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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

贺铸·踏莎行·杨柳回塘

Treading on Grass: Willows by the Winding Pond

贺铸

He Zhu

咏物Chanting of Objects 婉约Graceful and Restrained 感怀memory

踏莎行杨柳回塘，鸳鸯别浦，绿萍涨断莲舟路。
断无蜂蝶慕幽香，红衣脱尽芳心苦。
返照迎潮，行云带雨，依依似与骚人语。
当年不肯嫁春风，无端却被秋风误。

Willows by the winding pond, lovebirds in a lonely creek,
Green duckweed swells, blocking the lotus boat's way.
No bees or butterflies admire her hidden fragrance,
All her red petals fallen, her bitter heart to stay.

Sunset glow meets the tide, drifting clouds bring rain,
Lingering, she seems to speak to the poet full of pain.
Once she refused to marry with the spring breeze,
Unjustly she is wronged by autumn's breeze.

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Meaning

The poem depicts a lotus flower in a secluded pond, unnoticed by bees and butterflies, shedding its petals to reveal a bitter heart. In the second stanza, the lotus speaks to the poet, lamenting that she refused to marry the spring breeze and was unjustly wronged by the autumn wind. The lotus symbolizes the poet's own noble character and unrecognized talent.

杨柳环绕着曲折回环的水塘，鸳鸯栖息在偏僻的水滨渡口，绿萍涨满水面，隔断了采莲小船的去路。绝无蜂蝶前来倾慕这幽幽的清香，莲花褪尽一身红衣，只余下莲心那苦涩的滋味。夕照迎着潮水，行云携带着雨意，荷花依依不舍，仿佛要向我这骚人墨客诉说心事。当年不肯嫁给春风，无端却被秋风耽误了芳华。

Appreciation

This is a classic example of He Zhu using objects to convey personal feelings. The lotus is personified as a pure but abandoned maiden, echoing the 'fragrant grasses and beauties' tradition of Li Sao. The poet's frustrated career is subtly expressed through the lotus's fate, making it a masterpiece of symbolic lyricism.

【白话串讲】贺铸写荷塘里的荷花：没人来采，“红衣脱尽芳心苦”。“当年不肯嫁春风，无端却被秋风误”——他写的是荷花，也是自己不肯随波逐流的一生。【意象与手法】全词将荷花人格化，承《离骚》香草美人传统。上片「杨柳回塘，鸳鸯别浦」布幽静之境，「绿萍涨断」「断无蜂蝶」写孤寂无赏，「红衣脱尽芳心苦」以双关总束零落；下片「返照」「行云」渲染暮色，「依依似与骚人语」物我相契，结以「不肯嫁春风」「被秋风误」拟花如弃妇。拟人精切，哀婉幽洁，通篇写荷实通篇写人。【情感与主旨】贺铸为宋太祖孝惠后族孙，姿貌奇丑而博学，仕途久沉下僚。此《踏莎行》咏荷，约作于晚年退居苏州横塘时，以荷花生于回塘别浦、蜂蝶不慕、秋风误嫁，自伤怀才不遇、高洁见弃之怀抱。【名句点睛】常考「当年不肯嫁春风，无端却被秋风误」的托物言志——以花不肯嫁春风喻操守高洁、不随流俗，反被秋风耽误；「红衣脱尽芳心苦」以「苦」字双关莲心与人心，炼字精警；「断无蜂蝶慕幽香」的斩截语气写幽独无赏。

Background

He Zhu, a descendant of the Song imperial family, was ugly but learned and spent his career in low positions. Written when he retired to Suzhou, this poem uses the lotus in a secluded pond to mirror his own unrecognized talent and noble character, reflecting his melancholy over unfulfilled ambition.

贺铸（1052—1125），字方回，号庆湖遗老，卫州共城人，为宋太祖孝惠皇后族孙。贺铸姿貌奇丑，人称「贺鬼头」，而博学强记，工诗词，尤长于度曲。他早年任侠尚气，喜谈天下事，然性耿介，不附权贵，仕途久沉下僚，终身仅官至泗州、太平州通判等微职。此《踏莎行》咏荷之作，约作于其晚年退居苏州横塘之时。贺铸晚年卜居苏州，筑室于横塘之畔，放浪山水，以诗酒自娱，而胸中抑郁之气不减，遂托物以寄慨。词中荷花生于回塘别浦，绿萍断路，蜂蝶不慕，红衣脱尽而芳心自苦，终为秋风所误——显系自伤怀才不遇、高洁见弃之怀抱。贺铸集中多借香草美人寄慨，此篇为其咏物寓身世之典型，与《青玉案》「一川烟草，满城风絮，梅子黄时雨」同为其传世名篇，也是理解其晚年心境与词风转变的重要作品。贺铸词集名《东山词》，为北宋词中「盛丽」一派之代表，张耒为作《东山词序》，称其词「盛丽如游金、张之堂，而妖冶如揽嫱、施之袂」。贺铸早岁任侠，中年折节读书，晚年卜居苏州横塘，自号庆湖遗老，与山水为伴；其《青玉案》「试问闲愁都几许，一川烟草，满城风絮，梅子黄时雨」以三喻写愁，人称「贺梅子」，可见其以奇思铸词的本领。此《踏莎行》咏荷，正是其晚年横塘生涯中借物写心之作，与其《青玉案》之闲愁、悼亡词之深哀并为其词学成就的高峰。

Art

The poem personifies the lotus with refined language. The first stanza sets a secluded scene with willows, lovebirds, and duckweed, emphasizing isolation. The second adds natural imagery of sunset and rain, leading to a dialogue between the lotus and the poet. The metaphor of marriage for blooming season, with a reversal of Zhang Xian's line, deepens the allegory. Sorrowful and elegant.

全词将荷花人格化，承《离骚》香草美人传统，通篇写荷实通篇写人。上片布景：「杨柳回塘，鸳鸯别浦」以杨柳、鸳鸯点出荷塘之幽美，而回塘、别浦已暗藏偏僻冷落之意；「绿萍涨断莲舟路」写采莲之路被绿萍阻断，荷花幽居无人来采；「断无蜂蝶慕幽香」更以「断无」斩截断言，蜂蝶绝迹，无人赏识；「红衣脱尽芳心苦」以双关总束零落——红衣脱尽写荷花凋谢，芳心苦写莲心苦涩，花之零落即人之不遇。下片转写：「返照迎潮，行云带雨」以夕照、行云渲染苍茫暮色，暗写荷花处境之风雨飘摇；「依依似与骚人语」写荷花依依有情，欲向诗人倾诉，物我相契，点明托意；结以「当年不肯嫁春风，无端却被秋风误」拟花如弃妇，翻用张先词意而自出新境。全词由境入情、由物及人，层层递进，章法缜密，哀婉幽洁，是北宋咏物词「借物写我」的典范。词之上片写荷之「外在」命运：生于幽僻、无人来采、无蝶来慕、花落心苦，步步写其零落之由；下片写荷之「内心」独白：暮色中依依欲语，自诉当年不肯嫁春风之守节与无端被秋风所误之怨愤，由外而内、由境而心，层次井然。「返照迎潮，行云带雨」两两对仗，以天象之动荡写荷处境之风雨飘摇；「依依似与骚人语」更将人花并置，骚人即词人，荷花即词人，人花一体，物我两忘，正是《离骚》「香草美人」比兴手法的极致发挥。

Allusions

The poem alludes to Zhang Xian's line 'better to marry the east wind' from 'One Flower Cluster' but reverses it: the lotus refuses the spring wind (conformity) but is delayed by the autumn wind (untimely fate). 'Fragrant heart' (fangxin) puns on the lotus seed's bitterness and the poet's sorrow. 'Sao ren' directly references the exile tradition of Li Sao.

此词用典不多而化用精妙。结句「当年不肯嫁春风，无端却被秋风误」主要翻用张先《一丛花》「沉恨细思，不如桃杏，犹解嫁东风」句意：张先以桃杏「嫁东风」写女子自叹不如桃杏尚能随春而嫁，贺铸反其意而用之，以荷花「不肯嫁春风」喻操守高洁、不随流俗，不肯趋时媚俗，反被秋风耽误，翻案见新，寄托更深。「芳心」一词双关莲心与人心，暗合《楚辞》香草美人的比兴传统——屈原以香草喻君子，以美人喻贤者，贺铸承此而将秋荷写为逐臣弃妇的化身；「骚人」更直点诗人逐臣之身份，点出「依依旧语」正是骚人辞赋的「香草美人」之语。全词用典不露痕迹而寄托自明，熔《楚辞》比兴、唐人咏物与宋代翻案笔法于一炉，是北宋咏物词中「借物写人」的典范。「草木零落」之叹可上溯屈原《离骚》「惟草木之零落兮，恐美人之迟暮」，贺铸以秋荷之零落写美人之迟暮，正承此脉；「芳心」之语又近屈原「众女嫉余之蛾眉兮」的孤高自守。至于以莲写人品高洁，周敦颐《爱莲说》「出淤泥而不染，濯清涟而不妖」已开其端，贺铸则更以「不肯嫁春风」的拟人化写出莲之守节的决绝，较《爱莲说》之赞颂更多一层身世之感。唐人咏荷如王昌龄《采莲曲》多写其明丽，贺铸独写其孤苦，正是「借他人之酒杯，浇自己之块垒」的托物手法。

Commentary

He Zhu's ci poetry is dense and ornate. Zhang Lei praised it as 'gorgeous like entering the hall of gold and Zhang'. This poem's line 'Red robe shed, bitter heart' is often compared to Li Shangyin's untitled poems for its profound symbolism. Modern critics consider it a masterpiece of Northern Song object-chanting ci, blending personal lament with natural imagery.

贺铸词沉郁密丽，张耒序其词集谓其「盛丽如游金、张之堂，而妖冶如揽嫱、施之袂」，极言其富艳精工。此《踏莎行》咏荷，「红衣脱尽芳心苦」一联，清人论者比之李商隐无题诗，以为寄托遥深、哀感顽艳；近人评其「以荷花作逐臣弃妇，得风骚遗意」，为北宋咏物词中寓身世之佳作。全词上片层层写荷之幽独零落，下片托荷之口自诉心事，物我浑融，不着痕迹，较之直抒胸臆更见沉郁顿挫之致。此词与《鹧鸪天》悼亡词并称贺铸后期代表作，一悼亡、一咏物，皆沉郁哀婉，可见其晚年词风由前期豪放任侠转向幽洁深婉的轨迹。在宋词「托物言志」的传统中，此词承屈原、杜甫一脉，下开姜夔、王沂孙咏物词的先声，具有承上启下的词史意义。清陈廷焯《白雨斋词话》评贺铸词谓其「儿女、英雄，兼而有之」，此词以荷花作弃妇、以弃妇写才士，正是「儿女情多」与「英雄气短」的合流：柔情绵邈处如「依依似与骚人语」，郁勃不平处如「无端却被秋风误」，刚柔并济，自成高格。其影响亦及南宋：姜夔《念奴娇》咏荷「嫣然摇动，冷香飞上诗句」，王沂孙咏物诸作，皆可于此词见其先声，足证贺铸咏物词在唐宋词史上的承启地位。

Prosody

Form Ci poetry, tune 'Treading on Grass', 58 characters in two stanzas, each with 5 lines and three oblique rhymes词·《踏莎行》双调五十八字，上下片各五句三仄韵

Rhyme Oblique rhymes: Stanza 1: pu, lu, ku; Stanza 2: yu, yu, wu上片韵脚：浦、路、苦；下片韵脚：雨、语、误（上声七麌、上声六语、去声七遇通押）

Tone pattern The two stanzas have symmetrical line patterns: mostly 4, 4, 7, 4, 4 characters上下片句式对称，多为四、四、七、七、四字句，长短错落，仄声收束

Reading note 'Treading on Grass' is also known as 'Welcoming the Sky'. He Zhu used it to chant the lotus and express his melancholy, approaching the Sao style.《踏莎行》又名《喜朝天》《柳长春》，双调五十八字，上下片各五句三仄韵，是宋词常用中调。此调句式以四字句起、七字句承、四字句收，上下片完全对称，章法整饬，宜于写委婉沉郁之情。贺铸此词上片「杨柳回塘，鸳鸯别浦」四字对起，「绿萍涨断莲舟路」七字承，继以「断无蜂蝶慕幽香，红衣脱尽芳心苦」两个七字句，句式由缓入急，仄声韵脚「浦」「路」「苦」声调沉抑，恰与荷花幽独零落之象相应；下片句式全同，而「返照迎潮，行云带雨」以对仗起，韵脚「雨」「语」「误」同部通押，声情沉郁近骚，与屈原《九歌》一唱三叹的韵致相通。全词上下片章法对称而情感递进，由写景而拟人而自诉，音律之整饬与词情之幽怨相得益彰，是《踏莎行》词调中咏物寓慨的典范，也见出贺铸「盛丽」与「沉郁」并存的独特声情。

Line by line

杨柳回塘，鸳鸯别浦，绿萍涨断莲舟路

Willows about the winding pond, mandarin ducks at the far inlet; the green duckweed has spread and blocked the lotus-boat road.

杨柳环绕着曲折的水塘，鸳鸯栖息在偏僻的水滨，绿萍涨满隔断了采莲船的去路。

Willows encircle the winding pond, mandarin ducks rest in the secluded inlet; the green duckweed has grown thick and cut off the lotus-picking boats.

起拍布景，先写荷花生长的环境。「杨柳回塘」写杨柳环绕的曲折水塘，「鸳鸯别浦」写鸳鸯栖息的偏僻水滨，回塘、别浦皆非通衢大泽，已暗藏幽居冷落之意；「绿萍涨断莲舟路」更以绿萍涨满、断却莲舟之路，写荷花幽处深塘，无人来采。三句由环境而及人事，层层收拢，将荷花置于与世隔绝的境地：有杨柳之美、鸳鸯之伴，却无采莲人到来，热闹的景物反衬出寂寞的命运。起笔即笼罩全词的幽怨氛围，为下文「断无蜂蝶」「芳心苦」的孤寂零落预作铺陈，是贺铸布景即写情的含蓄笔法。

The opening sets the scene, first writing the lotus's dwelling. Willows about the winding pond writes the willow-encircled winding water; mandarin ducks at the far inlet writes the mandarin ducks at the secluded shore — the winding pond and the far inlet, neither the thoroughfare nor the great mere, already carrying the hidden dwelling's loneliness; the green duckweed has spread and blocked the lotus-boat road writes the duckweed's growth and the lotus-boat road's cutting, the lotus dwelling in the deep pond, none to come and pick. Three phrases from the setting to the human affairs, gathered layer on layer, placing the lotus in the world cut off from men: the willow's beauty, the mandarin ducks' company, and yet no lotus-picker comes, the lively scene set against the lonely lot. The opening veils the whole ci's hidden grief, storing the ground for the below's no bees or butterflies and the heart's bitterness, He Zhu's restrained method of setting the scene and writing the feeling at once.

断无蜂蝶慕幽香，红衣脱尽芳心苦

No bees or butterflies admire her hidden fragrance; her red petals all fall, leaving a bitter heart. A double entendre: the lotus's physical decay mirrors the poet's sorrow.

绝无蜂蝶来倾慕这幽幽清香，莲花褪尽红衣，只余莲心苦涩。

By no means will bees and butterflies admire the faint scent; the red robe shed entirely, the heart within is bitter.

上片后两句写荷之无赏与零落。「断无」即绝无，斩截断然，蜂蝶之不来慕香写得毫无余地，孤高之姿与凄凉之境并见；「红衣脱尽芳心苦」以「红衣」拟花瓣、「芳心」拟莲心，写莲花凋谢、莲心苦涩，更以「苦」字双关花心与人心——花之凋零即人之不遇，一字而情意双至。前句写无人赏识之孤，后句写芳华零落之悲，合观正是荷花从盛到衰的完整命运。荷花之「幽香」本是蜂蝶所慕，而「断无」来慕者，可见其处境之幽僻、世情之凉薄；「芳心苦」更直写美人之心、才士之心的悲苦，为下片「嫁春风」「被秋风误」的拟人化自诉蓄足势能。

The last two phrases of the first stanza write the lotus's unadmired fate and its falling. By no means will bees and butterflies admire the faint scent: the by no means absolute, cutting off the bees and butterflies' coming without any room, the lofty posture and the desolate place seen together; the red robe shed entirely, the heart within is bitter uses the red robe for the petals, the heart's feeling for the lotus heart, writing the withered lotus and the bitter seed, and the word bitter's double meaning of the flower's heart and the human heart — the flower's falling is the man's ill-use, one word and the feeling doubles. The first phrase writes the loneliness of no appreciation, the second the grief of the fallen bloom; together, the lotus's whole fate from fullness to decline. The lotus's faint scent is by nature what bees and butterflies admire, and by no means one comes, showing the secluded dwelling and the world's coldness; the heart's bitterness writes directly the fair woman's heart, the talent's heart, storing force for the second stanza's personified plea of marrying the spring wind and the autumn wind's betrayal.

返照迎潮，行云带雨，依依似与骚人语

The setting sun meets the tide, the drifting clouds carry rain; lingering, the flower seems to speak to the poet.

夕照迎着潮水，行云携带着雨意，荷花依依不舍，仿佛要向我这诗人诉说心事。

The setting sun meets the tide, the traveling clouds bring rain; lingering and reluctant, it seems to speak to the exiled poet.

过片转写暮色中的荷花。「返照迎潮」写夕照与潮水相迎，「行云带雨」写行云携雨而来，一迎一带，写尽黄昏风雨欲来的苍茫氛围，也暗示荷花处境之风雨飘摇；「依依似与骚人语」是词眼所在——荷花依依不舍，仿佛要向诗人倾诉，物我相契，人花对话，至此方点出全词的托物之意。荷花本无情，而「依依」「似与语」赋予其人的情态与心事，正是香草美人的比兴手法。骚人即屈原式的逐臣诗人，贺铸以此自况，荷花欲语而诗人能听，恰是「同是天涯沦落人」的相知相惜，为结句荷花开口自诉作过渡，章法缜密，情韵深婉。

The turning writes the lotus in the dusk. The setting sun meets the tide writes the evening light and the tide meeting; the traveling clouds bring rain writes the moving clouds carrying rain — one meeting, one carrying, writing the vast dusk before the coming storm, and hinting the lotus's wind-and-rain peril; lingering and reluctant, it seems to speak to the exiled poet is the eye of the ci — the lotus lingering, as if to pour out its heart to the poet, thing and self attuned, man and flower in dialogue, and here at last the object-singing's intention named. The lotus is by nature feelingless, and the lingering and the seems-to-speak endow it with the human bearing and heart, the bixing method of the fragrant plants and fair ladies. The exiled poet means the Qu Yuan-like banished official, He Zhu's own self-figuring; the lotus wanting to speak and the poet able to listen, precisely the fellow outcast's mutual knowing, the transition for the closing lotus's own plea, the structure close, the feeling deep and restrained.

当年不肯嫁春风，无端却被秋风误

Once she refused to marry the spring wind, now unjustly she is wronged by the autumn wind. A reversal of Zhang Xian's line, expressing regret over missed opportunities and unfair fate.

当年不肯嫁给春风，无端却被秋风耽误了芳华。

In those years it refused to marry the spring wind; for no reason, it has been ruined by the autumn wind.

结句以拟人写荷之自诉，是全词托意最深之处。「不肯嫁春风」翻用张先「不如桃杏，犹解嫁东风」而反其意：桃杏嫁东风是随俗，荷花不肯嫁春风是守节——以婚嫁喻花时，写其不肯趋时媚俗、自守高洁；「无端却被秋风误」则写坚守的结果反被秋风耽误，芳华零落。「无端」二字极沉痛，似怨秋风、实怨命运，高洁守身而终误于时，正是才士不遇的写照。荷花本于夏日盛开，不随春花争艳，而秋风一起便凋零殆尽，其「不肯嫁」与「被误」之间，正是理想与现实的永恒矛盾。以弃妇之口写逐臣之恨，风骚遗意尽在其中，千百年来传诵不衰，为咏物词中的千古名句。

The closing personifies the lotus's own plea, the deepest-hidden intention of the ci. It refused to marry the spring wind reverses Zhang Xian's the peach and apricot know how to marry the east wind and yet means the opposite: the peach and apricot marry the east wind by following the vulgar, the lotus refuses to marry the spring wind by keeping its purity — using marriage for the flowering time, writing the refusal to court the times, the self-keeping of the lofty; for no reason, it has been ruined by the autumn wind writes the result of the keeping: ruined by the autumn wind, the bloom scattered. The word for no reason is most grieving, as if blaming the autumn wind, and in truth blaming fate — the lofty keeping of oneself and yet ruined by the times, precisely the portrait of the talent ill-used. The lotus flowers by nature in summer, not contesting the spring blooms, and the autumn wind rises and it withers away entirely; between the refusal to marry and the being ruined lies the eternal contradiction of the ideal and the real. Writing the banished official's grief in the abandoned wife's voice, the Qu-Sao legacy within, recited through the ages, the immortal line of the object-singing ci.

Study

Word focus

断无 Absolutely no; a firm denial emphasizing the lack of appreciation. 「断无蜂蝶慕幽香」之「断无」，即绝无、决然没有，以斩截断然的语气写蜂蝶之绝迹，是上片炼字最见功力处。「断」本为断绝、决断，用于否定词前，把「无」的否定推向极端，不留一丝余地——蜂蝶本为花香而来，而荷花之幽香竟无蜂蝶来慕，孤高之姿与凄凉之境同时毕现。若作「绝无」「更无」则失之平直，「断无」于斩钉截铁中含沉痛，见出词人对荷花（亦是自身）无人赏识的清醒与悲慨。二字合观，既写荷花处境的幽僻冷落，更写词人胸中郁结不平之气，以语气助情，是贺铸密丽词风中「以重笔写深情」的典型，亦为全词由写景转入写人的关键转折。

苦 Bitter; describes both the lotus seed's taste and the poet's emotional pain. 「红衣脱尽芳心苦」之「苦」，是全词最精警的炼字，一字双关而情意并至。字面写莲心味苦——莲蓬成熟后莲心苦涩，是荷之本味；深层写芳心之苦——「芳心」既指莲心，更指美人之心、才士之心，花之凋零、人之不遇，其苦一也。前句「红衣脱尽」写花之衰，此「苦」字写心之痛，由形入神，由物及人，将荷花的命运与词人的怀抱凝于一字。贺铸晚年仕途蹭蹬、高洁见弃，此「苦」字正是其胸中抑郁的自况。若作「芳心悲」「芳心怨」则直露，「苦」字兼含味觉之涩与心绪之痛，味外有味，沉郁凝炼，读之令人低回，是北宋词人以一字传双关之妙的典范。

依依 Reluctant to leave; personifies the lotus as tender and emotional. 「依依似与骚人语」之「依依」，写荷花依恋不舍之态，是全词由物入人、由景入情的关键。「依依」本写人之依恋（如《诗经》「昔我往矣，杨柳依依」），此处移以写荷，赋予无情的荷花以人的情态——暮色苍茫中，荷花仿佛依恋着诗人，欲语还休。「依依」二字兼含形态与情意：形态上写荷花在风雨中摇曳低垂、似不忍离去的姿态；情意上写荷花与「骚人」同病相怜、物我相契的心事。正是这「依依」之态，使下文「似与骚人语」不显突兀，使结句的拟人自诉水到渠成。炼字之妙在于承上启下，以两字写出人花相知的深情，亦见贺铸融《诗经》语汇入词的本领。