这首词是描写仙凡恋爱的。开头点出桃溪，引用刘、阮遇仙之典故自怜缘浅。轻写一笔，委婉动人，“秋藕”句重顿一笔。而“桃溪”、“秋藕”一暗一明，分点春秋，暗寓昔今不同。“当时”、“今日”，对比强烈情深意切。而“赤栏桥”、“黄叶路”又是一暗一明，分点春秋。“人如”、“情似”的结尾句，工整合情。全词句句含情，字字含情，前后照应，累累如贯珠。
《玉楼春·桃溪不作从容住》 周邦彦
桃溪不作从容住，
秋藕绝来无续处。
当时相候赤栏桥，
今日独寻黄叶路。
烟中列岫青无数，
雁背夕阳红欲暮。
人如风后入江云，
情似雨余粘地絮。
Broken Lotus Root
(To the Tune of Yulouchun)
Zhou Bangyan
Young, we threw away the pastoral years.
Now like a broken lotus root it is,
impossible to join the present
and the past. Then,
we waited for each other,
standing by the vermilion-railed bridge.
Today, I search for the traces, in van,
along the deserted path buried under yellow leaves.
Through the mist, all the peaks
seem to be highlighting the blue.
Setting on the back of a wild goose,
the sun turns into a dark red.
You left, like a cloud drifting away,
across the river. The memory of
our passion is like a willow catkin
stuck to the ground, after the rain.
