When I Was One and Twenty

The poem When I was One-and-twenty was written by A. E. Housman in 1896.   This poem was written during the late 19th century which is the age of realism. The poem is about the different life advice from an old wise man. The poem is told by a twenty-two year old person who received advice while he was twenty-one and he did not want to listen to the wise man because he thought he already knew everything he needed to know. He explains the advice he was told and how now that he is a year older and looking back the advice was true.
In line 3 the words “crowns and pounds” is an example of assonance. Also, in lines 3 and 4 it says / give crowns and pounds and guineas / but not your heart away / which is an example of hyperbole because you cannot actually physically give your heart away to anyone. In like 6 it says “fancy free” which is an example of alliteration. Another example of alliteration is in line 8 it has the words “to talk to”, as well as in line 10 it says “heard him”. In lines 15 and 16 it says / and I am two-and-twenty, / and oh, ‘tis true, ‘tis true. / This is another example of alliteration.   In line 11 it says / The heart out of the bosom / was never given in vain; / This is an example of hyperbole
In lines 3 and 4 it says “Give crowns and pounds and guineas but not your heart away;” means that you can have all the materialistic things in the world but do not give away your heart easily because it is the only thing about you that you cannot buy or replace because it is unique to each person.   In lines 5 and 6 it says “Give pearls away and rubies but keep your fancy free” means all the things that are valuable to you, you may give those away but don’t change or give up what makes you unique or different because that’s what makes you special.