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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

念奴娇·闹红一舸

Charm of a Maiden Singer: A Boat among the Riot of Red

姜夔

Jiang Kui

咏物Poem on Objects 爱情Love 抒情Lyric

闹红一舸，记来时、尝与鸳鸯为侣。
三十六陂人未到，水佩风裳无数。
翠叶吹凉，玉容销酒，更洒菰蒲雨。
嫣然摇动，冷香飞上诗句。
日暮。
青盖亭亭，情人不见，争忍凌波去。
只恐舞衣寒易落，愁入西风南浦。
高柳垂阴，老鱼吹浪，留我花间住。
田田多少，几回沙际归路。

A boat in the riot of red—
I remember when I came, the mandarin ducks were our companions.
Thirty-six pools, no one has reached;
The water-pendants and wind-dresses, numberless.
The green leaves blow cool,
The jade faces dissolve the wine,
And the rain of the arrowroot and reeds is sprinkled more.
She smiles and sways—
The cold fragrance flies up into the lines of my song.
Dusk falls.
Green canopies stand tall and still;
The lover is not seen—
How can she bear to tread the waves away?
I only fear the dancing robe, cold, will fall easily,
Sorrow entering the western wind by the southern shore.
Tall willows cast their shade,
Old fish blow their bubbles,
And keep me to stay among the flowers.
Lush, lush, the fields of leaves—
How many times have I taken the sandy way home?

Listen

Meaning

Jiang Kui's famous ci on the lotus, sung from a boat gliding through the 'riot of red' blossoms among the pools. The lotus is never named, yet everywhere present: the water-pendants and wind-dresses of the flower-spirits, the jade faces dissolving the wine, the smile and sway that send 'the cold fragrance flying up into the lines of my song.' In the second half the mood turns: at dusk the green canopies stand tall, the lover is not seen, and the poet fears the dancing robe falling cold and the sorrow entering the western wind. The tall willows and old fish keep him among the flowers, and he remembers the many times he has taken the sandy way home. The ci celebrates the lotus, and through it the poet's own lofty solitude and the sorrow of passing youth.

一只小船驶进红荷深处，记得来时曾与鸳鸯为伴。三十六陂的荷花，人迹罕至，水佩风裳，数也数不清。翠绿的荷叶送来清凉，荷花如玉容酒醒，菰蒲之间更洒下细雨。荷花嫣然摇动，冷香仿佛飞上了诗句。日暮时分。青盖亭亭玉立，情人不见踪影，怎忍心凌波离去。只担心舞衣般的荷叶在寒冷中容易凋落，愁绪随着西风飘向南浦。高柳垂下绿阴，老鱼吹起波浪，留我住在花间。田田荷叶不知多少，几次在沙际的归路上流连。

Appreciation

The ci praises the lotus without once naming it, yet nowhere is not the lotus—a model of the ci of objects that writes spirit rather than form, neither clinging nor detached. The opening 'a boat in the riot of red'—the word 'riot' writes the abundance of the red blossoms like ten thousand patches of rouge, and the small boat entering it sets motion against stillness. 'The water-pendants and wind-dresses' dress the lotus in the pendants of water and the dresses of wind, the immortal bearing of the flower standing on the waves. 'The green leaves blow cool, the jade faces dissolve the wine' writes the cool breeze and the red blossom like the flush of a beauty after wine. 'She smiles and sways—the cold fragrance flies up into the lines of my song' is the poem's most extraordinary stroke: the sway of the flower and the cold of its fragrance fly up into the lines of verse, object and poet lost in each other, the flower and the song become one. In the second half the mood turns: at dusk the lover is not seen, the dancing robe falls cold, sorrow enters the western wind—the poet's own feeling of solitude and the passing of youth carried in the fading lotus.

【白话串讲】姜夔写念奴娇咏荷：“闹红一舸，记来时、尝与鸳鸯为侣”。“三十六陂人未到，水佩风裳无数”——“嫣然摇动，冷香飞上诗句”——“日暮。青盖亭亭，情人不见，争忍凌波去”——他写荷花。【意象与手法】全词咏荷而以拟人、通感出之：水佩风裳写荷之衣饰，玉容销酒写荷之色，嫣然摇动写荷之态，舞衣写荷之形，凌波写荷之行，荷花宛然一位凌波仙子；冷香飞上诗句，以嗅觉写诗思，通感奇绝。上片写荷之美，下片写惜荷之情，由日暮而惜别，章法井然。【情感与主旨】此词为姜夔客武陵时游荷塘而作，自序谓予客武陵，古城野水，乔木参天……意象幽闲，不类人境。词中写荷花之清绝与无人赏爱（三十六陂人未到），实有以荷自喻之意，寄托白石一生飘零、清高自守的怀抱；只恐舞衣寒易落，愁入西风南浦，惜花亦即惜人，惜自己如荷花般清冷易衰、终归飘零。【名句点睛】嫣然摇动，冷香飞上诗句，以冷香二字写荷之清香幽冷，飞上诗句更将香与诗打通，奇思妙想，为咏物词中难得的传神之笔。

Background

This is Jiang Kui's famous ci on the lotus, from his own preface: 'I was a guest in Wuling, where the Hubei judicial commission was stationed. The old city and wild water, tall trees touching the sky. I and two or three friends rowed among them every day, drinking beneath the lotus. The scene was quiet and remote, unlike the human world. As autumn drew on and the water dried, the lotus stood ten feet from the ground, and we sat beneath them, the sky hidden above. A clear breeze came slowly, and the green clouds moved of themselves. Through the gaps I caught sight of travelers' painted boats, and it was a joy. Later at Wuxing I often wandered among the lotus, and once more at night on the West Lake, the scenery strange and lovely. And so I wrote it with these lines.' Jiang Kui, a lifelong commoner dependent on patrons, wandered between Huzhou, Hangzhou, Wuling, and Yangzhou, lofty and self-possessed under others' roofs; his ci, clear and elegant, 'like a wild cloud flying alone.' This ci was written amid his pleasure in the lotus, and its closing words—hoping that later visitors will appreciate it—clearly carry the meaning of writing himself in the flower, grieving his own lack of recognition.

此词为姜夔咏荷名篇，原题《念奴娇》，因首句闹红一舸，故后人常以闹红一舸称之。姜夔自序云：予客武陵，湖北宪治在焉。古城野水，乔木参天。予与二三友日荡舟其间，薄荷花而饮。意象幽闲，不类人境。秋水且涸，荷叶出地寻丈，因列坐其下，上不见日。清风徐来，绿云自动。间于疏处，窥见游人画船，亦一乐也。朅来吴兴，数得相羊荷花中。又夜泛西湖，光景奇绝。故以此句写之。武陵即今湖南常德，时为湖北路提点刑狱司治所。姜夔一生布衣，依人而食，往来于湖州、杭州、武陵、扬州之间，寄人篱下而清高自守，其词清空骚雅，如野云孤飞，去留无迹。此词即作于游赏荷花之际，而以荷花自况，序末盖意欲使来者赏之之语，分明有借花喻人、自伤不遇之意。就咏物词史而言，姜夔咏物不滞于物，专以空灵传神见长，此词与《暗香》《疏影》咏梅同为白石咏物的代表作，标志着南宋咏物词以清空写神韵的新境界。

Art

The art lies in praising the lotus without naming it, writing spirit rather than form. The opening 'a boat in the riot of red' writes the abundance of the blossoms; 'the water-pendants and wind-dresses, numberless' dresses the lotus in the pendants of water and the dresses of wind; 'the green leaves blow cool, the jade faces dissolve the wine' writes the cool breeze and the flush of the blossom; 'she smiles and sways—the cold fragrance flies up into the lines of my song' is the poem's most extraordinary stroke, object and poet lost in each other. In the second half the mood turns: at dusk the lover is not seen, and the poet fears the dancing robe falling cold, the sorrow entering the western wind. The tall willows and old fish keep him among the flowers, and the 'fields of leaves' and the 'sandy way home' close with the poet's repeated lingering. The whole is carried by empty strokes, the flower's form and spirit both present without a single word of its name.

此词咏荷而全不著一荷字，却无处不是荷，是咏物词以神写形、不即不离的典范。起句闹红一舸，一个闹字，写红荷之盛，如万点胭脂，热闹非凡，而一舸小船驶入其中，动静相生；记来时、尝与鸳鸯为侣，以鸳鸯写荷塘之幽静，为后文人未到作引。三十六陂人未到，水佩风裳无数，写荷之地广人稀，水佩风裳以衣饰拟荷，荷衣蕙带，凌波而立，仙姿绰约。翠叶吹凉，玉容销酒，更洒菰蒲雨，由叶及花：翠叶吹凉写清风送爽，玉容销酒写红荷如美人酒后红晕，菰蒲雨更添水乡清冷之气。嫣然摇动，冷香飞上诗句，为全词最奇之笔，荷之摇动、香之清冷，竟飞上诗句，物我两忘，诗与花合一。下片换头日暮二字，一顿，时间陡转：青盖亭亭，情人不见，争忍凌波去，以荷拟凌波仙子，情人不见而独守清波；只恐舞衣寒易落，愁入西风南浦，舞衣即荷叶，寒易落写秋之将至，花叶将衰，惜花之情转为迟暮之忧；高柳垂阴，老鱼吹浪，留我花间住，物皆有情，留客花间；结句田田多少，几回沙际归路，田田化用汉乐府莲叶何田田，写归路流连、去而复返。全词以拟人贯串，以时间为脉（来时—日暮—归路），层层写出荷之美、荷之孤、荷之将衰与人之惜别，是咏物词中神形兼备的绝唱。

Allusions

The ci uses its allusions with consummate skill, dissolved without trace. 'The water-pendants and wind-dresses' transforms the 'Mountain Spirit' of the Nine Songs and Qu Yuan's tradition of wearing pendants, dressing the lotus in pendants of water and dresses of wind, giving the flower the bearing of the spirit of the Xiang River. 'Treading the waves' comes from Cao Zhi's 'Rhapsody on the Goddess of the Luo,' 'treading the waves with tiny steps, her silk stockings raising dust'—the goddess's step made the lotus a water fairy. 'Thirty-six pools' is the common phrase of the Song poets for the many pools of the water country, as in Wang Anshi's 'thirty-six pools of misty water, my white head longs to see the south of the river.' 'Arrowroot and reeds' are the water plants of the river country. 'Lush, lush' (tiantian) comes directly from the Han yuefu 'The South of the River': 'the lotus leaves are lush, the fish play beneath the leaves.'

此词用典精妙，化而无迹。水佩风裳，化用《楚辞·九歌·湘夫人》捐余袂兮江中，遗余褋兮醴浦之句意与屈原纫秋兰以为佩的佩饰传统，以荷为佩、以风为裳，荷花遂有湘灵之姿。凌波，出自曹植《洛神赋》凌波微步，罗袜生尘，本写洛神宓妃之步态，姜夔以凌波写荷之亭亭玉立，荷花遂成水仙。三十六陂，陂即池塘，宋人诗词中常用以泛指水乡陂塘之多，如王安石题西太一宫壁杨柳鸣蜩绿暗，荷花落日红酣，三十六陂烟水，白头想见江南，三十六陂遂与荷花、江南乡愁相连。菰蒲，为江南水乡常见水生植物，温庭筠、张籍诗词中多以菰蒲写水乡野趣。田田，直接化用汉乐府《江南》江南可采莲，莲叶何田田，田田状荷叶茂密相连之貌，以古乐府语入词，古意盎然。南浦，出自江淹《别赋》送君南浦，伤如之何，又承屈原《九歌·河伯》送美人兮南浦，遂成离别意象，愁入西风南浦，惜花亦惜别，离情暗寓。舞衣，以舞女之衣喻荷叶，与《九歌·少司命》荷衣兮蕙带相呼应。全词熔铸楚辞、乐府、汉魏辞赋于一炉，而归于清空骚雅，正是白石咏物的家法。

Commentary

This ci is one of Jiang Kui's representative pieces on objects, and critics have always admired its clear, empty quality. Zhang Yan's study of ci praised Jiang Kui's lines 'like a wild cloud flying alone, coming and going without a trace,' and held up the word 'clear and empty'—and this ci is a model of it: it praises the lotus without once naming it, while the water-pendants, the wind-dresses, the jade faces dissolving the wine, the smile and sway, and the green canopies standing tall all bring the lotus's form and spirit to life, written wholly in empty strokes, neither clinging nor detached. 'The cold fragrance flies up into the lines of my song' is especially admired; the two words 'cold fragrance' opened the later tradition of writing fragrance through cold and warm, and 'flying up into the lines' joins the sense of smell, the sense of sight, and the thought of verse, a rare synesthetic stroke in the ci of objects.

此词为姜夔咏物词的代表作之一，历代论者激赏其清空之致。张炎《词源》论姜夔词，谓其如野云孤飞，去留无迹，又标举清空二字，此词正是清空的范本：咏荷不着一荷字，而水佩风裳、玉容销酒、嫣然摇动、青盖亭亭，荷之形神毕现，全以虚写传神，不粘不脱。嫣然摇动，冷香飞上诗句，尤为后人称道，冷香二字开后来咏物词以冷暖写香气的先河，飞上诗句更将嗅觉、视觉与诗思打通，为咏物词中罕见的通感奇笔。就思想而言，词中三十六陂人未到写荷之孤高，只恐舞衣寒易落写荷之易衰，惜花之情实为自伤：姜夔一生清贫飘零，依人而食，其词亦如其人，清冷孤高而时有迟暮之忧，此词正是借荷花自写怀抱。与周邦彦《六丑》咏蔷薇之沉郁相比，白石咏荷更见清空；与晏几道咏荷词之秾丽相比，白石更见幽冷，是以冷香为骨、以骚雅为韵的咏物高格，在词史上独树一帜，也确立了南宋咏物词以神写韵的新典范。

Prosody

Form Tune 'Charm of a Maiden Singer,' double, one hundred characters, ten lines to each half, four oblique rhymes词牌《念奴娇》，双调一百字，上下片各十句、四仄韵

Rhyme The first half rhymes lü, shu, yu, ju; the second half qu, pu, zhu, lu, all falling-tone rhymes, deep and forthright, matching the feeling of pitying the flower in its late season上片押侣、数、雨、句，下片押去、浦、住、路，皆属仄声语麌、遇御韵通押，仄韵沉郁顿挫，与惜花迟暮之情相合。

Tone pattern The lines mix four-, five-, and seven-character measures, the opening four characters 'a boat in the riot of red' short and forceful; the second half opens on the two characters 'dusk falls' as a line by itself, a pause and a turn, the tone moving from warmth to cold, like a single note of the evening drum句式以四、五、七言相间，起句四字（闹红一舸）短促有力；下片换头日暮二字独立成句，一顿一挫，声情由热烈转清冷，如暮鼓一声。

Reading note The tune's mixture of measures and the isolated 'dusk falls' of the second half carry the turn from the heat of the blossoms to the cold of the dusk.《念奴娇》为词调名，相传因唐玄宗时歌女念奴而得名，双调一百字，上下片各四仄韵，又名《百字令》《大江东去》《酹江月》等，苏轼《念奴娇·赤壁怀古》即用此调。姜夔此词严守仄韵之律：上片侣、数、雨、句，下片去、浦、住、路，皆仄声韵，且上声与去声通押，声情顿挫。句式上，起句闹红一舸四字短句入韵，先声夺人；下片换头日暮二字单句独立，是全词唯一的两字短句，如暮鼓一声，将上片的荷塘白日与下片的日暮惜别截然分开，章法与声情高度统一。全词多用人声字（一、舸、识、日、只、落、入、几），声调短促幽冷，正与冷香的意境相谐。诵读此词，上片宜亮，传红荷之盛；下片宜沉，传日暮之愁，只恐舞衣寒易落一句尤宜低回，声情与辞情相凑，方见白石清空骚雅之致。

Line by line

闹红一舸，记来时、尝与鸳鸯为侣。

A boat in the riot of red—I remember when I came, the mandarin ducks were our companions. (The opening: the 'riot' writes the abundance of the red blossoms, and the small boat entering it sets motion against stillness, with the mandarin ducks of the pool as companions.)

一只小船驶进红荷盛开的深处，记得来时，曾与成双的鸳鸯为伴同行，好不惬意。

One small boat in the riot of red lotuses; I remember, on the way here, we were once companioned by the mandarin ducks.

起句闹红一舸，一个闹字写尽红荷繁盛之态：万荷竞放，如万点胭脂喧闹枝头，是视觉的热闹化作听觉的喧哗，与宋祁红杏枝头春意闹同一机杼；而一舸小舟，以一叶之静闯入万红之闹，动静相生，画面顿活。记来时、尝与鸳鸯为侣，鸳鸯双栖，本写荷塘之幽静安详，也为后文人未到作引：鸳鸯为侣者，尚有禽鸟相伴，而人来时荷花却无人赏爱，孤高之意暗伏。此句以闹起笔，以静收束，先声夺人，定下全词红荷灿烂而幽寂的基调，也见白石炼字之奇、造境之工。

The opening one small boat in the riot of red lotuses, the one word riot exhausting the red lotuses' lushness: the ten thousand lotuses blooming, like ten thousand dots of rouge making a stir on the branches, the visual bustle turned into the auditory clamor, one loom with Song Qi's the red apricot branches, spring's clamor; and the one leaf boat, with the one-leaf stillness entering the ten-thousand-red bustle, the motion and stillness feeding each other, the picture alive. I remember, on the way here, we were once companioned by the mandarin ducks: the mandarin ducks paired, by nature writing the lotus pond's quiet calm, and also leading the below's the man's not-arrived: the mandarin-duck-companioned, still having the birds' company, and the man's arrival and yet the lotuses' no one's admiration, the lofty meaning secretly stored. This line rising on the riot, closing on the stillness, the voice striking first, setting the ci's red-lotuses-bright-and-yet-secluded tone, and showing Jiang Kui's word craft and realm building.

翠叶吹凉，玉容销酒，更洒菰蒲雨。

The green leaves blow cool, the jade faces dissolve the wine, and the rain of the arrowroot and reeds is sprinkled more. (From leaf to flower: the green leaves blow cool, the red blossom flushes like a beauty after wine, and the rain of the water plants adds the cold of the river country.)

翠绿的荷叶送来清凉，荷花如玉容酒醒，菰蒲之间更洒下细雨，水乡气息扑面而来。

The green leaves breathe coolness, the jade faces fade from wine, and rain falls on the wild rice and the cattails.

此句由叶及花，层层写出荷的风神。翠叶吹凉，写清风掠过荷叶，送来阵阵凉意，叶与风互动，清凉可感；玉容销酒，以美人酒醒后红晕渐消写红荷的颜色，色如胭脂而渐趋清雅，拟人而传神；更洒菰蒲雨，菰蒲是水乡常见水生植物，雨洒菰蒲，更添几分清冷的水乡之气。三句一句一境：叶之凉、花之色、雨之声，视觉、触觉、听觉并用，荷塘的清丽与清凉扑面而来。玉容销酒与上片水佩风裳相续，荷花宛然一位酒后初醒的凌波仙子，姿容绝代而神色清冷，为下文冷香飞上诗句作了形象上的铺垫。

This line from the leaf to the flower, layer by layer writing the lotus's grace. The green leaves breathe coolness writes the clear wind passing the lotus leaves, sending the cool gusts, the leaf and the wind in interplay, the coolness palpable; the jade faces fade from wine figures the red lotus's color through the beauty's wine-drunken flush fading, the color like rouge and yet turning elegant, personified and vivid; and rain falls on the wild rice and the cattails, the wild rice and cattails the water-town common plants, the rain on them adding the water town's cold breath. Three lines, one line one realm: the leaf's coolness, the flower's color, the rain's sound, sight touch hearing together, the lotus pond's clearness and coolness upon the face. The jade faces fade from wine inheriting the first stanza's water-ornament and wind-robe, the lotus as if a just-awakened-from-wine goddess of the waves, the peerless grace and the cold air, storing the image ground for the below's cold fragrance flying up into the verse.

嫣然摇动，冷香飞上诗句。

She smiles and sways—the cold fragrance flies up into the lines of my song. (The poem's most extraordinary stroke: the sway of the flower and the cold of its fragrance fly up into the lines of verse, object and poet lost in each other, the flower and the song become one.)

荷花嫣然一笑般轻轻摇动，清冷的香气仿佛飞上了我的诗句，物我两忘，妙不可言。

Smiling, they sway; the cold fragrance flies up into the verse.

这是全词最奇之笔，也是咏物词中传神的名句。嫣然摇动，以美人嫣然一笑写荷花在风中轻摇之态，拟人而绰约生姿，荷之动态尽在嫣然二字之中；冷香飞上诗句，更是奇思妙想：冷字以冷暖写香，荷香生于秋水，清冷幽峭，非寻常花香可比；飞上诗句，则将嗅觉与诗思打通，荷香袅袅，竟如飞鸟般栖上笔端，化为诗句，物我两忘，诗与花合而为一。此句由观荷到写荷，由花香到诗香，境界空灵飞动，正是白石清空词风的极致表现，冷香二字亦成为咏物词中以冷暖写香气的经典笔法，后世咏荷者多祖述之。

This is the ci's most wondrous stroke, and the thing-ode ci's vivid famous line. Smiling, they sway figures the lotus's wind-swaying through the beauty's smiling smile, personified and graceful, the lotus's motion all within the two words smiling; the cold fragrance flies up into the verse, the further wondrous thought: the word cold writing the fragrance through temperature, the lotus fragrance born in the autumn water, cold and secluded, beyond the ordinary flower scent; flies up into the verse, at once linking the smell and the poetic thought, the lotus fragrance curling, as if a bird lighting on the brush tip, turning into verse, the thing and the self forgotten, the poem and the flower fused. This line from watching the lotus to writing the lotus, from the flower's fragrance to the poem's fragrance, the realm ethereal and moving, precisely Jiang Kui's clear-empty style's extreme, and the two words cold fragrance becoming the thing-ode ci's classic brush of writing scent through temperature, the later lotus poets mostly following it.

只恐舞衣寒易落，愁入西风南浦。

I only fear the dancing robe, cold, will fall easily, sorrow entering the western wind by the southern shore. (The turn of the mood: the lotus's dancing robe will fall in the cold, and sorrow enters the western wind by the southern shore of parting—the poet's own feeling of solitude and the passing of youth carried in the fading flower.)

只担心那舞衣般的荷叶在寒冷中容易凋落，愁绪随着西风飘向南浦，惹人怜惜。

I only fear the dance robes, in the cold, will soon fall; grief drifts with the west wind to Nanpu.

此句由赏荷转入惜荷，是全词情感的转折。舞衣以舞女之衣喻荷叶，荷叶在风中摇曳如舞衣飘举，姿态之美，呼之欲出；寒易落写秋之将至，天气转寒，荷叶易凋，繁华易逝，舞者将散。只恐二字，将惜花之情写得缠绵悱恻：不是花开将谢之实写，而是未雨绸缪之忧惧，愈是深爱，愈恐其逝。愁入西风南浦，南浦是古典诗词中的离别之地（江淹《别赋》送君南浦），愁随西风飘向南浦，惜花亦即惜别，亦惜自身之飘零迟暮。此句以舞衣之华美写荷叶之将衰，以惜花之深情写自伤之怀抱，是白石借物写心、物我交融的典型笔法，读之令人低回。

This line from the lotus admiration to the lotus treasuring, the ci's emotional turn. The dance robe figures the lotus leaf through the dancer's robe, the leaf swaying in the wind like the dance robe's lifting, the beauty ready to appear; the cold-easy-to-fall writes the autumn's coming, the weather's cooling, the leaf's easy fading, the lushness's easy passing, the dancers' scattering. The two words I only fear, writing the flower-treasuring feeling lingering: not the flower's about-to-fade fact, but the rain-before-the-wind dread, the deeper the love, the more the fear of the passing. Grief drifts with the west wind to Nanpu, Nanpu the parting place in classical poetry (Jiang Yan's Rhapsody on Parting, seeing you off at Nanpu), the grief drifting with the west wind to Nanpu, the flower-treasuring at once the parting-treasuring, and the self's drifting late year. This line writing the leaf's coming decay through the dance robe's splendor, writing the self-grief through the flower-treasuring's deep feeling, precisely Jiang Kui's borrowing-the-thing-to-write-the-heart, thing-and-self fused typical brush, the reading low and lingering.

Study

Word focus

闹 Riot. The opening word: 'a boat in the riot of red' writes the abundance of the red blossoms like ten thousand patches of rouge, the whole pool in a riot of color, and the small boat entering it sets motion against stillness. 闹红一舸之闹，是白石炼字的惊人之笔。闹本写人声喧哗，此处移以写红荷之繁盛，万荷竞放，如火如荼，仿佛彼此喧闹争春，将视觉的热闹化为听觉的喧哗，通感之妙，与宋祁红杏枝头春意闹并称词坛双璧。闹字极重极响，而一舸小舟以静制动，以极小之船闯入极大之红，动静相生，画面顿活，红荷之盛与游赏之趣尽在其中。若易以盛、多、繁等字，则只见数量，不见生气；闹字则赋予红荷以生命与性情，万花如人，竞相喧哗，为全词定下热烈而灿烂的基调。然热闹只是外表，下文三十六陂人未到、只恐舞衣寒易落，冷清与迟暮之思相继而来，由闹入冷，正是白石词由秾丽归于清空的写照。

冷 Cold. The synesthetic word: 'the cold fragrance flies up into the lines of my song'—the fragrance written through cold, the sense of smell and the sense of touch joined, opening the later tradition of writing fragrance through cold and warm. 冷香飞上诗句之冷，是白石咏物词中以冷暖写香气的经典字眼。香本无形无温，冷字却将荷香写得幽清孤峭：荷生秋水，其香自带着水乡的清冷之气，不同于牡丹之浓、梅菊之烈，冷字精准地捕捉了荷香的特质。冷香二字还有更深一层的寄托：白石词风清空骚雅，如野云孤飞，其人清贫自守，依人而食而不改其节，冷香正是白石人格的写照，冷是清高，香是才情。此字与上片闹红的热烈对照，一闹一冷，由盛景入清境，由秾丽归清空，正是白石词风演进的缩影。冷香一词遂成咏物词的经典语汇，后世咏荷咏梅者，多喜袭用其意，而终难及白石之浑然天成。

舞 Dancing. 'The dancing robe, cold, will fall easily'—the lotus's petals as a dancer's robe, beautiful and fragile, its fall in the cold the emblem of the passing of youth. 只恐舞衣寒易落之舞，以舞女之衣喻荷叶，是白石拟人写荷最见情韵的一笔。舞字赋予荷叶以人的动态与生命：荷叶阔大如裙，在风中摇曳生姿，恰似舞女旋身，裙裾飘举，荷塘遂成舞场，叶舞之姿，如在目前。舞衣与寒易落连读，更见匠心：舞衣本是华美之物，而寒易落三字，使华美的舞衣面临秋寒凋落的命运，舞者将散，繁华将歇，惜花之情与迟暮之忧俱在舞字之中。若直说荷叶凋落，则索然无味；以舞衣写荷叶，则荷之将衰，如美人迟暮，如舞女退场，凄美动人。此字将惜花之情写得缠绵悱恻，也暗含白石自伤飘零、清才易老的怀抱，是借物写心的妙笔。