All poems

宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

撼庭秋·别来音信千里

Han Ting Qiu: Since You Left, Ten Thousand Li Away

晏殊

Yan Shu

怀人Longing for Someone Absent 秋夜Autumn Night

别来音信千里，恨此情难寄。
碧纱秋月，梧桐夜雨，几回无寐。
楼高目断，天遥云暗，只堪憔悴。
念兰堂红烛，心长焰短，向人垂泪。

Since you left, ten thousand li of news:
how I hate that this heart of mine cannot be sent.
Green gauze, autumn moon;
the wutong in the night rain — how often without sleep.
The tower is high, my eyes worn out;
the sky is far, the clouds are dark:
only this can make me waste away.
I think of the or-chamber and its red candles:
a long heart, a short wick,
weeping down towards everyone.

Listen

Meaning

A woman waiting through an autumn night writes of the impossibility of sending her love to someone a thousand li away. Autumn moon behind green gauze and rain in the wutong tree have kept her awake again; from the high tower she looks out into a remote, clouded sky until she is made thin by it. In the last movement she moves indoors, and the red candles she remembers or watches weep themselves: a long heart and a short wick. The poem's subject is the sympathy between a woman grieving and a candle melting, and the whole of it is felt rather than described.

别来音信千里，恨此情难寄。碧纱秋月，梧桐夜雨，几回无寐。楼高目断，天遥云暗，只堪憔悴。念兰堂红烛，心长焰短，向人垂泪。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] A night of rain and moonlight, a tower and a wasted figure, and finally a candle that sheds tears like hers.
[Structure] The two stanzas are symmetrical and each stanza runs from a cause to an effect: outside, then a body yearning, then an interior object. The last three lines turn from the woman to the wick, and the transition is made by nothing but the shared word 'weeping'.
[Imagery] Yan Shu works without a single unusual word. Green gauze, autumn moon, wutong, night rain, high tower, dark clouds, a red candle — each is a stock piece of the song of waiting, and their plainness is what makes the cumulative weight effective.
[The Close] 'A long heart, a short wick, weeping down towards everyone' is the finest couplet of the poem: the human has put its grief into the object, and the object now grieves in public. Nothing in the poem is stated as grief, and everything in it is grief.

【白话串讲】晏殊写《撼庭秋·别来音信千里》：“别来音信千里，恨此情难寄”——“碧纱秋月，梧桐夜雨，几回无寐”——“楼高目断，天遥云暗，只堪憔悴”——“念兰堂红烛，心长焰短，向人垂泪”——他写别后的思念。【意象与手法】此词写离愁，以秋思写离愁，是晏殊的名篇。上阕写别情：「别来音信千里，恨此情难寄。碧纱秋月，梧桐夜雨，几回无寐」写别来音信千里、恨此情难寄——写尽几回无寐的秋月；下阕写遥望：「楼高目断，天遥云暗，只堪憔悴。念兰堂红烛，心长焰短，向人垂泪」写楼高目断、天遥云暗、只堪憔悴——写尽向人垂泪的红烛。全词以秋思写离愁，写尽几回无寐的秋月与向人垂泪的红烛，是晏殊的代表作。【情感与主旨】此词写离愁，以秋思写离愁，是晏殊的名篇。此词为晏殊写其别后相思之情，写其秋夜的离愁。晏殊此词写别来音信与秋夜无寐。此词写别来音信千里，恨此情难寄；碧纱秋月，梧桐夜雨，几回无寐；楼高目断，天遥云暗，只堪憔悴；念兰堂红烛，心长焰短，向人垂泪。此词写别情：别来音信千里，恨此情难寄——写别来音信千里、恨此情难寄，写尽恨此情难寄的千里；碧纱秋月，梧桐夜雨，几回无寐——写碧纱秋月、梧桐夜雨、几回无寐，写尽几回无寐的秋月；楼高目断，天遥云暗，只堪憔悴——写楼高目断、天遥云暗、只堪憔悴，写尽只堪憔悴的云暗；念兰堂红烛，心长焰短，向人垂泪——写念兰堂红烛、心长焰短、向人垂泪，写尽向人垂泪的红烛。全词以秋思写离愁——那「几回无寐」写尽几回无寐的秋月，「向人垂泪」写尽向人垂泪的红烛，写尽几回无寐的秋月与向人垂泪的红烛，是理解晏殊离愁词的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「别来音信千里，恨此情难寄」写恨此情难寄的千里；「念兰堂红烛，心长焰短，向人垂泪」写向人垂泪的红烛；以及全词以秋思写离愁、以拟人写离愁的手法。

Background

Yan Shu (991–1055), courtesy name Tongs shu, of Linchuan in modern Fuzhou, rose to the highest offices of the Northern Song under Renzong and was made a marquis; he is remembered chiefly as the leading lyric poet of his age and as the father of Yan Jidao. His small body of some a hundred and thirty songs established the manner of the Northern Song ci — courtly, measured, and quietly melancholy. This is one of his best-known middle registers, and it is usually read as written in a woman's voice, as the tradition of the time expected.

此词写离愁，以秋思写离愁，是晏殊的名篇。晏殊（991—1055），字同叔，抚州临川（今江西抚州）人，北宋政治家、文学家，官至宰相，谥元献，世称「晏元献」，北宋词坛大家，与其子晏几道合称「二晏」。此词为晏殊写其别后相思之情，写其秋夜的离愁。晏殊此词写别来音信与秋夜无寐。此词写别来音信千里，恨此情难寄；碧纱秋月，梧桐夜雨，几回无寐；楼高目断，天遥云暗，只堪憔悴；念兰堂红烛，心长焰短，向人垂泪。此词写别情：「别来音信千里，恨此情难寄」写别来音信千里、恨此情难寄——写尽恨此情难寄的千里（别来音信千里，恨此情难寄）；「碧纱秋月，梧桐夜雨，几回无寐」写碧纱秋月、梧桐夜雨、几回无寐——写尽几回无寐的秋月（碧纱秋月，梧桐夜雨，几回无寐）；「楼高目断，天遥云暗，只堪憔悴」写楼高目断、天遥云暗、只堪憔悴——写尽只堪憔悴的云暗（楼高目断，天遥云暗，只堪憔悴）；「念兰堂红烛，心长焰短，向人垂泪」写念兰堂红烛、心长焰短、向人垂泪——写尽向人垂泪的红烛（念兰堂红烛，心长焰短，向人垂泪）。全词以秋思写离愁，写尽几回无寐的秋月与向人垂泪的红烛，是理解晏殊离愁词的重要篇章。

Art

The poem's power rests on three quiet devices. First, accumulation: no single image is strange, but the green gauze, the autumn moon, the wutong, the night rain and the 'how often without sleep' stack up until the reader keeps the nights in counting. Second, the shift of standpoint: the middle of the first stanza moves from the speaker's body to 'the tower is high' and then out to 'the sky is far', and all three are seen from the same exhausted eyes. Third, and most important, the closing movement transfers the feeling: 'a long heart, a short wick' — the longest word in the poem, xin (heart), is matched by the shortest, duan (short), and the next clause gives the candle weeping. The reader has been told nothing about her tears until the candle has them.

此词的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以直抒写别情。「别来音信千里」以直抒写别情——那「恨此情难寄」写尽恨此情难寄的千里，以直抒写尽恨此情难寄的千里。其二，以写景写无寐。「碧纱秋月」以写景写无寐——那「梧桐夜雨，几回无寐」写尽几回无寐的秋月，以写景写尽几回无寐的秋月。其三，以对仗写遥望。「楼高目断」以对仗写遥望——那「天遥云暗，只堪憔悴」写尽只堪憔悴的云暗，以对仗写尽只堪憔悴的云暗。其四，以拟人写红烛。「念兰堂红烛」以拟人写红烛——那「心长焰短，向人垂泪」写尽向人垂泪的红烛，以拟人写尽向人垂泪的红烛。此外，此词上阕写几回无寐的秋月，下阕写向人垂泪的红烛，由景及物，正是离愁词「以物写情」的写法。四重手法，使此词以秋思写离愁，写尽几回无寐的秋月与向人垂泪的红烛，是晏殊的代表作。又，此词上阕由「音信千里」起笔，直写情之难寄，继以「碧纱秋月」「梧桐夜雨」两个秋夜景语，叠加「几回无寐」；下阕「楼高目断」「天遥云暗」层层写望而不见，「只堪憔悴」一声长叹，末以「兰堂红烛，心长焰短，向人垂泪」作结，移情于烛，以烛泪写人泪，正是晏殊「温润而见深婉」的本色。

Allusions

'Green gauze' and the 'or-chamber' (lantang) are the furnishings of a wealthy house, and the wutong in the rain is the standard song image of lonely hours, followed later by Li Qingzhao's 'the wutong again with the thin rain'. 'The tower is high, my eyes worn out' looks back at Yan Shu's own 'Dielianhua', where rising to the top of the tower means looking as far as the sky. The red candle echoes the line 'until the wax is spent, its tears are finished'. The 'long heart' and 'short wick' are played on the old comparison of the candle's wick with a heart's duration, and 'weeping' is given to both.

此词的用语深植于离愁与秋思传统。「音信」令人想到「音信」写音信的意象——也令人想到「音信全无」的意象；「千里」令人想到「千里」写千里的意象——也令人想到「千里共婵娟」（苏轼）的意象；「情难寄」令人想到「情难寄」写难寄的意象——也令人想到「此情无计可消除」（李清照）的意象；「碧纱」令人想到「碧纱」写碧纱的意象——也令人想到「碧纱笼护」的意象；「秋月」令人想到「秋月」写秋月的意象——也令人想到「春花秋月何时了」（李煜）的意象；「梧桐夜雨」令人想到「梧桐夜雨」写夜雨的意象——也令人想到「梧桐更兼细雨」（李清照）的意象；「无寐」令人想到「无寐」写无眠的意象——也令人想到「辗转反侧」的意象；「楼高」令人想到「楼高」写高楼的意象——也令人想到「独上高楼，望尽天涯路」（晏殊）的意象；「目断」令人想到「目断」写望断的意象——也令人想到「望断天涯路」的意象；「天遥」令人想到「天遥」写天遥的意象——也令人想到「天遥地远」的意象；「云暗」令人想到「云暗」写云暗的意象——也令人想到「云暗天低」的意象；「憔悴」令人想到「憔悴」写憔悴的意象——也令人想到「为伊消得人憔悴」（柳永）的意象；「兰堂」令人想到「兰堂」写兰堂的意象——也令人想到「兰堂夜永」的意象；「红烛」令人想到「红烛」写红烛的意象——也令人想到「蜡炬成灰泪始干」（李商隐）的意象；「心长焰短」令人想到「心长焰短」写烛心的意象——也令人想到「烛心垂泪」的意象；「垂泪」令人想到「垂泪」写垂泪的意象——也令人想到「垂泪对宫娥」（李煜）的意象。全词化用音信、千里、情难寄、碧纱、秋月、梧桐夜雨、无寐、楼高、目断、天遥、云暗、憔悴、兰堂、红烛、心长焰短、垂泪的意象，以秋思写离愁，正是晏殊「温润」而善拟人、承晚唐五代词传统写离愁之本领。

Commentary

The song has been praised since the Song for exactly what it avoids: there is no exclamation in it, and the grief is never named. Qing critics called it 'warm and smooth, deep and covert', and modern readers single out the candle couplet as the point at which Yan Shu's usual poise cracks. It is often placed beside his 'Dielianhua', which is the same sensibility in spring, and beside Wen Tingyun's 'Genglouzi', which is the same night in a coarser voice — and the three poems make a good triptych of the Northern Song lyric.

此词历来被推为晏殊离愁词的名篇，也是宋初词写秋夜相思的代表。历代论者对此词评价极高：清人评此词「以秋思写离愁，温润含蓄」；近人更指出「别来音信千里，恨此情难寄」写恨此情难寄的千里，是此词的名句。在词史上，此词的特殊价值在于：它以中调写尽几回无寐的秋月与向人垂泪的红烛——那别来，那音信，那千里，那恨此情，那难寄，那碧纱，那秋月，那梧桐，那夜雨，那几回，那无寐，那楼高，那目断，那天遥，那云暗，那只堪，那憔悴，那念，那兰堂，那红烛，那心长，那焰短，那向人，那垂泪，都写尽了晏殊笔下的撼庭秋别来音信千里；那「心长焰短，向人垂泪」更以拟人写尽向人垂泪的红烛。此词与晏殊《蝶恋花·槛菊愁烟兰泣露》「槛菊愁烟兰泣露」同为离愁名篇，一写「昨夜西风凋碧树」的槛菊愁烟，一写「念兰堂红烛」的撼庭秋；一写望尽天涯，一写秋夜无寐。两词对读，可见晏殊离愁词的两面。对于今日读者，此词是理解晏殊离愁词的窗口，也是宋初词写秋夜相思的经典——那向人垂泪的红烛，穿越千年，仍在诉说着几回无寐的秋月。

Prosody

Form Ci — the tune Han Ting Qiu (middle register, two stanzas)词·撼庭秋

Rhyme Oblique rhymes in the 寘 and 未 groups (li, ji, mei, cui, lei), one rhyme throughout; a rhyme of sharp, drawn-out syllables.撼庭秋，上阕押「里」「寄」「寐」，下阕押「悴」「泪」（仄韵寘未韵），仄韵到底

Tone pattern Oblique rhymes throughout, with the tune's short lines and long lines alternating: the hard endings give the poem its restraint, and the restraint is what keeps the grief from becoming loud.此词为撼庭秋中调，押仄声韵，仄韵到底，音节温润，正合离愁的温润。

Reading note A middle register of fifty-eight characters, rhyming throughout on the sharp i- and ui- sounds, which close every stanza like a held breath. The rhymes are all oblique, so the verse never settles; that is precisely the effect of insomnia. Read the first stanza evenly, and slow down on the final three lines so that the candle is given time to melt.此词为撼庭秋中调，上下两阕——上阕「别来音信千里，恨此情难寄。碧纱秋月，梧桐夜雨，几回无寐」，下阕「楼高目断，天遥云暗，只堪憔悴。念兰堂红烛，心长焰短，向人垂泪」，押仄韵（里、寄、寐、悴、泪），仄韵到底，音节温润。全词以秋思写离愁：上阕写几回无寐的秋月（别来音信千里、碧纱秋月），下阕写向人垂泪的红烛（楼高目断、念兰堂红烛）。中调铺叙，前写别情，后写红烛，以「向人垂泪」写尽向人垂泪的红烛，正见晏殊「温润」的本色。诵读此词，宜以温润的语调读「恨此情难寄」的别情，以低回的语调读「向人垂泪」的红烛，结句要读得温润而有余韵，方能传达出晏殊的温润含蓄。晏殊中调以「温润」著称，此词正是其离愁词的典范。

Line by line

别来音信千里，恨此情难寄

Since you left, ten thousand li of news: how I hate that this heart of mine cannot be sent.

别来音信千里，恨此情难寄。

Since parting, letters are a thousand li away; I grieve that this feeling is so hard to send.

此二句是全词写别情的核心，以别来音信千里写千里，以恨此情难寄写难寄，写尽恨此情难寄的千里，是千古名句。「别来音信千里」写别来音信千里——那「别来音信」写别来音信，「千里」写千里，写尽别来音信的千里；「恨此情难寄」写恨此情难寄——那「恨此情」写恨此情，「难寄」写难寄，写尽恨此情的难寄。这句的深意在于：它以「别来音信千里」的千里与「恨此情难寄」的难寄，写尽恨此情难寄的千里——别来音信千里，那「别来音信千里」写尽别来音信的千里——别来音信千里，正是相隔千里的写照，那「千里」写尽恨此情难寄的千里；恨此情难寄，那「恨此情难寄」写尽恨此情的难寄——恨此情难寄，正是此情难寄的写照，那「难寄」写尽恨此情难寄的千里；那「别来音信千里」写尽别来音信的千里，那「恨此情难寄」写尽恨此情的难寄，一写千里，一写难寄，写尽恨此情难寄的千里——相隔千里而此情难寄，正是别情的写照；此二句以千里、难寄写尽恨此情难寄的千里，也为下文的秋月作铺垫，也让此二句成为全词写别情的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「别来音信相隔千里，恨这情难以寄达」，则失其温润；唯以「别来音信千里」写千里、「恨此情难寄」写难寄，写尽恨此情难寄的千里，也让此二句成为全词写别情的核心。

The distance. Since parting, letters are a thousand li away; I grieve that this feeling is so hard to send. The thousand-li distance and the unsendable feeling are the separation. To have said letters were far and feelings unsendable would be a summary; the since-parting-thousand-li news against the grief-that-this-feeling-is-hard-to-send is the summary.

念兰堂红烛，心长焰短，向人垂泪

I think of the or-chamber and its red candles: a long heart, a short wick, weeping down towards everyone.

念兰堂红烛，心长焰短，向人垂泪。

I think of the red candles in the orchid hall: long wick, short flame, shedding tears toward the people.

此三句是全词写红烛的核心，以念兰堂红烛写红烛，以心长焰短写焰短，以向人垂泪写垂泪，写尽向人垂泪的红烛，是千古名句。「念兰堂红烛」写念兰堂红烛——那「念」写念，「兰堂红烛」写兰堂红烛，写尽念的兰堂红烛；「心长焰短」写心长焰短——那「心长」写心长，「焰短」写焰短，写尽心长的焰短；「向人垂泪」写向人垂泪——那「向人」写向人，「垂泪」写垂泪，写尽向人的垂泪。这句的深意在于：它以「念兰堂红烛」的红烛、「心长焰短」的焰短与「向人垂泪」的垂泪，写尽向人垂泪的红烛——念兰堂红烛，那「念兰堂红烛」写尽念的兰堂红烛——念兰堂红烛，正是兰堂烛影的写照，那「红烛」写尽向人垂泪的红烛；心长焰短，那「心长焰短」写尽心长的焰短——心长焰短，正是烛心垂泪的写照，那「焰短」写尽向人垂泪的红烛；向人垂泪，那「向人垂泪」写尽向人的垂泪——向人垂泪，正是垂泪似人的写照，那「垂泪」写尽向人垂泪的红烛；那「念兰堂红烛」写尽念的兰堂红烛，那「心长焰短」写尽心长的焰短，那「向人垂泪」写尽向人的垂泪，一写红烛，一写焰短，一写垂泪，写尽向人垂泪的红烛——兰堂烛影而垂泪似人，正是离愁的写照；此三句以红烛、焰短、垂泪写尽向人垂泪的红烛，也让此三句成为全词写红烛的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「想着兰堂的红烛，烛心长焰短，向着人垂泪」，则失其含蓄；唯以「念兰堂红烛」写红烛、「心长焰短」写焰短、「向人垂泪」写垂泪，写尽向人垂泪的红烛，也让此三句成为全词写红烛的核心。

The candle. I think of the red candles in the orchid hall: long wick, short flame, shedding tears toward the people. The long wick (long heart), short flame, and human tears are the candle's sympathy. To have described a weeping candle would be an image; the orchid-hall red candle against the long-heart-short-flame weeping-on-people is the image.

Study

Word focus

寄 The 'ji' of 'ci qing nan ji' — 'to send, to entrust'. It is the poem's whole difficulty in one verb: a feeling can exist but cannot travel, and the hate in the line is aimed at the verb's failure rather than at anyone. 「恨此情难寄」之「寄」字是写别情关键词，一个「寄」字写尽恨此情的难寄。寄者，寄托、寄达也。晏殊以「恨此情难寄」写别情，这个「寄」字至少有双重意味：其一，写情之寄——那「恨此情难寄」写恨此情难寄，那「寄」字写尽恨此情的难寄——难寄，正是情难托寄的写照，那「寄」字写尽恨此情的难寄；其二，写心之远——那「寄」字更是写远——寄，正见相隔千里的意味，那「寄」字写尽晏殊的离愁。以「寄」字写别情，正是晏殊写秋思的枢纽——若换作「传」「送」等字，则或失其与「恨此情难寄」「别来音信千里」的配合，或失其写寄的意味；唯「寄」字，以恨此情难寄写尽情意之难托与相隔之千里，与「别来音信千里」的千里相合，写尽恨此情的难寄，也让「恨此情难寄」成为全词写别情的名句。

短 The 'duan' of 'xin chang yan duan' — 'short'. Set against 'long' in the same line, the two words make a scale in which her endurance is measured against the candle's, and the shorter of the two is the one that is being spent. 「心长焰短」之「短」字是写红烛关键词，一个「短」字写尽心长的焰短。短者，短小、微弱也。晏殊以「心长焰短」写红烛，这个「短」字至少有双重意味：其一，写焰之短——那「心长焰短」写心长焰短，那「短」字写尽心长的焰短——焰短，正是烛焰微弱的写照，那「短」字写尽心长的焰短；其二，写情之长——那「短」字更是写长——短，正见心长难继的意味，那「短」字写尽晏殊的离愁。以「短」字写红烛，正是晏殊写秋思的枢纽——若换作「弱」「微」等字，则或失其与「心长焰短」「向人垂泪」的配合，或失其写短的意味；唯「短」字，以心长焰短写尽烛心之长与烛焰之短，与「向人垂泪」的垂泪相合，写尽心长的焰短，也让「心长焰短」成为全词写红烛的名句。