AE Housman read by Classic Poetry Aloud: Giving voice to the poetry of the past.
www.classicpoetryaloud.com
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When I was One-and-Twenty
by AE 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 two-and-twenty,
And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.
First aired: 15 January 2008
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Reading © Classic Poetry Aloud 2009
