宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
绿头鸭
To the Tune 'Green-Headed Duck'
玉人家，画楼珠箔临津。
托微风、彩箫流怨，断肠马上曾闻。
燕堂开、艳妆丛里，调琴思、认歌颦。
麝蜡烟浓，玉莲漏短，更衣不待酒初醺。
绣屏掩、枕鸳相就，香气渐暾暾。
回廊影，疏钟淡月，几许销魂。
翠钗分、银笺封泪，舞鞋从此生尘。
住兰舟、载将离恨，转南浦、背西曛。
记取明年，蔷薇谢后，佳期应未误行云。
凤城远，楚梅香嫩，先寄一枝春。
青门外，祗凭芳草，寻访郎君。
Carried on a faint breeze, the ornate flute pours out its sorrow; once, on horseback, I heard that heartbreaking sound.
When the banquet hall opened amid a throng of gorgeously dressed women, she tuned her zither and brooded; I knew every song by its frowning melody.
Musk-candle smoke grows thick; the lotus clepsydra runs short; she changes her robes before the first wine has warmed her.
The embroidered screen is drawn; mandarin-duck pillows lean together; the fragrance slowly grows warm.
Shadows on the winding corridor, a sparse bell, a pale moon — how soul-dissolving it all was.
The kingfisher hairpin is parted; tears are sealed in silver paper; her dancing shoes gather dust from that day on.
I moor the magnolia boat, loaded with the sorrow of parting, turning at the southern shore, my back to the western sun.
Remember next year, when the roses have faded — our tryst should not miss the drifting clouds.
The phoenix city is far away; the plum of Chu is fragrant and tender — send first one branch of spring.
Beyond the green gate, only by the fragrant grass shall I seek and find you, my lord.
Meaning
Written from the memory of a lost love, this lyric moves between the past and the present. The first stanza recalls the lady's home, her flute, her banquet songs, and one night of warmth behind the embroidered screen; the second stanza records the parting — the broken hairpin, the sealed tears, the boat at the southern shore — and ends with a promise for next year and the speaker's vow to seek his beloved, following only the trail of spring grass. The mood is restrained and deeply mournful: passion remembered, loss endured, and hope kept alive by a single sprig of blossom.
玉人家，画楼珠箔临津。托微风、彩箫流怨，断肠马上曾闻。燕堂开、艳妆丛里，调琴思、认歌颦。麝蜡烟浓，玉莲漏短，更衣不待酒初醺。绣屏掩、枕鸳相就，香气渐暾暾。回廊影，疏钟淡月，几许销魂。翠钗分、银笺封泪，舞鞋从此生尘。住兰舟、载将离恨，转南浦、背西曛。记取明年，蔷薇谢后，佳期应未误行云。凤城远，楚梅香嫩，先寄一枝春。青门外，祗凭芳草，寻访郎君。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] The lyric opens at the lady's painted tower by the ferry, where her flute once poured out sorrow that the speaker heard on horseback and could never forget. A banquet follows — zither tuning, singing frowns, thick musk-candle smoke, a short water clock — and then the screen closes on a night of intimacy. In the lower stanza the scene darkens: shadows on the corridor, a sparse bell, a pale moon, the parting of the hairpin, tears sealed in silver paper, dancing shoes left to gather dust. The boat sails south, the sunset behind; the speaker fixes a tryst for next year after the roses fade, sends a plum branch as a token of spring, and vows to find his love beyond the green gate by following the fragrant grass. [Structure] The poem is built on a past-present contrast: the first stanza is memory at its warmest, the second is loss and its consolation. [Imagery] Every image is filtered through the senses — the flute's grievance, the musk-smoke, the warmth of the quilts, the pale moon — so that sorrow is never stated directly but felt through objects: the parted hairpin, the sealed tears, the dusty dancing shoes.
【白话串讲】 贺铸写《绿头鸭》：“玉人家，画楼珠箔临津”——“托微风、彩箫流怨，断肠马上曾闻”——“燕堂开、艳妆丛里，调琴思、认歌颦”——“回廊影，疏钟淡月”——他写与玉人的往事。 【意象与手法】 “玉人家，画楼珠箔临津”写玉人居所；“托微风、彩箫流怨，断肠马上曾闻”写箫声传怨；“燕堂开、艳妆丛里，调琴思、认歌颦”写艳妆歌颦；“翠钗分银笺封泪、舞鞋从此生尘”写分别生尘；结以“青门外，祗凭芳草，寻访郎君”写寻访。追忆往昔、含蓄深婉。 【情感与主旨】 贺铸写追忆玉人之作，写与玉人的相遇相许与分别后的思念寻访，含蓄深婉，是贺铸情词的代表。 【名句点睛】 常考“托微风、彩箫流怨，断肠马上曾闻”以彩箫流怨写玉人；“翠钗分银笺封泪、舞鞋从此生尘”以舞鞋生尘写分别。
Background
He Zhu (1052–1125), courtesy name Fanghui, literary name Old Recluse of the Qinghu Quarter, was from Weizhou (present-day Weihui, Henan). A major Northern Song lyricist, he moved freely between the delicate and the bold styles, and contemporaries nicknamed him 'He the Plum' for a celebrated line on plum blossoms. His love lyrics are prized for rich diction and an inward turn. This lyric to the tune 'Green-Headed Duck' is among his finest: it recollects an encounter with a 'jade lady' — her flute heard on the road, her songs at the banquet, one night of tenderness — and the sorrow of separation afterwards. Its close, 'Beyond the green gate, only by the fragrant grass shall I seek and find you,' has made it a touchstone of the restrained, allusive manner of Song love lyrics.
《绿头鸭》为北宋词人贺铸所作词。贺铸（1052—1125），字方回，号庆湖遗老，卫州（今河南卫辉）人，北宋词人，词风兼婉约豪放，人称「贺梅子」。此词写追忆玉人。词中「玉人家，画楼珠箔临津。托微风、彩箫流怨，断肠马上曾闻」写玉人箫声；「燕堂开、艳妆丛里，调琴思、认歌颦」写艳妆歌颦；「麝蜡烟浓，玉莲漏短，更衣不待酒初醺」写麝蜡更衣；「翠钗分、银笺封泪，舞鞋从此生尘」写分别生尘；「住兰舟、载将离恨，转南浦、背西曛」写载恨南浦；「记取明年，蔷薇谢后，佳期应未误行云」写约期明年；「凤城远，楚梅香嫩，先寄一枝春。青门外，祗凭芳草，寻访郎君」写寄春寻访。贺铸此词以追忆玉人、翠钗分写其怀人之情，含蓄深婉，是贺铸词中的名篇。此篇《绿头鸭》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 craft of the lyric rests on two pillars: restrained indirection and a past-present contrast. The first stanza paints remembered happiness through concrete courtly detail — the painted tower with pearl curtains by the ferry, the flute's grievance borne on a breeze, zither and song in the banquet hall, musk-candle smoke, the short lotus clepsydra — each image warming the memory until the embroidered screen closes on the couple. The second stanza turns cold: the corridor's shadows, the sparse bell and pale moon introduce the parting, which is told entirely through objects — the parted kingfisher hairpin, the tears sealed in silver paper, the dancing shoes that gather dust. Even the farewell at the southern shore avoids direct lament, letting the moored boat 'carry the grief of parting' and the western sun fall behind the traveler. The ending lifts the sorrow into a promise: the plum branch sent ahead as 'one branch of spring,' and the lover tracking his lady by the scent of grass — feeling transformed into a search, memory into a vow.
此词艺术上以「含蓄深婉、今昔对照」见长。全词上片写玉人箫声与艳妆歌颦，下片写分别生尘与寄春寻访。上片「玉人家，画楼珠箔临津。托微风、彩箫流怨，断肠马上曾闻」写玉人箫声：玉人家，画楼珠箔临津；托微风、彩箫流怨，断肠马上曾闻；「燕堂开、艳妆丛里，调琴思、认歌颦」写艳妆歌颦：燕堂开、艳妆丛里，调琴思、认歌颦；「麝蜡烟浓，玉莲漏短，更衣不待酒初醺」写麝蜡更衣：麝蜡烟浓，玉莲漏短，更衣不待酒初醺；「绣屏掩、枕鸳相就，香气渐暾暾」写枕鸳香气：绣屏掩、枕鸳相就，香气渐暾暾。下片「回廊影，疏钟淡月，几许销魂」写回廊销魂：回廊影，疏钟淡月，几许销魂；「翠钗分、银笺封泪，舞鞋从此生尘」写分别生尘：翠钗分、银笺封泪，舞鞋从此生尘；「住兰舟、载将离恨，转南浦、背西曛」写载恨南浦：住兰舟、载将离恨，转南浦、背西曛；「记取明年，蔷薇谢后，佳期应未误行云」写约期明年：记取明年，蔷薇谢后，佳期应未误行云；「凤城远，楚梅香嫩，先寄一枝春。青门外，祗凭芳草，寻访郎君」写寄春寻访：凤城远，楚梅香嫩，先寄一枝春；青门外，祗凭芳草，寻访郎君。全词含蓄深婉，今昔对照，是贺铸词中的名篇。
Allusions
The lyric is dense with inherited diction. 'Jade lady' is the stock term for a beautiful woman; 'pearl blinds' are pearl-strung curtains of aristocratic chambers. 'Soul-dissolving' echoes Jiang Yan's 'Fu of Parting' ('that which dissolves the soul — none but parting'). The parted hairpin recalls the old custom of breaking a hairpin at separation; 'sealing tears in silver paper' preserves the tokens of grief; 'dancing shoes gathering dust' measures absence by disuse. The 'southern shore' alludes to the same 'Fu of Parting' ('I see you off at the southern shore'), a fixed emblem of leave-taking; 'drifting clouds' points to the goddess of Wu Mountain, who appeared as morning cloud and evening rain, a euphemism for a tryst. 'Phoenix city' is the capital; 'plum of Chu' and 'one branch of spring' invoke Lu Kai's famous gift to Fan Hua ('Jiangnan has nothing to offer — I send you one spray of spring'); the 'green gate' is the eastern gate of Han Chang'an, long associated with partings. He Zhu folds all of these into his own love story so smoothly that the learned echoes feel like lived feeling.
词中「玉人」「珠箔」「彩箫」「断肠」「燕堂」「麝蜡」「玉莲漏」「枕鸳」「疏钟淡月」「销魂」「翠钗」「银笺」「舞鞋生尘」「兰舟」「南浦」「西曛」「行云」「凤城」「楚梅」「一枝春」「青门」「芳草」等语，皆含典故故实。「玉人」写貌美之女子；「珠箔」写珠帘；「彩箫」写彩饰之箫；「断肠」写其声断肠；「燕堂」写燕居之堂；「麝蜡」写麝香之烛蜡；「玉莲漏」写莲花形之更漏；「枕鸳」写绣鸳鸯之枕；「疏钟淡月」写疏钟淡月之境；「销魂」用江淹《别赋》「黯然销魂者，唯别而已矣」之意；「翠钗」写翠玉之钗，「翠钗分」写分钗（分别之意）；「银笺封泪」写以银笺封泪；「舞鞋生尘」写舞鞋不再着而生尘；「兰舟」写木兰之舟；「南浦」用江淹《别赋》「送君南浦」之意，写送别之地；「西曛」写夕阳；「行云」用巫山神女「旦为朝云，暮为行雨」之典；「凤城」写京城；「楚梅」写楚地之梅；「一枝春」用陆凯《赠范晔》「江南无所有，聊赠一枝春」之典；「青门」写长安青门（汉长安东门），暗含送别之意。词人以玉人、珠箔、彩箫、枕鸳、翠钗、南浦、一枝春、青门等典入词，不着痕迹，而把追忆玉人之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。
Commentary
This 'Green-Headed Duck' has been a favorite in lyric anthologies from the Song onward, praised for marrying the delicate manner to depth of feeling. Critics of the ci tradition have singled out 'The kingfisher hairpin is parted; tears sealed in silver paper; her dancing shoes gather dust' as a model of writing parting through objects — no tear is shed, yet the dust on the shoes says everything. The close, 'only by the fragrant grass shall I seek and find you,' is often quoted as the lyric's spiritual peak: love survives loss as a search guided by a scent. In the twentieth century the piece became a standard classroom text for the 'restrained and allusive' style of He Zhu's love lyrics, frequently set beside Liu Yong's parting lyrics and Su Shi's moonlit longing to illustrate the range of the Song lyric.
这首《绿头鸭》，是贺铸写追忆玉人之作，写画楼珠箔、彩箫流怨、翠钗分之情，含蓄深婉。上片写玉人箫声与艳妆歌颦：「玉人家，画楼珠箔临津。托微风、彩箫流怨，断肠马上曾闻」——玉人家，画楼珠箔临津；托微风、彩箫流怨，断肠马上曾闻。写玉人箫声：玉人之家，画楼珠箔临津；托微风、彩箫流怨，断肠声曾闻于马上——玉人吹箫，其声流怨断肠；「燕堂开、艳妆丛里，调琴思、认歌颦」——燕堂开、艳妆丛里，调琴思、认歌颦。写艳妆歌颦：燕堂开、艳妆丛里，调琴思、认歌颦——调琴、歌颦，写尽玉人之态；「麝蜡烟浓，玉莲漏短，更衣不待酒初醺」——麝蜡烟浓，玉莲漏短，更衣不待酒初醺。写麝蜡更衣：麝蜡烟浓、玉莲漏短，更衣不待酒初醺——写尽欢宴之夜；「绣屏掩、枕鸳相就，香气渐暾暾」——绣屏掩、枕鸳相就，香气渐暾暾。写枕鸳香气：绣屏掩、枕鸳相就，香气渐暖——写尽枕鸳之亲。下片写分别生尘与寄春寻访：「回廊影，疏钟淡月，几许销魂」——回廊影，疏钟淡月，几许销魂。写回廊销魂：回廊影、疏钟淡月，几许销魂——写尽离别销魂；「翠钗分、银笺封泪，舞鞋从此生尘」——翠钗分、银笺封泪，舞鞋从此生尘。写分别生尘：翠钗分、银笺封泪，舞鞋从此生尘——分钗写别、封泪写情、生尘写人去；「住兰舟、载将离恨，转南浦、背西曛」——住兰舟、载将离恨，转南浦、背西曛。写载恨南浦：住兰舟、载将离恨，转南浦、背西曛——兰舟载恨、南浦背日；「记取明年，蔷薇谢后，佳期应未误行云」——记取明年，蔷薇谢后，佳期应未误行云。写约期明年：记取明年、蔷薇谢后，佳期应未误行云——约以明年，佳期未误；「凤城远，楚梅香嫩，先寄一枝春。青门外，祗凭芳草，寻访郎君」——凤城远，楚梅香嫩，先寄一枝春；青门外，祗凭芳草，寻访郎君。写寄春寻访：凤城远、楚梅香嫩，先寄一枝春；青门外，祗凭芳草，寻访郎君——以陆凯赠梅之典写寄春，以芳草写寻访。这「祗凭芳草，寻访郎君」，是全词之结：以芳草寻访写其情深。全词含蓄深婉，今昔对照，正是贺铸词中的名篇。
Prosody
Line by line
玉人家，画楼珠箔临津。
The jade lady's home — her painted tower, its pearl-silk curtains, faces the ferry crossing.
玉人家，画楼珠箔临津。
The jade beauty's home: a painted tower with pearl curtains facing the ferry.
首二句写玉人之家，起笔即见其人。「玉人家」写玉人家，「玉人」写貌美之女子、「家」写其家；「画楼珠箔临津」写画楼珠箔临津，「画楼」写彩绘之楼、「珠箔」写珠帘、「临津」写面临渡口。两句一写玉人、一写画楼珠箔临津，写尽玉人之家画楼珠帘、面临渡口之美，起笔即引人入其境，为全词写追忆玉人作铺垫，是「以景起兴」的妙笔。
The opening two lines write the jade beauty's home, the person present at the first stroke. The jade beauty's home writes the beauty's dwelling — the jade beauty the fair woman, the home the house; a painted tower with pearl curtains facing the ferry writes the painted tower, the pearl curtains, the ferry front — the painted tower the colored building, the pearl curtains the beaded blinds, the facing the water's edge. Two lines, one the beauty, one the tower and ferry, exhausting the beauty's home of the painted tower and pearl curtains facing the ferry, the opening at once drawing the reader into the realm, storing ground for the ci's recollection of the beauty, precisely the wondrous brush of rising on scene.
托微风、彩箫流怨，断肠马上曾闻。
Carried on a faint breeze, the ornate flute pours out its sorrow; once, on horseback, I heard that heartbreaking sound.
托微风、彩箫流怨，断肠马上曾闻。
Borne on the light breeze, the colored flute breathes its grief; once, on horseback, I heard it, heart-broken.
此三句写玉人箫声，是全词写玉人之关键。「托微风、彩箫流怨」写托微风、彩箫流怨，「托微风」写托于微风、「彩箫流怨」写彩箫流出幽怨之声；「断肠马上曾闻」写断肠马上曾闻，「断肠」写其声断肠、「马上曾闻」写马上曾闻其声。三句一写彩箫流怨、一写断肠马上曾闻，以彩箫流怨写其声之幽怨、以断肠写其声之动人，写尽玉人彩箫之声曾于马上闻之而断肠。以声写人，含蓄而深挚，是「以声写情」的点睛之笔。
These three lines write the beauty's flute, the key of the ci's portrait. Borne on the light breeze, the colored flute breathes its grief writes the breeze and the flute's grief — the borne-on-the-breeze the air's carrying, the colored flute's grief the moan's flowing; once, on horseback, I heard it, heart-broken writes the horseback hearing — the heart-broken the sound's wrenching, the horseback once the past hearing. Three lines, one the flute's grief, one the heart-broken hearing, writing the sound's moan and its moving power, exhausting the beauty's colored-flute sound once heard on horseback and breaking the heart. Writing the person through sound, restrained and deep, precisely the telling stroke of writing feeling through sound.
翠钗分、银笺封泪，舞鞋从此生尘。
The kingfisher hairpin is parted; tears are sealed in silver paper; her dancing shoes gather dust from that day on.
翠钗分、银笺封泪，舞鞋从此生尘。
The kingfisher hairpin broken, the silver letter sealed with tears; the dancing shoes, from then on, gather dust.
此三句写分别生尘，是全词写离别的关键。「翠钗分」写翠钗分，「翠钗分」写分钗为别；「银笺封泪」写银笺封泪，「银笺」写银色笺纸、「封泪」写封存泪痕；「舞鞋从此生尘」写舞鞋从此生尘，「舞鞋」写舞时之鞋、「生尘」写其上生尘。三句一写翠钗分、一写银笺封泪、一写舞鞋生尘，以分钗写别、以封泪写情、以舞鞋生尘写人已去，写尽分别之后舞鞋生尘之况。以物写别，含蓄而深挚，是「以物写别」的点睛之笔。
These three lines write the parting and the dust, the key of the ci's farewell. The kingfisher hairpin broken writes the divided hairpin for the parting; the silver letter sealed with tears writes the silver paper and the sealed tears — the silver paper the pale letter, the sealed tears the tear marks kept; the dancing shoes, from then on, gather dust writes the dancing shoes and the dust — the dancing shoes the old slippers, the dust the gathering. Three lines, one the broken hairpin, one the sealed-tear letter, one the dusty shoes, writing the parting through the broken pin, the feeling through the sealed tears, the man gone through the dusty shoes, exhausting the post-parting dust of the dancing shoes. Writing the parting through the thing, restrained and deep, precisely the telling stroke of writing the parting through the thing.
祗凭芳草，寻访郎君。
Only by the fragrant grass shall I seek and find you, my lord.
祗凭芳草，寻访郎君。
Only by the fragrant grass, I seek the young lord.
尾二句写寻访郎君，是全词立意的落点。「祗凭芳草」写祗凭芳草，「祗凭」写只凭、「芳草」写萋萋芳草；「寻访郎君」写寻访郎君，「寻访」写寻访、「郎君」写所寻之人。二句以「祗凭芳草」写其唯凭芳草寻迹、以「寻访郎君」写其寻访，写其只凭芳草以寻访郎君——人已去而唯凭芳草寻其迹。以草写情，含蓄而深挚，是全词最动人处，也是「以草写情」的点睛之笔。
The last two lines write the seeking of the young lord, the landing of the ci's theme. Only by the fragrant grass writes the reliance on the grass — the only reliance the mere dependence, the fragrant grass the lush grass; I seek the young lord writes the seeking — the seeking the search, the young lord the sought person. Two lines, the only by the fragrant grass the mere grass-trace seeking, the seeking the search, writing the mere grass-trace seeking for the young lord — the person gone and only the grass's trace to follow. Writing feeling through the grass, restrained and deep, the ci's most moving place, and the telling stroke of writing feeling through the grass.
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Su Shi's 'Prelude to Water Melody' ('How often can we have a clear moon? I raise my cup and question the blue sky... May we live long and share the moon's beauty though a thousand li apart') is the most famous Mid-Autumn lyric of the Song, written for his brother, vast and consoling. He Zhu's 'Green-Headed Duck' instead uses 'Shadows on the winding corridor, a sparse bell, a pale moon — how soul-dissolving' and 'The kingfisher hairpin is parted; tears sealed in silver paper' to write a pale-moon parting. Both are long forms of longing under the moon: one vast and consoling, one restrained and mournful; read together they show the two faces of moonlit longing in the Song lyric.
苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「明月几时有？把酒问青天」「但愿人长久，千里共婵娟」，写中秋把酒问月、怀弟超旷，是宋词写中秋最著名的词；贺铸《绿头鸭》则以「回廊影，疏钟淡月，几许销魂」「翠钗分、银笺封泪，舞鞋从此生尘」写疏钟淡月、分钗销魂。两词同用长调写月下怀人：一写把酒问月、千里共婵娟、超旷，一写疏钟淡月、几许销魂、深婉；一为东坡之旷达、一为贺铸之婉约，并读正可见宋词写「月下怀人」的两种风貌，皆于月下见怀人之情。
雨霖铃·寒蝉凄切 Bell in the Rain: Cicadas Chill and Keen 柳永 · 同写离别之恨与别后之思，一写执手相看泪眼竟无语凝噎、一写翠钗分银笺封泪，皆于分钗封泪中见离别之恨 Both write the pain of parting and the thoughts that follow — Liu Yong grasps hands and looks into tear-filled eyes, wordless; He Zhu parts the hairpin and seals tears — each writes the grief of separation through parting objects.Liu Yong's 'Bell in the Rain' ('Holding your hands, gazing into your tear-filled eyes, I choke and cannot speak') is a Song classic of the bitterness of parting and the thoughts that follow it. He Zhu's 'Green-Headed Duck' answers with 'The kingfisher hairpin is parted; tears sealed in silver paper' and 'I moor the magnolia boat, loaded with the sorrow of parting, turning at the southern shore.' Both write the grief of separation: Liu Yong writes it at the moment of parting, through clasped hands; He Zhu writes it through the objects left behind — the broken hairpin and sealed tears. One is the conventional tenderness of Liu Yong; the other the deeper restraint of He Zhu; read together they show two Song methods for writing the sorrow of parting.
柳永《雨霖铃·寒蝉凄切》「执手相看泪眼，竟无语凝噎」，写离别之凄切与别后之思，是宋词写离别的名篇；贺铸《绿头鸭》则以「翠钗分、银笺封泪，舞鞋从此生尘」「住兰舟、载将离恨，转南浦、背西曛」写分钗封泪、兰舟载恨。两词同写离别之恨与别后之思：一写执手相看泪眼、以别时写恨，一写翠钗分银笺封泪、以分钗写恨；一为柳永之婉约、一为贺铸之深婉，并读正可见宋词写「离别之恨」的两种笔法，皆于分钗封泪中见离别之恨。