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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

客中初夏

Early Summer While Away from Home

司马光

Sima Guang

渔舟容易入春山。
仙家日月闲。
绮窗纱幌映朱颜。
相逢醉梦间。
松露冷，海霞殷。
匆匆整棹还。
落花寂寂水潺潺。
重寻此路难。

The fishing boat glides easily into the spring mountains,
where the days of the immortals pass in idle leisure.
Carved windows and gauze curtains reflect a rosy face;
we meet as if in a drunken dream.
Pine dew is cold, the sea clouds glow crimson;
hurriedly I turn the boat and head back.
Fallen flowers lie in silence, the water murmurs on;
to find this road again will be a hard thing.
Listen

Meaning

The lyric tells of a dreamlike sojourn in a hidden mountain realm: a fishing boat drifts easily into the spring peaks, where immortal days are idle and a beautiful face appears behind gauze curtains as if in a drunken dream. But the visit is cut short — cold pine dew, crimson sea clouds, a hurried turn of the boat — and the poem closes on fallen flowers, murmuring water, and the sigh that this road will be hard to find again. Beneath the tranquil surface lies regret for a perfect world glimpsed and irrecoverably lost.

渔舟容易入春山。仙家日月闲。绮窗纱幌映朱颜。相逢醉梦间。松露冷，海霞殷。匆匆整棹还。落花寂寂水潺潺。重寻此路难。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] A fishing boat drifts easily into the spring mountains, where the days of the immortals pass in idle leisure; behind carved windows and gauze curtains a rosy face appears, and the meeting feels like a drunken dream. But pine dew grows cold, the sea clouds glow crimson, and the boat is hurriedly turned for home; the poem closes on fallen flowers lying in silence, water murmuring on, and the quiet statement that this road will be hard to find again. [Structure] The lyric moves in two arcs — an easy, dreamlike drifting in, then an abrupt, troubled return. The turn comes at the hurried turning of the boat: the gentle world cannot be kept, and the second half is the echo of its loss. [Imagery] Cold pine dew, crimson sea clouds, silent fallen flowers and murmuring water: every image is cool, quiet and fading, and not one feeling is named outright. Joy is carried by the gauze curtains and the rosy face, grief by the flowers and the stream, and the ending's plainness — to find this road again will be hard — makes it the more moving.

【白话串讲】 司马光写《客中初夏》：“四月清和雨乍晴，南山当户转分明”——“更无柳絮因风起，惟有葵花向日倾”——他写客中初夏——惟有葵花向日倾。 【意象与手法】 “四月清和雨乍晴，南山当户转分明”写初夏雨后之景；“更无柳絮因风起，惟有葵花向日倾”以柳絮葵花对比，以葵花向日写忠贞。语言清朗、托物言志。 【情感与主旨】 司马光客中所作，借“更无柳絮”“惟有葵花”的对比，以葵花向日隐喻自己对朝廷的忠诚不贰，托物言志，是宋代托物言志的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“更无柳絮因风起，惟有葵花向日倾”以柳絮葵花对比写忠贞；“四月清和雨乍晴，南山当户转分明”以雨晴南山写初夏之景。

Background

Sima Guang (1019–1086), courtesy name Junshi, was a native of Xia County in Shanzhou (present-day Xiaxian, Shanxi). A leading Northern Song statesman, historian and man of letters, he is best known as the chief compiler of the Zizhi Tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government). This short lyric — its title records that it was written while the poet was staying away from home — drifts like a dream into a hidden mountain realm. The mood of a beautiful world glimpsed and then lost has reminded readers ever since of Tao Yuanming's Peach Blossom Spring, and the piece has been a fixture of anthologies as one of the most haunting short lyrics among the works of Song statesmen.

《客中初夏》为北宋政治家、史学家、文学家司马光所作词。司马光（1019—1086），字君实，陕州夏县（今山西夏县）人，北宋政治家、史学家，主编《资治通鉴》。此词写景感怀，为客中初夏之作。词中「渔舟容易入春山。仙家日月闲」写渔舟容易入春山，仙家日月闲；「绮窗纱幌映朱颜。相逢醉梦间」写绮窗纱幌映朱颜，相逢醉梦间；「松露冷，海霞殷。匆匆整棹还」写松露冷，海霞殷，匆匆整棹还；「落花寂寂水潺潺。重寻此路难」写落花寂寂水潺潺，重寻此路难。司马光此词以写景感怀、重寻此路难写其感怀之情，含蓄深婉，是司马光词中的名篇。此篇《客中初夏》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。此篇《客中初夏》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 lyric's craft lies in its contrast of two worlds. The first four lines glide: the boat enters the spring mountains easily, immortal days are idle, gauze curtains mirror a rosy face, and the meeting happens as if in a drunken dream — everything is effortless and hushed. Then pine dew turns cold, sea clouds crimson, and the boat is hurriedly turned back: the visitor is expelled. The final couplet seals the loss with landscape — fallen flowers silent, water murmuring — and a single flat statement that this road will be hard to find. The poem never states a feeling; every emotion is carried by scene, and the ending's plainness makes it the more moving.

此词艺术上以「含蓄深婉、以景写情」见长。全词共八句，由渔舟容易入春山而相逢醉梦间而匆匆整棹还而重寻此路难。起「渔舟容易入春山。仙家日月闲」写渔舟容易入春山：渔舟容易入春山，仙家日月闲；「绮窗纱幌映朱颜。相逢醉梦间」写相逢醉梦间：绮窗纱幌映朱颜，相逢醉梦间；「松露冷，海霞殷。匆匆整棹还」写匆匆整棹还：松露冷，海霞殷，匆匆整棹还；结「落花寂寂水潺潺。重寻此路难」写重寻此路难：落花寂寂水潺潺，重寻此路难。全词以景写情，由渔舟容易入春山而重寻此路难，含蓄深婉，是司马光词中的名篇。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。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

The immortals' days and months at leisure draw on the Taoist tradition of mountain dwellings where time stands still for the blessed. The rosy face behind gauze curtains recalls Tang tales of dream meetings with immortal maidens. Most important is the closing echo of the Peach Blossom Spring: Tao Yuanming's fisherman found the hidden village by chance and could never find the road again — here, to find this road again will be hard compresses that whole story into a single sigh, suggesting that any perfect world, once left, is unrecoverable.

词中「渔舟容易入春山仙家日月闲」「绮窗纱幌映朱颜相逢醉梦间」「松露冷海霞殷匆匆整棹还」「落花寂寂水潺潺重寻此路难」等语，皆含典故故实。「渔舟容易入春山仙家日月闲」用仙家之典，写渔舟容易入春山仙家日月闲；「绮窗纱幌映朱颜相逢醉梦间」写绮窗纱幌映朱颜相逢醉梦间；「松露冷海霞殷匆匆整棹还」写松露冷海霞殷匆匆整棹还；「落花寂寂水潺潺重寻此路难」用桃花源之典（重寻此路写桃花源事），写落花寂寂水潺潺重寻此路难。词人以仙家、桃花源等典入词，不着痕迹，而把写景感怀之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。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

The piece has been prized for its hazy, unforced beauty. Later readers most often quote the close — fallen flowers silent, water murmuring, the road unfindable — for the way it compresses regret into pure landscape. Read beside Yan Shu's helplessly the flowers fall away and Lin Bu's plum-blossom lyrics, it represents the more private, dreamlike strain of Song short lyrics, and its Peach Blossom Spring ending has made it a favorite in anthologies of lyrics about vanished paradises.

这首《客中初夏》，是司马光写景感怀之作，写渔舟容易入春山、相逢醉梦间、落花寂寂水潺潺、重寻此路难之情，含蓄深婉。起「渔舟容易入春山。仙家日月闲」——渔舟容易入春山（用仙家之典），仙家日月闲。写渔舟容易入春山：渔舟容易入春山、仙家日月闲——渔舟入春山、日月闲；「绮窗纱幌映朱颜。相逢醉梦间」——绮窗纱幌映朱颜，相逢醉梦间。写相逢醉梦间：绮窗纱幌映朱颜、相逢醉梦间——纱幌映朱颜、相逢醉梦间；「松露冷，海霞殷。匆匆整棹还」——松露冷，海霞殷，匆匆整棹还。写匆匆整棹还：松露冷、海霞殷、匆匆整棹还——露冷、霞殷、整棹还；结「落花寂寂水潺潺。重寻此路难」——落花寂寂水潺潺（用桃花源之典），重寻此路难。写重寻此路难：落花寂寂水潺潺、重寻此路难——落花寂寂、重寻此路难。这「落花寂寂水潺潺，重寻此路难」，是全词之结：以重寻此路难写其感怀。全词含蓄深婉，以景写情，正是司马光词中的名篇。

Prosody

Form A short ci lyric (xiao ling) of forty-seven characters on the Ruan Lang Gui pattern, four lines in each of the two stanzas.词（小令）
Rhyme One rhyme throughout in the level tone, on the han-shan rhyme group: shan, xian, yan, jian in the first stanza; yin, huan, chan, nan in the second (all given in pinyin) — a cool, quiet sound suited to the dreamlike scene.此词为小令，共八句。押平声韵：「山」「闲」「颜」「间」「殷」「还」「潺」「难」押寒删部韵。词体依小令而定，句式长短错落，音节随情起伏，正与写写景感怀的含蓄深婉相称，也见其以小令写感怀的自然。
Tone pattern The lines alternate seven-, five- and three-character beats: the opening seven-character lines glide like the boat itself, the three-character pair (song lu leng, hai xia yin) cuts in sharply like a chill, and the closing seven-plus-five settles into a low, fading cadence.句式上，「渔舟容易入春山。仙家日月闲」写渔舟容易入春山，音节清丽；「绮窗纱幌映朱颜。相逢醉梦间」写相逢醉梦间，音节缠绵；「松露冷，海霞殷。匆匆整棹还」写匆匆整棹还，音节明快；结「落花寂寂水潺潺。重寻此路难」写重寻此路难，音节低回。全词音节随情起伏，由清丽而缠绵、由明快而低回，正合小令「含蓄」之妙，读来如写景感怀、重寻此路难之音，含蓄而动人。
Reading note As a short lyric it achieves the Song ideal of words ending but meaning unending: the level, single-rhyme texture keeps the piece hushed, and the final fall — silent flowers, murmuring water, the unfindable road — lets the regret linger after the rhyme stops.此词为小令，是司马光写景感怀之作，也是其词中的名篇。全词的艺术特色在于「含蓄深婉、以景写情」：「渔舟容易入春山。仙家日月闲」写渔舟容易入春山、「相逢醉梦间」写相逢醉梦间、「落花寂寂水潺潺。重寻此路难」写重寻此路难。全词含蓄深婉，以景写情。尤为精妙者，是「渔舟容易入春山。仙家日月闲」用仙家之典；而「落花寂寂水潺潺。重寻此路难」用桃花源之典，正是司马光词「含蓄深婉」的典范，为历代选本所常收。《客中初夏》一诗之所以读来声情并茂，正在于诗人以声韵配合情思、以节奏烘托意境，音节之长短、平仄之起伏，皆与诗意相为表里，此亦可见中国古典诗歌声律之美与匠心之工。

Line by line

渔舟容易入春山。

The fishing boat glides easily into the spring mountains.

渔舟容易入春山。

The fisherman's boat easily enters the spring hills.

起句「渔舟容易入春山」写渔舟容易入春山，起笔即见其景。渔舟容易入春山——渔舟写渔舟、容易入春山写容易入春山；而「仙家日月闲」用仙家之典写仙家日月闲。两句以舟起兴，一写渔舟容易入春山、一写仙家日月闲，写尽渔舟容易入春山、仙家日月闲之情。渔舟入山、日月清闲，正是写景起兴的妙笔，为全词定下清丽含蓄的基调。

The opening writes the fisherman's boat easily entering the spring hills, the scene rising at the first stroke. The boat and the spring hills, with the immortal's leisure days and months, the two lines rising on the boat, one writing the boat's easy entry into the hills, one the immortal's ease, exhausting the mood of the boat entering the hills and the leisure of the days. The boat into the hills and the leisurely months, precisely the wondrous stroke of rising on scene, laying the ci's fresh, restrained tone.

落花寂寂水潺潺。

Fallen flowers lie in silence, the water murmurs on.

落花寂寂水潺潺。

Fallen flowers in silence; the water in murmurs.

「落花寂寂水潺潺」写落花寂寂水潺潺，是全词写景的关键。落花寂寂水潺潺——落花寂寂写落花寂寂、水潺潺写水声潺潺。一句写落花寂寂水潺潺，以落花寂寂写落花之寂、以水潺潺写流水之声，写尽落花寂寂水潺潺之情。落花寂寂、水流潺潺，正是以景写情的点睛之笔，把春日迟暮的感怀写得真切可感。

The line writes the fallen flowers and the murmuring water, the key of the ci's scene. Fallen flowers in silence; the water in murmurs: the silent flowers, the murmuring water. One line: the silent fall and the murmuring flow. The silent flowers write the fall's stillness, the murmuring water the water's sound — precisely the telling stroke of writing feeling through scene, the late-spring wistfulness written vividly.

重寻此路难。

To find this road again will be a hard thing.

重寻此路难。

To seek this road again — how hard.

结句「重寻此路难」写重寻此路难，是全词立意的落点。重寻此路难——用桃花源之典写重寻此路难。一句写重寻此路难，以重寻此路难写重寻路难，写尽重寻此路难之情。桃源路远、重寻为难，正是以典写情的点睛之笔，言有尽而意无穷，是全词最含蓄动人处，把感怀之情写到了极致。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 close writes the hard seeking of the road again, the landing point of the ci's meaning. To seek this road again — how hard: using the Peach Blossom Spring allusion for the hard seeking. One line: the hard seeking of the road again. The far road of the peach spring and the hard re-seeking, precisely the telling stroke of writing feeling through allusion, the words ended and the meaning unended, the most restrained, moving place of the ci, the wistfulness written to the extreme.

Study

Word focus

容易 Easily, without effort — suggests the boat drifting into the mountains as if drawn by the current of a dream, emphasizing how effortless the passage into this hidden world feels. 「容易」写渔舟容易入春山，是写容易之态的关键。「渔舟容易入春山」着一「容易」，写容易——着一「容易」，写渔舟容易入春山，见其入之易。两字写尽容易之态，是「以词写易」的妙笔。「容易」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。
闲 Idle, at leisure — describes the timeless, unhurried days of the immortal realm, a state free from worldly care. 「闲」字写仙家日月闲，是写日月闲之态的关键。「仙家日月闲」着一「闲」，写清闲——着一「闲」字，写仙家日月闲，见其日之闲。一字写尽日月闲之态，是「以一字写闲」的点睛之词。「闲」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。
寂寂 Silent, hushed — the deep stillness of fallen flowers, evoking loneliness and the end of spring. 「寂寂」写落花寂寂，是写落花寂之态的关键。「落花寂寂水潺潺」着一「寂寂」，写寂寂——着一「寂寂」，写落花寂寂，见其花之寂。两字写尽寂寂之态，是「以词写寂」的点睛之词。「寂寂」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。
潺潺 Murmuring — the soft sound of flowing water, contrasting with the silence of the flowers and deepening the quiet melancholy. 「潺潺」写水潺潺，是写水流之态的关键。「落花寂寂水潺潺」着一「潺潺」，写潺潺——着一「潺潺」，写水潺潺，见其水之声。两字写尽潺潺之态，是「以词写声」的点睛之词。「潺潺」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。

Related Reading

浣溪沙·一曲新词酒一杯 Huan Xi Sha: A Song of New Words, a Cup of Wine 晏殊 · 同写感怀言志、无可奈何，一写无可奈何花落去、一写落花寂寂水潺潺重寻此路难，皆于感怀之中见无可奈何 Both voice the wistfulness of spring's passing and the helplessness of beautiful things slipping away — Yan Shu with helplessly the flowers fall away, Sima Guang with fallen flowers lie in silence, the water murmuring on; this road will be hard to find again.

Yan Shu's Helplessly the flowers fall away; the swallows seem to have come back before meets loss with a statesman's composure and takes comfort in the familiar swallow; Sima Guang's lyric mourns a lost dream-world through silent flowers and murmuring water, refusing consolation. Read together they show two ways of writing wistfulness in Song ci — one philosophical and resigned, the other hazy and reluctant to let go.

晏殊《浣溪沙·一曲新词酒一杯》「无可奈何花落去，似曾相识燕归来」，写感怀言志，是宋词小令的名篇；司马光《客中初夏》则以「落花寂寂水潺潺。重寻此路难」「渔舟容易入春山。仙家日月闲」写落花寂寂、重寻此路难。两词同写感怀言志、无可奈何：一写无可奈何花落去、以花落燕归写惜时，一写落花寂寂水潺潺重寻此路难、以落花写感怀；一为晏殊之温润、一为司马光之清婉，并读正可见词写「感怀无可奈何」的两种笔法，皆于感怀之中见无可奈何。

 山园小梅 Little Plum Trees in the Mountain Garden 林逋 · 同写隐逸清雅、以景寄情，一写疏影横斜水清浅暗香浮动月黄昏、一写渔舟容易入春山仙家日月闲，皆于隐逸之中见清雅 Both write reclusive elegance and feeling conveyed through pure landscape — Lin Bu with sparse shadows slant, the water clear and shallow; a hidden fragrance floats in the twilight moon, Sima Guang with fishing boats enter the spring mountains; the immortals' days and months are idle.

Lin Bu's mountain plum is the supreme song of reclusive refinement in Song poetry — crystalline, chaste, self-contained. Sima Guang's lyric builds its own hidden world of spring mountains, gauze curtains and idle immortal days, but ends by losing it. Where Lin Bu's recluse keeps his garden, Sima Guang's dreamer is expelled from his; both, in their different ways, define the Song taste for purity.

林逋《山园小梅》「疏影横斜水清浅，暗香浮动月黄昏」，写梅之清雅、隐逸之趣，是宋诗咏物的绝唱；司马光《客中初夏》则以「渔舟容易入春山。仙家日月闲」「落花寂寂水潺潺。重寻此路难」写渔舟入春山、落花寂寂。两词同写隐逸清雅、以景寄情：一写疏影横斜水清浅暗香浮动月黄昏、以梅写清雅，一写渔舟容易入春山仙家日月闲、以春山写隐逸；一为林逋之清逸、一为司马光之清婉，并读正可见词写「隐逸清雅」的两种笔法，皆于隐逸之中见清雅。