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清 Qing · 诗 Poem

秦淮杂诗

Miscellaneous Poems on the Qinhuai (First)

王士禛

Wang Shizhen

怀古nostalgia 感怀reflection

秦淮杂诗（其一）年来肠断秣陵舟，梦绕秦淮水上楼。
十日雨丝风片里，浓春烟景似残秋。

Year by year my heart breaks at Moling's boats;
In dreams I circle Qinhuai's waterside towers.
Through ten days of silken rain and flaky wind,
The lush spring mist-scene is like a waning autumn.

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Meaning

Year by year my heart is broken by the boats of Moling; in dreams I linger on the waterside towers along the Qinhuai. Through these ten-odd days of rain-threads and wind-flakes, the lush spring scene is like a desolate late autumn.

年来我总为秣陵的舟船牵动愁肠，梦魂萦绕的是秦淮河畔的水上楼台。在这十来日雨丝风片之中，浓丽的春景竟如同萧瑟的残秋。

Appreciation

The first two lines, 'heart breaks' and 'dreams circle', state directly the clinging memory of the Qinhuai, with swaying feeling; the last two turn to the scene before the eye. The whole poem never drops a word of history, yet the sorrow of rise and fall, the sigh of flourish and decay, all rest in the three words 'like late autumn'—deeply gaining the implicit wonder of spirit-resonance, hiding depth within emptiness, a model of Wang Shizhen's 'not a word, yet all grace won'.

【白话串讲】 “年来肠断秣陵舟，梦绕秦淮水上楼”——王士禛写南京的秦淮河。“十日雨丝风片里，浓春烟景似残秋”——春天的秦淮，在他的眼里，像残秋。【意象与手法】前两句「肠断」「梦绕」直抒对秦淮的缠绵追忆，情韵摇曳；后两句转写眼前之景：十日风雨之中，浓春竟似残秋，以错觉写心境，将历史哀感融入节候之感。通篇不著一史论字，而兴亡之悲、盛衰之叹尽在「似残秋」三字，深得神韵含蓄之妙，于空灵中藏沉郁。【情感与主旨】王士禛（1634—1711），字贻上，号阮亭，又号渔洋山人，山东新城人，清初诗坛领袖，倡「神韵说」。顺治十八年（1661）任扬州推官，往来南京，凭吊六朝古迹与南明弘光残局，成《秦淮杂诗》二十首。此其一写对秣陵（南京）秦淮的风怀与怅惘，表面写春景，实寓故国兴亡之思于风雨残秋之喻，是神韵诗借景寓史的代表，亦见易代之后士人对南明倾覆的隐痛。【名句点睛】中高考常考：①赏析「浓春烟景似残秋」的修辞与情感；②理解「肠断」「梦绕」所寄之怀；③体会神韵诗「不著议论」、以景寓情的含蓄特点。

Background

Wang Shizhen (1634-1711), style Ruan Ting, preached the 'spirit-resonance' theory. In the eighteenth year of Shunzhi (1661) as Yangzhou judge he travelled to Nanjing, visited the Six-Dynasties relics and the Southern Ming Hongguang fallen court, and wrote twenty 'Miscellaneous Poems on the Qinhuai'. This first writes his tender memory and melancholy of Moling (Nanjing) and the Qinhuai; on the surface it writes spring scene, but it hides the thought of fallen state in the metaphor of wind-rain and waning autumn—a representative of spirit-resonance poetry using scene to lodge history, and shows the lingering pain of scholars after the dynastic change over the Southern Ming's fall.

王士禛（1634—1711），字贻上，号阮亭，又号渔洋山人，山东新城人，顺治十五年进士，官至刑部尚书，清初诗坛领袖，论诗标举「神韵」，主张「羚羊挂角，无迹可求」，影响康雍乾三朝。顺治十八年（1661），他出任扬州推官，扬州与南京隔江相望，因公务往来金陵，登临凭吊六朝遗迹与秦淮风月，追怀南明弘光朝倾覆的旧事，遂成《秦淮杂诗》二十首，时年二十八岁。南京旧称秣陵、金陵，自六朝以来即为帝王之都、金粉之地；明末弘光朝即建都于此，仅一年而亡，秦淮河畔的歌舞风流与亡国血泪交织，成为易代之际士人心中最敏感的创伤。王士禛生于崇祯七年，明朝覆亡时年仅十一岁，南明倾覆时方十二岁，他虽未亲历亡国之痛，然生于易代、长于新朝，士大夫心中普遍存有故国之思。此诗其一以「肠断」「梦绕」写对秦淮的执念，以「浓春烟景似残秋」的错觉写兴亡之感，正是这种隐痛的含蓄流露——明亡已近二十年，而秦淮水上的楼台歌舞，仍是他梦中绕不去的故国影像。值得注意的是，二十首《秦淮杂诗》中，此首列于卷首，具有总纲性质——其后诸首分咏秦淮各处景物、各段旧事，此首则总写对秦淮的整体情怀，故「肠断」「梦绕」之语尤见分量，非泛泛怀古可比。

Art

The first two lines, 'heart breaks' and 'dreams circle', state directly the clinging memory of the Qinhuai, with swaying feeling; the last two turn to the scene before the eye: through ten days of rain and wind the lush spring is like a waning autumn, using illusion to write the state of mind, melting historical sorrow into the sense of season. The whole poem drops not a word of historiography, yet the sorrow of rise and fall, the sigh of flourish and decay, all rest in 'like late autumn'—deeply gaining the implicit wonder of spirit-resonance, hiding depth within emptiness, a model of Yuyang's 'not a word, yet all grace won'.

此诗是「神韵说」诗学主张的绝佳注脚，全诗不著议论、不使典故，纯以意象与错觉传情，含蓄蕴藉，言有尽而意无穷。前两句「年来肠断秣陵舟，梦绕秦淮水上楼」以「肠断」「梦绕」直写情之深挚：不说「思秦淮」而说「肠断」，不说「想秦淮」而说「梦绕」，以身体的痛觉与睡眠的梦境写相思之切，虚实相生，情韵摇曳。「秣陵舟」「水上楼」两个意象一在水、一在岸，遥相呼应，织成一幅迷离的秦淮记忆图。后两句忽转眼前实景：「十日雨丝风片里」写连日风雨、春寒料峭，「浓春烟景似残秋」则以错觉写心境——明明是浓春，诗人却觉得像残秋。此「似」字是全诗关键：春与秋本是节候之差，诗人却因心境之萧索而视春如秋，这正是「以我观物，故物皆著我之色彩」的移情之法；而「浓春」对「残秋」的强烈反差，又将眼前之景与心中之感凝成悖论式的画面——繁华的春景成了衰残的秋色，正是秦淮今昔盛衰的隐喻。全诗由情入景、由景含情，四句浑然一体，无一字道及兴亡，而兴亡之悲自在「似残秋」三字之中。就结构言，前两句为「情」，后两句为「景」，而情以景显、景以情化，四句之间一气流转，不见转折之痕，正是神韵诗「羚羊挂角」的浑成之境，亦可见渔洋于章法经营上的不着痕迹。

Allusions

The poem uses few old allusions. 'Moling' is the ancient name of Nanjing (Wu of the Three Kingdoms set Moling county), standing for the old capital; 'Qinhuai' is the Qinhuai River, prosperous since the Six Dynasties, where Southern Ming nobles once sang. The poet uses these two place-names, laden with rise-and-fall memory, to summon the double association of Six-Dynasties splendour and Southern Ming fall—place-names as allusion, implicitly lodging regret, showing rise-and-fall hate without argument. Place-names as allusion yet without trace of the axe.

此诗少用故实，而以地名为典、以节候为喻，含蓄寄慨。「秣陵」为南京古称，秦始皇三十七年改金陵为秣陵，三国吴大帝孙权始建都于此，此后东晋、宋、齐、梁、陈皆以此为都，六朝金粉、衣冠文物尽萃于此，故「秣陵」二字本身即是六朝兴亡的记忆符号。「秦淮」即秦淮河，相传秦始皇凿山通淮以泄王气，故名；六朝以来，秦淮两岸楼台歌馆林立，是金陵最繁华之地，也是亡国之音最盛的温柔乡——陈后主《玉树后庭花》歌于秦淮，南明弘光朝亦复酣歌于秦淮，杜牧「烟笼寒水月笼沙，夜泊秦淮近酒家」早已为秦淮定下「商女不知亡国恨」的调子。王士禛此诗以「秣陵」「秦淮」对举，唤起六朝金粉与南明倾覆的双重联想，地名即典，不落斧痕。「雨丝风片」一词则出自汤显祖《牡丹亭·惊梦》「雨丝风片，烟波画船」，本是写春光之句，王士禛却以之写春寒风雨、浓春似秋，将戏文中的明媚春光翻转成萧瑟秋意，暗含繁华消歇之意，用事入化，不着痕迹，正是神韵诗「不著一字，尽得风流」之境的体现。此种以地名入诗、借地名寄慨的手法，远承刘禹锡「朱雀桥边」「乌衣巷口」之例，近开清人金陵怀古「以地写史」之风，其影响及于近代而不衰。

Commentary

Wang Shizhen's set opened a new pattern for the 'Qinhuai' topic, competed for by his contemporaries. Weng Fanggang said 'twenty-eight characters equal a whole Lament of the Southern Capital'; Yuyang's poetic theory is spirit-resonance, and this poem's line 'like late autumn', lodging history in scene, implicit and inexhaustible, shows his realm of 'like a gazelle hanging its horn, no trace to seek'. A specimen of spirit-resonance poetry lodging history in scene.

《秦淮杂诗》二十首是王士禛成名之作，此其一尤为时人所重。清人翁方纲论渔洋诗，谓其「二十八字抵一篇《哀江南赋》」，正指此类以寥寥短章写尽故国兴亡之感的作品——庾信《哀江南赋》以长篇铺陈六朝兴废，王士禛则以一首绝句收摄秦淮今昔，一放一收，各极其致。王士禛自述其诗学主张，以严羽「羚羊挂角，无迹可求」、司空图「不著一字，尽得风流」为宗，此诗「浓春烟景似残秋」一语，以景寓史、含蓄不尽，正是其诗学理想的实践标本。后世论神韵诗者，每举此首为例，谓其于空灵之中藏沉郁，于平淡之中见深厚；近人评其「以春似秋之错觉写故国之思，无一字道破而情味无穷」，亦深中肯綮。此诗在文学史上的意义，一在树立了清人凭吊金陵、追怀南明的新的抒情范式——不议论、不直陈，纯以意象传情；二在见证了易代士人普遍的历史隐痛，与顾炎武、吴伟业的悲慨之作异曲同工，而风格更趋含蓄，是清代神韵诗借景寓史之标本。凡此种种，皆可见此诗虽短，而包蕴极富，其地位不因篇幅之短而稍减；它既是渔洋「神韵」诗学在怀古题材上的成功实践，也是清初易代诗坛历史记忆的一个精致缩影。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain七言绝句

Rhyme Ping-shui rhyme, lower-level eleven you group (boats, towers, autumn)平水韵下平十一尤韵，韵脚为舟、楼、秋，首句入韵

Tone pattern First line enters rhyme, level-onset first-line-enters-rhyme平起首句入韵式，平仄合律，音节流美

Reading note Spirit-resonance little poem, closes with scene, no argument.此诗为七言绝句，平起首句入韵，「舟」「楼」「秋」同押下平十一尤韵，一韵到底。尤韵为平声韵中最为悠远绵长之韵部，正宜写缠绵怅惘之情，诵读时韵脚悠扬不尽，如余音袅袅。平仄上完全合律，四句音节流美：首句「年来肠断秣陵舟」平仄相间，声调舒缓，如叙家常；次句「梦绕秦淮水上楼」以「绕」字仄声顿挫，声情转为萦回；三句「十日雨丝风片里」连用「雨」「里」等仄声字，音节细密，正合风雨连绵之景；四句「浓春烟景似残秋」以「似残秋」三字收束，仄平平，声调由抑转扬而余韵悠长，正合「以景结情」之旨。全诗四句，声情与辞情高度统一：前两句缠绵低回，如诉如慕；后两句沉静含蓄，如画如烟。七绝一体贵在含蓄，此诗以二十八字写尽秦淮今昔、故国兴亡，无一字议论而情味无穷，正是神韵诗「羚羊挂角，无迹可求」之境在格律声情上的完整体现，也可见王士禛以「神韵」驭声律、以声律助神韵的诗学实践。

Line by line

年来肠断秣陵舟

These years my heart breaks at the boats of Moling,

年来我总为秣陵的舟船牵动愁肠。

Year after year, I break my heart over the boats of Moling;

首句以「年来」起笔，点出这愁思由来已久、绵延不断，非一时之感。「肠断」二字直写情之深痛，不说「思念」而说「断肠」，以生理的剧痛写心理的哀伤，可见此情之刻骨铭心。「秣陵」是南京古称，六朝古都、帝王之地，此处以古名称之，既避俗又含沧桑之感；「舟」字则点出秦淮水路的意象——秣陵的舟船，是六朝以来秦淮河上迎来送往、繁华绮丽之物，也是亡国之际仓皇渡江、仓皇出逃之物。诗人「为秣陵舟断肠」，所断者非舟，而是舟所承载的整个秦淮今昔：六朝的金粉、南明的血泪、繁华与败亡，都凝在这「秣陵舟」三字之中。以「肠断」写相思之深，以「秣陵舟」写所念之具象，虚实结合，一开篇即定下全诗缠绵悱恻、哀感深沉的基调。

The opening line starts with these years, marking the longing as long-gathered and unbroken, no momentary feeling. My heart breaks writes the depth of grief directly; not thinking of but heart-breaking, using the body's sharpest pain to write the mind's sorrow, showing how deeply this feeling cuts. Moling is the ancient name of Nanjing, the capital of the Six Dynasties; using the old name here avoids the trite and carries a sense of time's vicissitudes. The boats points to the waterways of the Qinhuai: the boats of Moling, since the Six Dynasties, have been the vehicles of the Qinhuai's glamour — of farewells and gaiety, and also of hasty crossings and flight in the fall of the state. The poet breaks his heart at the boats of Moling: what breaks is not the boat, but all the past and present of the Qinhuai the boat carries — the gold and powder of the Six Dynasties, the blood and tears of the Southern Ming, the splendor and the ruin, condensed in the three words boats of Moling. Writing the depth of longing through a breaking heart, and the concrete object of longing through the boats of Moling, virtual and real together, fixes at once the tender, grieving tone of the whole.

梦绕秦淮水上楼

my dreams circle the waterside pavilions of the Qinhuai.

梦魂萦绕的是秦淮河畔的水上楼台。

my dreams haunt the waterside towers on the Qinhuai River.

次句紧承首句，由「肠断」进为「梦绕」，由醒时之痛进为梦中之情，相思之深又进一层。「梦绕」二字写魂牵梦萦：白日的愁思延续到梦中，梦魂在秦淮河畔的水上楼台间盘旋不去，可见此情已深入潜意识，非人力所能摆脱。「秦淮水上楼」与上句「秣陵舟」对举，一舟一楼，一水一岸，共同织成秦淮记忆的完整图景——水上楼台，是秦淮风月最典型的意象，歌台舞榭、画舫灯影，六朝以来无数繁华故事都发生在这些楼台之间。而「绕」字极妙：梦魂盘旋、往复不去，如缕如丝，写出相思的缠绵无已。两句合观，「肠断」写其深，「梦绕」写其久，「秣陵」「秦淮」点其地，虚实相生、情景交融，把对一座城市的执念写得缠绵悱恻，也为后两句「浓春似秋」的错觉作了情感铺垫——正因为此情如此深挚，眼前景才染上如此浓重的萧瑟之色。

The second line follows the first, advancing from heart-break to dream-circling, from waking pain to dream feeling, the longing one layer deeper. My dreams circle writes the soul haunted: the daytime grief continuing into the dream, the spirit hovering about the waterside pavilions on the Qinhuai, not to be driven away by will — the feeling has sunk into the unconscious. The waterside pavilions of the Qinhuai set against the boats of Moling above: boat and pavilion, water and bank, weaving together the complete picture of the Qinhuai memory — the waterside towers the most typical image of Qinhuai romance, song stages and dance terraces, painted barges and lantern shadows, endless splendor of the Six Dynasties enacted between them. Exquisite is the word circle: the spirit wheeling, returning, not to be driven away, thread after thread, writing the clinging, unending longing. The two lines read together: heart-break writes its depth, dream-circling its length, Moling and Qinhuai naming the place; virtual and real beget each other, feeling and scene fused, writing the obsession with one city as clinging and sorrowful, and preparing the emotional ground for the strange illusion of lush spring like late autumn below — precisely because the feeling is so deep, the scene before the eyes takes on so heavy a hue of bleakness.

十日雨丝风片里

For ten days, in a rain of threads and a wind of flakes,

在这十来日雨丝风片之中。

Through these ten days of threadlike rain and flaky wind,

三句由回忆转入眼前，是全诗由虚入实的转捩点。「十日」写风雨之久，连日阴雨，不见晴光，人的心情也随之低沉；「雨丝风片」四字写风雨之细密——雨如丝、风如片，不是狂风暴雨，而是绵绵不断的细雨微风，正合江南春日的烟雨迷蒙，也暗合诗人心头挥之不去的愁绪。此词本出汤显祖《牡丹亭·惊梦》「雨丝风片，烟波画船」，原写杜丽娘游园惊梦时的明媚春光，王士禛借来写连日风雨，将戏文中的春光明媚翻转成春寒料峭，用典入化，不着痕迹。七字纯写景，不着一个「愁」字，而连日阴雨、春寒锁城的气氛已扑面而来——景是愁景，情是愁情，情景交融，为下句「浓春烟景似残秋」的惊人之语蓄足势。此句之妙，在平淡中见功力，风雨十日，不过眼前实景，而诗人的心境、秦淮的气氛、历史的阴影，都已暗暗渗入其中。

The third line moves from recollection to the present, the turning of the poem from the virtual to the real. Ten days writes the length of the wind and rain: days of overcast rain, no clear light, the spirits low with the weather. Threadlike rain and flaky wind writes the fineness of it all — rain like threads, wind like flakes, not storm but ceaseless fine rain and soft wind, exactly the misty rain of a Jiangnan spring, and secretly the grief the poet cannot shake off his heart. The phrase comes from Tang Xianzu's Peony Pavilion, the awakening dream: threads of rain, flakes of wind, misty waves and painted boats, originally Du Liniang's bright spring garden; Wang Shizhen borrows it for the days of wind and rain, turning the bright spring of the play into chill spring cold, the allusion absorbed without a trace. Seven words of pure scene, not one word of grief, yet the overcast ten days and the spring-cold locked city rise at once — scene is grieving scene, feeling grieving feeling, scene and feeling fused, storing full force for the astonishing line lush spring scenery, veiled in mist, seems like late autumn. The line's beauty is mastery in plainness: ten days of wind and rain are but the real scene before the eyes, yet the poet's mood, the Qinhuai's air, and the shadow of history have already seeped in unseen.

浓春烟景似残秋

the lush spring scenery, veiled in mist, seems like late autumn.

浓丽的春景竟如同萧瑟的残秋。

the rich spring haze looks for all the world like a bleak late autumn.

末句是全诗的诗眼，也是神韵诗「以景寓情」的巅峰之笔。「浓春」与「残秋」本是截然相反的节候——浓春是花木繁盛、生机盎然的季节，残秋是草木摇落、万物萧瑟的季节，诗人却以「似」字将二者强行等同，造成强烈的悖论与错觉。此错觉之形成，一因「十日雨丝风片」的阴雨春寒，连日不见晴光，春色暗淡如秋；二因诗人「肠断」「梦绕」的萧索心境，以愁眼观春，春亦含愁，故「以我观物，物皆著我之色彩」；三因秦淮本身的历史负载——六朝以来，这里有过多少浓春般的繁华，又经历过多少残秋般的败亡，眼前之春愈浓，心头之秋愈深。故「似残秋」三字，既是写实（春寒如秋），又是写心（心绪如秋），更是写史（繁华如秋）——一语三层，含蓄不尽，无一字道及兴亡，而兴亡之悲尽在其中，正是「不著一字，尽得风流」之境。

The last line is the poetic eye, and the pinnacle of the shenyun poetry's way of lodging feeling in scene. Lush spring and late autumn are opposite seasons — lush spring the season of bursting bloom and life, late autumn the season of stripped growth and desolation; the poet forces their equation with the word seems, creating a stark paradox and illusion. The illusion arises three ways: first, the spring-cold of ten days of threadlike rain and flaky wind, no sun, the spring color dimmed like autumn; second, the poet's bleak mood of heart-break and dream-circling, viewing spring through grieving eyes, spring itself touched with grief, so that looking on the world through my feeling, everything wears my color; third, the historical burden of the Qinhuai itself — since the Six Dynasties, how much lush-spring splendor has flowered here, how much late-autumn ruin followed; the lusher the present spring, the deeper the autumn in the heart. So seems like late autumn is at once the real (spring-cold like autumn), the heart (the mood like autumn), and the history (splendor like autumn) — one line, three layers, inexhaustible, not a word on rise and fall, yet all the grief of rise and fall within: precisely the realm of not writing a word, yet carrying all the grace.

Study

Word focus

肠断 Extreme, writes how deep the clinging sorrow is, setting the melancholy tone. 「肠断」二字是首句的抒情眼目，极写愁思之深、之痛、之不可解。此词本出《世说新语》桓温「肠一日而九回」及古乐府「肠断」之语，历来是诗词中写极度悲伤的熟语，但王士禛用在此处，自有其新意：他不是为具体的离人别事断肠，而是为一座城市、一段历史断肠——秣陵的舟船、秦淮的楼台，承载着六朝金粉与南明倾覆的全部记忆，诗人面对这记忆，痛彻心扉。且「肠断」与「年来」连用，点明此痛非一朝一夕，而是经年累月、缠绵不去；与「梦绕」连用，则写出痛深入梦、醒梦皆悲的境地。「断」字最有力：愁到极处，如肠为之断，以身体的撕裂写情感的崩溃，其言虽熟而其情至真。二字一立，全诗的怅惘基调、哀感氛围、历史纵深，都已悄然奠定，为「浓春似秋」的错觉提供了最充分的情感依据。

似残秋 Compares spring to autumn's decline, darkly lodging that splendour is gone, the old capital fallen. 「似残秋」三字是末句也是全诗的结穴，其妙在「似」字。「似」字写错觉、写移情：浓春本非残秋，而诗人视之如残秋，此「似」正是「以我观物」的结果——心境萧索，则浓春亦似残秋。若直说「春如秋」，则坐实；着一「似」字，则虚实之间、真假之间留出无限空间，正是神韵诗「不著一字，尽得风流」的笔法。「残秋」二字的选择也极考究：不说「秋」而说「残秋」，「残」字写衰败、写将尽，较之单纯的秋意更添一层败亡之感——浓春烟景的繁华背后，是残秋的衰飒底色，这正是秦淮、乃至整个金陵、整个南明的历史宿命。且「浓」与「残」对举，「浓春」与「残秋」相映，色彩与情绪的强烈反差，使悖论更加刺目。三字以错觉写心境、以节候写历史，一语三关，含蓄深远，是神韵诗炼字的典范。

雨丝风片 Piles light, fine images, writing the hazy spring chill, setting off the desolate mood. 「雨丝风片」四字写风雨之细密绵长，是全诗由虚入实、由情入景的关键意象。「丝」喻雨之细，如丝线般绵绵不断；「片」状风之柔，如片羽般轻拂而来，四字叠用轻细之物象，写出江南春雨的迷蒙韵致，也暗合诗人绵绵不绝的愁绪——雨丝即愁丝，风片即愁绪，物我之间一线相通。此词本出汤显祖《牡丹亭·惊梦》「雨丝风片，烟波画船」，原是杜丽娘春游时的明媚春光，王士禛却移来写连日春寒，将戏文的欢乐底色翻转成现实的萧瑟，暗藏「繁华消歇」之意——当年的烟波画船，如今的雨丝风片，秦淮的今昔之变尽在不言中。用典而不露典，融典入景，正是神韵诗的本领。且「十日」与「雨丝风片」连读，久雨不晴、春寒锁城，为「浓春烟景似残秋」的错觉提供了最直接的现实依据，四字虽写景，实是全诗情感链条中不可或缺的一环。