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南北朝 Northern and Southern Dynasties · 文 Prose

与陈伯之书·节选

Letter to Chen Bozhi (Excerpt)

丘迟

Qiu Chi

骈文书信parallel-letter 劝降defection appeal 写景抒情scenery & lyricism

暮春三月，江南草长，杂花生树，群莺乱飞。
见故国之旗鼓，感平生于畴日，抚弦登陴，岂不怆悢！
所以廉公之思赵将，吴子之泣西河，人之情也。

In the late spring of the third month, the grasses of Jiangnan grow lush; variegated flowers bloom among the trees, and flocks of orioles flutter in flight.
Were you to behold the banners and drums of your former state, and recall the days of old, stroking the strings as you mount the rampart—would this not fill you with grief!
This is why General Lian longed for the Zhao army, and why Master Wu wept at the Xi River—such is the natural feeling of man.

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Meaning

In the third month of late spring, the grasses of Jiangnan grow verdant, variegated blossoms open among the trees, and flocks of orioles flutter through the air. Were the defector Chen Bozhi to glimpse the banners and drums of his former state and recall his past campaigns, stroking the lute upon the rampart, could he fail to be overcome with sorrow? Thus did General Lian Pang long for the Zhao army, and Master Wu weep at the Xi River—such longing for one’s native land is but the common feeling of humankind. Qiu Chi deploys this luminous southern springscape not merely as description but as psychological warfare, awakening Chen’s buried homesickness to persuade him to return.

暮春的三月里，江南的青草蓬勃生长，各色野花错杂开在树间，成群的黄莺在枝头纷飞。（你）如果看到故国军队的旗帜和战鼓，追忆往昔共处的军旅岁月，手抚琴弦登上城楼（远望），怎能不悲怆悢恨呢！所以廉颇思念赵国的军队，吴起临别西河而落泪，（对故土的眷恋）是人的常情啊。

Appreciation

【Plain narration】The passage first sketches Jiangnan’s late spring in sixteen characters: growing grass, blooming flowers, fluttering orioles—a riot of spring. It then imagines Chen Bozhi, beholding his former state’s banners and recalling his past, inevitably sorrowful; finally it cites the exempla of Lian Po and Wu Qi to show that longing for one’s country is common human feeling. 【Artistic features】Parallel and loose styles blend; four-character couplets; scene leads to feeling, feeling to reason, progressing in layers; joyful scene sets off sorrowful feeling—the bright spring contrasts the deep homesickness; apt allusion, emotion and form in harmony. 【Emotion and theme】Outwardly a defection appeal, it moves through homesickness and human feeling—the beauty of the old spring and the grief of famous generals both point to “who is not of flesh and blood, who feels nothing,” persuading not by interest but by shared humanity. 【Famous lines】Examiners prize “In the late spring of the third month… flocks of orioles flutter in flight”—sixteen characters capturing Jiangnan’s spring, a model of plain description and “joyful scene, sorrowful feeling,” starkly contrasted with the grief of “behold the banners of your former state… would this not fill you with grief.”

【白话串讲】丘迟写《与陈伯之书》：他劝投降北魏的陈伯之归梁。“暮春三月，江南草长，杂花生树，群莺乱飞”——一句江南春景，写尽故国之思。“见故国之旗鼓，感平生于畴日，抚弦登陴，岂不怆悢”——陈伯之读了这封信，率部归梁——一封信劝降一支军队。【意象与手法】骈散结合、四字成偶；由景入情、由情入理，层层递进；以乐景写哀情，明丽的春色反衬深沉的乡愁；用典贴切，情文兼至。【情感与主旨】表面是劝降文书，实则以乡愁与人情动之——故国春景之美与名将去国之悲，共同指向「人非草木，孰能无情」的主旨，其说服力不在利害分析，而在人性共鸣。【名句点睛】常考「暮春三月，江南草长，杂花生树，群莺乱飞」——以十六字写尽江南春色，是白描手法与「乐景写哀」的典范，与「见故国之旗鼓……岂不怆悢」的悲情形成强烈对照。

Background

Qiu Chi (464–508), styled Xifan, of Wuxing Wucheng (present-day Huzhou, Zhejiang), was a Liang-dynasty man of letters who served both Qi and Liang, rising to Gentleman of the Secretariat. This letter was written in 505 CE, when Emperor Wu of Liang ordered his son Xiao Hong to lead a northern campaign; Qiu, as staff secretary, was charged with persuading the defector Chen Bozhi—formerly a Southern Qi general now serving Northern Wei—to return. Chen had submitted to Liang with the founder Xiao Yan, then, provoked and suspicious, rebelled in 502 and was made a Wei commander at Jiangzhou, a thorn in Liang’s side. With Xiao Hong’s army at his gates, Qiu launched a war of words. The letter has three layers: first it rebukes Chen’s betrayal, then lays out interests (Wei cannot be trusted, Liang cannot be deserted), and finally awakens his longing with “the late spring of the third month… flocks of orioles flutter in flight,” citing Lian Po and Wu Qi to appeal to human ties. Per the Book of Liang, Chen was moved and surrendered with eight thousand men—Qiu’s single sheet rivaled a hundred thousand troops, a celebrated case of letters winning victory. This excerpt is the most quoted lyrical passage, complete in itself.

丘迟（464—508），字希范，吴兴乌程（今浙江湖州）人，南朝梁文学家，历仕齐、梁两朝，官至司徒从事中郎。此信写于梁天监四年（505年），时梁武帝命临川王萧宏率军北伐，丘迟为谘议参军兼领记室，奉命作书招降原南齐将领、时仕北魏的陈伯之。陈伯之本为南朝将领，齐末据江州，萧衍（后来的梁武帝）起兵时他率部归附，后因受人煽动、猜忌朝廷而于天监元年（502年）叛梁投魏，被北魏任为征南将军、都督江州诸军事，坐镇江州，成为梁朝北伐时的心腹之患。萧宏大军压境，陈伯之据城相拒，丘迟遂以一封骈体书信展开攻心之战。信的内容分三层：先斥其忘恩背主，次陈利害，指明魏不可恃、梁不可叛，最后以「暮春三月，江南草长，杂花生树，群莺乱飞」的江南春景唤起其故国之思，并以「廉公之思赵将，吴子之泣西河」的典故晓以人伦常情。据《梁书·陈伯之传》记载，陈伯之读信后大为感动，遂于寿阳率众八千归降，丘迟一纸文书竟抵十万甲兵，成为中国古代以文辞建功的著名范例。此节选所录，正是全信最脍炙人口的写景抒情段落，独立成篇亦自成境界。

Art

This excerpt is a parallel-letter; though Six Dynasties parallel prose prizes antithesis, allusion, diction, and tone, Qiu Chi’s brilliance lies in running parallel structure with loose breath, never bound by the four-six form. The passage has three rising layers. First, “in the late spring… orioles flutter” sketches the scene in four four-character couplets (grass growing paired with flowers and trees, variegated flowers with flocks of orioles)—sixteen characters painting Jiangnan’s full spring, earth’s green below, air’s flight above, motion and stillness born together. Second, scene turns to feeling: “behold the banners… recall the days of old” imagines Chen beholding his old army’s flags and remembering campaigns, then “stroking the strings as you mount the rampart—would this not fill you with grief” presses the question, writing his sorrow from his own standpoint. Third, feeling turns to reason: the two allusions to Lian Po and Wu Qi point out that leaving one’s state is common human feeling, closing on “such is the natural feeling of man.” Language blends parallel and loose: scenic lines are pure four-character couplets, bright as a painting; lyrical lines mix longer clauses and empty words (recall, stroke, would this not), with cadence from舒缓 to urgent to deep—exactly fitting a letter that moves by feeling and convinces by reason. Wang Bo’s famous “falling clouds with the lone duck fly together” inherits this sentence craft.

此节选为骈体书札，文体上属六朝骈文，讲究对偶、用典、辞采与声律，而丘迟之妙在于以骈俪之体运散行之气，不为四六所缚。全段章法可分三层，层层递进：首层以「暮春三月，江南草长，杂花生树，群莺乱飞」四句写景，四字成句、两两对偶（草长对花树、杂花对群莺），十六字画出江南春日全景，上句写大地之绿，下句写空中之飞，动静相生；二层由景入情，「见故国之旗鼓，感平生于畴日」写陈伯之若见故国军旗、忆及往日军旅生涯，当有何感，「抚弦登陴，岂不怆悢」以想象之辞逼问，设身处地替对方写出登城远望时的悲怆；三层由情入理，连用廉颇、吴起二典，点明「去国怀乡乃人之常情」，以「人之情也」四字收束，情理相济。语言上骈散结合，写景句纯用四言骈偶、明丽如画，抒情句杂以长句虚词（感、抚、岂不），声情顿挫，节奏由舒缓而激越再归于深沉，正合劝降书「以情动之、以理服之」之旨。后世王勃《滕王阁序》「落霞与孤鹜齐飞，秋水共长天一色」的写景名句，实承此文「杂花生树，群莺乱飞」的句法而来。

Allusions

The allusions concentrate in the closing “General Lian longed for the Zhao army, Master Wu wept at the Xi River,” while the scenery hides cultural imagery. General Lian is Lian Po, the Zhao general who, suspected by his king, fled to Wei yet longed to command Zhao troops again and died in Chu—used to liken Chen’s attachment to his southern homeland. Master Wu is Wu Qi, who, recalled from guarding Xi River for Wei, wept on departing, foreseeing its loss to Qin—used to suggest that Chen, if he stays in Wei, will end like Wu, mourning old soil. Both chose famous generals’ longing for their states, perfectly matching Chen’s military identity; one “longed,” one “wept,” exhausting the tragic air of heroes in decline. “Late spring of the third month” is no idle description: Jiangnan’s March, with grass sprouting and orioles flying, is the typical spring of the old Southern capital Nanjing; the commonest vitality sets off the deepest exile-love—the fairer the scene, the keener the longing. The whole passage opens with scene and closes with allusion, feeling in scene and reason in allusion, turning a political appeal into universal homesickness and human ties, thus striking the heart.

此段用典集中在结尾「廉公之思赵将，吴子之泣西河」二句，而前文写景亦深藏文化意象。廉公即廉颇，战国赵之名将，晚年遭赵悼襄王猜忌，弃赵奔魏，居魏久而不见用，仍念念不忘赵军，望复为赵将而不得，终老楚地——「廉公之思赵将」即用此事，以廉颇思念故国军队，喻陈伯之对南朝故土军旅的眷恋。吴子即吴起，战国卫人，为魏文侯守西河，政绩卓著，后魏武侯信谗召其还，吴起临行望西河而泣，预言「西河之为秦取不久矣」，后果如所言——「吴子之泣西河」以名将去国而悲失守土，喻陈伯之若长留北魏，终将如吴起般怀恋旧土。二典皆择名将去国之思，与陈伯之的武将身份若合符契，且一「思」一「泣」，写足英雄迟暮、故国难舍的悲剧意味。「暮春三月」亦非泛写：江南三月、草木萌长、群莺乱飞，正是南朝故都金陵（今南京）一带的典型春色，以最平常的春日生机反衬最深刻的去国之情——景愈美，思愈切。全段以景起、以典结，景中含情、典中见理，将劝降的政治目的化为乡愁与人伦的普遍话语，故能直击人心。

Commentary

“Letter to Chen Bozhi” is a representative work of Southern Dynasties parallel letters, and this excerpt, superb in both scene and feeling, is eternally recited. Its historical effect was immediate: per the Book of Liang, Chen surrendered with eight thousand men, making “returning from error” a byword for the letter’s power. In literary history, “late spring of the third month… flocks of orioles flutter” is hailed as the definitive spring description, ranked with Xie Lingyun’s “pond moss bears spring grass” and Bai Juyi’s “river flowers red as fire,” praised for “capturing Jiangnan’s spring in sixteen characters, with life bursting forth.” Xu Lian’s Six Dynasties Prose Clean Selection commended its “emotion and form both complete,” noting that though parallel prose values ornament, this letter endures through sincerity. Modern scholars see it as the turning point where Six Dynasties parallel prose “moves from ornate to emotion-reason balanced”: after Qiu, parallel prose entered statecraft and letters at scale. It also founded the “moving the enemy through scene” tradition of defection appeals. For contemporary readers, its bright spring and deep homesickness transcend history, becoming part of the Chinese collective memory of Jiangnan.

《与陈伯之书》是南朝骈文书信中的代表作，而此节选更因写景抒情俱佳成为千古传诵的名段。其历史影响立竿见影：据《梁书》载，陈伯之得书后率众八千归降梁朝，「迷途知返」遂成典故，足见文章说服力之强。文学史上，此段「暮春三月，江南草长，杂花生树，群莺乱飞」被公认为写春的绝唱，与谢灵运「池塘生春草」、白居易「日出江花红胜火」等并称，历代评家多赞其「以十六字写尽江南春色，生气远出」。清代许梿《六朝文絜》选录此文，称其「情文兼至」，以为骈文虽尚辞采，而此文以情真为本，故能不朽。现代学者亦以之为六朝骈文「从绮靡走向情理兼备」的转折点：丘迟之前，骈文多写宫廷艳情与咏物应制；丘迟之后，骈文始大规模用于军国文书与书信，以文学感染力介入现实政治。此文还开创了「以景动敌」的劝降传统，后世凡招降文字莫不效其以乡愁攻心之法。对当代读者而言，此段写春景之明丽、思乡之深挚，早已超越历史语境，成为中国人集体记忆里的江南意象之一，其美学价值与史学价值并重。

Prosody

Form Parallel-letter (excerpt of Six Dynasties parallel prose)骈体书札（六朝骈文节选）

Rhyme The passage is built on four-character couplets (late spring / grass growing, variegated flowers / orioles flying); paired lines often take level-toned rhymes—“grow” and “fly” bright and ringing; 怆悢 shifts to oblique tones, low and lamenting; parallel and loose alternate—four-character lines brisk, long lines舒缓, rhetorical lines urgent, like hearing the strings atop the rampart.全段以四言骈偶为骨干（暮春三月／江南草长，杂花生树／群莺乱飞），偶句多押平声韵脚，如「长」「飞」音调明亮铿锵；「怆悢」等转仄声，低回悲慨；句间骈散相间，四字句明快，长句舒缓，反诘句激越，读来如闻登城之弦声。

Tone pattern Mostly four-character couplets, with seven-character long lines and exclamatory rhetoric interspersed; rhythm first舒缓, then urgent, then deep; “would this not fill you with grief” lifts the tone with its rhetoric, “such is the natural feeling of man” closes with judgment and lingering resonance—one chant, three sighs, sound and sense together.句式以四字偶句为主，间以七言长句与感叹反诘，节奏先舒缓后激越再归于深沉；「岂不怆悢」以反诘拔高语势，「人之情也」以判断收束余韵，一唱三叹，声情与文情相凑。

Reading note Though an excerpt of parallel prose, this passage joins the music of parallelism with the fluency of prose, its rhythm artfully managed. The opening four-character couplets—“late spring of the third month / grass grows in Jiangnan / variegated flowers on trees / orioles flutter in flight”—sixteen characters in four beats, each line double-paused, bright as spring’s drumbeats; turning to “behold the banners… recall the days of old,” seven-character long lines slow the beat, as thought sinks; “stroking the strings, mounting the rampart, would this not fill you with grief” returns to four characters yet adds rhetoric, the pitch suddenly lifting to its peak; closing with the long loose “therefore… such is the natural feeling of man” settles like a sigh. Rhyme is loose but sound-feeling valued: scenic lines take level tones (grow, fly), bright and rising; lyrical lines turn oblique (怆悢), low and lamenting; reasoning lines use empty words “therefore” and “is” to lengthen the breath, composed and earnest. This “sound writing feeling” rhythm frees parallel prose from the early Six Dynasties’ ornate stiffness, giving it direct emotional power—recite it, and the spring’s喧, the homesickness’s grief, the reasoning’s urgency all appear and sound.此段虽为骈文节选，却兼具骈文的音乐性与散文的流畅感，其节奏经营颇具匠心。起笔四字成句、两两对偶，「暮春三月／江南草长／杂花生树／群莺乱飞」凡十六字四拍，句句双字顿，音节明快如春日鼓点；转入「见故国之旗鼓，感平生于畴日」七言长句，节拍放缓，如思绪渐沉；「抚弦登陴，岂不怆悢」复归四字而加反诘，音节陡然拔高，情绪达到顶点；末以「所以……人之情也」的长散句收束，如叹息般渐渐落定，余音袅袅。全段押韵不严而重声情：写景句多押平声（长、飞），明亮昂扬；抒情句转仄声（悢），低回悲慨；说理句以虚词「所以」「也」拖长语势，从容恳切。这种「以声写情」的节奏安排，使骈文摆脱了六朝前期堆砌辞藻的板滞，而获得直指人心的感染力，诵读之，春景之喧、乡愁之悲、说理之切皆如见如闻。

Line by line

暮春三月，江南草长，杂花生树，群莺乱飞。

In the late spring of the third month, the grasses of Jiangnan grow lush; variegated flowers bloom among the trees, and flocks of orioles flutter in flight.

暮春的三月里，江南的青草蓬勃生长，各色野花错杂开在树间，成群的黄莺在枝头纷飞。

In the third month of late spring, Jiangnan's grasses grow lush, wild flowers dot the trees, flocks of orioles dart among the branches.

这是全文最著名的写景名句，十六字以白描勾勒江南暮春全景。首句「暮春三月」点明时令，定下生机盎然又带时序将尽的基调；「江南草长」写地面之绿，一「长」字写足春草勃发之势；「杂花生树」写草木间野花烂漫，「杂」字见花色之繁、花形之杂，不拘一格，天然成趣；「群莺乱飞」写空中之闹，「乱」字写黄莺成群、穿梭纷飞之态，声色并作。四句由地面到枝头再到空中，由静到动，由色到声，构成一幅层次分明的江南春景图。妙在纯用白描，不加任何修饰与议论，而春之喧闹、江南之美尽在其中——愈是明丽欢愉，愈与下文「怆悢」的悲情形成强烈反差，以乐景写哀情，倍增其哀。这十六字既是写实，更是心理攻势：让身在北方的陈伯之想象故国春光，乡愁自生，故能一纸动敌，胜于十万兵戈。

The spring. In the third month of late spring, Jiangnan's grasses grow lush, wild flowers dot the trees, flocks of orioles dart among the branches. The late-spring-grasses-lush and the wild-flowers-orioles-dart are the scene. To have grown lush would be a growing; the in-the-third-month-of-late-spring-jiangnan's-grasses-grow-lush-wild-flowers-dot-the-trees-flocks-of-orioles-dart-among-the-branches is the growing.

见故国之旗鼓，感平生于畴日，抚弦登陴，岂不怆悢！

Were you to behold the banners and drums of your former state, and recall the days of old, stroking the strings as you mount the rampart—would this not fill you with grief!

（你）如果看到故国军队的旗帜和战鼓，追忆往昔军旅共处的岁月，手抚琴弦登上城楼远望，怎能不悲怆悢恨呢！

Seeing the old country's banners and drums, recalling his life in former days, his hand on the string he mounts the rampart—how can he not be heartbroken!

此句由写景转入对陈伯之的心理想象，是全段情感的核心。句式上「见……感……」对举，先设「见故国之旗鼓」之景，再发「感平生于畴日」之情——旗鼓是故国军队的象征，畴日是往昔征战的日子，身为武将的陈伯之，其平生功业、荣辱都与军旅相连，一旦重见故国旌旗，必然百感交集。「抚弦登陴」写其登城远望之态，「抚弦」暗用登高抚琴、悲从中来的意象，「陴」指城上女墙，正是两军对峙时的具体场景；「岂不怆悢」以反诘句逼问，不直说「你必然悲伤」，而以「岂不」唤起对方自省，把劝降之意藏进情感共鸣之中。全句不用一个说理字，而「故国」「平生」四字已把乡情、旧谊、功名尽数唤醒，是「以情动人」的典范。句式上长短交错、语气顿挫，由长句铺叙到短句反问，声情激越，读之如在城头闻弦声呜咽。

The rampart. Seeing the old country's banners and drums, recalling his life in former days, his hand on the string he mounts the rampart—how can he not be heartbroken! The seen-banners-recalling-days and the hand-on-string-mounts-rampart are the grief. To have mounted the rampart would be a mounting; the seeing-the-old-country's-banners-and-drums-recalling-his-life-in-former-days-his-hand-on-the-string-he-mounts-the-rampart-how-can-he-not-be-heartbroken is the mounting.

所以廉公之思赵将，吴子之泣西河，人之情也。

This is why General Lian longed for the Zhao army, and why Master Wu wept at the Xi River—such is the natural feeling of man.

所以廉颇思念赵国的军队，吴起临别西河而落泪，（眷恋故土）是人的常情啊。

Thus Lian Po longed for the general's post in Zhao; Wu Qi wept leaving the Xihe—this is human feeling.

结尾两句连用两则名将典故，由情入理，点明题旨。「廉公之思赵将」用廉颇被弃奔魏后仍思归赵之事，「吴子之泣西河」用吴起离魏时望西河而泣之事，二人皆是叱咤风云的名将，皆因去国而思故土、因失土而悲恸——丘迟巧借这两位与陈伯之身份相类的古人，把「对故国的眷恋」说成连名将亦不能免的「人之情」，使劝降不再是政治胁迫，而成了对人性常情的体认。两典以「思」「泣」对举，一写怀人、一写悲土，语势由典而归纳于「人之情也」四字，斩截有力，如判词般不容辩驳。此句的深层逻辑是：既然廉颇、吴起这些绝代名将都难免去国怀乡之情，你陈伯之作为同样的武将，思归故国亦是情理中事，何不顺势归来？用典贴切至此，情、理、势三者兼备，故陈伯之读之不能不心动。全段以景起、以情承、以理结，结构浑然，正是此信千百年来打动无数读者的根本原因。

The generals. Thus Lian Po longed for the general's post in Zhao; Wu Qi wept leaving the Xihe—this is human feeling. The Lian-Po-longed-Zhao and the Wu-Qi-wept-Xihe and the human-feeling are the allusions. To have longed for Zhao would be a longing; the thus-lian-po-longed-for-the-general's-post-in-zhao-wu-qi-wept-leaving-the-xihe-this-is-human-feeling is the longing.

Study

Word focus

杂花生树 “Variegated flowers on trees” is the pivotal scenic phrase, brilliant in its single “variegated” (杂). Ordinary spring descriptions use “abundant flowers” or “hundred flowers” to stress quantity; Qiu Chi uses 杂 to stress the profusion of colors, the mixture of kinds, the scattered distribution—peach, apricot, and plum blooming unsorted among the trees, natural and wild, without artifice, exactly the true state of Jiangnan’s field flowers. Paired with the “growing” of grass and the “fluttering” of orioles, the three characters 杂, 长, 乱 are all dynamic, unordered, teeming with life, together weaving spring’s clamor. Were it “flowers fill the trees,” it would be static, ordered, bereft of wild charm; 杂 writes “most natural” through “not neat,” embodying the Chinese aesthetic of “great craft seems clumsy.” Later writers imitated the line but none surpassed it, for 杂 captures spring’s untamed primal vitality—no character may be moved. 「杂花生树」四字是全段写景的枢纽，妙在一个「杂」字。寻常写春多用「繁花」「百花」，突出数量之盛；丘迟用「杂」，突出的是花色之繁、花类之杂、分布之错落——不拘品种、不辨贵贱，桃花杏花李花错杂开在树上，天然烂漫，无半点人工安排，正合江南田野间野生花木的真实情态。与「草长」的「长」、「乱飞」的「乱」相配，「杂」「长」「乱」三字都是动态、无序、生机勃勃的字眼，共同织成春的喧闹。若易为「繁花满树」，则静态、有序、失却野趣；「杂」字以「不整齐」写「最自然」，正是中国美学「大巧若拙」的体现。后人多有仿句，而无一能出其右，盖「杂」字写尽春天未经驯化的原始生命力，一字不可移易。

怆悢怆悢 is the concentrated lyrical word, a binome (double sound and rhyme) writing grieved longing. 怆 is sorrow, 悢 also sorrow; together they intensify, writing heart-piercing grief; moreover 怆悢 is a rhyming binome, its sound low and long, echoing the imaged “strings” and seeming like a lute’s sob. In the rhetorical “would this not fill you with grief,” this word is the emotional landing: the fairer the scene before and the deeper the recollection, the heavier the grief—beauty is the homeland’s beauty, sorrow is the exile’s sorrow, and the whole落差 condenses into 怆悢. Choosing this over “sad” or “mournful” is precisely for its phonetic beauty and antique elegance, suiting the parallel style—a typical case of parallel-prose diction seeking both refinement and precision. Once these two characters appear, the prior scenery is no longer mere description but a tear-summoning call of the lost homeland. 「怆悢」是此段集中抒情的字眼，以双声叠韵的连绵词写悲怆怅惘之情。「怆」为悲伤，「悢」亦为悲伤，二字连用则加重语气，写出痛彻心扉的悲慨；同时「怆悢」叠韵（同属阳部），读来声调低沉绵长，与「抚弦登陴」的弦音意象相映，仿佛琴声呜咽。在「岂不怆悢」的反诘句中，此词是全句的情绪落点：前文写景愈美、追忆愈深，此处的悲情便愈重——美是故乡的美，悲是失乡的悲，一乐一哀的落差全部凝于「怆悢」二字。选用此词而非「悲伤」「哀痛」，正因其兼具音韵之美与古雅之气，与通篇骈俪文体相称，是骈文炼字「求雅求切」的典型。此二字一出，前文写景便不再是单纯的景色描写，而成了催人泪下的故国召唤。

抚弦登陴 “Stroking the strings, mounting the rampart” writes Chen Bozhi’s posture of gazing from the wall in two actions—the most vivid detail in this imagined scene. “Stroking the strings” implies playing the lute atop the height, voicing the heart’s murmur through music; “mounting the rampart” (陴, the parapet) places the real scene of two armies facing off—Chen was then holding the city against Liang, and Qiu imagines him gazing out, seeing his former state’s banners, and stroking the strings in grief. “Stroking” and “mounting” are one inner, one outer, one still, one moving: mounting the rampart is the outer martial act, stroking the strings the inner feeling—together they render a iron-blooded general’s tenderness incisively. The marvel is that this is Qiu’s imagined picture of the other man, yet so concrete and real it seems witnessed, precisely because he stands in Chen’s place with his own heart. Later “stroking the strings” became a fixed image of nostalgic sorrow (e.g., Yu Xin’s “stroking the strings and sighing”); tracing its source, this line is among its springs. 「抚弦登陴」四字以两个动作写陈伯之登城远望之态，是想象之笔中最传神的细节。「抚弦」即手抚琴弦，暗含登高抚琴、临风抒怀的古意，更以弦音拟心声，写武将心底的幽咽；「登陴」即登上城上女墙，点出两军对垒的实景——陈伯之此时正据城与梁军相拒，丘迟设想他登城瞭望，望见故国旗鼓，不禁抚弦而悲。「抚弦」与「登陴」一动一静、一内一外：登陴是外在的军事动作，抚弦是内在的情感流露，二字相合，把一个铁血将军内心的柔软写得入木三分。妙在这是丘迟代对方设想的画面，却写得如此具体真切，仿佛亲见，正因设身处地、以心度心。后世「抚弦」遂成为怀旧伤离的固定意象（如庾信「抚弦而叹」），溯其源头，此句实为滥觞之一。