Song of the Wanderer 游子吟
Song of the Wanderer
Meng Jiao (Tang)
The thread moves in the hand of the mother kind,
To weave a garment for the wanderer to wear.
As the mother plies the needle with much care,
Anxiety for her son's tarry out so troubles her mind.
Oh, can the tender plant have enough to pay,
For the sunshine of so many a spring day?
Comment:
By presenting the everyday scene of Mother sewing the garment for her departing son, the poet glorifies the greatest universal love in the world--
cí mǔ shǒu zhōng xiàn ， yóu zǐ shēn shàng yī 。
慈母 手 中 线 ， 游 子 身 上 衣 。
lín xíng mì mì féng ，yì kǒng chí chí guī 。
临 行 密 密 缝 ， 意 恐 迟 迟 归 。
shuí yán cùn cǎo xīn ， bào dé sān chūn huī 。
谁 言 寸 草 心 ， 报 得 三 春 晖 。
a mother' s cherishes for her children. The poem comes in three couplets, with the first couplet describing the details such as the thread in the fond mother's hand, the son's garment and the next two ones showing the concept from abstract to concrete. All this goes to show Mother' s deep love and care for her son, the son' s memory of his mother' s kindness and his distress at leaving home and failure to repay Mother's goodness. The verse evokes response in all children' s hearts as well as their profound love for mothers. The last line rings the message loud in the ears of the reader: who would say that he can give enough to pay off the debts of gratitude to Mother? It also raises the question: how should children care for their loving parents who take pains to bring them up?
