A Shropshire Lad/When I was one-and-twenty

by Alfred Edward Housman

XIII

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
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;
'T is paid with sighs a plenty
And sold for endless rue.'
And I am two-and-twenty,
And oh, 't is true, 't is true.

 

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