霜風來時雨如洏，
杷頭出菌鐮生衣。
Before the frosty wind the rain pours far and near, The sickles rust and on the rake's teeth mold will grow.
眼枯淚盡雨不盡，
忍見黃穗臥青泥！
Can we bear to see golden stalks flat in mud deep? Though we weep our eyes dry, yet the rain never stops.
茅苦一月隴上宿，
天晴獲稻隨車歸。
In a straw shelter by the fields one month we sleep, Once it clears, our cart comes back loaded with our crops.
汗流肩頹載入市，
價賤乞與如糠粞。
Sweaty, we carry them on our shoulders chafed red To the market where at the price of chaff they're sold.
賣牛納稅拆屋炊，
慮淺不及明年饑。
To pay the tax we sell the ox and pull down the shed For fuel and next year's hunger can be foretold.
官今要錢不要米，
西北萬里招差兒。
In cash instead of in kind the tax should be paid So that tribesmen be bought o'er on northwest frontier.
糞黃滿朝人更苦，
不如卻作河伯婦！
The peasants suffer more for wise reforms just made, They would rather be drowned than live in such a year.