宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
念奴娇
Niannujiao (Charm of a Maiden Singer) — 'Parting with a Friend at the Post Station'
水天空阔,恨东风不借、世间英物。
蜀鸟吴花残照里,忍见荒城颓壁。
铜雀春情,金人秋泪,此恨凭谁雪。
堂堂剑气,斗牛空认奇杰。
那信江海馀生,南行万里,属扁舟齐发。
正为鸥盟留醉眼,细看涛声云灭。
睨柱吞嬴,回旗走懿,千古冲冠发。
伴人无寐。
秦淮应是孤月。
Shu's cuckoo and Wu's flowers in the light of the setting sun — how can I bear to look on ruined cities and toppled walls?
The spring passion of Bronze Bird Terrace, the autumn tears of the golden man — who shall wash away this hatred?
My majestic sword-light: in vain the Dipper and Ox acknowledged a peerless hero.
Who could have believed that, surviving on rivers and seas, I would sail south ten thousand li, as the small boats set out together?
It was to keep our pact with the gulls that I held my drunken eyes open, watching closely as the roar of waves faded into vanishing clouds.
Glowering at the pillar to swallow Qin's arrogance; turning my banners to rout Sima Yi — through the ages such fury bristles the hair.
What keeps me company through the sleepless night:
it should be the lone moon over the Qinhuai.
Meaning
Written at a post station bidding farewell to a friend while being escorted north in captivity, this lyric pours out Wen Tianxiang's grief for the lost dynasty and his unbroken resolve. From the vast water-and-sky opening — a curse on the east wind that would not save the realm's heroes — through ruined cities in the setting sun, to the unanswered question who shall wash away this hatred, the poem turns personal parting into national elegy. Yet the poet gathers his heroic models and closes on a sleepless night beneath the lone moon over the Qinhuai: fidelity outlasts defeat.
水天空阔,恨东风不借、世间英物。蜀鸟吴花残照里,忍见荒城颓壁。铜雀春情,金人秋泪,此恨凭谁雪。堂堂剑气,斗牛空认奇杰。那信江海馀生,南行万里,属扁舟齐发。正为鸥盟留醉眼,细看涛声云灭。睨柱吞嬴,回旗走懿,千古冲冠发。伴人无寐。秦淮应是孤月。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] Water and sky stretch to the horizon, and the poet curses the east wind that refused to spare the heroes of a perished world. Cuckoos of Shu and flowers of Wu stand in the setting sun above ruined walls; the old passions of Bronze Bird Terrace and the tears of the golden man ask who will wash away this hatred. The poem then turns to memory: who could have believed that, surviving by river and sea, we sailed south ten thousand li in a file of small boats — and that, drunken, I kept my eyes open to watch waves and clouds vanish? Rage rises with Lin Xiangru and Zhuge Liang, heroes whose fury bristled the hair; and the lyric ends: what keeps me company through the sleepless night? The lone moon over the Qinhuai. [Structure] The upper stanza is elegy — the loss of a world; the lower is memory and defiance — the recovery of resolve. A private farewell at a post station becomes the farewell of an entire civilization. [Imagery] The poem runs on monuments — Bronze Bird Terrace, the golden man, the Dipper and Ox — each a stone from a ruined world, so that diction itself becomes archaeology; against them, the closing lone moon is bare, contemporary, and sleepless: history's ruins above, one man's vigil below.
【白话串讲】 文天祥写《念奴娇》:“水天空阔,恨东风不借、世间英物”——“蜀鸟吴花残照里,忍见荒城颓壁”——“铜雀春情,金人秋泪,此恨凭谁雪”——“那信江海馀生,南行万里,属扁舟齐发”——他写故国之恨——此恨凭谁雪。 【意象与手法】 “水天空阔,恨东风不借、世间英物”以东风不借写天时不利;“蜀鸟吴花残照里,忍见荒城颓壁”以蜀鸟吴花写残破;“铜雀春情,金人秋泪,此恨凭谁雪”以铜雀金人写亡国之恨;结以“伴人无寐。秦淮应是孤月”以孤月写孤寂。慷慨悲壮。 【情感与主旨】 文天祥写言别抒志之作,写故国之恨与不屈之志,以“此恨凭谁雪”写亡国之恨难雪,是文天祥词中的代表作。 【名句点睛】 常考“铜雀春情,金人秋泪,此恨凭谁雪”以铜雀金人写亡国之恨;“水天空阔,恨东风不借、世间英物”以东风不借写天时不利。
Background
Wen Tianxiang (1236–1283), the Southern Song's last grand councilor of principle, wrote this lyric — generally known by its alternate title To the River's Moon: Parting from a Friend at the Post Station — in 1279, while being escorted north in captivity after the dynasty's final defeat at the Battle of Yamen. His fellow traveler, the loyalist poet Deng Guangjian, had written a companion farewell poem; Wen Tianxiang answered it with this lyric. The east wind that would not spare the heroes answers the same wind that once blew for Zhou Yu at Red Cliff; now no wind will come. Composed in a roadside post station, the poem fuses private parting with dynastic obsequy, and it stands as the most powerful of Wen Tianxiang's surviving lyrics.
《念奴娇》为南宋名臣文天祥所作词。文天祥(1236—1283),字宋瑞,号文山,吉州庐陵(今江西吉安)人,南宋民族英雄、诗人。此词写言别抒志,为驿中言别友人之作。词中「水天空阔,恨东风不借、世间英物」写恨东风不借;「蜀鸟吴花残照里,忍见荒城颓壁」写蜀鸟吴花;「铜雀春情,金人秋泪,此恨凭谁雪」写此恨凭谁雪;「堂堂剑气,斗牛空认奇杰」写斗牛空认奇杰;「那信江海馀生,南行万里,属扁舟齐发」写南行万里;「正为鸥盟留醉眼,细看涛声云灭」写鸥盟留醉眼;「睨柱吞嬴,回旗走懿,千古冲冠发」写千古冲冠发;「伴人无寐。秦淮应是孤月」写秦淮应是孤月。文天祥此词以言别抒志、秦淮应是孤月写其忠愤之情,慷慨悲壮,是文天祥词中的名篇。此篇《念奴娇》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 its compression of history into a farewell. The opening move — water and sky stretch vast — is cosmic in scale, and the curse on the east wind immediately historicizes it: this is the anti-Red Cliff, a world where the wind will not blow for the righteous. The Shu cuckoo, Wu flowers couplet does geographic work with sonic work — cuckoo and flowers are spring's tenderest voices, heard above ruined cities and toppled walls. Bronze Bird Terrace (Cao Cao's pleasure palace) and the golden man (the Han bronze immortal, melted by invaders) become the poem's archive of fallen glory, and the unanswered question who shall wash away this hatred is the hinge from elegy to resolve. The lower stanza's who could have believed converts the captive march into remembrance of escape; the three allusive heroes reconstruct, in a dozen characters, a lineage of courage. The ending withholds everything but a moon — restraint as grandeur.
此词艺术上以「慷慨悲壮、以典抒志」见长。全词上片写恨东风不借与铜雀春情,下片写睨柱吞嬴与秦淮应是孤月。上片「水天空阔,恨东风不借、世间英物」写恨东风不借:水天空阔,恨东风不借、世间英物;「蜀鸟吴花残照里,忍见荒城颓壁」写蜀鸟吴花:蜀鸟吴花残照里,忍见荒城颓壁;「铜雀春情,金人秋泪,此恨凭谁雪」写此恨凭谁雪:铜雀春情,金人秋泪,此恨凭谁雪;「堂堂剑气,斗牛空认奇杰」写斗牛空认奇杰:堂堂剑气,斗牛空认奇杰。下片「那信江海馀生,南行万里,属扁舟齐发」写南行万里:那信江海馀生,南行万里,属扁舟齐发;「正为鸥盟留醉眼,细看涛声云灭」写鸥盟留醉眼:正为鸥盟留醉眼,细看涛声云灭;「睨柱吞嬴,回旗走懿,千古冲冠发」写千古冲冠发:睨柱吞嬴,回旗走懿,千古冲冠发;「伴人无寐。秦淮应是孤月」写秦淮应是孤月:伴人无寐,秦淮应是孤月。全词慷慨悲壮,以典抒志,是文天祥词中的名篇。
Allusions
The lyric is an anthology of resonances. The east wind that would not spare the world's heroes inverts the Red Cliff legend: there the wind blew for Zhou Yu and saved the south; now no wind comes. Shu's cuckoo is the legendary king of Shu who became a cuckoo and wept blood; Bronze Bird Terrace was Cao Cao's pleasure palace, emblem of a hegemon's dream, and the golden man the Han bronze immortal carried off west when the Han fell — both totems of dynastic loss. Sword-light and the Dipper and Ox uses the legend of famed swords rising as vapor between those constellations: the sword fills the stars, but no one is left to claim it. Pact with the gulls is the hermit's covenant with seabirds from the Liezi. Glowering at the pillar to swallow Qin is Lin Xiangru threatening to smash the jade before the King of Qin; turning the banners to rout Sima Yi is Zhuge Liang driving Sima Yi from Wuzhangyuan; bristling the hair is Lin Xiangru's rage at the insult to Zhao. The Qinhuai flows through the old southern capital now in enemy hands — each allusion makes the poem a conversation between the dying Song and its dead heroes.
词中「水天空阔恨东风不借世间英物」「蜀鸟吴花残照里忍见荒城颓壁」「铜雀春情金人秋泪此恨凭谁雪」「堂堂剑气斗牛空认奇杰」「那信江海馀生南行万里属扁舟齐发」「正为鸥盟留醉眼细看涛声云灭」「睨柱吞嬴回旗走懿千古冲冠发」「伴人无寐秦淮应是孤月」等语,皆含典故故实。「水天空阔恨东风不借世间英物」用东风不借之语(赤壁借东风),写恨东风不借世间英物;「蜀鸟吴花残照里忍见荒城颓壁」用蜀鸟之典(杜鹃啼血),写蜀鸟吴花残照里忍见荒城颓壁;「铜雀春情金人秋泪此恨凭谁雪」用铜雀台、金铜仙人承露盘之典,写铜雀春情金人秋泪此恨凭谁雪;「堂堂剑气斗牛空认奇杰」用剑气冲斗牛之典(紫气冲牛斗),写堂堂剑气斗牛空认奇杰;「那信江海馀生南行万里属扁舟齐发」写那信江海馀生南行万里属扁舟齐发;「正为鸥盟留醉眼细看涛声云灭」用鸥盟之典(与鸥鸟为盟),写正为鸥盟留醉眼细看涛声云灭;「睨柱吞嬴回旗走懿千古冲冠发」用蔺相如完璧归赵睨柱吞嬴、诸葛亮回旗走懿、怒发冲冠之典,写睨柱吞嬴回旗走懿千古冲冠发;「伴人无寐秦淮应是孤月」写伴人无寐秦淮应是孤月。词人以赤壁东风、蔺相如睨柱、诸葛亮回旗、怒发冲冠等典入词,不着痕迹,而把言别抒志之情写得慷慨淋漓,是善于熔铸典故的体现。
Commentary
This lyric — also known as To the River's Moon — has been called the swan song of the Southern Song. Anthologists note that, unlike the heroic directness of At Nan'an Garrison, this farewell works by accumulation: ruin, memory, and myth stack until the final moon. The couplet on Bronze Bird Terrace and the golden man is universally quoted as the lyric's emotional summit, praised for turning dynastic grief into an unanswerable cosmic question. The ending — it should be the lone moon over the Qinhuai — is read as the poet's coldest, grandest image: the conquered capital's moon, one man awake beneath it. Modern criticism places the poem among the greatest farewell lyrics in the tradition, valuing how private parting (for Deng Guangjian) and dynastic parting become indistinguishable.
这首《念奴娇》,是文天祥写言别抒志之作,写恨东风不借、此恨凭谁雪、秦淮应是孤月之情,慷慨悲壮。上片写恨东风不借与铜雀春情:「水天空阔,恨东风不借、世间英物」——水天空阔,恨东风不借(用赤壁借东风之语)、世间英物。写恨东风不借:水天空阔、恨东风不借世间英物——水天空阔、东风不借英物;「蜀鸟吴花残照里,忍见荒城颓壁」——蜀鸟吴花(用蜀鸟之典)残照里,忍见荒城颓壁。写蜀鸟吴花:蜀鸟吴花残照里、忍见荒城颓壁——蜀鸟吴花、荒城颓壁;「铜雀春情,金人秋泪,此恨凭谁雪」——铜雀春情(用铜雀台之典),金人秋泪(用金铜仙人之典),此恨凭谁雪。写此恨凭谁雪:铜雀春情、金人秋泪,此恨凭谁雪——铜雀春情、金人秋泪、此恨凭谁雪;「堂堂剑气,斗牛空认奇杰」——堂堂剑气,斗牛(用剑气冲斗牛之典)空认奇杰。写斗牛空认奇杰:堂堂剑气、斗牛空认奇杰——剑气堂堂、斗牛空认奇杰。下片写睨柱吞嬴与秦淮应是孤月:「那信江海馀生,南行万里,属扁舟齐发」——那信江海馀生,南行万里,属扁舟齐发。写南行万里:那信江海馀生、南行万里,属扁舟齐发——江海馀生、南行万里、扁舟齐发;「正为鸥盟留醉眼,细看涛声云灭」——正为鸥盟(用鸥盟之典)留醉眼,细看涛声云灭。写鸥盟留醉眼:正为鸥盟留醉眼、细看涛声云灭——鸥盟留醉眼、细看涛声云灭;「睨柱吞嬴,回旗走懿,千古冲冠发」——睨柱吞嬴(用蔺相如睨柱之典),回旗走懿(用诸葛亮回旗之典),千古冲冠发(用怒发冲冠之典)。写千古冲冠发:睨柱吞嬴、回旗走懿,千古冲冠发——睨柱吞嬴、回旗走懿、千古冲冠发;「伴人无寐。秦淮应是孤月」——伴人无寐,秦淮应是孤月。写秦淮应是孤月:伴人无寐、秦淮应是孤月——无寐伴人、秦淮应是孤月。这「伴人无寐。秦淮应是孤月」,是全词之结:以秦淮应是孤月写其忠愤。全词慷慨悲壮,以典抒志,正是文天祥词中的名篇。
Prosody
Line by line
水天空阔,恨东风不借、世间英物。
Water and sky stretch vast; I resent the east wind, unwilling to spare the heroes of this world.
水天空阔,恨东风不借、世间英物。
Water and sky are vast; I grieve that the east wind did not lend its aid to the world's heroes.
首二句写恨东风不借,起笔即见其愤。「水天空阔」写水天空阔,「水天」写水天、「空阔」写空阔;「恨东风不借、世间英物」写恨东风不借世间英物,用赤壁借东风之语写恨东风不借世间英物。两句一写水天空阔、一写恨东风不借世间英物,以水天空阔写江天之阔、以恨东风不借写东风不助,写尽水天空阔、恨东风不借世间英物之情。以典起兴,慷慨而苍凉,是「以典起兴」的妙笔。
The opening two lines write the grief that the east wind lent no aid, the indignation present at the first stroke. Water and sky are vast writes the vast water and sky; I grieve that the east wind did not lend its aid to the world's heroes writes the grief, using the Red Cliff's east-wind lending words. Two lines, one the vast water and sky, one the east wind's refusal, writing the river-sky's breadth and the wind's non-aid, exhausting the vastness and the grief. Rising on allusion, impassioned and bleak, precisely the wondrous brush of rising on allusion.
蜀鸟吴花残照里,忍见荒城颓壁。
Shu's cuckoo and Wu's flowers in the light of the setting sun — how can I bear to look on ruined cities and toppled walls?
蜀鸟吴花残照里,忍见荒城颓壁。
Shu birds and Wu flowers in the fading light; how can I bear to see the ruined city's crumbling walls.
此二句写蜀鸟吴花,是全词以典写景的关键。「蜀鸟吴花残照里」写蜀鸟吴花残照里,用蜀鸟啼血之典写蜀鸟吴花残照里;「忍见荒城颓壁」写忍见荒城颓壁,「忍见」写怎忍见、「荒城颓壁」写荒城颓壁。两句一写蜀鸟吴花残照里、一写忍见荒城颓壁,以蜀鸟吴花写鸟花、以忍见荒城颓壁写荒城颓壁,写尽蜀鸟吴花残照里、忍见荒城颓壁之情。以典写景,慷慨而悲凉,是「以典写景」的点睛之笔。
These two lines write the Shu birds and Wu flowers, the ci's key of scenic writing through allusion. Shu birds and Wu flowers in the fading light writes the Shu bird's blood-crying allusion; how can I bear to see the ruined city's crumbling walls writes the how-can-I-bear and the ruined walls. Two lines, one the birds and flowers in the fading light, one the ruined walls, writing the bird and flower and the crumbling wall, exhausting the fading-light scene and the sight's grief. Writing scene through allusion, impassioned and bleak, precisely the telling stroke of scenic writing through allusion.
铜雀春情,金人秋泪,此恨凭谁雪。
The spring passion of Bronze Bird Terrace, the autumn tears of the golden man — who shall wash away this hatred?
铜雀春情,金人秋泪,此恨凭谁雪。
The Bronze Sparrow's spring feeling, the Golden Man's autumn tears — on whom shall this grief depend for washing away?
此三句写此恨凭谁雪,是全词以典写恨的关键。「铜雀春情」写铜雀春情,用铜雀台之典写铜雀春情;「金人秋泪」写金人秋泪,用金铜仙人之典写金人秋泪;「此恨凭谁雪」写此恨凭谁雪,「此恨」写此恨、「凭谁雪」写靠谁洗雪。三句一写铜雀春情、一写金人秋泪、一写此恨凭谁雪,以铜雀春情写春情、以金人秋泪写秋泪、以此恨凭谁雪写恨无人雪,写尽铜雀春情、金人秋泪、此恨凭谁雪之情。以典写恨,慷慨而悲凉,是「以典写恨」的点睛之笔。
These three lines write the on-whom-shall-this-grief-depend, the ci's key of grief writing through allusion. The Bronze Sparrow's spring feeling uses the Bronze Sparrow Terrace allusion; the Golden Man's autumn tears uses the Golden Bronze Immortal allusion; on whom shall this grief depend for washing away? writes the grief and the washing. Three lines, one the spring feeling, one the autumn tears, one the washing, writing the spring feeling, the autumn tears, the grief's no washer, exhausting the grief. Writing grief through allusion, impassioned and bleak, precisely the telling stroke of grief writing through allusion.
睨柱吞嬴,回旗走懿,千古冲冠发。
Glowering at the pillar to swallow Qin's arrogance; turning my banners to rout Sima Yi — through the ages such fury bristles the hair.
睨柱吞嬴,回旗走懿,千古冲冠发。
Staring at the pillar, he would swallow Ying; turning the banners, he put Yi to flight — through the ages, hair standing on end.
此三句写千古冲冠发,是全词以典写志的关键。「睨柱吞嬴」写睨柱吞嬴,用蔺相如睨柱之典写睨柱吞嬴;「回旗走懿」写回旗走懿,用诸葛亮回旗之典写回旗走懿;「千古冲冠发」写千古冲冠发,用怒发冲冠之典写千古冲冠发。三句一写睨柱吞嬴、一写回旗走懿、一写千古冲冠发,以睨柱吞嬴写相如、以回旗走懿写孔明、以千古冲冠发写冲冠怒发,写尽睨柱吞嬴、回旗走懿、千古冲冠发之情。以典写志,慷慨而激昂,是「以典写志」的点睛之笔。
These three lines write the hair-standing-on-end through the ages, the ci's key of will writing through allusion. Staring at the pillar, he would swallow Ying uses Lin Xiangru's pillar-staring allusion; turning the banners, he put Yi to flight uses Zhuge Liang's banner-turning allusion; through the ages, hair standing on end uses the rage-hair-standing-up allusion. Three lines, one Xiangru, one Kongming, one the rage, writing the minister, the strategist, the wrath, exhausting the three ancient heroes. Writing will through allusion, impassioned and stirring, precisely the telling stroke of will writing through allusion.
伴人无寐。
What keeps me company through the sleepless night:
伴人无寐。
Keeping the sleepless man company.
此句写伴人无寐,是全词写其无眠的关键。「伴人无寐」写伴人无寐,「伴人」写伴人、「无寐」写无眠。一句以「伴人」写相陪、「无寐」写无眠,写尽伴人无寐之情——伴人而无寐。以夜写愁,含蓄而深挚,是「以夜写愁」的点睛之笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意,情韵兼胜,正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜,于平易之中寄寓曲折,尤当反复涵泳,方能得其三昧。
This line writes the keeping the sleepless man company, the ci's key of the insomnia. Keeping the sleepless man company writes the company and the sleepless. One line, the company and the sleepless, writing the company and the wakefulness, exhausting the long night. Writing grief through the night, restrained and deep, precisely the telling stroke of grief writing through the night. This line in the few words exhausts the deep meaning, feeling and charm both supreme, precisely the poem's telling stroke. Its hidden waves between the words, the turns within the plainness, require the repeated savouring to grasp its heart.
秦淮应是孤月。
it should be the lone moon over the Qinhuai.
秦淮应是孤月。
The Qinhuai river should be under a lone moon.
尾句写秦淮应是孤月,是全词立意的落点。「秦淮应是孤月」写秦淮应是孤月,「秦淮」写秦淮、「应是孤月」写应是孤月。一句以「秦淮」写秦淮、「应是孤月」写当是孤月,写尽秦淮应是孤月之情——秦淮应是孤月高悬。以月写思,慷慨而苍凉,是全词最动人处,也是「以月写思」的点睛之笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意,情韵兼胜,正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜,于平易之中寄寓曲折,尤当反复涵泳,方能得其三昧。
The close writes the Qinhuai river under a lone moon, the landing of the ci's theme. The Qinhuai river should be under a lone moon writes the Qinhuai and the lone moon. One line, the river and the moon, writing the river and the lone moon, exhausting the hanging moon. Writing longing through the moon, impassioned and bleak, the ci's most moving place, and the telling stroke of longing writing through the moon. This line in the few words exhausts the deep meaning, feeling and charm both supreme, precisely the poem's telling stroke. Its hidden waves between the words, the turns within the plainness, require the repeated savouring to grasp its heart.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Su Shi's Water Melody — may we all be blessed with longevity, though a thousand miles apart, we share the beauty of the moon — writes Mid-Autumn longing with cosmic serenity, the greatest long lyric of the Northern Song; Wen Tianxiang's Niannujiao writes what keeps me company through the sleepless night? It should be the lone moon over the Qinhuai — the same moon, now over a conquered capital. Both speak to the moon in the grand form: Su Shi's moon unites the living across distance; Wen Tianxiang's moon accompanies the sleepless among the dead. One is transcendence, the other endurance — the two faces of the Song lyric's grandeur.
苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「但愿人长久,千里共婵娟」,写中秋怀人、旷达超然,是宋词长调的名篇;文天祥《念奴娇》则以「睨柱吞嬴,回旗走懿,千古冲冠发」「伴人无寐。秦淮应是孤月」写千古冲冠发、秦淮应是孤月。两词同写长调抒怀、对月言志:一写但愿人长久千里共婵娟、以婵娟写美好祝愿,一写伴人无寐秦淮应是孤月、以孤月写忠愤;一为苏轼之超然、一为文天祥之悲壮,并读正可见宋词写「长调言志」的两种笔法,皆于长调之中见言志。
虞美人·春花秋月何时了 Yu Mei Ren (Beautiful Lady Yu) — 'When Will the Spring Flowers and Autumn Moon End?' 李煜 · 同写故国之思、此恨难消,一写故国不堪回首月明中、一写铜雀春情金人秋泪此恨凭谁雪,皆于故国之中见此恨难消 Both write the unbearable memory of a lost country — one of a homeland unendurable to recall in the moonlight and the other of Bronze Bird Terrace and the golden man — each voicing the grief of dynastic loss.Li Yu's Yu Mei Ren — in the east wind of last night, in the moonlight, my homeland is unendurable to recall — poured a captive king's blood into the form and made it the eternal standard for the sorrow of lost kingdoms; Wen Tianxiang's lyric answers from the other end of a loyalist's fidelity: ruined cities and toppled walls, who shall wash away this hatred? Both are songs of a fallen world seen by moonlight: Li Yu mourns a dynasty he lost, Wen Tianxiang mourns one he refused to save and still will not surrender to. Together they show the two great registers of Chinese dynastic sorrow — the lament of the last king, and the oath of the last minister.
李煜《虞美人·春花秋月何时了》「小楼昨夜又东风,故国不堪回首月明中」,写故国之思、此恨难消,是写愁的千古名篇;文天祥《念奴娇》则以「铜雀春情,金人秋泪,此恨凭谁雪」「蜀鸟吴花残照里,忍见荒城颓壁」写此恨凭谁雪、荒城颓壁。两词同写故国之思、此恨难消:一写故国不堪回首月明中、以明月写故国之思,一写铜雀春情金人秋泪此恨凭谁雪、以铜雀金人写故国之恨;一为帝王之血泪、一为忠臣之悲壮,并读正可见词写「故国此恨」的两种情致,皆于故国之中见此恨难消。