《夜雨寄北》——秦观

独在异乡为异客，
每逢佳节倍思亲。
遥知兄弟登高处，
遍插茱萸少一人。

If you ever have to describe what homesickness feels like, this poem by the Song Dynasty poet Qin Guan is the perfect way to do it. The title of the poem is "Night Rain Sent North," and it perfectly captures the feelings of longing and nostalgia that we all feel when we are away from home.

Qin Guan was a poet who lived during the Song Dynasty, and he was famous for his elegantly written verses that expressed complex emotions with simple yet powerful words. In this poem, he writes about how he feels like a stranger in a foreign land, and how he misses his family and the traditions that he grew up with.

The first line of the poem, "Du zai yixiang wei yike," literally means "Being alone in a strange place makes one a stranger," and it sets the tone for the entire poem. Qin Guan is telling us that he feels isolated and disconnected from the world around him, and that he longs for the sense of belonging that he had in his homeland.

The second line of the poem, "Meifeng jiejie beisiqin," is a bit harder to translate. The word "meifeng" refers to a special kind of festival in the Song Dynasty, and "jiejie" can mean "doubly" or "especially." So, the line could be translated as "On special festivals, I miss my family doubly." This line is particularly poignant, as it shows how much Qin Guan loved his family and how much he missed them when he was away from them.

The third line of the poem, "Yaozhi xiongdi denggao chu," is a bit easier to understand. It means "I know my brothers are climbing high places," and it shows how Qin Guan imagines his family celebrating the festival without him. The fourth and final line of the poem is the most powerful, as it reads "Biancha zhuyu shao yiren," which means "Everywhere there are bamboo leaves and chrysanthemums, but there is one person missing."

This line perfectly captures the feeling of homesickness, as Qin Guan describes how he can imagine the festival happening around him, but he still feels like something is missing. This line is especially poignant, as Qin Guan uses the visual imagery of bamboo leaves and chrysanthemums to show how close he feels to his homeland even when he is far away.

In the end, what makes this poem so powerful is the way it captures the complex emotions of homesickness and longing. Qin Guan uses simple yet elegant language to describe the feelings we all have when we are away from home, and he shows us just how much we can miss our families and traditions. Whether you are a student studying abroad or simply far away from the place you call home, this poem will remind you that you are not alone in your feelings of longing and nostalgia.