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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

蝶恋花·槛菊愁烟兰泣露

Butterflies Lingering over Flowers: The Rail Chrysanthemums Sorrow in the Mist (Dielianhua)

晏殊

Yan Shu

爱情Love 愁思Melancholy 时序Time and Season

槛菊愁烟兰泣露。
罗幕轻寒，燕子双飞去。
明月不谙离恨苦。
斜光到晓穿朱户。
昨夜西风凋碧树。
独上高楼，望尽天涯路。
欲寄彩笺兼尺素。
山长水阔知何处。

The rail chrysanthemums sorrow in the mist, and the orchids weep the dew.
The silk curtain is lightly cold, and the swallows fly away in pairs.
The bright moon does not know the bitterness of the parting's regret.
Its slanting light, to the dawn, pierces the vermilion door.
Last night the west wind withered the green trees.
Alone I ascend the high tower, and gaze to the end of the road of the end of the sky.
I wish to send the colored note and the foot-long letter.
The mountains are long and the waters wide, and I know not where.

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Meaning

A representative work of Yan Shu's boudoir-lament ci, writing the autumn-night longing of the boudoir woman for her beloved. The first half writes the autumn-night scene, from the near to the far: 'the rail chrysanthemums sorrow in the mist, and the orchids weep the dew'—the grief lodged in the scene, the chrysanthemums sorrowing in the mist and the orchids weeping the dew, the personification writing the bleakness of the autumn and hinting the grief of the boudoir woman; 'the silk curtain is lightly cold, and the swallows fly away in pairs'—from the outside to the inside, the lightness of the cold of the autumn night, and the swallows flying in pairs against the loneliness of the boudoir woman; 'the bright moon does not know the bitterness of the parting's regret. Its slanting light, to the dawn, pierces the vermilion door'—the transference of the feeling to the moon, the moon not knowing the bitterness of the parting, the slanting light piercing the vermilion door to the dawn, the sleepless night. The second half writes the ascent: 'last night the west wind withered the green trees. Alone I ascend the high tower, and gaze to the end of the road of the end of the sky'—the west wind withering the green trees, and the alone ascending the high tower and gazing to the end of the road of the end of the sky, the gaze of the longing; 'I wish to send the colored note and the foot-long letter. The mountains are long and the waters wide, and I know not where'—the wishing to send the letter yet not knowing where, the utmost of the longing.

栏杆外的菊花笼罩在含愁的烟雾里，兰花在露水中像是在哭泣。罗幕透出轻轻的寒意，燕子双双飞去了。明月不懂得离别的愁苦，斜斜的月光一直照到天明，穿过朱红的窗户。昨夜西风吹落了碧绿的树叶。我独自登上高楼，望尽了通往天涯的路。想寄出彩笺和尺素书信，可是山长水阔，又知道他究竟在何处呢？

Appreciation

The art of the ci is famous for the 'advancing layer on layer and the grandeur of the realm.' The first half writes the autumn-night scene, from the near to the far: 'the rail chrysanthemums sorrow in the mist, and the orchids weep the dew' begins with the grief lodged in the scene, the personification of the chrysanthemums and the orchids writing the bleakness of the autumn and the grief of the boudoir woman; 'the silk curtain is lightly cold, and the swallows fly away in pairs' from the outside to the inside, the swallows flying in pairs against the loneliness of the boudoir woman; 'the bright moon does not know the bitterness of the parting's regret' the transference of the feeling to the moon, the moon not knowing, the bitterness of the parting; 'its slanting light, to the dawn, pierces the vermilion door' the sleepless night of the boudoir woman. The second half, 'last night the west wind withered the green trees. Alone I ascend the high tower, and gaze to the end of the road of the end of the sky'—the west wind withering the green trees, the sudden rise of the realm, the alone ascending the high tower and gazing to the end of the road of the end of the sky, the grand and the desolate; and the close, 'I wish to send the colored note and the foot-long letter. The mountains are long and the waters wide, and I know not where,' the not knowing where, the utmost of the longing. The whole ci, from the boudoir to the high tower, from the near to the far, from the delicate to the grand, the 'the grandeur of the realm' of Yan Shu's ci, the model of the boudoir-lament ci.

【白话串讲】晏殊写蝶恋花：“槛菊愁烟兰泣露。罗幕轻寒，燕子双飞去”。“明月不谙离恨苦。斜光到晓穿朱户”——“昨夜西风凋碧树。独上高楼，望尽天涯路”——“欲寄彩笺兼尺素。山长水阔知何处”——他写望尽天涯的思念。【意象与手法】全词以「愁烟」「泣露」起兴，菊、兰、燕、月、风、树等意象织成一片凄清之境；「昨夜西风凋碧树，独上高楼，望尽天涯路」由景入情，境界阔大；「山长水阔知何处」以景结情，余韵悠长。【情感与主旨】此词写闺中思妇的离愁别恨，从秋夜写到天明，从庭院写到高楼，把思念之情层层推进；「望尽天涯路」更将一己之愁升华为对远方的执著追寻，情致深婉而气象阔大。【名句点睛】常考「昨夜西风凋碧树，独上高楼，望尽天涯路」被王国维引为「古今之成大事业、大学问者」第一境界，以及「明月不谙离恨苦」的移情手法。

Background

The ci is a representative work of Yan Shu's boudoir-lament ci. Yan Shu, courtesy name Tingshu, a native of Linchuan, Fuzhou (present-day Fuzhou, Jiangxi), the leader of the ci world of the early Northern Song, rising to the Grand Councillor, posthumously titled Yuanxian, known as Yan Yuanxian. His life was rich and prominent, yet his ci mostly write the idle sorrow and the parting's regret, the language graceful and the feeling warm, with the reputation of 'the old Du of the ci,' paired with Ouyang Xiu as 'Yan and Ou.' This ci writes the autumn-night longing of the boudoir woman, of the traditional theme of the 'boudoir lament'; though the specific story cannot be verified, it should be Yan Shu's speaking for the woman and writing the longing. In the early Northern Song, the ci was still the 'small way,' mostly writing the love of the man and the woman, yet Yan Shu, in this ci, turns a new realm out of the traditional theme: the grief of the boudoir woman not limited to the personal, but elevated to the grand and the desolate of the 'gazing to the end of the road of the end of the sky,' the 'the grandeur of the realm' of the ci.

《蝶恋花·槛菊愁烟兰泣露》是晏殊闺怨词的代表作。晏殊字同叔，抚州临川（今江西抚州）人，北宋前期词坛领袖，官至宰相，谥元献，人称晏元献。他一生富贵显达，其词却多写闲愁离恨，语言婉丽，情致温润，有「词中老杜」之誉，与欧阳修并称「晏欧」。此词写闺中思妇秋夜怀人，属传统的「闺怨」题材，具体本事虽不可确考，但当为晏殊代女子立言、抒写相思之作。北宋前期，词尚为「小道」，多写男女之情，晏殊此词却能于传统题材中翻出新境：思妇之愁不限于儿女情长，「独上高楼，望尽天涯路」的意象阔大深远，超越了闺阁的局限，具有普遍的象征意味，故王国维《人间词话》以此句为「古今之成大事业、大学问者，必经过三种之境界」的第一种境界。此词是晏殊词中流传最广、评价最高的作品之一，也是宋词闺怨题材的典范。其写离愁而不失温润、寄思念而气象自高，最能代表晏殊「风流蕴藉」的宰相词风，千载之下犹能动人。

Art

The art is the 'advancing layer on layer and the grandeur of the realm': the first half from the near to the far, the personification and the transference of the feeling, the loneliness of the boudoir woman; the second half, the west wind withering the green trees, the alone ascending the high tower and gazing to the end of the road of the end of the sky, the grand and the desolate, and the close the not knowing where, the utmost of the longing—from the boudoir to the high tower, from the delicate to the grand, the model of the boudoir-lament ci.

此词艺术上以「层层推进、境界阔大」见长。上片写秋夜之景，由近及远：「槛菊愁烟兰泣露」起笔即赋愁情于景物，菊愁烟、兰泣露，拟人化的手法写秋之萧瑟，也暗示思妇之愁；「罗幕轻寒，燕子双飞去」由室外转入室内，罗幕轻寒写秋夜之冷，燕子双飞去以双燕反衬思妇之孤单；「明月不谙离恨苦，斜光到晓穿朱户」转写明月，移情于月，怨月无情，斜光到晓写思妇彻夜无眠。下片转写清晨登楼：「昨夜西风凋碧树」写一夜西风、碧树凋零，暗喻青春的消逝与离别的摧残；「独上高楼，望尽天涯路」由庭院而高楼，由近景而远景，境界陡然开阔，思妇独上高楼，望尽天涯，把思念推向极远极深；「欲寄彩笺兼尺素，山长水阔知何处」转写寄信，欲寄书信而不知人在何处，山长水阔，音书难达，愁情更进一层。全词由夜到明，由室内到高楼，由望景到寄信，层层推进，而结尾以「山长水阔知何处」的问句收束，以景结情，余韵悠长。

Allusions

The allusions of the ci are implicit, the transformation without the trace. 'The rail chrysanthemums sorrow in the mist, and the orchids weep the dew' transforms the tradition of the fragrant plants for the beauty of the Songs of Chu: the chrysanthemums and the orchids are both the noble fragrant plants, here endowed with the sorrowing in the mist and the weeping the dew, both writing the autumn scene and the grief of the boudoir woman with the grief of the fragrant plants, covertly containing the spirit of the 'the fragrant plants and the beauty' of Qu Yuan. 'The swallows fly away in pairs' covertly uses the tradition of the swallows flying in pairs against the loneliness of the parting in the ancient poetry, and the 'the bright moon does not know' the transference of the feeling to the moon, the moon of the ancient poetry as the matchmaker of the longing, here the moon not knowing the bitterness of the parting, the new turn.

此词用典含蓄，化用无痕。「槛菊愁烟兰泣露」化用《楚辞》以香草喻美人的传统，菊与兰皆为高洁香草，此处赋之以愁烟泣露之态，既写秋景，又以香草之愁写思妇之怨，暗含屈原「香草美人」之法的精神。「燕子双飞去」暗用古诗中燕子双飞反衬离人孤独的传统，如《古诗十九首》「思为双飞燕，衔泥巢君屋」，以双燕反衬孤单。「明月不谙离恨苦」移情于月，化用张若虚《春江花月夜》「玉户帘中卷不去」以来怨月的传统，又下开苏轼「不应有恨，何事长向别时圆」的怨月词境。「昨夜西风凋碧树」暗含「西风」与「碧树」的时序意象，上承宋玉悲秋传统，下启李清照「满地黄花堆积」的秋愁词境。「欲寄彩笺兼尺素」用古人以笺素传书的意象，「彩笺」本指题诗用的花笺，「尺素」指书信，典出古乐府「呼儿烹鲤鱼，中有尺素书」，「山长水阔」则化用《世说新语》「山川悠远，路阻莫致」的阻隔意象。全词用典皆融于景情之中，含蓄蕴藉，正合晏殊「温润秀洁」的词风。

Commentary

The ci is the most famous work of Yan Shu's ci, its reception history especially rich. Wang Guowei's 'Remarks on the Ci in the World' says: 'the great achievements and the great learning of the past and the present must pass through the three realms: "last night the west wind withered the green trees, alone I ascend the high tower, and gaze to the end of the road of the end of the sky," this is the first realm'—the 'gazing to the end of the road of the end of the sky' of the ci elevated to the first realm of the great achievements and the great learning, the three realms of the later citation of the famous words, the most widely cited lines of the Song ci; and the ci, from the boudoir to the high tower, from the delicate to the grand, is the very model of the 'the grandeur of the realm' of Yan Shu's ci.

《蝶恋花·槛菊愁烟兰泣露》是晏殊词中最负盛名的作品，其接受史尤为丰富。王国维《人间词话》云：「古今之成大事业、大学问者，必经过三种之境界：『昨夜西风凋碧树，独上高楼，望尽天涯路』，此第一境也。」虽然王氏之引是借词发挥，引申出求索真理的第一重境界，但也正说明此词意象的阔大与意蕴的多义，使其超越了单纯的闺怨而具有普遍的象征意义。前人论此词，多赏其「温润秀洁」的风格：写离愁而不颓废，写思念而不凄厉，怨月而不怒，望远而不哀伤，始终保持一种含蓄蕴藉的贵族气度。全词由菊兰而罗幕而明月而西风，由庭院而高楼而天涯，取景由近及远，情感由浅入深，章法井然；「山长水阔知何处」以景结情，更被推为含蓄之至的佳句。此词在文学史上影响深远，其「望尽天涯路」的意象被历代文人反复借用，是宋词中雅俗共赏、雅俗皆宜的典范作品。

Prosody

Form Ci (Butterflies Lingering over Flowers)词（蝶恋花）

Rhyme The whole on the oblique rhymes: lu, qu, ku, hu, shu, lu, su, chu, of the fourth part of the Ci Rhymes, the oblique rhymes short and pressing全词押仄声韵，韵脚为「露、去、苦、户、树、路、素、处」，属词韵第四部，仄声韵短促有力，与离愁的沉郁情调相合。

Tone pattern The 'the rail chrysanthemums sorrow in the mist' is delicate, the 'the swallows fly away in pairs' is lonely, the 'the west wind withered the green trees' is abrupt, and the 'gazing to the end of the road of the end of the sky' is grand—the whole from the boudoir to the high tower, the grandeur of the realm carried by the oblique rhymes蝶恋花句式以七言为主，间以四五言，节奏婉转；「槛菊愁烟兰泣露」「昨夜西风凋碧树」等七言句音节舒缓，「独上高楼，望尽天涯路」四六句式顿挫有力，声调在抑扬中见起伏。

Reading note The short and pressing oblique rhymes carry the longing of the boudoir woman, the grand and the desolate of the ascent.《蝶恋花》是双调小令，上下片各五句，共六十字，上下片各四仄韵。全词押仄声韵，韵脚「露、去、苦、户、树、路、素、处」皆属词韵第四部，仄声韵短促有力，正与离愁别恨的沉郁情调相合，读来声情并茂。蝶恋花句式以七言句为主（上下片首句、第三句、末句皆为七言），间以四言、五言句，节奏婉转有致：「槛菊愁烟兰泣露」「昨夜西风凋碧树」等七言句音节舒缓，如吟如叹；「罗幕轻寒，燕子双飞去」四六句式一顿一宕，写景中见情致；「独上高楼，望尽天涯路」四六句式，先顿挫后舒放，恰合登高远望的展开之势。全词声情相合，以舒缓之调写缠绵之情，以顿挫之句传起伏之思，是晏殊小令「温润秀洁」声律美的典型，也是学习蝶恋花词牌的入门范本。

Line by line

槛菊愁烟兰泣露。

The rail chrysanthemums sorrow in the mist, and the orchids weep the dew. (The opening: the grief lodged in the scene, the chrysanthemums sorrowing in the mist and the orchids weeping the dew, the personification writing the bleakness of the autumn.)

栏杆外的菊花笼罩在含愁的烟雾里，兰花在露水中像是在哭泣。

The chrysanthemums beyond the rail grieve in the mist; the orchids weep in the dew.

起句即赋愁情于景物，是全词情感基调的奠定。「槛菊愁烟」写栏杆外的菊花笼罩在烟雾之中，着一「愁」字，菊花便有了情感——烟雾缭绕，菊花似在含愁；「兰泣露」写兰花沾满露水，着一「泣」字，露水便成了泪水——兰花似在哭泣。菊与兰皆为高洁之花，此处却愁烟泣露，正是思妇心境的投射：因人心含愁，故见菊亦愁；因人欲泣，故见兰亦泣，这是典型的「移情」手法。两句以对仗出之，菊对兰、愁对泣、烟对露，工整而情致深婉。晏殊以「愁」「泣」二字赋情于花，既是写景，又是写人，为全词定下凄清含愁的基调，也暗用《楚辞》香草美人的传统，含蓄蕴藉，耐人寻味。

The opening endows the scenery with grief at once, fixing the whole ci's emotional tone. The chrysanthemums beyond the rail grieve in the mist writes the rail-side chrysanthemums wrapped in mist, the single word grief and the chrysanthemum has feeling — the mist wreathing, the chrysanthemum as if grieving; the orchids weep in the dew writes the orchids heavy with dew, the single word weep and the dew becomes tears — the orchids as if weeping. Chrysanthemum and orchid both the lofty flowers, and here grieving mist and weeping dew, precisely the projection of the longing woman's mind: because the heart grieves, the chrysanthemum seen grieving; because the person would weep, the orchid seen weeping, the typical method of transferred feeling. Two lines in balanced couplet, chrysanthemum against orchid, grief against weep, mist against dew, balanced and the feeling deep and tactful. Yan Shu endowing the flowers with feeling through the two words grief and weep, at once writing scene and writing person, fixing the ci's cold, grief-laden tone, and secretly using the Chuci tradition of fragrant plants and fair ladies, restrained and rich, the taste long.

明月不谙离恨苦。

The bright moon does not know the bitterness of the parting's regret. (The transference of the feeling: the moon not knowing the bitterness of the parting, the transference of the feeling to the moon, the bitterness of the parting.)

明月不懂得离别的愁苦，斜光一直照到天明，穿过朱户。

The bright moon knows not the pain of parting; its slanting light dawns, piercing the red doors.

此句移情于月，怨月无情，是全词情感深化的关键。「明月不谙离恨苦」写明月不懂得离恨之苦，「不谙」即不懂得，将明月拟人化，怨它不理解人间离别之痛，仍自明亮照人；紧接的「斜光到晓穿朱户」写斜斜的月光从入夜照到天明，穿过朱红的窗户，「到晓」写时间之长，「穿」字写月光之执著，暗示思妇彻夜无眠，眼睁睁看着月光斜照到天明。两句一怨一写，怨月之无情，正见思妇之多情；月不解离恨而彻夜照人，人知离恨而彻夜难眠，物我对照，愈见愁苦之深。此句移情于月的写法，上承张若虚《春江花月夜》的怨月传统，下开苏轼「不应有恨，何事长向别时圆」的怨月词境，是宋词中「以无情衬有情」的典范。

The line transfers the feeling to the moon, resenting the moon's feelinglessness, the key of the ci's emotional deepening. The bright moon knows not the pain of parting writes the bright moon's not knowing the parting grief, the knows-not means understands not, personifying the bright moon, resenting its not understanding the human parting pain, and yet shining on; the following its slanting light dawns, piercing the red doors writes the slanting moonlight from nightfall to dawn, piercing the red windows, the to-dawn writing the time's length, the piercing the moonlight's insistence, hinting the longing woman sleepless all night, watching the slanting light to dawn. Two lines, one resentment one description, resenting the moon's coldness precisely showing the woman's feeling: the moon not understanding the grief and shining all night, the person knowing the grief and sleepless all night, thing and self contrasted, the grief the deeper. The method of transferring the feeling to the moon, above inheriting Zhang Ruoxu's moon-resenting tradition of the Spring River and the Moonlit Night, below opening Su Shi's the moon should have no grievance, why is it always round at parting? moon-resenting ci realm, the model of Song ci's setting the feelingless against the feeling.

昨夜西风凋碧树。

Last night the west wind withered the green trees. (The turn of the realm: the west wind withering the green trees, the fall of the autumn, the sudden rise of the realm.)

昨夜一场西风，把碧绿的树叶都吹落了，庭院为之萧瑟。

Last night the west wind stripped the green trees bare.

此句写一夜西风、碧树凋零，是全词由秋夜转入登高远望的转捩。「凋」字使西风拟人化，如刀如斧，一夜之间便摧落满树碧叶，写尽秋风之肃杀，也暗喻离别对青春的摧残——碧树本如盛年之人，一夜西风便凋零殆尽，年华之逝、欢情之散，尽在此一字之中。此句紧承上片「斜光到晓」而来：思妇彻夜无眠，天明推窗，方见昨夜西风竟已将碧树吹落，一夜之间景物全非，时序之感与身世之感交织，愁情愈积愈深。而「碧树凋尽」又为下句「独上高楼，望尽天涯路」作了铺垫——树叶落尽，视野开阔无碍，方能极目天涯，景物的变化与情感的拓展巧妙衔接，章法之细，于此可见。

The line writes the one night of west wind and the green trees' stripping, the turning of the ci from the autumn night to the high distant gaze. The word stripped personifies the west wind, like knife and axe, one night and the green leaves of the whole tree brought down, writing the autumn wind's severity to the full, and secretly figuring the parting's trampling of the youth — the green tree like the man in his prime, one night of west wind and stripped bare, the years' going and the joy's scattering all within this one word. The line follows the first stanza's slanting light to dawn: the woman sleepless all night, at dawn pushing the window, and seeing the west wind of last night had stripped the green trees, one night and the scene all changed, the season's feeling and the life's feeling woven, the grief gathered deeper. And the stripped green trees prepare the ground for the next line's alone I climb the high tower, gazing to the end: the leaves stripped and the view open and unblocked, able to gaze to the world's edge, the scene's change and the feeling's expansion cleverly joined, the craft visible here.

独上高楼，望尽天涯路。

Alone I ascend the high tower, and gaze to the end of the road of the end of the sky. (The famous line: the alone ascending the high tower and gazing to the end of the road of the end of the sky, the grand and the desolate, the first realm of Wang Guowei.)

我独自登上高楼，望尽了通往天涯的路。

Alone I climb the high tower, gazing to the end of the road to the world's edge.

此两句是全词的顶峰，也是宋词中最著名的句子之一。「独上高楼」写思妇独自登楼，「独」字与上片「燕子双飞去」呼应，双燕成对而人独处，点出孤单；「望尽天涯路」写极目远望，直到天涯路的尽头，「望尽」二字写尽寻觅之切与思念之深。两句境界由庭院陡升到天地之间，气象阔大，把闺中思妇的一己之愁升华为对远方的执著追寻，故王国维引为「成大事业、大学问者」的第一重境界。登高望远本是怀人词习见的意象，晏殊却以「望尽天涯路」写出他人未能道出的苍茫与执著：明知天涯路尽处未必有那人，却仍要望尽天涯，这种知其不可而为之的追寻，正是全词高出一般闺怨词处，也是此词千古传诵的根由。

The two lines are the peak of the ci, and one of Song ci's most famous lines. Alone I climb the high tower writes the woman climbing the tower alone, the single word alone answering the first stanza's the swallows flown in pairs, the paired swallows and the person alone, marking the loneliness; gazing to the end of the road to the world's edge writes the gaze to the end, to the far end of the road, the two words gazing to the end exhausting the seeking's eagerness and the longing's depth. Two lines, the realm suddenly rising from the courtyard to between heaven and earth, the air broad, raising the chamber woman's personal grief to the devoted pursuit of the far distance, hence Wang Guowei cites it as the first realm of the man who achieves the great cause and learning. The high climb and distant gaze by nature the common image of the longing ci, and Yan Shu's gazing to the end of the road to the world's edge writes the vastness and devotion no other has spoken: knowing the far end of the road may not have that person, and yet still gazing to the world's end, this pursuit of the impossible, precisely what sets the ci above the usual boudoir grief, and the root of its fame through the ages.

山长水阔知何处。

The mountains are long and the waters wide, and I know not where. (The close: the wishing to send the letter yet not knowing where, the mountains long and the waters wide, the utmost of the longing.)

山那么长，水那么阔，又知道他究竟在何处呢？

The hills long, the waters wide — where, oh where, is he?

结尾句以景结情，余韵悠长。上句「欲寄彩笺兼尺素」写思妇想寄书信给远方的人，「彩笺」是题诗用的花笺，「尺素」是写信用的一尺白绢，两个意象连用，写尽欲诉相思的急切；此句却陡然一转——山那么长，水那么阔，又知道他在何处呢？一个反问，把寄信的愿望彻底打碎：不是不想寄，而是无从寄起，不知寄往何方。两句先扬后抑，愿望愈强烈，失望愈深重。「山长水阔」以景写阻隔，与「望尽天涯路」的远望相呼应——望尽天涯而人不见，欲寄书信而人不知何处，双重阻隔把相思写到绝境。结尾以问句收束，不作回答，言尽而意不尽，正是「以景结情」的妙处，含蓄隽永，余味无穷。

The closing line closes emotion in scene, the aftertone long. The upper I would send the colored letter and the plain silk writes the woman's wish to send the letter to the far person, the colored letter the flowered paper for the poem, the plain silk the foot of white silk for the letter, the two images chained, writing the eagerness to speak the longing; the line suddenly turns — the hills long, the waters wide — where, oh where, is he? A rhetorical question, shattering the wish to send: not that she does not wish to send, but that there is nowhere to send from, nowhere to send to. Two lines, first lift then depress, the wish the stronger and the disappointment the deeper. The hills long, the waters wide writes the barrier through scene, answering the gazing to the end of the road: gazing to the world's end and the person unseen, wishing to send the letter and the person's nowhere, the double barrier writing the longing to the extremity. The closing ends in the question, no answer, the words ended and the meaning not ended, precisely the beauty of closing emotion in scene, restrained and rich, the aftertone endless.

Study

Word focus

愁 To sorrow. The word of the chrysanthemums: 'the rail chrysanthemums sorrow in the mist'—the grief of the chrysanthemums in the mist, the grief of the autumn and the grief of the boudoir woman in the personification. 起句「槛菊愁烟」之「愁」字，是全词的定调之字。「愁」本指人的忧愁，此处移用于菊花，写菊花笼罩在烟雾之中似含愁绪，是典型的移情手法。这一字的妙处在于：其一，以我观物，思妇满怀离愁，故见菊花亦似含愁，愁烟既是实景（烟雾缭绕），又是心境的外化，景与情在「愁」字中合而为一；其二，与下句「兰泣露」的「泣」字相对，「愁」写烟的笼罩，「泣」写露的垂落，一愁一泣，把菊兰写得楚楚可怜，正是思妇自怜心境的投射；其三，「愁」字点出全词的情感基调，以下罗幕轻寒、明月不谙、西风凋树，皆由这一「愁」字生发，层层写来，愁情愈积愈深。一个「愁」字，写景而兼写情，是全词「一切景语皆情语」的纲领，也是晏殊以虚字传神的典范。

凋 To wither. The word of the trees: 'the west wind withered the green trees'—the withering of the green trees by the west wind, the fall of the autumn, the turn of the realm, the grand and the desolate. 「昨夜西风凋碧树」之「凋」字，是写秋风摧残的关键字。「凋」即凋零、凋谢，此处用作使动词——西风使碧树凋零，写尽秋风的肃杀之力。这一字的妙处在于：其一，以「凋」写风之烈，西风如刀如斧，一夜之间便使满树碧叶凋落，「凋」字赋予无形的风以摧残万物的力量；其二，以「碧」衬「凋」，碧树本是生机盎然的绿色，「碧」字写出树叶初凋前的美好，美好之物惨遭凋零，更见秋风之无情，暗喻离别对美好青春的摧残；其三，「凋」字承上启下，上承「明月不谙离恨苦」的彻夜无眠，下启「独上高楼」的登高远望——正因一夜西风、碧树凋尽，视野才开阔无碍，方能「望尽天涯路」，景物的变化与情感的发展巧妙衔接。一个「凋」字，写景、写情、写章法，是炼字见意的佳例。

尽 To the end. The word of the gaze: 'gaze to the end of the road of the end of the sky'—the gazing to the end of the road of the end of the sky, the utmost of the gaze and the utmost of the longing. 「望尽天涯路」之「尽」字，是此词境界所在的关键字。「尽」即穷尽、望到尽头，写思妇极目远望，直到天涯路的尽头。这一字的妙处在于：其一，写望之远，「天涯」已远，而「望尽天涯」，目光穷尽天涯之路，可见思念之深之切，恨不得一眼望到天涯那头的人；其二，写望之久，「尽」字暗含时间的流逝，望到天涯路尽，犹自伫立，凝望之久不言而喻；其三，写望之虚，「尽」字暗含尽头之无——天涯路的尽头什么也没有，望尽天涯而人不见，寻觅的执著与落空对照，愈见惆怅。正因为「望尽天涯路」的意象如此阔大而深情，王国维才引之为「成大事业、大学问者」的第一重境界——那种上下求索、望尽天涯的执著精神。一个「尽」字，境界全出，是晏殊炼字的点睛之笔。