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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

阮郎归·初夏

Ruanlanggui: Early Summer

苏轼

Su Shi

初夏Early Summer 闺情Boudoir Sentiment

绿槐高柳咽新蝉，薰风初入弦。
碧纱窗下水沉烟，棋声惊昼眠。
微雨过，小荷翻。
榴花开欲然。
玉盆纤手弄清泉，琼珠碎却圆。

Green locust and tall willow hush the new cicada; the fragrant south wind first enters the strings.
Beneath the green gauze window, the smoke of sinking incense; the click of chess pieces startles the noonday sleep.
A fine rain passes; the little lotus leaves turn over. The pomegranate blossoms open as if about to burn.
In a jade basin, slender hands play with the clear spring; the pearly drops break, then grow round again.

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Meaning

The lyric records the sights and sounds of early summer in a quiet household. Locust and willow hold the first cicada, the warm south wind seems to enter the strings of a lute, incense smoulders under the gauze window and a chess move wakes someone from an afternoon nap. Then a brief shower turns over the young lotus leaves and the pomegranates blaze. The poem ends with a woman playing with clear water in a jade basin, the drops she scatters breaking and then gathering round again.

绿槐高柳咽新蝉，薰风初入弦。碧纱窗下水沉烟，棋声惊昼眠。微雨过，小荷翻。榴花开欲然。玉盆纤手弄清泉，琼珠碎却圆。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Early summer in a courtyard. Locust and willow are in full leaf and a new cicada is singing; the warm south wind seems to have found its way into the strings of an instrument. Under the gauze window incense smoulders, and the click of chess pieces interrupts an afternoon sleep. Then a light shower: the little lotus leaves flip over, pomegranates blaze red, and a woman trails her hands in a jade basin of spring water, scattering drops that break and gather round. [Structure] The upper stanza is the household at rest - sound, scent, a game, a nap. The lower stanza is the garden waking after rain - lotus, pomegranate, spring water. [Imagery] What is remarkable is the handling of sound. The cicada is hushed, the wind enters the strings, the chess pieces click, and each sound measures the quiet it interrupts. The second stanza abandons sound for rapid visual flashes: rain, turning leaves, flaming blossom, breaking and reforming drops. Stillness and liveliness answer each other across the two stanzas.

【白话串讲】苏轼写《阮郎归·初夏》：“绿槐高柳咽新蝉，薰风初入弦”——“微雨过，小荷翻。榴花开欲然”——“玉盆纤手弄清泉，琼珠碎却圆”——他写初夏——小荷翻、榴花开欲燃。【意象与手法】此词写初夏，以闲适写初夏，是苏轼的名篇。上阕写夏景：「绿槐高柳咽新蝉，薰风初入弦」写绿槐高柳咽新蝉、薰风初入弦——写尽初夏的景物；「碧纱窗下水沉烟，棋声惊昼眠」写碧纱窗下水沉烟、棋声惊昼眠——写尽初夏的闲适；下阕写夏趣：「微雨过，小荷翻。榴花开欲然」写微雨过、小荷翻、榴花开欲然——写尽初夏的生机；「玉盆纤手弄清泉，琼珠碎却圆」写玉盆纤手弄清泉、琼珠碎却圆——写尽初夏的清趣。全词以闲适写初夏，写尽初夏的景物与清趣，是苏轼的代表作。【情感与主旨】此词写初夏，以闲适写初夏，是苏轼的名篇。此词写初夏时节的景物与闲适生活。上阕写夏景：绿槐高柳咽新蝉，薰风初入弦——写绿槐高柳咽新蝉、薰风初入弦，写尽初夏的景物；碧纱窗下水沉烟，棋声惊昼眠——写碧纱窗下水沉烟、棋声惊昼眠，写尽初夏的闲适；下阕写夏趣：微雨过，小荷翻。榴花开欲然——写微雨过、小荷翻、榴花开欲然，写尽初夏的生机；玉盆纤手弄清泉，琼珠碎却圆——写玉盆纤手弄清泉、琼珠碎却圆，写尽初夏的清趣。全词以闲适写初夏——那「绿槐高柳咽新蝉」写尽初夏的景物，「琼珠碎却圆」写尽初夏的清趣，写尽初夏的景物与清趣，是理解苏轼闲适词的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「绿槐高柳咽新蝉，薰风初入弦」写初夏的景物；「微雨过，小荷翻。榴花开欲然」写初夏的生机；「玉盆纤手弄清泉，琼珠碎却圆」写初夏的清趣；以及全词以闲适写初夏、以动静写景物的手法。

Background

Su Shi (1037-1101), courtesy name Zizhan, styled Dongpo Jushi, was a native of Meishan in present-day Sichuan and one of the greatest writers of the Northern Song, counted among the Eight Masters of Tang and Song. His official career was a long succession of promotions and banishments, yet he had an unusual capacity for pleasure in the middle of misfortune, and this lyric records the early summer of a period of retirement. No public event is involved: the poem simply observes a household - a lute, a chessboard, incense, an afternoon sleep, a shower in the garden. That ordinariness is itself the statement. A man who had been exiled to the far south could still attend, with complete accuracy, to a water-drop gathering in a basin.

此词写初夏，以闲适写初夏，是苏轼的名篇。苏轼（1037—1101），字子瞻，号东坡居士，眉山（今属四川）人，北宋伟大的文学家，唐宋八大家之一。此词写初夏时节的景物与闲适生活。苏轼一生宦海浮沉，屡遭贬谪，然其于逆境中常能自得其乐，此词即写其闲居时初夏的清趣。上阕写夏景：「绿槐高柳咽新蝉，薰风初入弦」写绿槐高柳咽新蝉、薰风初入弦——写尽初夏的景物（绿槐高柳咽新蝉，薰风初入弦）；「碧纱窗下水沉烟，棋声惊昼眠」写碧纱窗下水沉烟、棋声惊昼眠——写尽初夏的闲适（碧纱窗下水沉烟，棋声惊昼眠）。下阕写夏趣：「微雨过，小荷翻。榴花开欲然」写微雨过、小荷翻、榴花开欲然——写尽初夏的生机（微雨过，小荷翻，榴花开欲然）；「玉盆纤手弄清泉，琼珠碎却圆」写玉盆纤手弄清泉、琼珠碎却圆——写尽初夏的清趣（玉盆纤手弄清泉，琼珠碎却圆）。全词以闲适写初夏，写尽初夏的景物与清趣，是理解苏轼闲适词的重要篇章。

Art

Four techniques shape the lyric. First, sound paints the season: the new cicada is hushed by the foliage rather than merely singing, so the ear registers heat and thickness of leaf. Second, stillness and motion define the leisure: the drifting incense-smoke and the click of chess pieces are the only movement, and the chess click is what wakes the sleeper - silence measured by the one small sound that breaks it. Third, short clauses give vitality: a fine rain passes, the little lotus turns over, the pomegranate opens - three quick blows of the brush after the long slow lines above. Fourth, close detail supplies the charm: the water-drops that scatter and then gather round again. The larger design is aural above and visual below. The upper stanza uses three sounds - cicada, wind in the strings, chess - each describing quiet by interrupting it; the lower uses four rapid visual events, so that the poem moves from a drowsy interior to a glittering garden.

此词的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以写景写夏声。「绿槐高柳咽新蝉」以写景写夏声——那「咽新蝉」写尽新蝉的鸣咽，以写景写尽初夏的声响。其二，以动静写闲适。「碧纱窗下水沉烟，棋声惊昼眠」以动静写闲适——那「水沉烟」「棋声」写尽烟与棋声，以动静写尽初夏的闲适。其三，以短句写生机。「微雨过，小荷翻。榴花开欲然」以短句写生机——那「小荷翻」「榴花开欲然」写尽荷翻榴燃，以短句写尽初夏的生机。其四，以细节写清趣。「玉盆纤手弄清泉，琼珠碎却圆」以细节写清趣——那「琼珠碎却圆」写尽水珠的圆碎，以细节写尽初夏的清趣。此外，此词上阕写夏景的闲适，下阕写夏趣的生机，由景及趣，正是闲适词「即景写心」的写法。四重手法，使此词以闲适写初夏，写尽初夏的景物与清趣，是苏轼的代表作。此词尤可注意其听觉与视觉的调度：起句「咽新蝉」先以听觉写夏声，次「薰风初入弦」以触觉拟乐律，又「棋声惊昼眠」以听觉写静中之动——蝉鸣、薰风、棋声，层层以声写静，愈见午眠之恬；下阕转以视觉，「微雨过，小荷翻」「榴花开欲然」「琼珠碎却圆」，全用动态短句，雨、荷、榴、泉四景连珠，节奏明快，正与上阕的恬静形成张弛——上阕静中有声，下阕动中有趣，一静一动，正是苏轼「以闲写生趣」的高妙。

Allusions

The diction belongs to the traditions of early summer and of retirement. Green locust and tall willow are the standard trees of the season, the phrase thick shade of locust-summer being a common name for it. The fragrant wind is the south wind of Shun's song, which declared that the south wind's fragrance could ease the people's resentment; Su Shi borrows a phrase of benevolent government to describe the weather of a garden. Little lotus belongs to the same convention as Yang Wanli's tip of a small lotus just showing. The pomegranate blazing recalls Han Yu's pomegranate flowers brightening the eye in the fifth month; the word used for blazing is a loan for burn, and earlier poets had compared the blossom to a red kerchief, but Su Shi's single word makes it actual flame. The pearly drops finally echo Bai Juyi's great and little pearls falling on a jade plate.

此词的用语深植于初夏与闲适的传统。「绿槐高柳」令人想到「槐柳」写夏树的意象——「绿槐高柳咽新蝉」正是苏轼的名句，也令人想到「槐夏阴浓」的意象；「薰风」令人想到「薰风」写南风的典故——相传舜作《南风》歌「南风之薰兮，可以解吾民之愠兮」，也令人想到「薰风自南来」的意象；「小荷翻」令人想到「小荷」写荷叶的意象——「微雨过，小荷翻」正是苏轼的名句，也令人想到「小荷才露尖尖角」（杨万里）的意象；「榴花开欲然」令人想到「榴花」写石榴的意象——也令人想到「五月榴花照眼明」（韩愈）的意象；「琼珠」令人想到「琼珠」写水珠的意象——「琼珠碎却圆」正是苏轼的名句，也令人想到「大珠小珠落玉盘」（白居易）的意象。全词化用薰风、小荷、榴花的意象，以闲适写初夏，正是苏轼「随物赋形」而善写景、承闲适传统写清趣的本领。又「薰风」之典宜深味：舜作五弦琴歌《南风》，曰「南风之薰兮，可以解吾民之愠兮」，本为仁政之颂；苏轼以「薰风初入弦」写初夏之风，正暗用此典，以解愠之和风写闲适之心境；「榴花开欲然」之「然」字通「燃」，梁简文帝《和萧侍中子显春别》已有「榴花舒红」之句，白居易「山榴花似结红巾」亦写榴花之红，而苏轼着一「然」字，以火焰拟榴花，更为奇警，可见其炼字之妙。

Commentary

The lyric is ranked among Su Shi's finest pieces of leisure and is a standard Song treatment of early summer. Qing critics praised it as early summer written through ease, fresh and spirited; modern readers single out the closing couplet on the jade basin and the scattering drops. Its special value in the history of the form is its refusal of statement: nothing is said about the poet's circumstances or feelings, and everything is conveyed by cicada, incense, chess, rain and water. Read beside his village lyric about date-blossoms falling on his coat and the old willow where cucumbers are sold, it shows the same season handled in two registers, one outdoors and dusty, the other indoors and cool. It also belongs with Yang Wanli's lotus tip in the tradition of finding the whole season in a single small living thing.

此词历来被推为苏轼闲适词的名篇，也是宋人写初夏的代表。历代论者对此词评价极高：清人评此词「以闲适写初夏，清新俊逸」；近人更指出「玉盆纤手弄清泉，琼珠碎却圆」写初夏的清趣，是此词的名句。在词史上，此词的特殊价值在于：它以六韵的短调写尽初夏的景物与清趣——那绿槐高柳，那咽新蝉，那薰风，那碧纱窗，那水沉烟，那棋声，那微雨，那小荷，那榴花，那玉盆纤手，那琼珠，都写尽了苏轼笔下的初夏；那「琼珠碎却圆」更以细节写尽初夏的清趣。此词与苏轼《浣溪沙·簌簌衣巾落枣花》（「牛衣古柳卖黄瓜」）同为闲适名篇，一写「日高人渴漫思茶」的夏行（浣溪沙），一写「玉盆纤手弄清泉」的初夏（阮郎归·初夏）；又与杨万里「小荷才露尖尖角」的初夏传统一脉相承，可见中国词写初夏的清新。对于今日读者，此词是理解苏轼闲适词的窗口，也是中国词写初夏的经典——那碎却圆的琼珠，穿越千年，仍在诉说着初夏的清趣。

Prosody

Form Song lyric to the tune Ruanlanggui, double tune of forty-seven characters词·阮郎归

Rhyme Level-tone rhyme carried throughout on the words for cicada, strings, sleep, turn over, burn, round. One rhyme from opening to close.《阮郎归》双调四十七字，押「蝉」「弦」「眠」「翻」「然」「圆」韵（平声），一韵到底，音节轻圆

Tone pattern Rhyming in the level tone throughout, the music is light and rounded, well suited to the fresh ease of early summer.此词为《阮郎归》调，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节轻圆，正合初夏的轻圆。

Reading note The upper stanza holds the cicada, the wind in the strings, the incense and the chess; the lower holds the shower, the lotus, the pomegranate, the jade basin and the water-drops. The long seven-character lines of the first stanza give way to three-character phrases in the second, so the pace accelerates sharply halfway through, and that acceleration is what makes the garden seem to wake. In reading, the opening line should be delivered roundly and slowly, and the closing line with a lighter touch, letting the final word for round settle. The lyric is a representative example of the way Su Shi shapes his writing to fit whatever object is before him.此词为《阮郎归》双调四十七字，上阕——「绿槐高柳咽新蝉，薰风初入弦。碧纱窗下水沉烟，棋声惊昼眠」，下阕——「微雨过，小荷翻。榴花开欲然。玉盆纤手弄清泉，琼珠碎却圆」，押平声韵（蝉、弦、眠、翻、然、圆），一韵到底，音节轻圆。全词以闲适写初夏：上阕写夏景的闲适（绿槐高柳咽新蝉、棋声惊昼眠），下阕写夏趣的生机（小荷翻、榴花开欲然、琼珠碎却圆）。两阕由景及趣，层层写尽初夏的景物与清趣，正是苏轼闲适词即景写心的典型结构。诵读此词，宜以轻圆的语调读「绿槐高柳咽新蝉」的夏景，以清趣的语调读「琼珠碎却圆」的清趣，结句要读得圆转而有余韵，方能传达出苏轼的闲适。苏轼词以「随物赋形」著称，此词正是其闲适词的典范。

Line by line

玉盆纤手弄清泉，琼珠碎却圆

In a jade basin, slender hands play with the clear spring; the pearly drops break, then grow round again.

玉盆纤手弄清泉，琼珠碎却圆。

In the jade basin, slender hands play with the clear spring; the pearly spray shatters and rounds again.

此二句是全词写清趣的核心，以玉盆纤手写人手，以琼珠碎却圆写水珠，写尽初夏的清趣，是千古名句。「玉盆纤手弄清泉」写玉盆纤手弄清泉——那「玉盆纤手」写玉盆纤手，「弄清泉」写弄清泉，写尽弄水的闲趣；「琼珠碎却圆」写琼珠碎却圆——那「琼珠」写琼珠，「碎却圆」写碎却圆，写尽水珠的圆碎。这句的深意在于：它以「玉盆纤手弄清泉」的人手与「琼珠碎却圆」的水珠，写尽初夏的清趣——玉盆纤手弄清泉，那「玉盆纤手弄清泉」写尽弄水的闲趣——玉盆之中，纤手弄清泉，正是夏日弄水的清趣，那「弄清泉」写尽弄水的闲趣；琼珠碎却圆，那「琼珠碎却圆」写尽水珠的圆碎——水珠碎而复圆，正是弄水的妙趣，那「碎却圆」写尽水珠的生动；那「玉盆纤手弄清泉」写尽弄水的闲趣，那「琼珠碎却圆」写尽水珠的圆碎，一写人手，一写水珠，写尽初夏的清趣——纤手弄清泉而琼珠碎却圆，正是初夏的清趣；此二句以人手、水珠写尽初夏的清趣，也让此二句成为全词写清趣的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「在盆里玩水很有意思」，则失其画面；唯以「玉盆纤手弄清泉」写人手、「琼珠碎却圆」写水珠，写尽初夏的清趣，也让此二句成为全词写清趣的核心。

The two lines are the core of the ci's clear charm, writing the human hands through in the jade basin, slender hands play with the clear spring and the water drops through the pearly spray shatters and rounds again, exhausting the early-summer charm. In the jade basin, slender hands play with the clear spring is precisely the picture of the clear summer play with water; the pearly spray shatters and rounds again precisely the picture of the water drops' shattering and rounding. One writes the hands, one the drops, exhausting the early-summer charm. Were it said plainly playing with water in the basin is interesting, the picture would be lost; only through the slender hands and the shattering pearls is the early-summer charm exhausted, making the lines the core of the ci.

微雨过，小荷翻。榴花开欲然

A fine rain passes; the little lotus leaves turn over. The pomegranate blossoms open as if about to burn.

微雨过，小荷翻。榴花开欲然。

The light rain passes; the young lotus turns over; the pomegranate flowers bloom as if aflame.

此三句是全词写生机的核心，以微雨过写雨，以小荷翻写荷，以榴花开欲然写榴，写尽初夏的生机，是千古名句。「微雨过」写微雨过——那「微雨」写小雨，「过」写过，写尽雨过；「小荷翻」写小荷翻——那「小荷」写小荷，「翻」写翻，写尽荷翻；「榴花开欲然」写榴花开欲然——那「榴花」写榴花，「开欲然」写开欲然，写尽榴花的红艳。这句的深意在于：它以「微雨过」的雨与「小荷翻」的荷与「榴花开欲然」的榴，写尽初夏的生机——微雨过，那「微雨过」写尽雨过——微雨方过，正是雨后的清新，那「微雨过」写尽雨后的景；小荷翻，那「小荷翻」写尽荷翻——小荷翻卷，正是雨后荷的动态，那「小荷翻」写尽荷的生机；榴花开欲然，那「榴花开欲然」写尽榴花的红艳——榴花红艳，如欲燃烧，正是初夏的生机，那「开欲然」写尽榴花的红艳；那「微雨过」写尽雨过，那「小荷翻」写尽荷翻，那「榴花开欲然」写尽榴花的红艳，三句写尽初夏的生机——雨过荷翻榴燃，正是初夏的生机；此三句以雨、荷、榴写尽初夏的生机，也让此三句成为全词写生机的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「初夏的植物很茂盛」，则失其画面；唯以「微雨过」写雨、「小荷翻」写荷、「榴花开欲然」写榴，写尽初夏的生机，也让此三句成为全词写生机的核心。

The three lines are the core of the ci's vitality, writing the rain through the light rain passes, the lotus through the young lotus turns over, and the pomegranate through the pomegranate flowers bloom as if aflame, exhausting the early-summer life. The light rain passes is precisely the picture of the fresh after-rain; the young lotus turns over precisely the picture of the lotus after the rain; the pomegranate flowers bloom as if aflame precisely the picture of the pomegranate's red. The deep meaning: rain passes, lotus turns, pomegranate blazes, exhausting the early-summer vitality. Three lines write the rain, the lotus, the pomegranate. Were it said plainly the early-summer plants are lush, the picture would be lost; only through the rain, the lotus, and the pomegranate is the vitality exhausted, making the lines the core of the ci.

Study

Word focus

咽 In the new cicada hushed by locust and willow, this verb means to sob, to be muffled, to sound choked. Applied to a cicada it suggests not a clear song but a sound swallowed by dense leaves, so the word conveys both the thickness of midsummer foliage and the drowsy oppression of the noonday heat. 「绿槐高柳咽新蝉」之「咽」字是写夏声的关键词，一个「咽」字写尽蝉声的呜咽。咽者，呜咽、幽咽也。苏轼以「绿槐高柳咽新蝉」写蝉，这个「咽」字至少有双重意味：其一，写蝉声之幽——那「绿槐高柳咽新蝉」写绿槐高柳咽新蝉，那「咽」字写尽蝉声的幽咽——新蝉初鸣，其声幽咽，那「咽」字写尽蝉声的幽细；其二，写蝉藏之深——那「咽」字更是写藏——蝉在绿槐高柳之间，声咽而藏，那「咽」字写尽蝉藏树间的幽深。以「咽」字写蝉声，正是苏轼写夏声的枢纽——若换作「鸣」「啼」等字，则或失其与「绿槐高柳」的配合，或失其写咽的意味；唯「咽」字，以绿槐高柳咽新蝉写尽蝉声的幽咽与蝉藏的幽深，与「薰风初入弦」的薰风相合，写尽初夏的声响，也让「绿槐高柳咽新蝉」成为全词写夏声的名句。

然 In the pomegranate blossoms about to blaze, this word is a loan for burn. Rather than merely comparing the flower to fire, it makes the flower seem on the point of catching light, so that colour becomes energy; and because it is a loan-graph rather than the ordinary word for burning, the effect is surprising and freshly minted. 「榴花开欲然」之「然」字是写榴花的关键词，一个「然」字写尽榴花的红艳。然者，通「燃」，燃烧也。苏轼以「榴花开欲然」写榴花，这个「然」字至少有双重意味：其一，写榴花之红——那「榴花开欲然」写榴花开欲然，那「然」字写尽榴花的红艳——榴花红如欲燃，那「然」字写尽榴花的红艳；其二，写榴花之盛——那「然」字更是写盛——开欲然，正见榴花之盛，那「然」字写尽榴花的繁盛。以「然」字写榴花，正是苏轼写生机的枢纽——若换作「燃」「烧」等字，则或失其与「榴花开」的配合，或失其写然的意味；唯「然」字，以榴花开欲然写尽榴花的红艳与繁盛，与「小荷翻」的小荷相合，写尽初夏的生机，也让「榴花开欲然」成为全词写榴花的名句。