宋 Song · 诗 Poem
留别表弟方时父二首 其一
Parting from My Cousin Fang Shifu (I)
四壁萧萧落叶声，招留聊试子交情。
不应华屋延珠履，得似蓬窗共铁檠。
襆被都无三宿恋，重裘未觉一寒生。
暮年彼此懽悰薄，相对清谈听断更。
Your offer to keep me lets me test the depth of our friendship.
What is a stately hall that welcomes guests in pearl-decked shoes,
Beside a thatched window, sharing one iron lamp stand?
With my bundled bedding I feel no three-night attachment,
Wrapped in layers of fur I feel not a single chill.
In our late years the zest for pleasure has worn thin—
We sit talking quietly, listening to the night watch break off at dawn.
Meaning
Liu Kezhuang, in his old age, spends a last night with his younger cousin Fang Shifu before parting. The bare walls and rustling leaves set the bleak scene; the cousin's hospitality becomes a test of their lifelong friendship. A grand hall with pearl-shod guests, the poet says, cannot match a thatched window shared over an iron lamp stand. He carries light baggage, feels no lingering attachment, yet wrapped in warm furs he feels no cold—because the warmth of friendship keeps out the chill of the world. In their late years pleasure has worn thin; they sit talking quietly until the night watch fades at dawn.
屋子四壁空落,只听得萧萧秋风吹动落叶的声音;你这番挽留款待,正好让我试一试探你我交情的深浅。纵使华贵厅堂里迎来穿珠履的贵客,哪里比得上在这茅屋蓬窗之下,共对一盏铁架油灯亲切呢。行李简单,对这里并没有三宿之恋;厚衣在身,竟不觉得有一丝寒意侵来。到了晚年,彼此欢愉的兴致都已淡薄,只剩下相对清谈,静听着更声将断、天将破晓。
Appreciation
The poem is plain in speech but deep in feeling, advancing through four linked steps: setting, friendship, parting, and the melancholy of old age. The opening couplet uses the doubled 'rustle' to fill the autumn night with sound, recalling Du Fu's thatched cottage in the wind. 'Testing the friendship' turns a simple act of hospitality into a quiet weighing of a lifelong bond. The second couplet sets the stately hall of pearl-shod guests against the thatched window and iron lamp stand, and the poet chooses the latter without a word of debate. The third couplet, 'no three-night attachment' yet 'not a single chill,' plays the irony of farewell against the warmth that keeps the cold out. The closing couplet, two old men talking until the watch ends, leaves the whole poem on a long, quiet resonance.
【白话串讲】 刘克庄留别表弟：“四壁萧萧落叶声，招留聊试子交情”。“不应华屋延珠履，得似蓬窗共铁檠”——“暮年彼此懽悰薄，相对清谈听断更”——他写暮年与表弟的清淡相聚。 【意象与手法】 全诗以白描写景起兴,四壁萧萧、落叶声托出秋夜寒素氛围;以华屋珠履与蓬窗铁檠对举,一贵一贱,取舍自见,以贫贱之景衬交情之真。通篇不离灯影:落叶、铁檠、断更一线贯穿,由景入情,以小见大,语浅意深。 【情感与主旨】 诗人晚年宦海浮沉、饱尝世味冷暖,于暮年愈珍视贫贱之交。招留聊试既自嘲寒士之窘,亦见对真情的期待与珍重;重裘未觉寒以衣暖衬心暖,言情谊足以抵御世路之寒。全篇于萧瑟中见温厚,于淡语中寄至情。 【名句点睛】 “得似蓬窗共铁檠”以华屋珠履的富丽反衬蓬窗铁檠的寒俭,而情之所钟偏在后者,取舍之间贫贱之交的可贵不言自明,一灯如豆,情味绵长。
Background
Liu Kezhuang (1187–1269), hao Houcun, was a native of Putian and a major writer of the late Southern Song, important both to the Jianghu school of poetry and the Xin Qiji school of ci. His official career rose and fell repeatedly. This poem, from his collected works, was written in his old age when, after retiring from court, he returned to his native place and was hosted by his younger cousin Fang Shifu on the eve of departure. At a time when the treacherous minister Jia Sidao dominated the court, Liu had known the coldness of the world; the poem treasures his friendship with a poor relation and looks with a cool eye on the world of stately halls and pearl-shod guests, ending on the quiet talk of two old men by lamplight.
此诗见于《后村大全集》,系刘克庄晚年归乡与表弟方时父话别之作。刘克庄号后村,莆田人,为南宋后期江湖诗派与辛派词的重要作家,生平宦海浮沉,屡起屡仆。约当理宗淳祐、宝祐年间,克庄年事已高,自朝列退居故里,四方亲戚故旧多有往来赠答,方时父为其表弟,情分尤密。诗题点明留别,则知此篇作于将别之际,或为赴任、或为出游,临行前宿于表弟之蓬窗铁檠之间,感念素交,遂有此作。时当暮年,作者历经权相贾似道擅政、朝局反复,仕途屡受弹劾,饱尝世味冷暖,故诗中既有对贫贱之交的珍视,又有对华屋珠履之世的冷眼。所谓招留聊试子交情,乃以四壁萧然之境试彼交谊深浅,语似平易而情味深长。诗中蓬窗共檠、襆被三宿等语,皆自《论语》与佛典翻出,借以言寓居之简、依恋之切,见出南宋后期士大夫于离乱之余尤重骨肉之情的普遍心态。据《宋史》本传,克庄晚年以焕章阁学士致仕,家贫好学,此诗所写茅屋铁檠、暮年清谈,正与史传所载清约自守的形象相合。盖克庄家本清寒,虽名满天下,而布衣蔬食,不改其素,晚岁归乡,朋旧过从,所谈者诗书,所共者灯檠,此诗所写,正是此种日常,而所以可贵,正在于能将至情寄于最寻常的物事之间,于落叶声中见交谊,于铁檠影里写离怀,无一句装点而感人自深。
Art
The poem works mainly by plain description that carries deep feeling. The first couplet opens on the scene—bare walls and rustling leaves—then turns the host's hospitality into a test of friendship. The second couplet contrasts the stately hall and pearl-shod guests with the thatched window and iron lamp stand, placing the poet's choice between luxury and frugality without open comment. The third couplet writes the state of parting: 'no three-night attachment' from the Book of Later Han, and 'not a single chill' as a paradoxical boast that the warmth of feeling surpasses the warmth of clothing. The last couplet closes on two old men talking quietly until the watch breaks—the lamp's light and the night's sound running through the whole poem, from the rustling leaves at the start to the fading watch at the end, a small image that binds the entire piece.
全诗以白描为主而寓深情于淡语,结构上先写环境、再写交谊、次写别情、终写暮年之慨,四联层层递进。首联以四壁萧萧、落叶满庭起兴,渲染出秋夜荒寒的视觉与听觉氛围,萧萧二字叠用,声情并茂,直逼杜甫茅屋为秋风所破之神韵。招留聊试四字下得极妙,把一个并不铺张的留客动作写成对交情的试探,举重若轻,暗藏自嘲与感慨。颔联用对比法,华屋延珠履与蓬窗共铁檠对举,珠履典出《史记》春申君传,铁檠则指油灯铁架,一豪华一寒俭,而作者偏安于后者,褒贬自在句中。颈联转写临别状态,襆被都无三宿恋语本《后汉书》第五伦传,言去留无恋,而重裘未觉一寒生更以反语烘托,明说衣裘足以御寒,实则暗示心暖胜于衣暖,情谊足以抵御世路之寒。尾联以暮年懽悰薄作结,相对清谈听断更收束全篇,断更即残更,言话别竟夜、更漏将断,情味悠长。通篇不用僻典而典自浑化,语浅意深,颇得老杜以家常语写至情的家法。尤须著眼者,是全诗始终不离灯光:起处落叶,继以铁檠,终以断更,灯影与更声贯穿首尾,夜之将阑、情之将别,皆借灯烛之微光一线引出,意象虽小而笼罩全篇,此正是以小见大的经营,非细读不能会其妙。
Allusions
'Pearl-shod guests' comes from the Records of the Grand Historian, where the Lord of Chunshen kept three thousand retainers, his chief guests wearing shoes studded with pearls—hence the symbol of the powerful host and his rich guests. The 'iron lamp stand' recalls Han Yu's 'Song of the Short Lamp Stand,' the poet's own lamp in a poor scholar's night reading. 'No three-night attachment' alludes to the Book of Later Han's account of the frugal Di Wulun, who carried only bundled bedding, and to Mencius' 'three nights before leaving'—the poet feels no lingering attachment because his departure is settled, yet the warmth remains. 'Wrapped in fur and feeling no chill' turns an ordinary comfort into a sign that inner warmth, not clothing, keeps out the cold of the world.
诗中共用数典,皆融化无迹。珠履一典出《史记·春申君列传》,记春申君门客三千,其上客皆蹑珠履,后世遂以珠履代指豪门贵客;作者以华屋延珠履反衬蓬窗共铁檠,借史典写世态,冷峻而不著议论。铁檠指铁制灯架,唐诗中多见,如韩愈《短灯檠歌》长檠八尺空自长,短檠二尺便且光,即咏此物,檠字以木为形旁,别作擎,诗中用檠字正合寒士夜读之意。襆被句本于《后汉书·第五伦传》,记第五伦性节俭,为会稽太守时惟以襆被自随,后世以襆被代指行装简素;作者反用三宿之典,取《孟子·公孙丑下》三宿而后出昼之义,言其对表弟之居并非无恋,只因襆被随身、去意已决,故不留恋亦复依依,两典一合,情致微妙。重裘句暗用《列子》之典而自出新意,古诗十九首亦有绮罗者自恃,不共凡人言之句,作者却以衣暖衬心暖。至于懽悰、断更等语,皆承宋人诗话常见语汇,见《诗人玉屑》所录晚唐体用语,可知其措辞自有家数,渊源有自。又懽悰一语,悰者,乐也,懽悰即欢乐情味,此词见诸宋人书简与词集者甚多,克庄用之,见其语汇的当行本色;断更之语,则直取乡村夜静之实感,不必有典,而更鼓之声已寓其中,雅俗之间,斟酌自见,正是学者之诗与才人之笔的结合。
Commentary
Fang Hui, in his Yingkui Lüshui, praised Liu Kezhuang's late regulated verse as mature and easy, at times as frank as Lu You—and this poem bears that out. Wang Shizhen noted that Liu's best lines, like 'sharing an iron lamp stand by a thatched window' and 'talking quietly, listening to the night watch break off,' seem effortless yet are fully refined. Pan Deyu of the Qing praised Liu's late work for finding a bleak depth in homely detail, writing family affection without clamor. Qian Zhongshu, though critical of Liu's repetitiousness, granted that his best pieces are sincere and plain. This poem, quiet in speech and deep in feeling, stands as a fine late-Song parting poem.
历代论刘克庄诗者众,多许其晚年造语老成。方回《瀛奎律髓》评后村诗谓其专工近体,笔力雄赡,晚年愈趋平易,所谓真率处不减放翁,此篇正可以证之。王士禛《带经堂诗话》则谓宋末诗人多流入粗硬,惟后村以书卷润泽,时有秀句,如蓬窗共铁檠、相对清谈听断更等联,看似随口而出,实则炉火纯青。清人潘德舆《养一斋诗话》论南宋诗,以为刘克庄晚作往往于家常琐事中见出苍凉怀抱,不事雕琢而自然入妙,深得少陵真血脉;并称其写骨肉之情不涉哀愁叫嚣,较同时诸家为优。近人钱锺书《宋诗选注》评刘克庄诗,谓其贪多务得、语意每每重复,然集中亦间有真率可诵者,此首虽非其最著之作,而情真语朴,在晚宋赠别诗中自成一格。综合诸家所论,可知此诗之佳处在于以淡语写至情,不矜才使气,而将身世之感、骨肉之亲浑融于数句之间,正是南宋后期诗坛崇尚平淡老境的具体体现。要之,诸家评论此诗,皆从一真字着笔:不矜才,不使气,不设色,而深情自见,此是阅历与学问交到极处后的自然流露,非可强致。晚宋诗风日趋粗率,克庄此作能于质朴中守此一真,是其高出流辈处,亦所以能于江湖、四灵之外独树一帜者也。
Prosody
Line by line
四壁萧萧落叶声，招留聊试子交情。
Around the bare walls the rustle of falling leaves is heard; your offer to keep me lets me test the depth of our friendship. (The opening couplet: sound and sight together set the bleak autumn night, and the host's hospitality becomes a quiet testing of a lifelong bond.)
屋子四壁空落,只听得萧萧秋风吹动落叶的声音;你这番挽留款待,正好让我试一试探你我交情的深浅。
On the four walls the rustle of falling leaves; your urging me to stay lets me try the depth of our friendship.
起句以景起情,四壁萧萧与落叶声相叠,既写客舍之寒素,又托出秋夜之寂寥,听觉与视觉交融,为全诗定下清冷基调。招留聊试四字尤见匠心,把亲人的挽留写成对交情的试金石,表面谦抑自嘲,实则珍重这份贫贱之交,语淡而情真。一华一素对比已在句外,不必明言而高下自判,起联即见老手经营之密。尤可味者,四壁萧萧是眼前实景,也是身世象征,一寒如此而犹得故人款留,则交情之真,不待言而自明,所以试字虽出,实已成竹在胸,作者下笔自有分寸,不迫不露,正是老成笔法。
The opening line starts feeling from scenery: the four walls desolate and the falling leaves' sound overlap, at once writing the inn's cold plainness and bringing out the autumn night's solitude, hearing and sight blending, fixing the cold clear key of the whole poem. The four words urge me to stay and let me try are most artful, writing the kinsman's urging to stay as the touchstone of friendship, on the surface self-deprecating, really cherishing this poor-and-low friendship, the words plain the feeling true. The contrast of splendor and plainness is already without the line, not needing direct words yet the high and low of itself judged; the opening couplet at once shows the old hand's close weaving. What is more to enjoy is that the four walls desolate is the present real scenery, and also the symbol of lot - so cold a man, yet still kept by the old friend; then the friendship's truth, without words, of itself clear. So though the word try appears, the author already has the bamboo in the breast; the brush has its measure, not pressing not revealing, exactly the old brush.
不应华屋延珠履，得似蓬窗共铁檠。
What is a stately hall that welcomes guests in pearl-decked shoes, beside a thatched window, sharing one iron lamp stand? (The second couplet: the luxurious hall of rich guests against the poor scholar's lamp—and the poet plainly chooses the latter.)
纵使华贵厅堂里迎来穿珠履的贵客,哪里比得上在这茅屋蓬窗之下,共对一盏铁架油灯亲切呢。
A great hall welcoming pearl-shod guests is nothing like a thatched window shared over an iron lampstand.
此联以对仗写取舍,华屋珠履与蓬窗铁檠两两相形,意象一富一贫、一闹一静,而作者情之所钟显然在后者。不应与得似互为呼应,以退为进,借否定豪华来肯定寒素之交的可贵,议论与形象融合无间。铁檠一物点出夜谈之景,为尾联断更作伏笔,针线绵密。且此联兼用离合之法,华屋与蓬窗各成世界,而以不应、得似两虚字绾合,褒贬取舍,俱在言外,较之直言贫交可贵,更见辞气之从容,是议论入诗而不落理障的范本。
This couplet writes the choice in parallel: the great hall with pearl-shod guests and the thatched window with the iron lampstand set off each other, the imagery one rich one poor, one noisy one still, yet the author's heart plainly dwells in the latter. The words should not and how can are echoed, advancing through retreat, affirming the worth of the plain friendship through negating the splendor, the argument and the image fused without seam. The iron lampstand points out the scene of the night talk, laying a ground for the closing's dying watches, the needlework close. Moreover, this couplet uses the method of parting and joining: the great hall and the thatched window each form a world, yet linked by the two function words should not and how can; the praise and blame, the choice, are all beyond the words, more than directly saying the poor friendship is precious, the composure of tone, the model of argument entering poetry without falling into the barrier of reason.
襆被都无三宿恋，重裘未觉一寒生。
With my bundled bedding I feel no three-night attachment, wrapped in layers of fur I feel not a single chill. (The third couplet writes the state of parting: 'no three-night attachment' from the Book of Later Han and the Mencius, and 'not a single chill' as a paradoxical boast that the warmth of feeling surpasses the warmth of clothing—the two denials 'no' and 'not' gentle in tone and deep in feeling.)
行李简单,对这里并没有三宿之恋;厚衣在身,竟不觉得有一丝寒意侵来。
My bundle holds no longing for a three-night stay; in my thick fur I feel not a thread of cold.
此联写临别之际的自解自慰,襆被三宿用典而反其意,言去意已决,虽蒙留宿亦不过三宿,重裘一寒则以衣暖写心暖,暗示故人相待之情的温厚足以抵御世路与天气的双重严寒。两句皆以否定的句式出之,都无与未觉,语气轻柔而情味深长,把不忍言别的留恋,化作一番平淡的自我排遣,更显出暮年人珍惜眼前、不敢奢望的心境,为尾联的清谈断更作了最自然的情感铺垫。
This couplet writes the self-comfort at the parting: the bundle and the three-night stay use the allusion yet reverse its meaning, saying the will to go is decided, though kept for the night it is but three nights; the thick fur and the thread of cold write the warmth of heart through the warmth of clothes, hinting that the old friend's warmth is enough to withstand the double cold of the road and the weather. The two lines both come out in negation, no and feel not, the tone soft yet the affection deep, turning the longing that cannot bear to part into a plain self-sending, the more showing the late-life man's cherishing the present and not daring to hope, the most natural emotional ground for the closing's quiet talk and dying watches.
暮年彼此懽悰薄，相对清谈听断更。
In our late years the zest for pleasure has worn thin—we sit talking quietly, listening to the night watch break off at dawn. (The closing couplet: two old men talking quietly until the watch ends, the poem ending on a long, quiet resonance.)
到了晚年,彼此欢愉的兴致都已淡薄,只剩下相对清谈,静听着更声将断、天将破晓。
In our twilight years, joy runs thin between us; facing each other in quiet talk, we hear the night watches die.
尾联收束全篇,懽悰薄三字以直白语道出暮年心境,欢少悲多,言约而意丰;相对清谈则转出一片从容,于淡泊中见真情。听断更以声收景,更漏将残,别情未已,把无尽离思凝于漏声将断的一瞬,戛然而止而余韵悠长,是典型的老境诗笔。尤其难得者,是于清谈二字中写出一种淡然的珍惜:欢娱虽薄,而谈心之乐未减,断更虽残,而相对之缘犹在,悲欢交织,俱化于更声将尽的一刻,读之但觉夜窗灯下,两鬓相对,万语千言,尽在不言之中。
The closing couplet gathers the whole; the three words joy runs thin speak the late-life mood in plain words, little joy much grief, the words few the meaning rich. Facing each other in quiet talk then turns out a composure, showing the true feeling within the plain. Hearing the night watches die closes the scenery in sound; the water clock nearly spent, the parting feeling not ended, condensing the endless parting thought into the instant when the clock sound dies, stopping abruptly with the aftertone long, the typical old-age poetic brush. What is especially rare is that within the two words quiet talk it writes a plain cherishing: though joy is thin, the delight of talking is not lessened; though the watches die, the karmic condition of facing each other remains; joy and grief interweave, all dissolved in the moment when the watch sound ends, and reading it one only feels the night window and the lamp, two pairs of gray temples facing, ten thousand words all within the unspoken.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Li Yi's poem writes the shock of meeting a cousin after ten years of war and displacement—'asking our names, startled to see each other grown old'—full of dramatic surprise and the vicissitudes of troubled times. Liu Kezhuang's poem writes a quiet last night with a cousin in old age—bare walls, an iron lamp, and talk until the watch ends. Li's feeling is stirred and intense; Liu's is level and bleak. Reading them together shows the Tang delight in luminous images against the Song strength in reasoned feeling.
李益诗以十年离乱后、长大一相逢写乱世中表兄弟乍逢又别,重在问姓惊初见的戏剧性瞬间,感慨乱离年代的人世沧桑;刘克庄此作则以四壁萧萧、暮年清谈写贫贱中的笃厚亲情,重在淡处见真。李诗情思激荡,时空跳跃,以惊人句攫取人心;刘诗语势平缓,氛围清冷,以家常语涵泳深味。两首对读,可见中晚唐与南宋士大夫处理同一题材时风格之异:唐人以兴象玲珑取胜,宋人以筋骨思理见长,而于骨肉之情的珍重则古今同揆。又李诗以问姓惊初见的戏剧性一见难忘,刘诗以断更清谈的平淡性一夕难舍,前者以奇动人,后者以常感人,而皆写出亲族之情在乱离与迟暮中的格外珍贵,两诗对读,愈见家常语之不易为。
过故人庄 Visiting an Old Friend's Farmstead 孟浩然 · 同写故旧相留相送,一为山村田园之聚,一为寒窗夜话之别 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
孟浩然诗以绿树村边合、青山郭外斜写田园之乐,故人具鸡黍、把酒话桑麻,通篇洋溢着恬淡欢愉的农家情味,离别之念全不著笔;刘克庄此作则通篇笼罩在落叶秋声的萧瑟里,留宿本为欢聚,却偏以试交情、听断更出之,欢中带愁,聚中含别。孟诗之淡是田园派天性的冲和,刘诗之淡是历经宦海后的苍凉,同是淡语,境界自有深浅。两相比勘,尤能见出宋诗对唐诗题材的深化与内转。孟诗之欢是宾主尽欢的忘我之乐,刘诗之愁是聚散难期的自知之愁,一乐一愁,乐者何尝不暗含明日之别,愁者又何尝不饱含今宵之聚,两诗对勘,可见唐人于欢处忘愁,宋人于欢处见愁,这正是审美心境之异的关键。