All poems

宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

卜算子·咏梅

Song of Divination: Ode to the Plum Blossom

陆游

Lu You

咏物Object portrayal 哲理Philosophy 抒情Lyric feeling

驿外断桥边，寂寞开无主。
已是黄昏独自愁，更著风和雨。
无意苦争春，一任群芳妒。
零落成泥碾作尘，只有香如故。

Beyond the post road, by the broken bridge, it blooms in lonely solitude, its own master none.
At dusk it grieves by itself, and then the wind and rain come down.
It means not to fight for spring, but leaves the hundred flowers to their envy.
Fallen to dust, ground into the earth, its fragrance lingers still the same.

Listen

Meaning

A plum blossom blooms desolately by a broken bridge beyond the post station, unattended and unloved; at dusk it sorrows alone beneath wind and rain. It never strives for spring yet is envied by the other flowers, and even when it falls, turns to mud and is ground to dust, its fragrance remains unchanged. The poem uses the plum to figure the poet's own unyielding patriotism and pure character amid persecution.

驿亭之外的断桥旁边，梅花寂寞地开放着，无人过问、无人赏爱。已经是黄昏时分，它独自忧愁，更遭受着风雨的侵袭。它无意苦苦争夺春光，任凭那些百花嫉妒。梅花零落成泥，又被碾作尘土，只有它的清香依然如故。

Appreciation

This lyric is a masterpiece of Lu You's object-portrayal poetry, using the plum as a self-image. Through escalating images—desolate place, lonely dusk, jealous rivals, utter destruction—it builds to the unchanging fragrance, merging object and self. It voices the poet's life-long devotion to resisting the Jin and restoring the north, repeatedly sidelined yet never surrendering his resolve.

【白话串讲】陆游写卜算子咏梅：“驿外断桥边，寂寞开无主”。“已是黄昏独自愁，更著风和雨”——“无意苦争春，一任群芳妒”——“零落成泥碾作尘，只有香如故”——他借梅写自己的孤高。【意象与手法】全词以梅喻人，托物言志：驿外断桥写环境的荒凉，黄昏风雨写处境的艰难，争春被妒写遭遇的排挤，成泥碾尘写摧残之烈，而「香如故」写品格的坚贞，层层推进，咏物而不滞于物。【情感与主旨】陆游借咏梅抒写自己一生力主抗金、屡遭排挤却矢志不渝的情怀。梅的孤高寂寞、饱经摧残而芳香不改，正是诗人爱国精神与高洁品格的自况。【名句点睛】常考「零落成泥碾作尘，只有香如故」以梅喻志、身摧而志不改的立意，以及全词托物言志的手法。

Background

'Song of Divination: Ode to the Plum Blossom' is a famous piece among Lu You's object poems. Lu You, courtesy name Wu-guan, art name Fang-weng, from Yuezhou Shanyin (today's Shaoxing, Zhejiang), was a great Southern Song patriotic poet. He spent his life advocating resistance against the Jin and recovery of the central plains, yet was repeatedly marginalized by the capitulationist faction and had a turbulent career. The exact year of this lyric is uncertain, but from its meaning it belongs to his later years after many political storms. The plum, in traditional culture, symbolizes nobility, constancy, and proud solitude; Lu You loved plum all his life and wrote over a hundred plum poems, of which this is the representative. 'Beyond the post road, by the broken bridge, it blooms in lonely solitude, its own master none' writes the plum born in a desolate place, unattended—a portrait of Lu You cast aside by the court with no way to serve his country; 'at dusk it grieves by itself, and then the wind and rain come down' writes its lonely sorrow and the assault of wind and rain, hinting at the poet's isolation and suffering in political storms; 'it means not to fight for spring, but leaves the hundred flowers to their envy' writes the plum's not striving for spring yet being envied—the poet's refusal to curry favor and his sidelining by petty men; 'fallen to dust, ground into the earth, its fragrance lingers still the same' uses the unchanged fragrance to write the unmoved will. The whole lyric uses the plum as a self-image with profound implication, and is key to understanding Lu You's inner world.

《卜算子·咏梅》是陆游咏物词中的名篇。陆游字务观，号放翁，越州山阴（今浙江绍兴）人，南宋伟大的爱国诗人。他一生力主抗金北伐、恢复中原，却屡遭投降派排挤，仕途坎坷。此词的具体作年虽难确考，但从词意看，当为陆游历经宦海浮沉、饱受打击之后的抒怀之作。梅花在传统文化中象征高洁、坚贞与孤傲，陆游一生爱梅，写有咏梅诗百余首，此词是其咏梅词的代表作。词中「驿外断桥边，寂寞开无主」写梅花生于荒凉之地、无人赏爱，正是陆游被朝廷弃置、报国无门处境的写照；「已是黄昏独自愁，更著风和雨」写梅花的孤愁与风雨之侵，暗喻诗人在政治风雨中的孤立与磨难；「无意苦争春，一任群芳妒」写梅花不争春而遭嫉妒，正是诗人不趋炎附势而遭小人排挤的处境；「零落成泥碾作尘，只有香如故」则以香之不改写志之不移。全词以梅自况，寄托深远，是理解陆游精神世界的重要作品。

Art

Artistically this lyric excels at 'expressing ideals through the object, advancing in layers.' The upper stanza writes the plum's setting and plight: 'beyond the post road, by the broken bridge' writes the desolate environment—the post road is where couriers lodged, a place of few travelers, and the broken bridge is ruined and unkept, so the plum there is utterly lonely; 'blooms in lonely solitude, its own master none' directly writes the plum unattended, self-blooming and self-falling—'lonely' writes both flower and man, hinting the poet's abandoned frustration; 'at dusk it grieves by itself, and then the wind and rain come down' moves from desolate place to hard circumstance—dusk already saddens, and wind and rain add destruction, 'and then' writes sorrow upon sorrow. The lower stanza turns to the plum's mind and character: 'it means not to fight for spring, but leaves the hundred flowers to their envy' writes its detachment from strife and its lofty pride; 'fallen to dust, ground into the earth, its fragrance lingers still the same' writes utter destruction yet unchanged fragrance, the sudden turn revealing constancy. The whole moves from circumstance to mind to character, deepening layer by layer—object and self as one, the model of 'neither too close nor too far' in object poetry.

此词艺术上以「托物言志、层层递进」见长。上片写梅花所处的环境与遭遇：「驿外断桥边」写环境的荒凉，驿外是行人罕至之地，断桥更是残破无人修缮之处，梅花生于此，其寂寞可知；「寂寞开无主」直写梅花无人赏爱、自开自落，「寂寞」二字既是写花，又是写人，暗含诗人被弃置的孤愤；「已是黄昏独自愁，更著风和雨」由环境之荒凉进一层写处境之艰难，黄昏已令人愁，风雨更添摧残，「更著」二字写愁上加愁、雪上加霜。下片转写梅花的心态与品格：「无意苦争春，一任群芳妒」写梅花无心争春、任人嫉妒的超然，「无意」与「一任」两个词语写尽梅花的淡泊与傲岸；「零落成泥碾作尘，只有香如故」写梅花零落成泥、碾作尘土而清香不改，「零落」「成泥」「碾作尘」层层写摧残之烈，「香如故」陡然翻出，写品格之坚。全词由境遇而心态而品格，层层深入，咏物而不滞于物，物我合一，是咏物词「不即不离」的典范。

Allusions

This lyric portrays the plum with deeply hidden allusion. 'Beyond the post road, by the broken bridge' covertly uses the imagery of post stations and broken bridges—the post is where document-runners lodged, a place of travelers, and the plum by its broken bridge is desolate, echoing since Yu Xin's 'Lament for the South' the technique of writing personal fate through desolate places. 'Blooms in lonely solitude, its own master none' inherits the Chu Ci tradition of 'fragrant plants and beauties' comparing the exiled worthy to a sweet herb. 'It means not to fight for spring' develops the image of the plum not contesting spring with other flowers—already begun by Lin Bu's 'amid fallen blossoms it alone shines'—and Lu You adds the plum's modesty in not contending for profit. 'But leaves the hundred flowers to their envy' inverts Qu Yuan's 'the many women envy my moth-eyebrows'—the flowers' envy of the plum mirrors the petty man's envy of the worthy, replaying Qu Yuan's fate on Lu You. 'Fallen to dust, ground into the earth, its fragrance lingers still the same' covertly uses the 'fragrant plant' tradition of fragrance signifying virtue—Qu Yuan used 'fragrance' for virtue, Lu You uses the unchanged fragrance for unmoved virtue, also hinting the Buddhist 'unstained.' The whole lyric hides its allusions without trace, showing Lu You's mastery of earlier writers.

此词咏梅而用典深隐。「驿外断桥」暗用驿站、断桥的意象，驿是古代传送文书者歇宿之所，行人往来之地，梅生于驿外断桥之侧，正是荒凉冷落之境，暗含庾信《哀江南赋》以来以荒凉之境写身世之感的手法。「寂寞开无主」承《离骚》「兰芷变而不芳兮，荃蕙化而为茅」的香草美人之比兴传统，以香草自比高洁而遭弃置。「无意苦争春」化用梅花不与众花争春的意象，此意唐人林逋《山园小梅》「众芳摇落独暄妍」已开其端，陆游更以「无意苦争春」写梅之谦退，暗含不与小人争利的高洁。「一任群芳妒」反用《离骚》「众女嫉余之蛾眉兮，谣诼谓余以善淫」之意，群芳嫉妒梅花，正如小人嫉妒贤才，屈原的遭遇在陆游身上重演。「零落成泥碾作尘，只有香如故」则暗用「香草」传统中以香喻德的写法，屈原《离骚》以「芳」「香」喻美德，陆游以香之不改写德之不移，又暗含佛教「不染」之喻，身可摧而志不可夺。全词用典化于无痕，正见陆游熔铸前人的功力。

Commentary

'Song of Divination: Ode to the Plum Blossom' is a timeless masterpiece of plum poetry, long praised. Critics chiefly admire its superb art of 'portraying the object without being trapped by it': every line writes the plum, yet every line writes the man—the plum's loneliness, sorrow, envy, destruction, and unchanged fragrance are none other than Lu You's own fate and character, object and self fused naturally. The two lines 'fallen to dust, ground into the earth, its fragrance lingers still the same' use three progressive verbs to exhaust the violence of destruction and 'lingers still the same' to exhaust the constancy of character, becoming a famous line quoted as a motto by men of resolve through the ages. The lyric also embodies Lu You's spirit of 'old in body yet unflagging in will': even with no way to serve his country and repeated blows, his patriotic will and pure integrity never change—the concentrated expression of Southern Song loyalist spirit. In literary history it stands with Wang Anshi's 'Plum Blossom' and Lin Bu's 'Small Plum in the Mountain Garden' as the three wonders of plum poetry, surpassing them in backbone; Mao Zedong also wrote a 'Song of Divination: Ode to the Plum Blossom' 'using the opposite meaning,' showing its deep influence. It is routinely anthologized as essential reading for object lyric and for understanding Lu You.

《卜算子·咏梅》是咏梅词中的千古绝唱，历来评价极高。前人论此词，多赏其「咏物而不滞于物」的高超艺术：全词句句写梅，又句句是写人，梅花之寂寞、孤愁、遭妒、受摧、香不改，无一不是陆游自身处遇与品格的写照，物我合一，浑然天成。「零落成泥碾作尘，只有香如故」二句，更以三个递进的动词写尽摧残之烈，以「香如故」写尽品格之坚，成为咏梅乃至咏志的名句，被历代志士仁人引为座右铭。此词的价值还在于它体现了陆游「身老而志不衰」的精神：即便报国无门、屡遭打击，爱国之志、高洁之节终不改变，正是南宋爱国士人精神的集中体现。在文学史上，此词与王安石《梅花》、林逋《山园小梅》并称咏梅三绝，而尤以气骨最胜；毛泽东亦有《卜算子·咏梅》「反其意而用之」，可见此词影响之深远。历来入选各种诗词选本与教材，是学习咏物词与理解陆游精神的必读之作。

Prosody

Form Lyric (Song of Divination)词（卜算子）

Rhyme The whole lyric rhymes in oblique tones; the rhyme-words are 'none' (zhu), 'rain' (yu), 'envy' (du), 'same' (gu), belonging to the fourth rhyme class of the lyric meter; the short, forceful oblique rhymes suit the plum's lonely, indignant mood.全词押仄声韵，韵脚为「主、雨、妒、故」，属词韵第四部，仄声韵短促有力，与咏梅的孤愤情调相合。

Tone pattern Song of Divination's structure is mainly five-character with some seven-character lines, its rhythm bright; 'beyond the post road, by the broken bridge' in two five-character lines is steady, 'at dusk it grieves by itself, and then the wind and rain come down' in two seven-character lines shows pause within steadiness, fitting the emotional rise and fall.卜算子句式以五言为主，间以七言，节奏明快；「驿外断桥边，寂寞开无主」五五句式平稳，「已是黄昏独自愁，更著风和雨」七七句式在平稳中见顿挫，恰合情感的起伏。

Reading note Song of Divination is a two-stanza short lyric, four lines each stanza, forty-four characters total, with two oblique rhymes per stanza. The whole rhymes in oblique tones; the rhyme-words 'none, rain, envy, same' all belong to the fourth class, their short force matching the lonely, indignant feeling. The structure is mainly five-character (first two lines of each stanza) with some seven-character, bright yet paused: the five-five opening writes the plum's desolate place steadily; the seven-seven 'at dusk... wind and rain' pauses within steadiness, 'grieves by itself' and 'wind and rain' one gathering one releasing, fitting the sorrow's rise and fall; 'it means not to fight for spring...' in five-five is composed, writing the plum's detachment; 'fallen to dust... its fragrance lingers still the same' in seven-seven has hurried verbs like rain, then 'its fragrance lingers still the same' slows, a long resonance fitting the fragrance's length. Sound and feeling match—short tunes for lonely indignation, paused lines for constant character—a model short lyric.《卜算子》是双调小令，上下片各四句，共四十四字，上下片各两仄韵。全词押仄声韵，韵脚「主、雨、妒、故」皆属词韵第四部，仄声韵短促有力，正与咏梅的孤愤悲慨情调相合。卜算子句式以五言句为主（上下片首二句为五言），间以七言句，节奏明快而含顿挫：「驿外断桥边，寂寞开无主」五五句式，音节平稳，写梅花处境的荒凉；「已是黄昏独自愁，更著风和雨」七七句式，音节在平稳中见顿挫，「独自愁」与「风和雨」一收一放，恰合愁情的起伏；「无意苦争春，一任群芳妒」五五句式，节奏从容，写梅花的淡泊傲岸；「零落成泥碾作尘，只有香如故」七七句式，前句连用动词，音节急促，如雨点般密集，写摧残之烈，后句「只有香如故」音节放缓，余韵悠长，恰合香之绵长。全词声情相合，以短促之调写孤愤之情，以顿挫之句传品格之坚，是咏物小令的典范之作。

Line by line

驿外断桥边，寂寞开无主。

Beyond the post road, by the broken bridge, it blooms in lonely solitude, its own master none. (The opening sets the desolate, cold setting and the lonely tone. 'Beyond the post road' marks remoteness; 'by the broken bridge' adds ruin; 'blooms in lonely solitude, its own master none' writes the plum unattended—'none' is especially poignant, none to tend it in bloom or mourn it in fall. 'Lonely' writes both flower and man, hinting Lu You's frustration at being sidelined by the court.)

驿亭之外的断桥旁边，梅花寂寞地开放着，无人过问、无人赏爱。

Beyond the post station, by the broken bridge, it blooms in solitude, uncared for.

起笔写梅花所处的环境，荒凉冷落，为全词定下孤寂的基调。「驿外」写地点之偏远——驿是古代传递文书者歇宿的驿站，本是行旅往来之地，而梅花生在驿外，即驿亭之外，人迹罕至；「断桥边」更进一层，断桥是残破倒塌的桥，无人修缮，行人更少，梅生于断桥之侧，其荒凉可知。「寂寞开无主」直写梅花无人赏爱、自开自落，「无主」二字尤为沉痛——不是无人为之作主，而是根本无人过问，花开无赏，花落无惜。两句以环境之荒凉写梅花之寂寞，而「寂寞」二字既是写花，又是写人，暗含陆游被朝廷弃置、投闲置散的孤愤。起笔如此，全词的托物言志之意已隐约可见。

The opening writes the environment of the plum, desolate and cold, fixing the whole ci's lonely tone. Beyond the post station writes the remote place — the post station is the traveler's lodging, where messengers rest; the plum blooming beyond the post station means outside the station, the traffic of men scarce; by the broken bridge goes further, the broken bridge a ruined, unrepaired bridge, the passers fewer, the plum's desolation to be read. In solitude, uncared for writes directly the plum's blooming and falling without admirer; the two words uncared for are especially sorrowful — not that no one claims it, but that no one heeds it, the bloom without praise, the fall without pity. Two lines writing the plum's solitude through the environment's desolation, and the word solitude at once the flower's and the man's, secretly carrying Lu You's grief at being discarded by the court, set idle and apart. The opening so, and the object-as-purpose meaning is already faintly visible.

已是黄昏独自愁，更著风和雨。

At dusk it grieves by itself, and then the wind and rain come down. (These two lines deepen the plum's lonely sorrow and assault, layer by layer. Dusk already saddens; 'grieves by itself' carries the prior loneliness, none to share it; 'and then the wind and rain' piles on—sorrow atop sorrow, hardship to the extreme. They hint Lu You's isolation amid the political storms of the capitulationists, 'grieves by itself' a portrait of his lonely indignation.)

已经是黄昏时分，梅花独自发愁，更遭受着风雨的侵袭。

Already at dusk, grieving alone; and now wind and rain beat upon it.

此两句写梅花的孤愁与风雨之侵，处境之艰难层层递进。「已是黄昏」写时间之晚——黄昏是白日将尽、暮色苍茫之时，本已令人惆怅，梅花于此时独处，更添愁绪；「独自愁」承上句「寂寞」而来，写梅花之愁无人分担、无人知晓，「独自」二字写尽孤立无援；「更著风和雨」陡然加码，「更著」即更遭受，黄昏已愁，风雨又来，愁上加愁，雪上加霜，处境之艰难到了极致。两句一写愁之深，一写侵之烈，以「已是」「更著」两个虚词递进，层层加压。此二句暗喻陆游的处境：黄昏如国势日蹙，风雨如投降派的迫害，诗人孤立无援而备受摧残，「独自愁」三字正是其孤愤心境的写照。

The two lines write the plum's lone grief and the wind and rain's assault, the hardship advancing layer on layer. Already at dusk writes the late hour — dusk the day's end, the gathering dimness, already mournful, and the plum alone at this hour, the grief the more; grieving alone follows the solitude above, writing the plum's grief shared by none, known by none, the alone writing the isolation without help; and now wind and rain beat upon it suddenly adds weight, the and now meaning the further suffering — dusk already grieving, and the wind and rain coming, grief on grief, snow on frost, the hardship to the extreme. Two lines, one the grief's depth, one the assault's fierceness, the two particles already and and now advancing layer on layer. The two lines secretly figure Lu You's plight: the dusk the state's decline, the wind and rain the capitulationists' persecution, the poet isolated and battered, the grieving alone precisely the image of his lone grief.

无意苦争春，一任群芳妒。

It means not to fight for spring, but leaves the hundred flowers to their envy. (These two lines turn to the plum's mind—the lyric's central intent. 'Means not to fight for spring' writes its indifference to contending for spring; 'but leaves the hundred flowers to their envy' writes its lofty disdain of envy. Together they are Lu You's self-portrait: he strove for resistance with no private aim, yet was envied and sidelined by petty men—'means not' and 'leaves' voice his untroubled, scornful heart.)

梅花无意苦苦争夺春光，任凭那些百花嫉妒。

It has no mind to struggle for spring, letting all the flowers envy as they will.

此两句转写梅花的心态，是全词立意所在。「无意苦争春」写梅花无心与百花争春——梅花开于冬末春初，本不与百花同时，更无意争夺春光，「无意」写其本心淡泊，「苦争春」写争春者的费尽心机，两相对照，梅花的超然自见；「一任群芳妒」写梅花任凭百花嫉妒而不屑一顾，「一任」即听凭、任随，写尽傲岸与洒脱，群芳之妒与梅花之淡然对照，愈见其高。两句一写「无意」，一写「一任」，把梅花不争而自高、被妒而自若的姿态写得淋漓尽致。此二句是陆游的自况：他一生力主抗金，本无私心，却被小人嫉妒排挤，正如梅花无意争春而遭群芳之妒；「无意」「一任」正是诗人坦然无愧、蔑视谗毁的心声，傲骨铮铮，掷地有声。

The two lines turn to the plum's mind, the purpose of the ci. It has no mind to struggle for spring writes the plum's heart not set on contending with the flowers for spring — the plum blooms at winter's end and spring's beginning, not with the flowers' season, far less minding to fight for spring; no mind writes its native detachment, struggle for spring the contriving of those who contend, the contrast showing the plum's transcendence. Letting all the flowers envy as they will writes the plum leaving the flowers' envy to itself, disdainful; as they will means letting be, writing the loftiness and ease, the flowers' envy set against the plum's calm, the loftiness the more. Two lines, one no mind, one as they will, writing the plum's not contending and yet self-lofty, envied and yet at ease, to the fullest. The two lines are Lu You's self-portrait: his whole life urging resistance to Jin, without private end, and yet envied and pushed out by the petty men, as the plum mindless of contending and yet the flowers' envy; no mind and as they will precisely the poet's open, guiltless voice, his scorn of the slander, the bones of pride ringing out.

零落成泥碾作尘，只有香如故。

Fallen to dust, ground into the earth, its fragrance lingers still the same. (The closing lines are the emotional and thematic peak. Three progressive verbs—'fallen,' 'to mud,' 'ground to dust'—exhaust the violence of destruction; 'its fragrance lingers still the same' suddenly turns, the fragrance unchanged. Form's ruin sets off spirit's eternity. This is Lu You's self-portrait: through all political persecution his patriotic will and pure integrity never change, like the plum's fragrance—object and ideal become one.)

梅花零落成泥，又被碾作尘土，只有它的清香依然如故。

Fallen, scattered into mud, ground to dust, its fragrance remains, as before.

结尾两句是全词情感与立意的顶峰，也是千古传诵的名句。「零落成泥碾作尘」连用三个递进的动词写梅花被摧残之烈：先「零落」，花瓣凋谢；再「成泥」，落入泥土；后「碾作尘」，被车马行人碾成尘土——形体遭到彻底的毁灭，惨烈至极；「只有香如故」陡然翻出，写形体虽毁而清香不变，「只有」二字写尽香之唯一与不可磨灭，「如故」写香之始终如一。两句一写摧残之极，一写品格之坚，以形的毁灭反衬香的永恒，形成强烈的对照。此二句是陆游的自我写照：一生历经宦海浮沉、政治迫害，报国之志、高洁之节却至死不改，正如梅之成泥碾尘而香如故。「香」既是梅香，又是德馨，咏物与言志在此合而为一，境界全出。

The closing two lines are the peak of the ci's emotion and purpose, and the immortal line. Fallen, scattered into mud, ground to dust chains three advancing verbs writing the violence of the plum's ruin: first fallen, the petals shed; then into mud, fallen into the earth; then ground to dust, crushed by the passers' feet and wheels — the form utterly destroyed, cruel to the extreme; its fragrance remains, as before suddenly turning, writing the form destroyed and the fragrance unchanged, the only writing the fragrance's singleness and indelibility, as before the fragrance's constancy. Two lines, one the extreme of ruin, one the firmness of character, the form's destruction set against the fragrance's eternity, the strong contrast. The two lines are Lu You's self-portrait: his life of official tides and political persecution, and yet the will to serve the country and the integrity of the noble unaltered to death, as the plum turned to mud and dust and the fragrance as before. The fragrance is at once the plum's scent and the virtue's fragrance, the object-singing and the purpose one, the realm complete.

Study

Word focus

寂寞 Lonely / solitary. (In 'blooms in lonely solitude,' this is the key word setting the tone. Personifying the plum, it gives the flower a felt loneliness—none to enjoy its bloom, none to pity its fall. It writes both the desolate setting and the poet's lonely indignation at being unused by the court, laying the foundation for the later 'grieves by itself' and 'envy.') 「寂寞开无主」之「寂寞」二字，是全词定调的关键词。「寂寞」本指冷清孤单，此处写梅花在驿外断桥边自开自落、无人赏爱的境况。这一词的妙处在于：其一，拟人化的写法，赋予梅花以人的情感，「寂寞」不是无生命的形容词，而是梅花有知觉的孤独——花开无人赏，花落无人惜，这份寂寞是深知的寂寞；其二，写环境的荒凉，驿外断桥本已荒僻，加之「寂寞」二字，环境的冷清与心境的孤单叠合，物我交融；其三，暗含诗人的孤愤，陆游被朝廷弃置，投闲置散，正如梅花之「寂寞开无主」，无人赏识其才，无人理解其志，「寂寞」二字既是写梅，更是自况，为全词托物言志的基调立下根基，也预示了后文的「独自愁」「群芳妒」。

碾 To grind / crush (under wheel or roller). (In 'ground into the earth,' this is the most violent stroke of destruction. It writes the plum after falling and rotting, then crushed to dust by passing carts and feet—utter, merciless ruin. The word gives vivid, present horror and, by contrast, sets off the constancy of 'its fragrance lingers still the same,' making the plum's unyielding spirit shine the brighter—Lu You's own testimony of unbroken will through every hardship.) 「碾作尘」之「碾」字，是写梅花遭受摧残最惨烈的一笔。「碾」本指车轮或石磙碾压，此处写梅花零落成泥之后，又被车马行人碾成尘土，一个「碾」字，写尽摧残之彻底、之无情。这一字的妙处在于：其一，写摧残之烈，零落是自然凋谢，成泥是形体腐化，而「碾作尘」则是外力的碾压，比自然凋谢更为残酷，三个动词层层递进，到「碾」字达到顶点，写尽梅花遭遇的一切苦难；其二，写摧残之具体，「碾」字让读者仿佛看见车轮碾过花瓣成尘的惨状，画面感极强，惨烈如在目前；其三，反衬品格之坚，形体被碾成尘土，毁灭到无可再毁的地步，而「香如故」依然不改，摧残愈烈，品格愈显，一个「碾」字为「香如故」蓄足了势。此字下得极重，正是陆游身经百难而志节不改的精神写照。

如故 As before / unchanged. (In 'its fragrance lingers still the same,' this is the lyric's eye and the soul of the famous line. It writes that after falling, rotting, and crushing to dust, the fragrance is still as before—the imperishable. It signifies not only the fragrance but the unshaken will and character: the body may be destroyed, the resolve cannot be taken; through all changes the original heart stays the same. Set against the earlier violence, its plain calm makes the constancy more striking—the summing-up of the whole object-lyric and a model line of Chinese poetry on resolve.) 「只有香如故」之「如故」二字，是全词的诗眼，也是咏梅词的千古名句之魂。「如故」即和从前一样，写梅花零落成泥、碾作尘土之后，清香依然如故，丝毫不改。这一词的妙处在于：其一，写香之永恒，形体可以零落、成泥、碾尘，而香是抽象的、不灭的，形体毁到极处而香依旧，「如故」二字写尽香的不可磨灭；其二，写志之不移，「如故」不仅是香的如故，更是品格、志节的如故——身可摧，志不可夺，境遇千变万化，初心始终如一，这正是陆游一生力主抗金、历尽挫折而矢志不渝的精神写照；其三，与「零落成泥碾作尘」的惨烈对照，「如故」的平淡从容与前面的惨烈形成强烈反差，愈见品格之坚。二字看似寻常，实则力重千钧，是全词托物言志的归结，也是中国文学中咏志名句的典范。