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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

秋霁

The Autumn Clearing

史达祖

Shi Dazu

江水苍苍，望倦柳愁荷，共感秋色。
废阁先凉，古帘空暮，雁程最嫌风力。
故园信息。
爱渠入眼南山碧。
念上国。
谁是、脍鲈江汉未归客。
还又岁晚，瘦骨临风，夜闻秋声，吹动岑寂。
露蛩悲、清灯冷屋，翻书愁上鬓毛白。
年少俊游浑断得。
但可怜处，无奈苒苒魂惊，采香南浦，翦梅烟驿。

The river water is dark, dark,
I gaze at the weary willows and the sorrowful lotus,
Sharing the autumn color with them.
The abandoned pavilion grows cold first,
The old curtain hangs empty in the dusk,
And the wild geese's journey most resents the wind's force.
News from the old home —
I love what enters the eye: the green of the southern hills.
I think of the upper capital:
Who is the one, longing for the perch and the mince,
Who has not returned from the rivers and the Han?
And now the year is late,
My thin bones facing the wind,
At night I hear the autumn sound,
Blowing and stirring the still loneliness.
The dew-crickets grieve,
The clear lamp, the cold room,
Turning the books, I grieve till the hair at my temples is white.
The fine journeys of my youth are all cut off now —
But the pitiful places are beyond help: gradually, gradually, the soul is startled,
Gathering the fragrant herbs at the southern bank,
Cutting the plum at the misty posting station.

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Meaning

A lyric of autumn exile, written by the Southern Song poet Shi Dazu. The river water is dark; the weary willows and sorrowful lotus share the autumn color with the gazer. The abandoned pavilion grows cold, the old curtain hangs empty, and the wild geese's journey resents the wind. News from home — he loves the green of the southern hills entering the eye. He thinks of the upper capital, and asks: who is the one longing for the perch, who has not returned from the rivers and the Han? The year is late; his thin bones face the wind; at night he hears the autumn sound stirring the still loneliness. The dew-crickets grieve; in the clear lamp and the cold room he turns the books, grieving till his temples whiten. The fine journeys of youth are cut off; the soul is startled, gathering the fragrant herbs at the southern bank, cutting the plum at the misty posting station. The lyric is the classic expression of the aging exile's autumn.

江水苍苍茫茫，望着那倦怠的柳、含愁的荷，共同感受这秋色。废阁先已生凉，古帘在空暮中飘垂，雁阵南飞，最嫌这秋风的阻力。故园的消息啊。我喜爱那入眼苍翠的南山。念着故国的上京。谁是我这样身在江汉、念着鲈鱼脍而未能归去的客子呢。又到了岁晚，我瘦骨临风，夜闻秋声，吹动着岑寂。露中的蟋蟀悲鸣，清灯照着冷屋，翻书之际，愁上鬓毛而白。年少时的俊游，全然断绝了。但可怜之处，无奈这苒苒的岁月令人魂惊，采香于南浦，剪梅于烟驿。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The river water is dark; I gaze at the weary willows and the sorrowful lotus, sharing the autumn with them. The abandoned pavilion grows cold first; the old curtain hangs empty in the dusk; the wild geese's journey most resents the wind. News from the old home — I love the green of the southern hills entering the eye. I think of the upper capital: who is the one longing for the perch and the mince, not yet returned from the rivers and the Han? And now the year is late; my thin bones face the wind; at night I hear the autumn sound stirring the still loneliness. The dew-crickets grieve; in the clear lamp and the cold room, turning the books, I grieve till the temples whiten. The fine journeys of my youth are cut off; but the pitiful places are beyond help: gradually the soul is startled, gathering the fragrant herbs at the southern bank, cutting the plum at the misty posting station. [Structure and Thought] The lyric moves from the autumn scene (the river, the willows, the pavilion, the geese) through the homesickness (the southern hills, the upper capital) to the late-year desolation (the thin bones, the autumn sound, the white temples) and the close of the startled soul among the fragrant herbs and the misty plum. [Key Technique] The poem's art is the fusion of the autumn scene with the exile's condition: the weary willows and sorrowful lotus are the poet's own weariness and sorrow, the abandoned pavilion is his own abandonment, and the wild geese resenting the wind are the traveler resenting his own road. [Emotional Tone] Desolate and refined: the exile's autumn is rendered in the delicate, allusive style of the Southern Song, the grief carried by the scene and the classical figures.

【白话串讲】史达祖写《秋霁》：“江水苍苍，望倦柳愁荷，共感秋色”——“废阁先凉，古帘空暮，雁程最嫌风力”——“故园信息。爱渠入眼南山碧”——“还又岁晚，瘦骨临风，夜闻秋声”——他写秋日——共感秋色。【意象与手法】上阕以“江水苍苍，望倦柳愁荷”写秋色之苍凉，以“废阁先凉，古帘空暮”写羁旅之冷寂，以“脍鲈江汉未归客”点出故园之思；下阕以“岁晚”“瘦骨临风”写身世之衰，以“夜闻秋声”“翻书愁上鬓毛白”写秋愁之深；终以“采香南浦，翦梅烟驿”的怅惘作结。沉郁深挚。【情感与主旨】史达祖写秋日羁旅、故园之思之作，写秋色苍凉与身世之衰、秋愁之深，是史达祖词中写羁旅秋思的佳作。【名句点睛】常考“江水苍苍，望倦柳愁荷，共感秋色”以倦柳愁荷写秋色；“翻书愁上鬓毛白”以鬓毛白写秋愁之深。

Background

Shi Dazu (c. 1150–c. 1220), courtesy name Bangqing, styled himself the Plum Stream (Meixi), was a Southern Song lyricist of the delicate, refined school, best known for his poems on objects and his sensitive treatment of the boudoir and the parting. This lyric is one of his most admired works, an autumn meditation of the exiled official; its homesickness — the southern hills, the upper capital, the perch longing — and its late-year desolation belong to the characteristic mood of the Southern Song lyric, in which the individual exile carries the shadow of the endangered dynasty.

此词为南宋词人史达祖的羁旅秋思之作，题作《秋霁》而文本实为词作，kind 字段标为「诗」，系古籍传抄中体例混杂之现象。史达祖（约1163—约1220），字邦卿，号梅溪，南宋中期词人，曾为权相韩侂胄的堂吏，与姜夔等交游，词以工丽著称。韩侂胄开禧北伐失败被诛，史达祖亦受累遭贬，此后飘零江湖，羁旅为生。此词写秋日羁旅、故园之思，正是其落魄生涯的写照：首句「江水苍苍，望倦柳愁荷，共感秋色」，以江水苍苍写羁旅之景，以倦柳愁荷写秋色之感，景与情俱苍凉；「废阁先凉，古帘空暮」，写所居之冷寂；「故园信息」，点出故园之思；「念上国」，追念故国上京，暗含身世之叹；「谁是、脍鲈江汉未归客」，用张翰莼鲈之思的典故，写自己身在江汉、念着鲈鱼脍而未能归去的客子之叹；「还又岁晚，瘦骨临风，夜闻秋声，吹动岑寂」，写岁晚身衰、秋声惊心的况味；「露蛩悲、清灯冷屋，翻书愁上鬓毛白」，写秋夜灯下翻书、愁上鬓白的衰颓；「年少俊游浑断得」，以年少时的俊游反衬今日的落拓；「采香南浦，翦梅烟驿」，以采香剪梅的意象写归心之切与路之渺茫。全词以秋为背景，以羁旅为主线，把故园之思与身世之叹交织在一起，是史达祖词中情感最为沉郁的篇章之一。

Art

The lyric's art is the art of the autumn scene made to carry the exile's whole condition. Every element of the opening scene is a figure of the poet: the weary willows, the sorrowful lotus, the abandoned pavilion growing cold first, the old curtain hanging empty, the wild geese resenting the wind. The homesickness is then given its classical figures: the green of the southern hills entering the eye, the question of the upper capital, the perch longing of the homeward-bound. The late-year desolation follows: the thin bones facing the wind, the autumn sound stirring the still loneliness, the dew-crickets, the clear lamp, the cold room, the books turned until the temples whiten. The close gathers the grief in the classical gestures: gathering the fragrant herbs at the southern bank, cutting the plum at the misty posting station — the melancholy rituals of the exile.

此词艺术上以「苍凉」与「层层递进」为特色，在秋景的铺展中写尽羁旅之愁。上阕以「江水苍苍」的阔大起笔，写羁旅之景；「望倦柳愁荷，共感秋色」，以「倦」「愁」二字写柳荷之态，物我交融——柳倦荷愁，正是旅人心绪的投射；「废阁先凉，古帘空暮，雁程最嫌风力」，以废阁、古帘、雁程三个意象写羁旅之冷寂，雁南飞而人未归，最嫌秋风的阻力，正是归心受阻的写照。「故园信息。爱渠入眼南山碧」，以「故园信息」点出主题，以「南山碧」写故园之景如在目前；「念上国」，追念故国，情思愈深；「谁是、脍鲈江汉未归客」，用张翰之典自况，点破「未归客」的身份。下阕「还又岁晚，瘦骨临风，夜闻秋声，吹动岑寂」，写岁晚身衰、秋声惊心的况味，「瘦骨临风」写身之衰，「吹动岑寂」写心之寂；「露蛩悲、清灯冷屋，翻书愁上鬓毛白」，写秋夜灯下翻书、愁上鬓白的衰颓，「翻书愁上鬓毛白」一句，把翻书与愁鬓联系起来，写尽读书人老病穷愁的况味；「年少俊游浑断得」，以「年少俊游」反衬今日之落拓，「浑断得」三字，写尽旧游断绝的凄凉；「但可怜处，无奈苒苒魂惊，采香南浦，翦梅烟驿」，以采香剪梅的意象写归心之切与路之渺茫，「魂惊」写岁月流逝的惊心，「南浦」「烟驿」写归途之渺远。全词由景入情、由秋色入秋愁、由身世入故园，层层推进而情思不断，是史达祖词苍凉沉郁风格的集中体现。

Allusions

'The perch and the mince' (kuailu) alludes to the Jin dynasty official Zhang Han, who resigned his post because he longed for the perch and the water-shield soup of his home — the standard figure of the official's homesickness. 'The upper capital' (shangguo) is the capital, the object of the exile's longing. 'Gathering the fragrant herbs at the southern bank' echoes the 'Xiang Lady' of the Songs of Chu — the gathering of the fragrant plants, the gesture of the loyal heart; 'cutting the plum at the misty posting station' draws on the tradition of the plum as the messenger's flower, the token of the letter sent and the memory kept.

此词用典以「莼鲈之思」为核心，织入羁旅之叹。「脍鲈江汉未归客」用张翰之典：《世说新语·识鉴》载，西晋张翰为齐王东曹掾，见秋风起，乃思吴中菰菜、莼羹、鲈鱼脍，曰「人生贵得适意尔，何能羁宦数千里以要名爵」，遂命驾而归。后以「莼鲈之思」写思乡归隐之情。此词以「脍鲈」自况，写自己身在江汉、念着鲈鱼脍而未能归去的客子之叹——张翰思莼鲈而辞官归乡，词人思故园而不得归，典与自身境遇相映，更见其漂泊之痛。「雁程」，写雁阵南飞的路程，暗含「鸿雁传书」的思乡之意，「雁程最嫌风力」，以雁之受阻写归路之难。「废阁」「古帘」，暗合谢朓「高阁临江渚」、杜甫「鸟雀噪空帘」的羁旅意象，写所居之荒凉。「南浦」，用《楚辞·九歌·河伯》「送美人兮南浦」与江淹《别赋》「送君南浦，伤如之何」之典，南浦为送别之地，写离别之恨。「翦梅」，暗用陆凯寄梅之典，「折花逢驿使，寄与陇头人。江南无所有，聊赠一枝春」，以折梅寄远写思念之情，此词「翦梅烟驿」，写于烟驿中剪梅寄意，正是思乡怀人之情的寄托。这些典故，或写思乡之切、或写送别之恨、或写寄远之情，皆围绕羁旅故园之思这一核心，织成一张苍凉的情网，正是史达祖词「用事下语精严」的特点。

Commentary

This lyric is one of Shi Dazu's most admired works, quoted for the perfect fusion of the autumn scene and the exile's grief. The opening — the weary willows and sorrowful lotus sharing the autumn with the gazer — is often cited as a model of the scene made to carry feeling, and the close, with its fragrant herbs and misty plum, is ranked among the finest endings of the Southern Song. Critics praise the lyric's refinement: the exile's desolation is never stated, only worn by the willows, the pavilion and the crickets.

读此词，最值得注意的是「谁是、脍鲈江汉未归客」所写出的「未归」之叹。张翰见秋风起，想到莼羹鲈脍，便辞官归乡——想归就归，何等洒脱；而词人呢？「谁是、脍鲈江汉未归客」——谁是那身在江汉、念着鲈鱼脍而未能归去的客子呢？答案不言自明，正是词人自己。这一问句，写尽了「想归而不能归」的悲哀：不是不想归，而是归不得——张翰的鲈鱼脍是归乡的理由，词人的鲈鱼脍却只能是归乡的奢望。这「未归客」三字，是此词的情感之眼：上阕的「雁程最嫌风力」，是归心受阻的暗喻；下阕的「翦梅烟驿」，是归途渺茫的写照，皆由此「未归」生发。而「年少俊游浑断得」一句，更以年少时的俊游反衬今日的落拓——那时何等的意气风发，如今却是「瘦骨临风」「翻书愁上鬓毛白」。以「浑断得」写旧游之断绝，以「鬓毛白」写岁月之无情，正是词人身世之感最深沉的流露。史达祖曾为韩侂胄堂吏，位虽不高而势颇重，韩败后遭贬飘零，此词的「未归客」之叹，正是一个从风华中坠落的士人，在秋日羁旅中发出的苍凉心声。

Prosody

Form Qiuji (The Autumn Clearing), a long lyric of ninety-five characters词（秋霁·双调慢词，kind 字段标为「诗」）

Rhyme The poem rhymes on the oblique-tone words se, li, bi, xi, ke, ji, bai, de, yi and yi in the zhi rhyme group, in the tune's demanding pattern.此词为《秋霁》双调慢词，上下阕各押仄韵，「色」「力」「息」「碧」「国」「客」「寂」「白」「得」「驿」等字皆属仄声入声、去声韵，韵脚密而短促，正合词情「苍凉」的声调。词中「江水苍苍，望倦柳愁荷，共感秋色」「露蛩悲、清灯冷屋，翻书愁上鬓毛白」等句，句式长短错落而整饬流丽；「故园信息」「念上国」等短句独立成韵，顿挫有致。整体声调由起句的苍茫，到「未归客」的沉痛，再到「鬓毛白」的衰颓，终以「翦梅烟驿」的渺茫，起伏有致，正合羁旅秋思的词情。

Tone pattern The opening is dark and level with the autumn scene; the middle turns with the homesickness; the close falls into the quiet rituals of the fragrant herbs and the misty plum — the cadence of the exile's grief.句式上，此词善用短句独立成顿：「故园信息」「念上国」，皆以短句点题，顿挫而见情思之转；「望倦柳愁荷，共感秋色」以「望」字领起，「谁是、脍鲈江汉未归客」以「谁是」发问，句法多变。全词由景入情、由秋色入秋愁、由身世入故园，句式随之由苍茫转沉郁、由沉郁转衰颓，正是史达祖词「于秾丽中见苍凉」的节奏美学。

Reading note This is the Qiuji tune, a double-stanza slow lyric; the source text marks its kind as 'poem' rather than 'ci.' Both stanzas rhyme on oblique tones — se, li, xi, bi, guo, ke, ji, bai, de and yi, dense and short oblique rhymes that suit the bleak mood. The short phrases stand as their own beats — 'guxiang xinxi,' 'nian shangguo' — making the turn of feeling felt; the syntax shifts from the 'wang' of the opening gaze to the question 'shui shi' of the middle, and the whole moves from the gray river through the whitened temples to the faint plum of the posting station, the cadence of the exile's grief.作为双调慢词，此词虽题作《秋霁》而 kind 字段标为「诗」，其声律之美在于以仄声短韵与顿挫的句式，写出羁旅秋思的苍凉情思。全词上阕由「江水苍苍」的苍茫写景，经「雁程最嫌风力」的归心受阻，到「脍鲈江汉未归客」的沉痛，声调由苍茫转沉郁；下阕以「岁晚」「瘦骨临风」的衰颓起笔，经「翻书愁上鬓毛白」的灯下愁思，到「采香南浦，翦梅烟驿」的渺茫，声调由衰颓转怅惘。词中「望倦柳愁荷，共感秋色」「谁是、脍鲈江汉未归客」等句，句法多变而声情相谐，正是史达祖词「奇秀清逸」风格的体现。就全词而言，此词以苍凉的意象、深挚的情感、顿挫的声调，写尽羁旅秋思与故园之叹，是史达祖词中写羁旅的代表作，也可见南宋词人在秋日羁旅中寄托身世之感的普遍手法。

Line by line

望倦柳愁荷，共感秋色。

I gaze at the weary willows and the sorrowful lotus, sharing the autumn color with them.

望着那倦怠的柳、含愁的荷，共同感受这秋色。

I gaze at the weary willows and grieving lotuses, which feel the autumn colors with me.

这一句写秋色之感，是全词「以物写心」的典范。「倦柳愁荷」，以「倦」「愁」二字写柳荷之态——柳已倦怠，荷已含愁，本是秋日草木凋零的实景，而词人以人的情态写之，柳荷便有了情感，正是「物皆着我之色彩」的移情；「共感秋色」，写柳荷与词人共同感受这秋色，物我一体，同悲同愁。以「倦柳愁荷」写秋，比直写「柳衰荷残」更见情致：柳倦，是因为秋风已扫；荷愁，是因为秋霜已降；而词人的心，也正如这倦柳愁荷，在秋色中一同憔悴。这一句，把秋景与秋心融为一体，是此词写秋的起笔，也为全词的羁旅之愁定下了苍凉的基调。

This line writes the autumn-color feeling, the ci's thing-writes-heart model. The weary willows and grieving lotuses, the two words weary and grieving writing the willow-and-lotus state — the willow already weary, the lotus already grieving, by nature the autumn plants' withering fact, and the poet writing them through the human mood, the willow and lotus hence given feeling, precisely the thing-all-colored-by-the-self empathy; feel the autumn colors with me writes the willow, lotus, and poet's shared feeling of the autumn, the thing and self one, the shared grief. Writing the autumn through the weary-willows-and-grieving-lotus, the more feeling than the direct willow-wilt-and-lotus-faded: the willow weary, because the autumn wind already swept; the lotus grieving, because the autumn frost already fallen; and the poet's heart, just like these weary willows and grieving lotuses, fading together in the autumn colors. This line fuses the autumn scene and the autumn heart, the ci's autumn-writing opening, and storing the bleak tone for the whole ci's traveling grief.

谁是、脍鲈江汉未归客。

Who is the one, longing for the perch and the mince, who has not returned from the rivers and the Han?

谁是我这样身在江汉、念着鲈鱼脍而未能归去的客子呢。

Who is it — the traveler on the rivers and lakes, craving the sliced perch and yet not returned?

这一句是全词的情感之眼，也是「莼鲈之思」典故的运用。「脍鲈」用张翰见秋风起而思莼羹鲈脍、命驾归乡之典，本是思乡归隐的美谈；「谁是、脍鲈江汉未归客」，以问句自况——谁是那身在江汉、念着鲈鱼脍而未能归去的客子呢？答案不言自明，正是词人自己。张翰想归就归，词人却是「未归客」——不是不想归，而是归不得，这一「未」字，写尽了想归而不能归的悲哀。以「谁是」发问，比直说「我是」更见沉痛：仿佛在人群中寻找同类，却发现只有自己一个。此句用典贴切而情感深挚，把故园之思与身世之叹融为一体，是此词最见匠心的句子，也是理解全词的钥匙。

This line is the ci's emotional eye, and the water-shield-and-perch longing allusion's use. The sliced perch uses Zhang Han's seeing the autumn wind rise and longing for the water-shield soup and sliced perch, then ordering the chariot home allusion, by nature the homesick hermitage's fair tale; Who is it — the traveler on the rivers and lakes, craving the sliced perch and yet not returned? in the question self-figuring — who is that traveler dwelling on the rivers and lakes, craving the sliced perch and yet unable to return? The answer self-evident, the poet himself. Zhang Han wanting to return and returning, and the poet the not-returned traveler — not the not-wanting-to-return, but the unable-to-return, this one word not-yet exhausting the wanting-to-return-and-yet-unable grief. Writing through the who-is-it question, the more grief than the direct I-am: as if searching the crowd for a fellow, and finding only oneself. This line's allusion apt and the emotion deep, fusing the old-home longing and the fate sigh, this ci's most ingenious line, and the key to understanding the whole ci.

翻书愁上鬓毛白。

Turning the books, I grieve till the hair at my temples is white.

秋夜灯下翻书，愁绪上来，鬓毛已经白了。

Turning the pages, the grief mounts until the temples turn white.

这一句写秋夜灯下翻书的衰颓，是此词写身世之叹最沉痛的一笔。「露蛩悲、清灯冷屋」，写秋夜的冷寂——露中蟋蟀悲鸣，清灯照着冷屋，正是羁旅之夜的凄凉；「翻书愁上鬓毛白」，写灯下翻书、愁上鬓白——读书人夜半翻书，本是寻常，而词人翻书之际，愁绪涌上心头，鬓毛竟已白了。这一句的妙处，在于把「翻书」与「鬓白」联系起来：翻书是读书人的本业，鬓白是岁月的痕迹，两者本不相干，而词人以「愁」字为桥——正因为翻书之际愁绪难遣，才惊觉鬓毛已白，正是「对镜忽惊双鬓白」的悲凉。以「翻书」写身世，正是读书人老病穷愁的典型写照，读来令人恻然，是此词炼意最深的一笔。

This line writes the autumn night's lamp and page-turning decay, this ci's fate-sigh's most grief-stricken stroke. The dew cricket's grief, the clear lamp and the cold room, writing the autumn night's chill — the dew cricket's mournful cry, the clear lamp lighting the cold room, precisely the traveling night's bleakness; Turning the pages, the grief mounts until the temples turn white writes the lamp-side page turning and the grief's mounting to white temples — the scholar's midnight page turning, by nature the ordinary, and the poet at the page-turning, the grief surging, the temples already white. This line's wonder lies in the linking of the page-turning and the temples' white: the page-turning the scholar's proper work, the white temples the years' trace, the two by nature unrelated, and the poet using the grief word as the bridge — precisely because at the page-turning the grief's un-dispellability, hence the sudden start at the white temples, precisely the mirror's sudden-start-at-white-temples bleakness. Writing fate through the page-turning, precisely the scholar's old-sick-poverty-and-grief typical portrait, reading it moves the heart, this ci's deepest-meaning stroke.

Study

Word focus

倦柳 'The weary willows' — the willows made weary by the gazer's weariness, the scene carrying the exile's fatigue. 「望倦柳愁荷」之「倦柳」，以「倦」字写秋日柳树的衰态，是此词「以物写心」的意象之眼。「倦」本写人的疲惫，词人移以写柳，柳便有了情态——不是普通的秋柳，而是「倦」了的柳，仿佛被秋风反复吹拂、被岁月层层消磨，终于倦怠不堪。以「倦柳」写秋，既写草木之凋零，也写旅人之疲惫——柳倦，正如人心倦；柳愁，正如人心愁。此词以「倦柳愁荷」并称，一写柳之倦、一写荷之愁，把秋日的草木都写得有情有态，正是「物皆着我之色彩」的移情手法。以「倦」字写柳，贴切而新颖，是史达祖词炼字精严、以一字写尽秋意的体现。

脍鲈 'The perch and the mince' — the homesickness of Zhang Han, who resigned for the perch and water-shield of home. 「谁是、脍鲈江汉未归客」之「脍鲈」，用张翰「莼羹鲈脍」之典，是此词思乡情感的凝聚。「脍鲈」即鲈鱼脍，细切的鲈鱼肉，为吴中名菜，典出《世说新语》：张翰见秋风起，思吴中菰菜、莼羹、鲈鱼脍，遂命驾归乡。后以「脍鲈」「莼鲈」写思乡归隐之情。此词以「脍鲈」自况，写身在江汉而思念故园美味、渴望归去的心情——张翰思莼鲈而辞官归乡，词人思故园而不得归，同是「脍鲈」，一能归、一不能归，正见其漂泊之痛。以「脍鲈」写思乡，比直说「思乡」更见具体与深切——那鲈鱼脍的滋味，正是故园的滋味，思乡而思味，思味而更思乡，正是中国文人思乡书写的独特笔法。

魂惊 'The soul is startled' — the sudden alarm of the spirit in the desolate autumn, the grief beyond endurance. 「无奈苒苒魂惊」之「魂惊」，写岁月流逝的惊心，是此词写身世之叹的关键语。「魂惊」者，魂魄为之惊动，写心灵的强烈震动；「苒苒」写时光的渐渐流逝，两词相配，写岁月苒苒而逝、令人魂惊——不是突然的变故，而是那不知不觉中流逝的岁月，最令人心惊。词人在岁晚秋夜，忽然惊觉时光已逝、身世已衰，这一「惊」，正是「苒苒」岁月累积的爆发。以「魂惊」写对岁月的敏感，比「心惊」「神惊」更见深度——魂惊者，惊动的是魂魄，是生命最深处的震动。此词以「无奈苒苒魂惊」写对岁月流逝的恐惧与无奈，与「瘦骨临风」「鬓毛白」相呼应，正是词人身世之感最深沉的流露。

秋霁