上以夏日小庭的描摹与孤坐懒衣裳的淡远见长。全词分两片：上片写夏日之景——“燕垒雏空日正长，一川残雨映斜阳”写燕垒雏空日正长、一川残雨映斜阳，“鸬鹚晒翅满鱼梁”写鸬鹚晒翅满鱼梁；下片写小庭之趣——“榴叶拥花当北户，竹根抽笋出东墙”写榴叶拥花当北户、竹根抽笋出东墙，“小庭孤坐懒衣裳”写小庭孤坐懒衣裳。全词以夏日小庭写孤坐懒衣裳，正是杨基词淡远的笔法。
Allusions
Swallow nest empty marks the late-spring, early-summer phenology—the swallows having fed their young, the nest now empty. Cormorants dry their wings, filling the fish-weir writes riverside fishing charm; a fish-weir is a dam to catch fish. Pomegranate leaves embrace blossoms and bamboo shoots from roots write the early-summer courtyard's vitality.
《浣溪沙·燕垒雏空日正长》用典在“燕垒”“鱼梁”“榴叶拥花”“竹根抽笋”“懒衣裳”。“燕垒”写燕垒（燕巢）；“鱼梁”写鱼梁（捕鱼坝）；“榴叶拥花”写榴叶拥花；“竹根抽笋”写竹根抽笋；“懒衣裳”写懒衣裳（懒整衣裳）。全词以这些意象写夏日小庭、孤坐懒衣裳，用典自然而淡远自见，正是杨基词的笔法。
Commentary
Early-Ming ci inherited the sparse, light manner of late Yuan; Yang Ji's lyric, unornamented, writes the heart through scene, and was collected in the Qing Ming Ci Zong. Its line 'sit alone, too lazy to straighten my robe,' seemingly plain, in fact gains the ease of Tao Yuanming's quiet and few words.
《浣溪沙·燕垒雏空日正长》是杨基词的名篇，也是明代词中写闲居小景的代表作。此词写夏日小庭、孤坐懒衣裳，向为论者称道。论者多赏其夏日小庭的描摹与孤坐懒衣裳的淡远——“燕垒雏空日正长，一川残雨映斜阳”写燕垒雏空日正长、一川残雨映斜阳，淡远之极；“鸬鹚晒翅满鱼梁”写鸬鹚晒翅满鱼梁，更见其趣；“榴叶拥花当北户，竹根抽笋出东墙”写榴叶拥花当北户、竹根抽笋出东墙，尤见其细；“小庭孤坐懒衣裳”写小庭孤坐懒衣裳，尤见其闲。杨基为明初诗人（吴中四杰之一），此词正是其代表——以夏日小庭写孤坐懒衣裳，正是其词风。
Prosody
Line by line
燕垒雏空日正长，一川残雨映斜阳。
The swallows' nest is empty of fledglings; the day is long; a stream of last rain mirrors the setting sun.
燕垒雏空日正长，一川残雨映斜阳。
The swallows' nest is empty of fledglings; the day is long; the last rain on the stream glows in the setting sun.
首写燕垒雏空日正长、一川残雨映斜阳，是全词写夏日之景的起点。“燕垒雏空日正长”写燕垒雏空日正长——“燕垒雏空日正长”写燕巢雏鸟已空、夏日正长——燕垒雏空日正长；“一川残雨映斜阳”写一川残雨映斜阳——“一川残雨映斜阳”写一川残雨映着斜阳——一川残雨映斜阳。二句写燕垒雏空日正长、一川残雨映斜阳：燕垒雏空日正长，一川残雨映斜阳。以“燕垒雏空日正长”写燕巢雏空、夏日天长，以“一川残雨映斜阳”写残雨斜阳、一川明净，正是杨基词写夏日之景的起点——燕垒雏空，残雨斜阳。
The day. The swallows' nest is empty of fledglings; the day is long; a stream of last rain mirrors the setting sun. The empty nest and the long day and the rain-mirrored sunset are the summer opening. To have described the long summer day would be scenery; the swallows'-nest-empty-of-fledglings-the-day-is-long against the a-stream-of-last-rain-mirrors-the-setting-sun is the scenery.
鸬鹚晒翅满鱼梁。
Cormorants, wings spread to dry, cover the fish-weir.
鸬鹚晒翅满鱼梁。
Cormorants dry their wings in rows along the fish-weir.
中用鸬鹚晒翅之景写鸬鹚晒翅满鱼梁，是全词写夏日野趣的深化。“鸬鹚晒翅满鱼梁”写鸬鹚晒翅满鱼梁——“鸬鹚晒翅满鱼梁”写鸬鹚晒翅、站满鱼梁——鸬鹚晒翅满鱼梁。一句写鸬鹚晒翅满鱼梁：鸬鹚晒翅满鱼梁。以“鸬鹚晒翅满鱼梁”写鸬鹚晒翅、鱼梁之趣，正是杨基词写夏日野趣的深化——鸬鹚晒翅，鱼梁静立。
The cormorants. Cormorants, wings spread to dry, cover the fish-weir. The drying cormorants on the weir are the rural summer. To have described the cormorants would be a detail; the cormorants-wings-spread-to-dry-cover-the-fish-weir is the detail.
榴叶拥花当北户，竹根抽笋出东墙。
Pomegranate leaves cluster their flowers by the north door; bamboo roots push shoots through the east wall.
榴叶拥花当北户，竹根抽笋出东墙。
Pomegranate leaves hold their blooms by the north door; bamboo roots send shoots over the east wall.
中写榴叶拥花当北户、竹根抽笋出东墙，是全词写小庭之趣的深化。“榴叶拥花当北户”写榴叶拥花当北户——“榴叶拥花当北户”写榴叶拥花、正当北户——榴叶拥花当北户；“竹根抽笋出东墙”写竹根抽笋出东墙——“竹根抽笋出东墙”写竹根抽笋、长出东墙——竹根抽笋出东墙。二句写榴叶拥花当北户、竹根抽笋出东墙：榴叶拥花当北户，竹根抽笋出东墙。以“榴叶拥花当北户”写榴叶拥花、红艳北户，以“竹根抽笋出东墙”写竹根抽笋、青出东墙，正是杨基词写小庭之趣的深化——榴叶拥花，竹笋出墙。
The court. Pomegranate leaves cluster their flowers by the north door; bamboo roots push shoots through the east wall. The pomegranate blooms by the north door and the bamboo shoots over the east wall are the small court. To have described the courtyard plants would be scenery; the pomegranate-leaves-cluster-their-flowers-by-the-north-door against the bamboo-roots-push-shoots-through-the-east-wall is the scenery.
小庭孤坐懒衣裳。
Alone in the small court, I sit, too idle even to adjust my robe.
小庭孤坐懒衣裳。
Alone in the small courtyard, I sit, too lazy to arrange my clothes.
末写小庭孤坐懒衣裳，是全词写闲居心境的归结。“小庭孤坐懒衣裳”写小庭孤坐懒衣裳——“小庭孤坐懒衣裳”写小庭孤坐、懒整衣裳——小庭孤坐懒衣裳。一句写小庭孤坐懒衣裳：小庭孤坐懒衣裳。以“小庭孤坐懒衣裳”写小庭孤坐、衣裳懒整，正是杨基词写闲居心境的归结——小庭孤坐，衣裳懒整。
The idle. Alone in the small court, I sit, too idle even to adjust my robe. The solitary court and the idle robe are the close. To have described the idle summer sitter would be a portrait; the alone-in-the-small-court-I-sit-too-idle-even-to-adjust-my-robe is the portrait.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
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