〈菩薩蠻〉五首為晚唐詞人韋莊 (836?~910) 暮年入蜀後，追憶平生亂離漂泊之作。五首聯章，首敘當年悵然離鄉，而心懷早歸之願。次寫流寓江南，雖景物絕美仍無法取代故鄉，「未老莫還鄉」暗示早歸之願難酬，然歸鄉之念則未曾或忘。三章寫再度漂泊，遠離江南始覺斯時斯景之美，下片狂放決絕語背後隱含國破家亡、欲歸無由的隱痛。四章自勸珍重眼前，實則歷經喪亂已知歸鄉無望，世變無常，不忍思量。終章以凝望斜暉投遞對故鄉、美人的思憶作結，悵惻難言之痛在春日風景映照中倍顯沉重。值得注意的是，作為追憶之作，詞表面呈現的是一個「流逝」的過程，故鄉故國、美人愛情、青春歲月、浪漫心境乃至希望的擁有等，皆隨時光流逝而失去，然象徵美好初始的春日意象，卻重複出現在時空變遷的五首詞中。如此構思安排是否有特殊用意？是否在意識一切不斷流逝的同時，已是暮年的詞人渴望藉此「尋回」內心曾有的美好初衷、純淨本質？或藉此為自己的生命經歷進行某種形式的修補、詮釋與辯護？本文將以詞人生平及詞作分析為基礎，透過宇文所安 (Stephen Owen) 等有關追憶主題及伊利亞德 (Mircea Eliade) 神聖時間論述，探析〈菩薩蠻〉五首中春意象的內蘊。

The late-Tang poet Wei Zhuang 韋莊 wrote a sequence of five ci 詞 to the tune “Pu sa man＂菩薩蠻 during his final years spent in Sichuan. The poems are a recollection of a life spent wandering in the shadow of political upheaval. The first poem describes the sense of loss at leaving his hometown and his wish for an early return. The second describes drifting from place to place in Jiangnan 江南, which however beautiful its scenery can never replace his homeland. The line“Never to return home before I am old＂未老莫還鄉 suggests a dream unfulfilled yet tenacious. The poet’s second period of wandering is the subject of the third poem in the sequence; the poet reflects on the beautiful scenery of Jiangnan, which he has already left behind. Behind a torrent of forthright and unrestrained language, the second stanza hints at the hidden anguish the civil unrest and ensuing exile has caused him. In the fourth poem of the series, the poet reminds himself to treasure the present; the truth, however, is that it is too painful to think about the impossibility of returning to a home that has experienced such loss and upheaval, to a world that has become volatile. The sequence concludes with the poet gazing into the sunset while remembering his homeland. Set in contrast with this spring scene, the poet’s sorrow is all the more apparent. Viewed as recollection, on the surface the sequence describes everything being in a process of slipping away; his homeland, his loves, the days and romantic heart of his youth, and ultimately his hopes, are all being lost with the passage of time. However, spring imagery, symbolizing the beginning of happiness, repeatedly appears amidst all the changes expressed in the five ci. Does this serve any particular purpose? Could it be that while coming to the realization that everything passes away, the poet in his declining years is trying to somehow retrieve his pure essence and original aspirations through his poetry? Or could it be an attempt to patch up or re-interpret his life story, or to defend his life choices? Using both biographical and textual analysis as a basis, this essay will explore the significance of the spring imagery of Wei Zhuang’s “Pu sa man＂sequence in the light of theories developed by Stephen Owen and Mercea Eliade.