独在异乡为异客
Alone in another land, a stranger away from home,
每逢佳节倍思亲
At every festival I miss my family all the more.
遥知兄弟登高处
Far away I imagine my brothers climbing the heights,
遍插茱萸少一人
Wearing dogwood sprigs, with one person missing.
What the poem means
Away from home, the poet misses family especially at festival time. He imagines his brothers climbing with dogwood sprigs and noticing his absence. Shandong here means east of Mount Hua, not simply today's province.
Meet the poet
Wang Wei was a Tang poet. Far from home, he imagines family together at a festival, with his own place empty.
Wang Wei · More poems →