宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
欧阳修·踏莎行·候馆梅残
Treading the Grass · Plum Withers at the Wayside Inn
踏莎行·候馆梅残候馆梅残，溪桥柳细，草薰风暖摇征辔。
离愁渐远渐无穷，迢迢不断如春水。
寸寸柔肠，盈盈粉泪，楼高莫近危阑倚。
平芜尽处是春山，行人更在春山外。
By the bridge, the willow is slender;
Grass breathes fragrance, wind is warm, the traveller's rein sways.
Parting sorrow grows distant and grows boundless,
Far, far, unbroken as the spring water.
Inch by inch the tender heart;
Brimming, the powder tears.
Do not lean on the high rail of the tower.
Where the level grass ends is the spring mountain;
The traveller is beyond the spring mountain.
Meaning
At the wayside inn the plum has withered; by the creek-bridge the willow is slender; grass breathes fragrance, wind is warm, and the rein of the journey sways. Parting sorrow, the farther it goes the more boundless, far, far, unbroken as the spring water. Inch by inch the tender heart; brimming, the powder tears. Do not lean on the high rail of the tower. Where the level grass ends is the spring mountain; the traveller is beyond the spring mountain.
旅舍边的梅花已经凋残，溪桥旁的柳枝纤细低垂，草香风暖之中摇动远行的马辔。离愁随路程越远越没有穷尽，如迢迢春水绵延不断。家中人寸寸柔肠百转千回，盈盈粉泪模糊双眼，可别登上高楼去凭倚那危险的栏杆远望。平旷的原野尽头是春山，而远行的人更在春山之外。
Appreciation
This is Ouyang Xiu's famous graceful parting lyric, probably written in his early official travels or on the road to exile. The upper part writes the traveller's road-scene and sorrow; the lower part imagines the chamber lady climbing the tower to gaze far. The whole uses the twofold view of 'wayside inn' and 'traveller's rein' against 'tower high' and 'high rail' to write the mutual longing of the traveller and the one left behind—a representative of the 'deep and restrained' Liuyi manner, also showing where he learned from Feng Yanshi.
【白话串讲】 “离愁渐远渐无穷，迢迢不断如春水”——欧阳修写离别：离愁越走越远越多，像不断的春水。“平芜尽处是春山，行人更在春山外”——他写思念的层层叠叠，写出了一种说不出的远。 【意象与手法】 上片以「候馆梅残，溪桥柳细」的丽景起笔，以乐景写哀，「草薰风暖摇征辔」融嗅觉、触觉、动态于一笔；「离愁渐远渐无穷，迢迢不断如春水」以春水喻愁，兼用层递，化虚为实。下片转写思妇：寸寸柔肠、盈盈粉泪，叠字传情；「楼高莫近危阑倚」以虚拟劝慰体贴入微；结句「平芜尽处是春山，行人更在春山外」层层推远，以远写远，愁思渺茫无际。双向视角、以远写远，是此词最显著的特色。 【情感与主旨】 此词为欧阳修婉约离情名篇，约作于早年游宦或贬谪行旅途中。上片写行人途中景与愁，以春水喻离愁之无尽；下片设想闺中思妇登楼望远，以春山之外写相思之无涯。全词以候馆征辔与楼高危阑的双向视角，写行客与思妇的彼此相思，情深而意婉，是六一词「深婉」一格的代表。 【名句点睛】 「离愁渐远渐无穷，迢迢不断如春水」常考比喻与层递手法；「行人更在春山外」常考以远写远、翻进一层的写法。须把握上片行者、下片思妇的双向结构，以及以乐景写哀、化虚为实的手法，方能答全。
Background
This is Ouyang Xiu's famous graceful parting lyric, probably written in his early official travels or on the road to exile. The upper part writes the traveller's road-scene and sorrow; the lower part imagines the chamber lady climbing the tower to gaze far. The whole uses the twofold view of 'wayside inn' and 'traveller's rein' against 'tower high' and 'high rail' to write the mutual longing of the traveller and the one left behind—a representative of the 'deep and restrained' Liuyi manner, also showing where he learned from Feng Yanshi.
欧阳修（1007—1072），字永叔，号醉翁、六一居士，吉州庐陵（今江西吉安）人，北宋诗文革新运动领袖，唐宋八大家之一。此词为婉约离情名篇，约作于欧阳修早年游宦或贬谪行旅途中。欧阳修早年因支持范仲淹新政而被贬夷陵（今湖北宜昌）县令，后又外放滁州、扬州、颍州等地，行旅之愁、离别之感是其词中常见题材。词以候馆、征辔写行人之远行，以楼高、危阑写思妇之望归，双向写相思，正合其游宦漂泊的切身经验。六一词承南唐冯延巳一脉而更趋深婉含蓄，王国维《人间词话》谓其「于豪放之中有沉着之致」，此词上承花间、下启秦观等婉约词人，是北宋小令中的精品，也是研究欧阳修词风由绮艳转向深婉的重要篇目。唐宋之际，行旅与离别是词的重要母题，欧阳修此词上承韦庄「春水碧于天」、冯延巳「日日花前常病酒」的抒情传统，而下片「行人更在春山外」的悬想笔法，又开后世「对面着笔」之先，影响及于秦观、晏几道诸家。六一词存世约二百余首，此词为其婉约小令中最负盛名者，历来为选家必录、学者必论。
Art
The upper part's 'at the wayside inn the plum withers; by the bridge the willow is slender' writes grief in a fair scene; 'grass breathes fragrance, wind is warm, the traveller's rein sways' blends smell, touch, and motion in one stroke; 'parting sorrow grows distant and grows boundless, far, far, unbroken as the spring water' uses spring water to figure sorrow, growing distant and long, turning void into solid. The lower part turns to the lady 'inch by inch the tender heart; brimming the powder tears'; 'do not lean on the high rail of the tower' is a virtual consolation; the closing 'the traveller is beyond the spring mountain' pushes the distance layer by layer, the longing boundless and endless—deep feeling and far resonance, crowning the Northern Song.
上片写行者所见所感：「候馆梅残，溪桥柳细」以梅残柳细点出初春时节，本是丽景，却为离愁所染，是典型的以乐景写哀情；「草薰风暖摇征辔」融嗅觉（草薰）、触觉（风暖）、动态（摇征辔）于一笔，写春日启程的实景，「摇」字暗含行人心情的不宁。「离愁渐远渐无穷，迢迢不断如春水」是全词名句：以春水喻离愁，既写其绵长不断，又写其随行程渐远而愈积愈深，化抽象之情为可感之景，兼用层递与比喻。下片转写思妇：「寸寸柔肠，盈盈粉泪」以叠字写其肠断泪盈；「楼高莫近危阑倚」以劝慰口吻虚拟，体贴入微；结句「平芜尽处是春山，行人更在春山外」由平芜而春山而山外，层层推远，以远写远，思妇望眼欲穿而行人踪迹渺茫，愁思之无际尽在言外。全词上下片一写行者一写居者，如两幅画面隔空相对：上片以「渐远渐无穷」写愁之生长，下片以「更在春山外」写望之不及，两相叠加，相思遂成无边之网。词中以「寸寸」「盈盈」两组叠字写思妇的柔肠与粉泪，以「楼高莫近危阑倚」的劝阻语体贴入微，虚实相生，婉曲深至，正是六一「深婉」一格的典范写法。
Allusions
This lyric's allusions are natural. 'Grass breathes fragrance, wind is warm' transforms Jiang Yan's Lament for Parting 'inside the chamber the wind is warm, by the path the grass breathes', darkly inheriting the parting tradition. 'Brimming the powder tears' uses the Nineteen Old Poems 'the brimming one on the tower' and 'tears wet the garment'. 'The level grass' and 'spring mountain' transform the Southern-Dynasty 'level grass a thousand li' and Wang Wei's 'spring mountain' mood. The closing 'the traveller is beyond the spring mountain' pushes one layer further, like Li Bai's 'the lone sail's far shadow vanishes in the blue void' method of receding distance.
此词用典化句皆自然浑成。「草薰风暖」化用江淹《别赋》「闺中风暖，陌上草薰」，暗承离别主题的经典语境；「迢迢」出《古诗十九首》「迢迢牵牛星」，兼有「迢迢不断」写水之长；「盈盈粉泪」暗用《古诗十九首》「盈盈楼上女，皎皎当窗牖」的思妇形象；「危阑」承唐人凭栏望远传统，李煜「独自莫凭栏」即其先声；「平芜」为六朝以来写望远之常语，「春山」则暗用王维「空山不见人」及唐人「春山多胜事」的意境。「行人更在春山外」的翻进一层法，承李白「孤帆远影碧空尽，唯见长江天际流」的递远写法，而更进一境：李诗写望中所见之尽，此句写望中所不及之远，把离愁写到无处追寻的极致，故王国维辈激赏此结。「梅残」「柳细」亦各有传统：梅与柳皆送别诗常物，梅写其残，柳写其细，皆以物之将尽写别之将临；「草薰风暖」化江淹《别赋》，点明此情此景正自古离别的经典场景。「平芜尽处是春山」之「平芜」出南朝「平芜千里」语，以旷野之平写视线之远，与「春山」之青相映，构成苍翠迷离的望眼之景，皆以熟语化入词境而不觉其旧。
Commentary
The Qing Wang Yiqing, in his Lyrics Through the Ages, quoted: 'Ouyang Gong's Treading the Grass exhausts the parting sorrow; the closing line is especially fine.' The modern Tang Guizhang judged: 'The upper part writes the one who goes, the lower the one who stays, both sides fully met; "the traveller is beyond the spring mountain" pushes the distance layer by layer, with endless thought.' The whole is clear and graceful, deep and restrained—unrivalled among Northern-Song short tunes.
此词结句「平芜尽处是春山，行人更在春山外」历来为评家激赏。清人王士祯《花草蒙拾》谓欧阳修、秦观等「深婉」一派「语尽而意不尽」，正可移评此句。近人唐圭璋评：「上片写行者，下片写居者，两面兼到；『行人更在春山外』一句，层层远出，有无穷之思。」卓人月《古今词统》称此词「不厌百回读」。此词与晏殊《蝶恋花》「昨夜西风凋碧树，独上高楼，望尽天涯路」同为北宋「望远怀人」的绝唱：晏词写望尽天涯的决绝，欧词写望而不及的怅惘，一刚一柔，并称双璧。六一词「深婉」一格，上承冯延巳之含蓄，下开秦观、晏几道之清丽，此词正是承上启下的枢纽，也是学习宋词双线结构（行者与居者）的经典范本。清人冯煦《蒿庵论词》谓六一词「疏隽开子瞻，深婉开少游」，此词正是「深婉开少游」的代表：秦观「斜阳外，寒鸦万点，流水绕孤村」之望远，晏几道「梦入江南烟水路」之悬想，皆可溯源于此。当代学者更以「双线结构」「以远写远」分析此词，认为其以空间写情的手法已臻中国抒情诗的极致，在婉约词研究中有不可替代的地位。
Prosody
Line by line
候馆梅残，溪桥柳细
The post house's plum blossoms are fading; by the stream bridge, the willows are slender.
旅舍边的梅花已经凋残，溪桥旁的柳枝纤细低垂
The plum blossoms by the inn are already fading; by the stream bridge the willow twigs are slender and drooping.
起笔以四字对句点出行旅之地与时令：候馆是客舍，梅残写春已将暮；溪桥是途中之景，柳细写柳眼初绽。梅与柳本是春光意象，此处却以「残」「细」出之，残则盛时已过，细则嫩而未成，景之清丽与行之孤寂相映，是典型的以乐景写哀情。候馆、溪桥二词已暗示行人在途，为「摇征辔」伏笔；而梅残柳细又暗合离别的传统意象——梅花易谢、柳枝赠别，触目皆离思。八个字写景、点时、寓情，无一闲笔，为全词定下含蓄深婉的基调。
The opening in the four-character couplet names the travel place and season: the post house the inn, the plum fading writing the spring's late coming; the stream bridge the road scene, the slender willow writing the willow eyes' first sprouting. The plum and the willow by nature the spring image, and here through the faded and the slender, the faded the lush time past, the slender the tender and not-yet-formed, the scene's clearness and the travel's solitude answering, the typical grief-through-delighted-scene. The post house and the stream bridge two words already hinting the traveler on the road, storing the ground for the whipping the bridle; and the faded plum and slender willow also matching the parting's traditional image — the plum's easy fading, the willow's parting gift, the eye all the parting thought. Eight characters writing scene, naming the season, lodging feeling, not one idle stroke, setting the ci's restrained deep-grace tone.
离愁渐远渐无穷，迢迢不断如春水
Parting sorrow grows distant and grows boundless, far, far, unbroken as the spring water.
离愁随路程越远越没有穷尽，如迢迢春水绵延不断
The parting grief grows deeper and endless as the road lengthens, stretching on like the long spring water.
此为全词警句，以春水喻离愁，兼用层递与比喻。「渐远渐无穷」写离愁随行程递进而愈积愈深，两个「渐」字写出愁的层层加码，是时间与空间的双重递进；「迢迢不断如春水」以眼前春水起兴作比，水之长即愁之长，水之不断即愁之不断，化抽象为具体，可触可感。此句妙在以实景喻虚情：行人正沿溪而行，春水一路相随，愁亦一路相生，景情交融，浑然无间。后人写愁每取水为喻（如李煜「一江春水向东流」），欧阳修此句以「渐远渐无穷」的动态写愁，与后主以「一江」写愁之总量，各有胜场。
This is the ci's warning line, figuring the parting grief through the spring water, using the layer-by-layer and the metaphor. The grows deeper and endless as the road lengthens writes the grief's deeper accumulation with the journey's advance, the two words gradually writing the grief's layer-by-layer increase, the time's and space's double progression; stretching on like the long spring water starts the metaphor from the present spring water, the water's length the grief's length, the water's unbrokenness the grief's unbrokenness, turning the abstract into the concrete, palpable. This line's wonder in figuring the void feeling through the real scene: the traveler walking along the stream, the spring water following all the way, the grief growing all the way, scene and feeling fused, seamless. The later writers of grief often taking the water as the metaphor (like Li Yu's a river of spring water flows east), Ouyang Xiu's line writing the grief through the gradually-deeper motion, set against the later lord's the whole river's grief quantity, each with the victory.
楼高莫近危阑倚
Do not lean on the high rail of the tower.
可别登上高楼去凭倚那危险的栏杆远望
Do not climb the high pavilion to lean on the perilous rail.
此句是行人对思妇的虚拟劝慰，下片由此转入思妇视角。「楼高」「危阑」写出登高望远的危险与艰难，正见思妇望归之心切；「莫近」以劝止的口吻出之，反见其劝阻之无力，因为离愁深重的人明知倚栏更添愁，仍会忍不住登楼。此句妙在体贴入微：劝她莫倚危栏，正是深知她必倚危栏，语似冷而情实热，是「以反写正」的婉曲笔法。同时「莫」字暗含行人对己身远行、累人愁苦的歉疚，一层意思包孕数层，深得六一词「深婉」之旨，也为结句「春山外」的极目远望作了情绪铺垫。
This line is the traveler's virtual counsel to the longing wife, the second stanza hence turning to the longing wife's view. The high pavilion and the perilous rail write the climb's danger and difficulty, precisely showing the longing wife's gazing-at-the-return eagerness; the do-not-near in the advising tone, the reverse showing the counsel's powerlessness, because the grief-deepened man, knowing the rail's leaning adds the grief, and yet unable to stop climbing. This line's wonder in the minute tenderness: advising her not to lean on the perilous rail, precisely the knowing she will lean on the perilous rail, the words seeming cold and the feeling in truth warm, the reverse-writing-the-positive graceful brush. Meanwhile the one word do-not secretly carrying the traveler's self-blame for the far journey and the trouble caused, one layer of meaning pregnant with several, deeply gaining Master Liu-Yi's deep grace, and storing the emotional ground for the close's beyond-the-spring-mountains far gaze.
平芜尽处是春山，行人更在春山外
Where the level grass ends is the spring mountain; the traveller is beyond the spring mountain.
平旷的原野尽头是春山，而远行的人更在春山之外
Where the level plain ends, the spring mountains rise; and the traveler is beyond the spring mountains.
结句是千古名句，以远写远、翻进一层，把离愁写到极致。思妇倚楼远望，目光掠过平芜，尽头是春山；以为春山已是目力所能及的最远处，行人却更在春山之外——视线所穷而相思不穷。三层递进（平芜、春山、山外）把空间层层推开，望之愈远而不得见之痛愈深，愁思之渺茫无际尽在言外。此句不写愁字而愁满天地，以景结情，含蓄无尽，正合王国维所谓「境界」说：写景即是写情，景之远即情之远。唐圭璋谓此句「层层远出，有无穷之思」，实为北宋小令中以景写愁的极致，历来传诵不衰。
The close is a famous line through the ages, writing the far through the far and turning one layer further, writing the parting grief to the extreme. The longing wife leaning on the tower gazes far, the sight skimming the level plain, the plain's end the spring mountains; thinking the spring mountains the farthest the sight can reach, and the traveler is beyond the spring mountains — the sight's end and the longing's non-end. Three layers of progression (the level plain, the spring mountains, beyond the mountains) pushing the space layer by layer, the farther the gaze and the deeper the not-seeable pain, the grief's boundlessness all within the unsaid. This line not one word of grief and the grief filling heaven and earth, closing feeling in scene, restrained and endless, precisely matching Wang Guowei's realm theory: the scenic writing at once the feeling writing, the scene's far the feeling's far. Tang Guizhang says this line's layer-by-layer far-out, the endless thought, in truth the Northern Song short stanza's grief-through-scene extreme, recited through the ages.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Both from Liuyi's hand; both write parting, deep and restrained—compare them.
《玉楼春》「尊前拟把归期说，未语春容先惨咽」写宴前话别的不忍，此词写旅途中的离愁与思妇的遥望，同出欧阳修之手，都是六一词「深婉」一格的代表。《玉楼春》以「人生自是有情痴，此恨不关风与月」直抒情痴，哲理化明显；此词纯以景与细节写情，含蓄更深。两词对照，可见欧阳修写离情的两种笔法：一以议论点睛，一以景语结情；一热烈一低回，合观更见其词心之丰富，也是理解六一婉约词全貌的重要参照。
欧阳修·浪淘沙·把酒祝东风 Ouyang Xiu · Waves Wash the Sand · I Raise My Cup to the East Wind 欧阳修 · 同写聚散之感，清丽深婉一脉相承 SameBoth write regret over parting and meeting; the manner is clear and graceful, consistent.
《浪淘沙》「聚散苦匆匆，此恨无穷」直写聚散之恨，此词以春水、春山写离愁之无尽，同出六一而手法各异。《浪淘沙》上片写去年花下之聚，下片写今年花下之散，以今昔对照写时光与离情；此词以行者与思妇的双线并写，空间展开更阔。一以时间对比，一以空间推远；一明快一深婉。两词合观，可见欧阳修对「聚散」母题的一往情深，及其在词中处理时空的纯熟技巧，是研究北宋小令抒情艺术的好材料。
晏殊·蝶恋花·槛菊愁烟兰泣露 Butterfly Loves Flower · Rail Chrysanthemum in Mourning Mist, Orchid Weeping Dew 晏殊 · 同写望远怀人，并称北宋婉约双璧 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
晏殊《蝶恋花》「昨夜西风凋碧树，独上高楼，望尽天涯路」与欧阳修此词结句「行人更在春山外」同为望远怀人的千古名句，可以对照：晏词写望尽天涯的决绝孤往，目光穷尽处是「天涯路」，仍无所见；欧词写平芜春山之外、行人更远，目光所不及而心驰愈远。一以「望尽」写尽力之怅惘，一以「更在」写无望之渺茫；晏词劲健，欧词深婉。二词同写登楼望远、怀人不归，而风格迥异，正是北宋词坛晏欧并称、各擅胜场的绝佳例证。