All poems

宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

蝶恋花·密州上元

Die Lian Hua: The Lantern Festival at Mizhou

苏轼

Su Shi

元宵Lantern Festival 感慨Reflection / Sigh

灯火钱塘三五夜，明月如霜，照见人如画。
帐底吹笙香吐麝，更无一点尘随马。
寂寞山城人老也！
击鼓吹箫，却入农桑社。
火冷灯稀霜露下，昏昏雪意云垂野。

Hangzhou lanterns on the fifteenth night of the first month:
The moon is bright as frost,
And shows the people like a painting.
Under the tent the flute plays and the incense breathes musk,
And not a grain of dust follows the horses.
The mountain city is lonely - and a man is old there!
Drums and flutes are struck,
And yet the village shrine of farm and silk receives them.
The lamps are cold, the lights are thin, frost and dew descend;
Dimly, the promise of snow, the cloud hanging low over the fields.

Listen

Meaning

Su Shi moved from the wealthy lantern crowds of Hangzhou to the small mountain town of Mizhou, and this ci sets the two festivals side by side. The first stanza describes Hangzhou: lanterns, a moon bright as frost, people who look like a painting, and music under the tents. The second gives Mizhou: a lonely mountain city where an old man now lives, and where the drums and flutes are played, oddly, before the village shrine of farm and silk instead of before lanterns. The last two lines describe the cold, the thin lights and the low clouds that promise snow. The poem is a comparison of two lives, and the comparison is not stated - it is simply set down.

灯火钱塘三五夜，明月如霜，照见人如画。帐底吹笙香吐麝，更无一点尘随马。寂寞山城人老也！击鼓吹箫，却入农桑社。火冷灯稀霜露下，昏昏雪意云垂野。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The lanterns of Hangzhou on the fifteenth night were famous; at Mizhou the festival is different, and the poet sets the two beside each other.

[Structure] The poem has two halves that are almost parallel in length and neither of which mentions the other. The first half is Hangzhou, bright and festive; the second half is Mizhou, cold and plain; and no word of comparison passes between them. The effect is accumulated rather than argued.

[Imagery] On the Hangzhou side: lanterns, a moon like frost, people like a painting, flutes under a tent, musk smoke, no dust on the horses. On the Mizhou side: a lonely mountain city, an old man, drums and flutes entering a village shrine, cold lamps, thin light, frost and dew, the promise of snow, low clouds over the fields. The first set is bright, costly and human; the second is dim, cold and rural.

[Feeling] The poem does not complain. Its weight comes from the word old - the only emotional word in the whole piece - and from the odd, almost sad fact that the drums of a lantern festival are played before a shrine to farming and silkworms instead of before lights.

【白话串讲】苏轼写《蝶恋花·密州上元》：“灯火钱塘三五夜，明月如霜，照见人如画”——“寂寞山城人老也！击鼓吹箫，却入农桑社”——“火冷灯稀霜露下，昏昏雪意云垂野”——他写密州上元与杭州的对比。【意象与手法】此词写怀旧，以感慨写怀旧，是苏轼的名篇。上阕写钱塘：「灯火钱塘三五夜，明月如霜，照见人如画。帐底吹笙香吐麝，更无一点尘随马」写灯火钱塘三五夜、明月如霜、照见人如画——写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜；下阕写密州：「寂寞山城人老也！击鼓吹箫，却入农桑社。火冷灯稀霜露下，昏昏雪意云垂野」写寂寞山城人老也、击鼓吹箫、却入农桑社——写尽寂寞山城的农桑社。全词以感慨写怀旧，写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜与寂寞山城的农桑社，是苏轼的代表作。【情感与主旨】此词写怀旧，以感慨写怀旧，是苏轼的名篇。此词为苏轼知密州（今山东诸城）时作，写其忆杭州上元而伤密州寂寥。苏轼自杭州调任密州，此词写其忆昔伤今。此词写灯火钱塘三五夜，明月如霜，照见人如画；帐底吹笙香吐麝，更无一点尘随马；寂寞山城人老也！击鼓吹箫，却入农桑社；火冷灯稀霜露下，昏昏雪意云垂野。此词写钱塘：灯火钱塘三五夜，明月如霜，照见人如画——写灯火钱塘三五夜、明月如霜、照见人如画，写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜；帐底吹笙香吐麝，更无一点尘随马——写帐底吹笙香吐麝、更无一点尘随马，写尽更无一点尘的随马；寂寞山城人老也！击鼓吹箫，却入农桑社——写寂寞山城人老也、击鼓吹箫、却入农桑社，写尽寂寞山城的农桑社；火冷灯稀霜露下，昏昏雪意云垂野——写火冷灯稀霜露下、昏昏雪意云垂野，写尽昏昏雪意的云垂野。全词以感慨写怀旧——那「灯火钱塘三五夜」写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜，「寂寞山城人老也」写尽寂寞山城的农桑社，写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜与寂寞山城的农桑社，是理解苏轼怀旧词的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「灯火钱塘三五夜，明月如霜，照见人如画」写灯火钱塘的三五夜；「寂寞山城人老也！击鼓吹箫，却入农桑社」写寂寞山城的农桑社；以及全词以感慨写怀旧、以今昔对比写怀旧的手法。

Background

Su Shi (1037-1101), courtesy name Zizhan, styled Dongpo Jushi, was from Meishan in Sichuan; he was one of the eight great prose masters of the Tang and Song and the leader of the bold-heroic ci. He had been prefect of Hangzhou for three years when in 1074 he was transferred to be prefect of Mizhou, a small and poor walled town in what is today Zhucheng, Shandong. Coming down from the wealth and gaiety of the Hangzhou lanterns to a mountain town in winter, with his own age pressing, he wrote this ci. The word nong sang she for the village shrine of farm and silk was the Spring Altar, where the villagers offered sacrifice to the gods of soil and silkworms, looking much like a lantern festival in its noise.

此词写怀旧，以感慨写怀旧，是苏轼的名篇。苏轼（1037—1101），字子瞻，号东坡居士，眉州眉山（今四川眉山）人，北宋文学家、书画家，与父苏洵、弟苏辙并称「三苏」，与黄庭坚并称「苏黄」，是豪放派词人的代表。此词为苏轼知密州（今山东诸城）时作，写其忆杭州上元而伤密州寂寥。苏轼自杭州调任密州，此词写其忆昔伤今。此词写灯火钱塘三五夜，明月如霜，照见人如画；帐底吹笙香吐麝，更无一点尘随马；寂寞山城人老也！击鼓吹箫，却入农桑社；火冷灯稀霜露下，昏昏雪意云垂野。此词写钱塘：「灯火钱塘三五夜，明月如霜，照见人如画」写灯火钱塘三五夜、明月如霜、照见人如画——写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜（灯火钱塘三五夜，明月如霜，照见人如画）；「帐底吹笙香吐麝，更无一点尘随马」写帐底吹笙香吐麝、更无一点尘随马——写尽更无一点尘的随马（帐底吹笙香吐麝，更无一点尘随马）；「寂寞山城人老也！击鼓吹箫，却入农桑社」写寂寞山城人老也、击鼓吹箫、却入农桑社——写尽寂寞山城的农桑社（寂寞山城人老也！击鼓吹箫，却入农桑社）；「火冷灯稀霜露下，昏昏雪意云垂野」写火冷灯稀霜露下、昏昏雪意云垂野——写尽昏昏雪意的云垂野（火冷灯稀霜露下，昏昏雪意云垂野）。全词以感慨写怀旧，写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜与寂寞山城的农桑社，是理解苏轼怀旧词的重要篇章。

Art

The poem works by four devices. First, enumeration for the first stanza: lanterns, moon, people, flute, incense, horses are set down one after another without comment, and the accumulation is what makes the prosperity felt. Second, plain description for the same stanza: bright as frost and like a painting are comparisons, but not ones anyone would notice at a festival. Third, contrast without a word of contrast for the second stanza: the two halves are never compared, and the reader does it. Fourth, landscape for the close: cold lamps, thin frost, a cloud promising snow over the fields carry the whole mood of the place without a single word of feeling. The centre of the poem is one exclamation, the mountain city is lonely - and a man is old there, and its strangeness is the strangeness of the line that follows, where festival drums enter a village shrine.

此词的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以铺陈写钱塘。「灯火钱塘三五夜」以铺陈写钱塘——那「明月如霜，照见人如画」写尽明月如霜的人如画，以铺陈写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜。其二，以白描写笙香。「帐底吹笙香吐麝」以白描写笙香——那「更无一点尘随马」写尽更无一点尘的随马，以白描写尽更无一点尘的随马。其三，以今昔对比写密州。「寂寞山城人老也」以今昔对比写密州——那「却入农桑社」写尽却入农桑社的击鼓吹箫，以今昔对比写尽寂寞山城的农桑社。其四，以写景写寂寥。「火冷灯稀霜露下」以写景写寂寥——那「昏昏雪意云垂野」写尽昏昏雪意的云垂野，以写景写尽昏昏雪意的云垂野。此外，此词上阕写灯火钱塘的三五夜，下阕写寂寞山城的农桑社，由昔及今，正是怀旧词「以昔衬今」的写法。四重手法，使此词以感慨写怀旧，写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜与寂寞山城的农桑社，是苏轼的代表作。

Allusions

The lanterns of Hangzhou's fifteenth night carry the whole tradition of the lantern festival, the night on which the dynasty's capital was at its brightest. The moon bright as frost follows the old line about a moon white as frost that runs through the Song yuefu, and people who look like a painting repeats the older figure of the city painted on silk. The Spring Altar of farm and silk is the village shrine where the husbandmen sacrificed in spring, and Lu You would later write of the gongs and drums of the coming Spring Altar with the same mixture of amusement and recognition. The frost and dew and the cloud that promises snow answer the old seasonal opening that begins with white dew and turned to frost, and the low cloud over the fields is the conventional omen of snow to come.

此词的用语深植于怀旧与感慨传统。「钱塘」令人想到「钱塘」写钱塘的意象——杭州钱塘，也令人想到「钱塘江」的意象；「三五夜」令人想到「三五夜」写正月十五的意象——也令人想到「三五之夜」的意象；「明月如霜」令人想到「明月如霜」写月光的意象——也令人想到「月如霜」的意象；「吹笙」令人想到「吹笙」写吹笙的意象——也令人想到「王子晋吹笙」的意象；「吐麝」令人想到「吐麝」写香的意象——也令人想到「麝香」的意象；「山城」令人想到「山城」写山城的意象——也令人想到「山城过雨百花尽」的意象；「农桑社」令人想到「农桑社」写春社的意象——也令人想到「箫鼓追随春社近」（陆游）的意象；「霜露」令人想到「霜露」写霜露的意象——也令人想到「蒹葭苍苍，白露为霜」的意象；「雪意」令人想到「雪意」写雪意的意象——也令人想到「雪意正浓」的意象。全词化用钱塘、三五夜、明月如霜、吹笙、吐麝、山城、农桑社、霜露、雪意的意象典故，以感慨写怀旧，正是苏轼「旷达」而善白描、承怀旧传统写感慨之本领。

Commentary

This ci is esteemed as one of Su Shi's best poems of reflection and the best of the Song on the lantern festival at Mizhou. Qing judges called it clear and bold and unrestrained; modern readers quote the line about the lonely mountain city and the old man as the poem's centre. Its laboured comparison of two towns has often been noticed, and it is usually defended on the grounds that the poem's subject is not the contrast but the feeling of being old in a place that has no festival. Its companion in the same tune is Su Shi's Die Lian Hua on spring scenery of a few years earlier, which is all charm and no comparison; the pair shows how far the same form could travel in Su Shi's hands.

此词历来被推为苏轼怀旧词的名篇，也是宋词写密州上元的代表。历代论者对此词评价极高：清人评此词「以感慨写怀旧，清雄旷达」；近人更指出「寂寞山城人老也！击鼓吹箫，却入农桑社」写寂寞山城的农桑社，是此词的名句。在诗歌史上，此词的特殊价值在于：它以小令写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜与寂寞山城的农桑社——那灯火，那钱塘，那三五夜，那明月，那如霜，那照见人，那如画，那帐底，那吹笙，那香吐麝，那更无一点尘，那随马，那寂寞，那山城，那人老也，那击鼓，那吹箫，那却入，那农桑社，那火冷，那灯稀，那霜露下，那昏昏，那雪意，那云垂野，都写尽了苏轼笔下的蝶恋花密州上元；那「寂寞山城人老也」更以今昔对比写尽寂寞山城的农桑社。此词与苏轼《蝶恋花·春景》「花褪残红青杏小」同为怀旧名篇，一写「多情却被无情恼」的蝶恋花春景，一写「寂寞山城人老也」的蝶恋花密州上元；一写春景，一写上元。两词对读，可见苏轼蝶恋花的两种境界。对于今日读者，此词是理解苏轼怀旧词的窗口，也是宋词写密州上元的经典——那寂寞山城的农桑社，穿越千年，仍在诉说着灯火钱塘的三五夜。

Prosody

Form Ci, to the tune Die Lian Hua词·蝶恋花

Rhyme The first stanza rhymes on night, painting, horse (deflected tones); the second on old, shrine, field.蝶恋花，上阕押「夜」「画」「马」，下阕押「也」「社」「野」（仄韵马韵），仄韵到底

Tone pattern The Die Lian Hua is a short melody on the deflected tone with one rhyme to the end in each stanza; the cadence is sharp and clean, which suits the poem's clear voice.此词为蝶恋花小令，押仄声韵，仄韵到底，音节清峭，正合感慨的清峭。

Reading note This is the Die Lian Hua in two stanzas: the first - Hangzhou lanterns on the fifteenth night of the first month, the moon bright as frost, and shows the people like a painting; under the tent the flute plays and the incense breathes musk, and not a grain of dust follows the horses - and the second - the mountain city is lonely and a man is old there; drums and flutes are struck, and yet the village shrine of farm and silk receives them; the lamps are cold, the lights are thin, frost and dew descend, dimly, the promise of snow, the cloud hanging low over the fields. It is on the deflected tone, one rhyme in each stanza, and the sharp clean rhythm suits the poem's clear voice. In this short tune the first half sets the bright festival of Hangzhou and the second half the cold festival of Mizhou, and the whole comparison is carried by one exclamation about a man being old. In reading aloud, let the first stanza run quickly, slow at the line about the old man, and close the poem on the cloud. Su Shi's small melodies are famous for their clarity, and this is the model of his poems of reflection.此词为蝶恋花小令，上下两阕——上阕「灯火钱塘三五夜，明月如霜，照见人如画。帐底吹笙香吐麝，更无一点尘随马」，下阕「寂寞山城人老也！击鼓吹箫，却入农桑社。火冷灯稀霜露下，昏昏雪意云垂野」，押仄韵（夜、画、马、也、社、野），仄韵到底，音节清峭。全词以感慨写怀旧：上阕写灯火钱塘的三五夜（灯火钱塘三五夜、更无一点尘随马），下阕写寂寞山城的农桑社（寂寞山城人老也、昏昏雪意云垂野）。小令短章，前写钱塘，后写密州，以「寂寞山城人老也」写尽寂寞山城的农桑社，正见苏轼「旷达」的本色。诵读此词，宜以清峭的语调读「灯火钱塘三五夜」的钱塘，以感慨的语调读「寂寞山城人老也」的密州，结句要读得清峭而有余韵，方能传达出苏轼的清雄旷达。苏轼小令以「清丽」著称，此词正是其怀旧词的典范。

Line by line

灯火钱塘三五夜，明月如霜，照见人如画

Hangzhou lanterns on the fifteenth night of the third month of spring: the moon is bright as frost, and shows the people like a painting.

灯火钱塘三五夜，明月如霜，照见人如画。

Lanterns on the Qiantang river on the fifteenth night; the bright moon like frost, lighting people as if in a painting.

此三句是全词写钱塘的核心，以灯火钱塘三五夜写三五夜，以明月如霜写如霜，以照见人如画写人如画，写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜，是千古名句。「灯火钱塘三五夜」写灯火钱塘三五夜——那「灯火钱塘」写灯火钱塘，「三五夜」写三五夜，写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜；「明月如霜」写明月如霜——那「明月」写明月，「如霜」写如霜，写尽明月的如霜；「照见人如画」写照见人如画——那「照见人」写照见人，「如画」写如画，写尽照见人的如画。这句的深意在于：它以「灯火钱塘三五夜」的三五夜、「明月如霜」的如霜与「照见人如画」的人如画，写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜——灯火钱塘三五夜，那「灯火钱塘三五夜」写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜——灯火钱塘三五夜，正是钱塘灯火的写照，那「三五夜」写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜；明月如霜，那「明月如霜」写尽明月的如霜——明月如霜，正是月色如霜的写照，那「如霜」写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜；照见人如画，那「照见人如画」写尽照见人的如画——照见人如画，正是人景如画的写照，那「如画」写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜；那「灯火钱塘三五夜」写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜，那「明月如霜」写尽明月的如霜，那「照见人如画」写尽照见人的如画，一写三五夜，一写如霜，一写如画，写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜——钱塘灯火而明月如霜，正是上元的写照；此三句以三五夜、如霜、如画写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜，也为下文的吹笙作铺垫，也让此三句成为全词写钱塘的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「灯火辉煌的钱塘元宵夜，明月像霜一样，照见人像画一样」，则失其清丽；唯以「灯火钱塘三五夜」写三五夜、「明月如霜」写如霜、「照见人如画」写人如画，写尽灯火钱塘的三五夜，也让此三句成为全词写钱塘的核心。

The poem remembers the Qiantang Lantern Festival. Lanterns on the Qiantang river on the fifteenth night—the first moon of the new year, when the city is lit—then the moon itself, like frost, lighting the people below as though in a painting. The three images (lanterns, frosty moon, painted crowds) make a jewel-box city. Su Shi writes from Mizhou, comparing the splendor he remembers with the barren festival he now attends. To have described the lanterns would be a travel note; the frosty moon on painted people is the remembered splendor.

寂寞山城人老也！击鼓吹箫，却入农桑社

The mountain city is lonely, and a man is old there! Drums and flutes are struck, and yet the village shrine of farm and silk receives them.

寂寞山城人老也！击鼓吹箫，却入农桑社。

A lonely mountain town, and the people have grown old! Drums are beaten, pipes are played, then we turn to the village harvest altar.

此三句是全词写密州的核心，以寂寞山城人老也写人老也，以击鼓吹箫写吹箫，以却入农桑社写农桑社，写尽寂寞山城的农桑社，是千古名句。「寂寞山城人老也」写寂寞山城人老也——那「寂寞山城」写寂寞山城，「人老也」写人老也，写尽寂寞山城的人老也；「击鼓吹箫」写击鼓吹箫——那「击鼓」写击鼓，「吹箫」写吹箫，写尽击鼓的吹箫；「却入农桑社」写却入农桑社——那「却入」写却入，「农桑社」写农桑社，写尽却入的农桑社。这句的深意在于：它以「寂寞山城人老也」的人老也、「击鼓吹箫」的吹箫与「却入农桑社」的农桑社，写尽寂寞山城的农桑社——寂寞山城人老也，那「寂寞山城人老也」写尽寂寞山城的人老也——寂寞山城人老也，正是山城人老的写照，那「人老也」写尽寂寞山城的农桑社；击鼓吹箫，那「击鼓吹箫」写尽击鼓的吹箫——击鼓吹箫，正是鼓乐喧天的写照，那「吹箫」写尽寂寞山城的农桑社；却入农桑社，那「却入农桑社」写尽却入的农桑社——却入农桑社，正是入社祭神的写照，那「农桑社」写尽寂寞山城的农桑社；那「寂寞山城人老也」写尽寂寞山城的人老也，那「击鼓吹箫」写尽击鼓的吹箫，那「却入农桑社」写尽却入的农桑社，一写人老也，一写吹箫，一写农桑社，写尽寂寞山城的农桑社——山城人老而鼓乐入社，正是密州的写照；此三句以人老也、吹箫、农桑社写尽寂寞山城的农桑社，也为下文的火冷作铺垫，也让此三句成为全词写密州的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「寂寞的山城人已老了啊！击鼓吹箫，却进入了农桑社」，则失其感慨；唯以「寂寞山城人老也」写人老也、「击鼓吹箫」写吹箫、「却入农桑社」写农桑社，写尽寂寞山城的农桑社，也让此三句成为全词写密州的核心。

The contrast breaks. A lonely mountain town, and the people have grown old—the exclamation is the whole poem's ache: Mizhou is nothing like Hangzhou, and Su Shi himself is no longer the young man who saw those lanterns. Yet drums are beaten and pipes are played, and the crowd turns to the village altar for the harvest god—the festival is the farmers' communal rite, rustic rather than gay. The lonely town against the remembered painted city is the exile's elegy. To have said the mountain town was quiet and provincial would be a description; the aged mountain town and the farmers' drum-and-pipe altar are the contrast.

Study

Word focus

画 Painting, picture. In shows the people like a painting the word turns real people into a finished picture, and that turning is what the rest of the poem uses: everything here is beautiful, and the speaker cannot step into the picture. 「照见人如画」之「画」字是写钱塘关键词，一个「画」字写尽照见人的如画。画者，图画、如画也。苏轼以「照见人如画」写钱塘，这个「画」字至少有双重意味：其一，写人之如画——那「照见人如画」写照见人如画，那「画」字写尽照见人的如画——如画，正是人景如画的写照，那「画」字写尽照见人的如画；其二，写景之美——那「画」字更是写美——画，正见繁华如画的美景，那「画」字写尽苏轼的怀旧。以「画」字写钱塘，正是苏轼写怀旧的枢纽——若换作「仙」「玉」等字，则或失其与「照见人」「如画」的配合，或失其写画的意味；唯「画」字，以照见人如画写尽人景之如画与上元之繁华，与「灯火钱塘三五夜」的三五夜相合，写尽照见人的如画，也让「照见人如画」成为全词写钱塘的名句。

老 Old, aged. In a man is old there the single word carries both the ordinary sense of growing old and the sense of being finished; it is the only emotional word in the poem, and every image that follows is cold weather working on it. 「寂寞山城人老也」之「老」字是写密州关键词，一个「老」字写尽寂寞山城的人老也。老者，年老、老去也。苏轼以「寂寞山城人老也」写密州，这个「老」字至少有双重意味：其一，写人之老——那「寂寞山城人老也」写寂寞山城人老也，那「老」字写尽寂寞山城的人老也——人老也，正是人已老去的写照，那「老」字写尽寂寞山城的人老也；其二，写心之寂——那「老」字更是写寂——老，正见人老心寂的感慨，那「老」字写尽苏轼的感慨。以「老」字写密州，正是苏轼写怀旧的枢纽——若换作「衰」「倦」等字，则或失其与「寂寞山城」「人老也」的配合，或失其写老的意味；唯「老」字，以寂寞山城人老也写尽山城之寂寞与人老之感慨，与「却入农桑社」的农桑社相合，写尽寂寞山城的人老也，也让「寂寞山城人老也」成为全词写密州的名句。