水龙吟

Meaning

A lyric on the fallen leaves, written by the late Southern Song poet Wang Yisun, and read as the elegy of the fallen homeland. The dawn frost has just touched the green forest; in the gaze, the homeland is desolate early — the leaves beginning to fall, the homeland already desolate. Xiao xiao, they gradually pile up; in flocks, they still fall — the falling leaves of the autumn, piling and falling; the gate is desolate, the path is still. The wind rises on the Wei River, the waves rise on the Dongting — the great waters of the autumn, the ends of the autumns. The vermilion letters of the past, sent with the red leaves, are faint and far — the red leaves of the letters, the romance of the past, now faint; the cold river is empty, the twilight locks the solitary boat. And the close: who, on the dusk platform, with the sparse lamp and the cold rain, still hears the west wind? The lyric is the elegy of the fallen leaves and the fallen homeland: the piling leaves, the empty river, and the west wind heard at the dusk platform.

晓霜初著青林，望中故国凄凉早。萧萧渐积，纷纷犹坠，门荒径悄。渭水风生，洞庭波起，几番秋杪。想重崖半没，千峰尽出，山中路、无人到。前度题红杳杳。溯宫沟、暗流空绕。啼螀未歇，飞鸿欲过，此时怀抱。乱影翻窗，碎声敲砌，愁人多少。望吾庐甚处，只应今夜，满庭谁扫。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The dawn frost has just touched the green forest — in the gaze, the homeland is desolate early. Xiao xiao, they gradually pile up; in flocks, they still fall — the gate is desolate, the path is still. The wind rises on the Wei River, the waves rise on the Dongting — how many ends of the autumns? The vermilion letters of the past, sent with the red leaves, are faint and far — the cold river is empty, the twilight locks the solitary boat. Who, on the dusk platform, with the sparse lamp and the cold rain, still hears the west wind? [Structure and Thought] The lyric moves from the falling leaves and the desolate homeland, through the piling and the falling and the great waters of the autumn, to the faint letters and the empty river, and the close's question on the west wind at the dusk platform. [Key Technique] The poem's art is the elegy of the leaves: the piling and the falling of the leaves are the piling and the falling of the homeland — the natural object read as the national elegy — and the close's question on the west wind gathers the whole. [Emotional Tone] Desolate, faint, and elegiac: the lyric is the elegy of the fallen leaves and the fallen homeland, the empty river and the west wind at the dusk.

【白话串讲】 王沂孙写《水龙吟》：“晓霜初著青林，望中故国凄凉早”——“萧萧渐积，纷纷犹坠，门荒径悄”——“渭水风生，洞庭波起，几番秋杪”——“前度题红杳杳。溯宫沟、暗流空绕”——他写落叶——望中故国凄凉早。 【意象与手法】 “晓霜初著青林，望中故国凄凉早”以晓霜写故国凄凉；“萧萧渐积，纷纷犹坠，门荒径悄”写落叶萧萧；“渭水风生，洞庭波起，几番秋杪”以渭水洞庭写秋意；“前度题红杳杳。溯宫沟、暗流空绕”以题红写红叶；结以“望吾庐甚处，只应今夜，满庭谁扫”写满庭谁扫。咏物写恨。 【情感与主旨】 王沂孙咏落叶之作，借落叶写故国凄凉与身世飘零，是南宋遗民咏物词中托物寄慨的代表。 【名句点睛】 常考“晓霜初著青林，望中故国凄凉早”以晓霜写故国凄凉；“前度题红杳杳。溯宫沟、暗流空绕”以题红写落叶。

Allusions

'The vermilion letters sent with the red leaves' (tihong) alludes to the story of the red leaf that carried a poem written by a palace lady, sent down the palace water and found by a scholar — the romance of the red leaf, here faint and far in the elegy. 'The wind rises on the Wei River' and 'the waves rise on the Dongting' allude to the autumn poems of the great waters — the wind and the waves of the autumn, the immensity of the falling. 'Xiao xiao' is the sound of the falling and the wind — the sound of the desolation.

词中「晓霜初著青林」「望中故国凄凉早」「萧萧渐积纷纷犹坠门荒径悄」「渭水风生洞庭波起几番秋杪」「想重崖半没千峰尽出山中路无人到」「前度题红杳杳溯宫沟暗流空绕」「啼螀未歇飞鸿欲过此时怀抱」「乱影翻窗碎声敲砌愁人多少」「望吾庐甚处只应今夜满庭谁扫」等语，皆含典故故实。「晓霜初著青林」写晓霜初著青林；「望中故国凄凉早」写望中故国凄凉早；「萧萧渐积纷纷犹坠门荒径悄」写萧萧渐积纷纷犹坠门荒径悄；「渭水风生洞庭波起几番秋杪」写渭水风生洞庭波起几番秋杪（渭水洞庭皆写秋景，用屈原「袅袅兮秋风，洞庭波兮木叶下」之意）；「想重崖半没千峰尽出山中路无人到」写想重崖半没千峰尽出山中路无人到；「前度题红杳杳溯宫沟暗流空绕」用红叶题诗之典（红叶题诗流入宫沟），写前度题红杳杳溯宫沟暗流空绕；「啼螀未歇飞鸿欲过此时怀抱」写啼螀未歇飞鸿欲过此时怀抱；「乱影翻窗碎声敲砌愁人多少」写乱影翻窗碎声敲砌愁人多少；「望吾庐甚处只应今夜满庭谁扫」写望吾庐甚处只应今夜满庭谁扫。词人以洞庭波起、红叶题诗等典入词，不着痕迹，而把咏落叶之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。

Commentary

This lyric is one of the great poems on the natural object read as the national grief, quoted for its elegiac correspondence. The piling and the falling of the leaves and the close's question on the west wind are among the most admired passages of the late Song elegy. Critics praise the lyric's desolation: the fallen leaves of the homeland, and the lone listener to the west wind.

这首《水龙吟》，是王沂孙写咏物落叶之作，写晓霜初著、前度题红、满庭谁扫之情，含蓄深婉。上片写晓霜初著与渭水风生：「晓霜初著青林，望中故国凄凉早」——晓霜初著青林，望中故国凄凉早。写晓霜初著：晓霜初著青林、望中故国凄凉早——晓霜著青林、故国凄凉早；「萧萧渐积，纷纷犹坠，门荒径悄」——萧萧渐积，纷纷犹坠，门荒径悄。写萧萧渐积：萧萧渐积、纷纷犹坠，门荒径悄——萧萧渐积、纷纷犹坠、门荒径悄；「渭水风生，洞庭波起，几番秋杪」——渭水风生，洞庭波起（用洞庭波兮木叶下之意），几番秋杪。写渭水风生：渭水风生、洞庭波起，几番秋杪——渭水风生、洞庭波起、几番秋杪；「想重崖半没，千峰尽出，山中路、无人到」——想重崖半没，千峰尽出，山中路、无人到。写千峰尽出：想重崖半没、千峰尽出，山中路无人到——重崖半没、千峰尽出、山中无人到。下片写前度题红与满庭谁扫：「前度题红杳杳。溯宫沟、暗流空绕」——前度题红杳杳（用红叶题诗之典），溯宫沟、暗流空绕。写前度题红：前度题红杳杳、溯宫沟暗流空绕——题红杳杳、宫沟暗流空绕；「啼螀未歇，飞鸿欲过，此时怀抱」——啼螀未歇，飞鸿欲过，此时怀抱。写此时怀抱：啼螀未歇、飞鸿欲过，此时怀抱——啼螀未歇、飞鸿欲过、此时怀抱；「乱影翻窗，碎声敲砌，愁人多少」——乱影翻窗，碎声敲砌，愁人多少。写愁人多少：乱影翻窗、碎声敲砌，愁人多少——乱影翻窗、碎声敲砌、愁人多少；「望吾庐甚处，只应今夜，满庭谁扫」——望吾庐甚处，只应今夜，满庭谁扫。写满庭谁扫：望吾庐甚处、只应今夜，满庭谁扫——吾庐何处、今夜满庭谁扫。这「望吾庐甚处，只应今夜，满庭谁扫」，是全词之结：以满庭谁扫写其咏叶。全词含蓄深婉，以典咏物，正是王沂孙词中的名篇。

Prosody

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