He assumed in his lyrics the persona of a farm labourer, and he set the poems in Shropshire, a West Midlands English county he had not yet visited when he began writing the poems. Among the most familiar of the poems are “To an Athlete Dying Young,” “With Rue My Heart Is Laden,” and “When I Was One and Twenty.”.
Herein, what is the meaning of when I was one and twenty?
This poem is about telling what hapenned to the speaker when he was twenty years old. This poem tells us that the speaker was being given some advices from a wise man who told him that the ability of love is more valuable than the material objects, the speaker should not give love too freely to everyone.
what is significant about all the language related to money in when I was one and twenty? The idea of money is an interesting way to explain the trials of love, using money-language: “crowns, pound, guineas, pearls, rubies, paid and sold”. Overall, Housman's “When I Was One-and-Twenty” is a comical verse about the futility of love, youth, experience, and the irony in living life.
Then, what is the theme of when I was one and twenty?
The overriding theme of the poem is that one should always heed the wisdom of experience. In this particular case, the wise man gives the youngster some useful advice: never give your heart away; it will cost too much in terms of emotional pain, and will lead inevitably to enormous sorrow.
How would you describe the tone of when I was one and twenty?
The tone of the poem is one of wry self-irony as the speaker recounts how he learned the hard way through actual experience what wiser people tried to teach him. In the first stanza, the speaker tells of how a "wise" person him told him to give away things but to hang onto his heart.
Related Question Answers
Is my team plowing?
"Is My Team Ploughing" is a poem by A. E. Housman, published as number XXVII in his 1896 collection A Shropshire Lad. Towards the end of the poem it is implied that the friend is now with the girl he left behind when he died.What does it mean to keep your fancy free?
What's the meaning of the phrase 'Fancy free'? To be 'fancy free' is to be without any ties or commitments.What situation is encountered by the persona as revealed by the poem when I was one and twenty?
Explanation: In the poem 'When I was One and Twenty 'by A.E. Housman, the speaker says that when he was twenty-one, he did not heed the advice given to him by an older and experienced person of love. The narrator was advised against falling in love and losing his heart.What type of poem is Loveliest of trees?
Verse Form: “Loveliest of Trees” consists of three quatrains, with a rhyming scheme of AABB. This consistency in the poem gives a sense of a ticking clock. Just as he explores time and the shortness of life, the verse form of the poem reminds us of time running out.Was never given in vain meaning?
It's meant to suggest that fancy isn't really lasting. "The heart out of the bosom. Was never given in vain; (11-12) Notice how the heart becomes something that you lose once you give it away? It's not something to share.What does the poem Loveliest of trees mean?
The poem Loveliest of Trees is a romantic poem. The poem is deceptively simple. The cherry tree is a symbol of youth and beauty. But a few hints in the poem betray the simple surface meaning. First, the flowers are either covered with cold snow or “the cherry tree (is) hung with snow” only, rather than real flowers!What does the wise man say is sold for endless rue?
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.What meter is used in this excerpt from AE Housman's A Shropshire Lad when I was one and twenty I heard a wise man say?
Iambic trimeter (The foot has an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. This pattern repeats three times in each line.) Explanation: Alfred Edward Housman's poem "When I was one and twenty" was a part of the collection of poems "A Shropshire Lad".Who is the speaker in when I was one and twenty?
The speaker of Housman's poem "When I Was One-and-Twenty" is a twenty-two-year-old man.What clues are there in the poem that Housman is mocking his speaker?
What clues are there in the poem that Housman is mocking his speaker? Clues such as “I heard a wise man say”, “tis true” and “no use to talk to me” show that Housman is mocking the speaker. 
