"When I Was One-and-Twenty"BY A. E. HOUSMAN

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

When I was one-and-twentyI heard him say again,“The heart out of the bosomWas never given in vain;’Tis paid with sighs a plentyAnd sold for endless rue.”And I am two-and-twenty,And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.