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阮郎归·南园春半踏青时

Ruanlanggui: In the Southern Garden at Mid-Spring, the Season for Treading the Green

欧阳修

Ouyang Xiu

春景Spring Scenery 闺情Boudoir Sentiment

南园春半踏青时，风和闻马嘶。
青梅如豆柳如眉，日长蝴蝶飞。
花露重，草烟低，人家帘幕垂。
秋千慵困解罗衣，画梁双燕归。

In the southern garden, at mid-spring, the season for treading the green; the wind is soft, and one hears horses neigh.
The green plums are like beans, the willow like eyebrows; the day is long and butterflies flutter.
Dew lies heavy on the flowers, mist hangs low over the grass; the curtains of the houses are let down.
Weary from the swing, she loosens her silk robe; on the painted beam, a pair of swallows comes home.

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Meaning

The lyric describes the southern garden at mid-spring, when people go out to tread the green: the wind is mild and horses can be heard neighing. Green plums are the size of beans, willow shoots are slender as eyebrows, the day has grown long and butterflies are flying. Then the mood turns quieter: dew weighs on the flowers, mist lies low on the grass, and the household curtains are drawn. A woman, tired from the swing, loosens her silk robe, and on the painted beam a pair of swallows returns to the nest.

南园春半踏青时，风和闻马嘶。青梅如豆柳如眉，日长蝴蝶飞。花露重，草烟低，人家帘幕垂。秋千慵困解罗衣，画梁双燕归。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] It is mid-spring in the southern garden, the season when people walk on the new grass. The wind is mild, horses neigh in the distance, the plums have set and the willows are slender, the long day is full of butterflies. Then the light fades: dew lies heavy on the flowers, mist hangs low on the grass, curtains are drawn in the houses, and a woman who has tired herself on the swing loosens her gown - while on the painted beam a pair of swallows comes home to roost. [Structure] The upper stanza is outdoors and in motion; the lower stanza is indoors and at rest. The last line brings the two together by a single image of pairing. [Imagery] The poem works by contrast. Everything in the first half moves - wind, horses, butterflies; everything in the second is still - dew, mist, lowered curtains. And the pair of swallows returning together is set against the one woman alone, so that the spring scene quietly delivers the boudoir feeling without a word of complaint.

【白话串讲】欧阳修写《阮郎归·南园春半踏青时》：“南园春半踏青时，风和闻马嘶”——“青梅如豆柳如眉，日长蝴蝶飞”——“花露重，草烟低，人家帘幕垂”——“秋千慵困解罗衣，画梁双燕归”——他写春日踏青。【意象与手法】此词写春景，以闺情写春景，是欧阳修的名篇。上阕写春景：「南园春半踏青时，风和闻马嘶。青梅如豆柳如眉，日长蝴蝶飞」写南园春半踏青时、风和闻马嘶——写尽风和闻的马嘶；下阕写闺情：「花露重，草烟低，人家帘幕垂。秋千慵困解罗衣，画梁双燕归」写花露重、草烟低、人家帘幕垂——写尽画梁双燕的归。全词以闺情写春景，写尽风和闻的马嘶与画梁双燕的归，是欧阳修的代表作。【情感与主旨】此词写春景，以闺情写春景，是欧阳修的名篇。此词为欧阳修写春半之景与闺中之情，写其春日踏青的见闻。欧阳修此词写南园春半的风光与闺人。此词写南园春半踏青时，风和闻马嘶；青梅如豆柳如眉，日长蝴蝶飞；花露重，草烟低，人家帘幕垂；秋千慵困解罗衣，画梁双燕归。此词写春景：南园春半踏青时，风和闻马嘶——写南园春半踏青时、风和闻马嘶，写尽风和闻的马嘶；青梅如豆柳如眉，日长蝴蝶飞——写青梅如豆柳如眉、日长蝴蝶飞，写尽日长蝴蝶的飞；花露重，草烟低，人家帘幕垂——写花露重、草烟低、人家帘幕垂，写尽人家帘幕的垂；秋千慵困解罗衣，画梁双燕归——写秋千慵困解罗衣、画梁双燕归，写尽画梁双燕的归。全词以闺情写春景——那「风和闻马嘶」写尽风和闻的马嘶，「画梁双燕归」写尽画梁双燕的归，写尽风和闻的马嘶与画梁双燕的归，是理解欧阳修春景词的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「青梅如豆柳如眉，日长蝴蝶飞」写日长蝴蝶的飞；「画梁双燕归」写画梁双燕的归；以及全词以闺情写春景、以白描写春景的手法。

Background

Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072), courtesy name Yongshu, styled Drunken Old Man and the Retired Scholar of Six One, was born in Yongfeng, Jizhou, in present-day Ji'an, Jiangxi. A statesman as well as a writer, he rose to be vice grand councillor, was one of the Eight Masters of Tang and Song, and is grouped with Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan and Su Shi as the four great prose writers of a thousand years. This lyric describes the southern garden at mid-spring and the feelings of a woman in the inner rooms. Its materials are entirely traditional - the spring outing, the young plums, the long day, the swing, the swallows - and the art lies in the arrangement rather than in the invention: Ouyang Xiu sets a bright moving first stanza against a still second one, and lets the last image carry the whole weight of the poem.

此词写春景，以闺情写春景，是欧阳修的名篇。欧阳修（1007—1072），字永叔，号醉翁、六一居士，吉州永丰（今江西吉安）人，北宋政治家、文学家，官至参知政事，为「唐宋八大家」之一，与韩愈、柳宗元、苏轼合称「千古文章四大家」。此词为欧阳修写春半之景与闺中之情，写其春日踏青的见闻。欧阳修此词写南园春半的风光与闺人。此词写南园春半踏青时，风和闻马嘶；青梅如豆柳如眉，日长蝴蝶飞；花露重，草烟低，人家帘幕垂；秋千慵困解罗衣，画梁双燕归。此词写春景：「南园春半踏青时，风和闻马嘶」写南园春半踏青时、风和闻马嘶——写尽风和闻的马嘶（南园春半踏青时，风和闻马嘶）；「青梅如豆柳如眉，日长蝴蝶飞」写青梅如豆柳如眉、日长蝴蝶飞——写尽日长蝴蝶的飞（青梅如豆柳如眉，日长蝴蝶飞）；「花露重，草烟低，人家帘幕垂」写花露重、草烟低、人家帘幕垂——写尽人家帘幕的垂（花露重，草烟低，人家帘幕垂）；「秋千慵困解罗衣，画梁双燕归」写秋千慵困解罗衣、画梁双燕归——写尽画梁双燕的归（秋千慵困解罗衣，画梁双燕归）。全词以闺情写春景，写尽风和闻的马嘶与画梁双燕的归，是理解欧阳修春景词的重要篇章。

Art

Four techniques shape the piece. First, plain description opens it: the southern garden at mid-spring, the season for treading the green, the soft wind and the neighing horses - no comment, simply the materials of a holiday. Second, simile fixes the season: plums like beans and willow like eyebrows give the exact stage of growth when spring is half gone, and the eyebrow comparison quietly introduces the human figure who will dominate the close. Third, balanced clauses render the evening: dew heavy on the flowers answers mist low on the grass, and the drawn curtains complete the descent into stillness. Fourth, the paired swallows carry the feeling: two birds returning together to the painted beam are set against the single weary woman. The larger design is the contrast of movement and rest, the first stanza all wind, horses and butterflies, the second all dew, mist and lowered curtains, with the swallows as the hinge between them.

此词的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以白描写春景。「南园春半踏青时」以白描写春景——那「风和闻马嘶」写尽风和闻的马嘶，以白描写尽风和闻的马嘶。其二，以比喻写景物。「青梅如豆」以比喻写景物——那「柳如眉」写尽柳条的如眉，以比喻写尽日长蝴蝶的飞。其三，以对仗写春光。「花露重，草烟低」以对仗写春光——那「人家帘幕垂」写尽人家帘幕的垂，以对仗写尽人家帘幕的垂。其四，以双燕写闺情。「画梁双燕归」以双燕写闺情——那「秋千慵困解罗衣」写尽秋千慵困的罗衣，以双燕写尽画梁双燕的归。此外，此词上阕写风和闻的马嘶，下阕写画梁双燕的归，由景及人，正是春景词「以景写情」的写法。四重手法，使此词以闺情写春景，写尽风和闻的马嘶与画梁双燕的归，是欧阳修的代表作。又，此词上阕写动景（马嘶、蝶飞），下阕写静景（花露、草烟、帘幕），动静相衬；末以「画梁双燕归」双燕成对，反衬闺人独处，含蓄点出春闺之情，正是欧阳修「婉丽之中见深意」的本色。

Allusions

The vocabulary belongs to the entwined traditions of spring scenery and boudoir feeling. The southern garden is a conventional pleasure ground; treading the green is the spring outing on which people walk the new grass. The neighing horse belongs to the sound of departure. The green plum recalls Li Bai's lover arriving on a bamboo horse and playing with green plums round the well, the type of innocent childhood love. The willow like eyebrows plays on the standard comparison of a woman's brows to willow leaves. Butterflies over the grass belong to the usual spring pairing of butterflies and fragrant plants. The swing is the standard boudoir prop, familiar from Su Shi's line about a swing inside the wall and a road outside. And the swallows on the painted beam recall Liu Yuxi's swallows before the halls of the Wang and Xie families - birds that return to a house whose people have changed.

此词的用语深植于春景与闺情传统。「南园」令人想到「南园」写南园的意象——也令人想到「南园春色」的意象；「踏青」令人想到「踏青」写踏青的意象——也令人想到「踏青斗草」的意象；「马嘶」令人想到「马嘶」写马嘶的意象——也令人想到「风萧萧兮马嘶鸣」的意象；「青梅」令人想到「青梅」写青梅的意象——也令人想到「郎骑竹马来，绕床弄青梅」（李白）的意象；「柳如眉」令人想到「柳如眉」写柳眉的意象——也令人想到「柳叶眉」的意象；「蝴蝶飞」令人想到「蝴蝶飞」写蝶飞的意象——也令人想到「蝶飞芳草」的意象；「花露」令人想到「花露」写花露的意象——也令人想到「花露重」的意象；「草烟」令人想到「草烟」写草烟的意象——也令人想到「草色烟光」的意象；「帘幕垂」令人想到「帘幕垂」写帘幕的意象——也令人想到「帘幕低垂」的意象；「秋千」令人想到「秋千」写秋千的意象——也令人想到「墙里秋千墙外道」（苏轼）的意象；「画梁双燕」令人想到「画梁双燕」写双燕的意象——也令人想到「旧时王谢堂前燕」（刘禹锡）的意象。全词化用南园、踏青、马嘶、青梅、柳如眉、蝴蝶飞、花露、草烟、帘幕垂、秋千、画梁双燕的意象，以闺情写春景，正是欧阳修「婉约」而善白描、承春景传统写闺情之本领。

Commentary

The lyric is ranked among Ouyang Xiu's finest spring pieces and is a standard Song treatment of the mid-spring outing. Qing critics praised it as spring scenery written through boudoir feeling, graceful and reserved; modern readers single out the couplet on plums, willow and butterflies. Its special value is the restraint of its close: no emotion is named, and yet the pair of swallows coming home to the painted beam says everything about the woman who has just loosened her robe alone. Read beside his lyric on the deep, deep courtyard, it shows the two faces of his spring writing - one a woman shut in, one a woman out in the garden, and in both the same indirection. For readers today it remains the clearest example of how a Song small lyric can deliver feeling through arrangement alone.

此词历来被推为欧阳修春景词的名篇，也是宋词写春半踏青的代表。历代论者对此词评价极高：清人评此词「以闺情写春景，婉丽含蓄」；近人更指出「青梅如豆柳如眉，日长蝴蝶飞」写日长蝴蝶的飞，是此词的名句。在诗歌史上，此词的特殊价值在于：它以小令写尽风和闻的马嘶与画梁双燕的归——那南园，那春半，那踏青时，那风和，那闻马嘶，那青梅，那如豆，那柳如眉，那日长，那蝴蝶飞，那花露，那重，那草烟，那低，那人家，那帘幕垂，那秋千，那慵困，那解罗衣，那画梁，那双燕归，都写尽了欧阳修笔下的阮郎归南园春半踏青时；那「画梁双燕归」更以双燕写尽画梁双燕的归。此词与欧阳修《蝶恋花·庭院深深深几许》「庭院深深深几许」同为春景名篇，一写「泪眼问花花不语」的蝶恋花，一写「画梁双燕归」的阮郎归；一写深闺，一写南园。两词对读，可见欧阳修春景词的两面。对于今日读者，此词是理解欧阳修春景词的窗口，也是宋词写春半踏青的经典——那画梁双燕的归，穿越千年，仍在诉说着风和闻的马嘶。

Prosody

Form Song lyric to the short tune Ruanlanggui, in two stanzas词·阮郎归

Rhyme Level-tone rhyme in the wei-qi group: time, neigh, fly in the first stanza; hang, return in the second. One rhyme carried throughout.阮郎归，上阕押「时」「嘶」「飞」，下阕押「垂」「归」（平声微齐韵），一韵到底

Tone pattern As a short lyric rhyming in the level tone throughout, the music is graceful and gentle, well matched to spring scenery and boudoir feeling.此词为阮郎归小令，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节婉丽，正合春景的婉丽。

Reading note The upper stanza holds the outing, the wind, the horses, the plums, the willow and the butterflies; the lower holds the dew, the mist, the curtains, the swing and the swallows. The three-character clauses in the second stanza quicken the pace before the two long closing lines restore it, so the music rises and settles exactly where the feeling does. In reading, the plum and willow line should be delivered with light grace, and the final line about the swallows with softness and a slight lengthening, so that the lyric ends on the suggestion rather than the statement. The piece is a representative example of the reserved manner for which Ouyang Xiu's short lyrics are known.此词为阮郎归小令，上下两阕——上阕「南园春半踏青时，风和闻马嘶。青梅如豆柳如眉，日长蝴蝶飞」，下阕「花露重，草烟低，人家帘幕垂。秋千慵困解罗衣，画梁双燕归」，押平韵（时、嘶、飞、垂、归），一韵到底，音节婉丽。全词以闺情写春景：上阕写风和闻的马嘶（南园春半踏青时、日长蝴蝶飞），下阕写画梁双燕的归（花露重、秋千慵困解罗衣）。小令短章，前写春景，后写闺情，以「画梁双燕归」写尽画梁双燕的归，正见欧阳修「婉约」的本色。诵读此词，宜以婉丽的语调读「青梅如豆柳如眉」的春景，以柔情的语调读「画梁双燕归」的闺情，结句要读得婉丽而有余韵，方能传达出欧阳修的含蓄婉转。欧阳修小令以「婉约」著称，此词正是其春景词的典范。

Line by line

青梅如豆柳如眉，日长蝴蝶飞

The green plums are like beans, the willow like eyebrows; the day is long and butterflies flutter.

青梅如豆柳如眉，日长蝴蝶飞。

Green plums like beans, willow leaves like brows; the days grow long, and butterflies fly.

此二句是全词写春景的核心，以青梅如豆写如豆，以柳如眉写如眉，以日长蝴蝶飞写蝴蝶飞，写尽日长蝴蝶的飞，是千古名句。「青梅如豆」写青梅如豆——那「青梅」写青梅，「如豆」写如豆，写尽青梅的如豆；「柳如眉」写柳如眉——那「柳」写柳，「如眉」写如眉，写尽柳的如眉；「日长蝴蝶飞」写日长蝴蝶飞——那「日长」写日长，「蝴蝶飞」写蝴蝶飞，写尽日长的蝴蝶飞。这句的深意在于：它以「青梅如豆」的如豆、「柳如眉」的如眉与「日长蝴蝶飞」的蝴蝶飞，写尽日长蝴蝶的飞——青梅如豆，那「青梅如豆」写尽青梅的如豆——青梅如豆，正是青梅初结的写照，那「如豆」写尽日长蝴蝶的飞；柳如眉，那「柳如眉」写尽柳的如眉——柳如眉，正是柳叶如眉的写照，那「如眉」写尽日长蝴蝶的飞；日长蝴蝶飞，那「日长蝴蝶飞」写尽日长的蝴蝶飞——日长蝴蝶飞，正是日长蝶飞的写照，那「蝴蝶飞」写尽日长蝴蝶的飞；那「青梅如豆」写尽青梅的如豆，那「柳如眉」写尽柳的如眉，那「日长蝴蝶飞」写尽日长的蝴蝶飞，一写如豆，一写如眉，一写蝴蝶飞，写尽日长蝴蝶的飞——青梅柳眉而日长蝶飞，正是春景的写照；此三句以如豆、如眉、蝴蝶飞写尽日长蝴蝶的飞，也为下文的帘幕作铺垫，也让此三句成为全词写春景的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「青梅像豆子柳叶像眉毛，白昼长了蝴蝶在飞」，则失其婉丽；唯以「青梅如豆」写如豆、「柳如眉」写如眉、「日长蝴蝶飞」写蝴蝶飞，写尽日长蝴蝶的飞，也让此三句成为全词写春景的核心。

The three lines are the core of the ci's spring scene, writing the bean through green plums like beans, the brow through willow leaves like brows, and the butterflies through the days grow long, and butterflies fly, exhausting the butterfly flights of the lengthening day. Green plums like beans is precisely the picture of the first-formed plums; willow leaves like brows precisely the picture of the willow leaves like brows; the days grow long, and butterflies fly precisely the picture of butterflies on the long day. One writes the bean, one the brow, one the butterflies, exhausting the spring scene. Were it said plainly green plums like beans, willow leaves like brows, the day is long and butterflies fly, the grace would be softened; only through the three similes is the spring scene exhausted, preparing the curtain below and making the lines the core of the ci.

秋千慵困解罗衣，画梁双燕归

Weary from the swing, she loosens her silk robe; on the painted beam, a pair of swallows comes home.

秋千慵困解罗衣，画梁双燕归。

Tired from the swing, she unties her silk dress; to the painted beam, a pair of swallows return.

此二句是全词写闺情的核心，以秋千慵困解罗衣写罗衣，以画梁双燕归写双燕归，写尽画梁双燕的归，是千古名句。「秋千慵困解罗衣」写秋千慵困解罗衣——那「秋千慵困」写秋千慵困，「解罗衣」写解罗衣，写尽秋千慵困的罗衣；「画梁双燕归」写画梁双燕归——那「画梁」写画梁，「双燕归」写双燕归，写尽画梁的双燕归。这句的深意在于：它以「秋千慵困解罗衣」的罗衣与「画梁双燕归」的双燕归，写尽画梁双燕的归——秋千慵困解罗衣，那「秋千慵困解罗衣」写尽秋千慵困的罗衣——秋千慵困解罗衣，正是荡罢秋千的写照，那「慵困」写尽画梁双燕的归；画梁双燕归，那「画梁双燕归」写尽画梁的双燕归——画梁双燕归，正是双燕归巢的写照，那「双燕归」写尽画梁双燕的归；那「秋千慵困解罗衣」写尽秋千慵困的罗衣，那「画梁双燕归」写尽画梁的双燕归，一写罗衣，一写双燕归，写尽画梁双燕的归——荡罢秋千而双燕归巢，正是闺情的写照；此二句以罗衣、双燕归写尽画梁双燕的归，也让此二句成为全词写闺情的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「荡秋千累了脱下罗衣，画梁上双燕归来了」，则失其含蓄；唯以「秋千慵困解罗衣」写罗衣、「画梁双燕归」写双燕归，写尽画梁双燕的归，也让此二句成为全词写闺情的核心。

The two lines are the core of the ci's chamber feeling, writing the silk dress through tired from the swing, she unties her silk dress and the returning swallows through to the painted beam, a pair of swallows return, exhausting the swallows' return. Tired from the swing, she unties her silk dress is precisely the picture after the swing; to the painted beam, a pair of swallows return precisely the picture of the swallows' homecoming. One writes the dress, one the swallows, exhausting the chamber feeling. Were it said plainly tired from swinging she takes off her silk dress, and swallows return to the painted beam, the restraint would be lost; only through the dress and the returning pair is the chamber feeling exhausted, making the lines the core of the ci.

Study

Word focus

慵 In the woman weary from the swing, this word means languid, listless, heavy with want of energy. It describes the bodily slackness after exercise, but in boudoir poetry it always carries the further sense of spring lassitude, an aimless Depression of spirits, so that one word holds both the tired body and the unquiet mind. 「秋千慵困解罗衣」之「慵」字是写闺情关键词，一个「慵」字写尽秋千慵困的罗衣。慵者，慵懒、困倦也。欧阳修以「秋千慵困解罗衣」写闺情，这个「慵」字至少有双重意味：其一，写身之慵——那「秋千慵困解罗衣」写秋千慵困解罗衣，那「慵」字写尽秋千慵困的罗衣——慵困，正是荡罢乏力的写照，那「慵」字写尽秋千慵困的罗衣；其二，写情之闲——那「慵」字更是写闲——慵，正见春困慵懒的意味，那「慵」字写尽欧阳修的婉约。以「慵」字写闺情，正是欧阳修写春景的枢纽——若换作「倦」「乏」等字，则或失其与「秋千慵困解罗衣」「画梁双燕归」的配合，或失其写慵的意味；唯「慵」字，以秋千慵困解罗衣写尽荡罢之困倦与春日之慵懒，与「画梁双燕归」的双燕归相合，写尽秋千慵困的罗衣，也让「秋千慵困解罗衣」成为全词写闺情的名句。

归 In the pair of swallows coming home, this word means to return, to come back to the nest. Its force lies in the contrast it sets up: the birds return together, the woman returns alone, and because the poem ends on the word, the entire boudoir theme is left hanging on an action that is completed for the swallows and not for her. 「画梁双燕归」之「归」字是写闺情关键词，一个「归」字写尽画梁的双燕归。归者，归来、归巢也。欧阳修以「画梁双燕归」写闺情，这个「归」字至少有双重意味：其一，写燕之归——那「画梁双燕归」写画梁双燕归，那「归」字写尽画梁的双燕归——双燕归，正是双燕归巢的写照，那「归」字写尽画梁的双燕归；其二，写人之盼——那「归」字更是写盼——归，正见盼人归来的意味，那「归」字写尽欧阳修的婉约。以「归」字写闺情，正是欧阳修写春景的枢纽——若换作「回」「还」等字，则或失其与「画梁双燕归」「秋千慵困解罗衣」的配合，或失其写归的意味；唯「归」字，以画梁双燕归写尽双燕之归巢与闺人之盼归，与「秋千慵困解罗衣」的慵困相合，写尽画梁的双燕归，也让「画梁双燕归」成为全词写闺情的名句。