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清 Qing · 诗 Poem

金陵怀古

Meditation on the Past at Jinling

厉鹗

Li E

怀古meditation on the past 山水landscape

石头城下水茫茫，回首六朝已夕阳。
御碑亭畔休回首，尽日寒鸦噪墓田。

Below the Stone City the waters stretch away without end;
Look back, and the Six Dynasties are already a setting sun.
Beside the pavilion of the imperial stele, do not turn your head;
All day the cold crows are clamouring over the graves.

Listen

Meaning

Below the Stone City the river runs on and on; look back, and the rise and fall of the Six Dynasties has already sunk like the evening sun. Beside the pavilion that houses the imperial stele, do not turn to look, for all day long the cold crows are crying over the burial fields.

石头城下江水茫茫，回头看六朝兴废已如夕阳。御碑亭畔休要回头，整日寒鸦在墓田上喧噪。

Appreciation

The poem writes the grief of history with a cold and spare brush. The opening line raises the great river, and in its vastness one feels the indifference of time; the second gathers the rise and fall of six houses into a single dusk, carrying an immense weight with ease. The last two lines move from mourning the past to what lies before the eye: the poet tells us not to look back precisely because everything behind is desolate, the stele forgotten, the crows crying all day over the graves. Noise is used to write silence and the scene closes the poem in place of statement; nothing is said of rise and ruin, and the page is full of it.

【白话串讲】 “石头城下水茫茫，回首六朝已夕阳”——厉鹗写金陵：石头城下，六朝已成夕阳。“御碑亭畔休回首，尽日寒鸦噪墓田”——只有寒鸦在墓田上空叫。【意象与手法】此诗以清空冷峭之笔写怀古之悲。首句‘石头城下水茫茫’以大江起势，浩瀚中见历史无情【情感与主旨】厉鹗（1692—1752），字太鸿，号樊榭，浙江钱塘人，清代浙派诗领袖，论诗主清空岑寂，宗宋而避熟滑【名句点睛】本诗为怀古诗赏析篇目。考点一：意象意境，‘水茫茫’‘夕阳’‘寒鸦’‘墓田’如何营造荒寒凄寂之境。考点二

Background

Li E (1692-1752), styled Taihong and known as Fanxie, came from Qiantang in Zhejiang and was the leading poet of the Zhejiang school, whose doctrine prized clearness, emptiness and quiet and which followed the Song poets while avoiding easy fluency. 'Meditation on the Past at Jinling' was written on a visit to Jinling among the remains of the Six Dynasties. Jinling had been the capital of Eastern Wu, Eastern Jin, and the Song, Qi, Liang and Chen, one house following another in rise and ruin, and it had long been a standard subject for poems on the past. Li E lived in a time of peace but kept the sense of great change, and through the Stone City, the pavilion of the imperial stele and the crows above the graves he wrote the passing of splendour and the loneliness of dead heroes. The poem is typical of his quiet and remote manner and shows how the clear, empty aesthetic of the Zhejiang school carried on the style of late Tang and Five Dynasties poems on the past.

《金陵怀古》为清代厉鹗所作，是写金陵怀古之感的七绝。厉鹗（1692—1752），字太鸿，号樊榭，钱塘人，清代词人、诗人。此诗：石头城下水茫茫，回首六朝已夕阳。御碑亭畔休回首，尽日寒鸦噪墓田。全诗写金陵怀古、六朝如梦，是厉鹗诗的名篇。

Art

The poem writes the sorrow of history with a clear, cold, spare brush. The first line raises the great river below the Stone City, and in its breadth history's indifference appears; the second gathers the rise and fall of six dynasties into a single dusk, carrying a great weight lightly. The last two lines pass from mourning the past to the present scene: the poet urges us not to look back, and the reason is that everything behind is cold and waste, the imperial stele deserted and the crows clamouring all day above the burial fields. Clamour is used to write stillness, and the poem is closed with a scene rather than a statement, so that rise and ruin are never mentioned and fill the page. Nowhere does he use a rich word or raise his voice; the whole is quiet, remote and bleak, and it catches the essence of the Zhejiang school's clear emptiness.

《金陵怀古》艺术上以景色的苍茫与怀古的淡远见长。全诗四句，层层写来：前二句写石头城下——“石头城下水茫茫，回首六朝已夕阳”写石城下水茫茫、回首六朝已夕阳；后二句写御碑亭畔——“御碑亭畔休回首，尽日寒鸦噪墓田”写御碑亭畔休回首、寒鸦噪墓田。全诗以金陵之景写六朝如梦，正是厉鹗诗清远淡雅的笔法。

Allusions

The allusions here appear and disappear again. The Stone City recalls the fortress built by Sun Quan of Wu, from which Nanjing takes one of its names; the Six Dynasties is the traditional term for the six houses from Eastern Wu to Chen and belongs to the standard vocabulary of poems on Jinling; the pavilion of the imperial stele, though a real ruin, also carries the irony that inscribed merit ends in silence. The poem heaps up no historical matter, but the setting sun, the cold crows and the burial fields continue the manner of the late Tang, of Xu Hun's grieving birds in the evening wind and Liu Yuxi's swallows that once nested with the great families, so that a familiar scene yields a new sorrow and learning is dissolved into atmosphere; here Fanxie's skill in absorbing his sources is plain.

《金陵怀古》用典在“石头城”“六朝”。“石头城”写金陵之石头城（孙吴筑城）；“六朝”写建都金陵之六朝（吴、东晋、宋、齐、梁、陈）——回首六朝，已如夕阳；“御碑亭”写金陵之御碑亭。全诗以这些意象写金陵怀古，不用深典而淡远自见，正是厉鹗诗清雅的笔法。

Commentary

Li E was the master of the Zhejiang school, and Quan Zuwang said that his quiet, clear and remote manner set up a separate standard beside that of Wang Shizhen of Xincheng. Qian Zhonglian in modern times said that 'Meditation on the Past at Jinling' writes grief with a cold brush and has the bone of the Tang poems on the past. Students of Qing poetry usually read it beside Wang Anshi's lyric on the same subject, praising it for using neither rich colour nor loud complaint while its sense of change runs deep, which shows the particular achievement of the Zhejiang school's clear emptiness in this kind of poem.

《金陵怀古》是厉鹗诗的名篇，也是清代诗中写金陵怀古的代表作。此诗写金陵怀古、六朝如梦，向为论者称道。论者多赏其景色的苍茫——“石头城下水茫茫，回首六朝已夕阳”写石城下水茫茫、六朝夕阳，苍茫淡远；“尽日寒鸦噪墓田”写寒鸦噪墓田，更见兴亡之叹。厉鹗为清代“浙西词派”代表，其诗以清远淡雅著称，此诗正是其代表——以景写怀古，正是其诗风。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain七言绝句

Rhyme Ping-shui rhyme, seventh yang group (endless, sun)《金陵怀古》为七言绝句，四句，押平声韵。此诗用韵：阳、田（先部），一韵到底，音节疏朗。

Tone pattern First line enters the rhyme; level onset with level close七言绝句以音节疏朗、意境淡远见长。此诗写金陵怀古，音节疏朗而淡远。全诗以七言贯底，声调与怀古之叹的内容相合，是清代诗中清远淡雅的一路。

Reading note A meditation on the past at Jinling, clear and cold; the rhyming of the last line follows the original collection.《金陵怀古》为清代厉鹗所作，是写金陵怀古之感的七绝。此诗以“石头城下水茫茫，回首六朝已夕阳”写石城下水茫茫、六朝夕阳，以“御碑亭畔休回首，尽日寒鸦噪墓田”写寒鸦噪墓田。以景写怀古，淡远苍茫，正是厉鹗诗的名篇。

Line by line

石头城下水茫茫，回首六朝已夕阳。

Below the Stone City the waters stretch away without end; look back, and the Six Dynasties are already a setting sun.

石头城下江水茫茫，回首六朝，已如夕阳。

Beneath the Stone City, the waters stretch vast; looking back, the Six Dynasties are already in the setting sun.

前二句写石头城下，是全诗怀古的起点。“石头城下水茫茫”写石城下水——“石头城下”写石头城之下，“水茫茫”写江水茫茫——石头城下江水茫茫；“回首六朝已夕阳”写回首六朝——“回首六朝”写回首六朝（建都金陵之六朝），“已夕阳”写已如夕阳——回首六朝，已如夕阳。二句写石头城下：石头城下水茫茫，回首六朝已夕阳。以“石头城下水茫茫”写石城下水之苍茫，以“回首六朝已夕阳”写六朝如梦、已如夕阳，正是厉鹗诗写金陵怀古的起点——江水茫茫，六朝已逝。

The first two lines write beneath the Stone City, the starting point of the poem's meditation. Beneath the Stone City, the waters stretch vast writes the waters below the rock; the Stone City below, the waters vast. Looking back, the Six Dynasties are already in the setting sun writes the Six Dynasties (the six courts that made Jinling their capital) looked back on, already like the setting sun. Two lines: beneath the Stone City, the vast waters; looking back on the Six Dynasties, already dusk. Writing the vast waters below the rock, and the Six Dynasties, like a dream, already the setting sun, is the starting point of the poem's meditation on Jinling: the waters vast, the Six Dynasties gone.

御碑亭畔休回首，尽日寒鸦噪墓田。

Beside the pavilion of the imperial stele, do not turn your head; all day the cold crows are clamouring over the graves.

御碑亭畔，不要回头张望；整日里寒鸦在墓田中聒噪。

Beside the imperial stele pavilion, do not look back; all day long the chill caws of jackdaws ring over the graveyard fields.

末二句写御碑亭畔，是全诗怀古之叹的归结。“御碑亭畔休回首”写御碑亭畔休回首——“御碑亭畔”写金陵御碑亭之畔，“休回首”写不要回头张望——御碑亭畔休回首；“尽日寒鸦噪墓田”写寒鸦噪墓田——“尽日寒鸦”写整日的寒鸦，“噪墓田”写在墓田中聒噪——寒鸦噪墓田。二句写御碑亭畔：御碑亭畔休回首，尽日寒鸦噪墓田。以“御碑亭畔休回首”写不愿回首（怕见兴亡），以“尽日寒鸦噪墓田”写寒鸦噪于墓田、更见萧瑟，正是厉鹗诗写金陵怀古之叹的归结——回首怕见兴亡，而墓田寒鸦，正是六朝之墟。

The last two lines write beside the imperial stele pavilion, the conclusion of the lament. Beside the imperial stele pavilion, do not look back writes beside the Jinling pavilion, do not turn to look; all day long the chill caws of jackdaws ring over the graveyard fields writes the day-long jackdaws clamoring over the tomb fields. Two lines: beside the pavilion, do not look back; all day the jackdaws clamor over the graves. Writing the refusal to look back (fearing to see the rise and fall), and the jackdaws clamoring over the tombs, deepening the desolation, is the conclusion of the lament: afraid to look back on rise and fall, yet the tomb fields and jackdaws are precisely the ruins of the Six Dynasties.

Study

Word focus

石头城 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “石头城下水茫茫”之“石头城”，写金陵之石头城，是全诗怀古之地的关键词。“石头城”写孙吴所筑之石头城——石头城下江水茫茫。这一词以“石头城”写金陵故都：不是寻常之城，而石头城；不是无名之地，而六朝故都。以“石头城下水茫茫”写故都之下江水茫茫，正是厉鹗诗写金陵怀古的起点。

六朝 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “回首六朝已夕阳”之“六朝”，写建都金陵之六朝，是全诗写兴亡之叹的关键词。“六朝”写吴、东晋、宋、齐、梁、陈——回首六朝，已如夕阳。这一词以“六朝”写故都之史：不是一朝之兴，而六朝；不是可追之盛，而如夕阳之残照。以“回首六朝已夕阳”写六朝如梦，正是厉鹗诗写金陵怀古兴亡之叹的笔法。

休回首 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “御碑亭畔休回首”之“休回首”，写不要回头张望，是全诗写不忍见兴亡的关键词。“休”写不要，“回首”写回头张望——御碑亭畔，不要回头张望。这一词写其不忍：不是无回之意，而休回首；不是可看之景，而怕见兴亡。以“御碑亭畔休回首”写不愿回首，正是厉鹗诗写金陵怀古之叹的笔法——回首怕见，故休回首。

墓田 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “尽日寒鸦噪墓田”之“墓田”，写墓地，是全诗写故都萧瑟的归结词。“墓田”写坟冢之地——整日里寒鸦在墓田中聒噪。这一词以“墓田”写故都之墟：不是繁华之地，而墓田；不是歌舞之所，而荒冢之田。以“尽日寒鸦噪墓田”写寒鸦噪于墓田，正是厉鹗诗写金陵萧瑟兴亡的归结——六朝旧地，今为墓田。