Línxíng mìmì féng, yìkǒngchíchíguī - mǔqīn de ài cóngwèi gǎibiàn.
Stitching close and tight before departure, fearing he'll be late returning - a mother's love has never changed.
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From Meng Jiao's 孟郊 Mid-Tang poem 《游子吟》 (Song of the Wandering Son): 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 loving mother's hand-drawn thread, the wandering son's worn outfit. On the eve of departure she sews close and tight, her heart fearing his late return. Who says the heart of an inch-tall blade of grass can ever repay three spring-times of sunlight?' The canonical classical poem on maternal love.
usage
Always cited alongside 临行密密缝. 意 here = mind / heart; 迟迟 = slowly, delayed. A favorite line on Mother's Day and in filial-piety contexts.
