"When I Was One-and-Twenty" by A. E. Houseman

 

When I Was One-and-Twenty

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;

’Tis paid with sighs a plenty

And sold for endless rue.”

And I am two-and-twenty,

And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music

Poem Video👇 

https://youtu.be/IorK4D6qTZU

Who wrote the poem "When I Was One-and-Twenty"?

Alfred Edward Housman (March 26, 1859 – April 30, 1936)

A. E. Housman was an English classical scholar and poet. He studied Greek and Roman classics intensively, and became one of the foremost classicists of his age. He was also popular for his poetry. He published two volumes of poetry during his life: ‘A Shropshire Lad’ (1896) and ‘Last Poems’ (1922). The main themes in ‘A Shropshire Lad,’ the cycle of 63 poems, include pastoral beauty, unrequited love, grief, death, and the patriotism of the common soldier. Housman had to publish it at his own expense after it was turned down by several publishers. After WWI, however, it became very popular due to its nostalgic depiction of brave English soldiers.

 

"When I Was One-and-Twenty" explanation

The poem is about the speaker’s personal experiences related to his love life. When he was twenty one years old, he received some advice from a wise man that he should rather give away all the riches than give his heart to someone (fall in love) and suffer from sorrow and regret. He ignored the advice, but a year later, when he was twenty two, he realized that the advice was right. The simple rhyme scheme, colloquial diction, and simple language remind the reader of immaturity of the young speaker and make the poem all the more relatable.