宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
周邦彦·六丑·蔷薇谢后作
Liu Chou · After the Roses Have Faded
六丑·蔷薇谢后作正单衣试酒，怅客里、光阴虚掷。
愿春暂留，春归如过翼，一去无迹。
为问花何在，夜来风雨，葬楚宫倾国。
钗钿堕处遗香泽，乱点桃蹊，轻翻柳陌。
多情最谁追惜。
但蜂媒蝶使，时叩窗槅。
东园岑寂，渐蒙笼暗碧。
静绕珍丛底，成叹息。
长条故惹行客，似牵衣待话，别情无极。
残英小、强簪巾帻。
终不似、一朵钗头颤袅，向人欹侧。
漂流处、莫趁潮汐。
恐断红、尚有相思字，何由见得。
I grieve that in strange lands my years are cast away.
I wish the spring would stay a while,
But it goes like a passing wing, gone without a trace.
I ask where the flowers are—
Last night's wind and rain
Buried the peerless beauty of the Chu palace.
Where the hair-pins fell, a lingering fragrance remains;
Scattered they dot the peach path, lightly turn on the willow lane.
Who is most passionate to grieve them?
Only the bee and butterfly messengers
Now and then rap at the window lattice.
The eastern garden is silent;
By degrees the dim green deepens.
I walk in stillness at the foot of the precious cluster,
And heave a sigh.
The long branch on purpose plucks at the traveller,
As if holding my robe to speak,
Boundless parting feeling.
A small broken blossom—I force it into my cap.
It is not like that one trembling at the hair-pin,
Leaning toward man.
Where it drifts, do not follow the tide.
I fear the broken red still bears a word of longing—
How could it ever be seen?
Meaning
Just in a single robe I taste the wine; I grieve that in strange lands my years are cast away. I wish the spring would stay a while, but it goes like a passing wing, gone without a trace. I ask where the flowers are—last night's wind and rain buried the peerless beauty of the Chu palace. Where the hair-pins fell, a lingering fragrance remains; scattered they dot the peach path, lightly turn on the willow lane. Who is most passionate to grieve them? Only the bee and butterfly messengers now and then rap at the window lattice. The eastern garden is silent; by degrees the dim green deepens. I walk in stillness at the foot of the precious cluster and heave a sigh. The long branch on purpose plucks at the traveller, as if holding my robe to speak, boundless parting feeling. A small broken blossom—I force it into my cap. It is not like that one trembling at the hair-pin, leaning toward man. Where it drifts, do not follow the tide. I fear the broken red still bears a word of longing—how could it ever be seen?
正是单衣尝酒时节，怅恨客中光阴虚度。愿春暂留，春归却如飞鸟，一去无踪。试问花在何处？夜来风雨，葬送了楚宫绝色。钗钿坠落处遗下香泽，零瓣乱点桃蹊，轻翻柳陌。多情最数谁人追惜？唯有蜂蝶媒使，时时轻叩窗格。东园一片岑寂，渐渐暮色暗碧。静绕花丛底下，徒自叹息。长条故意牵惹行客，似牵衣欲语，别情无限。残花小小，强簪巾帽。终不似那一朵钗头颤袅，向人欹侧。漂流去、莫趁潮汐。只恐断红之上，尚有相思字样，教人何从得见。
Appreciation
This is Zhou Bangyan's famous object-chant on spring-sorrow, probably written in his ten years of drifting, serving in prefectures and counties. Through the rose's fading he writes the cherishing of spring in strange lands and his own grief of wandering. The upper part sighs that spring goes and the flower withers; the lower part writes walking in stillness by the cluster and forcing a broken blossom into the cap, closing with the fancy that 'the broken red still bears a word of longing'. The whole merges the grief of fate into the flower's affair—a model of Qingzhen's 'sinking and turning, rich and exquisite' manner.
【白话串讲】 周邦彦写蔷薇谢了：“夜来风雨，葬楚宫倾国”——一夜风雨，把倾国倾城的蔷薇埋葬了。他怜花，也感叹自己客居他乡、光阴虚掷。 【意象与手法】 上片以「单衣试酒」点时序，「愿春暂留」三句写留春不得的怅惘；「葬楚宫倾国」以美人喻花，「钗钿堕处」细写落瓣。下片「长条故惹行客，似牵衣待话」拟人入化，「残英小、强簪巾帻」写惜花痴态；结以「断红尚有相思字」的奇想，由花及人、由惜花到相思。铺叙细腻，寄托遥深，章法绵密。 【情感与主旨】 此词为周邦彦咏物伤春名篇，约作于其飘零十年、游宦州县之时。词人借蔷薇花谢，写客中惜春、自伤漂泊。上片叹春去花残，下片写绕丛叹息、残英强簪，结以「断红尚有相思字」的痴想。全词将身世之悲融入花事，是清真词「沉郁顿挫、富艳精工」的典范。 【名句点睛】 常考「愿春暂留，春归如过翼」的留春之叹与比喻；「长条故惹行客，似牵衣待话」的拟人手法；「恐断红、尚有相思字，何由见得」的用典与奇想；清真词铺叙与章法的特点。
Background
This is Zhou Bangyan's famous object-chant on spring-sorrow, probably written in his ten years of drifting, serving in prefectures and counties. Through the rose's fading he writes the cherishing of spring in strange lands and his own grief of wandering. The upper part sighs that spring goes and the flower withers; the lower part writes walking in stillness by the cluster and forcing a broken blossom into the cap, closing with the fancy that 'the broken red still bears a word of longing'. The whole merges the grief of fate into the flower's affair—a model of Qingzhen's 'sinking and turning, rich and exquisite' manner.
周邦彦（1056—1121），字美成，号清真居士，钱塘（今浙江杭州）人，北宋词坛集大成者。周邦彦早年游太学，献《汴都赋》得神宗赏识，然此后宦途偃蹇，长期沉沦州县，「飘零不偶，遍历艰险」，元祐至绍圣年间辗转于庐州、荆州、溧水等地，前后近十年。「客里光阴虚掷」正是这段游宦生涯的真实写照。此词约作于其羁旅飘零期间，词人借蔷薇花谢写客中惜春、自伤漂泊：蔷薇是春末之花，花谢春归，恰如年华老去、归计无成，惜花即是自怜。全词以「谢后」为题，不写花开之盛，专写花谢之哀，层层铺叙蔷薇凋零的情态，而以自身的飘零之感贯串其中，是咏物词「不即不离、寄托遥深」的典范。词题「六丑」为周邦彦自度曲，相传取「六」音之哀、「丑」名之奇，为北宋慢词中篇幅最长的词牌之一，正宜铺叙咏叹。周邦彦的词风以「富艳精工、沉郁顿挫」著称，其咏物词尤重「体物入微」与「寄托遥深」的结合，此《六丑》正是其咏物词的巅峰之作。周邦彦一生飘零，元祐至绍圣年间长期外任，辗转于庐州、荆州、溧水等地，官职卑微，抱负难伸，「客里光阴虚掷」正是这种境遇的沉痛告白。他以蔷薇自喻：蔷薇虽美，生于东园无人赏；自己虽才，漂泊客乡无人知。花谢即人老，春归即年逝，全词于惜花之中寄寓着才士不遇、时光空逝的双重悲慨，是周邦彦「以艳语写哀情」「托物以言志」词学思想的典型实践。
Art
The upper part uses 'just in single robe I taste the wine' to mark the season, and 'I wish the spring would stay a while' for three lines writes the vain wish to keep spring; 'buried the peerless beauty of the Chu palace' figures the flower as a beauty, and 'where the hair-pins fell' finely writes the fallen petals. The lower part's 'the long branch on purpose plucks at the traveller, as if holding my robe to speak' personifies to perfection; 'a small broken blossom—I force it into my cap' writes the infatuated stance of cherishing the flower; the closing 'the broken red still bears a word of longing' is a strange fancy, moving from flower to man, from cherishing the flower to longing. The spreading is delicate, the lodging deep.
此词为长调咏物，章法绵密，铺叙细腻，将惜花之情层层展开。上片以时序起：「正单衣试酒」点出春末夏初的时令，「怅客里、光阴虚掷」直写客中漂泊的怅恨，一开篇便为惜花注入身世之悲。「愿春暂留，春归如过翼，一去无迹」以飞鸟喻春归之速，留春不得的无奈跃然纸上。以下问花何在，答以「夜来风雨，葬楚宫倾国」，以美人猝亡写花之凋零，「钗钿堕处遗香泽，乱点桃蹊，轻翻柳陌」细写落花狼藉之状，如美人遗簪坠钿，凄艳动人。下片转入东园现场：「长条故惹行客，似牵衣待话」拟人入化，写蔷薇带刺的长条牵衣欲语，惜别之情无限；「残英小、强簪巾帻」写诗人不忍花落，强折残花簪于头上，痴态可掬；结以「恐断红、尚有相思字，何由见得」，由落花想到红叶题诗，奇想收束，由惜花转到相思，余韵悠长。全词由时令到花事、由花事到人事、由人事到情思，层层递进，正是清真词「抚写物态，曲尽其妙」的体现。
Allusions
'The peerless beauty of the Chu palace' uses 'peerless city-toppling beauty' (Li Yannian's song) and the Chu palace slender-waist allusion, figuring the rose as a peerless beauty. 'Hair-pins fell' transforms Bai Juyi's Song of Everlasting Sorrow 'flower-pins cast on the ground, no one gathered', writing the fallen flowers' desolation. 'The broken red still bears a word of longing' darkly uses the red-leaf-inscribed-poem (Tang, the palace stream and leaf) allusion, figuring the fallen flower as a letter of longing. 'The tide' uses the river-sea trusted-tide imagery. The allusions are exact, exhausting the state.
此词用典精切，熔铸无痕，是周邦彦「善于融化诗句」的典范。「葬楚宫倾国」以「倾国」用李延年歌「一顾倾人城，再顾倾人国」，又以「楚宫」暗用楚灵王好细腰、宫中多饿死之典，以绝色美人喻蔷薇，写花之凋零如美人香消玉殒，哀艳动人。「钗钿堕处」化用白居易《长恨歌》「花钿委地无人收，翠翘金雀玉搔头」，以杨妃马嵬之死写落花狼藉，花落与玉殒互为映照，凄美绝伦。「断红尚有相思字」暗用红叶题诗典：相传唐宫女题诗红叶，顺御沟流出，为士人拾得，遂成良缘。此处反其意而用之，恐落花之上还有相思字，随水漂流，教人何从得见，由惜花转入对离情的悬想。「潮汐」又用江海信潮意象，暗示音信难通。全词隶事精切而融化无迹，用典皆服务于「惜花—自伤—相思」的情感主线，正是清真词「富艳精工」的体现。此外，「钗钿堕处遗香泽」化用《长恨歌》「花钿委地无人收」，以杨妃殒命的惨烈写落花的狼藉，把花谢提升到美之毁灭的悲剧高度；「乱点桃蹊，轻翻柳陌」则承「桃李不言，下自成蹊」的意象传统，以桃蹊柳陌写落英纷飞的路途，凄美如画。全词用典虽多，却皆化入蔷薇谢后的具体情境，不见堆砌之迹，正是周邦彦「融情入景、以典写情」的高妙处，也是其咏物词「不即不离」品格的体现——咏花而不滞于花，用典而不为典所役，一切皆服务于惜花伤春的深情。
Commentary
The Song Qiang Huan, in his preface to the Jade Flake Collection, said Qingzhen's lyrics 'describe the thing's state, to its utmost wonder'. The modern Wang Guowei, in his Remarks on Lyrics from the Human World, though he jabbed that 'he has much talent for creating tunes, little for creating ideas', still allowed this lyric 'deep and forceful'. Chen Tingzhuo judged: 'The Liu Chou piece means to be layer-deep, the language seeks wholeness—something even Tiandi (Liu Yong) could not reach.' Fully showing its dense structure and far lodging.
此词自宋代以来即被誉为咏物词的典范。宋·强焕《片玉词序》称清真词「抚写物态，曲尽其妙」，此词正是「曲尽其妙」的注脚——蔷薇谢后的种种情态，被周邦彦写得穷形尽相又寄托遥深。清·陈廷焯《白雨斋词话》评：「《六丑》一阕，意欲层深，语求浑成，是屯田（柳永）所不能到」，点出其章法之密、寄托之远胜于柳永的直白铺叙。近人王国维《人间词话》虽讥周邦彦「创调之才多，创意之才少」，然亦许此词「深劲」。论者多谓此词「借花喻人、托物言志」：蔷薇之谢，喻美人之逝，亦喻才士之不遇；「长条故惹行客」是花之留人，亦是人之恋花；「残英强簪」是惜花之痴，亦是惜己之切；「断红相思字」则把惜花之情推向对普世离情的悬想。全词于富艳精工之中见沉郁顿挫，是周邦彦长调咏物的最高成就之一，也是宋词「以艳语写哀情」的典型作品。就词史地位而言，《六丑》一调为周邦彦首创，后世填者极少，此词遂成孤调绝唱，其声律之精、章法之密，正见清真词「词中老杜」的当行本色。近人陈洵《海绵说词》评此词「题是蔷薇谢后，然实是自写身世」，一语道破其寄托；叶嘉莹论清真词，亦特重其「以咏物写身世」的深微用心。全词由惜花而自伤、由自伤而相思，层层递进，把个人的飘零之感升华为人类共有的春愁，正是周邦彦咏物词超越一般「咏物」而臻于「抒情」的关键，也是其能在两宋词坛继柳永、苏轼之后自成一宗的根本原因。
Prosody
Line by line
愿春暂留，春归如过翼，一去无迹
I wish the spring would stay a while, but it goes like a passing wing, gone without a trace.
愿春暂留，春归却如飞鸟过境，一去无踪。
Would that spring might stay a little; but spring departs like a bird in flight, gone in an instant without a trace.
此三句是全词留春之叹的核心，也是历来传诵的名句。「愿春暂留」四字直抒胸臆，写诗人对春的恳求：不求春常驻，只求暂留片刻——越是退让的请求，越见春去之速与留春之切。下一句「春归如过翼」以飞鸟过境比喻春归之疾：春的离去不是渐行渐远，而是一掠而过的飞鸟，倏忽之间便无影无踪，「过翼」之喻新鲜贴切，把抽象的时序流逝写得具体可感。「一去无迹」三字收束，写春去之后的空无：没有留下任何痕迹，仿佛春从未存在过。「愿」与「如」「一去」之间，是愿望与现实的巨大落差：诗人越是恳求，春越是决绝，留春不得的怅惘层层加深，为全词「惜花」的主题奠定了情感基调，也暗含着对自身年华老去、客里蹉跎的隐痛。
These three are the core of the ci's sigh for detaining spring, a famous line through the ages. The four words 'would that spring might stay a little' directly voice the heart, the poet's entreaty to spring: not asking spring to abide always, only to linger a moment — the more yielding the request, the more it shows the speed of spring's going and the keenness of detaining it. The next line, 'spring departs like a bird in flight,' figures spring's going by a bird crossing the sky: spring's departure is not a gradual receding but a bird flashing past, gone in an instant without shadow; the metaphor of 'a bird in flight' is fresh and apt, making the abstract passing of season concrete and felt. The three words 'gone in an instant without a trace' close, writing the void after spring's going: no trace left, as if spring had never been. Between 'would that,' 'like,' and 'gone in an instant' lies the great gap between wish and reality: the more the poet entreats, the more resolute spring is, the wistfulness of failing to detain spring deepening layer on layer, fixing the emotional keynote for the ci's theme of 'cherishing flowers,' and carrying the hidden pain of his own aging and wasted wandering.
葬楚宫倾国
Buried the peerless beauty of the Chu palace.
风雨葬送了楚宫般倾国倾城的美人。
Buried is the beauty that would ruin a kingdom, like the women of the Chu palace.
「葬楚宫倾国」五字，是全词写花谢最惊心动魄的一句。蔷薇盛开于暮春，一夜风雨，便凋零满地，诗人不直写花落，而以「楚宫倾国」的绝代佳人喻蔷薇：蔷薇如楚宫中的美人，容华绝世，却被一夜风雨「葬」去。「葬」字用得极重，如写美人香消玉殒、入土为安，把花的凋零写成一场美的葬礼，哀艳动人。「楚宫」暗用楚灵王好细腰之典，写蔷薇枝蔓细柔如楚宫美人纤细的腰肢，形神兼备；「倾国」用李延年歌典，写蔷薇倾国倾城之美。以美人写花，以葬礼写花谢，把「花落」这一寻常物象提升为「美之毁灭」的悲剧，正是周邦彦咏物「富艳精工」的极致，也为后文「钗钿堕处遗香泽」的凄艳铺陈预作了基调。
The five words 'buried is the beauty that would ruin a kingdom' are the most heart-stirring line of the ci on flowers fading. The roses bloom in late spring; one night of wind and rain and they are strewn on the ground. The poet does not write flowers falling directly but figures the roses by the peerless beauties 'of the Chu palace': the roses like the palace beauties, matchless in radiance, yet 'buried' by one night of wind and rain. The word 'buried' is heavy, as if writing a beauty's fragrant death and burial in the earth, turning the flowers' falling into a funeral of beauty, mournful and beautiful. 'Chu palace' secretly uses the allusion of King Ling of Chu loving slender waists, writing the rose's trailing branches slender as a palace beauty's waist, form and spirit both; 'ruin a kingdom' uses Li Yannian's song allusion for the rose's kingdom-toppling beauty. Writing flowers through beauties, and flowers fading through a funeral, raises the ordinary image of 'flowers falling' to the tragedy of 'the destruction of beauty,' precisely the extreme of Zhou's 'rich and exquisite' object-praise, and prepares the keynote for the later mournful richness of 'where pin and hairpin fell, the fragrance lingers.'
长条故惹行客，似牵衣待话，别情无极
The long branch on purpose plucks at the traveller, as if holding my robe to speak, boundless parting feeling.
长条故意牵惹行客，似牵衣欲语，别情无限。
The long branches deliberately tease the passing traveler, as if plucking his robe to speak, holding boundless parting feeling.
此三句是下片最动人的拟人描写，将蔷薇写成了有情的送别者。「长条」指蔷薇带刺的长枝，本是植物形态，一个「故」字却赋予它人的心机——仿佛那枝条是故意的，故意来牵惹行客；「似牵衣待话」进一步坐实：长条牵住行人的衣襟，像是要拉住他、有话要说，依依不舍，别情无限。「牵衣待话」四字，把蔷薇写成一个满腹离愁、欲语还休的送行人，枝条的缠绕变成了情意的牵绊，物我之间产生了深情的交流。妙在「似」字：不坐实说长条有心，而以「似」留有余地，恰是花耶人耶、亦真亦幻的朦胧美感。此三句由惜花转入惜别，蔷薇的「别情」实是诗人的「别情」——客中逢春，春去人散，花留不住，人亦留不住，身世之感尽在其中。
These three are the most moving personification of the lower stanza, writing the rose as a feelingful one who sees the traveler off. 'Long branches' are the rose's thorny long boughs, originally a plant form; one word 'deliberately' gives them human design — as if the boughs were of set purpose, deliberately teasing the passing traveler. 'As if plucking his robe to speak' confirms it further: the long boughs catch the traveler's robe, as if holding him back, about to speak, reluctant to part, parting feeling boundless. The four words 'plucking the robe, about to speak' write the rose as a one full of parting sorrow, wishing to speak yet holding back; the boughs' tangling becomes the tether of feeling, a deep communion between thing and self. The genius is in the word 'as if': not asserting the boughs have a heart but leaving room through 'as if,' precisely the hazy beauty of flower or person, real or dreamlike. These three turn from cherishing the flower to cherishing parting: the rose's 'parting feeling' is really the poet's own — meeting spring while a wanderer, spring gone and people scattered, the flower cannot be kept, nor can the man; the feeling of his lot is all within.
恐断红、尚有相思字，何由见得
I fear the broken red still bears a word of longing—how could it ever be seen?
只恐落花之上还有相思字样，教人何从得见。
I fear the fallen petals still bear characters of longing; how shall they ever be seen?
结句是全词的点睛之笔，奇想天外，余韵悠长。「断红」指飘零的落花，诗人叮嘱落花「莫趁潮汐」，不要去追逐潮水；忽又转念：只怕这断红之上，还题着相思的字样，若随水漂去，教人何从得见。此句暗用红叶题诗典：唐宫女题诗红叶、顺沟流出、为人拾得的佳话，本以红叶为传情的媒介；诗人反其意而用之——若落花上真有相思字，漂走便再也无人看见，相思之情将永远沉埋。「恐」字写悬想之痴，「何由见得」写愿望之空，由惜花之心转出对相思的悬望，把对花的怜惜升华为对人间离情的普遍悲悯。全词由「愿春暂留」起，至「何由见得」结，留春不得、留花不得、留相思亦不得，层层落空，正是「长恨」式的情感结构，收束处余情袅袅，正是清真词沉郁顿挫的妙处。
The close is the illuminating stroke of the ci, a strange conceit from the skies, the aftertone long. 'Fallen red' means the drifting petals; the poet charges the fallen flowers 'not to chase the tide,' then suddenly thinks again: I fear these fallen petals still bear characters of longing; if they drift away with the water, how shall they ever be seen? This line secretly uses the red-leaf poem allusion: the Tang palace lady writing a poem on a red leaf, floating out through the ditch, picked up by a man — the red leaf as medium of love; the poet reverses it: if the fallen petals truly bear characters of longing, drifting away means no one will ever see them again, and the longing will lie buried forever. The word 'fear' writes the dotage of fancy, 'how shall they ever be seen' the void of wish; turning from cherishing the flower to anxious hope for longing, sublimating pity for the flower into the universal compassion for human parting. The ci opens with 'would that spring might stay' and closes with 'how shall they ever be seen': unable to detain spring, unable to detain the flower, unable to detain longing, each hope falling through, precisely the emotional structure of 'eternal regret'; the close lingers with feeling, precisely the art of Qingzhen's somber, measured ci.
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Both from Qingzhen's hand; both use object-chant to write the traveller's fate, dense structure—compare them.
《兰陵王·柳》与《六丑·蔷薇谢后作》同为周邦彦咏物名篇，同为借物写羁旅之情，章法结构颇可互参。《兰陵王》咏柳，以「柳阴直，烟里丝丝弄碧」起，由柳引出「长亭路，年去岁来，应折柔条过千尺」的送别场景，再转入「似梦里，泪暗滴」的别后之思，全词以「柳」为线索写尽离愁；《六丑》咏蔷薇，以「愿春暂留」起，写尽蔷薇谢后的种种情态，而以「断红尚有相思字」的奇想收束，全词以「花」为线索写尽飘零之恨。一柳一花，一写别离一写漂泊，而「咏物而不滞于物」的笔法、层层铺叙的结构、沉郁顿挫的声情则一脉相承，两词并读，恰见清真词咏物艺术的整体风貌。
周邦彦·蝶恋花·早行 Zhou Bangyan · Butterfly Loves Flower · An Early Start 周邦彦 · 同写客中况味，清丽沉郁一脉相承 SameBoth write the traveller's state; clear and graceful, sinking—one line.
《蝶恋花·早行》「月皎惊乌栖不定，更漏将残，辘轳牵金井」与《六丑》同为周邦彦写客中况味的名作，一为小令一为长调，写法各有千秋。《早行》写清晨离别的刹那：月落乌惊、更漏将残、执手哽咽，把离别前夜的辗转与清晨的仓皇写得细腻入微，以小令的凝练写尽离情之深；《六丑》写春末的飘零：光阴虚掷、花谢人伤，把客中岁月与惜花之情交织铺叙，以长调的铺陈写尽飘零之恨。一写「行前」，一写「客中」；一以白描写实，一以咏物托情，而那种清丽中见沉郁、细腻中见深情的清真本色则完全一致。两词并读，可见周邦彦无论小令长调，都善于把个人情思写得深婉入微，正是「词中老杜」的当行本色。