"Don't tell me women 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
mixed media on paper, 2008
