When I Was One-and-Twenty

Unable to die as I lie, staring at the whitewashed boards, Housman greeted me with the utmost cynicism

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 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.