齐天乐

Meaning

A lyric of memory and loss, written by the late Southern Song master Wu Wenying, at Xiling on the Qiantang River — the place of a love from ten years past. The smoke-waves of the Peach Leaves, the road of Xiling: the poet revisits the old traces, climbing the old willows, leaning on the crumbling pavilion, while the gulls gather and part. A cool breeze rises; the sails fly off in the mist, and the dusk hills hang green — but there are only the river flowers to face the autumn mirror with him, reflecting faded looks. The memory then surfaces: in the splendid hall, the candles dimmed, the guests sent off; her glance, her white arms like frozen jade, her fingers dipped in snow, the deep meaning of cutting the melon. The clear wine-cup is not yet washed; in his dream the cloud was not wetted, but vainly stained with remnant tears. And the close is the pity of the autumn night, amid the disorderly crickets and the sparse rain. The lyric is the classic expression of the love that survives its object — ten years later, at the same river, in the same autumn.

烟波桃叶西陵路，十年断魂潮尾。古柳重攀，轻鸥聚别，陈迹危亭独倚。凉飔乍起。渺烟碛飞帆，暮山横翠。但有江花，共临秋镜照憔悴。华堂烛暗送客，眼波回盼处，芳艳流水。素骨凝冰，柔葱蘸雪，犹忆分瓜深意。清尊未洗。梦不湿行云，漫沾残泪。可惜秋宵，乱蛩疏雨里。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The smoke-waves of the Peach Leaves, the road of Xiling — for ten years the tail of my broken heart's tide. I climb and grasp the old willows again; the light gulls gather and part; I lean on the crumbling pavilion over the old traces. A cool breeze suddenly rises. In the misty sand-flats the sails fly off; over the dusk hills a band of green hangs level. There are only the river flowers, facing the autumn mirror with me, reflecting our faded looks. In the splendid hall the candles dimmed, the guests sent off; where her eyes glanced back, the fragrant beauty flowed like water. Her white arms frozen jade, her soft fingers dipped in snow — I still remember the deep meaning of cutting the melon. The clear wine-cup is not yet washed; in my dream the moving cloud was not wetted, but vainly stained with remnant tears. What a pity this autumn night, amid the disorderly crickets and the sparse rain. [Structure and Thought] The lyric alternates between the present at the river (the willows, the gulls, the pavilion, the sails, the river flowers) and the memory of the hall (the dimmed candles, her glance, her arms, the melon), closing in the present of the autumn night. [Key Technique] The poem's art is the layering of memory and scene: every present object — the willows, the pavilion, the river flowers — is a hook that pulls up the past, and the remembered beauty flows like water through the present's faded mirror. [Emotional Tone] Refined, sensuous, and deeply mournful: the love of ten years ago is preserved in images of jade and snow and glancing eyes, and the pity of the autumn night is the whole confession.

【白话串讲】 吴文英写《齐天乐》：“烟波桃叶西陵路，十年断魂潮尾”——“古柳重攀，轻鸥聚别，陈迹危亭独倚”——“但有江花，共临秋镜照憔悴”——“华堂烛暗送客，眼波回盼处，芳艳流水”——他写旧情——十年断魂潮尾。 【意象与手法】 “烟波桃叶西陵路，十年断魂潮尾”以桃叶西陵写旧情；“古柳重攀，轻鸥聚别，陈迹危亭独倚”写陈迹独倚；“但有江花，共临秋镜照憔悴”以秋镜写憔悴；“华堂烛暗送客，眼波回盼处，芳艳流水”写眼波回盼；结以“可惜秋宵，乱蛩疏雨里”写乱蛩疏雨。含蓄深婉。 【情感与主旨】 吴文英写怀人伤别之作，写重过旧地、追忆当年送别的惆怅与别后相思，是梦窗词中怀人伤别的代表。 【名句点睛】 常考“烟波桃叶西陵路，十年断魂潮尾”以桃叶西陵写旧情；“华堂烛暗送客，眼波回盼处，芳艳流水”以眼波回盼写送别。

Allusions

'The Peach Leaves' (Taoye) is the name of the Qiantang ferry and the song of the ferryman's wife, the very name carrying the romance of the river; 'the tail of the broken heart's tide' (duanhun chao wei) is the tide of grief that has run ten years, its last waves still at the poet's heart. 'The autumn mirror' is the river seen as a mirror, in which the poet and the river flowers reflect their faded looks. 'The moving cloud' (xingyun) alludes to the goddess of Wu Mountain, the figure of the loved and lost; 'the dream not wetted by the cloud' is the dream in which the beloved does not appear — the separation preserved even in sleep.

词中「烟波桃叶西陵路」「十年断魂潮尾」「古柳重攀」「轻鸥聚别」「陈迹危亭独倚」「凉飔乍起」「烟碛飞帆」「暮山横翠」「江花临秋镜照憔悴」「华堂烛暗送客」「眼波回盼处」「芳艳流水」「素骨凝冰」「柔葱蘸雪」「犹忆分瓜深意」「清尊未洗」「梦不湿行云」「漫沾残泪」「可惜秋宵」「乱蛩疏雨里」等语，皆含典故故实。「烟波桃叶西陵路」用桃叶渡之典（桃叶为东晋王献之爱妾，桃叶渡在秦淮），写烟波桃叶西陵路；「十年断魂潮尾」写十年断魂潮尾；「古柳重攀」写古柳重攀；「轻鸥聚别」写轻鸥聚别；「陈迹危亭独倚」写陈迹危亭独倚；「凉飔乍起」写凉飔乍起；「烟碛飞帆」写烟碛飞帆；「暮山横翠」写暮山横翠；「江花临秋镜照憔悴」写江花共临秋镜照憔悴（秋镜为秋江如镜）；「华堂烛暗送客」写华堂烛暗送客（用《史记》「长信宫中」送客之意，亦写别时送客）；「眼波回盼处」写眼波回盼处；「芳艳流水」写芳艳流水；「素骨凝冰」写素骨凝冰；「柔葱蘸雪」写柔葱蘸雪（柔葱喻女子手指）；「犹忆分瓜深意」写犹忆分瓜深意（分瓜为女子破瓜之意，亦写分瓜之乐）；「清尊未洗」写清尊未洗；「梦不湿行云」用巫山神女行云之典，写梦不湿行云；「漫沾残泪」写漫沾残泪；「可惜秋宵」写可惜秋宵；「乱蛩疏雨里」写乱蛩疏雨里。词人以桃叶渡、巫山行云、柔葱、分瓜等典入词，不着痕迹，而把怀人伤别之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。

Commentary

This lyric is one of Wu Wenying's most celebrated works, quoted for the density and beauty of its memory. The image of the river flowers facing the autumn mirror with the poet — reflecting faded looks — is often cited as one of the finest in the late Song, and the memory of the hall, with its candles, its glances and its jade arms, is among the most sensuous in the history of the ci. Critics praise the lyric's layering of time: ten years of grief flowing like the tide beneath the present's calm surface.

这首《齐天乐》，是吴文英写怀人伤别之作，写烟波桃叶、陈迹独倚、乱蛩疏雨之情，含蓄深婉。上片写烟波桃叶与陈迹独倚：「烟波桃叶西陵路，十年断魂潮尾」——烟波桃叶西陵路（用桃叶渡之典），十年断魂潮尾。写烟波桃叶：烟波桃叶西陵路、十年断魂潮尾——烟波桃叶西陵路、十年断魂潮尾；「古柳重攀，轻鸥聚别，陈迹危亭独倚」——古柳重攀，轻鸥聚别，陈迹危亭独倚。写陈迹独倚：古柳重攀、轻鸥聚别，陈迹危亭独倚——古柳重攀、轻鸥聚别、危亭独倚；「凉飔乍起。渺烟碛飞帆，暮山横翠」——凉飔乍起，渺烟碛飞帆，暮山横翠。写凉飔乍起：凉飔乍起、渺烟碛飞帆，暮山横翠——凉飔乍起、飞帆横翠；「但有江花，共临秋镜照憔悴」——但有江花，共临秋镜照憔悴。写共临秋镜：但有江花、共临秋镜照憔悴——但有江花、临秋镜照憔悴。下片写眼波回盼与乱蛩疏雨：「华堂烛暗送客，眼波回盼处，芳艳流水」——华堂烛暗送客，眼波回盼处，芳艳流水。写眼波回盼：华堂烛暗送客、眼波回盼处，芳艳流水——烛暗送客、眼波回盼；「素骨凝冰，柔葱蘸雪，犹忆分瓜深意」——素骨凝冰，柔葱蘸雪，犹忆分瓜深意。写素骨凝冰：素骨凝冰、柔葱蘸雪，犹忆分瓜深意——素骨凝冰、柔葱蘸雪、犹忆分瓜；「清尊未洗。梦不湿行云，漫沾残泪」——清尊未洗，梦不湿行云（用巫山行云之典），漫沾残泪。写梦不湿行云：清尊未洗、梦不湿行云，漫沾残泪——清尊未洗、梦不湿行云、漫沾残泪；「可惜秋宵，乱蛩疏雨里」——可惜秋宵，乱蛩疏雨里。写乱蛩疏雨：可惜秋宵、乱蛩疏雨里——可惜秋宵、乱蛩疏雨。这「可惜秋宵，乱蛩疏雨里」，是全词之结：以乱蛩疏雨写其秋宵之愁。全词含蓄深婉，密丽以情，正是吴文英词中的名篇。

Prosody

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