Her Last Words by Chen Yi

作品原文

陈毅 《记遗言》

革命流血不流泪，
生死寻常无怨尤。
碧血长江流不尽，
一言九鼎重千秋。

英文译文

Her Last Words
Chen Yi

“For th’ Revolution, blood, not tears, is shed!”
(So the dying heroine, gasping, said.)
Or live or die, all is quite commonplace!
Complaint, regret, there is never a trace.
O so much loyal blood has been in flood,
That not even the Yangtse’ course can hold.
And her one sentence truly bears the weight
Of th’ Nine Tripods (1) —(symbol of power of state),
And will last ages, ’til Time itself grows old!

(1)As an old Chinese legend has it, the Great Yu collected all the copper from the Nine States of China and cast it into nine tripods, symbolizing the Nine States.