Xiang Yu - Song of Gaixia

The Song of Gaixia (垓下歌), translated as The Hegemon's Lament by Burton Watson, was a song composed by Xiang Yu while he was trapped by Liu Bang's forces at Gaixia (in present-day Lingbi County, Anhui).

《垓下歌》

The Hegemon's Lament

力拔山兮氣蓋世。

My strength plucked up the hills,
 My might shadowed the world;

時不利兮騅不逝。

But the times were against me,
 And Dapple runs no more;

騅不逝兮可奈何！

When Dapple runs no more,
 What then can I do?

虞兮虞兮奈若何！

Ah, Yu, my Yu,
 What will your fate be?

Read more about this topic:  Xiang Yu

Famous quotes containing the words song of and/or song:

    “I describe family values as responsibility towards others, increase of tolerance, compromise, support, flexibility. And essentially the things I call the silent song of life—the continuous process of mutual accommodation without which life is impossible.”
    —Salvador Minuchin (20th century)

    “Christianity only hopes. It has hung its harp on the willows, and cannot sing a song in a strange land. It has dreamed a sad dream, and does not yet welcome the morning with joy. The mother tells her falsehoods to her child, but, thank heaven, the child does not grow up in its parent’s shadow. Our mother’s faith has not grown with her experience. Her experience has been too much for her. The lesson of life was too hard for her to learn.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)