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Poetry Analysis for Students

This document contains an analysis of the poem "When I Was One-and-Twenty" by A.E. Housman. It summarizes that the poem is about a young man who, at age 21, ignored advice from a wise man to not give his heart away lightly. By age 22, the speaker has learned from experience that giving his heart away resulted in endless regret. The analysis breaks down the two stanzas and explains the themes of youthful ignorance and the lesson of painful experience.

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637 views3 pages

Poetry Analysis for Students

This document contains an analysis of the poem "When I Was One-and-Twenty" by A.E. Housman. It summarizes that the poem is about a young man who, at age 21, ignored advice from a wise man to not give his heart away lightly. By age 22, the speaker has learned from experience that giving his heart away resulted in endless regret. The analysis breaks down the two stanzas and explains the themes of youthful ignorance and the lesson of painful experience.

Uploaded by

AlimAshariDiaEspada
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ASSIGNMENT

NAME : ALIM ASHARI


NPM : 17.9202.7010
SEMESTER : VII
SUBJECT : BRITISH AND AMERICAN POETRY ANALYSIS

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 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.

 Analysis and Explanation


→ Stanza 1 Lines 1-4
When I was one-and-twenty
I heard a wise man say,
“Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away;

The line “when I was one – and twenty” is relating to speaker ages, that’s mean that
the speaker is still young enough and don’t have much experience in life. The next
lines “I heard a wise man say” means that the speaker get advice to wise man. Wise
man is related to a man that old and have more experience in life than the speaker.

Lines 3 and 4 is the cite of wise man advice. “give crowns and pounds and guineas”
crowns,pounds and guineas are refer to British money which girls like. The next line
“but not your heart away” it means that don’t love with someone blindly. The meaning
of line 3 and 4 is if you love with someone spoiled her with your money. Don’t give
her your heart because if you broke up with her you will be in great depression. And
also its clear that the speaker is 21 years old.

→ Stanza 1 Lines 5-8

Give pearls away and rubies


But keep your fancy free.”
But I was one-and-twenty,
No use to talk to me

Lines 5 and 6 is also cite of wise man. The wise man keep tell the speaker that you
can give money and jewelry for the girl you love. It shows in “give pearls away and
rubies” and also he said again that don’t give your heart to her especially your
freedom. And the speaker also state that he didn’t care about wise man advice.

→ Stanza 2 lines 1-4

When I was one-and-twenty


I heard him say again,
“The heart out of the bosom
Was never given in vain;
Its shows that the speaker warned again by wise man. He remains the speaker that
don’t give your heart for one side love or lust. So keep your heart carefully. Don’t let it
go in vain.

→ Stanza 2 lines 5-8


ASSIGNMENT
NAME : ALIM ASHARI
NPM : 17.9202.7010
SEMESTER : VII
SUBJECT : BRITISH AND AMERICAN POETRY ANALYSIS

’Tis paid with sighs a plenty


And sold for endless rue.”
And I am two-and-twenty,
And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.
Its shows that the speaker is regret what he has done. It seem that the speaker blind
love to beautiful girls and he give her not only money and jewelry but also his heart
so the speaker become heartless to everybody, family and friends. In the end the
speaker warn to everyone about his regret. It can see in And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.

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