Listen to this article方孝孺 楷书：王维《送沈子归江东》
【释文】杨柳渡头行客稀，罟师荡桨向临圻。唯有相思似春色，江南江北送君归。
【款识】方孝孺书。
【简析】
王维大约在开元二十八、二十九年（740、741）知南选，至襄阳（今属湖北）。他集子里现存《汉江临眺》、《晓行巴峡》等诗，可见他在江汉的行踪不止襄阳一处。沈子福，不详。长江从九江以下往东北方向流。江东，指长江下游以东地区。看诗题和头两句的意思，这诗当是作者在长江上游送沈子福顺流而下归江东之作。
渡头是送客之地，杨柳是渡头现成之景。唐人有折柳送行的习俗。这里写杨柳，不仅写现成之景，更是烘托送别气氛。行客已稀，见境地的凄清，反衬出送别友人的依依不舍之情。第一句点明送别之地。第二句醒出“归江东”题意。罟（ｇǔ古）师，渔人，这里借指般夫。临圻，当指友人所去之地。
友人乘船而去，诗人依依不舍，望着大江南北两岸，春满人间，春光荡漾，桃红柳绿，芳草萋萋。这时，诗人感觉到自己心中的无限依恋惜别之情，就象眼前春色的无边无际。诗人忽发奇想：让我心中的相思之情也象这无处不在的春色，从江南江北，一齐扑向你，跟随着你归去吧？“惟有相思似春色，江南江北送君归”，多么美丽的想象，多么蕴藉而深厚的感情！将自然界的春色比心灵中的感情，即景寓情，情与景妙合无间，极其自然。状难写之景如在目前，便算是诗家能事。这里藉难写之景以抒无形之情，功夫当然又深了一层。写离情别绪哀而不伤，形象丰满，基调明快，这是盛唐诗歌的特色。牛希济的《生查子》有这样的两句：“记得绿罗裙，处处怜芳草。”写的是少妇对远行人临别的叮咛：记住我的绿罗裙吧！你无论到哪里，那里的芳草都呈显着我的裙色，都凝结着我对你的相思，你要怜惜它啊！──这话也讲得非常之含蓄，非常之婉转，非常之好。与王维“惟有相思似春色，江南江北送君归”诗句比较，手法相同，思路相近，但感情一奔放一低徊，风格一浑成一婉约，各具姿态，而又同样具有动人的艺术魅力。
【Simple Translation】
Wang Wei was a poet in southern China around the 28th and 29th years of the Kaiyuan era (740 and 741), when he went to Xiangyang (now part of Hubei). The poems “A View of the Han River” and “A Dawn Journey to Ba Gorge” are extant in his collection, so it is clear that his travels in Jianghan were not limited to Xiangyang. Shen Zifu, unknown. The Yangtze River flows in a northeasterly direction from below the Jiujiang River. Jiangdong, referring to the area east of the lower Yangtze River. The title of the poem and the meaning of the first two lines suggest that the poem was written by the author to send Shen Zifu back down the Yangtze River to Jiangdong.
The ferry is a place to send off guests, and the willows are a ready-made scene at the ferry. The Tang people had the custom of folding willows to send off their passengers. Here the willow is not only a ready-made scene, but also sets the mood for the farewell. The fact that the visitors are already scarce shows the bleakness of the place, which contrasts with the reluctance of the farewell friends. The first line specifies the place of farewell. The second line brings out the meaning of the title “Return to Jiangdong”. The word 罟 (gǔgu) means fisherman, and here it refers to a fisherman. Linqi refers to the place where the friend is going.
The poet was reluctant to let go of his friend’s boat and looked at the north and south banks of the river, where spring was in full bloom, the peach and willow were green, and the grass was luxuriant. At this time, the poet felt the infinite feeling of parting in his heart, just like the boundless spring colors in front of him. The poet suddenly thought: Let my heart’s longing for you be like the ubiquitous spring colors, from the north and south of the river, and follow you home, right? “What a beautiful imagination, what a profound feeling! It is extremely natural to compare the spring colors of nature with the feelings in the heart, i.e., the scene implies emotions, and the emotions and the scene are in perfect harmony. The poet is able to describe the difficult scenes as if they were present. Here, the poet uses the difficult scene to express the invisible emotion, so of course the effort is deeper. It is a characteristic of the poetry of the Sheng Tang Dynasty that the poems are written with sorrowful but not sad feelings of parting, with rich images and bright tones. Niu Xiji’s “Sangchazi” has two lines like this: “Remembering the green skirt, everywhere pitying the fragrant grass.” The poem is about a young woman’s parting words of advice to a distant traveler: Remember my green dress! Wherever you go, the grass there will show the color of my skirt and my love for you! These words are also very subtle, very polite and very good. It is similar to Wang Wei’s poem “Only love for each other is like the color of spring, Jiangnan and Jiangbei send you back”, with the same approach and similar ideas, but with one spirited feeling and one hovering, and with one sophisticated style and one gentle style, each with its own style, but with the same moving artistic charm.
