There are badass poets and then there are badass poets. Qiu Jin is one of those badass feminist poets who made her mark.
I am going to have to circle back and write a full blog post about Qiu Jin because she was an extraordinary woman who earned the badass name “Female Knight of Mirror Lake”. For now I am going to post one of her poems titled “Capping Rhymes With Sir Shih Ching From Sun’s Root Land – Poem by Qiu Jin”.
Capping Rhymes With Sir Shih Ching From Sun’s Root Land – Poem by Qiu Jin
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?