宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
瑞鹤仙
The Auspicious Crane Immortal
晴丝牵绪乱。
对沧江斜日，花飞人远。
垂杨暗吴苑。
正旗亭烟冷，河桥风暖。
兰情蕙盼。
惹相思、春根酒畔。
又争知、吟骨萦销，渐把旧衫重翦。
凄断。
流红千浪，缺月孤楼，总难留燕。
歌尘凝扇。
待凭信，拌分钿。
试挑灯欲写，还依不忍，笺幅偷和泪卷。
寄残云、剩雨蓬莱，也应梦见。
Facing the green river and the setting sun,
The flowers fly and the man is far away.
The hanging willows darken the Wu garden.
Just at the flag-pavilion the smoke is cold,
At the river bridge the wind is warm.
Her orchid feeling, her thoroughwort glance —
They draw the lovesickness, at the wine-bank of the spring's root.
And who would know that my chanting bones are consumed,
Gradually cutting my old coat into new again?
Broken and desolate —
The red flows in a thousand waves,
The waning moon at the lone tower,
It is always hard to keep the swallows.
The dust of the songs congeals on the fan.
I wait for the word, I stake the half of the hairpin.
I try to trim the lamp and write —
Still I lean back, unable to bear it,
And roll up the writing sheet secretly, with the tears in it.
Sending the remnant cloud and the leftover rain to the isle of Penglai —
Even in the dream, it should be seen.
Meaning
A lyric of the lovesickness and the unwritten letter, written by the late Southern Song master Wu Wenying. The sunny silk-threads of the spring drag the tangled thoughts; facing the green river and the setting sun, the flowers fly and the man is far away. The hanging willows darken the Wu garden; the flag-pavilion's smoke is cold, the river bridge's wind warm; her orchid feeling and thoroughwort glance draw the lovesickness at the wine-bank of the spring's root. His chanting bones are consumed, and he cuts his old coat into new; the red flows in a thousand waves, the waning moon hangs at the lone tower, and it is always hard to keep the swallows. He tries to trim the lamp and write the letter — but leans back, unable to bear it, and rolls up the writing sheet secretly with the tears in it. And the close sends the remnant cloud and the leftover rain to the isle of Penglai — even in the dream, it should be seen. The lyric is the classic expression of the love that cannot be written, the letter rolled up with the tears.
晴日里袅袅的游丝，牵动着我纷乱的思绪。对着沧江的斜阳，看花飞人远。垂杨荫蔽着吴苑旧地。正是旗亭烟冷，河桥风暖之时。那兰草般的情意、蕙草般的眼波，惹起我的相思，在这春根酒畔。又怎知我吟骨消磨、愁绪萦绕，渐渐把旧衣重新裁翦。凄然肠断。落红流成千层浪，缺月照着孤楼，那燕子总也留不住。歌尘凝积在旧扇上。待要寄信，却要分钿为凭。试着挑亮灯火想要写下，却依还心存不忍，信笺偷偷和着泪卷起。寄那残云剩雨到蓬莱，大约也能在梦中相见吧。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] The sunny silk-threads drag the tangled thoughts — facing the green river and the setting sun, the flowers fly and the man is far away. The hanging willows darken the Wu garden. Just at the flag-pavilion the smoke is cold, at the river bridge the wind is warm. Her orchid feeling, her thoroughwort glance — they draw the lovesickness at the wine-bank of the spring's root. And who would know that my chanting bones are consumed, gradually cutting my old coat into new again? Broken and desolate — the red flows in a thousand waves, the waning moon at the lone tower, it is always hard to keep the swallows. The dust of the songs congeals on the fan. I wait for the word, I stake the half of the hairpin. I try to trim the lamp and write — still I lean back, unable to bear it, and roll up the writing sheet secretly, with the tears in it. Sending the remnant cloud and the leftover rain to the isle of Penglai — even in the dream, it should be seen. [Structure and Thought] The lyric moves from the spring scene that drags the thoughts, through the memory of her look and the wasting of the poet, to the attempt to write and the failure — the letter rolled up with the tears — and the close sends the remnant cloud and rain to the isle of the immortals, to be seen in the dream. [Key Technique] The poem's art is the art of the failed writing: the whole lyric builds to the moment when the poet trims the lamp to write, and the moment breaks — he leans back, unable to bear it, and rolls up the sheet with the tears. [Emotional Tone] Dense, tender, and desolate: the love is carried by the silk-threads and the orchid glance and the congealed dust of the songs, and the close sends the tears to the isle of the immortals, to be seen in the dream.
【白话串讲】 吴文英写《瑞鹤仙》：“晴丝牵绪乱。对沧江斜日，花飞人远”——“垂杨暗吴苑。正旗亭烟冷，河桥风暖”——“兰情蕙盼。惹相思、春根酒畔”——“又争知、吟骨萦销，渐把旧衫重翦”——他写春思——花飞人远。 【意象与手法】 上阕以“晴丝牵绪乱”起笔，写游丝牵动愁绪，由沧江斜日、花飞人远的别景转入垂杨吴苑、兰情蕙盼的旧忆；下阕以“凄断”顿挫，写流红千浪、缺月孤楼的别后凄凉，以“挑灯欲写，笺幅偷和泪卷”的细节写欲寄还休；终以“寄残云剩雨蓬莱，也应梦见”的痴语作结。词风密丽、情感深挚。 【情感与主旨】 吴文英写怀人相思之作，写春愁中追忆旧日情人与别后凄凉，是梦窗词中写相思别情的名作。 【名句点睛】 常考“晴丝牵绪乱。对沧江斜日，花飞人远”以晴丝沧江写春思；“挑灯欲写，笺幅偷和泪卷”以泪卷笺幅写欲寄还休。
Background
Wu Wenying (c. 1200–c. 1260), courtesy name Junte, styled himself the Old Man of the Dream Window, was the most dense and allusive of the late Southern Song lyricists. His lyrics are famous for their intricate diction, their leaps of association, and their intense, veiled feeling — the love poems of the Dream Window are the most demanding and the most rewarding in the Chinese lyric tradition. This lyric, one of his best-known love poems, shows his art at its most characteristic: the silk-threads of the spring, the orchid glance of the beloved, the congealed dust of the songs, and the letter rolled up with the tears.
此词为吴文英的怀人相思之作，写对旧日恋人的刻骨思念。吴文英（约1200—1260），字君特，号梦窗，南宋后期词坛领袖，词以密丽深婉著称，被张炎评为「如七宝楼台，眩人眼目，碎拆下来，不成片段」，却也因其词情之深、辞采之丽而备受推崇。吴文英一生漂泊，其情爱经历颇为坎坷，据词学研究者考索，他早年在苏州与一歌妓相恋，感情深挚而终致离散，此后追忆不断，写下了大量怀人词；此词即其中之一。「晴丝牵绪乱」以春日的游丝起兴，牵动满心的愁绪；「垂杨暗吴苑」，吴苑为吴地旧苑，正是当年游赏定情之地；「兰情蕙盼」「春根酒畔」，皆是旧日欢会情浓的追忆。下阕「流红千浪，缺月孤楼，总难留燕」，写别后的凄凉，「燕」喻所爱之人，如燕子一去难留；「歌尘凝扇」，旧时歌舞的余尘凝积在团扇之上，睹物思人；「待凭信，拌分钿」，欲寄书信，以分钗为凭，是古代定情赠别的习俗；「笺幅偷和泪卷」，欲写还休，和泪卷笺，写尽欲寄还忍的深婉。此词情感之深挚、细节之真切，正是梦窗词中写情最动人的篇章。
Art
The lyric's art is the art of the veiled association. The opening links the sunny silk-threads of the spring to the tangled thoughts — the external silk drawing out the internal tangle. The scene then leaps through its dense particulars: the green river, the setting sun, the flying flowers, the darkened Wu garden, the cold smoke of the flag-pavilion, the warm wind of the river bridge. Her look is given its two figures — the orchid feeling and the thoroughwort glance — and the lovesickness is drawn at the wine-bank of the spring's root. The wasting of the poet is the cutting of the old coat; the desolation is the red in a thousand waves and the waning moon at the lone tower. And the center is the failed writing: the lamp trimmed, the attempt made, and the sheet rolled up with the tears. The close sends the remnant cloud and the leftover rain to the isle of the immortals, to be seen in the dream — the letter that could not be written sent by the dream.
此词艺术上以「密丽」与「细节传情」为特色，在春愁的铺展中写尽相思的深婉。上阕由起兴而入情，层层推进：「晴丝牵绪乱」，以春日袅袅的游丝起兴，牵动纷乱的愁绪，「牵」字双关，既是游丝之牵，也是情思之牵；「对沧江斜日，花飞人远」，以沧江斜日的苍茫、花飞人远的别景，写眼前的凄凉；「垂杨暗吴苑」，以「暗」字写垂杨荫蔽吴苑，既是实景，也是心境之暗；「兰情蕙盼」四字，以兰蕙之美写伊人的情意与眼波，丽辞写情，是梦窗本色；「又争知、吟骨萦销，渐把旧衫重翦」，写自己因相思而消瘦、因消瘦而改裁旧衣，细节真切。下阕以「凄断」顿挫，转入别后凄凉：「流红千浪，缺月孤楼，总难留燕」，以落红流浪、缺月孤楼的凄景，写燕去难留的怅惘；「歌尘凝扇」，睹旧扇而忆旧歌，物是人非；「待凭信，拌分钿」，欲寄信而分钗为凭，写出深藏的相思；「试挑灯欲写，还依不忍，笺幅偷和泪卷」，是全词最动人的细节——挑灯欲写，又依还不忍，信笺偷偷和着泪卷起，一写一忍一卷之间，写尽欲寄还休、欲诉还吞的深婉；「寄残云、剩雨蓬莱，也应梦见」，以「残云剩雨」「也应梦见」的痴语作结，把相思托付于梦，渺茫而深情。全词由景入情、由追忆入眼前、由眼前入梦境，层层转折而情思不断，是梦窗词密丽深婉风格的典范。
Allusions
'The orchid feeling, the thoroughwort glance' (lanqing huipan) uses the fragrance of the orchid and the thoroughwort of the 'Songs of Chu' — the beloved's feeling and glance as the fragrant, noble beauty of the ancient tradition. 'Staking the half of the hairpin' (banfen dian) is the pledge of the parted lovers — the hairpin broken in two, each keeping a half, the token of the reunion to come. 'The isle of Penglai' (Penglai) is the island of the immortals — the far place of the beloved, where the remnant cloud and the leftover rain of the letter are sent to be seen in the dream. 'The dust of the songs congeals on the fan' is the dust of the ancient songs settled on the fan — the forgotten music, the congealed memory of the past pleasures.
此词用典于隐微处见功力。「兰情蕙盼」，以兰蕙之芳美写伊人的情意与眼波，暗用《楚辞》「纫秋兰以为佩」的香草传统与「目成」之典，写情爱之深、眼波之媚。「吴苑」指吴国旧苑，吴地（苏州）为春秋吴国故都，此词以「垂杨暗吴苑」写旧地重游、物是人非之感，暗含吴宫花草的兴亡之叹。「流红」用红叶题诗之典，唐宫女以红叶题诗随御沟流出，后世以「流红」写情缘的流转与相思的寄托；「缺月孤楼」，化用苏轼《卜算子》「缺月挂疏桐，漏断人初静」之意境，写孤楼独处的凄凉。「歌尘凝扇」，用「响遏行云」「歌扇」的旧典，写旧时歌舞之盛与如今之寂寥。「分钿」，用钗钿分持以作信物的习俗，白居易《长恨歌》有「钗擘黄金合分钿」之句，写情侣分钗为凭、以志盟誓的传统。「蓬莱」为仙山，古人常以之指仙境或所念之人居处，此词以「寄残云、剩雨蓬莱」写托梦相寻，渺茫而深情。这些典故，或写香草之美、或写吴苑之叹、或写流红之缘、或写分钿之盟，皆围绕相思这一核心，织成一张密丽的情网，正是梦窗词「深得义山之神」的用典艺术。
Commentary
This lyric is one of Wu Wenying's most admired love poems, quoted for the density of its veiled association and the beauty of its failed writing. The letter rolled up with the tears is often cited as one of the most moving gestures in the Chinese lyric, and the close — sending the remnant cloud and rain to the isle of Penglai, to be seen in the dream — is ranked among the finest endings of the late Song. Critics praise the lyric's art: the love that cannot be written, completed by the dream.
读此词，最动人的是「试挑灯欲写，还依不忍，笺幅偷和泪卷」这一连串细节写出的深婉。要写一封情书，先挑亮了灯，铺好了笺——这是下定了决心的；然而「还依不忍」，写不下去，因为心中不忍，不忍把这相思明明白白地写出来，不忍让那人知道自己如此消瘦憔悴；于是「笺幅偷和泪卷」，把那张纸偷偷地、和着眼泪卷起来，仿佛什么都没发生。这一挑、一忍、一卷之间，写尽了欲寄还休、欲诉还吞的深情与犹疑——不是不想说，而是太想说，反而说不出口；不是不想寄，而是怕寄出去，让那人担忧。这种「含而未吐」的写法，比直抒胸臆的「我思念你」要动人千百倍。而结句「寄残云、剩雨蓬莱，也应梦见」，更以痴语作结：既然信写不成，那就把残云剩雨寄往蓬莱，大约能在梦中相见吧——把相思托付于渺茫的梦，痴情而绝望，绝望而仍不肯放下。梦窗词以密丽著称，而此词的动人，正在于密丽辞采之下那份深挚而不肯明言的真情，这是其词超越技巧、直抵人心的所在。
Prosody
Line by line
晴丝牵绪乱。
The sunny silk-threads drag the tangled thoughts —
晴日里袅袅的游丝，牵动着我纷乱的思绪。
In the clear sunlight, the gossamer threads tangle my disordered thoughts.
这一句是全词的起兴，也是「以景起情」的典范。「晴丝」指春日晴空中飘荡的游丝（虫类所吐的丝），「牵绪乱」写游丝牵动纷乱的愁绪——「牵」字双关，既是游丝之牵，也是情思之牵，游丝袅袅，正与情思的缭乱相应。以「晴丝」起笔，看似写景，实则是「无理而有情」的移情：游丝本无情感，而词人见之，便觉它在牵动自己的愁绪。这一起兴，既点明了春日的时令，又奠定了全词「绪乱」的情感基调——下文沧江斜日、花飞人远、垂杨吴苑，皆是这「绪乱」之心的所见所感。以一句五言的起兴，写尽春愁缭乱之态，是梦窗词起笔即见功力的典型。
This line is the ci's rising image, and the scene-raises-feeling model. The gossamer threads means the spring sky's drifting threads (spun by insects), the tangle-my-disordered-thoughts writing the threads' stirring of the tangled grief — the word pull double meaning, at once the thread's pulling and the feeling's pulling, the gossamer's drift precisely matching the feeling's tangle. Rising on the gossamer threads, the surface writing scene, in truth the unreasonable-and-yet-feeling empathy: the thread by nature feelingless, and the poet seeing it, feeling it stirring his grief. This rising image, at once naming the spring season, and setting the whole ci's disordered-feeling emotional tone — the below's gray-river sunset, flying flowers and distant person, drooping willows and the Wu garden, all this disordered heart's seeing and feeling. Rising in one five-character line, exhausting the spring grief's tangle, Mengchuang's ci's opening-and-at-once-showing-craft typical.
试挑灯欲写，还依不忍，笺幅偷和泪卷。
I try to trim the lamp and write — still I lean back, unable to bear it, and roll up the writing sheet secretly, with the tears in it.
试着挑亮灯火想要写下书信，却依还心存不忍，于是信笺偷偷和着眼泪卷起。
I try to trim the lamp and write, and yet, moved by pity, cannot; furtively, with my tears, I roll up the letter sheet.
这一连串细节是全词最动人的所在，也是欲寄还休的深情写照。「试挑灯欲写」，写下定决心要写信——挑灯是郑重的准备，仿佛要做一件大事；「还依不忍」，写临写又不忍——不忍把这相思写出来，不忍让那人知道自己的憔悴；「笺幅偷和泪卷」，写最终的选择——偷偷地、和着眼泪，把那笺纸卷了起来。一挑、一忍、一卷之间，写尽了欲说还休的深婉：不是不想说，而是太想说，反而说不出口；不是不想寄，而是怕寄出去，让那人担忧。以「偷」字写卷笺之态，更见深闺独处的私密与辛酸。这一细节，把抽象的相思写成了可见可感的具体动作，比千言万语的直抒胸臆更动人，是梦窗词以细节传情的最精彩一笔。
This chain of details is the ci's most moving place, and the to-send-and-yet-to-stop deep feeling's portrait. I try to trim the lamp and write writes the resolve to write the letter — the lamp-trimming the solemn preparation, as if doing a great thing; and yet, moved by pity, cannot writes the writing-and-yet-unable — unable to write out this longing, unable to let that person know his own haggardness; furtively, with my tears, I roll up the letter sheet writes the final choice — secretly, with the tears, rolling up the paper. Between the trim, the pity, and the roll, exhausting the would-speak-and-yet-hold-back grace: not the not-wanting-to-speak, but the too-wanting-to-speak, and yet the un-speakable; not the not-wanting-to-send, but the fear of sending and that person's worry. The one word furtive writing the paper-rolling pose, the boudoir-alone's secrecy and bitterness the clearer. This detail, turning the abstract longing into the visible concrete action, more moving than the thousand-word direct utterance, Mengchuang's ci's detail-carries-feeling's finest stroke.
寄残云、剩雨蓬莱，也应梦见。
Sending the remnant cloud and the leftover rain to the isle of Penglai — even in the dream, it should be seen.
既然书信难寄，那就寄那残云剩雨到蓬莱，大约也能在梦中相见吧。
Since the letter cannot go, send the remnant clouds and the last rain to Penglai; at least, in a dream, we should meet.
这一句是全词的结穴，以痴语作结，把相思托付于渺茫的梦境。「寄残云、剩雨蓬莱」，写既然信写不成，便把这残云剩雨寄往蓬莱——残云剩雨，是欲寄之物，也是相思之象；蓬莱为仙山，是所念之人的居处，也是渺不可及的所在。「也应梦见」，以「也」字写退而求其次的痴情：寄信不成，寄梦也好；现实中不能相见，梦中相见也好。这一结句，把深挚的相思写得既痴情又绝望，绝望之中又仍不肯放下，恰如「春蚕到死丝方尽」的执著。「也应梦见」四字，以极平淡的语气写极深挚的愿望，余韵悠长，令人低回不已，是梦窗词中情语与痴语交融的绝唱。
This line is the ci's knot, closing on the crazed words, entrusting the longing to the blurred dream. Since the letter cannot go, send the remnant clouds and the last rain to Penglai; at least, in a dream, we should meet: the letter's non-writable, hence the remnant clouds and last rain sent to Penglai — the remnant clouds and last rain, the thing to send, and the longing's image; Penglai the immortal mountain, the longed-for person's dwelling, and the unreachable place. The at-least-in-a-dream-should-meet's one word also writing the second-best craziness: the letter's non-sending, the dream's sending; the reality's non-meeting, the dream's meeting. This close, writing the deep longing as crazed and yet desperate, within the desperation still the non-letting-go, precisely the spring-silkworm's silk-to-the-death clinging. The four words at least-in-a-dream, in the plainest tone the deepest wish, the aftertone long, making the heart linger, Mengchuang's ci's feeling-and-crazed-words fused swan song.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Wen Tingyun's 'Gazing at the South' — 'a thousand sails pass, but none is his' — is the Tang model of the woman's watching; Wu Wenying's lyric is the late Song version — the man's lovesickness, the silk-threads dragging the thoughts, and the letter rolled up with the tears.
温庭筠《望江南》「过尽千帆皆不是，斜晖脉脉水悠悠，肠断白洲」，写女子倚楼盼归、千帆过尽而人不归的断肠，是唐词写闺思的名篇；吴文英此词「凄断」「总难留燕」「笺幅偷和泪卷」，同样写别后相思、欲寄还休的断肠。一为唐词之疏朗，一为宋词之密丽；温词以「千帆皆不是」的直写见愁，梦窗以「挑灯欲写不忍」的细节写情。并读两词，可见中国词史从唐五代到南宋，在写「盼归怀人」这一母题上的传承与演变，也可见梦窗词与温词「深美闳约」传统的深厚渊源。
雨霖铃·寒蝉凄切 Bells Ringing in the Rain 柳永 · 同为离别相思之词，一写别时之痛一写别后之思，情辞古今相映 Both are the great Song lyrics of the parting's love — Liu Yong's cold cicadas and the dawn of the departure, Wu Wenying's silk-threads and the letter that cannot be written.Liu Yong's 'Bells Ringing in the Rain' — 'the cicadas are chill, the evening is sad' — is the supreme Song lyric of the parting; Wu Wenying's 'Auspicious Crane Immortal' is its late, dense descendant — the same love, but carried by the silk-threads and the orchid glance, and completed by the dream.
柳永《雨霖铃》「今宵酒醒何处？杨柳岸，晓风残月」，写「执手相看泪眼，竟无语凝噎」的离别之痛；吴文英此词「花飞人远」「流红千浪，缺月孤楼」，同样写别后的凄凉与相思。一写离别当下之痛，一写别后无期之思；柳词以「杨柳岸，晓风残月」的凄清写景，梦窗以「笺幅偷和泪卷」的细节写情。两词同为宋代婉约词写情的巅峰，而柳词疏朗真率、梦窗密丽深婉，并读之下，正可见宋词从柳永到吴文英在抒情方式上的演进，也可见「离别相思」这一永恒母题在两代词人笔下的不同面貌。
凤凰台上忆吹箫·香冷金猊 Remembering the Flute on the Phoenix Terrace: The Incense Is Cold in the Gold Lion 李清照 · 同为闺中相思、欲说还休之作，一写愁肠百结一写笺幅和泪，深婉异曲同工 Both are the lyrics of the letter that cannot be written — Li Qingzhao's 'nothing can be written,' Wu Wenying's sheet rolled up with the tears.Li Qingzhao's 'Remembering the Flute on the Phoenix Terrace' — 'this feeling cannot be written away' — is the woman's lyric of the un-writable love; Wu Wenying's 'Auspicious Crane Immortal' is the man's version — the lamp trimmed, the sheet rolled up with the tears, and the remnant cloud sent to the isle of Penglai.
李清照《凤凰台上忆吹箫》「生怕离怀别苦，多少事、欲说还休」，写别后相思、欲说还休的深婉，是宋代女性词写相思的名篇；吴文英此词「试挑灯欲写，还依不忍，笺幅偷和泪卷」，同样写欲寄还休、欲诉还吞的深婉。一为女性词人直写闺情，一为男性词人代拟相思；李词以「欲说还休」的直白写愁，梦窗以「挑灯不忍」的细节写情，深婉则一。并读两词，可见宋代词人写「欲说还休」之相思的两种笔法，也可见李清照的洗练与吴文英的密丽在抒情上的异曲同工。