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元 Yuan · 散曲 Sanqu song

沉醉东风·赠妓

Drunk in the East Wind, To a Courtesan

关汉卿

Guan Hanqing

爱情love 离别parting

夜伴笙歌席上，分司御史床前。
恰相逢又早离别，席上尊前。
怕听阳关第四声，也则怕愁人愁听。

By night I kept you company at the seat of pipes and song, before the couch of the transferred censor.
Scarcely met, already parting—still at the cup, before the wine.
I fear to hear the fourth strain of the Yang Pass; only I fear the sad one will grieve to hear it.

Listen

Meaning

By night I kept you company at the seat of pipes and song, before the couch of the transferred censor. Scarcely met, already we part—still at the feast, before the cup. I fear to hear the Yang Pass sung to its fourth strain; only I fear the sad one cannot bear such sadness.

夜里相伴在笙歌筵席之上，在分司御史的床榻之前。刚相逢却又早早离别，还在那酒席杯前。怕听那阳关迭唱到第四声，也只是怕那愁人经不起这愁。

Appreciation

This song writes a fleeting love through a structure of sudden turn from 'meeting to parting.' The opening antithesis, 'By night I kept you company at the seat of pipes and song, before the couch of the transferred censor,' spreads the pleasure-house scene in parallel, the antithesis neat yet the language amorous; 'Scarcely met, already parting—still at the cup, before the wine' uses the colloquial particles 'scarcely… already' to write the fragility of the bond and the swiftness of meeting and parting, most showing the lively native manner of Yuan song. The close, 'I fear to hear the fourth strain of the Yang Pass; only I fear the sad one will grieve to hear it,' presses one layer deeper: not that I cannot bear the parting, but that I cannot even bear the parting song—fearing the song will stir a deeper grief. Closing on 'fear,' it turns the amorous into the plaintive, dropping from bustle into loneliness, a strong contrast with lingering echo—exactly Guan's power of 'boldness with tenderness within.'

【白话串讲】关汉卿写与歌妓的离别：“夜伴笙歌席上，分司御史床前。恰相逢又早离别”——刚相逢就要离别。“怕听阳关第四声”——他怕听阳关曲，怕愁上加愁。关汉卿写情，直白又深情。【意象与手法】此曲以「相逢—离别」的急转结构写刹那情缘。起对「夜伴笙歌席上，分司御史床前」以骈句铺陈欢场场景，对仗工而语艳；「恰相逢又早离别，席上尊前」以「恰…又早…」的口语虚词写缘分之脆、聚散之促；结「怕听阳关第四声，也则怕愁人愁听」翻进一层，将艳情化为凄情，由热闹跌入孤清。【情感与主旨】关汉卿（约1220—1300），元杂剧奠基人，亦擅散曲，其小令多写男女风情、赠妓离筵，本色泼辣而深于情。「分司御史床前」用白居易分司东都、纵情声伎之典，点出欢场身份；「阳关第四声」化用王维《送元二使安西》，以离歌写别。全曲于脂粉场中见真性情，是元曲「自浇块垒」、不为礼法所拘的典型，亦折射元代士子与勾栏歌妓相知相惜的社会面影。【名句点睛】常考「恰相逢又早离别」如何表现聚散匆匆；「怕听阳关第四声」的用典与抒情；此曲由艳入愁、于欢场见真情的艺术特色。

Background

Guan Hanqing (c. 1220–1300), a founder of Yuan drama and also adept at sanqu, wrote many of his short lyrics on love between man and woman, on giving a courtesan and on the parting feast; they are native and bold yet deep in feeling. This Drunk in the East Wind, To a Courtesan writes the charm and pang of a chance meeting with a courtesan at a feast, soon to part. 'Before the couch of the transferred censor' uses the allusion of Bai Juyi, who in his later years was assigned to the eastern capital Luoyang and daily feasted with singing girls, marking the pleasure-house identity; 'the fourth strain of the Yang Pass' transforms Wang Wei's 'Drink another cup of wine' (the Yang Pass Three Folds, the fourth strain meaning sung to its deepest), using the parting song for the farewell. The whole song shows true temperament in the powder-and-rouge quarters, a typical case of Yuan song 'pouring out its own block of ice,' unbound by rites, and also reflecting the social face of Yuan scholars and the singing girls of the pleasure houses knowing and cherishing each other.

关汉卿（约1220—约1300），号已斋叟，大都（今北京）人，元杂剧的奠基人，「元曲四大家」之首，一生「躬践排场，面傅粉墨」，与勾栏歌妓交往密切，代表作《窦娥冤》《救风尘》等皆以民间疾苦与女性命运为主题。元代废除科举数十年，文人沉沦下僚，与市井勾栏为伍，士子与歌妓之间的相知相惜成为元代文学的独特景观。关汉卿的散曲多写男女风情、赠妓离筵，此《沉醉东风·赠妓》即写宴席上偶遇一妓、倏忽又将分别的旖旎与怅惘。「分司御史」用白居易晚年分司东都洛阳、纵情声伎的典故，既点出筵中狎客的身份，也暗含元代文人放浪形骸、借酒色浇愁的时代心态。全曲于脂粉场中见真性情，不假道学面孔，而以坦诚的痴情写刹那的离别，正是关汉卿「本色当行」、不为礼法所拘的创作个性在散曲中的体现，也折射出元代士子与歌妓之间超越买卖的真情交流。关汉卿一生「偶倡优而不辞」，与勾栏妓院关系密切，其杂剧多写妓女题材（如《救风尘》《金线池》），对歌妓的处境与心声有深切的了解与同情。此曲写宴席上与一妓相逢即别的刹那情缘，正是其生活经验的直接反映：元代文人与歌妓之间，既有才艺的相互欣赏，也有身世之感同病相怜，诗人赠曲于妓，妓亦以曲传情，这种以「曲」为媒介的深情交流，是元代都市文化中独特而动人的一幕。曲中「怕听阳关」的痴情，正是关汉卿对歌妓真诚相待、以心相交的写照，也见其「本色当行」的曲家本色。

Art

此曲以「相逢—离别」的急转结构写刹那情缘，短短六句，起承转合俱全。起二句「夜伴笙歌席上，分司御史床前」以工整的骈句铺陈欢场场景：笙歌、席上、床前，灯红酒绿的背景中，一对男女相伴相守，「夜伴」二字暗写情意之浓。三、四句「恰相逢又早离别，席上尊前」陡然急转：「恰相逢」写缘分初定，「又早离别」写别离已至，「恰…又早…」的口语虚词把聚散之促写得猝不及防——不是相识已久才别，而是刚刚相逢便要分离，缘分之脆、聚散之速，尽在两个虚词之间。结二句「怕听阳关第四声，也则怕愁人愁听」再翻进一层：不是不想听离歌，而是怕听——怕那离歌勾起更深的愁绪，叫这愁人如何承受得住。全曲由欢入愁、由外入内，把艳情化为凄情，由热闹跌入孤清，结尾处「愁人愁听」的叠用，余韵袅袅，正是关汉卿「豪辣中见缠绵」的笔力。此曲在结构上的「急转」也极见功力：前二句铺陈欢场的旖旎，是「聚」之极盛；三、四句「恰相逢又早离别」骤然转折，是「散」之极速，聚与散之间几乎不留间隙，仿佛命运刻意捉弄；结二句「怕听阳关第四声，也则怕愁人愁听」再翻一层，由「怕别」推进到「怕听别歌」，情感的深度层层加码。全曲六句，前缓后急、前艳后愁，转折之陡、收束之妙，正是元曲小令「于短章中见波澜」的典范，也见关汉卿驾驭口语、经营章法的纯熟技艺。

Allusions

The song's 'transferred censor' uses the allusion of Bai Juyi, who in his late years was assigned to the eastern capital Luoyang and daily feasted with singing girls (Bai wrote much of singing girls in his Song of the Pipa and Willow-Branch lyrics), referring to the feast's guest or hinting at himself, marking the Yuan scholars' closeness with the pleasure houses. 'The fourth strain of the Yang Pass' alludes to Wang Wei's 'Seeing Yuan Er off to Anxi,' set to music as the 'Yang Pass Three Folds'; 'the fourth strain' means sung to its deepest (Song critics speak of a 'fourth strain' in Yang Pass singing), using the parting song for the farewell. 'At the cup, before the wine' also transforms earlier parting-feast lines. The allusions are all familiar, melted into the market pleasure-house, elegant and popular together.

此曲用典皆熟而化用入妙。「分司御史」用白居易典：白居易晚年以太子宾客分司东都洛阳，筑香山寺，日与歌妓诗酒宴游，其诗「樱桃樊素口，杨柳小蛮腰」即写家中歌妓，「分司御史」遂成为纵情声伎的风流文人的代称。此处以「分司御史床前」点出宴席狎客的身份，既合欢场场景，又暗含元曲家以白乐天自比的疏狂。「阳关第四声」用王维《送元二使安西》「劝君更尽一杯酒，西出阳关无故人」之典：此诗入乐称《阳关三叠》，唐人歌送别，迭唱三遍，而「第四声」之说，指歌至第三叠之后又添声再唱，深入离情最浓处（宋人论阳关唱法有「第四声」之辨），此处以「阳关第四声」代指最令人断肠的离歌，「怕听」二字写不忍闻歌的深情。「席上尊前」亦化用前人宴别成句，烘托离筵场景。全曲用事皆融于市井欢场之中，雅俗共济，不着痕迹，正是关汉卿「本色派」融化典实的本领。「阳关」之典在此曲中的运用尤见巧思：王维《送元二使安西》「劝君更尽一杯酒，西出阳关无故人」本写送别友人西出阳关，此曲却以「阳关第四声」代指一切离歌，且以「怕听」二字写不忍闻歌的心情——离歌本是送别之情的载体，诗人却连这载体都怕，正见其离愁之深、之烈。宋人论阳关唱法，有「第四声」为最凄切之说的辨析，关汉卿以此入曲，既见其博闻，又以这最凄切的一叠写最不舍的情，用典之精、化用之妙，正是元曲家「以故为新」的本领。

Commentary

Guan Hanqing's sanqu is known as the leading voice of the 'native school'; the Ming scholar Zang Maoxun, in his preface to the Selection of Yuan Plays, says he 'personally trod the stage, his face dusted with powder,' and his songs mostly come from the breast. This gift-to-courtesan songlet, though of the love type, sheds the obscene; the Qing scholar Li Diaoyuan, in his Rain Village Talk on Songs, says Yuan songlets 'Guan Hanqing most liked common speech, yet the feeling is deep.' The modern Wu Mei, in his General Theory of Qu Study, rates Guan's songlets 'sufficient in boldness, also enough in tenderness.' Wang Guowei's History of Song and Yuan Drama, though focused on drama, also grants his sanqu 'have mood.' In sum, writing true temperament in market speech, amorous yet not greasy, parting yet able to grieve.

关汉卿散曲在元代曲家中以「本色派」领袖著称。明·臧懋循《元曲选序》称其「躬践排场，面傅粉墨」，可见其与戏曲歌妓生活之密切；清·李调元《雨村曲话》谓「元人小令，关汉卿最喜用俗语，而情自深」，正切中此曲的特点——全曲多用口语（「恰相逢又早」「也则怕」），而以深情贯之。近人吴梅《曲学通论》推关氏小令「豪迈有余，情致亦足」；王国维《宋元戏曲史》虽重在杂剧，亦许其散曲「有意境」。论者多谓此曲「于脂粉场中见真性情」：赠妓之作，极易流于狎亵或浮艳，关汉卿却以「怕听阳关」的痴情，把一段欢场艳遇写得如此郑重而凄美，足见其对歌妓的尊重与相知。此曲与《沉醉东风·春情》等同调小令，共同展现了关汉卿散曲由艳入愁、深情绵邈的面貌，是元代文人与勾栏歌妓相知相惜这一独特文化现象的文学见证。从曲史评价看，关汉卿散曲在元代即与马致远、白朴、郑光祖并称，其小令以「本色」见长，明人何良俊谓「关汉卿之词，如琼筵醉客」，正赏其泼辣酣畅的曲风。此赠妓小令虽属风情题材，却因「怕听阳关」的深情而超越了寻常赠妓之作的轻浮，论者谓其「艳而不腻，别而能愁」，正是此曲的定评。与《沉醉东风·春情》等一同观之，可见关汉卿小令虽多写男女之情，却能于情中见真、于艳中见雅，其散曲成就虽为其杂剧盛名所掩，实亦元代曲坛的一流水平，此曲即是明证。

Prosody

Form Sanqu, Shuangdiao mode, Drunk in the East Wind (songlet to a courtesan)元散曲·双调《沉醉东风》小令

Rhyme Northern song, Central Plain rhyme, xian-tian/han-shan etc., lines seven-seven-seven-five-seven-six押《中原音韵》先天韵与寒山韵，「前」「别」「前」「声」「听」等字相押，句句用韵，一韵到底。

Tone pattern Song form values the 'core,' level-oblique fairly loose, prizes flowing breath曲牌句式七七、三三七、七七，前二句多用对仗，曲律较诗词宽松，重气脉流转、务头响亮。

Reading note Guan Hanqing's native-school songlet, turning from amorous to plaintive.《沉醉东风》为双调曲牌，句式以七七、三三七、七七为主，前两句惯用对仗，此曲正依此格：「夜伴笙歌席上」对「分司御史床前」，工整流丽，先立起欢场画面的华美；「恰相逢又早离别，席上尊前」以三三七句式的错落，写聚散之促，节奏上先缓后急，恰合情感的陡转。散曲格律较诗词宽松，不严究平仄，而重句句押韵与气脉流畅：此曲句句用韵，韵脚密集，声调紧促，正合「相逢—离别」的急切情势。结尾「怕听阳关第四声，也则怕愁人愁听」以「怕」字领起两长句，务头（曲中警句所在）响亮，「愁人愁听」四字叠用，音节回环，如泣如诉，是全曲声情的高潮。全曲虽为小令，而结构起承转合、节奏张弛有度、声情与辞情妙合，正见关汉卿虽以杂剧名世，其散曲小令亦当行出色，是元曲「本色当行」之典范。

Line by line

夜伴笙歌席上，分司御史床前

By night I kept you company at the seat of pipes and song, before the couch of the transferred censor.

夜里相伴在笙歌筵席之上，在分司御史的床榻之前。

At night, beside the feast of pipes and songs, before the couch of the investigating censor.

起二句以骈对铺陈欢场场景，先写相聚之乐。「夜伴笙歌席上」写时间（夜）、场合（笙歌宴席）、情态（相伴）——夜深了，宴席上笙歌未歇，一对男女相伴而坐，情意融融；「分司御史床前」以「分司御史」点出狎客的身份，暗用白居易分司东都、纵情声伎的典故，既合欢场实景，又为全曲添一分风流的底色。「夜伴」「床前」两词，写尽亲密之态；「笙歌」与「床前」对举，一热闹一私密，正是欢场情缘的典型场景。两句对仗工丽而语艳，铺陈出「聚」的极盛，为下文的「别」作了最大的反差——相聚越是亲密热烈，离别越是仓皇难堪，起笔的秾艳正是全曲由艳入愁的铺垫。

The opening two lines, in paired elegance, lay out the scene of pleasure, first the joy of meeting. 'At night, beside the feast of pipes and songs' gives time (night), place (a singing banquet), mood (together): deep into the night, pipes and songs not yet ended, the pair sitting close, affection warm; 'before the couch of the investigating censor' names the gallant's rank, quietly alluding to Bai Juyi, who, posted to the eastern capital, gave himself to music and courtesans — fitting the pleasure-house scene and coloring the song with romance. 'At night' and 'before the couch' render the intimacy; 'pipes and songs' against 'couch' contrast the public feast and the private bed, the typical scene of a love affair. The two lines are balanced and richly hued, spreading the 'meeting' to its fullest, for the sharpest contrast with the 'parting' to come — the closer and warmer the meeting, the more frantic the parting; the opening's splendor is the song's bridge from bloom to sorrow.

恰相逢又早离别，席上尊前

Scarcely met, already parting—still at the cup, before the wine.

刚相逢却又早早离别，还在那酒席杯前。

We have just met, and already it is farewell — still at the banquet, before the cup.

此二句是全曲的枢纽，急转直下，写尽聚散之促。「恰相逢又早离别」以「恰…又早…」的口语虚词，写相逢之刚刚、离别之骤然：不是相处既久才别，而是刚刚相逢，别离便已到来，「恰」与「又早」的紧接，把命运的猝然与无奈写得淋漓尽致，仿佛那离别的鼓点，在相逢的瞬间就已敲响。「席上尊前」四字回环照应起句：离别就发生在相逢的酒席上、酒杯前——同一席、同一杯，前一刻是欢会，这一刻是分离，场景未变而人事已非，物是人非的怅惘油然而生。两句由欢入愁，转折陡峭而不失自然，正是关汉卿本色派「以口语写至情」的本领，聚散匆匆之感，千载之下读来仍觉扑面而来。

These two lines are the song's hinge, turning sharply to write how fleeting meeting and parting are. 'We have just met, and already it is farewell,' in the colloquial particles 'just' and 'already,' writes meeting barely begun and parting come suddenly: not parting after long days, but separation arrived the moment they met, 'just' and 'already' pressed together rendering fate's abruptness and helplessness, as if the drumbeat of farewell struck at the instant of meeting. 'Still at the banquet, before the cup' loops back to the opening: the parting happens at the same feast, before the same cup — a moment ago the tryst, now the leave-taking; the scene unchanged, the person changed, and the ache of things the same and people gone rises of itself. From joy to sorrow, the turn steep yet natural: Guan Hanqing's native gift for deepest feeling in spoken words, and the haste of meeting and parting still strikes the reader across the ages.

怕听阳关第四声，也则怕愁人愁听

I fear to hear the fourth strain of the Yang Pass; only I fear the sad one will grieve to hear it.

怕听那阳关迭唱到第四声，也只是怕那愁人经不起这愁。

I dread to hear the fourth note of the Yangguan song; it is only that a heart already sad cannot bear this sad listening.

结二句是全曲情感的高潮，翻进一层，缠绵入骨。「阳关第四声」用王维《送元二使安西》入乐为《阳关三叠》之典，「第四声」指迭唱至深衷处的最断肠之音；「怕听」二字写诗人的心理：离歌将起，他怕听那最令人断肠的一句——不是不想听，而是听了便受不了，离愁之深，已到不堪承受的地步。「也则怕愁人愁听」再进一层：「也则怕」即「也只是怕」，点明怕听的根本原因——是怕这「愁人」（既指歌妓，亦指自己）听了离歌，愁上加愁，如何承受得住。「愁人愁听」四字叠用两个「愁」字，语势回环，如泣如诉，把愁绪写得绵密缠绕。两句层层推进，由怕听歌到怕愁人听歌，怜人亦是自怜，由艳情化为凄情，收束处余韵袅袅，正是关汉卿深情的一贯笔法。

The closing two lines are the song's emotional peak, turning one notch deeper, clinging to the bone. 'The fourth note of the Yangguan song' alludes to Wang Wei's farewell verse, set to music as the Threefold Yangguan; the 'fourth note' is the pass beyond the threefold refrain, the most heart-rending strain. 'I dread to hear' renders the psychology: the parting song about to rise, he dreads its most cutting line — not unwilling to hear, but unable to bear hearing, grief beyond bearing. 'It is only that a heart already sad cannot bear this sad listening' goes deeper still: 'only that' names the root of the dread — fearing that this 'sad heart' (the courtesan, and himself) will hear the parting song and have grief heaped on grief, past endurance. 'Sad heart, sad listening' stacks two 'sad' in looping cadence, like a sob, the grief dense and winding. Layer by layer, from dreading the song to dreading her hearing it — pitying her is pitying himself; amorous feeling turns to desolation, the close lingering, Guan Hanqing's lifelong manner of depth.

Study

Word focus

又早 An adverb; it writes the suddenness of parting, closely following 'scarcely met,' stressing the fragility of the bond and the swift shift from joy to sorrow. 「恰相逢又早离别」之「又早」，是元代口语，意为「又已经、又这么快就」，是全曲写聚散之促的关键词。「恰相逢」三字刚写完相逢的欣喜，「又早离别」四字便已将别离砸下——「恰」与「又早」之间几乎没有间隔，仿佛相逢与离别是同一瞬间发生的两件事，缘分之脆、聚散之速，尽在两个虚词的紧接之中。「早」字尤其有力：离别不是如期而至，而是「过早」来临，带着一种猝不及防的愕然与无奈，仿佛命运在戏弄人，刚赐予相逢便又急急收回。「又早」这个口语词的运用，使全句读来如一声叹息，没有文言虚词的文雅，却有口语的直白与深情，正见关汉卿以俗语写至情的本色，把「聚散匆匆」这一永恒的人间遗憾写得猝然生痛。

怕 The closing two 'fear' words stack, from fearing the song to fearing the sad one's grief, turning the amorous into the plaintive—a word that conveys spirit. 「怕听阳关第四声，也则怕愁人愁听」之「怕」字，是结句的情感枢纽，两句两「怕」，层层递进。「怕听阳关第四声」的「怕」，是怕离歌：离歌一响，便是离别在即，那「阳关第四声」是最断肠的一叠，听了便再也撑不住离愁的堤防；「也则怕愁人愁听」的「怕」，是怕愁人：怜惜那多情的歌妓听了这断肠之歌，愁上加愁，如何承受。两个「怕」字，一怕己、一怕人，由自怜到怜人，把一己的离愁推展为对对方的体贴，深情厚意尽在两个「怕」字之中。这个字还暗含一种「知其不可而避之」的痴情：离歌终究要听，离别终究要来，「怕」也无用，却偏偏要「怕」，正是明知无可奈何、仍要挣扎的深情，一字而情味无穷，是关汉卿炼字传神的典范。