宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
秦观·减字木兰花·天涯旧恨
Shortened Form of Magnolia Flower · Old Regrets from the Horizon
减字木兰花·天涯旧恨天涯旧恨，独自凄凉人不问。
欲见回肠，断尽金炉小篆香。
黛蛾长敛，任是春风吹不展。
困倚危楼，过尽飞鸿字字愁。
Alone in desolation, no one asks about me.
If you want to see my entwined heart,
Look at the golden censer's incense burned to ashes.
My dark brows are forever knit,
Not even the spring breeze can smooth them.
Weary, I lean on the high tower,
As passing wild geese form characters, each a word of sorrow.
Meaning
This lyric expresses the deep loneliness and sorrow of a wanderer far from home. No one asks about her old regrets; her heart is like the incense that burns away. Even spring cannot unfurl her brows. Watching wild geese fly by, each character they form only deepens her grief.
那漂泊天涯的旧日离恨，独自凄凉却无人问讯。想要看见我百转的愁肠，且看那金炉里燃尽的小篆香。眉峰长久紧锁，纵是春风也吹它不展。困倦地倚着高楼，看飞雁一一掠过，每一字都写满了愁。
Appreciation
A classic Wanyue poem by Qin Guan. The poet uses vivid metaphors: the incense represents the tangled heart, the unblown brows show stubborn sorrow, and the geese formation spells out grief. The imagery is dense and sorrowful.
【白话串讲】 秦观写天涯游子的旧恨：“黛蛾长敛，任是春风吹不展”——眉头皱着，连春风都吹不开。困倚危楼，看着一行行飞过的雁，字字都是愁。 【意象与手法】 全词上下片各以两韵句、两仄韵句错落，短促跳荡，恰合愁绪零乱之调。上片以「金炉小篆香」喻回肠之盘曲断尽，下片以「春风吹不展」写眉锁之深、「飞鸿字字愁」写望归之空，三处比喻皆以物态写心态，意象绵密而愁肠递进。 【情感与主旨】 此词约作于秦观早年游学或落魄潦倒、漂泊异乡之时。「天涯旧恨」点明久客他乡、与所欢暌隔之痛。秦观一生屡遭贬谪、仕途蹭蹬，其词多写羁旅相思之愁，此作以女子口吻写孤客之恨，缠绵悱恻，是淮海词「情韵兼胜」的代表。 【名句点睛】 常考：一、以物喻情的手法（篆香、春风、飞鸿）；二、「独自凄凉人不问」的孤寂内涵；三、结句「过尽飞鸿字字愁」双关雁字与书信的妙处，以及婉约词情景相生、寄托遥深的特点。
Background
This poem was likely written during Qin Guan's early travels or times of hardship. 'Old regrets from the horizon' points to long-term separation and homesickness. Qin Guan often wrote about the sadness of travel and separation. This poem adopts a female persona to express deep longing, typical of his style.
此词约作于秦观早年游学或落魄潦倒、漂泊异乡之时。「天涯旧恨」四字点明久客他乡、与所欢暌隔之痛。秦观（1049—1100），字少游，号淮海居士，为苏门四学士之一，苏轼称其「有屈宋之才」，然一生仕途蹭蹬，屡遭贬谪，最后远谪雷州而卒。其词多写羁旅相思、离愁别恨，风格婉约含蓄，善以细腻的笔触写缠绵的情思，被论者评为「专主情致」，「情韵兼胜」。此词托为女子口吻（或借女子自喻），写独处天涯、愁肠百结的孤寂：篆香燃尽喻愁肠寸断，春风不展喻眉锁难开，飞鸿过尽喻音书杳然，层层推进，把无形的离愁写得可触可感，正是淮海词「婉约深挚」风格的典型呈现，也暗含词人漂泊潦倒、无人问讯的身世之感。秦观早年师从苏轼，为苏门四学士之一，苏轼爱其才，称其有屈宋之才，然其仕途坎坷，屡遭贬谪，元祐党争中更被连坐外放，远谪郴州、横州、雷州，终卒于藤州。其身世的凄凉与词风的婉约互为表里：淮海词多写羁旅之愁、相思之苦，正是其人生遭际的投影。此词虽托为女子口吻，实则融入了词人自身的漂泊之感——『天涯旧恨』既是闺中人的离恨，亦是词人宦海浮沉的余痛，男女之情与身世之悲在淮海词中往往一体两面，此词正是其例。
Art
The poem uses a short, rhythmic meter to mirror the restless sorrow. The metaphors—incense, brows, geese—turn abstract emotions into tangible images. The sorrow deepens through each couplet, showing the poet's skill in layering melancholy.
全词以物写心，三处比喻层层递进。上片「欲见回肠，断尽金炉小篆香」是全词最巧的比喻：愁肠盘曲，正如篆香盘曲；篆香燃尽而寸寸成灰，正如愁肠百转而寸寸欲断，以可见之香喻不可见之肠，化抽象为具象，巧绝工绝。「黛蛾长敛，任是春风吹不展」写愁之深：春风本可吹展万物，却吹不展紧锁的眉峰，以春风之无力反衬愁锁之深，递进一层。「困倚危楼，过尽飞鸿字字愁」写盼归之空：倚楼望雁，雁阵成「人」字飞过，却无一只带来书信，「字字愁」双关雁字与书信，盼书而不得，愁上加愁。全词以「旧恨」起、以「字字愁」结，意象绵密而愁肠递进，将无形之恨化为可抚可触之形，正是婉约词「寄托遥深」的典范笔法。全词四组意象，层层递进，构成一条由恨而愁、由愁而痴的情感曲线：『人不问』写孤寂之始，『篆香断』写愁肠之形，『春风吹不展』写愁锁之固，『飞鸿字字愁』写愁满长空，一句一境，境境加深；而每组意象又都取闺中即目之物（香炉、黛眉、危楼、飞鸿），以物写心，虚实相生。这种以物象写情绪、以意象递进写情感递进的手法，正是婉约词寄托遥深的成熟形态，也是秦观高出一般闺情词人的地方。
Allusions
The 'incense shaped like small seal script' (篆香) is a metaphor for the tangled heart. 'Dark moth brows' (黛蛾) comes from classical beauty standards. 'Wild geese' alludes to the legend of geese carrying letters, so 'each character a word of sorrow' combines the sight of the geese in formation and the disappointment of no letter.
「小篆香」指盘曲如篆文的盘香，古人常以香篆喻愁肠盘结，「断尽」写香之燃尽、肠之寸断，一词而兼双关。「黛蛾」即黛眉，出《诗经·卫风·硕人》「螓首蛾眉」的美人意象传统，「长敛」写眉峰久锁，见愁之积久难消。「飞鸿」暗用雁足传书典故：据《汉书·苏武传》，汉使言天子射上林中得雁，足系帛书，苏武由是得归，后世遂以鸿雁为传书之使；「过尽飞鸿」写雁阵飞过而不见书信，盼归落空。「字字愁」更妙：雁飞成「人」字、成「一」字，是「字」；而所盼的书信也是「字」，一字双关，愁满长空。三处用典皆化入日常意象，浑化无迹，正见秦观「以故为新」的本领。『回肠』一词亦见司马迁《报任安书》『肠一日而九回』，本写忧思之极，秦观以回肠与盘香对举，正取其九回与盘曲的相似；『金炉』又暗含李商隐『香销被冷残灯灭』的闺怨传统，炉香与愁肠一冷一热，对照生姿。至于『黛蛾长敛』，则上承《硕人》『螓首蛾眉』与白居易『蛾眉用心扫』的写法，以眉写愁，遂成古典诗词写怨的标准动作，秦观此词集其大成，用典化句皆浑化无迹，正是淮海词以故为新的本领。
Commentary
This is a famous Wanyue lyric. Critics note Qin Guan's skill in conveying deep emotion through delicate imagery. The final line 'each character a word of sorrow' is especially praised for its lingering effect.
此词为淮海婉约名篇。近人评秦观词「专主情致，而少故实」，此作正以情致胜：篆香、眉锁、飞鸿三喻，层层写尽天涯之恨，缠绵悱恻而不见堆砌。清人谓「淮海词如花间美人，含蓄蕴藉」，此词足为其注脚。结句「过尽飞鸿字字愁」尤称警策，论者赞其「语尽而意不尽」——雁过而愁满，望断而书绝，言外有无穷余味。冯煦《蒿庵论词》称秦观为「词心」，谓其能以纤细之笔写深挚之情，此词正是「词心」的体现。后世闺怨、羁旅之词写「以物喻愁」者，多祖此篇，其影响及于李清照「柔肠一寸愁千缕」等句，足见淮海词在婉约一脉中的典范地位。历代论淮海词，多引苏轼『少游词，其气格自是不俗』及陈师道『今代词手，唯秦七、黄九耳』之评，推其为婉约正宗；而此词正是其婉约风格的代表：情真、语工、境深，三者兼备。今人选宋词，多以此词与《鹊桥仙》《踏莎行》并列，一写离恨、一写七夕、一写羁旅，可见其题材之广与写情之深。尤其『过尽飞鸿字字愁』一句，以最常见的意象写出最深刻的情感，正是『平字见奇、常字见险』的典范，也是理解秦观词专主情致的关键文本。
Prosody
Line by line
天涯旧恨，独自凄凉人不问
Old regrets from the horizon. Sets the tone of long-standing sorrow from afar.
漂泊天涯的旧日离恨，独自凄凉却无人问讯。
The old grief of drifting to the world's edge, lonely in the bleakness, and no one asks.
开篇八字直揭题旨，定下全词基调。「天涯」写漂泊之远，「旧恨」写离恨之久，两词并置，把久客他乡、与所欢暌隔的处境一笔写尽；「独自凄凉」进一步渲染孤寂，「人不问」三字最见沉痛——不仅独处天涯，更无人过问，无人怜惜，连一声问讯都等不到。「不」字下得干脆，写出被遗忘的绝望。此句以「天涯」的空间之远与「人不问」的人情之冷相映，孤寂之感顿生；又与下片「困倚危楼」遥相呼应：正因为人不问，才只能独自倚楼望雁，盼那渺茫的音书。开篇的孤愁基调，为全词「以物喻愁」的层层展开作了情感铺垫。
The opening eight characters directly revealing the theme, setting the whole ci's tone. The world's edge writing the drift's distance, the old grief writing the parting grief's length, the two words set side by side, writing the long-absence-abroad and the beloved's separation state in one stroke; the lonely-in-the-bleakness further rendering the solitude, the three words and no one asks the most grief-stricken — not only alone at the world's edge, and yet no one asks, no one pities, not even one inquiry waited for. The one word not, placed decisively, writing the forgotten despair. This line setting the world's edge space's distance against the no one asks' human coldness, the solitude at once born; and echoing the second stanza's the weary leaning on the high tower: precisely because the no one asks, hence the lone tower leaning and the gazed wild geese, hoping for the trace-less letter. The opening's lonely-grief tone, storing the emotional ground for the whole ci's thing-figures-grief layer-on-layer unfolding.
欲见回肠，断尽金炉小篆香
Alone and desolate, no one asks. Highlights isolation and neglect.
想要看见我百转的愁肠，且看那金炉里燃尽的小篆香。
Would you see my thousand-twisted bowels? Look at the small seal incense burning out in the gold burner.
此句是全词最巧的比喻，以物写心、化虚为实。「回肠」指百转千回的愁肠，本不可见；「欲见」二字作一设想——你若想知道我的愁肠是怎样的，请看那金炉里盘曲的篆香。篆香盘曲如肠，燃尽则寸寸成灰，「断尽」写香之将尽，更暗喻肠之寸断，一物两喻，贴切而奇绝。以可见的香灰写不可见的愁肠，把抽象的离愁化为可抚可触的具象，正是婉约词「寄托遥深」的妙笔。同时「金炉」写出闺阁之华美，与「断尽」的残毁形成反差，愈显愁之深重。此句承上片的孤寂而来，把「恨」的程度第一次具象化，为下片眉锁、雁愁的递进蓄势。
This line is the ci's most ingenious metaphor, writing the heart through the thing and turning the void into the real. The twisted bowels means the thousand-turning grief bowels, by nature invisible; would you see my bowels? the two words would-see making one supposition — if you wish to know how my bowels are, look at the gold burner's coiled seal incense. The seal incense coiled like the bowels, burned out inch by inch to ash, the burning-out writing the incense's end, and secretly figuring the bowels' inch-by-inch breaking, one thing two metaphors, apt and wondrous. Writing the invisible grief bowels through the visible incense ash, turning the abstract parting grief into the touchable, precisely the graceful ci's far-reaching-wonder wondrous brush. Meanwhile the gold burner writing the boudoir's splendor, forming the contrast with the burnt-out ruin, the grief the deeper. This line inheriting the first stanza's solitude, making the grief's degree first concrete, storing the force for the second stanza's brow-lock and goose-grief progression.
黛蛾长敛，任是春风吹不展
The painted brows are long knitted; even the spring breeze cannot blow them smooth.
眉峰长久紧锁，纵是春风也吹它不展。
The painted brows are long knitted; even the spring breeze cannot blow them smooth.
此句写愁之深，以春风反衬，递进一层。「黛蛾」即黛眉，「长敛」写眉峰久锁不展，愁容长驻；「任是春风吹不展」更进一层：春风和煦，能吹开百花、吹展万物，却偏偏吹不展这紧锁的眉峰——连春风都无能为力，足见愁锁之深、之固。「任是」二字极有力，写即便春风到来也无可奈何，把愁的不可化解写到极处。此句以「春风吹不展」的自然之能事反衬「眉锁」之人情之深，物与人对照，妙趣横生而哀婉入骨；同时「春风」暗含时序流转、春光又至之意，而愁却不随时光消减，与「天涯旧恨」的「旧」字遥相呼应，愈见离恨之积久难消。
This line writes the grief's depth, setting off through the spring breeze, one layer further. The painted brows means the painted brow, the long knitted writing the brow's long lock and unsmooth, the grief-look long-present; even the spring breeze cannot blow them smooth one layer further: the spring breeze gentle, able to blow open the hundred flowers and unfold the ten thousand things, and yet precisely unable to blow smooth this locked brow — even the spring breeze's powerlessness, hence the grief-lock's depth and fixedness. The two words even-the extremely forceful, writing the spring breeze's coming and yet the helplessness, writing the grief's un-unravelability to the extreme. This line setting the spring-breeze's unfolding ability against the brow-lock's human depth, the thing-and-man contrast, the wit abundant and the grief to the bone; meanwhile the spring breeze secretly carrying the season's turn and the spring's return meaning, and the grief's not lessening with the time, echoing the world's edge old grief's old word, the parting grief's long accumulation the clearer.
困倚危楼，过尽飞鸿字字愁
Weary, I lean on the high tower; the wild geese pass on, every character a grief.
困倦地倚着高楼，看飞雁一一掠过，每一字都写满了愁。
Weary, I lean on the high tower; the wild geese fly past, every character a grief.
结句写盼归之空，是全词情感的收束。「困倚危楼」写倚楼之久、之倦：久倚危楼盼人，盼到困倦而犹不忍离去，痴情可见；「过尽飞鸿」写雁阵一批批飞过，却始终没有一只带来书信，盼书而不得，希望一次次落空。「字字愁」是全词最警策处：雁飞成「人」字、「一」字，是为「字」；所盼的书信也是「字」，盼信而信不至，于是飞过的每一字都成了愁。「字字」以数量写愁之弥漫，愁满长空，无所不在。此句把「人不问」的孤寂、「回肠断」的深恨、「春风吹不展」的积愁，都收束于倚楼望雁的一幕，以景结情，语尽而意不尽，余悲悠长。
The close writes the return-expectation's void, the ci's emotional close. The weary leaning on the high tower writes the leaning's length and weariness: long leaning on the high tower hoping for the man, hoping to the weariness and yet the non-leaving, the craziness visible; the wild geese pass on writes the goose flocks batch by batch passing, and yet never one carrying the letter, the letter's hoping and the non-having, the hope's void time after time. The three words every character a grief, the ci's most warning place: the geese flying in the man-character and one-character formation, hence the character; the hoped letter also the character, the letter's hoped and yet not come, hence every flown character become the grief. The word by word writing the grief's filling through the number, the grief filling the whole sky, omnipresent. This line gathering the no-one-asks solitude, the bowels-broken deep grief, the spring-breeze's non-unfolding accumulated grief, all into the tower-leaning-and-gazing-the-geese scene, closing feeling in scene, the words ended and the meaning not, the after-grief long.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Both write about longing and separation. Yan Shu uses red paper and green waves, while Qin Guan uses incense, brows, and geese. Compare their Wanyue styles.
晏殊《清平乐·红笺小字》「红笺小字，说尽平生意」写相思难寄，「鸿雁在云鱼在水，惆怅此情难寄」，以鱼雁无凭写音书难通；秦观此词「过尽飞鸿字字愁」同样写盼信落空。二词同写闺中相思，而面目各异：晏殊身处富贵，其愁是闲愁，含蓄温润，如「斜阳却照深深院」，怨而不怒；秦观身世飘零，其愁是深恨，缠绵悱恻，如「断尽金炉小篆香」，愁入骨髓。同是北宋婉约词，一贵一贫、一闲一痛，比较二词，正可看出婉约词在不同身世背景下的情致差异，以及「以物喻愁」手法的丰富运用。
秦观·浣溪沙·漠漠轻寒上小楼 秦观·浣溪沙·漠漠轻寒上小楼 秦观 · 同出淮海，可比较其以景写愁的一致手法 similarBoth are Qin Guan's poems about sorrow, using scenery to evoke emotion. Compare their consistent technique of blending feeling with scene.
《浣溪沙·漠漠轻寒上小楼》「自在飞花轻似梦，无边丝雨细如愁」与《减字木兰花·天涯旧恨》同出秦观之手，同写闺中春愁，同以物象比喻抽象之愁：前者以丝雨喻愁之细密无边，后者以篆香喻愁之盘曲寸断；前者以飞花丝雨写轻愁如梦的迷离，后者以眉锁雁愁写深恨难消的沉痛。二词一写春愁之「轻」，一写离恨之「深」，而皆善以景写情、以物喻心，正可互证淮海词「情韵兼胜」的一贯作风。合读二词，可见秦观词在意象选择上的精细与在愁情书写上的多层开掘，是理解其婉约词风的绝佳对读。