WHEN I WAS ONE AND TWENTY

WHEN I WAS ONE AND TWENTY

 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 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

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."

and now i was two and twenty,

And oh, 'tis true,'tis true.