双双燕

Meaning

The most famous poem on the swallows in the Chinese lyric, written by Shi Dazu. The spring society — the festival of the swallows' return — is over; the pair of swallows passes through the curtains and the blinds, where last year's dust is cold. Uneven in their flight, they would settle, trying to enter the old nest and sit side by side; they look at the carved beams and the painted ceilings, and in soft words discuss and cannot decide. Then they brush the flower-tips, their emerald tails parting the red shadows; on the fragrant path the celery-earth is moistened by the rain, and they love to race along the ground, vying to boast their lightness and their grace. To the red tower they return late, having watched enough of the willows' dusk and the flowers' dark. And the close turns the whole to the human: they should be roosting, fragrant and steady — and then they forget the letter of the far horizon. Grieving, the jade-blue moth-brows are worn — day after day she leans alone on the painted rail. The swallows' joy is the woman's grief: the birds that forget the letter of the distant love.

过春社了，度帘幕中间，去年尘冷。差池欲住，试入旧巢相并。还相雕梁藻井。又软语、商量不定。飘然快拂花梢，翠尾分开红影。芳径。芹泥雨润。爱贴地争飞，竞夸轻俊。红楼归晚，看足柳昏花暝。应自栖香正稳。便忘了、天涯芳信。愁损翠黛双蛾，日日画阑独凭。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The spring society is over — through the curtains and the blinds, last year's dust is cold. Uneven in their flight, they would settle, trying to enter the old nest and sit side by side. Then they look at the carved beams and the painted ceilings, and again, in soft words, discuss and cannot decide. At once, swiftly, they brush the flower-tips, their emerald tails parting the red shadows. The fragrant path — the celery-earth is moistened by the rain. They love to race along the ground, vying to boast their lightness and their grace. To the red tower they return late, having watched enough of the willows' dusk and the flowers' dark. They should be roosting, fragrant and steady — and then they forget the letter of the far horizon. Grieving, the jade-blue moth-brows are worn — day after day she leans alone on the painted rail. [Structure and Thought] The lyric follows the pair of swallows through their return and their play — the old nest, the discussion, the flight over the flowers, the race along the ground, the late return — and turns at the close to the human: the swallows forget the letter, and the woman leans alone on the rail. [Key Technique] The poem's art is the contrast of the swallows and the woman: the birds' joy and their forgetting are set against the woman's grief and her waiting — the letter forgotten by the birds is the letter waited for by the woman. [Emotional Tone] Light, exquisite, and turning to grief: the swallows are watched with the delighted precision of the connoisseur, and the close turns the whole to the woman's loneliness on the rail.

【白话串讲】 史达祖写《双双燕》：“过春社了，度帘幕中间，去年尘冷”——“差池欲住，试入旧巢相并”——“还相雕梁藻井。又软语、商量不定”——“飘然快拂花梢，翠尾分开红影”——他写双燕归来——软语商量不定。 【意象与手法】 “过春社了，度帘幕中间，去年尘冷”写过春社；“差池欲住，试入旧巢相并”写双燕入巢；“还相雕梁藻井。又软语、商量不定”写软语商量；“飘然快拂花梢，翠尾分开红影”写燕掠花梢；结以“愁损翠黛双蛾，日日画阑独凭”以人衬燕。咏物传神、刻画入微。 【情感与主旨】 史达祖咏燕之作，写双燕归来、入巢呢喃的生动情态，结以闺人独凭画阑反衬双燕之乐，是“咏物而不滞于物”的典范。 【名句点睛】 常考“还相雕梁藻井。又软语、商量不定”以软语商量写双燕；“飘然快拂花梢，翠尾分开红影”以翠尾分影写燕飞之态。

Allusions

'The spring society' (chunshe) is the spring festival of the earth-god, the time of the swallows' return; 'the letter of the far horizon' (tianya fangxin) is the letter of the distant beloved, which the swallows — the birds of the letters of the tradition — forget to carry. 'The jade-blue moth-brows' (cuidai shuang'e) are the woman's painted brows, worn with the grief; 'the painted rail' (hualan) is the railing of the tower where she leans alone, watching for the letter.

词中「春社」「帘幕中间」「去年尘冷」「差池欲住」「旧巢相并」「雕梁藻井」「软语商量不定」「飘然快拂花梢」「翠尾分开红影」「芳径」「芹泥雨润」「贴地争飞」「竞夸轻俊」「红楼归晚」「柳昏花暝」「栖香正稳」「天涯芳信」「愁损翠黛双蛾」「画阑独凭」等语，皆含典故故实。「春社」写春社之日（社为祭社之日，燕以春社至、秋社去）；「帘幕中间」写帘幕之间；「去年尘冷」写去年之尘已冷；「差池欲住」用《诗经·邶风·燕燕》「燕燕于飞，差池其羽」之意，写燕羽参差；「旧巢相并」写入旧巢相并；「雕梁藻井」写雕梁与藻井；「软语商量不定」写燕语如商量；「飘然快拂花梢」写飘然快拂花梢；「翠尾分开红影」写翠尾分开红影；「芳径」写芬芳之小径；「芹泥雨润」写芹泥经雨而润（杜甫「芹泥随燕嘴」之意）；「贴地争飞」写贴地争飞；「竞夸轻俊」写竞夸轻俊；「红楼归晚」写红楼归晚；「柳昏花暝」写柳昏花暝；「栖香正稳」写栖于香巢正稳；「天涯芳信」写天涯之芳信；「愁损翠黛双蛾」写愁损画眉之双蛾（蛾为眉）；「画阑独凭」写独自凭倚画阑。词人以燕燕于飞、芹泥燕嘴、柳昏花暝等语入词，不着痕迹，而把咏燕之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。

Commentary

This lyric is the most famous poem on the swallows in the Chinese lyric, quoted for its precise observation and its turn to the human. The discussion of the swallows in soft words and the emerald tails parting the red shadows are among the most admired images of the tradition; the close — the swallows forgetting the letter while the woman leans alone on the rail — is ranked among the finest turns in the lyric. Critics praise the poem's art: the natural object observed with delight, and turned to the human grief.

这首《双双燕》，是史达祖写咏物咏燕之作，写过春社了、差池欲住、画阑独凭之情，含蓄深婉。上片写过春社了与软语商量：「过春社了，度帘幕中间，去年尘冷」——过春社了，度帘幕中间，去年尘冷。写过春社了：过春社了、度帘幕中间，去年尘冷——春社过后、燕穿帘幕、去年尘冷；「差池欲住，试入旧巢相并」——差池欲住，试入旧巢相并。写差池欲住：差池欲住（用燕燕于飞差池其羽之意）、试入旧巢相并——燕羽参差欲住、试入旧巢相并；「还相雕梁藻井。又软语、商量不定」——还相雕梁藻井，又软语、商量不定。写软语商量：还相雕梁藻井、又软语商量不定——相看雕梁藻井、软语商量不定；「飘然快拂花梢，翠尾分开红影」——飘然快拂花梢，翠尾分开红影。写翠尾分开红影：飘然快拂花梢、翠尾分开红影——飘然拂花梢、翠尾分开红影。下片写贴地争飞与画阑独凭：「芳径。芹泥雨润。爱贴地争飞，竞夸轻俊」——芳径，芹泥雨润，爱贴地争飞，竞夸轻俊。写贴地争飞：芳径、芹泥雨润（用芹泥燕嘴之意），爱贴地争飞、竞夸轻俊——芳径芹泥、贴地争飞竞夸轻俊；「红楼归晚，看足柳昏花暝」——红楼归晚，看足柳昏花暝。写柳昏花暝：红楼归晚、看足柳昏花暝——红楼归晚、看尽柳昏花暝；「应自栖香正稳。便忘了、天涯芳信」——应自栖香正稳，便忘了、天涯芳信。写忘了芳信：应自栖香正稳、便忘了天涯芳信——栖香正稳、忘寄天涯芳信；「愁损翠黛双蛾，日日画阑独凭」——愁损翠黛双蛾，日日画阑独凭。写画阑独凭：愁损翠黛双蛾、日日画阑独凭——愁损双蛾、日日画阑独凭。这「愁损翠黛双蛾，日日画阑独凭」，是全词之结：以画阑独凭写其闺愁。全词含蓄深婉，咏物寄情，正是史达祖词中的名篇。

Prosody

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