Song lyric · ci to the tune Ye You Gong宋词 · 词·夜游宫

yè夜yóu游gōng宫·rén人qù去xī西lóu楼yàn雁yǎo杳

wú吴wén文yīng英Wu Wenying · Song宋

Night Journey to the Palace: She Has Left the West Tower

rén人qù去xī西lóu楼yàn雁yǎo杳

xù叙bié别mèng梦

yáng扬zhōu州yí一jiào觉

yún云dàn澹xīng星shū疏chǔ楚shān山xiǎo晓

tīng听tí啼wū乌

lì立hé河qiáo桥

huà话wèi未liǎo了

yǔ雨wài外qióng蛩shēng声zǎo早

xì细zhī织jiù就

shuāng霜sī丝duō多shǎo少

shuō说yǔ与xiāo萧niáng娘wèi未zhī知dào道

xiàng向cháng长ān安

duì对qiū秋dēng灯

jǐ几rén人lǎo老

Underlined words have notes: tap one. The Pinyin button below shows or hides all pinyin. 一 and 不 are marked with the tone you actually say.字下有虚线的，点开有注释。下方的“拼音”按钮可以显示或隐藏全部拼音。“一”“不”标的是实际读出来的变调。

Line by line逐句翻译

人去西楼雁杳She has left the west tower, and the geese are gone; no letters come.她离开了西楼，大雁也飞得无影无踪，书信断了。
叙别梦In a dream I tell her how I have missed her,我在梦里和她诉说离别的心事，
扬州一觉and the past is like one long dream of Yangzhou.往事就像扬州的一场梦。
云澹星疏楚山晓I wake: thin clouds, a few stars, dawn on the far hills.醒来时云很淡，星星稀疏，远山已经发亮。
听啼乌In the dream I heard the crows caw梦里我听着乌鸦啼叫，
立河桥as we stood on the bridge over the river,和她站在河上的桥边，
话未了and our talk was not yet done.话还没有说完。
雨外蛩声早Beyond the rain, the crickets start to chirp early.雨声之外，蟋蟀早早地叫了起来，
细织就Thread by thread they weave它们细细地织呀织，
霜丝多少who knows how many frost-white hairs.不知给我织出了多少白发。
说与萧娘未知道If I told her all this, she would never know.这些话说给她听，她也不会知道。
向长安Here in the capital,在京城里，
对秋灯facing a lonely autumn lamp,对着秋夜的孤灯，
几人老how many grow old as I do?有几个人像我这样老去呢？

Words字词注释

西楼xī lóu: xī lóu: the west tower, where the poet and his love used to meet.西楼：词人和恋人从前相会的地方。
雁杳yàn yǎo: yàn yǎo: the wild geese have vanished. People said geese carried letters, so this means no more letters come.雁杳：大雁飞得没有了踪影。古人说大雁能传信，这里是说连书信也断了。
叙别梦xù bié mèng: xù bié mèng: to pour out, in a dream, how much they missed each other.叙别梦：在梦里诉说离别后的思念。
扬州一觉yáng zhōu yí jiào: yáng zhōu yī jiào: a borrowing from Du Mu's line about ten years in Yangzhou passing like a dream; the past feels like a single dream.扬州一觉：借用杜牧“十年一觉扬州梦”的诗句，意思是往事像一场梦。
澹dàn: dàn: pale and thin.澹：淡，轻薄。
楚山chǔ shān: chǔ shān: the hills of Chu, meaning far southern hills in general.楚山：南方的山。这里泛指远处的山。
啼乌tí wū: tí wū: crows cawing at dawn.啼乌：清晨啼叫的乌鸦。
话未了huà wèi liǎo: huà wèi liǎo: the talk is not yet finished.话未了：话还没有说完。
蛩qióng: qióng: a cricket.蛩：蟋蟀。
织就zhī jiù: zhī jiù: woven. The cricket was also called the hurry-up-and-weave insect, so its chirping is said to weave.织就：织成。蟋蟀又叫“促织”，所以说它的叫声好像在织东西。
霜丝shuāng sī: shuāng sī: hair as white as frost.霜丝：像霜一样白的头发。
萧娘xiāo niáng: xiāo niáng: Lady Xiao, a common name in Tang and Song poems for a beloved woman.萧娘：唐宋诗词里常用来称呼所爱的女子。
长安cháng ān: cháng ān: Chang'an, the old Tang capital; here it stands for the Southern Song capital Lin'an, today's Hangzhou.长安：本是唐朝的都城，这里借指南宋的都城临安，也就是今天的杭州。
几人老jǐ rén lǎo: jǐ rén lǎo: how many people grow old like this, facing an autumn lamp.几人老：有几个人像我这样，对着秋灯一天天变老。

How to read it读音

觉jiào: Here it means a sleep, so it is read jiào, not jué.“一觉”是睡一觉，“觉”读 jiào，不读 jué。
了liǎo: Here it means not finished, read liǎo, not le.“未了”是没有说完，“了”读 liǎo，不读 le。

Background创作背景

This is a poem about a dream. The poet dreams he is talking with the woman he has parted from, by a bridge over a river, and wakes before they finish. It is an autumn dawn, rain is falling and crickets chirp. The words toward Chang'an are usually taken to mean he was in Lin'an, the Southern Song capital. Scholars disagree about who the woman was. One view says she was a companion of his from his years in Suzhou, but this cannot be settled.

这是一首写梦的词。词人梦见和分别的恋人在河桥边说话，话还没说完就醒了。醒来已是秋天的清晨，下着雨，蟋蟀在叫。词中说“向长安”，一般理解为他当时在南宋都城临安。词人思念的这位女子是谁，学者有不同说法，一说是他在苏州时的姬妾，现在无法确定。

The poet作者

Wu Wenying (about 1200 to about 1260), also called Mengchuang, meaning Dream Window, was a Southern Song ci poet. He never held high office and spent many years as an aide to officials around Suzhou and Hangzhou. His words are rich and his thoughts leap about, so his poems feel as hard to grasp as dreams. He wrote many poems missing a past love, and this is one.

吴文英（约1200—约1260），号梦窗，南宋词人。他一生没有做过大官，长期在苏州、杭州一带给官员做幕僚。他的词用词华丽，意思跳跃，像梦一样难以捉摸。他写了很多怀念旧日恋人的词，这首就是其中之一。

The mood意境

This poem is like a dream, and then the blank stare after waking. In the first half, she is gone and the letters have stopped, so they can meet only in dreams. In the dream they stand on a bridge, hear the crows, and talk about their parting. But the talk is not finished when he wakes, and all that is left are thin clouds, a few stars and the brightening hills. Words left unsaid are the saddest part. The second half is the autumn after waking. Rain falls and the crickets keep chirping. The poet imagines the crickets are weaving his white hair, an idea both fresh and heartbreaking. He wants to tell her how he misses her, but she will never know. At last, facing an autumn lamp, he asks how many grow old as he does. Setting the warm dream beside the cold waking makes his loneliness feel deeper.

这首词像一场梦和梦醒后的发呆。上阕开头，人走了，信也断了，只能在梦里相见。梦里两人站在河桥边，听着乌鸦叫，说着离别的话，可“话未了”，梦就醒了，只剩下淡云疏星和发亮的远山。话没说完，是最让人遗憾的地方。下阕写醒来后的秋天。雨还在下，蟋蟀叫个不停。词人觉得蟋蟀好像在“织”他的白头发，这个想象又新奇又心酸。他想把这份思念告诉她，可她根本不会知道。最后对着一盏秋灯，问有几个人像自己这样慢慢变老。梦里的温暖和醒后的冷清放在一起，让孤独显得更深。