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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

六丑·蔷薇谢后作

Six Uglies: Written after the Roses Fall (Liuchou)

周邦彦

Zhou Bangyan

咏物Singing of Things 时序Time and Season 愁思Melancholy

正单衣试酒,恨客里、光阴虚掷。
愿春暂留,春归如过翼。
一去无迹。
为问花何在,夜来风雨,葬楚宫倾国。
钗钿堕处遗香泽。
乱点桃蹊,轻翻柳陌。
多情为谁追惜。
但蜂媒蝶使,时叩窗隔。
东园岑寂。
渐蒙笼暗碧。
静绕珍丛底,成叹息。
长条故惹行客。
似牵衣待话,别情无极。
残英小、强簪巾帻。
终不似一朵,钗头颤袅,向人侧。
漂流处、莫趁潮汐。
恐断红、尚有相思字,何由见得。

Just in the thin clothes, tasting the wine, I regret that in the guest's place, the light and the shade are idly wasted.
I wish the spring would stay a while, yet the spring returns like the passing wing.
Going with no trace.
I ask where the flowers are: in the night, the wind and the rain buried the toppled beauty of the Chu palace.
Where the hairpins fell, the fragrant scent is left.
Scattered on the peach path, lightly turned on the willow lane.
For whom, the many feelings, does one pursue the regret?
Only the bee the matchmaker and the butterfly the go-between, from time to time, knock on the window lattice.
The eastern garden is quiet and still.
Gradually the dark green closes in.
Quietly circling beneath the treasured cluster, I become a sigh.
The long twigs deliberately pull at the traveler.
As if pulling the clothes, waiting for the talk, the feeling of the parting without end.
The small remnant of the flower, I force it into the headdress.
After all, unlike a full flower, trembling and swaying at the hairpin, leaning toward one side of the person.
Where it drifts, do not follow the tide and the current.
I fear the broken red, still having the characters of the longing, how can they be seen?
Listen

Meaning

A famous ci of the singing of things by Zhou Bangyan, written roughly during his official wandering in Bianjing and the various places. The whole ci takes the regretting the flowers as the clue, developing layer on layer: the opening, 'just in the thin clothes, tasting the wine, I regret that in the guest's place, the light and the shade are idly wasted'—the regret of the spring first, setting the tone of the whole ci; 'I wish the spring would stay a while, yet the spring returns like the passing wing'—the not keeping the spring, the haste of the return of the spring, the regret of the spring; 'I ask where the flowers are: in the night, the wind and the rain buried the toppled beauty of the Chu palace'—the fall of the flowers, the beauty of the Chu palace buried by the wind and the rain, the regret of the flowers; the middle writes the remains of the flowers and the pursuit of the regret, and the long twigs pulling at the traveler, the feeling of the parting without end; and the close, 'I fear the broken red, still having the characters of the longing, how can they be seen?'—the characters of the longing of the broken red, the regret of the flowers and the longing in one, the eternal famous close. The whole ci, from the regret of the spring to the regret of the flowers to the longing, the singing of the roses after the fall, the regret of the spring and the feeling of the guest's place in one.

正是换上单衣、品尝新酒的时候,可恨身在客中,光阴白白虚度。但愿春天暂且留下,春归却像飞鸟过翼一般迅速,一去便无踪迹。试问蔷薇花在哪里?一夜风雨,埋葬了如楚宫倾国美人一般的繁花。花瓣坠落的地方还遗留着香泽。落花乱点桃树小径,轻翻杨柳阡陌。多情的人为谁惋惜追悼?只有蜂媒蝶使,时时叩响窗棂。东园一片岑寂。渐渐草木蒙笼,绿意转为暗碧。我静静地绕着花丛徘徊,徒然叹息。长长的枝条故意招惹行客,好似牵住衣襟有话要说,离别之情无穷无尽。残存的小花,勉强簪在头巾上。终究不像一朵盛开的蔷薇,在钗头颤袅,向人欹侧。漂流之处,不要趁着潮汐而去。只怕断红上还有相思的字迹,教人何处得以相见。

Appreciation

The art of the ci is famous for the dense composition and the layer-on-layer development, the typical style of the slow ci of Zhou Bangyan. The whole ci takes the regretting the flowers as the clue, developing layer on layer according to the order of the time and the space: the opening, 'just in the thin clothes, tasting the wine, I regret that in the guest's place, the light and the shade are idly wasted,' the regret of the spring first, setting the tone; 'I wish the spring would stay a while, yet the spring returns like the passing wing, going with no trace'—the not keeping the spring, the passing wing for the haste of the return of the spring, vivid and vivid; 'I ask where the flowers are: in the night, the wind and the rain buried the toppled beauty of the Chu palace'—the fall of the flowers, the beauty of the Chu palace buried, the flower and the beauty in one, the solemn and the moving; 'where the hairpins fell, the fragrant scent is left. Scattered on the peach path, lightly turned on the willow lane'—the remains of the flowers, the scattered and the turned, the regret of the pursuit; 'the long twigs deliberately pull at the traveler. As if pulling the clothes, waiting for the talk, the feeling of the parting without end'—the long twigs pulling the clothes, the personification, the feeling of the parting without end, the cleverest of the whole ci; and the close, 'I fear the broken red, still having the characters of the longing, how can they be seen?'—the characters of the longing of the broken red, the regret of the flowers and the longing in one, the eternal famous close.

【白话串讲】 周邦彦写六丑,蔷薇谢后:“正单衣试酒,恨客里、光阴虚掷”。“为问花何在,夜来风雨,葬楚宫倾国”——“多情为谁追惜。但蜂媒蝶使,时叩窗隔”——他写花落的惋惜。 【意象与手法】 此词为咏物名篇,以蔷薇自况,花人合一。层层铺叙,由谢前写到谢后,由花写到人,虚实相生,章法绵密,是周邦彦慢词缜密典丽的代表作。 【情感与主旨】 全词借蔷薇谢后抒发伤春惜花之情,暗含客里飘零、光阴虚掷、年华老去的身世之感,是咏物词中寄托深微、情韵兼胜的典范。 【名句点睛】 常考『长条故惹行客。似牵衣待话,别情无极』的拟人手法,以及『恐断红、尚有相思字,何由见得』的深婉寄托。

Background

The 'Six Uglies: Written after the Roses Fall' is a famous ci of the singing of things by Zhou Bangyan, written roughly during his official wandering in Bianjing and the various places. Zhou Bangyan, courtesy name Meicheng, styled himself the Hermit of the Qingzhen, a native of Qiantang, the great master of the ci world of the late Northern Song, in the time of Huizong promoted to the Da Sheng Fu, proficient in the music, able to compose his own tunes, and the 'Six Uglies' is the tune created by him. It is said that Huizong once asked what the 'Six Uglies' meant, and Zhou Bangyan answered: this tune breaks the six modes, all the beauties of the sounds, yet extremely hard to sing, showing the refinement of the creation of the tune. Zhou Bangyan's official career was rough, rising and falling in the official sea, many times leaving the capital for the appointments outside, and having the experience of the drifting in the guest's place, hence the feeling of the guest's place especially deep. This ci sings the roses after the fall, just at the late spring, the wind and the rain destroying the flowers, and the poet, in the guest's place, tasting the wine, the regret of the spring and the feeling of the guest's place, the singing of the flowers and the feeling of the life in one, the typical of the slow ci of Zhou Bangyan.

《六丑·蔷薇谢后作》是周邦彦词中的咏物名篇,约作于其游宦汴京、漂零各地期间。周邦彦字美成,自号清真居士,钱塘人,北宋末年词坛大家,徽宗时提举大晟府,精通音律,能自度曲,六丑即其所创词调。相传宋徽宗曾问六丑何意,周邦彦答曰:此曲犯六调,皆声之美者,然极难歌,可见此调创制之精。周邦彦一生仕途坎坷,宦海浮沉,多次离京外任,又有客居他乡的漂泊经历,故词中客里之感特别深重。此词题咏蔷薇谢后,正值暮春,风雨摧花,词人客居异乡,触景生情,遂借惜花以自伤。词中恨客里、光阴虚掷,正是他常年漂泊、功业无成的心声;葬楚宫倾国、钗钿堕处等语,以美人喻花,暗含对美好事物易逝的痛惜,也寄寓了自身年华老去、身世飘零的感慨。此词代表了周邦彦咏物词的最高成就,被后人推为咏物词的典范。周邦彦词集《清真集》中,此词以缜密典丽著称,后人评其咏物词为南宋词人所祖,影响极为深远。

Art

The art is the dense composition and the layer-on-layer development: the regret of the spring, the fall of the flowers, the remains of the flowers, the long twigs pulling the clothes, and the broken red with the characters of the longing, the regret of the spring and the feeling of the guest's place in one—the personification and the allusion, the very model of the singing of things of the slow ci.

此词在艺术上以章法绵密、层层铺叙见长,是周邦彦慢词的典型风格。全词以惜花为线索,按时间与空间的顺序层层展开:起笔正单衣试酒,恨客里、光阴虚掷,先写惜春之恨,为全词定下基调;愿春暂留,春归如过翼,一去无迹,写留春不得、春去匆匆,以过翼喻春归之速,生动传神。为问花何在,夜来风雨,葬楚宫倾国,由春及花,以倾国美人喻蔷薇,一问一答,写花的凋零;钗钿堕处遗香泽,乱点桃蹊,轻翻柳陌,铺写落花的狼藉与香泽的残留,画面细致。多情为谁追惜,但蜂媒蝶使,时叩窗隔,以蜂蝶叩窗写无人惜花的冷落。下片东园岑寂,渐蒙笼暗碧,写花谢后园林的萧条;静绕珍丛底,成叹息,写词人绕花徘徊的痴情。长条故惹行客,似牵衣待话,别情无极,是全词最动人的部分,以拟人手法写蔷薇多情留人。残英小、强簪巾帻,终不似一朵,钗头颤袅,向人侧,以残英与盛花对比,更见今昔之慨。末段恐断红、尚有相思字,何由见得,以断红相思收束,余韵悠长。全词环环相扣,咏物而不滞于物,深得咏物词之神髓。

Allusions

The allusions of the ci are apt and deep, fully showing the power of Zhou Bangyan's using the allusions. 'The toppled beauty of the Chu palace' transforms the song of Li Yannian, 'one glance topples the city, and the second glance topples the state,' the toppled-state beauty for the beauty of the rose, and the Chu palace covertly uses the legend of the slender-waisted beauties of the Chu palace, the flower and the beauty in mutual metaphor, the sorrowful and the moving. 'Where the hairpins fell, the fragrant scent is left' covertly uses Bai Juyi's 'Song of the Everlasting Regret,' 'the flower-pins fell and scattered on the ground, no one collects them,' the scene of the fall of the Yang Guifei, and the 'broken red, still having the characters of the longing' the story of the red leaf carrying the poem and the longing of the 'In the Palace' of the Tang, the red leaf and the broken red in one, the longing and the regret in one.

此词用典贴切而深婉,充分体现了周邦彦使事用典的功力。葬楚宫倾国,化用李延年歌一顾倾人城,再顾倾人国的典故,以倾国美人喻蔷薇之艳,楚宫又暗用楚王宫中细腰美人的传说,花人互喻,哀艳动人。钗钿堕处遗香泽,暗用白居易《长恨歌》花钿委地无人收的意境,以杨贵妃的钗钿喻落花,写花谢时的凄美。蜂媒蝶使,语出唐代诗人韩偓诗,以蜂蝶为媒为使,写花谢后无人问津,只有蜂蝶叩窗,冷落之状可感。牵衣待话,化用古诗行行重行行中牵衣顿足拦道哭的惜别之意,以及李白《赠汪伦》踏歌声的深情,写蔷薇多情留人。断红尚有相思字,用唐僖宗时宫女红叶题诗、随御沟流出为人所得的典故,以红叶题诗喻落花上的相思,将惜花之情引向更深沉的相思之恨。周邦彦用典不着痕迹,典故融入词境,成为抒情的有机部分,既丰富了词的意蕴,又深化了情感的层次,正是其词缜密典丽风格的体现。

Commentary

The 'Six Uglies: Written after the Roses Fall' is a representative work of the ci of the singing of things by Zhou Bangyan and a model work of the ci of the singing of things of the Song ci. The value of the ci first in the singing of the things without sticking to the things: though the whole ci takes the rose as the object of the singing, it does not haggle over the appearance of the flower, but the regretting the flowers, the grieving the spring, the feeling the time, and the longing the person in one, the flower and the feeling in mutual metaphor, the very model of the ci of the singing of things; the artistic of the ci, the dense composition and the layer-on-layer development, and the personification of the 'the long twigs deliberately pull at the traveler' and the allusion of the 'the characters of the longing of the broken red,' have always been praised by the critics, and the close 'I fear the broken red, still having the characters of the longing, how can they be seen?' has become an eternal famous line of the ci of the singing of things.

《六丑·蔷薇谢后作》是周邦彦咏物词的代表作,也是宋词中咏物词的典范之作。此词的价值首先在于咏物而不滞于物:全词虽以蔷薇为吟咏对象,却不斤斤计较于花之形貌,而是将惜花、伤春、感时、怀人之情融为一体,花即人,人即花,寄托深微,意蕴丰厚,达到了咏物词的至高境界。其次在于章法结构的精妙:此词以时间为经、空间为纬,从春归写到花谢,从东园写到窗隔,从花写到人,环环相扣,层层深入,如织锦回文,无懈可击,体现了周邦彦慢词缜密典丽的艺术特色。再次在于语言的典雅精工:乱点桃蹊,轻翻柳陌,静绕珍丛底,成叹息,残英小、强簪巾帻等句,字字锤炼,声情并茂。清人评周邦彦词为词中老杜,以其集北宋词之大成,此词正是其艺术造诣的集中体现,对南宋姜夔、吴文英等词人的咏物词产生了深远的影响。其以长调咏物而情韵兼胜,实为词史上一大关捩,后人学周词者,无不从此等处取法。

Prosody

Form Tune 'Six Uglies,' a tune composed by Zhou Bangyan, double stanza of one hundred and forty characters词牌六丑,周邦彦自度曲,双调一百四十字
Rhyme Each half on the oblique rhymes: zhi, yi, ji, guo, ze, mo, xi, ge, and the following上下片各押仄韵,掷、翼、迹、国、泽、陌、惜、隔、寂、碧、息、客、极、帻、侧、汐、得等韵脚皆入声,属平水韵入声陌、锡、职、质诸韵通押,一韵到底,音调短促沉郁。
Tone pattern The 'just in the thin clothes' is faint, the 'the wind and the rain buried' is abrupt, the 'the long twigs deliberately pull' is tender, and the 'the characters of the longing' is deep—the whole from the regret of the spring to the regret of the flowers, the lingering of the feeling carried by the oblique rhymes全词句式长短错落,二字句、三字句、四字句、五字句、六字句、七字句兼用,如一去无迹(四言)、东园岑寂(四言)、渐蒙笼暗碧(五言),节奏起伏跌宕,宜于铺叙抒情。
Reading note The oblique rhymes and the long slow tune carry the regret of the flowers and the feeling of the guest's place, the model of the slow ci.六丑为周邦彦自度曲,双调一百四十字,上片十四句八仄韵,下片十五句九仄韵,是词中少见的长调。周邦彦精通音律,此调犯六调而声皆美,极难歌,可见其创调之精。全词押入声韵,掷、翼、迹、国、泽、陌、惜、隔、寂、碧、息、客、极、帻、侧、汐、得等字皆短促急收,声情沉郁顿挫,与伤春悼花的主题相得益彰。词中句式极为参差,二字句如乱点,三字句如为问、恐断红,四字句如东园岑寂、渐蒙笼暗碧,五字句如静绕珍丛底,六字句如但蜂媒蝶使,七字句如长条故惹行客,长短交错,如行云流水,充分展现了慢词铺叙舒展的特点。周邦彦此调以入声韵写缠绵悱恻之情,以参差句式写幽深婉转之思,声情并茂,是宋词中音律与文辞高度统一的典范,对南宋词人的长调创作影响深远。

Line by line

正单衣试酒,恨客里、光阴虚掷。

Just in the thin clothes, tasting the wine, I regret that in the guest's place, the light and the shade are idly wasted. (The opening: the regret of the spring first, the idly wasted light and shade in the guest's place, setting the tone of the whole ci.)

正是换上单衣、品尝新酒的时候,可恨身在客中,光阴白白虚度。

Just as I change to the single robe and taste the new wine, grief — abroad, the years wasted in vain.

起笔两句是全词的纲领,点出时令、处所与心境。正单衣试酒,写暮春时节天气转暖,换上单衣,正是试尝新酒的时令,这本是赏心乐事;恨客里、光阴虚掷,却一个恨字陡转,点出身在客中的处境与光阴虚度的悔恨。试酒的闲适与客里的飘零形成对照,乐景衬哀情,倍增其哀。光阴虚掷四字,是全词的情感起点:正因为客中虚度了光阴,才对春归花谢如此敏感,对时光流逝如此痛惜。这两句以平淡的叙述起笔,却包含了惜春、伤时、感怀身世的丰富内涵,一个恨字,奠定了全词感伤怅惘的基调,也为后文的惜花作了铺垫,开篇即见周邦彦慢词从容不迫、层层深入的章法。

The opening two lines are the ci's outline, naming the season, the place, and the mood. Just as I change to the single robe and taste the new wine writes the late spring, the weather warming, the change to the single robe, the season of tasting the new wine, by nature the fair delight; grief — abroad, the years wasted in vain turns sharply on the one word grief, naming the traveler's lot and the regret of the years' wasting. The leisure of the wine-tasting set against the drift abroad, delight setting off grief, the grief doubled. The four words years wasted in vain are the ci's emotional starting point: precisely because the years abroad were wasted, the spring's going and the flowers' fall strike so, the time's passage so grieved. These two lines open in the plain narrative, and yet contain the spring-treasuring, the time-wounding, the fate-feeling's rich content, the one word grief setting the ci's melancholy tone and storing ground for the below flower-treasuring, the opening at once showing Zhou Bangyan's slow-ci craft of the unhurried, layer-on-layer depth.

为问花何在,夜来风雨,葬楚宫倾国。

I ask where the flowers are: in the night, the wind and the rain buried the toppled beauty of the Chu palace. (The fall of the flowers: the wind and the rain burying the beauty of the Chu palace, the flower and the beauty in one, the regret of the flowers.)

试问蔷薇花在哪里?一夜风雨,埋葬了如楚宫倾国美人一般的繁花。

I ask, where is the flower? The night's wind and rain have buried the Chu palace's beauty of the face.

这三句是全词惜花主题的正式展开,一问一答,跌宕生姿。为问花何在,以问句起,写词人寻花不见的惊疑,花何在三字,问得深情而急切;夜来风雨,答出花落的原因,一夜风雨,写风雨之骤烈,也暗含对风雨摧花的怨恨;葬楚宫倾国,以倾国美人喻蔷薇,葬字写花的凋零如美人之殁,哀艳动人。这三句的妙处在于:一是以问引出,使词情由平叙转为波澜;二是以美人喻花,把花写得高贵而可怜,加深了怜惜之情;三是一个葬字,写花谢的彻底,也写出词人心中花已死的痛感。夜来风雨四字,让人联想到李清照昨夜雨疏风骤的惜花之情,而周邦彦写得更见沉痛,为全词的伤春主题奠定了基调。

These three lines are the formal unfolding of the ci's flower-treasuring theme, one question one answer, the waves rising. I ask, where is the flower? opens in the question, writing the poet's startled search for the flower in vain, the three words where is the flower, asked with deep feeling and urgency; the night's wind and rain answers the cause of the fall, the night's wind and rain writing the storm's violence, and secretly the resentment at the storm's crushing of the flower; have buried the Chu palace's beauty of the face figures the rose as the peerless beauty, the word buried writing the flower's withering like the beauty's death, the grief and the beauty moving. These three lines' beauty lies in: first, the question leading, turning the ci's feeling from plain narration to waves; second, figuring the flower through the beauty, writing the flower noble and pitiable, deepening the tenderness; third, the one word buried writing the flower's fall to the end, and the pain in the poet's heart that the flower is dead. The night's wind and rain four words call to mind Li Qingzhao's last night the rain sparse and the wind fierce spring-treasuring, and Zhou Bangyan writes it the more grief-stricken, laying the tone of the ci's spring grief.

长条故惹行客。

The long twigs deliberately pull at the traveler. (The twigs: the long twigs deliberately pulling at the traveler, the personification, the regret of the flowers and the feeling of the parting.)

长长的枝条故意招惹行客。

The long sprigs of set purpose tease the traveling guest.

这一句写蔷薇谢后,唯余长条,却故意招惹行客,是全词拟人手法最传神的一笔。长条指蔷薇的枝条,花已谢尽,枝条犹存,本是无情之物,一个惹字却让它有了主动的情意,仿佛故意牵惹行人,挽留过客。故字更见匠心,写出枝条的有意为之,把无情的植物写得有情有思,正是周邦彦体物入微的功力。长条之所以惹客,是因为花已谢、春已尽,枝条上的每一片叶子都承载着惜春的怅惘;惹客的与其说是枝条,不如说是词人自己那颗不忍春去的心。此句以简驭繁,五个字写尽花谢后的冷落与多情,为下句牵衣待话作了铺垫,也暗含客里飘零的感慨——行客亦是客,枝条所惹,正是客心。

This line writes the rose's long sprigs after the fall, deliberately teasing the traveler, the most telling stroke of the ci's personification. The long sprigs mean the rose's branches, the flowers all shed and the boughs remaining, by nature the feelingless thing, and the word tease gives it the active feeling, as if deliberately plucking at the passerby, detaining the guest. The word of set purpose shows the craft, writing the bough's intention, turning the feelingless plant into the feeling and thinking, precisely Zhou Bangyan's power of minute observation. The sprigs' teasing the guest, because the flowers are shed and the spring done, every leaf on the bough carrying the spring-treasuring wistfulness; what teases the guest is less the bough than the poet's own heart unable to bear spring's going. This line masters the many through the few, five characters exhausting the desolation and the tenderness after the flower's fall, storing ground for the below sleeve-plucking and word-waiting, and secretly carrying the travel-drift sigh — the traveling guest is himself a guest, and what the sprigs tease is the guest's heart.

似牵衣待话,别情无极。

As if pulling the clothes, waiting for the talk, the feeling of the parting without end. (The talk: the twigs pulling the clothes and waiting for the talk, the feeling of the parting without end, the cleverest of the whole ci.)

好似牵住衣襟有话要说,离别之情无穷无尽。

As if plucking my sleeve to speak, parting feeling without end.

这两句紧承长条故惹行客,以牵衣待话的细节,把拟人手法推向极致。似牵衣,写枝条仿佛牵住行人的衣襟,待话,写它有千言万语要说,却欲说还休,把蔷薇写得如一个多情的人,依依不舍;别情无极,点出待话的内容是无穷无尽的离别之情。这三层层层递进:先是惹客,再是牵衣,最后是待话,枝条从招惹到挽留到欲诉衷肠,花的人格化步步加深,惜春伤别之情也步步加浓。其妙处在于物我交融:牵衣待话的蔷薇,正是词人心中不舍的春与时光的化身;别情无极,既写花与春的离别,也写人与花的离别,更写客子与故乡的离别,一层层推开,情味无穷。这两句是咏物词中拟人手法的典范,千百年来传诵不衰,也被无数词人效法。

These two lines inherit the sprigs deliberately teasing the traveler, pushing the personification to the extreme through the sleeve-plucking and word-waiting detail. As if plucking my sleeve writes the bough as if plucking the passerby's sleeve; waiting to speak, writes it with a thousand words to speak, and yet about to speak and holding back, writing the rose as a feeling man, reluctant to part; parting feeling without end, names the content of the word-waiting, the parting feeling without limit. These layers advance step by step: first the teasing, then the sleeve-plucking, last the word-waiting, the bough from teasing to detaining to about to plead, the flower's personification deepening step by step, the spring-treasuring and parting grief thickening step by step. The beauty lies in thing and self fused: the sleeve-plucking, word-waiting rose is precisely the embodiment of the spring and the time the poet cannot bear to lose; the parting feeling without end writes at once the parting of flower and spring, the parting of man and flower, and the traveler's parting from the homeland, unfolding layer on layer, the savor infinite. These two lines are the model of personification in the ode-ci, recited through the ages, and imitated by countless later writers.

恐断红、尚有相思字,何由见得。

I fear the broken red, still having the characters of the longing, how can they be seen? (The close: the characters of the longing of the broken red, the regret of the flowers and the longing in one, the eternal famous close.)

只怕断红上还有相思的字迹,教人何处得以相见。

I fear the fallen petals still bear the characters of longing; how, then, shall I ever see them?

末三句以红叶题诗的典故收束全词,把惜花之情引向更深的相思之恨。恐断红、尚有相思字,断红指落花,暗用唐僖宗时宫女红叶题诗、随御沟流出为人所得的典故,词人担忧落花上还题着相思的字句;何由见得,以问句作结,写无处得以相见,怅惘无限。这三句的妙处在于层层翻进:花已落尽,犹恐其上尚有相思字迹,写尽对花的深情;纵有相思字,又何处得见,写尽人事难逢的遗憾。由惜花到惜字,由惜字到恨不相见,层层深入,把伤春悼花之情推向极致,也暗含词人客里飘零、知音难觅的身世之感。以问作结,言尽而意不尽,余韵袅袅,与起笔的恨客里、光阴虚掷遥相呼应,全词首尾圆合,浑然一体,是周邦彦慢词章法精严的典范。

The last three lines close the ci on the falling-red writing allusion, leading the flower-treasuring toward the deeper longing grief. I fear the fallen petals still bear the characters of longing: the broken red means the fallen petals, secretly using the Tang Xizong palace maid's falling-red writing, the poem on the red leaf floating out with the imperial ditch and found by a man, the poet fearing the longing characters still inscribed on the fallen petals; how, then, shall I ever see them? closes in the question, writing the nowhere to meet, the wistfulness infinite. These three lines' beauty lies in the layer on layer of reversal: the flowers all fallen, and yet fearing the longing characters on them, exhausting the deep feeling for the flower; even if the longing characters, where shall I see them, exhausting the regret of the human hard to meet. From treasuring the flower to treasuring the characters, from treasuring the characters to the grief at the non-meeting, layer on layer, pushing the spring grief and the flower mourning to the extreme, and secretly carrying the poet's travel drift and the soulmate-hard-to-find fate. Closing in the question, the words ended and the meaning unended, the aftertone winding, echoing the opening grief-abroad-years-wasted, the ci's head and tail fused, one piece, the model of Zhou's slow-ci craft.

Study

Word focus

葬 To bury. The word of the flowers: 'the wind and the rain buried the toppled beauty of the Chu palace'—the burying of the flowers by the wind and the rain, the flower and the beauty in one, the solemn and the moving of the fall of the flowers. 葬楚宫倾国之葬字,是全词惜花之情的点睛之笔,也是炼字传神的典范。葬本指埋葬,此处写一夜风雨摧花,如埋葬了倾国美人,用字极重。其妙有三:一是以葬写花谢之彻底,花落不是飘零,而是埋葬,仿佛花的生命已被终结,痛惜之情溢于言表;二是以葬美人写花之高贵,倾国美人被葬,花的艳美与死的凄惨形成强烈的对照,哀艳动人;三是葬字暗含仪式感,埋葬需要郑重其事,写出词人对花的敬惜与哀悼。若用落字便轻,用谢字便淡,唯葬字既有力度又有深情,一字千金。周邦彦炼字崇尚典雅精工,葬字用在这里,既新颖又贴切,把风雨摧花的景象写得惊心动魄,也为全词奠定了哀婉的基调,是词人惨淡经营而得的妙字。
惹 To pull (to provoke). The word of the twigs: 'the long twigs deliberately pull at the traveler'—the pulling of the twigs, the personification, the feeling of the parting and the longing in the one 'pull.' 长条故惹行客之惹字,写尽枝条留人的情态,是拟人手法的传神之笔。惹本有招惹、牵引之意,此处写蔷薇的枝条故意招惹行人,一个惹字,把无情的植物写得主动多情。其妙有三:一是化静为动,枝条本静止,惹字却让它有了招引的动作,仿佛有生命、有意志;二是拟人传神,故惹写出枝条的有意为之,与下句似牵衣待话相呼应,把蔷薇写得如多情的美人,含情脉脉;三是意蕴丰富,惹字既有招惹的主动,又有撩拨的意味,枝条惹人,惹起的是行人的离愁别绪,也惹起词人惜春的惆怅。若用拂字便无意趣,用挂字则太实,唯惹字虚实相生,把枝条的多情与行人的愁绪都写了出来,是全词拟人手法的关键,可见周邦彦用字之精妙。
颤袅 To tremble and to sway. The word of the flower: 'the full flower, trembling and swaying at the hairpin, leaning toward one side of the person'—the trembling and the swaying of the flower at the hairpin, against the remnant of the flower forced into the headdress, the regret of the passing of the flowers. 钗头颤袅,向人侧的颤袅二字,写尽花朵盛开的动态之美,是全词对比今昔的点睛之笔。颤写颤动,袅写袅娜,二字连用,形容花在钗头微微颤动、袅娜生姿的样子,仿佛能看到花瓣在风中轻颤、花枝柔美摇曳的姿态。其妙有三:一是以动写静,花本静态,颤袅二字却赋予它生动的动态,写出花的鲜活可爱;二是与残英形成对比,下句终不似一朵,点出残英虽勉强簪上巾帻,终究不如盛开时在钗头颤袅动人,今昔对照,更见盛衰之慨;三是暗含向人侧的情态,颤袅向人,仿佛花在向人撒娇献媚,写出花开时节的明媚与娇艳。这两个字音韵上也见功夫,颤袅读来有轻柔摇曳之感,声情相合,是周邦彦精于炼字、以声传情的范例。

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