One should strive to be a person of outstandingtalent and courage during one's lifetime. If a person has to die, he should die for his country and thus become a ghost hero. People still remember Xiangyu, for he refused to flee across Wujiang River and chose to commitsuicide with dignity instead of living in disgrace.
This poem was written by the famous poetess, Li Qingzhao, who lived in the Southern Song dynasty. The rulers of Southern Song fled and abandoned the common people when the country was threatened by foreign intrusion. The poetess uses Xiangyu as an example to satirize the rulers of the Southern Song dynasty and expresses her discontent and disappointment in them. It also indicates her love for her country as well as her longing for heroic figures to recover their lost territory.