宋 Song · 诗 Poem
酹江月·和友驿中言别
To the Tune of Lejiangyue: Answering a Friend's Farewell at the Post Station
乾坤能大，算蛟龙、元不是池中物。
风雨牢愁无著处，那更寒虫四壁。
横槊题诗，登楼作赋，万事空中雪。
江流如此，方来还有英杰。
堪笑一叶漂零，重来淮水，正凉风新发。
镜里朱颜都变尽，只有丹心难灭。
去去龙沙，江山回首，一线青如发。
故人应念，杜鹃枝上残月。
Wind and rain, and this captive's sorrow finds no place to rest; worse still, the cold insects chirp from every wall.
Composing verses with a leveled spear, writing fu from the high tower — ten thousand affairs are but snow in midair.
The river flows on as it always flows; fresh heroes will surely come in time.
I can laugh at myself — one drifting leaf, come back to the waters of the Huai just as the cool wind freshens.
In the mirror, my ruddy face has all changed; only my loyal heart cannot be extinguished.
Onward, onward to the Dragon Sands; I turn my head toward the rivers and mountains — a single green thread, thin as a hair.
My old friends should think for me — the waning moon on the branch where the cuckoo cries.
Meaning
Written while Wen Tianxiang was a prisoner being escorted north after the fall of the Song, this lyric answers a friend's farewell poem. It begins with heroic self-assertion — the dragon was never meant for a pond — passes through the miseries of captivity, and reaches its unbreakable core: the face may age and fail, but the loyal heart cannot be extinguished. Even as he faces exile into the northern desert, he looks back at the lost land and commits his memory to his friends' keeping.
乾坤能大，算蛟龙、元不是池中物。风雨牢愁无著处，那更寒虫四壁。横槊题诗，登楼作赋，万事空中雪。江流如此，方来还有英杰。堪笑一叶漂零，重来淮水，正凉风新发。镜里朱颜都变尽，只有丹心难灭。去去龙沙，江山回首，一线青如发。故人应念，杜鹃枝上残月。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] The poet first declares that heaven and earth are vast and that a dragon was never a pond creature; he then describes his captive sorrows, the cold insects, and the vanity of all endeavor; finally he steadies himself on the one thing that cannot be destroyed — his loyal heart — and takes leave of his friend beneath a cuckoo's waning moon. [Structure] The upper stanza moves outward, from cosmic scope ('how vast the universe') to the river's flow and the assurance that heroes will come again; the lower stanza turns inward, from self-mockery ('one drifting leaf') to the mirror and the heart, then outward once more to the northern desert and the backward gaze. [Imagery] The lyric works through antithesis: dragon versus pond, snow in midair versus the flowing river, ruddy face versus the loyal heart, the far desert versus the green thread of the homeland. Each pair is resolved in favor of what endures.
【白话串讲】 文天祥写《酹江月·和友驿中言别》：“乾坤能大，算蛟龙、元不是池中物”——“风雨牢愁无著处，那更寒虫四壁”——“横槊题诗，登楼作赋，万事空中雪”——“江流如此，方来还有英杰”——他和友人言别——蛟龙元不是池中物。 【意象与手法】 “乾坤能大，算蛟龙、元不是池中物”以蛟龙写壮志；“风雨牢愁无著处，那更寒虫四壁”以风雨寒虫写牢愁；“横槊题诗，登楼作赋，万事空中雪”以横槊登楼写英雄气；结以“故人应念，杜鹃枝上残月”以杜鹃残月写悲壮。慷慨悲壮、以典写志。 【情感与主旨】 文天祥被俘后与友人驿中言别之作，以蛟龙、横槊自许写不屈的壮志与视死如归的气节，是文天祥词中民族气节的代表作。 【名句点睛】 常考“乾坤能大，算蛟龙、元不是池中物”以蛟龙写壮志；“横槊题诗，登楼作赋，万事空中雪”以横槊登楼写英雄气。
Background
Wen Tianxiang (1236-1283), courtesy name Songrui, literary name Wenshan, was a native of Luling in Jizhou (modern Ji'an, Jiangxi). A jinshi of 1256, he rose to Right Chancellor, led armies against the Yuan invaders, and was captured in 1278; he refused every offer of office and was executed in 1283, becoming the very emblem of loyalty to the Song. This lyric belongs to his captivity — it answers the farewell poem his fellow prisoner Deng Gao wrote for him at a post station as they were being escorted north. It is the companion piece to his better-known Song of Passing by Lingdingyang ('Since olden times who has not died? Let my loyal heart shine in the pages of history') and breathes the same unbreakable spirit.
《酹江月·和友驿中言别》为南宋名臣文天祥所作词。文天祥（1236—1283），字宋瑞，一字履善，号文山，吉州庐陵（今江西吉安）人，南宋民族英雄、诗人，官至右丞相，兵败被俘后英勇就义。此词写言别抒志，为和友人驿中言别之作。词中「乾坤能大，算蛟龙、元不是池中物」写蛟龙非池中物；「风雨牢愁无著处，那更寒虫四壁」写风雨牢愁；「横槊题诗，登楼作赋，万事空中雪」写横槊题诗；「江流如此，方来还有英杰」写江流如此；「堪笑一叶漂零，重来淮水，正凉风新发」写重来淮水；「镜里朱颜都变尽，只有丹心难灭」写丹心难灭；「去去龙沙，江山回首，一线青如发」写去去龙沙；「故人应念，杜鹃枝上残月」写杜鹃枝上残月。文天祥此词以言别抒志、杜鹃枝上残月写其丹心之志，慷慨悲壮，是文天祥词中的名篇。此篇《酹江月·和友驿中言别》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 the marriage of heroic allusion to intimate confession. The upper stanza asserts a cosmic scale — 'how vast the universe can be' — and makes the poet a flood dragon no pond can hold; the middle turns the vanities of a heroic life ('composing verses with a leveled spear, writing fu from the high tower') into 'snow in midair,' while the river's flow guarantees that heroes will come again even if he himself is spent. The lower stanza tightens from the comic self-portrait of 'one drifting leaf' to the mirror, where everything has changed except the loyal heart. The ending compresses a continent into 'a single green thread, thin as a hair' and leaves the poet's memory in the keeping of 'the waning moon on the branch where the cuckoo cries' — vast, cold, and unbearably tender.
此词艺术上以「慷慨悲壮、以典抒志」见长。全词上片写蛟龙非池中物与江流如此，下片写丹心难灭与杜鹃枝上残月。上片「乾坤能大，算蛟龙、元不是池中物」写蛟龙非池中物：乾坤能大，算蛟龙、元不是池中物；「风雨牢愁无著处，那更寒虫四壁」写风雨牢愁：风雨牢愁无著处，那更寒虫四壁；「横槊题诗，登楼作赋，万事空中雪」写横槊题诗：横槊题诗，登楼作赋，万事空中雪；「江流如此，方来还有英杰」写江流如此：江流如此，方来还有英杰。下片「堪笑一叶漂零，重来淮水，正凉风新发」写重来淮水：堪笑一叶漂零，重来淮水，正凉风新发；「镜里朱颜都变尽，只有丹心难灭」写丹心难灭：镜里朱颜都变尽，只有丹心难灭；「去去龙沙，江山回首，一线青如发」写去去龙沙：去去龙沙，江山回首，一线青如发；「故人应念，杜鹃枝上残月」写杜鹃枝上残月：故人应念，杜鹃枝上残月。全词慷慨悲壮，以典抒志，是文天祥词中的名篇。
Allusions
'The flood dragon was never a creature of the pond' adapts the appraisal of Liu Bei in the Records of the Three Kingdoms: once a dragon has met with cloud and rain, it is no longer a pond's prisoner. 'Composing verses with a leveled spear' recalls Cao Cao, who held his spear crosswise and composed poetry on the cliffs of Red Cliff; 'writing fu from the high tower' recalls Wang Can's famous Fu on Climbing the Tower. 'Ten thousand affairs are but snow in midair' uses the Chan image of the sword-stroke and the snowflakes. The 'Dragon Sands' are the deserts of the north, where Song captives were dragged. The cuckoo, transformed from the ancient Shu king Du Yu, weeps blood in the classics; and 'loyal heart' deliberately echoes Wen Tianxiang's own line from the Song of Passing by Lingdingyang — 'let my loyal heart shine in the pages of history.'
词中「乾坤能大算蛟龙元不是池中物」「风雨牢愁无著处那更寒虫四壁」「横槊题诗登楼作赋万事空中雪」「江流如此方来还有英杰」「堪笑一叶漂零重来淮水正凉风新发」「镜里朱颜都变尽只有丹心难灭」「去去龙沙江山回首一线青如发」「故人应念杜鹃枝上残月」等语，皆含典故故实。「乾坤能大算蛟龙元不是池中物」用池中物之语（周瑜蛟龙非池中物），写算蛟龙元不是池中物；「风雨牢愁无著处那更寒虫四壁」写风雨牢愁无著处那更寒虫四壁；「横槊题诗登楼作赋万事空中雪」用曹操横槊赋诗、王粲登楼赋之典，写横槊题诗登楼作赋万事空中雪；「江流如此方来还有英杰」写江流如此方来还有英杰；「堪笑一叶漂零重来淮水正凉风新发」写堪笑一叶漂零重来淮水正凉风新发；「镜里朱颜都变尽只有丹心难灭」用丹心之语（留取丹心照汗青），写镜里朱颜都变尽只有丹心难灭；「去去龙沙江山回首一线青如发」写去去龙沙江山回首一线青如发；「故人应念杜鹃枝上残月」用杜鹃啼血之典，写故人应念杜鹃枝上残月。词人以蛟龙池中物、横槊登楼、丹心照汗青、杜鹃啼血等典入词，不着痕迹，而把言别抒志之情写得慷慨淋漓，是善于熔铸典故的体现。
Commentary
This is the most personal of Wen Tianxiang's surviving lyrics and the one that most clearly bridges his poetry and his martyrdom. Commentators have noted that its couplet 'in the mirror, my ruddy face has all changed; only my loyal heart cannot be extinguished' is the lyric counterpart of 'since olden times who has not died? Let my loyal heart shine in the pages of history' — one written earlier in the war, one written in chains, the same vow twice over. What distinguishes it from ordinary patriotic verse is its honesty about cost: the cold insects, the mirrored face, the laughter at 'one drifting leaf.' The heroism is not performed; it is what remains after everything performable has been subtracted. For that reason the ending — the old friends, the cuckoo, the waning moon — feels less like a conclusion than a promise kept.
这首《酹江月》，是文天祥写言别抒志之作，写蛟龙非池中物、丹心难灭、杜鹃枝上残月之情，慷慨悲壮。上片写蛟龙非池中物与江流如此：「乾坤能大，算蛟龙、元不是池中物」——乾坤能大，算蛟龙（用蛟龙池中物之语）、元不是池中物。写蛟龙非池中物：乾坤能大、算蛟龙元不是池中物——乾坤能大、蛟龙非池中物；「风雨牢愁无著处，那更寒虫四壁」——风雨牢愁无著处，那更寒虫四壁。写风雨牢愁：风雨牢愁无著处、那更寒虫四壁——牢愁无著处、寒虫四壁；「横槊题诗，登楼作赋，万事空中雪」——横槊题诗（用曹操横槊赋诗之典），登楼作赋（用王粲登楼赋之典），万事空中雪。写横槊题诗：横槊题诗、登楼作赋，万事空中雪——横槊题诗、登楼作赋、万事空中雪；「江流如此，方来还有英杰」——江流如此，方来还有英杰。写江流如此：江流如此、方来还有英杰——江流如此、方来还有英杰。下片写丹心难灭与杜鹃枝上残月：「堪笑一叶漂零，重来淮水，正凉风新发」——堪笑一叶漂零，重来淮水，正凉风新发。写重来淮水：堪笑一叶漂零、重来淮水，正凉风新发——一叶漂零、重来淮水、凉风新发；「镜里朱颜都变尽，只有丹心难灭」——镜里朱颜都变尽，只有丹心难灭（用丹心照汗青之意）。写丹心难灭：镜里朱颜都变尽、只有丹心难灭——朱颜变尽、丹心难灭；「去去龙沙，江山回首，一线青如发」——去去龙沙，江山回首，一线青如发。写去去龙沙：去去龙沙、江山回首，一线青如发——去去龙沙、江山回首、一线青如发；「故人应念，杜鹃枝上残月」——故人应念，杜鹃枝上残月（用杜鹃啼血之典）。写杜鹃枝上残月：故人应念、杜鹃枝上残月——故人应念、杜鹃残月。这「故人应念，杜鹃枝上残月」，是全词之结：以杜鹃枝上残月写其故国之思。全词慷慨悲壮，以典抒志，正是文天祥词中的名篇。
Prosody
Line by line
乾坤能大，算蛟龙、元不是池中物。
How vast the universe can be — and yet the flood dragon was never a creature of the pond!
乾坤能大，算蛟龙、元不是池中物。
Heaven and earth are so vast; the dragon, after all, is no creature of the pond.
首二句写蛟龙非池中物，起笔即见其志。「乾坤能大」写乾坤能大，「乾坤」写天地、「能大」写能大；「算蛟龙、元不是池中物」写算蛟龙元不是池中物，用蛟龙池中物之语写蛟龙非池中物。两句一写乾坤能大、一写算蛟龙元不是池中物，以乾坤能大写天地之大、以蛟龙非池中物写蛟龙之志，写尽乾坤能大、蛟龙非池中物之情。以典起兴，慷慨而豪迈，是「以典起兴」的妙笔。
The opening two lines write the dragon no creature of the pond, the ambition rising at the first stroke. Heaven and earth are so vast writes the vastness of the world; the dragon, after all, is no creature of the pond uses the dragon-pond saying for the dragon's ambition. Two lines, one the world's vastness, one the dragon's not pond-bound, writing the world's breadth through the vast heaven and earth, the dragon's will through the dragon not of the pond, exhausting the mood of the vast world and the dragon's unbounded spirit. Rising on the allusion, ardent and bold, the wondrous stroke of rising on the allusion.
风雨牢愁无著处，那更寒虫四壁。
Wind and rain, and this captive's sorrow finds no place to rest; worse still, the cold insects chirp from every wall.
风雨牢愁无著处，那更寒虫四壁。
Through wind and rain, the prison of grief has nowhere to rest; what more — the cold insects at the four walls.
此二句写风雨牢愁，是全词写其愁的关键。「风雨牢愁无著处」写风雨牢愁无著处，「风雨牢愁」写风雨牢愁、「无著处」写无处安放；「那更寒虫四壁」写那更寒虫四壁，「那更」写何况、「寒虫四壁」写四壁寒虫。两句一写风雨牢愁无著处、一写那更寒虫四壁，以牢愁无著处写愁无著、以那更寒虫四壁写寒虫鸣壁，写尽风雨牢愁无著处、那更寒虫四壁之情。以愁写志，慷慨而悲凉，是「以愁写志」的点睛之笔。
These two lines write the wind-and-rain prison grief, the key of the ci's sorrow. Through wind and rain, the prison of grief has nowhere to rest writes the grief's imprisonment and its no-place; what more — the cold insects at the four walls writes the moreover and the wall insects. Two lines, one the grief's no-rest, one the cold insects at the walls, writing the grief's no-hold through the no-place, the insects' wall-crying through the moreover, exhausting the wind-and-rain grief and the wall insects. Writing will through grief, ardent and desolate, the telling stroke of writing will through grief.
横槊题诗，登楼作赋，万事空中雪。
Composing verses with a leveled spear, writing fu from the high tower — ten thousand affairs are but snow in midair.
横槊题诗，登楼作赋，万事空中雪。
Leaning on the spear, composing verse; climbing the tower, writing the rhapsody — all affairs are snow in the air.
此三句写横槊题诗，是全词以典写慨的关键。「横槊题诗」写横槊题诗，用曹操横槊赋诗之典写横槊题诗；「登楼作赋」写登楼作赋，用王粲登楼赋之典写登楼作赋；「万事空中雪」写万事空中雪，「万事」写万事、「空中雪」写空中之雪。三句一写横槊题诗、一写登楼作赋、一写万事空中雪，以横槊题诗写豪、以登楼作赋写慨、以万事空中雪写万事如雪，写尽横槊题诗、登楼作赋、万事空中雪之情。以典写慨，慷慨而苍凉，是「以典写慨」的点睛之笔。
These three lines write the spear-leaning verse, the key of the ci's allusion-written sigh. Leaning on the spear, composing verse uses the Cao Cao spear-verse allusion for the spear and the poem; climbing the tower, writing the rhapsody uses the Wang Can tower-rhapsody allusion for the tower and the rhapsody; all affairs are snow in the air writes the all affairs and the air-borne snow. Three lines, one the spear and verse, one the tower and rhapsody, one the air-borne snow, writing the boldness through the spear verse, the sigh through the tower rhapsody, all affairs as snow through the air snow, exhausting the spear verse, the tower rhapsody, the snow in the air. Writing sigh through allusion, ardent and bleak, the telling stroke of writing sigh through allusion.
镜里朱颜都变尽，只有丹心难灭。
In the mirror, my ruddy face has all changed; only my loyal heart cannot be extinguished.
镜里朱颜都变尽，只有丹心难灭。
In the mirror, the young face has all changed; only the loyal heart cannot be extinguished.
此二句写丹心难灭，是全词写其丹心之志的关键。「镜里朱颜都变尽」写镜里朱颜都变尽，「镜里朱颜」写镜中朱颜、「都变尽」写都变尽；「只有丹心难灭」写只有丹心难灭，「只有」写只有、「丹心难灭」写丹心不灭。两句一写镜里朱颜都变尽、一写只有丹心难灭，以朱颜变尽写容颜老、以丹心难灭写丹心不灭，写尽镜里朱颜都变尽、只有丹心难灭之情。以心写志，慷慨而坚毅，是「以心写志」的点睛之笔。
These two lines write the loyal heart's unextinguished fire, the key of the ci's loyal will. In the mirror, the young face has all changed writes the mirror face and the all-change; only the loyal heart cannot be extinguished writes the only and the heart's unextinguished. Two lines, one the face all changed, one the heart unextinguished, writing the aged face through the changed face, the heart's fire through the unextinguished heart, exhausting the changed mirror face and the unextinguished loyal heart. Writing will through the heart, ardent and steadfast, the telling stroke of writing will through the heart.
去去龙沙，江山回首，一线青如发。
Onward, onward to the Dragon Sands; I turn my head toward the rivers and mountains — a single green thread, thin as a hair.
去去龙沙，江山回首，一线青如发。
Gone, gone to the dragon wastes; turning back to the hills and rivers, one thread of green, fine as a hair.
此三句写去去龙沙，是全词写其去国之慨的关键。「去去龙沙」写去去龙沙，「去去」写去而又去、「龙沙」写龙沙塞外；「江山回首」写江山回首，「江山」写江山、「回首」写回头望；「一线青如发」写一线青如发，「一线」写一线、「青如发」写青如发。三句一写去去龙沙、一写江山回首、一写一线青如发，以去去龙沙写远去、以江山回首写回首望江山、以一线青如发写故山青如发，写尽去去龙沙、江山回首、一线青如发之情。以别写志，慷慨而苍凉，是「以别写志」的点睛之笔。
These three lines write the going to the dragon wastes, the key of the ci's exile sigh. Gone, gone to the dragon wastes writes the repeated going and the dragon-waste frontier; turning back to the hills and rivers writes the hills and rivers, the backward look; one thread of green, fine as a hair writes the thread and the green fine as hair. Three lines, one the far going, one the backward look at the hills and rivers, one the green as a hair, writing the distance through the gone and gone, the look through the backward turn, the green hills as a hair through the thread of green, exhausting the going to the dragon wastes, the backward look, the green as a hair. Writing will through the parting, ardent and bleak, the telling stroke of writing will through parting.
故人应念，杜鹃枝上残月。
My old friends should think for me — the waning moon on the branch where the cuckoo cries.
故人应念，杜鹃枝上残月。
My old friend, I think of you — the cuckoo on the branch, the moon paling.
尾二句写杜鹃枝上残月，是全词立意的落点。「故人应念」写故人应念，「故人」写故人、「应念」写应当念；「杜鹃枝上残月」写杜鹃枝上残月，用杜鹃啼血之典写杜鹃枝上残月。两句一写故人应念、一写杜鹃枝上残月，以故人应念写故人相念、以杜鹃枝上残月写杜鹃残月，写尽故人应念、杜鹃枝上残月之情。以典写思，慷慨而悲凉，是全词最动人处，也是「以典写思」的点睛之笔。
The closing two lines write the cuckoo and the paling moon, the landing point of the ci. My old friend, I think of you writes the old friend and the ought-to-think; the cuckoo on the branch, the moon paling uses the cuckoo-blood allusion for the cuckoo and the waning moon. Two lines, one the old friend's thought, one the cuckoo's pale moon, writing the friend's remembrance through the ought-to-think, the cuckoo and moon through the cuckoo allusion, exhausting the friend's remembrance and the cuckoo's waning moon. Writing longing through allusion, ardent and desolate, the most moving place of the ci, the telling stroke of writing longing through allusion.
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Su Shi, drinking to the mid-autumn moon, concludes 'Men have sorrow and joy, parting and reunion; the moon has its dark and clear, its round and again — such things have been hard to perfect since of old. May we live long, sharing the beauty of the moon though a thousand miles apart.' His is parting dissolved into cosmic acceptance. Wen Tianxiang, in chains and bound for the northern desert, answers 'onward, onward to the Dragon Sands; I turn my head toward the rivers and mountains — a single green thread, thin as a hair.' Where Su Shi finds consolation, Wen Tianxiang refuses it: the separation is real, the exile is real, and only the heart's fidelity bridges them. The two lyrics show the two furthest poles of the Song long-form lyric — Su Shi's transcendent serenity and Wen Tianxiang's unconsolable courage.
苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全」，写中秋怀人、旷达超然，是宋词长调的名篇；文天祥《酹江月》则以「横槊题诗，登楼作赋，万事空中雪」「去去龙沙，江山回首，一线青如发」写横槊题诗、去去龙沙。两词同写长调抒怀、对月言志：一写人有悲欢离合月有阴晴圆缺、以圆缺写旷达，一写去去龙沙江山回首一线青如发、以龙沙写别志；一为苏轼之超然、一为文天祥之悲壮，并读正可见宋词写「长调言志」的两种笔法，皆于长调之中见言志。
虞美人·春花秋月何时了 To the Tune of Yu the Beauty: When Will the Spring Flowers and Autumn Moon End 李煜 · 同写故国之思、丹心难灭，一写故国不堪回首月明中、一写镜里朱颜都变尽只有丹心难灭，皆于故国之中见丹心 Both mourn a lost dynasty; one drowns in the sorrow, the other stands unmoved in it.Li Yu, the captive last ruler of Southern Tang, asks 'when will the spring flowers and autumn moon end?' and sets his sorrow flowing like 'a whole river of spring flood eastward.' Wen Tianxiang writes of the same condition — a captive gazing back at a vanished country — but answers it with 'in the mirror, my ruddy face has all changed; only my loyal heart cannot be extinguished.' Li Yu's sorrow is a flood that carries him under; Wen Tianxiang's is a fire that cannot be put out. Read side by side, the two lyrics measure the difference between grief that consumes and grief that consumes nothing but itself.
李煜《虞美人·春花秋月何时了》「小楼昨夜又东风，故国不堪回首月明中」，写故国之思，是写愁的千古名篇；文天祥《酹江月》则以「镜里朱颜都变尽，只有丹心难灭」「故人应念，杜鹃枝上残月」写丹心难灭、杜鹃枝上残月。两词同写故国之思、丹心难灭：一写故国不堪回首月明中、以明月写故国之思，一写镜里朱颜都变尽只有丹心难灭、以丹心写故国之志；一为帝王之血泪、一为忠臣之悲壮，并读正可见词写「故国丹心」的两种情致，皆于故国之中见丹心。