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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

凤凰台上忆吹箫

Phoenix Terrace: Remembering the Flute (Fenghuang Tai Shang Yi Chui Xiao)

李清照

Li Qingzhao

离别parting 婉约graceful (Wanyue) 闺怨boudoir lament

香冷金猊，被翻红浪，起来人未梳头。
任宝奁闲掩，日上帘钩。
生怕闲愁暗恨，多少事、欲说还休。
今年瘦，非干病酒，不是悲秋。
明朝，这回去也，千万遍阳关，也即难留。
念武陵春晚，云锁重楼。
记取楼前绿水，应念我、终日凝眸。
凝眸处，从今更数，几段新愁。

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Meaning

On the morning of parting the poet rises unkempt, the incense cold, the brocade quilt tossed like red waves; she cannot bear the idle sorrow and dark regret, with so much to say yet holding back. She has grown thin this year — not from wine, not from autumn, but from the coming leave-taking. Tomorrow he goes; though the farewell song be sung a thousand times, he cannot be kept. She foresees the locked towers of Wuling spring and bids the green water before the tower remember her fixed gaze — and from now on, more new sorrows to count.

猊形香炉里的香已冷透，锦被像红浪一样翻卷着，起来后人也懒得梳头。最怕这闲愁暗恨涌上心头，有千言万语，想说却又止住不说。今年我瘦了，不是因为沉湎病酒，也不是因为悲秋伤怀。这凝望之处，从今以后，只怕要再添几段新愁了。

Appreciation

The opening layers three boudoir details — cold incense, tossed quilt, uncombed hair — to show lassitude without a word of sorrow. The repeated negatives 'not from wine, not from autumn' force out the hidden cause: thinning for parting; 'would speak yet hold back' and 'a thousand Yangguan' turn and check, the more hidden the more shown, the structure circling and whole. It is the supreme instance of Li Qingzhao writing deep feeling in shallow words.

【白话串讲】李清照写凤凰台上忆吹箫：“香冷金猊，被翻红浪，起来人未梳头”——丈夫走了，她无心梳妆。“生怕闲愁暗恨，多少事、欲说还休”——“今年瘦，非干病酒，不是悲秋”——“念武陵春晚，云锁重楼”——她写离别后的憔悴。【意象与手法】起笔以香冷、被翻、未梳头三层闺中细节写慵懒之态，不着愁字而愁满篇。全词善用否定语汇，「非干病酒，不是悲秋」两番排除，逼出为别而瘦的隐衷；「欲说还休」「千万遍阳关」以吞吐笔法层层顿挫，愈藏愈显，结构回环浑成。【情感与主旨】此词为与夫君分别时所作，写清晨无心理妆、百感交集的情态，把欲留不能、欲说无语的离愁写得曲折入微。情感深挚婉曲，以不说写千言万语，正是易安词由明媚转向沉郁、由闺情走向离恨的关键篇章。【名句点睛】「多少事、欲说还休」六字吞吐顿挫，把临别千回百转的心事写得重如千钧，形式与内容浑然为一，是李清照以浅语写深情的最高体现。

Background

Li Qingzhao, style-name Yi'an Jushi, from Jinan, was the graceful (Wanyue) lyric master of late Northern-early Southern Song, her collection 'Shuyu Ci.' This piece 'Phoenix Terrace: Remembering the Flute' is among her famous works, included in Wang Zhongwen's 'Li Qingzhao Collected and Annotated.' On its date there are two views: one says it was written when Zhao Mingcheng went to govern Laizhou in the Xuanhe era and she stayed at Qingzhou; another links it to a pre-south-crossing separation, per Chen Zumei's 'Li Qingzhao Ci New Annotation.' From the dwelling details and the post-parting fancy 'Wuling spring late, clouds lock the double towers,' it was written at a separation from Mingcheng. The whole writes rising unkempt, loath to dress, all feelings at the imminent leave; 'how many things — would speak yet hold back' writes the complex, unspeakable heart most finely. Her early lyrics wrote girlish feeling and marital joy; this marks her turn from bright to deep, bridging 'Drunk in the Flower Shade' toward the deeper southern style — the key piece from 'boudoir feeling' to 'parting grief.' Its truth and crooked brush are unmatched among Northern-Song boudoir lyrics, hence always anthologized. The title comes from the 'Liexian Zhuan' tale of Xiao Shi and Nongyu playing the flute on the phoenix terrace and riding phoenixes to immortality — using the immortal-couple tale for human parting, title and content one void one real, all the more poignant. Li opens on 'phoenix terrace' yet the flute-sound is gone, hinting the marital bond to break — the tune and feeling mutual, a rare both-reached work in this mode.

李清照号易安居士，济南人，北宋末南宋初婉约词宗，其词集名《漱玉词》。此词《凤凰台上忆吹箫·香冷金猊》是其名篇之一，王仲闻《李清照集校注》收录之。关于作年，历来有两种说法：一说系宣和三年赵明诚出守莱州，易安留居青州别居时送别之作；一说与南渡前屏居乡里的别离有关，陈祖美《李清照词新释辑评》主之。据词中「香冷金猊，被翻红浪，起来人未梳头」的居所描写与「念武陵春晚，云锁重楼」的别后悬想，当系与明诚分离时所作。全词写清晨起来懒理晨妆，因离别在即而百感交集，「多少事、欲说还休」数句，把欲留不能、欲说无语的复杂心绪写得曲折入微。李清照早年词多写少女情怀与伉俪之乐，此词则标志其词境由明媚转入沉郁，上承《醉花阴》而开启南渡后更深挚的词风，是易安词由「闺情」走向「离愁别恨」的关键篇章。此词情感之真、用笔之曲，在北宋末年闺情词中罕有其匹，故历来选宋词者无不收录。又此词题名「凤凰台上忆吹箫」，典出《列仙传》萧史与弄玉凤台吹箫、跨凤升仙之故事，以神仙眷侣之典写人间别离，题面与内容一虚一实，尤耐寻味。易安以「凤凰台」起调，而「箫声」不复，正暗喻伉俪情好之将断，词牌与词情相生相发，是此调中少见的题旨兼到之作。

Art

The finest craft is the layered exposition and 'would speak yet hold back' swallowing brush. The opening writes person through things: 'incense cold in the golden lion, quilt tossed like red waves' — the incense cold, the brocade astray, hinting a restless night and no heart to dress; 'rising, she has not combed her hair' directly writes lassitude, then 'lets the jewel casket lie closed, the sun on the curtain hook' — the casket unopened, the sun high, pushing 'lazy' to its limit. 'Fearing idle sorrow and dark regret, how many things — would speak yet hold back' is the hinge: not that sorrow can't be said, but saying it breeds more sorrow, so one holds back — the feeling checks here. 'This year thin, not from wine, not from autumn' uses two negatives to rule out common causes, rebounding to the hidden 'thin from parting,' the turn most exquisite. The lower half 'tomorrow, this time he goes; a thousand Yangguan yet hard to keep' writes hopeless retention in repeated song; the close 'where the gaze rests, from now count more — a few new sorrows' repeats 'gaze' (dingzhen), echoing the opening 'risen, not combed,' the structure whole. The whole drives scene by feeling, sets feeling by things, uses household details yet hides waves — the wonder of containment and swallowing, the typest instance of 'shallow common words, fresh thought.' Notably the poet reuses negatives — fear, hold back, hard, not, not — almost the whole piece seen through negation, writing 'a thousand words' by 'not saying,' forcing out 'parting' by 'not autumn' — every brush from the reverse, hence deeper the more it turns, shown the more it hides; this is Li's unique swallowing brush.

此词最见工处在于层层铺叙、欲说还休的吞吐笔法。起笔以物写人：「香冷金猊，被翻红浪」，炉香已冷、锦被乱翻，暗示一夜辗转与晨起无心理妆，「起来人未梳头」直写慵懒之态，接以「任宝奁闲掩，日上帘钩」，妆奁不启、日影上钩，把「懒」字推到极处。「生怕闲愁暗恨，多少事、欲说还休」是全词枢纽：非愁不可说，而是怕一说更愁，故欲说还休，词情至此一顿。「今年瘦，非干病酒，不是悲秋」连用两个否定排除常因，反跌出「为别离而瘦」的隐衷，极尽转折之妙。下片「明朝，这回去也，千万遍阳关，也即难留」，以叠唱之语写挽留无望，「千万遍」极写送别之情的浓度。结拍「凝眸处，从今更数，几段新愁」，「凝眸」顶真迭用，与开篇「起来人未梳头」遥遥相对，结构浑成。全词以情驭景，以物衬情，善用家常细节而暗藏波澜，深得含蓄吞吐之妙，是李清照「以浅俗之语，发清新之思」的最典型体现。尤可注意者，词人反复用「怕」「休」「难」「非」「不是」等否定性语汇，几乎通篇皆由否定中见情，以「不说」写「千言万语」，以「不是悲秋」逼出「为别」，笔笔皆从反面用力，故愈转愈深、愈藏愈显，此正是易安吞吐笔法的独到之处。

Allusions

'Golden lion' (Jin Ni) is a lion-shaped incense burner — the ni is one of the dragon's nine sons, fond of smoke, hence made into burners, common in Tang-Song boudoirs; Li Yu's 'Sand of the Wash' ('the red sun three zhang high, the golden burner adds incense beasts in turn') 'incense beast' is its kind. 'Jewel casket' is the toiletry mirror-box. 'Yangguan' uses Wang Wei's 'Seeing Off Yuan Er to Anxi' ('urge you another cup of wine; west of Yangguan there are no old friends'), which as music is 'Yangguan Three Refrains,' the farewell song; any Song lyric saying 'Yangguan' means parting — 'a thousand Yangguan' writes the despair of retention. 'Wuling' uses Tao Yuanming's 'Peach Blossom Spring' ('a Wuling man made fishing his trade') — here 'Wuling spring late' means the former paradise of love with him, 'clouds lock the double towers' that it is unreachable; another reading has 'Wuling' secretly using Liu Yiqing's 'Youming Lu' tale of Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao meeting immortals in Tiantai, figuring happy marriage — Li's 'Wuling Spring' uses this too. 'Gaze fixed' (Ning Mou) means staring without moving, from the 'Chu Ci: Summoning the Soul' ('eyes reach a thousand li, the spring heart grieves') tradition of gazing far for the absent. Also 'quilt tossed like red waves' writes tossing with the red brocade like waves, secretly the 'Book of Songs' 'tossing and turning,' yet more novel-bright. 'Lets the jewel casket lie closed' with 'lets' shows the weariness of no heart to dress, same as the 'Book of Songs: Bo Xi' ('since my lord went east, my hair like flying fern; is there no ointment? who would I adorn for?') — the old yuefu 'a woman adorns for him who pleases her' its note; Li inherits it in lyric yet more novel in detail.

「金猊」即狻猊形香炉。猊为传说中龙之九子之一，性好烟火，故古人制为香炉之形，唐宋闺阁习用，李煜《浣溪沙》「红日已高三丈透，金炉次第添香兽」之「香兽」即其类。「宝奁」谓梳妆镜匣。「阳关」用王维《送元二使安西》「劝君更尽一杯酒，西出阳关无故人」之典，此诗入乐后称《阳关三叠》，为送别最常用之曲，宋词凡言「阳关」皆寓送别之意，「千万遍阳关」正写挽留之绝望。「武陵」用陶渊明《桃花源记》「武陵人捕鱼为业」之典，词中以「武陵春晚」指代往昔与爱人相偕的桃源乐土，「云锁重楼」则言其遥不可及；一说「武陵」暗用刘义庆《幽明录》刘晨、阮肇入天台山遇仙女事，喻美好姻缘，李清照《武陵春》词亦用此意象，可相参证。「凝眸」谓注视不移，化自《楚辞·招魂》「目极千里兮伤春心」的望远怀人传统。又「被翻红浪」以红锦被铺展如浪写辗转反侧，暗含《诗经》「辗转反侧」之意，而意象更为新丽。又「任宝奁闲掩」之「任」字，写出无心梳妆、听任妆奁尘封的倦怠，与《诗经·卫风·伯兮》「自伯之东，首如飞蓬。岂无膏沐，谁适为容」同一情态，古乐府「女为悦己者容」之语亦其注脚，易安以词笔承之，而更见细节之新丽。

Commentary

Ming Yang Shen's 'Ci Pin' juan 2 rates Li: 'Among Song lyricists Li Yi'an may be called supreme; were she in official rank, she'd rival Qin Seven and Huang Nine, not only rule the boudoir.' This piece, graceful and deep, deserves that 'supreme.' Wang Shizhen's 'Flowers and Grasses Meng Shou' says 'for graceful, Yi'an is the sect; for bold, only You'an leads' — Li is the graceful sect's head, and this piece's containment and deep devotion is its concentrated embodiment. Shen Zengzhi's 'Jun Ge Suo Tan' says of her 'the fallen-in-love grows drunk on her fragrance; the far-imagining admires her spirit-steed' — this piece's upper 'incense cold golden lion, quilt tossed red waves' fragrance, lower 'this time he goes, a thousand Yangguan' spirit-steed, both present. Li's own 'Ci Lun' urges 'ci is a family of its own,' disliking Liu Yong's 'vulgar words' and Su Shi's 'verse that breaks the line' — this piece keeps strict tone yet moves with deep devotion, exactly her manifesto in practice. Also this piece writes parting sorrow without saying 'sorrow' outright, all through detail and turn — modern critics cite it as the model of 'deep feeling in shallow words,' its lyric-historical place evident. The upper ends on 'not autumn,' the lower on 'a few new sorrows,' the two 'sorrow' echo across, the whole circling — the 'head-tail echo, blood-vessels through' the ancients prized, most seen here. Li's 'Ci Lun' did not reach this piece, yet its 'family of its own' claim is its conscious program; read together one gets her whole lyric theory.

明代杨慎《词品》卷二评李清照云：「宋人中填词，李易安亦称冠绝。使在衣冠，当与秦七黄九争雄，不独雄于闺阁也。」此词婉曲深挚，正可当「冠绝」之评。王士禛《花草蒙拾》谓「婉约以易安为宗，豪放惟幼安称首」，李清照为婉约词之宗主，此词吞吐含蓄、一往情深，是其「婉约」宗风的集中体现。沈曾植《菌阁琐谈》评易安词「堕情者醉其芬馨，飞想者赏其神骏」，此词上片「香冷金猊」「被翻红浪」之芬馨，下片「这回去也」「千万遍阳关」之神骏，两境兼而有之。李清照自撰《词论》倡词「别是一家」，不满柳永「词语尘下」、苏轼「句读不葺之诗」，此词严守声律而运以深挚之情，正其词学主张的创作实践。又此词写离愁而不用「愁」字说破，全凭细节与转折传情，近世论易安词者每举为「以浅语写深情」的范例，其词史地位于此可见。又此词上片结于「不是悲秋」，下片结于「几段新愁」，两处「愁」字遥遥相应，全篇愁意回环往复，前人论词所谓「首尾呼应、血脉贯通」者，于此最见其妙。李清照《词论》虽未及此词，然其「别是一家」的主张，实为此词创作之自觉纲领，学者合而观之，自能得易安词学之全。

Prosody

Form Lyric (long tune), double-toned 97 characters词（长调，双调九十七字）

Rhyme Level-tone rhyme, rhyme words in 'Ci Lin Zheng Yun' twelfth department (lower-level eleven You)押平声韵，韵字属《词林正韵》第十二部（下平十一尤）

Tone pattern Four level rhymes each in front and back sections, long slow tune, varied phrasing前后段各四平韵，长调慢词，句法多变

Reading note The tune 'Phoenix Terrace: Remembering the Flute' is double-toned 97 characters, front ten lines four level rhymes, back nine lines four level rhymes. The rhyme words 'head, hook, hold-back, autumn, keep, tower, gaze, sorrow' eight all lower-level eleven You, in 'Ci Lin Zheng Yun' twelfth department; the level You tone is long and low, exactly the unending parting sorrow. Li in 'Ci Lun' urged 'ci is a family of its own' and was strict on tone — this piece proves it: the whole interlaces seven- and four-character lines, 'incense cold golden lion, quilt tossed red waves' four-character antithesis opening, tidy; 'how many things — would speak yet hold back' six-character check, the sound of 'would speak yet hold back'; 'tomorrow, this time he goes' a two-character short line leads, abrupt turn, the sound lifted, bearing down on the urgent 'a thousand Yangguan'; the close 'where the gaze rests, from now count, a few new sorrows' uses 'gaze' as dingzhen, circling, endless resonance. The 'yet hard to keep' uses colloquial 'yet hard' in lyric without losing tonal beauty — her 'making the vulgar elegant' skill, a model of sound-feeling in her long tunes.《凤凰台上忆吹箫》双调九十七字，前段十句四平韵，后段九句四平韵。此词韵字「头、钩、休、秋、留、楼、眸、愁」八字皆属下平十一尤，属《词林正韵》第十二部，平声尤韵声情悠长低回，正合绵绵不绝之离愁。李清照在《词论》中主张「词别是一家」，于声律要求尤严，此词即其明证：全词以七言与四言句交叠，「香冷金猊，被翻红浪」四言对起，音节整饬；「多少事、欲说还休」六字顿挫，正是「欲说还休」之情的声化；「明朝，这回去也」二字短句领起，突兀转折，音节为之一振，直逼「千万遍阳关」的激切之语；结拍「凝眸处，从今更数，几段新愁」以「凝眸」顶真，回环叠唱，余韵不绝。词中「也即难留」之「也即」二字，用口语入词而不失声律之美，可见其「以俗为雅」的语言功力，是易安长调中声情并茂的典范。

Line by line

香冷金猊，被翻红浪，起来人未梳头。

The incense in the golden lion burns cold; the brocade quilt tossed like red waves; she rises and has not combed her hair.

猊形香炉里的香已冷透，锦被像红浪一样翻卷着，起来后人也懒得梳头。

The incense is cold in the bronze lion; the quilt tumbles like a red wave; risen, the woman has not yet combed her hair.

起笔三个短句，全是闺中细节，而离愁已暗伏其中。「香冷」写一夜无添香之情，炉冷知夜阑人倦，或竟彻夜未眠；「被翻红浪」写辗转反侧，锦被翻滚如浪，昨夜卧不安席之状可见；「起来人未梳头」以不事梳妆写心绪之颓然，女为悦己者容，悦己者将去，梳妆便失了意义。三层细节层层递进，不着一个「愁」字，而愁绪已铺满全篇，正是李清照以家常语写深情的本色。

The opening three short lines are all boudoir details, yet parting grief already lies hidden in them. The incense cold writes that no more incense has been added through the night - the cold burner shows the late hour and the weariness, perhaps a sleepless night. The quilt tumbles like a red wave writes tossing and turning, the broidered quilt rolling like surf, the restlessness of last night's bed plain. Risen, the woman has not yet combed her hair writes the heart's collapse through neglect of adornment: a woman adorns herself for the one she loves, and when that one is about to go, adornment loses its meaning. Three layers of detail, advancing step by step, not one word of grief, yet grief fills the piece - Li Qingzhao's true way of writing deep feeling in homely words.

生怕闲愁暗恨，多少事、欲说还休。

Fearing idle sorrow and dark regret, so many things — would speak yet hold back.

最怕这闲愁暗恨涌上心头，有千言万语，想说却又止住不说。

I dread the idle grief and hidden resentment; how many things I would speak, yet speak no more.

这是全词的枢纽句。「生怕」二字写出对愁的畏惧，愁本难避而偏「怕」之来，正见愁之已深；「闲愁暗恨」四字涵括所有未出口的心事。「多少事、欲说还休」，写尽了人间别离前的千回百转：不是没有话说，是话太多、太乱、太悲，怕一说出口更添离愁，故吞声咽住。这一顿，顿出了情感的千钧重量，比直说离别更令人心折。以吞吞吐吐的笔法写「欲说还休」的心事，形式与内容浑然为一，是此词最见功力处，也是李清照最擅长的抒情方式。

This is the hinge line of the ci. The words I dread write the fear of grief: grief is hard to avoid, yet she dreads its coming, which shows how deep grief already is. Idle grief and hidden resentment gather all the unspoken matters of the heart. How many things I would speak, yet speak no more exhausts the thousand turns before parting: it is not that there is nothing to say, but that there is too much, too tangled, too sorrowful, and she fears that once spoken it will add to the parting grief, so she swallows it. This pause draws out a thousandweight of feeling, more moving than a direct statement of parting. Writing the would-speak-and-stop heart in a halting brush, form and content become one - the most masterly point of the ci, and Li Qingzhao's most habitual lyrical method.

今年瘦，非干病酒，不是悲秋。

This year I have grown thin — not from sickening wine, not from lamenting autumn.

今年我瘦了，不是因为沉湎病酒，也不是因为悲秋伤怀。

This year I have grown thin, not from wine-sickness, nor from grieving the autumn.

三句连用否定，是宋词中著名的「排除法」写法。先直陈「今年瘦」这一可见之实，再以「非干病酒」「不是悲秋」两番否定，把寻常消瘦的两大因由一一排除，逼出不言自明的真正原因：为别离而憔悴。这种不直接说破、以否证法侧写的笔法，比正面直陈更曲折有力，令人寻味无穷。李清照善用此技，其《武陵春》「只恐双溪舴艋舟，载不动许多愁」亦以侧笔写愁之重，与此同一机杼。三句两「不」一「非」，音节拗峭，正合心绪之激荡。

The three lines use negation throughout, the famous method of elimination in Song ci. First it states the visible fact, this year I have grown thin; then two negations - not from wine-sickness, not from grieving the autumn - exclude the two usual causes of emaciation one by one, forcing out the self-evident true cause: wasted by parting. This way of not speaking directly but writing sideways through denial is more winding and forceful than a plain statement, and inexhaustible in its savor. Li is skilled at this; her武陵春 only I fear the little boat on the Shuangxi cannot carry all this grief also writes grief's weight sideways, the same method. Three lines with two nots and one not, the rhythm abrupt and sharp, fitting the tumult of the heart.

凝眸处，从今更数，几段新愁。

Where the gaze rests, from now count anew — a few new sorrows.

这凝望之处，从今以后，只怕要再添几段新愁了。

Where my gaze is fixed, from now on, I fear, several new griefs will be added.

结拍以「凝眸」领起，复用「凝眸」作顶真，回环往复。凝眸者，望眼欲穿之态，所望者远行之人与旧日之情；「从今更数」四字，把离别后的日子预支出来，未别已知别后之愁将逐日递增，情之深挚由此可见。「几段新愁」以一「新」字对旧愁而言，旧愁未消、新愁又添，愁的累积永无止境，正见离别的无尽后续。全词以「愁」字收束，与开篇的慵懒、中段的吞吐一脉贯通，回环照应，浑然一体，遂成婉约词中结构最完整的篇章之一。

The closing is led by fixed gaze and repeats fixed gaze in a chain, turning back on itself. Fixed gaze is the look straining to the limit, gazing at the far traveler and the old love. The four words from now on advance the days after parting in advance: before parting she already knows the grief will daily increase, and the depth of feeling is plain. Several new grief sets the word new against the old grief - old grief not spent, new grief added, grief's accumulation without end, showing the endless aftermath of parting. The ci closes on the word grief, threading through the opening's lassitude and the middle's halting speech, echoing front and back into one whole - one of the most perfectly structured pieces of the graceful school.

Study

Word focus

冷冷 (cold) in 'incense cold in the golden lion' is the rising-eye of the whole. Incense should be warm; one 冷 marks the morning when it has burned out, none to replenish — implying lonely single sleep and a chill night. It writes both physical and mental: the burner's cold is the heart's cold, parting-sorrow advanced. Li excels at 冷 to convey feeling — her 'Slow, Slow Song' 'cold, cold, clear, clear' and 'Dream of a Maiden' 'quilt cold, incense gone, new dream waking' all use objects' cold for the heart's chill. The first line's 冷 sets the clear-cold基调, contrasting with the warm 'quilt tossed red waves,' and in that warm-cold clash the parting sorrow deepens. 「香冷金猊」之「冷」字，是全词的起兴之眼。炉香本热，著一「冷」字，点出晨起香已燃尽、无人添续之态，暗示独宿之孤单与彻夜之凄清。「冷」字兼写物理与心理：香炉之冷，实为心境之冷、离愁预支之冷。李清照尤善以「冷」字传情，其《声声慢》「冷冷清清」、《念奴娇》「被冷香消新梦觉」，皆以器物之冷写心绪之寒。此处首句着一「冷」，定下全篇清冷基调，与「被翻红浪」的暖色调相激相荡，冷暖对照间，离愁更显深重。

瘦瘦 (thin) in 'this year thin' is the most direct, self-revealing word. One 瘦, not 'wan' nor 'fading,' plainly 'thin,' shows the thinning real and startling. With the two negatives 'not from wine, not from autumn' it rules out the three great causes of thinning, leaving only parting — 瘦 becomes the embodiment of love, like her 'Drunk in the Flower Shade' 'leaner than the yellow chrysanthemum,' a famous self-portrait. Here the same 瘦 is plain statement not metaphor, showing the feeling's depth and body's waste — thin is love, thin is sorrow. 「今年瘦」之「瘦」字，是此词最直见性情的字眼。着一「瘦」字，不说「憔悴」、不说「清减」，而直言「瘦」，见出消瘦之实在可察、触目惊心。「瘦」字连下「非干病酒，不是悲秋」两个否定，把病、酒、秋三大致瘦之由尽行撇开，唯余别离一因，「瘦」字遂成为情的化身，如李清照《醉花阴》「人比黄花瘦」一般，成为易安词中最著名的自画像。同一「瘦」字，此处不作比喻而作直陈，更见此时情之深、身之削，瘦即是爱，瘦即是愁。

怕怕 (fear) in 'fearing idle sorrow and dark regret' is the key of the emotion-structure. Sorrow should be felt; she says 'fearing,' as if sorrow were external, to be avoided — exactly the timidity of deep feeling: not heartless, but feeling too heavy, too heavy to touch. One 怕 grounds the later 'would speak yet hold back' — because fearing, she would speak and hold back. One 怕 writes the helplessness and fright of a gentle woman facing parting, fine as hair, another proof of Li's using the plainest word for the deepest feeling, weaving with 瘦, 冷 the clear-cold texture. 「生怕闲愁暗恨」之「怕」字，是全词情感结构的关键。愁恨本是心中应有之情，诗人却说「生怕」，仿佛闲愁是外来之物、避之唯恐不及，这恰是情到深处方有的畏怯：不是无情，而是情太重，重到不敢触碰。着一「怕」字，后文「欲说还休」便有了着落，正因为怕，才欲说还休。一个「怕」字，把深闺弱质面对离别的无助与惊惧写得纤毫毕现，是李清照以极平常字写极深情的又一证明，与「瘦」「冷」诸字共同织成全词的凄清肌理。