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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

法曲献仙音

Fa Qu: Offering Sound to the Immortals

王沂孙

Wang Yisun

层绿峨峨，纤琼皎皎，倒压波痕清浅。
过眼年华，动人幽意，相逢几番春换。
记唤酒寻芳处，盈盈褪妆晚。
已销黯。
况凄凉、近来离思，应忘却、明月夜深归辇。
荏苒一枝春，恨东风、人似天远。
纵有残花，洒征衣、铅泪都满。
但殷勤折取，自遣一襟幽怨。

Layer upon layer the green rises high,
the slender jade-white gleams bright,
their inverted shadows press on the shallow ripples.
The years flash past the eye,
touching the heart with hidden sorrow —
how many times have we met through changing springs?
I recall where we called for wine and sought the flowers:
she stood in graceful fullness, removing her makeup late.
It has all faded into dimness.
How much more desolate, this new grief of parting —
I should forget the returning carriage in the deep of the moonlit night.
Slowly slipping away is this one branch of spring;
I hate the east wind — she is as distant as heaven.
Even if faded flowers remain,
they sprinkle my traveling robe till my leaden tears brim over.
Yet earnestly I pluck a sprig
to dispel the hidden resentment in my breast.

Listen

Meaning

The lyric sings the plum of the old imperial Ju Jing Pavilion and, through it, a survivor's grief: the years flash past, the lady of memory is gone, the Southern Song court's moonlit carriages will never return. Plucking a branch of blossom to console himself, the speaker enacts the whole late-Song gesture of intent lodged in a thing.

层层绿意峨峨高耸，纤巧的琼花皎皎明净，梅影倒压于清浅的波痕之上。过眼年华，动人的幽意，相逢几番春换。记得那唤酒寻芳之处，伊人盈盈，褪妆已晚。光景已自销黯。何况近来凄凉，又添离思，应忘却那明月深夜里归来的车辇。荏苒的一枝春，恨那东风，人似天远。纵有残花，洒落征衣之上，铅泪都已满襟。但殷勤折取一枝，自遣这一襟的幽怨。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The lyric opens on the plum of the Ju Jing Pavilion: layer upon layer of green branches, slender white blossoms, their shadows pressed on shallow ripples. The years flash by; how many springs have changed since we met? Remembering wine-seeking, flower-seeking days and a graceful lady removing her makeup late, the speaker turns to 'all faded dim,' to the grief of parting, to the imperial carriage that will never return at midnight. [Structure] The climb is strictly graded: the plum's beauty, then passing time, then memory, then grief, then a wish that curdles into self-consolation. [Imagery] Person and plum mirror each other throughout — the lady's fading makeup is the falling blossom; 'leaden tears' makes grief heavy as metal. [Effect] The closing 'earnestly I pluck a sprig' is the whole Southern Song survivor's gesture: devotion without an addressee, consolation that consoles nothing.

【白话串讲】王沂孙写《法曲献仙音》：“层绿峨峨，纤琼皎皎，倒压波痕清浅”——“过眼年华，动人幽意，相逢几番春换”——“况凄凉、近来离思”——他写离思。【意象与手法】 “层绿峨峨，纤琼皎皎，倒压波痕清浅”写梅之风姿；“过眼年华，动人幽意，相逢几番春换”写梅之含情与时光之叹；下阕“况凄凉、近来离思”写离思之添；“荏苒一枝春，恨东风、人似天远”写情之渺远；终以“但殷勤折取，自遣一襟幽怨”自我排遣。词风清丽、情感幽婉。【情感与主旨】王沂孙咏梅之作，写梅花而寄年华之感、离思之怨，是南宋遗民咏物词中托物寄情的代表。【名句点睛】常考“层绿峨峨，纤琼皎皎，倒压波痕清浅”以层绿纤琼写梅姿；“荏苒一枝春，恨东风、人似天远”以人似天远写情之渺远。

Background

Wang Yisun (c. 1230 – c. 1290), style Sheng Yu, sobriquet Bi Shan, was a native of Kuaiji (modern Shaoxing). One of the four great late-Song lyricists alongside Zhou Mi, Zhang Yan, and Jiang Kui, he served briefly as an educational official under the Yuan and wrote chiefly on objects, with deep historical undertone — Zhou Ji called him supreme at 'lodging intent in things.' This lyric, on the plum of the Ju Jing Pavilion, a Southern Song imperial garden in Hangzhou, matches the rhyme of Zhou Mi's (Cao Chuang's) song on the same subject. After the dynasty's fall the garden lay waste, and the plum — the millennium emblem of purity — became the natural vessel for a survivor's sorrow.

此词为宋末元初词人王沂孙的咏梅之作，旧题《聚景亭梅次草窗韵》，是和周密（草窗）《法曲献仙音》之韵而作。王沂孙（约1240—约1290），字圣与，号碧山，又号中仙，会稽（今浙江绍兴）人，宋末元初词人，与周密、张炎、蒋捷并称宋末四大词家。他入元后曾为庆元路学正，仕隐之间多有身世之感，其词以咏物见长，长于寄托，周济评其词「咏物最争托意」。聚景亭在杭州，为宋孝宗时所建御园，南宋诸帝常游幸于此，宋亡后园亭荒废。此词咏聚景亭之梅，写梅花之清姿与年华之感：「层绿峨峨，纤琼皎皎」，写梅枝之绿与梅花之白；「过眼年华，动人幽意」，写时光流逝而梅之幽意动人；「记唤酒寻芳处，盈盈褪妆晚」，回忆往昔唤酒寻芳、伊人盈盈的旧事；「况凄凉、近来离思，应忘却、明月夜深归辇」，以「归辇」暗写宋帝游幸的旧事，如今只剩凄凉离思；「荏苒一枝春，恨东风、人似天远」，写梅枝荏苒、东风无情、人天相隔；「纵有残花，洒征衣、铅泪都满」，写残花洒衣、铅泪满襟；「但殷勤折取，自遣一襟幽怨」，写折梅自遣的幽怨。全词以梅为咏写对象，而织入年华之感、故国之思、离思之怨，正是王沂孙咏物词「托意于物」的典型。

Art

The lyric's art lies in joining exquisite diction to hidden grief. The opening 'layer upon layer the green ... slender jade-white' opposes branch to blossom, green to white, and the reduplicatives 'towering' and 'gleaming' fix the plum's proud elegance before a word of feeling is spoken; 'their shadows press on the shallow ripples' tilts the tree into the water and the whole scene into depth. 'The years flash past the eye' pivots from object to time: the plum returns every spring, the speaker does not. 'Removing her makeup late' folds the lady's fading into the blossom's, a double exposure at the heart of the poem. 'All faded dim' is a three-beat stumble that re-tunes the music. 'Should forget — the returning carriage in the moonlit deep night' hides a dynasty's death in one light clause, its lightness the measure of its weight. 'Leaden tears' borrows Li He's molten lead; 'earnestly I pluck a sprig' turns ritual into helplessness — no one left to send it to.

此词艺术上以「清丽」与「托意深婉」为特色，在咏梅的笔触中织入身世之感。上阕以「层绿峨峨，纤琼皎皎」写梅之清姿——层绿写梅枝之繁茂，纤琼写梅花之皎洁，以「峨峨」「皎皎」的重叠词写其高耸明净之态，起笔即见梅之清雅；「倒压波痕清浅」，写梅影倒映于清浅波痕之上，画面清丽而空灵。「过眼年华，动人幽意，相逢几番春换」，由梅转入时光之叹——那梅年年开放，而年华过眼，相逢已是几番春换，咏物中暗含年华之感；「记唤酒寻芳处，盈盈褪妆晚」，回忆往昔唤酒寻芳、伊人盈盈的旧事，「褪妆晚」写伊人之姿，也暗写梅花褪落之态，人梅相映。下阕「已销黯」，顿挫转凄，写光景销黯；「况凄凉、近来离思，应忘却、明月夜深归辇」，以「归辇」暗写宋帝游幸的旧事，如今只剩凄凉离思，「应忘却」三字，写想忘而忘不了的沉痛；「荏苒一枝春，恨东风、人似天远」，写梅枝荏苒、东风无情、人天相隔，「人似天远」写与所念之人（或故国）相隔之远；「纵有残花，洒征衣、铅泪都满」，写残花洒衣、铅泪满襟，「铅泪」用铜人铅泪之典，暗含故国之痛；「但殷勤折取，自遣一襟幽怨」，写折梅自遣的幽怨，以「自遣」收束，正见其怨之无可排遣。全词以梅为线，由清姿入年华、由年华入离思、由离思入幽怨，层层转折而情思不断，是王沂孙咏物词「托意深婉」的典范。

Allusions

Three allusions carry the grief. 'The moonlit deep-night returning carriage' recalls the Southern Song emperors' night visits to the Ju Jing Pavilion; after 1279 that splendor could only be remembered as something one 'should forget.' 'Leaden tears' comes from Li He's 'The Golden Bronze Immortal Takes Leave of the Han,' whose tears ran like molten lead when the statue was hauled from the Han palace — by Tang usage a byword for the sorrow of a fallen dynasty. 'Pluck a sprig' rewrites Lu Kai's gift to Fan Kai of 'one branch of spring' from the south, a message of longing to a distant friend; here there is no recipient, so the gesture survives while its meaning inverts. The reduplicatives 'towering' and 'gleaming' also reach back to the Book of Songs and Xie Huilian's 'Snow Rhapsody,' lending the opening a classical dignity.

此词用典于隐微处见沉痛。「层绿峨峨，纤琼皎皎」，写梅之清姿，而「峨峨」「皎皎」皆有出处，《诗经·大雅·棫朴》有「奉璋峨峨」，谢惠连《雪赋》有「皎皎」咏雪之句，以典写梅之清雅。「过眼年华」，暗含「流光容易把人抛」的惜时之意。「明月夜深归辇」，以「归辇」暗写宋帝游幸御园之旧事——聚景亭为宋孝宗御园，宋帝常于月夜游幸，宋亡后园亭荒废，此词以「应忘却、明月夜深归辇」写故国游幸之盛事如今应已忘却，暗含黍离之悲。「铅泪」用李贺《金铜仙人辞汉歌》「忆君清泪如铅水」之典，金铜仙人被移离汉宫时，泪如铅水而下，后以「铅泪」写亡国之痛、故国之思，此词「铅泪都满」，正是遗民之泪。「荏苒一枝春」，暗用陆凯寄梅之典，「江南无所有，聊赠一枝春」，以折梅寄远写思念之情；「殷勤折取」，正是折梅寄意的动作，而「自遣一襟幽怨」，写无人可寄、只能自遣的孤独。这些典故，或写梅之清雅、或写故国之思、或写寄远之情，皆围绕咏梅而织入身世之感，正是王沂孙词「咏物最争托意」的特点，也可见其词于清丽辞采之下深藏的遗民之痛。

Commentary

The line that most repays attention is 'should forget — the moonlit deep-night returning carriage.' Ju Jing Pavilion was an imperial pleasure ground; its moonlit nights and returning carriages were Southern Song peace itself. To stand before the old garden's plum and say 'it should be forgotten' is to speak of it lightly precisely because it cannot be forgotten: the softer the voice, the heavier the heart. Zhou Ji's verdict that Wang Yisun 'lodges the most intent in things' finds its proof here — the poem never names the fallen dynasty, yet every blossom is its ghost. Among Southern Song lyrics by survivors of the conquest, this is the type of 'intent lodged in the object': the plum blooms annually, the dynasty never returns, and the only act left is to pluck a branch and console oneself. Its restraint — grief carried by imagery rather than statement — is what raises it above ordinary occasional verse.

读此词，最值得注意的是「应忘却、明月夜深归辇」这一句所暗藏的故国之痛。聚景亭本是宋帝游幸的御园，月夜之中，车辇逶迤，何等繁华；而如今，词人对着聚景亭的梅花，却说「应忘却、明月夜深归辇」——那月夜归辇的盛事，应该忘却了吧。这一句写得很轻，轻得几乎像是顺口一提，然而正是这「轻」，衬出心中的「重」：想忘而忘不了，才要说「应忘却」；说「应忘却」，正是因为它时时萦绕心头，怎么也忘不掉。那月夜的归辇，不只是帝王的游幸，更是故国的象征——故国已亡，那盛事已如烟散，可词人偏要对着旧园的梅花，说一句「应忘却」，这其中的沉痛，正如铅泪，重而无声。全词写梅，而梅的背后，是年华、是离思、是故国。王沂孙的词，以咏物寄托著称，此词咏聚景亭之梅，正是借梅抒写遗民心事——梅花年年开，故国不再来，唯有「殷勤折取，自遣一襟幽怨」，把满腔的幽怨，寄托于一枝梅花之中。这种「寄幽怨于梅花」的写法，含蓄深婉而不失力度，正是王沂孙词超越一般咏物词的所在，也是宋末遗民词「托意于物」的典型。

Prosody

Form Ci lyric to the tune Fa Qu Xian Xian Yin (Melody Offered to the Immortal), a double-section slow (man) tune.词（法曲献仙音·双调慢词）

Rhyme Oblique tones throughout: qian ('shallow'), huan ('change'), wan ('late'), an ('dim'), nian ('carriage'), yuan ('far'), man ('brim'), yuan ('resentment' — rising tone). The short, checked rhyme cadence matches the lyric's mood of suppressed sorrow, while the four-character parallel pairs ('towering' and 'gleaming') give the opening its polished sheen.此词为《法曲献仙音》双调慢词，上下阕各押仄韵，「浅」「换」「晚」「黯」「辇」「远」「满」「怨」等字皆属仄声上声、去声韵，韵脚密而短促，正合词情「幽怨」的声调。词中「层绿峨峨，纤琼皎皎」「过眼年华，动人幽意」等句，以四字对排，句式整饬而流丽；「记唤酒寻芳处，盈盈褪妆晚」等句，句式长短错落。整体声调由起句的清丽，到「已销黯」的顿挫，再到「铅泪都满」的沉痛，终以「自遣一襟幽怨」的低回，起伏有致，正合咏梅寄慨的词情。

Tone pattern The meter exploits pauses: 'all faded dim' stands as a three-beat sentence, a sigh that arrests the opening's gloss and turns the second half; the triple four-beat run 'the years flash past the eye, a touching hidden sorrow, how many springs have changed' carries time's swiftness; 'how much more desolate' and 'should forget' are pivot words that wring the line into a sob.句式上，此词善用短句与顿挫：「已销黯」三字独立成句，如一声叹息，顿住前文、开启后文；「过眼年华，动人幽意，相逢几番春换」，以三组四字句连排，节奏明快而情思流转；「况凄凉、近来离思，应忘却、明月夜深归辇」，以「况」字领起、以「应忘却」转折，顿挫而见沉痛。全词由清姿入年华、由年华入离思、由离思入幽怨，句式随之由清丽转顿挫、由顿挫转低回，正是王沂孙词「于清丽中见沉郁」的节奏美学。

Reading note The tune's movement is a slow descent: the first section's bright, polished description of the plum sinks, via 'all faded dim,' into the second section's historical grief, and closes on a low, lingering 'to dispel the resentment in my breast.' Recite the opening pairs level and bright; let 'all faded dim' drop and hesitate; carry 'the returning carriage in the moonlit deep night' almost too lightly; then slow on the closing couplet, stretching 'resentment' into silence.作为南宋慢词，《法曲献仙音》的声律之美，在于以仄声短韵与顿挫的句式，写出咏梅而寄身世的幽怨情思。全词上阕由「层绿峨峨，纤琼皎皎」的清丽写梅，经「过眼年华」的时光之叹，到「盈盈褪妆晚」的人梅相映，声调由清丽转低回；下阕以「已销黯」的顿挫起笔，经「应忘却、明月夜深归辇」的故国之思，到「铅泪都满」的沉痛，再到「自遣一襟幽怨」的低回，声调由顿挫转沉郁。词中「过眼年华，动人幽意，相逢几番春换」「但殷勤折取，自遣一襟幽怨」等句，句法多变而声情相谐，正是王沂孙词「清丽深婉」风格的体现。就全词而言，此词以梅之咏写身世之慨，托意深婉，清丽沉郁，是王沂孙咏物词的代表作，也可见宋末遗民词「托意于物」的普遍手法，以及王沂孙词「咏物最争托意」的独特风格。

Line by line

过眼年华，动人幽意，相逢几番春换。

The years flash past the eye; a touching, hidden sorrow; how many times have we met through the changing of springs?

年华过眼即逝，梅花的幽意动人，相逢已是几番春换。

The years pass like a glance; the plum's quiet charm moves me; since we first met, several springs have already turned.

这一句由咏梅转入年华之叹，是此词「托意」的枢纽。「过眼年华」，写时光之流逝——年华如过眼云烟，转瞬即逝，与梅花年年开落相对照，暗含惜时之感；「动人幽意」，写梅花之幽情雅意——梅之动人，不在秾艳，而在幽，正是「疏影横斜」的幽意；「相逢几番春换」，写与梅相逢已几度春秋——年年相逢，岁岁春换，梅还是那枝梅，而人已不是那人，年华之感、人事之叹，尽在其中。这一句，由写梅转而写人，咏物而不滞于物，正是王沂孙咏物词「托意」手法的体现。以「过眼年华」写时光，以「几番春换」写人事，清丽之中暗含沧桑，是此词咏梅而寄身世之感的枢机。

The line turns from the singing of the plum to the lament over the years, the hinge of the ci's hidden meaning. The years pass like a glance writes time's slipping — the years like clouds passing the eyes, gone in an instant, set against the plum's yearly flowering, carrying the regret for time. The plum's quiet charm moves me writes the plum's unspoken elegance — what moves in the plum is never the gaudiness, but the quiet, the hidden elegance of sparse shadows slanting. Since we first met, several springs have already turned writes the meetings with the plum over the years: year after year meeting, spring after spring turning, the plum still the same spray, and the man no longer the same man. The line turns from the plum to the man, singing the object without being trapped by it, the typical method of Wang Yisun's object-singing ci's hidden intention — beauty on the surface, the weariness of a lifetime beneath.

应忘却、明月夜深归辇。

It should be forgotten — the returning carriage in the deep of the moonlit night.

那明月深夜里游幸归来的车辇，应该忘却了吧。

One ought to have forgotten the imperial carriage returning by moonlight in the deep night.

这一句是全词最沉痛的一笔，也是故国之思的暗藏处。「明月夜深归辇」，写聚景亭月夜游幸、车辇归来的旧日盛事——那是宋帝游幸御园的繁华，也是故国承平的象征；「应忘却」，写应该忘却——然而说「应忘却」，正是因为它忘不掉，越是说应该忘却，越是说明它时时萦绕心头。这一句写得很轻，轻得几乎像是顺口一提，然而正是这「轻」，衬出心中的「重」：故国已亡，那月夜的归辇已如烟散，可词人偏要对着旧园的梅花，说一句「应忘却」，这其中的沉痛，正是「举重若轻」的笔法。以「归辇」暗写故国，以「应忘却」反写难忘，含蓄深婉而不失力度，是此词托意最深的句子，也是理解王沂孙遗民心事的钥匙。

This is the ci's most painful stroke, and the hidden place of the grief for the lost dynasty. The imperial carriage returning by moonlight in the deep night evokes the old splendor: the Song emperors' moonlight excursions to the imperial gardens, the carriages returning through the dark — a symbol of the dynasty's peacetime. One ought to have forgotten writes the should-forget; and yet to say should-forget is precisely because it cannot be forgotten — the more one says one ought, the more it proves it haunts the mind. The line is written so lightly, almost in passing, and yet this lightness sets off the weight within: the dynasty is gone, that moonlight carriage has scattered like smoke, and yet the poet, facing the plum of the old garden, says ought to forget — the pain in this is the method of lifting the heavy with a light hand. The carriage stands for the lost state, the should-forget writes the unforgettable in reverse, the deepest-meaninged line of the ci, and the key to understanding the loyalist poet's heart.

但殷勤折取，自遣一襟幽怨。

Yet earnestly I pluck a sprig, to dispel the hidden resentment filling my breast.

但殷勤地折取一枝梅花，自我排遣这一襟的幽怨。

Yet I break a spray with such care, only to solace myself with this whole breast of hidden grief.

这一句是全词的结穴，写折梅自遣的幽怨。「殷勤折取」，写折梅之郑重——殷勤者，情意恳切也，仿佛把满腔的情意都倾注于折梅这一动作；「自遣一襟幽怨」，写折梅的自遣——把满腔的幽怨，寄托于一枝梅花之中，以梅自遣。「自遣」二字，是全句的魂：不是无人可寄，而是无人可寄——那满腔的幽怨，无处倾诉，只能借一枝梅花自我排遣。折梅本是寄远之事（陆凯「聊赠一枝春」），而词人「殷勤折取」却只是「自遣」，正是「无人可寄」的孤独。以「殷勤」写折梅之郑重，以「自遣」写怨之无处安放，痴情而苍凉，余韵悠长，是王沂孙词「托意深婉」的典型结尾，也见其遗民之怨的深不可测。

The closing gathers the ci's feeling, writing the breaking of the plum to solace a grief with nowhere to rest. Break a spray with such care writes the ritual care of the act — the word careful means earnest, as if the whole heart's feeling were poured into the breaking of one branch; only to solace myself with this whole breast of hidden grief writes the solace of the breaking: the whole breast's grief entrusted to one spray of plum, to be eased through the plum. The word solace is the line's soul: not that there is no one to send it to, but that there is no one — the whole breast of grief, with nowhere to pour it out, can only be eased through one's own hand and one's own plum. Breaking the plum is by nature the act of sending to a distant friend (Lu Kai's let me send you a spray of spring), and yet the poet's careful breaking is only self-solace, precisely the loneliness of no one to send. The line ends in devoted grief and desolation, the model close of Wang Yisun's deep, restrained loyalist grief.

Study

Word focus

层绿 Layered green — the dense, tiered foliage of the plum tree, written before the white of the blossoms; 'layered' gives the branches depth, 'green' their color, together painting the old garden plum in vigorous, shaded fullness. 「层绿峨峨」之「层绿」，写梅枝层层叠叠的绿意，是此词起笔处意象的凝练。「层」写其层次，「绿」写其颜色，「层绿」即层层绿意，写聚景亭梅树之繁茂，枝叶层叠，绿意盎然；「峨峨」写其高耸，二字相配，写出梅树高大繁茂之姿。以「层绿」起笔，写梅之先绿而后白——梅开之前，枝头层绿；梅开之后，绿中缀白。此词以「层绿峨峨，纤琼皎皎」对举，一写枝之绿，一写花之白，色彩明净而层次分明，正是咏梅的清丽笔法。以「层绿」写梅枝，贴切而新颖，也暗含聚景亭旧园草木繁茂、人事已非的况味，是王沂孙词炼字精严的体现。

褪妆 Removing makeup — the blossoms falling as a beauty takes off her paint; the word folds the lady of memory into the plum, so that the flower's decline and her fading become one image. 「盈盈褪妆晚」之「褪妆」，写梅花凋落、如美人褪妆，是此词以人写梅的妙笔。「褪妆」本写美人卸去妆饰，词人移以写梅花，梅花便如美人——那凋落的梅花，正如卸妆的美人，褪去了红妆，露出本来的颜色；「盈盈」写其姿态之美好，「褪妆晚」写其凋落之迟，人梅相映，写出梅花从盛开到凋落的过程。以「褪妆」写梅落，既见梅之清雅，也暗含「红颜易老」的惜叹——梅花褪妆，正如美人迟暮，正是年华之感在咏物中的寄托。此词以「盈盈褪妆晚」写梅花，既是写梅，也是写人，正是王沂孙咏物词「咏物而不滞于物」的笔法，也是「动人幽意」的具体化。

铅泪 Leaden tears — tears heavy as molten lead, from Li He's 'Golden Bronze Immortal' poem; the word gives grief metallic weight, the standard late-Song token for sorrow over a fallen dynasty. 「洒征衣、铅泪都满」之「铅泪」，用李贺《金铜仙人辞汉歌》「忆君清泪如铅水」之典，是此词故国之思的关键语。「铅泪」者，如铅水般沉重的眼泪，李贺写金铜仙人被移离汉宫时的垂泪，后以「铅泪」写亡国之痛、故国之思。此词以「铅泪都满」，写残花洒落征衣、如铅泪般沉重——那洒在征衣上的，是残花，也是铅泪；那满襟的，是花瓣，也是遗民之泪。以「铅泪」写泪，泪便有了铅般的重量，沉甸甸地坠在心头；以「铅泪都满」写幽怨之深，正见故国之痛的无可排遣。此词以「铅泪」暗写亡国之痛，用典贴切而情感深挚，是王沂孙词「咏物最争托意」的体现，也是此词托意最深的词语之一。