宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
大酺
The Great Feast
对宿烟收，春禽静，飞雨时鸣高屋。
墙头青玉旆，洗铅霜都尽，嫩梢相触。
润逼琴丝，寒侵枕障，虫网吹沾帘竹。
邮亭无人处，听檐声不断，困眠初熟。
奈愁极顿惊，梦轻难记，自怜幽独。
行人归意速。
最先念、流潦妨车毂。
怎奈向、兰成憔悴，卫玠清羸，等闲时、易伤心目。
未怪平阳客，双泪落、笛中哀曲。
况萧索、青芜国。
红糁铺地，门外荆桃如菽。
夜游共谁秉烛。
On the wall, willow leaves like jade-green banners, their leaden frost all washed away, tender tips just touching one another.
Dampness presses on the zither's strings, cold creeps through the pillow screen, and cobwebs, blown by the wind, cling to the bamboo curtain.
At the post station, where no one comes, I listen to the eaves' dripping that never stops, and drop into the first sleep of exhaustion.
But sorrow at its deepest startles me awake, the dream too light to remember, and I pity myself in this hidden solitude.
The traveler's heart is set on swift return.
The first thing I think of is the standing water blocking the wheel hubs.
Yet what can be done? — wasted and gaunt like Lan Cheng, thin and frail like Wei Jie, at the least thing easily heart-struck.
No wonder the guest of Pingyang let twin tears fall at the mournful flute's tune.
And now the scene is desolate, a kingdom of green weeds.
Red grains strewn over the ground, the thorn-pears beyond the door no bigger than beans.
For a night's rambling — with whom shall I hold the candle?
Meaning
Rain falls all day at a deserted post station, and Zhou Bangyan builds the whole lyric out of the weather: damp and cold penetrate every object, sleep brings only a dream too shallow to remember, and the poet wakes to the bare fact of his solitude. His longing to hurry home is blocked by flooded roads, and comparing himself to two famous wasted invalids he finds his own eyes too ready to fill with tears. The closing question, with whom would he hold a candle for a night's outing, turns the weed-choked spring scene into a statement of utter loneliness. The lyric is the classic example of Zhou's art: feeling reached entirely through the patient accumulation of things.
对宿烟收，春禽静，飞雨时鸣高屋。墙头青玉旆，洗铅霜都尽，嫩梢相触。润逼琴丝，寒侵枕障，虫网吹沾帘竹。邮亭无人处，听檐声不断，困眠初熟。奈愁极顿惊，梦轻难记，自怜幽独。行人归意速。最先念、流潦妨车毂。怎奈向、兰成憔悴，卫玠清羸，等闲时、易伤心目。未怪平阳客，双泪落、笛中哀曲。况萧索、青芜国。红糁铺地，门外荆桃如菽。夜游共谁秉烛。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] The night mist clears, the spring birds are hushed, and flying rain drips from the high roof. Willow leaves on the wall have washed off their wintry dust; damp presses the zither strings, cold seeps through the pillow screen, cobwebs cling to the bamboo curtain. At the empty post station the poet listens to the endless dripping and falls into exhausted sleep, but sorrow wakes him at its deepest, the dream too light to hold. He longs to hurry home, yet the flood-water blocks the wheels; he is thin and easily wounded like Lan Cheng and Wei Jie, and no wonder a guest weeps at a mournful flute. Now weeds choke the ground, red grains and thorn-pears litter it — for a night's outing, with whom could he hold the candle? [Structure] The lyric moves in a steady spiral from the outer world inward: roof, wall, zither, pillow, curtain, sleep, dream, heart, and finally the unanswerable question. [Technique] Zhou's method is to write sorrow through things — three verbs of penetration ('presses', 'creeps', 'clings') make the damp and cold active agents, so the weather itself invades the poet's body and music.
【白话串讲】 周邦彦写《大酺》：“对宿烟收，春禽静，飞雨时鸣高屋”——“邮亭无人处，听檐声不断，困眠初熟”——“奈愁极顿惊，梦轻难记，自怜幽独”——他写春雨中的愁。 【意象与手法】 “对宿烟收，春禽静，飞雨时鸣高屋”以飞雨鸣屋写春雨；“润逼琴丝寒侵枕障、虫网吹沾帘竹”以琴丝枕障写春雨之润；“邮亭无人处听檐声不断、困眠初熟”写邮亭困眠；“奈愁极顿惊，梦轻难记，自怜幽独”写愁极幽独；结以“夜游共谁秉烛”写无人共游。铺叙工丽、以景写愁。 【情感与主旨】 周邦彦写春雨羁旅之作，以春雨之绵密写客中幽独之愁，将景物与心绪交织，是清真词中“以丽景写哀情”的代表。 【名句点睛】 常考“对宿烟收，春禽静，飞雨时鸣高屋”以飞雨鸣屋写春雨；“奈愁极顿惊，梦轻难记，自怜幽独”以自怜幽独写客愁。
Background
Zhou Bangyan (1056–1121), courtesy name Meicheng and sobriquet the Qingzhen (Pure-True) Layman, was a native of Qiantang (modern Hangzhou). The greatest ci poet of the Northern Song dynasty and a master musician, he served in the imperial Music Bureau and set many long tunes that later poets took as models; later ages called him 'the Du Fu of ci'. His long lyrics are famous for their layered narration and dense object-writing. This lyric, to the tune 'The Great Feast', is a travel piece on a rainy spring day — a late-spring scene at a post station, with the loneliness of the road made denser by rain.
《大酺》为北宋词人周邦彦所作词。周邦彦（1056—1121），字美成，号清真居士，钱塘（今浙江杭州）人，北宋词人，精通音律，词风典雅精工，为婉约词集大成者，人称「词中老杜」。此词写春雨羁旅。词中「对宿烟收，春禽静，飞雨时鸣高屋」写春雨之景；「墙头青玉旆，洗铅霜都尽，嫩梢相触」写雨洗嫩梢；「润逼琴丝，寒侵枕障，虫网吹沾帘竹」写春雨之润；「邮亭无人处，听檐声不断，困眠初熟」写邮亭困眠；「奈愁极顿惊，梦轻难记，自怜幽独」写自怜幽独；「行人归意速。最先念、流潦妨车毂」写流潦妨归；「怎奈向、兰成憔悴，卫玠清羸，等闲时、易伤心目」写兰成憔悴；「未怪平阳客，双泪落、笛中哀曲」写平阳客泪；「况萧索、青芜国。红糁铺地，门外荆桃如菽」写青芜萧索；「夜游共谁秉烛」写夜游无人。周邦彦此词以春雨羁旅、自怜幽独写其羁旅之情，含蓄深婉，是周邦彦词中的名篇。此篇《大酺》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。
Art
The lyric's craft is its methodical layering. It opens outdoors — mist, birds, rain on the roof — then moves to the wall, then indoors to the zither, pillow, and curtain, and finally inward to sleep, dream, and heart: a steady contraction from the world to the self. Zhou's signature touch is the set of active verbs — damp 'presses' the zither strings, cold 'creeps' through the pillow screen, cobwebs 'cling' to the bamboo curtain — which turn the weather into an intruder that leaves nothing untouched. The second stanza then switches technique, comparing the poet to two historical invalids and a weeping guest, so that private sorrow acquires a classical pedigree before the final question withdraws everything again into a single empty room. The ending, 'with whom shall I hold the candle?', borrows the old poem's invitation to roam with a lighted candle and empties it of all companions.
此词艺术上以「含蓄深婉、以景写情」见长。全词上片写春雨之景与邮亭困眠，下片写流潦妨归与夜游无人。上片「对宿烟收，春禽静，飞雨时鸣高屋」写春雨之景：对宿烟收，春禽静，飞雨时鸣高屋；「墙头青玉旆，洗铅霜都尽，嫩梢相触」写雨洗嫩梢：墙头青玉旆，洗铅霜都尽，嫩梢相触；「润逼琴丝，寒侵枕障，虫网吹沾帘竹」写春雨之润：润逼琴丝，寒侵枕障，虫网吹沾帘竹；「邮亭无人处，听檐声不断，困眠初熟」写邮亭困眠：邮亭无人处，听檐声不断，困眠初熟；「奈愁极顿惊，梦轻难记，自怜幽独」写自怜幽独：奈愁极顿惊，梦轻难记，自怜幽独。下片「行人归意速。最先念、流潦妨车毂」写流潦妨归：行人归意速，最先念、流潦妨车毂；「怎奈向、兰成憔悴，卫玠清羸，等闲时、易伤心目」写兰成憔悴：怎奈向、兰成憔悴，卫玠清羸，等闲时、易伤心目；「未怪平阳客，双泪落、笛中哀曲」写平阳客泪：未怪平阳客，双泪落、笛中哀曲；「况萧索、青芜国。红糁铺地，门外荆桃如菽」写青芜萧索：况萧索、青芜国，红糁铺地，门外荆桃如菽；「夜游共谁秉烛」写夜游无人：夜游共谁秉烛。全词含蓄深婉，以景写情，是周邦彦词中的名篇。
Allusions
Lan Cheng is the courtesy name of Yu Xin (513–581), the poet of the Liang court who spent his last decades as a captive in the north and whose nostalgic 'Fu on My Sorrow' made his name a byword for a wasted, homesick exile. Wei Jie (286–312) was the dazzlingly beautiful and consumptive youth of the Jin, so frail that his death was blamed on the sheer strain of being seen; his name stands for fragile good looks worn to thinness. The 'guest of Pingyang' is traditionally glossed from the Han History's account of the musicians of the Pingyang marquis's household and their mournful flute airs, a guest who could not hold back tears at their playing. And 'to hold the candle' for a night's roaming quotes the 'Nineteen Old Poems': 'The day is short and the long night bitter — why not roam with a lighted candle?' Zhou borrows the phrase and strips it of its gaiety.
词中「宿烟收」「青玉旆」「铅霜」「琴丝」「枕障」「虫网」「邮亭」「檐声」「愁极」「梦轻」「幽独」「归意速」「流潦妨车毂」「兰成」「卫玠」「清羸」「伤心目」「平阳客」「笛中哀曲」「青芜国」「红糁」「荆桃如菽」「秉烛」等语，皆含典故故实。「宿烟收」写昨夜之烟消散；「青玉旆」写柳叶如青玉之旗（旆为旗）；「铅霜」写霜雪；「琴丝」写琴弦；「枕障」写枕边屏障；「虫网」写蛛网；「邮亭」写驿馆；「檐声」写檐下滴水之声；「愁极」写愁之极；「梦轻」写梦之轻浅；「幽独」写幽居独处；「归意速」写归心之急；「流潦妨车毂」写积水碍车行；「兰成」用庾信（字兰成）之典，写羁旅憔悴；「卫玠」用卫玠清羸之典，写其瘦弱；「伤心目」写伤心之目；「平阳客」用《汉书·礼乐志》平阳侯家乐师之事（或指笛曲哀者）；「笛中哀曲」写笛中哀曲；「青芜国」写青草芜蔓之地；「红糁」写细碎红花；「荆桃如菽」写荆桃（樱桃）如豆；「秉烛」用「秉烛夜游」之意（古诗十九首「昼短苦夜长，何不秉烛游」）。词人以宿烟收、青玉旆、邮亭、兰成、卫玠、平阳客、青芜国、秉烛等典入词，不着痕迹，而把春雨羁旅之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。
Commentary
Zhou Bangyan's long lyrics were prized by critics as the model of layered narration in ci, and this lyric is routinely cited among his finest. The Qing critic Zhou Ji placed Zhou at the head of his four Song masters, and later readers have singled out the rain passage — 'dampness presses the zither strings, cold creeps through the pillow screen, cobwebs cling to the bamboo curtain' — as a textbook example of writing feeling through objects. Some readers find the second stanza's pile-up of allusions (Lan Cheng, Wei Jie, the guest of Pingyang) too learned for the poem's slender occasion, but most accept the learned air as part of Zhou's deliberate art. The closing question has become one of the most-quoted lines in the ci tradition for its bare, unanswerable loneliness.
这首《大酺》，是周邦彦写春雨羁旅之作，写宿烟飞雨、润逼琴丝、自怜幽独之情，含蓄深婉。上片写春雨之景与邮亭困眠：「对宿烟收，春禽静，飞雨时鸣高屋」——对宿烟收，春禽静，飞雨时鸣高屋。写春雨之景：对宿烟收、春禽静，飞雨时鸣高屋——宿烟既收、春禽已静，唯飞雨鸣屋；「墙头青玉旆，洗铅霜都尽，嫩梢相触」——墙头青玉旆，洗铅霜都尽，嫩梢相触。写雨洗嫩梢：墙头青玉旆（柳叶），洗铅霜都尽、嫩梢相触——雨洗柳梢、铅霜都尽；「润逼琴丝，寒侵枕障，虫网吹沾帘竹」——润逼琴丝，寒侵枕障，虫网吹沾帘竹。写春雨之润：润逼琴丝、寒侵枕障，虫网吹沾帘竹——雨润之逼人、寒之侵人，写尽春雨之润寒；「邮亭无人处，听檐声不断，困眠初熟」——邮亭无人处，听檐声不断，困眠初熟。写邮亭困眠：邮亭无人之处，听檐声不断、困眠初熟——驿馆无人，唯檐声不断；「奈愁极顿惊，梦轻难记，自怜幽独」——奈愁极顿惊，梦轻难记，自怜幽独。写自怜幽独：奈愁极顿惊、梦轻难记，自怜幽独——愁极而惊、梦轻难记，自怜幽独。下片写流潦妨归与夜游无人：「行人归意速。最先念、流潦妨车毂」——行人归意速，最先念、流潦妨车毂。写流潦妨归：行人归意甚速，最先念、流潦妨车毂——归心虽急，而积水碍行；「怎奈向、兰成憔悴，卫玠清羸，等闲时、易伤心目」——怎奈向、兰成憔悴，卫玠清羸，等闲时、易伤心目。写兰成憔悴：怎奈向、兰成憔悴、卫玠清羸，等闲时、易伤心目——以庾信卫玠写己之憔悴清羸；「未怪平阳客，双泪落、笛中哀曲」——未怪平阳客，双泪落、笛中哀曲。写平阳客泪：未怪平阳客，双泪落、笛中哀曲——以平阳客写闻曲落泪；「况萧索、青芜国。红糁铺地，门外荆桃如菽」——况萧索、青芜国，红糁铺地，门外荆桃如菽。写青芜萧索：况萧索、青芜国，红糁铺地、门外荆桃如菽——青芜萧索、红糁铺地，写尽春暮萧索；「夜游共谁秉烛」——夜游共谁秉烛。写夜游无人：夜游共谁秉烛——秉烛夜游而无共者。这「夜游共谁秉烛」，是全词之结：以夜游无人写其孤独。全词含蓄深婉，以景写情，正是周邦彦词中的名篇。
Prosody
Line by line
对宿烟收，春禽静，飞雨时鸣高屋。
Facing the clearing of last night's mist, spring birds hushed, flying rain from time to time drips from the high roof.
对宿烟收，春禽静，飞雨时鸣高屋。
Facing the settled night mists, the spring birds hushed, the flying rain now and then sounding on the high roof.
首三句写春雨之景，起笔即见其境。「对宿烟收」写对宿烟收，「宿烟收」写昨夜之烟消散；「春禽静」写春禽静，「春禽静」写春鸟已静；「飞雨时鸣高屋」写飞雨时鸣高屋，「飞雨」写飞扬之雨、「时鸣高屋」写时而鸣于高屋。三句以宿烟收写夜尽、以春禽静写晨静、以飞雨鸣屋写雨至，写尽宿烟既收、春禽已静、飞雨鸣屋之境。以景起兴，含蓄而清冷，是「以景起兴」的妙笔。
The first three lines write the spring rain scene, the scene at the first stroke. Facing the settled night mists writes the last night's mists dispersed; the spring birds hushed writes the spring birds still; the flying rain now and then sounding on the high roof writes the flying rain, the now-and-then on the high roof. Three lines, the settled mists for the night's end, the hushed birds for the morning's stillness, the sounding rain for the rain's coming, exhausting the dispersed mists, the hushed birds, the sounding rain. Rising in scene, restrained and cold, the fine brush.
润逼琴丝，寒侵枕障，虫网吹沾帘竹。
Dampness presses on the zither's strings, cold creeps through the pillow screen, and cobwebs, blown by the wind, cling to the bamboo curtain.
润逼琴丝，寒侵枕障，虫网吹沾帘竹。
The damp presses the lute strings, the cold invades the pillow screen; the spider web, blown, clings to the curtain bamboo.
此三句写春雨之润寒，是全词写春雨的关键。「润逼琴丝」写润逼琴丝，「润逼」写潮润逼人、「琴丝」写琴弦；「寒侵枕障」写寒侵枕障，「寒侵」写寒气侵人、「枕障」写枕边屏障；「虫网吹沾帘竹」写虫网吹沾帘竹，「虫网」写蛛网、「吹沾帘竹」写吹沾于帘竹。三句一写润逼琴丝、一写寒侵枕障、一写虫网沾帘竹，以润逼琴丝写雨之润、以寒侵枕障写雨之寒、以虫网沾帘竹写雨之久，写尽春雨之润寒侵人。以景写情，含蓄而深挚，是「以景写情」的点睛之笔。
The three lines write the spring rain's damp and cold, the key of the ci's rain. The damp presses the lute strings writes the damp pressing, the lute strings; the cold invades the pillow screen writes the cold invading, the pillow screen; the spider web, blown, clings to the curtain bamboo writes the spider web, the clinging to the curtain bamboo. Three lines, one the damp on the strings, one the cold on the pillow, one the web on the curtain, the damp for the rain's moisture, the cold for the rain's chill, the web for the rain's long lasting, exhausting the spring rain's damp and cold invading. Writing feeling through scene, restrained and deep, the pointed brush.
奈愁极顿惊，梦轻难记，自怜幽独。
But sorrow at its deepest startles me awake, the dream too light to remember, and I pity myself in this hidden solitude.
奈愁极顿惊，梦轻难记，自怜幽独。
Alas, grief at its extreme startles me awake; the dream is too light to remember; I pity my hidden loneliness.
此三句写自怜幽独，是全词写其愁的关键。「奈愁极顿惊」写奈愁极顿惊，「奈」写怎奈、「愁极」写愁到极处、「顿惊」写顿然惊起；「梦轻难记」写梦轻难记，「梦轻」写梦之轻浅、「难记」写难记忆；「自怜幽独」写自怜幽独，「自怜」写自怜、「幽独」写幽居独处。三句一写愁极顿惊、一写梦轻难记、一写自怜幽独，以愁极写其愁深、以梦轻难记写其梦浅、以自怜幽独写其孤，写尽愁极惊梦、自怜幽独之情。以愁写情，含蓄而深挚，是「以愁写情」的点睛之笔。
The three lines write the self-pitying hidden loneliness, the key of the ci's grief. Alas, grief at its extreme startles me awake writes the alas, the grief's extreme, the sudden start; the dream is too light to remember writes the dream's lightness, the hard remembering; I pity my hidden loneliness writes the self-pity, the hidden solitude. Three lines, one the grief's startling, one the dream's lightness, one the self-pity, the grief's extreme for its depth, the dream's lightness for its thinness, the hidden loneliness for its solitude, exhausting the startled grief and the self-pity. Writing feeling through grief, restrained and deep, the pointed brush.
夜游共谁秉烛。
For a night's rambling — with whom shall I hold the candle?
夜游共谁秉烛。
On the night walk, with whom do I carry the candle?
尾句写夜游无人，是全词立意的落点。「夜游共谁秉烛」写夜游共谁秉烛，「夜游」写夜游、「共谁」写与谁、「秉烛」用秉烛夜游之意。一句以「夜游」写其欲游、以「共谁秉烛」写其无人与共，写其秉烛夜游而无共者——昼短夜长，何不秉烛游，而无共游之人。以问写情，含蓄而深挚，是全词最动人处，也是「以问写情」的点睛之笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。
The closing writes the night walk without a companion, the landing point of the ci. On the night walk, with whom do I carry the candle? writes the night walk, the with-whom, the carrying-candle allusion. One line, the night walk for the wish to walk, the with-whom carrying the candle for the no companion, writing the carrying-candle walk with none to share — the day short, the night long, why not walk by candle, and yet none to share. Writing feeling through the question, restrained and deep, the most moving place, the pointed brush. The line writes the depth in scant words, the feeling and flavor both fine, the pointed stroke. Its hidden undercurrents call for repeated brooding.
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Liu Yong's lyric — 'I cannot bear to climb high and look far, gazing toward my homeland, distant and faint, the wish to return beyond restraint' — is one of the most famous travel lyrics of the Song; Zhou Bangyan's 'The Great Feast' turns the same rain into a room-bound siege of damp, cold, and dream. Liu Yong writes from the height of a tower, Zhou from inside a post station; Liu Yong's homesickness is broad and sweeping, Zhou's is cramped and sensory. Read together, they show the two poles of Song travel lyric: the open vista and the closed room.
柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「对潇潇暮雨洒江天，一番洗清秋」「不忍登高临远，望故乡渺邈，归思难收」，写羁旅望乡、归思难收，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；周邦彦《大酺》则以「对宿烟收，春禽静，飞雨时鸣高屋」「行人归意速。最先念、流潦妨车毂」写春雨羁旅、流潦妨归。两词同写雨中羁旅、望乡归思：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以登高写愁，一写飞雨时鸣高屋、以阻归写愁；一为柳永之婉约、一为周邦彦之精工，并读正可见宋词写「雨中羁旅」的两种笔法，皆于雨中见羁旅归思。
雨霖铃·寒蝉凄切 Yu Lin Ling (Bell in the Rain): 'Cold cicadas keen and chill' 柳永 · 同写别后羁旅、听雨伤怀，一写寒蝉凄切对长亭晚、一写听檐声不断困眠初熟，皆于雨声之中见羁旅伤怀 Both write of the traveler's sorrow at the sound of rain; one hears cold cicadas at the long pavilion as the sudden shower ends, the other listens to the eaves dripping unceasing as exhausted sleep comes — each finds grief in the sounds of rain.Liu Yong's 'cold cicadas keen and chill, facing the long pavilion at dusk, the sudden shower just over' makes the sound of rain the frame of a farewell; Zhou Bangyan's 'listening to the eaves' dripping that never stops' makes it the substance of a lonely night. Liu Yong's rain marks a parting, Zhou's marks an unending present; the one is sharp and dramatic, the other persistent and muffled. Together they show how the same sound of rain can carry either the pain of separation or the numbness of solitude.
柳永《雨霖铃·寒蝉凄切》「寒蝉凄切，对长亭晚，骤雨初歇」，写离别之凄切与别后之思，是宋词写离别的名篇；周邦彦《大酺》则以「邮亭无人处，听檐声不断，困眠初熟」「奈愁极顿惊，梦轻难记，自怜幽独」写邮亭檐声、愁极惊梦。两词同写别后羁旅、听雨伤怀：一写寒蝉凄切对长亭晚、以骤雨写别，一写听檐声不断困眠初熟、以檐声写愁；一为柳永之婉约、一为周邦彦之精工，并读正可见宋词写「雨中羁旅伤怀」的两种笔法，皆于雨声之中见羁旅伤怀。