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采莲令

To the Tune 'Cai Lian Ling' (Picking Lotuses)

柳永

Liu Yong

月华收，云淡霜天曙。
西征客、此时情苦。
翠娥执手送临歧，轧轧开朱户。
千娇面、盈盈伫立，无言有泪，断肠争忍回顾。
一叶兰舟，便恁急桨凌波去。
贪行色、岂知离绪。
万般方寸，但饮恨，脉脉同谁语。
更回首、重城不见，寒江天外，隐隐两三烟树。

The moonlight fades, the clouds thin, and the frosty sky brightens toward dawn.
A traveler bound west — at this hour his heart is bitter.
His dark-browed beauty takes his hand and sees him to the parting road; creak, creak, the vermilion gate swings open.
Her thousand-charm face stands there slender and still — no word, only tears; heartbroken, how can he bear to look back?
A single leaf-like orchid boat, with swift oars it skims the waves away.
Greedy for the road — how could he know the sorrow of parting?
All the feelings in his heart he can only swallow as regret; silently, to whom can he speak?
Looking back once more, the walled city is gone; beyond the cold river at the sky's edge, faintly, two or three misty trees.

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Meaning

The lyric depicts a dawn farewell: a traveler bound for the west leaves his beloved, who walks with him to the parting road, weeping silently. As his boat skims away, his heart is heavy with unspoken sorrow; looking back, the walled city has vanished and only a few misty trees remain beyond the cold river. Through layered scenes the poem voices the anguish of parting and the desolation that follows.

月华收起，云淡霜天，天色将曙。西征的客子，此时情苦。翠娥执手送到临歧，轧轧地开了朱户。千娇的面庞、盈盈伫立，无言有泪，断肠怎忍回顾。一叶兰舟，便这般急桨凌波而去。贪恋行色，岂知离绪。万般方寸，但饮恨，脉脉同谁语。更回首、重城不见，寒江天外，隐隐两三烟树。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Moonlight withdraws; thin clouds hang over a frosty sky at dawn. A traveler bound west suffers at this hour. His beloved takes his hand, walks with him to the parting road, and the vermilion gate creaks open. Her lovely face stands slender and still — no words, only tears. Heartbroken, how can he bear to look back? His orchid boat skims the waves away with swift oars. Greedy for the road, he cannot know the sorrow of parting; all his feelings he swallows as silent regret. Looking back once more, the walled city is gone, and beyond the cold river at the sky's edge only two or three faint misty trees remain. [Structure] The lyric unfolds in strict time order — the frosty dawn, the farewell at the gate, the boat's departure, and the backward gaze — moving from the real scene to the void, from her standing still to his vanishing view. [Imagery] The images are chosen for temperature and distance: moon, frost, cold river, and misty trees create a pale, cold palette against which the single warm note of her tearful face burns briefly. The closing 'faintly two or three misty trees' converts the exhaustion of looking into landscape, ending the poem in infinite aftertaste.

【白话串讲】柳永写《采莲令》：“月华收，云淡霜天曙。西征客、此时情苦”——“翠娥执手送临歧，轧轧开朱户”——“千娇面、盈盈伫立，无言有泪，断肠争忍回顾”——“一叶兰舟，便恁急桨凌波去”——他写离别——翠娥执手送临歧。【意象与手法】 “月华收，云淡霜天曙”写晓行之景；“翠娥执手送临歧，轧轧开朱户”写送别之景；“千娇面、盈盈伫立，无言有泪，断肠争忍回顾”写佳人惜别之态；结以“更回首、重城不见，寒江天外，隐隐两三烟树”以舟行远去、回望不见收束。以景写情、层层递进。【情感与主旨】柳永写送别之名篇，写客子西征、佳人执手送别的场景与别后回望不见的怅惘，婉转深挚，是柳永“羁旅行役”词的代表。【名句点睛】常考“千娇面、盈盈伫立，无言有泪，断肠争忍回顾”以无言有泪写惜别之态；“更回首、重城不见，寒江天外，隐隐两三烟树”以烟树收束写别后怅惘。

Background

Liu Yong (c. 987–c. 1053), courtesy name Qiqing, originally named Sanbian, was born in Chong'an (modern Wuyishan, Fujian). The most celebrated ci poet of the Northern Song, he wrote extensively of travelers' roads and urban life, and his graceful, extended-narration style was so popular that it was said 'wherever there is well water, people sing Liu's lyrics'. 'Cai Lian Ling' belongs to his great body of farewell lyrics, and its dawn-departure setting shows his mastery of the traveler's mood that runs through his work.

《采莲令》为北宋词人柳永所作词。柳永（约987—约1053），字耆卿，原名三变，崇安（今福建武夷山）人，北宋著名词人，多写羁旅行役与市井生活，词风婉约，长于铺叙，人称「凡有井水处，即能歌柳词」。此词写送别。词中「月华收，云淡霜天曙」写晓行之景；「西征客、此时情苦」写客子之情；「翠娥执手送临歧，轧轧开朱户」写送别之景；「千娇面、盈盈伫立，无言有泪，断肠争忍回顾」写佳人惜别之态；「一叶兰舟，便恁急桨凌波去」写舟行远去；「更回首、重城不见，寒江天外，隐隐两三烟树」写回望不见。柳永多写离别，此词写客子西征、佳人送别，婉转深挚，是柳永写送别的名篇，也是其「婉约铺叙」词风的典型体现。此篇《采莲令》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。

Art

The poem's craft lies in its layered unfolding and its movement from the real into the void. The upper stanza fixes the scene at the moment of parting: the frosty dawn sets a cold key, the creaking gate gives the moment a sound, and the woman's wordless tears supply its emotional center — her stillness makes the traveler's haste ('swift oars') all the more cruel. The lower stanza follows the boat out, and the famous turn 'greedy for the road — how could he know the sorrow of parting' voices the traveler's self-reproach, while 'all his feelings he swallows as regret, and silently — to whom can he speak?' isolates grief in speechlessness. The closing backward gaze, in which the walled city disappears and only misty trees remain, transfers the emotion entirely into landscape.

此词艺术上以「铺叙送别、由实入虚」见长。全词上片写送别之景与佳人惜别之态，下片写舟行远去与回望之景。上片「月华收，云淡霜天曙。西征客、此时情苦」写晓行之景与客子之情：月华收起，云淡霜天，天色将曙；西征的客子，此时情苦。「翠娥执手送临歧，轧轧开朱户」写送别之景：翠娥执手送到临歧，轧轧地开了朱户。「千娇面、盈盈伫立，无言有泪，断肠争忍回顾」写佳人惜别之态：千娇的面庞、盈盈伫立，无言有泪，断肠怎忍回顾。下片「一叶兰舟，便恁急桨凌波去」写舟行远去：一叶兰舟，便这般急桨凌波而去。「贪行色、岂知离绪。万般方寸，但饮恨，脉脉同谁语」写离绪：贪恋行色，岂知离绪，万般方寸，但饮恨，脉脉同谁语。「更回首、重城不见，寒江天外，隐隐两三烟树」写回望不见：更回首，重城不见，寒江天外，隐隐两三烟树。全词铺叙送别，由实入虚，是柳永写送别的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。

Allusions

Several phrases carry classical weight: lin qi (the parting fork) is the traditional place of farewell; cui e (dark eyebrows) is a metonym for a beautiful woman, drawn from the 'emerald brows' of classical verse; zhu hu (vermilion gate) marks a wealthy household; lan zhou (orchid boat) is the conventional name for an elegant boat; ling bo (treading the waves) recalls the Luo River goddess of Cao Zhi's 'Luo Shen Fu' and here suggests the boat's skimming speed; and yan shu (misty trees) is a stock image of distance in classical poetry. Liu Yong fuses these into the scene so naturally that the parting feels at once particular and archetypal.

词中「临歧」「翠娥」「朱户」「兰舟」「凌波」「烟树」等语，皆含典故故实。「临歧」指歧路分别处，「送临歧」写送至歧路告别；「翠娥」指美人之眉（翠眉），以代指佳人；「朱户」指朱红之门，「轧轧开朱户」写开门之声；「兰舟」为舟之美称，木兰舟；「凌波」本写洛神「凌波微步」之姿（曹植《洛神赋》），此处写舟行之速、如凌波而去；「烟树」为古诗词常用意象，写远处迷蒙之树。词人以临歧、翠娥、兰舟、凌波、烟树等意象入词，不着痕迹，而把送别之景与离情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸意象的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。

Commentary

'Cai Lian Ling' has been collected in lyric anthologies from the Song onward and stands as one of Liu Yong's representative farewell pieces, often paired with 'Yu Lin Ling'. Critics have especially valued the couplet 'her thousand-charm face stands slender and still, without a word, tears falling' for portraying the beauty's grief through posture and silence rather than words, and the closing 'faintly two or three misty trees' for ending in scene and leaving endless aftertaste — the two most frequently examined moments in the lyric, and proof of Liu Yong's ability to make a universal emotion unforgettable through one gesture and one landscape.

这首《采莲令》，是柳永写送别之作，写客子西征、佳人送别之情，婉转深挚。上片写晓行之景与佳人惜别之态：「月华收，云淡霜天曙。西征客、此时情苦」——月华收起，云淡霜天，天色将曙；西征的客子，此时情苦。写晓行将发之景：月落霜天、天色将曙，西征客子，此时情苦——行将离别，其情最苦；「翠娥执手送临歧，轧轧开朱户」——翠娥执手送到临歧，轧轧地开了朱户。写送别之景：佳人执手相送，送至歧路，轧轧开门；「千娇面、盈盈伫立，无言有泪，断肠争忍回顾」——千娇的面庞、盈盈伫立，无言有泪，断肠怎忍回顾。写佳人惜别之态：千娇面盈盈伫立，无言有泪，而客子断肠，怎忍回顾——一回顾，便更难舍。这「断肠争忍回顾」，是全词上片最动人处：不是不回顾，而是不忍回顾。下片写舟行远去与回望之景：「一叶兰舟，便恁急桨凌波去」——一叶兰舟，便这般急桨凌波而去。写舟行远去，一去不回；「贪行色、岂知离绪。万般方寸，但饮恨，脉脉同谁语」——贪恋行色，岂知离绪，万般方寸，但饮恨，脉脉同谁语。写客子舟中之情：万般方寸，但饮恨，脉脉同谁语——满腹离绪，无人可语；「更回首、重城不见，寒江天外，隐隐两三烟树」——更回首，重城不见，寒江天外，隐隐两三烟树。写回望：重城已不见，唯见寒江天外、隐隐两三烟树。以「隐隐两三烟树」作结，写尽舟行远去、望断重城之情，含蓄而有尽味。全词铺叙送别，由实入虚，正是柳永「婉约铺叙」词风的典型，也是其写送别的名篇。

Prosody

Form Ci (lyric) to the tune 'Cai Lian Ling' (Picking Lotuses), in the double-tune (shuangdiao) form词（采莲令，双调）

Rhyme The tune Cai Lian Ling is a double-tune lyric of ninety-one characters, with eight lines in each of the upper and lower stanzas. It rhymes on oblique (falling) tones: in the upper stanza, shu ('dawn'), ku ('bitter'), hu ('door'), and gu ('to look back') rhyme within the Yu ( rhyme group, with qu ('to go') also falling in rhyme; in the lower stanza, xu ('thoughts of parting'), yu ('to speak'), and shu ('trees') rhyme within the Yu ( group. Since the form follows the established tune pattern (cipu), its lines of uneven length rise and fall with the emotion, a cadence that naturally suits the tender, restrained mood of this parting scene.此词为《采莲令》调，双调九十一字，上片下片各八句。押仄声韵：上片「曙」「苦」「户」「顾」押遇部韵，「去」韵；下片「绪」「语」「树」押语部韵。词体依词谱而定，句式长短错落，音节随情起伏，正与写送别的婉转深挚相称，也见其以词写离别的自然。

Tone pattern Line by line, the upper stanza opens with 'The moonlight fades, the clouds thin, the frosty sky at dawn' in a cold, clear cadence; 'A traveler bound west — at this hour his heart is bitter' breaks off abruptly; 'She takes his hand and sees him to the parting road; creak, the vermilion gate swings open' turns in a lingering, plaintive rhythm; 'Her thousand-charm face stands there slender and still, no word, only tears — heartbroken, how can he bear to look back' sinks into a low, lingering fall. In the lower stanza, 'A single leaf-like orchid boat, with swift oars skimming the waves away' moves in quick, urgent beats; 'Greedy for the road — how could he know the sorrow of parting' sighs in regret; and 'Looking back once more, the walled city is gone; beyond the cold river at the sky's edge, faintly two or three misty trees' stretches into a distant, fading cadence. The whole lyric rises and falls with the feeling — from cold clarity to lingering plaint, from low sorrow to distant expanse — true to the beauty of the long-and-short-line form, and it reads like the hushed, heart-stirring music of a traveler parting at dawn.句式上，上片「月华收，云淡霜天曙」写晓行之景，音节清冷；「西征客、此时情苦」写客子之情，音节顿挫；「翠娥执手送临歧，轧轧开朱户」写送别之景，音节婉转；「千娇面、盈盈伫立，无言有泪，断肠争忍回顾」写佳人惜别，音节低回；下片「一叶兰舟，便恁急桨凌波去」写舟行，音节急促；「贪行色、岂知离绪」写离绪，音节慨叹；「更回首、重城不见，寒江天外，隐隐两三烟树」写回望，音节悠远。全词音节随情起伏，由清冷而婉转、由低回而悠远，正合词体「长短句」之妙，读来如送别之人晓行惜别之音，婉转而动人。

Reading note To the tune 'Cai Lian Ling', this is Liu Yong's celebrated farewell lyric and a classic example of his graceful, extended-narration style, collected in lyric anthologies across the centuries. The work's artistry lies in its layered unfolding of the farewell, moving from the real into the void: the upper stanza sets the frosty dawn, the traveler's bitter heart, the gate's creak, and the beauty's silent tears; the lower stanza follows the boat out with its swift oars, the traveler's swallowed regret, and the backward gaze at misty trees. Most masterly are the couplet 'her thousand-charm face stands there slender and still, no word, only tears — heartbroken, how can he bear to look back', which writes the difficulty of parting through the woman's very posture, and 'looking back once more, the walled city is gone; beyond the cold river at the sky's edge, faintly two or three misty trees', which writes the long stretch of sorrow through the scene of the backward gaze — one at the moment of parting, one after the boat has gone. This is the standard of Liu Yong's graceful farewell manner.此词为《采莲令》调，是柳永写送别的名篇，也是其「婉约铺叙」词风的典型体现。全词的艺术特色在于「铺叙送别、由实入虚」：上片「月华收，云淡霜天曙」写晓行之景、「西征客、此时情苦」写客子之情、「翠娥执手送临歧，轧轧开朱户」写送别之景、「千娇面、盈盈伫立，无言有泪，断肠争忍回顾」写佳人惜别之态；下片「一叶兰舟，便恁急桨凌波去」写舟行远去、「贪行色、岂知离绪。万般方寸，但饮恨，脉脉同谁语」写舟中离绪、「更回首、重城不见，寒江天外，隐隐两三烟树」写回望之景。全词铺叙送别，由实入虚。尤为精妙者，是「千娇面、盈盈伫立，无言有泪，断肠争忍回顾」以佳人惜别之态写别情之难舍，与「更回首、重城不见，寒江天外，隐隐两三烟树」以回望烟树写离情之绵长，一写送别时、一写去远后，正是柳永「婉约铺叙」写离别的典范，为历代词选所常收。

Line by line

月华收，云淡霜天曙。

The moonlight fades, the clouds thin, and the frosty sky brightens toward dawn.

月华收起，云淡霜天，天色将曙。

The moonlight fades, the clouds thin, the frosty sky grows dawn.

首二句写晓行之景，起笔即见其时。「月华收」写月华收起，「月华」写月之光华，「收」写其将落；「云淡霜天曙」写云淡霜天、天色将曙，「云淡」写云之淡薄，「霜天」写天有霜寒，「曙」写天将破晓。两句写月落霜天、天色将曙之景，一片清冷晓色，正是行将离别之时。以晓景写离时，起笔便定下清冷之调，为全词写送别作铺垫，是「以景起兴」的妙笔。

The first two lines write the dawn journey, the time at the first stroke. The moonlight fades writes the moon's splendor fading toward its setting; the clouds thin, the frosty sky grows dawn writes the thin clouds, the frosty cold, the breaking dawn. Two lines write the moon's setting, the frosty sky, the coming dawn, a stretch of cold morning light, precisely the hour of the parting. Writing the parting hour through the dawn scene, fixing the cold tone at the opening, preparing the ci's send-off, the fine brush of rising in scene.

西征客、此时情苦。

A traveler bound west — at this hour his heart is bitter.

西征的客子，此时情苦。

The traveler journeying west — at this moment, his heart is sore.

此句写客子之情，是全词写情的总起。「西征客、此时情苦」写西征的客子此时情苦，「西征客」点出人物（将西行之人），「此时情苦」写其此时情之苦涩。一句点出行将离别、客子情苦，以「情苦」总写离情，是全词之枢纽——上承晓行将发之景，下启送别惜别之情。以短句写情，含蓄而有力，是「以短句点情」的妙笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。

The line writes the traveler's feeling, the general rise of the ci's emotion. The traveler journeying west — at this moment, his heart is sore marks the person (the man about to go west), the moment's bitter feeling. One line marks the coming parting and the traveler's sore heart, using the sore heart for the general parting grief, the hinge of the ci — above carrying the dawn's departure, below leading the send-off's feeling. Writing feeling in the short line, restrained and forceful, the fine brush. The line writes the depth in scant words, the feeling and flavor both fine, the pointed stroke. Its hidden undercurrents between the words, its turns within the plain, call for repeated brooding.

千娇面、盈盈伫立，无言有泪，断肠争忍回顾。

Her thousand-charm face stands there slender and still, without a word, tears falling — heartbroken, how can he bear to look back?

千娇的面庞、盈盈伫立，无言有泪，断肠怎忍回顾。

Her face a thousand charms, standing graceful, wordless, in tears; with heart broken, how can he bear to look back?

此句写佳人惜别之态，是全词写别情的关键。「千娇面、盈盈伫立」写千娇的面庞、盈盈伫立，「千娇面」写其面之美，「盈盈伫立」写其亭亭而立；「无言有泪」写无言有泪，「无言」写其无声，「有泪」写其泪下；「断肠争忍回顾」写断肠怎忍回顾，「断肠」写其情之痛，「争忍回顾」写怎忍回顾。一句以千娇面、盈盈伫立写其美，以无言有泪写其悲，以断肠争忍回顾写其情之难舍——不是不回顾，而是不忍回顾。以态写情，含蓄深挚，是全词最动人处，也是「以态写别」的点睛之笔。

The line writes the beauty's reluctant farewell, the key of the ci's parting feeling. Her face a thousand charms, standing graceful writes her face's beauty, her graceful standing; wordless, in tears writes the silence, the falling tears; with heart broken, how can he bear to look back? writes the grief's pain, the unbearable looking back. One line, the thousand charms and graceful standing for her beauty, the wordless tears for her grief, the heart-broken how-can-bear for the hard parting — not that he does not look back, but that he cannot bear to. Writing feeling through bearing, restrained and deep, the most moving place, the pointed brush.

更回首、重城不见，寒江天外，隐隐两三烟树。

Looking back once more, the walled city is gone; beyond the cold river at the edge of the sky, faintly two or three misty trees.

更回首，重城不见，寒江天外，隐隐两三烟树。

Again he looks back — the walled city is gone; the cold river stretches beyond the sky, and dimly, two or three misty trees.

尾句写回望之景，是全词立意的落点。「更回首、重城不见」写更回首、重城已不见，「更回首」写其再次回望，「重城不见」写城已望不见；「寒江天外，隐隐两三烟树」写寒江天外、隐隐两三烟树，「寒江天外」写江天之间，「隐隐两三烟树」写烟树迷蒙。一句一写回望而不见、一写唯见烟树，以「重城不见」写其离城已远、以「隐隐两三烟树」写望中之景，写尽舟行远去、望断重城之情——城已不见，唯余寒江烟树。以景作结，含蓄而有尽味，是「以景结情」的点睛之笔。

The closing line writes the looking-back scene, the landing point of the ci. Again he looks back — the walled city is gone writes the second look, the city no longer seen; the cold river stretches beyond the sky, and dimly, two or three misty trees writes the river-and-sky, the misty trees. One line, one the look and the non-seeing, one the misty trees alone, the walled-city-gone for the distance from the city, the misty trees for the scene of the gazing, exhausting the boat's receding and the city's lost from sight — the city gone, only the cold river and misty trees left. Closing in scene, restrained with an aftertone, the pointed brush.

Study

Word focus

收 'To gather in' — the moonlight is withdrawing, its glow folding away; a single verb marks the moon's setting and the approach of dawn, setting the cold tone of the early-morning journey. 「收」字写月华收起，是写晓行之景的关键。「月华收」着一「收」，写月华收起——着一「收」字，写月将落而其光渐收，见天色将曙。一字写尽月落之态，与「曙」相连，写尽晓行之清冷，是「以一字写时」的妙笔。「收」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

苦 'Bitter' — the one word that defines the traveler's state of mind at parting; with it Liu Yong fixes the keynote of the whole lyric, distilling the sorrow of farewell into a single monosyllable. 「苦」字写客子此时情苦，是全词写情的总起。「西征客、此时情苦」着一「苦」，写客子此时情之苦涩——着一「苦」字，写尽行将离别之人的心情，别时最苦。一字写尽离情之苦，为全词写送别定调，是「以一字定调」的点睛之词。「苦」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

争忍 'How can one bear' — a rhetorical turn: not that he is unwilling to look back, but that looking back would be unbearable; the reverse phrasing deepens the reluctance to part. 「争忍」写怎忍回顾，是写别情难舍的关键。「断肠争忍回顾」着一「争忍」，写断肠怎忍回顾——着一「争忍」，写其不忍回顾而又难以自禁，别情之难舍。两字写尽客子断肠而不忍回顾之态，是「以反问写情」的点睛之词。「争忍」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

隐隐 'Faintly, dimly' — a reduplicative describing the hazy, half-visible trees in the distance; paired with 'the walled city is gone', it paints the boat's far drifting in blurred outlines. 「隐隐」写烟树迷蒙，是写回望之景的关键。「隐隐两三烟树」着一「隐隐」，写隐隐约约的烟树——叠字写烟树之迷蒙隐约，远望之景。两字写尽回望时唯见迷蒙烟树之景，与「重城不见」相连，写尽舟行远去之情，是「以叠字写景」的点睛之词。「隐隐」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

采莲令