This poem is from Reading on a Winter Night, which is a poem by Lu You, a poet in the Southern Song Dynasty. The full text is as follows: the ancients learned nothing and achieved something in their old age. What you get on paper is so shallow that you never know what you have to do.
Lu You (1125—1210) was born in Yinshan, Yuezhou, Han nationality, a writer, historian and patriotic poet in the Southern Song Dynasty.
Lu Yousheng was deeply influenced by family patriotism when he was a teenager. When I was in Song Gaozong, I took the does exam, but my career was not smooth because I was rejected by Qin Gui.
Song Xiaozong was born a scholar after he acceded to the throne. He used to be the master book of Ningde County, Fuzhou, the official of deleting government decrees, and the judge of Longxing House. Because he insisted on resisting gold, he was repeatedly rejected by the Lord and factions. In the seventh year (1 17 1), he joined the army and worked in Nanzheng shogunate at the invitation of Sichuan ambassador Wang Yan.