When I Was One-And-Twenty (A. E. Housman, 1882)



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.

Vocabulary:
guineas: (the value of) a former British gold coin, worth £1.05.
rue: (esp. old use or humor) to be very sorry about (something one has done or not done); regret. 
He'll rue the day (=will always be sorry that) he married her.