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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

陆游·谢池春·壮岁从戎

Xie Chi Chun · In My Prime I Took Up Arms

陆游

Lu You

爱国patriotism 壮志great ambition

谢池春·壮岁从戎壮岁从戎，曾是气吞残虏。
阵云高、狼烟夜举。
朱颜青鬓，拥雕戈西戍。
笑儒冠、自来多误。
功名梦断，却泛扁舟吴楚。
漫悲歌、伤怀吊古。
烟波无际，望秦关何处。
叹流年、又成虚度。

In my prime I took up arms; once my spirit would swallow the remnant foe.
Battle clouds rose high, the wolf-smoke lifted in the night.
Red face and black temples, I gripped the carved lance and garrisoned the west.
I laughed at the scholar's cap—from of old it has marred many a career.
The dream of merit broke; I drift in a small boat through Wu and Chu.
Idly I sing my grief, wounded in heart, mourning the past.
Endless misty waves—where is the Qin pass?
I sigh at the passing years: again they are spent in vain.

Listen

Meaning

In my prime I joined the army at the frontier; once my will was to swallow the remnant enemy. Battle clouds surged high, wolf-smoke rose in the night. With ruddy face and black hair, I held the carved lance garrisoning the west. I laughed at the scholar's cap—from of old it has ruined many a career. The dream of glory is broken; I can only drift in a small boat through Wu and Chu. Idly singing my sorrow, wounded at heart, I mourn the ancients. Boundless misty waves—where is the Qin pass? I sigh at the flowing years: again they become a vain waste.

壮年时节从军边塞，曾经志气要吞灭残余敌虏。战阵云气高涌、狼烟在夜里燃起。红润的容颜、乌黑的鬓发，拥着雕饰的戈矛在西疆戍守。笑那读书人的帽子，自来多误了前程。功名的梦已断，却只好泛着小舟漂泊吴楚。漫声悲歌、伤怀而凭吊古迹。烟波无边无际，遥望那秦关又在何处。可叹流年，又成虚度。

Appreciation

This lyric was likely written in Lu You's late years, retired at his native Shanyin. In the Qian Dao years of Emperor Xiaozong, Lu You went to Shu as judge of Kuizhou, then joined the staff of Wang Yan at Nanzheng, personally facing the border, spirited and high—the period of his life closest to the ideal of recovery. But soon the headquarters disbanded and his cause came to nothing. In his late years, looking back, he wrote this lyric to recall the pride of his prime in arms and mourn the shattering of the recovery dream; between the lines is all the grief of a hero with white hair.

【白话串讲】 “壮岁从戎，曾是气吞残虏”——陆游回忆壮年从军：气吞残虏。“朱颜青鬓，拥雕戈西戍”——那时他青春年少，持戈戍边。“功名梦断，却泛扁舟吴楚”——如今功名梦断，只能泛舟。“叹流年、又成虚度”——他叹：流年又虚度了。【意象与手法】上片以“壮岁从戎”领起，铺陈阵云、狼烟、雕戈、西戍，画面雄阔，气吞残虏【情感与主旨】此词约作于陆游晚年退居故乡山阴时【名句点睛】考点：一、上下片今昔对比的结构与情感落差；二、“气吞残虏”体现的爱国豪情；三、“笑儒冠多误”的复杂心理

Background

This lyric was likely written in Lu You's late years, retired at his native Shanyin. In the Qian Dao years of Emperor Xiaozong, Lu You went to Shu as judge of Kuizhou, then joined the staff of Wang Yan at Nanzheng, personally facing the border, spirited and high—the period of his life closest to the ideal of recovery. But soon the headquarters was dissolved and his achievement came to nothing. In his late years the poet looks back and writes this lyric recalling the pride of his prime in arms, grieving the shattering of the recovery dream; between the lines is all the grief of a hero turned white-haired.

《谢池春·壮岁从戎》为南宋诗人陆游所作。陆游（1125—1210），字务观，号放翁，越州山阴人，南宋爱国诗人，有“小太白”之称。此词写壮岁从戎的回忆与功名未遂的悲慨：壮岁从戎，曾是气吞残虏；阵云高、狼烟夜举；朱颜青鬓，拥雕戈西戍；笑儒冠、自来多误。下片功名梦断，却泛扁舟吴楚；漫悲歌、伤怀吊古；烟波无际，望秦关何处；叹流年，又成虚度。全词以回忆壮岁从戎写壮志难酬之悲，是陆游爱国词的代表作。

Art

The first part leads with 'In my prime I took up arms', spreading battle clouds, wolf-smoke, carved lance, western garrison—a grand picture, swallowing the remnant foe; 'I laughed at the scholar's cap' turns, hinting self-mockery and anger that the bookish man mars the state. The second part turns sharply; 'The dream of merit broke' forms a strong then-now contrast with the above, the small boat, misty waves, Qin pass, images vast and desolate. Using the grand to set off the grief, the sorrow deepens; the closing line directly voices 'spent in vain', moving one to tears.

《谢池春·壮岁从戎》艺术上以今昔对比与壮志难酬的悲慨见长。全词结构分明：上片写壮岁之荣——“壮岁从戎，曾是气吞残虏”写从戎之豪，“阵云高、狼烟夜举”写战场之壮，“朱颜青鬓，拥雕戈西戍”写英姿之盛，“笑儒冠、自来多误”写儒冠之误；下片写功名之悲——“功名梦断，却泛扁舟吴楚”写梦断扁舟，“漫悲歌、伤怀吊古”写悲歌吊古，“烟波无际，望秦关何处”写望秦关之不得，“叹流年，又成虚度”写流年虚度。全词以壮岁之荣与暮年之悲对照，写壮志难酬之慨，正是陆游爱国词“沉郁悲壮”的风格。

Allusions

'Scholar's cap' uses Du Fu's 'silk boys do not starve, the scholar's cap mars the body', meaning the learned man is often stuck and marred; here reversed, proudly claiming the army while laughing at the cap's marring of men. 'Qin pass' broadly means the Central Plain's strategic passes, standing for the lost old capital hills and rivers. 'Small boat' transforms the allusion of Fan Li drifting in a boat, writing retirement and wandering. The allusions fit, all serving the main thread of no road to serve the country and a drifting fate, never straying.

《谢池春·壮岁从戎》用典在“儒冠误身”。“儒冠自来多误”出杜甫《奉赠韦左丞丈二十二韵》“纨绔不饿死，儒冠多误身”，写读书人多为儒冠所误；“残虏”写残敌，“秦关”写中原秦地关隘，写望中原；“吴楚”写江南之地，写归隐之地。全词以这些典故写壮志难酬：儒冠误身写其以文误武，望秦关写其不忘中原。以典写志，正是陆游爱国词“沉郁悲壮”的风格。

Commentary

Liang Qichao judged Lu You 'the one true man through the ages, Fangweng'; this lyric, grand above and grieved below, best shows his will. Later readers say his small lyrics can hold the breath of a long tune; Xia Chengtao called Fangweng's lyrics 'born of grief and anger, in a bold manner'; the prime-in-arms passage stands with 'Book of Indignation' and 'Su Zhong Qing' as the cry of a hero who lost his road.

《谢池春·壮岁从戎》是陆游爱国词的代表作，也是其壮志难酬的写照。此词以壮岁从戎的回忆写功名未遂的悲慨，向为论者称道。论者多赏其“壮岁从戎，曾是气吞残虏”的起笔——以“气吞残虏”写壮岁之豪，激昂慷慨；“烟波无际，望秦关何处”写望中原而不得，更见悲愤。陆游一生力主抗金而壮志难酬，其词多写爱国之情与壮志之悲，此词正是其代表作——以壮岁之荣写暮年之悲，正是“沉郁悲壮”的风格。

Prosody

Form Lyric, 'Xie Chi Chun' double-tune sixty-four characters (also named 'Selling Flowers Sound')词牌·谢池春

Rhyme Oblique rhyme, by Ci Lin Zheng Yun, same section upper and lower parts《谢池春》为双调，上下片各九句，押仄声韵。此词用韵：虏、举、戍、误（遇部）、楚、古、处、度（遇部），上下片同韵，音节悲壮。

Tone pattern Level and oblique alternate; at the turn to oblique, sound-feeling rises then sinks《谢池春》句式以四、五、七言相间，音节悲壮。此词上片写壮岁之荣，音节激昂，如“气吞残虏”；下片写功名之悲，音节沉郁，如“叹流年，又成虚度”。全词以仄韵贯底，声调与壮志难酬的内容相合，是宋词中沉郁悲壮的一路。

Reading note This tune suits generous desolation; Fangweng uses it for the army past, then-now contrast, sound and feeling matching.《谢池春·壮岁从戎》为词牌《谢池春》，是陆游爱国词的代表作。此词上片写壮岁从戎之荣：气吞残虏、阵云狼烟、朱颜青鬓，写其青年从军的豪情；下片写功名梦断之悲：功名梦断、扁舟吴楚、望秦关不得、流年虚度，写其壮志难酬。以壮岁之荣与暮年之悲对照，写尽陆游爱国而不得的悲慨。陆游一生力主抗金而壮志难酬，其词多写爱国之情与壮志之悲，此词正是其“沉郁悲壮”风格的代表。

Line by line

壮岁从戎，曾是气吞残虏。阵云高、狼烟夜举。朱颜青鬓，拥雕戈西戍。

In my prime I took the field, my spirit once swallowing the remnant foe. The battle clouds high, the beacon smoke raised at night. Red face, black temples, bearing the carved lance, I garrisoned the west.

壮年时从军，曾经气吞残敌。战阵云高，狼烟夜里高燃。红颜青鬓，手握雕戈西去戍守。

In my youth I joined the army, my spirit once swallowing the remnant enemy. The battle clouds high, the wolf-fires lit by night. Red face, black temples, gripping the carved halberd, I garrisoned the west.

上片起写壮岁从戎之荣。“壮岁从戎，曾是气吞残虏”写从戎之豪——“壮岁从戎”写壮年从军，“气吞残虏”写其气概足以吞灭残敌；“阵云高、狼烟夜举”写战场之壮——“阵云高”写战阵云高，“狼烟夜举”写夜里狼烟高燃；“朱颜青鬓，拥雕戈西戍”写英姿之盛——“朱颜青鬓”写其年轻，“拥雕戈”写手握雕戈，“西戍”写西去戍守。五句由从戎之豪写到战场之壮，再写到英姿之盛：壮岁从戎，气吞残虏，正是陆游青年从军的豪情。以“气吞残虏”写其志，以“阵云高、狼烟夜举”写其境，以“朱颜青鬓，拥雕戈西戍”写其姿，正是陆游写壮岁从戎之荣的笔法。

The first stanza opens on the prime-time army's glory. In my prime I took the field, my spirit once swallowing the remnant foe writes the enlistment's heroism — the prime-time enlistment, the spirit swallowing the remnant foe; the battle clouds high, the wolf-fires lit by night writes the battlefield's grandeur — the high battle clouds, the beacon smoke raised at night; red face, black temples, bearing the carved lance, I garrisoned the west writes the youthful bearing — the red face and black temples the youth, the carved lance the weapon, the west garrison the posting. Five lines, from the enlistment's heroism to the battlefield's grandeur, to the youthful bearing: the prime-time enlistment, the spirit swallowing the foe, precisely Lu You's young army's ardor. The spirit swallowing the foe writes the will, the battle clouds and beacon the realm, the red face and carved lance the bearing — precisely Lu You's brush of the prime-time army's glory.

笑儒冠、自来多误。

I laugh: the scholar's cap has always mistaken me.

可笑儒冠，自来多误身。

I laugh: the scholar's cap has always brought me to grief.

此句写儒冠误身，是全词由壮而悲的转折。“笑儒冠、自来多误”写儒冠误身——“笑”写其自嘲，“儒冠”写读书人，“自来多误”出杜甫“儒冠多误身”，写读书人多为儒冠所误。这一句写陆游的自嘲：当年壮岁从戎、气吞残虏，而如今却以儒冠误身——读书报国而不得，正是儒冠多误。以“笑儒冠”写其自嘲，正是陆游由壮岁之荣转向暮年之悲的转折，也为下片的“功名梦断”张本。

This line writes the scholar's cap's mistakenness, the ci's turn from the prime to the grief. I laugh: the scholar's cap has always brought me to grief writes the mistaken self — the laugh the self-mockery, the scholar's cap the bookman, the always mistaken from Du Fu's the scholar's cap has always mistaken the body, writing the bookman's being mistaken by the cap. This line writes Lu You's self-mockery: the old prime-time enlistment, the spirit swallowing the foe, and now the scholar's cap's mistakenness — the bookman's serving the country and yet failing, precisely the cap's mistakenness. The laugh: the scholar's cap writes the self-mockery, precisely Lu You's turn from the prime-time glory to the old-age grief, and the ground for the second stanza's the fame dream broken.

功名梦断，却泛扁舟吴楚。漫悲歌、伤怀吊古。烟波无际，望秦关何处。叹流年，又成虚度。

The dream of fame broken, I must sail the small boat through Wu and Chu. Vainly I sing the grief, wounding the heart over the past. The misty waves boundless; gazing toward the Qin Pass, where is it? I sigh at the fleeting years, once more wasted.

功名之梦已断，却只能泛舟于吴楚之间。空自悲歌，伤怀吊古。烟波无际，望向秦关，却不知在何处。可叹流年，又成虚度。

The dream of merit broken, I drift in a small boat through Wu and Chu. Vainly singing the grief, wounding the heart over the ancients. Misty waves without bound; gazing toward the Qin Pass, where is it? I sigh at the fleeting years, once more wasted.

下片写功名梦断之悲，是全词的归结。“功名梦断，却泛扁舟吴楚”写梦断扁舟——“功名梦断”写功名之梦已断，“却泛扁舟吴楚”写只能泛舟江南；“漫悲歌、伤怀吊古”写悲歌吊古——“漫”写空自，“悲歌”写悲愤高歌，“伤怀吊古”写伤怀古事；“烟波无际，望秦关何处”写望中原不得——“烟波无际”写烟波浩渺，“望秦关何处”写望中原秦关而不得；“叹流年，又成虚度”写流年虚度——“叹流年”写叹岁月，“又成虚度”写又空度一年。七句由梦断写到泛舟，再写到悲歌、望秦关、叹流年，层层推进：功名梦断，只能泛舟；悲歌吊古，更添悲愤；望秦关不得，流年虚度。以“功名梦断”写其壮志之破，以“望秦关何处”写其不忘中原，以“叹流年，又成虚度”写其岁月空流，正是陆游爱国词“沉郁悲壮”的归结。

The second stanza writes the grief of the fame dream broken, the gathering of the ci. The dream of merit broken, I must sail the small boat through Wu and Chu writes the broken dream and the boat — the fame dream broken, the boat drifting through the south; vainly I sing the grief, wounding the heart over the past writes the grief song and the mourning — the vain the empty, the grief song the indignant singing, the wounding the heart over the ancients; the misty waves boundless; gazing toward the Qin Pass, where is it? writes the central plain unseen — the boundless mist, the Qin Pass gaze and yet not reached; I sigh at the fleeting years, once more wasted writes the years' waste — the sigh at the years, the once-more wasted. Seven lines, from the broken dream to the boat, to the grief song, the Qin Pass gaze, the year's sigh, advancing layer on layer: the fame dream broken, and only the boat; the grief song and the mourning, the indignation doubled; the Qin Pass unseen, the years wasted. The fame dream broken writes the will's ruin, the Qin Pass gaze the central plain not forgotten, the fleeting years' sigh the years flowing empty — precisely the gathering of Lu You's patriotic ci's somber grief.

Study

Word focus

气吞残虏 'swallow the remnant foe': the word 'swallow' writes the fullness of his will, forming tension with the lower part's 'dream broke'; the bold word doubles the later grief. “曾是气吞残虏”之“气吞残虏”，写气概足以吞灭残敌，是全词写壮岁之豪的关键词。“气”写气概，“吞”写吞灭，“残虏”写残敌——壮岁从戎，气吞残虏。这一词写陆游壮年之豪：不是寻常从军，而是气吞残虏；不是庸碌之辈，而是志在灭敌。以“气吞残虏”写壮岁之荣，正是陆游爱国词激昂慷慨的笔法。

朱颜青鬓 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “朱颜青鬓”之“朱颜青鬓”，写红颜青鬓之年轻，是全词写英姿之盛的关键词。“朱颜”写面色红润，“青鬓”写鬓发乌黑——朱颜青鬓，正是年轻英武之貌。这一词写陆游壮岁之英姿：不是老迈之态，而是朱颜青鬓；不是衰弱之身，而是拥雕戈西戍之勇。以“朱颜青鬓”写英姿，正是陆游写壮岁之荣、为后文暮年之悲作对照的笔法。

梦断 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “功名梦断”之“梦断”，写功名之梦已断，是全词写壮志之破的关键词。“梦”写功名如梦幻，“断”写其断绝——功名梦断。这一词写陆游功名之梦的破灭：不是未梦，而是梦断；不是不图功名，而是功名已断。以“梦断”写壮志之破，正是陆游爱国词写悲愤的笔法——功名之梦已断，而爱国之心未已。

虚度 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “叹流年，又成虚度”之“虚度”，写岁月空流，是全词写流年之叹的关键词。“虚”写空、白白，“度”写度过——叹流年，又成虚度。这一词写陆游对岁月流逝的叹息：不是充实之年，而是虚度；不是建功之日，而是空流。以“虚度”写流年，正是陆游壮志难酬而岁月空流的悲慨，也是其爱国词“沉郁悲壮”的归结。