To grow human, not so easy

When I Was One-and-Twenty (slightly changed)

By A.E. Housman (1859 - 1936)

 

                       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 nine-and-sixty,

                                                                                         And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.