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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

卜算子·送鲍浩然之浙东

Song of Divination · Seeing Bao Haoran off to Eastern Zhejiang

王观

Wang Guan

婉约Graceful and restrained 送别Farewell

水是眼波横，山是眉峰聚。
欲问行人去那边？
眉眼盈盈处。
才始送春归，又送君归去。
若到江南赶上春，千万和春住。

Water is like the flowing glance of her eyes,
Hills are like the gathering of her brows.
If you ask where the traveler goes,
It's to where eyes and brows are sweetly found.
Just now I saw spring off,
Now I see you off again.
If in the south you catch up with spring,
Be sure to stay with spring and enjoy its stay.

Listen

Meaning

The poet compares the landscape of eastern Zhejiang to the eyes and brows of a beautiful woman. He asks where his friend is going—to that charming place. Having just seen off spring, he now sees off his friend, and playfully urges him to catch up with spring in the south and stay with it, turning sorrow into a light-hearted wish.

水像美人横流顾盼的眼波，山像美人蹙聚的眉峰。要问远行的人去哪儿？正是那眉眼盈盈、山水明秀的江南。才刚刚送走了春天归去，如今又要送君启程。你若到了江南还赶得上春光，千万要替我与春天同住。

Appreciation

This poem is notable for its novel metaphor linking landscape to a woman's features. It blends the sadness of farewell with the regret of spring's departure, yet ends with a whimsical instruction, showing the poet's optimism and wit. The language is fresh and graceful.

【白话串讲】 “水是眼波横，山是眉峰聚”——王观送朋友去浙东，把江南的水比作美人的眼波，把山比作眉峰。他说：到了江南，要赶上春天，和春天一起住下。【意象与手法】上片就地取材，将浙东山水比为美人的眉眼，「眼波横」「眉峰聚」以动态写山水，化静为动，构思奇绝；「眉眼盈盈处」一语双关，既指山水明秀之地，又暗含佳人多情之处，使送别之地顿生柔情。下片以「才始……又……」的蝉联递进，将惜春与伤别两重离情叠合，层层加深；结句「千万和春住」忽发奇想，把春当作可以追赶、可以同住的伴侣，化不舍为祝福，轻巧俏皮。全词以「春」字贯串上下片，语言清新流丽，近于口语，有民歌风味，是北宋送别词中别开生面的佳作。【情感与主旨】此词一反传统送别词的凄切悲苦，以明媚笔调写离情。上片把目的地写得如佳人含情，是对友人此行的美好祝愿；下片「才始送春归，又送君归去」流露惜春与惜别叠合的怅惘，但旋即以「和春住」的奇想转出，将怅惘化为旷达，愿友人一路与春光同行。主旨是于送别中见深情，于深情中见俏皮，表现词人对友情的珍重与对生活的热爱，把别离写得温情而明亮，读来但觉轻快。【名句点睛】「若到江南赶上春，千万和春住」为全词点睛之笔。春本无情，词人却叮嘱友人「和春住」，仿佛春是可以追赶、可以挽留的旅伴，奇思妙想中满是对友人的深情祝愿：愿你一路春色相伴。此句将惜春、送春与送人绾合为一，语浅情长，俏皮而不失真挚，与黄庭坚「若有人知春去处，唤取归来同住」异曲同工，是宋词中以奇想写送别的名句。

Background

Wang Guan, a Northern Song poet, once angered the court with his poems. This piece was written for his friend Bao Haoran traveling to eastern Zhejiang. It breaks from the traditional melancholic farewell by using playful imagery.

王观（约1035—约1100），字通叟，如皋（今江苏如皋）人，北宋词人，宋仁宗嘉祐二年（1057）进士，官至翰林学士（一说曾任江都知县等职）。他曾因填词被指「亵渎」而得罪罢官，自号「逐客」，其词集名《冠柳集》，自谓词名高出柳永，可见其自负与狂放。这首《卜算子·送鲍浩然之浙东》是送别友人鲍浩然往浙东（今浙江一带）时的赠别之作，具体年月已不可考。浙东山明水秀，是典型的江南胜景，词人送友至此，遂就地取材，把山水比为美人的眉眼，把送别写得柔情旖旎又旷达俏皮，一反传统送别词的凄切悲苦。北宋前期词坛以柳永的婉约与苏轼的旷达并峙，王观此词兼有柳词的流丽与苏词的洒脱，正体现了北宋送别词由悲入喜、由重入轻的新变，是研究北宋文人友情与词风演进的重要作品，也是了解这位「逐客」词人个性与才情的最佳窗口。词中明媚的笔调与俏皮的想象，正可视为词人虽遭放逐而依然热爱生活、始终以审美的眼光看待人生的一种精神写照，读来令人感佩其胸襟之洒脱。

Art

The opening lines use the metaphor of a beauty's eyes and brows to describe the landscape, creating a vivid and emotional scene. The pun on 'eyes and brows' (which also means charming) is clever. The transition from seeing off spring to seeing off a friend is seamless, and the final line is a creative twist.

此词艺术上最见功力处，是奇喻与奇想的一以贯之。上片就地取材，将浙东山水直接比为美人的眉眼：「水是眼波横」写水如美人横流顾盼的眼波，「山是眉峰聚」写山如美人蹙聚的眉峰，化静为动、化景为情，把送别之地写得灵秀含情；「欲问行人去那边？眉眼盈盈处」以设问自答，既点明友人去向，又以「眉眼盈盈」双关山水明秀与佳人含情，使目的地仿佛有位多情的佳人在等候，构思奇绝。下片转写送别：「才始送春归，又送君归去」，以「才始……又……」的蝉联递进，将惜春与伤别两重离情叠合，层层加深；结句「若到江南赶上春，千万和春住」忽发奇想，把春当作可以追赶、可以同住的伴侣，叮嘱友人留住春光，化不舍为祝福，轻巧俏皮。全词以「春」字贯串上下片，语言清新流丽，近于口语而韵味无穷，是北宋送别词中别开生面的佳作。全词以奇喻起、以奇想结，首尾呼应，浑然一体，在送别词中独标一格，读来但觉满纸春色、一片深情，令人爱不释手。

Allusions

The tune 'Busuanzi' is said to originate from a poem by Luo Binwang about a cicada. The image of eyes and brows traditionally describes beauties. The theme of seeing off spring is common, but here it is innovatively merged with a farewell.

此词用典与化用极为轻灵。「眼波」「眉峰」之喻，本于传统以山水喻美人的写法：《西京杂记》载卓文君「眉色如望远山」，后世遂以「远山」状眉、以「秋水」状眼，写美人之眉目如山水般秀美；王观反其道而行之，把浙东的山水直接比为美人的眉目，构思新警，翻奇出胜。「盈盈」一语，出自《古诗十九首》「盈盈楼上女，皎皎当窗牖」与「盈盈一水间，脉脉不得语」，本写女子仪态之美好与目光之含情，此处移以状山水，赋予江南以含情脉脉的女儿情态，妙在双关。「送春」则承惜春词的传统，自唐人的伤春之咏到北宋更衍为「送春」的专门题材；而「和春住」三字尤见新意，把春拟人化为可以同住的伙伴，与黄庭坚《清平乐》「若有人知春去处，唤取归来同住」异曲同工。词人将这些传统意象信手拈来、反用翻新，熔铸成自己清丽俏皮的独特词风，可谓渊源有自而能自出新境。这种对传统意象的反用与翻新，正是王观词「新丽」风格的重要来源，也是此词虽用熟语熟典而读来仍觉新鲜警动的关键所在。

Commentary

This poem is praised for its novel metaphor. Wang Zhuo commented that Wang Guan's style is 'new and beautiful' (新丽). It marks a departure from the sorrowful farewell tradition, opening a lighter path for later Song ci poetry.

此词向以「巧喻」著称，是北宋送别词中的别调。王灼《碧鸡漫志》评王观词「新丽」，此作正以「新」与「丽」见长：「新」在构思——以美人之眉眼喻山水，前人所未有；「丽」在语言——「眼波横」「眉峰聚」「盈盈」「和春住」等语，清丽流美，读来如见江南春色。传统送别诗词多写「黯然销魂」之悲，从王维「西出阳关无故人」到柳永「多情自古伤离别」，莫不如此；王观此词却以明媚之笔写离情，把目的地写成佳人含情之地，把离别写成与春光同行的旅程，轻松明快，开南宋送别词轻倩一途。全词短短四十四字，而奇喻、双关、蝉联、拟人诸法毕备，于小令中见大手段，足见词人功力。今此词入选各级语文教材，与《黄鹤楼送孟浩然之广陵》并读，恰可见唐人送别之苍茫与宋人送别之俏丽两种风貌，其文学史价值与艺术价值俱不可低估。尤其「和春住」三字，以无情之春写有情之人，构思之巧、情意之深，至今仍为读者津津乐道，堪称一字千金。

Prosody

Form Ci · Busuanzi (44 characters in two stanzas)词（双调《卜算子》，四十四字，上下片各四句）

Rhyme Rhymes on 聚 (ju), 处 (chu), 去 (qu), 住 (zhu) in oblique tone上下片各押两仄韵：上片「聚、处」，下片「去、住」，同属《词林正韵》第四部，上去通押。

Tone pattern Each stanza has two oblique rhymes; the lines are irregular, giving a folk-song-like quality句式五、五、七、五相杂，上下片同构；仄韵到底，声情短促顿挫，恰合送别叮咛之语气。

Reading note Wang Guan's farewell poem is new and beautiful《卜算子》为北宋流行的词牌，双调四十四字，上下片各四句，句式皆为五、五、七、五，上下片同构，各押两仄韵。关于词牌得名，一说取「卖卜算卦」的市井意趣，一说因骆宾王咏蝉诗自号「卜算子」而得名，莫衷一是，然其句式整齐而节奏明快，宜于写轻倩灵动之情，则为定论。此词上片押「聚、处」，下片押「去、住」，四韵同属《词林正韵》第四部，上去通押，韵脚密集而短促，声情顿挫，正与送别时絮絮叮咛的语气相合。「水是眼波横，山是眉峰聚」两句五言对起，骈偶工整而语近民歌；「欲问行人去那边」七言一振，稍作顿宕；「眉眼盈盈处」五言收束，摇曳生姿。下片「才始送春归，又送君归去」复沓流转，音节回环，写出连番送别的无奈；「若到江南赶上春，千万和春住」以口语入词，节奏明快流美。全词平仄大体合律而偶有变通，以声情为主，读来如歌，充分体现了宋词长短句以声写情的艺术魅力，亦可见北宋前期词由雅趋俗、由重趋轻的演变轨迹。

Line by line

水是眼波横，山是眉峰聚。

Water is like the sideways glance of her eyes, hills like the gathered brows of her face.

江水像美人横流顾盼的眼波，山峦像美人蹙聚的眉峰。

The river is the glance of eyes flowing; the hills are the peaks of knitted brows.

起句奇绝，词人就地取材，把送别之地的浙东山水直接比为美人的眉眼。「眼波」本喻女子顾盼多情的目光，如水波流转，词人以「横」字写水，既见水面横陈之态，又暗含眼波横流的媚态；「眉峰」本喻女子蹙起的眉尖，如远山微耸，词人以「聚」字写出峰峦攒聚之形，亦见眉头微蹙的情态。山水本是无情的静物，一经比作眉眼，便顿生活色，仿佛浙东的山山水水都在含情送别友人。两句对仗工整而语近民歌，化静为动、化景为情，把「以山水喻美人」的传统颠倒过来，以美人之眉眼喻山水，构思新警，为全词定下旖旎明丽的基调，亦是全词「奇喻」之根，历来为词家所称道。

The opening is wondrous; the poet takes the material at hand, comparing the eastern Zhejiang landscape of the farewell place directly to a beauty's brows and eyes. The glance of eyes is by nature the metaphor of the woman's amorous gaze flowing like water; the poet uses the word flowing to write the water, at once the water's spread and the amorous glance's sideways charm; the peaks of knitted brows is by nature the woman's knitted brow-tip, like distant hills faintly rising; the poet uses the word gathered to write the hills' clustering, and also the brows' slight knit. Landscape, by nature the still object, once compared to brows and eyes, comes alive, as if the rivers and hills of eastern Zhejiang were all feelingly seeing the friend off. Two balanced lines, near to folk song, turning the still into the moving, the scene into the feeling, reversing the tradition of comparing landscape to a beauty, using the beauty's brows and eyes to compare the landscape, the conception new and arresting, fixing the ci's gorgeous, bright tone, and the root of its wondrous metaphor, admired by lyric poets of every age.

欲问行人去那边？眉眼盈盈处。

If you ask where the traveler goes, it's to where eyes and brows are sweetly found.

要问远行的人去哪儿？正是那眉眼盈盈、山水明秀的江南。

Ask where the traveler is bound? To that place where brows and eyes brim with grace.

此句以设问自答的民歌笔法，点明友人的去向。「欲问」二字故作一问，仿佛词人明知故问，语气轻快俏皮；「眉眼盈盈处」五字作答，妙在一语双关：既指山水明秀的江南胜境，又暗含佳人多情之处，仿佛友人此行不仅是奔赴一片好山水，更是去会见一位眼波盈盈的意中人，离愁之中顿时透出明丽与亲切。「盈盈」叠词，写出眉眼间流转的无限情意，也写出江南水光山色的丰盈秀美。两句一问一答，节奏轻快，把送别之地写得如在目前、含情脉脉，为上片的奇喻画上圆满句号，也自然引出下片送春送人的离情，是全词由写景转入抒情的枢纽。

The line uses the folk method of the self-asked question, marking the friend's destination. Ask where the traveler is bound? affects a question, as if the poet knowingly asks, the tone light and playful; to that place where brows and eyes brim with grace answers, the beauty in the double meaning: at once the bright water-and-hill southland, and secretly the place of the amorous beauty, as if the friend's journey is not only toward good landscape, but toward meeting the beloved with the brimming glance, the parting sorrow at once lit with brightness and warmth. The doubled brimming writes the endless feeling flowing between brows and eyes, and also the rich, bright beauty of the southland's water and hills. Two lines, one question one answer, the rhythm light, writing the farewell place as before the eyes, feelingly, rounding off the first stanza's wondrous metaphor, and naturally leading to the second stanza's sending spring and sending the man, the hinge of the ci's turning from scene to feeling.

才始送春归，又送君归去。

Just now I saw spring off, now I see you off again.

才刚刚送走了春天归去，如今又要送君启程。

Scarcely have I sent spring home, than I send you on your way.

「才始」与「又」蝉联递进，写出春归与人别的先后相接：春光方去，友人又行，两重离愁叠合在一起，惜春之情与伤别之情交织成更深的惆怅。这两句在结构上承上启下：上片写山水之美、友人此行之乐，此处笔锋一转，点出春已归去、人亦将行，乐景之中暗生离情；「送春归」与「送君归去」句式复沓，一「春」一「君」，一自然一人事，对举之中见出词人时值暮春送别的无奈与不舍。语言近于口语，明白如话而情致婉转，是北宋词「以俗为雅」的典型笔法；「才始……又……」的时间紧接，更写出离别的仓促与人生的聚散无常，也为结句「和春住」的奇想张本，是全词情思由明丽转深婉的关键。

Scarcely have I sent spring home, than I send you on your way: the scarcely and the again chained in advance, writing the spring's going and the man's parting in sequence — spring just gone, the friend now going, the two farewell sorrows layered, the grief for spring and the grief for parting woven into a deeper wistfulness. Structurally the two lines carry above and lead below: the first stanza wrote the landscape's beauty and the joy of the journey, here the brush turns, marking the spring already gone and the man about to go, the parting grief secretly born in the joyous scene; the sent spring home and the sent you on your way in repeated phrasing, one spring one man, one nature one human affair, the contrast showing the poet's helplessness and reluctance at sending off a friend in late spring. The language near to speech, plain as words and yet tactful, the typical brush of Northern Song ci's turning the vulgar to the elegant; the time-adjacent scarcely... again... further writes the hasty parting and the world's inconstant meetings, preparing the ground for the closing's dwelling with spring, the key of the ci's feeling turning from bright to tender.

若到江南赶上春，千万和春住。

If you reach the south and catch up with spring, be sure to stay with spring.

你若到了江南还赶得上春光，千万要替我与春天同住。

If you reach the southland and overtake the spring, by all means, dwell with spring.

结句是全词的点睛之笔，忽发奇想：春虽归去，但友人此去江南，若还能赶上春的脚步，便千万要与春同住。在词人笔下，春仿佛是一个可以追赶、可以挽留、可以同住的伴侣，奇思妙想中满是对友人的深情祝愿——愿你一路有春光相伴，愿你的旅程明媚如春。此句将惜春与送人绾合为一：惜春之深情，正化作对友人此行的祝福；「千万」二字口语般恳切，如当面叮咛，语浅情长。与黄庭坚「若有人知春去处，唤取归来同住」相比，黄词是唤春归来，王词是嘱人伴春，一挽一送，而奇想相同，皆以无情之春写有情之人。全词以这一奇想收束，化离愁为祝愿，余韵悠长，是宋词中送别与惜春结合的典范名句。

The closing is the pointed stroke of the ci, the sudden wondrous thought: though spring has gone, yet if the friend, going south, can overtake spring's steps, then by all means dwell with spring. In the poet's writing, spring is as if a companion one can overtake, detain, dwell with; the wondrous thought full of the deep wish for the friend — may you have spring at your side all the way, may your journey be bright as spring. The line binds the grief for spring and the sending of the man into one: the deep feeling for spring turned into the blessing for the friend's journey; the two words by all means, earnest as speech, like the face-to-face charge, the words light and the feeling long. Compared with Huang Tingjian's if someone knows where spring has gone, call it back to dwell with us, Huang's calls spring back, Wang's charges the man to keep spring company, one detaining one sending, and the wondrous thought the same, both using the feelingless spring to write the feeling man. The whole ci closes on this wondrous thought, turning the parting grief into the blessing, the aftertone long, the model famous line of Song ci's combining the farewell and the grief for spring.

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Word focus

横 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「水是眼波横」之「横」字，是上片奇喻立骨的字眼。「横」本写物之横陈、横流，此处移以写水，兼有双关之妙：一则写江水横流、水面开阔的实景，二则暗含眼波横流顾盼的媚态，仿佛浙东的江水正像一位美人横转流盼的目光。若用「流」「动」，则只写水之动态，失却眉眼之情，全词的奇喻便落了空；若用「泻」「奔」，则失之奔放喧哗，与全词旖旎明丽的情调不合；唯「横」字静中寓动、景中寓情，既写水形，又传神采，把山水拟人化的奇喻落到实处，与下句「聚」字相对，一横一聚，眉眼之态毕现。一字而境界全出，可见王观炼字之精审，亦可见其「新丽」词风在字法上的具体表现，是理解上片构思的钥匙。

盈盈 The reduplication 'yingying' conveys a charming and full-of-love look, describing the destination as attractive. 「眉眼盈盈处」之「盈盈」，是全词双关之妙的总汇。此词本出《古诗十九首》，「盈盈楼上女」写女子仪态之美好，「盈盈一水间」写水波之丰盈，王观移以状山水与眉眼，一语双关：写眉眼，则目光如水波盈盈、含情脉脉；写山水，则江南水光山色丰盈秀美、生机盎然。叠词「盈盈」声调柔婉，读来如见微波荡漾，与「眼波」「眉峰」的奇喻相得益彰，使送别之地既明丽又多情，仿佛整个江南都化作了含笑相迎的美人。若易为「青青」「明明」，则或失其含情之致，或失其柔婉之韵；唯「盈盈」兼得形神，既写山水之秀，又写眉眼之情，还暗含春水丰盈、春意盎然之意，为下片「和春住」的春意作暗场铺垫，是全词「新丽」风格的集中体现，也是理解词人奇思的关键词。

千万 An earnest urging tone, as if speaking directly, showing deep affection. 「千万和春住」之「千万」，是全词由惜春转出祝愿的转捩字。「千万」本是口语化的叮咛语，如「千万保重」「千万珍重」，词人将它用于对春的叮嘱，仿佛春是一个可以商量、可以挽留的旅伴，语气恳切，如当面嘱咐，语浅而情长。「千万」二字分量极重，把前文惜春伤别的怅惘，一举转化为对友人此行的美好祝愿——你若赶上春，便替我留住春，与春同住；这既是惜春之情的升华，也是友情之深的流露，词人对友人的体贴与祝愿，全在这两个家常字里。若作「定要」「须要」，则失之生硬，少却口语的亲切；若作「但愿」，则又失之飘忽，减却叮嘱的分量；唯「千万」以家常语入词，举重若轻，使全词在俏皮中见真挚，在轻快中见深情，是王观「以俗为雅」词风的点睛之笔。