宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
八声甘州·寿阳楼八公山作
Eight Beats of Ganzhou Song: On Shouyang Tower by Bagong Mountain
故都迷岸草，望长淮、依然绕孤城。
想乌衣年少，芝兰秀发，戈戟云横。
坐看骄兵南渡，沸浪骇奔鲸。
转盼东流水，一顾功成。
千载八公山下，尚断崖草木，遥拥峥嵘。
漫云涛吞吐，无处问豪英。
信劳生、空成今古，笑我来、何事怆遗情。
东山老，可堪岁晚，独听桓筝。
I gaze at the long Huai, still circling the lone town.
I think of the youths of Black-Robe Lane,
Fragrant as orchids, splendid as jade trees,
Their halberds and spears ranged like clouds.
They sat and watched the arrogant troops cross south,
Boiling waves startling the fleeing whales.
A turn of the eyes toward the east-flowing stream,
One glance, and the deed was done.
A thousand years below Bagong Mountain,
Still the broken cliffs and trees
Remotely enfold the towering heights.
Vainly the clouds and waves billow and churn,
Nowhere to ask of the heroes of old.
I believe this toilsome life, empty through past and present,
They laugh at me—why should I sorrow over vanished traces?
The old man of East Mountain,
How can he bear, in late years,
To listen alone to Huan's zither?
Meaning
Climbing Shouyang Tower and viewing the ancient battlefield of the Fei River, Ye Mengde recalls the youthful heroes of the Eastern Jin who defeated the Former Qin army, then laments that in his own time no such heroes exist. The poem shifts from the brilliance of past victory to the loneliness of the present, comparing himself to Xie An, the aged statesman who achieved greatness but was later neglected.
故都的岸草迷蒙苍茫，望向长长的淮河，依然环绕着孤城。想起当年乌衣巷的少年才俊，如芝兰玉树般风采焕发，戈戟如云纵横。坐看骄横的敌军南渡，骇浪如奔鲸翻腾。转瞬东流水去，一举成就奇功。 千载之后的八公山下，依旧是断崖草木，遥遥簇拥着峥嵘山势。任凭云涛吞吐变幻，却无处寻问往昔的豪杰英雄。想来劳碌人生、空成古今兴亡，可笑我啊，为何还要为往事悲怆伤情。东山旧隐的谢安已然老去，怎堪岁月迟暮，独自聆听那一曲桓筝。
Appreciation
This ci, titled 'Eight Beats of Ganzhou Song: On Shouyang Tower by Bagong Mountain', is a nostalgic and patriotic work by Ye Mengde, a Southern Song poet of the pro-war faction. Shouyang is present-day Shou County in Anhui, and Bagong Mountain is the site of the Battle of the Fei River. The first half recalls the past: starting with 'the ancient capital's shores are lost in misty grass,' it creates a desolate, historical atmosphere. 'Gazing at the long Huai, still circling the lone town' leads from the present scene to memory. The lines on the 'youths of Black-Robe Lane' depict Xie Xuan and other young commanders as refined and heroic, their weapons like clouds. 'Watching the arrogant troops cross south' and 'boiling waves startling the fleeing whales' evoke the rout of Fu Jian's army. 'One glance, and the deed was done' praises the swift victory. The second half turns from history to the present: the mountains and cliffs remain, but the heroes are gone—'nowhere to ask of the heroes of old.' The concluding lines compare himself to Xie An, expressing his own unfulfilled ambition and isolation. The poem is vigorous and desolate, a major work of Southern Song patriotic ci.
【白话串讲】 叶梦得登八公山（淝水之战古战场）：“想乌衣年少，芝兰秀发，戈戟云横”——他想当年谢玄等少年将军。“坐看骄兵南渡，沸浪骇奔鲸”——“千载八公山下，尚断崖草木，遥拥峥嵘”——“无处问豪英”——他找不到当年的英雄。他登高，想的是收复中原。 【意象与手法】 上片怀古，“故都迷岸草”起笔营造苍凉的历史纵深感，“想乌衣年少”以芝兰秀发、戈戟云横刻画谢玄等少年将领的英武；“坐看骄兵南渡、沸浪骇奔鲸”写前秦溃败。下片由古思今，“千载八公山下”依旧断崖草木，“无处问豪英”感叹当世无抗敌豪杰；结拍“东山老、可堪岁晚、独听桓筝”以谢安自况。上片雄健、下片沉郁，刚柔相济。 【情感与主旨】 叶梦得登临寿阳楼、凭吊八公山之作，将怀古与伤时打成一片，抒写壮志难酬、遭主和派冷落的孤愤，是南宋爱国词的重要篇章，其沉郁顿挫已开辛派词风之先河。 【名句点睛】 常考“坐看骄兵南渡，沸浪骇奔鲸”以骄兵奔鲸写淝水之捷；“无处问豪英”以问豪英写当世无人。
Background
This ci was written by Ye Mengde (1077–1148), a Southern Song official and poet of the pro-war faction, when he climbed Shouyang Tower and paid homage to Bagong Mountain. Shouyang is today's Shou County in Anhui; Bagong Mountain lies north of the city and was the site of the 383 AD Battle of the Fei River, where the Eastern Jin's 80,000 troops defeated Fu Jian's Former Qin army of over 800,000—a classic example of winning against overwhelming odds. After the fall of the Northern Song, Ye Mengde served the Southern Song and advocated resistance against the Jurchen Jin. At the time he wrote this poem, the court was dominated by peace advocates, and the Jin army was pressing on the border. Climbing the tower and seeing the same mountains and rivers, he recalled the glorious victory of the past to contrast with the current lack of capable leaders. The poem is essentially a lament for the times, using the ancients' success to highlight the present's failures. The final lines, 'The old man of East Mountain, how can he bear, in late years, to listen alone to Huan's zither?' use Xie An as a self-comparison: Xie An, after his great achievement, was suspected by the emperor and moved to tears when Huan Yi played a plaintive song. Ye Mengde thus expresses his own frustration at being sidelined by the peace faction.
《八声甘州·寿阳楼八公山作》是南宋主战派词人叶梦得登临寿阳楼、凭吊八公山之作。寿阳即今安徽寿县，八公山在寿阳城北，是公元三八三年淝水之战的古战场——东晋以八万北府兵，大破前秦苻坚八十余万大军，是中国军事史上以少胜多的经典。叶梦得（1077—1148）历仕哲宗至高宗朝，南渡后力主抗金，曾兼总四路漕计、筹措军饷，是少有的有政事才略的文人词家。 此词写于南宋初年金兵压境、朝廷主和之声甚嚣之际。叶梦得登寿阳楼，望长淮孤城，眼前是千年不变的山水，心头却是当下危急的时局。他想起的，不是风景，而是当年谢安、谢玄在八公山下大败骄敌的壮举——那是一个「以弱胜强、挽狂澜于既倒」的范本，恰好对照眼前南宋「有豪杰而不用、有战机而坐失」的窝囊。所以这首怀古词，骨子里是伤时：借古人的功成，照今人的无策。 更要理解叶梦得的身份焦虑。他晚年自号「石林居士」，却始终未能忘情恢复，屡遭主和派排挤。结拍「东山老，可堪岁晚，独听桓筝」，以谢安自况——谢安晚年功高见疏，桓伊抚筝歌怨，谢安泣下；叶梦得借此写自己壮志难酬、遭冷落的孤愤。读懂这层自况，才明白上片的雄健不是单纯的颂古，而是「恨今人无此本事」的伏笔；下片的沉郁也不是单纯的悲秋，而是「我本可为此事却不为所用」的隐痛。一首怀古词，写成了南宋初期主战派的共同心声。
Art
The art of this ci lies in weaving nostalgia for the past with grief for the present, with a vigorous first half and a melancholy second half. The opening 'the ancient capital's shores are lost in misty grass' creates a vast, desolate historical space. The description of the 'youths of Black-Robe Lane' moves from their refined appearance (like orchids and jade trees) to their martial display (halberds like clouds), then to the rapid victory. The second half uses the constancy of nature—the cliffs and trees still standing—to contrast with the disappearance of heroes. The word 'vainly' (man) conveys futility. The final self-comparison to Xie An compresses the poet's personal frustration into a historical echo. The structure uses the permanence of landscape against the transience of human brilliance, making the nostalgia not a hollow lament but a sharp critique of the present. The use of allusions is apt and unforced, and the rhythm is both coherent and varied, making Ye Mengde a forerunner of the 'somber and forceful' style in Southern Song patriotic ci.
此词的艺术，在「怀古与伤时打成一片」，上片雄健、下片沉郁，刚柔相济，以巨大的历史纵深反衬当下的逼仄。上片写古，起笔故都迷岸草，望长淮、依然绕孤城，以苍凉的景物铺开历史空间——「故都」「长淮」「孤城」，三个词把地理与兴亡叠在一起，迷字更添迷茫；随即想乌衣年少三句，镜头切进当年：乌衣巷的少年才俊（谢玄等）如芝兰玉树，戈戟如云，是东晋军威的特写；坐看骄兵南渡、沸浪骇奔鲸，写前秦苻坚溃败的狼狈；转盼东流水、一顾功成，以极快节奏收束奇功，爽利如刀。 下片由古转今，千载八公山下，尚断崖草木，遥拥峥嵘，山水依旧而豪杰已矣；漫云涛吞吐，无处问豪英，以云涛的变幻反衬当世无人，一个「漫」字写尽徒劳与怅惘；信劳生、空成今古，以反语自解——劳碌一生，不过成全了古今兴亡的空叹；结拍东山老、可堪岁晚、独听桓筝，以谢安自况，把个人遭际压进历史的余音里。 全词最见匠心的，是用「景之恒」对照「人之变」：千载山水如故，豪英却无处可问，今人更不如古人。这种以古衬今、以雄衬郁的结构，让怀古不落入吊古的虚空，而重重砸在当下。用典贴切而无堆砌，气脉一贯而顿挫相间，是南宋爱国词「沉郁顿挫」一脉的先行者。
Allusions
This ci is dense with allusions centered on the Battle of the Fei River and the story of Xie An. 'Bagong Mountain' and 'Shouyang Tower' mark the battlefield. 'Youths of Black-Robe Lane' refers to Xie Xuan and other young generals; Black-Robe Lane was where the Wang and Xie aristocratic families lived. 'Fragrant as orchids' uses the Shishuo Xinyu anecdote where Xie An praised his nephews as 'orchids and jade trees growing in the courtyard.' 'Halberds like clouds' depicts military might. 'The arrogant troops' and 'fleeing whales' refer to Fu Jian's boastful army and their chaotic retreat. 'One glance, and the deed was done' compresses the victory into a moment of calm. 'The old man of East Mountain' is Xie An, who retired to East Mountain before serving and defeating Fu Jian, only to be later suspected. 'Huan's zither' refers to Huan Yi playing a plaintive song that made Xie An weep. Ye Mengde uses these allusions not to show off learning, but to compress the history of Eastern Jin resistance into lessons for his own time: when there were heroes like the Xie family, victory came in a glance; now, with the Huai River and the lone city, there is nowhere to ask for such heroes.
此词用典密集而精当，核心是淝水之战与谢安故事。八公山、寿阳楼点明古战场；乌衣年少指谢安侄谢玄等北府兵将领，乌衣巷是东晋王谢世家居处，以「乌衣年少」写其年少才俊、风流蕴藉；芝兰秀发用《世说新语》谢安赞子弟「芝兰玉树，欲使其生于庭阶」之典，喻谢家子弟之秀拔；戈戟云横写军容之盛。 坐看骄兵南渡、沸浪骇奔鲸，写前秦苻坚「投鞭断流」的骄态与溃败如鲸奔；转盼东流水、一顾功成，化用李白「问以经济策，不知有风尘」一脉的轻捷，也暗合淝水之战胜败转瞬的史实。下片东山老用谢安典故：谢安隐居东山，后出仕破苻坚，功成却遭忌；桓筝用桓伊事——桓伊抚筝歌怨诗，谢安感泣。叶梦得以「东山老」「独听桓筝」自况，既写功高见疏的孤愤，也写老来无所施为的悲凉。 漫云涛吞吐化用李白「云涛涨江湖」气势；无处问豪英则呼应上片乌衣年少，古今对照。这些典不是掉书袋，而是把一部东晋抗敌史，压缩成几个能给南宋人上课的镜头：当年有谢家子弟、有东山之势，便能一顾功成；如今有淮河孤城，却「无处问豪英」。典之用，全在为「伤时」服务。
Commentary
In the history of Southern Song ci, this piece is a somber and powerful work that can stand alongside the patriotic lyrics of Xin Qiji and Zhang Xiaoxiang. Written during the transition from the Northern Song's elegant restraint to the Southern Song's desolate vigor, Ye Mengde's style shows 'heroism within simplicity.' The poem opens a path for the Xin school. Critics often use this piece to illustrate the model of 'nostalgia as criticism of the present.' It does not directly attack the peace faction, but through the contrast of ancient success and present failure, it delivers a heavier blow. Ye Mengde was not a mere frustrated literatus; he had real military and administrative experience, so his sigh that 'there is no one to ask about heroes' carries a practical resentment. The final self-laughing line 'I believe this toilsome life, empty through past and present' is a surface resignation hiding deep pain. Reading this alongside Zhang Xiaoxiang's 'Liuzhou Getou' and Xin Qiji's 'Yongyule' shows the evolution of patriotic ci from nostalgia to outcry, with Ye Mengde at its source.
《八声甘州·寿阳楼八公山作》在叶梦得词里，是与辛弃疾、张孝祥爱国词相辉映的沉郁之作。南宋初期，词坛正由北宋的清丽婉约转向苍凉豪放，叶梦得身处转折，其词「于简淡中出雄杰」，上片写古之壮、下片写今之郁，开了辛派词风之先河。近人论南宋词，多以此首说明「怀古即伤时」的爱国词范式——它不直接骂和议，而借古人之成反衬今人之败，含蓄而沉重。 值得分辨的是叶梦得的特殊身份。他不是纯粹的落魄文人，而是实掌过军政的能臣，所以词中「无处问豪英」的慨叹，带有一份「我本可为主帅」的切实不平，比一般文人的空感慨更有重量。清人张惠言论词主「意内言外」，以此词观之，其「意」正在恢复之志与见疏之愤，其「言」则在云涛孤城之间，可谓沉郁而不衰飒。 也有论者指出，此词下片「信劳生、空成今古，笑我来、何事怆遗情」，以「笑」字自解，表面旷达，内里酸楚，是东坡「人生如梦」一脉的化用，却因身当危局而更显沉痛。它与张孝祥《六州歌头》、辛弃疾《永遇乐·京口北固亭怀古》并读，可见南宋爱国词如何从「怀古」走向「伤时」再走向「呼喊」——叶梦得这一首，恰是那条河流的上游。
Prosody
Line by line
想乌衣年少，芝兰秀发，戈戟云横。
I think of the youths of Black-Robe Lane—fragrant as orchids, flourishing as jade trees—their halberds and spears ranged like clouds. These are the young generals like Xie Xuan, whose refinement and martial prowess won the Battle of the Fei River.
想起当年乌衣巷的少年才俊，如芝兰玉树般风采焕发，戈戟如云纵横。
I think of the Wuyi Lane youths, fragrant orchids and jade trees in their bloom, spears and halberds arrayed like clouds.
这三句是上片怀古的特写镜头，写的是淝水之战中谢玄等北府兵少年将领的英武。乌衣年少点出谢家子弟，乌衣巷是东晋王谢世家的符号，一个「年少」把胜仗的青春气写活；芝兰秀发用《世说》谢安赞子弟「芝兰玉树」的典，写其风采秀拔，不是粗豪而是清贵；戈戟云横则陡然拉开军容——戈戟如云、纵横原野，是东晋军威的全景。三句由人而姿、由姿而阵，由秀雅到雄阔，节奏层层推开，把一场以少胜多的奇迹，先写成一群好看又好用的年轻人。叶梦得写古人之壮，实则是为下片「今人无此」蓄势：当年乌衣巷里有这样的少年能一顾功成，如今八公山下却「无处问豪英」，对照之痛全在这一「想」字里——想，是追忆，也是怅惘。
The three lines are the close-up of the first stanza's meditation on the past, writing the martial bearing of the young Beifu Army generals like Xie Xuan in the Battle of the Fei River. Wuyi Lane youths marks the Xie family's sons — Wuyi Lane is the emblem of the Eastern Jin Wang and Xie houses, the single youths writing the youthful spirit of the victory; fragrant orchids and jade trees in their bloom uses the New Account allusion of Xie An praising his kin as orchids and jade trees, writing their refined, graceful bloom, not rough boldness but noble refinement; spears and halberds arrayed like clouds suddenly draws the military array — spears and halberds like clouds across the plain, the panorama of the Eastern Jin might. Three lines from person to bearing to array, from elegance to grandeur, the rhythm unfolding layer on layer, writing the miracle of the few defeating the many first as a band of good-looking, good-for-it young men. Ye Mengde writes the ancients' boldness, in fact to store force for the second stanza's the modern men lack this: once the Wuyi Lane had such youths who won the victory with one glance, and now below Bagong Mountain there is nowhere to ask of the heroes, the pain of the contrast all within the single think — think is the recall, and the wistfulness.
坐看骄兵南渡，沸浪骇奔鲸。
They sat and watched the arrogant troops cross south, boiling waves startling the fleeing whales. The 'arrogant troops' are Fu Jian's army; the 'whales' are a metaphor for the disordered, panicked retreating forces.
坐看骄横的敌军南渡，骇浪如奔鲸翻腾。
Sitting at ease, they watched the arrogant host cross the river; the boiling waves, the terrified running whales.
这两句写前秦苻坚的骄态与溃败，是上片由盛转胜的转折。坐看二字极妙——它不是慌张地御敌，而是从容地「看」，写出东晋方面的镇定与胜负已握；骄兵指南渡的苻坚大军，一个「骄」字点出其败因（骄兵必败）；沸浪骇奔鲸以奔鲸翻腾喻溃军惊骇流窜，既是水战之状，也是败势之喻。叶梦得把一场百万之众的崩塌，写成「坐看」间「奔鲸」的画，爽利如刀，暗含对谢安「小儿辈已破贼」式从容的倾服。这一联的痛快，愈显下片「今人不能」的憋屈——古人坐看骄兵成奇功，今人面对金兵却只能「漫云涛吞吐、无处问豪英」。一坐一看之间，是千年兴衰的镜。
The two lines write Fu Jian's arrogance and rout, the turning of the first stanza from glory to victory. Sitting at ease is especially fine — not the flustered defense, but the calm watching, writing the Eastern Jin side's composure and the victory already in hand; the arrogant host means the invading Fu Jian army, the single arrogant marking the cause of defeat (the arrogant army must fall); the boiling waves, the terrified running whales figures the routed army's panic through the running whales, at once the water-battle scene and the image of the rout. Ye Mengde writes the collapse of a host of a million into a picture of running whales within the sitting-at-ease watching, crisp as a knife, secretly showing his admiration for Xie An's composure of the children have broken the rebels. The exhilaration of the couplet the more sets off the second stanza's the modern men cannot: the ancients sat at ease and the arrogant host became a miracle, and the modern men facing the Jin can only the clouds and surges roll on, nowhere to ask of the heroes. Between the sit and the look, the mirror of a thousand years of rise and fall.
转盼东流水，一顾功成。
A turn of the eyes toward the east-flowing stream, one glance, and the deed was done. The victory was achieved in the time it takes to glance, emphasizing the ease and brilliance of the Eastern Jin commanders.
转瞬东流水去，一举成就奇功。
In a turning of the eye, the waters flow east; one glance, and the victory was won.
上片以这八字收束奇功，节奏快到几乎听不见过程。转盼是转眼之间，东流水既实写淝水，也喻苻坚之师如流水东去不可回；一顾功成写谢安运筹、一战定局，轻得像是回头一望便成了。这八个字把一场改变南北格局的大捷，压缩成一次从容的回眸，反衬出东晋君臣的镇定与才略。叶梦得用「转盼」「一顾」这种极轻的动词，写极重的历史胜利，举重若轻，正见其笔力。而它的潜台词是：功成只需「一顾」，前提是得有谢安这样的豪英；如今「无处问豪英」，便连「转盼」的从容都没有。这一联的爽利，是全词最亮的光，也最照出下片的暗——古人的光越亮，今人的影越长。
The first stanza closes on these eight characters of the miraculous victory, the rhythm so fast the process is almost unheard. A turning of the eye means the twinkling; the waters flow east is at once the Fei River itself and the image of Fu Jian's host flowing east, unrecoverable; one glance, and the victory was won writes Xie An's planning, the battle deciding the issue, as light as a backward glance and done. The eight characters compress a victory that changed the north-south order into one composed backward glance, setting off the Eastern Jin ruler and minister's composure and talent. Ye Mengde uses the ultra-light verbs turning and one glance to write the ultra-heavy historical victory, the weight handled with ease, precisely the strength of his brush. And its undertone: the victory needed but one glance, the premise being the presence of a hero like Xie An; now nowhere to ask of the heroes, and even the turning's composure is gone. The crispness of the couplet is the brightest light of the ci, and the one that most lights up the second stanza's darkness — the brighter the ancients' light, the longer the modern men's shadow.
漫云涛吞吐，无处问豪英。
Vainly the clouds and waves billow and churn, nowhere to ask of the heroes of old. The eternal natural spectacle contrasts with the disappearance of human greatness, and there is no one left to consult.
任凭云涛吞吐变幻，却无处寻问往昔的豪杰英雄。
Vainly the clouds and surges roll on; nowhere to ask of the heroes.
下片过片这两句，是怀古转入伤时的关键。漫是徒然、任凭，云涛吞吐写八公山下江淮云水变幻无常，景依旧而人已非；无处问豪英则一声断喝——当年乌衣年少、芝兰戈戟的豪杰，如今到哪儿去问？一个「无处」把上片的辉煌彻底抹成虚空。叶梦得在此把历史纵深拉到极致：千载山水如故，豪英却再不可问，何况当下危急，朝中竟无抗敌之人。这一联的痛，不在吊古，而在伤今——它借「古有豪英」反证「今无豪英」，比直写「朝中无人」重十倍。漫字尤沉，写尽徒劳与怅惘：云涛自吞吐，豪英自消失，我自独立楼上，问而无答。这是南宋主战派最普遍的困境，也被这一句写得最透。
The second stanza's opening two lines are the turning point of the meditation on the past into the grief over the present. Vainly means in vain, recklessly; the clouds and surges roll on writes the Jiang-Huai waters below Bagong Mountain changing without end, the scene as of old and the people no more; nowhere to ask of the heroes is the sharp cry — the Wuyi youths, the orchids and spears of the old, where can they be asked of now? The single nowhere wipes the first stanza's glory into the void. Ye Mengde here pulls the historical depth to the extreme: a thousand years of mountains and rivers as of old, and the heroes beyond asking, let alone the present crisis, the court without a fighter against the enemy. The couplet's pain lies not in the mourning of the past, but in the grief over the present — it uses the ancients had heroes to prove the modern men have none, ten times heavier than directly writing the court is without men. The word vainly is especially heavy, writing the futility and the wistfulness: the clouds and surges roll on, the heroes vanish, I stand alone on the tower, asking and unanswered. This is the most common plight of the Southern Song war party, and written to the utmost in this line.
东山老，可堪岁晚，独听桓筝。
The old man of East Mountain—how can he bear, in late years, to listen alone to Huan's zither? He compares himself to Xie An, who after his great deeds was isolated and moved by Huan Yi's plaintive song, mirroring Ye Mengde's own neglected condition.
东山旧隐的谢安已然老去，怎堪岁月迟暮，独自聆听那一曲桓筝。
The Dongshan man old — how to bear the year's end, alone, listening to the Huan zither?
结拍三句是全词的余音，也是叶梦得的夫子自况。东山老用谢安典——谢安隐居东山后出仕破苻坚，功成却遭孝武帝疏忌；桓筝用桓伊抚筝歌怨、谢安感泣的故实。叶梦得以「东山老」自比，写自己晚年功高见疏、壮志难酬，岁月迟暮，只能独听桓筝，把孤愤咽进一曲里。可堪是「怎忍、哪堪」，独听是无人与共——一个「独」字，把主战派被冷落的寂寞写满。这三句表面写谢安，实写自己：上片写谢家子弟一顾功成，下片写谢安老来独听桓筝，历史的圆转，恰是词人命运的预演。以古人之曲收今人之泪，沉郁顿挫，余味无穷，是南宋爱国词「借古抒愤」的巅峰笔法，也开启了辛派「凭谁问」一脉的先声。
The closing three lines are the ci's aftertone, and Ye Mengde's own self-portrait. The Dongshan man old uses the Xie An allusion — Xie An, after his retirement on Dongshan, came forth and defeated Fu Jian, yet after the victory was distanced and suspected by Emperor Xiaowu; the Huan zither uses the story of Huan Yi playing the zither and singing his grievance, and Xie An weeping. Ye Mengde takes the Dongshan man for himself, writing his own old age, high in merit and yet distanced, the ambition unfulfilled, the years at their end, only alone listening to the Huan zither, swallowing the lone grief in one tune. How to bear means how can it endure; alone listens is no one to share — the single alone fills the loneliness of the war party's being left out. The three lines on the surface write Xie An, in truth write himself: the first stanza writes the Xie family's sons winning the victory with one glance, the second stanza writes Xie An old, alone listening to the Huan zither, the circle of history precisely the rehearsal of the poet's fate. Closing the present man's tears in the ancient man's tune, somber and restrained, the aftertone unending, the peak of the Southern Song patriotic ci's borrowing the past to express the grief, and the first note of the Xin-school's who asks?
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Zhang Yan's ci is elegant and melancholic, focusing on individual sorrow and memory in a world of change. Ye Mengde's ci, in the same tune, is grand and patriotic, using historical victories to condemn the present. This contrast highlights the flexibility of the ci form and the different concerns of poets in different circumstances.
同是八声甘州，叶梦得写寿阳楼怀古，气雄而志在恢复；张炎写玉关踏雪，清空而意在身世。叶词是主战派的伤时孤愤，张词是遗民的伤身悲凉——一在「天下事」里沉郁，一在「个人愁」里婉转。并读可见南宋词两种典型：一种把词当恢复之呼，一种把词当亡国之泪。同调异怀，恰是时代把词人的笔，从「城」引向「愁」。
《永遇乐·京口北固亭怀古》 Yongyule·Meditation on the Past at Beigu Pavilion in Jingkou 辛弃疾 · 同怀古伤时，叶开其先，辛大成之 Both are patriotic poems using history to critique the present, but while Xin Qiji's is more direct and intense, Ye Mengde's is more restrained and melancholy.Xin Qiji's poem recalls Sun Quan and Liu Yu to protest the Southern Song's timid policy. Ye Mengde's poem recalls Xie An's victory to lament the lack of capable generals. Both share the structure of 'nostalgia as critique,' but Ye's tone is somber and implicit, while Xin's is passionate and explicit. Reading them together shows the evolution of patriotic ci from restraint to outcry, with Ye as an early forerunner.
辛弃疾《永遇乐》借孙权刘裕刘义隆怀古，讽南宋草率北伐；叶梦得此词借谢安淝水怀古，伤南宋无人抗敌。二者同是「怀古即伤时」的爱国词范式，叶在南宋初期开其风，辛在中期集其成。不同在：叶词沉郁含蓄，以「无处问豪英」暗讽；辛词慷慨淋漓，以「凭谁问」直呼。并读可见爱国词从「含蓄孤愤」到「奔放呼喊」的演进，叶梦得正是那上游的一脉。
《于潜僧绿筠轩》 《于潜僧绿筠轩》 苏轼 · 同出宋人笔墨，一沉郁一诙谐，见宋调两极 Related readingCompare the themes, imagery, tone, and emotional movement of the two works.
叶梦得此词沉郁苍凉，苏轼《于潜僧绿筠轩》诙谐旷达，同是宋人，气象却一庄一谐。叶在登临中把历史压成孤愤，苏在饭桌边把竹聊成知己——一个向外扛着天下事，一个向内守着清高趣。并读可见宋人精神的两极：顺境（或旷达）中以理趣化解，忧时中以豪气撑持；同是文人，一个把山写成知己，一个把竹写成知己，物我关系一诙一庄，恰是宋诗宋词「尚意」传统的两种面孔。