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.
- A.E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad.