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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

踏莎行·郴州旅舍

Treading on Grass: The Inn at Chenzhou (Tashaxing)

秦观

Qin Guan

愁思Melancholy 写景Landscape

雾失楼台，月迷津渡。
桃源望断无寻处。
可堪孤馆闭春寒，杜鹃声里斜阳暮。
驿寄梅花，鱼传尺素。
砌成此恨无重数。
郴江幸自绕郴山，为谁流下潇湘去。

The mists lose the towers and the terraces, the moon is bewildered at the ferry.
Gazing to the end at the Peach Blossom Spring, there is no place to find it.
How can one bear the lonely inn shut in the spring cold, and in the cuckoo's cries the setting sun darkens.
The post-horse sends the plum blossoms, the fish transmits the foot-long letter.
These pile up into this grief of countless layers.
The Chen River, happily encircling the Chen Mountain, for whom does it flow down to the Xiao and the Xiang?

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Meaning

Written in the spring of the fourth year of Shaosheng (1097), when Qin Guan, demoted, was living at Chenzhou. The first half writes what he saw in the exile: 'the mists lose the towers and the terraces, the moon is bewildered at the ferry'—the towers lost in the mists and the ferry bewildered in the moonlight, the bewilderment of the exile; 'gazing to the end at the Peach Blossom Spring, there is no place to find it'—the ideal realm of the Peach Blossom Spring, gazing to the end and not finding it, the destruction of the ideal; 'how can one bear the lonely inn shut in the spring cold, and in the cuckoo's cries the setting sun darkens'—the lonely inn in the spring cold, the cuckoo's cries and the darkening of the setting sun, the loneliness of the exile. The second half writes the longing: 'the post-horse sends the plum blossoms, the fish transmits the foot-long letter'—the letters and the gifts from home, the longing of the exile; 'these pile up into this grief of countless layers'—the grief piled up layer on layer, the grief of the countless layers of the exile; and the close, 'the Chen River, happily encircling the Chen Mountain, for whom does it flow down to the Xiao and the Xiang?'—the Chen River happily encircling the Chen Mountain, yet for whom does it flow down to the Xiao and the Xiang, the reproach of the river, the grief of the exile to the utmost, the 'the unreasonable yet the wonderful' of the close.

浓雾遮蔽了楼台，月色迷蒙了渡口。遥望桃源仙境，望断了双眼也寻不到去处。怎能忍受独处孤馆、关闭在这春寒之中，杜鹃声里，斜阳西沉，暮色苍茫。驿站寄来梅花，鱼腹传过尺素书信。这些离恨堆积起来，重重叠叠，无法计数。郴江啊，你本自绕着郴山流淌，又为了谁流向潇湘去呢？

Appreciation

The most striking features of the art of the ci are the creation of the 'the realm of the self' and the closing of the 'the unreasonable yet the wonderful.' The first half writes the scene and every scene carries the grief: 'the mists lose the towers and the terraces'—the towers and the terraces, high and prominent things, yet swallowed by the thick mists, the 'lose' character writing the bewilderment; 'the moon is bewildered at the ferry'—the ferry, the place of the crossing, yet the moonlight dim and hard to distinguish, the 'bewildered' character writing the melancholy; the two characters of the 'lose' and the 'bewildered' write the objective scene as if it had lost the direction, the externalization of the heart of the exile. 'Gazing to the end at the Peach Blossom Spring, there is no place to find it'—the Peach Blossom Spring of Tao Yuanming is the realm of the ideal, and the gazing to the end without the finding, the destruction of the ideal all in it; and 'how can one bear the lonely inn shut in the spring cold, and in the cuckoo's cries the setting sun darkens'—the 'shut' and the 'darken' write the loneliness of the exile to the full, and the 'how can one bear' the unbearable. The second half, 'the post-horse sends the plum blossoms, the fish transmits the foot-long letter' writes the longing with the allusions, 'these pile up into this grief of countless layers' the grief piled up, and the close, 'the Chen River, happily encircling the Chen Mountain, for whom does it flow down to the Xiao and the Xiang?'—the reproach of the river, the unreasonable yet the wonderful, the grief of the exile in the question.

【白话串讲】秦观被贬郴州，写踏莎行：“雾失楼台，月迷津渡。桃源望断无寻处”。“可堪孤馆闭春寒，杜鹃声里斜阳暮”——“驿寄梅花，鱼传尺素。砌成此恨无重数”——“郴江幸自绕郴山，为谁流下潇湘去”——他写贬谪的凄凉。苏轼最爱最后两句。【意象与手法】失、迷二字写尽迷惘；桃源望断写理想之破灭；杜鹃、斜阳写愁苦之境；砌字化无形之恨为可积之砖；末以郴江问水，无理而妙，是「有我之境」的极致。【情感与主旨】绍圣年间秦观连遭贬谪，此词作于郴州贬所，写尽羁旅之愁与思乡之情，寄寓对贬谪命运的不平之问，是秦观晚期词的代表。【名句点睛】常考「可堪孤馆闭春寒，杜鹃声里斜阳暮」的有我之境，以及「郴江幸自绕郴山，为谁流下潇湘去」的无理而妙。

Background

The ci was written in the spring of the fourth year of Shaosheng (1097), when Qin Guan was living in the demotion at Chenzhou. In the Shaosheng era, the new party was in power, and the members of the old party were struck down one after another: the Yuanyou partisans Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Qin Guan, and others were successively demoted. Qin Guan, from the first year of Shaosheng (1094), was first demoted to the Vice-Prefect of Hangzhou, then to the tax office of Chuzhou, and in the third year of Shaosheng to Chenzhou, and thereafter to Hengzhou and Leizhou, demoted ever farther, and this ci was written at the place of the demotion of Chenzhou, when he was forty-nine, only three years before his death (1100). Chenzhou, in the south of Hunan, remote and desolate, Qin Guan alone in the inn, meeting the spring and longing for home, hence this ci. The first half writes what he saw in the exile; the Peach Blossom Spring is in the region of Changde, Hunan, and Chenzhou also has the Peach Blossom Spring, yet the gazing to the end without the finding, both the geographical and the spiritual loss of the ideal.

《踏莎行·郴州旅舍》作于宋哲宗绍圣四年（1097）春，时秦观贬居郴州。绍圣年间，新党执政，旧党人士连遭打击：元祐党人苏轼、黄庭坚、秦观等相继被贬。秦观自绍圣元年（1094）起，先贬杭州通判，再贬处州酒税，绍圣三年贬至郴州，其后又徙横州、雷州，越贬越远，此词即作于郴州贬所，时年四十九岁，距其卒（1100年）仅三年。郴州地处湘南，僻远荒凉，秦观独处旅舍，逢春而思乡，遂成此词。上片写谪居所见：雾失楼台、月迷津渡，桃源望断无寻处——桃源本在湖南常德一带，郴州亦有桃源之思，而望断无寻，正是理想破灭的写照；下片写怀远之恨：驿寄梅花、鱼传尺素，砌成此恨无重数——朋友的问候、亲人的书信，本可慰藉，却只能堆积成更深的离恨；末以郴江问水，把一腔怨愤化作对江水的不平之问。此词是秦观晚年词风的代表：由前期的清丽婉约转向深婉凄厉，把个人的贬谪之痛写到了极致。苏轼尝爱此词，尤赏「郴江幸自绕郴山，为谁流下潇湘去」二句，自书于扇面，可见其艺术魅力。

Art

The art is the creation of the 'realm of the self' and the closing of the 'the unreasonable yet the wonderful': the 'lose' and the 'bewildered' externalize the heart of the exile, the Peach Blossom Spring the destruction of the ideal, the 'shut' and the 'darken' the loneliness, and the close, 'the Chen River... for whom does it flow down to the Xiao and the Xiang,' the reproach of the river, the unreasonable yet the wonderful, the grief of the exile in the question.

此词艺术上最突出的是「有我之境」的营造与「无理而妙」的收束。上片写景而景景含愁：「雾失楼台」——楼台本是高耸之物，却被浓雾吞没，失字写出迷惘；「月迷津渡」——渡口本是渡人之所，月色迷蒙难辨，迷字写出怅惘；失、迷二字，把客观的景写得仿佛失了方向，正是贬谪之人内心的外化。桃源望断无寻处——陶渊明笔下的桃源是理想之境，望断而不得，理想之破灭尽在其中。可堪孤馆闭春寒——孤馆、春寒、闭字，写尽独处之孤与境遇之惨；杜鹃声里斜阳暮——杜鹃啼血、斜阳西沉，声与景俱惨，暮字更添迟暮之感。下片转写情事：「驿寄梅花，鱼传尺素」——陆凯折梅赠友、鱼腹藏书的典故，写朋友的问候与家人的书信，本是温暖之事，秦观却以砌成此恨无重数翻转——这些问候书信，非但不能慰藉，反而堆积成重重叠叠的离恨。一个砌字，化无形之恨为有形之砖，层层垒起，恨便有了体积与重量。末二句「郴江幸自绕郴山，为谁流下潇湘去」——郴江本自绕着郴山流淌，为何要流向潇湘去呢？此问无理：江水东流本是自然，哪有为什么；然正是这无理之问，写出了秦观对自己被逐出郴州、越贬越远的命运的不平——江水尚知绕山而流，人却不得不离乡远谪！无理而妙，妙在情真。全词由景入情、由情入问，层层转进，末以问句收束，把一腔愁怨推向无限。

Allusions

The allusions of the ci are natural, all turned into the scenes before the eyes. First, the allusion of the Peach Blossom Spring: Tao Yuanming's 'Record of the Peach Blossom Spring' writes the Wuling fisherman's chance entry into the Peach Blossom Spring, and Qin Guan, living in the demotion at Chenzhou (near Wuling), 'gazing to the end at the Peach Blossom Spring, there is no place to find it'—the gazing to the end at the Peach Blossom Spring and not finding it, both the geographical not-finding and the spiritual irrecoverability of the realm of the ideal; the pain of the demotion written with the allusion of the Peach Blossom Spring, implicit and profound. Second, the allusion of the cuckoo: the cuckoo is the cuckoo bird, according to the legend the spirit of the King of Shu Du Yu, crying blood; its cry like 'better go back home,' the cry of the homesickness of the traveler; the 'in the cuckoo's cries' of the ci the cry of the cuckoo of the evening of the spring, the homesickness and the grief of the exile in one.

此词用典自然，皆化为眼前景物。其一是桃源之典：陶渊明《桃花源记》写武陵渔人偶入桃源，秦观贬居郴州（近武陵），桃源望断无寻处——望断桃源而不得，既是地理上的寻而不得，更是精神上理想之境的不可复得；以桃源之典写贬谪之痛，含蓄而深刻。其二是杜鹃之典：杜鹃即子规，相传为蜀王杜宇（望帝）魂化，啼声凄厉，如「不如归去」，古诗词多以之写思归之情（李白「又闻子规啼夜月，愁空山」）；杜鹃声里斜阳暮，以啼声催归而人不得归，更添一层愁苦。其三是驿寄梅花之典：南朝陆凯《赠范晔》「折梅逢驿使，寄与陇头人。江南无所有，聊赠一枝春」，写朋友以梅花寄情；秦观以驿寄梅花写贬所仍得朋友之谊，然梅花之春意与贬所之凄凉相对，反而更见其孤。其四是鱼传尺素之典：古乐府《饮马长城窟行》「客从远方来，遗我双鲤鱼，呼儿烹鲤鱼，中有尺素书」，写以鱼腹藏信传书；尺素即书信，鱼传尺素写家人书信之至，然书信只能传情而不能解恨，故砌成此恨。其五是潇湘之典：潇湘为湘水与潇水合流，屈原流放之地，古诗词以之写迁谪之悲（柳宗元「潇湘何事等闲回」）；郴江流入潇湘，正是秦观将被贬往更远之处的预兆。全词五处用典，皆与谪居的景物情境水乳交融，不见斧凿之痕，是秦观以典写情的典范。

Commentary

The ci is the peak of the late works of Qin Guan and the ultimate work of the Song ci writing the grief of the journey and the demotion. The ci opens with the bewilderment of 'the mists lose the towers and the terraces, the moon is bewildered at the ferry,' and closes with the reproach of 'the Chen River happily encircling the Chen Mountain, for whom does it flow down to the Xiao and the Xiang,' the bewilderment, the loneliness, the homesickness, and the reproach of the exile written layer on layer, the force piercing the paper. Wang Guowei's 'Remarks on the Ci in the World' comments on the 'how can one bear the lonely inn shut in the spring cold' as 'the realm of the self'—with the 'a few lines written with the deep feeling,' and the close 'the Chen River... for whom does it flow down to the Xiao and the Xiang' is praised as 'the unreasonableness yet the wonder'—the grief of the exile in the unreasonable question, the very peak of the art of the demotion ci.

《踏莎行·郴州旅舍》是秦观晚期词的巅峰，也是宋词写羁旅贬谪之愁的极致之作。词以雾失楼台、月迷津渡的迷惘开篇，以郴江问水的怨愤收束，把贬谪者的迷惘、孤寂、乡思、怨愤写得层层递进、力透纸背。王国维《人间词话》评「可堪孤馆闭春寒，杜鹃声里斜阳暮」为「有我之境」的典范，以为此境「以我观物，故物皆著我之色彩」——孤馆、春寒、杜鹃、斜阳，无一不染上词人的愁色，这正是秦观「词心」的体现：纤敏善感，一往情深。苏轼极赏末二句「郴江幸自绕郴山，为谁流下潇湘去」，自书于扇面，叹曰「少游已矣，虽万人何赎」——可见此词在当世即已感人至深。从词史看，秦观以婉约之笔写政治之痛，把贬谪题材引入婉约词，开南宋姜夔、吴文英以清词丽句写身世之感的风气；此词由景入情、由情入问的章法，亦为后世词人所效法。冯煦《蒿庵论词》称秦观为「词心」，此词正是词心最沉痛的流露——词人一生，于此处写尽。

Prosody

Form Middle tune 'Treading on Grass,' double, fifty-eight characters, five sentences and three oblique rhymes in each half中调《踏莎行》（双调五十八字，上下片各五句三仄韵）

Rhyme The first half rhymes on du, chu, mu (the departing tone), the second half on su, shu, qu (the departing tone), the whole on the oblique rhymes, the tone low and deep, fitting for the grief of the demotion上片押渡、处、暮（去声遇韵），下片押素、数、去（去声遇韵），全词一韵到底，韵脚皆属遇韵，声调低抑沉郁，与贬谪的愁怨相称。

Tone pattern The 'the mists lose the towers' is dim, the 'the lonely inn shut in the spring cold' is heavy, the 'these pile up into this grief' is deep, and the 'for whom does it flow down to the Xiao and the Xiang' is reproachful—the whole from the bewilderment to the reproach, the grief of the demotion carried by the oblique rhymes词牌句式以四字、七字相间，上片四四七、四四七，下片同；韵脚全用去声，句尾重而长，读来如长叹，声情沉郁低回，正合「此恨无重数」的愁绪。

Reading note The low and deep oblique rhymes carry the grief of the demotion, the reproach of the close.《踏莎行》为双调中调，五十八字，上下片句式相同（四四七、四四七），是宋代流行的词牌。此词用韵极见匠心：渡、处、暮、素、数、去六韵皆属去声遇韵，遇韵字读来低沉内敛、如噎在喉，正合词人贬谪的压抑心境；一韵到底，全词自始至终笼罩在同一低抑的声情之中，无一字飞扬，正是秦观「词心」在音律上的体现。句式上，上片以两个四字句起（雾失楼台，月迷津渡），短促齐整，如两个特写镜头；接七字句（桃源望断无寻处）舒展，如一声长叹；下片驿寄梅花、鱼传尺素复归四字对仗，工整精丽，如两封书信并列；末以两个七字句收束（郴江幸自绕郴山，为谁流下潇湘去），句势放长，如江水东流，绵延不尽。全词声情由促而缓、由抑而放，正与情感由迷惘到怨愤的推进相合。周济《宋四家词选》评秦观词「淡语皆有味，浅语皆有致」，此词音律之经营正为内容服务，读来如闻谪人之长叹，是声情合一的典范。

Line by line

雾失楼台，月迷津渡。

The mists lose the towers and the terraces, the moon is bewildered at the ferry. (The opening: the towers lost in the mists and the ferry bewildered in the moonlight, the 'lose' and the 'bewildered' the externalization of the heart of the exile.)

浓雾遮蔽了楼台，月色迷蒙了渡口。

Mist loses the pavilion towers; moonlight blurs the ford.

起二句写景，而景中已含迷惘之愁，是全词「有我之境」的开端。雾失楼台——楼台本是实有之物，却被浓雾遮蔽，仿佛消失了；失字用得奇警：不是雾遮楼台，而是楼台失了，主观的动词写出了雾气的浓重，更写出了词人视野的迷茫——楼台尚且寻不见，遑论其他。月迷津渡——渡口本是归路所经，月色迷蒙，渡口难辨；迷字与失字相对，失是消失，迷是难辨，楼台失了，渡口迷了，出路何在？这二句的深意在于：楼台、津渡不只是眼前的景，更是人生的象征——楼台是安身之所，津渡是归家之路；如今安身之所被雾所失，归家之路为月所迷，词人正处在既无归处、又无出路的绝境。两句对仗工整，雾对月、失对迷、楼台对津渡，而情景交融，无一字言愁而愁已满纸，正是秦观以景写情的高妙处。

The opening two lines write the scene, and within the scene already the bewildered grief, the whole ci's with-me-realm start. Mist-loses-the-pavilion-towers — the towers originally the solid thing, and yet the thick mist's veiling, as if vanished; the shi word's alert use: not the mist's veiling the towers, and yet the towers' lost, the subjective verb writing the mist's heaviness, the more writing the poet's sight's bewilderment — the towers' even unfindable, let alone the rest. Moonlight-blurs-the-ford — the ford originally the return-road's passage, the moonlight's blurred, the ford's hard to discern; the mi word's mirror with the shi, the shi the vanishing, the mi the hard-to-discern, the towers' lost and the ford's blurred, the exit where? These two lines' deep meaning: the towers and fords not only the present scene, and yet the life's symbol — the tower the dwelling place, the ford the homeward road; now the dwelling's mist-lost and the return-road's moon-blurred, the poet precisely in the no-return and no-exit desperate ground. Two lines' parallel craft firm, mist-to-moon, lose-to-blur, towers-to-ford, and yet the scene-and-feeling's fusion, not one word of grief and yet the grief's paper-full, precisely Qin Guan's scene-writes-feeling subtlety.

可堪孤馆闭春寒，杜鹃声里斜阳暮。

How can one bear the lonely inn shut in the spring cold, and in the cuckoo's cries the setting sun darkens. (The loneliness: the lonely inn in the spring cold, the cuckoo's cries and the darkening of the setting sun, the 'shut' and the 'darken' the loneliness of the exile, the 'realm of the self' of Wang Guowei.)

怎能忍受独处孤馆、关闭在这春寒之中，杜鹃声里，斜阳西沉，暮色苍茫。

How can I bear the lone inn locked in spring chill, amid the cuckoo's cry and the setting sun's dusk?

此二句是全词最沉痛的句子，王国维推为「有我之境」的典范。可堪——怎能忍受，是反问，也是呻吟；孤馆——独处的驿馆，一个孤字写尽寂寞；闭春寒——春寒料峭，孤馆紧闭，闭字写馆门之闭，也写词人处境之困——不是馆闭，而是人被闭于馆中，被闭于这春寒与谪居之中。杜鹃声里——杜鹃啼血，声声「不如归去」，催人归而人不得归，啼声之惨与心绪之惨相合；斜阳暮——斜阳西沉，暮色苍茫，一天将尽，而谪居无期。这二句把孤馆、春寒、杜鹃、斜阳四个意象叠加，声（鹃啼）、色（斜阳）、温（春寒）、境（孤馆）俱全，而无一不染上词人的愁色——孤馆是我之孤，春寒是我之寒，鹃啼是我之啼，斜阳是我之暮。以我观物，物皆着我之色彩，正是王国维所谓「有我之境」：境愈惨，情愈深，是宋词写愁的千古名句。

These two lines are the whole ci's most grief-stricken lines, Wang Guowei's praised with-me-realm model. How-can-I-bear — the rhetorical question and the groan; the lone-inn writing the solitary hostel, the one lone word exhausting the loneliness; the locked-in-spring-chill writing the chill's locked, the closed word writing the door's closing and the poet's plight — not the inn's closed, and yet the person's locked in the inn, locked in this spring chill and exile. The cuckoo's-cry — the cuckoo's blood-crying, each note's better-to-return, urging the return and yet the person's no-return, the cry's misery and the heart's misery's meeting; the setting-sun's-dusk writing the sun's west setting and the dusk's vastness, the day's about-to-end and the exile's no-term. These two lines stacking the lone inn, spring chill, cuckoo, setting sun four images, the sound (cuckoo), color (setting sun), warmth (spring chill), realm (lone inn) all complete, and yet none untinged with the poet's grief color — the lone inn my loneliness, the spring chill my chill, the cuckoo my cry, the setting sun my dusk. Using the self to view the thing, the thing all taking my color, precisely Wang Guowei's with-me-realm: the realm the more bleak, the feeling the deeper, the Song ci's grief-writing through-the-ages famed line.

驿寄梅花，鱼传尺素。

The post-horse sends the plum blossoms, the fish transmits the foot-long letter. (The longing: the letters and the gifts from home, the allusions of the plum blossoms and the foot-long letter, the longing of the exile.)

驿站寄来梅花，鱼腹传来书信。

The post brings plum blossoms; the fish carries the letter.

此二句用典写朋友与家人的慰问，是全词由写景转入抒情的关键。驿寄梅花——用陆凯「折梅逢驿使，寄与陇头人」之典，写朋友从远方寄来梅花；鱼传尺素——用古乐府「客从远方来，遗我双鲤鱼，呼儿烹鲤鱼，中有尺素书」之典，写家人捎来书信。梅花与尺素，本是温暖的慰藉——在贬所郴州，还有朋友惦记、家人牵挂，梅花一枝、尺素一封，皆是人间温情。然秦观写此，非为写温暖，而是为写恨：下句「砌成此恨无重数」——这些梅花与书信，不但未能消解离愁，反而把离恨一层层堆砌起来，重重叠叠，无法计数。为什么？因为梅花书信越殷勤，越提醒词人远在天涯、归期无望；温情越浓，衬得谪居越冷。两句以乐事写哀，正是「以乐景写哀，一倍增其哀乐」的手法：梅花之春意、尺素之亲情，都成了愁的催化剂，秦观写愁之深，于此可见。

These two lines using allusions for friends' and family's comfort, the whole ci's scene-to-feeling turning key. The post-brings-plum-blossoms using Lu Kai's break-a-plum-branch-encountering-the-post-messenger-send-it-to-the-Gansu-friend allusion, writing the friend's far-brought plum; the fish-carries-the-letter using the old yuefu's guest-from-far-brings-me-two-carp-call-the-boy-to-boil-the-carp-within-is-the-letter allusion, writing the family's letter. The plum and the letter, originally the warm comfort — in the exile at Chenzhou, still the friends' remembrance and the family's care, one plum branch and one letter, all the human warmth. And yet Qin Guan's writing this, not for the warmth, and yet for the grief: the below's piled-into-this-grief-countless-layers — these plums and letters, not only failing to dissolve the parting grief, and yet stacking the parting grief layer on layer, fold on fold, uncountable. Why? Because the plum's and letter's the more eager, the more reminding the poet's far at the world's end and the return's no-date; the warmth the thicker, the exile the colder in setting-off. Two lines using the joy-event for the grief-writing, precisely the joy-scene-grief-writing's doubled-effect method: the plum's spring color and the letter's family love, all becoming the grief's catalyst, Qin Guan's grief-depth, here visible.

郴江幸自绕郴山，为谁流下潇湘去。

The Chen River, happily encircling the Chen Mountain, for whom does it flow down to the Xiao and the Xiang? (The close: the reproach of the river, the Chen River happily encircling the Chen Mountain yet flowing down to the Xiao and the Xiang, the unreasonable yet the wonderful, the grief of the exile in the question.)

郴江啊，你本自绕着郴山流淌，又为了谁流向潇湘去呢？

The Chen River of itself winds around Chen Mountain; for whom does it flow on to the Xiao-Xiang?

末二句以问句收束，是全词的灵魂，也是千古传诵的无理而妙之名句。郴江——流经郴州的江水；幸自——本自、本来；绕郴山——绕着郴山蜿蜒流淌；为谁流下潇湘去——为什么要流向潇湘去呢？此问无理：江水东流，本是自然之理，哪里有为什么。然正是这无理之问，问出了秦观的全部心事：郴江本可绕着郴山，不离故土；它却偏偏流下潇湘，流向远方——这就像词人自己，本可安居故里，却被贬谪流徙，越贬越远。江水之流与谪人之行，同是被命运驱赶，不知为谁、为何。苏轼极爱此二句，自书于扇面——这问里没有答案，只有被命运驱赶的无告之悲：问水，实是问天、问己，问这不可抗拒的流徙。无理而妙，妙在情真；以水写人，人与水俱是天涯客。全词至此，迷惘、孤寂、乡思、怨愤，尽化入这一问之中，余韵悠长。

The last two lines closing on the question, the whole ci's soul, and the through-the-ages unreasonable-and-yet-wondrous famed line. The Chen-river meaning the river through Chenzhou; the xingzi originally; the winds-around-Chen-Mountain writing the river's winding the hill; for-whom-does-it-flow-on-to-the-Xiao-Xiang writing the why-of-flowing. This question unreasonable: the river's east flow, originally the natural reason, where's the why. And yet precisely this unreasonable question, uttering Qin Guan's whole heart: the Chen River could have wound around Chen Mountain, not leaving the native soil; it precisely flows down to the Xiao-Xiang, to the far — this like the poet himself, could have dwelled peacefully in the home, and yet the exile's displacement, the farther and farther relegated. The river's flow and the exiled person's going, both the fate-driven, not knowing for-whom and why. Su Shi's extreme love of these two lines, writing them on his fan — this question's no answer, only the fate-driven unappealable grief: questioning the water, actually questioning the heaven and the self, questioning this irresistible displacement. Unreasonable and wondrous, the wonder in the feeling's truth; using the water for the person-writing, the person and water both the world's-end travelers. The whole ci to this point, the bewilderment, loneliness, homesickness, resentment, all melting into this one question, the aftertaste long.

Study

Word focus

失 To lose. The word of the bewilderment: 'the mists lose the towers and the terraces'—the towers swallowed by the thick mists, the objective scene as if it had lost the direction, the externalization of the heart of the exile. 「雾失楼台」之「失」字，是全词迷惘基调的第一个音符。失本为丢失、消失之意，此处以雾为主语、楼台为宾语：不是「雾遮楼台」，而是「雾失楼台」——雾气使楼台失去了，楼台自己失掉了。这种主宾的倒置，写出了主观感受的强烈：在词人眼中，楼台不是被雾遮住，而是真的消失了——因为雾太重，也因为心太迷。失字与下句迷字相对，失是彻底的消失，迷是模糊的难辨，楼台失了，津渡迷了，安身之所与归家之路俱不可寻，词人的出路何在？若作「雾遮楼台」则客观写景，雾是雾、楼是楼；一个失字，景便染上了情——楼台的消失，正是词人内心世界崩塌的外化。秦观炼字，常于动词中见心境，失字正是以主观动词写客观景物、使景物著我色彩的典范。

砌 To pile up. The word of the grief: 'these pile up into this grief of countless layers'—the grief piled up layer on layer like the building of the wall, the 'pile up' character the grief of the countless layers, the accumulation of the longing and the bitterness. 「砌成此恨无重数」之「砌」字，是化无形为有形的神来之笔。砌本为砌墙、垒砖之意，是建筑的动作；恨本是无形无质的情感，秦观却以砌字写之——驿寄的梅花、鱼传的尺素，一封封、一枝枝，如同砖石，被一层层砌成高墙，这墙便是恨，重重叠叠，无重数（无法计数）。一个砌字，使抽象的恨有了体积、有了重量、有了层数：恨不是生出来的，而是被砌出来的，是日积月累、层层叠加的。这砌字还暗含被动与无奈：墙是砌出来的，砌墙者是谁？是命运、是贬谪、是这无休无止的流徙——词人被砌在这恨墙之中，越砌越高，永无出头之日。若作「积成」「结此」，则只有累积没有形象；砌字则把恨写成可触可感的实物，正是秦观以动词写愁的绝技，与李煜「问君能有几多愁，恰似一江春水」异曲同工，而一动态一静态，各极其妙。

幸自 Happily (fortunately). The word of the reproach: 'the Chen River, happily encircling the Chen Mountain'—the river happily encircling the mountain, yet for whom does it flow down to the Xiao and the Xiang, the reproach of the river, the unreasonable yet the wonderful. 「郴江幸自绕郴山」之「幸自」二字，是末二句无理之问的关键词。幸自（又作幸而、本自）意为本来、恰恰好，含有一种庆幸与理所当然的意味：郴江幸自绕着郴山——你本来好好地绕着郴山流，守着故土，多么安稳；为谁流下潇湘去——为什么要流向潇湘，离开这里呢？幸自二字，写出了词人对郴江绕山这一状态的羡慕：江水尚能守着郴山不离去，人却不得不离开；江水若知足，便应永远绕山而流，何苦流向远方！这一个幸自，把问的语气衬得更足：你是幸而能绕山的，你本可守着家的，你为什么偏要流走？这哪里是问水，分明是问自己——我本可安居故里，为什么偏被贬到这潇湘之远？幸自二字轻轻一点，江水与人便同病相怜，无理之问中，是无限的委屈与不平，正是秦观以虚词传情的妙笔。