Rhyme Verse Form Poem: When I was One-and-Twenty

Riska Puspita Sari, an English teacher from Madura, East Java, Indonesia, analyzes a rhyme verse form poem entitled When I was One-and-Twenty composed by A. E. Housman. She argues that the poem is simple in its language, so it can be used as a teaching material especially English. In order to make it easier, the teacher’s guidance is needed.

 When I was One-and-Twenty

By A. E. Housman

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 bossom

We never given in vein;

‘Tis paid with sighs a plenty

And sold for endless rue.”

And I am two-and-twenty,

And oh, ‘tis true, ‘tis true.

1.  A. E. Housman (1859-1936)

     Alfred Edward Housman was educated at Bromsgrove School - where he won a scholarship to St. John's College Oxford. Housman was a natural academic but mysteriously failed his finals and left Oxford without a degree. From 1882 he worked for ten years in Her Majesty's Patent Office, pursuing his interest in Latin and Greek in his spare time. In 1892 he was appointed Professor of Latin at University College, London and later took up the same position at Cambridge University in 1911.

2.  Paraphrase:

     a.  First Stanza: “When I was one-and-twenty”

          The speaker begins his portrayal by quoting what he “heard a wise man say”; the sage pontificated that it is fine to give money to a sweetheart, but a young man should not give her his heart: "Give crowns and pounds and guineas / But not your heart away.” It is unclear in the poem whether this advice had been directed solely to the speaker or whether the speaker merely overheard the “wise man” speaking to others.

          Nevertheless, the speaker further reports that the sage also said it was fine to give away “pearls and rubies,” as long as one did not, at the same time, give away one’s own judgment. A young man, according to the “wise man” must guard against having his life taken over by another—not his material possessions, however, but his mental and emotional life.

          The speaker then says that at such as young age, he was not open to sage advice: “But I was one-and-twenty, / No use to talk to me.” Like most young people, this speaker disdains sage advice. He will live life as he chooses, and pay hell later, if necessary.

     b.  Second Stanza: “When I was one-and-twenty / I heard him say again”

          The second stanza further reports information the speaker received from this same wise man. The sage had declared that giving one’s heart away or falling in love and coming under the influence of another was never done without consequences. Of course, most people believe those consequences are positive and worth the effort, but according to this wise man, losing one’s heart to another merely causes pain and sorrow: “'Tis paid with sighs a plenty / And sold for endless rue."

          And the speaker at age twenty-two has suffered by paying those plenty sighs, and he rues the day he failed to take the sage advice.

3.  Poetic devices

     a.  This poem can be categorized as a rhymed verse forms.

          -    The first stanza: a-b-c-b-c-d-a-d

          -    The second stanza: a-b-c-b-a-d-a-d

     b.  Repetition: When I was one-and-twenty

     c.  Alliteration: But keep your fancy free

     d.  Style:

4.  Poetic diction

     a.  Denotation:

          -    One=one year old

          -    Twenty=twenty years old

          -    Wise man

          -    Crowns, pounds, guineas, pearl, rubies=any   material objects       

          -    Heart=love

     b.  Irony:

          And I am two-and-twenty

          And oh, ‘tis true, ‘tis true

          -    The speaker is now a year older and has thus found    the value in the wise man’s advice, only too late.

          -    This admittance by the speaker alludes to the fact that he has given his heart away.

     c.  Metaphor: the poet uses crowns, pounds, guineas, pearls,   rubies, paid, and sold (each of us pays when gambling with love).

     d.  Tone: regret

5.  Content:

     a.  Theme: regret      

     b.  Message: We should pay attention to older/other people’s advice in order to get happiness in life.

6.  Comment:

     This poem is simple in its language, so it can be used as a teaching material especially English. In order to make it easier, the teacher’s guidance is needed.