宋 Song · 诗 Poem
曲玉管
Jade Tube of the Tune
陇首云飞，江边日晚，烟波满目凭阑久。
立望关河萧索，千里清秋。
忍凝眸。
杳杳神京，盈盈仙子，别来锦字终难偶。
断雁无凭，冉冉飞下汀洲。
思悠悠。
暗想当初，有多少、幽欢佳会，岂知聚散难期，翻成雨恨云愁。
阻追游。
每登山临水，惹起平生心事，一场消黯，永日无言，却下层楼。
The river's edge is late in the day,
Smoke-waves fill the eye; long I lean on the rail.
Standing, I gaze at the frontier pass, bleak and bare,
A thousand li of clear autumn.
I cannot bear to fix my gaze.
Far, far away, the divine capital,
The lovely fairy —
Since we parted, her brocade letters have never met mine.
The broken geese bring no warrant,
Slowly, slowly they fly down to the sand-isles.
My thoughts stretch endlessly.
In secret I think of the beginning: how many
Hidden joys, fair meetings —
Who knew that gathering and parting could not be foreseen,
Turning instead into the rain of regret and the clouds of sorrow?
I am barred from the roaming after her.
Whenever I climb the mountain or face the water,
It stirs up the affairs of a lifetime,
A whole scene of fading and darkness,
All day long without a word,
Then I go down from the upper tower.
Meaning
A great lyric of separation, written by the master of the slow lyric, Liu Yong. Standing on the frontier headland at evening, the poet gazes over the smoke-waves and the bleak pass — a thousand li of clear autumn that he cannot bear to fix his eyes on. Far away is the divine capital and the lovely fairy of his love; since their parting, her brocade letters have never met his — the geese bring no warrant. He thinks in secret of the hidden joys and fair meetings of the beginning, which no one knew would turn into the rain of regret and the clouds of sorrow; now he is barred from the roaming after her. Whenever he climbs a mountain or faces the water, it stirs up the affairs of a lifetime — a whole scene of fading and darkness, all day without a word, and he goes down from the upper tower. The lyric is the classic expression of the wanderer's separation, the grief that returns at every height and every water.
陇首云飞，江边日晚，烟波满目，凭阑久立。立望关河萧索，千里清秋。忍凝眸。杳杳神京，盈盈仙子，别来锦字终难偶。断雁无凭，冉冉飞下汀洲。思悠悠。暗想当初，有多少、幽欢佳会，岂知聚散难期，翻成雨恨云愁。阻追游。每登山临水，惹起平生心事，一场消黯，永日无言，却下层楼。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] Clouds fly over the Long headland; the river's edge is late. Smoke-waves fill the eye; long I lean on the rail. Standing, I gaze at the frontier pass, bleak and bare — a thousand li of clear autumn. I cannot bear to fix my gaze. Far away the divine capital, the lovely fairy — since parting, her brocade letters have never met mine. The broken geese bring no warrant; slowly they fly down to the sand-isles. My thoughts stretch endlessly. In secret I think of the beginning: how many hidden joys and fair meetings — who knew that gathering and parting could not be foreseen, turning instead into the rain of regret and the clouds of sorrow? I am barred from the roaming after her. Whenever I climb a mountain or face the water, it stirs up the affairs of a lifetime — a whole scene of fading and darkness, all day without a word, and I go down from the upper tower. [Structure and Thought] The lyric moves from the scene of the headland (the clouds, the smoke-waves, the bleak pass) through the memory of the capital and the beloved (the fairy, the brocade letters, the broken geese) to the reflection on the gathered and the parted, and closes on the descent from the upper tower. [Key Technique] The poem's art is the art of the slow lyric's expansion: the scene, the memory, the reflection and the gesture are each given their full length, and the grief accumulates through the whole structure until the descent from the tower. [Emotional Tone] Vast and mournful: the separation is set against the thousand li of autumn and the divine capital beyond, and the close — all day without a word, going down from the tower — is the whole confession.
【白话串讲】 柳永写《曲玉管》：“陇首云飞，江边日晚，烟波满目凭阑久”——“立望关河萧索，千里清秋。忍凝眸”——“杳杳神京，盈盈仙子，别来锦字终难偶”——“断雁无凭，冉冉飞下汀洲。思悠悠”——他写登高怀远——烟波满目凭阑久。 【意象与手法】 “陇首云飞，江边日晚，烟波满目凭阑久”写登高之景；“立望关河萧索，千里清秋。忍凝眸”写关河萧索；“杳杳神京，盈盈仙子，别来锦字终难偶”写怀人之情；“断雁无凭，冉冉飞下汀洲。思悠悠”写断雁无凭；结以“每登山临水，惹起平生心事，一场消黯，永日无言，却下层楼”写羁旅之愁。婉转深挚。 【情感与主旨】 柳永写羁旅怀人之作，写登高望远、思念神京仙子与羁旅之愁，层层铺叙、婉转深挚，是柳永羁旅词的代表。 【名句点睛】 常考“陇首云飞，江边日晚，烟波满目凭阑久”以烟波凭阑写登高怀远；“杳杳神京，盈盈仙子，别来锦字终难偶”以盈盈仙子写怀人。
Background
Liu Yong (c. 987–c. 1053), courtesy name Qiqing, styled himself the Old Man of the Three Variations, was the greatest master of the slow (manci) lyric in the early Northern Song, the poet who expanded the ci into its long, narrative form and made it the vehicle of the fullest personal feeling. This lyric is one of his most famous, a separation poem set at the frontier; its expansion of the theme — from the scene through the memory to the reflection and the gesture — is the model of the slow lyric's art.
《曲玉管》为北宋词人柳永所作词。柳永（约987—约1053），字耆卿，原名三变，崇安（今福建武夷山）人，北宋著名词人，多写羁旅行役与市井生活，词风婉约，长于铺叙，人称「凡有井水处，即能歌柳词」。此词写羁旅怀人。词中「陇首云飞，江边日晚，烟波满目凭阑久」写登高之景；「杳杳神京，盈盈仙子，别来锦字终难偶」写怀人之情；「断雁无凭，冉冉飞下汀洲。思悠悠」写思之悠长；「暗想当初，有多少、幽欢佳会，岂知聚散难期，翻成雨恨云愁」写追忆往昔；「每登山临水，惹起平生心事，一场消黯，永日无言，却下层楼」写羁旅之愁。柳永多写羁旅行役，此词以登高望远、思念佳人之情写羁旅之愁，婉转深挚，是柳永羁旅词中的名篇，也是其「婉约铺叙」词风的典型体现。此篇《曲玉管》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 lyric's art is the art of the slow expansion. The first stanza opens the scene: the clouds over the headland, the evening river, the smoke-waves, the long leaning on the rail, the bleak pass of the thousand-li autumn — the grief is given its full landscape. The second stanza carries the memory: the divine capital, the lovely fairy, the brocade letters that never meet, the broken geese with no warrant — the separation in its specific pain. The third stanza reflects: the hidden joys and fair meetings of the beginning, the unforeseeable parting, the rain of regret and the clouds of sorrow; and the close performs the gesture — climbing the mountain or facing the water stirs up the affairs of a lifetime, the whole scene of fading and darkness, all day without a word, and the descent from the upper tower. The slow lyric's length is used to let each phase of the grief expand to its full.
此词艺术上以「铺叙婉转、由景入情」见长。全词三片，上片写登高之景，中片写怀人之情，下片写追忆往昔与羁旅之愁。上片「陇首云飞，江边日晚，烟波满目凭阑久」写登高之景：陇首云飞，江边日晚，烟波满目，凭阑久立；「立望关河萧索，千里清秋。忍凝眸」写望中之景。中片「杳杳神京，盈盈仙子，别来锦字终难偶」写怀人之情：杳杳神京，盈盈仙子，别来锦字终难偶；「断雁无凭，冉冉飞下汀洲。思悠悠」写思之悠长。下片「暗想当初，有多少、幽欢佳会，岂知聚散难期，翻成雨恨云愁」写追忆往昔；「阻追游。每登山临水，惹起平生心事，一场消黯，永日无言，却下层楼」写羁旅之愁。全词铺叙婉转，由景入情，是柳永羁旅词中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。
Allusions
'The Long headland' (Longshou) is the high ridge of the northwest, the frontier of the campaigns — the conventional height from which the traveler gazes toward home. 'The divine capital' (shenjing) is the capital, the home of the beloved; 'the lovely fairy' (yingying xianzi) is the beloved herself, 'yingying' recalling the beauty of the 'Nineteen Old Poems' — 'far, far away, the fair one.' 'The brocade letters' are the letters of the beloved, from the legend of Su Hui's brocade; 'the broken geese' are the letter-bringing geese, here without warrant, flying down to the sand-isles without a message. 'The rain of regret and the clouds of sorrow' (yuhun yunchou) inverts the clouds-and-rain of the Wu Mountain tryst — the joy of the meeting turned into the sorrow of the parting.
词中「陇首」「神京」「仙子」「锦字」「断雁」「汀洲」等语，皆含典故故实。「陇首」为陇山之巅，古诗词多以陇首写高远之景；「神京」指帝都汴京，「杳杳神京」写帝都之遥远；「仙子」以仙女喻所怀之佳人；「锦字」用前秦苏蕙织锦回文诗寄夫之典（《晋书·列女传》载窦滔妻苏氏织锦为回文璇玑图以寄滔），写别后书信，「别来锦字终难偶」写别后音书难通；「断雁」指失群之孤雁，古以雁足传书，「断雁无凭」写孤雁难凭传书；「汀洲」为水边平地。词人以陇首、神京、仙子、锦字、断雁、汀洲等意象入词，不着痕迹，而把羁旅怀人之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。
Commentary
This lyric is one of Liu Yong's most admired works, quoted as a model of the slow lyric's expansion of feeling. The final gesture — all day without a word, going down from the upper tower — is often cited as the perfect close of the separation lyric, and the whole poem is read as Liu Yong's art at its fullest: the grief given the whole landscape of the autumn and the whole length of the reflection.
这首《曲玉管》，是柳永写羁旅怀人之作，写登高望远、思念佳人之情，婉转深挚。上片写登高之景：「陇首云飞，江边日晚，烟波满目凭阑久」——陇首云飞，江边日晚，烟波满目，凭阑久立。写登高所见：陇首云飞、江边日晚、烟波满目，一片萧瑟秋景；「立望关河萧索，千里清秋。忍凝眸」——立望关河萧索，千里清秋。忍凝眸。望尽关河萧索、千里清秋，不忍凝眸——「忍凝眸」，正是望之不忍、不忍而望。中片写怀人之情：「杳杳神京，盈盈仙子，别来锦字终难偶」——杳杳神京，盈盈仙子，别来锦字终难偶。神京遥远，佳人盈盈，别后音书难通，写怀人之情；「断雁无凭，冉冉飞下汀洲。思悠悠」——断雁无凭，冉冉飞下汀洲。思悠悠。孤雁难凭传书，冉冉飞下汀洲，而思念悠悠无尽。下片写追忆往昔与羁旅之愁：「暗想当初，有多少、幽欢佳会，岂知聚散难期，翻成雨恨云愁」——暗想当初，有多少幽欢佳会，岂知聚散难期，翻成雨恨云愁。追忆当初之幽欢佳会，而如今聚散难期，只成雨恨云愁；「阻追游。每登山临水，惹起平生心事，一场消黯，永日无言，却下层楼」——阻追游。每登山临水，惹起平生心事，一场消黯，永日无言，却下层楼。登高临水，惹起平生心事，一场消黯，永日无言，只得下楼。这「却下层楼」，是全词之结：登高望远，惹起愁思，无计可消，只得下楼。全词铺叙婉转，由景入情，正是柳永「婉约铺叙」词风的典型，也是其羁旅词中的名篇。
Prosody
Line by line
陇首云飞，江边日晚，烟波满目凭阑久。
Clouds fly over the Long headland, the river's edge is late in the day, smoke-waves fill the eye; long I lean on the rail.
陇首云飞，江边日晚，烟波满目，凭阑久立。
Clouds fly over the mountain ridge, the day is late by the river; the misty waves fill the eyes, and long I lean on the rail.
首三句写登高之景，起笔即见其景。「陇首云飞」写陇首云飞，「陇首」写高远之地，「云飞」写云之飞动；「江边日晚」写江边日晚，「日晚」写日暮之时；「烟波满目凭阑久」写烟波满目、凭阑久立，「烟波满目」写江上烟波浩渺，「凭阑久」写其凭阑久立。三句以陇首云飞、江边日晚、烟波满目写登高所见之景，以「凭阑久」写其久立凝望，写尽登高之景与其凝望之久，起笔便是萧瑟秋景，为全词写怀人作铺垫，是「以景起兴」的妙笔。
The opening three lines write the climb-and-gaze scene, the scene present at the first stroke. Clouds fly over the mountain ridge writes the high place and the flying clouds; the day is late by the river writes the sunset time; the misty waves fill the eyes, and long I lean on the rail writes the river's misty vastness and the long railing leaning. Three lines, the mountain-ridge clouds, the river sunset, the misty-filled eyes writing the climb-and-gaze seen, the long-leaning writing the long gazing, exhausting the climb scene and the gaze's length, the opening already the bleak autumn scene, storing the ground for the whole ci's person-longing, a wondrous brush of rising-on-scene.
杳杳神京，盈盈仙子，别来锦字终难偶。
Far, far away, the divine capital, the lovely fairy — since we parted, her brocade letters have never met mine.
杳杳神京，盈盈仙子，别来锦字终难偶。
The divine capital is far away, the fairy maiden graceful; since the parting, the brocade letter never comes.
此三句写怀人之情，是全词写情的核心。「杳杳神京」写神京杳杳遥远，「神京」指帝都，杳杳写其遥远；「盈盈仙子」写盈盈的仙子，「仙子」以仙女喻所怀之佳人，盈盈写其美好；「别来锦字终难偶」写别来锦字终难偶，「锦字」用织锦回文之典，写别后书信，「终难偶」写其音书难通、终难相会。三句一写帝都之远、一写佳人之美、一写音书难通，以「终难偶」写尽别后难逢之恨，把羁旅怀人之情写得真切动人，是「以典写情」的点睛之笔。
These three lines write the person-longing feeling, the ci's feeling core. The divine capital is far away writes the capital's distance and the far; the fairy maiden graceful writes the fairy maiden figuring the longed-for beauty and the grace; since the parting, the brocade letter never comes writes the brocade palindrome allusion and the letters' non-coming. Three lines, the capital's distance, the beauty's grace, the letters' hard passage, the never-comes exhausting the post-parting hard-to-meet grief, writing the traveling-person-longing truly moving, a telling stroke of feeling-through-allusion.
暗想当初，有多少、幽欢佳会，岂知聚散难期，翻成雨恨云愁。
In secret I think of the beginning: how many hidden joys, fair meetings — who knew that gathering and parting could not be foreseen, turning instead into the rain of regret and the clouds of sorrow?
暗想当初，有多少幽欢佳会，岂知聚散难期，翻成雨恨云愁。
I think secretly of the past: how many secret joys and fair trysts; who knew the meeting and parting are hard to foretell, and turned to rain-grief and cloud-sorrow.
此四句写追忆往昔，是全词写恨的关键。「暗想当初」写暗想当初，「暗想」写其暗自追想；「有多少、幽欢佳会」写有多少幽欢佳会，「幽欢佳会」写昔日之欢聚；「岂知聚散难期」写岂知聚散难期，「岂知」写其出乎意料，「聚散难期」写聚散之难料；「翻成雨恨云愁」写翻成雨恨云愁，「雨恨云愁」以雨云写其愁恨，翻成今日之愁。四句一写追忆往昔之欢、一写岂知聚散难期、一写翻成雨恨云愁，以「岂知」与「翻成」写昔日之欢与今日之愁的骤变，写尽聚散无常之恨，是「以昔衬今」的妙笔。
These four lines write the past memory, the ci's grief key. I think secretly of the past writes the secret recollection; how many secret joys and fair trysts writes the old gatherings; who knew the meeting and parting are hard to foretell writes the unexpectedness and the unpredictability; turned to rain-grief and cloud-sorrow writes the rain-and-cloud grief and sorrow, turned to today's grief. Four lines, the past joy's memory, the who-knew-hard-to-foretell, the turned-to-rain-grief, the who-knew and the turned writing the past joy and today grief's sudden change, exhausting the meeting-and-parting's impermanence grief, a wondrous brush of present-set-against-past.
每登山临水，惹起平生心事，一场消黯，永日无言，却下层楼。
Whenever I climb a mountain or face the water, it stirs up the affairs of a lifetime — a whole scene of fading and darkness, all day without a word, then I go down from the upper tower.
每登山临水，惹起平生心事，一场消黯，永日无言，却下层楼。
Whenever I climb a hill or face a stream, it stirs the heart's lifelong cares, a dim sorrow; silent all day, I go down the storied tower.
尾五句写羁旅之愁，是全词立意的落点。「每登山临水」写每登山临水，「每」写其每每如此；「惹起平生心事」写惹起平生心事，「心事」写其心中之事；「一场消黯」写一场消黯，「消黯」写其黯然消魂；「永日无言」写永日无言，「永日」写整日，「无言」写其默默；「却下层楼」写却下层楼，「却下层楼」写其无奈下楼。五句一写登山临水、一写惹起心事、一写消黯无言、一写无奈下楼，以「每」写其屡屡如此，写尽羁旅登高惹起愁思而终无计可消、只得下楼的无奈，是全词最动人处，也是「以行写愁」的点睛之笔。
The closing five lines write the traveling grief, the landing of the ci's theme. Whenever I climb a hill or face a stream writes the whenever and the often; it stirs the heart's lifelong cares writes the heart's matters; a dim sorrow writes the soul's darkening; silent all day writes the whole day and the silence; I go down the storied tower writes the helpless descending. Five lines, the hill-and-stream climbing, the cares' stirring, the dim silence, the helpless descending, the whenever writing the repetition, exhausting the traveling climb's grief-stirring and the no-dispelling-and-yet-descending helplessness, the ci's most moving place, a telling stroke of grief-through-walking.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Liu Yong's 'Bells Ringing in the Rain' — 'the cicadas are chill, the evening is sad' — parts at the river's bank in the dusk; this 'Jade Tube of the Tune' is its companion, the same separation gazed from the frontier headland across the thousand-li autumn.
柳永《雨霖铃·寒蝉凄切》「寒蝉凄切，对长亭晚，骤雨初歇」「今宵酒醒何处？杨柳岸，晓风残月」，写离别之时之凄切与别后之思，是宋词写离别的名篇；《曲玉管》则以「杳杳神京，盈盈仙子，别来锦字终难偶」写别后怀人、「暗想当初，有多少、幽欢佳会」写追忆往昔。两词同出柳永之手、同写离别羁旅：一写别时之凄切、以景写情，一写别后之怀想、以思写情；一写离别之时、一写离别之后，并读正可见柳永「婉约铺叙」词风写离别的完整情致，皆婉约深挚。
八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Eight Beats of Ganzhou: Facing the Evening Rain That Spatters the Long River 柳永 · 同出柳永之手，同写登高怀人羁旅，一写暮雨江天之景、一写烟波凭阑之景，皆以登高望远写羁旅之愁 Both are the same poet's exile from the tower — the evening rain of the river, the smoke-waves of the headland.Liu Yong's 'Eight Beats of Ganzhou' gazes from the tower over the evening rain and the wilting flowers; this 'Jade Tube' gazes from the headland over the smoke-waves — the two versions of the same master's exile.
柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「对潇潇暮雨洒江天，一番洗清秋」「不忍登高临远，望故乡渺邈，归思难收」，写登高望远、怀人思归，是柳永羁旅词最著名者；《曲玉管》则以「陇首云飞，江边日晚，烟波满目凭阑久」「每登山临水，惹起平生心事」写登高凭阑、惹起心事。两词同出柳永之手、同写登高怀人羁旅：一写暮雨江天之景、以壮阔写愁，一写烟波凭阑之景、以萧瑟写愁；一为登高临远、一为凭阑凝望，并读正可见柳永羁旅词「登高望远」母题的两种写法，皆以登高望远写羁旅之愁。