Poet's Corner

"When I was one-and-twenty"

A. E. Housman

Poem explanation

        I heard a wise man say,



     "Give crowns and pounds and guineas



        But not your heart away;



5    Give pearls away and rubies  



        But keep your fancy free."



     But I was one-and-twenty,



        No use to talk to me.





     When I was one-and-twenty



10      I heard him say again,



     "The heart out of the bosom



        Was never given in vain;



     'Tis paid with sighs a plenty



        And sold for endless rue."



15   And I am two-and-twenty,



        And oh, 'tis true, 'tis true.

Source: Exploring Poetry, Gale, 1997.