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.