Classic Poem

In past years I lived in an age of peace,
Twenty years amid mountains and forests.
Springs lay by the door of my yard,
Caves and ravines, right before my gate
Field taxes were taken at regular times;
At sundown a man could still sleep in peace.
All at once we came into times of trouble,
And I served several years under battle flags
Now, as I govern this commandery,
The mountain tribes are running wild
The city, so small the raiders didn't sack it,
But its people are poor, their wounds to be pitied.
Thus, when the neighboring regions were plundered,
This prefecture alone remained intact
Then come commissioners with royal commands —
Surely they must be better than the raiders!
But with their exactions and their collections
They harry us like a simmering fire —
What kind of person would end men's lives
To be a great worthy of the age?
How I long to cast down my symbols of office,
Take fishing pole, punt my own boat away,
Go with my family where there's fish and grain,
To live out my life by the Yangtze and sea!