With Mother’s Day right around the corner, we’d like to share with you a renowned Chinese poem composed by Meng Jiao(孟郊) in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). It depicts a mother’s generous love, and has been passed down from generation to generation.
[Photo: blog.sina.com.cn]
For your convenience, every line will be presented in this order: pinyin/Chinese characters/literal translation.
yóu zǐ yín
游子吟
Song of a Travelling Son
cí mǔshǒu zhōng xiàn
慈母手中线，
A thread in the hands of a loving mother
yóu zǐshēn shàng yī
游子身上衣。
Is made into clothes for her departing son
lín xíng mì mì féng
临行密密缝，
Carefully she sews stitch by stitch
yì kǒng chíchíguī
意恐迟迟归。
dreading his delayed return
shuí yán cùn cǎo xīn
谁言寸草心，
How can the tiny sprouting grass’s love
bàodésānchūnhuī
报得三春辉。
repay the kindness of the sun for three spring months?
注释 Notes:
游子: travelling son
吟: a kind of poetic/singing format
临行: to leave soon
意恐: be worried about, afraid
归: return
言: say
寸草: little grass (in this poem, it refers to the son)
报得: repay
三春晖: the light of the sun in the three spring months (in this poem, it refers to the mother’s generous love)
