宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
辛弃疾·西江月·遣兴
Xijiang Moon · Dismissing Gloom
西江月·遣兴醉里且贪欢笑,要愁那得工夫。
近来始觉古人书,信著全无是处。
昨夜松边醉倒,问松“我醉何如”。
只疑松动要来扶,以手推松曰“去”。
How can I find time to worry?
Lately I've come to realize that the ancient books,
If taken literally, are all wrong.
Last night, I fell drunk by a pine tree,
Asking the pine, "How drunk am I?"
Suspecting the pine was about to help me up,
I pushed it away, saying, "Go!"
Meaning
The poet pretends to be carefree while drunk, but his defiant attitude toward ancient books and his drunken dialogue with a pine tree reveal deep frustration and unyielding pride.
趁着酒醉姑且贪享那片刻的欢笑,哪里有工夫去发愁。近来才发觉古人的书,信以为真时竟全然没有是处。昨夜醉倒在松树旁边,问那松树自己醉得如何。只疑心松树晃动是要来搀扶我,便用手推开松树,说一声去。
Appreciation
The upper stanza seems carefree but hides indignation; the lower stanza uses a whimsical scene to express loneliness and defiance. The poem is a typical example of Xin Qiji's style of 'humor concealing anger.'
【白话串讲】 辛弃疾喝醉了,趴在松树边问松树:我醉得怎么样?看松树好像要来扶他,他一把推开:去!这首词可爱到让人忘了他是写“金戈铁马”的将军。 【意象与手法】 全词以醉写醒、以谐写愤。上片故作旷达,「要愁那得工夫」愈显其愁深难遣;「信著全无是处」反说古人书,藏讥于世事。下片以醉倒松边、与松问答的戏剧化细节,将松拟人,疑松来扶而推之使去,动作神态跃然纸上。貌似滑稽,实则孤傲不屈,于诙谐中见沉郁顿挫之骨。 【情感与主旨】 此词约作于辛弃疾闲居江西上饶带湖、瓢泉时期。词人一生以恢复中原为志,却屡遭排挤,投闲置散近二十年。所谓遣兴,实乃借酒浇愁、以狂态遣抑塞,于无可奈何中作旷达语,愈见沉痛。 【名句点睛】 中高考常考表面诙谐与深层沉郁的矛盾统一,以及「信著全无是处」的反语寄意,答题时须抓住以醉写醒、以谐写愤的总纲。
Background
Written during Xin Qiji's idle retirement at Piaoquan. Frustrated by his unfulfilled ambition to recover lost territories, he sought solace in wine, using drunkenness to vent his pent-up feelings.
此词约作于辛弃疾闲居江西上饶带湖、瓢泉时期。辛弃疾(1140—1207),字幼安,号稼轩,山东历城人。他生于金人统治下的北方,二十一岁聚众抗金,率五十骑直入金营擒叛徒张安国,南归宋朝,本欲一展恢复中原之志,却因归正人身份屡遭猜忌,一生宦海浮沉,投闲置散近二十年。淳熙八年(1181)遭弹劾落职,退居上饶带湖,自号稼轩居士;绍熙、庆元间又两度罢官,长期闲居瓢泉。此词即闲居时期的遣兴之作——所谓遣兴,实乃借酒浇愁、以狂态排遣抑塞。词人空怀恢复之志而报国无门,于是醉里贪欢、醉倒松边,以貌似旷达的醉语写出英雄失路的孤愤。上片「信著全无是处」暗讽世道与古训相悖,下片与松问答,更是以畸行写真性的自我写照。读此词须知其背后是二十年的投闲置散与至死不渝的北伐雄心。词中醉态之狂放,实乃胸中块垒之喷薄:稼轩早年「壮岁旌旗拥万夫」的沙场豪情,中年「把吴钩看了,栏杆拍遍」的登临悲慨,到晚岁皆凝为这松边醉倒、推松曰去的狂态,笑谑愈深,悲凉愈重,故论者谓稼轩词「敛雄心,抗高调,变温婉,成悲凉」,此词正为其晚年心境之写真。
Art
The poet uses drunkenness to write about sobriety, and humor to express melancholy. The personification of the pine tree and the dramatic detail of pushing it away create a vivid, theatrical scene that simultaneously shows humor and pride.
全词以醉写醒、以谐写愤,是辛词诙谐中见沉郁的典型。上片「醉里且贪欢笑,要愁那得工夫」故作旷达——「且」字透出无可奈何,「那得工夫」愈说无暇发愁,愈见其愁之深重难遣;「近来始觉古人书,信著全无是处」以反语刺世,谓圣贤古训在浊世全然无用,貌似否定读书,实是愤世嫉俗的牢骚。下片转写醉态细节:「昨夜松边醉倒,问松我醉何如」将松拟人、以松为友;「只疑松动要来扶,以手推松曰去」更以一连串动作神态写醉中傲骨——疑松欲扶、推松使去,既写醉眼迷离的幻觉,又见不肯依附、孤傲不屈的性情。上下片一虚一实:上片言理,下片写形,以醉语写醒心,以谐趣写悲愤,嬉笑怒骂皆成文章,深得东坡以诗为词之精神,又多一份英雄末路的辛酸。尤妙者,全词以醉为纲,通篇不离醉态:醉里欢笑是醉,醉倒松边是醉,疑松来扶是醉,推松使去亦是醉,而醉的背面始终醒着——清醒地看透世道,清醒地不甘沉沦,故能以醉写醒、以醒观醉,这种醉醒交织的双重视角,正是此词高于一般游戏笔墨之处,也是辛词深沉浑厚的根源所在。
Allusions
'If taken literally, they are all wrong' is a satirical reversal of Confucian teachings, criticizing the corrupted world. 'Pushing the pine away' echoes Tao Yuanming's 'I'm drunk, I want to sleep, you may leave' but adds a unique twist.
「信著全无是处」暗用儒家信书传统而反言刺世——《孟子·尽心下》云「尽信书,则不如无书」,辛弃疾更进一层,谓古书全然无是处,实是愤世语:当世道乖违、黑白颠倒,圣贤之道无所施设,故发此反语,犹言不是书错,而是世道错。又《世说新语》载王孝伯语「名士不必须奇才,但使常得无事,痛饮酒,熟读离骚,便可称名士」,稼轩醉里读书、以醉遣愁,正承魏晋名士以酒浇块垒之传统。「以手推松曰去」化用陶渊明《饮酒》诗「吾醉欲眠卿且去」的率真,而别出「推松」奇笔——陶渊明对友人语,稼轩对松树作态,一静一动,更见其独处无侣的孤寂。松本象征坚贞岁寒,《论语》有「岁寒然后知松柏之后凋」之语,词人醉中疑松来扶、推之使去,正是以松自况坚贞、又以畸行写孤愤的典型手法,用典融化无痕。另有一层可注意者,宋人陈鹄《耆旧续闻》载稼轩「每燕必命侍妓歌其所作」,其词多与歌筵酒席相伴,故常以醉语出之,然醉语之中自藏深意,正合《庄子》「醉者神全」之旨——醉中神气完足,反能吐露真言,稼轩以醉态写孤愤,实深得庄周之妙,嬉笑怒骂皆成文章,此其所以为豪放之宗也。
Commentary
Critics regard this poem as a quintessential Xin Qiji work, where he writes his solitary grief with a drunken tongue. Its humor is bittersweet, revealing the heartache of a hero in desperate times.
近人论辛词「肝胆皆冰雪」「刚拙自信,永为天下恸」,此词以醉语写孤愤,最见辛派本色。清人周济《介存斋论词杂著》谓稼轩「敛雄心,抗高调,变温婉,成悲凉」,此词嬉笑怒骂中正含悲凉之骨。陈廷焯《白雨斋词话》称辛词「气魄极雄大,意境却极沉郁」,此词以游戏笔墨写沉郁情怀,可为注脚。词中「且」「那得」「始觉」「只疑」等虚字活画出醉态与心绪的微妙转折,于诙谐中见顿挫,历来选本必录。后世论遣兴一体,多以稼轩此词为范本,谓其于无可奈何中作旷达语、愈见沉痛;其以谐写庄、以醉写醒之法,更启金元散曲诙谐一路,影响深远。读此词当知:笑是最深的哭,醉是最清醒的醒。今人论词,每以苏辛并称,然东坡之旷达发自天性,读之令人豁然;稼轩之诙谐源于愤激,读之令人扼腕。此词以松为伴、与松问答,正是「知音少,弦断有谁听」的变奏,将无人可语的孤独化为一场与草木的对话,滑稽的外壳之下,是英雄老去、壮志难酬的千古之恸,故历千年而下,犹能动人。
Prosody
Line by line
醉里且贪欢笑,要愁那得工夫
Drunk, he indulges in laughter, claiming no time to worry; feigned carefree attitude actually reveals deep-seated sorrow.
趁着酒醉姑且贪享那片刻的欢笑,哪里有工夫去发愁。
Drunk, I snatch what laughter I can; what time is there for grief?
「且贪欢笑」的「且」字是全句的枢纽,意谓姑且、暂且,透出一种无可奈何的将就——不是真心欢笑,而是暂且贪欢、以醉忘愁。「要愁那得工夫」字面上说没有工夫发愁,实则反语:越是说无暇发愁,越见其愁之深重,愁到只能借醉逃避。两句一正一反,以旷达之语写沉郁之情,是典型的以乐景写哀、以欢语写悲。稼轩一生志在恢复而报国无门,闲居二十年,此等欢笑背后是英雄无用武之地的悲凉,读者须于字缝中读出其真实的愁绪,方不负稼轩以醉写醒的深心。
The snatch-what-laughter-I-can's qie word's the whole line's hinge, meaning the for-now-and-temporarily, revealing a helpless resignation — not the true laughter, and yet the for-now's snatching joy and the drunk-forgetting-grief. The what-time-is-there-for-grief's surface meaning's no-time-to-grieve, actually's the irony: the more saying no-time-to-grieve, the more seeing the grief's heaviness, the grief to the only-drunk's escape. Two lines one-right-one-wrong, using the open words for the somber feeling, the typical joy-scene-writes-sorrow and joy-words-write-grief. The Jiaxuan's whole life's will's the recovery and yet the country-serving's no-door, the idle life's twenty years, this laughter's behind's the hero's no-battlefield bleakness, the reader's must-between-the-lines's reading his true grief, then's not-failing the Jiaxuan's drunk-writes-awake deep heart.
近来始觉古人书,信著全无是处
He suddenly feels that ancient books are useless if taken literally; this is a satirical attack on the impracticality of old teachings in a corrupt world.
近来才发觉古人的书,信以为真时竟全然没有是处。
Of late I have found the ancients' books: trust them, and there is nothing right in them at all.
此二句为全词思想核心,以反语寄愤。「始觉」二字极有分量,谓近来方始醒悟,暗示此前深信古训、以此立身,而现实却处处碰壁,方知圣贤之道在浊世全然无用。「信著全无是处」直承《孟子》尽信书则不如无书之说而更进一层,不是怀疑书本,而是控诉世道——当黑白颠倒、忠奸不分,古人的忠义教诲反成了无用甚至有害之物。此语貌似醉后狂言、否定一切,实是清醒之至的愤激之词,把对时局的失望、对自身的解嘲尽收其中,是辛词以反语写正意的典范,读来令人如闻其拍案之声。
These two lines are the whole ci's thought core, using the irony for the entrusted indignation. The only-now-found two words' the most weighty, meaning the of-late's just awakening, hinting the before's the deep-belief-in-the-ancient-instructions-and-this-self-establishing, and yet the reality's everywhere the wall-bumping, hence knowing the sages' way's in the turbid world's wholly useless. The trust-them-and-there-is-nothing-right-in-them-at-all's directly inheriting the Mencius's the book's-trusted-wholly-is-worse-than-no-book's and yet the one-layer further, not the doubting-the-book, and yet the indicting-the-age — when the black-white's reversal and the loyal-traitor's no-distinction, the ancients' loyal-righteous instructions's instead's become the useless-and-even-harmful thing. This saying's the surface's the drunk-frantic-words-and-the no-negation-of-all, actually's the sober-to-the-extreme's indignant words, turning the time's disappointment and the self's mockery's all within, the Xin-ci's irony-writes-meaning model, reading it's like hearing the table-bang sound.
昨夜松边醉倒
Last night I fell drunk by the pine.
昨夜醉倒在松树旁边。
Last night I fell over drunk beside the pine.
此句点出醉之地点与情态,是全词由言理转入写形的关键。「昨夜」二字拉开时间距离,词人于清醒之后追述醉态,更见其醉之深、愁之重;「松边」选松树为醉卧之所,大有深意——松是岁寒不凋的坚贞之木,稼轩醉倒松边,正是以松自况,于醉中亦不离其孤傲本色。全句无一字写愁,而英雄失路、独酌无侣的孤寂自在其中。下文的问松、疑松、推松,皆由此醉倒生发,一「倒」字既写醉态狼狈,亦暗含倒而不屈的倔强,为全词最见筋骨的过拍,由理入形,顿挫有致。
This line points out the drunk's place-and-pose, the whole ci's reason-to-form key. The last-night two words' pulling the time-distance, the poet's after-the-sober's recounting-the-drunken-pose, the more seeing the drunk's depth and the grief's heaviness; the pine-side's choosing the pine as the drunken-lying place, the deep meaning — the pine's the year's-cold's-not-withered firm wood, the Jiaxuan's fallen-drunk-by-the-pine, precisely the pine's self-metaphor, within-the-drunken's also's not-leaving-the-lonely-lofty nature. The whole line's not one word of grief, and yet the hero's lost-road and the lone-drinking's no-companion loneliness's within. The below's ask-the-pine, suspect-the-pine, push-the-pine, all from this fallen-drunk's arising, the one dao word's at once writing the drunken-pose's dishevelment, and yet secretly carrying the fallen-and-yet-not-yielding stubbornness, the whole ci's bone-most-visible passing beat, from-the-reason-to-the-form, the pause-and-turn's well-made.
只疑松动要来扶
I only suspected the pine moved to come and help me up.
只疑心松树晃动,是要来搀扶自己。
I fancied the pine had stirred to come and help me up.
「只疑」二字写醉眼迷离中的幻觉,妙绝。松本静植,何尝来扶?是醉者目光恍惚,见松影摇动,竟疑其有情来扶。此一「疑」字,将无情的松树写成有情的朋友,既见其醉态之真,又见其孤独之甚——醉到只能与松树为伴,把一腔心事诉与草木。而「要来扶」三字又透出几分自尊与倔强:宁可醉倒松边,也不愿受人搀扶。此句为下句以手推松蓄势,一疑一推之间,醉态、孤怀、傲骨三者毕现,是辛词善以细节传神的明证,其诙谐处愈显其悲凉。
The only-suspected two words' writing the drunken-eyes' blurred hallucination, wondrous to the extreme. The pine's originally the static plant, how's it come to help? It's the drunk's gaze's trance, seeing the pine-shadow's sway, and yet suspecting its feeling's coming-to-help. This one yi word, turning the feelingless pine into the feeling friend, at once seeing the drunken-pose's truth, and yet seeing the loneliness's extremity — the drunk to the only-companion-the-pine, pouring one-breast heart's to the grass-and-trees. And the come-to-help-up three words' the more revealing a trace of self-respect-and-stubbornness: preferring the fallen-drunk-by-the-pine, and yet unwilling-the-other's-helping. This line's storing the force for the below's hand-push-the-pine, between one-suspect-and-one-push, the drunken-pose, lonely-heart, and proud-bone's three's fully shown, the Xin-ci's good-at-details-spirit proof, its wit's the more revealing its bleakness.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Same tune and same author, one expresses drunken frustration, the other depicts a summer night journey; compare how Xin Qiji uses the same form for different moods.
二词同用《西江月》词牌,同出稼轩笔下,而境界迥异:夜行黄沙道中写夏夜山行,明月别枝、稻花香里说丰年,清新明快,一片田园生机;遣兴写醉中松边之态,诙谐中见孤愤,沉郁顿挫。同调而一清一浊、一乐一愤,正见稼轩词境的丰富与手法的多变——他既能以清丽之笔写田园,又能以谐谑之笔写悲愤,同一声情流宕的词牌,在他的调度下显出截然不同的面貌,对读最能体会辛词无事不可入、无意不可言的大家气象。
辛弃疾·水龙吟·过南剑双溪楼 Water Dragon Song: Passing the Twin Stream Tower in Nanjian 辛弃疾 · 同写壮志难酬之郁·抒怀方式各异 Same authorBoth express frustration over unfulfilled ambition, one via drunken talk with a pine, the other via climbing a tower and gazing at swords; compare the different modes of lyric expression.
水龙吟·过南剑双溪楼写登楼览剑、眺望中原,「举头西北浮云,倚天万里须长剑」,以壮阔之景写收复之志,悲慨激昂;遣兴写醉倒松边、与松问答,以谐谑之态写失路之愤,郁结内敛。一以长剑、浮云等豪壮意象直抒,一以醉态、松影等日常细节曲写,抒怀方式一放一收,而孤愤之情同源。二词合观,可见稼轩抒发壮志难酬之情的两副笔墨:壮语与谑语皆其本色,正所谓敛雄心、抗高调、变温婉、成悲凉,读稼轩词不可执其一端。
将进酒 Invitation to Wine 李白 · 同以醉态写胸中块垒·唐诗宋词醉态之别 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
李白《将进酒》「人生得意须尽欢,莫使金樽空对月」「天生我材必有用」以醉写豪,纵酒狂歌中是对生命与才华的自信,醉态飞扬向上;稼轩此词以醉写愤,醉里贪欢、醉倒松边,谐谑中是无处安放的悲凉,醉态沉郁向内。同为借酒浇愁,太白之醉如大江奔涌,气势外放;稼轩之醉如深潭凝滞,郁结内敛。一唐诗之醉、一宋词之醉,一豪一郁,正见唐宋两代文人面对不遇时不同的精神姿态,对读可悟诗庄词媚、唐豪宋郁之大较。