All poems

宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

蝶恋花·桐叶晨飘蛩夜语

Butterflies Love Flowers: Paulownia Leaves Drift at Dawn, Crickets Chirp at Night

陆游

Lu You

报国patriotic devotion 感慨lament and frustration

桐叶晨飘蛩夜语，旅思秋光，黯黯长安路。
忽记横戈盘马处，散关清渭应如故。
江海轻舟今已具。
一卷兵书，叹息无人付。
早信此生终不遇，当年悔草《长杨赋》。

Paulownia leaves drift at dawn; crickets chirp through the night.
A traveler's thoughts in autumn light—the road to Chang'an lies dim and dark.
Suddenly I recall the place where I held my spear crosswise and wheeled my horse: the Powder Pass, the clear Wei River—surely still as of old.
A light boat for the rivers and lakes is ready now.
One scroll on the art of war—I sigh that there is no one to entrust it to.
Had I known early that this life would never meet its moment, I would regret the years spent dashing off the 'Rhapsody of the Tall Poplars.'

Listen

Meaning

Written after Lu You left the southern front at Nanzheng, this ci follows a traveler's autumn thoughts down the darkening road to Chang'an. Remembering the Powder Pass and the clear Wei River where he once fought, he laments that his book of strategy has no one to entrust it to, and bitterly wishes he had never wasted his gifts on literary composition instead of real service to the state.

桐叶晨飘蛩夜语，旅思秋光，黯黯长安路。忽记横戈盘马处，散关清渭应如故。江海轻舟今已具。一卷兵书，叹息无人付。早信此生终不遇，当年悔草《长杨赋》。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Paulownia leaves fall at dawn and crickets sing at night; autumn deepens the traveler's gloom on the road to the capital. A sudden memory flashes back to the frontier—where he once wielded spear and horse at Powder Pass by the clear Wei. Now a light boat lies ready for retirement, and his single scroll of military science finds no heir; he wishes he had never written rhapsodies for the court. [Structure] The upper stanza moves from scene to memory; the lower turns from withdrawal to bitter self-reckoning, ending on a stinging allusion. [Imagery] Drifting leaves and cricket cries make autumn audible and visible, while 'dim, dim the road to Chang'an' fuses weather and despair. The remembered 'spear held crosswise' against the present 'light boat' sets martial hope beside quietist retreat. The final couplet inverts the traditional glory of literary service: the 'Rhapsody of the Tall Poplars,' emblem of courtly success, becomes an object of regret. In a few lines the ci compresses a lifetime of frustrated patriotism into scene, memory, and lament.

【白话串讲】陆游写《蝶恋花·桐叶晨飘蛩夜语》：“桐叶晨飘蛩夜语，旅思秋光，黯黯长安路”——“忽记横戈盘马处，散关清渭应如故”——“江海轻舟今已具”——“一卷兵书，叹息无人付”——“早信此生终不遇，当年悔草《长杨赋》”——他叹报国无门。【意象与手法】此词写报国，以感慨写报国，是陆游的名篇。上阕写秋思：「桐叶晨飘蛩夜语，旅思秋光，黯黯长安路。忽记横戈盘马处，散关清渭应如故」写桐叶晨飘蛩夜语、旅思秋光、黯黯长安路——写尽旅思秋光的长安路；下阕写报国：「江海轻舟今已具。一卷兵书，叹息无人付。早信此生终不遇，当年悔草《长杨赋》」写江海轻舟今已具、一卷兵书、叹息无人付——写尽叹息无人付的兵书。全词以感慨写报国，写尽旅思秋光的长安路与叹息无人付的兵书，是陆游的代表作。【情感与主旨】此词写报国，以感慨写报国，是陆游的名篇。此词为陆游写其离南郑、赴成都时作，写其秋日旅思与报国无门之慨。陆游自南郑东归，此词写其忆散关而叹报国。此词写桐叶晨飘蛩夜语，旅思秋光，黯黯长安路；忽记横戈盘马处，散关清渭应如故；江海轻舟今已具；一卷兵书，叹息无人付；早信此生终不遇，当年悔草《长杨赋》。此词写秋思：桐叶晨飘蛩夜语，旅思秋光，黯黯长安路——写桐叶晨飘蛩夜语、旅思秋光、黯黯长安路，写尽旅思秋光的长安路；忽记横戈盘马处，散关清渭应如故——写忽记横戈盘马处、散关清渭应如故，写尽散关清渭的应如故；江海轻舟今已具——写江海轻舟今已具，写尽江海轻舟的今已具；一卷兵书，叹息无人付——写一卷兵书、叹息无人付，写尽叹息无人付的兵书；早信此生终不遇，当年悔草《长杨赋》——写早信此生终不遇、当年悔草长杨赋，写尽当年悔草的长杨赋。全词以感慨写报国——那「旅思秋光，黯黯长安路」写尽旅思秋光的长安路，「叹息无人付」写尽叹息无人付的兵书，写尽旅思秋光的长安路与叹息无人付的兵书，是理解陆游报国词的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「桐叶晨飘蛩夜语，旅思秋光，黯黯长安路」写旅思秋光的长安路；「一卷兵书，叹息无人付」写叹息无人付的兵书；以及全词以感慨写报国、以用典写报国的手法。

Background

Lu You (1125–1210), courtesy name Wuguan and sobriquet Fangweng, was a native of Shanyin in Yuezhou (modern Shaoxing, Zhejiang). One of the greatest patriotic poets of the Southern Song, he is ranked with You Mao, Yang Wanli and Fan Chengda as one of the 'Four Great Poets of the Restoration.' In 1172 he served on the Nanzheng front under Wang Yan, the happiest and most hopeful period of his life, before being transferred to Chengdu. This ci was written on that eastward journey: autumn scenery on the road recalls the lost front at Powder Pass (Sanguan) and turns hope into lament. His military strategies, like his career, found no one to carry them forward.

此词写报国，以感慨写报国，是陆游的名篇。陆游（1125—1210），字务观，号放翁，越州山阴（今浙江绍兴）人，南宋爱国诗人，与尤袤、杨万里、范成大并称「中兴四大诗人」。此词为陆游写其离南郑、赴成都时作，写其秋日旅思与报国无门之慨。陆游自南郑东归，此词写其忆散关而叹报国。此词写桐叶晨飘蛩夜语，旅思秋光，黯黯长安路；忽记横戈盘马处，散关清渭应如故；江海轻舟今已具；一卷兵书，叹息无人付；早信此生终不遇，当年悔草《长杨赋》。此词写秋思：「桐叶晨飘蛩夜语，旅思秋光，黯黯长安路」写桐叶晨飘蛩夜语、旅思秋光、黯黯长安路——写尽旅思秋光的长安路（桐叶晨飘蛩夜语，旅思秋光，黯黯长安路）；「忽记横戈盘马处，散关清渭应如故」写忽记横戈盘马处、散关清渭应如故——写尽散关清渭的应如故（忽记横戈盘马处，散关清渭应如故）；「江海轻舟今已具」写江海轻舟今已具——写尽江海轻舟的今已具（江海轻舟今已具）；「一卷兵书，叹息无人付」写一卷兵书、叹息无人付——写尽叹息无人付的兵书（一卷兵书，叹息无人付）；「早信此生终不遇，当年悔草《长杨赋》」写早信此生终不遇、当年悔草长杨赋——写尽当年悔草的长杨赋（早信此生终不遇，当年悔草《长杨赋》）。全词以感慨写报国，写尽旅思秋光的长安路与叹息无人付的兵书，是理解陆游报国词的重要篇章。

Art

The ci works through four devices. First, scene evokes feeling: dawn-drifting paulownia leaves and night-calling crickets open the traveler's autumn sorrow without a single abstract word. Second, memory serves patriotism: 'suddenly I recall the place of spear and wheeling horse' breaks the present with the vivid past, and 'surely still as of old' attaches hope to unchanged rivers and passes. Third, plain statement carries pathos: 'a scroll of military science—no one to give it to' states the poet's deepest frustration in the barest terms, and the restraint intensifies the sigh. Fourth, allusion expresses regret: Yang Xiong's 'Rhapsody of the Tall Poplars,' the classic emblem of winning favor through literary polish, is converted into an emblem of wasted years. The contrast of 'light boat' (retreat) with 'spear and horse' (frontier service), and of past glory with present uselessness, gives this short song its dense, somber power.

此词的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以写景写秋思。「桐叶晨飘蛩夜语」以写景写秋思——那「旅思秋光，黯黯长安路」写尽旅思秋光的长安路，以写景写尽旅思秋光的长安路。其二，以回忆写报国。「忽记横戈盘马处」以回忆写报国——那「散关清渭应如故」写尽散关清渭的应如故，以回忆写尽散关清渭的应如故。其三，以直抒写叹息。「叹息无人付」以直抒写叹息——那「一卷兵书」写尽一卷的兵书，以直抒写尽叹息无人付的兵书。其四，以用典写悔恨。「当年悔草《长杨赋》」以用典写悔恨——那「早信此生终不遇」写尽此生终不遇的早信，以用典写尽当年悔草的长杨赋。此外，此词上阕写旅思秋光的长安路，下阕写叹息无人付的兵书，由景及慨，正是报国词「以秋写愁」的写法。四重手法，使此词以感慨写报国，写尽旅思秋光的长安路与叹息无人付的兵书，是陆游的代表作。又，此词以「忽记横戈盘马处」追忆南郑军中生活，以「江海轻舟今已具」对照眼前归隐之状，今昔对照、感慨深沉，正是陆词以小令写报国之情处。

Allusions

The vocabulary is saturated with tradition. Paulownia leaves falling and autumn crickets are conventional signals of decline ('one leaf falls and the world knows autumn'). The 'road to Chang'an' stands for the path of service to the court. 'Spear held crosswise and wheeling horse' evokes heroic cavalry scenes such as Cao Cao's 'composing poems with spear athwart.' Powder Pass recalls Lu You's own famous line 'iron horses in the autumn wind at Great Powder Pass.' The 'light boat' suggests the recluse's escape down rivers and lakes, as in Li Bai's 'the light boat has already passed ten thousand mountains.' The final allusion is to Yang Xiong's 'Rhapsody of the Tall Poplars' (Chang Yang fu), composed for Emperor Cheng of Han—the archetype of literary talent spent on courtly praise rather than real achievement.

此词的用语深植于报国与感慨传统。「桐叶」令人想到「桐叶」写桐叶的意象——也令人想到「一叶落知天下秋」的意象；「蛩」令人想到「蛩」写蟋蟀的意象——也令人想到「促织鸣东壁」的意象；「旅思」令人想到「旅思」写旅思的意象——也令人想到「旅思孤鸿」的意象；「秋光」令人想到「秋光」写秋光的意象——也令人想到「秋光荏苒」的意象；「长安路」令人想到「长安路」写长安的意象——也令人想到「长安古道」的意象；「横戈盘马」令人想到「横戈盘马」写横戈的意象——也令人想到「横槊赋诗」的意象；「散关」令人想到「散关」写大散关的意象——也令人想到「铁马秋风大散关」（陆游）的意象；「清渭」令人想到「清渭」写渭水的意象——也令人想到「清渭东流」的意象；「轻舟」令人想到「轻舟」写轻舟的意象——也令人想到「轻舟已过万重山」（李白）的意象；「兵书」令人想到「兵书」写兵书的意象——也令人想到「读兵书」的意象；「长杨赋」令人想到「长杨赋」写扬雄的意象——扬雄作《长杨赋》，也令人想到「长杨献赋」的意象。全词化用桐叶、蛩、旅思、秋光、长安路、横戈盘马、散关、清渭、轻舟、兵书、长杨赋的意象典故，以感慨写报国，正是陆游「沉郁」而善用典、承报国传统写感慨之本领。

Commentary

This ci has long been numbered among Lu You's finest patriotic songs and a representative Song meditation on the lost Nanzheng front. Qing critics praised its 'deep, somber and tragic' fusion of lament and loyalty, and modern readers single out 'a scroll of military science—no one to entrust it to' as its most piercing line. Its special value in the history of ci is that a small-scale lyric carries the weight of a frontier memoir: the drifting leaf, the cricket, the dim capital road, the remembered horse, the unused book. Read beside the shi poem 'Written in Indignation,' which opens 'In youth how could I know the world's hardships,' it reveals the two faces of Lu You's patriotism—one blazing with memory of war-galleys at Guazhou, one aching with a strategy no one will take. For modern readers it remains a window into the frustration of Southern Song loyalists.

此词历来被推为陆游报国词的名篇，也是宋词写忆散关的代表。历代论者对此词评价极高：清人评此词「以感慨写报国，沉郁悲壮」；近人更指出「一卷兵书，叹息无人付」写叹息无人付的兵书，是此词的名句。在诗歌史上，此词的特殊价值在于：它以小令写尽旅思秋光的长安路与叹息无人付的兵书——那桐叶，那晨飘，那蛩夜语，那旅思，那秋光，那黯黯，那长安路，那忽记，那横戈，那盘马处，那散关，那清渭，那应如故，那江海，那轻舟，那今已具，那一卷，那兵书，那叹息，那无人付，那早信，那此生终不遇，那当年，那悔草，那长杨赋，都写尽了陆游笔下的蝶恋花桐叶晨飘蛩夜语；那「当年悔草《长杨赋》」更以用典写尽当年悔草的长杨赋。此词与陆游《书愤》「早岁那知世事艰」同为报国名篇，一写「楼船夜雪瓜洲渡」的书愤，一写「叹息无人付」的蝶恋花；一写诗，一写词。两作对读，可见陆游报国之作的两面。对于今日读者，此词是理解陆游报国词的窗口，也是宋词写忆散关的经典——那叹息无人付的兵书，穿越千年，仍在诉说着旅思秋光的长安路。

Prosody

Form Ci to the tune 'Butterflies Love Flowers' (Die Lian Hua), a short lyric in two stanzas词·蝶恋花

Rhyme Oblique-tone rhymes throughout: in the upper stanza 语, 路, 故; in the lower stanza 具, 付, 赋 — all from the same oblique rhyme group, maintained to the end蝶恋花，上阕押「语」「路」「故」，下阕押「具」「付」「赋」（仄韵遇御韵），仄韵到底

Tone pattern The persistent oblique rhymes give the lines a clipped, heavy cadence—somber and tragic rather than lilting, matching the mood of frustrated loyalty此词为蝶恋花小令，押仄声韵，仄韵到底，音节悲壮，正合感慨的悲壮。

Reading note The Die Lian Hua pattern places a rhyme at every major pause, so the falling tones of yu, lu, gu, ju, fu reinforce the sighing rhythm. Read the opening scene in a low, even voice, lift slightly at 'suddenly I recall' where memory brightens the line, and let the final couplet on the Chang Yang fu allusion fall with slow, bitter weight—the lingering close is essential to Lu You's somber, tragic manner.此词为蝶恋花小令，上下两阕——上阕「桐叶晨飘蛩夜语，旅思秋光，黯黯长安路。忽记横戈盘马处，散关清渭应如故」，下阕「江海轻舟今已具。一卷兵书，叹息无人付。早信此生终不遇，当年悔草《长杨赋》」，押仄韵（语、路、故、具、付、赋），仄韵到底，音节悲壮。全词以感慨写报国：上阕写旅思秋光的长安路（桐叶晨飘蛩夜语、散关清渭应如故），下阕写叹息无人付的兵书（江海轻舟今已具、当年悔草长杨赋）。小令短章，前写秋思，后写报国，以「当年悔草《长杨赋》」写尽当年悔草的长杨赋，正见陆游「沉郁」的本色。诵读此词，宜以悲壮的语调读「旅思秋光，黯黯长安路」的长安路，以沉郁的语调读「叹息无人付」的兵书，结句要读得悲壮而有余韵，方能传达出陆游的沉郁悲壮。陆游小令以「沉郁」著称，此词正是其报国词的典范。

Line by line

桐叶晨飘蛩夜语，旅思秋光，黯黯长安路

Paulownia leaves drift at dawn, crickets chirp at night; a traveler's thoughts in autumn light—the road to Chang'an lies dim and dark.

桐叶晨飘蛩夜语，旅思秋光，黯黯长安路。

Tung leaves drift in the morning, crickets chirp at night; a traveler's longing in the autumn light, the road to Chang'an dark and dim.

此三句是全词写秋思的核心，以桐叶晨飘蛩夜语写晨飘，以旅思秋光写秋光，以黯黯长安路写长安路，写尽旅思秋光的长安路，是千古名句。「桐叶晨飘蛩夜语」写桐叶晨飘蛩夜语——那「桐叶晨飘」写桐叶晨飘，「蛩夜语」写蛩夜语，写尽桐叶晨飘的蛩夜语；「旅思秋光」写旅思秋光——那「旅思」写旅思，「秋光」写秋光，写尽旅思的秋光；「黯黯长安路」写黯黯长安路——那「黯黯」写黯黯，「长安路」写长安路，写尽黯黯的长安路。这句的深意在于：它以「桐叶晨飘蛩夜语」的晨飘、「旅思秋光」的秋光与「黯黯长安路」的长安路，写尽旅思秋光的长安路——桐叶晨飘蛩夜语，那「桐叶晨飘蛩夜语」写尽桐叶晨飘的蛩夜语——桐叶晨飘蛩夜语，正是桐叶蛩声的写照，那「晨飘」写尽旅思秋光的长安路；旅思秋光，那「旅思秋光」写尽旅思的秋光——旅思秋光，正是旅思逢秋的写照，那「秋光」写尽旅思秋光的长安路；黯黯长安路，那「黯黯长安路」写尽黯黯的长安路——黯黯长安路，正是长安路黯的写照，那「长安路」写尽旅思秋光的长安路；那「桐叶晨飘蛩夜语」写尽桐叶晨飘的蛩夜语，那「旅思秋光」写尽旅思的秋光，那「黯黯长安路」写尽黯黯的长安路，一写晨飘，一写秋光，一写长安路，写尽旅思秋光的长安路——桐叶蛩声而旅思长安，正是秋思的写照；此三句以晨飘、秋光、长安路写尽旅思秋光的长安路，也为下文的横戈作铺垫，也让此三句成为全词写秋思的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「桐叶晨飘蛩夜语，旅思逢秋光，长安路黯淡」，则失其沉郁；唯以「桐叶晨飘蛩夜语」写晨飘、「旅思秋光」写秋光、「黯黯长安路」写长安路，写尽旅思秋光的长安路，也让此三句成为全词写秋思的核心。

The ci opens with the sounds of exile. Tung leaves drift in the morning, crickets chirp at night—day and night, the autumn country has its signs; and in that autumn light, a traveler's longing, the road to Chang'an dark and dim. The morning leaf and the night insect frame the sleepless day; the road to the capital, where advancement would lie, is the dim road Lu Shi cannot travel. To have said autumn made me homesick would be a statement; the morning leaf and the night cricket are the autumn.

一卷兵书，叹息无人付

One scroll on the art of war—I sigh that there is no one to entrust it to.

一卷兵书，叹息无人付。

A single scroll of military strategy—I sigh, for there is no one to whom I can hand it on.

此二句是全词写报国的核心，以一卷兵书写兵书，以叹息无人付写无人付，写尽叹息无人付的兵书，是千古名句。「一卷兵书」写一卷兵书——那「一卷」写一卷，「兵书」写兵书，写尽一卷的兵书；「叹息无人付」写叹息无人付——那「叹息」写叹息，「无人付」写无人付，写尽叹息无人的付。这句的深意在于：它以「一卷兵书」的兵书与「叹息无人付」的无人付，写尽叹息无人付的兵书——一卷兵书，那「一卷兵书」写尽一卷的兵书——一卷兵书，正是一卷韬略的写照，那「兵书」写尽叹息无人付的兵书；叹息无人付，那「叹息无人付」写尽叹息无人的付——叹息无人付，正是无人可托的写照，那「无人付」写尽叹息无人付的兵书；那「一卷兵书」写尽一卷的兵书，那「叹息无人付」写尽叹息无人的付，一写兵书，一写无人付，写尽叹息无人付的兵书——一卷韬略而无人可托，正是报国的写照；此二句以兵书、无人付写尽叹息无人付的兵书，也为下文的悔草作铺垫，也让此二句成为全词写报国的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「一卷兵书，叹息无人可以托付」，则失其悲壮；唯以「一卷兵书」写兵书、「叹息无人付」写无人付，写尽叹息无人付的兵书，也让此二句成为全词写报国的核心。

The lament is specific. A single scroll of military strategy—he carries it, as a frontier officer's duty—and he sighs, for there is no one to whom he can hand it on. The sigh is not for his own career but for the uselessness of the art: the strategy he knows has no campaign to be used in, no leader to receive it. The scroll as an object he cannot pass on is the whole tragedy of a peacetime general. To have said I had no use for my military learning would be a complaint; the scroll with no one to receive it is the tragedy.

Study

Word focus

黯 'Àn' (dim, dark): doubled as 'àn àn,' it paints the gloomy autumn road to Chang'an, but it is also the color of the poet's heart—at once the fading autumn light on the road and the darkening of his hope of serving the state, fusing scene and feeling in a single character. 「黯黯长安路」之「黯」字是写秋思关键词，一个「黯」字写尽黯黯的长安路。黯者，黯淡、黯然也。陆游以「黯黯长安路」写秋思，这个「黯」字至少有双重意味：其一，写路之黯——那「黯黯长安路」写黯黯长安路，那「黯」字写尽黯黯的长安路——黯黯，正是道路黯淡的写照，那「黯」字写尽黯黯的长安路；其二，写心之黯——那「黯」字更是写黯——黯，正见黯然神伤的愁绪，那「黯」字写尽陆游的感慨。以「黯」字写秋思，正是陆游写报国的枢纽——若换作「暗」「昏」等字，则或失其与「黯黯长安路」「旅思秋光」的配合，或失其写黯的意味；唯「黯」字，以黯黯长安路写尽长安之黯淡与愁思之黯然，与「旅思秋光」的秋光相合，写尽黯黯的长安路，也让「黯黯长安路」成为全词写秋思的名句。

悔 'Huǐ' (regret): a word of double weight—regret at having spent years on ornamental rhapsodies like the 'Chang Yang fu' instead of real military service, and the deeper bitterness of a life that never met its moment; it is the emotional climax of the whole ci. 「当年悔草《长杨赋》」之「悔」字是写报国关键词，一个「悔」字写尽当年悔草的长杨赋。悔者，后悔、悔恨也。陆游以「当年悔草《长杨赋》」写报国，这个「悔」字至少有双重意味：其一，写草赋之悔——那「当年悔草长杨赋」写当年悔草长杨赋，那「悔」字写尽当年悔草的长杨赋——悔草，正是悔写文章的写照，那「悔」字写尽当年悔草的长杨赋；其二，写遇之憾——那「悔」字更是写憾——悔，正见不遇之憾的沉痛，那「悔」字写尽陆游的感慨。以「悔」字写报国，正是陆游写感慨的枢纽——若换作「恨」「叹」等字，则或失其与「当年悔草」「长杨赋」的配合，或失其写悔的意味；唯「悔」字，以当年悔草长杨赋写尽草赋之悔恨与不遇之沉痛，与「早信此生终不遇」的不遇相合，写尽当年悔草的长杨赋，也让「当年悔草《长杨赋》」成为全词写报国的名句。