Wanderer's Song by Meng Jiao

At the graduation ceremony, Hannah's class recited two Tang Dynasty poems :  'Seng guan que lou' ('On the Stork Tower') by Wan Zhi Huan and 'You zi yin' ('Wanderer's Song') by Meng Jiao

Mèng Jiaō (孟郊,751-814) spent many years as a recluse and a poet in Southern China, associating himself with the Zen Buddhist poet-monks of the region.   Eventually, at forty years of age, he settled in the area of the metropolis of Luoyang.   His pursuit of poetry and failure until late in life to pass the imperial examinations resulted in his living a life in which necessities were scarce.  Nevertheless, he succeeded in writing many successful poems and becoming an influential leader in terms of poetic innovation.   Two of his poems are included in the Three Hundred Tang Poems collection.  One of which - "遊子吟" ('Wanderer's Song') - is one of the most famous Classical Chinese poems.    (Wikipedia)

The 'Wanderer's Song' is a well-known and popular poem that nicely expresses the obligation to return parental love, a conventional virtue in Chinese morality. The poem is relatively simple and easy to understand even for speakers of modern Chinese.   (http://www.cjvlang.com/Pfloyd/mengch.html)

WANDERER'S SONG  (Translation by A. C. Graham)

The thread in the hand of a kind mother

Is the coat on the wanderer's back.

Before he left she stitched it close

In secret fear that he would be slow to return.

Who will say that the inch of grass in his heart

Is gratitude enough for all the sunshine of spring?

Note:  according to Graham, thoughts are traditionally thought to occupy a hollow space in the heart one inch square - hence the one inch of grass image.

遊子吟

yoú zǐ yín

wanderer song

慈母手中線

cí mǔ shǒu zhōng xiàn 

loving mother hand-inside (=in the hand) thread

遊子身上衣

yoú zǐ shēn shàng yī 

wander child (=person) body-on (=on the body) clothing

臨行密密縫

lín xíng mì mì féng 

on-the-point-of go dense dense sew

意恐遲遲歸

yì kǒng chí chí guī 

think/mind fear late late return

誰言寸草心

shuí yán cùn cǎo xīn

who say inch grass heart

報得三春暉

bào dé sān chūn huī 

repay-kindness three spring sunshine

To hear this in chinese click on this link.  (Or go to Youtube and search for "you zi yin threesseventwoshop").  Hannah and I love this video.  I expect it gives you an idea of how Gao Lau Shi taught the poem to Hannah's class.