The door where people go in and out is locked, and the hole where dogs climb out is open.
A voice shouted: climb out and set you free!
I long for freedom, but I deeply know-
How can a human body crawl out of a dog hole!
I hope that one day, the underground fire will burn me and this living coffin together.
I deserve to live forever in fire and blood!
This poem was written in 1942. There are many versions of this poem. This version is copied according to the author's handwriting. The manuscript of this poem is now in Chongqing Geleshan Martyrs Cemetery. This poem was written by Ye Ting on the wall of the second cell downstairs of the imprisoned Chongqing Zhazidong concentration camp. The manuscript was brought out by Ye Ting's wife Li Xiuwen when she visited the prison.
Extended data
The original poem of General Ye Ting's "Prison Song" was titled "Six Faces Lay Man", which is a vivid portrayal of his situation at that time. After the Southern Anhui Incident, General Ye Ting, then commander of the New Fourth Army, was unreasonably detained by the Kuomintang authorities for a long time. At the time of writing this poem, he was imprisoned in the Lu Hong factory on the outskirts of Chongqing, where senior political prisoners were held, which was a "forbidden place" for the notorious Sino-US Institute of Technical Cooperation.
The poem Prison Song embodies General Ye Ting's profound experience of prison life and is his tragic reflection on the dialectical relationship between life, freedom and dignity. Every word carries a lot of weight. Guo Moruo once commented on General Ye Ting's Prison Song in his poem: "His poems are written with life and blood, and his poems are himself." This poem by General Ye Ting was once set to music. Together with Wen Tianxiang's Song of Benevolence and Righteousness, it was sung by people with lofty ideals imprisoned in this fascist concentration camp, safeguarding their indestructible dignity as human beings.