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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

水调歌头·壬子三山被召陈端仁给事饮饯席上作

Prelude to Water Melody — Composed at the Farewell Banquet for Chen Duanren at Sanshan

辛弃疾

Xin Qiji

咏怀Reflection 别离Farewell

长恨复长恨，裁作短歌行。
何人为我楚舞，听我楚狂声。
余既滋兰九畹，又树蕙之百亩，秋菊更餐英。
门外沧浪水，可以濯吾缨。
一杯酒，问何似，身后名。
人间万事，毫发常重泰山轻。
悲莫悲生离别，乐莫乐新相识，儿女古今情。
富贵非吾事，归与白鸥盟。

Long regrets upon long regrets — I cut them into a short song.
Who will dance the Chu dance for me, and who will listen to my madman's Chu song?
I have nourished orchids on nine mu of ground, planted a hundred mu of fragrant angelica, and dined on the fallen petals of autumn chrysanthemums.
Beyond my gate the Canglang waters flow — there I can wash my cap-strings.
One cup of wine — ask what it resembles? A name after death.
Of all human affairs, a hair is counted weighty and Mount Tai light.
No sorrow exceeds parting in life, no joy exceeds a new acquaintance — such is the way of lovers, of ancient times and today.
Wealth and rank are not my affair; I shall go home and swear friendship with the white gulls.

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Meaning

Written at a farewell banquet on the eve of a summons to court, the lyric pours out a life's accumulated regret. Through allusions to Qu Yuan's self-cultivation, the Chu fisherman's purity, and Zhang Han's preference for wine over posthumous fame, Xin Qiji protests a world that weighs trifles heavy and great things light. Yet the lyric ends not in despair but in a proudly withdrawn resolution: wealth is nothing; he will return and make his pact with the gulls.

长恨复长恨，裁作短歌行。何人为我楚舞，听我楚狂声。余既滋兰九畹，又树蕙之百亩，秋菊更餐英。门外沧浪水，可以濯吾缨。一杯酒，问何似，身后名。人间万事，毫发常重泰山轻。悲莫悲生离别，乐莫乐新相识，儿女古今情。富贵非吾事，归与白鸥盟。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Regret upon regret — the poet cuts the endless stream into a short song. Who will dance for him, who will hear the song of his madness? Like Qu Yuan he has raised orchids and angelica and eaten chrysanthemum petals, keeping himself pure; like the Chu fisherman he can wash his cap-strings in the Canglang stream. A cup of wine is worth more than a name after death, for the world weighs a hair heavier than Mount Tai. Parting is life's deepest sorrow and new friendship its deepest joy — the same for ancient and modern hearts. But wealth and office are not his business; he will go home and make his covenant with the white gulls. [Structure] The ci follows the shuidiaotou pattern: the upper stanza (four four-line sentences) moves from regret, through madness and self-cultivation, to purity; the lower stanza turns to values — fame against wine, the world's inverted scales, the eternal ache of parting — and closes on retirement. The arc runs from grief, to cleansing, to a final letting-go. [Imagery] The lyric lives on two planes: plants (orchids, angelica, chrysanthemums) that stand for inner purity, and waters (the Canglang stream, the gulls of the shore) that stand for withdrawal. Between them stands the wine cup, the poet's instrument for measuring a world out of joint.

【白话串讲】辛弃疾写《水调歌头·壬子三山被召陈端仁给事饮饯席上作》：“长恨复长恨，裁作短歌行”——“何人为我楚舞，听我楚狂声”——“余既滋兰九畹，又树蕙之百亩，秋菊更餐英”——“一杯酒，问何似，身后名”——“人间万事，毫发常重泰山轻”——他写被召赴京前的感慨。【意象与手法】此词写被召时的感慨，以长恨写感慨，是辛弃疾的名篇。上阕写长恨与自修：「长恨复长恨，裁作短歌行」写长恨复长恨、裁作短歌行，「何人为我楚舞，听我楚狂声」写何人为我楚舞、听我楚狂声，「余既滋兰九畹，又树蕙之百亩，秋菊更餐英」写余既滋兰九畹、又树蕙之百亩、秋菊更餐英，「门外沧浪水，可以濯吾缨」写门外沧浪水、可以濯吾缨；下阕写感慨：「一杯酒，问何似，身后名」写一杯酒、问何似、身后名，「人间万事，毫发常重泰山轻」写人间万事、毫发常重泰山轻，「悲莫悲生离别，乐莫乐新相识，儿女古今情」写悲莫悲生离别、乐莫乐新相识、儿女古今情，「富贵非吾事，归与白鸥盟」写富贵非吾事、归与白鸥盟。全词以长恨写感慨，写尽被召时的感慨，是辛弃疾的代表作。【情感与主旨】此词写被召时的感慨，以长恨写感慨，是辛弃疾的名篇。此词作于宋孝宗淳熙九年（1182）前后（壬子为绍熙三年，1192），辛弃疾被召入京，友人陈端仁在饯别席上作此词。此词写被召时的感慨：长恨复长恨，裁作短歌行——写长恨复长恨、裁作短歌行，写尽长恨的深沉；何人为我楚舞，听我楚狂声——写何人为我楚舞（用汉高祖「楚舞」之典）、听我楚狂声，写尽狂放；余既滋兰九畹，又树蕙之百亩，秋菊更餐英——写余既滋兰九畹、又树蕙之百亩、秋菊更餐英，用《离骚》之典写自修；门外沧浪水，可以濯吾缨——写门外沧浪水、可以濯吾缨，用沧浪之典写高洁；一杯酒，问何似，身后名——写一杯酒、问何似、身后名，用张翰之典写身后名；人间万事，毫发常重泰山轻——写人间万事、毫发常重泰山轻，写尽是非颠倒；悲莫悲生离别，乐莫乐新相识，儿女古今情——写悲莫悲生离别、乐莫乐新相识、儿女古今情，写尽离别；富贵非吾事，归与白鸥盟——写富贵非吾事、归与白鸥盟，写尽归隐之志。全词以长恨写感慨，写尽被召时的感慨，是理解辛弃疾仕隐矛盾词的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「长恨复长恨，裁作短歌行」写长恨的深沉；「余既滋兰九畹，又树蕙之百亩，秋菊更餐英」用《离骚》之典写自修；「人间万事，毫发常重泰山轻」写是非颠倒；「富贵非吾事，归与白鸥盟」写归隐之志；以及全词大量用典、以典写志的手法。

Background

Xin Qiji (1140–1207), courtesy name You'an, studio name Jiaxuan, was born in Licheng (present-day Jinan, Shandong). Carried north as a youth under Jurchen rule, he joined the anti-Jin rising of 1162 and rode south to the Song court with dreams of recovering the homeland; yet the court's appeasement policy left him kicking his heels in minor posts for two decades. From 1181 he retired to his lakeside villa at Daihu in Shangrao, Jiangxi. In 1192 (the renzi year) he was summoned back to court; at Sanshan (Fuzhou) his friend Chen Duanren, a supervising secretary, gave him a farewell banquet, and this lyric was composed for the occasion — poised exactly on the hinge between service and withdrawal.

此词写被召时的感慨，以长恨写感慨，是辛弃疾的名篇。辛弃疾（1140—1207），字幼安，号稼轩，历城（今山东济南）人，南宋伟大的爱国词人，与苏轼并称「苏辛」，是宋词豪放派的代表。此词作于宋孝宗绍熙三年（1192，壬子），辛弃疾被召入京（杭州），友人陈端仁在饯别席上作此词。辛弃疾一生力主抗金，然屡遭排挤，此次被召，仕隐矛盾于胸。此词写被召时的感慨：「长恨复长恨，裁作短歌行」写长恨复长恨、裁作短歌行——写尽长恨的深沉；「何人为我楚舞，听我楚狂声」写何人为我楚舞（用汉高祖「为我楚舞，吾为若楚歌」之典）、听我楚狂声——写尽狂放；「余既滋兰九畹，又树蕙之百亩，秋菊更餐英」用《离骚》之典写自修——写余既滋兰九畹、又树蕙之百亩、秋菊更餐英；「门外沧浪水，可以濯吾缨」用沧浪之典写高洁——写门外沧浪水、可以濯吾缨；「一杯酒，问何似，身后名」用张翰「使我有身后名，不如即时一杯酒」之典——写一杯酒、问何似、身后名；「人间万事，毫发常重泰山轻」写人间万事、毫发常重泰山轻——写尽是非颠倒；「悲莫悲生离别，乐莫乐新相识，儿女古今情」用《九歌》「悲莫悲兮生别离」之典——写悲莫悲生离别、乐莫乐新相识、儿女古今情；「富贵非吾事，归与白鸥盟」写富贵非吾事、归与白鸥盟——写尽归隐之志。全词以长恨写感慨，写尽被召时的感慨，是理解辛弃疾仕隐矛盾词的重要篇章。

Art

The lyric's power lies in its compressed allusiveness. 'Long regrets upon long regrets' doubles the phrase into a relentless beat that opens the song; 'dance the Chu dance for me, listen to my Chu madman's song' re-stages Han Gaozu's banquet lament, casting the poet as the unheard singer. The upper stanza's self-portrait is built entirely of Qu Yuan's plants — orchids, angelica, chrysanthemum petals — so that moral cultivation is shown as horticulture, and the Canglang water that washes the cap-strings washes the court's dust from him as well. In the lower stanza, 'a hair is counted weighty and Mount Tai light' is a single paradoxical inversion that condemns the whole age, and the closing 'pact with the white gulls' converts the political disappointment of a summons into the serenity of the recluse. Note the structural echo: the 'short song' cut from 'long regrets' frames a poem that does exactly that — a ninety-five-character shuidiaotou holding a lifetime's resentment.

此词的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以长恨开篇。「长恨复长恨，裁作短歌行」以长恨开篇——那「长恨复长恨」写尽长恨的绵延、「裁作短歌行」写尽以短歌写长恨，以长恨开篇写尽感慨的深沉。其二，以用典写自修。「余既滋兰九畹，又树蕙之百亩，秋菊更餐英」以用典写自修——那《离骚》滋兰树蕙、餐秋菊的典故写尽自修的高洁，以用典写尽自修；「门外沧浪水，可以濯吾缨」以沧浪之典写高洁——那沧浪濯缨的典故写尽高洁。其三，以议论写颠倒。「人间万事，毫发常重泰山轻」以议论写颠倒——那「毫发常重泰山轻」写尽是非的颠倒，以议论写尽对世道的批判。其四，以典收束写归隐。「富贵非吾事，归与白鸥盟」以典收束写归隐——那白鸥盟（鸥盟）的典故写尽归隐之志，以典收束，写尽仕隐矛盾的感慨。四重手法，使此词以长恨写感慨，写尽被召时的感慨，是辛弃疾的代表作。再从结构上看，此词以「长恨」起，以「白鸥盟」结，由恨而洁、由洁而隐，层层推进：起笔写长恨（长恨复长恨），继写狂放（何人为我楚舞，听我楚狂声），再写自修（滋兰树蕙、餐秋菊、濯吾缨），复写对世道的批判（毫发常重泰山轻），终以归隐作结（富贵非吾事，归与白鸥盟）。由恨转洁、由洁转隐的脉络，正见辛弃疾仕隐矛盾的层层深入。

Allusions

The allusions run through the poem like a thread. 'Dance the Chu dance' quotes Han Gaozu's banquet words 'dance the Chu dance for me, and I will sing the Chu song for you,' a hero's moment of pent-up grief. The 'Chu madman' is Jieyu of Chu, who sang his madness past Confucius. 'Nourish orchids on nine mu, plant a hundred mu of angelica, dine on autumn chrysanthemum petals' is lifted from Qu Yuan's 'Li Sao,' where raising fragrant plants allegorizes the cultivation of talent and virtue. The 'Canglang water' that 'can wash my cap-strings' comes from the Mencius — when the water is clear, wash your hat-tassels; when muddy, wash your feet. 'One cup of wine, what does it resemble? A name after death' reworks the Jin recluse Zhang Han's saying that a cup of wine now beats an immortal name later. 'No sorrow exceeds parting in life, no joy exceeds a new acquaintance' quotes Qu Yuan's 'Nine Songs — Young Sovereign of Fate.' 'Wealth and rank are not my affair' echoes Tao Yuanming's 'Return' — 'wealth and honor were never my wish.' The 'pact with the white gulls' is the reclusive vow of friendship with sea birds, who will not draw near to a scheming mind.

此词的用语深植于楚辞与归隐的传统。「长恨复长恨，裁作短歌行」令人想到「长恨」写长恨的意象——白居易《长恨歌》，也令人想到「短歌行」写乐府古题的意象——曹操《短歌行》；「何人为我楚舞」用汉高祖之典——《史记》高祖「为我楚舞，吾为若楚歌」，令人想到「楚舞」写楚舞的典故，也令人想到「何人为我」写无人为我的意象；「听我楚狂声」令人想到「楚狂」写楚狂接舆的典故——《论语》楚狂接舆歌而过孔子，也令人想到「楚狂声」写狂放的意象；「余既滋兰九畹，又树蕙之百亩，秋菊更餐英」用《离骚》之典——屈原「余既滋兰之九畹兮，又树蕙之百亩」「朝饮木兰之坠露兮，夕餐秋菊之落英」，令人想到「滋兰树蕙」写培育贤才的典故，也令人想到「餐秋菊之落英」写高洁的典故；「门外沧浪水，可以濯吾缨」用沧浪之典——《孟子》「沧浪之水清兮，可以濯吾缨」，令人想到「沧浪濯缨」写洁身自好的典故，也令人想到「濯吾缨」写濯缨的意象；「一杯酒，问何似，身后名」用张翰之典——张翰「使我有身后名，不如即时一杯酒」，令人想到「身后名」写身后之名的典故，也令人想到「一杯酒」写饮酒的意象；「人间万事，毫发常重泰山轻」令人想到「毫发」写毫发的意象——「千里之堤，溃于蚁穴」，也令人想到「泰山」写泰山的意象——「重于泰山」（司马迁），也令人想到「毫发常重泰山轻」写轻重颠倒的意象；「悲莫悲生离别，乐莫乐新相识」用《九歌》之典——屈原《九歌·少司命》「悲莫悲兮生别离，乐莫乐兮新相知」，令人想到「悲莫悲兮生别离」写离别的典故，也令人想到「乐莫乐兮新相知」写新知的典故；「儿女古今情」令人想到「儿女情长」写儿女情的意象，也令人想到「古今情」写古今之情的意象；「富贵非吾事」令人想到「富贵非吾愿」的意象——陶渊明《归去来兮辞》「富贵非吾愿，帝乡不可期」，也令人想到「非吾事」写非吾事的意象；「归与白鸥盟」令人想到「鸥盟」写与鸥鸟为盟的典故——「鸥鸟忘机」，也令人想到「归与」写归去的意象。全词化用楚舞、楚狂、离骚、沧浪、身后名、九歌、富贵非吾愿、鸥盟的典故与意象，以长恨写感慨，正是辛弃疾「豪放悲壮」而善用典、承楚辞归隐传统写感慨的本领。

Commentary

The lyric has been prized since the Qing as the supreme example of Xin Qiji's bold, sorrowful ci. Critics praised it for 'regret cut into a song — every line an allusion, every allusion molten into feeling.' Modern readers especially value 'Of all human affairs, a hair is counted weighty and Mount Tai light,' read as a verdict on the Southern Song court's priorities, and the closing vow of the gulls, which together with 'Water Dragon Chant — Climbing the Joyful Viewing Pavilion at Jiankang' ('he looked over his Wu hook, leaned on every railing, and no one understood the feeling of the height') defines the two poles of Xin Qiji's political heart — fury and withdrawal. Read with the 'Li Sao,' it also reveals the depth of his debt to Qu Yuan, whose plants and waters he made his own.

此词历来被推为辛弃疾仕隐矛盾词的名篇，也是南宋词用典的代表。历代论者对此词评价极高：清人评此词「以长恨写感慨，用典密集而浑融」；近人更指出「余既滋兰九畹，又树蕙之百亩，秋菊更餐英」用《离骚》之典写自修，「人间万事，毫发常重泰山轻」写是非颠倒，是此词的名句。在词史上，此词的特殊价值在于：它以十一句的长调写尽被召时的感慨——那长恨复长恨，那裁作的短歌行，那无人为我的楚舞，那楚狂声，那滋兰九畹，那树蕙百亩，那秋菊餐英，那沧浪濯缨，那身后名，那毫发常重泰山轻的人间万事，那悲莫悲生离别，那富贵非吾事，那白鸥盟，都写尽了辛弃疾被召时的感慨；那「富贵非吾事，归与白鸥盟」更写尽仕隐矛盾的归隐之志。此词与辛弃疾《水龙吟·登建康赏心亭》（「把吴钩看了，栏杆拍遍」）同为其用典名篇，一写「无人会、登临意」的悲愤，一写「富贵非吾事，归与白鸥盟」的归隐；又与屈原《离骚》「滋兰树蕙」的传统一脉相承，可见辛弃疾以屈原自比的用心。对于今日读者，此词是理解辛弃疾仕隐矛盾的窗口，也是中国词写感慨的经典——那白鸥盟，穿越千年，仍在诉说着稼轩的归隐之志。

Prosody

Form A ci lyric to the tune 'Prelude to Water Melody' (shuidiao getou), a long tune of ninety-five characters in two stanzas.词·水调歌头（长调）

Rhyme The lyric rhymes on xing, sheng, ying, ying, ming, qing, qing, meng — level tones of the geng and qing rhyme groups — a single unbroken rhyme, as the tune pattern requires, giving the poem a broad, somber resonance.水调歌头，押「行」「声」「英」「缨」「名」「轻」「情」「盟」韵（下平八庚、九青），一韵到底，音节悲壮

Tone pattern The tune's prescribed level-oblique cadences carry the emotion: the opening 'long regrets upon long regrets' drags heavy and slow; the Li Sao lines run quick with catalogued plants; the lower stanza's inversions and farewells strike sharp and level; the closing gull pact settles into a calm, decisive fall.此词为水调歌头，双调九十五字，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节悲壮，正合感慨的悲壮。

Reading note As a shuidiaotou, the form is famous for accommodating both philosophical discourse and impassioned declamation — Su Shi's own 'When will the moon be clear and bright?' set the precedent. Xin Qiji exploits exactly that: the upper stanza is pure lyric self-portrait, the lower stanza pure discursive judgment, and the single sustained rhyme binds fury to serenity.此词为水调歌头，双调，上阕「长恨复长恨，裁作短歌行。何人为我楚舞，听我楚狂声。余既滋兰九畹，又树蕙之百亩，秋菊更餐英。门外沧浪水，可以濯吾缨」，下阕「一杯酒，问何似，身后名。人间万事，毫发常重泰山轻。悲莫悲生离别，乐莫乐新相识，儿女古今情。富贵非吾事，归与白鸥盟」，押平声韵（行、声、英、缨、名、轻、情、盟），一韵到底，音节悲壮。全词以长恨写感慨：上阕写长恨与自修（长恨复长恨，裁作短歌行；何人为我楚舞，听我楚狂声；余既滋兰九畹，又树蕙之百亩，秋菊更餐英；门外沧浪水，可以濯吾缨），下阕写感慨与归隐（一杯酒，问何似，身后名；人间万事，毫发常重泰山轻；悲莫悲生离别，乐莫乐新相识，儿女古今情；富贵非吾事，归与白鸥盟）。诵读此词，宜以悲壮的语调读「长恨复长恨」的感慨，以慷慨的语调读「人间万事」的批判，结句「归与白鸥盟」要读得坚定而有余韵，方能传达出辛弃疾的悲壮。辛弃疾词以「豪放悲壮」著称，此词正是其用典长调的典范。

Line by line

人间万事，毫发常重泰山轻

Of all human affairs, a hair is counted weighty and Mount Tai light.

人间万事，毫发常重而泰山反轻。

Ten thousand affairs of the world: often a hair weighs heavy and Mount Tai is light.

此二句是全词写颠倒的核心，以毫发重写颠倒，以泰山轻写颠倒，写尽是非的颠倒，是千古名句。「人间万事」写人间万事——那「人间万事」写尽人间万事；「毫发常重泰山轻」写毫发常重而泰山反轻——那「毫发常重」写毫发常重、「泰山轻」写泰山反轻，写尽轻重的颠倒。这句的深意在于：它以「毫发常重泰山轻」的颠倒写尽是非的颠倒——人间万事，毫发常重而泰山反轻，那「毫发常重泰山轻」写尽轻重的颠倒——毫发本轻而常重，泰山本重而反轻，那「常重」「轻」写尽是非的颠倒；那「人间万事」写尽人间万事，那「毫发常重泰山轻」写尽轻重的颠倒，一写万事，一写颠倒，写尽对世道的批判——这正是辛弃疾对南宋朝廷「轻重倒置」（重小利而轻大义、重和议而轻抗金）的批判；那「毫发常重泰山轻」更暗用司马迁「人固有一死，或重于泰山，或轻于毫毛」之语而反转，写尽世道的颠倒；此二句以毫发重、泰山轻写尽是非的颠倒，也让此二句成为全词写颠倒的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「朝廷是非颠倒」，则失其凝练；唯以「毫发常重泰山轻」写颠倒，写尽对世道的批判，也让此二句成为全词写颠倒的核心。

The two lines are the core of the ci's inversion, writing the inversion through a hair weighs heavy and Mount Tai is light, exhausting the inversion of right and wrong, an immortal line. Ten thousand affairs of the world: often a hair weighs heavy and Mount Tai is light — the hair by nature light and yet made heavy, Mount Tai by nature heavy and yet made light; the often heavy and light write the inversion of the age. This is precisely Xin Qiji's critique of the Southern Song court's inverting the weights — weighing small gain over great duty, weighing peace over resistance; the line further secretly reverses Sima Qian's a man's death is either heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than a goose feather, writing the world's inversion. Were it said plainly the court confuses right and wrong, the compression would be lost; only through the hair and the Mount Tai is the critique exhausted, making the lines the core of the ci.

富贵非吾事，归与白鸥盟

Wealth and rank are not my affair; I shall go home and swear friendship with the white gulls.

富贵不是我的事，归去与白鸥为盟。

Wealth and rank are no affair of mine; let me return and plight my troth with the white gulls.

此二句是全词的收束，以富贵非吾事写志，以白鸥盟写归隐，写尽归隐之志，是千古名句。「富贵非吾事」写富贵不是我的事——那「富贵非吾事」用陶渊明「富贵非吾愿」之意，写尽富贵非吾志；「归与白鸥盟」写归去与白鸥为盟——那「归与」写归去、「白鸥盟」用鸥盟之典（与鸥鸟为盟，忘机无猜），写尽归隐之志。这句的深意在于：它以「富贵非吾事」的富贵非吾事与「归与白鸥盟」的白鸥盟，写尽归隐之志——富贵不是我的事，那「富贵非吾事」用陶渊明「富贵非吾愿」之意写尽富贵非吾志——我志不在富贵，那「非吾事」写尽富贵非吾志；归去与白鸥为盟，那「归与白鸥盟」用鸥盟之典写尽归隐之志——归去与白鸥为盟，忘机无猜，那「白鸥盟」写尽归隐的高洁；那「富贵非吾事」写尽富贵非吾志，那「归与白鸥盟」写尽归隐之志，一写非吾事，一写白鸥盟，写尽归隐之志——这正是辛弃疾被召入京而心系归隐的矛盾：富贵非吾事，归与白鸥盟；此二句以富贵非吾事、白鸥盟收束，写尽归隐之志，也让此二句成为全词收束的千古名句。若换作直说「我想归隐」，则失其用典；唯以「富贵非吾事」写志、「归与白鸥盟」写归隐，写尽归隐之志，也让此二句成为全词的收束。

The two lines are the close of the ci, writing the resolve through wealth and rank are no affair of mine and the reclusion through let me return and plight my troth with the white gulls, exhausting the will to withdraw, an immortal line. Wealth and rank are no affair of mine uses Tao Yuanming's wealth and rank are not my wish, writing that wealth is not his calling; let me return and plight my troth with the white gulls uses the gull-pledge allusion (plighting with the gulls, free of worldly guile), writing the will to withdraw. One writes the no-affair, one the gull-pledge, exhausting the reclusion. Were it said plainly I want to withdraw, the allusive grace would be lost; only through the no-affair and the gull-pledge is the reclusion exhausted, making the lines the immortal close of the ci.

Study

Word focus

长恨 Long regret — regret stretched to its limit, then doubled ('regrets upon regrets'). It is the poem's keynote: a lifetime of thwarted patriotic ambition at a court that will not fight, too vast to state plainly, hence 'cut into a short song.' 「长恨复长恨」之「长恨」是写感慨的关键词，一个「长恨」写尽长恨的深沉。长恨者，绵长之恨也。辛弃疾以「长恨复长恨」开篇，这个「长恨」至少有双重意味：其一，写恨之绵长——那「长恨复长恨」写长恨复长恨，那「长恨」写尽恨的绵长——恨之绵长，复又绵长，那「复长恨」写尽长恨的无尽；其二，写感慨之深——那「长恨」更是写感慨——长恨复长恨，正见对国事身世的深沉感慨，那「长恨」写尽感慨的深沉。以「长恨」开篇，正是辛弃疾写感慨的枢纽——若换作「深恨」「遗恨」等词，则或失其与「裁作短歌行」的配合，或失其写恨之绵长的复沓；唯「长恨」二字，以长恨复长恨写尽恨的绵长与感慨的深沉，与「裁作短歌行」的短歌相合，写尽被召时的感慨，也让「长恨复长恨」成为全词写感慨的开篇名句。

鸥盟 A pact of friendship with the gulls. From the reclusive tradition that gulls alight only beside a person free of cunning ('the gulls forget their wariness'), it is the classic emblem of withdrawal from office into purity. 「归与白鸥盟」之「鸥盟」是写归隐的关键词，一个「鸥盟」写尽归隐的高洁。鸥盟者，与鸥鸟为盟也，用「鸥鸟忘机」之典——人无机心，鸥鸟自与相亲。辛弃疾以「归与白鸥盟」写归隐，这个「鸥盟」至少有双重意味：其一，写归隐之洁——那「归与白鸥盟」写归去与白鸥为盟，那「鸥盟」写尽归隐的高洁——与鸥鸟为盟，忘机无猜，那「鸥盟」写尽归隐的高洁；其二，写志向之坚——那「鸥盟」更是写志向——归与白鸥盟，正见归隐之志的坚定，那「鸥盟」写尽归隐之志。以「鸥盟」写归隐，正是辛弃疾写志向的枢纽——若换作「鸥鸟为伴」「白鹭为友」等词，则或失其「鸥鸟忘机」的典故，或失其写盟誓的凝练；唯「鸥盟」二字，以与鸥鸟为盟写尽归隐的高洁与志向的坚定，与「富贵非吾事」的非吾事相合，写尽归隐之志，也让「归与白鸥盟」成为全词写归隐的名句。