The literal meaning of the whole poem: I left my hometown when I was young and didn't come back until I was old. Although my accent hasn't changed, my hair on my temples has turned white. Children in my hometown don't even know me when they see me. They asked me with a smile: Where did this guest come from?
The whole poem is as follows: the teenager leaves home, the old man returns, and the local accent has not changed. When children meet strangers, they will smile and ask where the guests are from.
Appreciation of the whole poem:
The poem begins with "when young people leave home, they will go straight to the point, pointing out that there is a long time between leaving home and going home, which already contains deep feelings." The mountains and rivers are still the same, and people are killing each other. The eternity of nature is in sharp contrast with the changefulness of life. What is written here is explicit and implicit "leaving home while young". Different expressions have different artistic effects.
The second sentence, "The local accent has not changed, and the temples are failing", also uses the contrast method, but it is not the contrast between nature and life, but the contrast between language and temples. Once language habits are formed, it is difficult to change them despite years of tempering; Beautiful youth can't last forever. A child's face and black hair can rot in an instant. "The local accent has not changed" is not only a brand that the poet's hometown can never erase, but also a medium for the poet to get close to his hometown children, so it is precious. "The decline of sideburns" is the inevitable result of official travel after leaving home for decades. Fortunately, the fallen leaves return to their roots, and in the twilight of my gray hair, I finally returned to my hometown that I miss so much, so I feel very lucky. The poet's mood at this time is complex, mixed feelings and excited.
Three or four sentences changed from an emotional self-portrait to a dramatic scene in which children smiled and asked questions. "Laugh and ask where the guest comes from", which is just a faint question among children, so stop here; On the poet, it became a heavy blow, which triggered his infinite feelings. In his later years, the sadness of the opposition between subject and object was included in this seemingly dull question.