Homecoming

Introducion:

This poem tells what the poet encounters when he returns home in the old age. Home-spun and exquisitely worded, the poem is very easy to understand and remember.   

 

Text：

Huí Xiāng ǒu Shū

回     乡     偶  书

贺知章(唐)

 

Shào xiǎo lí jiā lǎo dà huí ，xiānɡ yīn wú gǎi bìn máo cuī。

 少   小   离家  老  大 回 ， 乡    音  无 改  鬓   毛    衰。

ér tóng xiāng jiàn bù xiāng shí，xiào wèn kè cóng hé chù lái。

儿 童    相    见   不   相    识， 笑   问   客   从   何 处   来。

 

Homecoming

He Zhizhang(Tang)

 

I left home when young, now returned, I become old,

My accent as before, yet thin and grey grows my hair.

The children recognize me not when me they behold,

And inquire from where have I come, from where?

 

Comment:

 

This poem tells what the poet encounters when he returns home in the old age. The first two lines give an account of his happiness at coming home in his advanced year. But, strange to relate, in the next two lines the children in his home village consider him a stranger, stopping him on the way and asking him with a smile where he has come from. They are so innocent and cute to the old returnee. Home-spun and exquisitely worded, the poem is very easy to understand and remember.