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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

李清照·多丽·咏白菊

Duoli · On White Chrysanthemums

李清照

Li Qingzhao

咏物object-chanting 婉约graceful and restrained

多丽·咏白菊小楼寒，夜长帘幕低垂。
恨萧萧、无情风雨，夜来揉损琼肌。
也不似、贵妃醉脸，也不似、孙寿愁眉。
韩令偷香，徐娘傅粉，莫将比拟未新奇。
细看取、屈平陶令，风韵正相宜。
微风起，清芬酝藉，不减酴醿。
渐秋阑、雪清玉瘦，向人无限依依。
似愁凝、汉皋解佩，似泪洒、纨扇题诗。
朗月清风，浓烟暗雨，天教憔悴度芳姿。
纵爱惜、不知从此，留得几多时。
人情好，何须更忆，泽北牛衣。

The little tower is cold; the long night, the curtain hangs low.
I hate the bleak, merciless wind and rain
That through the night have bruised the jade-white flesh.
Not like the drunken blush of the Imperial Consort,
Nor like the troubled brows of Sun Shou;
Han Shou's stolen incense, Xu Niang's dusted powder—
Do not compare them, they are nothing new.
Look closely: Qu Yuan and Tao Qian
Are the ones whose grace befits it.
A light wind rises; the pure fragrance lingers—
No less than the rose of summer.

As autumn wanes, snow-pure and jade-slender,
It leans toward man with infinite tenderness.
Like sorrow gathering at the river Han, where a sash is offered;
Like tears shed on a silk fan inscribed with verse.
Bright moon and clear wind, thick smoke and dark rain—
Heaven makes it pine away in such a shape.
Though one cherish it, who knows from now
How long it can be kept?
If human affection is kind, why need one recall
The straw-coat by the northern marsh?

Listen

Meaning

The little tower is chill, the long night the curtain hangs low. I resent the bleak, merciless wind and rain that through the night have bruised its jade-white flesh. It is not like the drunken face of the Imperial Consort, nor like the troubled brows of Sun Shou. Han Shou's stolen incense, Xu Niang's dusted powder—do not bring them to compare, they are nothing new. Look closely: Qu Yuan and Tao Qian are the ones whose grace truly befits the white chrysanthemum. A light wind rises, the pure fragrance lingers, no less than the summer's rose. As autumn wanes, snow-pure and jade-slender, it leans toward man with infinite tenderness. Like sorrow gathering where a sash is offered at the river Han, like tears shed on a silk fan inscribed with verse. Bright moon and clear wind, thick smoke and dark rain—heaven makes it pine away in such a shape. Though one cherish it, who knows from now how long it can be kept. If human affection is kind, why need one recall the straw-coat by the northern marsh?

小楼清寒，长夜帘幕低垂。恨那萧萧无情风雨，夜来揉损了如玉的肌骨。也不似贵妃的醉脸，也不似孙寿的愁眉。韩寿偷香、徐娘傅粉，都莫拿来比拟，并不新奇。细看取那屈原、陶潜，风韵正与白菊相宜。微风起，清芬蕴藉，不减酴醿。秋意将尽，雪清玉瘦，向人无限依依。似愁凝汉皋解佩，似泪洒纨扇题诗。朗月清风，浓烟暗雨，天教它憔悴度此芳姿。纵然爱惜，不知从此能留几多时。人情好，何须更忆那泽北牛衣。

Appreciation

This is a famous object-chant by Li Qingzhao, written about the white chrysanthemum's whiteness and purity. The upper part uses the drunken face of the Imperial Consort, the troubled brows of Sun Shou, Han Shou's stolen incense, and Xu Niang's powder as contrasts to show its freedom from the dusty world; 'Qu Yuan and Tao Qian' positively set off its loftiness. The lower part's 'snow-pure and jade-slender' and 'a sash offered at the river Han' and 'a silk fan inscribed with verse' liken the flower to a person, form and spirit alike. Abundant allusions yet a clear thread, it lodges feeling in the object and shows backbone within the graceful—a superior Song object-chant.

【白话串讲】李清照写白菊：“细看取、屈平陶令，风韵正相宜”——白菊的风韵，正像屈原和陶渊明。她咏白菊，咏的是孤高。夜雨揉损琼肌，她怜花，也怜自己。【意象与手法】全词紧扣“白菊”之“白”与“洁”，以贵妃醉脸、孙寿愁眉、韩令偷香、徐娘傅粉等反衬其不染尘俗；“屈平陶令”正衬高洁【情感与主旨】此词为李清照咏物名篇，约作于北宋后期（或南宋南渡前）。词人借咏白菊之清雅孤洁，以屈平、陶令自况，标举高洁品格【名句点睛】本词为咏物词赏析重点。考点：一、反衬手法（以红妆俗艳衬白菊清雅）；二、“屈平陶令，风韵正相宜”的托物言志

Background

This is a famous object-chant by Li Qingzhao, probably written in the late Northern Song (or before the southward flight). Through the white chrysanthemum's pure and lonely grace she compares herself to Qu Yuan and Tao Qian, asserting a lofty character. The upper part writes wind and rain bruising it and its refusal to covet the manners of the Consort and Sun Shou; the lower part writes its pining slenderness in late autumn, leaning tenderly toward man. The whole merges flower and person, a model of Yi'an's 'neither too close nor too far' object-chanting, also darkly holding a sigh over her own scattered fate.

李清照《多丽·咏白菊》的创作年代历来无确考。此词收入曾慥《乐府雅词》、黄升《花庵词选》等宋人词选，足证其于两宋间已行世。就词中笔调与心绪论，多数注家系之于南渡之前，即李清照居汴京、屏居青州或赵明诚起复之前的安定阶段，此时其咏物之作多婉丽工致，尚未染晚年家国之痛。然亦有学者提出异议：词中「天教憔悴度芳姿」「留得几多时」等语，似含身世飘零之叹，与南渡后心境相通，故王仲闻《李清照集校注》对此词编年从阙，仅言咏物自寓，不作强断。版本异文方面，「清芬酝藉」之「酝」一作「醖」，系繁简与俗体之别；「泽北牛衣」句，他本或作「泽畔牛衣」，用《楚辞·渔父》「行吟泽畔」与《汉书·王章传》「牛衣对泣」两典叠合，皆指贫寒困顿之态，然作「泽北」者当为形近而讹，诸家校勘多倾向「泽畔」。全词所咏白菊，实承屈子、陶潜两大菊花传统，词人既以白菊之「白」自许其清，又以菊之「瘦」自怜其悴，咏物而实咏己，是易安咏物词中「以人拟物、物我合一」的成熟标本。李清照此期咏物之作，尚有《鹧鸪天·暗淡轻黄体性柔》咏桂、《醉花阴》咏菊等，皆以物自况，而此词最称典重。其父李格非为「苏门后四学士」之一，家学渊源深厚，故易安能于词中驱使坟典、出入骚雅而不觉其累，此词咏白菊而兼及屈、陶，正是其「以学问为词」而不失性灵的例证。

Art

The whole lyric grips the white chrysanthemum's 'white' and 'pure': the drunken face of the Imperial Consort, the troubled brows of Sun Shou, Han Shou's stolen incense, Xu Niang's powder contrast its freedom from the dusty world; 'Qu Yuan and Tao Qian' positively set off its loftiness. The lower part's 'snow-pure and jade-slender', 'a sash offered at the river Han', 'a silk fan inscribed with verse' liken flower to person, form and spirit alike. The allusions are many yet the thread clear; it lodges feeling in the object and shows backbone within the graceful—a fine Song object-chant.

《多丽》属长调慢词，此词上下片铺排而气脉不断。上片起笔「小楼寒，夜长帘幕低垂」，以寒、夜、垂幕三字立起清寂之境，为白菊出场张本。「恨萧萧、无情风雨，夜来揉损琼肌」写风雨摧花，「揉损」二字下得极重，将无情风雨拟作揉搓之手，「琼肌」以玉喻菊之莹白，亦暗以美人肌肤为喻。以下连用四事作反衬：「也不似、贵妃醉脸」扫去杨妃之艳红，「也不似、孙寿愁眉」扫去孙寿之娇媚，「韩令偷香」扫去韩寿之香艳，「徐娘傅粉」扫去徐妃之脂粉，四者皆人间浓艳之极，而「莫将比拟未新奇」一笔总收，谓俗艳不足以状白菊之高。此「否定式咏物」是此词一大法门，以不似写其真似。下片转写菊之神：「渐秋阑、雪清玉瘦」以雪之白、玉之清、瘦之形三面写菊，「向人无限依依」赋予菊以人的眷恋。「似愁凝、汉皋解佩，似泪洒、纨扇题诗」两典并置，写菊之含愁带泪，凄婉入骨。结以「人情好，何须更忆，泽畔牛衣」，以旷语收束沉痛。清人沈谦《填词杂说》谓此词「以白描之笔写铺陈之词，典重而不滞」，正道出其在堆垛典故中仍能流转的妙处。此词上下片又构成「反衬」与「正衬」的对照结构：上片以艳衬清，下片以愁衬洁，一破一立，摇曳生姿。后世咏物词中，「不似」式的否定笔法屡见不鲜，周邦彦咏梅、姜夔咏荷，皆有此格，而溯源所自，实以易安此词为较早的典范，其章法影响之远，于此可见。

Allusions

'The drunken face of the Imperial Consort' uses Yang Yuhuan's drunken blush to figure red makeup, in contrast showing the white chrysanthemum's plainness. 'The troubled brows of Sun Shou' uses the Eastern-Han Sun Shou's 'sorrow-brow, weeping makeup'. 'Han Shou's stolen incense' uses the tale of Han Shou stealing rare incense for Jia Chong's daughter. 'Xu Niang's dusted powder' uses the Liang Emperor Yuan's Consort Xu. 'Qu Yuan and Tao Qian' compare the white chrysanthemum's loftiness to Qu Yuan and Tao Qian. 'A sash offered at the river Han' uses the tale of Zheng Jiaofu meeting immortals and receiving a sash at the Han foothills. 'A silk fan inscribed with verse' uses Ban Jieyu's Song of Resentment. The allusions pile layer on layer, all writing loneliness and purity.

此词用典之密，在易安词中罕见，而皆有所本。「贵妃醉脸」出《杨太真外传》及白居易《长恨歌》，杨妃醉态娇红，是艳色之代表；「孙寿愁眉」出《后汉书·梁冀传》，梁冀妻孙寿色美而善为妖态，作愁眉、啼妆、堕马髻，为妖媚之典；「韩令偷香」出《世说新语·惑溺》及《晋书·贾充传》，韩寿美姿容，贾充女以御赐奇香窃赠之，后遂以「偷香」状男女私情之香艳；「徐娘傅粉」出《南史·梁元帝徐妃传》，徐妃讳昭佩，虽年老而犹多情傅粉，所谓「徐娘半老，风韵犹存」。四典皆写人间脂粉浓艳，词人连缀之而尽行否定，借艳以衬清。正面之典则在「屈平陶令」：屈原《离骚》「朝饮木兰之坠露兮，夕餐秋菊之落英」，首次将秋菊纳入高洁人格体系；陶渊明《饮酒》「采菊东篱下，悠然见南山」及《九日闲居》「秋菊盈园」，又将菊化为隐逸符号。此二子并提，正是菊花意象在文化史上的两大源头，词人自比于其间。「汉皋解佩」出《列仙传》，郑交甫游汉皋，遇二神女解佩相赠，旋即失之，喻可望不可即之怅惘；「纨扇题诗」出旧题班婕妤《怨歌行》，学者多断为汉魏间拟作，以团扇秋来见弃喻失意被弃。「泽畔牛衣」则叠用《楚辞·渔父》「屈原既放，游于江潭，行吟泽畔」与《汉书·王章传》王章贫时「卧牛衣中」泣别之典，极言寒素。全词用典之巧，在于反衬与正衬交错，俗艳之典尽归否定，高洁之典全被认同，一破一立之间，白菊品格自现。

Commentary

The Qing Wang Yiqing, in his Lyric Remarks Through the Ages, quoted: 'Yi'an's white chrysanthemum links several allusions without clogging—truly a master's hand.' The modern Shen Zufen judged: 'With the Consort, Sun Shou, Han Shou, Xu Niang overturned layer by layer, then returning to Qu and Tao, the structure is marvellously strange.' The whole's allusions are exact and its feeling deep—fully showing Yi'an's learning and breadth of mind.

《多丽·咏白菊》在词史上的接受颇具意味。宋人曾慥《乐府雅词》卷下、黄升《花庵词选》均录此词，是其早岁即获选家青睐之证。然两宋词论少有专评，盖其时易安词名虽高，而此词因典故繁密，非其最著者。入明以后，词学衰微，此词隐于选本之中。清初词学复兴，评家始加青眼。王士禛《花草蒙拾》论易安，谓其「当行本色」，于咏物一体尤推其能于铺陈中见清空。陈廷焯《白雨斋词话》则盛赞此词「连用数典，句句有来历，而气体浑成，无堆垛之迹」，并谓「细看取、屈平陶令，风韵正相宜」二句「以古之高士比花，非深于骚雅者不能道」。近人王国维《人间词话》倡「不隔」之说，力主「词忌用替代字」，其「桂华流瓦」之讥虽未及此篇，然「贵妃醉脸」「孙寿愁眉」之属，实可归入其所斥「替代字」一路，故《人间词话》一系批评于此类浓丽咏物词多所保留。俞平伯《唐宋词选释》选入此词，详注诸典，评其「借白菊自寓清操，托意遥深」。唐圭璋《唐宋词简释》亦谓其「咏白菊而以屈平陶令自比，词品自高」。要之，此词虽非易安流传最广之作，然其以密集典故构建人格象征、以否定式反衬托出正面品格的章法，在宋代咏物词中自成一格，对南宋姜夔、吴文英诸家咏物词的典实化倾向实有先导之功，其于词史之地位，由此可定。

Prosody

Form Lyric, 'Duoli', double-tune 140 characters (long tune)词（多丽，长调慢词）

Rhyme Ci Lin Zheng Yun, level rhyme (low, flesh, brows, new, rose, tenderness, verse, shape, time, coat)押平声韵，属词林正韵第三部（支微齐韵），上片韵脚为垂、肌、眉、奇、宜、醿，下片为依、诗、姿、时、衣，一韵到底。

Tone pattern Level-onset, level-close; orderly, spread-out phrasing长调依谱填词，此词声调以平声为主，间以入声与去声起转折，声情柔婉而时有顿挫。上片「恨萧萧」之「恨」字去声陡起，「无情风雨」四字平仄相间，见摧折之厉；下片「雪清玉瘦」四字全用仄、平、仄、仄，顿挫中见清峭。

Reading note Duoli is a slow long tune, fit for spreading an object-chant; Yi'an's piece is exact in allusion, dense yet clear.《多丽》一词，又名《绿头鸭》《鸭头绿》，始见宋词，双调，平韵。李清照此首依谱填制，上片七十四字，下片六十五字，共一百三十九字。其用韵全押第三部支微齐韵，韵脚皆阴平或阳平，音色细柔，与所咏白菊之清、所抒愁情之幽正相谐。尤为可注意的是换头处：「渐秋阑、雪清玉瘦」由前片入声「醿」字收束后，以「渐」字去声领起，声情一转而趋于凄紧，配合「汉皋解佩」「纨扇题诗」两联的对仗，读来有一唱三叹之致。长调咏物，最忌平铺，而李清照此词能于绵密用典中保持声腔流转，端赖其于韵脚与领字处精于安置——领字「恨」「渐」「纵」「何须」皆用去声或平声提起，收放有度。词论家论声，常谓慢词以「妥溜」为上，此词韵密而声和，正合此旨，宜于浅斟低唱，是李清照深谙音律的明证。万树《词律》录《多丽》一调，亦以易安此作为正体之一，其声律之精审，于此可见一斑。

Line by line

小楼寒，夜长帘幕低垂

The small room is cold; the night is long, the curtains hanging low.

小楼清寒，长夜帘幕低垂

The small room is chill; the night long, the curtains hanging low.

起句三短语，层层收束空间与时间。「小楼」点空间之窄小，「寒」点气候之清冷，「夜长」点时间之难捱，「帘幕低垂」点居处之幽闭。四个意象叠加，已织出一张孤寂之网。「帘幕低垂」既是实景，又是心境的投影——帘幕既遮断了外界的风雨，也隔绝了人世的喧嚣，词人独处其中，与一盆白菊相对，寂寞如可掬。这种「闭锁式」起笔，与下文「恨萧萧、无情风雨」的听觉悬念相勾连，为咏菊设定了「隔帘听雨、对花兴叹」的典型场景，也为全词奠定了清寒孤洁的基调。

The opening three short phrases, gathering space and time layer on layer. The small room names the narrow space, the cold the chill of the weather, the long night the time's dragging, the curtains hanging low the dwelling's seclusion. Four images overlaid, already weaving a net of solitude. The curtains hanging low at once the real scene and the mind's projection — the curtains shutting off the outer wind and rain, and the world's clamor, the poet alone within, facing a pot of white chrysanthemums, the loneliness palpable. This closed opening hooks into the below hate the ruthless wind and rain's auditory suspense, setting the ode's typical scene of listening to rain behind the curtain and sighing over the flower, and laying the ci's cold, lonely, pure tone.

也不似、贵妃醉脸，也不似、孙寿愁眉

Not like the drunken blush of the Imperial Consort, nor like the troubled brows of Sun Shou.

也不似贵妃的醉脸，也不似孙寿的愁眉

Not like the Taizhu's drunken face; not like Sun Shou's sorrowful brows.

两句连用「也不似」领起，是否定式咏物的枢纽。杨贵妃之醉脸，是盛唐艳色的极致，红云上颊，娇媚无伦；孙寿之愁眉，是东汉妖妆的极致，双眉微蹙，楚楚可怜。词人以这两种最具诱惑力的美色来与白菊对勘，而断然曰「不似」，意谓白菊之美不在颜色之艳、姿态之媚，而在其本然的清白。这种写法，是以人间的「加法」之美来反衬菊的「减法」之美——菊无艳色、无媚态，正因其「无」而显其「有」，即那份不假雕饰的天然高洁。两句对仗工整，「醉脸」对「愁眉」，一热一冷，一浓一淡，皆是尘世之态，尽被扫去。

The two lines open with the repeated not like, the hinge of the negative ode. The Taizhu's drunken face, the extreme of High Tang splendor, the red clouds on the cheeks, the charm beyond compare; Sun Shou's sorrowful brows, the extreme of Eastern Han exotic makeup, the brows slightly knit, pitiable. The poet sets these two most seductive beauties against the white chrysanthemum, and decisively says not like — meaning the white chrysanthemum's beauty lies not in the color's splendor or the pose' charm, but in its natural whiteness. This way of writing sets the world's addition-beauty against the chrysanthemum's subtraction-beauty — the chrysanthemum no splendor, no charm, precisely because of its not that its being shows: the unadorned natural purity. The two lines in steady parallelism, drunken face against sorrowful brows, one warm one cold, one rich one pale, all the worldly poses swept away.

细看取、屈平陶令，风韵正相宜

Look closely: Qu Yuan and Tao Qian are the ones whose grace befits it.

细看取那屈原、陶潜，风韵正与白菊相宜

Look closely — Qu Yuan and Master Tao; their grace is exactly fit.

「细看取」三字是视角的转折——由「也不似」的否定转入「正相宜」的肯定，词人的眼光在历数俗艳之后，终于落在菊花真正的精神谱系上。屈原、陶潜，一个是「夕餐秋菊之落英」的骚人，一个是「采菊东篱下」的隐士，二人分属刚烈与恬淡两途，而皆以菊为精神伴侣。词人将白菊与屈、陶并举，实是自况——以屈子之忠贞、陶令之清节自勉，标举一种不逐流俗、洁身自好的人格理想。「风韵正相宜」的「宜」字，是经过层层反衬之后得出的结论，力重千钧，是全词正面题旨的落点，此前所有「不似」的铺排，皆为此三字蓄势。

The three words look closely are the turn of the gaze — from the negation of not like to the affirmation of exactly fit, the poet's eye, after numbering the vulgar splendor, landing at last on the chrysanthemum's true spiritual lineage. Qu Yuan and Master Tao, one the sao poet who at evening eats the falling petals of autumn chrysanthemum, one the recluse who plucks chrysanthemums by the eastern fence, the two belonging respectively to the staunch and the quiet, and both taking the chrysanthemum as the spirit's companion. The poet setting the white chrysanthemum with Qu and Tao is in truth the self-figuring — taking Qu Yuan's loyalty and Tao Yuanming's pure integrity as the self-exhortation, raising a personal ideal of not following the vulgar and keeping oneself clean. The word fit in the grace exactly fit is the conclusion after the layer on layer of contrast, the weight of a thousand jun, the landing of the ci's positive theme, all the above not-likes storing force for these three words.

似愁凝、汉皋解佩，似泪洒、纨扇题诗

Like grief congealed at the Han River bank, the giving of pendants; like tears shed over the verse written on the silk fan.

似愁凝汉皋解佩，似泪洒纨扇题诗

Like grief congealed at the Han River bank, the giving of pendants; like tears shed over the verse written on the silk fan.

此两句以「似」字领起，与上片「也不似」的否定形成对应——上片是「不似」，写菊之脱俗；下片是「似」，写菊之含情。汉皋解佩，写郑交甫遇神女而终失所赠，是一段可望不可即的怅惘；纨扇题诗，写班婕妤如团扇秋来见弃，是一份被冷落的哀怨。词人以这两段带有「失意」意味的典故来状菊之「愁凝」「泪洒」，把菊的憔悴之姿与失意之情叠合，菊即人，人即菊，物我至此浑然一体。此二句对仗精工，一「愁」一「泪」，一「凝」一「洒」，化静态的菊花为动态的情态，凄婉入骨，是全词最见易安深衷的句子。

These two lines open with the word like, answering the first stanza's not-like — the first stanza's not-like writing the chrysanthemum's rising above the world; the second stanza's like writing the chrysanthemum's feeling. The Han River bank's giving of the pendants writes Zheng Jiaofu's meeting the goddess and at last losing the gift, the wistfulness of the seen and not reached; the verse written on the silk fan writes Ban Jieyu, like the round fan cast off in autumn, the neglected grief. The poet uses these two allusions of the disappointed feeling to figure the chrysanthemum's grief congealed and tears shed, folding the flower's withered pose and the disappointed feeling together, the chrysanthemum the man, the man the chrysanthemum, thing and self fused here. These two lines in crafted parallelism, one grief one tears, one congealed one shed, turning the static chrysanthemum into the dynamic mood, desolate to the bone, the lines most showing Yi'an's deep heart in the ci.

Study

Word focus

琼肌 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 以「琼」喻菊之白，以「肌」喻菊之柔，二字连用，将一株白菊化为一具莹洁的肌体。琼为美玉，古人常以「琼」状至白至纯之物，谢庄《月赋》「连观霜缟，周除冰净」，李白「琼杯绮食青玉案」，皆取其莹洁无瑕。易安以「琼肌」写菊，既写其色之白，又写其质之柔，更暗含美人肌肤之想，为全词「以人拟物」的手法埋下伏笔。更妙的是，「揉损」施于「琼肌」之上，玉质而遭风雨揉搓，益见其无辜与脆弱，怜惜之情自生。此种以玉拟花、以花拟人的双关笔法，正是易安咏物词「物我两似」的起点。

揉损 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「揉损」之「揉」，是搓揉、揉搓之意，本为手的动作；「损」则言其被伤。风雨本无手，而词人以「揉」字拟之，是把无情的自然力量写成了有意的摧残，风雨如一只巨手，将白菊的花瓣揉得零落。这个动词的暴力感与「琼肌」的莹洁感形成强烈反差，一柔一暴之间，白菊的受害与词人的恻隐之心同时显形。相较而言，若用「吹损」「折损」，皆不及「揉」字之生动，「揉」带出了那种反复、绵密、不由分说的摧折，读之如在目前。风雨之虐与菊之无辜，遂成鲜明对照，怜花即是怜己。

依依 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「依依」叠字，状菊之依恋、柔弱之态，源出《诗经·采薇》「昔我往矣，杨柳依依」，本写杨柳枝条柔曼、似含离情。易安移以状菊，既写白菊枝叶之柔，又赋予其恋恋不舍的人情。「向人无限依依」一句，菊被拟作一个含情脉脉、欲语还休的女子，对着词人倾诉眷恋。这种拟人，不是泛泛的修辞，而是词人自怜自伤的投射——菊之依依，正是词人于人世间的眷恋与无告。叠字带来的声情绵邈，又与全词的婉约基调相合，一字而兼形、声、情三美。