Alfred Edward Housman (1859 – 1936) is not a very well-known poet although he is regarded as one of the foremost classical scholars. 

He published only two collections of his poems – A Shropshire Lad and Last Poems – but his poetry became popular mainly for its musical settings.  

A Shropshire Lad, published during World War I, contains his preoccupation with early death, which due to its pessimistic poems and the prevailing gloomy times, appealed to a wide audience.

But here I’m sharing one of his poems, “One-And-Twenty”, which I like for its sheer energy - 

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!

(Top photo courtesy unsplash.com with thanks)