宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
满庭芳·蜗角虚名
Man Ting Fang: Empty Fame like a Snail's Horn
蜗角虚名，蝇头微利，算来著甚干忙。
事皆前定，谁弱又谁强。
且趁闲身未老，尽放我、些子疏狂。
百年里，浑教是醉，三万六千场。
思量。
能几许，忧愁风雨，一半相妨。
又何须，抵死说短论长。
幸对清风皓月，苔茵展、云幕高张。
江南好，千钟美酒，一曲《满庭芳》。
Everything is settled beforehand; who is weak, and who is strong?
While my idle body is not yet old, let me give myself free rein, a little wild abandon.
In a hundred years, even if I were drunk every day, it would be only thirty-six thousand bouts.
Think it over.
How much is there, really? Half is spoiled by sorrow and storm.
Why must we argue short and long, fight to the death?
Fortunate to face the clear wind and bright moon: moss spread like a carpet, clouds raised like a canopy.
How fair is the South, a thousand goblets of fine wine, and one song of Man Ting Fang.
Meaning
The poem is Su Shi's most complete statement of renunciation. All the world's striving, for fame no bigger than a snail's horn and profit no larger than a fly's head, is declared pointless: everything is fated, the strong and the weak decided in advance. What remains is to live: a little wildness while the body is still idle and not yet old, and drunkenness counted not as vice but as arithmetic, since a hundred years holds only thirty-six thousand days of possible wine. Half of life is ruined by sorrow and storm, so why quarrel over gain and loss? The poem's answer to the human condition is nature and art: clear wind, bright moon, moss like a carpet, clouds like a canopy, and in the South, wine and a song.
蜗角虚名，蝇头微利，算来何必这般干忙。万事皆由前定，谁弱又谁强。且趁闲身未老，尽放我、些子疏狂。百年里，纵使都是醉，也不过三万六千场。思量。能有多少，忧愁风雨，一半相妨。又何须，抵死说短论长。幸对清风皓月，苔茵展、云幕高张。江南好，千钟美酒，一曲《满庭芳》。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] Empty fame the size of a snail's horn, tiny profit the size of a fly's head: what is all this hurry for? Everything is predestined; who is weak, who is strong? While my leisure is still unaged, let me be a little wild. A hundred years of life: even if drunk every day, only thirty-six thousand drinking-bouts. Think: how much of life is there? Half is ruined by sorrow and storm. Why argue long and short, to the death? Lucky to face clear wind and bright moon, moss like a carpet, clouds like a canopy. How fair is Jiangnan: a thousand goblets of wine and one song of Man Ting Fang. [Thought and Craft] The poem's power is its ratios. Fame and profit are shrunk by animal analogy, snail's horn and fly's head; life itself is counted out in days and drinking-bouts; sorrow is assigned exactly half. Against these diminutions stand the three things that cannot be shrunk, clear wind, bright moon, wine and song. The final touch is the poem naming its own tune, one song of Man Ting Fang, as if art itself were the last toast.
【白话串讲】 苏轼写《满庭芳·蜗角虚名》：“蜗角虚名，蝇头微利，算来著甚干忙”——虚名微利，何必瞎忙。“且趁闲身未老，尽放我、些子疏狂”——“百年里，浑教是醉，三万六千场”——他看淡名利，趁未老狂放。 【意象与手法】 此词是苏轼看破名利、归隐旷达的名篇，写对虚名微利的看破与对自由生活的向往，是苏轼词中「以旷达写归隐」的名篇。上片写看破虚名：「蜗角虚名，蝇头微利，算来著甚干忙」以蜗角、蝇头写虚名微利的渺小；「事皆前定，谁弱又谁强」写万事前定的看破；「且趁闲身未老，尽放我、些子疏狂」写趁闲未老、放任疏狂；「百年里，浑教是醉，三万六千场」以醉写人生的放达。下片写归隐的向往：「思量，能几许，忧愁风雨，一半相妨」写人生的忧患；「又何须，抵死说短论长」写不必计较长短；「幸对清风皓月，苔茵展、云幕高张」写对清风皓月的享受；「江南好，千钟美酒，一曲《满庭芳》」写江南美酒与《满庭芳》的自在。全词以「蜗角虚名」「蝇头微利」写看破，以「千钟美酒，一曲《满庭芳》」写归隐，是苏轼「看破名利、归隐旷达」的名篇。 【情感与主旨】 此词约作于宋神宗元丰二年（1079）或元丰三年（1080）前后，时苏轼因「乌台诗案」被贬（或将被贬），对仕途的虚名有了深切的看破。苏轼一生仕途坎坷，因「乌台诗案」几乎丧命，此后屡遭贬谪（黄州、惠州、儋州），对官场的虚名微利、党争的恩怨有了深切的体会。此词即写其对虚名微利的看破与对自由生活的向往。词中「蜗角虚名，蝇头微利，算来著甚干忙」以蜗角（蜗牛之角，极言其小）、蝇头（苍蝇之头，极言其微）写虚名微利的渺小——那蜗角大的虚名、蝇头大的微利，何必为它干忙？「事皆前定，谁弱又谁强」写万事前定的看破——万事皆由前定（命运自有安排），何必争谁弱谁强？「且趁闲身未老，尽放我、些子疏狂」写趁闲未老的疏狂——趁着闲身未老，尽放自己一些疏狂（疏狂即放纵不羁）；「百年里，浑教是醉，三万六千场」写以醉写放达——百年人生，纵使都是醉，也不过三万六千场（一百年约三万六千日），何不尽醉？下片「思量，能几许，忧愁风雨，一半相妨」写人生的忧患——想想人生能有几何？忧愁风雨，已占了一半；「又何须，抵死说短论长」写不必计较——又何须拼死说短论长？「幸对清风皓月，苔茵展、云幕高张」写对清风皓月的享受——幸好有清风皓月，青苔如茵铺展、云幕高张；「江南好，千钟美酒，一曲《满庭芳》」写江南的自在——江南好，有千钟美酒，一曲《满庭芳》。全词以「看破虚名」写「归隐旷达」，那「蜗角虚名」「蝇头微利」的看破，那「清风皓月」「千钟美酒」的向往，正是苏轼在仕途失意后对自由生活的向往，也是理解其旷达人生观的核心作品。 【名句点睛】 常考“蜗角虚名，蝇头微利，算来著甚干忙”以蜗角、蝇头写虚名微利之渺小；“百年里，浑教是醉，三万六千场”以醉写人生的放达。
Background
Su Shi (1037-1101) wrote this lyric around 1079-1080, immediately after the Crow Terrace Poetry Case: arrested, imprisoned and nearly executed on charges of slandering the court in his poems, he was demoted to a minor post in Huangzhou. The experience burned away his earlier ambitions. The opening attack on empty fame and fly's-head profit is the voice of a man who has seen how cheaply fame is bought and how quickly it turns to ruin, and the turn toward clear wind, bright moon, wine and song marks the birth of the Dongpo magnanimity that would sustain him through the exiles of Huangzhou, Huizhou and Danzhou. The lyric is the key document of his post-1079 philosophy: renounce the contest, keep the joy, and let nature and art be enough.
此词约作于宋神宗元丰二年（1079）至元丰三年（1080）前后，是苏轼看破名利、归隐旷达的名篇。元丰二年，苏轼因「乌台诗案」被御史台弹劾，被捕入狱，几乎丧命；元丰三年贬为黄州团练副使。经此大难，苏轼对仕途的虚名微利、党争的恩怨有了深切的看破。此词即写其对虚名微利的看破与对自由生活的向往。词中「蜗角虚名，蝇头微利」用《庄子》之典——《庄子·则阳》载「有国于蜗之左角者，曰触氏；有国于蜗之右角者，曰蛮氏。时相与争地而战，伏尸数万」，写蜗牛角上的两国为虚名相争而死伤无数，苏轼以「蜗角虚名」写虚名之渺小（如蜗角之微）；「蝇头微利」以蝇头写微利之小（如蝇头之微），那蜗角虚名、蝇头微利，正是世人所争的渺小之物，苏轼以「算来著甚干忙」写其不值得干忙；「事皆前定，谁弱又谁强」写万事前定的看破（命运自有安排，强弱之争无谓）；「且趁闲身未老，尽放我、些子疏狂」写趁闲未老、放任疏狂；「百年里，浑教是醉，三万六千场」以醉写放达——百年约三万六千日，纵使都是醉，也不过三万六千场（以「一场」代「一日」，写每日一醉的放达）；「思量，能几许，忧愁风雨，一半相妨」写人生的忧患——忧愁风雨（人生的忧患与风雨）已占人生的一半；「又何须，抵死说短论长」写不必计较长短（不必为名利争个你死我活）；「幸对清风皓月，苔茵展、云幕高张」写对清风皓月的享受——青苔如茵铺展于地、云幕高张于天，正是大自然的美好；「江南好，千钟美酒，一曲《满庭芳》」写江南的自在——江南好，有千钟美酒（千钟写酒之多），一曲《满庭芳》（《满庭芳》是词牌名，苏轼以词牌入词，写以词酒自娱的自在）。全词以「看破虚名」写「归隐旷达」，是苏轼在「乌台诗案」后对人生价值的重新思考，也是理解其旷达人生观与「归隐」情结的核心作品。
Art
Four techniques define the poem. First, reduction by zoological analogy: snail's horn and fly's head shrink fame and profit to near-nothing, borrowing the Zhuangzi fable of two kingdoms warring on a snail's horns. Second, arithmetic as consolation: thirty-six thousand bouts converts a lifetime of potential drunkenness into a countable sum, so that excess becomes moderation, since a hundred years is shockingly short when divided into days. Third, structural antithesis: the tiny, fame, profit and arguments over short and long, is set against the vast, wind, moon, moss and clouds, and the reader is made to feel where value truly lies. Fourth, the tune-title turned into content: ending with one song of Man Ting Fang folds the poem's own making into its toast, so art becomes the final act of renunciation. The even level-tone -ang rhyme runs throughout, unhurried, as if the verse itself had stopped competing.
此词的艺术特色可从四个层面解析。其一，以典写看破的构思。「蜗角虚名，蝇头微利」用《庄子》蜗角触蛮之典与蝇头之喻，写虚名微利的渺小——那蜗角大的虚名、蝇头大的微利，正是世人所争的渺小之物，以典写看破、形象而警策。其二，以数字写放达。「百年里，浑教是醉，三万六千场」以「百年」「三万六千场」的数字写人生的放达——百年人生，纵使每日一醉，也不过三万六千场，那数字写尽人生的短暂与醉的放达，也暗含「及时行乐」的旷达。其三，以对照写取舍。全词以「蜗角虚名」与「清风皓月」、「抵死说短论长」与「千钟美酒一曲满庭芳」对照——虚名微利不足取，清风皓月、美酒词曲方是归处，以对照写取舍、以取舍写旷达。其四，以词牌入词的自在。「江南好，千钟美酒，一曲《满庭芳》」以词牌名《满庭芳》入词，写以词酒自娱的自在——那「一曲《满庭芳》」既是写词牌，也是写归隐的自在，以词牌入词、妙趣天成。四重手法层层推进，使此词成为苏轼词中「看破名利、归隐旷达」的名篇。
Allusions
The poem's deepest allusion is to the Zhuangzi: on the left horn of a snail there was a kingdom called Chu, on the right horn one called Man, and they fought over territory until the fields were full of corpses, a fable of wars fought over nothing that Su Shi compresses into empty fame like a snail's horn. Fly's-head profit belongs to the same tradition of dismissal: the profit that seems large to the fly is invisible to everyone else. Everything is settled beforehand echoes the fatalism of what is fated you have, and the Zhuangzi's acceptance of what cannot be avoided. Sorrow and storm recalls the classical image of life's weather. Moss spread like a carpet, clouds raised like a canopy invokes the recluse's freedom, earth for a mat and sky for a tent, and the clear wind and bright moon point forward to Su Shi's own First Prose-Poem on the Red Cliff, where the only things worth taking are the wind on the river and the moon in the mountains. A thousand goblets continues the classical wine tradition, and the tune-name closes the poem with art as the last refuge.
此词的意象与典故深植于庄子与旷达传统。「蜗角虚名」用《庄子·则阳》之典——「有国于蜗之左角者，曰触氏；有国于蜗之右角者，曰蛮氏。时相与争地而战，伏尸数万」，写蜗牛角上的两国为虚名相争而死伤无数，苏轼以「蜗角虚名」写虚名之渺小（如蜗角之微）与相争之无谓；「蝇头微利」以蝇头写微利之小（如蝇头之微），「蜗角虚名，蝇头微利」合写世人所争的渺小，令人想到「浮名浮利，虚苦劳神」的看破传统与《庄子》「鹪鹩巢林，不过一枝；偃鼠饮河，不过满腹」的知足思想。「事皆前定，谁弱又谁强」写万事前定的看破——「前定」写命运早有安排，令人想到「命里有时终须有」的宿命观念与《庄子》「知其不可奈何而安之若命」的安命思想；「且趁闲身未老，尽放我、些子疏狂」写趁闲未老的疏狂——「闲身」写清闲之身（未老），「疏狂」写放纵不羁（令人想到「我本楚狂人，凤歌笑孔丘」（李白）的狂放与「疏狂」的名士传统）；「百年里，浑教是醉，三万六千场」以醉写放达——「百年」写人生百年，「三万六千场」写约三万六千日（百年约三万六千日），令人想到《古诗十九首》「生年不满百，常怀千岁忧。昼短苦夜长，何不秉烛游」的及时行乐与李白「人生得意须尽欢，莫使金樽空对月」的纵酒。「思量，能几许，忧愁风雨，一半相妨」写人生的忧患——「忧愁风雨」写人生的忧患与风雨（令人想到「风雨如晦」与「人生几多风雨」的意象），「一半相妨」写忧患占人生之半，令人想到《庄子》「哀乐之来，吾不能御」的忧患意识；「又何须，抵死说短论长」写不必计较长短——「抵死」写拼死，「说短论长」写论说长短（争名逐利），令人想到「名利如浮云」的看破与《庄子》「方其梦也，不知其梦也」的相对论。「幸对清风皓月，苔茵展、云幕高张」写对清风皓月的享受——「清风皓月」写清风明月（令人想到「清风徐来，水波不兴」（苏轼《前赤壁赋》）的清风与「明月几时有」的皓月），「苔茵展」写青苔如茵铺展于地，「云幕高张」写云幕高张于天，令人想到「天为幕、地为席」的放达；「江南好，千钟美酒，一曲《满庭芳》」写江南的自在——「千钟美酒」写美酒之多（「钟」是酒器），「一曲《满庭芳》」以词牌入词，令人想到「三杯两盏淡酒」的饮酒传统与「对酒当歌」的放达。全词化用《庄子》、《古诗十九首》、李白的意象与传统，以典写看破、以醉写放达，正是苏轼「以旷达写归隐」的本领。
Commentary
Since the Song, this lyric has been the most quoted text of Su Shi's renunciation. The phrase snail's horn of empty fame, fly's head of tiny profit passed into the language as a proverb for all futile ambition. Later critics read the poem as the pivot of Su Shi's life: before the Crow Terrace Case he strove, and after it he renounced without ceasing to live. The poem's special greatness is that its renunciation is joyful, not bitter: clear wind, bright moon, moss carpet and cloud canopy describe a paradise discovered precisely because fame was lost. Scholars have noted its kinship with the First Prose-Poem on the Red Cliff and with Ding feng bo, and together they form Su Shi's manifesto of magnanimity. For readers today it remains the most compact statement in Chinese poetry of a truth worth relearning in every age: the things we fight for are the size of a snail's horn.
此词历来被推为苏轼看破名利、归隐旷达的名篇，也是「蜗角虚名，蝇头微利」这一千古名句的出处。历代论者对此词评价较高：论者多指出此词以《庄子》蜗角之典写虚名的渺小，以「清风皓月」「千钟美酒」写归隐的向往，是苏轼在「乌台诗案」后看破名利、旷达自处之作。在文学史上，此词的特殊价值在于：它以「蜗角虚名，蝇头微利」的比喻，写出了对名利最彻底的看破——那蜗牛角上的虚名、苍蝇头般的微利，正是世人所争的渺小之物；而「事皆前定，谁弱又谁强」的宿命、「百年里，浑教是醉，三万六千场」的放达，更写尽了苏轼经「乌台诗案」大难后的通透。词中「蜗角虚名，蝇头微利」以《庄子》之典写虚名之渺小，是千古名句；「幸对清风皓月，苔茵展、云幕高张」「江南好，千钟美酒，一曲《满庭芳》」写归隐的自在，更是千古名句。此词与苏轼的《前赤壁赋》（「惟江上之清风，与山间之明月」）一样，都是其在仕途失意后向大自然寻求慰藉、看破名利的旷达之作。对于今日读者，此词是理解苏轼旷达人生观与「乌台诗案」后心境的窗口，也是感受中国词「看破名利」传统的典范——那蜗角虚名、蝇头微利的看破，那清风皓月、千钟美酒的向往，穿越千年，仍在提醒着人们「名利如浮云，清风明月方是归处」。
Prosody
Line by line
蜗角虚名，蝇头微利，算来著甚干忙。
Empty fame like a snail's horn, fly's-head profit, reckoned up, why all this frantic hurry?
蜗角虚名，蝇头微利，算来何必这般干忙。
The empty fame on the snail's horn, the tiny gain on the fly's head — reckon it, why this frantic bustle?
这三句是全词写看破的名句，也是千古名句，以「蜗角」「蝇头」写虚名微利的渺小，以「著甚干忙」写看破后的不值，警策而通透。「蜗角虚名」写虚名之渺小——那虚名如蜗牛之角般微小（用《庄子》蜗角触蛮之典：蜗牛角上的两国为虚名相争而死伤无数），「蜗角」写虚名之微，那蜗角大的虚名，正是世人所争的渺小之物；「蝇头微利」写微利之小——那微利如苍蝇之头般微小，「蝇头」写微利之小，那蝇头大的微利，正是世人所逐的渺小之物；「算来著甚干忙」写看破后的不值——算来算去，何必为这蜗角虚名、蝇头微利这般干忙？「著甚」写何必、「干忙」写白忙——那「干忙」写尽为虚名微利奔忙的徒劳。这三句的深意在于：它以「蜗角」「蝇头」的比喻写虚名微利的渺小，以「著甚干忙」的反问写看破后的通透——那蜗角虚名、蝇头微利，算来算去，都不值得为它干忙；这既是苏轼经「乌台诗案」大难后的看破，也是其对一切争名逐利者的警醒——虚名如蜗角、微利如蝇头，为它干忙，实在不值。以「蜗角」「蝇头」写渺小、以「著甚干忙」写不值，正是苏轼「以典写看破」的本领，也让这三句成为看破名利的千古名句。
These three lines are a famous verse of seeing through, writing the smallness of the empty fame and tiny gain through the snail's horn and the fly's head, and the worthlessness of the frantic bustle, warning and lucid. The empty fame on the snail's horn writes the fame's smallness — the empty fame as tiny as the snail's horn (using Zhuangzi's snail-horn Chu and Man allusion: the two states on the snail's horn fighting for fame and dying in multitudes), the snail's horn the fame's smallness, the snail-horn-sized empty fame precisely the small thing the world contends for; the tiny gain on the fly's head writes the gain's smallness — the tiny gain as small as the fly's head, the fly's head the gain's smallness, the fly-head-sized tiny gain precisely the small thing the world pursues; reckon it, why this frantic bustle writes the worthlessness after seeing through — reckon it and reckon it, why this frantic bustle for the snail-horn fame and the fly-head gain? The why means why, the frantic bustle the vain rush, exhausting the futility of the rush for fame and gain. The deep meaning lies in: the snail's horn and the fly's head metaphors write the smallness, the why-this-bustle's question writes the lucid seeing-through — the snail-horn fame and the fly-head gain, reckoned, all not worth the bustle; this at once Su Shi's seeing-through after the Wutai poem case's great ordeal, and his warning to all who chase fame and gain — the fame as the snail's horn, the gain as the fly's head, the bustle for it truly worthless. Writing smallness through the snail's horn and fly's head, worthlessness through the frantic bustle, precisely Su Shi's craft of writing the seeing-through through allusion, making these three lines a famous verse of seeing through fame and gain.
幸对清风皓月，苔茵展、云幕高张。
Fortunate to face the clear wind and bright moon: moss spread like a carpet, clouds raised like a canopy.
幸好面对清风皓月，青苔如茵铺展、云幕高张。
Happily I face the clear breeze and the bright moon; the moss carpet spreads, the cloud canopy rises high.
这三句是写归隐向往的名句，以「清风皓月」写大自然的美好，以「苔茵展、云幕高张」写天地的广阔，旷达而自在。「幸对清风皓月」写大自然的美好——幸好还能面对清风皓月，「幸对」写其庆幸与珍惜——在浮名微利的尘世之外，幸好还有清风皓月相伴，那「幸对」写尽对大自然的庆幸；「苔茵展、云幕高张」写天地的广阔——青苔如茵铺展于地（「苔茵展」写青苔如绿茵铺展），云幕高张于天（「云幕高张」写云如帷幕高张），那「苔茵展、云幕高张」写尽以天地为席、以云为幕的广阔，也写尽归隐的自在——大地为茵、天空为幕，正是无拘无束的自在。这三句的深意在于：它以「清风皓月」与「蜗角虚名」的对照写归隐的取舍——那蜗角虚名不值得干忙，这清风皓月才值得珍惜；那「苔茵展、云幕高张」的天地，正是看破名利者的归处——在浮名微利的尘世之外，大自然以清风皓月、青苔云幕相待，正是苏轼向往的自由生活。以「幸对」写珍惜、以「苔茵展、云幕高张」写广阔，正是苏轼「以旷达写归隐」的本领，也让这三句成为写归隐向往的名句。
These three lines are a famous verse of the reclusive longing, writing nature's beauty through the clear breeze and bright moon, and the world's breadth through the moss carpet and cloud canopy, detached and free. Happily I face the clear breeze and the bright moon writes nature's beauty — happily still facing the breeze and moon, the happily facing writing the gratitude and the treasuring — beyond the dusty world of empty fame and tiny gain, happily still the breeze and moon for company, the happily facing exhausting the gratitude for nature; the moss carpet spreads, the cloud canopy rises high writes the world's breadth — the moss like a carpet spreading on the ground, the cloud canopy rising high in the sky, exhausting the heaven-as-mat and cloud-as-canvas breadth, and the reclusion's ease — the earth the carpet, the sky the canopy, precisely the untrammeled freedom. The deep meaning lies in: the clear breeze and bright moon set against the snail-horn fame write the reclusion's choice — the snail-horn fame not worth the bustle, this breeze and moon worth the treasuring; the moss carpet and cloud canopy's world precisely the seeing-through fame-and-gain man's haven — beyond the dusty world, nature receiving him with breeze, moon, moss, and cloud, precisely the free life Su Shi longed for. Writing treasuring through the happily facing, breadth through the moss carpet and cloud canopy, precisely Su Shi's craft of writing reclusion through detachment, making these three lines a famous verse of the reclusive longing.
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Ding feng bo finds magnanimity in acceptance: through the singer Yuniang, who followed her exiled master south and declared 'where this heart is at peace, there is my home,' Su Shi blesses the art of settling anywhere. Man Ting Fang finds magnanimity in renunciation: fame and profit are dismissed, and wind, moon, wine and song are chosen. One makes peace with displacement, the other with loss; together they map the two faces of Dongpo's consolation.
《定风波·南海归赠王定国侍人寓娘》「此心安处是吾乡」以寓娘的形象写随遇而安的旷达，是苏轼词中「安顿身心」的名篇。此词《满庭芳·蜗角虚名》则「蜗角虚名，蝇头微利」，以蜗角蝇头写看破名利，以「清风皓月」写归隐的向往，是苏轼词中「看破名利」的名篇。同为写旷达，一写「此心安处」的安顿（定风波），一写「蜗角虚名」的看破（满庭芳）；一写身心的归处，一写名利的弃绝。两词对读，可见苏轼旷达的两个侧面——安顿身心与看破名利。
水调歌头·明月几时有 Shui diao ge tou: When Will the Moon Be Clear and Bright? 苏轼 · 同词人写月写旷达，一写问月一写对月 Same poet writing the moon: one questions the moon, the other simply enjoys it.'When will the moon be clear and bright? I raise my cup and ask the blue sky': the Mid-Autumn lyric asks the cosmos questions and ends in the philosophical blessing of sharing the moon's beauty though a thousand miles apart. Man Ting Fang asks nothing, for 'fortunate to face the clear wind and bright moon': after renunciation the moon is no longer a question but a companion. Where Shui diao ge tou is the poet's midnight questioning, Man Ting Fang is his evening contentment, the moon met twice, once in longing and once in peace.
《水调歌头·明月几时有》「明月几时有？把酒问青天」以问月写对人生的感慨，以「千里共婵娟」写旷达，是苏轼写月的巅峰。此词《满庭芳·蜗角虚名》则「幸对清风皓月，苔茵展、云幕高张」，以对清风皓月写归隐的自在，是苏轼写月的另一名篇。同为写月写旷达，一「把酒问青天」的豪放（水调歌头），一「幸对清风皓月」的淡泊（满庭芳）；一写对月的感慨，一写对月的享受。两词对读，可见苏轼对月亮的两种心境——问月时的感慨与对月时的自在。
前赤壁赋 First Prose-Poem on the Red Cliff 苏轼 · 同写清风明月与旷达，一赋一词 Same theme of wind, moon and magnanimity, one in prose and one in lyric.'The only things to take from this world are the wind on the river and the moon in the mountains': the Red Cliff prose finds eternity in the inexhaustible wind and moon and dissolves the self into the flux of things. Man Ting Fang reaches the same treasures by subtraction, fame and profit first cut away, leaving wind, moon, moss, clouds and wine. The prose is a philosopher's rapture, the lyric a survivor's toast; read together, they are Su Shi's complete manifesto of magnanimity in two genres.
《前赤壁赋》「惟江上之清风，与山间之明月，耳得之而为声，目遇之而成色」写清风明月的享受与「物与我皆无尽」的旷达，是苏轼写旷达的赋体名篇。此词《满庭芳·蜗角虚名》则「幸对清风皓月，苔茵展、云幕高张」，写对清风皓月的享受与归隐的旷达，是苏轼写旷达的词体名篇。同为写清风明月与旷达，一以赋体写「江上清风、山间明月」（前赤壁赋），一以词体写「清风皓月、苔茵云幕」（满庭芳）；一写「物我无尽」的哲理，一写「看破名利」的通透。赋与词对读，可见苏轼旷达思想的两种文体表达。