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生查子·元夕

Raw Hawthorn: The Lantern Festival Night (Yuanxi)

欧阳修

Ouyang Xiu

爱情Love 时序Time and Season 抒情Lyric

去年元夜时，花市灯如昼。
月到柳梢头，人约黄昏后。
今年元夜时，月与灯依旧。
不见去年人，泪满春衫袖。

Last year, on the Lantern Festival night,
The lanterns of the flower market were bright as day.
The moon came to the tip of the willow,
And he was promised, after the dusk.
This year, on the Lantern Festival night,
The moon and the lanterns are as before.
I do not see the one of last year,
And my tears fill the sleeves of my spring robe.

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Meaning

A ci writing the feeling of the past and the present of the Lantern Festival, generally attributed to Ouyang Xiu. The structure of the two halves is exactly the same—the time, the scene, the deed, and the feeling—yet the feeling wholly changes, forming the sharp contrast of the past and the present. The first half, 'last year, on the Lantern Festival night,' writes the past: the lanterns bright as day and the promise after the dusk, the happy memory. The second half, 'this year, on the Lantern Festival night,' writes the present: the moon and the lanterns as before and the one of last year unseen, the lonely reality. 'The moon and the lanterns are as before' is the key of the whole ci: the constancy of the scene against the change of the human affairs, the change written with the constancy, the feeling of the thing the same and the person gone the deeper. 'I do not see the one of last year' points out the theme in five characters, and 'my tears fill the sleeves of my spring robe' closes with the tears, the grief not spoken yet filling the page.

去年元宵之夜，花市上灯火辉煌，亮得如同白昼一般。月亮升上柳树梢头的时候，我们相约在黄昏之后。今年元宵之夜，月亮与灯火依然和去年一样明亮如旧。可是再也见不到去年相约的那个人了，我的眼泪止不住地流淌，沾满了春衫的衣袖。

Appreciation

The structure of the whole ci is most exquisite: the two halves are exactly the same in form (the time—the scene—the deed—the feeling), yet the feeling wholly changes, forming the sharp contrast of the past and the present. The first half, 'last year, on the Lantern Festival night,' writes the past: the lanterns bright as day, the promise after the dusk, the happy memory. The second half, 'this year, on the Lantern Festival night,' writes the present: the lanterns as before, the person unseen, the lonely reality. 'The moon and the lanterns are as before' is the key of the whole ci: the constancy of the scene against the change of the human affairs, the change written with the constancy, the feeling of the thing the same and the person gone the deeper. 'I do not see the one of last year' points out the theme in five characters, and 'my tears fill the sleeves of my spring robe' closes with the tears, the grief not spoken yet filling the page. In language the whole uses the plain words of the spoken language ('the Lantern Festival night,' 'bright as day,' 'as before,' 'do not see,' 'tears fill'), the popular song-like repetition, the most moving in the plainness.

【白话串讲】欧阳修写元夕：“去年元夜时，花市灯如昼。月到柳梢头，人约黄昏后”——去年元宵，他约了心上人。“今年元夜时，月与灯依旧。不见去年人，泪满春衫袖”——今年元宵，人却不见了。【意象与手法】全词最妙在章法：上下片结构全同（时—景—事—情），只易数字，而情感全变，形成鲜明的今昔对照。「月与灯依旧」以景物之不变反衬人事之变，物是人非之感愈深；「不见去年人」点破题旨，「泪满春衫袖」以泪收束，不言悲而悲已满纸。语言全用口语化的平常语，深得民歌复沓之妙。【情感与主旨】此词写元宵灯市的一场爱情得失：去年元夜灯下相约，今年元夜灯前独归，人面不知何处，唯泪满春衫。四十字写尽爱情得而复失的怅惘，是「物是人非」母题最精练的表达，也是写元宵佳节最动人的词章之一。【名句点睛】「月上柳梢头，人约黄昏后」是千古传诵的名句，月、柳、人、约四者交织，已成为中国人表达约会的经典语言；「泪满春衫袖」则以一个细节写尽失恋之痛，乐景写哀，愈见其悲。

Background

The ci writes the feeling of the past and the present of the Lantern Festival; generally attributed to Ouyang Xiu (some attribute it to Zhu Shuzhen; the Ming Yang Shen, in his Grading of Ci, holds the Zhu attribution, yet the Ouyang attribution is more widely circulated, and most now follow Ouyang). The Lantern Festival is the traditional festival of the lanterns of China: from the Han it lit the lanterns on the night of the first full moon to worship the gods, and in the Tang and the Song it flourished—the Tang 'the golden guards relaxed the ban,' and the men and the women wandered abroad; the Song even more 'the five nights of the lantern city,' the streets emptied of the ten thousand, the only festival when the women of old could go out at night, hence the lantern market of the festival was also the good time of the meeting of the young men and the women. This ci of Ouyang Xiu writes exactly such a meeting and the missed meeting of the lantern market: the promise by the lanterns of the last year, the lone return before the lanterns of this year, the face of the one unknown where, only the tears filling the sleeves. Ouyang Xiu's official career rose and fell through the three reigns of Renzong, Yingzong, and Shenzong, rising to Vice Director of the Secretariat, the leader of the Northern Song literary world, his ci warm and tender with the deep feeling, paired with Yan Shu as 'Yan and Ou'; this ci, with the popular song-like repetition writing the gain and the loss of the love, is a fine piece of the little song.

此词写元宵佳节的今昔之感，一般题为欧阳修作（亦有题朱淑真作者，明代杨慎《词品》即主朱说，然欧说流传更广，今多从欧阳修）。元宵是中国传统的灯节，自汉代起于上元夜张灯祭神，唐宋时极盛：唐代「金吾弛禁」，士女游观；宋代更是「五夜灯城」，万人空巷，是古代女子唯一可以出门夜游的节日，故元宵灯市也是青年男女相会的良辰。欧阳修此词写的正是这样一场灯市中的约会与失约：去年元夜灯下相约，今年元夜灯前独归，人面不知何处，唯泪满春衫。欧阳修一生仕途起伏，历仁宗、英宗、神宗三朝，官至参知政事，为北宋文坛领袖，其词于温婉中见深情，与晏殊并称「晏欧」；此词以民歌式的复沓结构写爱情的得而复失，是小令中的千古名篇，亦见这位文坛宗主心中亦有最柔软的一角。就作者归属而言，此词一作朱淑真词，明代杨慎《词品》主朱说，清代亦有学者存疑；无论作者为谁，词中「去年」「今年」的对照与「泪满春衫袖」的真情，都说明作者曾亲历一场刻骨铭心的元夜之约，其情之真，正是此词千年传诵的根本。

Art

The structure is most exquisite: the two halves exactly the same in form, the feeling wholly changed, the sharp contrast of the past and the present. The 'the moon and the lanterns are as before' is the key: the constancy of the scene against the change of the human affairs, the feeling of the thing the same and the person gone the deeper. 'I do not see the one of last year' points out the theme, and the tears close, the grief not spoken yet filling the page. The plain words of the spoken language and the popular song-like repetition, the most moving in the plainness.

全词的章法极其精巧：上下片结构全同（时—景—事—情），而情感全变，形成鲜明的今昔对照。上片「去年元夜时」写昔：灯如昼、人相约，是欢乐的回忆；下片「今年元夜时」写今：灯依旧、人不见，是孤独的现实。「月与灯依旧」是全词的关键：景物的不变反衬人事的变，以不变写变，物是人非之感愈深；「不见去年人」五字点破题旨，而「泪满春衫袖」以泪收束，不言悲而悲已满纸。语言上全用口语化的平常语（「元夜时」「如昼」「依旧」「不见」「泪满」），无一奇字，而情真意切，深得民歌复沓之神；「去年」「今年」的重复，「灯」「月」的重现，使全词如一首反复吟唱的民谣，愈唱愈悲。此词在小令中以结构取胜，四十字写尽一场爱情的始终，是「以少总多」的典范；上下片严丝合缝的对照结构，更被无数后人效仿，成为今昔对照抒情最经典的范式。全词还有一个不容忽视的细节：上下片都未直接写「人」的悲喜，而去年的「人约」与今年的「不见」，全靠「灯」「月」「柳」等景物侧面写出，人物的悲欢隐于景物的对照之后，愈含蓄愈动人，正是小令「以景写情」的典范，亦民歌体「言浅意深」的长处。

Allusions

The images of the ci all have a deep cultural tradition: the 'Lantern Festival night' is the first full moon, originating in the worship of the Great One of Emperor Wu of Han and the Buddhist custom of the lighting of the lamps, by the Tang and the Song the greatest festival of the lanterns of China, 'the golden guards do not ban the night,' the men and the women like clouds, the traditional scene of the birth of the love (Su Weidao's 'On the fifteenth night of the first month' of the Tang, 'the fire trees and the silver flowers join, the star bridge and the iron lock open,' writes the splendor of the lantern market); the 'moon' of 'the moon came to the tip of the willow' is the matchmaker of the longing (Xie Zhuang's 'Rhapsody on the Moon,' 'separated by a thousand li, sharing the bright moon'), and the willow of 'the tip of the willow' carries the meaning of the lingering (the willow homophonous with the 'lingering,' the breaking of the willow for the farewell), the scene of the promise beneath the willow in the moonlight the most romantic of the traditional meetings.

词中意象皆有深厚的文化传统：「元夜」即元宵，源于汉武帝太一祭祀与佛教燃灯之俗，至唐宋成为中国最盛大的灯节，「金吾不禁夜」，士女如云，是爱情萌生的传统场景（唐人苏味道《正月十五夜》「火树银花合，星桥铁锁开」写灯市之盛）；「月到柳梢头」之「月」是相思之媒（谢庄《月赋》「隔千里兮共明月」），「柳梢」之柳则暗含留恋之意（柳谐「留」，折柳赠别之俗），月与柳并置，写出约会时刻的温馨与缱绻；「黄昏后」点出约会之时，而黄昏亦是古代诗词中最易动情的时刻（李商隐「夕阳无限好，只是近黄昏」）；「灯如昼」以白昼喻灯火，写灯市之盛；「春衫」则是春日的衣衫，泪满春衫，春光与泪光相映，愈见其悲。全词用典用俗皆化于无痕，民俗、传统、情感融为一体，是词中写节日爱情的经典；正月十五「月上柳梢头」的约会场景，更已成为中国文化中爱情的原型画面。就民俗而言，元夜张灯之俗至宋尤盛：孟元老《东京梦华录》记汴京元宵「灯山上彩，金碧相射」，士女「嬉游达旦」，更兼「诸营班院，于法不得夜游，各以竹竿出灯球于半空」，其盛况空前；此词「花市灯如昼」正是这一盛况的写照，而越是繁华的节日背景，越衬出词人独自垂泪的孤寂，民俗之乐与个人之悲，对照成文。

Commentary

This ci is one of the twin masterpieces of the Song ci on the Lantern Festival (the other being Xin Qiji's 'Green Jade Cup: Lantern Festival Night'), and a masterpiece of a thousand years on 'the thing the same and the person gone': the contrast of the structure of the two halves is most clever, forty characters writing the gain and the loss of the love, imitated by countless later writers. 'The moon came to the tip of the willow, and he was promised, after the dusk' is a famous line recited for a thousand years, already the classic language of the Chinese for the meeting and the love, quoted by countless operas, novels, and songs.

此词是宋词中写元宵的双璧之一（另一首为辛弃疾《青玉案·元夕》），也是写「物是人非」的千古名篇：上下片的结构对照极其巧妙，四十字写尽爱情的得而复失，被无数后人效仿。「月上柳梢头，人约黄昏后」是千古传诵的名句，已成为中国人表达约会与爱情的经典语言，被无数戏曲、小说、歌曲引用；「泪满春衫袖」则以一个细节写尽失恋之痛，不言悲而悲自深。词中「去年」「今年」的对照，是中国文学「今昔之感」的最精练表达，与晏殊「无可奈何花落去」同为宋人对时光与人事的深沉感慨，而此词更专注于爱情，情感更集中、更动人。在词史上，此词以民歌之体入词，以结构之巧胜人，是小令艺术的极致；它用最平淡的语言、最对称的结构，写出了人类共通的爱情记忆——元宵灯火年年相似，而人事已非，这种怅惘超越时代，故能千年传诵。此词与崔护《题都城南庄》一同奠定了中国文学「今昔对照」的抒情范式：后之作者如晏几道「去年春恨却来时」、纳兰性德「人生若只如初见」，皆于此寻源；而「月上柳梢头，人约黄昏后」两句，更已成为中华文化中约会与爱情的经典符号，其文化影响力早已超出文学本身。

Prosody

Form Tune 'Raw Hawthorn' (double, forty characters)词牌《生查子》（双调四十字）

Rhyme Rhymes on oblique tones: zhou, hou (first half), jiu, xiu (second half), all on the 'ou' rhyme, the falling and the rising tones joined押仄声韵：昼、后（上片），旧、袖（下片）——昼、旧、袖为去声宥韵，后为上声有韵，上去通押，皆「ou」韵（词韵上声二十五有与去声二十六宥通押）；韵脚低沉含蓄，正合物是人非之叹。

Tone pattern The first half is bright and warm, the memory of the meeting; the second half turns, 'the moon and the lanterns are as before' is even, 'I do not see the one of last year' turns abruptly, and 'my tears fill the sleeves of my spring robe' falls soft—the whole from the brightness to the tears, the contrast of the past and the present carried by the rhythm上下片句式全同（五、五、五、五），结构对称复沓，如民歌之重唱；「去年」「今年」对起，一唱一叹，语调平缓而情感递进，恰如一首低回的民谣。

Reading note The 'ou' rhyme and the even, flowing tone carry the contrast of the past and the present, the bright memory and the lonely reality.《生查子》为双调小令，上下片各四句两仄韵，句式整齐（两五言句式居多），本近于五言诗。欧阳修此词的声情特色在于「复沓」：上下片句式全同，「去年元夜时」与「今年元夜时」只易一字，如民歌的重唱段，一唱而乐，再唱而哀，同一曲调，两样情怀，复沓的声音结构本身就在演奏时间的流逝与人事的变迁。用韵上，昼、旧、袖为去声，后为上声，上去通押，韵脚皆收于闭口的「ou」音，低沉、含蓄、绵长，正合结句「泪满春衫袖」的呜咽之情；「后」「袖」同韵相呼，上下片以同韵相结，声情回环，如叹如泣。全词四十字，无一长句，无一领字，纯以短句平叙，节奏均匀而情感递增，恰如一首低回的民谣，在简单的句式中蕴藏无限的深情；上片的轻快（昼、后）与下片的沉郁（旧、袖）在韵脚上形成微妙对照，正是小令以简驭繁、以声传情的典范。

Line by line

去年元夜时，花市灯如昼。

Last year, on the Lantern Festival night, the lanterns of the flower market were bright as day. (The first half, the past: the lanterns bright as day, the happy memory of the meeting, the brightness of the scene.)

去年元宵之夜，花市上灯火辉煌，亮得如同白昼一般。

Last year on the Lantern night, the flower market's lamps shone bright as day.

起句以「去年」二字点明追忆，定下全词「今昔对照」的框架：「元夜时」点出时令，是上元灯节；「花市灯如昼」写灯市之盛——「花市」见市集之繁华，元宵夜的花市，百货杂陈、游人如织；「灯如昼」以白昼喻灯火，夸张而贴切，写出万人空巷、火树银花的节日盛况。此句写昔年之乐，越是繁华热烈，越为下片「今年」的冷清孤寂作反衬；且「如昼」之明亮，正为「月到柳梢头」的幽会蓄势——灯火的喧嚣之后，才是月光下的私语，一闹一静，层次分明。以「去年」开篇，如翻开记忆的相册，一切历历在目；而越是清晰地记得去年的繁华，越显出今年的冷清，乐景写哀，其势已定。

The opening using the last-year two words to name the recollection, setting the whole ci's present-past-contrast frame: the Lantern-night time naming the season, the Shangyuan lantern festival; the flower-market-lamps-as-bright-as-day writing the lantern market's splendor — the flower market seeing the market's bustle, the Lantern night's flower market, the hundred goods' mingling and the visitors' throng; the lamps-as-bright-as-day using the daytime for the lamps, the exaggeration and yet apt, writing the emptying-the-streets and fire-trees-and-silver-flowers festival splendor. This line writing the past year's joy, the more the splendor and warmth, the more it sets off the second stanza's this-year's coldness and solitude; and the as-bright-as-day's brightness, precisely storing the force for the moon-to-the-willow-tip's secret tryst — after the lanterns' bustle, comes the moonlight's private speech, one bustle one stillness, the layers clear. Opening on the last-year, like opening the memory's album, everything vivid; and the more the clear remembering of last year's splendor, the more this year's coldness seen, the delighted-scene-writes-grief, the force set.

月到柳梢头，人约黄昏后。

The moon came to the tip of the willow, and he was promised, after the dusk. (The famous line: the promise beneath the willow in the moonlight, the most romantic of the traditional meetings, the scene of the love of the last year.)

月亮升上柳树梢头的时候，我们相约在黄昏之后。

When the moon climbed to the willow's tip, we had our tryst after dusk.

这是全词最著名的两句，写尽约会的温馨与浪漫：「月到柳梢头」写时间与景致——月上柳梢，是黄昏后、入夜初的时刻，月色与柳影相映，清幽而朦胧，是情人相会的最美时刻；「人约黄昏后」写事件与心情——「约」字点出约定，「黄昏后」与「月上柳梢」呼应，写约会的时刻与情调。两句以景起、以事承，月、柳、人、约，四者交织，写出花市喧嚣之外一处宁静的幽会：灯市是众人的狂欢，柳梢月下是两个人的世界；「约」字尤其动人，一个约定，是期待、是承诺、是两情相悦的证据。且「月上柳梢头」的画面已成为中国爱情文学的经典意象，后人多用以写约会；今日读来，仍能感到那份期待与甜蜜——而甜蜜愈深，下片「不见去年人」的失落愈重。

These two lines are the whole ci's most famous pair, exhausting the tryst's warmth and romance: When the moon climbed to the willow's tip writes the time and the scene — the moon on the willow tip, the after-dusk and first-night hour, the moonlight and willow shadow's answering, the seclusion and dimness, the lovers' meeting's most beautiful moment; we had our tryst after dusk writes the event and the feeling — the appoint word naming the tryst, the after-dusk's answering with the moon-on-the-willow, writing the tryst's moment and grace. Two lines, rising on scene and inheriting on event, the moon, the willow, the person, and the tryst, the four interwoven, writing the flower-market-bustle's outside one quiet secret tryst: the lantern market the crowd's revelry, the willow-tip moonlight the two's world; the appoint word especially moving, one appointment, the expectation, the promise, and the mutual love's evidence. And the moon-on-the-willow-tip picture already become Chinese love literature's classic image, the later people's mostly using it for the tryst; reading it today, still feeling that expectation and sweetness — and the sweetness the deeper, the second stanza's the-person-not-seen-last-year loss the heavier.

今年元夜时，月与灯依旧。

This year, on the Lantern Festival night, the moon and the lanterns are as before. (The key of the whole ci: the constancy of the scene against the change of the human affairs, the change written with the constancy, the feeling of the thing the same and the person gone the deeper.)

今年元宵之夜，月亮与灯火依然和去年一样明亮如旧。

This year on the Lantern night, the moon and the lamps are as before.

下片起句以「今年」与上片「去年」对起，结构完全照应，而只改一词：「花市灯如昼」变为「月与灯依旧」——灯依旧，月依旧，节日的繁华依旧，一切外在都没有变；但「依旧」二字正是全词最沉重的字眼：景物的不变，反衬人事之变，越是依旧，越是无情，物是人非之感，由此逼出。「月与灯」并提，涵盖上片「灯如昼」与「月到柳梢」两景，景物全在而人事全非；「依旧」是口语，平平说出，不带任何修饰，而正因其平淡，才更显时光流逝的残酷与无可奈何。词人重游元夜灯市，满目繁华如昨，而心中人已不在，热闹是别人的，孤独是自己的，一个「依旧」写尽时光的顽固与记忆的沉重，为下句「不见去年人」作了最充分的铺垫，是「以不变写万变」的典范。

The second stanza's opening setting the this-year against the first stanza's last-year, the structure fully matching, and yet changing only one word: the flower-market-lamps-as-bright-as-day turning into the moon-and-lamps-as-before — the lamps as before, the moon as before, the festival's splendor as before, everything outer unchanged; and yet the as-before two words precisely the whole ci's heaviest word: the scenery's unchange, setting off the affairs' change, the more the as-before, the more the heartless, the thing-is-there-and-person-is-not feeling, hence driven out. The moon-and-lamps together, covering the first stanza's the-lamps-as-bright-as-day and the moon-to-the-willow two scenes, the scenery all present and the affairs all changed; the as-before the colloquial, spoken plainly, no ornament, and precisely because of the plainness, the time's passing cruelty and helplessness the clearer. The poet revisiting the Lantern night market, the splendor before the eyes as of old, and the heart's person already gone, the bustle is others' and the loneliness is one's own, the one word as-before exhausting the time's stubbornness and the memory's weight, storing the fullest ground for the below's the-person-not-seen-last-year, the unchange-writes-the-change-all model.

不见去年人，泪满春衫袖。

I do not see the one of last year, and my tears fill the sleeves of my spring robe. (The close: the five characters point out the theme, and the tears close, the grief not spoken yet filling the page.)

却再也见不到去年相约的那个人了，我的眼泪止不住地流淌，沾满了春衫的衣袖。

The person of last year is nowhere seen; my tears run on and wet the spring robe's sleeves.

结句点破题旨，是全词情感的爆发：「不见去年人」五字，平平道来，而分量千钧——去年「人约黄昏后」的甜蜜，今年「不见去年人」的空寂，一个「不」字，否定的不只是一个人，而是一段爱情、一份期待、一个元宵；「泪满春衫袖」以泪收束，不写悲伤之状而悲伤自现，「满」字写泪之多、情之深，「春衫」与「泪」相映——春光依旧而人已不再，泪湿春衫，正见欢乐时节的孤独最是难堪。两句一实一虚：「不见」是眼前的现实，「泪满」是内心的反应；且「春衫」二字以衣写人，鲜丽的春衫沾满泪水，欢乐与悲伤的对照尽在一件衣衫上。全词以乐景写哀，以今昔对照，四十字写尽爱情的得而复失，结句一泪，收束全篇，余韵悠长，令人低回。

The close naming the theme, the whole ci's emotional eruption: the person-of-last-year-is-gone five characters, spoken plain, and yet the weight like a thousand jun — last year's we-had-our-tryst-after-dusk sweetness, this year's the-person-not-seen-last-year emptiness, the one word not, negating not only one person, but one bout of love, one expectation, and one Lantern festival; tears wet the sleeves of my spring robe closing on tears, not writing the grief's state and the grief self-seen, the full word writing the tears' number and the feeling's depth, the spring robe and the tears' answering — the spring as before and the person no more, the tear-wet spring robe, precisely seeing the joy-season's loneliness the most unbearable. Two lines, one real one void: the not-seen the present reality, the tear-full the inner reaction; and the spring robe two words writing the person through the garment, the bright spring robe's tear-wet, the joy-and-grief contrast all on one robe. The whole ci writing grief through delighted scene, through present-past contrast, the forty characters exhausting love's gain-and-loss, the close's one tear, gathering the whole piece, the aftertone long, making the heart linger.

Study

Word focus

如昼 Bright as day. The word of the brightness: 'the lanterns of the flower market were bright as day'—the splendor of the lantern market of the last year, the brightness of the happy memory, against the loneliness of the present. 「花市灯如昼」之「如昼」二字，以白昼喻灯火，是写灯市之盛的千古妙喻。「昼」是白昼，光明正大；以「如昼」形容元宵灯火，极言其亮——灯之繁、灯之明、灯之多，皆在一个「昼」字中得到夸张的呈现；而「如」字又保留着「毕竟是夜」的意味：再亮的灯火，也非真昼，正如再热闹的节日，也非团圆，为全词的悲凉埋下伏笔。此二字一出，元宵灯市的盛况如在目前：火树银花，光耀如昼，万人游赏，摩肩接踵；而正是这样辉煌的背景，才使下片「月与灯依旧」的对照更为残酷，使「泪满春衫袖」的孤独更为刺目。「如昼」是写景的夸张，更是情感的伏笔——以景之盛写情之哀，乐景写哀，倍增其哀，此二字是起笔的基石。

依旧 As before. The key of the whole ci: 'the moon and the lanterns are as before'—the constancy of the scene against the change of the human affairs, the change written with the constancy, the feeling of the thing the same and the person gone the deeper. 「月与灯依旧」之「依旧」二字，是全词最沉重的字眼，亦是今昔对照的枢纽。「依」是依循，「旧」是过去——景物依循着旧日的模样，月还是那轮月，灯还是那片灯，一切如旧，而人已不旧。「依旧」写景物的忠诚与无情：景物忠诚于记忆，一成不变，恰恰反衬人事的易变与消逝，物是人非的悲感，尽在二字之中；且「依旧」是口语，平平说出，不带任何修饰，而正因其平淡，才更显时光流逝的残酷与无可奈何。「依旧」与上片「如昼」呼应：灯还是那样亮，月还是那样圆，唯独人不再；以不变写变，以依旧写不复，是此词章法的点睛之笔。千百年后，人们面对「依旧」的景物与「不再」的人事，仍会想起这二字——它已是中国文学写「物是人非」最凝练的词眼。

春衫 Spring robe. The word of the tears: 'my tears fill the sleeves of my spring robe'—the tears of the lone return wetting the sleeves of the spring robe, the grief of the missed meeting in the close. 「泪满春衫袖」之「春衫」二字，以衣写人，以春衬悲，是结句最见功力处。「春衫」是春日的衣衫，轻薄鲜丽，本应配欢乐的春光与热闹的灯市；而此刻，泪满春衫——欢乐时节，春光之中，伊人独泣，鲜丽的春衫沾满泪水，欢乐与悲伤的对照，尽在这一件衣衫上。「春」字尤妙：春是万物复苏、生命勃发的季节，而词人的爱情却死在春天里，春之盛反衬情之衰；且「春衫」暗示词人的年轻与多情，越是青春年华，越不堪此失恋之痛。「衫袖」一词写泪落之处，具体而微：不是泪流满面的大悲，而是泪湿衣袖的无声饮泣，更见其哀之深、之隐。以衣写人、以物写情，不直写伤心而伤心自见，正是「不著一字，尽得风流」的笔法，亦是全词由外景转入内心的最后一笔。