When I was One and Twenty

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by A. E. Hausman.

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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