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这是一首久客异乡、缅怀故里的感怀诗。写于初来乍到之时，抒写久客伤老之情。
“少小离家老大回”，诗一开始，就紧扣题目，单刀直入，点明离家与回乡相距年岁之久、时间之遥，其中已蕴藏着很深的感慨。这感慨在同题第二首诗中即有明白的描写：“离别家乡岁月多，近来人事半消磨。惟有门前镜湖水，春风不改旧时波。”山河依旧，人事消磨，将自然的永恒与人生的多变作了鲜明的对照。这里是明写，在“少小离家老大回”中是隐含，表现手法不同，艺术效果也不同。
第二句“乡音无改鬓毛衰”用的也是对比法，但不是自然与人生的对比，而是语言与鬓发的对比。语言习惯一经形成，虽经岁月磨砺也难以更改；美好青春难以永驻，童颜黑发转眼即可衰颓。“乡音无改”既是故乡在诗人身上打下的永远抹不掉的烙印，又是诗人亲近故乡儿童的媒介，所以弥足珍贵；“鬓毛衰”本是离乡数十年来宦游奔波的必然结果，幸而叶落归根，在白发飘萧的垂暮之年，终于返回朝思暮想的故乡，因而倍觉幸运。诗人这时的感情是悲喜交集，感慨与激动参半。
三四句从充满感慨的一幅自画像，转而为富于戏剧性的儿童笑问的场面。“笑问客从何处来”，在儿童，这只是淡淡的一问，言尽而意止；在诗人，却成了重重的一击，引出了他的无穷感慨，自己的老迈衰颓与反主为宾的悲哀，尽都包含在这看似平淡的一问中了。全诗就在这有问无答处悄然作结，而弦外之音却如空谷传响，哀婉备至，久久不绝。
就全诗来看，一二句尚属平平，三四句却似峰回路转，别有境界。后两句的妙处在于背面敷粉，了无痕迹：虽写哀情，却借欢乐场面表现；虽为写己，却从儿童一面翻出。而所写儿童问话的场面又极富于生活的情趣，即使读者不为诗人久客伤老之情所感染，也不能不被这一饶有趣味的生活场景所打动。
此诗运用了三种对比：通过少小离家与老大回乡的对比，以突出离开家乡时间之长；通过乡音难改与鬓毛易衰的对比，以突出人事变化速度之快；通过白发衰翁与天真儿童的对比，委婉含蓄地表现了诗人回乡欢愉之情和人世沧桑之感，并且将这两种迥不相同的感情水乳交融地凝合在一起。全诗采用白描手法，在自然朴素的语言中蕴藏着一片真挚深厚的感情。读之如饮醇醪，入口很淡，而后劲无穷。▲
appreciation
This is a sentimental poem about visiting a foreign country for a long time and remembering the hometown. It was written at the time when I first came here to express the feeling that long guests hurt the old.
“The young leave home and the old return home”. At the beginning of the poem, the poem closely followed the topic and went straight in, pointing out that the distance between leaving home and returning home is years and years away, which already contains deep feelings. This feeling is clearly described in the second poem of the same title: “I have been away from my hometown for many years, but recently my life has been half spent. Only the water in the mirror lake in front of my door, the spring breeze does not change the old waves.” The mountains and rivers remain unchanged, and the personnel are killed, which makes a sharp contrast between the eternity of nature and the changefulness of life. Here is the explicit writing, which is implied in the “young leave home and old return”. The artistic effect is different with different expression methods.
The second sentence, “The local voice has no change, and the hair on the temples has gone down”, also uses the contrast method, but it is not the contrast between nature and life, but the contrast between language and hair on the temples. Once a language habit is formed, it is difficult to change it even though it has been honed by years; It is difficult for a beautiful youth to last forever, and a child’s face and dark hair will soon fade. The “unchanged local voice” is not only the indelible brand of the hometown on the poet, but also the medium for the poet to get close to the children in the hometown, so it is precious; “Hair loss” was originally the inevitable result of official wandering for decades after leaving home. Fortunately, the leaves fell to their roots and finally returned to their hometown, where they missed so much in their twilight years. The poet’s feelings at this time were mixed with sadness and joy, emotion and excitement.
Three or four sentences changed from a self portrait full of emotion to a scene of dramatic children laughing and asking questions. “Laugh and ask where the guests come from”. In children, this is just a subtle question, and the words do not stop; In the poet, it was a heavy blow, which led to his endless feelings. His aging and decline and the sadness of being an object of rebellion were all contained in this seemingly plain question. The whole poem is quietly concluded at the place where there are questions but no answers, while the voice beyond the string is like a hollow, which is so sad and ready for a long time.
As far as the whole poem is concerned, one or two sentences are still mediocre, while three or four sentences seem to have a different realm. The beauty of the last two sentences lies in the powder coating on the back, which has no trace: although it is sad, it is expressed by the happy scenes; Although it is to write about oneself, it is to be found from the side of children. The scene of children’s questioning is full of interest in life. Even if the reader is not affected by the poet’s feelings of hurting the old after a long visit, he cannot help but be moved by this interesting life scene.
This poem uses three kinds of contrast: through the contrast between leaving home as a young person and returning home as a eldest, it highlights the long time of leaving home; Through the comparison between the inflexible local accent and the perishable sideburns, the speed of personnel changes is highlighted; Through the contrast between the white haired old man and the innocent children, the poet tactfully and implicitly expresses the poet’s happy feeling of returning home and the sense of the vicissitudes of life, and combines these two different feelings together. The whole poem adopts the line drawing technique, and contains a sincere and deep feeling in the natural and simple language. Reading it is like drinking mellow mash. The taste is weak and the stamina is endless. ▲
