岳鄂王墓

Meaning

Zhao Mengfu visited the tomb of Yue Fei, posthumously Duke of E, beside the West Lake and wrote this regulated poem. In eight lines he moves from the desolate graveyard to a historical verdict: as the Southern Song court had fled south and treated the state lightly, the people of the north still watched for the returning army. The hero is dead, and nothing can be done; the realm was divided and could no longer stand. He closes by forbidding the song at the lake, because the scenery itself is already more than grief can carry. The poem is read as restrained self-justification as much as judgement.

鄂王墓上草离离，秋日荒凉石兽危。南渡君臣轻社稷，中原父老望旌旗。英雄已死嗟何及，天下中分遂不支。莫向西湖歌此曲，水光山色不胜悲。

Appreciation

【Plain Paraphrase】Grass covers the Duke of E's grave; the stone beasts stand high in the autumn waste. The court that crossed to the south held the state in cheap esteem while the fathers of the Central Plains looked toward the army's banners. The hero is already dead and the regret is useless; with the realm halved, the balance could not be kept. And so: do not sing this song by the West Lake - the water's light and the hills' colour are more than sorrow can bear.
【Structure】Four couplets, each with a fixed job - the scene, the verdict, the consequence, the restraint - so the poem contracts from the public into the private.
【Imagery】Grass, stone beasts, banners, the halved realm, water and hills: grief is always kept just outside the frame.

【白话串讲】 赵孟頫写《岳鄂王墓》：“鄂王墓上草离离，秋日荒凉石兽危”——“南渡君臣轻社稷，中原父老望旌旗”——“英雄已死嗟何及，天下中分遂不支”——“莫向西湖歌此曲，水光山色不胜悲”——他凭吊岳鄂王墓——水光山色不胜悲。 【意象与手法】 “鄂王墓上草离离、秋日荒凉石兽危”写鄂王墓草；“南渡君臣轻社稷、中原父老望旌旗”写南渡君臣轻社稷；“英雄已死嗟何及、天下中分遂不支”写英雄已死嗟何及；结以“莫向西湖歌此曲，水光山色不胜悲”写水光山色不胜悲。慷慨悲凉。 【情感与主旨】 赵孟頫凭吊岳鄂王墓之作，写南渡君臣轻社稷与英雄已死嗟何及的悲愤，是咏史怀古的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“鄂王墓上草离离，秋日荒凉石兽危”写墓草离离；“南渡君臣轻社稷，中原父老望旌旗”写南渡之耻。

Allusions

The Duke of E is Yue Fei's posthumous title, granted after his rehabilitation; his death in 1142 and the subsequent treaty left the Song and Jin divided along the Huai, which is the halving of the realm in the third couplet. "Crossing to the south" refers to the court's flight south across the Yangtze in 1127 and carries the weight of that decision in a single word. "The old men of the Central Plains look toward the banners" gives the northern people's expectation of a restored frontier army, which the court never attempted. The allusions give the poem its public dimension.

诗中「鄂王墓上草离离秋日荒凉石兽危」「南渡君臣轻社稷中原父老望旌旗」「英雄已死嗟何及天下中分遂不支」「莫向西湖歌此曲水光山色不胜悲」等语，皆含典故故实。「鄂王墓上草离离秋日荒凉石兽危」写鄂王墓上草离离秋日荒凉石兽危；「南渡君臣轻社稷中原父老望旌旗」用南渡之典，写南渡君臣轻社稷中原父老望旌旗；「英雄已死嗟何及天下中分遂不支」写英雄已死嗟何及天下中分遂不支；「莫向西湖歌此曲水光山色不胜悲」写莫向西湖歌此曲水光山色不胜悲。诗人以南渡、旌旗等语入诗，不着痕迹，而把咏史怀古之情写得慷慨淋漓，是善于熔铸典故的体现。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

The poem has been read since the Yuan as an expression of loyalty toward the Southern Song from inside the conqueror's camp, and modern anthologies reproduce it as a model of the memorial poem on history. Its formal quality - even, unhurried, free of loose phrasing - is what its readers return to; the closing couplet in particular is admired for turning grief into a prohibition. Because Zhao's own career was open to criticism, some readers also see the poem as an oblique statement of his position: censure of the southern court, but no renewed allegiance.

这首《岳鄂王墓》，是赵孟頫写咏史怀古之作，写鄂王墓上草离离、南渡君臣轻社稷、英雄已死嗟何及、水光山色不胜悲之情，慷慨悲凉。首联「鄂王墓上草离离，秋日荒凉石兽危」——鄂王墓上草离离，秋日荒凉石兽危。写鄂王墓上草离离：鄂王墓上草离离、秋日荒凉石兽危——墓上草离离、荒凉石兽危；颔联「南渡君臣轻社稷，中原父老望旌旗」——南渡君臣轻社稷（用南渡之典），中原父老望旌旗。写南渡君臣轻社稷：南渡君臣轻社稷、中原父老望旌旗——君臣轻社稷、父老望旌旗；颈联「英雄已死嗟何及，天下中分遂不支」——英雄已死嗟何及，天下中分遂不支。写英雄已死嗟何及：英雄已死嗟何及、天下中分遂不支——已死嗟何及、中分遂不支；尾联「莫向西湖歌此曲，水光山色不胜悲」——莫向西湖歌此曲，水光山色不胜悲。写水光山色不胜悲：莫向西湖歌此曲、水光山色不胜悲——莫歌此曲、不胜悲。这「莫向西湖歌此曲，水光山色不胜悲」，是全诗之结：以水光山色不胜悲写其怀古。全诗慷慨悲凉，以史写情，正是赵孟頫诗中的名篇。

Prosody

Line by line

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