All poems

清 Qing · 词 Ci lyric

虞美人·春情只到梨花薄

Yu the Beauty: Spring Feeling Reaches Only to the Pear Blossoms

纳兰性德

Nalan Xingde

悼亡Theme 婉约Refined style 爱情Love

春情只到梨花薄，片片催零落。
夕阳何事近黄昏，不道人间犹有未招魂。
银笺别梦当时句，密绾同心苣。
为伊判作梦中人，索向画图清夜唤真真。

Spring feeling reaches only to where the pear blossoms thin, petal by petal urging their fall.
Why does the setting sun draw near dusk? - little knowing among men there is still a soul not yet summoned back.
On the silver paper, the lines of parting dreams of that time; tightly knotted, the twin-heart fennel.
For her I will be a person in dreams; I must go to the painting on a clear night and call Zhenzhen.

Listen

Meaning

Nalan mourns a lost love, willing to become a dream-figure and call her spirit from her portrait.

春的情怀只到梨花丛薄处便尽了，片片花瓣催着零落凋残。夕阳为什么偏又临近黄昏，竟不管人间还有那招不回的魂魄。银笺上写着别梦当时的词句，密密绾结着同心的火炬结。为了她甘愿做那梦中的人，只须在清夜里向着画图呼唤那真真。

Appreciation

The pear petals fall and the sun nears dusk, but the true dark is the soul not called home. Nalan would cross into dream and speak to the painted face - love that refuses the finality of death.

【白话串讲】 “春情只到梨花薄，片片催零落”——纳兰写春情：梨花片片零落。“夕阳何事近黄昏，不道人间犹有未招魂”——“银笺别梦当时句，密绾同心苣”——他想起当年的同心结。“为伊判作梦中人”——他甘愿做梦中人。【意象与手法】上片由梨花零落写春残，转而责问“夕阳何事近黄昏，竟不顾人间犹有未招之魂”，无理而妙、痴情毕露；下片由“银笺别梦、同心苣”等旧物勾起当日密意，结以“清夜唤真真”之典，写词人甘为梦中人、对画像痴唤。景起情收，由实入虚，清丽凄婉。【情感与主旨】纳兰性德悼念亡妻卢氏之作，写甘为梦中人的痴情，幻想亡妻如真真般从画中走出，把对亡妻的刻骨相思写得既绮怨又浪漫，是纳兰悼亡词中深情绵邈的一篇。【名句点睛】常考“夕阳何事近黄昏，不道人间犹有未招魂”以无理之问写痴情；“为伊判作梦中人”以甘为梦中人写相思之深。

Background

Nalan Xingde (1655-1685), the most beloved Qing lyricist, filled his ci with grief for a deceased wife. This one blends erotic dream with necromantic longing.

纳兰性德，原名成德，字容若，满洲正黄旗人，大学士明珠长子，康熙朝一等侍卫，清初满族词人翘楚。其妻卢氏，两广总督卢兴祖之女，康熙十三年娶，伉俪情深，不幸于康熙十六年五月因难产病逝，纳兰痛不欲生，此后词多悼亡之音。此词据赵秀亭、冯统一《饮水词笺校》考，卢氏卒于康熙十六年五月三十日，梨花期已过，故此词至早作于康熙十七年，为怀念亡妻而作。彼时词人独对春光、触物伤情，梨花之落遂成亡妻之谶。纳兰悼亡词数量既多且质高，与苏轼《江城子》并为中国悼亡文学双峰，而纳兰以富贵公子写刻骨清愁，尤为后人所叹。其词不事雕琢而情自深至，此篇于清丽中见痴绝，最足见性德性情之柔厚。卢氏卒后，纳兰续娶官氏，然发妻之痛终其身不能释，集中悼亡诸作，字字从肺腑流出。此词虽未明言亡妻姓名，而梨花、招魂、同心苣、画图真真，环环皆是忆旧之符。清代悼亡词以此与纳兰为冠，正因其不借典故堆垛，纯以痴情贯串，令人不忍卒读。纳兰小令以哀婉胜，而此篇哀中带痴、痴中带艳，梨花招魂、画图唤真，已开清代悼亡词以幻境结情的先声，影响于后来为尤深。

Art

Moves from the thinning pear blossoms to the unsummoned soul, then to the love-tokens on silver paper, and closes on the famous trope of calling the beloved's spirit (Zhenzhen) from her portrait.

此词艺术之妙在景情相生而由实入虚。上片春情只到梨花薄，片片催零落，以梨花之薄、之落写春之遽逝，实亦写人之遽逝；梨花素白，暗合亡妻之清，兴中有比。夕阳何事近黄昏，不道人间犹有未招魂，忽作痴绝之问，责夕阳催暮而不顾招魂之悲，似无理而情至深，是词家所谓无理而妙。下片银笺别梦当时句，密绾同心苣，由景转物，以旧日信笺与同心结实证当日恩爱，密绾二字见其绸缪。结句为伊判作梦中人，索向画图清夜唤真真，由实入虚，以传奇典故写痴想，把哀思推向浪漫的幻境。全词清词丽句，转折自然，哀而不伤，婉而能挚。其由花及魂、由物及幻的层递，把一片悼亡之思写得既绮怨又空灵，是纳兰小令的当家面目。词之脉络，上片由梨花之落过渡到招魂之痴，下片由遗物之在过渡到幻境之求，实—虚—物—幻四层递转，如剥蕉叶。结句清夜唤真真，以唐传奇入词，幽艳凄迷，是纳兰小令最擅长的以艳笔写哀之法，艳而不腻、哀而能永，最见清真雅正之外的另一副心肠。上片由花及魂，下片由物及幻，结构如波纹迭进；不写号啕而写痴问，不写长忆而写清夜之唤，哀而得蕴藉，是清真雅正一路的极则。

Allusions

Zhenzhen is the girl in the Tang tale who stepped out of a painted screen when called by name at night. The twin-heart is the love-knot; the fennel a token plant.

词中意象多承古典情语而自出新意。梨花薄之薄指草木丛薄，梨花丛密之处，亦暗含春光之浅、欢情之薄；梨花自古象征素洁与易落，白居易《长恨歌》玉容寂寞泪阑干，梨花一枝春带雨即以梨花写杨妃之殁，纳兰借以喻亡妻。不道人间犹有未招魂用《楚辞·招魂》宋玉怜哀屈原、欲复其精神之意，言亡妻之魂未招，自己便是那招魂不得的人。同心苣指织有相连火炬形图案的同心结，为爱情信物，象征当日密誓。清夜唤真真用唐人传奇：进士赵颜得画中丽人真真，每日呼其名百日、灌以百家彩灰酒，真真遂下画为人，后生一子；词人反转其意，言甘为梦中人、对画像长唤，盼亡妻如真真重现。故实皆围绕生死之隔与招魂之痴，渊源有自而运以性灵，最见清初词笔之雅。真真事出唐人《闻奇录》，本为才子佳人遇合之喜，纳兰反其意而用之，变为生者唤亡者之悲，翻案极巧。同心苣之苣，或作炬，皆取相连之火形，以喻心心相印；梨花薄则兼写春残与欢薄，暗承长恨歌梨花带雨之恸。故实虽熟，一经性德驱遣，便成新声。同心苣、真真皆闺阁儿女之典，而入纳兰手便成生死之喻；以艳事写哀事，色空相生，恰是其情词虽侧艳而不失厚重的根由。

Commentary

A quintessential Nalan poem: delicate, death-haunted, where love survives only as invocation. The 'calling Zhenzhen' line is often cited.

上片春情只到梨花薄，片片催零落，写春光将尽：梨花丛薄处已是最简淡的春色，而片片花瓣仍被风催着零落，景物之衰即是心境之衰，梨花之白亦遥映亡妻之清。夕阳何事近黄昏，不道人间犹有未招魂，由物及人、由景及痴：词人埋怨夕阳为何偏又逼近黄昏、催人肠断，竟不管人间还有招不回的妻魂。何事近黄昏本李清照寻寻觅觅句法，不道二字有责怪的憨直，把招魂之悲写得如孩子般的执拗。下片银笺别梦当时句，密绾同心苣，转写遗物：银笺上犹存别时梦里的词句，同心苣结密密绾着，这些都是爱情曾真实存在的凭证，此刻反成刺心之痛。为伊判作梦中人，索向画图清夜唤真真，结以奇想：为了她甘愿长作梦中之人，只须在清夜里对着画像声声呼唤，盼望她如真真一般从画中走出。由实物到幻境，哀思至此已不止于伤逝，更成一往而深、生死以之的痴绝。四句一意，层层深入：首言春尽花落，是景之悲；次言夕阳不管未招之魂，是痴之责；下片言遗物犹在、密绾同心，是物之痛；末言甘为梦中人、清夜唤真真，是幻之求。由外而内、由物而心、由醒而梦，把一片悼亡之情写得有迹可循又杳不可即，是短章而具长篇之委曲。四句一环：花落、魂未招、物犹在、幻中求，由浅入深、由实入虚；结以清夜唤真真，痴绝而媚绝。短短小令，悲慨回环，令人一读一断肠。

Prosody

Reading note A masterpiece of Qing romantic lyric; muted, luminous, grieving.《虞美人》唐教坊曲，双调五十六字，上下片各四句，两仄韵转两平韵，所谓转换韵律、声情凄婉。此词上片韵脚薄、落、昏、魂，下片韵脚句、苣、人、真，前二句仄韵（薄、落属药韵，昏、魂属魂韵，清人词往往通押或随己意），后二句平韵（句属遇韵，苣属语韵，人、真属真韵）。句式以七、五、七、九错落，过片银笺别梦当时句七字领起，密绾同心苣五字紧承，节奏由疏转密。两仄两平的韵转换，恰与词中由景之沉郁（仄）到情之绵长（平）的情绪起伏相应。纳兰小令最善于此调，以清圆之句写断肠之思，声情与辞意相得益彰。其小令声情之妙，于此调最可见，仄平转换之间，哀婉与痴绝相生。

Line by line

夕阳何事近黄昏，不道人间犹有未招魂。

Why does the setting sun draw near dusk? - little knowing among men there is still a soul not yet summoned back.

Why, O setting sun, draw near to dusk? You know not that on earth there are souls not yet recalled.

这两句是上片的词眼，亦是全词痴情的最高处。何事近黄昏本自李清照声声慢梧桐更兼细雨、到黄昏点点滴滴的暮景书写，此处化作对夕阳的质问：你为何偏又逼临黄昏、添人愁绝？不道人间犹有未招魂更进一层，责怪夕阳只管催暮，却不顾人间还有招不回的亡妻之魂。招魂用《楚辞》古意，词人自况为招魂不得者。这两句表面无理——夕阳岂真有意——却正因无理而见情至：哀极生痴，遂与景物较真。一片责怪的憨直里，藏着招不回、唤不醒的彻骨之痛，是纳兰悼亡词最动人的笔法。

The two lines are the poetic eye of the first stanza, and the highest point of the ci's doting love. Why, O setting sun, draw near to dusk is taken from Li Qingzhao's slow, slow tune — the parasol trees and the fine rain, to dusk, drop by drop — yet here turned into a question to the setting sun: why do you press on toward dusk, adding to a man's sorrow? You know not that on earth there are souls not yet recalled goes one layer deeper, blaming the sun for hastening the dusk while heeding not that the human world holds the soul of the dead wife it cannot call back. Recalling the soul uses the ancient sense of the Songs of Chu; the poet figures himself as one whose soul-recall fails. The two lines seem unreasonable on the surface — surely the sun has no will — yet precisely in the unreasonableness the extremity of love is seen: grief at its height turns doting, and he argues with the scenery. Within the straight blame lies the bone-deep pain of the unrecallable, the unawakened; the most moving brush of Nalan's mourning ci.

为伊判作梦中人，索向画图清夜唤真真。

For her I will be a person in dreams; I must go to the painting on a clear night and call Zhenzhen.

For her sake I choose to be a man in dreams; only, in the clear night, calling Zhenzhen to the painting.

这两句是全词的收束与奇想。为伊判作梦中人，判作即甘愿做，意谓为了亡妻，自己甘心长居梦中、不与醒后的空寂为伍；索向画图清夜唤真真，索须、应，说只须在清夜里对着她的画像声声呼唤，像唐传奇中呼唤画中真真那样，盼她从画上走下。词人反转典故：原是男子呼画女为人，此处是生者呼亡妻之像。这两句由实入虚，把哀思从伤逝推向幻遇，痴绝而浪漫。它之所以泣下，正在于明知不可而为之的执念——清夜独对画图，一声声唤真真，是世间最孤绝的温柔。

The two lines are the close and the strange thought of the ci. For her sake I choose to be a man in dreams means that for the dead wife's sake, he is willing to dwell long in dreams, not to bear the emptiness of waking; only, in the clear night, calling Zhenzhen to the painting means he needs but to face her portrait in the clear night and call, again and again, as the Tang tale called the painted Zhenzhen, hoping she will step down from the painting. The poet reverses the allusion: originally the man called the painted woman Zhenzhen, here the living calls the image of the dead wife. The two lines move from the real to the virtual, pushing grief from mourning to visionary encounter, doting and romantic. What makes them bring tears is precisely the resolve of doing what he knows cannot be done: alone before the portrait in the clear night, calling Zhenzhen again and again, the loneliest tenderness in the world.

银笺别梦当时句，密绾同心苣。

On the silver paper, the lines of parting dreams of that time; tightly knotted, the twin-heart fennel.

The silver letter holds the verses of that parting dream; the love-knot of linked torches is tightly tied.

这两句由景入物，以旧日信物勾起当日恩爱。银笺别梦当时句，写银笺上犹存别时梦里写下的词句，是亡妻或二人唱和的手泽；密绾同心苣，写那织有相连火炬图案的同心结仍密密绾着。同心苣为古代爱情信物，象征心心相印、誓言不离。词人偏说密绾，越见其结之牢、当初之情之笃，而物在人亡，密绾的温柔此刻尽成刺心。这两句不直写悲，只陈列实物，以物证昔，较之呼天抢地更显沉哀，是纳兰小令善于以淡笔写剧痛的典型。

The two lines move from scene to object, the old pledge stirring the old love. The silver letter holds the verses of that parting dream writes the verses, written at the parting in the dream, still preserved on the silver letter — the handiwork of the dead wife, or of the two's exchange. The love-knot of linked torches is tightly tied writes the love-knot woven with the linked torch pattern still tightly knotted. The love-knot of linked torches was an ancient token of love, symbolizing heart answering heart and vows unbroken. The poet precisely says tightly tied, the tighter the knot, the more the firmness of the old love; the object present and the person gone, and the tightly tied tenderness now all turned to a stab at the heart. The two lines write no grief directly, but set out the objects, proving the past through things; more grieving than any beating of the breast, precisely the typical Nalan way of writing the sharp pain with a spare brush.

Study

Word focus

梨花薄 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 梨花薄三字凝练而多义。薄本指草木丛薄、茂密之处，梨花薄即梨花丛聚之地，点明春深花盛；又可引申为春光之浅薄、欢情之易尽，暗含好景不常的隐忧。梨花素白，自来象征高洁与易落，白居易曾以梨花一枝春带雨写杨妃之殁，纳兰借梨花之白遥映亡妻之清、借梨花之落隐喻人生之遽逝。一个薄字，既写物候，又写人情，更埋下片片催零落的哀音，是景语亦是谶语，可见词人炼字之细与寄慨之深。

判作 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 判作即甘愿、拼却之意，在唐五代词中常见，如韦庄百计思量，判却一场寂寞。此处为伊判作梦中人，写词人为了亡妻，甘心沉溺于梦境、不与醒后的虚空相见，一个判字见其决绝与痴枉。它把悼亡由被动的伤逝，转为主动的生死相殉：宁可长做梦中人，也不愿面对人去楼空的现实。这一词较之寻常思念更进一层，是纳兰情词中那种一往而深、以痴为力的精神缩影，也是其小令动人心魄的根源。