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现代现代 · 词 Ci lyric

蝶恋花·答李淑一

Butterflies Love Flowers: In Reply to Li Shuyi

毛泽东

Mao Zedong

革命revolution 悼亡mourning the dead 现代modern era

我失骄杨君失柳，杨柳轻飏直上重霄九。
问讯吴刚何所有，吴刚捧出桂花酒。
寂寞嫦娥舒广袖，万里长空且为忠魂舞。
忽报人间曾伏虎，泪飞顿作倾盆雨。

I lost my proud poplar and you your willow,
Poplar and willow float lightly straight up to the ninth heaven.
They ask Wu Gang what he has there,
And Wu Gang holds out his cassia wine.
The lonely Chang'e spreads her wide sleeves
And dances through the boundless sky for these loyal souls.
Word comes suddenly that the tiger has been subdued in the world below,
And their tears fly down and turn at once to torrential rain.

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Meaning

Written in reply to a friend who had also lost a spouse, the lyric imagines the two departed rising to the moon, where the figures of legend receive them with wine and dancing. When news arrives from the world below that the struggle has been won, their tears fall as a downpour.

我失去了骄杨（杨开慧），你失去了柳（柳直荀），杨柳轻轻飘飏直上九重霄。试问吴刚有什么，吴刚捧出了桂花酒。寂寞的嫦娥舒展广袖，在万里长空且为忠魂起舞。忽然报知人间曾经降伏猛虎，泪水飞洒顿时化作倾盆大雨。

Appreciation

The lyric opens on a plain statement of loss and then lifts immediately off the ground, and that ascent is the whole design. The two surnames double as the names of trees, so the departed can be said to drift upward like catkins, a pun that turns grief into flight without softening it. In the moon palace the reception is warm and formal: wine offered, sleeves spread, a dance performed for those who have died. The last couplet drops back to earth for a single line of news and then converts joy straight into weeping, so that the poem ends in a downpour that is both grief and celebration. Few mourning poems move this far from lament and still leave the sorrow intact.

【白话串讲】毛泽东悼念亡妻杨开慧和战友柳直荀：“我失骄杨君失柳，杨柳轻飏直上重霄九”。“问讯吴刚何所有，吴刚捧出桂花酒”——“寂寞嫦娥舒广袖，万里长空且为忠魂舞”——“忽报人间曾伏虎，泪飞顿作倾盆雨”——他写忠魂升天，写革命者的浪漫。【意象与手法】以杨柳双关、神话人物（吴刚、嫦娥）入词，浪漫瑰丽；由天上忠魂之舞到人间伏虎之泪，虚实相生，悲壮而豪迈。格调由婉转转昂扬。【情感与主旨】悼念烈士杨开慧、柳直荀，歌颂忠魂不朽，并以'人间伏虎'的捷报告慰英灵，将个人哀思升华为革命胜利的欢泪。【名句点睛】忽报人间曾伏虎，泪飞顿作倾盆雨——以喜报写悲泪，浪漫豪情与深哀交织，撼人心魄。

Background

The lyric was written in 1957 in reply to Li Shuyi, the widow of Liu Zhixun. The proud poplar names the poet's wife Yang Kaihui and the willow names Li Shuyi's husband, both of whom had died years earlier. Rather than a conventional elegy, the poet answered with a piece built entirely out of legend.

此词作于一九五七年五月十一日。李淑一系毛泽东夫人杨开慧的生前好友，亦为柳直荀烈士的遗孀。杨开慧一九三〇年十一月就义于长沙识字岭；柳直荀一九三二年九月在湖北洪湖牺牲。一九三三年夏，李淑一闻柳直荀噩耗（时传噩讯而至确讯有年），结想成梦，写有《菩萨蛮·惊梦》一阕。一九五七年一月，毛泽东十八首旧作诗词发表于《诗刊》创刊号，李淑一读后致信毛泽东，谈及当年杨开慧曾向她推荐毛泽东的《虞美人·枕上》，并附上自己的《菩萨蛮·惊梦》，请毛泽东指正并索要新作。毛泽东复信，称大作读毕，感慨系之，并谓开慧所述那一首不好，不要写了罢，有《游仙》一首为赠——即此词，后改题《蝶恋花·答李淑一》。词成未久即广为传诵，被谱为评弹、歌曲等多种曲艺演唱。一九五八年元旦，此词经湖南师范学院院刊发表；同年人民文学出版社刊行，题下始具答李淑一之名。毛泽东致李淑一的复书今存，中有感慨系之之语——本事与文本俱斑斑可考，是现代诗词中文史互证的佳例，其流传之广，在同时期作品中首屈一指。

Art

Figures from the moon legend, Wu Gang and Chang'e, are used to give the departed a formal welcome, so the poem moves from earth to heaven and from dance back to tears. The pun on the two surnames as trees allows the opening loss to become an upward drift, and the closing exaggeration turns weeping into a rainstorm. The register shifts from tenderness at the start to exhilaration at the close.

此词的构思全在一个「升」字与一个「报」字。上阕从人间写到天上：两位烈士的忠魂化作杨花柳絮，轻飏直上九霄，吴刚捧酒相迎——把最沉痛的牺牲写成最轻盈的飞升，悲悼遂一变而为礼赞。下阕从天上写回人间：嫦娥起舞为忠魂助兴之际，忽传人间伏虎的捷报，忠魂喜极，泪飞化雨——把天上的静穆与人间的巨变相接，悼念遂升华为告慰。全词纯以想象结构，天上人间两个世界因忠魂而贯通，虚实相生而层次井然。「杨柳轻飏」四字双关姓氏与花絮，一语两到，是全词的枢纽；「泪飞顿作倾盆雨」则以夸张的通感收束，悲与喜、泪与雨交融为一，笔力千钧。此词结构上又有意识地两两对称：上阕失与得对举——人间失二烈而天上得二客；下阕舞与泪对举——仙家歌舞之乐与忠魂倾盆之泪。两重对举，使悲与喜不断换位，悼念的感情遂不坠于一偏；结句以雨之大写泪之骤，通感的运用尤见笔力，词人的想象至此已出入天人而运用自如。

Allusions

The proud poplar refers to Yang Kaihui and the willow to Liu Zhixun, the two surnames being also the names of trees. The ninth heaven is the highest of the traditional nine layers of the sky. Wu Gang is the figure condemned in legend to cut forever at a cassia tree on the moon, and Chang'e is the woman who fled to the moon and lives there alone; both belong to the lunar mythology. Subduing the tiger is a figure for a victory won in the world below.

词中意象皆有来历，而尽化旧典为新境。①「骄杨」指杨开慧，取其坚贞不屈、宁折不弯之品格，一「骄」字为烈士立传。②「重霄九」即九重霄，天之极高处，语本《楚辞·天问》「圜则九重」以来的九天观念。③「吴刚」出《酉阳杂俎·天咫》，汉西河人吴刚学仙有过，谪令月中秋伐桂树，树创随合，故永居月中。④「桂花酒」承吴刚伐桂而来，桂子月中落，以桂酿酒，仙家之物。⑤「嫦娥」即姮娥，奔月神话见于《淮南子·览冥训》。⑥「伏虎」以降伏猛虎喻推翻反动统治，革命胜利之隐语。诸典皆月宫仙境，合成一个澄澈高寒的忠魂安顿之所。诸典合成之月宫，又皆有典外之意：吴刚有过而谪，桂树创而随合，忠魂之升，则万古寂寥之月宫为之改观——过者见容，寒者见暖，仙界的秩序因忠魂而动摇。至于伏虎，释家本有伏虎之喻，此则旧语新命，专指革命之胜利，翻典为今，尤为创格，见其点化之能。又嫦娥本奔月之孤神，词中忽有舞袖之欢，冷典热用，仙界遂有生气；桂酒为仙家之酿，恰与人间清明之纸灰相映，一祭一酬，两界相通，皆见点化之匠心。

Commentary

The piece departs from the plaintive manner usual in poems of mourning and treats the dead with exhilaration rather than lament. Its use of legend to carry that reversal is what gives it a place among modern works written in the old forms. Whatever a reader makes of its occasion, the technical boldness of the shift from grief to elation is not in doubt.

此词一出，和者如云，论者亦众。章士钊曾问「骄杨」作何解，毛泽东答：女子革命而丧其元，焉得不骄——一语既出，「骄」字遂成咏烈士的绝唱。郭沫若等曾细绎词中游仙一格的渊源，谓其上承屈原《远游》、郭璞《游仙》之绪，而一反游仙诗出世之旨，为忠魂入世之荣。世人又多举「忽报人间曾伏虎，泪飞顿作倾盆雨」为悼亡诗词别开生面之笔：古来悼亡，哀在不能复生；此词之悼，喜在事业已成——泪是悲泪亦是喜泪，故谓其脱尽哀伤窠臼，于悼亡一体中别立境界。数十年来评弹、歌曲传唱不衰，其深入人心，于此可见。此词之接受史亦是一奇：未发表而先传抄，既发表而谱曲遍唱，评弹一曲蝶恋花，唱彻江南江北，几于家弦户诵。论者又谓此词可当一篇微型悼文读——起于两家之丧，结于天下之庆，以词代文，以韵代散；悼亡而能壮丽如许，于诗词两史中皆前无古人，故论定甚高。

Prosody

Form Tune Butterflies Love Flowers, double stanza of sixty characters词，双调六十字，蝶恋花调，上下阕各五句四仄韵（上阕首句入韵）。

Rhyme The source records no detailed rhyme note; the piece follows the rhyme pattern of the tune.上阕柳、九、有、酒押仄韵，下阕袖、舞、虎、雨换部另押，两阕不同韵部（柳九有酒属有韵一部，袖舞虎雨属遇、麌相叶之部），于蝶恋花定格中破格换韵，后人于此多有讨论，或谓循方音，或谓情之所至不拘常格，要之不害其声情之盛。

Tone pattern No detailed tonal note is given in the source for this piece.上阕「轻飏直上」音节上扬，「重霄九」三字层层拔高，与忠魂飞升之象相合；「捧出桂花酒」句句押韵，如连珠相递，见仙家迎迓之殷。下阕「舒广袖」「且为忠魂舞」舒缓绵长，是长袖曼舞之节；结句「忽报」急转，「泪飞顿作倾盆雨」七字如瀑之泻，声情骤紧而收。全词声调由轻而庄、由缓而急，与词情的起落丝丝入扣。

Reading note A lyric answering a friend's loss, using the moon legends of Wu Gang and Chang'e to show the departed honored, and closing with the news of victory and a rain of tears. Its blend of legend and grief makes it one of the most striking modern works in the classical forms.蝶恋花一调，自北宋以来多写缠绵悱恻之情，此词却以之写烈士忠魂，借婉约之调行豪放之实，调与情之间本有张力，而词人处置裕如：上阕取其轻扬，下阕取其顿挫，各得其宜。至于换韵之破格，论者聚讼，然诵之气势流转，音节自然，正见以意驭调、不为调所驭之能事。此词兼可入乐——评弹谱曲演唱，风行一时——亦证其声情之美，非徒文字之工。蝶恋花调本名鹊踏枝，唐教坊曲，六十字上下阕各四仄韵为其正体。此词两阕各叶一部而不相袭，于正体为变通；或谓如此则声随情转——上阕之由沉而扬，下阕之由扬而悲而复扬，非破格不能达其曲折。论者谓与其拘调而害情，无宁破格而全情，此词足以立据。

Line by line

我失骄杨君失柳，杨柳轻飏直上重霄九。

He has lost his poplar and she her willow, and poplar and willow drift lightly up to the ninth heaven; the pun on the two surnames turns bereavement into ascent.

我失去了骄杨（杨开慧），你失去了柳（柳直荀），杨柳轻轻飘飏直上九重霄。

I have lost my proud Yang, and you have lost your Liu; willow and poplar-catkins drift lightly, soaring straight to the ninth heaven.

起句直陈两家的丧逝，语极沉痛而字极平稳；「骄」字尤重——女子革命而丧其元，焉得不骄，一字为烈士立传。妙在次句顺势将两位烈士之姓化作杨花柳絮，「轻飏直上」，最沉重的牺牲遂写成最轻盈的飞升，悲悼一变而为礼赞，双关之妙，全词的境界由此立定。失字两见而情感倍增：我失君失，丧逝遂由一家之事变为两家同悲、举世同感之事，起笔十字，已见词境之阔，迥异寻常悼亡之私语。

The opening states the two families' loss directly, the words most sorrowful yet most even. The word 'proud' is weightiest—a woman who made revolution and died for it, how can she not be 'proud,' a single character writing the martyr's biography. The beauty is in the next line, which turns the two surnames—Yang (poplar) and Liu (willow)—into catkins drifting lightly upward: the heaviest sacrifice becomes the lightest ascent, mourning changing into homage, and the poem's realm is set by this double entendre. The word 'lost' appears twice—my loss, your loss—turning a private grief into a shared bereavement, felt by two households and by the world. In ten opening characters the scope is already vast, far beyond the usual private elegy.

问讯吴刚何所有，吴刚捧出桂花酒。

They ask Wu Gang what he has, and he holds out cassia wine; the moon legend receives the newcomers with a gesture of warmth.

试问吴刚有什么，吴刚捧出了桂花酒。

I ask after Wu Gang—what has he to offer? Wu Gang holds out wine of cassia flowers.

忠魂升至月宫，诗人却只写一场问答——问得家常，答得更家常。「何所有」三字看似闲笔，实是将仙界人间化：月宫所有，不过一杯酒；而这杯酒是献给忠魂的敬意。以最朴素的招待写最崇高的迎接，庄重与亲切打成一片，正是此词化仙为人的手眼。问讯二字亦亲切：非庄严之礼谒，而是熟人之相访——仙凡之隔，被这一声家常的问讯轻轻抹平，月宫遂不复是可望不可即之境。

The loyal souls have risen to the moon, yet the poet writes only a bit of homely question and answer. 'What has he to offer' seems a casual phrase, but it humanizes the immortal realm: all the moon holds is a cup of wine, and that cup is the honor offered to the loyal dead. The plainest hospitality is used for the loftiest welcome, solemnity and warmth made one—the hand by which this ci turns the immortal into the human. The word 'ask after' is equally intimate: not a formal call but the visit of old acquaintances, and the gap between heaven and earth is smoothed over by this one homely inquiry, the moon no longer a place beyond reach.

寂寞嫦娥舒广袖，万里长空且为忠魂舞。

The lonely Chang'e spreads her sleeves and dances in the vast sky for the loyal dead; the image is at once strange and ceremonious.

寂寞的嫦娥舒展广袖，在万里长空且为忠魂起舞。

The lonely Chang'e spreads her wide sleeves; across the vastness of the sky she dances, for the loyal souls.

「寂寞」二字下得极深——嫦娥独处千年，今乃为忠魂舒袖，则烈士之来，连仙境也不寂寞了。「且为」的「且」字有姑且、特意二义，是暂为之舞，也是专为之舞。万里长空是舞台，广袖是帷幕，想象之壮丽与悼念之郑重融为一片。万里长空四字又极言舞场之大：人间既已伏虎，则此舞不仅慰忠魂，亦庆人间；天上人间，至此打成一片，境界为之一开。

The word 'lonely' is laid with deep meaning—Chang'e has dwelt alone a thousand years, yet now, for the loyal dead, she spreads her sleeves; the martyrs' coming has made even the immortal realm no longer lonely. The 'and' in 'and, for the loyal souls, dances' carries a double sense—both 'for the moment' and 'specially,' a dance made on their account. The vast sky is the stage, the wide sleeves the curtains, the splendor of the imagination fused with the solemnity of the mourning. The 'vast, ten-thousand-mile sky' speaks the magnitude of the dance: since the tiger has been tamed on earth, this dance comforts the loyal souls and celebrates the victory, heaven and earth at last made one.

忽报人间曾伏虎，泪飞顿作倾盆雨。

Word arrives that the tiger has been subdued below, and the tears turn instantly into a downpour; heaven and earth meet in a single line, and joy and grief with them.

忽然报知人间曾经降伏猛虎，泪水飞洒顿时化作倾盆大雨。

Suddenly word comes that on earth the tiger has at last been tamed; tears fly up and fall at once in a pouring rain.

全词警策。天上正歌舞酣畅，「忽报」二字陡然插入人间的消息，两个世界于此接轨。忠魂之泪——是悲泪，悲牺牲之不易；是喜泪，喜事业之已成——「顿作倾盆雨」，泪落人间化雨，天上之哀与人间之春互相浇灌。以喜报写悲泪，浪漫豪情与深哀交织，悼亡诗词至此别开一生面。泪飞二字之动，与上阕轻飏之动首尾呼应：一上升，一落下，忠魂往还于天人之间，词之结构即于一字一动中完成其回环。

These lines are the poem's masterstroke. In full singing and dancing in heaven, the word 'suddenly' thrusts in news of the human world, and the two realms meet. The loyal souls' tears are tears both of grief—grief at how hard-won the sacrifice—and of joy—joy that the cause is won; 'fall at once in a pouring rain,' the tears falling to earth and turning to rain, heaven's sorrow watering the spring of the human world. Writing tears through a glad report, romantic boldness woven with deep grief, elegy here opens an entirely new form. The motion of the flying echoes the drifting of the opening—one rising, one falling, the loyal souls passing between heaven and earth, and the poem's structure completes its circling in that single motion.

Study

Word focus

骄 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「我失骄杨君失柳」的「骄」字，是全词第一个关键字。章士钊曾问骄杨作何解，毛泽东答：女子革命而丧其元，焉得不骄。一「骄」字，既状杨开慧就义时的从容不屈，又见悼者以之为荣的自豪——不曰「爱」不曰「痛」，而曰「骄」，把私人的哀思提高到对烈士品格的礼赞。咏悼之作，罕有以此等字样落笔者，故此字一出，全词的基调便不是哀伤而是崇高。

伏虎 'Subdued the tiger' compresses an entire struggle into three syllables, and every one of them carries weight. 「忽报人间曾伏虎」的「伏虎」，以降伏猛虎喻革命推翻反动统治。不直说胜利而说伏虎，一则取虎之猛，见敌人之凶而终为人所制；二则与上阕的月宫仙境形成兽与仙、人间与天上的对照。着一「曾」字尤妙——捷报是已然之事，忠魂在天犹未知，忽然而闻，故有下句「顿作」之骤。此词人间的全部历史，被压缩在这两个字里。伏虎与骄杨一实一虚，共为此词两大支柱：无骄杨则上阕之情无所附，无伏虎则下阕之泪无所自，缺一则意不全。

顿作 'At once' conveys how abruptly the tears become rain, leaving no interval between feeling and its expression. 「泪飞顿作倾盆雨」的「顿作」，写情感爆发的瞬间性。泪本无声而落，此处的泪却「飞」，飞而「顿作」倾盆大雨——小与大、微与宏在一个动词转换间完成，忠魂积年之悲、骤闻之喜，尽在这骤然的一变之中。若无「顿」字的疾促，则泪雨之喻只为夸饰；有此一字，夸张遂有了时间的真实。顿作之顿，又与忽报之忽相扣：一忽一顿，消息之骤与情感之骤，两骤相乘，遂成倾盆之势，炼字之密如此。