The purpose of this quatrain is to lament the futility of reading and abandon one’s talents.
The first two sentences of the poem describe the difficult study life, and there is a faint feeling of resentment in it. The first sentence says that the poet's youth was wasted on this trivial skill of searching for chapters and excerpting sentences. The poetic meaning of this sentence seems to be a bit inferior to oneself, which is very thought-provoking. Li He has always been proud of his literary talent. He once compared himself to the "Han Sword" and "said that the Han Sword should fly away" ("Send Quan Cu and Yang Jingzhi out of the city"), and he had great ambitions. However, the ruthless reality puts him in a situation where "no one knows anyone in the world" ("The Drinking Tour"). The word "carving insect" came from Li He's pen, and it was his angry words. The word "老" in the sentence is used as a verb, which means to live forever between paper and pen, and contains infinite bitterness.
The second sentence uses line drawing to show the poet's hard reading and strenuous writing: a waning moon, low in front of the eaves, looking up, like a jade bow hanging on the curtain; the sky is about to break, and He was still working tirelessly on a sentence and a plan. Here, the poet's bleak and bitter spirit is in sharp contrast with his lonely and desolate situation with only the waning moon for company, which is highly suggestive.
The last two sentences describe the poet's useless study, and the reasons why he has talent but cannot be used in the world. These two lines of powerful pathos connect the poet's personal experience with the fate of the country, reveal the social roots of inner pain, and express the long-simmering sorrow and anger. "Liaohai" refers to the northeastern border, that is, the territory of Tanghe North Road. From 809 (the fourth year of Yuanhe) to 812 (the seventh year of Yuanhe), mutinies broke out among the separatist forces in this area, completely ignoring the imperial decree. Emperor Xianzong of the Tang Dynasty sent troops to attack many times, but suffered repeated defeats, which made the world exhausted, but the situation of feudal vassal towns remained the same. The country is in trouble and the people are in dire straits. This is one of the reasons why the poet weeps bitterly. Due to the constant war, the court favors warriors and despises Confucian scholars, resulting in the decline of gentleness. This is the second reason why the poet weeps bitterly. The "article" in the last sentence refers to the scribes, which is actually the author himself. "Crying in the Autumn Wind" is not the ordinary sadness of autumn, but the sadness of the scribes who are sentimental about current events and mourn the end of the road. This is quite similar to Qu Yuan's "Sadness returns to the wind, shaking the grass, and the heart is filled with grievances and internal injuries. ... The fish trims its scales to distinguish itself, and the dragon hides its articles" ("Nine Chapters: Sadness Returns to the Wind"). The society is dark and the king is fatuous, so the "articles" are not visible. This is the real reason why Qu Yuan "sad the wind" ("returning wind" is the autumn wind) and Li He "cryed the autumn wind".
The word "Jade Bow" darkly points to the military image, and is the line for the two sentences of "Liao Hai". It holds the ribbon and the pen, and the music is related, showing the poet's meticulous writing. The third sentence only points out the time and place, but does not mention the war, but the war is naturally clear and has a very implicit charm. The third and fourth sentences are inseparable, intermittent, and have a very delicate structure. The poet uses obscure and tortuous techniques to reveal the social roots of the decline of literati, thereby deepening the theme and strengthening the appeal of the poem.