3. Tune: Su Muzhe (Fan Zhongyan)
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
碧云天，黄叶地，秋色连波，波上寒烟翠。山映斜阳天接水，芳草无情，更在斜阳外。
English translation
Blue clouds fill the sky; yellow leaves cover the ground. Autumn hues merge with the waves, where a cool green haze rests above the water. Mountains catch the slanting sun as sky meets river. The grasses seem indifferent to the speaker’s longing, stretching beyond even the sunset.
Original Chinese text
黯乡魂，追旅思，夜夜除非，好梦留人睡。明月楼高休独倚，酒入愁肠，化作相思泪。
English translation
Homesickness darkens the spirit, and the cares of travel pursue the speaker. Night after night, only a welcome dream can hold the sleeper in rest. Beneath the bright moon, one should not lean alone against a high tower: wine enters the sorrowful heart and turns into tears of longing.
词句注释 · Notes
上片 · First stanza
上片先以“碧云”“黄叶”铺出高远而辽阔的秋景，再把秋色、水波、寒烟、斜阳和芳草连成一片。结句“更在斜阳外”把视线推向天边，也让离愁有了可望而难及的空间。
The opening stanza builds a spacious autumn scene from blue clouds, yellow leaves, waves, cool haze, mountains, and sunset. “Beyond the setting sun” pushes the gaze toward a distant horizon, giving separation a visible yet unreachable space.
下片 · Second stanza
下片由远景转入羁旅者的内心。“夜夜除非”写好梦难得；“休独倚”像是劝慰，也显出独处之苦。末句把饮酒排愁反转成相思落泪，是全词情绪的收束。
The second stanza turns from landscape to the traveler’s inner life. “Night after night” makes restful dreams seem rare, while “do not lean alone” sounds like comfort that also reveals loneliness. The final image reverses wine’s usual role as consolation: it becomes tears of longing.