宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
虞美人·曲阑干外天如水
The Beauty of Yu: Outside the Curved Railings, the Sky, Like the Water
曲阑干外天如水。
昨夜还曾倚。
初将明月比佳期。
长向月圆时候、望人归。
罗衣著破前香在。
旧意谁教改。
一春离恨懒调弦。
犹有两行闲泪、宝筝前。
Last night, still, once, leaned.
At first, the bright moon, compared, the fine period.
Long, toward, the time of the moon's round, looking, the man, returning.
The silk robe, worn through, the former fragrance, in.
The old meaning, who, teaches, to change.
One spring of the parting grief, lazy, tuning, the strings.
Still, having, the two lines of the idle tears, before the treasure zither.
Meaning
A lyric of the waiting and the tears, written by Yan Jidao. Outside the curved railings, the sky like the water, last night still once leaned, and the bright moon compared the fine period, looking the man returning at the time of the moon's round — the waiting of the opening. The silk robe worn through with the former fragrance in, the old meaning who teaches to change — the former fragrance and the old meaning. One spring of the parting grief lazy tuning the strings, and the close's two lines of the idle tears before the treasure zither — the tears of the close. The lyric is the waiting and the tears: the moon's round, the former fragrance, and the close's tears before the zither.
曲阑干外，天如水。昨夜还曾倚。初将明月比佳期。长向月圆时候、望人归。罗衣著破，前香还在。旧意谁教改。一春离恨，懒调弦。犹有两行闲泪、宝筝前。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] Outside the curved railings, the sky, like the water. Last night, still, once, leaned. At first, the bright moon, compared, the fine period. Long, toward, the time of the moon's round, looking, the man, returning. The silk robe, worn through, the former fragrance, in. The old meaning, who, teaches, to change. One spring of the parting grief, lazy, tuning, the strings. Still, having, the two lines of the idle tears, before the treasure zither. [Structure and Thought] The lyric moves from the waiting of the railings and the moon, through the former fragrance and the old meaning, to the close's lazy tuning with the two lines of the idle tears before the treasure zither. [Key Technique] The lyric's art is the tears of the close: the former fragrance of the robe and the old meaning unchanged, and the close's idle tears before the zither — the waiting gathered in the fragrance and the close's tears. [Emotional Tone] Tender, sorrowful, and waiting: the lyric is the moon's round, the former fragrance and the close's tears.
【白话串讲】 晏几道写《虞美人·曲阑干外天如水》：“曲阑干外天如水。昨夜还曾倚”——“初将明月比佳期。长向月圆时候、望人归”——“罗衣著破前香在。旧意谁教改”——“一春离恨懒调弦。犹有两行闲泪、宝筝前”——他写盼归——长向月圆时候望人归。 【意象与手法】 “曲阑干外天如水。昨夜还曾倚”写倚栏之景；“初将明月比佳期。长向月圆时候、望人归”写望月盼归；“罗衣著破前香在。旧意谁教改”写旧情难忘；结以“一春离恨懒调弦。犹有两行闲泪、宝筝前”写离恨闲泪。含蓄婉转。 【情感与主旨】 晏几道写女子怀人之作，写倚栏望月、盼人归与旧情难忘的深情，是晏几道词中婉约写情的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“初将明月比佳期。长向月圆时候、望人归”以明月比佳期写盼归；“一春离恨懒调弦。犹有两行闲泪、宝筝前”以宝筝闲泪写离恨。
Background
Yan Jidao (1038–1110), the poet of the lyrics of the Song, wrote this 'The Beauty of Yu: Outside the Curved Railings, the Sky, Like the Water' of the waiting and the tears — the longing of the parting. The waiting of the railings with the moon's round, the former fragrance of the robe with the old meaning, and the close's two lines of the idle tears before the treasure zither — the lyric gathers the longing of the poet, the tenderness of the waiting. The lyric is one of the famous works of the poet's lyrics of the longing.
《虞美人·曲阑干外天如水》为北宋词人晏几道所作词。晏几道（1038—1110），字叔原，号小山，临川（今江西抚州）人，晏殊之子，北宋词人，词风婉约，多写离情别恨，与其父晏殊并称「二晏」。此词写女子怀人。词中「曲阑干外天如水。昨夜还曾倚」写倚栏之景；「初将明月比佳期。长向月圆时候、望人归」写望月盼归；「罗衣著破前香在。旧意谁教改」写旧情难忘；「一春离恨懒调弦。犹有两行闲泪、宝筝前」写离恨闲泪。晏几道多写离情，此词以女子倚栏望月、盼人归之情写怀人，含蓄婉转，是晏几道词中的名篇，也是其「婉约深婉」词风的典型体现。此篇《虞美人·曲阑干外天如水》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《虞美人·曲阑干外天如水》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。
Art
The lyric's art is the art of the waiting. The waiting opens: outside the curved railings, the sky, like the water — the sky like the water; last night, still, once, leaned — the leaning of last night; at first, the bright moon, compared, the fine period — the fine period of the moon; long, toward, the time of the moon's round, looking, the man, returning — the looking of the moon's round. The fragrance follows: the silk robe, worn through, the former fragrance, in — the former fragrance of the robe; the old meaning, who, teaches, to change — the old meaning unchanged. And the close gathers the tears: one spring of the parting grief, lazy, tuning, the strings — the lazy tuning of the strings; still, having, the two lines of the idle tears, before the treasure zither — the tears before the zither — the waiting, the fragrance and the close's tears, gathered in the lyric.
此词艺术上以「含蓄婉转、以月写情」见长。全词上下片各四句，上片写倚栏望月、盼人归，下片写旧情难忘、离恨闲泪。上片「曲阑干外天如水。昨夜还曾倚」写倚栏之景：曲阑干外，天如水；昨夜还曾倚。「初将明月比佳期。长向月圆时候、望人归」写望月盼归：初将明月比佳期；长向月圆时候、望人归。下片「罗衣著破前香在。旧意谁教改」写旧情难忘：罗衣著破，前香还在；旧意谁教改。「一春离恨懒调弦。犹有两行闲泪、宝筝前」写离恨闲泪：一春离恨，懒调弦；犹有两行闲泪、宝筝前。全词含蓄婉转，以月写情，是晏几道词中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。
Allusions
'The fine period' (jia qi) is the fine period — the fine period of the meeting, the moon compared; 'the treasure zither' (bao zheng) is the treasure zither — the zither of the treasure, the tears before; 'the two lines of the idle tears' (liang xing xian lei) are the two lines of the idle tears — the tears of the idle, the close of the lyric.
词中「天如水」「明月比佳期」「罗衣著破前香在」「宝筝」等语，皆含典故故实。「天如水」写天色如水之澄澈，杜牧《秋夕》「天阶夜色凉如水」，古诗词多以如水写夜色；「明月比佳期」以明月圆缺比佳期聚散，「长向月圆时候、望人归」写每逢月圆便望人归，暗含月圆人未圆之恨；「罗衣著破前香在」写罗衣虽破而前香犹在，暗含旧情难忘之意；「宝筝」为筝之美称，写离恨时懒于调弦、唯余闲泪于筝前。词人以天如水、明月、前香、宝筝等意象入词，不着痕迹，而把怀人之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸意象的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。
Commentary
This lyric is one of the famous works of Yan Jidao's lyrics of the longing, quoted for the tenderness of its waiting and the tears of its close. The moon's round of the looking, and the two lines of the idle tears, are among the admired passages of the poet's lyrics. Critics praise the lyric's tenderness: the waiting gathered in the fragrance, to the close's tears.
这首《虞美人·曲阑干外天如水》，是晏几道写女子怀人之作，写倚栏望月、盼人归之情，含蓄婉转。上片写倚栏望月、盼人归：「曲阑干外天如水。昨夜还曾倚」——曲阑干外，天如水；昨夜还曾倚。写倚栏之景：曲阑干外，夜色如水；昨夜还曾倚着阑干——「还曾倚」，见其不是今夜才倚，昨夜已倚，倚栏之久、盼归之切；「初将明月比佳期。长向月圆时候、望人归」——初将明月比佳期；长向月圆时候、望人归。写望月盼归：当初以明月比佳期，从此每逢月圆时候，便望人归——月圆而人未归，正见其盼归之切、之怅。这「长向月圆时候、望人归」，是全词上片之眼：月圆盼人归，而人终不归。下片写旧情难忘、离恨闲泪：「罗衣著破前香在。旧意谁教改」——罗衣著破，前香还在；旧意谁教改。写旧情难忘：罗衣虽已著破，而前香犹在；旧日情意，谁教它改——以罗衣著破而前香在，写旧情难忘；「一春离恨懒调弦。犹有两行闲泪、宝筝前」——一春离恨，懒调弦；犹有两行闲泪、宝筝前。写离恨闲泪：一春离恨，懒于调弦；唯有两行闲泪，落在宝筝前。这「犹有两行闲泪、宝筝前」，是全词之结：离恨一春，懒调弦而唯余闲泪，其人其情，宛然在目。全词含蓄婉转，以月写情，正是晏几道「婉约深婉」词风的典型，也是其词中的名篇。
Prosody
Line by line
曲阑干外天如水。
Beyond the winding balustrade, the sky is like water.
曲阑干外，天如水。
Beyond the winding balustrade, the sky is clear as water.
首句写倚栏所见之景，起笔即见其境。「曲阑干外天如水」写曲阑干外、天如水，「曲阑干」写曲折之阑干，点出倚栏之处，「天如水」写夜色如水之澄澈。一句以「天如水」写夜色之澄澈明净，写尽倚栏望月之时景，起笔即定下清冷明净之调，为全词写望月盼归作铺垫，是「以景起兴」的妙笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。
The opening writes the scene seen from the railing, the realm visible from the first stroke. 'Beyond the winding balustrade, the sky is clear as water' — 'winding balustrade' names the curved rail and the place of leaning, 'sky like water' the limpidity of night. One phrase writes the limpid night through 'sky like water,' exhausting the scene of leaning to watch the moon, fixing the cold, clear keynote from the first stroke, preparing for the ci's watching the moon and longing for return — a fine stroke of 'raising feeling through scenery.' In a few words it exhausts deep meaning, waves hidden between the characters, worth repeated pondering.
长向月圆时候、望人归。
Always, when the moon is round, I watch for the one who should return.
长向月圆时候、望人归。
Always, when the moon grows full, I watch for my loved one's return.
此句写望月盼归，是全词上片之眼。「长向月圆时候、望人归」写长向月圆时候、望人归，「长向」写其长久以来每逢，「月圆时候」写月圆之时，「望人归」写其望人归来。一句以「长向」写其盼归之恒久、以「月圆时候」写其望归之时，写其每逢月圆便望人归——月圆而人未归，正见其盼归之切、之怅。以月圆写人未圆，含蓄而深挚，是「以月写情」的点睛之笔。
This line writes watching the moon and longing for return, the eye of the ci's upper stanza. 'Always, when the moon grows full, I watch for my loved one's return' — 'always' the long habit of every time, 'when the moon grows full' the time of watching, 'watch for return' the gaze toward the one who should come. One phrase writes the constancy of longing through 'always' and the time of watching through 'when the moon grows full,' writing how, whenever the moon is round, she watches for his return — the moon round while the man not returned, showing the keenness and wistfulness of her longing. Writing the man's non-return through the round moon, restrained and deep — an illuminating stroke of 'writing feeling through the moon.'
罗衣著破前香在。
My silken robe is worn to rags, yet the old fragrance lingers on.
罗衣著破，前香还在。
The silk robe is worn through, but the scent of former days is still there.
此句写旧情难忘，是全词写情的关键。「罗衣著破前香在」写罗衣著破、前香还在，「罗衣著破」写罗衣已穿破，「前香在」写衣上旧香还在。一句以「著破」与「前香在」相对，写罗衣虽破而前香犹在——衣上旧香犹在，正如心中旧情难忘。以物写情，含蓄而深挚，是「以物写情」的妙笔，也是全词由写望月转入写旧情的枢纽。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。
This line writes the unforgettable old love, the key to the ci's feeling. 'The silk robe is worn through, but the scent of former days is still there' — 'silk robe worn through' the garment frayed, 'old fragrance lingers' the scent upon it remaining. One phrase sets 'worn through' against 'old fragrance lingers,' writing how the robe is frayed yet its old scent remains — the scent upon the garment lingering, like the old love in the heart unforgettable. Writing feeling through the object, restrained and deep — a fine stroke of 'writing feeling through objects,' and the hinge where the ci turns from watching the moon to the old love. In a few words it exhausts deep meaning, waves hidden in the plainness.
犹有两行闲泪、宝筝前。
Still, two idle tears fall before the jeweled zither.
犹有两行闲泪、宝筝前。
There are still two lines of idle tears, before the jeweled zither.
尾句写离恨闲泪，是全词立意的落点。「犹有两行闲泪、宝筝前」写犹有两行闲泪、宝筝前，「两行闲泪」写两行清泪，「宝筝前」写其在宝筝之前。一句以「两行闲泪」写其泪下、以「宝筝前」写其所在，写其懒于调弦、唯余两行闲泪于宝筝之前——离恨一春，无计可消，唯余闲泪。以泪写恨，含蓄深挚，是全词最动人处，也是「以泪写情」的点睛之笔。
The closing writes parting grief and idle tears, where the ci's meaning lands. 'Still, two idle tears fall before the jeweled zither' — 'two idle tears' the falling tears, 'before the jeweled zither' the place where she sits. One phrase writes the weeping through 'two idle tears' and the place through 'before the jeweled zither,' writing how, too listless to tune the strings, only two idle tears remain before the jeweled zither — parting grief a whole spring, no way to dispel it, only idle tears left. Writing grief through tears, restrained and deep, it is the most moving place of the ci and an illuminating stroke of 'writing feeling through tears.'
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Compare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
晏几道《晏几道·阮郎归·天边金掌露成霜》「天边金掌露成霜，云随雁字长」「绿杯红袖趁重阳，人情似故乡」，写秋日重阳怀人之情，是晏几道写秋怀的名篇；《虞美人·曲阑干外天如水》则以「长向月圆时候、望人归」「罗衣著破前香在」写望月盼归、旧情难忘。两词同出晏几道之手、同写怀人之情：一写金掌露成霜之秋景、以雁字绿杯写情，一写曲阑干外天如水之夜色、以明月前香写情；一为重阳之怀、一为月圆之盼，并读正可见晏几道「婉约深婉」写怀人的两种情景，皆于景中见怀人之情。
晏殊·蝶恋花·槛菊愁烟兰泣露 Butterfly Loves Flower · Rail Chrysanthemum in Mourning Mist, Orchid Weeping Dew 晏殊 · 同写秋日望月怀人之情，一写槛菊愁烟与明月不谙离恨、一写曲阑干外天如水与长向月圆望人归，皆以明月写离恨 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
晏殊《晏殊·蝶恋花·槛菊愁烟兰泣露》「明月不谙离恨苦，斜光到晓穿朱户」「昨夜西风凋碧树，独上高楼，望尽天涯路」，写秋日离恨、望尽天涯，是宋词写离愁的名篇；晏几道《虞美人·曲阑干外天如水》则以「长向月圆时候、望人归」写望月盼归。两词同写秋日望月怀人之情：一写明月不谙离恨苦、以怨月写恨，一写长向月圆望人归、以盼月圆写盼；一为父晏殊之温润、一为子晏几道之深婉，并读正可见「二晏」写月下离愁的传承与不同，皆以明月写离恨。