宋 Song · 诗 Poem
湖州歌·其六
Song of Huzhou (No. 6)
北望燕云不尽头，大江东去水悠悠。
夕阳一片寒鸦外，目断东西四百州。
The great river flows east, its waters murmuring on and on.
A slice of setting sun beyond a flock of cold crows;
My eyes strain to the limit over the four hundred prefectures, east and west.
Meaning
Written as the poet was taken north after the fall of the Southern Song, the poem looks back at the lost homeland with grief and helplessness, framing the pain of a ruined state within a vast, desolate riverside scene.
向北望燕云之地望不到尽头，大江东去、水声悠悠。夕阳沉在一片寒鸦之外，望断那东西纵横的四百州（中原故土）。
Appreciation
The poem opens by gazing north toward the Yuan capital while the river flows inexorably east, its ceaseless waters only deepening the sorrow of exile. The later lines set a cold sunset and crows against the 'four hundred prefectures' of the lost realm, turning a quiet landscape into a vessel of heartbreak. Though plain in language, every image carries the weight of a fallen dynasty, earning the work a place among the 'poetic history' of the late Song. The closing couplet, with its straining gaze over the homeland, leaves all lament within the scenery itself.
【白话串讲】 汪元量是南宋末年的琴师，被掳北上，写《湖州歌》：“北望燕云不尽头，大江东去水悠悠”。“夕阳一片寒鸦外，目断东西四百州”——他北望，故国已远。亡国之后的悲歌。 【意象与手法】 “大江东去”化用苏轼而反其意（苏写江山，此写去国）；“夕阳寒鸦”以衰飒暮景写亡国之悲；“四百州”代指大好河山。 【情感与主旨】 纪实战乱亡国之痛，于平淡景语中藏锥心之悲，是宋末“诗史”式作品。 【名句点睛】 “夕阳一片寒鸦外，目断东西四百州”——以苍茫暮景收束对故土的凝望，亡国之痛尽在景中。
Background
Wang Yuanliang served as a court musician of the Southern Song. After the Yuan conquest he was taken north together with the defeated emperor and court, and along the way he composed ninety-eight poems under the title 'Songs of Huzhou' as a documentary record of the catastrophe. This is the sixth of that sequence, written as he looked back toward the homeland he was leaving forever.
《湖州歌·其六》为宋代汪元量所作，是写北望燕云、故国之悲的诗。汪元量（约1241—约1317），字大有，号水云，钱塘人，宋代诗人。此诗：北望燕云不尽头，大江东去水悠悠。夕阳一片寒鸦外，目断东西四百州。全诗写北望燕云、故国之悲，是汪元量诗的名篇。
Art
A seven-character quatrain, it first presents the northern gaze and the flowing river, then a sunset with cold crows. The grief of a fallen state is conveyed entirely through scenery, its plain surface hiding a piercing pain, achieving the quality of 'poetic history'.
《湖州歌·其六》艺术上以北望燕云的描摹与故国之悲的苍凉见长。全诗四句：首写北望燕云——“北望燕云不尽头，大江东去水悠悠”写北望燕云不尽头、大江东去水悠悠；末写目断州邦——“夕阳一片寒鸦外，目断东西四百州”写夕阳一片寒鸦外、目断东西四百州。全诗以北望燕云写故国之悲，正是汪元量诗苍凉的笔法。
Allusions
Yan-Yun refers to the region around Yanjing and Yunzhong, the direction of the Yuan capital. The 'four hundred prefectures' stands for the Song dominions (the Tang spoke of four hundred prefectures, and the Song inherited the phrase). The cold crows and evening scene evoke desolation.
《湖州歌·其六》用典在“燕云”“大江东去”“四百州”。“燕云”写燕云十六州（北地故土）；“大江东去”写大江东去（苏轼“大江东去”之意）；“四百州”写四百州（宋之州郡）。全诗以这些意象写北望燕云、故国之悲，用典自然而苍凉自见，正是汪元量诗的笔法。
Commentary
Wang Yuanliang's poems are called the 'poetic history of the fallen Song'. In just twenty-eight characters this quatrain exhausts the sorrow of looking back northward in exile, and later readers said every word was written in blood and tears.
《湖州歌·其六》是汪元量诗的名篇，也是宋末遗民诗中写故国之悲的代表作。此诗写北望燕云、故国之悲，向为论者称道。论者多赏其北望燕云的描摹与故国之悲的苍凉——“北望燕云不尽头，大江东去水悠悠”用燕云之典写北望燕云不尽头、大江东去水悠悠，苍凉之极；“夕阳一片寒鸦外，目断东西四百州”用四百州之典写夕阳一片寒鸦外、目断东西四百州，更见其悲。汪元量为宋末遗民，曾随三宫北行，其诗多写故国之悲，此诗正是其代表——以北望燕云写故国之悲，正是其诗风。
Prosody
Line by line
北望燕云不尽头，大江东去水悠悠。
Gazing north, the Yan-Yun lands know no end; the great river runs east, its waters long and murmuring.
北望燕云不尽头，大江东去水悠悠。
North I gaze to the Yan-Yun region, no end in sight; the great river flows east, its waters long and unhurried.
首用燕云之典写北望燕云不尽头、大江东去水悠悠，是全诗写北望之景的起点。“北望燕云不尽头”用燕云之典写北望燕云不尽头——“北望燕云不尽头”用燕云十六州之典写北望燕云、望不到头——北望燕云不尽头；“大江东去水悠悠”用大江东去之意写大江东去水悠悠——“大江东去水悠悠”用大江东去之意写大江东去、水波悠悠——大江东去水悠悠。二句写北望燕云不尽头、大江东去水悠悠：北望燕云不尽头，大江东去水悠悠。以“北望燕云不尽头”用燕云之典写北望燕云、故土无尽，以“大江东去水悠悠”写大江东去、水波悠悠之流逝，正是汪元量诗写北望之景的起点——北望燕云，大江东流。
The opening uses the Yan-Yun allusion for the northward gaze, the starting point of the poem's northern scene. North I gaze to the Yan-Yun region, no end in sight: the Yan-Yun the sixteen prefectures lost since the Later Jin, the northward gaze reaching no end; the great river flows east, its waters long and unhurried: the eastward river, the waters drifting. Two lines: the northern gaze to Yan-Yun, the homeland unending; the great river eastward, the waters flowing — precisely the starting point of Wang Yuanliang's northern scene: northward gaze to Yan-Yun, the great river flowing east.
夕阳一片寒鸦外，目断东西四百州。
A patch of setting sun beyond the cold crows; my eyes strain to the limit over the four hundred prefectures, east and west.
夕阳一片寒鸦外，目断东西四百州。
Beyond the setting sun's light and the cold crows, my eyes exhaust the four hundred provinces of east and west.
末用四百州之典写夕阳一片寒鸦外、目断东西四百州，是全诗写故国之悲的归结。“夕阳一片寒鸦外”写夕阳一片寒鸦外——“夕阳一片寒鸦外”写夕阳一片、寒鸦之外——夕阳一片寒鸦外；“目断东西四百州”用四百州之典写目断东西四百州——“目断东西四百州”用宋四百州之典写望断东西四百州——目断东西四百州。二句写夕阳一片寒鸦外、目断东西四百州：夕阳一片寒鸦外，目断东西四百州。以“夕阳一片寒鸦外”写夕阳寒鸦、苍茫暮色，以“目断东西四百州”用四百州之典写望断四百州、故国沦丧，正是汪元量诗写故国之悲的归结——夕阳寒鸦，目断州邦。
The close uses the four-hundred-provinces allusion for the eye's exhaustion, the gathering of the poem's grief for the lost land. Beyond the setting sun's light and the cold crows: the setting sun, the cold crows, the vast dusk; my eyes exhaust the four hundred provinces of east and west: the four hundred provinces the Song's administrative total, the gaze exhausting the lost provinces. Two lines: the sunset and cold crows beyond, the eyes exhausted over the provinces — precisely the gathering of Wang's grief for the lost land: sunset and crows, the provinces gone from sight.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Compare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
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叶梦得《水调歌头·秋色渐将晚》写北望胡沙、报国之志，与本首同为宋人写故国之思。差异在体裁：湖州歌为七绝；水调歌头为词。一写“悲”之痛，一写“愤”之志。两者并读，可见宋人写故国之思的两种体裁。
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张元幹《贺新郎·送胡邦衡待制赴新州》写送别、家国之恨，与本首同为宋人写家国之恨。差异在体裁：湖州歌为七绝；贺新郎为词。一写“悲”之痛，一写“愤”之恨。两者并读，可见宋人写家国之恨的两种体裁。