When I was one-and-twenty Analysis

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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when someone or somebody gives you a lesson and an advice we must give an importance for it.;;

| Posted on 2010-01-12 | by a guest

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when someone or somebody gives you a lesson and an advice we must give an importance for it.;;

| Posted on 2010-01-12 | by a guest

.: :.

when someone or somebody gives you a lesson and an advice we must give an importance for it.;;

| Posted on 2010-01-12 | by a guest

.: :.

when someone or somebody gives you a lesson and an advice we must give an importance for it.;;

| Posted on 2010-01-12 | by a guest

.: :.

when someone or somebody gives you a lesson and an advice we must give an importance for it.;;

| Posted on 2010-01-12 | by a guest

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This poem..I do not agree with. If you never take a chance to fall in love, you will never find your true love. It may not always work out in the end, but one day, one of the chances you take will work out, and the other chances were just stepping stones to fnding the one you love,

| Posted on 2009-12-08 | by a guest

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It is saying that the heart wasn't just given away for free. You pay for it in sighs, whether in frustration, longing, or woe it doesn't specify, and in regret of what has happened or in sorrow (rue).

| Posted on 2009-10-23 | by a guest

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exaplain what the wise man meant when he said that a heart is sold for endless rue.

| Posted on 2009-10-22 | by a guest

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i think that this poem is stating that u should think about what u are doing in life before acting. it could end up not the way u wanted it.

| Posted on 2009-09-23 | by a guest

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I have loved this poem all of my life. You guys are nuts trying to analisis this. You need to get a life. Write something yourself that stands up to time..

| Posted on 2009-07-26 | by a guest

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men! this poem so dumb! it is just like robert frost!
both of them are criminals and rapistS!!! wah!!! but dont worry.. i killed them both already.. hahahaha!!!!
long live rock and roll!!!

| Posted on 2009-07-26 | by a guest

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Moral lesson? If an elder gives you an advise don't ignore it.

| Posted on 2009-02-02 | by a guest

.: An Analysis :.

“When I was One-and-Twenty” begins with the speaker, a self- proclaimed twenty one year old man: “When I was one-and-twenty” (line 1) recounting the advice given to him from an older man: “I heard a wise man say” (line 2.) Housman’s use of “one-and-twenty” instead of twenty- one contributes to the lyrical style of the poem. The alternating lines of 7 syllables with lines of 6 syllables again furthers the rhythmic feel, as well as the assonance in line 3: “Give crowns and pounds and guineas,” and the alliteration in line 6: “But keep your fancy free.”
The speaker of the poem goes on to recount the advice given to him by the wise man: “Give crowns and pounds and guineas, / but not your heart away; / Give pearls away and rubies / But keep your fancy free” (line 3-6.) The advice the speaker is given is to give away almost anything, with “crowns and pounds and guineas,” and “pearls and rubies” symbolizing any material object, before he gives away his heart/love. The speaker’s use of “but” in “But I was one-and-twenty, / No use to talk to me” denotes his realization of his youthfulness, thus foreshadowing a later fact.
The second stanza begins with a repetition of the first line of the poem, denoting that the second stanza will be a continuation of the ideas first presented in the first stanza. The second line of the second stanza: “I heard him say again” (line 10) substantiates this notion. This time the advice given, really is more of a statement of fact than advice. “The heart out of the bosom,” (line 11) -professed love, “Was never given in vain” (line12) –another foreshadow of possible events to come. “’Tis paid with sighs a plenty / And sold for endless rue” (line 13, 14) -the wise man is commenting on the nature of love. No love is without its trials, and nothing is harder to give away than one’s heart. The final two lines reveal the foreshadowed ironic event, that the speaker is now a year older and has thus found the value in the wise man’s advice, only too late. This admittance by the speaker alludes to the fact that he has given his heart away and now knows first hand the “sighs a plenty.”
The two stanzas work together as one to paint the picture of Housman’s idea of love, in such a compact and succinct verse. The subtle difference that sepereates the second stanza from that of the first serves two purposes. On one hand it works to give the reader a sense of slight change in time. The speaker hear’s the wise man on one occasion, and within the same general period of time hears him talk again. In the end of thpoem, the speaker has gained only a year and this subtle difference between the stanzas seems to show that. The other way in which the stanzas work is how they go beyond the shift in time, and look at the speaker’s evolution in character. Both stanzas are very similar, talking of the same subject and using similar language. In the first stanza, the speaker (even admitingly to himself) comes off as a brash youth: “I was one-and-twenty, / No use to talk to me” (line 7, 8.) But in the second stanza, Housman makes it clear that with age the speaker has gained maturity and learned a valuable lesson about life and love: “I am two-and-twenty, / And oh, ‘tis true, ‘tis true” (line 15, 16.)
This poem is very succinct, with meaning that goes well beyond the actual words written. Housman’s use of money-language: “crowns, pounds, guineas, pearls, rubies, paid, and sold” all serve metaphorically towards the price each of us pays when gambling with love. The idea of money and currency is an interesting way to explain the trials of love. Overall, Housman’s “When I Was One-and-Twenty” is a comical verse about the futility of love, youth, experience, and the irony in living life.


| Posted on 2006-02-27 | by Approved Guest