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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

苏轼·八声甘州·寄参寥子

Eight Beats of Ganzhou · Sent to Canliaozi

苏轼

Su Shi

豪放bold and unrestrained 送别farewell

八声甘州·寄参寥子有情风、万里卷潮来，无情送潮归。
问钱塘江上，西兴浦口，几度斜晖。
不用思量今古，俯仰昔人非。
谁似东坡老，白首忘机。
记取西湖西畔，正春山好处，空翠烟霏。
算诗人相得，如我与君稀。
约他年、东还海道，愿谢公、雅志莫相违。
西州路，不应回首，为我沾衣。

The tender wind rolls the tide in from ten thousand li;
heartless, it sends the tide away again.
I ask, on the Qiantang River,
at the mouth of Xixing,
how many slanting suns have there been?
No need to brood on now and long ago—
a glance up, a glance down, and the men of old are gone.
Who is like old Dongpo,
white-haired and free of all scheming?

Remember the western shore of the West Lake,
where the spring hills are at their best,
an empty green in a haze of mist.
Of poets who truly know each other,
such as you and I, there are few.
We pledge that in some year, going home east by the sea road,
we shall not fail the noble resolve of Duke Xie.
On the road at Xizhou
you must not turn your head
and wet your sleeve for me.

Listen

Meaning

A wind with feeling in it rolls the tide in over ten thousand li, and then heartlessly sends the tide away again. Let me ask how many slanting suns have been seen on the Qiantang River and at the ferry mouth of Xixing. There is no need to brood over the rise and fall of ages: in the time it takes to look up and look down, the men of old are gone. Who is like this old man Dongpo, white-haired and with every scheming thought forgotten? Remember the western shore of the West Lake, where the spring hills are at their finest, all misty green and drifting haze. Poets who truly know one another, as you and I do, are rare indeed. Let us pledge that in some year I shall come home eastward by the sea road, and that, like Duke Xie, we shall not betray our noble resolve. On the road at Xizhou you must not turn your head and wet your sleeve with tears for me.

有情的风卷起万里潮水涌来，又无情地送潮归去。试问钱塘江上、西兴渡口，曾见过几度斜阳余晖。不必思量古今兴亡，俯仰之间昔人已非。谁能像东坡老朽，白发苍苍而忘却机心。请记住西湖西畔，正是春山佳处，空蒙青翠、烟霭霏微。想来诗人相知相得，如我与你这般稀少。约定他年东还海道，愿如谢安雅志莫相违背。西州路上，你不该回首为我落泪沾衣。

Appreciation

The upper stanza sets 'the tender wind' against 'heartless' and rises at once into power, using the tide that comes and goes over ten thousand li as a figure for the changefulness of meeting and parting; 'a glance up, a glance down, and the men of old are gone' transforms a phrase of Wang Xizhi and states the mutability of human life. The lower stanza turns warm with 'remember the western shore of the West Lake', and 'an empty green in a haze of mist' paints the spring hills of the lake in the lightest ink. At the close 'the road at Xizhou' takes the story of Yang Tan weeping for Duke Xie and reverses it, telling the friend not to grieve for him, so that the feeling gains one more turn. Openness holds a hidden tenderness throughout, and the piece shows Su Shi at the height of his power to melt thought into feeling and to write lyrics as though they were poems.

【白话串讲】 “有情风、万里卷潮来，无情送潮归”——苏轼寄给好友参寥子：有情风卷潮来，无情送潮去。“谁似东坡老，白首忘机”——他说自己老了，却已忘掉机心。“算诗人相得，如我与君稀”——知己如你我，太少。【意象与手法】上片以“有情风”与“无情”对举起势，借万里潮来潮去暗喻聚散无常；“俯仰昔人非”化用王羲之语，点出人生沧桑【情感与主旨】此词作于宋哲宗元祐六年（1091）苏轼自杭州召还汴京途中，寄赠诗僧参寥子（道潜）【名句点睛】中高考常从以下角度设题：一、炼字，如“卷”字状潮水奔腾之力，“送”字见自然之无情，对比中寄聚散之慨

Background

The lyric was written in 1091, the sixth year of the Yuanyou era of Emperor Zhezong of the Song, while Su Shi was on his way back from Hangzhou to the capital Bianjing, and was sent to the poet-monk Canliaozi (Daoqian). The two were close friends, and in earlier years, when Su governed Hangzhou, Canliaozi had gone with him about the West Lake. Su Shi was then near sixty, tossed up and down in the sea of office, with an uncertain road before him in the north, and so he poured his parting feeling into the lyric and made a distant promise to return one day to the West Lake and take up the life of retirement again. The 'noble resolve of Duke Xie' uses the story of Xie An and hints at the wish to withdraw to the eastern hills. Placing meeting and parting within the tides and the ages, the piece shows both the depth of the friendship and the detachment of the poet's mind.

苏轼《八声甘州·寄参寥子》作于宋哲宗元祐六年（1091）。是年二月，苏轼自杭州知州任上被召还京师，以翰林学士承旨之职返汴，临行前作此词赠诗僧道潜。道潜，号参寥子，於潜人，能诗文，与苏轼交谊笃厚，自熙宁、元丰间订交以来唱和不绝。元祐四年苏轼出知杭州，道潜亦随往，二人游西湖、赏春山、论禅谈诗，为方外莫逆。此词乃苏轼再别杭州、与挚友分袂时所作。苏轼一生宦海浮沉，元祐年间虽因旧党得势而回朝，然朝中党争未息，其心实有隐忧，故词中「白首忘机」既是自况，亦暗含对官场机心的厌倦。词题「寄参寥子」，明是留赠，而通篇以钱塘潮、西湖山为背景，实是一阕别杭州兼别友人之作。版本方面，此词见《东坡乐府》，题或作「寄参寥子」，各本文字略无出入；「白首忘机」之「忘机」，用《列子·黄帝》海上之人狎鸥事，即「鸥鸟忘机」之典，指无机诈之心，与白首之年相对，见出历经沧桑后的淡泊。参寥子道潜，本姓何，於潜人，自幼出家，工诗，与苏轼唱和极多，苏轼集中赠答之作屡见。元祐六年苏轼召还，本非其所愿——党争方炽，朝局叵测，故离杭之际，其心愈觉前路茫茫，词中「俯仰昔人非」之叹，正由对朝局的隐忧而起。此词之后，苏轼还朝，然元祐党争愈演愈烈，其「东还海道」之约，终成其晚年屡遭贬谪、未及践约的伏笔。

Art

The upper stanza opens by setting 'a wind with feeling' against 'heartless', borrowing the tide that comes and goes over ten thousand li as a figure for the inconstancy of meeting and parting; 'a glance up, a glance down, and the men of old are gone' transforms a saying of Wang Xizhi and points to the changes of human life. The lower stanza turns to warm remembrance with 'remember the western shore of the West Lake', and 'an empty green in a haze of mist' renders the spring hills of the lake in pale ink. At the close 'the road at Xizhou' uses the story of Yang Tan weeping for Xie An and reverses its sense, urging the friend not to grieve, so that the feeling turns once more and deepens. Detachment hides a delicate tenderness within, and the whole shows the height of Su Shi's art in melting thought into feeling and writing lyrics with the hand of poetry.

此词以「潮」字起兴，大开大合，是苏轼豪放词中少见的通体阔大而情致深婉之作。起句「有情风、万里卷潮来，无情送潮归」，以「有情」「无情」对举，风之有情，指其带来潮水时的雄浑；风之无情，指其送走潮水时的冷漠。一「卷」一「送」，写尽钱塘潮的来去，也暗喻人世聚散的不可挽留。接着「问钱塘江上，西兴浦口，几度斜晖」，以设问将空间拉开，钱塘、西兴两地对举，斜晖几度，是问自然，也是问人生，与「不用思量今古，俯仰昔人非」一气贯通，化用王羲之语而不露痕迹。下片「记取西湖西畔，正春山好处，空翠烟霏」，转入对西湖春景的追忆，色调由钱塘潮的苍茫转为春山的空翠，见出苏轼于离别之际最难忘的是与参寥同游的西湖山水。「算诗人相得，如我与君稀」直抒胸臆，是全词情谊的顶点。结句以谢安、羊昙之典收束，用「不应回首，为我沾衣」的旷达，反衬出内心深处对生死之别的预感。全词章法，上片写景抒慨，下片言情寄望，景语即情语，浑然一体。此词以「潮」为全篇气脉：上片潮来潮去喻聚散，下片春山空翠寄深情，潮之壮阔与山之空翠，一刚一柔，恰是苏轼对参寥子两种情感的交织——既有豪杰惜别的慷慨，又有方外知己的温柔。郑文焯所谓「万古苍凉」，正在这刚柔相济之间。

Allusions

The allusions are exact and yet natural. 'White-haired and free of all scheming' transforms the sense of the Liezi, where a man loses his scheming heart, and figures the calm of retirement. 'The noble resolve of Duke Xie' uses the story of Xie An of the Eastern Jin, who lay at ease on the eastern hills and, though he later took office, always kept the wish to withdraw; Su Shi likens himself to Xie An to declare his intention of returning east by the sea road and holding to his first purpose. 'The road at Xizhou' uses the tale of Yang Tan, who in his cups passed the Xizhou gate and wept aloud for Xie An; at the end of the lyric the sense is reversed, and Canliao is told to shed no tears, a turn that surprises. All three touch the theme of a farewell that declares a wish for retirement, and lie deep in the piece without a trace of effort.

此词用典精当，皆与「离别—生死」的情感脉络相契。「俯仰昔人非」化用王羲之《兰亭集序》「俯仰之间，已为陈迹」「向之所欣，俯仰之间，已为陈迹，犹不能不以之兴怀」，言人生于俯仰之间即成往事，寄今古兴亡之感。「白首忘机」之「忘机」，典出《列子·黄帝》：海上有人每旦从鸥鸟游，其父令其取鸟，鸟遂舞而不下，盖「忘机」则物我无猜，生「机心」则物皆远遁。苏轼以「白首」配「忘机」，说自己活到白头，早已忘却机心，是对官场倾轧的超脱，也是对参寥子禅悦生涯的认同。「约他年、东还海道，愿谢公、雅志莫相违」用谢安之典：谢安早年隐居会稽东山，虽出仕而思归东山之志不渝，晚年欲「东还」以践雅志，然未果而卒。苏轼以谢安自比，谓他年当辞官东还，与参寥再聚，望此雅志莫相违背。结句「西州路，不应回首，为我沾衣」用羊昙典：羊昙为谢安外甥，深为谢安所爱；谢安卒后，羊昙行路不经西州门，一日醉中误至，悲感不已，恸哭而去。苏轼反用其意，叮嘱参寥子：我若如谢安般逝去，你不必像羊昙那样回首西州、为我落泪。三典环环相扣，皆出东晋谢安、羊昙一系，既见东坡腹笥之富，又使全词寄慨遥深。此外「空翠烟霏」之语，亦暗用王维「山路元无雨，空翠湿人衣」之意，写西湖春山之翠色空蒙，与前文钱塘潮之苍茫形成对照，一壮一秀，各极其妙。

Commentary

Gu Sui described Su Shi's lyrics as 'transcendent and open', and this piece is the very type of it. Zheng Wenzhuo, in the Remarks on Lyrics of the Master of Great Crane Mountain, called it 'a wind of heaven and a sea of waves, clear, heroic and beyond the common'. Modern critics often praise it as a poem of farewell to a friend that never falls into the tearful language of lovers, saying that it governs feeling by reason and dissolves grief in breadth, and so opens a new path in the lyric of parting. Chen Tingzhuo too remarked that Dongpo's lyrics 'lodge the deep in the shallow and the weighty in the light', and this piece may serve as his example.

《八声甘州·寄参寥子》是苏轼词中评价极高的一首。清代陈廷焯《白雨斋词话》将此词置于东坡词的高处，谓「东坡词，纯以情胜，情之至者词亦至」；又评此词「寄参寥子，语语从肺腑流出，苍茫雄浑之中，自饶蕴藉」。郑文焯《大鹤山人词话》则极赏其起句，谓「有情风、万里卷潮来，无情送潮归」二句「读之觉有万古苍凉之感」，认为其开阖吞吐，直逼唐人。王鹏运《半塘未刊稿》亦以「清雄绝尘」称之。近代词学家夏承焘在《唐宋词欣赏》中论此词，指出其以「潮」与「春山」两种景致对举，写尽钱塘与西湖两地风光，而归结于对友人的深情，是「以景写情、以典寓情」的典范。此词在宋元词选中屡见收录，曾慥《乐府雅词》、黄升《花庵词选》皆录之，清代朱祖谋《宋词三百首》亦选入。现代学者对其「有情风、万里卷潮来」的起句，多与《水调歌头》「明月几时有」并举，视为苏轼豪放词的两大开篇。其「白首忘机」「东还海道」之语，又被论者视为苏轼晚年欲退隐、与参寥子践约的伏笔，惜乎东坡未及践约而卒于常州，此约终成遗恨。此词之所以传诵不衰，在于它将苏轼性格中豪放与深婉的两面熔于一炉：写潮则「万里」「卷」字气吞云梦，写别则「西州路」「沾衣」字字含泪，既能让人见其旷达超逸，又能让人触其深情绵邈。后世学东坡者，多能得其豪，而难兼得其婉，此词恰是豪婉兼得的标本。

Prosody

Form Lyric, 'Eight Beats of Ganzhou' (Ba Sheng Ganzhou), double tune of ninety-seven characters词（八声甘州，长调）

Rhyme Oblique rhyme, following the rhyme group prescribed by the tune pattern押平声韵，属词林正韵第三部（支微齐韵），上片韵脚为归、晖、非、机，下片为霏、稀、违、衣，上下片各四平韵，一韵到底。

Tone pattern Lines of uneven length, mostly in groups of three, four and five characters, the tones following the score长调依谱填词，此词声情开阔而沉郁。起句「有情风、万里卷潮来」平仄相间，「卷」字上声陡起，状潮势之激；「无情送潮归」以平声收束，见潮退之黯然。换头「记取西湖西畔」仄起，声情由苍茫转入婉丽，与景色的由壮入秀相配合。

Reading note The tune was created by Liu Yong; this piece of Su Shi's is a famous lyric of parting and dedication, clear and heroic in air.《八声甘州》为长调，双调九十七字，前后片各九句、四平韵，因上下片共有八韵而得名。苏轼此词严守词谱，用韵尽押第三部支微齐韵，韵脚归、晖、非、机与霏、稀、违、衣，皆阴平或阳平，音色清亮而绵长，与钱塘潮之壮阔、西湖山之空翠皆能相谐。尤为值得注意的是此词的领字艺术：上片「问钱塘江上」「不用思量今古」之「问」「不用」，下片「算诗人相得」「愿谢公、雅志莫相违」之「算」「愿」，皆以去声或上声领起，承转有力，使全词虽九十七字而脉络分明、一气贯注。慢词的声情，贵在「顿挫而不板滞」，此词以「卷潮」「送潮」的动与「春山」「空翠」的静相映，声调随之抑扬，读来真有潮生潮落、山色有无之感。苏轼自谓「新阕长笛」，此词正宜于横笛吹奏，其声之清越，与情之绵邈，相得益彰。故王鹏运以「清雄绝尘」目之，其「清雄」二字，一半在词境，一半正在此声律之清越雄浑。

Line by line

有情风、万里卷潮来，无情送潮归

A wind with feeling in it rolls the tide in from ten thousand li, and heartlessly sends it back again.

有情的风卷起万里潮水涌来，又无情地送潮归去

The affectionate wind rolls the tide in from ten thousand li, the heartless wind sees it home again.

起句以「有情」「无情」对举，是全词的总纲。风本无情感，而词人强分其有情无情：潮来之时，风助其势，是「有情」；潮归之时，风催其去，是「无情」。这一分，便把钱塘潮的涨落写成了人间聚散的隐喻——相聚如潮涌来，何等浩荡；离别如潮退去，何等无奈。「万里」极言潮势之广，「卷」字状其奔腾之力，一个「归」字又点出潮水终有去时，聚必有散。两句十四字，写尽了自然的壮阔与人事的无常，气魄之大、感慨之深，在东坡词中亦属罕见，故郑文焯叹其「有万古苍凉之感」。

The opening line using the affectionate-and-heartless opposition, the whole ci's master plan. The wind originally emotionless, and yet the poet's forcibly dividing its affectionate-and-heartless: at the tide's coming, the wind aiding its force, the affectionate; at the tide's return, the wind urging its going, the heartless. This division, hence turning the Qiantang tide's rise-and-fall into the human-gathering-and-parting metaphor — the gathering like the tide's surging, how grand; the parting like the tide's receding, how helpless. The ten-thousand-li word's extreme of the tide's breadth, the juan word describing its racing force, the one gui word again pointing out the tide's eventual going, the gathering's certain parting. Two lines fourteen characters, exhausting the nature's grandeur and the human-affair's impermanence, the scope's vastness and the emotion's depth, in Su Shi's ci also the rare, hence Zheng Wenzhuo's sigh for its timeless desolation.

谁似东坡老，白首忘机

Who is like this old man Dongpo, white-haired and with every scheming thought forgotten?

谁能像东坡老朽，白发苍苍而忘却机心

Who else is like old Dongpo, white-haired and guileless?

此句是上片的收束，也是苏轼的自我画像。「东坡老」三字自称，看似自嘲，实含历经沧桑后的从容。「白首」点出年岁，与「忘机」相配，构成一种阅尽世情后的淡泊境界。忘机之典，出《列子·黄帝》海上狎鸥事，本指无机诈之心，苏轼此处用以自况，既是说自己早已看破官场倾轧，也是在向方外之友参寥子靠近——参寥子出家之人，本无机心，苏轼以「忘机」自许，是向友人的精神靠拢。而「谁似」二字反问，又透出一丝孤高：这世间，能如我东坡般白首而忘机的，又有几人？一谦一傲，尽在其中。

This line is the first stanza's close, and Su Shi's self-portrait. The old-Dongpo three words' self-naming, seeming the self-mockery, and yet carrying the vicissitudes'-after composure. The white-haired pointing out the age, matching the guileless, forming the world-seen-through-after detached realm. The guileless allusion, from the Liezi's Huangdi sea-gulls matter, originally meaning the no-cunning heart, Su Shi here using it for the self-description, at once saying his already seeing-through the office factional strife, and approaching the beyond-world friend Canliaozi — Canliaozi the monk, originally guileless, Su Shi's self-claiming guileless, the spiritual approaching the friend. And the who-else two words' rhetorical question, again showing a touch of loftiness: this world, able like my Dongpo's white-haired-and-yet-guileless, and yet how few? The one modesty and one pride, all within.

算诗人相得，如我与君稀

Counting the poets who have truly matched, few are like you and me.

想来诗人相知相得，如我与你这般稀少

Counting the poets who have truly matched, few are like you and me.

「算」字是思量、细想之意，引出全词最直白的深情。诗人相知相得，本是难得之事，而苏轼以「如我与君稀」作比，将二人的情谊推到了「人间罕见」的高度。此句不假任何修饰，纯以口语道出，却因其真诚而力透纸背。参寥子是诗僧，苏轼是诗豪，二人以诗订交、以禅相知，是跨越了方内方外界限的知己。苏轼平生交游遍天下，而能称「相得」且「稀」者，寥寥数人而已，参寥子居其一。此句与下句「约他年、东还海道」相连，正是因为有此稀世之谊，才有他年再聚之约，情深至此，方见东坡于旷达之外的至情一面。

The suan word the considering and pondering, leading out the whole ci's most direct deep feeling. The poets' mutual understanding, originally the rare matter, and yet Su Shi's like-you-and-me-few comparison, pushing their bond to the human-world-rare height. This line's no ornament, purely in colloquial utterance, and yet because of the sincerity's force through the paper. Canliaozi the poet-monk, Su Shi the poet-hero, the two bonded by poetry and knowing by Zen, the beyond-world-and-within-world-limits-crossing confidants. Su Shi's life friendships under heaven, and yet the can-called-mutual and rare, the few, Canliaozi one of them. This line and the below's pact-someday-east-return-by-the-sea linked, precisely because of this rare bond, hence the someday-remeeting pact, the feeling deep to this, then seeing Dongpo's beyond-the-openness deepest-feeling side.

西州路，不应回首，为我沾衣

On the road at Xizhou you must not turn your head and shed tears for me.

西州路上，你不该回首为我落泪沾衣

On the Xizhou road, look not back, and wet not your robes for me.

结句用羊昙哭谢安之典而反其意。谢安卒后，其甥羊昙行路不忍过西州门，一日醉中误入，恸哭而去，是生者对死者的深悲。苏轼化用此典，却翻转过来：他叮嘱参寥子，倘若我他日如谢安般作古，你不必如羊昙般经过西州路而回首痛哭、为我沾湿衣襟。这「不应回首」的劝慰，看似旷达，实则深悲——正因预感到此生聚少离多、乃至生死永隔，才有此语。以「沾衣」二字作结，泪痕宛然，将全词的苍茫豪气，收束于一点温热的泪水之上，刚柔相济，余韵悠长。

The close using Yang Tan's weeping-for-Xie-An allusion and yet reversing the meaning. After Xie An's death, his nephew Yang Tan's walking not bearing to pass the Xizhou gate, one day drunk and straying in, weeping bitterly and leaving, the living's deep grief for the dead. Su Shi adapting this allusion and yet turning it: he charges Canliaozi, if I someday like Xie An's dying, you need not like Yang Tan's passing the Xizhou road and looking back in tears and wetting your robes for me. This should-not-look-back consolation, seeming open, and yet actually deep grief — precisely because of foreboding this life's gathering-scant-and-parting-many, even the life-and-death's eternal separation, hence these words. Closing on the wetting-robes two words, the tear stains vivid, gathering the whole ci's vast heroism onto one warm tear-drop, the firm-and-soft mutual aid, the aftertaste long.

Study

Word focus

卷 A verb of motion that gives the surge and drive of the tide; the opening stroke already shows a vigorous power, and it answers the later 'sends' to form the contrast of meeting and parting. 「卷」字是起句的用力处。钱塘潮来，水势接天，若用「涨」「涌」「来」皆失其猛，唯「卷」字能状其挟风裹浪、席卷万里之势。风而能「卷」潮，则风之劲可知，潮之猛可知，苏轼写景的笔力正在此一字之间。而「卷」字又不止写景——潮水被风卷来，又被风送走，来也汹涌，去也无情，一个「卷」字里已暗含了「人力不可挽留」的意味，为下文的今古之叹、生死之感埋下了伏笔。炼字之妙，在于一字而兼状物与寄慨，此其所以为东坡。一字之中，物象与心象俱在。

忘机 The phrase comes from the Liezi and means to put away every scheming thought; it writes the calm of a white-haired man in retirement and concentrates the transcendent theme of the whole lyric. 「忘机」二字是全词精神的眼目。机者，机心也，算计之谓也。《列子·黄帝》载海上之人忘机则鸥鸟亲近，生心则鸥鸟远离，遂成「鸥鸟忘机」之典。苏轼用「忘机」自况，意味深长：其一，他身处党争旋涡，见惯了机心倾轧，此语是对官场的厌倦与超脱；其二，参寥子乃出家之人，本无机心，苏轼以「忘机」自许，是与友人在精神上的共鸣；其三，「白首」而「忘机」，是历尽沧桑后的返璞归真，与「东坡老」的自称相配，见出一种洗尽铅华的淡泊。二字含典而不僻，正是苏词「用事而人不觉」的高处。

沾衣 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「沾衣」二字是全词的落泪处。泪落而沾衣，是极寻常的生活细节，苏轼以之收束全篇，以最朴素的画面承载最沉重的情感。羊昙哭谢安而「恸哭而去」，泪湿衣襟；苏轼反用此典，谓参寥子「不应回首，为我沾衣」，劝慰之中已预设了生离死别的结局，故「沾衣」二字愈淡而愈悲。全词上片写潮之苍茫，下片写山之空翠，皆是疏阔之境，而结穴于一点泪痕，正是东坡词「以景运情，以淡写浓」的典型手法——最深的悲，藏在最轻的字里。