宋 Song · 诗 Poem
呈鲁功甫
To Lu Gongfu
拂面东风二月天，绿杨芳草暗平川。
花容著雨鬭翻锦，春色恼人催禁烟。
灯夜虽然君有约，花时却恐我无缘。
直须得暇来相访，当约嫦娥伴醉眠。
Green willows and fragrant grass darken the open plain.
Rain on the blossoms — they vie like overturning brocade;
This spring, maddening, hastens the cold-food no-fire days.
Though you've a tryst on Lantern Night,
I fear I'll miss the season of flowers.
Do come visit me whenever you find the time,
And I'll invite the Moon Goddess to join us in drunken sleep.
Meaning
A playful spring invitation to a friend: the poet paints a bright February scene of east wind, green willows, and after-rain blossoms, noting that cold-food is near and that he may miss the flower season while his friend is busy on Lantern Night. He urges his friend to visit and jests that he will invite the Moon Goddess to share their drunken sleep. Beneath the jest lies sincere affection and the poet's open, witty character.
二月的天气里，东风拂过面颊，绿杨与芳草把平川染得一片青碧幽暗。雨后的花朵争奇斗艳，像翻涌的锦绣；这恼人的春色，又催着寒食禁烟的日子到来。你务必要抽出空闲来我这儿做客，到那时，我要约上嫦娥一起来陪着你醉卧花间。
Appreciation
The poem excels in scene-feeling mutual generation and serious-playful blending, opening with bright spring and turning to a regretful contrast of two festivals. The closing line's imagined Moon Goddess companion turns a solemn invitation into light banter, exemplifying the Song technique of conveying deep feeling through jest. Orderly in structure yet agile in tone, it shows Hua Yue's less-seen witty side.
【白话串讲】 华岳写给鲁功甫：“拂面东风二月天，绿杨芳草暗平川”。“灯夜虽然君有约，花时却恐我无缘”——“直须得暇来相访，当约嫦娥伴醉眠”——他邀朋友来喝酒。 【意象与手法】 起联以「拂」写东风之和煦，「暗」写春色之浓酽，触觉视觉并举；颔联「鬭翻锦」以锦喻雨后繁花，动态毕现，与「催禁烟」的节令之警相映成趣。颈联以「灯夜」「花时」对举，一君一我、一约有缘一无缘，转折自然。结联忽出嫦娥作陪的奇想，庄谐并作。 【情感与主旨】 这是首饶有生趣的春日邀友诗，写东风绿杨、繁花春色之美，兼述与友人灯夜有约、花时无缘的遗憾，末以「约嫦娥伴醉眠」的戏谑语托出邀约之诚与交谊之亲，寓认真于玩笑，见出诗人旷达机敏的性情。 【名句点睛】 「当约嫦娥伴醉眠」以月中仙子为虚拟陪客，把隆重的期待化入轻松的谐语，妙趣横生，以虚写实，是宋人诗中以谐寓庄的传神一笔。
Background
Hua Yue, styled Zixi, hao Cuwei, from Guichi, Chizhou, was a Southern Song poet. He entered the Imperial Academy early; in the first year of Kaixi he was punished for memorializing against the northern expedition and requesting the execution of Han Tuozhou, and was exiled to Jianning; after Han's fall he was released. In the tenth year of Jiading he placed first in the military examination and was appointed to the Palace Guard; later he again offended the powerful with plain speech, and his life was much storm-tossed. Hua Yue had both civil and martial talent, liked discussing military affairs, with 'Cuwei Northern Expedition Record' on war and 'Cuwei Southern Expedition Record' preserving poems; his poetic style is bold and swift, sometimes with colloquial interest. 'Presented to Lu Gongfu' is a gift-poem; 'presented' means to offer, Lu Gongfu being his friend, now untraceable. The poem writes the second-month spring scene and the invitation to visit: east wind brushes the face, green willows and fragrant grass, blossoms after rain, and cold-food near; on Lantern Night you already have a tryst, but in the flower season I fear I'll have no luck — so the last line jests 'I'll invite the Moon Goddess to join us in drunken sleep,' with Chang'e as companion, witty and interesting, fully showing the two men's close friendship and the poet's open nature. The exact year is hard to fix; by its content it was likely a late-spring-before invitation to a friend, possibly written during Hua Yue's retirement or exile. Hua Yue's poetry is known for 'vehemence,' but this piece shows another witty, quick side, contrasting with the many world-weary works in 'Cuwei Southern Expedition Record.' Also Hua Yue valued promises and liked friendship; this poem shows his sincerity to friends and interest in writing — titled with the deferential 'presented,' courteous yet paired with the wild line 'invite the Moon Goddess,' exactly the Song epistolary poem's common serious-yet-playful brush, its humanity especially praised by later ages.
华岳，字子西，号翠微，池州贵池人，南宋诗人。华岳早年入太学，开禧元年因上书力陈北伐用兵之非、请诛韩侂胄而获罪，被编管建宁，韩败后得释；嘉定十年中武举第一，授殿前司职，其后复以直言忤权贵，生平多历风波。华岳兼文武之才，好论兵事，有《翠微北征录》论兵、《翠微南征录》存诗，诗风豪纵俊快，时见俚趣。《呈鲁功甫》为赠答诗，「呈」乃呈献之意，鲁功甫当为其友，生平不详。诗写二月春日之景与约友来访之情：东风拂面、绿杨芳草、花容著雨，而寒食将近；灯夜（元宵）君已有约在先，花时（春时）则恐自己无缘奉陪，故末句戏言「当约嫦娥伴醉眠」，以嫦娥为陪客，诙谐成趣，足见二人交谊之亲厚与诗人性情之旷达。此诗具体作年难考，就其内容看，当系暮春前寄友邀约之作，作于华岳闲居或贬所皆有可能。华岳诗向以「激越」见称，此篇则别见其风趣机敏的一面，与《翠微南征录》中许多愤世之作恰成对照。又华岳为人重然诺、好交游，《呈鲁功甫》一诗正可见其待友之诚与行文之趣，诗题冠以「呈」字，谦而有礼，与「当约嫦娥伴醉眠」的狂语相映，正是宋人尺牍诗函中常见的亦庄亦谐之笔，其人情味尤为后世所称。
Art
This is a lively spring invitation to a friend, wonderful in scene-feeling mutual generation and serious-playful blending. The first couplet writes scene: 'The east wind brushes my face in the second month's sky; green willows and fragrant grass darken the open plain' — east wind, green willows, fragrant grass spread a plain's spring color; the 'darken' (an) character writes the grass-color's density, seen afar like mist and curtain, giving the plain depth. The second couplet continues with flowers and season: 'Rain on the blossoms — they vie like overturning brocade; this spring, maddening, hastens the cold-food no-fire days' — after-rain blossoms like brocade vying and overturning, gorgeous to the extreme, yet cold-food approaches, the good spring urging the 'no-fire' thought, joy with warning. This couplet's scene is exquisite; 'vie like overturning brocade' especially shows brush-strength. The third couplet turns to human affairs: 'Though you've a tryst on Lantern Night, I fear I'll miss the season of flowers' — opposing Lantern Night and flower season, one yours one mine, one has tryst one lacks luck, the antithesis hiding regret, the turn natural. The closing 'Do come visit me whenever you find the time; I'll invite the Moon Goddess to join us in drunken sleep' suddenly offers a strange line, with Chang'e as companion, presenting the invitation in playful talk, showing both the feeling's truth and the interest's elegance; the whole ends amid laughter, aftertaste curling. The poem's scene is bright, its feeling sincere, serious within jest — a successful playful piece under the Southern Song jianghu style, also a typical embodiment of the Song 'making poetry from interest.' Also the poem begins with 'second month's sky' and ends with 'drunken sleep,' from spring scene to drunk state, time flowing through; the middle 'Lantern Night' and 'flower season' oppose, void and solid interseen, structure orderly yet agile — a Song seven-character lüshi with both playfulness and rule.
此诗是一首饶有生趣的春日邀友之作，妙在情景相生、庄谐并作。首联写景：「拂面东风二月天，绿杨芳草暗平川」，东风、绿杨、芳草铺展出一幅平川春色，「暗」字写草色之浓，远望如烟如幔，平川因此有了深浅层次。颔联承写花与节气：「花容著雨鬭翻锦，春色恼人催禁烟」，雨后繁花如锦翻斗，绚烂至极，而寒食将至，春色虽好却催人动「禁烟」之念，乐中有警。此联写景工丽，「鬭翻锦」三字尤见笔力。颈联转写人事：「灯夜虽然君有约，花时却恐我无缘」，以元宵灯夜与花开时节对举，一属君、一属我，一有约、一无缘，对仗之中暗藏遗憾，转折自然。尾联「直须得暇来相访，当约嫦娥伴醉眠」忽出奇语，以嫦娥作陪，将邀友之请出以诙谐之谈，既见情之真，又见趣之雅，全诗于玩笑声中收束，余味袅袅。全诗写景则明丽，写情则真挚，寓认真于戏谑之中，是南宋江湖诗风下较为成功的次谐之作，也是宋人「以趣为诗」风气的典型体现。又此诗首尾以「二月天」起、以「醉眠」结，自春景写到醉态，时光流转一脉贯穿；中间「灯夜」「花时」对举，虚实互见，章法整饬中见灵动，是宋人七律中于谐趣之外兼有法度之作。
Allusions
'No-fire' (yanjin) is the cold-food no-fire custom. Legend: Jie Zitui aided Duke Wen of Jin (Chong'er) yet declined reward, and hid with his mother on Mian Mountain; the duke could not find him and burned the mountain to force him out; Zitui embraced a tree and was burned to death; the duke mourned and forbade fire that day, eating only cold food — thus cold-food. The matter is in the Zuo Zhuan (Duke Xi 24) and the Shiji's 'Houses of the Jin,' and the Hou Hanshu's 'Zhou Ju Biography' also records Taiyuan's cold-food custom; Song cold-food poems are very many, no-fire becoming a fixed spring-season image. 'Spring maddens' (chunse naoren) — Wang Anshi's 'On Night Duty' 'spring maddens so I cannot sleep; the moon moves flower-shadows up the rail' is most famous; Hua Yue's line may derive from it, but with 'hastens' more shows time's pressure. 'Chang'e' uses the Heng'e-flees-to-moon tale: the Huainanzi says 'Yi sought the deathless medicine from the Queen Mother of the West; Heng'e stole it and fled to the moon'; Zhang Heng's 'Lingxian' also records it; the poem uses Chang'e as a virtual companion, taking the moon-immortal's grace, playful yet elegant. 'Green willows and fragrant grass' darkly fits Yan Shu's 'Jade Tower Spring' 'green willow fragrant grass long pavilion road' phrasing, a common spring parting phrase; here used for scene, for its bright color. Also 'Lantern Night' means the Lantern Festival evening; Song lantern custom was grand — Ouyang Xiu's 'Sheng Cha Zi' 'last year at lantern night, the flower market lamps like daylight' praises it; Hua Yue opposes 'Lantern Night' and 'flower season,' exactly taking the year's two fine evenings. All these allusions and common phrases are casually taken yet remain elegant — showing Hua Yue's learning.
「禁烟」即寒食禁火之俗。相传介子推辅晋文公重耳有功而不受禄，与母隐于绵山，文公求之不得，乃焚山逼出，子推抱木焚死，文公哀之，禁民于此日举火，只食冷食，是为寒食。事见《左传》僖公二十四年「晋侯赏从亡者，介之推不言禄，禄亦弗及」及《史记·晋世家》，《后汉书·周举传》亦载太原寒食之俗，宋人寒食诗极多，禁烟遂成春日节令的固定意象。「春色恼人」一语，王安石《夜直》「春色恼人眠不得，月移花影上栏干」最为著称，华岳此句或本之，而着「催」字则更见光阴迫促之意。「嫦娥」用姮娥奔月之典，《淮南子·览冥训》：「羿请不死之药于西王母，姮娥窃以奔月。」张衡《灵宪》亦载其事，诗中以嫦娥为虚拟陪客，取其月中仙人之姿，戏谑而风雅。「绿杨芳草」则暗合晏殊《玉楼春》「绿杨芳草长亭路」句法，为春日离思之常语，此处用之写景，取其色彩之明丽。又「灯夜」指元宵灯火之夕，宋人灯夕之俗极盛，欧阳修《生查子》「去年元夜时，花市灯如昼」即咏之，华岳以「灯夜」与「花时」对举，正取一年两度良辰之意。凡此用典与俗语，皆随手拈来而不失雅驯，可见华岳之学养。
Commentary
Hua Yue's most famous deed is his memorial requesting Han Tuozhou's execution; the Qing 'Complete Library Catalogue' narrates his conduct, detailing his fame for dauntless plain speech; his poems often have a generous,磊落 sound, but this piece shows his witty, playful other side, proving 'bold' alone cannot exhaust his talent. Yan Yu's 'Canglang Poetry Talk' faults Song poetry for 'making poetry from words, from learning, from argument'; Hua Yue's 'this spring maddens, hastens the no-fire days' uses Wang Anshi's line, and 'I'll invite the Moon Goddess to join us in drunken sleep' brings immortal figures into jest — exactly showing Southern Song poets' common habit of displaying cleverness and turning vulgar into elegant. Also the Qing Li E's 'Song Poetry Affair' records Hua Yue among the Southern Song able poets, showing his poetic fame's orderly transmission. Surveying the critics, this poem's wonder lies in writing solemn feeling with a jesting brush, outside the slick manner of the jianghu school's later dregs, with its own clear-stern qi — a distinctive playful style among Hua Yue's poems, also a fine Southern Song seven-lü excelling in playfulness. Also the third couplet 'though you've a tryst on Lantern Night, I fear I'll miss the flower season,' turning with 'though' and 'I fear,' writes a layer of regret gracefully, exactly fitting the Song seven-lü method of using empty words to convey spirit; Fang Hui's 'Ying Kui Lü Sui' says the middle two couplets must be 'alive,' and this couplet is an example. In sum, Hua Yue's poem shows deep feeling within jest, elegance within colloquial — a fresh work under the Song-end jianghu wind; readers should not slight it for its lightness.
华岳生平最著者为其上书请诛韩侂胄一事，清修《四库全书总目提要·翠微南征录》叙其行迹，即详言其以气节敢言著称，其诗多慷慨磊落之音；而此篇则见其诙谐机趣的另一面，可知「豪纵」一词不足以尽其才。严羽《沧浪诗话·诗辨》讥宋诗「以文字为诗，以才学为诗，以议论为诗」，华岳此诗「春色恼人催禁烟」用王安石「春色恼人眠不得」之句、「当约嫦娥伴醉眠」以仙家人物入戏谑，正可见南宋诗人骋才使巧、化俗为雅的通习。又清人厉鹗《宋诗纪事》录华岳诗，将其列入南宋能诗者之林，可见其诗名流传有绪。综观诸家所评，此诗之妙在以戏谑之笔写郑重之情，于江湖诗派末流的油滑腔调之外，自具清刚之气，是华岳诗中别具风趣的一格，也是南宋七律中以谐趣胜的佳构。又此诗颈联「灯夜虽然君有约，花时却恐我无缘」，以「虽然」「却恐」作转，把一层遗憾写得婉转有致，正合宋人七律以虚字传神之法，方回《瀛奎律髓》论中二联谓须「活」，此联即其例。要之，华岳此诗于戏谑中见深情，于俚俗中见雅致，是宋季江湖诗风下的清新之作，读者勿以其轻快而轻之。
Prosody
Line by line
拂面东风二月天，绿杨芳草暗平川。
The east wind brushes my face in the second month's sky; green willows and fragrant grass darken the open plain.
二月的天气里，东风拂过面颊，绿杨与芳草把平川染得一片青碧幽暗。
The east wind brushes my face on a February day; green willows and fragrant grass darken the level plain.
起句写春日之景，东风拂面、二月天时，点出季节与气象，「拂」字轻灵，春风之和煦如在目前。次句「绿杨芳草暗平川」，以绿杨、芳草两种最典型的春日植物铺满画面，「暗」字尤为精到：草色杨色交相叠映，浓得化不开，远望平川如笼青烟，是谓「暗」。一「暗」字写足了春色之浓酽，也为下文「春色恼人」张本。两句一写触觉一写视觉，由近及远，平川春色已在眼前铺开，起调明丽而从容，为全诗定下欢愉的基调。
The opening line writes the spring scenery, the east wind brushing the face and the February weather, pointing out the season and the air; the word brush is light and nimble, the spring wind's warmth as if before the eyes. The second, green willows and fragrant grass darken the level plain, spreads the picture with the two most typical spring plants of green willow and fragrant grass; the word dark is most exact - the grass color and willow color overlap, thick as if melting, and gazing afar the level plain is as if veiled in blue smoke, which is called dark. The single word dark writes to the full the richness of the spring color, and lays a ground for the later spring season troubles men. The two lines, one writing touch one sight, from near to far, the level plain's spring color is spread before the eyes; the opening tone bright and unhurried, fixing the joyous key of the whole poem.
花容著雨鬭翻锦，春色恼人催禁烟。
Rain on the blossoms — they vie like overturning brocade; this spring, maddening, hastens the cold-food no-fire days.
雨后的花朵争奇斗艳，像翻涌的锦绣；这恼人的春色，又催着寒食禁烟的日子到来。
The flowers, dressed in rain, vie with unrolling brocade; the spring season troubles men and hurries the smoke-ban.
颔联是全诗写景最见功力处。「花容著雨」写雨后花姿之娇艳，「鬭翻锦」三字以锦喻花，繁花如锦、争相翻涌，动态毕现，「鬭」字更把花与花的竞放写成了争奇斗艳的角力，热烈之至。下句「春色恼人催禁烟」由景转节令：寒食将临，禁烟在即，美好春色竟与节令的肃穆相撞，「催」字写春之匆促，「恼人」则把春写成多情而可恼之物，正是王安石化出的俏语。一乐一警，盛极而忧，景中已暗含情事，为下文「灯夜有约、花时无缘」的感慨作了铺垫。
The jaw couplet is the poem's most wrought place in writing scenery. The flowers, dressed in rain writes the flower posture's delicate beauty after rain; the three words vie with unrolling brocade use brocade to meta-phor the flowers, the thronging flowers like brocade, vying to unroll, the motion fully present, and the word vie writes the contest of flower and flower as a struggle of rivaling beauty, at the height of warmth. The second, the spring season troubles men and hurries the smoke-ban, turns from scenery to the season: the Cold Food is near, the smoke-ban at hand, and the beautiful spring color clashes with the season's solemnity; the word hurries writes the spring's haste, and troubles men writes spring as a passionate and troubling thing, exactly the clever line derived from Wang Anshi. One joy one warning, the height turning to grief, the scenery already secretly holding the feeling, laying a ground for the later sigh of the lantern night having an appointment and the flower time having no chance.
直须得暇来相访，当约嫦娥伴醉眠。
Do come visit me whenever you find the time, and I'll invite the Moon Goddess to join us in drunken sleep.
你务必要抽出空闲来我这儿做客，到那时，我要约上嫦娥一起来陪着你醉卧花间。
Be sure to come and visit when you have leisure; I shall ask Chang'e to keep you company, drunk asleep.
结联以戏谑语写郑重情，是全诗最见性情之笔。「直须」二字语气恳切，邀约之诚溢于言表；「当约嫦娥伴醉眠」忽发奇想，以月中嫦娥为陪客，醉眠之雅、情谊之亲，尽在这玩笑话中托出。不直言盼君之切，而曰愿以嫦娥相陪，把隆重的期待化入轻松的谐语，正见诗人与友交情之无间、性情之旷达。此句以虚写实，妙趣横生，令全诗在笑声中收束，余味悠长，是宋人诗中以谐寓庄的典型笔法，也是全诗画龙点睛之处。
The closing couplet writes a grave feeling in a jesting word, the poem's most character-revealing brush. The two words be sure to are an earnest tone, the sincerity of the invitation overflowing the words. The second, I shall ask Chang'e to keep you company, drunk asleep, suddenly gives a strange thought, taking Chang'e in the moon as the companion guest; the elegance of drunken sleep and the closeness of friendship are both brought out in this jesting word. Not directly saying the earnestness of hoping for the friend, but saying I wish to take Chang'e as companion, turning the grave expectation into light wit, exactly showing the gapless friendship and the open character of the poet and friend. This line writes the solid through the void, full of fine delight, making the whole poem close in laughter, the aftertone long, the typical Song way of lodging the solemn in the jest, and the eye that brings the picture to life.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Compare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
王安石《夜直》「春色恼人眠不得，月移花影上栏干」以春色恼人写值夜无聊、情思缱绻；华岳「春色恼人催禁烟」直用其语，而情境一变：荆公之恼在静夜独宿，华岳之恼在花时将逝、佳节将近。同用「恼人」二字，一写出仕者之闲愁，一写山野者之惜春，化用旧句而自出新意，可见宋人「点铁成金」手法的具体运用，也见华岳取径荆公诗的痕迹。
问刘十九 An Invitation to Liu Shijiu 白居易 · 同为邀友小诗，一温厚一诙谐 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
白居易「绿蚁新醅酒，红泥小火炉。晚来天欲雪，能饮一杯无」以问句邀友对饮，温厚亲切；华岳「直须得暇来相访，当约嫦娥伴醉眠」同样以邀约为题，却出以嫦娥陪酒的奇想，诙谐浪漫。白诗之邀，实于风雪黄昏见生活之暖；华诗之邀，虚于花月清夜见兴致之豪。一实一虚，一平实一奇诡，恰是唐诗与宋诗面目迥异的缩影，而二诗皆以真情动人，则古今一揆。
闲居初夏午睡起 Idle Life: Waking from a Nap on an Early Summer Day 杨万里 · 同属南宋谐趣诗风 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
杨万里「日长睡起无情思，闲看儿童捉柳花」写初夏闲情，以儿童戏柳的稚趣见诗人之趣；华岳「当约嫦娥伴醉眠」以仙人入戏，同是以奇趣胜的南宋诗风。诚斋尚「活法」，于眼前琐事中捕捉生趣；华岳则于想象中铺排奇趣，两人俱能不落理障而以趣胜。较之杨万里之自然天成，华岳此诗稍见着力，然其诙谐机敏，正可见南宋中期诗人普遍追求的理想诗境，也见「诚斋体」影响之广。