When I was one-and-twenty
A.E. Housman Written: 1896 • Published: 1896
This poem is in the public domain and may be freely reproduced.
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.
Curator's Note
Housman's deceptively simple poem packs enormous punch into just two eight-line stanzas. A wise man advises the twenty-one-year-old speaker not to give his heart away; the speaker dismisses this as nonsense. One year later, at twenty-two, he's learned the hard way: ''Tis true, 'tis true.' The poem's power lies in what it doesn't say—we never learn what happened in that year, what heartbreak taught him wisdom. The sing-song rhythm (reminiscent of nursery rhymes or folk songs) underscores the irony: this is a lesson everyone must learn for themselves, no matter how often they're warned. Housman, who loved a straight man who married a woman, knew about unrequited love and hearts given where they couldn't be returned. The poem's brevity mirrors the swiftness with which innocence can be lost. Between twenty-one and twenty-two lies a chasm.
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