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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

玉楼春·绿杨芳草长亭路

Spring in the Jade Pavilion: The Green Willows, the Fragrant Grass, the Road of the Long Pavilion

晏殊

Yan Shu

爱情Love 愁思sorrow

绿杨芳草长亭路。
年少抛人容易去。
楼头残梦五更钟，花底离情三月雨。
无情不似多情苦。
一寸还成千万缕。
天涯地角有穷时，只有相思无尽处。

The green willows, the fragrant grass, the road of the long pavilion.
The young man, throwing away the man, easy, to go.
The remaining dream at the head of the tower, the bell of the fifth watch,
Under the flowers, the parting feeling, the rain of the third month.
The unfeeling, not like, the affectionate, bitter.
One inch, still, becomes, the ten thousand strands.
The horizon of the sky, the corner of the earth, have, the end, the time,
Only, the mutual longing, has, no, the end, the place.

Listen

Meaning

A lyric of the parting and the longing, written by Yan Shu. The green willows with the fragrant grass on the road of the long pavilion, the young man throwing away the man easy to go — the parting of the opening. The remaining dream at the head of the tower with the bell of the fifth watch, the parting feeling under the flowers with the rain of the third month — the dream and the rain. The unfeeling not like the affectionate bitter, one inch becoming the ten thousand strands — the bitter of the affection. And the close's the horizon of the sky with the corner of the earth have the end, only the mutual longing has no end — the close's longing. The lyric is the parting and the longing: the long pavilion, the bitter of the affection, and the close's longing without the end.

绿杨依依、芳草萋萋的长亭路上，年少的人轻易地抛下我离去。楼头的残梦被五更的钟声惊断，花底的离情如三月细雨绵绵不绝。无情的人不像多情的人这般痛苦。一寸相思竟化作千万缕愁丝。天涯地角尚且有穷尽的时候，只有相思没有尽头。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The green willows, the fragrant grass, the road of the long pavilion. The young man, throwing away the man, easy, to go. The remaining dream at the head of the tower, the bell of the fifth watch, under the flowers, the parting feeling, the rain of the third month. The unfeeling, not like, the affectionate, bitter. One inch, still, becomes, the ten thousand strands. The horizon of the sky, the corner of the earth, have, the end, the time, only, the mutual longing, has, no, the end, the place. [Structure and Thought] The lyric moves from the parting of the long pavilion and the easy going, through the dream and the rain of the parting feeling, to the close's horizon and corner having the end, the mutual longing without the end. [Key Technique] The lyric's art is the close of the longing: the unfeeling against the affectionate of the middle, and the close's horizon having the end with the longing without the end — the longing gathered in the contrast and the close's no end. [Emotional Tone] Elegant, bitter, and longing: the lyric is the parting, the bitter of the affection and the close's no end.

【白话串讲】晏殊写玉楼春：“绿杨芳草长亭路。年少抛人容易去”。“楼头残梦五更钟，花底离情三月雨”——“无情不似多情苦。一寸还成千万缕”——“天涯地角有穷时，只有相思无尽处”——他写相思无尽。【意象与手法】此词以景起兴，以情结景，善用对偶与比喻：绿杨芳草点离愁，五更钟、三月雨写别情，寸心万缕喻相思之繁，天涯地角衬相思之无穷，含蓄婉转，情致深婉。【情感与主旨】全词写离别相思之苦，既有年少抛人的怨怼，又有多情自苦的慨叹，末以相思无尽作结，把个人的离愁升华为普遍的人生况味，是晏殊词中深婉含蓄的代表作。【名句点睛】常考『无情不似多情苦』的哲理慨叹，以及『天涯地角有穷时，只有相思无尽处』以有限衬无穷的手法。

Background

Yan Shu (991–1055), the chancellor and the poet of the Northern Song, wrote this 'Spring in the Jade Pavilion: The Green Willows, the Fragrant Grass, the Road of the Long Pavilion' of the parting and the longing — the bitter of the affection. The parting of the long pavilion with the easy going, the dream with the rain of the third month, and the close's horizon having the end with the mutual longing without the end — the lyric gathers the bitter of the affection, the longing of the parting. The lyric is one of the most famous works of the poet's lyrics of the parting.

《玉楼春·绿杨芳草长亭路》是北宋词人晏殊的名作。晏殊字同叔，抚州临川人，官至宰相，是北宋前期词坛领袖，被誉为北宋倚声家初祖。晏殊一生富贵，仕途顺遂，其词多写闲情逸致与离愁别恨，风格温润秀洁，含蓄雅致。此词写离别相思，具体创作背景已不可考，当是晏殊送别或追忆离别之作。长亭是古代送别之所，绿杨芳草的长亭路，正是离别的典型场景。晏殊虽位居高位，但一生经历不少离别：早年离家赴京，晚年送别亲友，宦海沉浮中也不乏聚散无常的感慨。此词以多情自苦、相思无尽为主旨，既有对离别的切身感受，又有词人温厚平和的人生体悟。晏殊词善以淡语写深情，此词正是其典型风格：不提一句离别的场面，却把离别之苦写得入骨；不直说相思之深，却以天涯地角有穷时反衬相思之无尽，体现了晏殊词情中有思、思中有情的艺术特色。

Art

The lyric's art is the art of the longing. The parting opens: the green willows, the fragrant grass, the road of the long pavilion — the long pavilion of the parting; the young man, throwing away the man, easy, to go — the easy going of the young man; the remaining dream at the head of the tower, the bell of the fifth watch — the dream of the fifth watch; under the flowers, the parting feeling, the rain of the third month — the rain of the parting feeling. The bitter follows: the unfeeling, not like, the affectionate, bitter — the bitter of the affectionate; one inch, still, becomes, the ten thousand strands — the ten thousand strands of the one inch. And the close gathers the longing: the horizon of the sky, the corner of the earth, have, the end, the time — the end of the horizon and the corner; only, the mutual longing, has, no, the end, the place — the no end of the longing — the parting, the bitter and the close's longing, gathered in the lyric.

此词在艺术上以深婉含蓄见长，善用对偶与衬托。上片写离别之景：绿杨芳草长亭路，年少抛人容易去，先以绿杨、芳草、长亭三个典型意象写离别的场景，再以抛人容易去写离人的决绝，容易二字，怨中含怨，看似平淡却极见分量。楼头残梦五更钟，花底离情三月雨，是词中精工的对偶句：楼头对花底，残梦对离情，五更钟对三月雨，写尽长夜难眠与春愁如雨，五更钟声惊醒残梦，三月细雨如离情绵长，情景交融。下片写相思之苦：无情不似多情苦，以无情与多情对比，一语道破多情者的痴苦，是全词的词眼；一寸还成千万缕，以寸心化作千万缕愁丝，比喻新奇，写相思之繁密；天涯地角有穷时，只有相思无尽处，以天涯地角之有限反衬相思之无穷，把离愁推向极致。全词由景入情，由情入理，层层递进，末以哲理句收束，言有尽而意无穷，正是晏殊词情中有思、以淡写浓的典范。

Allusions

'The long pavilion' (chang ting) is the long pavilion — the pavilion of the farewell; 'the bell of the fifth watch' (wu geng zhong) is the bell of the fifth watch — the bell of the dawn, the remaining dream; 'the rain of the third month' (san yue yu) is the rain of the third month — the rain of the spring, the parting feeling; 'the horizon of the sky, the corner of the earth' (tian ya di jiao) are the horizon of the sky, the corner of the earth — the ends of the earth, the end of the close.

此词虽用典不多，但意象的运用深有渊源。绿杨芳草长亭路，长亭是古代送别之地的典型意象，源于《白孔六帖》馆驿十里一长亭的记载，唐人送别诗多用长亭，如李白天下伤心处，劳劳送客亭，芳草则化用《楚辞》王孙游兮不归，春草生兮萋萋的相思意象，绿杨亦为送别诗常见，三者叠加，离别的氛围油然而生。楼头残梦五更钟，化用唐人张继夜半钟声到客船的意境，写夜深钟声惊断残梦；花底离情三月雨，则取意于杜牧清明时节雨纷纷的愁绪，以雨写情。无情不似多情苦，暗含道家忘情方能无累的思想，也可见晏殊以理性化解情感的倾向。一寸还成千万缕，化用南朝乐府思妇以丝喻思的传统，与李商隐春蚕到死丝方尽的构思相通。天涯地角有穷时，只有相思无尽处，则与白居易天长地久有时尽，此恨绵绵无绝期一脉相承，而以有穷衬无尽，更见凝练。晏殊化用前人诗意而不着痕迹，浑融自然。

Commentary

This lyric is one of the most famous works of Yan Shu's lyrics of the parting, quoted for the bitter of its affection and the longing of its close. The unfeeling against the affectionate, and the mutual longing without the end, are among the admired passages of the poet's lyrics. Critics praise the lyric's longing: the bitter gathered in the contrast, to the close's no end.

《玉楼春·绿杨芳草长亭路》是晏殊词中流传最广的名篇之一，也是宋词中写离愁的经典之作。此词的价值首先在于以哲理入词：无情不似多情苦，天涯地角有穷时，只有相思无尽处，把个人的离愁升华为对人生普遍境遇的思考，情中有思，思中含情，这正是晏殊词高出一般婉约词的地方。其次在于艺术上的含蓄深婉：全词没有一个愁字，却处处是愁；没有一句直白，却把相思之苦写到极致，绿杨芳草、五更钟、三月雨、寸心万缕，意象的叠加层层渲染，含蓄蕴藉。再次在于以淡语写深情的风格：年少抛人容易去，容易二字，看似轻描淡写，实则怨极而语淡；一寸还成千万缕，以平常语写奇思。晏殊作为宰相词人，其词温润秀洁，无纤佻之态，此词正是其人格与词格的体现。后世论晏殊词，谓其深婉含蓄、风流蕴藉，此词可为其代表作。此词与晏殊蝶恋花诸作同为离愁绝唱，而以此词情思最深、语言最工，足见其词艺之精。

Prosody

Form A short ci lyric of the parting (ci diao)词牌玉楼春，双调五十六字

Rhyme The lyric rhymes on the level and the oblique of the group — the cadence of the short ci that carries the bitter elegance.上下片各四句三仄韵，路、去、雨、苦、缕、处等韵脚皆属平水韵去声遇韵与上声麌韵通押，一韵到底，音调低回婉转，宜于抒发离愁。

Tone pattern The cadence is that of the longing: the level opening with the pavilion, the turning with the bitter, and the close's fall with the no end of the longing.全词以七言句式为主，上片句句押韵，节奏紧凑；下片同构，末二句天涯地角有穷时，只有相思无尽处，以对句收束，声情于低回中见悠远。

Reading note The lyric's sound matches its longing: the cadences of the short ci, and the close — 'zhi you xiang si wu jin chu' — falls with the no end, the sound of the longing of the poet.玉楼春又名木兰花、春晓曲，双调五十六字，上下片各四句三仄韵，是词中七言句式最整齐的词牌之一。此词上片句句押韵，绿杨芳草长亭路，年少抛人容易去，楼头残梦五更钟，花底离情三月雨，四句三仄韵，音节急促而低回，正合离别时的怅惘；下片无情不似多情苦，一寸还成千万缕，天涯地角有穷时，只有相思无尽处，句式与上片相同，韵脚苦、缕、处皆为仄声，读来沉郁顿挫。全词以七言为主，偶句对仗工整，如楼头残梦五更钟，花底离情三月雨，不仅意对，声也对，读来朗朗上口。玉楼春声律的特点在于仄韵的运用：仄声字短促急收，宜于表现压抑低回的情感，晏殊以仄韵写离愁，声情相合，末二句以对句收束，声调在低回中归于悠远，如余音袅袅，正是晏殊词声情并茂、温润含蓄的艺术体现。

Line by line

绿杨芳草长亭路。

The road by green willows and fragrant grass, the long pavilion.

绿杨依依、芳草萋萋的长亭路上。

The road where green willows droop and fragrant grass spreads, at the long pavilion.

起句写离别之地，七个字点出时令、景物与地点。绿杨写春色正浓，垂柳依依；芳草写春草绵延，萋萋如愁；长亭是古代送别的标志性建筑，十里一长亭，是行人话别之处。三者叠加，一幅暮春长亭送别的画面宛然在目，春光明媚与离愁别绪形成微妙的对照。这一句以景起兴，不直接写离愁，而离愁已寓于景物之中：绿杨的依依，正是离人的依依；芳草的绵延，正是离愁的绵延；长亭的存在，正是离别的见证。晏殊善于选取典型的意象组合，七字之中，三个意象层层渲染，把离别的氛围烘托得浓郁而含蓄，也为下句年少抛人容易去作了铺垫，是全词含蓄蕴藉的开篇。

The opening writes the place of parting; seven characters fix the season, scenery and place. 'Green willows' writes spring in full, the trailing branches; 'fragrant grass' the spreading spring growth, lush as grief; 'the long pavilion' is the landmark structure of ancient farewells — a long pavilion every ten li, where travelers said goodbye. The three overlaid produce a picture of late-spring farewell at the long pavilion, bright spring light and sorrowful parting in subtle contrast. Raising feeling through scenery, it does not name parting yet parting dwells in the scenery: the trailing willow is the traveler's clinging, the spreading grass the spreading sorrow, the long pavilion the witness of parting. Yan Shu excels at choosing typical imagery; within seven characters three images layer the mood, setting off the atmosphere of parting rich yet restrained, and prepares the next line 'the young so lightly cast me off' — a restrained, pregnant opening of the ci.

年少抛人容易去。

The young so lightly cast me off and go.

年少的人轻易地抛下我离去。

Youth, easily and lightly, casts me aside and goes.

这一句写离人的离去，是全词怨情的起点。年少指离人正值青春年少，也可暗含韶华易逝之意；抛人容易去，一个抛字，写出离去的决绝，容易二字更见分量——不是不得不去，而是轻易离去，抛字怨中含怨，把对离人的嗔怪写得含蓄而深切。这两句的妙处在于以淡语写深怨：明明被抛弃，却只轻轻说一句容易去，怨而不怒，正是晏殊温厚含蓄的本色。年少二字尤其值得玩味，既可以理解为离人年少轻别，也可以理解为青春抛人而去，一语双关，为下片的多情自苦、时光易逝埋下伏笔。由绿杨芳草的景，到抛人易去的怨，起笔两处，已把离别之景、离别之怨写足，全词的抒情基调就此奠定。

This line writes the departure of the parting traveler, the starting point of the ci's resentment. 'The young' means the traveler in the flush of youth, and may also hint that youth slips away; 'so lightly cast me off and go' — the word 'cast off' writes the decisiveness of leaving, and 'lightly' adds weight: not that he must go, but that he goes easily; 'cast off' holds resentment within resentment, writing the reproach of the traveler with restraint and depth. The line's genius is writing deep resentment in plain words: clearly abandoned, yet she only says lightly 'goes away,' resentful without anger — exactly Yan Shu's warm, restrained nature. The words 'the young' are especially worth savoring: they may mean the young man parting lightly, or youth casting people away, a double meaning that prepares the lower stanza's self-imposed suffering of feeling and the slipping of time. From the scenery of green willows and fragrant grass to the resentment of 'lightly casting me off,' the two strokes of the opening have fully written the parting scene and the parting resentment, fixing the lyric keynote of the whole ci.

楼头残梦五更钟，花底离情三月雨。

On the tower, a broken dream, the fifth watch bell; under the flowers, parting sorrow, the third-month rain.

楼头的残梦被五更的钟声惊断，花底的离情如三月细雨绵绵不绝。

A broken dream on the tower, broken by the fifth-watch bell; parting sorrow beneath the flowers, endless as the third-month rain.

这两句是全词最工丽的对偶，写尽离别后的长夜与春愁。楼头残梦五更钟，写独居楼头，残梦未醒，五更钟声已响，惊断了残梦，残梦二字，写出梦的破碎，五更钟声，写出长夜的孤寂，一梦一钟，更添凄清；花底离情三月雨，写花丛之下，离情正如三月的细雨，绵绵不绝，花底点出春深，三月雨既写实景，又喻离愁如雨丝不断。两句对仗精工：楼头对花底，残梦对离情，五更钟对三月雨，时间与空间交错，梦境与现实交融，把离别后的相思之苦写得既具体又空灵。残梦被钟声惊断，暗示连梦中相见都不可得；离情如细雨，写出愁绪的绵长无期，是全词情景交融的典范。

These two are the most polished couplet of the ci, exhausting the long night and spring sorrow after parting. 'On the tower, a broken dream, the fifth-watch bell' writes alone in the tower, a broken dream not yet ended when the fifth-watch bell sounds and shatters it; 'broken dream' writes the dream's fracture, 'fifth-watch bell' the solitude of the long night, one dream and one bell adding desolation. 'Under the flowers, parting sorrow, the third-month rain' writes beneath the blossoms parting sorrow like the third-month drizzle, endless; 'under the flowers' fixes deep spring, 'third-month rain' both the real scene and parting sorrow like unbroken threads of rain. The couplet is tightly parallel: 'on the tower' against 'under the flowers,' 'broken dream' against 'parting sorrow,' 'fifth-watch bell' against 'third-month rain,' time and space interwoven, dream and reality blended, writing the longing after parting as both concrete and airy. The broken dream shattered by the bell hints that even meeting in dream is impossible; sorrow like fine rain writes the endlessness of grief — a model of scenery and feeling blended in the ci.

无情不似多情苦。

The heartless do not suffer as the feeling-hearted do.

无情的人不像多情的人这般痛苦。

The heartless do not taste the suffering that the loving-hearted know.

这一句是全词的词眼，以哲理警句直抒多情之苦。无情不似多情苦，七个字道破：无情之人没有牵挂，自然不苦；多情之人为情所困，苦不堪言。看似平淡的对比，实含三重深意：一是对多情之我的自伤，正因为多情，才饱受离愁之苦；二是对无情之世的感慨，世人若都无情，何来离别之苦；三是明知多情苦而偏要多情，正是情之无奈，也是情之可贵。这一句以议论入词，把前面的景物描写提升到人生哲理的高度，是晏殊词情中有思的典型表现。它上承楼头残梦、花底离情的具体描写，下启一寸还成千万缕的比喻深化，是全词由景入情、由情入理的关键转折，也让人联想到元稹曾经沧海难为水的深情，千百年来引起无数多情人的共鸣。

This line is the eye of the ci, a philosophic aphorism speaking directly of the pain of feeling. 'The heartless do not suffer as the feeling-hearted do' — seven characters lay it bare: the heartless have no attachments and so no suffering; the feeling-bound are trapped in love and suffer beyond bearing. The seemingly plain contrast holds three depths: first, self-pity for the feeling-bound self — precisely because she feels, she endures the sorrow of parting; second, a sigh for the heartless world — if all were heartless, whence the pain of parting; third, knowing feeling is suffering yet still choosing to feel, the helplessness and preciousness of love. The line enters argument into ci, lifting the preceding scenic description to the height of life philosophy, a typical case of Yan Shu's 'thought within feeling.' It carries forward the concrete picture of 'broken dream on the tower, parting sorrow under the flowers' and opens the later deepening of the metaphor 'one inch becomes ten thousand threads'; it is the key turn from scenery to feeling and feeling to reason, and recalls Yuan Zhen's 'once having seen the sea, no water suffices,' resonating across the ages with all feeling-hearted readers.

天涯地角有穷时，只有相思无尽处。

The horizon of the sky, the corner of the earth, have, the end, the time, only, the mutual longing, has, no, the end, the place.

天涯地角尚且有穷尽的时候，只有相思没有尽头。

Even the horizon's end and the earth's corner have their bounds; only longing knows no end.

末二句是全词的高潮，以有限衬无穷，把相思之苦推向极致。天涯地角有穷时，天涯地角本是极远之地，古人以为天之涯、地之角便是空间的尽头，然而如此遥远的地方尚且有穷尽；只有相思无尽处，一个转折，点出唯有相思没有尽头。两句以天涯地角之有限反衬相思之无穷，以空间的有尽写情感的无尽，构思精妙，意蕴深远。这与白居易天长地久有时尽，此恨绵绵无绝期的笔法一脉相承，而晏殊以天涯地角代之，更见简洁凝练。这两句既是全词的收束，也是情感的升华：由个人的离别之苦，上升为对相思这一人类普遍情感的咏叹，言有尽而意无穷，余韵悠长，是宋词中写相思的名句，千百年来传诵不衰，也让这首玉楼春成为离愁词的绝唱。

The last two are the climax of the ci, setting the finite against the infinite and pushing the pain of longing to the limit. 'Even the horizon's end and the earth's corner have their bounds' — the horizon and earth's corner are the farthest places, anciently thought the edge of space; yet so distant a place still has its end. 'Only longing knows no end' — one turn points out that only longing has no boundary. The two set the finitude of horizon and earth's corner against the infinitude of longing, writing the endlessness of feeling through the boundedness of space; the conception is exquisite, the meaning deep. It is of one piece with Bai Juyi's 'heaven long, earth lasting, yet they end; this grief unending, never done,' yet Yan Shu substitutes 'horizon and earth's corner' for greater economy. These two both close the ci and sublimate its feeling: from personal parting sorrow they rise to a hymn to longing, that universal human emotion; words end, meaning does not, the aftertone long. It is a famous line on longing in Song ci, cherished for a thousand years, and makes this Yulouchun a masterpiece of sorrowful parting.

Study

Word focus

抛 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 年少抛人容易去之抛字，是全词起笔最见分量的炼字。抛本指随手丢开，此处写年少的人轻易离去，如弃物般抛开，用字看似随意，实则极有讲究。其妙有三：一是写离去的轻易，抛是随手的、不费力的，写出离人的无情与决绝，与下句容易二字相呼应，怨意自生；二是写被弃的委屈，被抛者自有被轻贱之感，一个抛字，把离别写成抛弃，嗔怪之情溢于言表；三是写青春的无常，年少抛人，也可解作青春把人抛下，暗含时光易逝、聚散无常的感慨。若用别字、离字便平淡无奇，唯抛字既写离人的决绝，又写词人的怨怼，还暗含韶华之叹，一字而多义，正是晏殊炼字举重若轻的体现，也为全词奠定了怨而不怒、温厚含蓄的基调。

残 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 楼头残梦五更钟之残字，写尽梦的破碎与夜的凄凉，是炼字的点睛之笔。残本有残破、将尽之意，此处写梦，残梦即将醒未醒、支离破碎的梦。其妙有三：一是写梦之破碎，残梦写出梦境的残缺不全，暗示梦中相聚的美好被惊醒，相见亦如梦，梦亦不可得；二是写夜之将尽，残字暗含五更天晓、长夜将尽之意，与五更钟相呼应，写出独守长夜的孤寂；三是写情之残缺，残梦正是残情，离别后的相思得不到圆满，唯有残缺的梦可供回味。若用好梦便觉轻快，用幽梦则太柔，唯残字既写梦境的破碎，又写心境的残缺，一字而境界全出。晏殊以残字写梦，与李煜帘外雨潺潺，春意阑珊的残春残梦之叹异曲同工，含蓄蕴藉，余味不尽。

缕 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 一寸还成千万缕之缕字，以具象写抽象，是比喻炼字的典范。缕指丝线，此处以千万缕愁丝喻寸心相思，把无形的情感写得可触可感。其妙有三：一是化虚为实，相思本无形，缕字却让它有了丝线的形态，千丝万缕，可见可数，把愁绪的繁密具体化；二是极言愁之多，一寸是极小的心，千万缕是极多的丝，寸心竟生出千万缕愁丝，夸张中见真实，写出相思之深之繁；三是暗含剪不断理还乱之意，丝缕纠缠，正如愁绪纷乱，千头万绪，无从排解。若说一寸愁肠便直露，用缕字则把相思写得如丝线般绵长纤细，且缕与愁在古典诗词中早有联系，如李煜剪不断，理还乱，是离愁，晏殊此句正是以缕喻愁的深化，比喻新奇而贴切，是全词炼字最见功力之处。