《人间词话》英译（九）

严沧浪《诗话》谓“盛唐诸公唯在兴趣，羚羊挂角，无迹可求。故其妙处，透彻玲珑，不可凑拍。如空中之音、相中之色、水中之影、镜中之象，言有尽而意无穷。”余谓：北宋以前之词，亦复如是。然沧浪所谓兴趣，阮亭所谓神韵，犹不过道其面目；不若鄙人拈出“境界”二字，为探其本也。

Ye Yu in his Ts’ang-lang shih-hua said: ‘The poets of the Golden T’ang period were concerned only about inspiration and interest (hsing-ch’u). Like the antelope that hangs by its horns leaving no discernible traces on the ground, their excellence lay in their crystal-like transparency, no more to be grasped than sound in empty space, changing color in the meaning went on forever’. It is my opinion that the tz’u of the Northern Sung and before were also like this. However, what yen Yu called inspiration and interest and what Wang Shih-chen called spirit and tone (shen-yun) only seem to touch the surface, while the two characters which I have chosen, ching-chieh, really probe the fundamental aspect of poetry.