There are many poems written by the ancients about fathers' gratitude and longing for their sons. A brief list is as follows:
1. "Village Night" Tang Dynasty: Bai Juyi
Shuang The grass is full of green grass and insects, and there are no people walking to the south of the village or to the north of the village.
Going out the front door alone to look at the wild fields, the moon is bright and the buckwheat flowers are like snow.
Translation: In a patch of gray-white autumn grass beaten by frost, small insects were whispering, and there were no pedestrians around the mountain village. I came to the front door alone and looked at the fields. I saw the bright moonlight shining on the endless buckwheat fields. The buckwheat flowers on the ground were like a dazzling white snow.
2. "Business Master" Anonymous
The love is deeply regretted, and the beloved son's heart is broken.
My loving father’s hair grows gray as he thinks about me from afar, and I can’t sleep at night because of my concern.
I try my best to protect you, but I still feel ashamed. The love for licking the calf is deep and deep, and this heart will never retreat.
Translation: The love between father and son is deep, but I regret that I didn’t love you well at the beginning. Now my longing for my son seems to have been crushed. My kind father had some gray hairs in his mind because of his thoughts, and he could not sleep with worry every night. I am willing to give everything I have to my children, even if this is not enough. The feeling of being like a calf will never go away.
3. "The Great Night Work" Tang Dynasty: Gao Shi
The hotel is sleepless under the cold light, how can the guests become so sad?
My hometown is far away tonight, and I will see another year of frost on my temples tomorrow.
Translation: I was lying alone in the hotel, with the cold light shining on me, and it was hard to fall asleep for a long time. What is it that makes me, a tourist, feel desolate and sad? People in my hometown must be missing me tonight, who is thousands of miles away; my hair on the temples has turned gray, and tomorrow will be a new year.
4. "The Golden Sage" Anonymous
He was ashamed to be a father and died young because he had no food.
The lotus (pity) child feels bitter in the heart, and the pear (li) child has soreness in the abdomen.
Translation: As a father, I am very ashamed. There is not enough food and the child dies. When I felt sorry for the child, I felt so painful in my heart, and when I thought of leaving the child, there was a burst of sadness in my belly.
5. "Arriving Home at the End of the Year" Qing Dynasty: Jiang Shiquan
My love for my son is endless, and I am happy to return home. The cold clothes are densely stitched, and the letters home are freshly inked.
When we meet, we pity the thin man, and call him to ask about his hardships. I feel ashamed of the son of man and dare not sigh in the dust.
Translation: The love for children is endless, and the happiest thing is that the wanderer returns in time. The stitches used to sew the cold clothes are densely packed, and the ink marks on the letters home are as good as new. My mother felt distressed when she saw her son losing weight, and called me to inquire about the hardships of the journey. Mother, my son is already ashamed of you and will not have the heart to tell you about the troubles he suffered while living abroad.