Don't tell me womenA writer. A poet. A feminist. A revolutionary. A hero.
are not the stuff of heroes,
I alone rode over the East Sea's
winds for ten thousand leagues.
My poetic thoughts ever expand,
like a sail between ocean and heaven.
I dreamed of your three islands,
all gems, all dazzling with moonlight.
I grieve to think of the bronze camels,
guardians of China, lost in thorns.
Ashamed, I have done nothing;
not one victory to my name.
I simply make my war horse sweat.
Grieving over my native land
hurts my heart. So tell me;
how can I spend these days here?
A guest enjoying your spring winds?
- Qiū Jǐn (1875-1907) translated by Zachary Jean Chartkoff
She believed and fought for FREEDOM, for women's rights to marry, to be educated, to be free of bound feet...
