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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

南乡子·登京口北固亭

Song of the South: Ascending the North-Gazing Pavilion at Jingkou

辛弃疾

Xin Qiji

怀古Musing on the Past 咏史Singing of History

何处望神州。
满眼风光北固楼。
千古兴亡多少事，悠悠。
不尽长江衮衮流。
年少万兜鍪。
坐断东南战未休。
天下英雄谁敌手。
曹刘。
生子当如孙仲谋。

Where can one gaze at the Divine Province?
My eyes are full of the scenery of the North-Gazing Tower.
How many things of the rise and the fall of a thousand ages, so long and so far,
The endless Long River rolls and rolls on.
Young, with the ten thousand helmets,
He sat firm in the southeast, the war unceasing.
Who among the heroes of the world is his match?
Cao and Liu.
To beget a son, one should be like Sun Zhongmou.

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Meaning

A masterpiece of Xin Qiji's later years, written when he was made the Prefect of Zhenjiang in the fourth year of Jiatai (1204) at the age of sixty-five. Ascending the North-Gazing Pavilion on Beigu Mountain of Jingkou, facing the Long River, the poet muses on the past and thinks of the present: 'Where can one gaze at the Divine Province? My eyes are full of the scenery of the North-Gazing Tower'—the question and the answer, the northward gaze at the lost homeland, the grief of the homeland hard to recover; 'how many things of the rise and the fall of a thousand ages, so long and so far, the endless Long River rolls and rolls on'—the rise and the fall of the ages like the endless river, the grandeur of the scene; the second half turns to the praise of Sun Quan: 'young, with the ten thousand helmets, he sat firm in the southeast, the war unceasing. Who among the heroes of the world is his match? Cao and Liu. To beget a son, one should be like Sun Zhongmou'—the young Sun Quan, with the ten thousand troops and the firm seat in the southeast, contended with Cao Cao and Liu Bei, the hero of the youth, against the present: the 'to beget a son, one should be like Sun Zhongmou' uses Cao Cao's praise of Sun Quan to praise the ancients and satirize the present, the meaning double, the praise of the young hero and the satire of the weakness of the Southern Song.

从哪里眺望中原故土？只见满眼风光，是这京口的北固楼。千百年来多少兴亡之事，悠悠不尽，如同这长江之水滚滚东流。遥想当年孙权年少有为，统率着万千兵士，坐镇东南，征战不休。天下英雄谁是他的敌手？只有曹操和刘备。生子当如孙仲谋啊！

Appreciation

The most striking feature of the art of the ci is the clever use of the question-and-answer form and the natural fusion of the allusions. The whole opens with the question of 'where can one gaze at the Divine Province,' answered by 'my eyes are full of the scenery of the North-Gazing Tower,' one question and one answer, the grief of the northward gaze at the homeland and the full view of the rivers and the mountains written implicitly and deeply; 'how many things of the rise and the fall of a thousand ages' asks again, answered by 'the endless Long River rolls and rolls on,' the rise and the fall of the history compared to the endless river, the grandeur of the scene. The second half turns to the praise of Sun Quan: 'young, with the ten thousand helmets, he sat firm in the southeast, the war unceasing,' the valor of Sun Quan written with the extremely simple strokes; 'who among the heroes of the world is his match? Cao and Liu,' one question and one answer, the raising of Cao Cao and Liu Bei as the match, setting off the valor of Sun Quan; and the close, 'to beget a son, one should be like Sun Zhongmou,' the praise of the ancient and the satire of the present, the double meaning, the most satirical. The whole, from the gaze at the homeland to the rise and the fall of the ages to the hero of the youth, the question and the answer turning, the passion and the satire in one, the most combative of the Southern Song ci.

【白话串讲】辛弃疾登北固亭：“何处望神州。满眼风光北固楼”。“千古兴亡多少事，悠悠。不尽长江衮衮流”——“年少万兜鍪。坐断东南战未休”——“天下英雄谁敌手。曹刘。生子当如孙仲谋”——他赞孙权，讽当朝。【意象与手法】全词以怀古为骨，借古讽今为魂，选取神州、北固楼、长江、兜鍪、曹刘等意象，气势雄浑。手法上最突出的是用典与对比：以孙权少年英武对比南宋君臣的苟安，以长江不尽对比兴亡之无穷；生子当如孙仲谋一句直用曹操之语，借历史人物之口抒现实之情，辛辣有力。全词一问一答、一唱三叹，问答体的运用使词情跌宕有致。【情感与主旨】词写登临怀古，主旨在于借赞扬孙权收复失地、坐断东南的英雄气概，讥刺南宋朝廷偏安江南、不思北伐的懦弱。全词慷慨激昂，豪气纵横，是辛弃疾爱国词的典范之作，也是南宋怀古词中最具战斗精神的作品。【名句点睛】千古兴亡多少事，悠悠，不尽长江衮衮流写历史兴亡之浩茫，气象阔大；天下英雄谁敌手，曹刘，一问一答，气势如虹；生子当如孙仲谋借曹操之语讥刺时君，是千古传诵的警句。

Background

The ci was written in the later years of Xin Qiji, when he was made the Prefect of Zhenjiang. In the fourth year of Jiatai (1204), Xin Qiji was sixty-five, roused to the office of the Prefect of Zhenjiang. At this time Han Tuozhou was in power, actively planning the northern expedition; Xin Qiji, though approving of the resistance against the Jin, opposed its rash and reckless advance, yet at last took office by the river in his declining years. Jingkou (present-day Zhenjiang, Jiangsu), on Beigu Mountain, before the Long River, is the famous place of the ascent and the musing on the past, and the very base where Sun Quan, having fixed the capital at Jianye, sat firm in the southeast. Xin Qiji was born in the occupied north, and at twenty-one led his followers south; in his life he advocated the resistance against the Jin and the northern expedition, yet was repeatedly pushed aside and lived in idleness for nearly twenty years. This time, taking office at Zhenjiang, more than forty years had passed since his return south, and the homeland of the Central Plains was still not recovered. Ascending the North-Gazing Pavilion and gazing north, the Divine Province where, the homeland hard to recover, the poet could not but recall Sun Quan, the young hero of the Three Kingdoms who sat firm in the southeast.

《南乡子·登京口北固亭》是辛弃疾晚年知镇江府时所作。宋宁宗嘉泰四年（1204年），辛弃疾六十五岁，被起用为镇江知府。此时韩侂胄当权，正积极筹划北伐，辛弃疾虽赞成抗金，却反对其轻率冒进，但终究以垂暮之年临江上任。京口（今江苏镇江）北固山上的北固亭，前临长江，是著名的登临怀古之地，此处正是当年孙权定都建业、坐镇东南的根据地。辛弃疾生于沦陷的北方，二十一岁即率众南归，一生主张抗金北伐，却屡遭排挤，闲居近二十年。此次出任镇江，距他南归已四十余年，中原故土仍未收复。登北固亭北望，神州何处，故土难收，词人不禁追怀三国时少年孙权在此地开创基业、坐断东南的英姿，借古人之英武讽今日之苟安，遂成此词。次年（1205年），辛弃疾又作《永遇乐·京口北固亭怀古》，二词并称双璧，同写北固亭怀古，可见词人晚年的忧国之心。词人登亭北望，触景生情，家国之思与身世之感交迸，遂有此作。

Art

The art is the clever use of the question-and-answer form and the natural fusion of the allusions: 'where can one gaze at the Divine Province,' 'how many things of the rise and the fall of a thousand ages,' 'who among the heroes of the world is his match,' the three questions and the three answers turning; and the 'to beget a son, one should be like Sun Zhongmou' the praise of the ancient and the satire of the present, the double meaning, the most satirical—the passion and the satire in one.

此词在艺术上最显著的特点是问答体的巧妙运用与典故的浑然天成。全词以何处望神州发问开篇，满眼风光北固楼作答，一问一答，把北望故土、满目山河的悲凉写得含蓄而深沉；千古兴亡多少事，再发一问，不尽长江衮衮流作答，把历史兴亡比作江流不尽，气象阔大。下半阕转为赞颂孙权：年少万兜鍪，坐断东南战未休，以极简的笔墨写出孙权的英武；天下英雄谁敌手，曹刘，一问一答，举曹操刘备为敌手，更衬孙权之雄；末句生子当如孙仲谋，直用曹操赞孙权之语，借历史人物之口抒今日之情，讥刺南宋君臣连孙权都不如，辛辣有力。章法上由景入史，由史生情，层层推进，至末句如奇峰突起，全词气势尽收于此。语言上豪放苍劲，不事雕琢而自然雄浑，是辛词豪放风格的典型体现。尤妙者在以孙权之少壮对照词人之年老，以古人之有为对照今日之无为，今昔交织，感慨愈深。

Allusions

The allusions of the ci are all exquisite, all related to Sun Quan and the history of Jingkou. 'Where can one gaze at the Divine Province' uses the 'Divine Province' for the homeland of the Central Plains: the Divine Province originally means China, here specially the northern territory occupied by the Jin, the poet ascending the tower and gazing north, the homeland boundless, the grief and the indignation overflowing. 'Young, with the ten thousand helmets' writes the young Sun Quan commanding the army: the helmet is the headpiece, standing for the soldiers, Sun Quan at nineteen inheriting the foundation of his father and his elder brother, sitting firm in the southeast, commanding the ten thousand troops, contending with Cao Cao and Liu Bei for the world, the poet praising his valor of the youth. 'To beget a son, one should be like Sun Zhongmou' uses the story of Cao Cao's sigh before Sun Quan at the Ruxu camp—'to beget a son, one should be like Sun Zhongmou!'—the praise of the enemy of the valor of Sun Quan, and Xin Qiji turns it to a new meaning: the praise of the ancients and the satire of the present, the double-edged, the acrid and the profound.

此词用典精妙，皆与孙权及京口史事相关。何处望神州用神州代指中原故土，神州本指中国，此处特指沦陷于金人之手的北方国土，词人登楼北望，故土茫茫，悲愤之情溢于言表。年少万兜鍪写孙权年少统军：兜鍪即头盔，代指士兵，孙权十九岁继承父兄基业，坐镇江东，统率万军，与曹操刘备争衡天下，词人以此盛赞其少年英武。坐断东南战未休写孙权割据江东、征战不休，坐断即占据之意。天下英雄谁敌手，曹刘用《三国志》裴注引《吴历》所载曹操语：生子当如孙仲谋，刘景升儿子若豚犬耳。曹操赞叹孙权之语，被词人化用为结句，既赞孙权，又暗讽南宋当权者连豚犬都不如，用典之妙，堪称一绝。全词用典皆围绕孙权展开，以古人之英武衬今人之苟安，借古讽今，浑然一体。词中神州、兜鍪、曹刘等语，皆自史传中提炼，以古语写今情，既见词人史识，又见其抗金复土之志。

Commentary

The ci is the representative of Xin Qiji's patriotic ci of his later years, held in the highest regard through the ages. The whole compares the valor of the young Sun Quan with the self-contented weakness of the sovereigns and the ministers of the Southern Song, using the past to satirize the present, passionate and vehement, one of the most combative works of the Southern Song ci world. The 'to beget a son, one should be like Sun Zhongmou' turns Cao Cao's praise of Sun Quan to a new meaning, at once praising the valor of the ancient and satirizing the incompetence of the present, the double meaning, acrid and profound.

《南乡子·登京口北固亭》是辛弃疾晚年爱国词的代表作，历代评价极高。全词以孙权少年英武对比南宋君臣的苟安懦弱，借古讽今，慷慨激昂，是南宋词坛最富战斗精神的作品之一。生子当如孙仲谋一句，用曹操赞孙权之语而翻出新意，既赞古人之英武，又讥今人之无能，一语双关，辛辣深刻，千古传诵。清人评此词谓其豪迈悲壮，直欲轩轩霞举，正是点出其气格之高。此词与《永遇乐·京口北固亭怀古》并称北固亭双璧：永遇乐用典繁密，沉郁顿挫；南乡子问答成篇，明快雄浑。一繁一简，一沉一快，同写怀古而各极其妙。就辛弃疾个人而言，此词作于其晚年复出之际，词人虽年逾花甲，而收复故土之志不衰，词中洋溢的豪情正是其一生爱国精神的最后燃烧。就南宋词史而言，此词与陆游《示儿》、文天祥《正气歌》等同为南宋爱国文学的精神标志，激励了无数后来者。

Prosody

Form Double short tune ('Song of the South')双调小令（南乡子）

Rhyme Two stanzas, five lines each, on the 'you' rhyme: lou, you, liu, mou, xiu, liu, mou, the level and the oblique alternating, one rhyme to the end, the tone heroic and free全词两阕，上下片各五句，押尤韵：楼、悠、流、鍪、休、刘、谋相协，平仄相间，一韵到底，声调豪迈。

Tone pattern The 'where can one gaze' is eager, the 'the endless Long River rolls and rolls on' is grand, the 'young, with the ten thousand helmets' is firm, and the 'one should be like Sun Zhongmou' is high—the whole from the gaze to the river to the hero, the passion carried by the heroic rhyme南乡子词牌句短韵密，节奏明快，正合豪放词的情调。全词多用问句与短句，何处望神州、千古兴亡多少事、天下英雄谁敌手，一问一答，如鼓点般铿锵有力；生子当如孙仲谋一句，以九字长句收束，顿挫有力，全词声情并茂。

Reading note The 'you' rhyme and the question-and-answer turning carry the heroism and the satire, the most combative of the patriotic ci.《南乡子》是唐教坊曲名，本为单调小令，五代后多作双调，两段各五句。辛弃疾此词为双调五十六字，上下片句式相同：第一句五字、第二句七字、第三句七字、第四句两字（悠悠）、第五句六字，句短韵密，节奏明快，正合豪放词的情调。押韵上，全词一韵到底，押尤韵，楼、悠、流、鍪、休、刘、谋皆为平声，韵脚响亮开阔，声调豪迈，如战鼓频催。此词最显著的声律特点是问答体的节奏感：何处望神州，满眼风光北固楼；千古兴亡多少事，悠悠，不尽长江衮衮流；天下英雄谁敌手，曹刘，生子当如孙仲谋。一问一答，一唱三叹，韵脚密集处如珠玉落盘，疏朗处如江流奔涌，声情与辞情高度统一。尤其是悠悠、曹刘两个两字短句，插在长句之间，顿挫有力，使全词节奏跌宕生姿，是豪放词中以声写情的典范之作。

Line by line

何处望神州。

Where can one gaze at the Divine Province? (The opening question: the northward gaze at the lost homeland, the Divine Province the Central Plains occupied by the Jin, the grief of the homeland hard to recover.)

从哪里眺望中原故土？我登上北固亭，极目北望，那沦陷于金人手中的神州大地，究竟在哪里呢？

From where can I gaze toward the Divine Land? I climb the Beigu Pavilion and gaze north, but where, after all, is the central plain under the Jin's heel?

开篇一句以问句起笔，定下全词北望中原的基调。神州本指中国，此处特指沦陷于金人铁蹄下的中原故土，词人登上北固亭，首先想到的不是眼前江山，而是故土何在，一个何处，问得突兀而苍凉；此句之下，满眼风光北固楼作答，写登楼所见，北固楼前，长江万里，满眼风光，气象雄阔，然而风光虽好，神州不见，满眼二字中隐含着深深的失落。两句一问一答，把北望故土、满目山河的悲凉写得含蓄而深沉。词人未直接抒写亡国之痛，而以设问出之，让读者自去体会那风光背后的家国之思，笔法含蓄而情感的力量更加强烈，是全词爱国情怀的第一次显现。

The opening in the question, setting the ci's northward-gazing tone. The Divine Land by nature China, here specifically the central plain under the Jin's iron heel; the poet climbing the Beigu pavilion, first thinking not of the present landscape, but where is the homeland, the one word from where asked abruptly and bleakly. Below this line, the full scenery of the Beigu tower answers: before the Beigu tower, the Long River ten thousand li, the full scenery, the grand bearing; and yet the scenery fair, the Divine Land invisible, the two words full-scene secretly carrying the deep loss. Two lines, one question one answer, writing the northward-gazing and the land-full-of-rivers-and-mountains grief restrained and deep. The poet not directly uttering the perishing grief, but in the question, letting the reader feel the family-country thought behind the scenery, the brush restrained and the emotional power the stronger, the ci's patriotic feeling's first showing.

千古兴亡多少事，悠悠。

How many things of the rise and the fall of a thousand ages, so long and so far, (The second question: the rise and the fall of the history of the thousand ages, the 'so long and so far' the endlessness, the grandeur of the scene of the musing on the past.)

千百年来，这里经历了多少王朝兴亡、多少英雄成败的往事，悠悠不尽，难以尽数。

Through the ages, how many rises and falls have passed here, endless, beyond counting.

此二句由眼前江景转入历史兴亡的浩茫之思，是全词气象最阔大处。千古兴亡多少事，一问追怀千古：多少王朝在此兴亡，多少英雄在此成败，历史的长卷在词人眼前展开；悠悠二字，既是答语又是感叹，言兴亡之事悠悠无尽、难以数计，读来有历史的苍茫感。这两句把个人的感慨融入千古兴亡之中，时空交错，历史的纵深与自然的永恒交织在一起，胸襟气度，非同凡响。词人由北望神州而思兴亡，由兴亡而及江流，为下文赞颂孙权作了气势上的铺垫；而悠悠二字的舒缓声调，正与兴亡之事的绵长无尽相合，声情并茂，是全词意境最深远的一笔。

These two lines turn from the present river scene to the history's vast rise-and-fall thought, the ci's broadest bearing. Through the ages, how many rises and falls have passed here, a question recalling the ages: how many dynasties rose and fell here, how many heroes won and lost here, history's long scroll unrolling before the poet; the two words endless, at once the answer and the sigh, the rise-and-fall's endless beyond counting, the reading carrying history's vastness. These two lines fusing the personal sigh into the ages' rise and fall, the time-space interwoven, the historical depth and nature's eternity interlaced, the breadth extraordinary. The poet from the Divine Land's northward gaze to the rise-and-fall thought, from the rise-and-fall to the river flow, storing the momentum for the below's praise of Sun Quan; and the two words endless's slow tone precisely matching the rise-and-fall's length, the voice and feeling together, the ci's deepest-reaching line.

不尽长江衮衮流。

The endless Long River rolls and rolls on. (The answer: the rise and the fall of the ages like the endless river, the rolling of the river the endlessness of the history, the grandeur of the scene.)

就如同眼前这长江之水滚滚东流、永无尽期一样，历史的兴亡也在不断地流淌更替。

Just as the Long River's waters roll east without end, the rise and fall of history flows on and turns over.

此句以江流作答，写历史兴亡如长江之水滚滚东流，是全词气势最盛处。衮衮即滚滚，写长江奔流不息之状：北固亭前，长江万里，波浪奔涌，滚滚东去，气象雄阔；不尽二字，写江水之永无穷尽，也写历史兴亡之永不停歇。此句与上句千古兴亡多少事，悠悠相连，一问一答：兴亡多少事悠悠无尽，长江之水衮衮长流，历史的苍茫与江水的雄浑融为一体，意境极为阔大。词人把抽象的兴亡纳入具象的江流，使不可见的历史变得可见可感，是化虚为实的典范。此句既写眼前实景，又是历史长河的象征，为下半阕赞颂孙权、讥刺时局蓄足了气势，是全词中画面感与冲击力最强的一句。

This line answers in the river flow, writing the historical rise and fall as the Long River's rolling east, the ci's most powerful bearing. The rolling means the surging, writing the Long River's ceaseless rush: before the Beigu pavilion, the Long River ten thousand li, the waves surging, rolling east, the grand bearing; the two words endless, writing the water's inexhaustibility, and the historical rise-and-fall's ceaselessness. This line joins the above's how many rises and falls, endless, one question one answer: the rise-and-fall's endless how-many, the Long River's rolling flow, history's vastness and the river's grandeur fused, the realm extremely broad. The poet gathering the abstract rise-and-fall into the concrete river flow, making the invisible history visible and palpable, the model of turning the void into the real. This line at once the present scene and the historical long river's symbol, storing the full momentum for the second stanza's praise of Sun Quan and the satire of the times, the ci's most visually striking and most forceful line.

年少万兜鍪。

Young, with the ten thousand helmets, (The turn to the praise of Sun Quan: the young Sun Quan with the ten thousand troops, the valor of the youth in the five characters.)

遥想当年孙权年少有为，十九岁便继承基业，统率着万千戴盔披甲的兵士，坐镇江东。

I think of Sun Quan in his prime: at nineteen he inherited the cause and, commanding ten thousand helmeted soldiers, held the southeast.

此句正面赞颂孙权，是全词的转折与核心。兜鍪即头盔，此处代指士兵，万兜鍪言其兵多将广；年少二字，写孙权年岁之轻，孙权十九岁继承父兄基业，坐镇江东，统率雄兵，与曹操、刘备争衡天下。此句之妙在于年少与万兜鍪的强烈对照：年龄之少与兵势之雄，更显其英武不凡；以头盔代士兵，以局部代整体，语言凝练而气势雄浑。词人赞孙权，实是借古讽今：南宋朝廷偏安江南，苟且偷安，不思北伐，与孙权年少统军、坐断东南的进取精神形成鲜明对比，词人的褒贬之意，尽在不言之中。此句为下句坐断东南战未休作了铺垫，也定下了全词赞颂英雄、讥刺时局的情感基调。

This line directly praises Sun Quan, the ci's turn and core. The helmet means the helmet, here metonym for the soldiers, the ten thousand helmets the many troops and broad generals; the two words in his youth, writing Sun Quan's youth, inheriting his father and brother's cause at nineteen, holding the southeast, commanding the brave troops, contending with Cao Cao and Liu Bei for the world. This line's wonder in the youth and the ten thousand helmets's sharp contrast: the young age and the mighty troops, the more his martial extraordinariness; the helmet for the soldier, the part for the whole, the language condensed and the bearing grand. The poet praising Sun Quan, in truth borrowing the ancient to satirize the present: the Southern Song court ensconced in the Jiangnan, content with the half-country, not thinking of the northern expedition, forming the sharp contrast with Sun Quan's youth-commanding and holding-the-southeast enterprising spirit, the poet's praise and blame all within the unsaid. This line stores the ground for the below's holding the southeast and fighting without rest, and sets the ci's emotional tone of praising heroes and satirizing the times.

生子当如孙仲谋。

To beget a son, one should be like Sun Zhongmou. (The close: Cao Cao's praise of Sun Quan turned to a new meaning, the praise of the ancient and the satire of the present, the double meaning, the most satirical.)

生子当如孙仲谋啊！这是当年曹操对孙权的赞叹，今日读来，更令人感慨当今无人能比。

Raise a son and he should be like Sun Zhongmou! This was Cao Cao's praise of Sun Quan; today the reading makes one grieve the age's having no one comparable.

末句是全词的高潮，以一声长叹收束，气势如虹。生子当如孙仲谋，用曹操赞孙权之语：据《三国志》裴注引《吴历》，曹操见孙权军容整肃，叹曰生子当如孙仲谋，刘景升儿子若豚犬耳。词人直用此语作结，既是对孙权的高度赞扬，更是对南宋当权者的辛辣讥刺——曹操尚且赞叹孙权这样的英雄，而当今朝廷却连守住半壁江山都做不到，岂非连刘景升之子都不如？此句之妙在于一语双关：赞古人之英武，讥今人之无能，褒贬并见于一言之中；以历史人物之口抒现实之情，借古讽今，力重千钧。全词以此句收束，如奇峰突起，把怀古之情与爱国之志融为一体，是辛弃疾爱国词中最有力的收尾之一。

The close is the ci's climax, closing in one long sigh, the bearing like a rainbow. Raise a son and he should be like Sun Zhongmou! uses Cao Cao's praise of Sun Quan: according to the Records of the Three Kingdoms' Pei annotation citing the Wu Annals, Cao Cao seeing Sun Quan's troops in order, sighed that a son should be like Sun Zhongmou, Liu Jingsheng's sons are like pigs and dogs. The poet directly closing in these words, at once the high praise of Sun Quan, and the pungent satire of the Southern Song rulers — Cao Cao still praised such a hero as Sun Quan, and the present court cannot even hold the half of the rivers, not even matching Liu Jingsheng's sons? This line's wonder in the double meaning: praising the ancient's martial prowess, satirizing the present's incompetence, the praise and blame in one word; using the historical man's mouth to utter the present feeling, borrowing the ancient to satirize the present, the weight of a thousand jun. The whole ci closing in this line, like the sudden peak, fusing the nostalgia and the patriotic will, one of the most powerful closes in Xin Qiji's patriotic ci.

Study

Word focus

悠悠 So long and so far. The word of the history: 'how many things of the rise and the fall of a thousand ages, so long and so far'—the long and far of the rise and the fall of the ages, the endlessness of the history, the grandeur of the musing on the past. 千古兴亡多少事，悠悠之悠悠二字，是全词炼字最见神韵之处。悠悠本有长远、无尽之意，此处写兴亡之事多而绵长、难以尽述，读来有历史的苍茫之感。此二字妙在既承上文的问：多少事一问，以悠悠作答，多少兴亡，尽在这两字之中；又启下文的景：不尽长江衮衮流，江流不尽与兴亡悠悠互相映衬。悠悠还兼有声情之美：两字叠用，音调舒缓悠长，读之如一声长叹，正合怀古伤今的沉郁心境。若作多少事，茫茫或多少事，纷纷，便少了这份悠长的余味。辛弃疾用叠字，向有独到之处，此处悠悠二字，以最简省的笔墨写出最浩茫的历史感，是叠字炼意的典范。与衮衮相对，一写兴亡之悠长，一写江流之滚滚，声情并茂，气象浑成。

衮衮 Rolling on. The word of the river: 'the endless Long River rolls and rolls on'—the rolling of the river the endlessness of the history, the rise and the fall of the ages like the endless river, the grandeur of the scene. 不尽长江衮衮流之衮衮二字，写长江奔流不息之状，是全词气势最盛处。衮衮即滚滚，本形容水势盛大奔涌，此处写长江之水滔滔东流、永无穷尽。此二字妙在既写眼前实景：北固亭前，长江万里，波浪奔涌，滚滚东去，气象雄阔；又写历史象征：兴亡之事如江水滚滚，一去不返，永不停歇。衮衮与上句悠悠相对，悠悠写时间之绵长，衮衮写空间之奔涌，时空交织，把千古兴亡纳入万里江流之中，意境极为阔大。辛弃疾不用滚滚而用衮衮，既合词律，又添古雅之气，两字叠用，如闻江声轰鸣，读来气势磅礴。此二字与千古兴亡多少事的问句相连，一问一答之间，历史的苍茫与江水的雄浑融为一体，是全词中最具画面感与冲击力的笔墨。

坐断 To sit firm (to occupy). The word of the hero: 'he sat firm in the southeast, the war unceasing'—the firm seat of the young Sun Quan in the southeast, the commanding of the southeast, the valor of the hero of the youth. 坐断东南战未休之坐断二字，写孙权割据江东之稳固，是全词赞颂孙权最有力的炼字。坐断即牢牢占据、稳稳割据之意，坐字见其从容，断字见其果决。坐断东南，写孙权以少年之身，稳稳占据东南半壁江山，根基牢固，不可动摇；与战未休相连，更见其进取之志——不是坐守，而是坐断之后仍征战不休，既有稳固的基业，又有进取的精神。此二字之妙在于以简驭繁：只两字便写出孙权一生的功业与气概。更妙的是其反衬作用：南宋偏安东南，却苟且偷安、不思进取，词人用坐断二字赞孙权，正暗讽当朝者连坐断都做不到，坐失半壁江山而无所作为。二字既是写实，又是讽刺，言简意赅，力透纸背，是辛词炼字入骨的典型例子。