宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
临江仙
To the Tune of Linjiangxian: Idle Sorrow
身外闲愁空满，眼中欢事常稀。
明年应赋送君诗。
细从今夜数，相会几多时。
浅酒欲邀谁劝，深情惟有君知。
东溪春近好同归。
柳垂江上影，梅谢雪中枝。
Next year, by rights, I should write a poem to see you off.
Counting carefully from tonight — how many hours together have we left?
With this shallow wine, whom shall I invite to urge me on?
My deep affection — only you can know it.
Spring draws near at the Eastern Stream; how fine to return there together.
Willows droop, their shadows on the river; plum blossoms fade on the snow-bound branches.
Meaning
A small lyric about the approach of parting. Yan Jidao begins from a life ruled by useless sorrow and rare joys, then performs the poet's strangest feat: he writes the farewell poem a year in advance, and begins counting the remaining hours of togetherness tonight. Between a cup of thin wine that only his friend can share and a promise to return together to the Eastern Stream in spring, the lyric holds affection and melancholy in perfect balance.
身外的闲愁白白地堆满心头，眼中的欢事总是那样稀少。想来明年这个时候，就该提笔写一首送别诗，送你远行了。细细地从今夜数起，算算我们还能相聚多少时光呢？相聚的日子已经不多了。淡酒欲饮，想邀谁来共劝？一片深情，只有你知我知。东溪的春天将近，那里风光正好，我们正好相约一同归去。那里柳条低垂，倒影映在江上；梅花凋谢，只余雪中的枝丫，别后的景物一片萧瑟。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] Sorrow fills him, joy is rare; yet the farewell is still a year away — and already he is counting the nights. The wine is thin and no one else would understand the drinking; only his friend knows his heart. Spring is coming; let them go back together to the Eastern Stream. The lyric ends on willows trailing their shadows in the river and plum branches left bare in the snow. [Structure] The lyric is built in five movements: idle sorrow, the 'pre-paid' farewell, the counting of hours, the toast to a single friend, the promise of spring — each movement narrowing the focus until only two people and a date remain. [Imagery] The ending paints two trees: willows that droop (the Chinese farewell tree, because 'willow' sounds like 'stay') and plums that have faded in the snow. Spring's arrival and spring's waste are compressed into one couplet, and all emotion is left inside the landscape.
【白话串讲】 晏几道写《临江仙》：“身外闲愁空满，眼中欢事常稀”——“明年应赋送君诗”——“浅酒欲邀谁劝，深情惟有君知”——“东溪春近好同归”——他写与友人相聚将别。 【意象与手法】 这是晏几道小令的典型章法：上片以「闲愁满—欢事稀」对起，转入「明年送君」的预愁，再以「细从今夜数」的细腻笔触写相聚无多；下片「浅酒欲邀谁劝」设问，「深情惟有君知」直陈，末以「柳垂江上影，梅谢雪中枝」的景物作结，融情入景，余韵悠长。 【情感与主旨】 写友情之深与离别之痛：以「惟有君知」写知己唯一，以「好同归」写同心之愿，以「柳垂梅谢」写别后的孤寂——晏几道把个人身世的零落之感融入送别之情，语浅情深，正是其「伤心人别有怀抱」的体现。 【名句点睛】 「浅酒欲邀谁劝，深情惟有君知」十字写尽知己之情，是晏几道词中最动人的名句之一；「柳垂江上影，梅谢雪中枝」以景收情，亦为千古传诵的佳联。
Background
Yan Jidao (c. 1038-c. 1110), courtesy name Shuyuan, literary name Xiaoshan, was the seventh son of the great Northern Song statesman and lyricist Yan Shu; the two are known together as the 'Two Yans.' Born to dazzling wealth, he lived most of his adult life in decline, holding only minor posts and ending in poverty. This fall from the 'willows low at the tower's heart under the moon, songs ended by the peach-blossom fan in the wind' of his youth gave his lyrics their permanent autumnal coloring. Huang Tingjian praised his verse for 'the methods of the poets within, clear, strong and halting, able to move men's hearts,' and Feng Xu judged that 'Qin Guan and Xiaoshan were the true heartbroken men of old.' This farewell lyric, whose recipient is unknown, comes from his collection Xiaoshan Ci and is among the purest examples of his art: in fifty-eight characters he writes anticipation, dread, intimacy and tenderness.
《临江仙》是晏几道的代表作之一。晏几道（约1038—约1110），字叔原，号小山，抚州临川人，北宋词人晏殊的第七子，与其父并称「二晏」，为北宋词坛小令的集大成者。他出身贵胄而身世零落：父亲晏殊官至宰相，门第煊赫一时，而晏几道成年后家道中落，仕途偃蹇，只做过颖昌府许田镇监等小官，晚景凄凉。身世的落差使他的词染上浓重的感伤色彩——他一生怀念昔日「舞低杨柳楼心月，歌尽桃花扇底风」的繁华，又在现实的落寞中咀嚼着人情的冷暖，其词以小令写深情，婉约含蓄、语浅意深，黄庭坚称其词「寓以诗人句法，清壮顿挫，能动摇人心」，冯煦《宋六十一家词选》则谓「淮海（秦观）、小山，古之伤心人也」。此词写送别之情，其具体的送别对象已不可考，但从「深情惟有君知」的措辞看，当是与一位深知其心的朋友话别之作；「身外闲愁空满」的自况、「明年应赋送君诗」的预愁，皆透出晏几道特有的身世之感——他送别的不仅是友人，也是自己的少年时代。此词收于《小山词》，是晏几道「别情词」中最精粹的篇章之一，与《蝶恋花》（醉别西楼醒不记）等同为其送别题材的代表作。
Art
The lyric's formal signature is the invention of 'pre-paid sorrow': the farewell is still a year away, and already the farewell poem must be written, and already the hours of remaining togetherness are counted from tonight. This double leap — feeling grief before its cause and counting time in advance — stretches the moment of parting into a whole year of dread, and gives the fifty-eight characters an extraordinary density. The craft is also one of balances: 'sorrow fills' against 'joy is rare,' the rhetorical question 'whom shall I invite to urge me on?' against the flat answer 'only you can know it,' the sorrow of parting against the brightness of 'how fine to return together.' Finally the whole composition is discharged into a pure landscape — willows trailing their shadows in the river, plums faded in the snow — so that no emotion is named at the close, yet none is missing.
此词的文体是词（小令，双调五十八字，临江仙词牌），其艺术特色可括为「以愁起、以数惜、以景结」三端。就结构言，上片写「预愁」：起句「身外闲愁空满，眼中欢事常稀」以对仗立骨，一「愁」一「欢」、一「满」一「稀」，开篇即定下悲凉的基调；继以「明年应赋送君诗」点出送别之事，出人意料的是这送别诗要到「明年」才写——诗人写的是「预支」的离别，相聚未散而别情已生，构思极妙；再以「细从今夜数，相会几多时」转入细腻的计数——从今夜起，一寸一寸地数相聚的时光，愈数愈少，愈少愈痛，把「预愁」写到了极致。下片写「深情」与「归约」：「浅酒欲邀谁劝，深情惟有君知」以设问与直陈相对——酒浅而无人可劝（因为知己只有一个），情深而惟君能知（因为知心者只有你），一问一答，知己之情尽在其中；「东溪春近好同归」由离愁转向归约——东溪之春将近，愿与君一同归去，在伤离中寄予重聚的希望；末以「柳垂江上影，梅谢雪中枝」作景语收束——柳垂、梅谢，春来而人别，以景物写尽别后的怅惘，融情入景，含蓄不尽。就语言言，全词以白描与口语入词（「闲愁空满」「细从今夜数」「好同归」），语浅而情深，正是晏几道小令「于浅近处见深婉」的典型笔法。
Allusions
The lyric grows from three layers of Chinese literary tradition. First is the farewell tradition itself, from the Book of Songs' 'willows were in their tender green when I set out' to Wang Wei's 'urge me to drink one more cup of wine' — but Yan Jidao inverts it by writing the farewell poem before the farewell, turning an old ritual into an act of foreboding. Second is the willow: because 'willow' (liu) sounds like 'stay' (liu), breaking a willow branch at parting was the old custom, and the trailing willows of the last line are that whole custom condensed into shadow. Third is the plum in snow: the flowering plum of deep winter is the emblem of integrity and hidden worth, and its fading on snow-laden branches quietly mirrors the lyric's sense of beauty outlasted by cold. Even 'idle sorrow' (xian chou) is an inherited term — Feng Yansi's 'idle sorrow is always paid over to drunken sleep,' He Zhu's 'if you ask how much idle sorrow there is' — which Yan Jidao inherits and darkens with the word 'in vain.'
此词的文化意蕴，深植于中国古典诗歌「送别」与「伤春」的传统。其一是「送别诗」的传统：从《诗经》「昔我往矣，杨柳依依」到王维「劝君更尽一杯酒」，送别是中国诗歌的永恒母题；晏几道此词「明年应赋送君诗」反用其道——不写临别的饯行，而写「预支」的送别诗，把别情从「当下」延伸到「未来」，是送别题材的翻新。其二是「折柳送别」的意象传统：「柳」与「留」谐音，折柳赠别是中国的古老习俗（《三辅黄图》「霸桥折柳赠别」），词末「柳垂江上影」的柳枝，正是这送别意象的余韵——柳垂江上，是春日的风景，也是别情的牵挂。其三是「梅花雪中」的岁寒意象：梅在雪中开放，是坚贞与清高的象征（陆凯「折梅逢驿使，寄与陇头人」以梅寄情），「梅谢雪中枝」写梅花凋谢、只剩枝丫，既是冬春之交的实景，也暗含繁华消歇的隐喻——晏几道以「梅谢」写美好事物的逝去，正是其身世之感（家道中落）的曲折投射。其四是「闲愁」的文人传统：「闲愁」不同于「离愁」，是一种无端的、弥漫的愁绪——冯延巳「闲愁总付醉来眠」、贺铸「试问闲愁都几许」，晏几道「身外闲愁空满」承此传统，以「闲愁」写说不清道不明的生命感伤，而「空满」二字更添一层徒然——愁满心头而于事无补，正是「古之伤心人」的心境。
Commentary
This is the poem by which Yan Jidao's title as the last great master of the short lyric (xiaoling) is usually defended. While Liu Yong and Su Shi were expanding the long forms, Yan Jidao worked the small form to its limit; the proof is this lyric, which in fifty-eight characters holds five distinct movements — idle sorrow, pre-paid farewell, the counting of hours, the toast to a single friend, the promise of spring — and ends in a landscape. Later anthologists treated 'my deep affection — only you can know it' as the classic statement of friendship between equals, and the closing couplet as a model of 'ending in scene' that generations of lyricists imitated. Above all, the lyric succeeds in making a private, dated farewell — to an unnamed friend, at an unnamed stream — feel like the common human condition: that all joy is rare, and that we count what we are already losing.
《临江仙》是晏几道别情词的代表作，其价值在词史上有三重意义。就文学史地位言，晏几道是北宋小令的殿军——当柳永、苏轼诸家纷纷开拓长调慢词之时，晏几道独守小令一隅而臻于极致，黄庭坚称其「妙年美士，近知酒色之娱；苦节癯儒，晚悟裙裾之乐」，冯煦评「淮海、小山，真古之伤心人也」；此词正体现了小令「以少总多」的艺术：五十八字写尽预愁、惜别、知己、归约、景物五层内容，字字落实、无一赘语，是「小令容大愁」的典范。就艺术成就言，此词「闲愁满—欢事稀」的对仗起笔、「细从今夜数」的细腻笔触、「浅酒欲邀谁劝，深情惟有君知」的知己之叹、「柳垂江上影，梅谢雪中枝」的以景收情，句句皆可圈点，是晏几道「婉约深挚」词风最完整的呈现，与《临江仙·梦后楼台高锁》（「落花人独立，微雨燕双飞」）同为《小山词》中脍炙人口的篇章。就思想价值言，此词把「送别」写成了「人生零落」的隐喻：闲愁空满、欢事常稀、明年送君、梅谢雪枝——友情的珍贵（惟有君知）与人事的代谢（柳垂梅谢）交织，正是晏几道从贵公子到落魄文人的生命体验的浓缩，它超越了一时一地的送别，写出了人类共通的「聚散无常」之感。就影响言，此词长期入选各类词选与教材，「深情惟有君知」等句成为知己之情的经典表述，其「以景结情」的结尾方式更成为词家效法的范式。
Prosody
Line by line
身外闲愁空满，眼中欢事常稀。
Idle sorrow fills the life beyond me in vain, while happy moments are ever rare before my eyes.
身外的闲愁白白地堆满心头，眼中的欢事总是那样稀少。
Idle sorrow beyond me fills all in vain; the joyful things before my eyes are always few.
起句以对仗立骨，两句十字定下全词悲凉的基调，是晏几道「以愁起」的典型笔法。「身外闲愁空满」写愁之满：「闲愁」是无端的、弥漫的愁绪，不同于具体的离愁别恨，「闲」字见其说不清道不明，正是文人「闲愁」传统的延续；「空满」二字最见分量——「满」写愁之多，堆满心头、无处排遣，「空」写愁之无谓，愁满心头而于事无补、于愿无成，徒然自苦——一个「空」字，把愁的徒劳与无奈写尽，也透出晏几道「伤心人」的身世之感：他不是为某事而愁，而是生命本身即是愁。「眼中欢事常稀」写乐之少：「欢事」与「闲愁」相对，「稀」与「满」相对——愁是满的，乐是稀的，一满一稀、一多一少，人生的失重感在两句对仗中不言自明；「眼中」二字更妙，写欢事之少连眼睛都看得真切，仿佛欢乐之影早已从视野中消失。两句一愁一欢、一满一稀，对仗工整而情感沉郁，开篇即把读者引入晏几道那「古之伤心人」的情感世界。
The opening stands on the parallelism, two lines of ten characters setting the ci's desolate tone, the typical Yan Jidao opening on grief. Idle sorrow beyond me fills all in vain writes the sorrow's fullness: the idle sorrow the unmotivated, diffused grief, not the concrete parting grief, the idle showing the unspeakable, the continuation of the scholar's idle-sorrow tradition; the two words fills all in vain the most weighted — the full the sorrow's abundance, filling the breast with no discharge, the vain the sorrow's uselessness, grief filling the breast and yet nothing achieved, nothing fulfilled, the one word vain exhausting the sorrow's futility and helplessness, and breathing the sense of fate of Yan the broken-hearted man: he grieves not for some affair, but because life itself is grief. The joyful things before my eyes are always few writes the joy's scarcity: joyful things set against idle sorrow, few against full — sorrow full, joy scarce, one full one scarce, one much one little, the life's loss of balance self-evident in the parallelism; the two words before my eyes the better, writing the joy's scarcity until even the eyes see it, as if the shadow of delight had long vanished from the view. Two lines, one grief one joy, one full one scarce, the parallelism steady and the feeling somber, the opening drawing the reader at once into the emotional world of Yan the ancient broken-hearted man.
明年应赋送君诗。
Next year, by rights, I should write a poem to see you off.
想来明年这个时候，就该提笔写一首送别诗，送你远行了。
Next year, I suppose, I shall be writing the poem to speed you on your way.
此句是全词最出人意表的转折，也是「预愁」构思的机杼所在，一句七字，把别情从「当下」推向了「明年」。「明年应赋送君诗」写的是「预支」的离别：送别诗本该在临别时写，诗人却说「明年应赋」——离别尚未发生，送别诗已在预想之中；「应赋」二字写必然——这个离别是躲不开的、注定要来的，无论多么不舍，明年这个时候，我终将提笔写诗送你；「明年」二字写时间的拉长——把离别的痛从「明天」延伸到「明年」，别情的煎熬便多了一整年的长度。此句的深意在于：它把送别从「事件」写成了「宿命」——不是「我将送你」，而是「我终须送你」，相聚的每一天都在向那个注定的离别靠近；由此，下句「细从今夜数，相会几多时」的计数才有了着落——既然明年必别，那么从今夜起的每一刻相聚都格外珍贵。一句预愁，全词的张力顿生，正是晏几道「于常事中见奇思」的才情所在。
This line is the ci's most unexpected turn, the loom of the pre-grief conception, one line of seven characters pushing the parting feeling from the present to next year. Next year, I suppose, I shall be writing the poem to speed you on your way writes the pre-drawn parting: the farewell poem by rights written at the parting, and the poet says next year, I shall be writing — the parting not yet come, and the farewell poem already in the expectation; the two words I suppose write the inevitability — this parting is unavoidable, destined to come, however reluctant, next year at this time, I shall at last take up the pen to see you off; the two words next year write the stretching of time — extending the parting's pain from tomorrow to next year, the parting's torment gaining a whole year's length. The line's deep meaning: it writes the farewell from event to fate — not I will see you off, but I must see you off, every day of the gathering drawing nearer to that destined parting; hence the below counting from tonight has its ground — since next year's parting is certain, every moment of the gathering from tonight is doubly precious. One line of pre-grief, the ci's tension born at once, precisely the show of Yan's finding the wondrous thought in the ordinary.
细从今夜数，相会几多时。
Counting carefully from tonight — how many hours together have we left?
细细地从今夜数起，算算我们还能相聚多少时光呢？相聚的日子已经不多了。
Counting carefully from tonight, how much time is left for us to meet?
此两句是全词最细腻的一笔，以「计数」写惜别，把抽象的时间写成了可以清点的实物，是晏几道词中最动人的细节。「细从今夜数」写计数之细：「细」字见用心之专——不是粗略地算，而是一分一秒地清点；「从今夜数」见起点之近——从今夜、从此刻数起，仿佛相聚的时光正在指间一分分流走，诗人要抓住每一寸；一个「数」字，把时间的流逝写成了有形的过程，愈数愈少，愈少愈痛。「相会几多时」写计数之果：「几多时」是明知故问——答案不言自明（相聚已无多时），而诗人偏要问，这一问，是不甘、是不舍、是明知无多而偏要数清的痴情；「相会」二字点出相聚的主题，与「明年应赋送君诗」的预别相对——相聚之日已可计数，离别之期已然确定，两相对照，人生的无奈尽在其中。两句一「数」一「问」，把「惜时」写成了「惜别」——相聚的时光愈是清点得细，离别的痛苦愈是刻骨，正是「细」字最深的用意。
These two lines are the ci's most delicate stroke, writing the treasured parting through the counting, turning abstract time into the countable object, the most moving detail in Yan's ci. Counting carefully from tonight writes the fineness of the counting: the fine the singleness of purpose — not the rough reckoning, but the counting minute by minute; from tonight the nearness of the start — from tonight, from this moment, as if the gathering time were draining through the fingers, the poet seizing every inch; the one word counting writes time's passage as a visible process, the more counted the less, the less the more painful. How much time is left for us to meet? writes the result of the counting: how much time the knowing-and-yet-asking question — the answer self-evident (the gathering has little time left), and the poet yet asks, this question the unwillingness, the reluctance, the devotion of knowing the little and yet insisting on counting clear; the word meet names the theme of the gathering, set against the next-year farewell — the gathering's days already countable, the parting's date already fixed, the contrast containing life's helplessness. Two lines, one count one question, writing the treasuring of time as the treasuring of parting — the finer the gathering time is counted, the more bone-deep the parting's pain, precisely the deepest meaning of the word fine.
浅酒欲邀谁劝，深情惟有君知。
With this shallow wine, whom shall I invite to urge me on? My deep affection — only you can know it.
淡酒欲饮，想邀谁来共劝呢？一片深情，只有你知我知。
The thin wine — whom shall I ask to share it? This deep feeling, only you know.
此两句是全词的情感核心，以设问与直陈相对，把知己之情写到极致，是晏几道「语浅情深」的代表。「浅酒欲邀谁劝」以设问写孤独：「浅酒」写酒之淡薄——不是痛饮的烈酒，只是浅酌的淡酒，正合离别的低回心境；「欲邀谁劝」一问——想邀人共饮共劝，却不知邀谁，一个「谁」字，写尽知音难觅的孤独：不是无人可邀，而是无人可托此情；问而不答，孤独愈深。「深情惟有君知」以直陈作答：「惟有」二字斩钉截铁——茫茫人海，知我深情者，只有你一人；「君知」与「谁劝」相对——别人劝不了我的酒，因为你才知我的情；一问一答，由设问的茫然落到直陈的坚定，知己的唯一性在对比中凸现。此两句的深意在于：晏几道一生零落，深知人情冷暖，「惟有君知」既是写眼前这位知心友人，也是写他一生知音难觅的慨叹——酒浅而情深，人稀而情真，正是「古之伤心人」以淡语写深情的典范。
These two lines are the emotional core of the ci, setting the question against the statement, writing the soulmate feeling to the extreme, the representative of Yan's shallow words and deep feeling. The thin wine — whom shall I ask to share it? writes the loneliness in the question: the thin wine the mild drink — not the strong drink, only the light cup, precisely the low mood of the parting; whom shall I ask? one question — wishing to invite a companion to drink together, and not knowing whom to invite, the one word whom exhausting the loneliness of the hard meeting of kindred spirits: not that there is no one to invite, but that no one can hold this feeling; the question unanswered, the loneliness the deeper. This deep feeling, only you know. writes the answer in the statement: the two words only you know decisive — in the vast human sea, the one who knows my deep feeling is only you; you know set against whom to ask — others cannot share my wine, because you alone know my feeling; one question one answer, from the question's bewilderment to the statement's certainty, the soulmate's uniqueness standing out in the contrast. The deep meaning: Yan's life of decline, knowing the warmth and chill of human relations, the only you know at once writing the present soulmate friend, and the sigh of his whole life's hard meeting of kindred spirits — the wine thin and the feeling deep, the men few and the feeling true, precisely the ancient broken-hearted man's model of deep feeling in the plain words.
东溪春近好同归。
Spring draws near at the Eastern Stream; how fine to return there together.
东溪的春天将近，那里风光正好，我们正好相约一同归去。
Spring is near at the East Creek; it would be good to return together.
此句是全词的转折，由离愁转向归约，在伤离中寄予重聚的希望，是晏几道「于绝望中留一线光明」的笔法。「东溪春近」写归期之望：「东溪」是具体的地名（当是二人共同向往的归隐之所或旧游之地），「春近」写时节将至——春天将近，万物将苏，正是归去的好时候；一个「近」字，把归期写得近在眼前，仿佛已经望见东溪的春水。「好同归」写同归之愿：「好」字见其欣喜——不是独自归去，而是与君同归，最好不过；「同归」二字是全词的希望所在——离别虽在明年，而同归之约已然定下，聚散之间，终有一聚在等着。此句的深意在于：晏几道一生家道中落、仕途失意，「东溪春近好同归」暗含对归隐闲适生活的向往——与知心友人同归东溪、共度春光，正是他历经繁华与零落后最朴素的愿望；而「春近」与上文的「梅谢」呼应，冬去春来、梅谢柳垂，自然的代谢中自有新生的希望，词情至此由悲转暖，为末句的景物留下温情的底色。
This line is the ci's turn, from grief at parting to the promise of return, placing the hope of reunion within the sorrow, Yan's brush of leaving one thread of light in despair. Spring is near at the East Creek; it would be good to return together. writes the hope of the return: the East Creek the concrete place (by rights the reclusive haven the two longed for, or the old roaming place), spring is near the season's coming — spring near, all things reviving, precisely the good time to return; the one word near writes the return date as if at hand, as if already seeing the East Creek's spring water. It would be good to return together writes the wish for the common return: the good the delight — not returning alone, but returning with you, nothing better; the two words return together the ci's hope — the parting though next year, and the promise of the common return already fixed, between meeting and parting, a reunion waits. The deep meaning: Yan's family fortune declined through life and his official hopes failed, the spring is near at the East Creek secretly carrying the longing for the retired, leisured life — returning with the soulmate friend to the East Creek and spending the spring together, precisely his plainest wish after the splendor and the decline; and spring is near echoes the above plum faded, winter gone and spring come, the plum shed and the willow drooping, the natural metamorphosis carrying the hope of renewal, the feeling turning from grief to warmth, leaving the warm ground for the closing scene.
柳垂江上影，梅谢雪中枝。
Willows droop, their shadows on the river; plum blossoms fade on the snow-bound branches.
柳条低垂，倒影映在江上；梅花凋谢，只余雪中的枝丫，别后的景物一片萧瑟。
The willow droops, its shadow on the river; the plum has faded, its boughs in the snow.
结句以景语收束全词，两句十字写尽别后的怅惘，是「以景结情」的典范。「柳垂江上影」写柳之景：柳条低垂，倒影映在江上——柳是送别的意象（折柳赠别），「垂」字写柳之姿态，低垂含情，如离人的依依不舍；「江上影」更妙——柳影映江，虚实相映，垂柳的倒影在江水中摇曳，正是别后凝望江边、物是人非的怅惘图景。「梅谢雪中枝」写梅之景：梅花凋谢，只剩雪中的枝丫——梅是冬春之花，「谢」字写其凋零，「雪中枝」写其残迹，梅已谢而雪未消，正是冬春之交的萧瑟；梅花之谢暗喻美好的逝去，与全词「欢事常稀」的基调遥相呼应。两句一柳一梅、一垂一谢、一江一雪，景物对称而情调一致：柳垂是未尽的别情，梅谢是已逝的欢愉，春将至而人将别，景物愈是工丽，离情愈是深长。全词在「柳垂江上影，梅谢雪中枝」的画面上缓缓落幕，不着一情语而情自深，正是晏几道「结句以景结情，余韵无穷」的词学追求，也是此词千载传诵的原因。
The close ends the ci in scene, two lines of ten characters exhausting the post-parting wistfulness, the model of ending feeling in scene. The willow droops, its shadow on the river writes the willow scene: the willow drooping, its reflection on the water — the willow the parting image (the breaking of the willow for farewell), the drooping the willow's pose, the drooping carrying feeling, like the parting man's reluctance; the shadow on the river the better — the willow's shadow reflected in the river, the real and the imagined answering, the drooping reflection swaying in the water, precisely the wistful picture after the parting of gazing at the river, the thing changed and the man gone. The plum has faded, its boughs in the snow writes the plum scene: the plum faded, only the snow-laden boughs remain — the plum the winter-spring flower, the faded the withering, the snow boughs the remnant trace, the plum shed and the snow not melted, precisely the bleak turn of winter and spring; the plum's fading secretly figures the departure of the fair, echoing the ci's tone of the joyful things always few. Two lines, one willow one plum, one droop one fade, one river one snow, the scenes matched and the mood one: the drooping willow the unfinished parting feeling, the faded plum the departed joy, spring near and the man about to part, the more crafty the scene, the longer the parting feeling. The ci slowly closes on the picture of the willow drooping and the plum faded, not one word of feeling and the feeling self-deep, precisely Yan's pursuit of the close in scene with endless aftertone, and the reason this ci has been recited through the ages.
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In 'Drunk I left the west tower and woke remembering nothing,' Yan Jidao writes the regret after parting — 'spring dreams and autumn clouds; meeting and parting truly come easily' — the dazed sorrow of one who discovers, sober, that the farewell has already happened. Linjiangxian writes the dread before parting — 'next year, by rights, I should write a poem to see you off' — sorrow paid forward into the future. One is memory, the other anticipation; both open with parallelism and close in landscape, showing the 'begin with antithesis, end in scene' architecture that is Yan Jidao's signature in the small form.
晏几道《蝶恋花》「醉别西楼醒不记，春梦秋云，聚散真容易」写醉后醒来方知已别的怅惘，与《临江仙》同出晏几道之手，同属其送别题材的小令，同写「聚散」的主题。差异在构思：蝶恋花写「别后之悔」——醉别西楼、醒而不记，聚散如梦，写的是离别发生后的追悔与恍惚；临江仙写「别前之预愁」——明年应赋送君诗、细从今夜数，写的是离别发生前的预支与计数。一者醒后追忆，一者醉前预支；一者「悔不记」，一者「细计数」；时间的方向相反，而深情如一。手法上，二词皆以对仗起笔（「醉别西楼醒不记」与「身外闲愁空满」），皆以景语收束（「斜月半窗还少睡」与「柳垂江上影」），可见晏几道小令「起以对仗、结以景语」的程式化匠心。合观二词，正可完整把握晏几道送别词「别前预愁」与「别后追悔」的两个向度，也可见其小令艺术的炉火纯青。
鹧鸪天 To the Tune of Zhegutian 晏几道 · 同出晏几道之手，同为小令名篇，一写重逢一写预别 Both are famous short lyrics by Yan Jidao himself; one celebrates a reunion, the other pre-mourns a parting.Zhegutian sings of reunion — 'broidered sleeves eagerly offered the jade cup; in those years I let my drunken face flush' — and its climax is the terror of joy: 'tonight I hold the silver lamp close, still fearing this meeting is a dream.' Linjiangxian sings of pre-parted sorrow: 'idle sorrow fills the life beyond me in vain,' 'counting carefully from tonight.' Where Zhegutian grips the peak of meeting for fear of waking, Linjiangxian sits inside the slow dread before parting. Between them — the ecstasy of reunion and the anguish of anticipation — the whole emotional range of Yan Jidao's friendship lyrics is visible.
晏几道《鹧鸪天》「彩袖殷勤捧玉钟，当年拚却醉颜红」写与歌女重逢的惊喜（「今宵剩把银釭照，犹恐相逢是梦中」），与《临江仙》同出晏几道之手，同属《小山词》中的小令名篇。差异在情感方向：鹧鸪天写「重逢之喜」——追忆当年「舞低杨柳楼心月」的繁华，写久别重逢、犹恐是梦的狂喜，情调由忆旧的甜蜜到重逢的恍惚；临江仙写「预别之愁」——闲愁空满、明年送君，写离别前的预支与计数，情调由预愁的沉郁到同归的微暖。一者「犹恐相逢是梦中」的欢喜，一者「明年应赋送君诗」的预愁；一者是相聚的顶点（重逢），一者是离别的起点（预愁）。相同处在于：二词皆以今昔对照写情（当年拚却醉颜红／身外闲愁空满），皆以细腻的笔触写心理（犹恐相逢是梦中／细从今夜数），可见晏几道小令「以今昔对照写深情」的惯技。合观二词，晏几道「伤心人」的两面——重逢时的狂喜与离别前的深愁——皆跃然纸上。
水调歌头·明月几时有 To the Tune of Shuidiao Getou: How Long Will the Bright Moon Be 苏轼 · 同为宋词写离别与月夜名篇，一小令一长调，同写「但愿人长久」之愿 Both are famous Song lyrics about parting; one a small form of fifty-eight characters, the other a long form of ninety-five — the two poles of the Song farewell lyric.Su Shi, missing his brother at mid-autumn, opens with 'How long will the bright moon be? I raise my cup and ask the blue sky' and resolves parting into philosophy: 'may we live long, sharing the beauty of the moon though a thousand miles apart.' Yan Jidao, parting from a friend, opens with 'idle sorrow fills the life beyond me in vain' and resolves nothing at all — he only counts the hours and looks at willows and plums. Su Shi's long form rises to cosmic consolation; Yan Jidao's small form descends into a single cup of thin wine and a single friend's knowledge. Between the two lies the entire spectrum of the Song lyric's treatment of parting — the heroic and the intimate.
苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。但愿人长久，千里共婵娟」写中秋怀弟（苏辙）的离别之思，与晏几道《临江仙》同属宋词写离别的名篇，而体制与气象迥异：水调歌头是长调（九十五字）——以「明月几时有，把酒问青天」的浩问开篇，以「人有悲欢离合」的哲理化解离愁，以「千里共婵娟」的旷达收束，气象宏阔，是豪放词的巅峰；临江仙是小令（五十八字）——以「闲愁空满」的低吟起笔，以「细从今夜数」的计数惜别，以「柳垂江上影」的景物收束，气象幽微，是婉约词的极致。一者「把酒问青天」的宇宙之思，一者「浅酒欲邀谁劝」的知己之叹；一者以哲理达观化解离别，一者以深情缱绻品味离别。合观二词，正可见宋词离别主题的两种境界——苏轼的旷达与晏几道的深婉，一豪一婉，双峰并峙，共同构成了中国词史离别题材的最高成就。