All poems

宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

晏殊·清平乐·红笺小字

Pure Serene Music · Red Letter Paper, Small Characters

晏殊

Yan Shu

婉约Graceful and Restrained 思念Yearning 爱情Love

清平乐·红笺小字红笺小字，说尽平生意。
鸿雁在云鱼在水，惆怅此情难寄。
斜阳独倚西楼，遥山恰对帘钩。
人面不知何处，绿波依旧东流。

Red letter paper, small characters, express all my lifelong feelings.
Swans in the clouds, fish in the water — sorrow that this affection is hard to convey.
Leaning alone on the west tower at sunset, distant hills just face the curtain hook.
Where is that face now? Only green waves still flow eastward.

Listen

Meaning

The poet writes on red paper with small characters to pour out lifelong love, but despairs that the message cannot be delivered. He then imagines leaning alone in the sunset, with distant hills across the curtain hook, and laments the absence of his beloved while the green waters flow east without change.

红笺上写满细细的小字，把平生的情意都说尽了。鸿雁高飞在云端，游鱼深藏在水底，教人好生惆怅——这份深情竟然无从寄达。斜阳里，我独自倚着西楼，远处的青山恰好正对着窗前的帘钩。那人的容颜如今不知在何处，只有楼下的绿水，依旧默默地向东流去。

Appreciation

This poem is a classic example of Yan Shu's graceful and restrained style. The first stanza expresses the frustration of a message that cannot be sent, using the images of swans and fish. The second stanza shifts to a static scene, ending with the contrast between the unchanging eastward flow of green waves and the missing face of the beloved, creating a lingering, melancholy beauty.

【白话串讲】晏殊在红笺上写满心里话，想寄却寄不出去：鸿雁在天上，鱼在水里，惆怅此情难寄。斜阳下独倚西楼——人面不知何处，绿波依旧东流。【意象与手法】上片由「红笺小字」起笔，写尽平生意却「难寄」，以「鸿雁在云鱼在水」的天地阻隔层层逼出惆怅；下片转写斜阳独倚、遥山帘钩的静景，结以「人面不知何处，绿波依旧东流」。以景结情，以绿水之不变反衬人面之杳然，时空对举，余情悠远。语言疏淡，思致婉曲，小令而能涵泳不尽，是晏殊「情中有思」词风的典型。【情感与主旨】此词为晏殊代言体闺情词，约作于其居汴京、身居宰辅的显达时期，借女子口吻写对远人的思念与音书难寄的惆怅。晏殊词多写富贵闲愁与离别相思，风格温润秀洁，此作虽涉离愁而气度闲雅，无衰飒之气，理致与情韵兼具。【名句点睛】常考「鸿雁在云鱼在水」的阻隔之意与雁足传书、鱼传尺素二典；「人面不知何处」化用崔护「人面不知何处去，桃花依旧笑春风」；结句以景结情、以不变衬变之法，及「遥山恰对帘钩」之「恰」字的炼字之妙。

Background

This ci poem was likely written during Yan Shu's prosperous years in the capital. It adopts the voice of a woman longing for a distant lover, embodying the 'wealthy leisure sorrow' characteristic of Yan's works. The tone is warm and elegant, avoiding excessive grief while conveying deep yearning.

此词为晏殊代言体闺情词，约作于其居汴京、身居宰辅的显达时期。晏殊（991—1055），字同叔，抚州临川人，七岁能文，十四岁以神童召试赐进士出身，仕至同中书门下平章事兼枢密使，一生富贵优游，词集名《珠玉词》。晏殊词多写富贵闲愁与离别相思，风格温润秀洁，时人及后学多以「珠玉」目其词品。此作借女子口吻写对远人的思念与音书难寄的惆怅：上片言欲寄情而不得，下片写倚楼凝望之景，结以人面杳然、绿波东流。全词虽涉离愁而气度闲雅，无衰飒之气，是晏词「情中有思」、理致与情韵兼具的代表。作为北宋前期词坛领袖，晏殊上承南唐冯延巳，下启欧阳修、晏几道，其词以温润含蓄见长，此篇与《浣溪沙》「一曲新词酒一杯」等同为晏词名篇，屡入选各类选本，向为婉约词人的入门范本，也是理解北宋前期文人词由花间浓艳转向清雅含蓄的关键作品。晏殊身居高位而词笔温婉，宋人笔记载其「未尝作妇人语」，然代言体闺情词却写得情致深婉，正见其以雅士之心体贴女儿情态的功力。其词集《珠玉词》存词百余首，此词与《浣溪沙》《蝶恋花》诸作并为其间名篇，被目为「北宋倚声家初祖」晏殊的代表作之一。

Art

The poem opens with concrete objects (red paper, small characters) and moves to abstract feelings. The 'swans in clouds, fish in water' creates a sense of separation that prevents the letter from being sent. The second stanza shifts to a static, spatial scene: leaning alone on the west tower, distant hills facing the curtain hook. The final line uses the unchanging river to contrast with the absent person, a classic example of 'ending with scenery' (以景结情), leaving lasting emotion.

上片由「红笺小字」起笔，红笺写尽平生情意，词情至此已满，却陡转「鸿雁在云鱼在水」——雁在云端、鱼在水底，皆不可凭，一「难寄」将满怀情意尽数锁住，以天地阻隔之象造惆怅之境，构思精巧。下片转写黄昏静景：「斜阳独倚西楼」点出人物与时间，「遥山恰对帘钩」以远山对帘钩的静默相对，暗示相望而不得相见的痴情；结句「人面不知何处，绿波依旧东流」将视线由楼头移向江流，人面之杳然与绿波之恒常两相对举，以不变衬变，以景结情，余情悠远，令全词于平缓中收束出不尽之味。全词语言疏淡，意象清雅，红笺、斜阳、遥山、绿波、帘钩诸物皆寻常，而一经组合便情韵盎然。上片由情入景，下片由景入情，两片之间以「惆怅」为筋脉贯通，正见晏殊以浅语写深情、温润而含蓄的本领，亦是小令章法「上下片分写情与景而气脉不断」的典范。全词在时空上亦见匠心：上片是白昼闺中写信之事，下片是黄昏楼头凝望之景，由昼入暮、由近及远，时间与空间同步推移，凝望愈久、怅惘愈深；「鸿雁在云」「鱼在水」分写天上地下，「遥山」「绿波」又纵目远望，天地山水之间，唯余一人独倚，孤寂之感弥满全篇，正是小令以有限篇幅经营无限情韵的典范。

Allusions

The line 'Swans in the clouds, fish in the water' combines two traditional allusions: swans delivering letters (from the Han shu) and fish carrying messages (from ancient yuefu poetry), emphasizing the futility of sending the letter. 'Where is that face now?' alludes to Cui Hu's famous poem 'the human face has gone, but the peach blossoms still smile in the spring wind.' 'Green waves still flow east' evokes the conventional image of eastward-flowing rivers to symbolize endless longing and the passage of time.

「鸿雁在云鱼在水」合用雁足传书与鱼传尺素二典：雁足传书出《汉书·苏武传》，苏武困于匈奴，汉使者言天子射上林中得雁，足系帛书，苏武遂得归汉；鱼传尺素出古乐府「客从远方来，遗我双鲤鱼，呼儿烹鲤鱼，中有尺素书」，后人遂以鱼书指代书信。词人合二典而翻用其意：雁在云、鱼在水，传书之物俱在眼前而情意终难寄达，比单用一典更见阻隔之深。「人面不知何处」化用唐崔护《题都城南庄》「人面不知何处去，桃花依旧笑春风」，去「桃花」而留「人面」，以人面之寻无觅处写旧欢难寻之怅惘；「绿波依旧东流」暗合江水东流、时光与思念不息的传统意象，兼有《诗经》「悠悠苍天」式的绵远。全词用典浑化无迹，不见堆砌，正是晏殊「善用典而不为典役」的高明处。「在水」之阻隔亦可上溯《诗经·蒹葭》「所谓伊人，在水一方」的求而不得之境，晏殊以雁鱼之不可凭写情意之难达，正是「蒹葭」传统在宋词中的回响；「人面不知何处」化用崔护诗而删去「桃花」，更见冷寂——崔护尚有人面桃花相映之美，晏殊则唯余绿波东流，旧景全非，怅惘更深。两处化用皆取精用宏、翻出新境，正是晏殊以故为新、点铁成金的词学功力。

Commentary

This is a famous graceful and restrained piece by Yan Shu. Critics praise its warm, pure, and refined quality. The ending lines 'Where is that face now? Only green waves still flow eastward' are especially admired for their light yet profound expressiveness. The entire poem blends emotion with reason, characteristic of the Yan-Ou school's leisurely depth.

此词为晏殊婉约名篇，历代评家多赏其温润深婉。近人评晏词「温润秀洁，亦孙光宪、李珣之流亚」，此作红笺、斜阳、绿波诸意象清雅不俗，惆怅而不伤骨干，愁而不怨，哀而不伤，正见晏殊身居富贵而心系闲愁的独特词境。清人论者谓结句「人面不知何处，绿波依旧东流」「淡语有味，中含远神」，以为以寻常语写不尽之情，含蓄蕴藉，足见晏欧一派闲雅深婉之致。此词与《浣溪沙》「一曲新词酒一杯」同以淡淡的怅惘收束，而一写光阴之感、一写相思之远，合观可窥晏殊词以理驭情、以闲雅制哀愁的整体风貌。在词史脉络中，晏殊上承冯延巳的深婉，下启欧阳修、晏几道的清丽，此词正是这一脉络的枢纽之作，为后人理解北宋前期词由花间浓艳转向文人清雅的演进提供了绝佳样本。清冯煦《蒿庵论词》谓「晏同叔去五代未远，馨烈所扇，得之最先，故左宫右徵，和婉而明丽，为北宋倚声家初祖」，此词「和婉明丽」四字足以当之：红笺斜阳，明丽而不艳；惆怅难寄，和婉而不伤。其影响所及，欧阳修、晏几道皆承其绪，晏几道《临江仙》「落花人独立，微雨燕双飞」之情韵，即与乃父此词一脉相通，可见晏殊词风在北宋词坛的深远流泽。

Prosody

Form Ci to the tune 'Pure Serene Music' (清平乐), 46 characters in two stanzas词·《清平乐》双调四十六字，上片四句四仄韵，下片四句三平韵

Rhyme First stanza: oblique tone rhymes (字, 意, 水, 寄); second stanza: level tone rhymes (楼, 钩, 流) — following Yan Shu's original rhyme scheme.上片仄韵：字、意、水、寄（上声四纸、去声四寘通押）；下片平韵：楼、钩、流（下平十一尤）

Tone pattern The pattern alternates between long and short lines; the first stanza uses oblique tones (depressed mood), the second uses level tones (relaxed mood), reflecting the shift from sorrow to distant contemplation.上片五七言长短相间，仄声收束，声情沉咽；下片四言起、六言继，平声收束，声情舒徐

Reading note This tune features a rhyme change between stanzas, suitable for expressing a transition from troubled yearning to a broader, more resigned outlook.《清平乐》为唐教坊曲名，后用作词调，双调四十六字，上片四句四仄韵，下片四句三平韵，是婉约小令的常用调，又名《忆萝月》《醉东风》。晏殊此词上片以「红笺小字」五字起，「说尽平生意」六字承，继以七言「鸿雁在云鱼在水」、五言「惆怅此情难寄」，句式长短错落，仄声韵脚「字」「意」「水」「寄」声调短促低抑，恰与情意难寄的沉咽相应；下片换平韵，「楼」「钩」「流」三平韵声调舒徐和缓，配合斜阳、遥山、绿波的静景，声情由抑转舒，如幽咽的琴声渐渐归于悠远。全词上仄下平、先抑后舒的声律安排，与由「难寄」之愁转「东流」之远的词境相协，小令换韵之妙于此可见。此调晏殊、李白（托名）等皆有佳作，而晏殊以温润闲雅之声情写相思之远致，最称得体，为后人学此调者所宗。

Line by line

红笺小字，说尽平生意

Red paper with small characters: it tells all the lifelong feelings. Insight: Starting with the physical object, 'tells all' contrasts with the next line's inability to send.

红纸上写满细细的小字，把平生的情意都说尽了。

Small characters on the red paper, telling out all the love of a lifetime.

起笔由物及情，红笺小字是女子为远人写信的具象，「说尽」二字把满腔情意倾泻而出，语极恳挚；然而「说尽」愈满，愈为下句「难寄」蓄势——写尽的情意偏无从寄达，满怀热望顿成空落。一「尽」一「难」两相映照，词情由满而空、由热而冷，顿挫之间惆怅自生。红笺之艳与小字之细，又暗含书写时郑重缠绵的情态，为全词定下温婉的基调。起句不写愁而写写信，以「说尽」反衬「难寄」，正是晏殊善用反跌、欲擒故纵的章法，笔致从容而词情已满。

The opening from the thing's to the feeling, the red-paper-small-characters's the woman's writing-the-far-person's-letter concrete image, the shuo-jin two words' pouring out the breast-full feeling, the words' the most earnest; and yet the shuo-jin's the fuller, the more's storing the force for the below's hard-to-send — the written-out feeling's precisely's no-way-to-arrive, the breast-full-warmth's the instant's the empty-fall. The one-jin-one-nan's mutual-reflection, the ci-feeling's from-the-full's to-the-void, from-the-warmth's to-the-cold, the pause-and-turn's within's the wistfulness's self-arising. The red-paper's gorgeous and the small-characters' fine, and secretly carrying the writing-time's earnest-and-lingering pose, establishing the whole ci's gentle tone. The opening's not writing-the-grief-and-yet-writing-the-letter, using the shuo-jin's setting-off-the-nan-send, precisely Yan Shu's skilled-at-the-counter-turn and want-to-grasp-yet-release craft, the brush's composed and yet the ci-feeling's already-full.

鸿雁在云鱼在水，惆怅此情难寄

Swans in the clouds, fish in the water: sad that this feeling is hard to send. Insight: Using natural separation (sky vs. water) to symbolize the difficulty of message delivery; the allusion is natural and the idea is clever.

鸿雁高飞在云端，游鱼深藏在水底，教人惆怅，这份情意难以寄达。

The wild goose is in the clouds, the fish in the water; I am lost in sorrow, for this feeling is hard to send.

此句合用雁足传书、鱼传尺素二典而翻作阻隔之象：雁在云、鱼在水，传书的使者俱在眼前却都不可凭依，天地之阔反成情意难达之障。「惆怅」直点词心，「难寄」二字将「说尽」的满腔情意尽数锁死，一放一收，跌宕生姿。以自然之物写人事之阻，构思精巧而不见斧凿，比直说「信难通」远为含蓄深婉。上片由写信到寄信，情意由尽到难，层层逼出无可奈何的惆怅，而无一字直写离愁，正是晏殊词「情中有思」的体现。此句是上片词眼，亦为全词传诵之名句，向以借物传情、以典见思见称。

This line's jointly using the wild-goose-leg-carries-the-letter and the fish-carries-the-silk two allusions's turning into the barrier-image: the goose-in-the-clouds and fish-in-the-water, the letter's messengers' both's before-the-eyes and yet's both's the no-rely-able, the heaven-and-earth's breadth's instead's the feeling's hard-to-arrive's obstacle. The wistfulness directly's pointing out the ci-heart, the hard-to-send two words' locking the shuo-jin's breast-full feeling's all-up, one-release-one-close, the turning's lively. Using the natural thing for the human-affair's barrier, the conception's exquisite-and-yet-no-carving, compared to the direct the-letter's-hard-to-pass's the far's the reserved-and-deep-gentle. The first stanza from the letter-writing to the letter-sending, the feeling's from-the-jin's to-the-nan, layer-on-layer's forcing-out-the-helpless wistfulness, and yet not-one-word's direct-the-parting-grief, precisely Yan Shu ci's feeling-within-thought embodiment. This line's the first stanza's ci-eye, and the whole ci's recited famed line, through-the-ages's praised for the thing-carries-feeling and the allusion-shows-thought.

斜阳独倚西楼，遥山恰对帘钩

Leaning alone on the west tower in the setting sun, the distant hills just face the curtain hook. Insight: A static scene of solitude; the 'just facing' adds a sense of silent longing.

斜阳里独自倚着西楼，远处的青山恰好正对着窗前的帘钩。

In the setting sun I lean alone on the west tower; distant hills face the curtain hook.

下片转写黄昏静景，时间由昼入暮，人物由写信转为倚楼。「独倚」写形单影只的痴望，「斜阳」点出凝望之久、日色之暮，一片孤寂尽在不言中；「遥山恰对帘钩」更以远山与帘钩的静默相对，写出空楼独对远山的寂寥——山无情而相对，人有情而难逢，「恰」字似说偶然，实则暗含相望不相亲的怅惘。两句纯以白描写景，而人物之情态、心境俱见。斜阳、西楼、遥山、帘钩，皆寻常物象，一经组合便成一幅黄昏独倚图，静景之中暗藏绵绵远思，是晏殊以景写情、淡中见远的典型笔法，为结句的抒情蓄足势能。

The second stanza's turning to the dusk-static scene, the time's from-day's to-dusk, the person's from-the-letter-writing's to-the-tower-leaning. The lone-leaning writing the solitary-shaped foolish-gaze, the setting-sun's pointing out the gaze's length and the day's color's dusk, one-piece loneliness's all within the unsaid; the distant-hills-face-the-curtain-hook's the more's using the distant-hill-and-curtain-hook's silent-opposition, writing the empty-tower's lone-facing-the-distant-hill's loneliness — the hill's feelingless-and-yet-opposite, the person's feelingful-and-yet-no-meeting, the qia word's as-if's-the-accidental, actually's secretly carrying the gaze-and-yet-no-closeness wistfulness. Two lines purely using the plain-description for the scene, and yet the person's pose-and-mind's both-seen. The setting-sun, west-tower, distant-hill, curtain-hook, all's the ordinary thing-image, once-combined's then's the dusk-lone-leaning picture, the static-scene's within's hiding the lingering-far-thought, precisely Yan Shu's scene-writes-feeling and the plain-within-sees-the-distance typical brush, storing the force for the closing line's feeling.

人面不知何处，绿波依旧东流

I don't know where that face is now; only the green waves still flow east. Insight: Alludes to Cui Hu's poem; the unchanging river contrasts with the lost person, creating a deep, lingering melancholy through scenery.

那人的容颜不知如今在何处，只有绿水依旧向东流去。

Her face I know not where; the green waves still flow east.

结句化用崔护「人面不知何处去，桃花依旧笑春风」而自出机杼，以「人面」之杳然与「绿波」之恒常对举：人面不知何处，寻而无踪；绿波依旧东流，去而不返。一「不知」写旧欢难觅的渺茫，一「依旧」写时光流逝的无情，以不变之水衬多变之人，物是人非之痛尽含于景中，不言情而情自深。以景结情，余韵悠长，历来推为小令结尾的典范。「依旧」二字尤见功力：绿水不管人事如何变迁，依旧东流，其不变正衬出人面之杳然、时光之一去不返，正是晏殊「淡语有味，中含远神」的收束功力所在。

The closing line's adapting Cui Hu's the-face-I-know-not-where-the-peach-blossoms-still-smile-in-the-spring-breeze and yet the self-original craft, using the the-face's vagueness and the green-waves' constancy's parallel: the face's no-knowing-where, the seek-and-no-trace; the green-waves-still-flow-east, the gone-and-no-return. The one no-knowing writing the old-joy's hard-to-find vagueness, the one as-ever writing the time's flow's ruthlessness, using the unchanged water's setting-off-the-changing-person, the thing's-as-ever-and-the-person's-different pain's all within the scene, not-speaking-the-feeling-and-yet-the-feeling's self-deep. Using the scene's feeling-close, the aftertone long, through-the-ages's pushed as the short-verse close's model. The as-ever two words' the more seeing the craft: the green-water's no-minding-the-human-affair's change, the as-ever east-flow, its unchanged's precisely setting-off-the-face's vagueness and the time's gone-no-return, precisely Yan Shu's plain-words-with-flavor-and-within-carries-the-far-spirit close craft's place.

Study

Word focus

恰 qia (just, exactly) — 'the distant hills just face the curtain hook'; the word implies a silent, mutual gaze, adding warmth to the stillness. 「遥山恰对帘钩」之「恰」，写远山与帘钩正相对，是炼字温润的妙笔。「恰」字本义为恰好、正好，此处似写偶然之巧合：独倚西楼，举目远山，恰好与帘钩遥遥相对。然而正是这个「恰」字，把无情的远山写成了似有情的默视者——山与人相对，恰似旧日那人凭帘凝望之景的重现，静景之中暗含相望之意与相失之怅。若作「遥山正对帘钩」则直露无味，「恰」字于不经意间见出安排之巧，含而不露，深得晏殊含蓄温婉之风。此字以虚写实，以静写动，一字而境界全出，是晏殊「善炼虚字」的典范，历代论者多赏其温润妥帖，正见富贵词人举重若轻的炼字功力。

依旧 yijiu (still, as before) — 'only green waves still flow east'; the constancy of the river highlights the change in the beloved's presence, deeply evocative. 「绿波依旧东流」之「依旧」，以水流之恒常反衬人面之变迁，是结句的情感枢纽。「依旧」写绿水不管人事如何变化，仍默默东流，其不变正衬出人面之杳然无寻、时光之一去不返，物是人非的深悲于「依旧」二字中尽出。此词炼字之妙在于不直说「人去楼空」，而借绿波之依旧反跌人面之不知何处，含蓄蕴藉，以浅语写至情。若作「绿波仍自东流」则平，「依旧」二字含岁月之感、含人事之叹，似不经意而情味自深。历代词评多赏此句「淡语有味」，其味正在「依旧」二字所蕴含的时光意识与物我对照，读之令人怅惘低回，久久不能自已，是晏殊以恒常之物写变迁之情的典型炼字。

说尽 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「红笺小字，说尽平生意」之「说尽」，是全词情感的起点与机关。「说尽」写情意之满：红笺上细细的小字，把平生的情意统统写尽，语极恳挚热烈；然而愈是「说尽」，愈为下句「难寄」的失落蓄势——写尽的情意偏无从寄达，满腔热望顿成泡影，词情由极满骤落至极空，顿挫之间惆怅自生。此二字以满衬空，以尽衬难，是全词一放一收、欲擒故纵的章法关键。「说尽」又暗含写信时欲言又止、恨不能尽的情态，红笺小字之细密，正是情意之绵长的外化，亦见晏殊善以虚字经营词情的功力：不着一个愁字，而愁绪已满纸，温婉之中自有深情。