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清 Qing · 词 Ci lyric

蝶恋花·辛苦最怜天上月

Butterflies in Love with Flowers · The Moon, Most Pitiable

纳兰性德

Nalan Xingde

婉约graceful and restrained 爱情love 悼亡mourning for the deceased

辛苦最怜天上月，一昔如环，昔昔都成玦。
若似月轮终皎洁，不辞冰雪为卿热。
无那尘缘容易绝，燕子依然，软踏帘钩说。
唱罢秋坟愁未歇，春丛认取双栖蝶。

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Meaning

The poem laments the moon's fleeting perfection, yearning for an unchanging brightness to prove the speaker's devotion to his dead wife. It then shifts to the broken earthly bond, with swallows chattering as before, and ends with a wish to recognize twin butterflies in spring flowers, hoping for reunion in the afterlife.

最怜爱那天上辛苦的明月，一夜团圆如玉环，夜夜却都缺成玉玦。若它能如满月般始终皎洁，我甘愿不避冰雪为你送去温热。无奈尘世情缘容易断绝，燕子依旧软踏帘钩呢喃如诉。在秋坟前唱罢愁绪仍未消歇，且去春花丛中认取那双栖的蝴蝶。

Appreciation

The first stanza pities the moon's rare fullness, using "jue" (broken jade) to hint at separation. The line "I would brave ice and snow to warm you" is a passionate hyperbole. The second stanza contrasts eternal swallows with fleeting human love; the reference to autumnal graves and the final allusion to butterfly lovers create a mix of sorrow and hopeful fantasy.

【白话串讲】纳兰性德写月亮：辛苦的是月，辛苦的也是他。“若似月轮终皎洁，不辞冰雪为卿热”——如果能像月亮一样永远团圆，我愿意为你承受冰雪。悼亡词里的深情。【意象与手法】上片咏月，“一昔如环，昔昔都成玦”以“昔”谐“夕”，“环”“玦”既状月形又双关团圆与决绝，巧思绝伦【情感与主旨】此词为纳兰性德悼念亡妻卢氏之作，约与《浣溪沙·谁念西风独自凉》同期【名句点睛】此诗为清纳兰性德之作，精要赏析详见下方深度赏析。

Background

Written after the death of Nalan's wife, Lu, who died three years into their marriage. This poem belongs to a series of elegies, likely composed in the following years. The allusion to Xun Can warming his feverish wife and the myth of the butterfly lovers highlight Nalan's undying love and longing for reunion beyond death.

此词为纳兰性德悼念亡妻卢氏之作。纳兰性德于康熙十三年娶两广总督卢兴祖之女卢氏，婚后三年，卢氏于康熙十六年五月因产后病卒，年二十一。此后纳兰以八年时间写下数十首悼亡词，本篇与《浣溪沙·谁念西风独自凉》《沁园春·瞬息浮生》《金缕曲·亡妇忌日有感》等大致同属这一系列，作年虽难确考，然从词中唱罢秋坟一语看，当为卢氏亡后某年秋日祭扫之际所作，末句春丛认取双栖蝶则由眼前之秋推及来日之春，是设想而非实景。所用词调蝶恋花本唐教坊曲，原名鹊踏枝，宋人晏殊改题蝶恋花，又有黄金缕、卷珠帘等别名，双调六十字，上下片各五句四仄韵，句式为七四五七七，是宋以来言情之作最常用的长调小令之一。此篇文字流传有数处小异：一昔如环之昔一作夕，二字于此正相通假，作昔则与下句昔昔叠字相贯，作夕则语意直白而失回环之趣，故通行本多从昔；无那一作无奈，无那本是唐宋习见的口语，义同无奈；调名亦有作蝴蝶恋花者。词初载《饮水词》，后归入《纳兰词》。就文学脉络言，此词上承《世说新语》所记荀粲以身熨妇之事、李贺秋坟鬼唱之句，下与清初悼亡诗词合流，是以奇想写至情的名篇。

Art

The first stanza uses the moon's cyclic changes—ring-like fullness and jade-pendant incompleteness—as a metaphor for marital bliss and loss. The hyperbole 'not fearing ice and snow' reverses cold and heat to show extreme passion. The second stanza juxtaposes unchanging swallows with lost love, and ends with a phantom scene of twin butterflies, blending reality and illusion.

此词最为人称道处在于以物为喻而喻中带巧。上片全篇咏月：辛苦二字先把月人格化，说它终年运行、盈亏不定，是天下最劳苦者，遂使月与词人同病；一昔如环、昔昔都成玦以环、玦二物状月之圆缺，既是形容，又谐音双关，团圆与决绝之意暗伏其中。第四、五句由咏物转为誓语，若似月轮终皎洁是退一步的假设，不辞冰雪为卿热是进一步的许诺，一让一进，情势陡起，全词的高潮即在此处。下片换头无那尘缘容易绝一句劈空落下，把上片的热忱尽数击碎——月犹可期，人不可留。此后不再作正面悲语，而以燕子依然、软踏帘钩说轻轻写景：燕子如旧、呢喃如诉，物在人亡的对照全在依然二字。末二句忽转时空，唱罢秋坟是眼前，春丛认取是来日，由秋而春，由人间而物化，愁未歇而已作来生之约，笔势由沉痛翻出一线希冀，而希冀之渺茫又反照沉痛之无解。全词章法为咏物、誓愿、断念、寄望四层递进，情脉曲折而语无重复；修辞则兼用双关、谐音、拟人、反衬诸法，尤以环玦之喻为古今咏月之别调。

Allusions

'Ice and snow for your warmth' alludes to Xun Can (Three Kingdoms), who chilled himself to cool his feverish wife. 'Ring' (huan) and 'broken ring' (jue) pun on 'return' and 'severance'. 'Twin butterflies' references the legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, who became butterflies after death. 'Autumnal grave' echoes Li He's 'autumnal ghosts sing Bao's poem'.

本篇几乎每句皆有来历，而用得极化。一昔如环、昔昔都成玦之环与玦，本是古代玉器，也是古人交际的符号：《荀子·大略》记聘人以珪、召人以瑗、绝人以玦、反绝以环，可见玦主决绝、环主复还，正是相反的两物。纳兰取其形以状月之圆缺，取其义以寓聚散，一名两用，故此二句被历来评者视为绝妙之思。昔又谐夕，昔昔即夜夜，以时间之字写时间之事而不着痕迹。不辞冰雪为卿热用《世说新语·惑溺》所载荀粲事：荀奉倩与妻情笃，冬月妻病发热，粲乃出中庭自取寒冷，还以身熨之；妻亡后不久，粲亦哀伤而卒。此典以极端的体贴写夫妇之爱，纳兰用之，一则见其愿代亡者受苦之心，二则荀粲随妻而逝的结局又为全词添一层不祥的预感。唱罢秋坟愁未歇本李贺《秋来》秋坟鬼唱鲍家诗、恨血千年土中碧之意，鲍家诗指鲍照《行路难》一类悲歌，李贺以鬼唱写千载不散之恨，纳兰只取秋坟唱罢四字，而幽冷之气自随之而来。春丛认取双栖蝶则合于古来夫妇死后化为双蝶飞舞的民间传说，词人不明言其事，只以认取二字作叮咛，语极轻而意极重。字词训诂上，无那为唐宋口语，义即无奈；软踏之软状燕足轻捷、亦状呢喃之声；认取之取为语助，义同着、住，认取即认定、记住。

Commentary

Wang Guowei praised Nalan as 'the only one since the Northern Song'. Gu Zhenguan called his lyrics 'sorrowful and seductive, inheriting the Southern Tang style'. Ye Jiaying noted his 'sharp sensitivity expressing deep sorrow, every foolish word is blood and tears'. This poem epitomizes his poignant obsession.

历来论纳兰悼亡词者，多以本篇的上片为其构思之最奇。环玦一喻，前人咏月多取镜、钩、弓、玉盘等形似之物，而纳兰独取环、玦这一对本有聚散之义的礼器，使形似与意合并至，评者因称其巧思绝伦；昔昔叠用又以时间之绵长托出缺憾之常态，遂令一个熟极的月亮意象重获新意。清人评纳兰词，顾贞观称其哀感顽艳，得南唐二主之遗；陈廷焯《白雨斋词话》谓其《饮水词》在清初推为作手，较陈其年、朱竹垞高一筹，长处在气机流转；王国维《人间词话》则以为纳兰以自然之眼观物、以自然之舌言情，北宋以来一人而已。以此三评衡本篇，哀感顽艳可指其情，气机流转可指其上下片的转折不滞，而所谓自然，则须与本篇的奇巧参看——纳兰词之自然并非不用心，而是用心而不见痕迹。传播史上，此词在清代主要于词家间流布，评点集中于环玦二句；近代以后随纳兰词整体升值而广被选录，为卿热一句更因语意炽烈、句法奇突而屡被引用于各类选本与今人文字之中。今日读此词，宜注意其冷热相济的结构：不辞冰雪为卿热之热，须放在天上月的寒、秋坟的冷之间来看，方知这一个热字是全篇唯一的暖，也是全篇最不可能实现的愿。

Prosody

Form Ci · Butterfly in Love with Flowers (60 characters)词，蝶恋花（原名鹊踏枝，一名黄金缕、卷珠帘），双调六十字，上下片各五句四仄韵，句式为七四五七七

Rhyme Entering tone yue/xie rhyme (月、玦、热、绝、说、歇、蝶; in ci prosody these belong to the same rhyme group)全篇押入声韵，韵脚为月、玦、洁、热、绝、说、歇、蝶，同属词韵第十八部（屑、月、薛诸入声韵通押），上下片各四韵，一韵到底

Tone pattern Four oblique rhymes per stanza, varying line lengths, dense allusions but flowing emotion.上下片格式相同，首句七言仄收，次句四言，第三句五言，第四、五句皆七言并连押两韵；全篇无一平收之句，句末皆以促音收束

Reading note A mourning ci by Nalan, using moon, swallows, butterflies, and grave imagery to weave obsession, with the line 'I would brave ice and snow to warm you' being intensely passionate.蝶恋花本名鹊踏枝，为唐教坊曲，至宋而大盛，冯延巳、欧阳修、苏轼、柳永诸家皆有名篇。此调的声情特点有二：一是句式长短相间，七四五七七的安排使上下片内部先促后舒、再以两个七言连押收紧，最宜写婉转而有起伏的情事；二是必押仄韵，故整体音色较硬，与浣溪沙一类平韵小令的舒缓迥异。本篇更把仄韵选在入声一部，月、玦、洁、热、绝、说、歇、蝶八字皆短促收塞，读之字字如咬断，声情峭急而不得舒展，恰与情缘容易绝的内容相印——每一个韵脚都像一次戛然而止，遂使全词充满被截断的感觉。句式的运用亦见用心：上片以七言立意，继以四言五言两个短句作环玦之对，节奏轻快而所言至惨，形成反差；末二句连用七言并连押，气势陡增，故为卿热一句得以成为高潮。下片同一格式，而内容由誓愿转为断念，同样的声腔承载相反的情势，遂显出格律之外的功力。可见此词之奇不止在构思，更在以入声急促之调写缠绵不尽之思，硬调软情，别成一种张力。

Line by line

辛苦最怜天上月，一昔如环，昔昔都成玦。

Most pitiable is the toiling moon in the sky— one night a perfect ring, every other night a broken jade.

最怜爱那天上辛苦的明月，一夜团圆如玉环，夜夜却都缺成玉玦。

I pity the toilsome moon in the sky: one night she is a perfect ring, and every night after she is broken into a pendant.

起句以辛苦二字为月立命，一反古人写月之高洁闲静，而说它劳苦可怜：终岁运行不息，而圆满只得一夜。最怜二字既是怜月，亦是自怜，物我在开篇即已合一。次二句以环、玦状月形，环圆而玦缺，本是古礼中主复还与主决绝的一对玉器，故形与义两得。一昔与昔昔的数量对比最见惨然：一夜之圆对无数夜之缺，圆满是例外，残缺才是常态。昔又谐夕，以昔叠用而声情回环，读之如叹息相续。三句之内，天象、人事、命运三层已尽。

The opening endows the moon with the words toilsome and pitiable, contrary to the ancient way of writing the moon as lofty and serene: it is laboring and pitiable, running its course without rest all the year, while the fullness comes but one night. The words most pitiable are at once pity for the moon and self-pity; object and self are already one at the opening. The next two lines use ring and pendant to figure the moon's shape: the ring is whole and round, the pendant broken and open; in ancient ritual the two jade objects paired, one for return, one for severance, so shape and meaning are both won. The numerical contrast of one night and every night is the most desolate: one night of roundness against numberless nights of the broken; fullness is the exception, the broken the norm. Xi (night) also puns on xi (evening), and the repeated xi gives a circling, sighing cadence. Within three lines, the heavens, human affairs, and fate are all complete.

若似月轮终皎洁，不辞冰雪为卿热。

If only the moon could always be bright and full, I would not fear ice and snow to warm you.

若它能如满月般始终皎洁，我甘愿不避冰雪为你送去温热。

If only the moon could be always bright and full, I would not shrink from ice and snow to warm you.

上句是假设，下句是许诺，一虚一实构成全词最动人的一转。若似二字承上片咏月而来，把不可能之事提出：若月能永圆，则人亦可长聚。下句用《世说新语》荀粲以身熨妻之事，而变其法——荀粲是取冷以解妻之热，纳兰是不避冰雪以为亡妻送暖，方向相反而痴心相同。为卿热三字于全篇冷寂的字面中突起一个暖字，语气近乎口语的直白，情却炽烈到不合分寸，正是至情不暇择言之态。而所许之事既须以若似为前提，则此诺终不能兑，热字愈烈，绝望愈深。

The upper line is a supposition, the lower a promise; one empty, one real, forming the most moving turn of the ci. The words if only carry on from the moon-praise of the first stanza, raising the impossible: if the moon could be forever round, then people might be forever together. The lower line uses the story of Xun Can in the New Tales of the World, who cooled himself to warm his feverish wife, yet reverses it: Xun Can took cold to relieve his wife's heat, while Nalan would brave ice and snow to send warmth to his dead wife; the direction is reversed, the devotion the same. The word warm, in the whole cold-chaste surface of the poem, suddenly starts a warm character, the tone almost plain speech, yet the passion so fierce it breaks measure; this is the state of supreme feeling that cannot choose its words. And since what is promised rests on the supposition of if only, the promise can never be kept: the fiercer the warmth, the deeper the despair.

无那尘缘容易绝，燕子依然，软踏帘钩说。

Alas, worldly ties are so easily broken; swallows still softly step on the curtain hooks and chatter.

无奈尘世情缘容易断绝，燕子依旧软踏帘钩呢喃如诉。

Yet the worldly bond breaks too easily; the swallows return as before, lightly treading the curtain hooks and chattering on.

换头一句劈空而下，把上片的誓愿尽行推倒。无那即无奈，是唐宋口语，语气疲弱而认命；容易绝三字下得极狠：天上之月尚有一昔之圆，人间之缘竟连这一昔也不能保。此后不再作痛语，而转写燕子——燕为旧时相识之禽，年年归来旧巢，故依然二字最伤：物依然而人已改。软踏帘钩说之软字写燕足轻点、呢喃细碎，仿佛真在与人絮语，而所语者无人能答。以最轻柔之景承最惨痛之语，是词家反衬之法，愈是家常安稳的画面，愈显出画中缺了一个人。

The turn of the second stanza falls like a blow from the void, overturning the vow of the first stanza. Wunai means helpless, a Tang-Speech colloquial, the tone weak and resigned. The words breaks too easily are laid down with terrible force: the moon in heaven has her one night of fullness, yet the bond of people below cannot keep even that one night. Thereafter he stops words of pain and turns to the swallows: swallows are birds of old acquaintance, returning yearly to the old nest, so the word as before is the most grief-stricken: things unchanged, the person changed. The word soft in lightly treading the curtain hooks and chattering writes the swallow's light feet and tiny murmurs, as if truly talking with someone, yet no one answers. Setting the tenderest scene after the most bitter words is the ci-maker's way of contrast: the more homely and peaceful the picture, the clearer that one person is missing from it.

唱罢秋坟愁未歇，春丛认取双栖蝶。

When the singing ends at the autumn grave, my grief is not spent; then in the spring thicket, look for the pair of butterflies roosting together.

在秋坟前唱罢愁绪仍未消歇，且去春花丛中认取那双栖的蝴蝶。

The song ended at the autumn grave, and still my grief does not abate; in the spring thicket I would recognize the pair of butterflies at rest together.

结二句一冷一暖、一今一后，收得极有余味。唱罢秋坟本李贺秋坟鬼唱鲍家诗之意，写祭扫悲歌之后哀思不减，愁未歇三字承认了哭诉的无效——一切仪式皆不能解此结。末句忽然跳出眼前，以春丛之明媚代秋坟之幽冷，以双栖之蝶代形单之人，用古来夫妇化蝶双飞的传说作最后的期许。认取二字尤为动人：不是望其化蝶，而是叮咛来日相见时须认得彼此，痴到极处反显天真。全词由天上之月起，至春丛之蝶止，愿望愈渺茫，情意愈不可解，故沉痛之中终留一线暖光。

The closing two lines are cold and warm, present and future, closing with great aftertone. When the singing ends at the autumn grave uses Li He's autumn grave, where ghosts sing the poems of Bao, writing how, after the dirge at the graveside, grief is not spent; the words grief is not spent admit the futility of all ritual, that none of these ceremonies can untie the knot. The last line suddenly leaps from the present, replacing the coldness of the autumn grave with the brightness of the spring thicket, and the solitary self with the paired butterflies, using the ancient legend of husband and wife becoming butterflies that fly together as the last hope. The word recognize is especially moving: not merely hoping she becomes a butterfly, but charging that, when they meet again in another day, they must know each other; at the extreme of devotion it turns childlike and innocent. The ci opens on the moon in heaven and closes on the butterflies in the spring thicket; the more forlorn the wish, the more inscrutable the feeling, so that amid the grief one thread of warm light remains.

Study

Word focus

辛苦 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 以辛苦二字冠于天上月之前，是本篇最出人意表的一笔。古人写月，多取其皎洁、清寒、圆缺，或以之寄相思，而少有说月劳苦者。纳兰独以人间受苦者的眼光看月：终岁不停地运行，圆满却只有一夜，其余尽是残缺，这正是尽力而不得偿的处境。故辛苦既是月的写照，也是词人自身的投影，一词而两面，物我遂通。此二字又与下文的冰雪、秋坟等寒冷字面相接，为全篇定下清苦的基调。若换作可怜、堪怜，只见怜惜而无劳苦之意；唯辛苦二字兼含辛劳与凄苦，分量最足。

玦 jue: a jade ring with a gap, symbolizing separation 玦是有缺口的环形玉器，与完整的环相对。《荀子·大略》记古人绝人以玦、反绝以环，可见玦为断绝之信物、环为复还之信物，二物之义正相反。纳兰取此一对礼器状月之圆缺，遂使写形之语同时成为写命之语：月缺如玦，即是聚散离合之谶。且玦与决同音，暗含决绝之意，而作者不着一字点破，全凭读者自会，是用典中最高明的一种。此字亦为入声，音短促而收得极硬，置于句末，如一物落地而碎，声情与内容全然相合。以一个冷僻的古器名撑起全篇的悲剧核心，可见其取字之精。

依然 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 依然二字看似平常，实为下片的关节。燕子年年归来、旧巢如故、呢喃如昨，一切都与从前无异，唯独少了一个人；故依然写的不是燕，而是人事之变——正因外物毫无改变，缺失才显得格外刺目。此种以不变衬变的手法，词中习见，而纳兰用得极轻：不加一字感叹，只用依然二字作陈述，把全部悲意留给读者去补。若作犹自、还来，语气便带主观情绪，反而浅了。且依然上承尘缘容易绝的断裂，下启软踏帘钩说的絮语，在最沉重与最轻软之间作一过渡，位置亦极紧要。