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 wornoutfit. 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.
