All poems

宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

欧阳修·采桑子·群芳过后西湖好

Cai Sang Zi · After All Flowers, the West Lake Is Fair

欧阳修

Ouyang Xiu

婉约graceful 山水landscape

采桑子·群芳过后西湖好群芳过后西湖好，狼藉残红，飞絮濛濛，垂柳阑干尽日风。
笙歌散尽游人去，始觉春空。
垂下帘栊，双燕归来细雨中。

After all flowers, the West Lake is fair: scattered fallen red, willow catkins misty, drooping willows by the rail all day in wind.
The pipes and songs dispersed, the visitors gone—only then I feel spring's emptiness.
I lower the curtain; twin swallows return in the fine rain.

Listen

Meaning

After the hundred flowers fade, the West Lake's scene is fairer: fallen red scattered on the ground, willow catkins misty, drooping willows by the rail all day swaying in the wind. The pipes and songs dispersed, the visitors gone—only then one feels spring's emptiness. Lowering the curtain, a pair of swallows return in the fine rain.

百花凋谢之后，西湖的景致更好：残花狼藉满地，飞絮濛濛一片，垂柳依着栏杆整日里随风轻拂。笙歌散尽、游人也去了，这才觉出春的空寂。垂下窗帘，一双燕子在细雨中归来。

Appreciation

This lyric is one of Ouyang Xiu's ten West Lake (Yingzhou) lyrics, likely written in his late years in retirement at Yingzhou. The poet weathered official storms all his life; in his old age he returned to seclusion, finding ease among the West Lake hills and waters. After all flowers, the visitors gone, others might feel desolation, yet Ouyang Xiu feels 'the West Lake is fair'—exactly showing his open breast, after experiencing glory and decay, to accept circumstances and enjoy the beauty of withering and plainness, also holding an active distance from the noisy and bustling.

【白话串讲】 “群芳过后西湖好，狼藉残红，飞絮濛濛”——欧阳修说：花开过后的西湖也好，残红狼藉，飞絮蒙蒙。“笙歌散尽游人去，始觉春空”——人散后，才觉得春天空了。“垂下帘栊，双燕归来细雨中”——双燕在细雨中归来。【意象与手法】上片以“群芳过后”领起，不写繁盛写凋零：残红狼藉、飞絮濛濛、垂柳临风，三景并列而动静相宜，清幽可喜【情感与主旨】此词为欧阳修《采桑子》咏颍州西湖组词十首之一，约作于其晚年退居颍州时【名句点睛】考点：一、为何“群芳过后”反觉“西湖好”的逆向立意；二、“始觉春空”的深层意蕴；三、结句以景结情的空灵之美

Background

This lyric is one of Ouyang Xiu's set of ten West Lake (Yingzhou) lyrics, likely written in his late years in retirement at Yingzhou. The poet weathered official storms all his life; in his old age he returned to seclusion, finding ease among the West Lake hills and waters. After all flowers, the visitors gone, others might feel desolation, yet Ouyang Xiu feels 'the West Lake is fair'—exactly showing his open breast, after glory and decay, to accept circumstances and enjoy the beauty of withering plainness, also holding an active distance from the noisy and bustling.

《采桑子·群芳过后西湖好》为北宋词人欧阳修所作。欧阳修（1007—1072），字永叔，号醉翁，庐陵人，北宋文坛领袖，“唐宋八大家”之一。此词为欧阳修晚年退居颍州时所作《采桑子》组词之一，写西湖暮春之景：群芳过后西湖好，狼藉残红，飞絮濛濛，垂柳阑干尽日风；笙歌散尽游人去，始觉春空；垂下帘栊，双燕归来细雨中。全词写暮春西湖之美与春空之静，是欧阳修晚年闲适词的代表作。

Art

The first part leads with 'After all flowers', not writing abundance but withering: scattered fallen red, misty catkins, willows in wind—three scenes side by side, motion and stillness fitting, clear and lovely. The second part turns with 'pipes and songs dispersed', from scene to person; 'only then I feel spring's emptiness' is the most chewable four characters; closing with curtain lowered, twin swallows in fine rain, a minute still scene ends it, empty and distant. The whole is white-description, unforced yet self-wrought—such is the Liu Yi spirit.

《采桑子·群芳过后西湖好》艺术上以反常的审美与冲淡的意境见长。全词结构分明：上片写暮春之景——“群芳过后西湖好”写群芳过后西湖仍好，“狼藉残红，飞絮濛濛”写落红狼藉、飞絮濛濛，“垂柳阑干尽日风”写垂柳尽日临风；下片写春空之感——“笙歌散尽游人去，始觉春空”写笙歌散尽始觉春空，“垂下帘栊，双燕归来细雨中”写垂帘双燕归雨中。全词以“群芳过后西湖好”写反常的审美——不在春盛时赏景，而在群芳过后赏其幽静；以“始觉春空”写春去之感，冲淡而隽永，正是欧阳修晚年词“闲适冲淡”的风格。

Allusions

'After all flowers' darkly uses Li Yu's 'forest flowers, the spring red withers' and the Tang tradition of spring-sorrow, yet reverses its lament into appreciation; 'twin swallows return' transforms Yan Shu's 'as if known, the swallows return' image, but here the twin swallows return to the nest in fine rain, writing motion within stillness, interest within emptiness, no trace of grief. This lyric does not win by obscure allusion but by ordinary language writing a plain and distant realm, the allusion like salt in water, leaving no trace.

《采桑子·群芳过后西湖好》用典少而意象自出。“西湖”指颍州西湖（今安徽阜阳），为欧阳修晚年退居之地；“残红”“飞絮”写暮春之景；“笙歌”写歌乐；“双燕”自《诗经》以来为归巢之象。全词以这些意象写暮春西湖之景，不用深典而意境自远。欧阳修晚年退居颍州，其《采桑子》十首皆写西湖之美，此词正是其代表作——以暮春之景写闲适之情，正是“六一居士”晚年心境的写照。

Commentary

Wang Guowei said 'all scene-writing is feeling-writing'; this lyric best writes open breast through plain scene. Modern critics say Liu Yi's lyrics 'loose and outstanding opened Su Shi, deep and gentle opened Qin Guan'; this piece is of the plain-distant line, finding ease-in-circumstances interest among fallen red and flying catkins—compared with Yan Shu's warmth and Qin Guan's mist, a different kind of leisurely grace.

《采桑子·群芳过后西湖好》是欧阳修晚年词的代表作，也是《采桑子》十首中的名篇。此词写暮春西湖之美与春空之感，向为论者称道。论者多赏其“群芳过后西湖好”的起笔——以“群芳过后”写暮春，而着“好”字，正是反常的审美，写出西湖暮春的幽静之美；“垂下帘栊，双燕归来细雨中”写垂帘双燕，更见冲淡。欧阳修晚年退居颍州，以“六一居士”自号，其词多写闲适之情，此词正是其代表作——以暮春之景写闲适之心，正是冲淡隽永的风格。

Prosody

Form Lyric, 'Cai Sang Zi' double-tune forty-four characters词牌·采桑子

Rhyme Level rhyme, by Ci Lin Zheng Yun, three level rhymes each part《采桑子》为双调，上下片各四句，押平声韵。此词用韵：好、红、濛、风（东部）、去、空、栊、中（东部），上下片同韵，音节流转。

Tone pattern Seven-character plus four-character, level-oblique gentle and harmonious《采桑子》句式以四、七言相间，音节流转。此词上片写暮春之景，音节清丽，如狼藉残红；下片写春空之感，音节冲淡，如双燕归来。全词以平韵贯底，声调与闲适冲淡的内容相合，是宋词中闲适冲淡的一路。

Reading note 'Cai Sang Zi' has a light, easy tune, fit for leisure small scenes; Ouyang Xiu wrote West Lake in linked pieces, this one most gains the plain-distant quality.《采桑子·群芳过后西湖好》为词牌《采桑子》，是欧阳修晚年词的代表作。此词写暮春西湖之美：群芳过后、狼藉残红、飞絮濛濛写暮春之象，笙歌散尽、始觉春空、双燕归来写春空之感。以“群芳过后西湖好”写反常之审美，以“双燕归来细雨中”写春空而生机犹在，冲淡而隽永。欧阳修晚年退居颍州，以“六一居士”自号，其词多写闲适，此词正是其晚年心境的写照。

Line by line

群芳过后西湖好，狼藉残红，飞絮濛濛，垂柳阑干尽日风。

After all the flowers have passed, the West Lake is still fair: fallen petals lie in disorder, the flying catkins drift like mist, the willows by the rail sway all day in the wind.

群芳开过之后，西湖依然美好。落红狼藉，飞絮濛濛，垂柳伴着阑干，尽日在风中飘拂。

After all the flowers have passed, the West Lake remains beautiful; the fallen petals lie in disorder, the flying catkins drift like mist, the drooping willows by the rail sway in the wind all day.

上片写暮春西湖之景。“群芳过后西湖好”写群芳过后仍好——“群芳过后”写百花开过之暮春，“西湖好”写西湖仍好，正是反常的审美；“狼藉残红，飞絮濛濛”写暮春之象——“狼藉残红”写落红狼藉，“飞絮濛濛”写柳絮濛濛如雾；“垂柳阑干尽日风”写垂柳临风——“垂柳阑干”写垂柳伴着阑干，“尽日风”写尽日在风中飘拂。四句写暮春西湖之美：群芳过后，落红狼藉、飞絮濛濛，非春盛之繁华，而是暮春之幽静；垂柳尽日临风，更见其摇曳。以“群芳过后西湖好”写反常之审美，以“狼藉残红”“飞絮濛濛”写暮春之象，正是欧阳修写西湖暮春之美的笔法——美在幽静而非繁华。

The first stanza writes the late-spring West Lake scene. After all the flowers have passed, the West Lake is still fair writes the post-passing fairness — the all-the-flowers-have-passed writing the hundred-flowers' late spring, the West Lake fair writing the lake still fair, precisely the abnormal aesthetic; fallen petals lie in disorder, the flying catkins drift like mist writes the late-spring image — the disordered fallen petals, the misty flying catkins; the drooping willows by the rail sway all day in the wind writes the willow in the wind — the drooping willows by the rail, the all-day wind's swaying. Four lines writing the late-spring West Lake beauty: the flowers passed, the disordered petals and misty catkins, not the spring's lushness, but the late spring's quiet; the willows' all-day wind, the swaying the clearer. Writing the abnormal aesthetic through the post-passing fairness, the late-spring image through the disordered petals and misty catkins, precisely Ouyang Xiu's West Lake late-spring beauty brush — the beauty in the quiet, not the bustle.

笙歌散尽游人去，始觉春空。垂下帘栊，双燕归来细雨中。

The flutes and songs have dispersed, the visitors gone; only then I feel the spring's emptiness. Let the curtains fall: a pair of swallows comes home through the fine rain.

笙歌散尽，游人离去，才觉春已空。垂下帘栊，双燕在细雨中归来。

The flutes and songs have dispersed, the visitors gone; only then I feel the spring's emptiness. I let down the window curtains; a pair of swallows returns in the fine rain.

下片写春空之感与归燕之景，是全词的归结。“笙歌散尽游人去，始觉春空”写春空之感——“笙歌散尽”写歌乐已歇，“游人去”写游人已去，“始觉春空”写才觉春空——笙歌游人去后，才觉春意已空；“垂下帘栊，双燕归来细雨中”写归燕之景——“垂下帘栊”写垂下窗帘，“双燕归来细雨中”写双燕在细雨中归来。四句由笙歌散尽写到始觉春空，再写到垂帘双燕：笙歌游人散尽，春意已空；垂下帘栊，双燕却在细雨中归来。以“始觉春空”写春去之感，以“双燕归来细雨中”写春去而生机犹在，正是欧阳修晚年词冲淡隽永的归结——春空而燕归，闲适而恬淡。

The second stanza writes the spring-emptiness feeling and the returning-swallow scene, the ci's close. The flutes and songs have dispersed, the visitors gone; only then I feel the spring's emptiness writes the spring-emptiness feeling — the songs dispersed, the visitors gone, the only-then spring emptiness; I let down the window curtains; a pair of swallows returns in the fine rain writes the returning swallows. Four lines, from the songs dispersed to the only-then spring emptiness, to the curtained window and the returning swallows: the songs and visitors dispersed, the spring feeling empty; the curtains lowered, and the swallows return in the fine rain. Writing the spring's going through the only-then spring emptiness, writing the spring's going and the life's remaining through the returning swallows, precisely Ouyang Xiu's late-year ci's light-and-deep close — the spring empty and the swallows return, the leisure and the plainness.

Study

Word focus

群芳过后 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “群芳过后西湖好”之“群芳过后”，写百花开过之后，是全词反常审美的关键词。“群芳”写百花，“过后”写开过之后——群芳过后，西湖仍好。这一词写欧阳修赏景之时：不在群芳盛开时赏，而在群芳过后赏，正是反常的审美。以“群芳过后”写暮春，着“好”字，正是欧阳修写出西湖暮春幽静之美的笔法。

狼藉残红 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “狼藉残红”之“狼藉残红”，写落红狼藉，是全词写暮春之象的关键词。“狼藉”写散乱，“残红”写将谢之花——落红狼藉，散乱满地。这一词写暮春之凋：不是繁花似锦，而是落红狼藉；不是春盛之美，而是春残之象。以“狼藉残红”写暮春，正是欧阳修写西湖暮春之景、以残红写幽静的笔法。

春空 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “始觉春空”之“春空”，写春意已空，是全词写春去之感的关键词。“春”写春意，“空”写其尽——笙歌散尽、游人去后，始觉春空。这一词写春去之觉：不是春在，而是春空；不是繁盛，而是空寂。以“春空”写春去，正是欧阳修晚年词冲淡的笔法——繁华散尽，始觉春空。

帘栊 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “垂下帘栊”之“帘栊”，写窗帘，是全词写归燕之景的关键词。“帘栊”写带栊之帘——垂下帘栊，写其放下窗帘。这一词写欧阳修闲居之态：笙歌散去、春空之时，垂下帘栊；而双燕在细雨中归来。以“垂下帘栊”写闲适，以“双燕归来”写生机，正是欧阳修晚年词冲淡隽永的笔法——春空而燕归，恬淡而自适。