宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
贺新郎
He Xin Lang (Congratulating the Groom)
睡起啼莺语。
掩青苔、房栊向晚，乱红无数。
吹尽残花无人见，惟有垂杨自舞。
渐暖霭、初回轻暑。
宝扇重寻明月影，暗尘侵、尚有乘鸾女。
惊旧恨，遽如许。
江南梦断横江渚。
浪黏天、葡萄涨绿，半空烟雨。
无限楼前沧波意，谁采苹花寄取。
但怅望、兰舟容与。
万里云帆何时到，送孤鸿、目断千山阻。
谁为我，唱金缕。
Green moss creeps over the window lattice; the chamber faces the evening,
countless petals fallen in confusion.
The last blossoms blown away, none to see them;
only the drooping willows dance by themselves.
Warm mist slowly gathers, the first return of light summer heat.
I search again for the moonlit shadow on the precious fan —
dim dust has invaded, but the phoenix-riding maiden is still there.
Old griefs startle awake, all of them at once.
The dream of Jiangnan is broken on the sandbar across the river.
Waves stick to the sky, grape-green waters swell,
half the air is rain.
Endless the gray-wave feeling before the tower —
who will gather duckweed flowers and send them to you?
I only gaze in sorrow at the orchid boat, lingering.
When will the cloud-sail come from ten thousand li away?
I see off the lone swan, my eyes breaking on a thousand mountains’ block.
Who will sing the Golden Thread song for me?
Meaning
Waking to orioles among fallen petals, the speaker finds the last flowers blown away unseen and only the willows dancing; the old fan’s painted moon-maiden, dimmed with dust, startles his old griefs awake. The dream of Jiangnan is broken, waves join the sky, and no one sends duckweed flowers or arrives by sail; he can only see off a lone swan and count stars, ending with the helpless question: who will sing the Golden Thread song for me? A wounded memory of parted love, sung entirely in scene.
睡起啼莺语。掩青苔、房栊向晚，乱红无数。吹尽残花无人见，惟有垂杨自舞。渐暖霭、初回轻暑。宝扇重寻明月影，暗尘侵、尚有乘鸾女。惊旧恨，遽如许。江南梦断横江渚。浪黏天、葡萄涨绿，半空烟雨。无限楼前沧波意，谁采苹花寄取。但怅望、兰舟容与。万里云帆何时到，送孤鸿、目断千山阻。谁为我，唱金缕。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] I wake to the oriole’s cry; moss crowds the window at dusk, petals lie in confusion. The last blossoms blow away unseen, only willows dancing alone; warm mist brings the first summer heat. Searching the old fan, I find the painted phoenix-maiden under dust — old griefs startle awake. The Jiangnan dream breaks on the river sandbar; waves stick to the sky, grape-green water swells in half-rain. Endless the wave-feeling at the tower — who will pick duckweed and send it? I watch the orchid boat linger; when will the cloud-sail come? I see off the lone swan, eyes breaking on a thousand mountains. Who will sing the Golden Thread for me?<br>[Structure] The lyric is held together by invisible parallels: flowers fallen unseen and the willow dancing unseen; the fan’s maiden dimmed with dust and the woman who is gone; the swan seen off and the one who never arrives; the Golden Thread song and the farewell never sung. The gaze widens from window to lane to river to mountains, and the season’s turn — late spring to early summer to plum rain — measures how long the waiting has lasted.<br>[Imagery] Nothing is stated outright: the unseen blossoms, the self-dancing willows, the dusty fan, the broken Jiangnan dream, the blocked mountains — every image performs the loneliness it never names, and the final unanswered question leaves the sorrow open in the air.
【白话串讲】 叶梦得写《贺新郎》：“睡起啼莺语。掩青苔、房栊向晚，乱红无数”——“吹尽残花无人见，惟有垂杨自舞”——“宝扇重寻明月影，暗尘侵、尚有乘鸾女”——“江南梦断横江渚”——他写初夏怀人——吹尽残花无人见。 【意象与手法】 “睡起啼莺语。掩青苔、房栊向晚，乱红无数”写春残之景；“吹尽残花无人见，惟有垂杨自舞”以垂杨自舞写寂寞；“宝扇重寻明月影，暗尘侵、尚有乘鸾女”以乘鸾女写怀人；结以“谁为我，唱金缕”以设问收束。含蓄深婉、以景写情。 【情感与主旨】 叶梦得写伤春怀旧之作，写春残花落、垂杨自舞的寂寞与对旧日情人的追忆，含蓄深婉，是叶梦得词中婉约一类的代表。 【名句点睛】 常考“吹尽残花无人见，惟有垂杨自舞”以垂杨自舞写寂寞；“宝扇重寻明月影，暗尘侵、尚有乘鸾女”以乘鸾女写怀人。
Background
Ye Mengde (1077–1148), styled Shaoyun and known as the Shilin Lay Buddhist, was from Wu county (Suzhou). An official and historian who lived through the fall of the Northern Song, he lost office and home in the flight south and wrote lyrics in both bold and tender registers. He Xin Lang is one of the longest and most flexible ci tunes — here 116 characters, ten lines per stanza — traditionally a vehicle for strong feeling and farewell. This lyric, a work of his mature years, turns the tune’s usual declamation into hushed memory: spring’s end, an old fan, a broken southern dream.
《贺新郎》为北宋末南宋初词人叶梦得所作词。叶梦得（1077—1148），字少蕴，号石林居士，苏州吴县（今江苏苏州）人，南宋词人。此词写伤春怀旧。词中「睡起啼莺语。掩青苔、房栊向晚，乱红无数」写春残之景；「吹尽残花无人见，惟有垂杨自舞」写垂杨自舞；「渐暖霭、初回轻暑。宝扇重寻明月影，暗尘侵、尚有乘鸾女」写乘鸾女；「惊旧恨，遽如许。江南梦断横江渚」写江南梦断；「浪黏天、葡萄涨绿，半空烟雨」写浪黏天；「无限楼前沧波意，谁采苹花寄取」写沧波意；「但怅望、兰舟容与。万里云帆何时到，送孤鸿、目断千山阻」写送孤鸿；「谁为我，唱金缕」写唱金缕。叶梦得此词以伤春怀旧、江南梦断写其怀旧之情，含蓄深婉，是叶梦得词中的名篇。此篇《贺新郎》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 hallmark is its implicit depth, writing feeling through scene. Its architecture is parallelism: flowers blown away unseen beside the dancer unseen; willows dancing alone beside the speaker alone; the fan’s moon-maiden under dust beside the woman who is gone; the swan seen off beside the one who never arrives; the Golden Thread song beside the farewell never sung. Time is measured by season — late spring’s fallen petals, the first summer heat, the plum-rain winds — and space by the widening gaze: window, lane, river sandbar, tower, a thousand mountains. The old griefs startle awake in a sudden three-character stroke, and the lyric ends not in speech but in a question no one answers, leaving the sorrow suspended like the rain in the half-open sky.
此词艺术上以「含蓄深婉、以景写情」见长。全词上片写春残之景与乘鸾女，下片写江南梦断与送孤鸿。上片「睡起啼莺语。掩青苔、房栊向晚，乱红无数」写春残之景：睡起啼莺语，掩青苔、房栊向晚，乱红无数；「吹尽残花无人见，惟有垂杨自舞」写垂杨自舞：吹尽残花无人见，惟有垂杨自舞；「渐暖霭、初回轻暑。宝扇重寻明月影，暗尘侵、尚有乘鸾女」写乘鸾女：渐暖霭、初回轻暑，宝扇重寻明月影，暗尘侵、尚有乘鸾女；「惊旧恨，遽如许」写惊旧恨：惊旧恨，遽如许。下片「江南梦断横江渚。浪黏天、葡萄涨绿，半空烟雨」写江南梦断：江南梦断横江渚，浪黏天、葡萄涨绿，半空烟雨；「无限楼前沧波意，谁采苹花寄取」写沧波意：无限楼前沧波意，谁采苹花寄取；「但怅望、兰舟容与。万里云帆何时到，送孤鸿、目断千山阻」写送孤鸿：但怅望、兰舟容与，万里云帆何时到，送孤鸿、目断千山阻；「谁为我，唱金缕」写唱金缕：谁为我，唱金缕。全词含蓄深婉，以景写情，是叶梦得词中的名篇。
Allusions
The phoenix-riding maiden on the painted fan recalls the immortal consorts who ascended on phoenixes — the legend of Xiao Shi and Nong Yu — so the painted figure preserves a lost beloved as a small immortal; the dust that invades the fan measures the years since her departure. Waves stick to the sky and the grape-green water echo Li Bai’s great river poems (from afar the Han water duck-head green, just like grapes newly brewing), lending the river an immense, classical scale. Who will gather duckweed flowers and send them carries the old custom of gathering water-plants as a gift to the absent — duckweed, adrift on the waves, is the emblem of the wanderer’s own rootlessness. Golden Thread (jin lü) is the farewell song made famous by Du Qiuniang, whose most famous line warns youth to cherish its time; to ask who will sing the Golden Thread for me is to beg for a farewell song that no one is left to sing — a parting without a parting scene.
词中「啼莺语」「青苔」「房栊」「乱红」「残花」「垂杨自舞」「暖霭」「轻暑」「宝扇」「明月影」「乘鸾女」「旧恨」「江南梦断」「横江渚」「浪黏天」「葡萄涨绿」「烟雨」「沧波」「苹花」「兰舟」「云帆」「孤鸿」「目断千山」「金缕」等语，皆含典故故实。「啼莺语」写莺啼；「青苔」写青苔；「房栊」写窗棂；「乱红」写纷乱之落花；「残花」写将尽之花；「垂杨自舞」写垂杨自舞；「暖霭」写和暖之气；「轻暑」写初至之暑；「宝扇」写宝扇；「明月影」写明月之影；「乘鸾女」用萧史弄玉乘鸾之典，写乘鸾之女；「旧恨」写旧日之恨；「江南梦断」写江南之梦已断；「横江渚」写横江之渚；「浪黏天」写浪头接天（用李白「涛似连山喷雪来」之意，兼写巨浪接天）；「葡萄涨绿」写水色如葡萄之绿（用李白「遥看汉水鸭头绿，恰似葡萄初酦醅」之意）；「烟雨」写烟雨；「沧波」写沧波；「苹花」写苹花（采苹寄远之意）；「兰舟」写兰木之舟；「云帆」写云帆；「孤鸿」写孤雁；「目断千山」写望断千山；「金缕」写《金缕曲》曲名（唐杜秋娘《金缕衣》之曲）。词人以乘鸾女、江南梦断、葡萄涨绿、苹花、金缕等语入词，不着痕迹，而把伤春怀旧之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。
Commentary
This He Xin Lang has been treasured in anthologies since the Song for the discipline of its sorrow. Critics have contrasted its restraint with Liu Yong’s directness in farewell lyrics: where Liu Yong weeps aloud (hand in hand, gazing at each other’s teary eyes, speechless), Ye Mengde withholds every cry and ends on a question. Its who will sing the Golden Thread for me is among the most quoted closings in Ye Mengde’s work, admired for converting private grief into a general image of the unwitnessed life — the flowers that fall unseen, the dance no one watches, the song no one sings. It shows the tender wing of a poet better known for the wind-and-river boldness of his frontier lyrics.
这首《贺新郎》，是叶梦得写伤春怀旧之作，写啼莺乱红、垂杨自舞、江南梦断之情，含蓄深婉。上片写春残之景与乘鸾女：「睡起啼莺语。掩青苔、房栊向晚，乱红无数」——睡起啼莺语，掩青苔、房栊向晚，乱红无数。写春残之景：睡起闻啼莺语，青苔掩、房栊向晚，乱红无数——睡起闻莺、乱红无数，写尽春残；「吹尽残花无人见，惟有垂杨自舞」——吹尽残花无人见，惟有垂杨自舞。写垂杨自舞：吹尽残花无人见，惟有垂杨自舞——残花吹尽、垂杨自舞；「渐暖霭、初回轻暑。宝扇重寻明月影，暗尘侵、尚有乘鸾女」——渐暖霭、初回轻暑，宝扇重寻明月影，暗尘侵、尚有乘鸾女。写乘鸾女：渐暖霭初回轻暑，宝扇重寻明月影，暗尘侵、尚有乘鸾女——宝扇重寻、暗尘侵而乘鸾女尚在；「惊旧恨，遽如许」——惊旧恨，遽如许。写惊旧恨：惊旧恨、遽如许——旧恨惊起、如此之骤。下片写江南梦断与送孤鸿：「江南梦断横江渚。浪黏天、葡萄涨绿，半空烟雨」——江南梦断横江渚，浪黏天、葡萄涨绿，半空烟雨。写江南梦断：江南梦断横江渚，浪黏天、葡萄涨绿，半空烟雨——江南梦断、浪黏天、水绿如葡萄；「无限楼前沧波意，谁采苹花寄取」——无限楼前沧波意，谁采苹花寄取。写沧波意：无限楼前沧波意，谁采苹花寄取——楼前沧波无限、谁采苹花相寄；「但怅望、兰舟容与。万里云帆何时到，送孤鸿、目断千山阻」——但怅望、兰舟容与，万里云帆何时到，送孤鸿、目断千山阻。写送孤鸿：但怅望兰舟容与，万里云帆何时到，送孤鸿、目断千山阻——怅望兰舟、送孤鸿目断千山；「谁为我，唱金缕」——谁为我，唱金缕。写唱金缕：谁为我、唱金缕——谁为我唱《金缕曲》。这「谁为我，唱金缕」，是全词之结：以唱金缕写其孤寂。全词含蓄深婉，以景写情，正是叶梦得词中的名篇。
Prosody
Line by line
睡起啼莺语。
I wake from sleep to the oriole’s singing.
睡起啼莺语。
Waking from sleep, the orioles chatter.
首句写睡起闻莺，起笔即见其境。「睡起啼莺语」写睡起啼莺语，「睡起」写睡醒、「啼莺语」写莺啼之声。一句以「睡起」写其睡醒、以「啼莺语」写莺声入耳，写尽睡起闻莺啼之景。以声起兴，含蓄而清亮，是「以声起兴」的妙笔。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 opening writes waking to the oriole's song, the realm rising at the first stroke. Waking from sleep, the orioles chatter: the waking the rising from sleep, the oriole chatter the song entering the ear. One line writes the waking through the waking, and the oriole's song through the chatter — waking and hearing the orioles. Rising on sound, restrained and clear, the pointed brush. The few words carry a deep meaning, the pointed stroke of the ci.
吹尽残花无人见，惟有垂杨自舞。
The last blossoms blown away, none to see them; only the drooping willows dance by themselves.
吹尽残花无人见，惟有垂杨自舞。
The last blossoms are blown away, seen by none; only the weeping willow dances alone.
此二句写垂杨自舞，是全词写春残孤寂的关键。「吹尽残花无人见」写吹尽残花无人见，「吹尽残花」写吹尽残花、「无人见」写无人看见；「惟有垂杨自舞」写惟有垂杨自舞，「惟有」写只有、「垂杨自舞」写垂杨独自飘舞。两句一写吹尽残花无人见、一写惟有垂杨自舞，以吹尽残花写春之尽、以无人见写无人知、以垂杨自舞写其独舞，写尽残花吹尽、唯垂杨自舞之孤寂。以景写情，含蓄而深挚，是「以景写情」的点睛之笔。
The two phrases write the willow's dancing alone, the key of the ci's late-spring solitude. The last blossoms are blown away, seen by none: the blown-away-last-blossoms the blossoms spent, the seen-by-none the witness's absence; only the weeping willow dances alone: the only the alone, the willow's self-dance the willow's solitary sway. Two phrases, the spent blossoms unseen and the willow's solitary dance — spring's end, the un-witnessed, the lone dance. Writing feeling through scene, restrained and deep, the pointed stroke.
江南梦断横江渚。
The dream of Jiangnan is broken on the sandbar across the river.
江南梦断横江渚。
The Jiangnan dream is broken at the sandbar across the river.
此句写江南梦断，是全词写怀旧的关键。「江南梦断横江渚」写江南梦断横江渚，「江南梦断」写江南之梦已断、「横江渚」写横江之渚。一句以「江南梦断」写旧梦之断、以「横江渚」写横江之渚，写尽江南旧梦已断于横江渚畔之慨。以梦写忆，含蓄而深沉，是「以梦写忆」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 line writes the broken Jiangnan dream, the key of the ci's remembrance. The Jiangnan dream is broken at the sandbar across the river: the Jiangnan-dream-broken the old dream's ending, the across-the-river-sandbar the mid-stream islet. One line writes the old dream's breaking through the broken dream, and the sandbar through the mid-stream islet — the Jiangnan dream ended at the sandbar. Writing memory through the dream, restrained and deep, the pointed stroke. The few words carry a deep meaning, the pointed stroke of the ci.
送孤鸿、目断千山阻。
I see off the lone swan, my eyes breaking on a thousand mountains’ block.
送孤鸿、目断千山阻。
I speed the lone wild goose; the eyesight ends, blocked by a thousand hills.
此二句写送孤鸿，是全词写怅望的关键。「送孤鸿」写送孤鸿，「送」写目送、「孤鸿」写孤雁；「目断千山阻」写目断千山阻，「目断」写望断、「千山阻」写千山阻隔。两句一写送孤鸿、一写目断千山阻，以送孤鸿写目送孤雁、以目断千山阻写望断而千山阻隔，写尽目送孤鸿、望断千山而阻之情。以望写情，含蓄而深挚，是「以望写情」的点睛之笔。
The two phrases write the speeding of the lone goose, the key of the ci's longing. I speed the lone wild goose: the speed the watching-off, the lone goose the solitary bird; the eyesight ends, blocked by a thousand hills: the eyesight-ends the gaze exhausted, the thousand-hills-blocked the mountain barrier. Two phrases, the lone goose sped off and the gaze ended and blocked by hills — the watching of the goose, the gaze exhausted, the barrier. Writing feeling through the gaze, restrained and deep, the pointed stroke.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Liu Yong’s Yu Lin Ling — “hand in hand, gazing at each other’s teary eyes, speech with a lump in the throat” and “though there were a thousand affections in my heart, who is left to tell them to?” — is the famous Song lyric of parting’s sharpness, writing parting through speechlessness. Ye Mengde’s He Xin Lang ends “who will sing the Golden Thread song for me,” writing loneliness through the un-sung song. Both are parting and longing with no one to tell: one writes parting by silence, the other solitude by the song never sung; one is Liu Yong’s flowing grace, the other Ye’s deep restraint. Read together, they show two Song ways of writing the parting no one hears.
柳永《雨霖铃·寒蝉凄切》「执手相看泪眼，竟无语凝噎」「便纵有千种风情，更与何人说」，写离别之凄切，是宋词写离别的名篇；叶梦得《贺新郎》则以「但怅望、兰舟容与。万里云帆何时到，送孤鸿、目断千山阻」「谁为我，唱金缕」写怅望兰舟、谁为我唱金缕。两词同写离别怀人、无人可说：一写执手相看泪眼竟无语凝噎、以无语写别，一写谁为我唱金缕、以唱曲写孤；一为柳永之婉约、一为叶梦得之深婉，并读正可见宋词写「离别无人知」的两种笔法，皆于无人知处见离别之情。
八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Ba Sheng Gan Zhou (Eight Beats of the Ganzhou Song): Facing the Rustling Evening Rain Spilled Over the River 柳永 · 同写登楼望远、归思难收，一写不忍登高临远望故乡渺邈、一写无限楼前沧波意目断千山阻，皆于登楼中见归思 Both write climbing high to gaze far with the thought of return hard to gather — one cannot bear to climb high and gaze far, my homeland remote and dim, the other endless the gray-wave feeling, eyes breaking on a thousand mountainsLiu Yong’s Ba Sheng Gan Zhou — “I cannot bear to climb high and gaze far, my homeland remote and dim, the thought of return hard to gather” — writes climbing and gazing with homesickness ungovernable. Ye Mengde’s He Xin Lang writes “endless the gray-wave feeling before the tower — who will gather duckweed flowers and send them” and “I see off the lone swan, my eyes breaking on a thousand mountains” — the tower’s waves and the blocked mountains. Both write climbing and gazing with return ungovernable: one writes longing by climbing, the other by the eyes breaking on the mountains; one is Liu Yong’s flowing grace, the other Ye’s deep restraint. Read together, they show two Song ways of writing the wanderer’s gaze.
柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「不忍登高临远，望故乡渺邈，归思难收」，写登楼望远、归思难收，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；叶梦得《贺新郎》则以「无限楼前沧波意，谁采苹花寄取」「送孤鸿、目断千山阻」写楼前沧波、目断千山。两词同写登楼望远、归思难收：一写不忍登高临远望故乡渺邈、以登高写思，一写无限楼前沧波意目断千山阻、以目断写望；一为柳永之婉约、一为叶梦得之深婉，并读正可见宋词写「登楼归思」的两种笔法，皆于登楼中见归思。