All poems

宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

满江红

To the Tune 'Man Jiang Hong'

张炎

Zhang Yan

波暖绿粼粼,燕飞来、好是苏堤才晓。
鱼没浪痕圆,流红去、翻笑东风难扫。
荒桥断浦,柳阴撑出扁舟小。
回首池塘青欲遍,绝似梦中芳草。
和云流出空山,甚年年净洗,花香不了。
新渌乍生时,孤村路、犹忆那回曾到。
馀情渺渺。
茂林觞咏如今悄。
前度刘郎归去后,溪上碧桃多少。

The waves are warm, green and rippling; the swallows fly in — just as dawn breaks over the Su causeway.
Fish dive, leaving round ripple-marks; the fallen petals drift away — laughing that the east wind cannot sweep them clean.
A ruined bridge, a broken landing; from the willow shade a small boat pushes out.
Looking back, the pond is green to its very edge — exactly like the fragrant grass in a dream.
Flowing out of the empty hills with the clouds, washing clean year after year — yet the fragrance of flowers never ends.
When the fresh green water first appears, on the lonely village road I still remember that once I came this way.
The lingering feeling stretches far and away;
the drinking and chanting in the thick grove is silent now.
Since the former Liu went home, how many green peaches remain by the stream?
Listen

Meaning

This is a lyric on spring water, but it is really a lyric on memory. Opening on the warm rippling water of the Su causeway at dawn, it follows the water's life — fish, petals, a ruined bridge, a small boat from the willow shade, a pond green as dream-grass — until the water flows out of the empty hills carrying the clouds, washing clean the flowers' fragrance year after year. The poet recalls coming along the lonely village road when the fresh green water first rose, mourns the silent grove where friends once drank and chanted, and ends with the question: since the former Liu went home, how many green peaches are left by the stream? Beneath the clear spring surface runs a current of loss — for friends, for a dynasty, for a self that passed this way before.

波暖绿粼粼,燕飞来、好是苏堤才晓。鱼没浪痕圆,流红去、翻笑东风难扫。荒桥断浦,柳阴撑出扁舟小。回首池塘青欲遍,绝似梦中芳草。和云流出空山,甚年年净洗,花香不了。新渌乍生时,孤村路、犹忆那回曾到。馀情渺渺。茂林觞咏如今悄。前度刘郎归去后,溪上碧桃多少。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The lyric opens on warm, green, rippling water at dawn on the Su causeway, swallows flying in; fish dive leaving round ripples, petals drift away laughing that the east wind cannot sweep them. A ruined bridge, a broken landing, a small boat pushing out of the willow shade; the pond ahead is green to its edge like the fragrant grass of a dream. The water flows out of the empty hills with the clouds, washing clean year after year, yet the flowers' fragrance never ends. When the fresh green water first rises, the poet remembers coming along the lonely village road; the lingering feeling stretches far; the grove where friends drank and chanted is silent now. He ends with a question: since the former Liu went home, how many green peaches remain by the stream? [Structure] The lyric follows the stream from dawn on the Su causeway, out of the empty hills, down to the stream's peach blossoms — a single movement of water that is also a movement of memory, from scene, to recollection, to elegy. [Imagery] The images are 'clear and vast' — rippling green waves, round fish-ripples, drifting petals, willow-shade boat, dream-green pond — and beneath them run two memories: Xie Lingyun's 'the pond grows spring grass' and Liu Yuxi's return to the abbey.

【白话串讲】 张炎写《满江红》:“波暖绿粼粼,燕飞来、好是苏堤才晓”——“鱼没浪痕圆,流红去、翻笑东风难扫”——“荒桥断浦,柳阴撑出扁舟小”——“回首池塘青欲遍,绝似梦中芳草”——他写苏堤春晓。 【意象与手法】 “波暖绿粼粼,燕飞来、好是苏堤才晓”写苏堤春晓;“鱼没浪痕圆,流红去、翻笑东风难扫”以鱼没浪痕写春水;“荒桥断浦,柳阴撑出扁舟小”写扁舟;“回首池塘青欲遍,绝似梦中芳草”以梦中芳草写春色。咏春水而写春色,含蓄空灵。 【情感与主旨】 张炎写咏春水之作,以细腻笔触写苏堤春晓、春水之景,寄寓对春光的留恋,是张炎词中清空自然的代表。 【名句点睛】 常考“鱼没浪痕圆,流红去、翻笑东风难扫”以鱼没浪痕写春水;“回首池塘青欲遍,绝似梦中芳草”以梦中芳草写春色。

Background

Zhang Yan (1248 – c. 1320), courtesy name Shuxia, literary names Yutian and Lexiaoweng, was from Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou, Zhejiang). Scion of a distinguished Southern Song family, he lived through the fall of the dynasty and its capital, wandering as a guest in the Yuan; he is the acknowledged master of the 'clear-and-vast' (qingkong) school of the lyric, and his treatise Ci Yuan (Origins of the Lyric) is one of the tradition's most important works of criticism. This 'Man Jiang Hong' is a lyric on spring water — one of the finest of his poems on objects. Written after Hangzhou's fall, its spring water carries the poet's memories: the Su causeway of the lost capital, the grove where friends drank and chanted, the peach blossoms by the stream. The poem is a spring landscape in which the poet mourns a world.

《满江红》为宋末元初词人张炎所作词。张炎(1248—约1320),字叔夏,号玉田,又号乐笑翁,临安(今浙江杭州)人,宋末词人,词清空疏快,为「清空词派」之宗。此词咏春水,为咏物之作。词中「波暖绿粼粼,燕飞来、好是苏堤才晓」写波暖绿粼粼;「鱼没浪痕圆,流红去、翻笑东风难扫」写鱼没浪痕圆;「荒桥断浦,柳阴撑出扁舟小」写柳阴撑出扁舟;「回首池塘青欲遍,绝似梦中芳草」写池塘青欲遍;「和云流出空山,甚年年净洗,花香不了」写和云流出空山;「新渌乍生时,孤村路、犹忆那回曾到」写犹忆那回曾到;「馀情渺渺。茂林觞咏如今悄」写茂林觞咏;「前度刘郎归去后,溪上碧桃多少」写溪上碧桃多少。张炎此词以咏春水、溪上碧桃多少写其咏物之情,含蓄深婉,是张炎词中的名篇。此篇《满江红》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 art is 'clear and vast' (qingkong) — everything is seen through the medium of water, and every water-image is transparent enough to show what lies beneath. The upper stanza writes the spring water at the Su causeway: warm green ripples, swallows at dawn, fish leaving round ripple-marks, petals drifting 'laughing that the east wind cannot sweep them' — even the flowers are given a voice, and the scene is alive with motion. The ruined bridge, the broken landing, the small boat pushing out of the willow shade cool the brightness with a touch of desolation; and 'the pond green to its edge — exactly like the fragrant grass in a dream' lifts the water-image into memory, borrowing Xie Lingyun's dream of spring grass. The lower stanza follows the water's source — flowing out of the empty hills with the clouds, 'washing clean year after year, yet the flowers' fragrance never ends' — the purest statement of Zhang Yan's style: the water itself seems to carry the unfaded scent of the lost world. Then the lyric turns personal: the fresh green water, the lonely village road, the remembered coming; the grove of drinking and chanting is silent now; and it closes with Liu Yuxi's return to the abbey — 'since the former Liu went home, how many green peaches remain by the stream?' — a question about a lost world asked of the water.

此词艺术上以「含蓄深婉、清空以情」见长。全词上片写波暖绿粼粼与柳阴撑出扁舟,下片写和云流出空山与溪上碧桃多少。上片「波暖绿粼粼,燕飞来、好是苏堤才晓」写波暖绿粼粼:波暖绿粼粼,燕飞来、好是苏堤才晓;「鱼没浪痕圆,流红去、翻笑东风难扫」写鱼没浪痕圆:鱼没浪痕圆,流红去、翻笑东风难扫;「荒桥断浦,柳阴撑出扁舟小」写柳阴撑出扁舟:荒桥断浦,柳阴撑出扁舟小;「回首池塘青欲遍,绝似梦中芳草」写池塘青欲遍:回首池塘青欲遍,绝似梦中芳草。下片「和云流出空山,甚年年净洗,花香不了」写和云流出空山:和云流出空山,甚年年净洗,花香不了;「新渌乍生时,孤村路、犹忆那回曾到」写犹忆那回曾到:新渌乍生时,孤村路、犹忆那回曾到;「馀情渺渺。茂林觞咏如今悄」写茂林觞咏:馀情渺渺,茂林觞咏如今悄;「前度刘郎归去后,溪上碧桃多少」写溪上碧桃多少:前度刘郎归去后,溪上碧桃多少。全词含蓄深婉,清空以情,是张炎词中的名篇。

Allusions

The lyric is woven from three famous memories. 'The Su causeway' (Su di) is the causeway Su Shi built across West Lake while governing Hangzhou — the landmark of the city Zhang Yan lost. 'The pond green to its edge — exactly like the fragrant grass in a dream' alludes to Xie Lingyun's 'the pond grows spring grass,' a line the poet famously completed in a dream of his cousin Xie Huilian, so that 'dream grass' itself is a dream of a dream. 'The drinking and chanting in the thick grove is silent now' recalls the Orchid Pavilion gathering of Wang Xizhi and his friends, drifting cups along the winding stream in the thick grove — the archetype of literary companionship, now fallen silent. And 'the former Liu' is Liu Yuxi, who, returning to the Xuandu Abbey after his exiles, found its peach trees gone and wrote of 'the former Liu Lang coming back again'; here Zhang Yan asks of his own vanished world — since the last one who came this way has gone home, how many green peaches are left by the stream?

词中「波暖绿粼粼燕飞来好是苏堤才晓」「鱼没浪痕圆流红去翻笑东风难扫」「荒桥断浦柳阴撑出扁舟小」「回首池塘青欲遍绝似梦中芳草」「和云流出空山甚年年净洗花香不了」「新渌乍生时孤村路犹忆那回曾到」「馀情渺渺茂林觞咏如今悄」「前度刘郎归去后溪上碧桃多少」等语,皆含典故故实。「波暖绿粼粼燕飞来好是苏堤才晓」写波暖绿粼粼燕飞来好是苏堤才晓;「鱼没浪痕圆流红去翻笑东风难扫」写鱼没浪痕圆流红去翻笑东风难扫;「荒桥断浦柳阴撑出扁舟小」写荒桥断浦柳阴撑出扁舟小;「回首池塘青欲遍绝似梦中芳草」用谢灵运池塘生春草之典,写回首池塘青欲遍绝似梦中芳草;「和云流出空山甚年年净洗花香不了」写和云流出空山甚年年净洗花香不了;「新渌乍生时孤村路犹忆那回曾到」写新渌乍生时孤村路犹忆那回曾到;「馀情渺渺茂林觞咏如今悄」用兰亭之典(兰亭集序流觞曲水茂林修竹),写馀情渺渺茂林觞咏如今悄;「前度刘郎归去后溪上碧桃多少」用刘郎桃花之典(刘禹锡玄都观桃花),写前度刘郎归去后溪上碧桃多少。词人以谢灵运池塘春草、兰亭觞咏、刘郎桃花等典入词,不着痕迹,而把咏春水之情写得真切可感,是善于熔铸典故的体现。

Commentary

Zhang Yan's 'Man Jiang Hong' on spring water has been celebrated since the Yuan as a supreme example of the 'clear-and-vast' manner — a landscape lyric in which nothing is pressed and yet everything mourns. Later anthologists place it at the head of his poems on objects, praising 'washing clean year after year, yet the flowers' fragrance never ends' as the purest line of his late style: the lost world's fragrance, unfaded, carried by the water. Written after the fall of Hangzhou, the poem's spring water has often been read as an elegy for the Southern Song capital — the Su causeway, the Orchid Pavilion grove, the abbey's peach blossoms are all places of memory for a refugee poet. Its closing question, 'since the former Liu went home, how many green peaches remain by the stream?' has become a standard emblem of return-to-a-lost-place poetry, and the lyric stands alongside his famous 'Gaoyang Terrace' (on West Lake's spring) and 'Flute under the Moon' as one of his noblest late works.

这首《满江红》,是张炎写咏物咏春水之作,写波暖绿粼粼、和云流出空山、溪上碧桃多少之情,含蓄深婉。上片写波暖绿粼粼与柳阴撑出扁舟:「波暖绿粼粼,燕飞来、好是苏堤才晓」——波暖绿粼粼,燕飞来、好是苏堤才晓。写波暖绿粼粼:波暖绿粼粼、燕飞来好是苏堤才晓——波暖绿粼粼、燕来苏堤晓;「鱼没浪痕圆,流红去、翻笑东风难扫」——鱼没浪痕圆,流红去、翻笑东风难扫。写鱼没浪痕圆:鱼没浪痕圆、流红去翻笑东风难扫——鱼没浪痕圆、流红去东风难扫;「荒桥断浦,柳阴撑出扁舟小」——荒桥断浦,柳阴撑出扁舟小。写柳阴撑出扁舟:荒桥断浦、柳阴撑出扁舟小——荒桥断浦、柳阴扁舟小;「回首池塘青欲遍,绝似梦中芳草」——回首池塘青欲遍(用谢灵运池塘生春草之典),绝似梦中芳草。写池塘青欲遍:回首池塘青欲遍、绝似梦中芳草——池塘青欲遍、绝似梦中芳草。下片写和云流出空山与溪上碧桃多少:「和云流出空山,甚年年净洗,花香不了」——和云流出空山,甚年年净洗,花香不了。写和云流出空山:和云流出空山、甚年年净洗,花香不了——和云流出空山、年年净洗花香不了;「新渌乍生时,孤村路、犹忆那回曾到」——新渌乍生时,孤村路、犹忆那回曾到。写犹忆那回曾到:新渌乍生时、孤村路犹忆那回曾到——新渌乍生、犹忆那回曾到;「馀情渺渺。茂林觞咏如今悄」——馀情渺渺,茂林觞咏(用兰亭觞咏之典)如今悄。写茂林觞咏:馀情渺渺、茂林觞咏如今悄——馀情渺渺、觞咏如今悄;「前度刘郎归去后,溪上碧桃多少」——前度刘郎归去后(用刘郎桃花之典),溪上碧桃多少。写溪上碧桃多少:前度刘郎归去后、溪上碧桃多少——刘郎归去后、溪上碧桃多少。这「前度刘郎归去后,溪上碧桃多少」,是全词之结:以溪上碧桃多少写其咏水。全词含蓄深婉,清空以情,正是张炎词中的名篇。

Prosody

Form Lyric (ci) to the tune 'Man Jiang Hong,' a long form (changdiao) of 93 characters词(满江红,长调)
Rhyme A long melody of 93 characters, nine lines in each of the upper and lower stanzas. It rhymes on oblique-tone words — xiao, sao, xiao, cao, le, dao, qiao, shao — all of the xiao-xiao rhyme group. The oblique rhyme is light and clear, matching the lyric's clear and vast manner.此词为《满江红》调,长调九十三字,上片下片各九句。押仄声韵:「晓」「扫」「小」「草」「了」「到」「悄」「少」押筱啸部韵。词体依词谱而定,长调铺叙,句式长短错落,音节随情起伏,正与写咏物咏春水的含蓄深婉相称,也见其以长调写咏物的自然。
Tone pattern In line rhythm: 'The waves are warm, green and rippling; swallows fly in' is bright and clear; 'Fish dive, leaving round ripple-marks' is quick; 'from the willow shade a small boat pushes out' is clear and empty; 'exactly like the fragrant grass in a dream' is low and drawn-out; 'washing clean year after year' is clear and empty; 'I still remember that once I came this way' is low; 'the drinking and chanting in the thick grove is silent now' is plaintive; and the close 'how many green peaches remain by the stream?' is long-drawn. The cadence moves from bright through clear and low to length — the voice of the clear and vast manner.句式上,上片「波暖绿粼粼,燕飞来、好是苏堤才晓」写波暖绿粼粼,音节清丽;「鱼没浪痕圆,流红去、翻笑东风难扫」写鱼没浪痕圆,音节明快;「荒桥断浦,柳阴撑出扁舟小」写柳阴撑出扁舟,音节清空;「回首池塘青欲遍,绝似梦中芳草」写池塘青欲遍,音节低回;下片「和云流出空山,甚年年净洗,花香不了」写和云流出空山,音节清空;「新渌乍生时,孤村路、犹忆那回曾到」写犹忆那回曾到,音节低回;「馀情渺渺。茂林觞咏如今悄」写茂林觞咏,音节婉转;「前度刘郎归去后,溪上碧桃多少」写溪上碧桃多少,音节绵长。全词音节随情起伏,由清丽而清空、由低回而绵长,正合长调「铺叙」之妙,读来如咏春水、溪上碧桃多少之音,含蓄而动人。
Reading note This 'Man Jiang Hong' is Zhang Yan's lyric on spring water and one of his celebrated works. Its art lies in 'restrained depth and clear vastness': the upper stanza writes the warm rippling waves, the fish, the petals, and the small boat; the lower stanza writes the water flowing out of the empty hills, the lonely village road, and the green peaches by the stream. Most admirable is 'washing clean year after year, yet the flowers' fragrance never ends,' which states the clear vastness of the manner in a single line, while 'exactly like the fragrant grass in a dream' borrows Xie Lingyun and 'since the former Liu went home' borrows Liu Yuxi — the model of Zhang Yan's clear and vast manner, a staple of lyric anthologies.此词为《满江红》调,是张炎写咏物咏春水之作,也是其词中的名篇。全词的艺术特色在于「含蓄深婉、清空以情」:上片「波暖绿粼粼,燕飞来、好是苏堤才晓」写波暖绿粼粼、「鱼没浪痕圆,流红去、翻笑东风难扫」写鱼没浪痕圆、「荒桥断浦,柳阴撑出扁舟小」写柳阴撑出扁舟、「回首池塘青欲遍,绝似梦中芳草」写池塘青欲遍;下片「和云流出空山,甚年年净洗,花香不了」写和云流出空山、「新渌乍生时,孤村路、犹忆那回曾到」写犹忆那回曾到、「馀情渺渺。茂林觞咏如今悄」写茂林觞咏、「前度刘郎归去后,溪上碧桃多少」写溪上碧桃多少。全词含蓄深婉,清空以情。尤为精妙者,是「回首池塘青欲遍,绝似梦中芳草」用谢灵运池塘生春草之典;而「茂林觞咏如今悄」用兰亭觞咏之典,「前度刘郎归去后,溪上碧桃多少」用刘郎桃花之典,正是张炎词「清空疏快」的典范,为历代词选所常收。

Line by line

波暖绿粼粼,燕飞来、好是苏堤才晓。

The waves are warm, green and rippling; the swallows fly in — just as dawn breaks over the Su causeway.

波暖绿粼粼,燕飞来、好是苏堤才晓。

The waves are warm, green and glittering; swallows fly in — just as the Su Causeway is dawn.

首二句写波暖绿粼粼,起笔即见其水。「波暖绿粼粼」写波暖绿粼粼,「波暖」写水波温暖、「绿粼粼」写波光绿粼粼;「燕飞来、好是苏堤才晓」写燕飞来好是苏堤才晓,「燕飞来」写燕飞、「好是苏堤才晓」写正是苏堤刚晓。两句一写波暖绿粼粼、一写燕飞来好是苏堤才晓,以波暖绿粼粼写春水、以苏堤才晓写春晓,写尽波暖绿粼粼、燕飞来苏堤才晓之情。以景起兴,含蓄而清丽,是「以景起兴」的妙笔。

The opening two lines write the warm green waves, the water present at the first stroke. The waves are warm, green and glittering writes the warm ripples — the warm waves, the glittering green; swallows fly in — just as the Su Causeway is dawn writes the swallow and the dawn — the swallows coming, the just-dawn causeway. Two lines, one the warm glittering waves, one the swallows and the dawn causeway, writing the spring water through the waves, the spring dawn through the causeway, exhausting the waves and the swallow dawn. Rising on scene, restrained and fair, precisely the wondrous brush of rising on scene.

鱼没浪痕圆,流红去、翻笑东风难扫。

Fish dive, leaving round ripple-marks; the fallen petals drift away — laughing that the east wind cannot sweep them clean.

鱼没浪痕圆,流红去、翻笑东风难扫。

The fish dives, the round ripple spreads; the floating red goes, and mocks the east wind for its sweeping.

此二句写鱼没浪痕圆,是全词写春水之景的关键。「鱼没浪痕圆」写鱼没浪痕圆,「鱼没」写鱼潜入水、「浪痕圆」写浪痕圆;「流红去、翻笑东风难扫」写流红去翻笑东风难扫,「流红去」写落红流去、「翻笑东风难扫」写翻笑东风难扫落花。两句一写鱼没浪痕圆、一写流红去翻笑东风难扫,以鱼没浪痕圆写鱼潜、以流红去写落红流去、以东风难扫写花难扫,写尽鱼没浪痕圆、流红去翻笑东风难扫之情。以景写水,含蓄而清丽,是「以景写水」的点睛之笔。

These two lines write the fish's dive and the round ripple, the key of the ci's spring-water scene. The fish dives, the round ripple spreads writes the dive and the ripple — the fish's sinking, the round mark; the floating red goes, and mocks the east wind for its sweeping writes the gone petals and the mocking wind. Two lines, one the dive and ripple, one the gone petals and the mocking wind, writing the fish through the dive, the petals through the going, the wind through the failing sweep, exhausting the ripple and the drifting red. Writing water through scene, restrained and fair, precisely the telling stroke of writing water through scene.

荒桥断浦,柳阴撑出扁舟小。

A ruined bridge, a broken landing; from the willow shade a small boat pushes out.

荒桥断浦,柳阴撑出扁舟小。

The wild bridge, the cut-off inlet; from the willow shade, a small poled boat emerges.

此二句写柳阴撑出扁舟,是全词写扁舟之景的关键。「荒桥断浦」写荒桥断浦,「荒桥」写荒桥、「断浦」写断浦;「柳阴撑出扁舟小」写柳阴撑出扁舟小,「柳阴」写柳阴、「撑出扁舟小」写撑出小扁舟。两句一写荒桥断浦、一写柳阴撑出扁舟小,以荒桥断浦写桥浦、以柳阴撑出扁舟小写柳阴小舟,写尽荒桥断浦、柳阴撑出扁舟小之情。以景写闲,含蓄而清丽,是「以景写闲」的点睛之笔。

These two lines write the small boat from the willow shade, the key of the ci's boat scene. The wild bridge, the cut-off inlet writes the wild bridge and the dead inlet; from the willow shade, a small poled boat emerges writes the willow shade and the small boat. Two lines, one the bridge and inlet, one the willow-shade boat, writing the water place through the bridge and inlet, the small craft through the willow shade, exhausting the wild bridge and the poled boat. Writing leisure through scene, restrained and fair, precisely the telling stroke of writing leisure through scene.

回首池塘青欲遍,绝似梦中芳草。

Looking back, the pond is green to its very edge — exactly like the fragrant grass in a dream.

回首池塘青欲遍,绝似梦中芳草。

Turning back, the pond is nearly all green; exactly like the dream's fragrant grass.

此二句写池塘青欲遍,是全词以典写景的关键。「回首池塘青欲遍」写回首池塘青欲遍,用谢灵运池塘生春草之典写回首池塘青欲遍;「绝似梦中芳草」写绝似梦中芳草,「绝似」写绝似、「梦中芳草」写梦中芳草。两句一写回首池塘青欲遍、一写绝似梦中芳草,以池塘青欲遍写池塘之青、以绝似梦中芳草写如梦中芳草,写尽回首池塘青欲遍、绝似梦中芳草之情。以典写景,含蓄而深婉,是「以典写景」的点睛之笔。

These two lines write the pond's near-green, the key of the ci's scene through allusion. Turning back, the pond is nearly all green writes the Xie Lingyun's pond born of spring grass allusion; exactly like the dream's fragrant grass writes the dream grass. Two lines, one the pond's green, one the dream grass, writing the pond's green through the allusion, the dream grass through the exact likeness, exhausting the pond and the dream. Writing scene through allusion, restrained and deep, precisely the telling stroke of writing scene through allusion.

前度刘郎归去后,溪上碧桃多少。

Since the former Liu went home, how many green peaches remain by the stream?

前度刘郎归去后,溪上碧桃多少。

After Liu Lang of old returned, how many green peach blossoms on the stream?

尾二句写溪上碧桃多少,是全词立意的落点。「前度刘郎归去后」写前度刘郎归去后,用刘郎桃花之典写前度刘郎归去后;「溪上碧桃多少」写溪上碧桃多少,「溪上」写溪上、「碧桃多少」写碧桃多少。两句一写前度刘郎归去后、一写溪上碧桃多少,以前度刘郎归去后写刘郎去后、以溪上碧桃多少写碧桃多少,写尽前度刘郎归去后、溪上碧桃多少之情。以典写慨,含蓄而深婉,是全词最动人处,也是「以典写慨」的点睛之笔。

The last two lines write the stream's green peaches, the landing of the ci's theme. After Liu Lang of old returned writes the Liu Lang peach allusion; how many green peach blossoms on the stream? writes the blossom count. Two lines, one the Liu Lang's return, one the stream's peaches, writing the gone man through the allusion, the blossoms through the count, exhausting the return and the flowers. Writing the sigh through allusion, restrained and deep, the ci's most moving place, and the telling stroke of writing the sigh through allusion.

Study

Word focus

粼粼 Lin lin, 'rippling': the doubled syllable imitates the glint of water — the poem's first word of the spring water it celebrates, clear and bright, setting the 'clear-and-vast' tone. 「粼粼」写波暖绿粼粼,是写波光粼粼的关键。「波暖绿粼粼」着一「粼粼」,写波光——着一「粼粼」,写绿粼粼,见其波之光。两字写尽粼粼之波,是「以词写光」的妙笔。「粼粼」一字之用而全篇生色,与诗中情韵相为表里,正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会,自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
圆 Yuan, 'round': the shape of the ripple a fish leaves as it dives — a single character that catches motion in still water, showing Zhang Yan's precision in observing nature. 「圆」字写浪痕圆,是写浪痕之圆的关键。「鱼没浪痕圆」着一「圆」,写圆——着一「圆」字,写浪痕圆,见其痕之圆。一字写尽浪痕之圆,是「以一字写形」的点睛之词。「圆」一字之用而全篇生色,与诗中情韵相为表里,正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会,自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
渺渺 Miao miao, 'stretching far': the endless distance of the lingering feeling; the doubled syllable turns emotion itself into a far-reaching water-image. 「渺渺」写馀情渺渺,是写情思渺远的关键。「馀情渺渺」着一「渺渺」,写渺远——着一「渺渺」,写馀情渺渺,见其情之远。两字写尽渺渺之情,是「以词写情」的点睛之词。「渺渺」一字之用而全篇生色,与诗中情韵相为表里,正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会,自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
多少 Duo shao, 'how many': the closing question asked of the green peaches — how much of the lost world still remains; a stock phrase of counting turned into a lament for absence. 「多少」写碧桃多少,是写碧桃之问的关键。「溪上碧桃多少」着一「多少」,写多少——着一「多少」,写碧桃多少,见其问之多。两字写尽多少之问,是「以词写问」的点睛之词。「多少」一字之用而全篇生色,与诗中情韵相为表里,正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会,自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

Related Reading

晏殊·蝶恋花·槛菊愁烟兰泣露 Die Lian Hua: Chrysanthemums Grieve in Mist, Orchids Weep in Dew (Yan Shu) 晏殊 · 同写春景清愁、咏物寄情,一写槛菊愁烟兰泣露、一写波暖绿粼粼燕飞来好是苏堤才晓,皆于春景之中见清愁 Both write spring scenes and clear sorrow, endowing objects with feeling — one grieving chrysanthemums and weeping orchids, one warm rippling waves and flying swallows.

Yan Shu's 'Die Lian Hua' ('Chrysanthemums grieve in the mist, orchids weep in dew — the light curtain is chilled, swallows fly away in pairs') writes the clear sorrow of spring. Zhang Yan's 'Man Jiang Hong' answers with 'The waves are warm, green and rippling; swallows fly in — just as dawn breaks over the Su causeway' and 'the pond green to its edge, exactly like the fragrant grass in a dream.' Both write spring scenes and clear sorrow through endowing objects with feeling: Yan Shu lends the flowers grief; Zhang Yan lends the water memory. One is Yan Shu's mild warmth; the other Zhang Yan's clear vastness.

晏殊《蝶恋花·槛菊愁烟兰泣露》「槛菊愁烟兰泣露。罗幕轻寒,燕子双飞去」,写春景清愁,是宋词写愁的名篇;张炎《满江红》则以「波暖绿粼粼,燕飞来、好是苏堤才晓」「回首池塘青欲遍,绝似梦中芳草」写波暖绿粼粼、池塘青欲遍。两词同写春景清愁、咏物寄情:一写槛菊愁烟兰泣露、以菊烟写愁,一写波暖绿粼粼燕飞来好是苏堤才晓、以春水写景;一为晏殊之温润、一为张炎之清空,并读正可见宋词写「春景清愁」的两种笔法,皆于春景之中见清愁。

山园小梅 The Little Plum of the Mountain Garden 林逋 · 同写咏物清雅、以物寄情,一写疏影横斜水清浅暗香浮动月黄昏、一写和云流出空山甚年年净洗花香不了,皆于咏物之中见清雅 Both write the pure clarity of poems on objects, using objects to lodge feeling — one on the plum, one on spring water.

Lin Bu's 'The Little Plum of the Mountain Garden' ('Sparse shadows slant across the clear shallow water; a hidden fragrance floats in the moonlit dusk') is the supreme Song poem on an object in the pure register. Zhang Yan's 'Man Jiang Hong' answers with 'Flowing out of the empty hills with the clouds, washing clean year after year — yet the fragrance of flowers never ends' and 'Since the former Liu went home, how many green peaches remain by the stream?' Both write the pure clarity of poems on objects: Lin Bu writes the plum's sparse shadows and hidden fragrance; Zhang Yan writes the spring water's clear flow and unfaded scent. One is Lin Bu's hermit clarity; the other Zhang Yan's clear vastness — together they show the Song achievement in the register of pure, object-focused lyricism.

林逋《山园小梅》「疏影横斜水清浅,暗香浮动月黄昏」,写梅之清雅,是宋诗咏物的绝唱;张炎《满江红》则以「和云流出空山,甚年年净洗,花香不了」「前度刘郎归去后,溪上碧桃多少」写和云流出空山、溪上碧桃多少。两词同写咏物清雅、以物寄情:一写疏影横斜水清浅暗香浮动月黄昏、以疏影暗香写梅,一写和云流出空山甚年年净洗花香不了、以春水写清雅;一为林逋之清逸、一为张炎之清空,并读正可见宋代写「咏物清雅」的两种笔法,皆于咏物之中见清雅。