元 Yuan · 曲 Qu song
梧桐雨（节选）
Rain on the Wutong Tree (excerpt)
恨无穷，愁无限，断肠人在帘帷。
嫦娥停不语，玉漏迟迟。
一声声，一句句，尽是相思。
A heartbroken one sits within the curtain;
The moon goddess halts and says nothing;
The jade clepsydra ticks slowly, slowly;
Sound upon sound, line upon line, all is longing.
Meaning
A lyric passage from the zaju 'Rain on the Wutong Tree,' voicing Emperor Minghuang's endless longing for Lady Yang on a rainy night, full of grief and tenderness.
恨意没有尽头，愁绪没有边际，断肠的人独在帘帷之中。嫦娥也停住不语，玉漏声声迟缓。一声声，一句句，全都是相思。
Appreciation
This excerpt opens with direct outcries of boundless hatred and sorrow, then sets a lonely figure within the curtain against the silent moon goddess and the slow clepsydra. The closing lines repeat 'sound upon sound, line upon line' to wind the longing to its peak. The mood is sorrowful and clinging, a famous passage of Yuan lyric feeling. Its plain, repeated phrasing is what makes the grief so palpable.
【白话串讲】 “恨无穷，愁无限，断肠人在帘帷”——白朴写《梧桐雨》：唐明皇与杨贵妃的故事。“嫦娥停不语，玉漏迟迟”——“一声声，一句句，尽是相思”——雨打梧桐，尽是相思。 【意象与手法】以“恨无穷”“愁无限”直抒，以“嫦娥”“玉漏”衬孤寂，末以“一声声，一句句，尽是相思”叠语收束，缠绵悱恻。 【情感与主旨】写雨夜（梧桐雨）中人的无尽相思与断肠之愁，哀婉深挚。 【名句点睛】“一声声，一句句，尽是相思”——叠语回环，把相思写到极致。
Background
Bai Pu's 'Rain on the Wutong Tree' is a celebrated Yuan zaju; this is the famous lyric passage from its fourth act, in which Emperor Minghuang recalls Lady Yang on a rainy night.
《梧桐雨（节选）》为元代白朴所作，是写秋夜相思、断肠帘帷的曲词。白朴（1226—约1306），字太素，号兰谷，隩州人，元代杂剧家、散曲家。此曲：恨无穷，愁无限，断肠人在帘帷。嫦娥停不语，玉漏迟迟。一声声，一句句，尽是相思。全曲写秋夜相思、断肠帘帷，是白朴曲词的名篇。
Art
It blends direct expression with scene-setting support, and uses repetition ('sound upon sound, line upon line') to circle back in lingering grief. The effect is sorrowful, tender, and emotionally dense.
《梧桐雨（节选）》艺术上以秋夜相思的描摹与断肠帘帷的深婉见长。全曲数句：首写恨愁断肠——“恨无穷，愁无限，断肠人在帘帷”写恨无穷、愁无限、断肠人在帘帷；次写嫦娥玉漏——“嫦娥停不语，玉漏迟迟”用嫦娥之典写嫦娥停不语、玉漏迟迟；末写尽是相思——“一声声，一句句，尽是相思”写一声声、一句句、尽是相思。全曲以秋夜相思写断肠帘帷，正是白朴曲词深婉的笔法。
Allusions
The 'moon goddess' stands for lonely isolation in the moon; the 'jade clepsydra' refers to the water clock used to mark time.
《梧桐雨（节选）》用典在“恨无穷”“愁无限”“断肠人”“帘帷”“嫦娥”“玉漏”“一声声”“尽是相思”。“恨无穷”写恨无穷；“愁无限”写愁无限；“断肠人”用断肠之典（断肠人在天涯）；“帘帷”写帘帷；“嫦娥”用嫦娥之典（月中仙子）；“玉漏”写玉漏（玉制更漏）；“一声声”写一声声；“尽是相思”写尽是相思。全曲以这些意象写秋夜相思、断肠帘帷，用典自然而深婉自见，正是白朴曲词的笔法。
Commentary
This act has long been prized as a famous lyric passage of Yuan drama, moving and tender.
《梧桐雨（节选）》是白朴曲词的名篇，也是元曲中写秋夜相思的代表作。此曲写秋夜相思、断肠帘帷，向为论者称道。论者多赏其秋夜相思的描摹与断肠帘帷的深婉——“恨无穷，愁无限，断肠人在帘帷”用断肠之典写恨无穷、愁无限、断肠人在帘帷，深婉之极；“嫦娥停不语，玉漏迟迟”用嫦娥之典写嫦娥停不语、玉漏迟迟，更见其寂；“一声声，一句句，尽是相思”写一声声、一句句、尽是相思，尤见其深。白朴为元曲四大家之一，此曲正是其代表——以秋夜相思写断肠帘帷，正是其曲风。
Prosody
Line by line
恨无穷，愁无限，断肠人在帘帷。
Hatred without end, sorrow beyond measure; the heartbroken one is behind the curtain.
恨无穷，愁无限，断肠人在帘帷。
Grief unending, sorrow boundless; the heart-broken woman sits behind the curtain.
首用断肠之典写恨无穷、愁无限、断肠人在帘帷，是全曲写秋夜相思的起点。“恨无穷，愁无限”写恨无穷、愁无限——“恨无穷，愁无限”写怨恨无穷、愁思无限——恨无穷，愁无限；“断肠人在帘帷”用断肠之典写断肠人在帘帷——“断肠人在帘帷”用断肠之典写断肠之人独在帘帷——断肠人在帘帷。此数句写恨愁无限、断肠帘帷：恨无穷，愁无限，断肠人在帘帷。以“恨无穷，愁无限”写恨愁无限、层层叠叠，以“断肠人在帘帷”用断肠之典写断肠之人、独坐帘帷，正是白朴曲词写秋夜相思的起点——恨愁无限，断肠帘帷。
These lines open the aria, hatred without end, sorrow beyond measure, the heartbroken one behind the curtain. 'Hatred without end, sorrow beyond measure' piles the two emotions in parallel; 'the heartbroken one behind the curtain' names the lonely figure within. The opening of the autumn-night longing sets the grief and the veiled figure at once. If stated as 'endless grief, a heartbroken woman,' the dramatic tone would fade; only through the piled 'without end, beyond measure' and the curtained figure does the aria begin.
嫦娥停不语，玉漏迟迟。一声声，一句句，尽是相思。
The moon goddess pauses, speechless; the jade water clock drags on. Each sound, each phrase, is nothing but longing.
嫦娥停不语，玉漏迟迟。一声声，一句句，尽是相思。
Chang'e stays silent; the jade water-clock crawls. Every sound, every word, is all lovesickness.
末用嫦娥之典写嫦娥停不语、玉漏迟迟、一声声、一句句、尽是相思，是全曲写断肠帘帷的归结。“嫦娥停不语”用嫦娥之典写嫦娥停不语——“嫦娥停不语”用月中仙子之典写嫦娥停驻不语——嫦娥停不语；“玉漏迟迟。一声声，一句句，尽是相思”写玉漏迟迟、一声声、一句句、尽是相思——“玉漏迟迟”写玉漏声迟——“一声声，一句句，尽是相思”写一声声一句句、尽是相思。此数句写嫦娥不语、玉漏迟迟、声声相思：嫦娥停不语，玉漏迟迟。一声声，一句句，尽是相思。以“嫦娥停不语”用嫦娥之典写嫦娥不语、秋夜寂寂，以“一声声，一句句，尽是相思”写声声句句、尽是相思，正是白朴曲词写断肠帘帷的归结——嫦娥不语，声声相思。
These lines close the aria, the silent moon goddess and the slow water clock, each sound longing. 'The moon goddess pauses, speechless' invokes Chang'e in the moon, her silence the image of the sleepless night; 'the jade water clock drags on' writes the slow passage of the night. 'Each sound, each phrase, all is longing' resolves every sound into love. The close turns the long night's clocks and calls into nothing but longing. If stated as 'every sound is full of longing,' the atmosphere would fade; only through the silent Chang'e, the dragging water-clock, and the 'each sound, each phrase' does the aria end in longing.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Compare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
白朴《天净沙·秋》写青山绿水、白草红叶黄花，与本曲同为白朴曲写秋日之情。差异在情致：梧桐雨写秋夜相思之愁；天净沙秋写秋景清丽之清。一写“愁”之深，一写“景”之清。两者并读，可见白朴曲写秋日之情的两种情致。
天净沙·秋思 Autumn Thoughts 马致远 · 同为元曲写断肠愁思，一写断肠帘帷一写断肠天涯，皆深婉 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
马致远《天净沙·秋思》写古道西风瘦马、断肠人在天涯，与本曲同为元曲写断肠愁思。差异在情境：梧桐雨写帘帷相思；秋思写天涯羁旅。一写“帷”之思，一写“涯”之旅。两者并读，可见元曲写断肠愁思的两种情境。
山坡羊·潼关怀古 Song of the Hillside Sheep: Recalling the Past at Tong Pass 张养浩 · 同为元曲写愁怀，一写断肠帘帷一写兴亡之痛，一私一公 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
张养浩《山坡羊·潼关怀古》写伤心秦汉经行处、宫阙万间都做了土，与本曲同为元曲写愁怀。差异在主题：梧桐雨写个人相思；潼关怀古写历史兴亡。一写“私”之情，一写“公”之慨。两者并读，可见元曲写愁怀的两种主题。