五代 Five Dynasties · 词 Ci lyric
临江仙·一番荷芰生池沼
Lin Jiang Xian · Lotus and Caltrop by the Pond
临江仙一番荷芰生池沼，槛前风送清香。
昔年于此伴萧娘。
相偎伫立，牵惹叙衷肠。
时逞笑容无限态，还如菡萏争芳。
别来虚遣思悠飏。
慵窥往事，金锁暗生光。
Before the rail, wind sends a pure fragrance.
In former years here I kept company with Lady Xiao.
We leaned close, stood still,
Tugging, we told our hearts.
Then she often flashed a smile, endless grace,
Like lotus blossoms vying in fragrance.
Since parting, vainly I let thought drift far.
Too languid to revisit the past—
The gold lock faintly gleams.
Meaning
A growth of lotus and caltrop springs by the pond; before the rail, wind sends a light fragrance. In former years here I kept company with Lady Xiao. We leaned close and stood still, tugging at sleeves, telling our hearts. Then she often flashed a smile, endless grace, like lotus blossoms vying in fragrance. Since parting, vainly I let my thought drift far. Too languid to revisit the past—the gold lock faintly gleams.
一阵荷芰在池塘边生长，栏槛前清风送来淡淡清香。往年我曾在这里陪伴着萧娘。我们相偎而立，牵衣细语，互诉衷肠。那时她时常展露笑容，姿态无限娇美，真如荷花争芳。自别后徒然让思念悠远飘扬。懒得再去回想往事，唯有金锁在暗处微微生光。全词以荷芰起兴、以金锁收束，今昔穿插，写故地重游、抚景怀人的怅惘，清婉含蓄，是花间词中别具清致的一首。
Appreciation
The lyric's structure is round: it opens with lotus and caltrop, closes with the gold lock, scene and feeling weaving back and forth. The upper part, from the real scene 'a growth of lotus… wind sends fragrance', naturally turns to the memory 'in former years here I kept Lady Xiao', 'we leaned close, stood still, tugging, told our hearts' writing intimacy in plain description. The lower part 'then she often flashed a smile… like lotus vying in fragrance' compares the person to the lotus, apt and fresh, echoing the opening lotus. The close 'too languid to revisit… the gold lock faintly gleams' breaks away, closing the drifting thought with the light of a still object, implicit and lingering—the wonder of 'words end yet meaning endless'.
【白话串讲】 尹鹗重回旧地，池沼里荷花芰草又生，风送来清香——当年就在这里陪着她。如今“别来虚遣思悠飏”，物是人非，只剩回忆。 【意象与手法】 此词章法圆融，以荷芰发端、以金锁收束，情景往复。上片由「一番荷芰生池沼，槛前风送清香」的实景，自然过渡到「昔年于此伴萧娘」的回忆，「相偎伫立，牵惹叙衷肠」以白描写尽缱绻。下片「时逞笑容无限态，还如菡萏争芳」以荷喻人，呼应篇首荷芰；结句「慵窥往事，金锁暗生光」宕开一笔，以静物之光收束悠飏之思，含蓄蕴藉。 【情感与主旨】 尹鹗（生卒不详），五代前蜀词人，官至翰林校书，花间派代表之一，与李珣等交善，《花间集》存其词十七首，多写男女情事。此词约作于其仕蜀时期，当为故地重游、抚景怀人之作，于花间常见的绮靡里透出几分清婉与怅惘。 【名句点睛】 赏析要点：一、结构——由眼前荷香引出昔年回忆，再回到别后怅惘，今昔穿插；二、「还如菡萏争芳」以荷喻人的贴切新颖；三、结句「金锁暗生光」的以静写情、含蓄不尽。
Background
Yin E (dates unknown) was a Former Shu lyricist of the Five Dynasties, to the post of Hanlin Proofreader, one of the Flower-and-Wind representatives, close with Li Xun and others. The Huajian Ji holds seventeen of his lyrics, mostly on men and women. This piece was likely written in his Shu service, a poem of revisiting an old place and cherishing a person. In the late-Tang and Five-Dynasties turmoil, literati at feasts often wrote romance through pool-and-garden wine; Yin E's lyric, with 'Lady Xiao' as its thought, shows through the usual Huajian ornateness a bit of clear grace and melancholy, reflecting the leisurely, elegant life of Western Shu's relative calm.
尹鹗（生卒年不详），五代前蜀词人，成都人，曾仕前蜀为翰林校书，与花间词人李珣交善，《花间集》存其词十七首，多写男女情事、相思离别。此词约作于其仕蜀时期，当为故地重游、抚景怀人之作。唐末五代，中原战乱频仍，而西蜀偏安一隅、相对安定，前后蜀两代君主皆好文艺，宫廷与市井之间歌舞宴游成风，文人多填词倚声以佐清欢，「花间词派」遂于西蜀形成。花间词以「绮筵公子，绣幌佳人」为背景，多写闺情艳思，风格秾丽婉约；尹鹗身处其间，其词亦多男女情事，然较之温庭筠的秾艳、韦庄的清丽，尹鹗词自有一种清婉的韵致，前人评其词「清绮」，《临江仙》二首即其代表。此词写词人（或男子）重游旧地，见池沼荷芰、清风送香，忆及昔年与「萧娘」相偎细语的情景，而今人去楼空，唯余思念悠飏、金锁生光，是典型的「抚今追昔」之作。词以眼前的荷香勾起昔年的回忆，再回到别后的怅惘，于花间词常见的绮靡题材中，写出了「繁华散尽、斯人独憔」的深沉况味，是花间词中「清婉」一格的佳作，也折射出五代西蜀文人在偏安环境中追怀旧欢、怅惘人生易逝的普遍心态。
Art
The lyric's structure is round: it opens with lotus and caltrop, closes with the gold lock, scene and feeling weaving back and forth. The upper part, from the real scene 'a growth of lotus by the pond, before the rail wind sends fragrance', naturally turns to the memory 'in former years here I kept Lady Xiao', 'we leaned close, stood still, tugging, told our hearts' writing intimacy in plain description. The lower part 'then she often flashed a smile, endless grace, like lotus vying in fragrance' compares the person to the lotus, apt and fresh, echoing the opening lotus. The close 'too languid to revisit the past—the gold lock faintly gleams' breaks away, closing the drifting thought with the light of a still object, implicit and lingering, the wonder of 'words end yet meaning endless'.
此词艺术上最见功力处，在于章法的圆融与今昔的往复穿插，全词如一幅「池畔怀人」的画卷，由景入情、由今入昔、由昔返今，环环相扣。上片以眼前实景起：「一番荷芰生池沼，槛前风送清香」——池沼边新生的荷芰，栏槛前送来的清香，点明时令（夏）与地点（池畔），「风送」二字以嗅觉写景，清风送香，撩人心绪，为怀人张本；「昔年于此伴萧娘」由景及人，一个「昔」字陡转时空，回到往昔；「相偎伫立，牵惹叙衷肠」以白描写尽当年缱绻——相偎而立，牵衣絮语，互诉衷肠，画面温馨，情致缠绵。下片先写当年之态：「时逞笑容无限态，还如菡萏争芳」——她那时时常展露笑容，姿态无限娇美，如荷花争芳，以「菡萏」（荷花）喻人，与篇首「荷芰」呼应，物我交融；「别来虚遣思悠飏」由昔返今，「别来」二字点出离别，「虚遣」写思念之无着——思念悠远飘扬，却无处投递，「虚」字见其徒劳；结句「慵窥往事，金锁暗生光」以静物收束——懒得回看往事，唯有金锁在暗处微微生光，「慵窥」写既难忘又怯于回首的矛盾，「金锁生光」以物之光写心之亮，含蓄不尽。全词以荷起、以锁收，今昔穿插，情景往复，结构浑成，于花间词的秾丽中别见清婉。
Allusions
'Lady Xiao' is a general term for women in Tang-Song poetry, from the Southern-Dynasty yuefu address for girls, later broadly the beloved singer or lover—not a real person, a conventional Huajian term. 'Handan' (lotus bud) is the lotus; the Shi Jing already has 'by that marsh's bank, there are rushes and lotus', a long tradition of comparing beauty to the lotus. 'Gold lock' means the lock on a woman's trousseau or chest, darkly meaning sealed-up past and locked feeling, a subtle image. The whole uses allusion naturally, elegant without piling.
此词用典不多而皆自然妥帖，是花间词「以熟典写常情」的典范。「萧娘」为唐宋诗词中女子的泛称、代称，本出南朝：梁武帝《河中之水歌》「河水清且涟猗，中有芙蓉……三十六陂秋色里，犹有萧娘旧姓萧」，萧娘原指萧姓女子，后泛指所爱之女子或歌妓，唐代诗人杨巨源「萧娘脸薄难胜泪」、李贺「萧娘劝我金屈卮」皆用此称，花间词中亦习见。「菡萏」即荷花，《诗经·陈风·泽陂》「彼泽之陂，有蒲菡萏」已见其名，《尔雅》释「荷，芙蕖，其华菡萏」，以荷喻美人，源远流长——屈原《离骚》「制芰荷以为衣兮，集芙蓉以为裳」以荷喻高洁，六朝以来「芙蓉如面」更成习语，此词「还如菡萏争芳」正是承此传统。「金锁」指妆奁、箱箧上的锁，亦或指项上金锁饰物，词中以金锁暗生光喻封存的心事、闭锁的情思，意象幽微，暗合李商隐「金锁」意象的朦胧传统。全词用典皆熟而不僻，熔铸于清丽的辞面之下，为抒写怀人之情服务，不见堆砌，正见尹鹗「清绮」的词风与熔铸古语的功力。
Commentary
Qing critic Chen Tingzhuo, in Bai Yu Zhai Ci Hua, said Flower-and-Wind lyrics are 'lingering, deep, gentle'; Yin E's lyric catches something of it. Tang Xianzu, commenting on the Huajian Ji, called it 'feeling and charm gentle'. Moderns, on Yin E's lyrics, hold that besides the Huajian ornateness he has a separate clear grace; this piece opens with lotus and closes with lock, complete in structure, showing craft, not merely relying on ornate diction.
此词在花间词中以其清婉别具一格，历代词评多所称赏。清人陈廷焯《白雨斋词话》谓花间词「低回深婉」，尹鹗此词得其仿佛——上片「相偎伫立，牵惹叙衷肠」的缠绵、下片「慵窥往事」的惆怅，皆低回往复、情致深婉。明人汤显祖评《花间集》称其「情致婉然」，于尹鹗词尤有会心。近人论花间词，多谓温庭筠以秾艳胜、韦庄以清丽胜、而尹鹗以「清绮」自成一家，此词正其「清绮」的代表：题材虽不出男女情事，而笔致清婉，意象清丽（荷芰、清香、菡萏、金锁），于秾丽的花间底色上别开一境。就词史意义言，此词代表了花间词从「为文造情」的艳体向「为情造文」的抒情小词过渡的趋势：它不再是歌席酒宴上的应景之作，而是一段真实的人生回忆——故地重游、物是人非的怅惘，已超出艳情的范畴，带有人生感慨的意味，为后来南唐词（李煜、冯延巳）的抒情深化作了铺垫。全词结构浑成、以景结情，其「以荷起、以锁收」的章法，亦为后世词人（如周邦彦、吴文英）的今昔对照手法提供了先例。
Prosody
Line by line
一番荷芰生池沼，槛前风送清香。
A growth of lotus and caltrop by the pond; before the rail, wind sends a pure fragrance.
一阵荷芰在池塘边生长，栏槛前清风送来淡淡清香
A growth of lotuses and water chestnuts spreads across the pond; before the railing the wind carries a faint fragrance.
开篇两句写眼前实景，是全词怀人的起兴之笔，也是「抚今」的立足点。「一番荷芰生池沼」写池沼边新生的荷芰——「一番」言其繁盛，如一番新绿铺满池面，「荷芰」即荷花与菱角，夏日池沼的典型植物，点明时令；「槛前风送清香」以嗅觉写景——栏槛之前，清风送来荷芰的清香，「风送」二字将无形的风写得有情，仿佛清风有意，把池中的芬芳送到词人面前。两句一写视觉、一写嗅觉，池绿风香，正是宜人的夏日景致。然而这景致之所以动人，不在其美，而在其「似曾相识」：正是这池、这荷、这香，勾起了词人对昔年在此与萧娘相伴的回忆。以乐景起兴、以香引情，景写得愈清新，回忆便愈鲜明，为下句「昔年于此伴萧娘」的时空转换铺设了最自然的桥梁，是典型的「触景生情」的起笔。
The opening two lines write the real scene before the eyes, the awakening image of the lyric's longing and the foothold of the 'present.' 'A growth of lotuses and water chestnuts spreads across the pond' writes the new lotuses and water chestnuts by the pond—the word 'a growth' their lushness, like a spread of new green over the water, the 'lotuses and water chestnuts' the typical plants of a summer pond, fixing the season. 'Before the railing the wind carries a faint fragrance' writes scenery through smell—the wind before the railing bears the lotus fragrance, and the words 'wind carries' give the invisible wind a feeling, as though the breeze of purpose brought the pond's fragrance to the poet. One line sight, one smell, green pond and fragrant wind, a pleasant summer scene. Yet the reason the scene moves is not its beauty but its 'seeming familiar': this very pond, these lotuses, this fragrance, stir the poet's memory of accompanying the Xiao Niang here in years past. Awakening through joyful scenery and drawing feeling through scent, the fresher the scene, the sharper the memory, laying the most natural bridge for the next line's temporal turning, 'in years past I accompanied the Xiao Niang here'—the typical opening of 'feeling touched by scenery.'
昔年于此伴萧娘。相偎伫立，牵惹叙衷肠。
In former years here I kept company with Lady Xiao. We leaned close, stood still, tugging, we told our hearts.
往年我曾在这里陪伴着萧娘，相偎而立，牵衣细语，互诉衷肠
In years past I kept the Xiao Niang here. We stood close, arm in arm, plucking at each other's sleeves and telling our hearts.
此三句由今入昔，是全词的时空转换点，也是回忆的具体展开。「昔年于此伴萧娘」点出「此」字——正是这池沼边、栏槛前，当年曾与萧娘相伴，「于此」二字把今昔两幅画面叠印在同一地点上，物是人非之感油然而生；「相偎伫立」写当年的姿态——相偎相依，并肩伫立，一个「偎」字写尽亲密，一个「伫」字见其长久，不是匆匆而过，而是久久停留；「牵惹叙衷肠」写当年的言语——牵衣絮语，互诉衷肠，「牵惹」二字写衣袖相牵、情思相引之态，把「诉衷肠」写得既缠绵又具体，仿佛那日的情话犹在耳畔。三句以白描手法写回忆，无一字雕琢而情致毕现，画面的温馨与现实的孤寂形成强烈的反差，今昔对照的张力由此生出，为下片「别来虚遣思悠飏」的怅惘预作了情感的基础，是花间词中「以乐写哀」的妙笔。
These three lines move from the present into the past, the temporal turning point of the lyric and the concrete unfolding of memory. 'In years past I accompanied the Xiao Niang here' names the word 'here'—by this very pond, before this very railing, I once kept the Xiao Niang, and the words 'here' superimpose the two pictures of present and past on one place, so that the sense of things remaining while men are gone arises of itself. 'We stood close, arm in arm' writes the posture of those days—leaning close, standing side by side, the word 'leaning' writing all the intimacy, the word 'stood' its length, a lingering stay, not a passing moment. 'Plucking at each other's sleeves and telling our hearts' writes the words of those days—tugging the sleeve and murmuring, pouring out the heart, the words 'plucking at' writing the way sleeves are drawn and feelings drawn, making the 'pouring out the heart' at once tender and concrete, as if that day's love talk still rang in the ear. The three lines write memory in plain depiction, not one carved word yet the feeling fully present, the warmth of the picture and the loneliness of reality forming a sharp contrast, the tension of present and past arising here, preparing the emotional ground for the lower stanza's 'since parting, I while away my longing in idle drifting'—the exquisite brush of the Huajian school that 'writes grief through joy.'
时逞笑容无限态，还如菡萏争芳。
Then she often flashed a smile, endless grace, like lotus blossoms vying in fragrance.
那时她时常展露笑容，姿态无限娇美，真如荷花争芳
Then she would show her smile in a thousand charms, like a lotus bloom vying with the spring.
此二句写当年萧娘之美态，以荷喻人，是全词最见贴切新颖的一笔。「时逞笑容无限态」写她的神态——「逞」字写尽情舒展之态，她时常展露笑容，恣意绽放，姿态无限娇美，「无限态」三字总写其仪态万千、风情无限；「还如菡萏争芳」以荷喻人——她的娇美，正如池中荷花争芳斗艳，「还如」二字将人与花打成一片。此喻的妙处在于呼应篇首：开篇写「一番荷芰生池沼」，此处写「还如菡萏争芳」，人与荷在词中交相辉映——当年的萧娘如荷花般娇美，而今的荷花依旧争芳，而人已不在，荷在人去，花愈艳，人愈远，怅惘愈深。以「菡萏」喻美人，承《诗经》「有蒲菡萏」与六朝「芙蓉如面」的传统，而置于今昔对照的结构中，便有了「物是而人非」的深意，是花间词「以物写人、物我交融」的典范之笔。
These two lines write the beauty of the Xiao Niang in those days, comparing person to lotus, the apt and fresh stroke of the lyric. 'Then she would show her smile in a thousand charms' writes her bearing—the word 'show' the free unfolding, she would break into smiles, blooming without restraint, her charms infinite, the words 'a thousand charms' summing up all her graceful airs and endless allure. 'Like a lotus bloom vying with the spring' compares person to lotus—her loveliness is as the pond's lotus flowers vying in beauty, the words 'like' fusing person and flower. The art of the metaphor lies in answering the opening: the first line wrote 'a growth of lotuses spreading across the pond,' and here 'like a lotus bloom vying with the spring,' so that person and lotus play off each other in the poem—the Xiao Niang of old was lovely as a lotus, the lotuses of today still vie in beauty, yet the person is gone; the lotus remains and the man has left, the brighter the flower, the farther the person, the deeper the wistfulness. Comparing the beauty to the 'lotus bloom' inherits the Book of Songs' 'with the cattail and the lotus' and the Six Dynasties' 'face like a hibiscus,' yet set within the structure of present and past it gains the deep meaning of 'things remaining while men are gone'—the model Huajian stroke of 'writing the person through things, object and self as one.'
慵窥往事，金锁暗生光。
Too languid to revisit the past—the gold lock faintly gleams.
懒得再去回想往事，唯有金锁在暗处微微生光
Languidly I peer at the past; the gilt lock faintly gleams in the dark.
结句两句是全词的收束，宕开一笔，以静物之光写心中之情，含蓄蕴藉，余味无穷。「慵窥往事」写词人的心态——「慵」写懒散、倦怠，是不愿再想，「窥」写偷看、回望，是想看又不敢看，「慵窥」二字把「既难忘又怯于回首」的矛盾心理写得淋漓尽致：往事太美好，美到不敢触碰；往事太伤感，伤到不忍回看，唯有「慵」以自护；「金锁暗生光」以静物收束——金锁在暗处微微生光，「金锁」可指妆奁之锁、箱箧之锁，封存着当年的信物与记忆，也可指暗喻情思闭锁，「暗生光」写其光泽幽微——锁虽闭而光犹生，正如情思虽藏而心犹亮。此句以物写心，把千言万语都藏进一锁之光里：锁闭的是往事，生光的是心头的思念，与篇首「风送清香」的荷香遥相呼应，荷香引回忆，锁光藏情思，首尾圆合，言有尽而意无穷，是花间词「以景结情」的经典结尾。
The closing two lines resolve the lyric, striking off on a tangent, writing the feeling of the heart through the light of a motionless object, reserved and rich, the afterecho endless. 'Languidly I peer at the past' writes the poet's mind—the word 'languid' the slackness and weariness, unwilling to think, the word 'peer' the stolen glance, the backward look, wanting to see yet not daring; the two words 'languidly peer' write to the full the contradiction of 'both unforgettable and afraid to look back': the past too beautiful, too beautiful to touch; the past too painful, too painful to look on, and only 'languor' for self-protection. 'The gilt lock faintly gleams in the dark' closes on a motionless object—the gilt lock faintly gleaming in the dark, the 'gilt lock' referring to the lock of the dressing box or the chest, sealed with the tokens and memories of those days, or covertly symbolizing the locked heart, and 'faintly gleams in the dark' its dim luster—the lock though closed yet the light still shines, as the feeling though hidden yet the heart still bright. The line writes the heart through the thing, hiding a thousand words in the gleam of a lock: what is locked away is the past, what gleams is the longing in the heart, answering the opening's 'wind carries the lotus fragrance'—the lotus fragrance draws memory, the lock's gleam hides feeling, start and finish rounded, words exhausted yet meaning endless, the classic Huajian close of 'ending feeling in scenery.'
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From Yin E's 'Lin Jiang Xian'; one recalls a person by the pond, one writes deserted-garden spring sorrow—compare his clear-gentle melancholy and imagery.
《临江仙·金锁重门荒苑静》「金锁重门荒苑静，绮窗愁对秋空。翠华一去寂无踪」与此词同出尹鹗之手，同用《临江仙》词调，同写故地重游、物是人非的怅惘，而题材情调微异：彼词写荒苑怀古，以「金锁重门」「绮窗愁对」写人去苑空的荒凉，结于「暗伤亡国，清露泣香红」的家国之悲，是「以词写史」；此词写池畔怀人，以「荷芰清香」「菡萏争芳」写池苑依旧的清新，结于「金锁暗生光」的儿女情长，是「以词写情」。二词同有「金锁」意象，一锁重门写宫苑之荒，一锁往事写情思之藏，可见尹鹗对同一意象的不同运用；合观二词，正可见尹鹗《临江仙》的清婉风格及其题材由闺情向怀古的拓展。
苏轼·临江仙·夜饮东坡醒复醉 Lin Jiang Xian · Night at Dongpo, Sober then Drunk 苏轼 · 同用《临江仙》调，一写儿女情长一写贬谪旷达，可见同调异趣 Different (same tune / one romantic-gentle, one broad-minded)Same 'Lin Jiang Xian' tune; Yin E writes love, Su Shi writes broad-minded exile—compare same tune, different interest and the Song lyric's surpassing of Huajian.
苏轼《临江仙·夜饮东坡醒复醉》「夜饮东坡醒复醉，归来仿佛三更。家童鼻息已雷鸣」与此词同用《临江仙》词调，而面目迥异：尹词写池畔怀人，荷香菡萏、相偎诉衷肠，是花间词的儿女情长，婉约低回；苏词写雪堂夜饮、江海寄余生，家童鼻息、江声拍岸，是士大夫的旷达超逸，豪放洒脱。同调而异趣，正可见《临江仙》一调由五代花间到北宋士大夫词的演变：五代多写闺情艳思，依腔填词、绮靡婉转；北宋士大夫以诗为词，借调抒怀，词境由闺阁走向天地。二词并读，既可比较同一词调在五代与北宋的不同面目，亦可见尹鹗的「儿女情长」与苏轼的「江海寄余生」背后，是词体由歌筵酒席走向文人抒怀的深刻变革。