宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
绮罗香
Qiluoxiang (Qiluo Fragrance) — On the Spring Rain
做冷欺花，将烟困柳，千里偷催春暮。
尽日冥迷，愁里欲飞还住。
惊粉重、蝶宿西园，喜泥润、燕归南浦。
最妨它、佳约风流，钿车不到杜陵路。
沈沈江上望极，还被春潮晚急，难寻官渡。
隐约遥峰，和泪谢娘眉妩。
临断岸、新绿生时，是落红、带愁流处。
记当日、门掩梨花，翦灯深夜语。
All day in dim confusion, amid sorrow it would fly yet stays.
Startled by the heavy powder on their wings, butterflies roost in the west garden; glad of the soft mud, swallows return to the south bank.
What it hinders most is a fine romantic tryst — the jeweled carriage cannot reach the road to Duling.
Gazing far on the darkening river, still blocked by the swift evening spring tide, the official ferry cannot be found.
Faint distant peaks like Xie Niang's willow-leaf brows, wet with tears.
At the broken bank where new green grows — that is where the fallen red drifts, carrying sorrow away.
I remember that day: pear blossoms closed behind the door, and deep into the night we trimmed the wick and talked.
Meaning
Spring rain — never named — bullies flowers, mists willows, weighs butterfly wings, and swells the tide until the ferry is lost and a tryst cannot be kept. The poem ends by turning the rain into memory: pear blossoms, a closed door, a trimmed lamp, midnight talk. Its theme is that weather and feeling are the same substance: the rain that hinders the journey is also the rain of remembered intimacy.
做冷欺花，将烟困柳，千里偷催春暮。尽日冥迷，愁里欲飞还住。惊粉重、蝶宿西园，喜泥润、燕归南浦。最妨它、佳约风流，钿车不到杜陵路。沈沈江上望极，还被春潮晚急，难寻官渡。隐约遥峰，和泪谢娘眉妩。临断岸、新绿生时，是落红、带愁流处。记当日、门掩梨花，翦灯深夜语。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] The spring rain brings cold that bullies the flowers, wraps the willows in mist, and steals a thousand miles to hurry late spring along. All day in dim confusion, it would fly yet stays, tangled in sorrow. Wet powder weighs the butterflies down until they roost in the west garden; the soft mud delights the swallows, who return to the south bank. What the rain spoils is the finest thing: a romantic tryst — the jeweled carriage cannot climb the road to Duling. On the dark river I gaze until sight ends, still blocked by the swift evening tide; the official ferry is lost. Faint distant peaks resemble Xie Niang's willow-leaf brows, wet with tears. At the broken bank, where new green grows, the fallen red drifts away carrying sorrow. I remember that day: pear blossoms closed behind the door, and deep into the night we trimmed the wick and talked. [Structure] Upper stanza: the rain and its hindrance; lower stanza: the flooded river and the memory. Rain, tide, and tears form one continuous flow of water. [Imagery] The rain is never named — only its bullying cold, its mist, its effects on butterfly wings and swallow mud. Peaks become brows; new green and fallen red face each other like life and loss.
【白话串讲】 史达祖写《绮罗香》：“做冷欺花，将烟困柳，千里偷催春暮”——“尽日冥迷，愁里欲飞还住”——“惊粉重、蝶宿西园，喜泥润、燕归南浦”——“最妨它、佳约风流，钿车不到杜陵路”——他写春雨——做冷欺花。 【意象与手法】 “做冷欺花，将烟困柳，千里偷催春暮”以做冷欺花写春雨；“尽日冥迷，愁里欲飞还住”写愁里欲飞；“惊粉重、蝶宿西园，喜泥润、燕归南浦”以蝶宿燕归写春雨；“最妨它、佳约风流，钿车不到杜陵路”写佳约被阻；结以“记当日、门掩梨花，翦灯深夜语”以翦灯夜语收束。咏物工细、刻画入微。 【情感与主旨】 史达祖咏春雨之作，以细腻笔触写春雨之态与雨中情事，是南宋咏物词中“咏物而不滞于物”的典范。 【名句点睛】 常考“做冷欺花，将烟困柳，千里偷催春暮”以做冷欺花写春雨；“记当日、门掩梨花，翦灯深夜语”以翦灯夜语收束。
Background
Shi Dazu (1163-c.1220), courtesy name Bangqing, studio name Meixi, was a native of Bian (Kaifeng) who served as a retainer to the powerful southern noble Han Tuozhou, drafting diplomatic correspondence with the Jin. A peerless craftsman of object-poems (yongwu ci), he could spend a hundred words on a plum blossom or a swallow. This Qiluoxiang on spring rain is his most celebrated work, valued by later critics for describing the thing without being stuck in the thing — the rain is everywhere and never named once. It belongs to the Southern Song golden age of the object lyric, alongside the works of Wang Yisun and Zhang Yan.
《绮罗香》为南宋词人史达祖所作词。史达祖（1163—约1220），字邦卿，号梅溪，汴（今河南开封）人，南宋词人，词以咏物见长，人称「梅溪词」。此词咏春雨。词中「做冷欺花，将烟困柳，千里偷催春暮」写做冷欺花；「尽日冥迷，愁里欲飞还住」写愁里欲飞；「惊粉重、蝶宿西园，喜泥润、燕归南浦」写蝶宿燕归；「最妨它、佳约风流，钿车不到杜陵路」写钿车不到；「沈沈江上望极，还被春潮晚急，难寻官渡」写难寻官渡；「隐约遥峰，和泪谢娘眉妩」写谢娘眉妩；「临断岸、新绿生时，是落红、带愁流处」写落红带愁；「记当日、门掩梨花，翦灯深夜语」写翦灯深夜语。史达祖此词以咏春雨、翦灯深夜语写其春愁，含蓄深婉，是史达祖词中的名篇。此篇《绮罗香》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 technique is inverted description: rain exists only as action upon other things. It 'bullies' flowers and 'hemms in' willows; butterflies' wings grow heavy, swallows rejoice in mud; the tide swells, the ferry vanishes. The two verbs 'qi' (to bully) and 'kun' (to hem in) give the weather a teasing, almost human personality. A second device is the mirrored parallelism of butterfly and swallow: one driven to roost, one drawn home, so the same rain splits into grief and joy. The turn to 'Xie Niang's brows' lets misty peaks wear a woman's face, and the closing couplet converts the rain into an indoor memory — blossoms, closed door, trimmed lamp — ending sound with silence, falling petals with whispered talk.
此词艺术上以「含蓄深婉、咏物寄情」见长。全词上片写做冷欺花与蝶宿燕归，下片写难寻官渡与翦灯深夜语。上片「做冷欺花，将烟困柳，千里偷催春暮」写做冷欺花：做冷欺花，将烟困柳，千里偷催春暮；「尽日冥迷，愁里欲飞还住」写愁里欲飞：尽日冥迷，愁里欲飞还住；「惊粉重、蝶宿西园，喜泥润、燕归南浦」写蝶宿燕归：惊粉重、蝶宿西园，喜泥润、燕归南浦；「最妨它、佳约风流，钿车不到杜陵路」写钿车不到：最妨它、佳约风流，钿车不到杜陵路。下片「沈沈江上望极，还被春潮晚急，难寻官渡」写难寻官渡：沈沈江上望极，还被春潮晚急，难寻官渡；「隐约遥峰，和泪谢娘眉妩」写谢娘眉妩：隐约遥峰，和泪谢娘眉妩；「临断岸、新绿生时，是落红、带愁流处」写落红带愁：临断岸、新绿生时，是落红、带愁流处；「记当日、门掩梨花，翦灯深夜语」写翦灯深夜语：记当日、门掩梨花，翦灯深夜语。全词含蓄深婉，咏物寄情，是史达祖词中的名篇。
Allusions
'Duling' was the Chang'an pleasure quarter, standing for romantic assignations; the jeweled carriage is the lady's vehicle, stopped by the rain. 'Spring tide swift at evening' inverts Wei Yingwu's famous 'spring tide brings rain, swift toward evening' into an obstacle rather than a scene. 'Xie Niang' — a celebrated Tang singing girl, whose willow-leaf eyebrows became the standard comparison for distant hills — weeps here, so the mountains share the poet's sorrow. 'Pear blossoms behind a closed door' recalls Li Chongyuan's 'rain beats the pear blossoms, the deep door closes'; 'trimming the wick for midnight talk' echoes Li Shangyin's 'when shall we together trim the west-window wick and speak of the mountain night-rain.' Rain in poetry becomes rain in memory.
词中「做冷欺花」「将烟困柳」「偷催春暮」「尽日冥迷」「愁里欲飞还住」「粉重」「蝶宿西园」「泥润」「燕归南浦」「佳约风流」「钿车不到杜陵路」「沈沈江上望极」「春潮晚急」「难寻官渡」「隐约遥峰」「谢娘眉妩」「断岸新绿」「落红带愁」「门掩梨花」「翦灯深夜语」等语，皆含典故故实。「做冷欺花」写做出寒冷欺凌春花；「将烟困柳」写将烟困柳；「偷催春暮」写悄悄催迫春暮；「尽日冥迷」写整日冥迷；「愁里欲飞还住」写愁里欲飞还住；「粉重」写蝶翅粉重；「蝶宿西园」写蝶宿西园；「泥润」写泥土润湿；「燕归南浦」写燕归南浦；「佳约风流」写佳期之约；「钿车不到杜陵路」写钿车不到杜陵之路（杜陵在长安）；「沈沈江上望极」写江上沉沉望尽；「春潮晚急」用韦应物「春潮带雨晚来急」之意；「难寻官渡」写难寻官渡；「隐约遥峰」写隐约之远峰；「谢娘眉妩」写谢娘之眉如远山（谢娘为唐代名妓，亦泛指女子）；「断岸新绿」写断岸新绿；「落红带愁」写落红带愁；「门掩梨花」用李重元「雨打梨花深闭门」之意；「翦灯深夜语」用李商隐「何当共翦西窗烛，却话巴山夜雨时」之意。词人以春潮带雨、谢娘眉妩、门掩梨花、翦灯夜语等典入词，不着痕迹，而把咏春雨之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。
Commentary
Since the Southern Song this lyric has been a set piece of criticism. The Qing theorist Zhou Ji praised it as the very pattern of object poetry: the thing is fully drawn yet never clutters the feeling, while the modern scholar Xia Chengtao noted how the rain is present in every line and named in none. The paired butterfly-swallow lines and the closing trimmed-wick memory are the two passages most often quoted. What raises the poem above mere bravura is its emotional grammar: rain hinders the tryst, tide hides the crossing, tears mist the peaks — until at the end, rain is no longer weather but the sound of a remembered conversation behind a closed door.
这首《绮罗香》，是史达祖写咏物春雨之作，写做冷欺花、将烟困柳、翦灯深夜语之情，含蓄深婉。上片写做冷欺花与蝶宿燕归：「做冷欺花，将烟困柳，千里偷催春暮」——做冷欺花，将烟困柳，千里偷催春暮。写做冷欺花：做冷欺花、将烟困柳，千里偷催春暮——做冷欺花、将烟困柳、千里催暮；「尽日冥迷，愁里欲飞还住」——尽日冥迷，愁里欲飞还住。写愁里欲飞：尽日冥迷、愁里欲飞还住——整日冥迷、欲飞还住；「惊粉重、蝶宿西园，喜泥润、燕归南浦」——惊粉重、蝶宿西园，喜泥润、燕归南浦。写蝶宿燕归：惊粉重蝶宿西园、喜泥润燕归南浦——蝶粉重而宿、燕泥润而归；「最妨它、佳约风流，钿车不到杜陵路」——最妨它、佳约风流，钿车不到杜陵路。写钿车不到：最妨它佳约风流、钿车不到杜陵路——雨妨佳约、钿车难至。下片写难寻官渡与翦灯深夜语：「沈沈江上望极，还被春潮晚急，难寻官渡」——沈沈江上望极，还被春潮晚急，难寻官渡。写难寻官渡：沈沈江上望极、还被春潮晚急（用春潮带雨之意），难寻官渡——春潮晚急、难寻官渡；「隐约遥峰，和泪谢娘眉妩」——隐约遥峰，和泪谢娘眉妩。写谢娘眉妩：隐约遥峰、和泪谢娘眉妩——遥峰如谢娘含泪之眉；「临断岸、新绿生时，是落红、带愁流处」——临断岸、新绿生时，是落红、带愁流处。写落红带愁：临断岸新绿生时，是落红带愁流处——断岸新绿、落红带愁而流；「记当日、门掩梨花，翦灯深夜语」——记当日、门掩梨花，翦灯深夜语。写翦灯深夜语：记当日门掩梨花（用雨打梨花深闭门之意）、翦灯深夜语（用翦烛夜话之意）——忆当日门掩梨花、翦灯深夜语。这「记当日、门掩梨花，翦灯深夜语」，是全词之结：以翦灯深夜语写其忆旧。全词含蓄深婉，咏物寄情，正是史达祖词中的名篇。
Prosody
Line by line
做冷欺花，将烟困柳，千里偷催春暮。
It brings cold to bully the flowers, wraps the willows in mist, and steals a thousand miles to hurry late spring along.
做冷欺花，将烟困柳，千里偷催春暮。
Making the cold to bully the flowers, wrapping the mist to trap the willows, secretly hurling the spring's dusk across a thousand li.
首三句写做冷欺花，起笔即见其雨。「做冷欺花」写做冷欺花，「做冷」写做出寒冷、「欺花」写欺凌春花；「将烟困柳」写将烟困柳，「将烟」写以烟、「困柳」写困住柳；「千里偷催春暮」写千里偷催春暮，「千里」写千里、「偷催春暮」写悄悄催迫春暮。三句一写做冷欺花、一写将烟困柳、一写千里偷催春暮，以做冷欺花写雨之寒、以将烟困柳写雨之烟、以偷催春暮写雨之催，写尽春雨做冷欺花、将烟困柳、千里催暮之情。以物起兴，含蓄而深婉，是「以物起兴」的妙笔。
The opening three lines write the cold-bullying flowers, the rain present at the first stroke. Making the cold to bully the flowers writes the cold-making and the flower-bullying; wrapping the mist to trap the willows writes the mist's wrapping and the willow's trapping; secretly hurling the spring's dusk across a thousand li writes the thousand li and the secret hurrying. Three lines, one the cold-bullying flowers, one the mist-trapping willows, one the secret hurrying of the dusk, writing the rain's cold through the bullying, the rain's mist through the trapping, the rain's hurry through the secret hurrying, exhausting the spring rain's cold and mist and hurry. Rising on the thing, restrained and deep, precisely the wondrous brush of rising on the thing.
惊粉重、蝶宿西园，喜泥润、燕归南浦。
Startled by the heavy powder on their wings, butterflies roost in the west garden; glad of the soft mud, swallows return to the south bank.
惊粉重、蝶宿西园，喜泥润、燕归南浦。
Startled by the heavy powder, the butterfly roosts in the west garden; glad of the moist mud, the swallow returns to the south shore.
此四句写蝶宿燕归，是全词以物写雨的关键。「惊粉重、蝶宿西园」写惊粉重蝶宿西园，「惊粉重」写蝶翅粉重而惊、「蝶宿西园」写蝶宿于西园；「喜泥润、燕归南浦」写喜泥润燕归南浦，「喜泥润」写燕喜泥润、「燕归南浦」写燕归南浦。四句一写惊粉重蝶宿西园、一写喜泥润燕归南浦，以蝶粉重写雨湿蝶翅、以蝶宿西园写蝶之宿、以燕泥润写雨润燕泥、以燕归南浦写燕之归，写尽惊蝶粉重而宿、喜燕泥润而归之情。以物写雨，含蓄而深婉，是「以物写雨」的点睛之笔。
These four lines write the butterfly's roosting and the swallow's return, the ci's thing-writing-rain key. Startled by the heavy powder, the butterfly roosts in the west garden writes the butterfly-wing powder's heaviness and the roosting; glad of the moist mud, the swallow returns to the south shore writes the swallow's joy in the mud and the return. Four lines, one the startled roosting, one the glad return, writing the rain-wet wings through the powder's heaviness, the butterfly's roosting through the west garden, the rain-moist mud through the swallow's gladness, the swallow's return through the south shore, exhausting the startled roosting and the glad return. Writing rain through the thing, restrained and deep, precisely the telling stroke of rain-through-thing.
沈沈江上望极，还被春潮晚急，难寻官渡。
Gazing far on the darkening river, still blocked by the swift evening spring tide, the official ferry cannot be found.
沈沈江上望极，还被春潮晚急，难寻官渡。
Mutely on the river I gaze to the end; the spring tide, urgent at dusk, makes the government ferry hard to find.
此三句写难寻官渡，是全词以潮写雨的关键。「沈沈江上望极」写沈沈江上望极，「沈沈江上」写江上沉沉、「望极」写望尽；「还被春潮晚急」写还被春潮晚急，「还被」写还被、「春潮晚急」用春潮带雨晚来急之意写春潮晚急；「难寻官渡」写难寻官渡，「难寻」写难以寻觅、「官渡」写官府之渡口。三句一写沈沈江上望极、一写还被春潮晚急、一写难寻官渡，以江上望极写其望、以春潮晚急写潮之涨、以难寻官渡写渡之难，写尽春潮晚急、难寻官渡之情。以潮写雨，含蓄而深婉，是「以潮写雨」的点睛之笔。
These three lines write the hard-to-find government ferry, the ci's tide-writing-rain key. Mutely on the river I gaze to the end writes the mutely river and the gaze's end; the spring tide, urgent at dusk, makes the government ferry hard to find writes the still-being and the spring tide's evening urgency (using the spring tide with rain comes urgent at dusk meaning); the hard-to-find ferry writes the ferry's seeking difficulty. Three lines, one the river gaze, one the evening-urgent tide, one the hard-to-find ferry, writing the gaze through the river's end, the tide's rise through the evening urgency, the ferry's difficulty through the hard-to-find, exhausting the tide's urgency and the ferry's difficulty. Writing rain through the tide, restrained and deep, precisely the telling stroke of rain-through-tide.
记当日、门掩梨花，翦灯深夜语。
I remember that day: pear blossoms closed behind the door, and deep into the night we trimmed the wick and talked.
记当日、门掩梨花，翦灯深夜语。
I remember that day: the door closed on the pear blossoms, the lamp trimmed in the deep night's talk.
尾三句写翦灯深夜语，是全词立意的落点。「记当日」写记当日，「记」写记忆、「当日」写那一天；「门掩梨花」写门掩梨花，用雨打梨花深闭门之意写门掩梨花；「翦灯深夜语」写翦灯深夜语，用翦烛夜话之意写翦灯深夜语。三句一写记当日、一写门掩梨花、一写翦灯深夜语，以记当日写忆旧、以门掩梨花写雨夜闭门、以翦灯深夜语写夜话，写尽忆当日门掩梨花、翦灯深夜语之情。以忆写情，含蓄而深挚，是全词最动人处，也是「以忆写情」的点睛之笔。
The last three lines write the deep-night lamp-trim talk, the landing of the ci's theme. I remember that day writes the memory and that day; the door closed on the pear blossoms uses the rain-beaten pear blossoms, the deep-closed door meaning; the lamp trimmed in the deep night's talk uses the candle-trimmed night-talk meaning. Three lines, one the that-day memory, one the door closed on pear blossoms, one the lamp-trimmed talk, writing the old memory through the remembering, the rain-night closed door through the pear blossoms, the night talk through the lamp trim, exhausting the that-day door-closed and lamp-trim talk. Writing feeling through memory, restrained and deep, the ci's most moving place, and the telling stroke of feeling-through-memory.
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