The River All Red - Yueh Fei

By the railing I stand,
Showers have stopped,
I bristle with wrath, my hair uncaging.
My eyes towards the sky,
To arms! Long I cry,
To war, for a heavenly cause! I m raging.
My decade of deeds, as dust I deem, short of the final victory,
O er thousands of miles, day or night, been in battle engaging.
So take it to heart, get set!
Lest, in vain, we ll regret,
Turned grey, our youthful heads, on ageing.

Held captive still, our sovereigns,
Unavenged, this burning shame!
When? Why! Now is the hour!
To burn out our vengeful flame.
Oh, charge! You columns of chariots!
Crash that gap at Helan-Shan! Crush it in heaven s name!
In hunger, we eat their body, in thirst, we drink their blood!
We ll so boast of our bravery, as if them tartars were game.
All over again, in rally we stand:
Our homeland of old, to recapture,
Our emperor, All hail! to acclaim.

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Yueh Fei (1102 - 1141) China
Translated by Andrew W.F. Wong (Huang Hongfa)
See the original Chinese here