Lu You, courtesy name Wuguan and alias Fangweng, was a Han Chinese from Shanyin, Yuezhou (now Shaoxing). He was a writer, historian, and patriotic poet in the Southern Song Dynasty. Lu You wrote throughout his life and achieved great success in poetry and prose. His poems are written in plain and easy-to-understand language and in a well-organized and rigorous style. They have the majestic and unrestrained style of Li Bai and the melancholy and sadness of Du Fu. In particular, they are full of patriotic enthusiasm and have a profound influence on later generations. Lu You also had a talent for history. His “History of the Southern Tang Dynasty” is “simple and methodical” and has a vivid historical commentary, which is of high historical value.
陆游字务观，号放翁，汉族，越州山阴（今绍兴）人，南宋文学家、史学家、爱国诗人。陆游一生笔耕不辍，诗词文俱有很高成就，其诗语言平易晓畅、章法整饬谨严，兼具李白的雄奇奔放与杜甫的沉郁悲凉，尤以饱含爱国热情对后世影响深远。陆游亦有史才，他的《南唐书》，“简核有法”，史评色彩鲜明，具有很高的史料价值。
《闻雨》 陆游
慷慨心犹壮，蹉跎鬓已秋。
百年殊鼎鼎，万事只悠悠。
不悟鱼千里，终归貉一丘。
夜阑闻急雨，起坐涕交流。
Listening to the Rain
My heart is stout as in the days gone by,
Yet fleeting time has silvered my sparse hair;
Life’s little span is quickly past,
But will no end be made to men’s distress?
Why must a fish, eager to travel far,
Perish at last like foxes in one burrow?
Late at night, listening to the pelting rain,
I sit up and my face is bathed in tears.
