宋 Song · 诗 Poem
迷神引
To the Tune 'Mishen Yin' (Spellbound Longing)
一叶扁舟轻帆卷。
暂泊楚江南岸。
孤城暮角，引胡茄怨。
水茫茫，平沙雁、旋惊散。
烟敛寒林簇，画屏展。
天际遥山小，黛眉浅。
旧赏轻抛，到此成游宦。
觉客程劳，年光晚。
异乡风物，忍萧索、当愁眼。
帝城赊，秦楼阻，旅魂乱。
芳草连空阔，残照满。
佳人无消息，断云远。
Rests a while on the southern bank of the Chu River.
A horn at dusk in the lonely city
Calls forth the reed pipes' plaint.
Water stretches endlessly; the wild geese on the flat sand
Are suddenly startled into flight.
Mist gathers over the cold woods, clustered like an unrolled painted screen;
The distant hills at the sky's edge are small, like faint dark eyebrows.
Old delights lightly cast aside —
I have come here to serve as a wandering official.
I feel the toil of the journey, the lateness of the year.
The sights of a strange land: I endure their desolation before sorrowing eyes.
The imperial city is far, the Qin tower cut off — my traveling soul is in turmoil.
Fragrant grass melts into the vast emptiness, the last sunlight floods all —
Of my fair lady there is no news; only broken clouds, far away.
Meaning
A traveler moors on the Chu River at dusk; horns, startled geese, cold woods and fading hills compose a desolate landscape that turns inward — he has left his old pleasures for an official post far from home, and now the capital and his beloved are alike out of reach. The lyric ends with grass stretching to the horizon and a lady lost beyond broken clouds: Liu Yong's classic union of journey and longing.
一叶扁舟，轻帆卷起。暂泊楚江南岸。孤城暮角，引出胡笳之怨。水茫茫，平沙雁、旋惊散。烟敛寒林簇，如画屏展。天际遥山小，如黛眉浅。旧赏轻抛，到此成游宦。觉客程劳，年光晚。异乡风物，忍萧索、当愁眼。帝城赊，秦楼阻，旅魂乱。芳草连空阔，残照满。佳人无消息，断云远。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] Furling his sail, the poet moors for the night on the southern bank of the Chu River. As dusk falls, a horn sounds from the lonely city like the plaint of nomad reed pipes; wild geese are startled off the sandbar; mist closes over the cold woods; the far hills shrink to faint eyebrows. He reflects that he has thrown away his old pleasures to wander in office, and now the capital, the beloved, even his own rest are beyond reach. The lyric ends in a vast view — grass to the horizon, dying sunlight, and no word of his lady but broken clouds far away. [Structure] The upper stanza is pure landscape, built up sense by sense (sail, horn, geese, mist, hills); the lower stanza states the cause — the wandering official's weariness — and dissolves back into vision. [Imagery] The landscape is first made ornament ('an unrolled painted screen') and then feminine ('faint dark eyebrows'), so that the turn to the absent lady feels prepared rather than abrupt.
【白话串讲】 柳永写《迷神引》：“一叶扁舟轻帆卷。暂泊楚江南岸”——“孤城暮角，引胡茄怨”——“烟敛寒林簇，画屏展”——“旧赏轻抛，到此成游宦。觉客程劳，年光晚”——他写客程——到此成游宦。 【意象与手法】 “一叶扁舟轻帆卷。暂泊楚江南岸”写泊舟之景；“孤城暮角，引胡茄怨”以暮角写愁；“烟敛寒林簇，画屏展”以寒林写景；“旧赏轻抛，到此成游宦。觉客程劳，年光晚”写游宦之叹；结以“佳人无消息，断云远”写怀人。婉转深挚。 【情感与主旨】 柳永写羁旅怀人之作，写泊舟江岸、游宦天涯的劳顿与对佳人的思念，是柳永羁旅词的代表。 【名句点睛】 常考“孤城暮角，引胡茄怨”以暮角写羁愁；“旧赏轻抛，到此成游宦。觉客程劳，年光晚”以游宦写客程劳顿。
Background
Liu Yong (c. 987-c. 1053), styled Qiqing and originally named Sanbian, was born in Chong'an (present-day Wuyishan, Fujian). The most celebrated ci poet of the Northern Song, he was repeatedly frustrated in his career and spent years traveling among the prefectures on official errands; his lyrics of travel and separation — 'wherever there is well water, one can sing Liu Yong's songs' — set the standard for the wan-yue (graceful and restrained) style. This lyric to the tune Mishen Yin chants the loneliness of mooring in a strange land at dusk.
《迷神引》为北宋词人柳永所作词。柳永（约987—约1053），字耆卿，原名三变，崇安（今福建武夷山）人，北宋著名词人，多写羁旅行役与市井生活，词风婉约，长于铺叙，人称「凡有井水处，即能歌柳词」。此词写羁旅怀人。词中「一叶扁舟轻帆卷。暂泊楚江南岸」写泊舟之景；「孤城暮角，引胡笳怨」写暮角之声；「烟敛寒林簇，画屏展。天际遥山小，黛眉浅」写江岸之景；「旧赏轻抛，到此成游宦。觉客程劳，年光晚」写游宦之叹；「帝城赊，秦楼阻，旅魂乱」写怀乡之情；「佳人无消息，断云远」写怀人之情。柳永多写羁旅行役，此词以泊舟江岸、望景怀人之情写羁旅之愁，婉转深挚，是柳永羁旅词中的名篇，也是其「婉约铺叙」词风的典型体现。此篇《迷神引》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 method is layered scenery leading into feeling (pu xu xie jing, you jing ru qing). The opening 'a single leaf of a boat' establishes smallness and solitude; sound (the dusk horn, the Hu reed pipes) and motion (startled geese) deepen the chill; then the landscape itself becomes ornament — 'an unrolled painted screen' — and feminine — 'faint dark eyebrows' — preparing the turn to the absent lady. The lower stanza names the cause (abandoned pleasures, official wandering) yet ends not in statement but in vision: grass to the horizon, broken clouds far off, the lady nowhere in sight.
此词艺术上以「铺叙写景、由景入情」见长。全词上片写泊舟江岸之景，下片写游宦之叹与怀人之情。上片「一叶扁舟轻帆卷。暂泊楚江南岸」写泊舟之景：一叶扁舟，轻帆卷起，暂泊楚江南岸；「孤城暮角，引胡笳怨」写暮角之声：孤城暮角，引出胡笳之怨；「水茫茫，平沙雁、旋惊散。烟敛寒林簇，画屏展。天际遥山小，黛眉浅」写江岸之景：水茫茫，平沙雁旋惊散；烟敛寒林簇，如画屏展；天际遥山小，如黛眉浅。下片「旧赏轻抛，到此成游宦。觉客程劳，年光晚」写游宦之叹：旧赏轻抛，到此成游宦，觉客程劳，年光晚；「异乡风物，忍萧索、当愁眼。帝城赊，秦楼阻，旅魂乱」写怀乡之情：异乡风物，忍萧索当愁眼；帝城赊，秦楼阻，旅魂乱；「芳草连空阔，残照满。佳人无消息，断云远」写怀人之情：芳草连空阔，残照满；佳人无消息，断云远。全词铺叙写景，由景入情，是柳永羁旅词中的名篇。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。
Allusions
The 'Hu reed pipes' (hujia), a northern nomad instrument, carry the pathos of exile and frontier sorrow. 'Dark eyebrows' (daimei) for distant hills continues the old analogy between a woman's painted brows and mountain ranges. 'Qin tower' (qinlou) evokes the pleasure quarters of the capital where the beloved waits. 'Broken clouds' (duanyun) is a stock image of separation in classical verse. Liu Yong fuses these conventions into one continuous journey of the eye, from the moored boat to the vanishing horizon.
词中「孤城暮角」「胡笳」「画屏」「黛眉」「秦楼」「断云」等语，皆含典故故实。「孤城暮角」写孤城日暮之号角声，古诗词多以角声写边塞苍凉；「胡笳」为胡人之乐器，其声悲怨，「引胡笳怨」写暮角如胡笳之怨；「画屏」写江岸之景如展开之画屏；「黛眉」以女子之眉喻遥山，「天际遥山小，黛眉浅」写遥山如黛眉之淡；「秦楼」指秦楼楚馆，为昔日佳会之地，「帝城赊，秦楼阻」写帝都遥远、秦楼难到；「断云」写孤云，古诗词多以断云写离情。词人以孤城暮角、胡笳、画屏、黛眉、秦楼、断云等意象入词，不着痕迹，而把羁旅怀人之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸意象的体现。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
This lyric is among Liu Yong's most admired travel pieces. Song-dynasty critics already praised its slow, layered description of mooring at dusk as a model of the changdiao's unhurried disclosure. The couplet 'Mist gathers over the cold woods like an unrolled screen; the far hills at the sky's edge like faint eyebrows' is quoted in shihua as a model of writing scenery as ornament, and the ending — 'of my lady no news; only broken clouds far away' — is read as a pure example of 'ending in scenery' (yi jing jie qing), where feeling is left to dissolve into landscape.
这首《迷神引》，是柳永写羁旅怀人之作，写泊舟江岸、望景怀人之情，婉转深挚。上片写泊舟江岸之景：「一叶扁舟轻帆卷。暂泊楚江南岸」——一叶扁舟，轻帆卷起，暂泊楚江南岸。写泊舟之景：一叶扁舟，暂泊楚江，正是羁旅之人暂歇之处；「孤城暮角，引胡笳怨」——孤城暮角，引出胡笳之怨。写暮角之声：孤城日暮，号角声如胡笳之怨，一片苍凉；「水茫茫，平沙雁、旋惊散。烟敛寒林簇，画屏展。天际遥山小，黛眉浅」——水茫茫，平沙雁旋惊散；烟敛寒林簇，如画屏展；天际遥山小，如黛眉浅。写江岸之景：水茫茫、平沙雁惊散，烟敛寒林、如画屏展，天际遥山小如黛眉。这「画屏展」「黛眉浅」，把江岸之景写得如画，而「黛眉浅」又以美人黛眉写遥山，暗含怀人之意。下片写游宦之叹与怀人之情：「旧赏轻抛，到此成游宦。觉客程劳，年光晚」——旧赏轻抛，到此成游宦；觉客程劳，年光晚。写游宦之叹：轻抛旧赏，到此成游宦，客程劳顿，年光已晚；「异乡风物，忍萧索、当愁眼。帝城赊，秦楼阻，旅魂乱」——异乡风物，忍萧索当愁眼；帝城赊，秦楼阻，旅魂乱。写怀乡之情：异乡风物萧索，当愁眼；帝都遥远，秦楼难到，旅魂缭乱；「芳草连空阔，残照满。佳人无消息，断云远」——芳草连空阔，残照满；佳人无消息，断云远。写怀人之情：芳草连天、残照满目，而佳人无消息，唯见断云远。这「佳人无消息，断云远」，是全词之结：望尽芳草残照，佳人无消息，唯见断云远去。全词铺叙写景，由景入情，正是柳永「婉约铺叙」词风的典型，也是其羁旅词中的名篇。
Prosody
Line by line
一叶扁舟轻帆卷。
A small leaf of a boat, its light sail furled.
一叶扁舟，轻帆卷起。
A single small boat, its light sail rolled up.
首句写泊舟之景，起笔即见其人。「一叶扁舟轻帆卷」写一叶扁舟、轻帆卷起，「一叶扁舟」写舟之小、之孤，「轻帆卷」写帆已卷起、舟将泊或已泊。一句以「一叶扁舟」写羁旅之孤，以「轻帆卷」写舟行之歇，写尽羁旅之人孤舟暂泊之景，起笔即见其孤，为全词写羁旅怀人作铺垫，是「以景起兴」的妙笔。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 opening writes the mooring scene, the man present at the first stroke. A single small boat, its light sail rolled up writes the boat's smallness and solitude, the rolled sail, the boat about to moor or moored. One line, the small boat writing the travel solitude, the rolled sail writing the journey's rest, exhausting the lone boat's brief mooring, the solitude present at the first stroke, storing ground for the ci's travel and longing, precisely the wondrous brush of rising on scene. This line in the few words exhausts the deep meaning, feeling and charm both supreme, precisely the poem's telling stroke. Its hidden waves between the words, the turns within the plainness, require the repeated savouring to grasp its heart.
孤城暮角，引胡茄怨。
A horn at dusk in the lonely city calls forth the reed pipes' plaint.
孤城暮角，引出胡笳之怨。
The lone city's dusk horn, drawing out the barbarian reed-pipe's grief.
此二句写暮角之声，是全词写境的关键。「孤城暮角」写孤城日暮之号角声，「孤城」写城之孤，「暮角」写日暮之角声；「引胡笳怨」写引出胡笳之怨，「胡笳」为胡人乐器、其声悲怨，「引怨」写暮角如胡笳之怨。两句一写孤城暮角、一写其如胡笳之怨，以「孤城暮角」写泊舟所见所闻之苍凉，以「胡笳怨」写其声之悲怨，写尽羁旅孤寂之境。以声写境，含蓄而有力，是「以声写情」的妙笔。
These two lines write the dusk horn's sound, the key of the ci's realm. The lone city's dusk horn writes the lone city and the dusk horn; drawing out the barbarian reed-pipe's grief writes the reed-pipe's grievance. Two lines, one the lone city's horn, one the pipe's grief, writing the mooring sight and sound's bleakness, the sound's grief, exhausting the travel solitude. Writing the realm through sound, restrained and forceful, precisely the wondrous brush of writing feeling through sound.
旧赏轻抛，到此成游宦。
Old delights lightly cast aside — I have come here to serve as a wandering official.
旧赏轻抛，到此成游宦。
The old delights lightly cast off, until here I have become a traveling official.
此二句写游宦之叹，是全词由景入情的转折。「旧赏轻抛」写旧赏轻抛，「旧赏」写昔日之欢赏，「轻抛」写其轻易抛却；「到此成游宦」写到此成游宦，「游宦」写其远游为官。两句一写轻抛旧赏、一写到此游宦，以「轻抛」与「成游宦」写其由昔日欢赏到今日游宦之变，写尽游宦之叹——旧日欢赏轻抛，今日远游为官。以昔衬今，含蓄而深沉，是「由景入情」的转折之笔。
These two lines write the travel-office sigh, the ci's turn from scene to feeling. The old delights lightly cast off writes the old joy and the light casting; until here I have become a traveling official writes the far office. Two lines, one the cast-off delight, one the travel office, writing the old joy's light casting and the today's office, exhausting the sigh. Setting the present against the past, restrained and deep, precisely the turning brush of scene to feeling.
芳草连空阔，残照满。
Fragrant grass melts into the vast emptiness; the last sunlight floods all.
芳草连空阔，残照满。
The fragrant grass joins the wide sky; the afterglow fills all.
此二句写望中之景，是全词写情的关键。「芳草连空阔」写芳草连空阔，「芳草」写春草之绵延，「连空阔」写其连于空阔之天，极写其远；「残照满」写残照满目，「残照」写日暮之残阳，「满」写其满目。两句以芳草连天、残照满目写登高望远所见之景，以芳草之远写其望之远、以残照之满写其时之暮，写尽羁旅之人日暮望远之情。以景写情，含蓄而苍茫，是「以景写情」的点睛之笔。
These two lines write the gaze's scene, the key of the ci's feeling. The fragrant grass joins the wide sky writes the spring grass's stretch and its joining the wide heaven, the far extreme; the afterglow fills all writes the dusk glow's filling. Two lines, the grass to the sky and the glow filling, writing the height-gazing sight, the grass's far writing the gaze's far, the glow's filling writing the time's dusk, exhausting the traveler's dusk-gazing. Writing feeling through scene, restrained and vast, precisely the telling stroke of writing feeling through scene.
佳人无消息，断云远。
Of my fair lady there is no news — only broken clouds, far away.
佳人无消息，断云远。
The beautiful one has no news; the broken cloud is far.
尾二句写怀人之情，是全词立意的落点。「佳人无消息」写佳人无消息，「佳人」点出所怀之人，「无消息」写其音信全无；「断云远」写断云远，「断云」写孤云，「远」写其远。两句一写佳人无消息、一写唯见断云远，以「佳人无消息」写其怀人之情无处可寄，以「断云远」写望尽天涯唯见断云，写尽羁旅之人怀人而不得之情。以景作结，含蓄而有尽味，是「以景结情」的点睛之笔。
The last two lines write the longing, the landing of the ci's theme. The beautiful one has no news writes the beloved and the silence; the broken cloud is far writes the lone cloud and the distance. Two lines, one the beloved's silence, one the distant cloud, writing the longing's nowhere to send, the far gaze ending only on the cloud, exhausting the traveler's unfulfilled longing. Closing on scene, restrained and flavorful, precisely the telling stroke of ending feeling in scene.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
'Where shall I wake from tonight's wine? On a willow bank, beneath a dawn wind and a fading moon' turns the night after parting into the most famous scene in Song ci; 'Mishen Yin' paints the dusk of mooring and ends on 'no news of my lady, only broken clouds far away.' One is the sharp moment of separation; the other is the long ache of the road.
柳永《雨霖铃·寒蝉凄切》「寒蝉凄切，对长亭晚，骤雨初歇」「今宵酒醒何处？杨柳岸，晓风残月」，写送别与别后之思，是宋词写离别的名篇；《迷神引》则以「一叶扁舟轻帆卷。暂泊楚江南岸」「孤城暮角，引胡笳怨」写泊舟江岸、「佳人无消息，断云远」写怀人之情。两词同出柳永之手、同写羁旅别后之情：一写别时与别后之思、以晓风残月写情，一写泊舟与望景之怀、以断云残照写情；一为别后之思、一为久客之怀，并读正可见柳永「婉约铺叙」词风写羁旅的两种情景，皆婉约深挚。
八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Ba Sheng Gan Zhou (Eight Beats of the Ganzhou Melody): On the Dashing Evening Rain Spilled from the Sky 柳永 · 同出柳永之手，同写登高望远、怀人思归，一写暮雨江天之景、一写孤城暮角之景，皆以登临望景写羁旅之愁 Both by Liu Yong, both on climbing high and gazing afar with thoughts of home: one on the rain-washed river sky, one on the lone city's dusk horn'I cannot bear to climb high and gaze far; my homeland lies distant and dim; my longing to return cannot be gathered in' is Liu Yong's grandest travel lyric, gazing from a height. 'Mishen Yin' looks out from a moored boat at the water's edge: one is vast, one is hushed. Both write the traveler's sorrow through whatever his eye can reach.
柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「对潇潇暮雨洒江天，一番洗清秋」「不忍登高临远，望故乡渺邈，归思难收」，写登高望远、怀人思归，是柳永羁旅词最著名者；《迷神引》则以「孤城暮角，引胡笳怨」「芳草连空阔，残照满。佳人无消息，断云远」写泊舟望景、怀人。两词同出柳永之手、同写登高望远怀人思归：一写暮雨江天之景、以壮阔写愁，一写孤城暮角之景、以苍凉写愁；一为登高临远、一为泊舟望景，并读正可见柳永羁旅词「登临望远」的两种写法，皆以登临望景写羁旅之愁。