All poems

宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

钗头凤·红酥手

Chai Tou Feng · Red-Rouged Tenderness

陆游

Lu You

爱情Love 悲剧Tragedy 离别Parting

红酥手，黄縢酒，满城春色宫墙柳。
东风恶，欢情薄，一怀愁绪，几年离索。
错、错、错。
春如旧，人空瘦，泪痕红浥鲛绡透。
桃花落，闲池阁，山盟虽在，锦书难托。
莫、莫、莫。

Red-rouged tenderness, gold-labeled wine,
Spring fills the town, willows by palace wall twine.
East wind malignant, happy days few,
In my heart melancholy brew,
Years of separation sad and true.
Wrong, wrong, wrong!
Spring is as old, yet in vain I grow thin,
Tears stained with rouge soak the silk handkerchief through.
Peach blossoms fall, poolside pavilions idle,
Our vows still stand, but love letters are hard to send.
No, no, no!

Listen

Meaning

The poet recalls a past love—his former wife Tang Wan—whom he met years after their forced divorce. He remembers her delicate hands offering wine, then contrasts the eternal spring with his wasted body and the unsendable letters, ending in triple exclamations of regret and despair.

红润酥软的纤手，捧着黄封的美酒，满城春色里唯有宫墙边的垂柳依旧。可恨那东风无情，把往日欢情吹得稀薄，满怀郁结的愁绪，是几年来离群索居的凄凉。错啊，错啊，错啊。春光依然如旧，人却白白地消瘦，泪痕沾着胭红，湿透了薄如鲛绡的手帕。桃花纷纷飘落，池阁空自寂寥，当年的山盟海誓虽还铭记，如今却连一封书信也难托付。罢了，罢了，罢了。

Appreciation

This is a heart-wrenching poem Lu You wrote on the wall of Shen Garden after a chance encounter with his divorced wife Tang Wan. The upper stanza recalls past tenderness; the lower describes present misery. The triple repetitions 'Wrong, wrong, wrong' and 'No, no, no' express overwhelming regret and helplessness, making it one of the most moving love poems in Song ci.

【白话串讲】沈园重逢，前妻唐婉已嫁作他人妇。陆游在墙上写下这首钗头凤，三个“错”字、三个“莫”字，写尽了一段被迫放手的爱情。六十年后，他还在为这座园子写诗。【意象与手法】全词上下片今昔对照，上片暖笔写昔，下片冷笔写今，反差中见深情【情感与主旨】陆游二十岁与表妹唐婉成婚，琴瑟甚笃，却因陆母不满被迫离异。十余年后，陆游春日出游沈园，与已改嫁赵士程的唐婉不期而遇【名句点睛】常考此词所写爱情悲剧及“错、错、错”“莫、莫、莫”的吞吐沉痛

Background

Lu You married his cousin Tang Wan at twenty, but his mother forced them to divorce. Over a decade later, during an outing in Shen Garden, he met Tang Wan (now remarried). She sent him wine as a gesture. Overwhelmed, he wrote this poem on the garden wall. Tang Wan later responded with a matching poem and died of melancholy shortly after.

陆游（一一二五—一二一〇），字务观，号放翁，越州山阴人，南宋爱国诗人，诗名尤盛而词亦沉挚。此词题《钗头凤·红酥手》，写其与前妻唐婉之爱情悲剧。陆游二十岁（一说稍后）与表妹唐婉成婚，琴瑟甚笃，却因陆母不满，逼令离异。唐婉后改嫁同郡宗子赵士程。约绍兴二十五年（一一五五），陆游三十一岁，春日出游山阴沈园，与偕夫同游的唐婉不期而遇，唐婉遣人送酒肴致意，陆游怅然久之，于园壁题此词。唐婉见后亦和作一首，不久抑郁而卒。此词遂成中国文学史上最著名的爱情悲剧篇章之一。就文学传统而言，悼亡伤离自潘岳《悼亡》、江淹《别赋》已然，至唐人闺怨、宋人相思词蔚为大观；陆游以男性词笔写失侣之痛，且本事真实、情事惨恻，尤具震撼。版本上，此词异文多在宫墙柳之宫墙（或作高墙），及黄縢酒之縢（或作滕、封），今从通行本。要之，此词之动人，全在情事之真与笔力之深。

Art

The poem contrasts past and present: the upper stanza paints a warm scene of reunion (red hands, golden wine), while the lower shows cold decay (wasted figure, dried tears). The short triple exclamations emulate sobbing, compressing anguish into broken syllables. The imagery of 'east wind malignant' subtly blames external forces destroying love.

此词艺术之妙，在于上下片今昔对照与短句叠唱的强烈张力。上片以红酥手、黄縢酒、宫墙柳写昔日欢聚之温馨，暖笔设色，红、黄、绿交织，如画卷展开；下片以春如旧、人空瘦、泪痕透写今日重逢之惨怛，冷笔收束。一暖一冷，反差中见深情。章法上，上片由相聚之乐转入离索之悲，下片由重逢之景转入难托之绝望，情感层层下坠。最著者，上片结以错、错、错，下片结以莫、莫、莫，三叠短句如裂帛之音，将悔恨与绝望凝于三字叠唱，节奏急促顿挫，声情与内容高度统一。修辞上，东风恶以东风喻破坏之力，桃花落以落花写青春与欢情之凋零，意象悲美。整体以小令写大悲剧，字字血泪，是爱情词中情景章法对照最为惨烈的一篇。全词以重逢之暖起、以绝望之冷结，今昔冷暖对比强烈；而错错错、莫莫莫两处叠字，如裂帛断金，将不可言说之痛凝于最短音节，章法惨烈而精严。

Allusions

'Chai Tou Feng' (Phoenix Hairpin) is a ci tune name, allegedly from a palace song. 'Red hands, golden wine' evokes the wine offered by Tang Wan. 'East wind malignant' hints at Lu You's mother as the force separating them. 'Vows remain but letters cannot be sent' echoes Han Dynasty poems about broken promises.

词中意象与故实多有所本。红酥手本于唐宋称美女子手之语，温润如酥写其柔白；黄縢酒指黄纸封口的官酿美酒（縢，缠束封缄），点出游宴之雅。宫墙柳化用唐人折柳赠别之意，宫墙既实指沈园邻宫垣，亦暗喻唐婉已为他人之妇、可望不可即之隔。东风恶之东风，本为春风，此处拟人化写摧花折柳之恶势力，暗喻逼离之陆母与不可抗力，实为陆游首创以东风为恶之喻，后成离恨原型。鲛绡用《博物志》鲛人泣珠成绡之典，以薄绢写泪痕之透，凄美入骨。山盟本于古代盟誓之典（如《诗经》「死生契阔」），锦书用苏蕙回文之故，难托二字写音书断绝。桃花落则承「落花」伤春传统，写欢情之不可留。凡此意象，皆融化入情，了无堆垛之迹。红酥、黄縢、鲛绡、山盟、锦书，皆自六朝诗赋情语中提炼，经陆游熔铸，成为后世书写爱情悲剧之经典语汇，其影响直达元明戏曲与小说。

Commentary

According to Zhou Mi's 'Qidong Yeyu', Tang Wan saw this poem and wrote a response, then died 'listless for a long time'. Ming critic Shen Jifei commented: 'It shows both filial piety and deep love, with an unspeakable pain.' Though a short ci, its emotional power is immense.

此词向为爱情悲剧之绝唱，与唐婉和词并传，明人卓人月《古今词统》已收，清人况周颐《蕙风词话》称其「恸绝」。近世更因其真实本事而广为传诵，沈园遂成文学胜迹，陆游晚年尚作《沈园》二首追忆。错错错、莫莫莫三叠，尤被推为写悔恨绝望的千古奇笔，其以短句叠唱收束的章法，启发后世无数拟作。此词因情事惨恻、语言晓畅，历来入选总集与教材，现代传播极广，亦屡被搬演为戏曲小说。经典地位上，它标志陆游词风柔婉之一面，与其激昂悲壮的爱国诗互补；而论宋词爱情悲剧之深，则足与苏轼《江城子》悼亡、纳兰性德《饮水词》并峙，而以其真实本事独绝千古。学者每言诗庄词媚，陆游此词则以词写血泪，庄媚之间，足见性情之真。沈园题壁一事，经此词与唐婉和章流传，已凝为中华文化中爱情悲剧之原型意象；后世诗词戏曲屡咏不衰，足见其撼动人心、穿越古今之深。

Prosody

Form Ci, tune 'Chai Tou Feng' (double stanza, 60 characters, oblique rhymes shifting to entering tone, triple syllables at end)词（小令）·《钗头凤》（又名《撷芳词》《折红英》）

Rhyme Upper stanza: oblique rhymes on -ou (hand, wine, willow) then entering tone -e (malignant, few, brew, wrong). Lower stanza: oblique rhymes on -in (thin, through) then entering tone -o (fall, idle, send, no).上下片皆押仄声韵，上片柳、酒、瘦、透、旧，下片落、阁、托、莫，错、莫为入声字收束，声情凄厉急切。

Tone pattern Double stanza, six lines per stanza, three oblique rhymes shifting to three entering-tone rhymes; ends with triple repetition of the same character.上下片各七句，多用三、四字短句，仄韵紧促，错、错、错与莫、莫、莫三叠为入声急收，节奏裂帛般顿挫。

Reading note The abrupt entering-tone rhymes mirror the violent separation, a masterpiece of Lu You's personal invention for writing love tragedy.《钗头凤》为句式短促之小令，最宜写激切悲恸之情。陆游此词上下片对称，上片由相逢之暖转入离索之悲，下片由重逢之景转入难托之绝望，结构如画卷由明转暗。押韵上，全词落于仄声韵，且以错、莫等入声字收束，声情凄厉急切，与爱情悲剧之调相协，读来如闻裂帛。平仄方面，三、四字短句交错，节奏本已紧促，至结处三字叠唱更如连声喟叹，声吻断而复续。整体格律与内容相生，是以短调写大悲剧、以声情助悲恸的典范，亦见宋词小令炼句炼韵之极致。其调促而情哀，声与泪俱下。上下片两处三叠，声情由激越渐入死寂，入声字收束更增凄戾之色；短调而能纳如许沉痛，足证声调之于抒情词尤为命脉所系，非徒文辞之丽而已。

Line by line

红酥手，黄縢酒，满城春色宫墙柳。

Red delicate hands, yellow-sealed wine; the city full of spring scenery, palace-wall willows.

红润酥软的纤手，捧着黄封的美酒，满城春色里唯有宫墙边的垂柳依旧。

Red, tender hands, the yellow-sealed wine; the spring colors fill the city, and the willows by the palace wall.

起三句以暖笔设色，写昔日沈园相遇时唐婉遣赠酒肴的场景。红酥手写人之温润，黄縢酒写礼之郑重，宫墙柳写春之满城，红黄绿三色交织，如一幅温馨画卷在眼前展开。然而宫墙二字暗藏悲剧内核——柳在宫墙，人隔高墙，唐婉已为他人之妇，可望不可即。这一句以乐景写哀，看似写欢，实已伏下离索之悲。陆游以极省之笔勾出重逢瞬间的复杂心绪：旧情、物是、人非尽在其中，是长情小令起笔的范例。其设色愈暖，后文之冷愈显，对照之工，已在起处埋下。

The opening three lines set color with a warm brush, writing the old meeting in the Shen Garden when Tang Wan sent the wine and food. Red, tender hands writes the man's warmth, the yellow-sealed wine the rite's seriousness, the spring colors fill the city, and the willows by the palace wall the city's spring; red, yellow, green woven together, like a warm scroll unfolding before the eyes. Yet the two words palace wall secretly carry the tragedy's core — the willow by the palace wall, the man beyond the high wall; Tang Wan was already another's wife, seen and not reached. The line writes grief through a joyous scene, seemingly the joy, and already planting the grief of separation. Lu You, in the sparsest brush, outlines the tangled feeling of the reunion moment: the old love, the things unchanged, the people changed, all within, the model of the long-feeling short lyric's opening. The warmer the color set, the colder the later, the craft of the contrast already planted at the opening.

东风恶，欢情薄，一怀愁绪，几年离索。

East wind cruel, happy feelings thin; a bosom full of melancholy, years of lonely separation.

可恨那东风无情，把往日欢情吹得稀薄，满怀郁结的愁绪，是几年来离群索居的凄凉。

The east wind was cruel, the joy thin; a breast of sorrow, years of separation.

此句由上片之暖转入离索之悲，是情感的第一重跌落。东风恶以东风喻摧花折柳的破坏之力，实暗指逼令离异的母命与不可违之礼法；欢情薄三字写往日琴瑟之好被无情吹散。一怀愁绪，几年离索将个人悲剧扩为数年孤寂，离索二字尤沉，写出离群索居、形单影只的凄凉。这一句由遇合之欢跌入别后之哀，为后文错错错的三叠蓄势，亦见陆游将社会伦理之压化为自然意象的含蓄笔法。其怨而不怒，哀而不伤，正是温柔敦厚诗教在词中的体现。

The line turns from the first stanza's warmth to the grief of separation, the first fall of the emotion. The east wind was cruel uses the east wind as the destructive force breaking flowers and willows, secretly pointing to the mother's command forcing the divorce and the unbreakable rite; the joy thin three words write the old harmony blown away by the unfeeling. A breast of sorrow, years of separation widens the personal tragedy into years of loneliness; the two words separation especially heavy, writing the desolation of the parted life. The line falls from the joy of the meeting into the grief after the parting, storing force for the later wrong, wrong, wrong, and showing Lu You's restrained brush of turning the social-ethical pressure into the natural image. Its grievance without anger, its sorrow without harm, precisely the gentle, temperate poetic teaching embodied in the ci.

错、错、错。

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

错啊，错啊，错啊。

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

上片结以三叠错字，是全词最摧心裂骨之处。这三个错，可以有多重指向：错在当初屈从母命而离异，错在无力抗争而失所爱，错在重逢却已无法挽回。一字三叠，如连声悔恨的喟叹，将满腔悲愤与自责凝于最短的音节。短句叠唱的节奏急促顿挫，声情与悔恨高度统一，较之长篇铺叙更具爆发力。这是陆游以男性士大夫身份对自我软弱的历史忏悔，亦是中国文学中罕见的、以三字叠唱写极致悔痛的奇笔。其声如裂帛，读之令人鼻酸。

The first stanza closes on the three-repeated wrong, the most bone-breaking place of the ci. The three wrongs may point more than one way: wrong in yielding to the mother's command and divorcing; wrong in being too weak to resist and losing the beloved; wrong in the reunion already beyond repair. One word three times, like the repeated sigh of regret, gathering the breast's grief and self-reproach into the shortest syllables. The short repeated chant's rhythm urgent and broken, the sound and feeling one with the regret, more explosive than the long narration. This is Lu You's, as a male scholar-official, historical confession of his own weakness, and in Chinese literature the rare, wondrous brush of writing the extreme regret in three repeated characters. Its sound like tearing silk, reading brings the ache to the nose.

莫、莫、莫。

No, no, no.

罢了，罢了，罢了。

Enough, enough, enough.

下片结以三叠莫字，将莫莫莫收束全词，是情感的最终沉落。莫者，罢休、算了之意，写重逢之后明知一切无可挽回，只能以罢了吧强自收束的无奈。相较于错字之悔恨激切，莫字更见绝望后的死寂，是哭尽而无泪的尾声。上下片以错、莫两组三叠收束，一悔一绝望，声断意连，如裂帛之音戛然而止。陆游以最简洁的叠字写最沉痛的结局，千言万语尽付三字，遂成爱情悲剧的千古绝响。其结之冷，冷至无言，而余痛则绵绵无尽。

The second stanza closes on the three-repeated enough, gathering the whole ci, the final sinking of the emotion. Enough means let it be, stop, writing the reunion knowing all beyond repair, only the helplessness of forcing the close with let it be. Compared with the wrong's urgent regret, the enough shows the dead silence after despair, the coda of the tears cried out. The two stanzas close on the two three-repeated sets, wrong and enough, one regret one despair, the sound broken and the meaning joined, like the tearing silk cut off. Lu You, in the sparsest repeated word, writes the most sorrowful ending, ten thousand words all given to three characters, making the immortal sound of the love tragedy. Its close cold, cold to the wordless, and the afterpain lingering without end.

Study

Word focus

恶 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 东风恶之恶字，是全词拟人化抒情的关键。东风本为春风，宜人而和暖，陆游却以恶字赋之，写其摧花折柳、吹薄欢情的破坏之力。此恶既指自然之风的无情，更暗喻逼令离异的母命与不可违之礼法这一社会性的恶。一字而将外在伦理压迫化为可感的自然意象，含蓄而沉痛。恶字置于句首领起，如一声控诉，与下欢情薄形成因果，是陆游以炼字写悲剧内核的范例。其后词人写离恨，多祖此恶字，足见其开创之力。

空 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 春如旧，人空瘦，空字是下片写惨怛之眼。春光依然如旧，而人却白白地消瘦——空者，徒然、枉然也，写唐婉别后憔悴、一切等待与思念皆成虚妄。一个空字，将春之恒与人之变的反差推到极致，亦暗含陆游自责：因己之软弱，累伊人空瘦。空与错、莫呼应，皆写无可奈何之虚无。以寻常字写极深愧疚，是放翁小令于浅处见沉痛的功力。其字愈淡，其罪己愈深，是悔痛之辞的至高境界。

难托 A key expression in this poem; read it with the Chinese note below. 山盟虽在，锦书难托，难托二字是下片情感之谷底。当年的山盟海誓虽还铭记于心，如今却连一封书信也难托付——唐婉已嫁，礼法隔绝，音书断绝。难字写尽阻隔之绝对，托字写欲寄而无路，将爱情悲剧的不可逆性写到极致。这与上片错错错之悔、下片莫莫莫之绝望一脉贯通，是整首悲剧逻辑的终点。两字收束全词无可挽回的死局，余痛悠长。其以最平易之语，写最绝对之绝望，是爱情词炼字的极则。