Alfred Edward Housman: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

When I was one-and-twenty

Alfred Edward Housman

“When I was one-and-twenty” as printed in A Shropshire Lad (1896).

Alfred Edward Housman: Collected Lyrics Text 57 1896 · historical text
Public domainSong lyricsVictorian song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from A Shropshire Lad, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

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.

Verse 2

When I was one-and-twenty

I heard him say again,

'The heart out of the bosom

Was never given in vain;

'T is paid with sighs a plenty

And sold for endless rue.'

And I am two-and-twenty,

And oh, 't is true, 't is true.

Credits

Written by Alfred Edward Housman

Words by Alfred Edward Housman. Historical text published in A Shropshire Lad (1896); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

A Shropshire Lad (1896), “When I was one-and-twenty”

A. E. Housman (1859-1936) died more than 89 years ago; his works entered the public domain in life-plus-70 jurisdictions in 2007, and the 1896 first edition is in the public domain in the United States. Entries credited to other hands are held unless their author died more than 70 years ago.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

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Retrieved 2026-10-27. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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