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.
