A Shropshire Lad - XIII

by A. E. Housman

    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.