When I Was One-and-Twenty | Poem By Housman | Britannica

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When I Was One-and-Twenty poem by Housman Ask Anything Homework Help Written and fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors History Britannica AI Ask Anything Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask Anything

When I Was One-and-Twenty, poem in the collection A Shropshire Lad by A.E. Housman. Noted for its sprightly cadence of alternating seven- and six-syllable lines, the three-stanza poem addresses the theme of unrequited love. It was likely written as a memoir of a critical time in Housman’s life, when his love for a fellow student at Oxford was rejected.

When I was one-and-twenty I heard a wise man say, “Give crowns and pounds and guineas But not your heart away.”

This opening prophecy of romantic loss is later fulfilled in the concluding lines:

And I am two-and-twenty, And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.