Wise men know best



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.



- When I Was One-and-Twenty, A.E. Housman (1859-1936)