His poems confront illusory life and tensity of every day matters, glory of a hero and solitude of a hermit, love's passion and the inevitability of separation. All the lyrical poetry of Ruan Ji is penetrated by a thought of sorrow, which he accepted as an eternal and unavoidable friend, near him throughout life. He wrote: "Only with sorrow thoughts are occurring, without sorrow there is no thoughtful mood ..." The first poem of his almanac "Singing My Cares" (咏懷 Yǒnghuái) expresses such sad thoughts.