宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
青玉案
Green Jade Table
一年春事几何空。
杏花红。
海棠红。
看取枝头，无语怨天公。
幸自一晴晴太暖，三日雨，五更风。
山中长自忆城中。
到城中。
望水东。
说尽闲情，无日不忽忽。
昨日也同花下饮，终有恨，不曾浓。
The apricot flowers are red,
The crab-apple flowers are red.
Look at the branch-tips, saying nothing, blaming Heaven.
Luckily one clear day, but it is too warm;
Three days of rain, and wind in the fifth watch.
In the mountains I was always thinking of the city;
When I come to the city,
I gaze at the water flowing east.
I speak out all my idle feelings — there is not a day that is not hurried.
Yesterday, too, I drank beneath the flowers,
But in the end there was regret: it was never deep enough.
Meaning
A lyric of the passing of spring and the hurry of life, written by the Northern Song master Ouyang Xiu. A year of spring affairs — how much of it comes to nothing? The apricot and crab-apple flowers are red on the branch-tips, but the speaker can only look and blame Heaven in silence. The weather itself is against the spring: one clear day, but too warm; then three days of rain and wind in the fifth watch. In the mountains he was always thinking of the city; in the city he gazes at the water flowing east. He speaks out all his idle feelings — there is not a day that is not hurried. Yesterday too he drank beneath the flowers, but in the end there was regret: it was never deep enough. The lyric is the classic complaint of the man who cannot hold the moment, who is always elsewhere, always hurried, and whose pleasures are never deep enough.
一年春事，究竟空了多少。杏花红。海棠红。看取枝头，无语怨天公。幸而一晴，却又晴得太暖；三日雨，五更风。山中长自忆城中。到城中。望水向东。说尽闲情，无日不匆匆。昨日也同花下饮，终有恨，不曾浓。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] A year's spring affairs — how much comes to nothing? The apricots are red, the crab-apples red. Look at the branch-tips — saying nothing, blaming Heaven. Luckily one clear day, but too warm; three days of rain, and wind in the fifth watch. In the mountains I was always thinking of the city; in the city I gaze at the water flowing east. I tell all my idle feelings — no day is not hurried. Yesterday too I drank under the flowers, but in the end there was regret: it was never deep enough. [Structure and Thought] The lyric moves through the three frustrations of the spring-lover: the flowers that cannot be held, the weather that will not cooperate, and the place that is always the other place — the mountains thinking of the city, the city thinking of the eastward water. The close sums the whole: every pleasure is hurried and never deep enough. [Key Technique] The poem's art is the accumulation of small frustrations to a philosophical close: the red flowers, the bad weather, the wrong place, the hurried days — all gathered in the final confession, 'it was never deep enough.' [Emotional Tone] Restless and regretful: the lyric is the complaint of the man who can never be where he is, whose spring is always slipping away.
【白话串讲】 欧阳修写《青玉案》：“一年春事几何空。杏花红。海棠红”——“看取枝头，无语怨天公”——“山中长自忆城中。到城中。望水东”——“说尽闲情，无日不忽忽”——他写春事——一年春事几何空。 【意象与手法】 “一年春事几何空。杏花红。海棠红”以杏花海棠写春事；“看取枝头，无语怨天公”写对春之怨；“山中长自忆城中。到城中。望水东”写山中忆城之况；结以“昨日也同花下饮，终有恨，不曾浓”写赏春之憾。于伤春中见惜时之慨。 【情感与主旨】 欧阳修写伤春惜时之作，写春事将空、时光匆匆之慨与赏春之憾，体现欧阳修词婉约深挚的风格。 【名句点睛】 常考“一年春事几何空。杏花红。海棠红”以杏花海棠写春事将空；“昨日也同花下饮，终有恨，不曾浓”写赏春之憾。
Background
Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072), courtesy name Yongshu, styled himself the Old Drunkard of the Six Ones, was one of the supreme literary figures of the Northern Song — a statesman, historian, and the leader of the literary reform that produced Su Shi; he was also one of the great lyricists of the age. This lyric, written during one of his periods of provincial service, expresses the characteristic restlessness of the official who cannot settle: thinking of the city from the mountains, of the eastward water from the city, and finding every spring hurried and shallow.
《青玉案》为北宋词人欧阳修所作词。欧阳修（1007—1072），字永叔，号醉翁、六一居士，吉州永丰（今江西永丰）人，北宋政治家、文学家，「唐宋八大家」之一，诗文革新的领袖。此词写伤春惜时。词中「一年春事几何空。杏花红。海棠红」写春事之盛而将空；「看取枝头，无语怨天公」写对春之怨；「幸自一晴晴太暖，三日雨，五更风」写春之风雨不调；「山中长自忆城中。到城中。望水东」写山中忆城之况；「说尽闲情，无日不忽忽」写时光匆匆；「昨日也同花下饮，终有恨，不曾浓」写赏春之憾。欧阳修此词以春事将空、时光匆匆写惜时之慨，于伤春中见感慨，含蓄婉转，是欧阳修婉约词中的名篇，也是其「深婉不迫」词风的典型体现。此篇《青玉案》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 the art of the unappeased longing. The opening question sets the tone: 'a year of spring affairs — how much comes to nothing?' The red flowers are then shown in their double red — apricot and crab-apple — the very abundance of the spring making its passing more bitter. The weather stanza is the poem's small masterpiece of frustration: one clear day but too warm, then three days of rain and wind in the fifth watch — the spring can never be caught at its best. The third stanza turns to place: in the mountains, thinking of the city; in the city, gazing at the eastward water — the perpetual elsewhere of the restless heart. The close confesses the whole: every pleasure hurried, and in the end, never deep enough.
此词艺术上以「以短句写情、伤春惜时」见长。全词上片写春事将空与对春之怨，下片写山中忆城与赏春之憾。上片「一年春事几何空。杏花红。海棠红」写春事之盛而将空：一年春事究竟空了多少，杏花红，海棠红；「看取枝头，无语怨天公」写对春之怨：看取枝头，无语怨天公；「幸自一晴晴太暖，三日雨，五更风」写春之风雨不调：幸而一晴却又晴得太暖，三日雨，五更风。下片「山中长自忆城中。到城中。望水东」写山中忆城之况：山中长自忆城中，到城中，望水向东；「说尽闲情，无日不忽忽」写时光匆匆：说尽闲情，无日不匆匆；「昨日也同花下饮，终有恨，不曾浓」写赏春之憾：昨日也同花下饮，终有恨，不曾浓。全词以短句写情，伤春惜时，是欧阳修婉约词中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。
Allusions
The 'fifth watch' (wugeng) is the last watch of the night, just before dawn — the hour of the wind that destroys the flowers, the conventional destroyer of spring in Chinese verse. 'Gazing at the water flowing east' carries the ancient image of the eastward river as the passing of time — the water that never returns, the emblem of the irrecoverable. 'Blaming Heaven' (yuan tiangong) is the old gesture of the frustrated mortal, from the folk song tradition of the unjust sky.
词中「杏花」「海棠」「天公」「花下饮」等语，皆含典故故实。「杏花」「海棠」为春之花信，「杏花红，海棠红」写春事之盛；「天公」指天，「无语怨天公」写对春之风雨不调而无言怨天；「花下饮」为古人赏春饮酒之习，「昨日也同花下饮」写昨日花下饮酒。词人以杏花海棠、天公、花下饮等意象入词，不着痕迹，而把春事将空、时光匆匆之慨写得真切可感，是善于熔铸意象的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。
Commentary
This lyric is one of Ouyang Xiu's most personal works, quoted for its frank confession of the restless heart. The closing line — 'in the end there was regret: it was never deep enough' — is often cited as the perfect expression of the man who cannot hold the moment, and the poem as a whole is read as a key to Ouyang's character: the official who served everywhere and was never content, whose spring was always slipping away.
这首《青玉案》，是欧阳修写伤春惜时之作，写春事将空、时光匆匆之慨，含蓄婉转。上片写春事将空与对春之怨：「一年春事几何空。杏花红。海棠红」——一年春事，究竟空了多少。杏花红。海棠红。以「一年春事几何空」发问，写春事之将空；以「杏花红。海棠红」两个短句，写春事之盛——杏花红、海棠红，一片繁盛，然而这繁盛，正要空去；「看取枝头，无语怨天公」——看取枝头，无语怨天公。看那枝头，无语而怨天公，怨这春光留不住；「幸自一晴晴太暖，三日雨，五更风」——幸而一晴，却又晴得太暖；三日雨，五更风。写春之风雨不调，晴又太暖，雨又太多，正是不遂人愿。下片写山中忆城与赏春之憾：「山中长自忆城中。到城中。望水东」——山中长自忆城中。到城中。望水向东。写山中忆城、到了城中又望水东流，何处可安；「说尽闲情，无日不忽忽」——说尽闲情，无日不匆匆。写时光匆匆，无日不匆匆；「昨日也同花下饮，终有恨，不曾浓」——昨日也同花下饮，终有恨，不曾浓。写昨日也曾在花下饮酒，然而终有遗憾——不曾尽兴。这「不曾浓」，是全词之眼：赏春饮酒，终有憾恨，不曾尽兴，正如这春事，终究要空。全词以短句写情，伤春惜时，正是欧阳修「深婉不迫」词风的典型，也是其婉约词中的名篇。
Prosody
Line by line
一年春事几何空。
A year of spring affairs — how much of it comes to nothing?
一年春事，究竟空了多少。
How much of the year's spring has slipped to nothing.
首句以发问写春事将空，起笔即见其慨。「一年春事几何空」写一年春事究竟空了多少，「一年春事」写一年的春事，「几何空」写其空了多少——以「几何」发问，写春事之将空、之易空。一句以问起笔，写春事易空之慨，起笔便定下伤春惜时之调，为全词写春事将空、时光匆匆作了铺垫，是「以问起兴」的妙笔。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 opening asks how much of the year's spring has already turned to nothing, setting the spring-grief and time-pity tone at the first stroke. The question mark turns the observation of the fading season into a lament: the spring's fragility and ease of slipping away are rendered in one plain inquiry, storing the ground for the whole ci's spring's-end melancholy.
看取枝头，无语怨天公。
Look at the branch-tips, saying nothing, blaming Heaven.
看取枝头，无语怨天公。
Look at the branches, speechless, blaming Heaven.
此二句写对春之怨，是全词写怨的关键。「看取枝头」写看取枝头，「看取」写其注目而看，「枝头」写枝头之花；「无语怨天公」写无语怨天公，「无语」写其无言，「怨天公」写其怨天——怨这春光留不住、春事将空。两句一写看枝头、一写怨天公，看那枝头繁花而怨天公，以「无语怨」写其怨之深而无从诉，怨春光易逝、怨天公不作美。以怨写惜，含蓄而深挚，是「以怨写情」的妙笔。
These two lines write the resentment at spring. Looking at the branches speechless, blaming Heaven: the speaker gazes at the flowering boughs and, without a word, reproaches Heaven itself for the spring's fleeing. The speechless blame writes a grief with nowhere to pour itself out — resentment at the fleeting season, at Heaven's unkindness. Writing the treasuring of spring through resentment, restrained and deep, a fine brush of feeling-through-grievance.
说尽闲情，无日不忽忽。
I speak out all my idle feelings — there is not a day that is not hurried.
说尽闲情，无日不匆匆。
Idle feeling spoken to the end; not a day but hurries by.
此二句写时光匆匆，是全词写惜时的关键。「说尽闲情」写说尽闲情，「闲情」写其闲适之情，「说尽」写其说之已尽；「无日不忽忽」写无日不匆匆，「无日不」写没有一日不是，「忽忽」写时光匆匆。两句一写闲情说尽、一写无日不匆匆，以「说尽」写闲情之尽、以「无日不忽忽」写时光之匆匆，写尽时光飞逝之慨——纵有闲情，亦无日不匆匆。以「无日不」写时光之快，含蓄而有力，是「以时间写慨」的点睛之笔。
These two lines write the hurrying of time, the ci's time-pity key. The idle feeling spoken to the end, and yet not a day but hurries by: the poet has uttered all his leisure's mood, and still the days race on. The negation no day but renders the time's flight, the feeling that even with all the idle talk and the spring, not a single day is stayed. Writing the time's swiftness through the double negation, restrained and forceful.
昨日也同花下饮，终有恨，不曾浓。
Yesterday, too, I drank beneath the flowers, but in the end there was regret: it was never deep enough.
昨日也同花下饮，终有恨，不曾浓。
Yesterday I too drank beneath the flowers; yet some regret remained, and the joy never deepened.
尾三句写赏春之憾，是全词立意的落点。「昨日也同花下饮」写昨日也曾在花下饮酒，「昨日」写赏春饮酒之事，「也同花下饮」写其亦曾花下饮酒；「终有恨，不曾浓」写终有遗憾，不曾尽兴，「终有恨」写终有遗憾，「不曾浓」写不曾尽兴。三句一写花下饮酒之事、一写终有恨、一写不曾浓，写其赏春饮酒终有遗憾——纵在花下饮酒，也终有恨，不曾尽兴，正如这春事，终究要空。以「不曾浓」作结，含蓄深婉，是全词最动人处，也是「以憾写情」的点睛之笔。
The closing three lines write the regret of the spring enjoyment, the landing of the ci's theme. Yesterday too I drank beneath the flowers; yet some regret remained, and the joy never deepened: the day's flower-drinking, though of itself fair, ended with a lingering regret — the pleasure never reaching intensity, just as this spring season must in the end turn to nothing. Closing on the joy-never-deepened, restrained and graceful, the ci's most moving place.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Yan Shu's 'Silk-Washing Stream' — 'the falling flowers are independent' — is the philosophical lyric of the passing spring; Ouyang Xiu's 'Green Jade Table' is the more restless version — the spring affairs coming to nothing, the days hurried, and the drinking never deep enough.
晏殊《浣溪沙·一曲新词酒一杯》「无可奈何花落去，似曾相识燕归来。小园香径独徘徊」，写春逝之无可奈何与惜时之感，是宋词写春的名篇；欧阳修《青玉案》则以「一年春事几何空。杏花红。海棠红」「说尽闲情，无日不忽忽」写春事将空、时光匆匆。两词同写春逝惜时之感：一以花落燕归写春逝之叹、从容含蓄，一以杏花海棠与几何空写春空之慨、深婉流转；一为宰相之温润、一为醉翁之深婉，并读正可见宋初词人写春「叹逝」与「惜时」两种情怀，皆于伤春中见时光之慨。
欧阳修·浪淘沙·把酒祝东风 Waves Washing the Sand: Holding the Wine Cup, I Offer It to the East Wind 欧阳修 · 同出欧阳修之手，同写把酒赏春，一以今年花胜去年红写惜春、一以终有恨不曾浓写赏春之憾，皆以酒花写春情 Both are Ouyang Xiu's lyrics of the spring and the wine — the cup offered to the east wind, the drinking beneath the flowers that was never deep enough.Ouyang Xiu's 'Waves Washing the Sand' — 'holding the wine cup, I offer it to the east wind' — is the same poet's famous lyric of the spring's passing; 'Green Jade Table' is its companion — the spring affairs counted empty, the days hurried, and the regret that the joy was never deep enough.
欧阳修《欧阳修·浪淘沙·把酒祝东风》「把酒祝东风，且共从容」「今年花胜去年红，可惜明年花更好，知与谁同」，写把酒惜春、感慨聚散，是宋词写春的名篇；《青玉案》则以「昨日也同花下饮，终有恨，不曾浓」写花下饮酒、终有遗恨。两词同出欧阳修之手、同写把酒赏春：一以「今年花胜去年红」写惜春、感慨聚散，一以「终有恨不曾浓」写赏春之憾、深婉不迫；一为惜春、一为伤春，并读正可见欧阳修婉约词写春情的两种情味，皆以酒花写春情。