宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
摸鱼儿·更能消几番风雨
Groping for Fish: How Many More Storms Can Spring Endure?
更能消、几番风雨，匆匆春又归去。
惜春长怕花开早，何况落红无数。
春且住，见说道、天涯芳草无归路。
怨春不语。
算只有殷勤，画檐蛛网，尽日惹飞絮。
长门事，准拟佳期又误。
蛾眉曾有人妒。
千金纵买相如赋，脉脉此情谁诉？
君莫舞，君不见、玉环飞燕皆尘土。
闲愁最苦。
休去倚危栏，斜阳正在，烟柳断肠处。
Again spring hurries away, all too soon.
Loving spring, I'm afraid to see flowers bloom early,
Let alone countless falling petals.
Stay, O spring! I hear it said that fragrant grass far and wide blocks your way home.
I complain to spring, but spring is silent.
Only the spider's web on the painted eaves
All day long tries to catch the willow-down.
At Changmen Palace, the appointed day is missed again.
How can the beauty not be envied?
Even if she buys a thousand-gold Sima Xiangru's rhapsody,
To whom can she pour out her tender feeling?
Do not dance, my lords!
Don't you see Yang Guifei and Zhao Feiyan are turned to dust?
Idle grief is the most painful.
Do not lean on the high balustrade,
The setting sun is shining over the heart-breaking mist-veiled willows.
Meaning
The first stanza uses cherishing spring, retaining spring, and blaming spring to express the sorrow of spring's fleeting and countless fallen petals, metaphorically hinting at the decline of national power and the hopelessness of recovery. The second stanza uses allusions to Empress Chen being jealous at Changmen Palace and the downfall of Yang Guifei and Zhao Feiyan to imply that loyal ministers are suspected and there is no way to serve the country. The poem concludes with the heart-breaking scene of setting sun over misty willows, leaving endless pain.
还能再经受几番风雨，春天又要匆匆归去了。爱惜春光总怕花儿开得太早，何况如今落花无数。春天且留步，听说天涯芳草已遮断归路。我埋怨春却默默无语。算来只有屋檐蛛网，整日沾惹飞絮似在挽留。陈皇后长门之事，本约好的佳期又成耽误，美人曾遭人嫉妒。纵使千金买得相如赋，这脉脉深情又向谁倾诉？你且莫得意起舞，难道没见玉环飞燕终成尘土。闲愁最苦。别去倚高栏，夕阳正照在令人断肠的烟柳深处。
Appreciation
The entire poem uses 'spring' as a political symbol, with wind and rain, fallen petals, and spider webs all carrying metaphorical meaning. The second stanza uses allusions to write political grievances through palace resentment, gentle yet satirical, combining strength and softness. The famous lines 'Do not dance, my lords! Don't you see Yang Guifei and Zhao Feiyan are turned to dust?' warn the powerful that they will eventually fall, and 'Do not lean on the high balustrade, the setting sun is shining over the heart-breaking mist-veiled willows' closes the poem with scene, implicit and poignant.
【白话串讲】 “更能消、几番风雨，匆匆春又归去”——辛弃疾借惜春写自己的处境：英雄无用武之地，就像春天留不住。一个想打仗的人，把一腔悲愤都写进了这场春天的告别里。 【意象与手法】 全词以“春”喻国运与年华，比兴层深而章法绵密。“惜春长怕花开早”以反常心理写惜春之切 【情感与主旨】 此词作于宋孝宗淳熙六年（1179），辛弃疾南归已十七年，屡遭主和派排挤，由湖北转运副使调任湖南，离抗金前线更远 【名句点睛】 重点考“春”的象征义（国运/年华/理想）；长门、蛾眉、玉环飞燕典故内涵与政治寓意；以宫怨写政怨的比兴手法
Background
This poem was written in the sixth year of Chunxi of Emperor Xiaozong (1179). Xin Qiji had been south for seventeen years, repeatedly sidelined by the peace faction. He was transferred from Hubei to Hunan, farther from the anti-Jin front. Through the passing of spring and palace resentment, he expresses the grief of having no way to serve his country and wasted years, a subtle and sharp critique of the status quo, also hinting at his own sigh of loyalty being distrusted.
此词作于宋孝宗淳熙六年（1179），辛弃疾由湖北转运副使调任湖南转运副使，同僚王正之（名特起）在鄂州小山亭置酒饯别，辛弃疾席间作此词。这一年辛弃疾四十岁，南归已整整十七年。十七年间，他先后上《美芹十论》《九议》，力陈恢复大计，却始终不被采纳，官职虽屡有迁转，却多为漕臣一类的理财之职，离抗金前线越来越远。此番由湖北调湖南，更是「去国愈远」，恢复之志益发渺茫。词以「春」喻国运与年华，以宫怨写政怨，借惜春、伤春的表象，寄寓对国势日蹙、年华虚掷的深悲。罗大经《鹤林玉露》记载了此词的直接反响：「词意殊怨。……愚闻寿皇（宋孝宗）见此词，颇不悦，然终不加罪。」可见词中怨刺之深，连孝宗读后都为之动容。此词是辛弃疾「摧刚为柔」的代表作，外表是婉约的伤春怨别，内里却是刚肠似火的孤愤，故梁启超称之为「回肠荡气，至于此极，前无古人，后无来者」。需要说明的是，此词题下或有序「淳熙己亥，自湖北漕移湖南，同官王正之置酒小山亭，为赋」，交代了作时、作地、作因。辛弃疾自湖北转运副使调湖南转运副使，名义上是迁官，实则离抗金前线更远，故其「去国愈远」之悲，非一般迁谪之感可比。王正之是辛弃疾的同僚好友，饯别之酒，愈添离愁，此词的「闲愁最苦」，正是在这饯别席上、暮春烟柳之间，因国事与身世的双重失意而迸发。
Art
The whole ci uses 'spring' to symbolize national fortune and personal years, with layers of metaphor and dense structure. 'Loving spring, I'm afraid to see flowers bloom early' uses abnormal psychology to show the urgency of cherishing spring; 'the spider's web on the painted eaves all day long tries to catch the willow-down' describes futile efforts; 'Changmen matter' and subsequent allusions are used with skill, creating a roundabout and profound effect.
此词以「春」为贯穿全篇的比兴之象，章法绵密，层层翻进。起句「更能消、几番风雨」破空而来，一个「更」字、一个「几番」，写尽风雨摧春的反复，暗示国势在投降派的反复摧折下已难久持。以下惜春、留春、怨春，构成完整的心理过程：「惜春长怕花开早」以反常心理写惜春之切——怕花早开，正因花早开则早谢，这是痴情的极致；「何况落红无数」，惜春而春已去，更添一层无奈。「春且住」是痴情的挽留，而「天涯芳草无归路」又自道挽留的无望；「怨春不语」，怨的是春天无言的冷酷，也是朝廷对自己忠言的无动于衷。下片转入宫怨，「长门事」借陈皇后失宠自喻，「蛾眉曾有人妒」点破遭谗被妒的处境，「千金纵买相如赋，脉脉此情谁诉」写忠诚无处申说的孤苦。「君莫舞」以下，忽转斥责之辞，警告得势的主和派终将如杨玉环、赵飞燕般化为尘土。结句「斜阳正在，烟柳断肠处」，以暮春残阳、断肠烟柳作结，景语收束，无限凄凉。全词借春写国、借宫写己、借古讽今，比兴层深而不露筋骨，是辛词中最为缠绵沉郁的一首。全词以「春」字总起总收，以「怨」字贯通上下，惜春、留春、怨春，层层递进；下片又以「宫怨」承上片的「春怨」，美人失宠与春色归去互为表里，比兴层深而脉络清晰。尤其「君莫舞」一转，从自伤忽入斥人，声口陡变，是全词情感最激烈的爆发点，其后再以「斜阳」「烟柳」的哀景收束，一放一收，跌宕有致。
Allusions
'Changmen matter' alludes to Empress Chen of Emperor Wu of Han, who was confined to Changmen Palace and spent a thousand gold to have Sima Xiangru write a rhapsody to regain favor, metaphorically representing a loyal minister being abandoned. 'Beautiful eyebrows' originates from Qu Yuan's 'Li Sao' where 'the crowd envies my beautiful eyebrows,' using a beauty to represent a gentleman and jealousy to represent slander. 'Yang Guifei and Zhao Feiyan' refer to Yang Yuhuan and Zhao Feiyan, both favored but ultimately perished. These three layers of allusions progress step by step, with deep meaning.
此词用典繁富而贴切，皆关涉「美人失宠」与「奸佞得势」两大主题。其一，「长门事」用汉武帝陈皇后失宠、退居长门宫，以千金买司马相如《长门赋》以诉幽怨的故事，见司马相如《长门赋序》。辛弃疾自比失宠的陈皇后，喻自己遭冷落、忠而见弃的处境。其二，「蛾眉曾有人妒」化用屈原《离骚》「众女嫉余之蛾眉兮，谣诼谓余以善淫」，以「蛾眉」自喻高洁，以「众女」喻谗佞，是香草美人比兴传统的直接承续。其三，「玉环飞燕」指唐玄宗贵妃杨玉环与汉成帝皇后赵飞燕，二人皆曾宠极一时而终归尘土，辛弃疾以之警告当朝得势的主和派权贵，祸福无常，骄纵者终将败亡。其四，「君莫舞」之「舞」，既是宴席间的实景，又暗用《诗经·小雅·节南山》及「长袖善舞」之意，讽劝权贵勿要得意忘形。此外，「斜阳」「烟柳」等意象，与晏殊「无可奈何花落去」、柳永「多情自古伤离别」的伤春伤别传统一脉相承。全词以宫怨为体、以比兴为用，实是《离骚》精神的词体再现。关于「长门事」是否有本事，学界多以为辛弃疾以陈皇后自喻，然亦有说此词兼写对孝宗「久不召见」的幽怨，可备一说。「准拟佳期又误」的「又」字，点出这种失意的一再重演，与上片「更能消、几番风雨」的「几番」遥相呼应，同写「反复受挫」的处境，用典与写实，虚实相生。
Commentary
It is said that when Emperor Xiaozong saw this poem, he was quite displeased, showing its sharp satire. Liang Qichao commented on Xin Qiji's ci as 'full of passion and tenderness to the extreme.' This piece is 'tender in wording but vigorous in style,' a famous graceful and restrained ci among Xin's works, most admired by later generations for its elegance and strength.
此词是辛弃疾最负盛名的婉约之作，历代评价极高。罗大经《鹤林玉露》最早记载其本事与孝宗「颇不悦」的反响，是研究此词的第一手文献。陈廷焯《白雨斋词话》卷一评曰：「稼轩《摸鱼儿》诸作，摧刚为柔，缠绵悱恻，尤与粗犷一派判若秦越。」又谓「词意殊怨，然姿态飞动，极沉郁顿挫之致」，准确地揭示了此词「柔中见刚」的特质。梁启超《艺蘅馆词选》引其评语，赞此词「回肠荡气，至于此极」，把它与辛弃疾最沉痛的人生悲慨联系在一起。谭献《复堂词话》亦以「潜气内转」称之。就接受史而言，此词上承《离骚》香草美人之遗，下开宋末王沂孙、张炎等遗民词人咏物寄恨之先声，在词史上居承前启后的位置。凡论辛词之「兼豪婉」者，必举此词为证，足见其在稼轩词中的典范地位。此外，此词与《水龙吟·登建康赏心亭》《永遇乐·京口北固亭怀古》并为辛弃疾三大名篇，而此词独以「缠绵沉郁」胜。清人评稼轩词，或谓其「悲壮」，或谓其「妩媚」，此词则兼而有之——以婉约之体，写悲壮之情，柔中带刚，外媚内刚，正是稼轩「摧刚为柔」的极致。后世论「借宫怨写政怨」者，亦必推此词与白居易《长恨歌》、李商隐《无题》诸作并观，足见其题材与手法的经典意义。要之，此词以「春」写「国」，以「宫」写「己」，以「古」讽「今」，层层比兴，遂成辛词中「怨而不怒、沉郁顿挫」的最高典范。
Prosody
Line by line
匆匆春又归去
In haste, spring is going again.
春天又要匆匆归去了
In all haste, spring is about to leave again.
「匆匆」叠字，写春去之速；「又」字写春去之频——一年一度，春来春去，本属自然，着一「又」字，便有了年复一年、岁月空掷的悲凉。这个「春」，既是自然之春，更是词人的年华与南宋的国运。辛弃疾南归十七年，志业无成，眼见年华随春俱去，国势随春俱衰，「匆匆春又归去」便不止是惜春，而是对「时不我待、国不可再」的沉痛叹息。起句「更能消、几番风雨」先写风雨摧春，此句以「匆匆」「又」补足，愈见春之去不可留。这个「春」，既是自然之春，更是词人的年华与南宋的国运，三者叠合，句意便由惜春升华为对时局与身世的双重悲叹。
The repeated word in haste writes the spring's going's speed; the word again writes the going's frequency — year after year, spring coming and spring going, by nature the natural, and the one word again gives the year-on-year, the years' wasted bleakness. This spring, at once the natural spring, and the poet's years and the Southern Song's fate. Xin Qiji south-fleeing seventeen years, the will's work undone, seeing the years go with the spring and the national power decline with the spring, in haste, spring is going again not only the spring treasuring, but the grief-stricken sigh at the time's flight and the country's non-renewable. The opening how much more, how many winds and rains first writes the wind-and-rain crushing spring, this line supplemented by the haste and the again, the spring's going the more unkeepable. This spring, at once the natural spring, and the poet's years and the Southern Song's fate, the three layered, the meaning elevated from the spring treasuring to the double sigh of the times and the fate.
惜春长怕花开早
Cherishing spring, I always fear the flowers opening too soon.
爱惜春光总怕花儿开得太早
Cherishing spring, I always fear the flowers blooming too early.
此句以反常心理写惜春之切，是全词最见巧思的一笔。常人盼花开早，唯惜春者反怕花早开——因花开得越早，便谢得越快，春光也去得越疾。这种「长怕」的痴情，把惜春之情推向了极致：不是怕花不开，而是怕花早开而早谢。以「怕」写「惜」，正话反说，曲尽衷肠。更深一层，这「怕花开早」的痴人，正是辛弃疾自己——他怕的是国势如花，盛极而衰，更怕自己年华如花，早开早谢而志业未竟。这种「怕」，非怯懦之怕，而是深情之怕，是爱极而生的忧惧，故读来愈觉沉痛。
This line writes the spring's treasuring through the abnormal psychology, the ci's most ingenious stroke. The common man hopes the flowers open early, and only the spring-treasurer fears the early opening — the earlier the flower opens, the faster it fades, the faster the spring goes. This long fear's craziness pushes the spring treasuring to the extreme: not fearing the non-opening, but fearing the early opening and the early fading. Writing the treasuring through the fear, the reverse saying, the heart's utterance. The deeper layer, this fear-the-early-opening craziness is Xin Qiji himself — what he fears is the national power like the flower, the prime and then the decline, and the more his own years like the flower, the early opening and early fading with the will's work undone. This fear not the coward's fear, but the deep feeling's fear, the dread born of the extreme love, hence the reading the more grief-stricken.
蛾眉曾有人妒
The moth-brow beauty was once envied by men.
美人曾遭人嫉妒
The moth-eyebrow beauty was once envied by others.
「蛾眉」二字，是理解全词的一把钥匙。语出屈原《离骚》「众女嫉余之蛾眉兮」，以美人自喻、以谗佞喻妒妇，是屈原开创的香草美人传统。辛弃疾移以自况——他力主恢复、志行高洁，却「蛾眉曾有人妒」，屡遭主和派谗毁排挤。一个「曾」字，写被妒之久；「有人妒」，写谗者之众。这五字以宫怨之笔，道出忠而见嫉的政治现实，是下片全部怨愤的根由，也是辛弃疾十七年南归生涯的浓缩。「蛾眉」之「妒」，非泛泛的争宠，而是忠良与谗佞的正邪之争，故这五字的背后，是一段漫长的忠而见弃的悲剧。
The two words moth-brow are the key to understanding the whole ci. From Qu Yuan's Li Sao, the thronging women envied my moth-brows, figuring the self as the beauty and the slanderers as the envious women, the fragrant-herb-and-beauty tradition Qu Yuan founded. Xin Qiji transferring it to himself — he urged the recovery, his conduct pure, and yet the moth-brow was once envied by men, repeatedly slandered and excluded by the peace faction. The one word once writes the long envy; envied by men writes the slanderers' number. These five characters in the palace-grief brush speak the political reality of the loyal-and-yet-envied, the root of the second stanza's whole resentment, and the condensation of Xin Qiji's seventeen years south of the river. The moth-brow's envy no ordinary rivalry for favor, but the loyal-and-slanderous right-and-wrong strife, hence behind these five characters, a long tragedy of the loyal-and-yet-abandoned.
休去倚危栏
Do not go leaning on the high rail.
别去倚高栏
Do not go and lean on the high railing.
「休去倚危栏」是一句自我劝解，却比直抒更见沉痛。「危栏」即高栏，倚栏远望本是登临的常情，辛弃疾却劝人「休去」，因倚栏所见，唯有「斜阳正在，烟柳断肠处」的残景。斜阳是国势衰微的象征，烟柳是春残梦断的写照，倚栏而望，只会徒增断肠之痛。一个「休」字，是无奈的自抑；而愈是劝人「休去」，愈见其倚栏之欲不可遏、望国之痛不可解。以劝止写不忍，正话反说，正是辛词「潜气内转」的笔法。这种「以劝止写不忍」的反笔，把倚栏望国的执念与倚栏断肠的恐惧并置，愈见其深情与无奈。
Do not go leaning on the high rail is a self-exhortation, and yet the more grief-stricken than the direct utterance. The high rail means the high railing, the leaning and far gazing by nature the climb's common way, and Xin Qiji advises the do not go, because what the leaning sees only the setting sun now at the smoke-willow's gut-breaking spot remnant scene. The setting sun the national power's decline symbol, the smoke willow the spring's end and dream's break portrait, the leaning and gazing only adding the gut-breaking pain. The one word do not is the helpless self-restraint; and the more the advising of the do not go, the more the leaning desire's irrepressibility, the gazing-at-the-country pain's unsolvability. Writing the unbearing through the advising, the reverse saying, precisely Xin's craft of the hidden breath's inward turn. This reverse stroke of writing the unbearing through the advising sets the leaning-and-gazing-at-the-country obsession and the leaning-and-gazing gut-breaking fear side by side, the deep feeling and the helplessness the clearer.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Compare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
屈原《离骚》以「众女嫉余之蛾眉兮」写忠而见妒，以美人迟暮喻壮志难酬，开创了中国诗歌的香草美人比兴传统。辛弃疾《摸鱼儿》「蛾眉曾有人妒」「脉脉此情谁诉」，正是这一传统在词体中的延续。屈子以楚辞写孤忠，辛弃疾以词写孤愤，隔千余年而精神相通。所不同者，屈子的怨是对昏君的绝望，辛弃疾的怨是对时局的忧惧；屈子最终沉江殉志，辛弃疾则「休去倚危栏」而自我抑制。一刚一柔之间，可见比兴传统在不同时代的变奏。
声声慢·寻寻觅觅 Slow Slow Song 李清照 · 同为「闲愁」主题的婉约绝唱 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
李清照《声声慢》「这次第，怎一个愁字了得」，写南渡后国破家亡的深愁；辛弃疾《摸鱼儿》「闲愁最苦」，写报国无门的孤愤。二词同以「愁」为骨，同属婉约一格，愁的内核却不同：李清照之愁，是个人身世与家国之痛的交织，纯是悲凉；辛弃疾之愁，是志士失路的压抑，悲凉中藏着愤激。李清照以「寻寻觅觅」的叠字写愁之茫然，辛弃疾以「闲愁最苦」的直呼写愁之沉痛，一隐一显，皆成绝唱。李词的愁是「铺天盖地」的，辛词的愁是「潜气内转」的，一外放一内敛，各臻其极。
扬州慢·淮左名都 Slow Song of Yangzhou: Famous Capital East of the Huai 姜夔 · 同写家国之悲，缠绵沉郁与清空雅正之别 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
姜夔《扬州慢》「自胡马窥江去后，废池乔木，犹厌言兵」，写金兵南侵后扬州的残破，是南宋咏家国之悲的名篇。辛弃疾《摸鱼儿》则借伤春宫怨写国势之危，是另一种家国之悲。姜词以「清空雅正」见长，写景冷隽，如「二十四桥仍在，波心荡、冷月无声」，悲在字里行间；辛词以「沉郁顿挫」见长，比兴层深，悲在骨子里。姜夔是冷眼旁观的词人，辛弃疾是热血衷肠的志士，同写家国，一淡一浓，一冷一热，各极其妙。而就「写家国之悲而不直说」论，辛词的比兴寄托实更深一层，此正是姜词所不及处。