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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

苏轼·蝶恋花·春景

Butterfly Loves Flower · Spring Scene

苏轼

Su Shi

婉约graceful 惜春cherish-spring

花褪残红青杏小。
燕子飞时，绿水人家绕。
枝上柳绵吹又少。
天涯何处无芳草。
墙里秋千墙外道。
墙外行人，墙里佳人笑。
笑渐不闻声渐悄。
多情却被无情恼。

Flowers fade, the red gone, small green apricots appear.
As swallows fly, green water winds about the cottages.
On the branch the willow floss is blown ever sparser.
To the world's end, where is there no fragrant grass?
Inside the wall a swing, outside the wall a road.
The passer-by beyond the wall hears the fair one within laugh.
The laughter fades beyond hearing, the sound grows still.
The tender-hearted is vexed by the heartless one.

Listen

Meaning

The flowers have shed their last red; tiny green apricots form. As the swallows flit, emerald water circles the riverside homes. On the bough the willow catkins are blown ever fewer. To the ends of the earth, where is there not lush fragrant grass? Within the wall is a swing, without it a road. The traveller outside the wall passes and hears the clear laughter of the beauty within. The laughter gradually ceases to be heard, the sound slowly stills. Yet the sentimental man is stirred by that heartless laughter, and only troubled the more.

花儿褪去残红，青杏才结出小小果实。燕子翩飞之时，碧绿的溪水环绕着岸边人家。枝头的柳絮被风吹得越来越少。天涯海角，哪里没有茂盛的芳草。墙里有秋千，墙外是道路。墙外的行人走过，听见墙里佳人清脆的笑声。笑声渐渐听不到了，声音也慢慢静了下来。多情的人却被那无情的笑声所惹动，徒增烦恼。

Appreciation

The lyric moves with a light, nimble brush, skilled at writing delicate feeling through ordinary scene. The first stanza describes in plain sketch the late-spring scene; 'as swallows fly, green water winds about the cottages' is sparse and picture-like. The second stanza opens a new space, using the wall that divides inside from outside to build its scene; from the hearing (the fair one's laugh) it draws feeling, closing with 'the tender-hearted is vexed by the heartless one,' lifting unprovoked emotion into a calm philosophical line. Scene, feeling and reason turn through three layers — resentful yet not bitter, near in words yet far in meaning — showing the wonder of Su Shi's small lyrics at its best.

【白话串讲】 “花褪残红青杏小。燕子飞时，绿水人家绕”——苏轼写暮春：残红褪去，青杏初结。“枝上柳绵吹又少。天涯何处无芳草”——柳絮越吹越少。“墙里秋千墙外道。墙外行人，墙里佳人笑”——“笑渐不闻声渐悄。多情却被无情恼”——多情的人，总被无情的人恼。【意象与手法】全词运笔轻灵，善于以寻常景物写幽微情思。上片白描春残之景，"燕子飞时，绿水人家绕"疏淡如画【情感与主旨】此词具体作年已难确考，学界多认为系苏轼北宋中后期任职地方或贬谪闲居期间所作【名句点睛】中高考赏析常聚焦三处：一、上片"柳绵吹又少"与"天涯何处无芳草"的惜春与旷达之辨

Background

The exact year is hard to fix; scholars mostly hold it was written when Su Shi served in the provinces or lived in leisure during his banishment in the mid-to-late Northern Song. The lyric writes late-spring scene and a chance feeling beyond the wall, long read as a representative of Su Shi's graceful mode. The first stanza sighs at spring's going; the second, from the passer-by hearing the beauty's laugh within, yields the chagrin of 'the tender-hearted is vexed by the heartless one' — perhaps hinting at a sigh over his drifting life and his light lament at life's encounters. With ordinary little scene it exhausts both reasoned interest and feeling, fully showing Su Dongpo's open-hearted temper.

《蝶恋花·春景》为北宋苏轼所作，是写伤春之情与人生感慨的词。苏轼（1037—1101），字子瞻，号东坡居士，眉山人，北宋文学家。此词：花褪残红青杏小。燕子飞时，绿水人家绕。枝上柳绵吹又少。天涯何处无芳草。墙里秋千墙外道。墙外行人，墙里佳人笑。笑渐不闻声渐悄。多情却被无情恼。全词写伤春与多情之恼，是苏轼词的名篇。

Art

The lyric moves with a light, nimble brush, skilled at conveying subtle feeling through ordinary sights. The first stanza plainly sketches the late-spring scene; 'as swallows fly, green water winds about the cottages' is sparse as a painting, and 'on the branch the willow floss is blown ever sparser' hides a cherishing of spring. The second stanza opens fresh, building its scene on the spatial divide of inside and outside the wall, drawing feeling from sound (the fair one's laugh), and closing with 'the tender-hearted is vexed by the heartless one,' turning groundless stirring into a calm philosophical line. Scene, feeling and reason turn through three layers — resentful yet not resentful, words near yet meaning far — the finest of Dongpo's small songs.

《蝶恋花·春景》艺术上以景色的层递与理趣的深婉见长。全词十句，层层写来：上片写春景之残——“花褪残红青杏小”写花褪杏小，“燕子飞时，绿水人家绕”写燕子绿水，“枝上柳绵吹又少，天涯何处无芳草”写柳绵芳草；下片写墙里墙外——“墙里秋千墙外道”写墙里秋千，“墙外行人，墙里佳人笑”写行人佳人，“笑渐不闻声渐悄，多情却被无情恼”写笑悄多情被恼。全词以景写情、含理趣，正是苏轼词深婉理趣的笔法。

Allusions

The lyric uses almost no allusion, winning by plain sketch. Though 'to the world's end, where is there no fragrant grass' comes from the Li Sao — 'where is there no fragrant grass, that you should long for your old dwelling?' — where Qu Yuan used grass for worthies everywhere, here it only borrows the wording for boundless spring grass, stripped of its political charge into a line of spring-sorrow and openness; this is transformation, not strict allusion. Overall the lyric writes present feeling in fresh language, borrowing no old tale — exactly Su Shi's trait of 'making poetry of song-lyrics' and drawing feeling from the scene before him, with no dense allusion.

《蝶恋花·春景》用典在“天涯何处无芳草”“多情却被无情恼”。“天涯何处无芳草”用《离骚》“何所独无芳草兮”之意，写芳草处处；“多情却被无情恼”写多情反被无情所恼。全词以这些意象写伤春与多情之恼，用典自然而深婉自见，正是苏轼词的笔法。

Commentary

Wang Shizhen, in Caomeng Jilu, praised 'on the branch the willow floss is blown ever sparser; to the world's end, where is there no fragrant grass,' saying that his concubine Chaoyun wept whenever she sang the 'willow floss' line. The modern Tang Guizhang called it 'one breath throughout, scene and feeling merged.' Yu Pingbo said the close 'the tender-hearted is vexed by the heartless one' betrays a faint sense of his drifting life beneath the openness, most worth savouring. Anthologies through the ages take this as the crown of Dongpo's graceful short lyrics.

《蝶恋花·春景》是苏轼词的名篇，也是宋代写伤春与人生感慨的代表作。此词写伤春与多情之恼，向为论者称道。论者多赏其景色的层递与理趣的深婉——“枝上柳绵吹又少，天涯何处无芳草”写柳绵芳草，亦写人生之旷达；“墙里秋千墙外道……多情却被无情恼”写墙里墙外、多情被恼，更见人生之慨。苏轼为北宋大家，其词以旷达深婉著称，此词正是其代表——以景写情、含理趣，正是其词风。

Prosody

Form Lyric, 'Butterfly Loves Flower' (Die Lian Hua), double-tune 60 characters词·蝶恋花

Rhyme Oblique rhyme, per Ci Lin Zheng Yun, four oblique rhymes per stanza《蝶恋花·春景》为双调词，押仄声韵。此词用韵：小、绕、草（筱部）、道、笑、悄、恼（筱部），一韵到底，音节婉转。

Tone pattern Mostly seven-character lines with three- and four-character interludes, flowing metre蝶恋花为双调词，音节婉转而深婉。此词写伤春与人生感慨，音节婉转而旷达。全词一韵到底，声调与伤春之情的内容相合，是苏轼词中深婉理趣的一路。

Reading note The tune was originally 'Magpie on the Branch,' created by Feng Yansi; Su Shi excels at graceful spring scene in it.《蝶恋花·春景》为北宋苏轼所作，是写伤春之情与人生感慨的词。此词以“花褪残红青杏小”写春景之残，以“枝上柳绵吹又少。天涯何处无芳草”写柳绵芳草、亦写旷达，以“墙里秋千墙外道……多情却被无情恼”写墙里墙外、多情被恼。以景写情、含理趣，正是苏轼词的名篇。

Line by line

花褪残红青杏小。燕子飞时，绿水人家绕。枝上柳绵吹又少。天涯何处无芳草。

The red blooms fade, the green apricots are small; as swallows fly, green water winds around the houses. Willow down on the branches blows ever less; yet where under heaven is there no fragrant grass?

花褪残红，青杏尚小。燕子飞时，绿水绕着人家。枝上柳绵越吹越少。天涯何处没有芳草。

The faded red blooms, small green apricots; swallows fly by, green water winds around the houses. The willow down on the branches blows ever less. Where under heaven is there no fragrant grass.

上片写春景之残，是全词伤春的起点。“花褪残红青杏小”写花褪杏小——“花褪残红”写花褪残红，“青杏小”写青杏尚小——花褪残红，青杏小；“燕子飞时，绿水人家绕”写燕子绿水——“燕子飞时”写燕子飞时，“绿水人家绕”写绿水绕着人家——燕子飞，绿水人家绕；“枝上柳绵吹又少。天涯何处无芳草”写柳绵芳草——“枝上柳绵吹又少”写枝上柳绵越吹越少，“天涯何处无芳草”用《离骚》之意写天涯何处没有芳草——柳绵吹少，天涯芳草。四句写春景之残：花褪残红青杏小、燕子飞时绿水人家绕，枝上柳绵吹又少、天涯何处无芳草。以“花褪残红青杏小”写春之将残，以“枝上柳绵吹又少，天涯何处无芳草”写柳绵渐少而芳草处处，正是苏轼词写伤春亦写旷达的笔法——春虽残，而芳草天涯。

The first stanza writes the spring scene's fading, the whole ci's grief-the-spring starting point. The faded-red-blooms-small-green-apricots writing the flowers' fading and the apricots' smallness; the swallows-fly-green-water-winds-around-the-houses writing the swallows and green water; the willow-down-on-the-branches-blows-ever-less-where-under-heaven-is-there-no-fragrant-grass writing the willow down and fragrant grass, the where-under-heaven from the Li Sao's meaning. Four lines writing the spring scene's fading: the faded blooms and small apricots, the swallows and winding green water, the willow down's thinning and the fragrant grass everywhere. Using the faded-red-blooms-small-green-apricots for spring's about-to-fade, and the willow-down-thinning-and-fragrant-grass-everywhere for the thinning down and the ubiquitous grass, precisely Su Shi's grief-the-spring-and-yet-open brush — spring though faded, and yet the fragrant grass to the world's end.

墙里秋千墙外道。墙外行人，墙里佳人笑。笑渐不闻声渐悄。多情却被无情恼。

Inside the wall the swing, outside the wall the road; outside the wall the traveler, inside the wall the beauty laughs. The laughter fades, the sound grows still; the loving one is vexed by the careless one.

墙里秋千，墙外是道路。墙外的行人，听到墙里佳人的笑。笑声渐渐听不见，声音渐渐悄寂。多情的人却被无情所恼。

Inside the wall the swing, outside the wall the road; outside the wall the traveler hears the beauty inside laugh. The laughter fades, the sound grows still. The loving one is vexed by the careless one.

下片写墙里墙外、多情被恼，是全词人生感慨的归结。“墙里秋千墙外道”写墙里墙外——“墙里秋千”写墙里的秋千，“墙外道”写墙外是道路——墙里秋千墙外道；“墙外行人，墙里佳人笑”写行人佳人——“墙外行人”写墙外的行人，“墙里佳人笑”写听到墙里佳人的笑——墙外行人，墙里佳人笑；“笑渐不闻声渐悄。多情却被无情恼”写多情被恼——“笑渐不闻声渐悄”写笑声渐渐听不见、声音渐渐悄寂，“多情却被无情恼”写多情的人却被无情所恼——笑悄声渐，多情被恼。六句写墙里墙外、多情被恼：墙里秋千墙外道、墙外行人墙里佳人笑，笑渐不闻声渐悄、多情却被无情恼。以“墙里秋千墙外道”写一墙之隔，以“墙外行人，墙里佳人笑”写佳人无意而行人多情，以“多情却被无情恼”写多情反被无情所恼，正是苏轼词写人生感慨的归结——墙里佳人不知，墙外行人空恼。

The second stanza writes the wall-inside-and-wall-outside and the loving-vexing-careless, the whole ci's life-reflection landing. The inside-the-wall-the-swing-outside-the-wall-the-road writing the wall's division; the outside-the-wall-the-traveler-inside-the-wall-the-beauty-laughs writing the traveler and beauty; the laughter-fades-sound-grows-still-the-loving-one-is-vexed-by-the-careless-one writing the loving-vexing-careless. Six lines writing the wall-inside-wall-outside and the loving-vexing-careless: the swing and the road, the traveler and the laughing beauty, the faded laughter and the vexed loving one. Using the wall's division for the one-wall separation, the beauty's-unwitting-and-traveler's-loving for the asymmetry, the loving-vexing-careless for the pathos, precisely Su Shi's life-reflection landing — the wall-inside beauty not knowing, the wall-outside traveler's empty vexation.

Study

Word focus

花褪残红 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “花褪残红青杏小”之“花褪残红”，写花褪残红，是全词写春景之残的关键词。“花褪”写花落退色，“残红”写将尽之残红——花褪残红，青杏尚小。这一词写春之将残：不是盛放之花，而花褪残红；不是繁春之景，而春残之象。以“花褪残红青杏小”写春景之残、青杏初结，正是苏轼词写伤春的笔法。

天涯何处无芳草 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “天涯何处无芳草”之“天涯何处无芳草”，用《离骚》之意，写天涯处处有芳草，是全词写旷达理趣的名句。“天涯”写天之尽头，“何处无芳草”写何处没有芳草——天涯何处没有芳草。这一句写芳草处处：不是仅在一隅，而天涯处处；不是春残之叹，而芳草犹在。以“天涯何处无芳草”写春虽残而芳草天涯、亦寓旷达之情，正是苏轼词写伤春亦写理趣的笔法。

墙里佳人 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “墙里佳人笑”之“墙里佳人”，写墙里秋千之佳人，是全词写多情被恼的关键词。“墙里”写高墙之内，“佳人笑”写佳人之笑——墙里的佳人在笑。这一词写佳人：不是可见之人，而墙里佳人；不是有意之人，而嬉笑之女。以“墙里佳人笑”写佳人无意、墙外行人多情，正是苏轼词写多情被恼的笔法。

多情却被无情恼 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “多情却被无情恼”之“多情却被无情恼”，写多情反被无情所恼，是全词人生感慨的归结词。“多情”写多情之人，“无情恼”写被无情所恼——多情的人却被无情所恼。这一句写多情之恼：不是两情相悦，而多情被恼；不是可解之恼，而无情相恼。以“多情却被无情恼”写墙外行人多情、墙里佳人无情、多情反被无情恼，正是苏轼词写人生感慨的归结。