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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


A SHROPSHIRE LAD: 13 by ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: WHEN I WAS ONE-AND-TWENTY
Last Line: AND OH, 'TIS TRUE, 'TIS TRUE;
Subject(s): AGING; GRIEF; INNOCENCE; LOVE; SORROW; SADNESS;

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;




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