A. E. Housman. When I Was One-and-Twenty. Fuess and Stearns, comps. 1922. The Little Book of Society Verse

Fuess and Stearns, comps. The Little Book of Society Verse. 1922.

When I Was One-and-Twenty

By A. E. Housman


WHEN I was one-and-twenty
I heard a wise man say,
“Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away;
Give pearls away and rubies	5
But keep your fancy free.”
But I was one-and-twenty,
No use to talk to me.

When I was one-and-twenty
I heard him say again,	10
“The heart out of the bosom
Was never given in vain;
’T is paid with sighs a-plenty
And sold for endless rue.”
And I am two-and-twenty,	15
And oh, ’t is true, ’t is true.