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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

水龙吟·次韵章质夫杨花词

Water Dragon Song: Matching Rhymes of Zhang Zhifu's Willow Catkins

苏轼

Su Shi

咏物Object-chanting 婉约Graceful and Restrained 离愁Parting Sorrow 和韵Rhyming with Another Poem

似花还似非花，也无人惜从教坠。
抛家傍路，思量却是，无情有思。
萦损柔肠，困酣娇眼，欲开还闭。
梦随风万里，寻郎去处，又还被、莺呼起。
不恨此花飞尽，恨西园、落红难缀。
晓来雨过，遗踪何在？
一池萍碎。
春色三分，二分尘土，一分流水。
细看来，不是杨花，点点是离人泪。

Like flowers but not flowers, none pity them as they fall.
Leaving home by the roadside, I think they seem heartless but have thoughts.
They hurt tender hearts, weary bewitching eyes, now open now shut.
Their dream goes with the wind for miles to find their lovers, but is woken up by orioles.
I do not hate willow catkins flying away, but fallen flowers in the garden cannot be pieced together.
After morning rain, where are their traces? A pool of duckweed shattered.
Of spring so fine, two-thirds become dust, one-third goes down the stream.
Look closely, they are not willow down but drops of parting tears.

Listen

Meaning

This lyric uses willow catkins as a metaphor for a lovesick woman's sorrow and the poet's own sense of drifting during exile. It blends object description with emotional expression.

像是花又好像不是花，也无人怜惜任它飘坠。离开枝头傍在路旁，细想来却是看似无情却有愁思。萦绕愁坏了柔肠，困倦迷蒙了娇眼，似开还闭。梦随长风飞万里，去寻郎君的去处，却又被黄莺一声啼唤惊起。不恨这杨花飞尽，只恨西园里落红再难连缀。清晨雨过，踪迹何在？只见一池破碎浮萍。春色共分三份，两份落入尘土，一份付与流水。仔细看，那不是杨花，点点都是离人的眼泪。

Appreciation

The lyric personifies catkins as a lovesick woman with tender heart and drowsy eyes, dreaming of searching for her lover but woken by orioles. The line 'Of spring so fine, two-thirds become dust, one-third goes down the stream' quantifies the passage of spring in an original way. Finally, the catkins are revealed to be drops of parting tears, seamlessly blending object and emotion.

【白话串讲】苏轼写杨花，说它“似花还似非花”——像花又不像花，随风飘坠。他把一团柳絮写成了思妇的梦，写得缠绵又空灵，被推为咏物词的绝唱。【意象与手法】通篇以人拟花，“萦损柔肠，困酣娇眼”将杨花写得如春困思妇，拟人入微【情感与主旨】元丰四年（1081）前后，章质夫（楶）作《水龙吟》咏杨花，苏轼依其韵和此词【名句点睛】重点掌握咏物词“不即不离”之法与拟人手法；赏析“春色三分”句的数字妙用；理解“似花还似非花”的统摄全篇作用

Background

Around 1081 (Yuanfeng 4th year), Zhang Zhifu wrote a lyric to the tune 'Water Dragon Song' on willow catkins. Su Shi wrote this piece in reply, following the same rhyme scheme. At that time, Su was in the early stage of his exile in Huangzhou, and through the image of catkins, he conveyed both a woman's longing and his own sense of drifting. This lyric is considered the best among all rhyming-response poems.

此词作于宋神宗元丰四年（1081）前后，苏轼谪居黄州期间。章质夫，名楶，字质夫，浦城人，时任荆湖北路提点刑狱，与苏轼交谊甚笃。章楶先作《水龙吟》咏杨花，其词起句「燕忙莺懒芳残，正堤上柳花飘坠」，写景工丽、摹物入微，一时传诵。苏轼依其原韵和作，故题曰「次韵」。和韵之作，受原唱韵脚字面的拘束，历来被视为「戴着镣铐跳舞」，稍有不慎便流于凑韵，而苏轼此词却能于束缚中翻出奇境，反使原唱失色。元丰三年，苏轼因乌台诗案贬谪黄州，初至贬所，心境孤寂，住在定惠院、临皋亭，常与徐君猷等当地友人往来。此一时期的苏轼，已从「致君尧舜」的仕途理想跌入「躬耕东坡」的幽居境地，其词风亦由密州、徐州时的豪迈转入黄州时的旷达与深婉并存。咏杨花之作，表面写暮春柳絮飘零，实则寄托了词人自身「也无人惜从教坠」的身世之感——杨花之飘坠无依，正是谪臣之失路无告。此词在苏轼词编年中位置明确，是黄州前期婉约深婉一格的扛鼎之作。章楶原作亦附于苏轼和作之后并传，二人唱和，遂成词史一段佳话。杨花（柳絮）飘坠于暮春，其轻、其柔、其无主，恰与谪臣之身世相类，苏轼咏杨花，实是咏自己，此中寄托，非泛泛咏物者所能及。此词的次韵性质，更增添了其艺术难度与价值——在韵脚字面全依原唱的束缚下，苏轼仍能自由运笔、自铸伟辞，故其高妙，尤足称道。

Art

The entire piece personifies the catkins as a lovesick woman, using expressions like 'hurt tender hearts' and 'weary bewitching eyes' to bring the object to life. The line 'Of spring so fine...' quantifies the passing of spring with remarkable creativity. The poem progresses layer by layer, from object to human, achieving seamless integration of physical description and emotional expression.

此词咏物而不滞于物，通篇以人拟花，又以花喻人，达到「不即不离」的化境。起句「似花还似非花」七字，先立一重矛盾——杨花非花之艳，却有花之名，亦无人惜，任其飘坠，这是统摄全篇的总纲。以下层层翻进：先说「无情有思」，以杨花之无情反衬其有思；次以「萦损柔肠，困酣娇眼」拟写思妇之愁态，杨花的纤柔轻软便与离人的缠绵悱恻合而为一；再写「梦随风万里，寻郎去处，又还被、莺呼起」，化用金昌绪《春怨》「打起黄莺儿，莫教枝上啼」之意，把杨花的飘飞写成思妇的魂梦，虚实莫辨。下片「不恨此花飞尽，恨西园、落红难缀」，以「不恨」「恨」的转折，将杨花与落红并举，春残之恨由杨花推及群芳。「春色三分，二分尘土，一分流水」，以数字分配春色，奇想天外，历来为人叹绝；末句「细看来，不是杨花，点点是离人泪」，收束全篇，物我交融，把杨花、春色、离人泪三者打成一片。全词章法细密，句句不离杨花，又句句不止于杨花，是咏物词「借物写心」的典范。更可留意的是，此词通篇不用一个「柳」字，而句句不离杨花；不着一「愁」字，而处处皆是离愁。上片以思妇之态写花，下片以落花之景写愁，虚实互藏，人花莫辨。结拍「细看来，不是杨花，点点是离人泪」更把前面层层铺垫的物象、情思、身世之感，一齐收束为「泪」的意象，章法之细密、寄托之深婉，俱臻化境。

Allusions

'Matching rhymes' means following the original rhyme and word order of another poem. The 'parting tears' at the end alludes to the Tang poetic line 'are all blood from the eyes of parting lovers.' The whole lyric, by ending with 'drops of parting tears,' subtly suggests the author's own sense of being abandoned and adrift.

此词用典不密，而以化用前人诗意见长。其一，「梦随风万里」化用唐人金昌绪《春怨》「打起黄莺儿，莫教枝上啼。啼时惊妾梦，不得到辽西」，反用其意：金诗写思妇梦寻征夫，被黄莺啼醒；苏词写杨花（亦思妇）随风寻郎，又被莺呼起，将「梦」的主语由人暗换为花，人花合一，此是苏轼用典的移花接木之法。其二，「一池萍碎」暗用古人「杨花入水化为浮萍」的传说，苏轼自注「杨花落水为浮萍」，此说见于《本草》及宋人笔记，虽不科学，却给「遗踪何在」一问提供了诗意的答案。其三，「离人泪」的意象，可上溯《诗经·小雅·采薇》「昔我往矣，杨柳依依」，杨柳自古与离别相连，而柳絮（杨花）则是离愁的进一步物化。此外，「无情有思」化用杜甫《白丝行》「落絮游丝亦有情」之意而反用，「萦损柔肠」化用柳永「衣带渐宽」的相思笔法。学界对「思」字读音有歧说：作名词读去声（与「坠」「闭」押韵），作动词读平声，此词「无情有思」之「思」当读去声，取情思、愁思之义。此外，「落红难缀」暗用五代翁宏《春残》「落花人独立，微雨燕双飞」之意境，「西园」则或指黄州定惠院、或泛指园林，皆寓春残人去的伤逝。学界对「西园」是否实指苏轼在黄州的居所亦有歧说，然于诗意理解无碍，可存而不论。凡此皆见苏轼用典化事而不露痕迹的功力，其咏物之深、用事之切，正合张炎「收纵联密，用事合题」之评。

Commentary

Zhang Yan in his 'Ci Yuan' praised: 'Su Shi's Water Dragon Song in reply... is clear, graceful, and flowing, like a painting with poetry.' Wang Guowei also regarded it as 'a reply that reads like an original,' highlighting its brilliance.

此词自问世以来，评价极高，被视为咏物词之冠冕。王国维《人间词话》评曰：「咏物之词，自以东坡《水龙吟》为最工。」又谓「东坡《水龙吟》咏杨花，和韵而似原唱；章质夫词，原唱而似和韵」，此评一出，遂成定论。张炎《词源》论咏物词，谓「体认稍真，则拘而不畅；模写差远，则晦而不明」，并举东坡此词为「收纵联密，用事合题」的范例。魏庆之《诗人玉屑》卷二十一引晁冲之（叔用）语，谓东坡此词「如王嫱、西施，净洗脚面，与天下妇人斗好」，以美人天然之姿喻苏词之自然高妙。清人许昂霄《词综偶评》称「春色三分」数句「真是化工之笔」。就接受史而言，此词为《花庵词选》《草堂诗余》以来历代词选所必录，其「似花还似非花」「春色三分」「离人泪」等句，早已成为咏物抒情的经典语汇。唯有一节当辨：王国维以苏词压章词，然章楶原唱亦自有其工，苏词之高，在于「不即不离」之外更注入身世之感，是借杨花写自己，此正是章词所未及处。此外，后世效此词者代不乏人，元好问《摸鱼儿》「问世间情是何物」的咏物言情，实受其沾溉；清人论咏物词者，如周济《介存斋论词杂著》「咏物最争托意」，亦以东坡此词为圭臬。要之，此词以和韵而胜原唱，以咏物而寓身世，遂成宋词咏物一体的最高范本，其地位历八百余年而不坠。

Prosody

Form Tune: Water Dragon Song (also known as Dragon Chant), double stanzas of 102 characters; upper stanza 11 lines with four oblique rhymes, lower stanza 11 lines with five oblique rhymes.水龙吟，双调一百零二字，上下片各四仄韵，次韵之作

Rhyme According to the standard rhyming dictionary, following Zhang Zhifu's original, uses oblique rhymes of the third category (including zhi, wei, qi, hui etc.); rhyme words: zhui, si, bi, qi (upper stanza); zhui, sui, shui, lei (lower stanza).依章质夫原韵，韵脚为坠、思、闭、起、缀、碎、水、泪八字，属词韵第三部（支微齐灰），上去声通押

Tone pattern Long tune with oblique rhymes throughout; the sound and mood are lingering and melancholy, suitable for expressing deep and refined emotions.此调为仄韵长调，句式以四字、六字为主，间以三字、五字，节奏婉转顿挫。全词八韵脚中，坠、思、闭、缀、泪为去声，起、碎、水为上声，上去交替，声情起伏。上片结句「又还被、莺呼起」以三字短句收束，下片「点点是离人泪」以五字收束，一促一缓，各尽其妙。

Reading note As a rhyming-response piece, it strictly follows Zhang's original rhyme words but transcends the original; it conveys palace resentment and parting feelings through object-chanting, achieving both form and spirit, making it a model for such poems.《水龙吟》是词中「声情激越」而「音节婉转」的长调，又名《龙吟曲》《小楼连苑》，因李白「笛奏龙吟水」之句得名。此调属仄韵格，苏轼此词为次韵章楶之作，韵脚字面全依原唱，无一字可易，而能从容运笔，足见功力。词韵第三部包括支、微、齐、灰诸韵及上去声，此词韵脚「坠」「思」「闭」「缀」「泪」为去声（寘、霁、祭诸韵），「起」「碎」「水」为上声（纸、队、贿诸韵），上去通押，是词韵与诗韵的重要区别之一——诗韵平仄分押，词韵则上去可以互叶。去声韵字声调下行，宜于表达沉痛哀怨之情；上声韵字声调上扬，略寓转折顿挫，二者交替，使全词的哀婉之情有了抑扬起伏的声调变化，而非一味低沉。「思」字此处当读去声（名词，情思之思），方能与「坠」「闭」等去声字协韵，这也是读此词时须留意的一处声韵细节。全词一百零二字，句读参差，长句铺排如杨花之飘飞无尽，短句收束如坠花之倏然落地，声情与物态、词情三者相契，是「以声写物」的典范。

Line by line

似花还似非花

Like a flower, and yet not like a flower;

像是花又好像不是花

It seems a flower, and yet seems not a flower.

起句七字是统摄全篇的纲领。杨花有「花」之名，却无花之实——它无香无色，不成其艳，故「似花还似非花」。这一重矛盾，既点出杨花的物性特征，又埋下全词「不即不离」的咏物法门：句句写杨花，句句又不止于杨花。更深一层，「似非花」的暧昧身分，暗合了词人自身「既在仕又遭贬」的边缘处境——名为官员，实同逐客，恰如杨花之名为花、实非真花，开篇七字，物我双关，是全词悲剧意蕴的根。苏轼不直说杨花「非花」，而用「似」字作摇曳之笔，一开一阖之间，物性与身世之感的双重意味便已奠定。

The opening seven characters are the whole piece's governing thesis. The willow catkin has the flower's name, and yet no flower's reality — no fragrance, no color, no beauty, hence like-a-flower-and-yet-not-like-a-flower. This one contradiction, at once naming the willow catkin's material feature, and storing the whole ci's neither-too-near-nor-too-far thing-ode method: every sentence writes the catkin, and every sentence yet not stops at the catkin. One layer deeper, the like-not-a-flower's ambiguous identity, secretly fitting the poet's own both-in-office-and-yet-demoted edge position — by name the official, in truth the exile, precisely like the catkin's by-name-flower-and-yet-in-truth-no-flower, the opening seven characters, the thing-and-self double meaning, the whole ci's tragic meaning root. Su Shi not directly saying the catkin's not-a-flower, and yet using the like word for the swaying brush, within the one-open-one-close, the material nature and the fate feeling's double meaning already established.

萦损柔肠

It tangles and wears the soft heart;

萦绕愁坏了柔肠

It has wound around and worn away the tender heart.

「萦损柔肠」四字，将杨花的纤细飘卷写成思妇愁肠的缠绕纠结。「萦」写杨花随风旋绕之态，「损」写愁思磨损心肠之深，一物一情，黏合无间。杨花之柔，恰似思妇柔肠；杨花之飘，恰似愁绪之缠。苏轼此句继承了柳永「衣带渐宽终不悔」的相思笔法，却更进一层——柳永写人，苏轼写花，而花即是人。以「肠」喻花之纤细卷曲，以「损」写其憔悴，字字落在杨花的形态上，又字字浸透离人的血泪。这种以「肠」拟花、以「损」写愁的笔法，把咏物与言情粘合得天衣无缝，正是王国维所谓「一切景语皆情语」的极致。

The tangles-and-wears-the-soft-heart four characters, writing the catkin's slender drifting-rolling as the longing-wife's soft-heart's winding-tangling. The tangles writing the catkin's wind-driven circling pose, the wears writing the grief's wearing of the heart's depth, one thing one feeling, the fusion without seam. The catkin's softness, precisely like the longing wife's soft heart; the catkin's drifting, precisely like the grief's winding. Su Shi this line inheriting Liu Yong's the belt grows loose and yet I regret not, and yet one layer further — Liu Yong writing the person, Su Shi writing the flower, and yet the flower i.e. the person. Using the heart for the flower's slender curling, using the wears for its haggardness, every character landing on the catkin's form, and every character soaked through the parted person's blood-and-tears. This heart-for-flower and wears-for-grief brush, fusing the thing-ode and the feeling-uttering as the seamless, precisely Wang Guowei's all-scene-words-are-feeling-words extreme.

春色三分

If spring color be divided in three,

春色共分三份

Spring's beauty, divided in three parts,

「春色三分，二分尘土，一分流水」是全词最奇警的数字妙笔。以抽象的「春色」为总量，切作三分，二分归尘土、一分付流水，把春残花落的景象数字化，化无形为有形，化整体为零散，春色之尽、杨花之亡，遂有可触可感的分量。数字本是诗歌的大忌，苏轼偏以数字写情，反而收到以少总多的奇效。此句既写杨花之归宿（坠地者入土，入水者化萍），又写离人愁绪的分崩离析，一箭双雕，成为后世咏春词争相模仿而终难企及的绝唱。

The spring-color-divided-in-three, two-parts-to-the-dust-one-part-to-the-flowing-water is the whole ci's most wondrous numerical stroke. Using the abstract spring-color as the total, cut into three parts, two parts to the dust and one part to the flowing water, digitizing the spring's-fading-and-flowers'-falling scene, turning the formless into the tangible, turning the whole into the scattered, the spring's end and the catkin's death, hence the touchable weight. Number by nature poetry's taboo, Su Shi precisely using number for feeling, and yet receiving the few-sum-many wondrous effect. This line at once writing the catkin's end (the earth-fallen entering the soil, the water-entering turning to duckweed), and the parted person's grief's disintegration, one arrow two eagles, becoming the later spring-ode ci's emulation and yet the unreachable swan song.

点点是离人泪

Each flake is a parting person's tear.

点点都是离人的眼泪

Dot by dot, they are the tears of parted lovers.

末句是全词的收束，也是物我交融的顶点。前面的杨花、落红、尘土、流水，到此一齐收拢为「离人泪」——那纷纷飘坠的杨花，细看之下不是花，而是离人的点点清泪。「点点」叠字，状杨花之细密，也状泪珠之零落，花与泪在视觉上浑然莫辨。苏轼至此完成了杨花与思妇的彻底合一：杨花即泪，泪即杨花。这种以情化物、化物为情的笔法，把咏物词推向了「物我两忘」的至境，也为全词的婉约深致画上了悲凉的句号。而「泪」字又与开篇「也无人惜」的「惜」字遥相照应，无人惜花，唯泪堪惜，首尾关合，针线细密。

The closing line is the whole ci's close, and the thing-and-self fusion's peak. The above's catkin, fallen red, dust, and flowing water, here all gathered into the parting-person's-tears — the drifting-falling catkin, close-scrutinized not a flower, and yet the parting person's dot-by-dot clear tears. The dot-by-dot reduplication, shaping the catkin's fineness, and the teardrops' scattering, the flower and tear visually indistinguishable. Su Shi here completing the catkin and the longing wife's thorough fusion: the catkin i.e. the tears, the tears i.e. the catkin. This feeling-transforms-thing and thing-transforms-feeling brush, pushing the thing-ode ci to the thing-and-self-both-forgotten highest realm, and drawing the graceful-deep-feeling's bleak period. And the tear word also echoing the opening's no-one-prizes's prize word, no one prizes the flower, only the tears worthy of prize, the head-tail binding, the needlework fine.

Study

Word focus

似 The two 'seems' at the opening create uncertainty, capturing the beauty of 'resembling and not resembling' in object-chanting. 「似花还似非花」连用两个「似」字，是全词立意的支点。第一个「似」肯定杨花有花之名，第二个「似」又否定其有花之实，一肯一否之间，杨花「非花非雾」的暧昧身分被准确点出。这个「似」不是含糊，而是精确——它捕捉到杨花最本质的特征：在「是」与「不是」之间。更深一层看，这组「似」字也是苏轼自我处境的隐喻：他名为官员，实同罪臣；身在贬所，心怀魏阙，其处境正如杨花之「似花非花」。一字立骨，全词皆从此「似」字生发。此字看似含混，实则精确，正合刘熙载《艺概》所谓「咏物隐然只是咏怀」的离合之道。

萦损 Winding and damaging—describes the entanglement of sorrow, a painful choice of words. 「萦损」是苏轼自铸的妙词。「萦」本指缠绕回旋，写杨花随风飘卷的动态；「损」本指减损伤害，写愁思消磨身心的结果。二字相合，将杨花的物理形态（纤柔缠绕）与思妇的心理状态（愁肠百转、身心交瘁）捏合为一个复合意象，物态即情态，情态即物态。「萦损柔肠」一句，既可视作写杨花细条之卷曲如肠之萦损，又可视作写思妇愁思之缠绕如花之飘卷，主客互文，物我难分，正是咏物词「离合之间」的最高技巧。较之章楶原唱「轻飞乱舞」的直写，苏轼的「萦损」多了人的愁绪，故王国维赞其「和韵而似原唱」。

碎 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「一池萍碎」的「碎」字，是全词炼字最见功力处。杨花入水，化为一池浮萍，浮萍浮于水面，星星点点，正是「碎」的视觉呈现。「碎」字既写萍之细碎零散，又暗写春色之破碎、离愁之破碎——那「三分春色」不也正是「碎」成了尘土与流水么？一个「碎」字，把杨花的归宿、春光的消逝、心境的支离三者同时照亮。且「碎」字入韵，短促的仄声在句尾一收，如春色碎裂之声，声情与词情俱到。且「碎」字与「点点」的细密、与「泪」的零落暗中呼应，一字而收束了全词的物象与情思，是结拍之前最有力的一次铺垫。