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.

need analyzing the tone and imagery in the stanza t^t

this is the whole poem: "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 pound 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.