宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
解连环·孤雁
Unlocking the Link: The Lonely Wild Goose
楚江空晚。
怅离群万里，恍然惊散。
自顾影、欲下寒塘，正沙净草枯，水平天远。
写不成书，只寄得、相思一点。
料因循误了，残毡拥雪，故人心眼。
谁怜旅愁荏苒。
谩长门夜悄，锦筝弹怨。
想伴侣、犹宿芦花，也曾念春前，去程应转。
暮雨相呼，怕蓦地、玉关重见。
未羞他、双燕归来，画帘半卷。
Sorrowing at leaving the flock ten-thousand-li, as if startled apart.
I gaze at my own shadow, about to descend the cold pond, just as sand is clean and grass withered, water level and sky far.
I cannot write a letter; I can only send a single point of longing.
I fear by delay I've failed the old friend amid remnant felt and embraced snow — his heart's eye.
Who pities the traveler's growing gloom?
In vain the Long Gate at night is quiet; the brocade zheng plays grievance.
I think of my mate still lodging in the reeds; once she thought before spring, the return path should turn.
In dusk rain we call to each other; I fear suddenly at the Jade Pass we meet again.
I am not shamed by those paired swallows returning, the painted curtain half-rolled.
Meaning
Chanting the lonely wild goose, the lyric uses the bird's isolation to lodge the poet's own wanderings after the Song fall and his loyalist pride in not serving the new dynasty.
空阔的楚江夜晚。怅恨离群万里，恍然惊散。顾影自怜、欲下寒塘，正是沙净草枯、水平天远。写不成字（雁阵），只寄得相思一点。只怕因循耽误了，那残毡拥雪的故人（苏武）的心眼。谁怜旅愁渐增？空有长门夜悄、锦筝弹怨。想伴侣、还宿在芦花，也曾念春前、去程应转。暮雨中相呼，怕蓦地、玉关重见。不羞于那双燕归来、画帘半卷。
Appreciation
The lyric chants the lonely wild goose, in truth lodging the lost-state grief. The upper stanza writes the goose startled from the flock, gazing at its shadow about to descend the cold pond, and with 'I cannot write a letter; I can only send a single point of longing' cleverly puns the goose formation and the goose-foot letter with the old-country thought, fearing to fail the old friend in the north (the Su Wu allusion). The lower writes the unpitied travel gloom, the Long Gate zheng's grievance, imagining the mate in the reeds and the hoped return before spring, in dusk rain calling, fearing a sudden Jade Pass reunion, ending with 'not shamed by the paired swallows' to state the loyalist pride of lonely height, not serving the new court. The line 'cannot write a letter, only a point of longing' fuses the goose formation and the goose-foot letter in one, startling and striking; 'sand clean, grass withered, water level, sky far' is a crisp antithesis; throughout it chants the object yet everywhere shows the man. It lodges through the goose's lonely height and drift the loyalist's wandering pain and pride of not serving the new dynasty — the peak of object-chanting.
【白话串讲】 “楚江空晚。怅离群万里，恍然惊散”——张炎写孤雁：离群的雁。“写不成书，只寄得、相思一点”——雁字写不成书，只寄得一点相思。“想伴侣、犹宿芦花”——他因此得名“张孤雁”。他写雁，写的是自己的漂泊。 【意象与手法】 “写不成书，只寄得相思一点”融雁阵与雁足传书于一，奇警；“沙净草枯，水平天远”对句警拔；通篇咏物而处处见人。 【情感与主旨】 借孤雁之孤高飘零，寄宋亡后遗民漂泊之悲与不愿事奉新朝的孤高，咏物词巅峰。 【名句点睛】 “写不成书，只寄得、相思一点”——以孤雁不成字、唯寄一点的奇想，写尽家国之思，遂成千古警句，张炎由此得号“张孤雁”。
Background
Zhang Yan (Yutian) lived at the Song-Yuan turn; after the Southern Song fell he wandered. This lonely-goose chant uses the goose as his own image, lodging the lost-state wandering pain and the old-country thought; it made him known as 'Zhang the Lonely Goose.'
《解连环·孤雁》为宋代张炎所作，是咏孤雁、寄羁旅相思之情的词。张炎（1248—约1320），字叔夏，号玉田、乐笑翁，临安人，宋代词人。此词：楚江空晚。怅离群万里，恍然惊散。自顾影、欲下寒塘，正沙净草枯，水平天远。写不成书，只寄得、相思一点。料因循误了，残毡拥雪，故人心眼。谁怜旅愁荏苒。谩长门夜悄，锦筝弹怨。想伴侣、犹宿芦花，也曾念春前，去程应转。暮雨相呼，怕蓦地、玉关重见。未羞他、双燕归来，画帘半卷。全词咏孤雁、寄羁旅相思之情，是张炎词的名篇。
Art
The Unlocking the Link is a double-tune lyric. The upper writes the lost flock and lonely perch; the lower writes the travel gloom and hope for the mate. It merges goose-chanting, friend-longing, and self-pity in one, the object delicate yet the lodged feeling deep — the 'clear and empty' native manner.
《解连环·孤雁》艺术上以孤雁的描摹与羁旅相思的寄托见长。全词分两片：上片写孤雁离群——“楚江空晚。怅离群万里，恍然惊散”写楚江空晚、离群万里、恍然惊散，“自顾影、欲下寒塘，正沙净草枯，水平天远”写自顾影欲下寒塘、沙净草枯水平天远，“写不成书，只寄得、相思一点”写写不成书、只寄得相思一点；下片写羁旅相思——“谁怜旅愁荏苒。谩长门夜悄，锦筝弹怨”写谁怜旅愁荏苒、长门夜悄锦筝弹怨，“想伴侣、犹宿芦花，也曾念春前，去程应转”写想伴侣犹宿芦花、也曾念春前去程应转，“暮雨相呼，怕蓦地、玉关重见。未羞他、双燕归来，画帘半卷”写暮雨相呼、玉关重见、双燕归来画帘半卷。全词以孤雁写羁旅相思，正是张炎词寄托的笔法。
Allusions
The Chu river means the Xiao-Xiang Chu region (geese often pass here); 'cannot write a letter' means the geese fly in character formation, alone they cannot; 'remnant felt embracing snow' uses the Su Wu allusion for the old friend; the Long Gate means Empress Chen's cold palace writing grievance; the brocade zheng's slanted strings like geese; the Jade Pass means the north; the paired swallows compare those who submit to the new dynasty.
《解连环·孤雁》用典在“楚江”“写不成书”“残毡拥雪”“长门”“锦筝”“玉关”。“楚江”写楚江（孤雁所经）；“写不成书”用雁足传书之典（雁行不成字）；“残毡拥雪”用苏武啮雪吞毡之典；“长门”用陈皇后长门之典；“锦筝”写锦筝（筝）；“玉关”写玉门关。全词以这些典故咏孤雁、寄羁旅相思之情，用典自然而寄托自见，正是张炎词的笔法。
Commentary
The Yuan writer Kong Qi recorded 'cannot write a letter, only a point of longing' and 'all called him Zhang the Lonely Goose'; Chen Tingzhuo said it is 'desolate and plaintive, concentrated to the utmost, deep to the utmost.'
《解连环·孤雁》是张炎词的名篇，也是宋末咏物词中咏雁寄托的代表作。此词咏孤雁、寄羁旅相思之情，向为论者称道。论者多赏其孤雁的描摹与羁旅相思的寄托——“楚江空晚。怅离群万里，恍然惊散”写楚江空晚、离群万里、恍然惊散，寄托之深；“写不成书，只寄得、相思一点”用雁足传书之典写写不成书、只寄得相思一点，更见其巧；“料因循误了，残毡拥雪，故人心眼”用残毡拥雪之典写残毡拥雪、故人心眼，尤见其悲；“暮雨相呼，怕蓦地、玉关重见。未羞他、双燕归来，画帘半卷”写暮雨相呼、玉关重见、双燕归来，尤见其怅。张炎因此词“写不成书，只寄得、相思一点”得名“张孤雁”，此词正是其代表——以孤雁写羁旅相思，正是其词风。
Prosody
Line by line
楚江空晚。怅离群万里，恍然惊散。
The Chu river, empty, at dusk. Sorrowing at leaving the flock ten-thousand-li, as if startled apart.
楚江空晚。怅离群万里，恍然惊散。
The Chu River is vast in the dusk. Wrenched from the flock ten thousand li, bewildered and scattered in alarm.
首写楚江空晚、离群万里、恍然惊散，是全词写孤雁失群的起点。“楚江空晚”写楚江空晚——“楚江空晚”用楚江之地写楚江空阔、暮色已晚——楚江空晚；“怅离群万里，恍然惊散”写怅离群万里、恍然惊散——“怅离群万里”写惆怅离群万里，“恍然惊散”写恍然惊散——离群万里，恍然惊散。三句写楚江空晚、离群万里：楚江空晚。怅离群万里，恍然惊散。以“楚江空晚”用楚江之地写楚江空阔、暮色苍茫，以“怅离群万里”写惆怅离群、孤飞万里，以“恍然惊散”写恍然惊散、失群无依，正是张炎词写孤雁失群的起点——楚江空晚，孤雁惊散。
The opening writes the Chu River's vast dusk, the flock-parting ten thousand li, the bewildered scattering, the starting point of the ci's lone goose. The Chu River is vast in the dusk uses the Chu River place for the river's vastness and the evening's fall; wrenched from the flock ten thousand li, bewildered and scattered in alarm writes the grief of the flock-parting, the bewildered scattering. Three lines: the Chu River's vast dusk, the flock-parting ten thousand li, the alarmed scattering. The Chu River vast in the dusk writes the place's vastness and the twilight's bleakness; the flock-parting ten thousand li writes the grief and the lone flight; the bewildered scattering writes the alarm, the lost flock, the dependence gone — precisely Zhang Yan's starting point for the lone goose: the Chu River's dusk, the startled goose.
写不成书，只寄得、相思一点。
I cannot write a letter; I can only send a single point of longing.
写不成书，只寄得、相思一点。
It cannot form a letter; it can only deliver one dot of longing.
此二句用雁足传书之典写写不成书、只寄得相思一点，是全词写相思之情的名句。“写不成书”用雁足传书之典写写不成书——“写不成书”用雁行如字传书之典写孤雁不成字、写不成书——写不成书；“只寄得、相思一点”写只寄得相思一点——“只寄得、相思一点”写只寄得一点相思——只寄得相思一点。二句写写不成书、只寄得相思一点：写不成书，只寄得、相思一点。以“写不成书”用雁足传书之典写孤雁不成字、欲书不能，以“只寄得、相思一点”写只寄一点相思、情意无穷，正是张炎词写相思之情的名句——雁不成书，只寄一点相思。
These two lines use the wild-goose-letter allusion for the cannot-form-a-letter and the one dot of longing, the famous line of the ci's longing. The cannot form a letter uses the allusion of the goose flying in script to write the lone goose unable to form characters, unable to write; it can only deliver one dot of longing writes the one dot of longing sent. Two lines: the cannot write, the one dot of longing. The cannot form a letter writes the lone goose's no-character, the wanting to write and unable; the one dot of longing writes the single dot of feeling and the endless affection — precisely Zhang Yan's famous line of longing: the goose no letter, only a dot of longing.
想伴侣、犹宿芦花，也曾念春前，去程应转。
I think of my companion, still roosting among the reed flowers; I thought too, before the spring, the outbound journey must have turned back.
想伴侣、犹宿芦花，也曾念春前，去程应转。
I think of my companion, still roosting in the reed flowers; I had thought, before the spring, the outbound journey should have turned back.
此二句写想伴侣犹宿芦花、也曾念春前去程应转，是全词写怀侣之情的深化。“想伴侣、犹宿芦花”写想伴侣犹宿芦花——“想伴侣、犹宿芦花”写想那伴侣、犹宿芦花之中——想伴侣犹宿芦花；“也曾念春前，去程应转”写也曾念春前去程应转——“也曾念春前”写也曾念着春前，“去程应转”写去程应已转返——也曾念春前，去程应转。二句写想伴侣犹宿芦花、也曾念春前去程应转：想伴侣、犹宿芦花，也曾念春前，去程应转。以“想伴侣、犹宿芦花”写想伴侣犹宿芦花、共宿之情，以“也曾念春前，去程应转”写也曾念春前归程、应已转返，正是张炎词写怀侣之情的深化——芦花伴侣，春前归程。
These two lines write the thought of the companion still roosting in the reed flowers, and the thought that before the spring the journey should have turned, the deepening of the ci's longing for the mate. I think of my companion, still roosting in the reed flowers writes the imagined companion in the reed flowers; I had thought, before the spring, the outbound journey should have turned back writes the thought of the spring and the return. Two lines: the companion still roosting, the spring thought of the return. The companion still roosting writes the imagined roosting together; the before-the-spring journey should have turned writes the expected return before spring — precisely the deepening of Zhang Yan's longing for the mate: the reed-flower mate, the pre-spring return.
暮雨相呼，怕蓦地、玉关重见。未羞他、双燕归来，画帘半卷。
Calling to each other in the evening rain, fearing to meet again, of a sudden, at the Jade Gate. Not ashamed, when the paired swallows return, to find the painted curtain half-rolled.
暮雨相呼，怕蓦地、玉关重见。未羞他、双燕归来，画帘半卷。
Calling to each other in the evening rain, dreading a sudden meeting again at the Jade Gate. No shame before the paired swallows returning, as the painted curtain hangs half rolled.
末写暮雨相呼、未羞他双燕归来，是全词写羁旅之怅的归结。“暮雨相呼，怕蓦地、玉关重见”用玉关之典写暮雨相呼、怕蓦地玉关重见——“暮雨相呼”写暮雨之中相呼，“怕蓦地、玉关重见”用玉门关之典写怕忽然在玉关重逢——暮雨相呼，玉关重见；“未羞他、双燕归来，画帘半卷”写未羞他双燕归来、画帘半卷——“未羞他、双燕归来”写不羞于他双燕归来成对，“画帘半卷”写画帘半卷——双燕归来，画帘半卷。四句写暮雨相呼、未羞他双燕归来：暮雨相呼，怕蓦地、玉关重见。未羞他、双燕归来，画帘半卷。以“暮雨相呼”写暮雨相呼、声断云空，以“怕蓦地、玉关重见”用玉关之典写怕在玉关重逢、天涯相认，以“未羞他、双燕归来”写不羞双燕成对、归来画帘，以“画帘半卷”写画帘半卷、燕双人独，正是张炎词写羁旅之怅的归结——暮雨相呼，燕双人独。
The close writes the calling in the evening rain, the unashamed before the returning swallows, the gathering of the ci's travel wistfulness. Calling to each other in the evening rain, dreading a sudden meeting again at the Jade Gate uses the Jade Gate allusion for the calling and the dread of the sudden reunion; No shame before the paired swallows returning, as the painted curtain hangs half rolled writes the unashamed before the swallows' pairing, the half-rolled curtain. Four lines: the calling in the rain, the dread of the Jade Gate meeting; the swallows paired returning, the curtain half rolled. The calling in the rain writes the calls in the empty sky; the Jade Gate allusion writes the dread of the far reunion; the unashamed of the paired swallows writes no shame at the matched pair; the curtain half rolled writes the swallows paired and the man alone — precisely the gathering of Zhang Yan's travel wistfulness: the evening rain's calls, the paired swallows and the lone man.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Compare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
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张炎《八声甘州·记玉关踏雪事清游》写玉关踏雪、故旧清游，与本首同为张炎词写羁旅。差异在主题：解连环咏孤雁；八声甘州记踏雪。一写“雁”之孤，一写“游”之忆。两者并读，可见张炎词写羁旅的两种主题。