These years my lofty spirits half decay.
At sunrise, armed, I go to fight the demons,
At midnight, tear-soaked, to the gods I pray.
I write eight-legged essays, prize them alone,
Ten years of spring and autumn waste away.
Snow falls on my cold robe, homeward in the night,
I sigh, the moon tonight is like yesterday.

This is the English translation of a Chinese poem and the Chinese version is as follows:

早岁轻狂误读博，年来志气半消磨。

日出披坚降鬼魅，夜半湿枕拜神佛。

八股文章空自赏，十度春秋尽蹉跎。

雪落寒衫归程晚，只叹今月又如昨。