宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
秦观·望海潮·洛阳怀古
Sea of Clouds · Meditations on the Past at Luoyang
望海潮·洛阳怀古梅英疏淡，冰凘溶泄，东风暗换年华。
金谷俊游，铜驼巷陌，新晴细履平沙。
长记误随车。
正絮翻蝶舞，芳思交加。
柳下桃蹊，乱分春色到人家。
西园夜饮鸣笳。
有华灯碍月，飞盖妨花。
兰苑未空，行人渐老，重来是事堪嗟。
烟暝酒旗斜。
但倚楼极目，时见栖鸦。
无奈归心，暗随流水到天涯。
The east wind quietly changes the year.
At the Golden Valley we wandered in splendour;
By the Bronze Camel lanes, on a fresh-cleared day we walked the level sand.
Long I remember mistaking another's carriage.
Just then catkins turned, butterflies danced,
Spring thought entwined.
Beneath the willows, by the peach path,
Spring colour was scattered at random to the houses.
In the western garden, by night, we drank to the reed-organ.
Bright lamps thwarted the moon; flying canopies hindered the flowers.
The orchid park not yet empty, the traveller slowly ages—
Returning, all things are to sigh for.
In the misty dusk the wine-flag slants.
I only lean on the tower and gaze my fill,
Now and then seeing the roosting crows.
Helpless, the thought of home
Secretly follows the flowing water to the world's end.
Meaning
Plum blossoms sparse and faint, ice melts and flows, the east wind quietly changes the year. I recall the splendid wandering at the Golden Valley, the Bronze Camel lanes, and on a fresh-cleared day walking the level sand. Long I remember mistaking another's carriage. Just then catkins turned, butterflies danced, spring thought entwined. Beneath the willows, by the peach path, spring colour was scattered at random to the houses. In the western garden by night we drank to the reed-organ. Bright lamps thwarted the moon; flying canopies hindered the flowers. The orchid park not yet empty, the traveller slowly ages—returning, all things are to sigh for. In the misty dusk the wine-flag slants. I only lean on the tower and gaze my fill, now and then seeing the roosting crows. Helpless, the thought of home secretly follows the flowing water to the world's end.
梅花疏淡，冰凌溶泄，东风悄悄换了一年光景。忆金谷园中俊游、铜驼街巷，新晴日细步平沙。长记那次错跟了别家车马。正柳絮翻飞蝶舞，春思交加。柳下桃边小径，把春色乱分到人家。 西园夜饮吹响胡笳。华灯碍月，飞盖妨花。园林未空，行人渐老，重来事事堪嗟。烟暝中酒旗斜挂。独倚楼极目，时见归鸦。无奈归乡之心，暗随流水到了天涯。
Appreciation
This is Qin Guan's meditation on the past and the present, probably written in the Shaosheng years (after 1094) on the road to exile or after leaving Luoyang. Luoyang was the Western Capital of the Northern Song; Golden Valley, Bronze Camel, and the Western Garden were all traces of former splendour. The poet recalls his past Luoyang pleasure, contrasting the present 'the traveller slowly ages' and 'all things are to sigh for', darkly holding the grief of political change and his own fall—a famous meditation-on-the-past lyric of the Huaihai manner, 'equal in feeling and charm'.
【白话串讲】 秦观回忆洛阳旧游：金谷园、铜驼巷、西园夜饮。“长记误随车”——还记得当年跟错了车。如今“重来是事堪嗟”，昔日的繁华，都成了记忆里的烟。 【意象与手法】 上片以「梅英」「冰凘」「东风」点春回，转入「金谷」「铜驼」的俊游回忆，「误随车」细节生动，「絮翻蝶舞」「柳下桃蹊」绮丽如画；下片写西园夜饮之盛，骤转「兰苑未空，行人渐老」的悲慨，结以「归心随流水到天涯」，由极热闹跌入极孤寂。铺叙工致，今昔对照，深得柳词铺排而洗其俗。 【情感与主旨】 此词为秦观怀古伤今之作，约作于绍圣年间（1094后）贬谪途中或离洛阳之后。洛阳为北宋西京，金谷、铜驼、西园皆前代繁华盛迹。词人追忆昔日洛阳游冶，对照眼前「行人渐老」「是事堪嗟」，暗寓政局变迁、自身沦落的身世之悲。 【名句点睛】 考点：一、上片「暗换年华」的巧妙双关（时序与身世）；二、「误随车」的细节之妙；三、「乱分春色到人家」的炼字；四、今昔对照的章法。
Background
This is Qin Guan's meditation on the past and the present, probably written in the Shaosheng years (after 1094) on the road to exile or after leaving Luoyang. Luoyang was the Western Capital of the Northern Song; Golden Valley, Bronze Camel, and the Western Garden were all traces of former dynastic splendour. The poet recalls his past Luoyang wandering, contrasting the present 'the traveller slowly ages' and 'all things are to sigh for', darkly holding the grief of political change and his own fallen fate—a famous meditation-on-the-past lyric of the 'equal in feeling and charm' Huaihai manner.
此词为秦观怀古伤今之作，约作于宋哲宗绍圣年间（1094—1097）词人被贬之后。秦观（1049—1100），字少游、太虚，号淮海居士，扬州高邮人，与黄庭坚、晁补之、张耒并称「苏门四学士」，为婉约词正宗。他早年游历洛阳，与文人雅士诗酒往还，留下了无数美好的记忆；后卷入新旧党争，绍圣元年（1094）被贬出京，此后辗转郴州、横州、雷州等地，终身未得北归。此词盖作于贬谪途中或离洛阳之后，追忆洛阳金谷、铜驼、西园等繁华胜迹，对照眼前的「行人渐老」「是事堪嗟」，今昔盛衰之感与身世沦落之悲交织，暗寓政局变迁的无奈。洛阳为北宋西京，繁华甲于天下，词人借其兴废写自身浮沉，是淮海词「情韵兼胜」的怀古名篇。又秦观于绍圣年间连遭贬谪，郴州、横州、雷州，一路南行，越贬越远，最终客死藤州，此词写「重来是事堪嗟」「归心暗随流水到天涯」，正是一语成谶：少游自此再未北归，洛阳之游竟成绝忆，故词中今昔对照的哀感，实为淮海一生悲剧命运的缩影，读来更觉沉痛，也更见怀古词中「自伤」一体的深意。
Art
The upper part uses 'plum blossoms', 'melting ice', 'east wind' to mark spring's return, then turns to the memory of 'Golden Valley' and 'Bronze Camel' wandering; the detail 'mistaking another's carriage' is vivid, and 'catkins turned, butterflies danced' and 'beneath the willows, by the peach path' are picturesque as a painting. The lower part writes the western garden's night drinking in splendour, then suddenly turns to 'the orchid park not yet empty, the traveller slowly ages' in grief, closing with 'the thought of home follows the flowing water to the world's end', dropping from utmost bustle to utmost loneliness. The spreading is fine, present and past contrasted, having learned Liu's spreading yet washed of its vulgarity.
此词章法铺叙工致，今昔对照鲜明。上片先以「梅英疏淡，冰凘溶泄，东风暗换年华」点出春回之景，「暗换」二字双关时序与身世；随即转入「金谷俊游，铜驼巷陌，新晴细履平沙」的往事回忆，金谷、铜驼皆洛阳胜迹，一笔带出昔日俊游之乐；「长记误随车」以细节写尽少年痴态，生动传神；「正絮翻蝶舞，芳思交加。柳下桃蹊，乱分春色到人家」铺写春光之烂漫，「乱」字炼得精警，写春色争先恐后地涌向人家。下片陡转：「西园夜饮鸣笳。有华灯碍月，飞盖妨花」先写夜宴之盛，灯之盛竟掩月色、车之盛竟妨花赏，极写繁华；「兰苑未空，行人渐老，重来是事堪嗟」骤转悲慨，园犹在而人已老；结以「无奈归心，暗随流水到天涯」，由极热闹跌入极孤寂，余情渺渺，深得柳词铺叙之长而洗去其俚俗。全词以长调铺叙之体写今昔两重境界，上片春色愈丽，下片归思愈悲，繁华与零落互为表里，正是少游「以乐景写哀」的拿手好戏；且铺叙处得柳永之绵密而洗其俚俗，含蓄处得晏欧之温婉而加其深挚，熔铸众长而自成机杼，是《望海潮》词调中难得的情韵兼胜之作。
Allusions
'Golden Valley' uses the Western-Jin Shi Chong's Golden Valley Garden, figuring past splendour and feasting. 'Bronze Camel' uses Luoyang's Bronze Camel Street ('the Bronze Camel lane'), symbol of the old capital's sights. 'Western Garden' transforms the Cao-Wei Yehsia western-garden gathering and Li Bai's 'western garden feast' tradition, writing men of letters' elegant gathering. 'Mistaking another's carriage' darkly uses the Tang 'spring outing, mistaking the follower' story. The allusions all grip Luoyang's meditation on the past; splendour and scattering mirror each other.
此词用典皆紧扣洛阳风物，繁华与零落互为映衬。「金谷」用西晋石崇金谷园之典：石崇于洛阳西北金谷涧筑园宴客，极尽豪奢，故「金谷俊游」暗含当年名士风流、诗酒之盛的联想；「铜驼」用洛阳铜驼街之典：铜驼街为洛阳繁华要道，晋代索靖指铜驼叹曰「会见汝在荆棘中」，故「铜驼巷陌」既写昔日繁华，又暗伏荆棘铜驼的沧桑预感；「西园」化用曹魏邺下西园宴集及李白「西园」诗的传统意象，写文人雅集之盛；「误随车」暗用唐人「踏青误随」的本事，写少年游冶的趣事。数典皆洛阳故实，以昔日之繁华对照今日之零落，怀古之意深藏于铺叙之中，足见少游用典浑融的高妙。又「长记误随车」暗用韩愈《嘲少年》「只知闲信马，不觉误随车」之句意，写少年游冶误随别家车马的趣事，细节生动，正见洛阳少年时代的天真烂漫；而「乱分春色到人家」之「乱」字，又暗合《老子》「五色令人目盲」之意，繁华至极即迷乱之始，为下片「是事堪嗟」的悲慨埋下伏笔，炼字之中暗藏哲思。
Commentary
The Qing Zhou Ji, in his Song Four Masters Lyric Selection, ranked Qin Guan as the orthodox 'graceful and restrained', saying this lyric 'has the manner fully, yet the grief for the present lies beyond the words'. The modern Ye Jiaying judged: 'Huaihai's meditation on the past is not in mourning the past but in grieving himself; Golden Valley and Bronze Camel all become shadows of his own fate.' The whole's fair scene and grieving feeling, dense yet showing sparseness, fully shows Shaoyou's attainment of 'equal in feeling and charm'.
此词历来被视为秦观怀古词的代表作。清代周济《宋四家词选》列秦观为婉约正宗，评此词「风度宛然，而伤今之意在言外」，谓其铺叙工丽而不落俗，伤今之情含蓄蕴藉。近人叶嘉莹论淮海词，谓「淮海怀古，不在吊古而在自伤，金谷铜驼皆成身世之影」，点出此词的深意：词人所怀者非仅洛阳之古，实为自身身世之悲，金谷之繁华即少游昔日之得意，铜驼之沧桑即今日之沦落，以古映今，以今证古，情韵兼胜。全词丽景哀情，密处见疏，铺叙处见柳永之长，含蓄处见晏欧之韵，是秦观融铸众长而自成机杼的明证，也是北宋怀古词中婉约一路的典范。又清人陈廷焯《白雨斋词话》评秦观「词则情韵兼胜，而气体尤在温韦之上」，此词正是其「情韵兼胜」的标本：怀古而不滞于古，伤今而不流于露，以金谷铜驼之典写自身身世之悲，寄托遥深，含蓄蕴藉，为北宋怀古词中婉约一路的典范，与苏轼《念奴娇·赤壁怀古》的雄放正成对照，可见宋词怀古题材的两大范式，亦可见词人胸襟与遭遇如何塑造其词风。
Prosody
Line by line
梅英疏淡，冰凘溶泄，东风暗换年华。
The plum blooms are sparse and pale; the ice floes melt and flow; the east wind has secretly changed the years.
梅花疏淡，冰凌溶泄，东风悄悄换了一年光景。
The plum blooms are sparse and pale; the ice floes melt and loosen; the east wind has secretly changed the year.
起拍以三组景物写春回，点出时序流转。「梅英疏淡」写梅花将谢，疏落淡薄，春意初萌；「冰凘溶泄」写河冰消融，凘者，流动的冰块，二字写尽冰雪初融的动感；「东风暗换年华」总束上文，东风吹拂，岁月悄悄更换——「暗换」二字是词眼，既写节序之潜移，又暗喻身世之暗换：昔日的繁华少年，已在不知不觉间沦为沦落之人，时序与身世双关，含蓄深远。三句由点到面、由景入情，以春回之景写年华之逝，起笔平淡而含蕴深厚，为全词的今昔对照定下基调。
The opening in three scene groups writing the spring's return, naming the season's turn. The plum blooms are sparse and pale writes the plum's about-to-fade, sparse and faint, the spring's first stirring; the ice floes melt and loosen writes the river ice's melting, the floes the flowing ice, the two characters exhausting the ice's first-melting motion; the east wind has secretly changed the years gathering the above, the east wind blowing, the years' quiet changing — the two words secretly changed the ci's eye, at once writing the season's subtle shift, and secretly figuring the fate's quiet change: that past's glorious youth, already in the imperceptible turned the fallen man, the season and the fate double meaning, restrained and deep. Three lines, from the point to the face, from scene to feeling, writing the years' passing through the spring's return scene, the opening plain and yet the meaning deep, setting the whole ci's present-past contrast tone.
金谷俊游，铜驼巷陌，新晴细履平沙。
The elegant roam at Jin Valley, the Bronze Camel lanes, in the new clear weather treading the smooth sand.
忆金谷园中俊游、铜驼街巷，新晴日细步平沙。
I remember the elegant roam in Jin Valley, the Bronze Camel streets, treading the smooth sand in the new clear weather.
此三句转入对洛阳往事的追忆，是今昔对照的「昔」。「金谷俊游」以石崇金谷园写当年名士俊游之盛，「铜驼巷陌」以洛阳铜驼街写繁华街市，「新晴细履平沙」写雨过天晴、缓步于平沙之上的闲适——「细履」二字，写出当年从容雅致的姿态，与后文「行人渐老」的落魄形成鲜明对照。三句以地名罗列，如数家珍，铺陈昔日俊游之乐，情感上是欢快的；然金谷、铜驼本含沧桑典故，欢乐之中已暗伏盛衰之感，怀古之意在不知不觉中渗入，为下文的悲慨埋下伏线，章法极其细密。
These three lines turning to the Luoyang past memory, the present-past contrast's past. The elegant roam at Jin Valley writes the that-year's scholars' splendor through Shi Chong's Jin Valley garden; the Bronze Camel lanes writes the prosperous streets through Luoyang's Bronze Camel street; in the new clear weather treading the smooth sand writes the post-rain clear sky and the slow walking on the level sand's ease — the two words slow-walking writing that year's composed elegant pose, forming the sharp contrast with the below's the traveler growing old. Three lines in the place-names' listing, like counting one's own treasure, laying out the past's elegant-roam joy, emotionally the cheerful; and yet Jin Valley and Bronze Camel by nature carrying the vicissitudes allusions, within the joy already secretly stored the rise-and-fall feeling, the nostalgia's meaning seeping in imperceptibly, storing the below's grief ground, the craft extremely fine.
柳下桃蹊，乱分春色到人家。
The path under the willows and by the peaches, wildly dividing the spring's colors to every home.
柳下桃边的小径，把春色乱分到人家。
The path beneath the willows and by the peach trees wildly divides the spring's colors to every household.
此二句写洛阳春色之盛，是上片铺叙的顶点。「柳下桃蹊」写柳阴之下、桃树成蹊的小径，「蹊」字暗用《史记》「桃李不言，下自成蹊」之典，写游人众多、桃柳繁盛；「乱分春色到人家」以「乱」字炼意——春色仿佛被人随手乱分，纷纷送到家家户户，一个「乱」字，写尽春光的烂漫喧闹、生机勃勃，也写尽当年洛阳的繁华气象。此句以拟人写春，无理而妙，历来为人称赏。然繁华愈盛，后文「行人渐老」之悲愈深，乐景写哀，此处的极热闹正是为下片的极孤寂蓄势，章法上承转极妙。
These two lines writing the Luoyang spring splendor, the first stanza's narrative peak. The path beneath the willows and by the peach trees writes the willow shade and the peach-path small road, the word path secretly using the Records' the peach and plum speak not of themselves, and yet a path forms beneath them allusion, writing the visitors' number and the peach-willow lushness; wildly divides the spring's colors to every household uses the word wildly for the meaning — the spring colors as if casually and wildly divided, sent to the households, the one word wildly, exhausting the spring's riot and vitality, and that year's Luoyang prosperous bearing. This line personifying the spring, the unreasonable-and-yet-wonderful, through the ages praised. And yet the prosperity the more extreme, the below's the traveler growing old grief the deeper, delighted-scene-writing-grief, here's extreme bustle precisely storing the force for the second stanza's extreme solitude, the craft's turn and inheritance wondrous.
有华灯碍月，飞盖妨花。
The bright lanterns dim the moon; the flying canopies block the flowers.
华灯遮月，飞盖妨花。
The bright lanterns obstruct the moon; the flying canopies obstruct the flowers.
此二句写西园夜饮之盛，炼字精警。「华灯碍月」写灯火通明，竟遮蔽了月色——「碍」字以拟人写灯之盛，仿佛华灯有意与月争辉；「飞盖妨花」写车盖飞驰，竟妨碍了赏花——「妨」字写车马之众，仿佛飞盖无意间遮断了花光。四字两景，一灯一车，把夜宴之盛、宾客之繁写得无以复加，「碍」「妨」二字皆以寻常动词写极盛之境，炼字新奇而不失自然。此二句极写繁华，正是为了衬托下文的「行人渐老」：当年的灯月车马依旧，而人已垂垂老矣，盛景犹在而欢情不再，繁华与衰飒的对照，在此达到顶点。
These two lines writing the west garden's night-drinking splendor, the word-craft warning. The bright lanterns dim the moon writes the lanterns' brightness, even overshadowing the moonlight — the word obstructs personifying the lantern's splendor, as if the bright lanterns purposely competing with the moon; the flying canopies block the flowers writes the carriage canopies' speeding, even hindering the flower viewing — the word obstructs writing the carriages' number, as if the flying canopies inadvertently cut off the flower light. Four characters two scenes, one lantern one carriage, writing the night feast's splendor and the guests' number beyond all, the obstruct and the block two words both using the ordinary verbs for the extreme realm, the word-craft novel and yet natural. These two lines extreme-writing the splendor, precisely to set off the below's the traveler growing old: that year's lanterns and moon and carriages as of old, and the man already old, the splendor's scene still there and the joy gone, the prosperity-and-bleakness contrast here reaching the peak.
无奈归心，暗随流水到天涯。
Helpless, the homeward heart secretly follows the flowing water to the world's edge.
无奈归乡之心，暗随流水到了天涯。
Helpless, the homeward heart has secretly followed the flowing water to the world's edge.
结拍是全词情感的归宿，由怀古陡转思归。「无奈归心」直写乡愁之深，「无奈」二字见出无可奈何的悲哀——漂泊天涯，归期渺茫；「暗随流水到天涯」以「暗随」写归心之暗涌：那归乡的念头，竟暗暗随着东流的河水，一路飘到了天涯——既写心随水去、思归不得的痛苦，又暗合流水无情、年华随逝的怅惘，景情交融，余韵渺渺。上片极写洛阳春色之盛，此结陡落天涯之远，由极热闹跌入极孤寂，一冷一热、一乐一哀，对照强烈，把词人身世沦落、有家难归的悲慨写得深沉无尽，收束全篇而余味悠长。
The close is the ci's emotional landing, from the nostalgia's sudden turn to the home-longing. Helpless, the homeward heart directly writing the homesickness's depth, the two words helpless showing the helpless grief — drifting at the world's edge, the return date blurred; the homeward heart secretly follows the flowing water to the world's edge uses the secretly-following writing the homeward heart's hidden surge — the home-return thought, secretly with the eastward river, drifting all the way to the world's edge — at once writing the heart's following the water and the return's impossibility pain, and secretly matching the flowing-water heartlessness and the years' passing wistfulness, scene and feeling fused, the aftertone faint. The first stanza extreme-writing the Luoyang spring splendor, this close's sudden fall to the world's edge distance, from the extreme bustle into the extreme solitude, one cold one hot, one joy one grief, the contrast sharp, writing the poet's fate-fallen and home-unreturnable grief deep and endless, closing the whole piece and the aftertone long.
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Both from Shaoyou's hand; both write the grief of being stranded at the world's end, kindred in feeling and charm.
《减字木兰花·天涯旧恨》与《望海潮·洛阳怀古》同出少游之手，皆写天涯沦落之愁，而体裁与写法不同：《减字木兰花》为小令，「天涯旧恨，独自凄凉人不问」以短章直写孤寂，「黛蛾长敛，任是春风吹不展」以眉黛写愁，含蓄凝练，情韵悠长；《望海潮》为长调，以铺叙之笔铺陈洛阳今昔，由繁华而衰飒、由怀古而思归，层层展开，情致深婉。一以简驭繁，一以铺写胜；一写当下之愁，一写今昔之悲。二词并读，可见少游小令长调皆工，而其「情韵兼胜」的词风一以贯之，是淮海词风的两面。
王安石·桂枝香·金陵怀古 Wang Anshi · Laurel Branch · Meditation on the Past at Jinling 王安石 · 同为宋人怀古词而风格迥异 DifferentSame meditation-on-the-past subject; Wang's lyric is stern and majestic, Qin's graceful and fine—contrast the manners.
王安石《桂枝香·金陵怀古》与秦观《望海潮·洛阳怀古》皆为宋代怀古词的名篇，而风格迥异：王词写金陵，「千里澄江似练，翠峰如簇」以壮阔之景写六朝兴废，「至今商女，时时犹唱，后庭遗曲」以议论收束，思虑深沉，笔力雄健，得怀古词「沉雄」一路；秦词写洛阳，以金谷铜驼的昔日繁华对照今日之衰飒，「无奈归心，暗随流水到天涯」以情韵收束，哀婉缠绵，得怀古词「婉丽」一路。一以史识胜，一以情韵胜；一沉雄，一婉约。二词并观，可见宋人怀古词的两大范式，亦可比较王安石、秦观两位词人不同的胸襟与才情。