All poems

宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

陆游·鹊桥仙·一竿风月

Magpie Bridge Immortal · A Rod of Wind and Moon

陆游

Lu You

隐逸reclusion 婉约graceful

鹊桥仙·一竿风月一竿风月，一蓑烟雨，家在钓台西住。
卖鱼生怕近城门，况肯到红尘深处？
潮生理棹，潮平系缆，潮落浩歌归去。
时人错把比严光，我自是无名渔父。

A rod of wind and moon, a cloak of misty rain,
My home lies west of the Angler's Terrace.
Selling fish, I dread to near the city gate—
How less would I go where the dusty world runs deep?
When the tide rises, I take the oar and launch;
When the tide levels, I tie the mooring line;
When the tide falls, I sing aloud and go home.
The age mistakes me for Yan Guang of old—
I am but a nameless fisherman.

Listen

Meaning

A single rod of clear breeze and bright moon, a straw cloak of misty rain—my home lies west of Yan Guang's Angler's Terrace. In selling fish I dread drawing near the city gate, still less would I venture into the dusty depths of the world. When the tide rises I push off with my oar; when it levels I tie the mooring cable; when it falls I lift my voice in song and go home. The age wrongly compares me to Yan Guang, yet I know myself to be only a nameless fisherman.

一竿清风明月，一蓑烟雨，家在严光钓台之西居住。卖鱼时生怕靠近城门，更不肯到红尘深处去。潮起时划桨启程，潮平时系缆停泊，潮落时放声高歌而归。时人错把我比作严光，我自认不过是个无名的渔父罢了。

Appreciation

The upper part paints a hermit's world in three lines. 'A rod of wind and moon, a cloak of misty rain' is a neat antithetical pair, using the fisher's gear to stand for a life of seclusion, clean and unworldly. 'Dreading the city gate' and 'refusing the dusty world' write loftiness through withdrawal. The lower part's 'at the tide's rise I take the oar, at its full I moor, at its fall I sing' is a triple parallelism that sets the fisher's day to the rhythm of the tides, song-like in beat. The close—'the age mistakes me for Yan Guang; I am but a nameless fisherman'—turns the comparison on its head with self-mockery: seeming carefree yet hiding grief, its aftertaste runs long. The piece is often set in exams to test how the surface 'seclusion' hides a loyalist's sorrow for his country, and how the imagery and antithesis of 'a rod of wind and moon, a cloak of misty rain' work.

【白话串讲】 “一竿风月，一蓑烟雨，家在钓台西住”——陆游写渔父生活：一竿风月，一蓑烟雨。“时人错把比严光，我自是无名渔父”——人们把我比作严子陵，其实我只是个无名渔父。他写渔父，写的是自己的洒脱。【意象与手法】上片以「一竿风月，一蓑烟雨」对仗起笔，以渔具、烟雨写渔隐生涯，意象清空；「生怕近城门」「不肯到红尘」以递进句式写避世之决绝。下片「潮生理棹，潮平系缆，潮落浩歌归去」三句排比，以潮汐节律写渔父作息，复沓生韵。结拍「时人错把比严光，我自是无名渔父」翻案见志，以自谦之笔写自负之怀，似旷实悲。全词由物及人、由人及志，章法严整而气韵疏朗。【情感与主旨】此词借渔父自况，抒写陆游晚年报国无门、退隐江湖的复杂心绪。表面写渔父之清高自在，实含英雄失路之悲慨，隐逸之志与忧国之愤交织，旷达中见沉痛。【名句点睛】「一竿风月，一蓑烟雨」以清空意象写渔隐生涯，对仗工整而意境高远；「时人错把比严光，我自是无名渔父」翻案见志，是理解全词情感之钥匙。

Background

Lu You wrote this lyric while living in retirement at his native Shanyin. Using the fisherman as a mask for himself, he voices his wish to withdraw. The upper part says 'my home lies west of the Angler's Terrace', likening himself to Yan Guang's perch, yet 'in selling fish I dread the city gate' keeps him far from the world's turmoil. The lower part follows the tides in work and freedom, singing aloud on the ebb. On the surface it is the easy grace of a fisherman; beneath lies Lu You's helplessness after being barred from serving the state and his self-consolation in rivers and lakes—this 'nameless fisherman' is precisely the self-comfort of a committed man who lost his way.

此词为陆游晚年闲居故乡山阴（今浙江绍兴）时所作。陆游一生志在恢复中原，青年即怀报国之志，中年投身军旅，然终因朝廷主和而屡遭排挤，晚年退居乡里，心情抑郁愤懑，遂借渔父自况，抒写隐逸之志。钓台指东汉严子陵垂钓之处，位于富春江畔，与山阴相距不远，放翁晚年以钓台之西为家，颇有以高士自期之意。然词中自谓无名渔父，卖鱼生怕近城门，不肯入红尘深处，字里行间透出的不是超然物外的欣悦，而是报国无门、被迫退隐的无奈与自嘲。放翁一生忧国，至老不衰，临终犹有家祭无忘告乃翁之嘱，故其所谓隐逸，实为英雄失路后的自我宽慰。全词表面写渔父生涯之潇洒自在，实则暗含壮志难酬之悲慨，旷达中见沉痛，是了解陆游晚年复杂心境的重要作品。据夏承焘《放翁词编年笺注》考订，此词约作于孝宗淳熙年间放翁归隐山阴之后，与其《鹧鸪天》等闲适诸作同时。其时南宋偏安局面已定，主战之声日微，放翁虽壮心不已，然报国之路已绝，遂于镜湖之畔过其渔钓生涯。词中钓台西住之语，既见其对严光式高蹈生活的向往，又暗含富春江一带胜迹的实地体验；无名渔父之自称，更透出诗人不屑与世争名的傲岸。理解此词，须把握放翁忧国与归隐之间的深层张力，方能读出其闲适表象下的忠愤底色。

Art

上片写渔父之清高自守：一竿风月、一蓑烟雨，对仗工整，以渔具与自然风物起兴，勾勒出烟波钓叟的飘然形象；家在钓台西住一句点出居处，暗用严光典，为下片翻案预埋伏笔。卖鱼生怕近城门，况肯到红尘深处，以生怕、况肯两层递进，写出渔父避世之决绝，语浅而意深，市井之喧与江上之静形成鲜明对照。下片潮生理棹，潮平系缆，潮落浩歌归去，三句排比，以潮汐之起落写渔父劳作之节律，句式复沓而声情摇曳，如闻棹歌，将随潮作息的生活写得自在有韵。结拍时人错把比严光，我自是无名渔父，翻进一层：时人以严光相许，词人却自甘无名，愈谦退愈见其傲骨，似旷达而实含悲慨，言有尽而意无穷。全词以四字句为主，间以长句，节奏疏朗，由物及人、由人及志，层层转进，是放翁小令中清旷一格的代表作。值得玩味的是，词中渔父形象并不袭用前人烟蓑雨笠的纯美模式，而是注入生怕近城门的警惕与无名渔父的自嘲，使传统渔隐主题多了一层时代的郁结之气。上片蓄势于退避，下片开张于逍遥，结拍又反转于自嘲，一波三折，正是放翁晚年词由豪放入清旷、于清旷中见悲凉的典型章法。全词无一愁字而愁意自深，语言洗练，意象明净，于宋词隐逸题材中自具面目。

Allusions

The 'Angler's Terrace' uses the story of Yan Guang, the Eastern Han hermit who refused Emperor Guangwu's summons and fished from the terrace at the Fuchun River. 'My home lies west of the Angler's Terrace' likens the poet to Yan Guang; 'the age mistakes me for Yan Guang' names the allusion openly, yet overturns it by calling himself a 'nameless fisherman', humble yet proud in bearing. 'Dusty world' is originally Buddhist, meaning the noisy, worldly realm. The allusions are few but apt, borrowing Yan Guang to lodge the thought of seclusion, a gentle and indirect show of intent.

钓台用东汉严光（严子陵）典。严光少与光武帝刘秀同学，刘秀即位后屡征不起，隐于富春江畔垂钓，后世称其钓处为严陵濑、严子陵钓台，事见《后汉书·逸民传》。严光遂成不慕荣利、洁身自好的高士典型，钓台亦为隐逸之象征符号。词中家在钓台西住即以严光自比，而结拍时人错把比严光又自我翻案，谓己连严光之名亦不屑有，隐逸之意更深一层。红尘本佛家语，指人间俗世、名利场，唐宋词中习见，此处以不肯到红尘极言避世之彻底。渔父意象则承《楚辞·渔父》屈原与渔父问答之传统，复经张志和《渔歌子》西塞山前白鹭飞之点化，遂成为文人寄托江湖之思的固定载体。放翁熔铸诸典于一炉，用典而不见典，自然浑成，正是其词善于融化前人的表现。严光垂钓事亦见范仲淹《严先生祠堂记》云山苍苍、江水泱泱之赞，其高风久为士林所慕，词人反其意而用之，不在钓台之迹而在无名之志，可谓善用典者。又潮生理棹、潮平系缆、潮落浩歌诸语，暗合《庄子》与时俱化之意，渔父与潮汐同作息，正是道家顺应自然之生活理想的形象化。全词用典三四处，皆融化于渔父形象之中，不见堆砌之迹，足见放翁词学养之厚与用笔之活。

Commentary

On this lyric the Qing scholar Feng Xu said of Lu You that 'in his delicate lines he is like Qin Guan, in his heroic outrage like Su Shi', and this piece leans to the reclusive vein. The modern scholar Xia Chengtao called it 'outwardly at ease, inwardly loyal and angry'. Using the fisherman as his mask, it is in truth the words of a hero at the end of his road. Outwardly free and scattered, on close reading one finds the lifelong pain of Lu You, barred from serving his state—what is called 'idle sorrow is the bitterest', and such little lyrics are the most worth savouring.

陆游词向与辛弃疾并称，然风格有别：稼轩豪放沉郁，放翁清旷之中时见悲凉。此词为其晚年闲适之作的代表。近人夏承焘《放翁词编年笺注》将此词系于晚年退居山阴时期，谓其外示闲适、内怀忠愤。清人冯煦《宋六十一家词选例言》评放翁词纤丽处似淮海，雄慨处似东坡，此篇则兼有二者之长：上片清丽如淮海，下片旷放近东坡，而结拍自嘲之笔又自有放翁本色。全词以渔父自况而不落前人窠臼，无名二字更见其不屑与世争名之傲骨，与《诉衷情》心在天山、身老沧洲之叹互为表里，一显一隐，皆英雄末路之辞，千载之下犹能感人。又清人评放翁词，多谓其晚年之作萧散闲远，而此词正其代表。词中无名二字，可与其诗《书愤》塞上长城空自许之空字对读，皆英雄失路之叹；与《卜算子·咏梅》零落成泥碾作尘、只有香如故之高洁自守，亦精神相通。此词以渔父之形写志士之心，表面淡泊，内里炽热，为南宋词坛隐逸题材中罕见之作，后人选宋词，多列此篇为放翁小令之冠。此词流传既广，历代词选几乎必收，其以渔父写志士、以清旷写忠愤的独特笔法，尤为论者所称道，堪称南宋隐逸词中寓悲于闲的典范。

Prosody

Form Lyric, 'Magpie Bridge Immortal' (Queqiao Xian), double-tune 56 characters词·鹊桥仙（双调五十六字）

Rhyme Oblique rhyme, two oblique rhymes in each part (per Ci Lin Zheng Yun)上片住、处，下片去、父，押仄声韵（依《词林正韵》第四部）

Tone pattern Level-oblique per the tune; mainly four-, five-, and seven-character lines上片四、五、七字句式相间，下片三句六字排比后接七字、六字，平仄依谱，节奏疏朗

Reading note Lu You's tune is clean and far, seeming reclusive yet holding loyal outrage.《鹊桥仙》为双调五十六字小令，上下片各五句两仄韵，句式以四字、六字、七字错落相间，声情和婉。此词上片一竿一蓑四字对起，音节短促明快；下片潮生理棹三句六字排比，一潮字三叠，复沓生韵，如潮声起伏，是全词声律最见匠心处。放翁以清旷之笔写渔隐之志，于律中见疏宕，不板不滞，句句顺口，正合烟波之上放歌之趣，亦可见其晚年词由豪放转清旷的声情变化。鹊桥仙调名本取七夕鹊桥相会之意，声情多写男女情事，放翁借以写渔父，实为创格。上片起拍两个四字句对起，音节平稳；卖鱼生怕近城门一句以七字长句舒卷，顿挫有致；下片三句六字排比，一潮字三见，形成回环往复的声韵之美；结拍散句收束，于疏宕中见情味。全词平仄合律，韵脚疏朗，声情与词情相称，诵之如闻潮声，是放翁娴于音律的表现。

Line by line

一竿风月，一蓑烟雨，家在钓台西住

A rod of wind and moon, a cloak of misty rain—my home lies west of the Angler's Terrace.

一竿清风明月，一蓑烟雨，家在严光钓台之西居住。

A rod of wind and moon, a cloak of mist and rain, my home west of the Angler's Terrace.

起拍即出渔父形象：一竿一蓑，以渔具代指捕鱼生涯，风月烟雨点染其环境之清幽，意象疏朗而境界空阔。家在钓台西住暗用严光垂钓富春江之典，钓台为隐逸胜地，家傍钓台即自明其志，也为结拍时人错把比严光预埋线索。三句由物及人、由景及居，层层收拢，将渔父之清高写足。对仗工整而不板滞，四字句连用，音节短促明快，正合烟波之上洒脱自得之态，以寥寥数语写尽渔隐之清趣，是放翁以少总多的开篇妙笔。

The opening at once presents the fisherman: one rod one cloak, the fishing gear for the fishing life, the wind and moon and mist and rain dyeing the environment's seclusion, the images spare and the realm broad. My home west of the Angler's Terrace secretly borrows Yan Guang's angling on the Fuchun River allusion, the angler's terrace the recluse's haunt, the home by the terrace at once declaring the will, and the foreshadowing for the close's the men of the time wrongly compare me to Yan Guang. Three lines, from thing to man, from scene to dwelling, gathering layer on layer, writing the fisherman's purity to the full. The parallelism steady and yet not rigid, the four-character lines in sequence, the syllables short and bright, precisely the free and easy bearing on the misty waves, the few words exhausting the fishing reclusion's clear charm, precisely Fang Weng's opening marvel of the many in the few.

卖鱼生怕近城门，况肯到红尘深处？

Selling fish, he dreads even the city gate; how much more would he go deep into the dusty world?

卖鱼时生怕靠近城门，更不肯到红尘深处去。

Selling fish, he dreads coming near the city gate; how would he go deep into the dusty world?

卖鱼为渔父生计，然生怕近城门，以卖鱼之必经市井而极力回避，极写其厌弃尘嚣之深。生怕二字以口语入词，写出一种近乎戒惧的警惕；况肯反问递进一层，由不肯近城门推到更不肯入红尘深处，避世之决绝如见。城门、红尘皆喻名利喧闹之地，渔父避之唯恐不及，其高洁自守之操与对现实官场之疏离，皆于此二句含蓄见出。语虽浅近，而一层深似一层，是全词由境入情的关键转折，亦为下片写逍遥自在之渔隐生活张本。

Selling fish is the fisherman's livelihood, and yet he dreads coming near the city gate, the fish-selling's necessary market avoided to the utmost, writing the depth of his loathing of the dust. The two words dread write the colloquial in the ci, showing the almost fearful watchfulness; the how much more the rhetorical advance, from the unwillingness to near the gate to the still greater unwillingness to enter the dusty world's depth, the world-fleeing resolve as before the eyes. The city gate and the dusty world both figure the place of fame and clamor, the fisherman avoiding them as if afraid of the worst, his purity's self-keeping and the estrangement from the present office all within these two lines, restrained. The words though plain, and yet layer deeper than layer, the ci's key turn from realm to feeling, and the ground for the second stanza's free and easy fishing life.

潮生理棹，潮平系缆，潮落浩歌归去

When the tide rises he plies the oar; when it is level he ties the cable; when it falls he goes home singing loudly.

潮起时划桨启程，潮平时系缆停泊，潮落时放声高歌而归。

At the tide's rise he plies the oars; at the tide's calm he ties the cable; at the tide's fall he returns home singing aloud.

三句排比，以潮汐之起落写渔父作息之节律：潮生则理棹出渔，潮平则系缆暂泊，潮落则满载而归，人随潮动，与自然合拍，写出一种天人合一的自在境界。理棹、系缆、浩歌三个动作，由劳作而休憩而欢歌，层次分明，句句含情。浩歌二字尤为传神，放声高歌，将渔父劳作之余的畅快与自由写足，与上片生怕近城门的戒惧形成鲜明对照，隐逸之乐至此毕现。句式复沓，一潮字三见，音节回环，如潮声起伏，声情并茂，是放翁以赋法入词的成功之处。

The three lines in parallel, writing the fisherman's work rhythm through the tide's rise and fall: at the rise he plies the oar and goes fishing, at the level he ties the cable and rests, at the fall he returns home laden, the man moving with the tide, matched with nature, writing the free realm of heaven-and-man oneness. The three actions of plied oar, tied cable, and loud song, from labor to rest to joy, the layers clear, every line feeling. The two words loud song the most telling, the full-throated singing, writing the fisherman's ease and freedom after labor to the full, forming the sharp contrast against the above dread of the city gate, the reclusion's delight fully shown. The syntax of repetition, the one word tide three times, the syllables circling, like the tide's rise and fall, voice and feeling matched, precisely Fang Weng's success in bringing the fu method into the ci.

时人错把比严光，我自是无名渔父

The age mistakes me for Yan Guang of old; I am but a nameless fisherman.

时人错把我比作严光，我自认不过是个无名的渔父罢了。

The men of the time wrongly compare me to Yan Guang; I am but the nameless fisherman.

结拍翻案见志，是全词点睛之笔。时人以严光相许，本是推重，词人却谓其错比：严光虽隐而名传千古，我则连姓名亦不屑留，自甘无名。表面谦退自抑，实则傲骨嶙峋：不慕荣利者至连隐士之名亦避之，其清高绝俗可见。然细味无名二字，又隐含英雄失路之悲——放翁报国无门，退隐江湖，声名于世何有，自嘲之中自有沉痛。一错字见时人不解其志，一无字见其不与人争，似旷达而实悲凉，言尽而意不尽，收束全词，余味悠长。

The close reverses to declare the will, the telling stroke of the ci. The men of the time offer Yan Guang, by nature the high regard, and the poet says the comparison is wrong: Yan Guang though a recluse and yet his name through the ages, and I disdain even the name, contented with the nameless. On the surface the modest self-abasement, and within the unbending bone: the man who does not covet fame and gain goes so far as to shun even the recluse's name, the purity beyond the world visible. And savor the two words nameless, there is the hidden grief of the hero's lost road — Fang Weng's no road to serve, the withdrawal to the rivers and lakes, the fame to the world what, the self-mockery carrying the deep grief. The one word wrongly shows the time's men misunderstanding his will, the one word nameless shows his not competing, seeming detached and yet in truth bleak, the words ended and the meaning unended, closing the ci, the aftertone long.

Study

Word focus

生怕 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 生怕即唯恐、深怕，以口语入词，写渔父对城门的极端回避心理。按常理卖鱼须近市，而渔父反生怕近城门，一怕字将避世心态写得入骨。与下句况肯反问呼应，构成层层递进之势：怕近城门已属过甚，何况深入红尘？二字虽俗，却最见性情，将清高自守的渔父形象立了起来，也使全词由写景自然过渡到言志，是词中炼口语入雅的关键字眼，亦见放翁晚年词趋于平淡自然、不避俗语的风格转变。

浩歌 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 浩歌即放声高歌，语本《楚辞·九歌》浩歌之篇，又承《孟子》浩然之气之浩字，气魄宏大。此处以浩歌写渔父潮落归去之乐，歌声嘹亮，气足神完，将劳作后的畅快与自由写足。若用低唱轻歌，则气局狭小，一浩字便见其胸襟开阔、旷达自得。且浩歌与上片生怕之戒惧对举，一收一放，一怯一豪，渔父形象由守而达，由避世而自得，层次分明。此字亦暗含放翁豪放词风之余韵，于清旷中见其本色。

无名 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 无名二字是理解全词情感的关键。严光虽隐而有名，渔父无名，词人自甘无名，比严光更彻底地摆脱了名缰利锁，其清高绝俗于此为极。然无名亦暗含自嘲：放翁一生志在恢复，却报国无门，退隐江湖，于世上默默无闻，英雄失路之悲，尽在此二字之中。字面谦退，骨子里却是自负与悲凉并存，似旷达而实沉痛，正是放翁晚年词以闲适写忧愤的典型笔法，言有尽而味无穷。