Chinese poems · 孟郊 Meng Jiao · Tang dynasty
游子吟 Song of the Wanderer
A mother sewing her son’s clothes before he leaves, each stitch tight in case he is long away: China’s best-known poem about a mother’s love.
慈母手中线，
The thread in a loving mother’s hands
游子身上衣。
is the coat on her wandering son.
临行密密缝，
Before he leaves she sews it close and tight,
意恐迟迟归。
afraid he will be late coming home.
谁言寸草心，
Who says a blade of grass
报得三春晖。
can repay the sunshine of spring?
What does 游子吟 mean?
游子吟 is “Song of the Wanderer”. A mother sewing her son’s clothes before he leaves, each stitch tight in case he is long away: China’s best-known poem about a mother’s love.
What is the pinyin of 游子吟?
cí mǔ shǒu zhōng xiàn / yóu zǐ shēn shàng yī / lín xíng mì mì féng / yì kǒng chí chí guī / shuí yán cùn cǎo xīn / bào dé sān chūn huī.
Who wrote 游子吟?
Meng Jiao (孟郊), a poet of the Tang dynasty.
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Poems over a thousand years old; the English and pinyin are ours, the pinyin as Chinese schools teach it.