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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

游子吟

Song of the Wandering Son

孟郊

Meng Jiao

亲情family affection 母爱a mother's love

慈母手中线，游子身上衣。
临行密密缝，意恐迟迟归。
谁言寸草心，报得三春晖。

The thread in the kind mother's hand
becomes the coat on the wandering son's back.
Before he leaves she sews it stitch on close stitch,
fearing in her heart that he will be slow to return.
Who says the heart of an inch-high blade of grass
can repay the sunlight of three spring months?

Listen

Meaning

The needle and thread in a kind mother's hands become the coat worn on her wandering son's back. Before he sets out she sews and sews with the closest stitches, fearing in her heart that the boy will be slow to come home. Who says that a heart small as an inch of grass can ever repay a kindness deep as the sunlight of spring?

慈母手里的针线，缝出游子身上的衣裳。临行前密密地缝啊缝，心里只怕孩子迟迟不能回还。谁说那小草般微薄的心意，能报答得了春日阳光般深厚的恩情。

Appreciation

The poem shakes the heart with an everyday detail. The first four lines take a single scene—a mother sewing before her son departs. 'The thread in the kind mother's hand' answers 'the coat on the wandering son's back', and the poem begins from cloth and thread; 'stitch on close stitch' gives the fineness of the act, and 'fearing in her heart that he will be slow to return' reads the mother's mind, so that deep feeling shows where nothing is said. The last two lines set 'the heart of an inch-high blade of grass' against 'the sunlight of three spring months', and the figure is exact and telling: children are small grass, a mother's love is the spring sun. The question 'who says it can be repaid' throws the impossibility of repayment against the depth of the debt. From the concrete the poem passes to the boundless, and from the small to the great; the words are plain and the feeling full.

【白话串讲】 “慈母手中线，游子身上衣。临行密密缝，意恐迟迟归”——孟郊五十岁才当上官，想起母亲。“谁言寸草心，报得三春晖”——小草的心意，怎么报答得了春天的阳光？这是中国人写母亲最动人的一首。【意象与手法】诗以日常细节撼人心魄。前四句截取「临行密缝」一幕：「慈母手中线」对「游子身上衣」，以衣线起兴；「密密缝」写动作之细，「意恐迟迟归」揣母亲心理，于无声处见深情。后两句以「寸草心」对「三春晖」，设喻精警——子女如小草，母爱如春阳，反问「谁言报得」，以不可能报答反衬恩情之深。由实入虚，以小见大，淡语皆浓。【情感与主旨】孟郊一生困顿，四十六岁始中进士，五十岁任溧阳尉，遂迎母亲同住，此诗题下自注「迎母溧上作」。诗人半生漂泊、仕途坎坷，晚得微禄方能奉养慈母，抚今追昔，以白描写母亲临行密缝之景，抒寸草难报春晖之恩，凝聚中华孝亲文化的深厚情感。【名句点睛】本诗为必背名篇，常入中高考。考点：①「密密缝」「意恐迟迟归」的细节与心理描写；②「寸草心」「三春晖」的比喻及其表达效果；③由实入虚、以小见大的抒情手法。

Background

Meng Jiao lived in hardship all his life, passed the presented-scholar examination only at forty-six, and at fifty was made sheriff of Liyang, whereupon he brought his mother to live with him; the poet's own note under the title says that it was written on welcoming his mother to Li. After half a lifetime of drifting and of failure in office, he could support his mother only when a small salary came late; looking back from that moment he painted in plain strokes the scene of his mother sewing before a departure, and voiced the debt that an inch of grass can never pay to the spring sun. The language is as plain as speech, yet the poem became the first of all poems in praise of mothers, gathering the deep feeling of the Chinese culture of filial love.

孟郊（751—814），字东野，湖州武康人，中唐诗人，与贾岛并称郊寒岛瘦。其一生困顿：屡试不第，四十六岁方中进士，五十岁始任溧阳尉，晚年还曾任协律郎等微官，贫寒终身，后饿寒交迫，暴卒于赴任途中。此诗题下自注「迎母溧上作」，作于孟郊任溧阳尉、迎养老母之时。诗人半生漂泊、功名蹭蹬，早年游历求仕，母亲倚闾而望、临行缝衣的情景想必屡见屡感；至五十岁方得微禄奉养慈母，抚今追昔，遂以白描写母亲临行密密缝之景，抒寸草难报春晖之恩。诗中「游子」既是诗人自况，也是天下离乡儿女的共名，故能超越一时一地，成为千古颂母的第一诗，凝聚着中华民族孝亲文化的深厚情感。诗中游子与慈母的意象，既是孟郊个人的生命体验，也是古代中国千千万万离乡求学、求仕之人的共同记忆。唐代科举制度使大量士子远离家乡远赴京师，临行缝衣、倚门而望的场景在唐代极为普遍，此诗正是这一时代生活与普遍亲情的艺术结晶。故其迎母溧上之作，实为半生漂泊后的一份迟来的报答，诗中愧怍与感恩交织，正是此种心境的自然流露。

Art

The poem moves the reader by an everyday detail. The first four lines cut out one scene, the sewing before departure: 'the thread in the kind mother's hand' is matched against 'the coat on the wandering son's back', and the poem rises from cloth and thread; 'stitch on close stitch' renders the fineness of the act, and 'fearing in her heart that he will be slow to return' guesses at the mother's thought, so that in silence deep love appears. The last two lines match 'the heart of an inch-high blade of grass' with 'the sunlight of three spring months', a figure both exact and startling: the child is little grass, the mother's love the spring sun, and the rhetorical 'who says it can be repaid' uses the impossibility of repayment to set off the depth of the debt. From the solid the poem passes into the boundless, seeing the great in the small, so that plain words are all richness.

诗以日常细节撼人心魄，艺术上由实入虚、以小见大。前四句截取「临行密缝」这一最常见也最动人的生活场景：「慈母手中线」对「游子身上衣」，以衣线起兴，针线连着母子，寻常物事暗含血脉相连；「密密缝」写动作之细，针脚越密，牵挂越深；「意恐迟迟归」揣母亲心理，缝衣之时已忧虑归期，于无声处见至情。后两句忽由实入虚：「谁言寸草心，报得三春晖」，以寸草比喻子女微薄之心，以三春晖比喻母爱如春日阳光，设喻精警——反问「谁言报得」，以不可能报答反衬恩情之深。全诗语言质朴如话，无一华丽辞藻，却于最平淡处见最深厚的感情，淡语皆浓，是「深情出之以浅语」的典范。值得注意的是，全诗虽以白描为主，却并非平铺直叙：前四句是实写，以线、衣、缝、归四个生活细节构成完整的送别场景；后两句是虚写，以寸草、春晖的比喻将情感升华。实写见其真，虚写见其深，虚实相生，遂使一首六句的小诗具有了撼人心魄的力量，千载之下读之，犹觉慈母之音容宛在目前。

Allusions

The figure at the heart of the poem grows out of the imagery of spring sunshine in the Book of Songs. 'The sunlight of three spring months' transforms the poem Gentle Wind in the Airs of Bei, with its thorn shoots tender and its mother worn with toil, together with the sense of spring warmth nourishing all things, so that the spring sun figures a mother's love; 'the heart of an inch-high blade of grass' comes from the old poem on the green grass by the river and likens filial feeling to a slender plant. Meng Jiao's other poem The Wanderer, on day-lilies growing by the hall steps, may be read beside it. The borrowings leave no trace, turning the Confucian duty of filial love into household images that anyone can feel, and so the poem became the archetype of praise for mothers.

诗中比喻本于经典而化用无痕。「三春晖」承《诗经·邶风·凯风》「凯风自南，吹彼棘心。棘心夭夭，母氏劬劳」——凯风即南风，喻母爱之温暖，春日阳光照临万物、化育草木，与凯风养棘心同义，诗人以春晖喻母爱，实承诗经凯风颂母的传统而更明朗化。「寸草心」取春草寸寸向荣、心向阳光之意，以微草自况孝心之薄；「谁言」「报得」的反问句式，本自汉乐府「谁言寸草心」一类民歌口吻，质朴自然。孟郊另有《游子》诗「萱草生堂阶，游子行天涯」可互证其以物喻亲恩的一贯手法。用典不露痕迹，将儒家孝亲之义化为人人可感的家常意象，遂成颂母原型。《凯风》以凯风比母德，《游子吟》以春晖比母爱，一喻之转换，正见后世对母爱的理解由化育转向温暖；寸草之心与春晖之光的对照，更把子女的感恩与无奈写得淋漓尽致，遂成为中国人表达孝思最凝练的语言。诗中「谁言」之反诘，又承汉乐府「谁言寸草心」一类民歌口吻，质朴而有力，使比喻带上歌谣的亲切感。

Commentary

Su Shi spoke of Meng Jiao as 'cold' and Jia Dao as 'lean', yet this poem prevails by warmth alone. The Song writer Zhou Mi recorded that in it 'every word flows straight from the heart'. Zhong Xing, at the end of the Ming, judged it 'wholly allegory, and yet never losing its warmth'. Since the Song it has stood beside the Book of Songs poem Gentle Wind as a classic in praise of mothers, and to this day the phrase about the inch of grass and the spring sunshine serves in common speech for filial love—an influence deep and unbroken.

苏轼谓「郊寒岛瘦」，然此诗独以温厚胜，盖真情所至，寒瘦之习气尽去。宋人周密《浩然斋雅谈》录其「字字皆从肺腑流出」之评；明末钟惺评此诗「全是托讽，然不失温厚」。自宋以还，此诗与《诗经·凯风》并列为颂母经典，《凯风》温厚含蓄、此诗深挚明快，一古一今，各极其致。民间至今以「寸草春晖」为感念亲恩的成语，可见其影响已超出文学领域，成为孝亲文化的语言符号。诗中「临行密密缝，意恐迟迟归」两句，亦成为母亲关爱游子的经典画面，被反复引用与传诵。其语言之质朴、情感之真挚、比喻之精当，使它跨越时代，历千年而传诵不衰，是唐诗中「以少胜多」的典范之作。历代评者皆以「至情」二字许此诗，以为非真情不能至此；其语言之质朴、意境之温馨、情感之深挚，使它成为中国人表达母爱的共同语言，也确立了孟郊在文学史上以苦吟写至情的独特地位。诗中慈母形象之朴素与伟大，正合中国人心目中对母亲的共同想象，故能超越阶级与时代，成为民族共同的情感记忆。

Prosody

Form Five-character ancient-style verse (a new-titled yuefu)五言古诗（新题乐府）

Rhyme Ancient style; the last three lines rhyme in the Ping-shui upper level fifth group wei (yi, gui, hui)五古，末三句押平水韵·上平五微（衣、归、晖）

Tone pattern Not determinable (ancient style)古体，不拘平仄，音节自然流畅

Reading note The poet's note under the title says it was written on welcoming his mother to Li; plain detail made it the first of poems in praise of mothers, and 'inch of grass, spring sunshine' became an idiom of filial love.此诗为五言古诗，题下自注「迎母溧上作」，虽体制短小（六句），却是一首完整的五古短章。前四句两两对起，慈母对游子、手中线对身上衣、密密缝对迟迟归，工整而不板滞；后两句以「谁言」领起，转入议论抒情，散句作结，骈散相间，正合古诗「起、承、转、合」之法。押上平五微韵，衣、归、晖三韵字皆平声，声调平和中正，与诗情的温厚相应。全诗以口语入诗，明白如话，而音韵自然谐畅，是孟郊「作诗苦吟」之外的另一面——当其真情迸发时，竟能于不经意间达到质朴天成之境，故能成为传诵千古的颂母名篇。其声调平易近人，正合孝亲之情的普遍表达。

Line by line

慈母手中线，游子身上衣。

The thread in the kind mother's hand becomes the coat on the wandering son's back.

慈母手中的针线，缝出游子身上的衣裳。

The thread in the loving mother's hand becomes the coat on the wandering son's back.

以衣线起兴，对起工整：慈母手中线与游子身上衣，一针一线连起母子两身。线是寻常之物，衣是寻常之物，而「手中线」与「身上衣」相承相续，暗含母子血脉相连、牵挂相系的深层意蕴——母亲手中的线，织成了游子身上的衣，也织进了她的全部牵挂。两句不加任何修饰，纯以白描出之，却为全诗定下质朴深挚的基调，是「以寻常语写不寻常情」的开篇。

Opening through coat and thread, parallel refined: the thread in the kind mother's hand and the coat on the wandering son's back; one needle one thread joining mother and son's two bodies. Thread is an ordinary thing, coat an ordinary thing, yet the hand's thread and the back's coat follow one another, secretly holding the deep meaning of mother and son's blood bond and mutual care - the mother's hand thread weaves into the wandering son's coat, and weaves in all her care. The two lines without any adornment, purely in plain drawing, yet set the poem's plain, deep keynote; the opening of writing the uncommon emotion in common words.

临行密密缝，意恐迟迟归。

Before he leaves she sews it stitch on close stitch, fearing that her boy will be slow to return.

临行前密密地缝啊缝，心里只怕孩子迟迟不能回还。

Before he leaves she sews it close stitch on close stitch, fearing he will be long returning.

细节写母爱之周，心理揣母爱之深。「密密缝」写动作：针脚越密，衣越结实，越耐得住远行风霜，母亲把对儿子一路平安的祈愿都缝进了针脚；「意恐迟迟归」写心理：衣裳未缝完，已忧儿子归来之迟，缝衣之时的每一针都伴着盼归之念。一外一内，一动一思，将母亲临行的牵挂写得具体可感。两句无一句说爱，而爱之深、念之切已溢于言表，是于无声处见至情的典范。

The detail writes the mother's thoroughness; the psychology writes its depth. Close stitch on close stitch writes the action: the denser the stitches, the tougher the coat, the more it resists the road's wind and frost; the mother sews her prayer for her son's safe journey into every stitch. Fearing he will be long returning writes the psychology: before the coat is finished, she already grieves the lateness of his return; every stitch of the sewing is accompanied by the thought of his coming back. One outer one inner, one action one thought, writing the mother's parting care concretely and sensibly. The two lines not one word of love, yet the love's depth and longing's earnestness overflow the words - the model of seeing the ultimate feeling in the silence.

谁言寸草心，报得三春晖。

Who says the heart of an inch-high blade of grass can repay the sunlight of three spring months?

谁说小草般微薄的心意，能报答得了春日阳光般深厚的恩情。

Who says the inch-long grass heart can repay the three-spring sun?

设喻精警，以不可能报答反衬母恩之深：寸草喻子女之心，微小而有限；三春晖喻母爱，如春日阳光普照万物，无私而无限。小草沐春晖而生，却永远报不完春晖之恩，正如儿女承母爱而长，却永远报不尽母爱之情。两句由前文的实写白描陡转入虚写比喻，反问作结，将具体场景升华为人人皆有的情感体验，由实入虚，以小见大，收束有力而余韵悠长。

The metaphor incisive, using the impossibility of repayment to set off the mother's love: the inch-long grass metaphorizes the child's heart, small and finite; the three-spring sun metaphorizes maternal love, like spring sunlight flooding all things, selfless and infinite. The grass grows bathed in spring sun, yet can never repay the spring sun's grace; as children grow up borne by maternal love, yet can never repay it. The two lines turn from the previous solid plain drawing abruptly into void metaphor, closing in rhetorical question, sublimating the concrete scene into the emotional experience all people share; from solid to void, from small see large, the close forceful, the aftertaste long.

Study

Word focus

密密 It describes stitches set close together, showing how carefully the mother sews the coat before the parting; in the action itself one sees her reluctance and her love. 「临行密密缝」之「密密」，形容针脚细密，写母亲临行缝衣的用心周至。密密二字叠用，既是视觉上针脚之密，也是心理上牵挂之密——母亲把说不出口的不舍与担忧，都化作密密的针脚；衣越密实，儿行越远越安心。叠词的音韵也绵密悠长，与缝衣动作的反复相应，于细微处见深情，是白描中见功力的典型用字。针脚之密，正见牵挂之深。

恐 To worry, to dread: it reads the mother's mind, afraid that her son will travel far and be slow to come home, and this single word says all her anxious longing. 「意恐迟迟归」之「恐」，担忧、唯恐之意，是揣写母亲心理的关键字：儿子还未启程，母亲已怕他迟迟不归；一个「恐」字道尽牵念——恐路远，恐年久，恐归迟，恐衣破，种种忧惧皆凝于一字。以「意恐」直接揭示母亲的心理活动，使密缝的动作有了内在的情感依据，母子深情因此更加具体、深沉。一恐字，写尽母亲所有的忧与念。恐字一出，母之慈、爱之深，皆在目前。

报得 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「报得三春晖」之「报得」，报答得了之意，以反问出之，语带愧怍与无奈。报字见出子女的感恩之心，得字见出报恩之难——春晖无私，寸草难报，不是不愿报，而是根本报不尽。二字将「谁言」的反问落到实处，使全诗的情感由赞美母爱进而转为子女的深切愧疚，感恩之诚与报答之难并见，最能动人心弦。反问之中，感恩与无奈并见，其情愈真。

游子吟