Classic Poem

White hair covers my temples —
My flesh is no longer firm,
And though I have five sons
Not one cares for brush and paper
A-shu is sixteen years of age;
For laziness he surely has no equal
A-xuan tries his best to learn
But does not really love the arts
Yong and Duan at thirteen years
Can hardly distinguish six from seven;
Tongzi with nine years behind him
Does nothing but hunt for pears and chestnuts
If such was Heaven's decree
In spite of all that I could do,
Bring on, bring on
The Thing Within the Cup.