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五代 Five Dynasties · 词 Ci lyric

乌夜啼·林花谢了春红

Crow Night Cry: Forest Flowers Shed Their Spring Red

李煜

Li Yu

亡国national subjugation 伤春spring sorrow 愁思sorrow

林花谢了春红，太匆匆。
无奈朝来寒雨晚来风。
胭脂泪，相留醉，几时重。
自是人生长恨水长东。

Forest flowers shed their spring red, too quickly.
Helpless against cold morning rain and evening wind.
Rouge tears, holding me drunk, when can they return?
Since life is full of long regret like water forever east.

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Meaning

The forest flowers have lost their spring redness, passing too quickly. Helpless against the cold morning rain and evening wind. The rouge-like tears, holding me in intoxication, when will they return? Since life is full of long regret, like water forever flowing east. The poem uses falling flowers and wind/rain to express the sorrow of national subjugation, plaintive and profound.

林间的花朵凋谢了春的红艳，一切都太匆匆。无奈清晨的寒雨、傍晚的狂风，无情摧残。那带着胭脂般泪痕的花瓣，仿佛依依相留、令人沉醉，却不知何时才能重逢。人生本就充满了长恨，恰如江水滔滔向东流去，永无尽头。词以落花风雨写亡国之痛，哀婉深长。

Appreciation

The first stanza describes the sudden withering of forest flowers and the helplessness against wind and rain; the second moves from flowers to people, the rouge tears of falling flowers bidding farewell, sighing that reunion will never come, ending with the lament that 'life's long regret is like water forever east'. Imagery: 'forest flowers shed spring red' symbolizes the sudden loss of beautiful things; 'cold morning rain and evening wind' symbolizes irresistible destructive force; 'rouge tears' personifies flowers, merging with human tears. The final line uses 'water forever east' to symbolize endless regret, making the abstract concrete. Emotion: via lamenting spring and flowers, the poem conveys the deep sorrow of the fall of Southern Tang, the beautiful country and past splendor destroyed in an instant. The fleeting flowers reflect the swift collapse of the homeland; 'life's long regret' transcends the personal to become the eternal sigh of a fallen king. Famous line: 'Since life is full of long regret like water always eastward flowing' draws from Li Yu's 'A River of Spring Water' but is more somber, using eastward flowing water to symbolize endless regret, sad and touching, the masterpiece of Li Yu's tragic poems.

【白话串讲】 “林花谢了春红，太匆匆”——李煜看着春天的花谢了，想起自己的江山也没了。“自是人生长恨水长东”——人生就像东流的水，注定是恨比爱长。【意象与手法】词为小令，上片写景，下片抒情，情景绾合无间。起句「林花谢了春红」如当头棒喝，直写美好之殒落；「太匆匆」「无奈」以口语入词，直挚哀婉。下片「胭脂泪」拟人双关，花泪与人泪交融；结句以「水长东」的永恒意象收束无常之恨，以景结情，余味无穷。【情感与主旨】李煜为南唐后主，公元975年国破降宋，被俘至汴京。此词与其《虞美人》等同为入宋后追忆故国之作。南唐覆灭、繁华成空，词人以「林花谢了春红」暗喻故国与往日春梦的骤然零落，「朝来寒雨晚来风」则象征无可抗拒的摧残命运，是亡国之痛的艺术结晶。【名句点睛】默写易错：「林花谢了春红」之「谢」（凋落，勿作「榭」）；「无奈朝来寒雨晚来风」之「奈」（勿作「耐」）。赏析常考：①「胭脂泪」的双关与拟人；②「人生长恨水长东」以水喻恨的手法；③上片写景、下片抒情的章法。

Background

Li Yu was the last ruler of Southern Tang, captured by Song in 975 and taken to Bianjing. This poem, like his 'The Beautiful Lady Yu', was written after his capture, mourning the lost homeland. The 'forest flowers shedding spring red' alludes to the sudden fall of his country and the vanishing of past dreams; 'cold morning rain and evening wind' symbolizes irresistible fate of destruction, artistic crystallization of the pain of subjugation.

李煜为南唐后主，公元975年国破降宋，被俘至汴京，封违命侯，从此过着「日夕只以眼泪洗面」的囚徒生活。此词与其《虞美人》等同为入宋后追忆故国之作。南唐覆灭、繁华成空，词人以「林花谢了春红」暗喻故国与往日春梦的骤然零落，「朝来寒雨晚来风」则象征无可抗拒的摧残命运，是亡国之痛的艺术结晶。李煜词前期多写宫廷享乐，风格绮靡；后期入宋后转为深哀巨痛，纯以血泪为词。此词作于降宋之后，正是后期词风的代表：惜春之中寓亡国之悲，伤花之际写身世之痛。王国维谓「词至李后主而眼界始大，感慨遂深」，此词将一己亡国之悲升华为人类普遍的悲剧性体验，是小令体中情感容量最大的作品之一，也是理解李煜后期词心与五代词发展的关键。李煜降宋后，宋太宗尝命旧臣徐铉往见，后主「相持大哭」，其处境之悲可知；此词「几时重」「长恨」之叹，正是一个亡国之君对故国与自由的绝望呼唤，其词因此被称为「以血书者」。五代词多写闺情艳情，李煜后期以词写亡国之痛，把词从「花间」的艳科引向抒情言志的正途，此词正是这一转变的里程碑。

Art

The poem is a short lyric; the first stanza depicts scenery, the second expresses emotion, seamlessly blending. The opening line 'forest flowers shed spring red' is like a sudden blow, directly writing the destruction of beauty; 'too quickly' and 'helpless' use colloquial language, sincere and sorrowful. The second stanza's 'rouge tears' is a personified double entendre, merging flower tears and human tears; the final line uses the eternal image of 'water forever east' to close the impermanent regret, ending with scene, leaving endless aftertaste. The language is natural and unadorned, sorrowful yet beautiful.

词为小令，上片写景，下片抒情，情景绾合无间。起句「林花谢了春红」如当头棒喝，直写美好之殒落，以「春红」代指一切美好事物，惜花即是惜春，惜春即是惜人；「太匆匆」「无奈」以口语入词，直挚哀婉，一唱三叹。「朝来寒雨晚来风」以朝暮风雨写摧残之无时或息，「朝」「晚」对举，风雨兼行，意象警策，暗喻亡国之后无可逃避的处境。下片「胭脂泪」拟人双关，花泪与人泪交融，暗以女子胭脂喻落花之红，凄艳动人；「相留醉，几时重」写惜别之醉与重逢之问，由花及人、由醉及泪。结句「自是人生长恨水长东」以「水长东」的永恒意象收束无常之恨，以景结情，气象阔大。全词语言天然本色，哀感顽艳，将惜花、伤春、亡国之痛熔于一炉，是小令中以少胜多的典范。此词之妙在「小中见大」：三十六字的小令，从眼前落花写到人生长恨，从一己之悲升华为人类共通的悲剧体验，层层放大而一气贯通，正是小令「以少胜多」的极致，也是后主「眼界始大，感慨遂深」的实证。

Allusions

'Rouge tears' draws from Du Mu's 'Efang Palace Fu' and Du Fu's 'forest flowers with rouge fall', using women's cosmetic tears to describe falling flowers, both fragrant and sad. 'Life's long regret like water forever east' follows Bai Juyi's 'Song of Everlasting Regret' and Li Yu's own 'a river of spring water eastward flow', the tradition of using river water as metaphor for regret, elevating personal regret of subjugation to universal tragic experience.

「胭脂泪」化用杜甫「林花著雨胭脂湿」句意，兼融杜牧《阿房宫赋》「渭流涨腻，弃脂水也」的脂水意象，以女子脂泪拟落花之红，兼具香艳与哀伤；「相留醉」暗用唐明皇、杨贵妃「梨花一枝春带雨」的泣别传统，以花写人、以人拟花。「自是人生长恨水长东」承袭白居易《长恨歌》「天长地久有时尽，此恨绵绵无绝期」及李煜自己「一江春水向东流」的江水喻恨传统，将个体亡国之恨升华为人类普遍的悲剧性体验。「朝来寒雨晚来风」亦暗含《诗经·邶风·终风》以风雨写摧残的比兴传统。全词融化诸典而不着痕迹，自然天成，正是后主「纯任性情，不事雕琢」的本色。「林花谢了春红」暗用杜甫「林花著雨胭脂湿」之意，而一写雨后之艳、一写谢后之悲，同源而异趣；后主化杜句而翻出新意，正是词家「夺胎换骨」的典范。「相留醉」之「醉」，非酒醉而是心醉、情醉，花之将谢而人不忍别，醉于最后一刻的眷恋，正是「借酒浇愁愁更愁」的另一种写法。

Commentary

Su Shi's Dongzhi Lin praised Li Yu's poems for deep emotion. Wang Guowei's Renjian Cihua considered Li Yu's poems to expand the horizon and deepen emotion, changing from entertainers' lyrics to scholars' lyrics. Modern scholar Tang Guizhang commented: 'This poem is full of blood and tears, using flowers as metaphor for people, water as metaphor for regret, sorrowful and touching, a work of blood and tears from the later ruler.'

宋苏轼《东坡志林》论后主词「寄慨遥深」。清王国维《人间词话》推李煜「词至李后主而眼界始大，感慨遂深，遂变伶工之词而为士大夫之词」，并谓「后主之词，真所谓以血书者也」。近人唐圭璋评此词：「一片血泪，以花喻人，以水喻恨，哀婉欲绝，是后主血泪之作。」此词与《虞美人》《浪淘沙》并为后主亡国词三绝，历代选本必录；「人生长恨水长东」更成千古名句，以自然之永恒对照人生之无常，为后世伤春悼亡之作提供了永恒的情感范式，其「以血书词」的写法，更开宋词抒情深挚的先声。此词历代入选中学语文教材，为全民熟读的经典；「人生长恨水长东」一句，更被引为伤春悼亡、感慨人生的通用名句，其以自然写人生的手法，千载之下犹能引发共鸣，足证后主词超越时代的情感力量。此词与《浪淘沙》「流水落花春去也，天上人间」同一伤春悼国之作，一写长恨之无尽、一写天上人间之隔，皆以落花写国亡，合观可见后主后期词心之全。

Prosody

Form Ci (short tune, Crow Night Cry / Joy at Meeting form)词（双调小令，乌夜啼、相见欢体）

Rhyme hong, cong, feng, chong, dong (East Bell rhyme, level tone)「红、匆、风、重、东」押平声韵（东钟部）

Tone pattern Short tune, irregular line lengths, 3-6 character lines小令，句式长短错落，三六句法参差

Reading note Written after Li Yu's surrender to Song, uses spring sorrow to express pain of subjugation. 'Life's long regret like water forever east' draws from Li Yu's 'The Beautiful Lady Yu' river water metaphor for sorrow, tragic and profound.此词为《乌夜啼》小令，又名《相见欢》，双调三十六字，上片三句三平韵，下片四句两仄韵两平韵，句式长短错落：上片以七言、三言、九言相间，下片三言、三言、三言、九言，节奏由舒展而顿挫、由顿挫而一气呵成。全词押平声韵（红、匆、风、重、东），韵脚疏朗悠长，正合长恨绵绵的声情；「太匆匆」「无奈」「几时重」「长东」等句，或以叠字、或以问句、或以长句收束，声情与辞情相谐。小令体短而情长，此词以三十六字写尽亡国之痛，正是后主「以短写长」的绝技，也是五代小令抒情的巅峰，其声律的运用直接启发了北宋小令词的成熟。诵读此词，「太匆匆」「无奈」宜以叹息之声出之，「几时重」问句上扬，「水长东」三字拖长放远，方见长恨绵绵之致。

Line by line

林花谢了春红，太匆匆。

Forest flowers shed their spring red, too quickly. Expresses regret over the fleeting beauty.

林间的花朵凋谢了春的红艳，一切都太匆匆。

The forest flowers have shed their spring red—all too soon.

起笔惜春，如当头棒喝，直写美好之殒落。「林花」点出花之多、林之盛，「春红」以红艳代指春花乃至一切美好事物；「谢了」二字写凋落之速、之不可挽回，「太匆匆」三字直抒对美好易逝的痛惜，语浅而情深。此句既写眼前落花，更暗喻故国繁华之骤逝——春红谢了，国亦亡了，惜花即是悼国，双关之妙尽在其中。「太匆匆」三字叠用口语，急促而沉痛，美好易逝之惊痛全在其中。「春红」以色彩代物，惜春之情由此着色，哀感更浓。

The opening mourns the passing of spring like a sudden blow, writing directly the fall of beauty. 'The forest flowers' writes the abundance of bloom, a whole wood of blossoms, hinting at the breadth of old Southern Tang and the fullness of its splendor. 'Spring red' stands for the spring's red flowers and by extension all fair things—the poet's own golden years of youth and power. 'Have shed' coldly announces the end of beauty, and 'all too soon' is the instinctive cry at the collapse of it all. Li Yu here uses no adornment, only plain speech, and it cuts deeper than any ornament, for the hasty rhythm itself simulates the suddenness of fair things passing—the reader is struck by 'all too soon' before finishing the lyric. The line both writes the fallen flowers before the eyes and secretly images the sudden death of the homeland's splendor: the spring red shed, the kingdom fallen; mourning the flowers is mourning the kingdom, the double meaning complete in the words.

无奈朝来寒雨晚来风。

Helpless against cold morning rain and evening wind. Symbolizes irresistible destructive forces.

无奈清晨的寒雨、傍晚的狂风，无情摧残。

Helpless: morning's cold rain, evening's wind.

以风雨喻摧残美好之外力，「朝」「晚」对举写摧残之无时或息，无一日之安。「无奈」二字直写面对风雨摧花的不可抗拒，暗喻亡国后无可逃避的处境——寒雨晚风正如降宋后的种种逼迫与屈辱；「朝来」「晚来」循环往复，更见苦难之绵长无尽。怨而不怒，叹而不骂，正是后主词「以血书词」而含蓄深婉的体现。「朝」「晚」对举，风雨兼行，写摧残之无时或息，暗喻处境之无可逃。「无奈」二字怨而不怒，正是亡国之君「以血书词」而含蓄的体现。

The wind and rain image the outer force that destroys beauty, 'morning' and 'evening' set against each other to write a destruction that never rests, not a day's peace. 'Helpless' directly writes the impossibility of resisting the rain's beating on the flowers, secretly imaging the inescapable lot after the fall—the cold rain and evening wind are the various pressures and humiliations of submitting to Song; 'morning after morning' and 'evening after evening' cycle on, writing the endless length of suffering. Resentful without anger, sighing without cursing, this is precisely Li Yu's 'writing in blood,' reserved and deeply tender—'writing in blood' yet most restrained. 'Morning' and 'evening' paired, rain and wind together, write a destruction without rest, secretly imaging a lot from which there is no escape; 'helpless,' resentful without anger, is the restraint of the fallen ruler's 'writing in blood.'

胭脂泪，相留醉，几时重。

Rouge tears, holding me drunk, when will they return? Personifies flowers, merging with human tears; laments separation.

那带着胭脂般泪痕的花瓣，仿佛依依相留、令人沉醉，却不知何时才能重逢。

Rouge-stained tears, lingering in drunkenness—when shall it return?

由花及人，以「胭脂泪」拟人双关，写带泪的花瓣如泣如诉：花上的雨水与红晕，恰似女子腮边的胭脂泪，花泪与人泪交融，凄艳动人。「相留醉」写惜别之痴，花似留人而人亦恋花；「几时重」问重逢之期，一问而悲从中来。惜花、惜春、惜人、惜国，四者合一，是后主词「一切景语皆情语」的典范。「胭脂泪」以花拟人、以人写花，凄艳之中见深悲，是双关与拟人的双璧。「几时重」一问，问花亦问人，问春亦问国，四问合一。

Moving from flower to person, 'rouge tears' uses personification and double meaning to write the dewy petals as if weeping: the rain on the red petals is like the rouge tears on a woman's cheeks, flower-tears and human tears mingled, dreary and lovely. 'Lingering in drunkenness' writes the folly of reluctant parting—the flower seems to detain the man, the man loves the flower. 'When shall it return?' asks the hour of reunion, and grief rises with the question. Mourning the flowers, mourning spring, mourning the person, mourning the kingdom—four in one, the model of Li Yu's 'every word of scenery is a word of feeling.' 'Rouge tears,' personifying the flower and writing the flower through the person, shows deep grief within dreary loveliness, a twin jewel of double meaning and personification. 'When shall it return?' asks of the flower and of the person, of spring and of the kingdom, four questions in one.

自是人生长恨水长东。

Since life is full of long regret like water forever east. Uses eternal river to symbolize endless regret, elevating personal sorrow.

人生本就充满了长恨，恰如江水滔滔向东流去，永无尽头。

So it is: life's long regret, like the river's endless eastward flow.

结句以江水流东喻长恨无尽，将一己亡国之悲升华为人类普遍之恨，气象阔大。「自是」二字以断然语气道出人生本相——长恨是人生的宿命，非此一时一事之偶然；「水长东」以江水东流之永恒、之不可逆转，喻恨之绵长无尽。以景结情，情在景中；以恒常之自然对照无常之人事，悲慨深沉，正是王国维所谓「眼界始大，感慨遂深」的境界。「自是」断然道出人生本相，悲慨由一己之痛升华为普遍之恨。

The closing images endless regret in the river's eastward flow, raising the personal grief of the fallen kingdom to the common sorrow of humankind, the realm grand. 'So it is' states with finality the truth of life—long regret is the fate of human life, not the accident of one moment. 'The river flows east forever' uses the eternal, irreversible eastward river to image the endless length of regret. Ending feeling in scenery, feeling within the scene; setting the constancy of nature against the mutability of human affairs, the grief deep and broad—precisely the realm Wang Guowei calls 'when the horizon of vision widens, the feeling deepens.' 'So it is' declares the truth of life, the grief rising from personal pain to universal regret.

Study

Word focus

太匆匆 Too quickly; a three-character phrase that is direct and painful, expressing helplessness over the fleeting beauty of spring. 「太匆匆」三字短语直白而沉痛，写尽对春红易逝、美好难驻的无力感。「太」字写程度之甚，非一般的「匆匆」，而是过分的、令人措手不及的匆忙；「匆匆」叠字，如急雨打花，急促之中见无可奈何。三字口语入词，语浅情深，把美好事物骤然消逝的惊痛写得直击人心，正是后主「纯任性情」的语言本色。「太」字写程度之甚，「匆匆」叠字写速，三字直白而沉痛，语浅情深。

无奈 Helpless; conveys the irresistible force of wind and rain, symbolizing the inability to prevent national subjugation, plaintive yet not angry. 「无奈朝来寒雨晚来风」之「无奈」，写面对风雨摧花的不可抗拒，暗喻国破家亡之无力回天。「无奈」是后主词中反复出现的字眼（如「无奈夜长人不寐」），是他作为亡国之君对命运最深切的体认——明知风雨无情，却毫无办法；「无奈」二字怨而不怒、叹而不骂，将深哀巨痛化为一声长叹，正是「以血书词」而含蓄深婉的体现。「无奈」是后主对命运最深的体认，怨而不怒、叹而不骂，含蓄深婉。

长东 Forever east; uses the eternal eastward flow of water to symbolize endless regret, expanding personal sorrow to a universal scale. 「水长东」以江流不息喻恨之绵长无尽，意象壮阔，将个人悲恨推向永恒。「长」写时间之无尽，「东」写方向之不可逆，江水东流永不回头，正如人生之恨永无了期；以自然之恒常对照人事之无常，悲慨遂由一己之痛升华为人类共通的悲剧体验，与《虞美人》「一江春水向东流」同一机杼而更见凝练，是后主以水喻恨的又一绝唱。「长东」以水喻恨，壮阔而不可逆，将个人悲恨推向永恒，与「一江春水」并为双璧。