All poems

宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

西江月·世事一场大梦

West River Moon: The Affairs of the World, a Great Dream

苏轼

Su Shi

愁思sorrow 哲理Philosophy 时序Theme

世事一场大梦，人生几度秋凉。
夜来风叶已鸣廊。
看取眉头鬓上。
酒贱常愁客少，月明多被云妨。
中秋谁与共孤光。
把盏凄然北望。

The affairs of the world, a great dream,
In this life, how many times the cool of the autumn.
In the night, the wind and the leaves have rustled on the corridor.
Look at the brows and the temples.
The wine is cheap, I often sorrow that the guests are few,
The moon is bright, mostly hindered by the clouds.
For the Mid-Autumn, who will share the lone light with me?
Holding the cup, sorrowfully, I look to the north.

Listen

Meaning

A lyric of the dream of the world and the sorrow, written by Su Shi. The affairs of the world, a great dream, in this life, how many times the cool of the autumn — the great dream of the world and the few autumns. In the night, the wind and the leaves have rustled on the corridor — look at the brows and the temples — the rustled leaves and the white brows. The wine is cheap, he often sorrows that the guests are few, the moon is bright, mostly hindered by the clouds — the few guests and the hindered moon. For the Mid-Autumn, who will share the lone light with him? Holding the cup, sorrowfully, he looks to the north — the close's lone light and the sorrowful look to the north. The lyric is the dream of the world and the sorrow: the great dream of the life, the white brows and the hindered moon, and the close's lone light of the Mid-Autumn.

世间万事不过一场大梦，人生又能经历几度秋凉？夜里风吹叶落，已在廊间作响。且看眉头鬓上，愁痕与白发俱增。酒价低廉却常愁客少，月儿明净却多被云彩遮妨。中秋之夜，谁能与我共赏孤光？我只有举起酒杯，凄然向北而望。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The affairs of the world, a great dream, in this life, how many times the cool of the autumn. In the night, the wind and the leaves have rustled on the corridor. Look at the brows and the temples. The wine is cheap, I often sorrow that the guests are few, the moon is bright, mostly hindered by the clouds. For the Mid-Autumn, who will share the lone light with me? Holding the cup, sorrowfully, I look to the north. [Structure and Thought] The lyric moves from the great dream of the world and the few autumns, through the rustled leaves and the white brows, and the few guests with the hindered moon, to the close's lone light of the Mid-Autumn with the sorrowful look to the north. [Key Technique] The lyric's art is the gathering of the dream and the sorrow: the great dream of the world against the few cool of the autumn; the few guests and the hindered moon; and the close's lone light with the sorrowful look to the north — the sorrow of the exile gathered in the dream and the close. [Emotional Tone] Sorrowful, lonely, and far: the lyric is the dream of the world, the white brows and the close's lone light of the Mid-Autumn.

【白话串讲】苏轼中秋写西江月：“世事一场大梦，人生几度秋凉”。“夜来风叶已鸣廊。看取眉头鬓上”——“酒贱常愁客少，月明多被云妨”——“中秋谁与共孤光。把盏凄然北望”——他写人生如梦的悲凉。【意象与手法】上片以「大梦」「秋凉」写人生虚幻与时序萧瑟，以「风叶鸣廊」的听觉写夜之寂，「眉头鬓上」以形貌写心老；下片「酒贱客少」「月明云妨」以世事之不如意写孤寂，「孤光」「北望」收束于中秋独处之悲。意象平常而组合精妙，白描中见沉痛。【情感与主旨】此词作于贬谪黄州之初（一说作于儋州），中秋夜独酌，感世事如梦、人生易老，叹客少云妨、知己难逢，末以「凄然北望」写思君念阙、怀念亲故之情，是苏轼谪居词中悲凉一面的代表作。【名句点睛】「世事一场大梦，人生几度秋凉」以梦喻世事、以凉状人生，是千古名句；「月明多被云妨」以云蔽月喻才高遭忌，历来传诵，寄慨遥深。

Background

Su Shi (1037–1101) wrote this 'West River Moon' at the Mid-Autumn of his exile at Huangzhou — the dream of the world and the sorrow. The great dream of the world with the few cool of the autumn, the rustled leaves of the night and the white brows, the cheap wine with the few guests and the bright moon hindered by the clouds, and the close's lone light of the Mid-Autumn with the sorrowful look to the north — the lyric gathers the sorrow of the exile, the dream and the lone light. The lyric is one of the famous works of the poet's exile.

苏轼（1037—1101），字子瞻，号东坡居士，眉州眉山（今属四川）人，北宋文学巨擘。此词为中秋词，其作地历来有两说：一主黄州说，谓作于元丰三年（1080）苏轼因乌台诗案贬谪黄州后的第一个中秋，时诗人以团练副使的身份谪居，有职无权，形同罪囚，中秋独处，感怀身世，遂有此作；一主儋州说，谓作于绍圣年间贬儋州时。学界多从黄州说。乌台诗案是苏轼人生最大的转折：此前他名满天下，官至翰林学士、知制诰；诗案后险遭杀身之祸，侥幸出狱，贬居黄州，「平生文字为吾累」之叹不绝于口。「世事一场大梦」正是此巨大落差下的真实心声：仕途如梦，荣辱无常，人生几度秋凉，鬓边白发已生。而「中秋谁与共孤光」之问、「把盏凄然北望」之态，既写中秋独处的孤寂，亦暗含对汴京、对亲故的思念与对朝廷的复杂心绪。此词与其黄州诸作（如「卜算子·黄州定慧院」之孤鸿、「临江仙·夜饮东坡」之旷达）合观，可见谪居初期的苏轼如何在悲凉与自解之间挣扎，其心灵之真实，正是东坡词最动人的所在。

Art

The lyric's art is the art of the dream and the sorrow. The dream opens: the affairs of the world, a great dream — the great dream of the world; in this life, how many times the cool of the autumn — the few cool of the autumn, the few autumns of the life. The scene follows: in the night, the wind and the leaves have rustled on the corridor — the rustled leaves of the night; look at the brows and the temples — the white brows and the temples, the age of the exile. The loneliness: the wine is cheap, he often sorrows that the guests are few — the few guests of the exile; the moon is bright, mostly hindered by the clouds — the hindered moon. And the close gathers the sorrow: for the Mid-Autumn, who will share the lone light with him? Holding the cup, sorrowfully, he looks to the north — the lone light of the Mid-Autumn, the sorrowful look to the north — the dream of the world, the white brows and the lone light, gathered in the close.

此词之妙，在以平常语写深悲，白描之中自有千钧之力。上片写人生与时序：「世事一场大梦」以梦喻世事，起笔即笼罩全篇，定下虚幻苍茫的基调；「人生几度秋凉」以秋凉喻人生之萧瑟，「几度」之问，问出光阴之速、人寿之促。「夜来风叶已鸣廊」以听觉写静夜：风叶鸣廊，是秋声，亦是愁声，一片落叶声里，夜愈静、心愈孤；「看取眉头鬓上」转以形貌写心：眉头之愁、鬓上之霜，是岁月与忧患留下的痕迹，不着一字而苍老之态毕现。下片写处境与心绪：「酒贱常愁客少」写世态炎凉——酒贱而客少，非酒之故，乃人情之冷；「月明多被云妨」以云蔽月写才高遭忌、清明被掩，物我双关。「中秋谁与共孤光」一问，直写中秋独处之悲，孤光者，孤月之光，亦孤人之光；结句「把盏凄然北望」以动作收束：把盏而北望，望汴京、望亲故，凄然二字写尽谪人百端交集之态。全词上片泛写人生，下片落到此夜，由虚入实，情景交融，无一奇语而悲凉入骨。

Allusions

'The cool of the autumn' (qiu liang) is the cool of the autumn — the few cool of the autumn, the passing of the years; 'the wine is cheap' (jiu jian) is the cheap wine — the cheap wine of the exile; 'the lone light' (gu guang) is the lone light — the light of the moon, the lone light of the Mid-Autumn; 'the sorrowful look to the north' (qi ran bei wang) is the look to the north — the far look to the north, the thought of the far place.

此词用事不多，而意象皆有深远传统。其一，「世事一场大梦」：以梦喻世事，其源甚古，《庄子·齐物论》梦蝶之喻开其端，佛家「如梦幻泡影」之说广其流，唐人诗文中「浮生若梦」（李白《春夜宴从弟桃花园序》）已为习语，苏轼「人生如梦」更成其人生哲学的核心命题（「念奴娇」「人生如梦，一尊还酹江月」），此词以「一场大梦」出之，平实而苍凉。其二，「秋凉」：悲秋传统自宋玉「悲哉秋之为气也」（《九辩》）始，秋与中国文人的忧患意识结下不解之缘，欧阳修《秋声赋》写秋声之悲，苏轼此词「风叶鸣廊」正是秋声之余韵。其三，「月明多被云妨」：云蔽明月，喻贤才遭忌、清明被掩，《楚辞·九辩》「何泛滥之浮云兮，猋雍蔽此明月」已开其端，汉乐府《伤歌行》「昭昭素明月」写月与忧，苏轼「云妨」之说，承此传统而凝为警句。其四，「北望」：谪臣望阙，是唐宋贬谪文学的习见姿态，北望汴京，寄寓思君念阙、志不得伸之慨。凡此皆融化无迹，正是苏轼以故为新、以浅写深的手段。

Commentary

This lyric is one of the famous works of Su Shi's exile, quoted for the lone light of its close. The great dream of the world and the hindered moon, and the sorrowful look to the north, are among the admired passages of the poet's lyrics. Critics praise the lyric's sorrow: the dream of the exile gathered from the great dream and the few autumns, to the close's lone light.

《西江月·世事一场大梦》是苏轼中秋词中与《水调歌头》并称的杰作，而面目迥异：《水调歌头》旷达超逸，以「但愿人长久，千里共婵娟」化解悲欢；此词沉痛凄然，以「把盏凄然北望」直写谪人之悲。同一词人，同一中秋，两般情怀，恰见苏轼心灵的两面：既有「一蓑烟雨任平生」的旷达，亦有「凄然北望」的孤寂——旷达是自解，孤寂是本真，二者交织，方是完整的东坡。「世事一场大梦，人生几度秋凉」以最平常的话写最深刻的人生感受，遂成千古名句，与「念奴娇」「人生如梦」、「临江仙」「长恨此身非我有」同为东坡人生哲学的诗化表述；「月明多被云妨」则被后世反复引用，成为才高遭忌的经典比喻。全词语言平易，无一难字，而情感之深、意境之悲，非大手笔不能至，正是苏轼「渐老渐熟，乃造平淡」境界的体现，亦是谪居词中写孤独与苍凉的不朽名篇。读此词者，当知东坡之旷达出于悲凉，而悲凉亦自能生旷达，二者相生，方是黄州岁月留给文学的最大遗产。

Prosody

Form Xijiangyue (West River Moon), a short lyric双调五十字，西江月正体（上下片各四句两平韵，结句各叶一仄韵）

Rhyme The lyric rhymes on the level-tone words of the group — the even, level rhyme that carries the sorrow of the dream.上片「凉」「廊」叶平声阳韵，结句「上」叶仄韵；下片「妨」「光」叶平声阳韵，结句「望」叶仄韵。平仄相间，以平韵舒其情，以仄韵收其势，声情于流丽中见顿挫。

Tone pattern The cadence is that of the exile: the level opening with the great dream, the turning with the leaves and the hindered moon, and the close's fall with the lone light and the sorrowful look to the north.句式上片六、六、七、六，下片同；平韵句舒徐，仄韵结句顿挫。全词以平声阳韵（凉廊妨光）为主调，音调明亮而意境苍凉，正合中秋月色与谪居悲情之反差。

Reading note The lyric's sound matches its sorrow: the short, level rhymes carry the cadence of the dream, and the close — 'ba zhan qi ran bei wang' — falls with the sorrowful look to the north, the sound of the lone light of the exile.《西江月》本为唐教坊曲名，后用作词调，双调五十字，上下片各四句两平韵，结句各叶一仄韵，是词中平仄韵相间的独特调式。苏轼此词用韵尤见匠心：上片「凉」「廊」叶平声阳韵（《词林正韵》第二部），下片「妨」「光」亦叶阳韵，四平韵皆属一部，声调清亮疏朗，如月光流泻；而上下片结句「上」「望」皆叶仄韵，且皆为去声，声情陡转，如一声叹息收束——平韵写景抒情之舒徐，仄韵写悲收势之顿挫，正是此调「平起仄收」的特色，与词人「由慨叹入凄然」的情感脉络相合。句式上，上下片皆六、六、七、六：前两句六言对起（世事一场大梦，人生几度秋凉），音节平稳；第三句七言（夜来风叶已鸣廊）稍作舒展；结句六言（看取眉头鬓上）复归收敛，如潮起潮落。下片「酒贱常愁客少，月明多被云妨」六言对偶精工，声调抑扬，是全词声律的亮点。至于「大梦」「秋凉」「孤光」诸语，音义兼美，皆与中秋清冷之境相谐，足见此调之声情与东坡此词之情境浑然一体，声词相合，遂成绝调。

Line by line

世事一场大梦，人生几度秋凉。

The affairs of the world, a great dream, in this life, how many times the cool of the autumn.

世间万事不过一场大梦，人生又能经历几度秋凉？

The world's affairs are one great dream; how many autumn chills can a man know?

起拍两句是全词的纲领，亦苏轼人生感慨的凝缩。「世事一场大梦」以梦喻世事：梦者，虚幻无常之谓，回首半生宦海浮沉，荣辱得失、升沉起落，皆如梦境一场——此语本于《庄子》梦蝶之喻与佛家如幻之说，而苏轼于乌台诗案之后说出，更添切肤之痛：才脱生死之厄，回看从前名位，不过大梦一场。「人生几度秋凉」以秋凉喻人生之萧瑟：秋凉者，秋风萧瑟、万木凋零之时，喻人生之迟暮与逆境；「几度」之间，问得沉痛——人生有限，秋凉有限，而谪居之秋，更添苍凉。两句对起，「世事」对「人生」、「大梦」对「秋凉」，虚实相生，已为全词定下虚幻苍茫、悲凉深沉的基调，是东坡哲思入词的典范，亦为中秋独处之悲提供了人生哲学的底色。

The opening two lines are the whole ci's outline, and Su Shi's life-sigh's condensation. The world's-affairs-are-one-great-dream using the dream for the world affairs: the dream, the unreal-and-impermanent meaning, the looking-back at the half-life's official ups-and-downs, the honor-and-disgrace and rise-and-fall, all like a dream — this saying from Zhuangzi's butterfly-dream metaphor and the Buddhist illusion, and yet Su Shi's after the Wutai poem case's utterance, the more adding the flesh-wound pain: just out of the life-death peril, the looking-back at the former rank, only the great dream. The how-many-autumn-chills-can-a-man-know using the autumn chill for life's bleakness: the autumn chill meaning the autumn wind's bleak and the ten-thousand-woods' withering time, the life's late and adversity metaphor; the how-many's within, the asking's grief-stricken — life's limited, the autumn chill's limited, and yet the exile's autumn, the more the bleakness's addition. Two lines' parallel opening, the world's-affairs-to-life and the great-dream-to-autumn-chill, the void-and-solid's mutual birth, already establishing the whole ci's illusory-vast and grief-deep tone, Dongpo's philosophy-into-ci model, and the Mid-Autumn-alone-grief's providing the life-philosophy ground.

夜来风叶已鸣廊。

In the night, the wind and the leaves have rustled on the corridor.

深夜里，秋风吹动落叶，已经在这空旷的长廊间沙沙作响。

At night, wind in the leaves already sounds through the corridor.

此句以听觉写静夜，是全词由理入景的过渡。「夜来」点明时间，中秋之夜，万籁俱寂；「风叶」指被风吹落的秋叶；「鸣廊」写落叶在廊间作响——一个「鸣」字，将落叶之声写得清晰可闻：不是簌簌轻响，而是如秋声之鸣，是欧阳修《秋声赋》里「初淅沥以萧飒」的秋声在词中的回响。夜愈静，声愈清；声愈清，心愈孤——一片落叶声，写尽了谪居之夜的冷清与不寐之人的寂寞。且「风叶鸣廊」与上句「秋凉」呼应：秋凉是抽象之感，风叶鸣廊是具体之声，由感而声，秋之萧瑟宛然在目。词人于中秋之夜独对空廊，唯有风声叶声相伴，孤寂之境，不言而喻——此句以声写景、以景写情，正是东坡白描中见深致的一笔。

This line using the hearing for the quiet night, the whole ci's reason-to-scene transition. The at-night pointing out the time, the Mid-Autumn night, the ten-thousand-things' silent; the wind-in-the-leaves meaning the wind-blown autumn leaves; the already-sounds-through-the-corridor writing the leaves' corridor-sound — the one ming word, turning the leaf-fall's sound's clear-hearable: not the soughing light sound, and yet like the autumn-sound's resonance, Ouyang Xiu's Autumn-Sound-Rhapsody's first-soughing-and-then-bleak autumn-sound's in-the-ci's echo. The night's the more still, the sound's the clearer; the sound's the clearer, the heart's the lonelier — one leaf-fall's sound, exhausting the exile-night's coldness and the wakeful person's loneliness. And the wind-leaves'-corridor-sound with the above's autumn-chill's echo: the autumn chill's the abstract feeling, the wind-leaves'-corridor-sound's the concrete sound, from the feeling to the sound, the autumn's bleakness's as-in-present-eye. The poet's on the Mid-Autumn night's alone facing the empty corridor, only the wind-and-leaf sound's company, the lonely realm's self-evident — this line using the sound for the scene-writing and the scene for the feeling-writing, precisely Dongpo's plain-description's within-seen-deep-stroke.

看取眉头鬓上。

Look at the brows and the temples.

揽镜看看眉头与鬓发之上，愁痕与白发都在悄悄增多。

Look now at my brows and temples.

「看取眉头鬓上」六字，以形貌写心老，是全词情感由外而内的转折。「看取」是自看，揽镜自视之态；「眉头」是愁眉紧锁之处，「鬓上」是白发丛生之处——不说愁，而愁在眉头；不说老，而老在鬓上。此句与「人生几度秋凉」呼应：几度秋凉之后，眉头之愁纹、鬓上之霜雪，正是岁月与忧患留下的刻痕。苏轼此时年逾不惑（若作于元丰三年，苏轼四十四岁），而贬谪之忧、前程之渺，已使他自觉老之将至；「看取」二字，更写出顾影自怜、无可奈何之态。六字白描，无一字言情而情满纸间——眉头是愁的印记，鬓上是老的印记，二者正是「秋凉」在人身留下的实迹，与「风叶鸣廊」的秋声相应，有声有形，秋之悲凉已由外景渗入人身，为下片写处境之困顿蓄势。

The look-now-at-my-brows-and-temples six characters, using the appearance for the heart's oldness, the whole ci's emotion's outer-to-inner turn. The kanqu's the self-look, the mirror-self-view pose; the brows the locked-grief place, the temples the white-hair's cluster place — not speaking the grief, and yet the grief's at the brows; not speaking the old, and yet the old's at the temples. This line with the how-many-autumn-chills's echo: the several-autumn-chills' after, the brow's grief-lines and the temple's frost, precisely the years-and-hardships' left engraving. Su Shi then's past the forty (if written in Yuanfeng three, Su Shi forty-four), and yet the exile's grief and the future's blur, already making him's self-feeling the old's about-to-arrive; the kanqu two words, the more writing the mirror-self-pity's and helplessness's pose. Six characters' plain description, not one word of feeling and yet the feeling's paper-full — the brows the grief's imprint, the temples the old's imprint, the two precisely the autumn-chill's on-the-body left real trace, with the wind-leaves'-corridor-sound's autumn-sound's echo, the sound-and-form's together, the autumn's bleakness's already from the outer scene's seeped into the body, storing the force for the second stanza's plight-writing.

酒贱常愁客少，月明多被云妨。

The wine is cheap, I often sorrow that the guests are few, the moon is bright, mostly hindered by the clouds.

酒价低廉却常愁客人稀少，月亮明净却多被云彩遮妨。

Wine is cheap, yet I grieve the few guests; the bright moon is often dimmed by clouds.

此二句对仗工整，是全词的名句，写处境之困顿与心绪之郁结。「酒贱常愁客少」：酒贱，写贬地物质之窘与身价之落；客少，写人情之冷暖——酒贱而客少，非酒之罪，乃世态炎凉，昔日宾客盈门，今则门可罗雀，一个「愁」字，写尽谪居的孤独与被弃之感。「月明多被云妨」：月明，写己之才德清明；云妨，写外力之遮阻——明月皎洁而浮云蔽之，犹贤才高洁而群小忌之、朝廷弃之，物我双关，寄慨遥深。两句以酒、客、月、云四个寻常意象，写尽贬谪之人的双重困境：身之困（客少）与志之郁（云妨）。对仗之工（酒贱对月明、客少对云妨）、寄寓之深，使此联成为咏谪宦的千古名对，亦为下句「谁与共孤光」的问月张本。

These two lines' parallel craft firm, the whole ci's famed line, writing the plight's hardship and the heart's knot. The wine-is-cheap-yet-I-grieve-the-few-guests: the wine-cheap, writing the exile-place's material straitness and the rank's fall; the few-guests, writing the human warmth-and-cold — the wine-cheap-and-yet-few-guests, not the wine's fault, and yet the world's warmth-and-cold, the former guest-courtyard's full and now's the door's sparrow's, the one chou word, exhausting the exile's loneliness-and-abandonment feeling. The the-bright-moon-is-often-dimmed-by-clouds: the bright-moon, writing one's own talent-and-virtue's clarity; the cloud-obstruction, writing the external force's blocking — the bright moon's crystal and yet the floating clouds' veiling, like the worthy's lofty and yet the mean's envy and the court's abandonment, the thing-and-self double meaning, the sigh far. Two lines using the wine, guest, moon, cloud four common images, exhausting the exile person's double plight: the body's hardship (few guests) and the will's knot (cloud obstruction). The parallel's craft (wine-cheap-to-moon-bright, few-guests-to-cloud-obstruction), the projection's depth, making this couplet the exile-official's through-the-ages famed couplet, and storing the ground for the below's who-shares-this-lonely-light's moon-question.

中秋谁与共孤光。

For the Mid-Autumn, who will share the lone light with me?

中秋之夜，又有谁能与我共赏这孤月清冷的光辉？

On Mid-Autumn, who shares this lonely light?

此句点出时令，亦直写中秋独处之悲。「中秋」二字是全词的题眼：中秋本为团圆之节，月圆人应圆，而词人独处贬所，团圆无望，佳节反成触痛；「谁与共孤光」一问，问得凄楚——「孤光」者，孤月之光，亦孤人之光：月是孤月，人是孤人，人与月同病相怜。此问与《水调歌头》「明月几时有？把酒问青天」同是问月，而情怀迥异：水调歌头之问旷达，此词之问凄然。苏轼另有中秋词「此生此夜不长好，明月明年何处看」，亦写中秋之叹，与此词同其怅惘。佳节、明月、孤人，三者交织，一问之中，知己难逢、亲人远隔、身世飘零之感并集，是全词情感的至深处，亦为末句「凄然北望」的企望与无奈作了铺垫。

This line points out the season, and directly writes the Mid-Autumn-alone grief. The Mid-Autumn two words the whole ci's theme eye: Mid-Autumn originally the reunion festival, the moon's full and the person's should's full, and yet the poet's alone in the exile, the reunion's no-hope, the festival's instead the touch-pain; the who-shares-this-lonely-light question, the asking's grief-stricken — the lonely light, the lone moon's light, and the lone person's light: the moon's the lone moon, the person's the lone person, the person-and-moon's same-illness's mutual pity. This question with the Prelude-to-Water-Melody's the-bright-moon-when-did-it-begin's raising-the-cup-and-asking-the-heaven's same moon-question, and yet the feelings' far different: the Water-Melody's question's open, this ci's question's sorrowful. Su Shi's other Mid-Autumn ci's this-life-this-night's-not-long-fair-and-the-bright-moon-next-year-where-we-see, also writing the Mid-Autumn sigh, with this ci's same wistfulness. The festival, the bright moon, the lone person, the three's interweaving, within one question, the soulmate's hard-to-meet, the relatives' distance, the lot's drifting feeling's together-gathered, the whole ci's emotion's deepest place, and storing the ground for the close's sorrowful-northward-gaze's longing-and-helplessness.

把盏凄然北望。

Holding the cup, sorrowfully, I look to the north.

我独自举起酒杯，满怀凄然，向着北方的汴京与亲故远远望去。

I raise the cup and gaze north in sorrow.

结句以动作收束全词，凄然二字是全词情感的总结。「把盏」承上句问月而来：无人共赏孤光，唯有独自把盏；「北望」点出所望：黄州在南，汴京在北——北望者，望京阙也，亦望北方的亲故也，思君念阙、怀念骨肉之情，尽在这一望之中。而以「凄然」冠之，则百端交集之态毕现：是思归不得的凄楚，是志不得伸的悲凉，是佳节无亲的孤寂，尽凝于把盏北望的瞬间。全词由「大梦」「秋凉」的哲思，经「风叶」「眉头鬓上」的实景，至「客少」「云妨」的处境，终于「凄然北望」的动作，由虚入实、由理入情，层层收拢，结得极重。而「北望」之余韵，更留下无尽的怅惘，与开篇「世事一场大梦」的苍茫首尾环合，遂成谪居词中的千古绝唱。

The closing line using the action for the whole ci's close, the sorrowful two words the whole ci's emotional summary. The raise-the-cup inheriting the above's moon-question: no one to share the lonely light, only the lone cup; the northward-gaze pointing out the gaze: Huangzhou's in the south, Bianjing's in the north — the northward-gaze, i.e. the court's gazing, and also the north's relatives' gazing, the ruler-longing-and-kingdom-remembrance and the flesh-and-blood-remembrance, all within this one gaze. And yet the sorrowful's prefixing, then the hundred-thousand-feelings' interweaving's fully visible: the return's-no-way grief, the will's no-extension bleakness, the festival's no-relatives loneliness, all condensed into the cup-raised-and-northward-gaze instant. The whole ci from the great-dream and autumn-chill philosophy, through the wind-leaves and brows-temples real scene, to the few-guests and cloud-obstruction plight, finally the sorrowful-northward-gaze action, from the void to the solid and from the reason to the feeling, layer on layer's gathering, the close's extreme weight. And the northward-gaze's aftertone, the more leaving the endless wistfulness, with the opening's world's-affairs-are-one-great-dream's bleakness's head-tail ring-fusion, hence becoming the exile ci's through-the-ages swan song.

Study

Word focus

大梦 'The great dream' — the great dream of the world, the emptiness of the affairs. 「世事一场大梦」之「大梦」二字，是苏轼人生哲学的诗化表达，亦是全词的立骨之词。梦者，虚幻无常之谓；冠以「大」字，则非一己之梦，而是整个世事的幻象——宦海浮沉、荣辱得失、悲欢离合，皆如一场大梦。此语本于《庄子·齐物论》「梦饮酒者，旦而哭泣」之喻，亦合佛家「如梦幻泡影」之说，而苏轼于乌台诗案险死还生之后说出，分量尤重：他曾以翰林学士之尊主政一方，一朝系狱，几遭杀身，回看前半生，恍如南柯一梦。「大梦」二字，既是对世事的彻悟，亦是对自身的悲悯，与「念奴娇」「人生如梦」同一机杼而更添沉痛——人生如梦尚有「一尊还酹江月」的旷达，世事大梦则唯余苍茫。二字看似平常，实为苏轼用一生跌宕换来的彻悟之语，正是「平淡而山高水深」的极致。

秋凉 'The cool of the autumn' — the cool of the autumn, the few autumns of the life. 「人生几度秋凉」之「秋凉」二字，是全词最富包孕的意象，兼有时序、心境与命运三层含义。就时序言，秋凉是节候：中秋之夜，秋风萧瑟，凉意侵人，是眼前实景；就心境言，秋凉是心绪：谪居黄州，人情冷落，前途渺茫，心凉如秋；就命运言，秋凉是人生之秋：半生蹉跎，几度浮沉，如今鬓霜满目，正是一生中的秋天。「几度」之问，更将个体的秋凉置于人生的时间之流中：人生能有几度秋凉？秋凉易过，而人生有限——光阴之速、寿数之促，尽在一问之中。以「凉」写秋而兼写人生，是苏轼的独创：秋本可曰「秋深」「秋老」，而「秋凉」二字，冷暖自知，正合谪人百感交集之心境，故能成为全词的情眼，与「大梦」对举，撑起全篇。

妨 'To hinder' — the bright moon hindered by the clouds, the hindered brightness. 「月明多被云妨」之「妨」字，是全词炼字最精处，写尽才高遭忌之慨。妨者，遮阻、妨害之谓，本为寻常字，而以「云妨」状月，则生新意：不说云蔽月、云掩月，而说云「妨」月——蔽者掩其光，妨者阻其明，且「妨」字暗含人事意味，如谗言之妨贤、小人之妨君子，物我双关，寄慨自深。月明而云妨，犹贤才高洁而群小阻之、朝廷弃之，苏轼于乌台诗案中饱尝文字狱之苦，此「妨」字正是其切肤之痛的凝缩：诗名愈高，忌者愈众；文才愈显，祸患愈近。「多被」二字更进一层，写妨之频繁、之无可奈何：非偶遭一妨，乃屡被遮阻。一字之炼，将咏物、自况、抒愤熔于一炉，遂成千古名句，亦见东坡以常字传深情的功力，正是「看似寻常最奇崛」的典范。

孤光 'The lone light' — the lone light of the moon, the lone light of the Mid-Autumn. 「中秋谁与共孤光」之「孤光」二字，写月亦写人，是全词情感最凝聚处。孤光者，孤月之光：中秋月明，而圆月独悬天际，无云相伴，故曰孤；然以「光」代月，则月之清辉如在目前——月光之冷、之清、之独，尽在一「孤」字。更妙在人与月同构：月是孤月，人是孤人，中秋佳节，众人团圆，而词人独处贬所，把盏无侣，「孤光」正是其孤寂心境的投射——所谓以我观物，物皆着我之色，孤人看孤月，孤月照孤人，同病相怜。「谁与共」一问，则把孤光推向更深的孤独：非独月孤，乃无人共赏此孤光——知己难逢、亲人远隔，尽在一问之中。二字既炼月之态，又炼人之情，是东坡词中情景双关的典范，亦是「中秋」独处之悲的最凝练表达。