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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

破阵子·为陈同甫赋壮词以寄之

Breaking Formations: A Heroic Lyric for Chen Tongfu

辛弃疾

Xin Qiji

豪放Heroic and Unrestrained 报国Patriotic Devotion

醉里挑灯看剑，梦回吹角连营。
八百里分麾下炙，五十弦翻塞外声。
沙场秋点兵。
马作的卢飞快，弓如霹雳弦惊。
了却君王天下事，赢得生前身后名。
可怜白发生！

Drunk, I trim the lamp and see my sword, dreaming of camps where bugles blow in concert.
Under our flags, roast beef is shared among troops; fifty strings play frontier songs. On autumn battlefield, troops are reviewed.
Horses run as fast as the steed Dilu; bowstrings twang like thunderbolts.
To accomplish the emperor's great task of unifying the land, I would win a name both in life and after death.
Alas, my hair has turned white!

Listen

Meaning

The poet, drunk, dreams of a military camp and a battlefield review. He imagines heroic deeds to serve the emperor and win fame, but ends with the bitter realization that his hair is already white, contrasting glorious dreams with harsh reality.

醉意朦胧中挑亮灯烛，细细端详手中宝剑；恍惚间入梦，又回到了号角声连成一片的军营。部众分食着烤熟的牛肉，各种乐器翻奏起塞外的苍凉之声，这正是秋日沙场上检阅士卒的盛景。战马像的卢一般飞驰，弓弦如霹雳般惊响。一心愿替君王完成恢复中原的天下大事，赢取生前与身后的赫赫英名。可叹啊，满头白发已经丛生！

Appreciation

This is a heroic lyric dedicated to his friend Chen Liang. The first stanza depicts a magnificent military camp and a review, while the second describes swift horses and twanging bows, culminating in a vow to achieve great deeds. However, the last line suddenly shifts to the sad reality of white hair, contrasting the dream with reality and expressing the poet's frustrated ambition.

【白话串讲】醉里挑灯看剑——辛弃疾二十岁带五十人闯金营，一辈子想做将军，却一辈子被当词人养。这首词把沙场梦写到极致，最后五个字“可怜白发生”，把所有豪情一脚踩回现实。【意象与手法】全词章法奇绝：前九句一气呵成，以浪漫笔法铺写军旅之壮、杀敌之猛、功名之志，如江河奔泻【情感与主旨】辛弃疾一生以恢复中原为志，南归后却屡遭猜忌、投闲置散，壮志难伸。陈亮（字同甫）是与之志同道合的好友，二人皆主抗金【名句点睛】常考“醉里挑灯看剑”的壮怀与“梦回”的虚实之辨；“马作的卢飞快，弓如霹雳弦惊”的比喻与视听描写

Background

Xin Qiji dedicated his life to recovering the lost northern territories, but after coming south, he was repeatedly suspected and sidelined, unable to fulfill his ambitions. Chen Liang (Tongfu) was his like-minded friend. This poem was written during his idle retirement at Daihu. Ostensibly recalling his early anti-Jin military life and expressing his ambition, it actually uses the 'heroic song' to convey sorrow—the burning dream has been crushed by time and court indifference, a portrait of the poet's own fate.

此词题为「为陈同甫赋壮词以寄之」，陈同甫即陈亮，字同甫（亦作同父），南宋著名思想家、词人，主战派代表人物。辛弃疾与陈亮志同道合，皆以恢复中原为毕生志向。淳熙十五年（一一八八年）冬，陈亮自浙江东阳不远千里来访辛弃疾于江西上饶带湖，二人纵论抗金恢复大计，史称「鹅湖之会」（与朱熹、陆九渊之鹅湖之会异时异地）。相别之后，二人书信往复，辛弃疾先后寄词数首，此词即其中之一。创作时辛弃疾已南归逾二十载，却屡遭主和派猜忌排挤，自四十二岁起闲居带湖近十年，英雄无用武之地。词以「壮词」相寄，表面写梦中沙场杀敌、建功立业之壮怀，实则借壮写悲，将矢志报国之热忱与报国无门之悲愤熔铸一体。从词牌渊源看，「破阵子」源自唐教坊曲《破阵乐》，本为唐太宗李世民破阵乐舞之军乐，声调雄壮，最宜抒写军旅豪情。词之异文方面，题名一作「为陈同甫赋壮词以寄」，「天下事」或作「平生事」，今从通行本。南宋偏安一隅、苟且偷安的时代背景，正是此词悲壮基调的深层根源，也是理解辛词「豪放其表、悲郁其里」的关键所在。纵观辛词，此篇以极短篇幅浓缩一生悲慨，上片九句写梦中之壮，末句写梦醒之悲，张弛之间见英雄本色的无可归处，亦见南宋一代志士共有的时代悲剧。

Art

The structure is ingenious: the first nine lines flow in one breath, romantically depicting the grandeur of military life, the fierceness of battle, and the ambition for fame, like a rushing river. The last line 'Alas, my hair has turned white' suddenly cuts off, falling from the dream to the reality of gray hair. This sharp contrast between rise and fall pushes 'heroism' and 'sorrow' to the extreme. Additionally, the allusions are dense and natural—'eight hundred li,' 'fifty strings,' 'Dilu' are all skillfully used, showing both martial vigor and literary depth.

此词章法奇绝，素为论者所称。全词以「醉里挑灯看剑」起笔，由实入虚：前五句写醉中看剑、梦中回到连营，铺陈分炙、奏乐、点兵之军旅盛景，意象密集而节奏明快，如江河奔泻，一气贯通；过片二句「马作的卢飞快，弓如霹雳弦惊」以比喻写驰骋杀敌之迅猛，视听结合，气势飞动；继而「了却君王天下事，赢得生前身后名」收束梦境功业。至末句「可怜白发生」陡然跌落，以一声长叹将前面九句的浪漫豪壮尽数击碎，由梦回现实。这种先扬后抑、以极壮衬极悲的结构，被称为「结穴陡转」之法，悲慨之力倍增。修辞上，用典精当（八百里指牛、五十弦指瑟、的卢指良马）、对仗工稳（马作对弓如，八百里对五十弦），设色浓烈。以「壮词」起而以「可怜」结，大起大落之间，将理想与现实的巨大落差写得惊心动魄，是辛词豪放悲郁风格的典型代表，亦为中国古典诗词中结构与情感反差处理的巅峰之作之一。前人谓辛词如天风海雨逼人，此词正可作注脚：其气盛则如江河直下，其情悲则如断崖收束，豪与悲相激相成，遂成稼轩独有之沉郁顿挫，非徒以粗豪叫嚣者所能仿佛。

Allusions

The 'eight hundred li' refers to a famous ox, here referring to shared beef. 'Fifty strings' originally refers to the se (zither), here representing military instruments. 'Dilu' is the horse of Liu Bei, symbolizing a steed. These allusions are all related to military affairs and are fused seamlessly.

词中数处用典与意象皆有深厚传统。其一，「八百里」典出《世说新语·汰侈》：王恺有牛名八百里駮，与王济射牛赌戏，王济杀牛作炙。此处借指军中分食烤牛肉的犒赏盛况，暗含将士同甘、军容壮盛之意。其二，「五十弦」指瑟，《史记·封禅书》载太帝使素女鼓五十弦瑟，悲不能止，破为二十五弦；李商隐「锦瑟无端五十弦」亦用之。此处以五十弦翻塞外声写军乐之悲壮苍凉。其三，「的卢」为刘备所乘良马，《三国志·先主传》注引载的卢一跃檀溪救主，辛弃疾以的卢喻战马之神骏迅疾，与「霹雳弦惊」相映成势。其四，「沙场秋点兵」承古来「秋狝」「秋阅」讲武传统，秋高马肥，最宜用兵。字词训诂方面，「麾下」指将帅旌麾之下、部众之中；「点兵」即检阅士卒；「可怜」为唐宋口语，意即「可叹、可惜」，非今怜悯义。诸典融化无迹，浑成壮阔，体现辛词「掉书袋」而能驱遣自如的功力，亦可见其以文为词、融经史入豪情的独特路径。又，醉里挑灯看剑之剑在唐宋诗中本为功业象征，辛词以之起笔暗含壮志待试之意；剑之不出鞘而唯看，则已见英雄被束之高阁的隐痛，与末句白发呼应成章。

Commentary

Yang Shen of the Ming Dynasty praised his words as 'loud and resounding, sweeping through the universe.' Although titled a 'heroic song,' it ends with 'alas, white hair,' moving from heroism to sorrow, with a deep and forceful style. Liang Qichao commented that Xin's words are 'heart-wrenching and overwhelming,' and this piece, with its contrast between former heroism and later sorrow, best shows his true character.

此词在稼轩词中地位极高，历来被视为豪放词与悲愤词之双璧。南宋以来，论者多赏其「突兀起落」之结构，明人杨慎《词品》、清人陈廷焯《白雨斋词话》皆推许其沉郁顿挫。陈廷焯评辛词「气魄极雄大，意境却极沉郁」，此词正是代表：前幅壮采激昂，后幅一落千丈，壮悲相生。近世王国维论意境，虽不以辛词为最上，然此词「可怜白发生」五字之沉痛，足当「古今第一悲壮语」之誉。在传播史上，此词与岳飞的《满江红》、陆游的《诉衷情》同列爱国词巅峰，广为传诵，「醉里挑灯看剑」「马作的卢飞快」更成为描写报国之志与军旅豪情的经典意象，常被征引。现代语文教材多将其与《永遇乐·京口北固亭怀古》并选，作为辛弃疾词风与南宋爱国词的代表篇目。其「以壮写悲、结穴陡转」的章法，亦成为后世论词者剖析辛词艺术的重要范本，影响深远，至今仍是词学研究的重点篇目。后世论辛词者多以悲壮二字定此篇之评；其以壮语写悲情、以梦境衬现实之法，直接启发了陆游、刘克庄等南宋爱国词人的同类抒写，在词史转折处有承前启后之功，宜与稼轩其他怀古记梦之作合观。

Prosody

Form 词牌《破阵子》（双调六十二字，平韵）词·破阵子（双调六十二字）

Rhyme 押《词林正韵》第十一部平声（庚青），韵脚“营、声、兵、惊、名、生”此词上片押庚青韵（营、声、兵），下片换押庚青与真文通韵（惊、名、生，古音相近可通押），一韵到底，声调嘹亮，与军旅豪情相称。

Tone pattern 双调，上下片各五句三平韵；前九句写壮梦，末句“可怜白发生”陡转破局。双调六十二字，上下片各五句三平韵。句式以七言、六言、五言交错，多用对句（八百里对五十弦、马作对弓如），格律严整而气势开张。

Reading note 以梦境之豪壮反衬现实之悲凉，结句五字力重千钧，辛词“壮词”而实悲。《破阵子》本唐教坊大曲《破阵乐》遗声，声情本就雄健慷慨，最宜抒写军旅与豪情。辛弃疾此词严守词牌格律而能不为格律所缚，上片五句三平韵，节奏由缓入急，写醉、梦、炙、乐、点兵，层层推进；下片过变即以「马作」「弓如」两个对仗长句振起，声态并作，至结句忽以五字短促收束，韵脚「生」字重而沉，声情随内容由飞扬跌入沉郁。全词用韵嘹亮与内容悲壮形成张力，平仄对仗之工恰助其气象，是依声填词而声情相生的典范，亦可见辛词虽以才气驱遣格式，却终不失音律之严谨。又，破阵子上下片句式对称，前段写梦、后段写梦醒，音乐结构本身即与内容之由扬转抑相合，韵密而情迫，至结句五字以孤韵顿收，如裂帛之音，最能体现依声填词中声情与文情合一的极高境界。

Line by line

醉里挑灯看剑，梦回吹角连营。

Drunk, I trim the lamp and see my sword; in a dream I return to camps where bugles blow in concert.

醉意朦胧中挑亮灯烛，细细端详手中宝剑；恍惚间入梦，又回到了号角声连成一片的军营。

In my cups, I trim the lamp and gaze on the sword; dreams bring back the bugles of the linked camps.

起笔二句以「醉里」二字定调，醉非真醉，乃壮志难伸借酒浇愁之醉；「挑灯看剑」四个动作连贯，于细微处见英雄本色——剑是杀敌之器，挑灯细看正见其念兹在兹。随即「梦回」承转，由实入虚，号角连营的军旅画面扑面而来。醉与梦、实与虚在这一句里交织，既写出词人时刻不忘恢复之志，又暗含现实之孤寂唯有寄托于梦的无奈，为全词「以壮写悲」埋下伏笔，起势便已沉雄。

The opening two lines set the tone with the word in my cups: the drunk not the true drunk, but the ambition's non-extention's wine-for-grief drunk; the trimming-the-lamp-and-gazing-on-the-sword's four actions continuous, showing the hero's true manner in the minute — the sword the enemy-killing weapon, the trimming-the-lamp-and-looking writing the constant mind on it. Immediately the dreams-bring-back inherits and turns, from the real to the void, the bugle-linked-camp military picture upon the face. The drunk and the dream, the real and the void interwoven in this one line, at once writing the poet's constant recovery will, and secretly carrying the present reality's loneliness only lodged in the dream's helplessness, storing the ground for the ci's bravery-writing-grief, the opening already somber and grand.

马作的卢飞快，弓如霹雳弦惊。

Horses run as fast as the steed Dilu; bowstrings twang like thunderbolts.

战马像的卢一般飞驰，弓弦如霹雳般惊响。

The horses race like the Dilu steed; the bowstrings thunder like the thunderbolt.

此二句写战场上驰骋杀敌之迅猛，是全词豪气最盛处。「马作」对「弓如」，以比喻兼对仗，的卢喻马之迅疾神骏，霹雳喻弓弦之惊响震耳，视听双管齐下。用典（的卢）不着痕迹，意象飞动而有声色。两句极写将士用命、克敌制胜的痛快，将前文点兵之势推向杀敌高潮，浪漫主义色彩浓烈。然正因其豪壮至此，后文「可怜白发生」的陡然跌落才更具摧折之力，二者反差正是辛词悲壮美学的核心。

These two lines write the battlefield's swift enemy-killing, the ci's bravado peak. The horses-race and the bow-like, the metaphor and the parallelism, the Dilu figuring the horse's swift spirit, the thunderbolt figuring the bowstring's startling sound, sight and sound together. The allusion (the Dilu) without trace, the image flying and voiced. Two lines extreme writing the soldiers' devotion and the victory's joy, pushing the above troop-mustering momentum to the enemy-killing climax, the romantic color strong. And precisely because the bravado reaches here, the below's alas, white hairs have grown's sudden fall the more crushing, the two's contrast precisely Xin's heroic-grief aesthetics core.

可怜白发生！

Alas, my hair has turned white!

可叹啊，满头白发已经丛生！

Alas, white hairs have grown!

全词九句铺张扬厉写尽梦中功业，至末句五字如巨斧劈空，一切豪壮尽归虚无。「可怜」为宋人口语，意即可叹。白发丛生是现实中年迈投闲的写照，与梦中「了却天下事」的壮年志业形成刺目对照。一声长叹收束全篇，由梦回真，由壮转悲，将报国无门、岁月蹉跎的沉痛凝于五字。此句被誉为辛词第一悲壮收束，其力不在声嘶力竭，而在大起大落后的余音不绝，令读者于壮阔处愈觉苍凉。

The whole ci's nine lines of extravagance writing the dream achievement to the full, to the close's five characters like a giant axe cleaving the void, all the bravado returning to the void. The word alas, the Song colloquialism, meaning the lamentable. The white hairs' growth the present old-age-idle portrait, forming the stabbing contrast with the dream's settling-the-world's-affairs prime years' ambition. One long sigh closing the whole piece, from the dream to the real, from the brave to the grief, gathering the country-serving-without-a-door and the years' wasted grief in five characters. This line acclaimed Xin's ci's first heroic-grief close, its force not in the voice's hoarseness, but in the great rise-and-fall's endless aftertone, making the reader in the grandness the more the bleakness.

Study

Word focus

挑 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「挑灯」之「挑」字极见炼字功力。灯焰将残，以杖拨亮，这一细微动作写出词人于醉中犹自清醒、于暗夜犹自寻觅光明的执拗。剑本静物，经「挑灯」而「看」，便由器物化为精神象征——那是恢复中原的利器，也是英雄失路的见证。一个「挑」字连起醉、灯、剑三者，于极静的动作中蓄极动的情怀，梦回连营的壮阔由此滋生。若易以「看灯看剑」则平板无味，正见此字不可移易。

可怜 Alas – expresses the abrupt turn from heroic dream to sorrowful reality. 「可怜白发生」中「可怜」是宋人常用口语，义为可叹、可惜，与今日怜悯之意有别。此词置于全篇收束处，既是叹老，更是叹志——叹白发已生而功业未就，叹平生壮志终成泡影。二字看似平淡，实则重千钧：它将前面所有豪壮的铺陈一笔兜转，使读者恍然明白所谓壮词原是一场梦、一声叹。这种以浅语写至痛的手法，正是辛词沉郁之所在，也是「可怜」二字在词史上最动人的一次使用。