All poems

元 Yuan · 散曲 Sanqu song

普天乐·浙江秋

Universal Joy · Autumn on the Qiantang River

姚燧

Yao Sui

写景Scene Description 秋思Autumn Thoughts 送别Farewell 愁思sorrow

浙江秋，吴山夜。
愁随潮去，恨与山叠。
寒雁来，芙蓉谢。
冷雨青灯读书舍，怕离别又早离别。
今宵醉也，明朝去也，宁奈些些。

Autumn on the Qiantang River, night at Wu Mountain.
Sorrow goes with the tide, hatred piles like peaks.
Cold wild geese come, lotus flowers fade.
Cold rain, green lamp, a scholar’s study—
Fearing parting, yet parting early.
Tonight let’s get drunk; tomorrow we depart.
Endure it a little more.

Listen

Meaning

The poem depicts a farewell scene on an autumn night by the Qiantang River. The poet expresses intense sorrow and resentment at parting, comparing them to the river tide and mountain peaks. Despite the pain, he tries to console himself with drink and endurance.

钱塘江边正是清秋时节，吴山之下又逢离别的夜晚。满怀的离愁仿佛随着江潮奔涌而去，沉沉的别恨又像吴山的峰峦一般重重叠叠。寒雁南来，荷花凋谢，秋意萧瑟。在这冷雨潇潇、青灯如豆的书斋里，我一面怕着离别，一面却偏偏要这样早早地离别。今宵姑且痛饮一醉，明朝终将动身远去，且把这一腔离愁暂且忍耐些许吧。

Appreciation

Yao Sui wrote this piece when parting with a friend in Hangzhou. The first two lines set the scene. 'Sorrow goes with the tide, hatred piles like peaks' uses vivid metaphors. Then seasonal images of wild geese and withered lotus enhance the melancholy. The line 'Fearing parting, yet parting early' is emotionally acute. The final three lines shift to a tone of self-consolation, typical of Yuan sanqu.

【白话串讲】浙江的秋天，吴山的夜。“愁随潮去，恨与山叠”——姚燧送别朋友：愁跟潮水去了，恨和山一样高。冷雨青灯读书舍，怕离别又早离别。【意象与手法】此曲章法尤见匠心，前六句两两对仗，以空间与物候编织离愁：浙江、吴山点明送别之地，秋、夜点明时序，寒雁、芙蓉写物候之变，愁、恨直揭心绪，六句把地理、季节、景物、心理熔于一炉，意象密丽而不堆砌。「愁随潮去，恨与山叠」是全曲警句：以江潮之奔涌写愁之滔滔不绝，以吴山之重叠写恨之层层堆积，化抽象为具象，动（潮）静（山）相形，把剪不断、理还乱的离愁写得可触可感，遥承前人「问君能有几多愁，恰似一江春水向东流」而以对仗出之，更见工稳。后三句忽转口语：「今宵醉也，明朝去也，宁奈些些」，以自我宽解收束满纸悲愁，由极悲转入旷达，正是元曲「作诗头、作曲尾」的典型章法——前幅精丽如词，后幅放旷如曲，雅俗相济，余味悠长。【情感与主旨】此曲写秋夜送别友人之情。全曲的情感层次极为分明：起笔以「浙江秋，吴山夜」交代时地，秋夜钱塘、吴山之下，送别的氛围已然苍茫；继以「愁随潮去，恨与山叠」把离愁别恨推向顶点，愁如潮水、恨如山叠，不可遏止；「寒雁来，芙蓉谢」以物候写时序之迫，秋深雁来而荷花凋谢，欢聚的时光已逝；「冷雨青灯读书舍，怕离别又早离别」是情感的核心，「怕」与「早」两字道尽无奈——越是怕离别，离别偏偏来得越快，是读书人最真切的体验；末三句「今宵醉也，明朝去也，宁奈些些」陡然一转，以醉消愁、以忍自解，把无可奈何的离愁化入一声旷达的叹息。全曲由悲入旷，正见元代文人面对聚散无常时既深于情、又善于自解的复杂心态。【名句点睛】「愁随潮去，恨与山叠」是传诵最广的名句：以潮喻愁、以山喻恨，动与静、流与积相对，八个字把无形之愁恨写得有体积、有重量、有动势，对仗工稳而意境宏阔，是元曲中化抽象为具体的典范。「怕离别又早离别」更是全曲务头所在，周德清《中原音韵》特以此句为俊语：一个「怕」字、一个「早」字，把盼相聚、惧分离而又不得不分离的矛盾心理写尽，直戳人心，堪称一字千钧；而「今宵醉也，明朝去也」连用两个「也」字，语气放达，如与人语，恰是曲体本色，与唐诗宋词的含蓄迥异，显出元曲以口语直抒的独特魅力。

Background

Yao Sui (1238–1313), courtesy name Duanfu, style name Mu'an, was a Yuan dynasty writer. This song was written around 1311 when he visited Hangzhou and parted with his disciple Liu Zhi. Recorded in 'Yangchun Baixue' and 'Zhongyuan Yinyun', it was a famous farewell piece.

姚燧（1238—1313），字端甫，号牧庵，河南洛阳人，元代著名文学家，官至翰林学士承旨、知制诰兼修国史，以古文名重一时，与虞集并称「姚虞」，其散曲存世不多而皆精。此曲写于杭州送别友人之际，约在元武宗至大四年（1311）前后，他与弟子刘致同游西湖、钱塘之后离去之时，曲见《阳春白雪》及《中原音韵》等选本，《中原音韵》题作「别友」，并列为定格。元代仕进之途狭窄，文人多飘泊四方、聚散无常，送别遂成元曲最常见的题材之一；姚燧虽身居高位，然其行迹亦多宦游，对离别的况味体会深切，故能以显宦之笔写出如此深挚的别情。此曲以钱塘秋夜为背景：浙江即钱塘江，秋潮为天下奇观；吴山在杭州西湖东南，左瞰钱塘、右瞰西湖，是送别怀古的胜地。姚燧借江、山、潮、雁等宏大物象写离愁，又以青灯书舍的日常场景收拢，把文人的雅致与曲体的放达熔于一炉，遂成元人送别小令中的名篇。

Art

The structure is masterful: the first six lines are parallel couplets interweaving space, season, and emotion. 'Sorrow goes with the tide, hatred piles like peaks' contrasts motion (tide) and stillness (mountains). The last three lines suddenly switch to colloquial self-comfort, revealing the unrestrained spirit of Yuan dynasty songs.

此曲的艺术匠心首先在章法：前六句以对仗铺排，两两成双，把空间（浙江、吴山）、时序（秋、夜）、物候（寒雁、芙蓉）与心理（愁、恨）交织成密丽的意象网络，七字以上的长句（冷雨青灯读书舍，怕离别又早离别）随后展开，末三句忽以口语短句散收，形成前密后疏、先整后散的节奏，正是元人所谓「作诗头、作曲尾」的典范。其次是化抽象为具象：「愁随潮去，恨与山叠」以江潮状愁之奔涌不绝，以吴山状恨之层叠堆积，动（潮）静（山）相形，流（潮）积（山）互映，把无形的离愁别恨写得有动势、有体积、有重量，遥承李煜「一江春水」之喻而更见对仗工稳。再次是情感的反转：前幅极写悲愁，末三句「今宵醉也，明朝去也，宁奈些些」忽作旷达口语，以醉遣愁、以忍自解，由极悲转入强自宽解，这种先悲后旷的收束正是元曲家放逸本色的体现，也使全曲于深挚之外更添一种洞达人生的洒脱。全曲由宏阔而幽微、由沉郁而放达，章法井然，正见元曲家熔铸诗词语汇而自成面目的功力。

Allusions

The Zhejiang (Qiantang) River is famous for its autumn bore. 'Cold wild geese' alludes to the tradition of using geese to deliver letters, implying longing for news. 'Lotus flowers fade' echoes Li Bai's poem and the Chu ci tradition of using flowers to symbolize fleeting joy.

此曲用典含蓄，多借地理物候的自然意象传情。浙江即钱塘江，以秋潮之壮观著称，潮来潮去正如愁之起落，故「愁随潮去」暗借潮水意象写愁思之奔涌难止；吴山在杭州城东南，相传为吴越故地，山势绵亘、峰峦重叠，故「恨与山叠」以山之层叠状恨之累积，江、山对举，正是杭州送别最典型的地理符号。「寒雁」暗承雁足传书之典（《汉书·苏武传》载苏武以雁足系书），雁去雁来而音书难凭，又为秋日离思的传统意象，李清照「雁字回时，月满西楼」即其嗣响；「芙蓉谢」化用《楚辞》香草零落以伤美人之迟暮的传统，李白亦有「芙蓉老秋霜」之句，以花之凋谢写欢聚之短、时序之迫，与「寒雁来」对举，一来一谢，秋意尽出。「冷雨青灯读书舍」不用典而自见深意：青灯是书斋与羁旅的经典意象，陆游「青灯有味是儿时」以之写温馨，此曲却以冷雨配青灯，写尽读书人孤馆送客的清冷，可谓善用意象之典范。全曲以眼前景写心中情，典而不滞，正姚燧「雅而不腻」之本色。

Commentary

Zhou Deqing in 'Zhongyuan Yinyun' selected this piece as a model, calling it 'Bieyou' (Parting with Friends). Critics note Yao Sui's style as 'elegant but not cloying'. The first half is like ci poetry, the second half like song, typical of Yuan qu's fusion of forms.

周德清《中原音韵》将此曲选入定格四十首之中，题作「别友」，并特标「怕离别又早离别」为务头俊语，足见此曲在当时已被视为曲律与文辞兼善的范式。后世论姚燧散曲，多许其「雅而不腻」：此曲前幅「浙江秋，吴山夜。愁随潮去，恨与山叠」精丽如词，对仗工稳、意象密丽；后幅「今宵醉也，明朝去也，宁奈些些」放旷如曲，口语直陈、姿态洒脱，恰是元曲熔诗词于一炉的绝佳标本，前人所谓「作诗头、作曲尾」，此曲可当之无愧。在元人写秋送别之作中，此曲与马致远《天净沙·秋思》并称双璧：天净沙以枯藤老树写羁旅之悲，此曲以潮山灯火写离别之恨，一冷寂一苍茫，皆以少少许胜多多许。姚燧身居高位而能作此深挚之作，正说明散曲至元代中期已从民间俚歌上升为文人的自觉艺术，此曲的价值，正在于见证了元曲雅俗合流的完成。今日教材选元人小令，此曲与《天净沙》往往同列，正因其以最经济的篇幅写出最普遍的离情，深挚而不纤弱、放达而不轻浮，堪称元人送别小令中的压卷之作。

Prosody

Form Yuan sanqu · Zhonglü mode · Universal Joy (short song)元散曲·中吕宫·普天乐（小令）

Rhyme Rhymes on 'ye, die, xie, she, bie, xie' (Chezhe rhyme in Zhongyuan Yinyun)句句押韵、一韵到底，通押中原音韵车遮韵（夜、叠、谢、舍、别、些），平仄通押

Tone pattern Irregular sentence lengths, many parallel couplets, not strict tonal patterns句式参差：三字、四字短句两两对仗起，中插七字长句，末以短句散收；韵脚以去声为主，声情低回顿挫

Reading note The tune Universal Joy has flexible patterns; this piece uses parallel couplets for first six lines and loose lines for the last three.此曲为元散曲中吕宫小令，曲牌《普天乐》。北曲用韵以《中原音韵》为准，此曲句句押韵、一韵到底，通押车遮韵，「夜、叠、谢、舍、别、些」六字皆在车遮韵内，其中「叠」「别」为入声派入之字，「夜、谢、舍」为去声，「些」为平声，平仄通押，正是北曲韵法区别于诗词之处。句式上，《普天乐》定格以短句为主，此曲前三组两两对仗（浙江秋对吴山夜，愁随潮去对恨与山叠，寒雁来对芙蓉谢），三字句、四字句相间，如诗之律句；中段「冷雨青灯读书舍，怕离别又早离别」为两个七字长句，一舒一收，是全曲的高潮所在；末三句「今宵醉也，明朝去也，宁奈些些」以口语短句散收，不拘格套，正是元曲曲尽人情之处。从声情看，中吕宫在周德清《中原音韵》中属「高下闪赚」一类，宜于写慷慨低回之情；此曲韵脚多去声，去声字音调高亢而短促，读来如叹如诉，与离愁别恨的沉郁相称。全曲前六句整饬如词，后三句散放如话，形成「作诗头、作曲尾」的独特节奏，是元人小令章法成熟的标志。

Line by line

浙江秋，吴山夜

Autumn on the Qiantang River, night at Wu Mountain (setting the scene).

钱塘江畔已是清秋时节，吴山之下正是离别的夜晚。

Autumn on the Qiantang River; night on the Wu Hills.

开篇六字点明时地，如画起笔，是全曲的总纲。「浙江秋」写地点兼时序，钱塘江以秋潮著称，一个「秋」字既写季节，又暗带潮涌、雁来、花谢的萧瑟联想；「吴山夜」写送别之地兼时刻，吴山在杭州西湖东南，左江右湖，历来是文人登临送别之所，一个「夜」字定下苍茫朦胧的基调。两句以三字对三字，地名对地名、时序对时序，字字切实而意境空阔，把读者一下子带入秋夜钱塘、江声山影的送别现场。更妙的是「秋」与「夜」二字本身已含离别的暗示：秋天是万物凋零、远人思归的季节，夜晚是举杯饯行、灯火凄清的时刻，六字未着一「愁」字，而离愁的氛围已扑面而来。

The opening six characters fix time and place, a painted opening, the song's whole frame. 'Autumn on the Qiantang River' gives place and season: the Qiantang is famed for its autumn tide, the word 'autumn' at once the season and the bleak associations of tide, wild geese, falling flowers; 'night on the Wu Hills' gives the send-off place and hour: the Wu Hills southeast of West Lake, river on the left, lake on the right, a place of literati climbs and farewells, the word 'night' fixing the vast, misted tone. Three characters against three, place against place, season against season, every word solid, the mood wide — the reader set at once in the autumn night of Qiantang, river sound and hill shadow, the send-off scene. The genius is that 'autumn' and 'night' already imply parting: autumn, when all things wither and the far one longs to return; night, the hour of the farewell cup and the bleak lamps; six characters, not one word of 'grief,' yet grief's air rushes to the face.

愁随潮去，恨与山叠

Sorrow goes with the tide, hatred piles like peaks (metaphor for intense emotions).

满怀的离愁仿佛随着江潮奔涌而去，沉沉的别恨又像吴山的峰峦一般重重叠叠。

Grief goes with the tide; resentment piles with the hills.

这是全曲的警句，也是元曲中化抽象为具象的典范。愁本是无形之物，诗人以江潮状之：潮水奔涌、去而复来，正如愁思之滔滔不绝、欲遣还来；恨本是无形之物，诗人以吴山状之：峰峦重叠、层层累积，正如别恨之堆积沉郁、不可排解。一动一静，一「去」一「叠」，流与积相形，把离愁别恨写得既有动势又有体积。「随」字写愁之不可控，如影随形；「叠」字写恨之层积，愈积愈厚。此句对仗工稳，潮对山、去对叠，意象宏阔而情感沉挚，遥承李煜「问君能有几多愁，恰似一江春水向东流」的水喻传统，而更以山喻作补充，山水相映，愁恨并写，遂成千古名句。

This is the song's aphoristic line, a model in Yuan qu of turning the abstract into the concrete. Grief, a thing invisible, the poet shapes after the river tide: the tide surges and returns, like grief's ceaseless flood, sent off yet returning; resentment, a thing invisible, he shapes after the Wu Hills: range on range, layer on layer, like parting grief's piled, heavy weight, beyond relief. One moving, one still, 'goes' and 'piles,' flowing against heaped, writing grief and resentment with motion and mass. 'Goes' writes grief's uncontrollable, shadow-like following; 'piles' resentment's layering, the thicker it grows. The balanced couplet is exact — tide against hill, 'goes' against 'piles' — imagery grand, feeling deep, inheriting Li Yu's 'if you ask me how much grief, it is like a river of spring water flowing east,' yet adding the metaphor of hills, water and hill answering, grief and resentment together, making a line for the ages.

冷雨青灯读书舍，怕离别又早离别

Cold rain, blue lamp, in the study; I dread the parting — and already the parting is here.

在这冷雨潇潇、青灯如豆的书斋里，我一面怕着离别，一面却偏偏要这样早早地离别。

In this study of cold rain and blue, small lamp: I dread the parting, yet the parting has come too soon.

前句以冷色意象营构别境：冷雨写天气之寒，青灯写灯光之微，读书舍点明离别发生的地点——不是长亭古道，而是日日相伴的书斋，这使离别更添一层日常被打破的怅惘。冷雨配青灯，色调清冷孤寂，与「浙江秋，吴山夜」的开阔苍茫形成收拢之势，镜头由江山水光摇入书斋灯下，人物的形象由模糊渐趋清晰。「怕离别又早离别」是全曲务头，周德清《中原音韵》特标为俊语：一个「怕」字写尽不忍分离之心，一个「早」字写尽聚短离长之叹——怕而竟至，越怕越早，矛盾之中见出命运的无奈，七字直戳人心，不假雕饰而情自深挚，正是元曲以口语直抒胸臆的本色。

The first line of the couplet builds the parting scene in cool imagery: 'cold rain' the weather's chill, 'blue lamp' the faint light, 'the study' the place where parting happens — not the long pavilion on the ancient road, but the chamber where they have lived day by day, adding the ache of the everyday broken. Cold rain with blue lamp, the tone cold and solitary, closing in from the openness of 'autumn on the Qiantang, night on the Wu Hills,' the camera swinging from river and water to the lamp in the study, the figure growing clear. 'I dread the parting — and already the parting is here' is the song's turning point, singled out by Zhou Deqing as a brilliant phrase: the word 'dread' writes all the heart's refusal to part; the word 'soon' writes the lament of short togetherness and long farewell — dreaded, yet it has come, the more dreaded the sooner; within the contradiction lies fate's helplessness, seven characters striking the heart, uncarved, deep feeling self-evident — the native manner of Yuan qu speaking the breast outright.

今宵醉也，明朝去也，宁奈些些

Tonight drunk, tomorrow gone, endure a little (self-consolation).

今宵姑且痛饮一醉，明朝终将动身远去，且把这一腔离愁暂且忍耐些许吧。

Drunk tonight; gone tomorrow — bear it a little, just a little.

末三句是全曲的情感转折，由极写悲愁忽转旷达自解。「今宵醉也」以醉遣愁，是传统文人消解离恨的方式，李白「将进酒」式的放达在此化为元曲口语的轻快；「明朝去也」点明离别在即，不可回避；「宁奈些些」更是纯正的元人口语，意为姑且忍耐些许，以轻巧的语气把满纸的愁恨轻轻放下。三个短句以「也」「也」「些些」收尾，语气如与人语，随和放达，与「愁随潮去，恨与山叠」的凝重形成强烈对照，一悲一旷、一紧一松，正是元曲「作诗头、作曲尾」章法的妙处。这种先深于情、后善于自解的姿态，恰是元代文人面对聚散无常时既深情又达观的真实写照，余韵悠长，耐人寻味。

The closing three lines are the song's emotional turn, from extreme grief suddenly to detached self-consolation. 'Drunk tonight' sends grief off in wine, the literati's old way of dissolving parting, the abandon of Li Bai's 'Bring on the Wine' turned into the bright vernacular of Yuan song; 'gone tomorrow' fixes the parting at hand, inescapable; 'bear it a little, just a little' is pure Yuan colloquialism — to endure but a moment, setting down the whole page of grief with a light touch. Three short lines closing in 'tonight,' 'tomorrow,' 'a little,' the tone like speech to a friend, easy and detached, set sharply against the weight of 'grief goes with the tide, resentment piles with the hills' — grief against ease, tight against loose, the wit of Yuan qu's 'verse for the head, song for the tail.' This posture — deep in feeling first, then skilled in consolation — is the true portrait of the Yuan scholar facing life's uncertain gatherings and partings, long in aftertone, worth the savor.

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Word focus

叠 pile up (hatred like mountain peaks) 「恨与山叠」之「叠」字，是化抽象为具象的关键一字。恨本无形，诗人以吴山峰峦之重叠状之，「叠」字一出，别恨便有了体积与重量——它不是一线之愁，而是层层累积、愈积愈厚、不可排解的心理重负。与上句「愁随潮去」的「去」字相对：潮水奔涌而去，愁思却去而复来；山峰岿然不动而层层相叠，别恨则凝滞堆积、无法消解。一「去」一「叠」，一动一静，愁之流动与恨之沉积形成互补，把离愁别恨的两种形态都写足了。「叠」字还暗含时间的意味：山非一日而成，恨亦非一刻而积，日复一日的思念叠成此恨，正见其深。此字炼得凝重厚实，与「潮」「山」等宏大意象相称，是元曲炼字的佳例。

谢 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「芙蓉谢」之「谢」字，写荷花凋谢，是时序迫促的物候标志，也是全曲由外景转入内心情绪的转折点。「谢」字比「落」「凋」更见情味：花之谢不仅是自然现象，更暗含欢聚已逝、好景不再的怅惘，与《楚辞》香草零落以伤迟暮的传统一脉相承，李白「芙蓉老秋霜」即其先声。与上句「寒雁来」对举，一来一谢，秋意尽出：雁自北来而花自谢去，一增一减，季节的推移与人事的代谢交织在一起，离别的怅惘便不待言说而自现。此字在句尾仄声押韵，声情短促，读来如一声叹息，与全曲低回的情感基调相合，可谓以一字写尽秋之萧瑟、情之无奈。

些些 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「宁奈些些」之「些些」，是纯正的元人口语，意为些许、一点点，是元曲以白话入曲的标志性字眼。此处「宁奈些些」即姑且忍耐些许，以轻巧叠字写沉重的离愁，语气随和放达，仿佛把满纸的愁恨轻轻放下——愈是说得轻巧，愈见其中无可奈何的况味，这种以轻写重的手法正是元曲的本色。叠字「些些」音调轻俏，读来如与人语，与「今宵醉也」「明朝去也」的「也」字呼应，三个短句一气而下，把悲愁收束为一声旷达的叹息。与晏几道词中「些些」之用相近，而更见口语化；此曲以此二字收尾，全曲由凝重转轻快、由悲切转旷达，余韵袅袅，正是「宁奈些些」四字之功。

早 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「怕离别又早离别」之「早」字，与「怕」字对举，是全曲务头所在，一字而见心理的千回百转。一个「怕」字写尽不忍分离之心，一个「早」字写尽聚短离长之叹——离别不仅难免，而且来得太快、太早，「又早」两字把越怕越早的矛盾写得入木三分：人越是珍惜相聚的时光，越觉得离别来得猝然；越是怕，命运越是要早早地拆散。此字不用典、不雕琢，纯以口语出之，而力量千钧，周德清《中原音韵》特标「怕离别又早离别」为务头俊语，正是激赏这种以寻常字眼写出深刻心理的本领。与杜牧「多情却似总无情」的含蓄相比，此曲的直白更见元曲特色：不遮不掩，一「早」字直戳人心。