EmmaLee N. & Marelyn R.
Poem Analysis
3/3/14
A.E. Housman wrote the poem “When I was one-and-twenty” to show the
reader the repercussions of the anticipation of growing up. The poem is told by a
young man whose experiences have befallen his assumptions of maturity. Through
the combination of Foreshadowing/Tone and Symbolism/Metaphors and the old
man’s advice, Housman presents the ignorance of people introduced to adulthood.
Housman makes many comparisons that have a deeper meaning in the
objects involved. For example, the old man that the speaker has spoken with tells
him to “Give crowns and pounds and guineas/ But not your heart/ Give pearls and
rubies/ But keep your fancy free” (3-6), which can represent two things: innocence
and materialism. Since the boy is becoming a man he’d have to give away his
childish things, so the reader can relate the crowns and rubies (which isn’t a
common thing to have for an average man) to child-like fantasies, but is told to not
change his beliefs. Also it means that he can give away his money or riches but
should not interchange being charitable with arrogance. Another example, is when
the old man said “Tis paid with sighs a plenty/ And sold for endless rue”(13-14); the
reader can infer that the speaker is let down by decisions he has made and like the
flower, things have come and gone throughout the year. The “endless rue” stands for
his sorrow and repentance for whatever mistakes he has made which is constantly
countered with “sighs” (a sign of frustration). Lastly, the heart is mentioned twice;
“Give…But not your heart away”(line3-4) and “The heart out of the bosom/ was
never in vain”(line 11-12). In both stanzas the heart is a symbol of morality, which
the speaker is tested with especially coming into the societal age role of an adult.
EmmaLee N. & Marelyn R.
Poem Analysis
3/3/14
Though his mistakes were innocent they were careless and were properly
represented by the relation between metaphors and symbolism.
The entire first stanza is a foreshadow of the downfall of the speaker. The
line “But I was one-and-twenty/ No use to talk to me”(7-8) foreshadows the
speaker’s acceptance of his mistake and emphasizes the speaker’s egotistic tone.
Regardless of the fact the speaker is now an adult, he still treats situations with a
mentality of an adolescent: disregarding any opinion that opposes his. The shift
between the stanzas takes the reader a year into the future where the speaker’s
attitude is now pensive. This is proved when the old man says “tis paid with sighs a
plenty”(13), which is commonly a sign of relieving sadness and the feeling of defeat.
The old man might have felt defeated from his past and by warning this young man,
he is hoping to save him from the same fate. However it is foreshadowed that the
young man will end up how the older man is by the final line “And oh, ‘tis true, ‘tis
true”(16) because the speaker is relating to the old man’s statement in a melancholy
tone. The shifts in the Foreshadowing and tones portray the problems caused by
naivety in the coming of age.
By the speaker’s understanding of his mistakes and acknowledgement of the
old man’s wise advice, Housman infers that with coming of age comes maturity not
only physically and mentally, but emotionally. Housman’s utilization of iambic
rhythm correlates with the speaker’s realization that small mistakes can lead to a
long time period of repentance. With the fusing of the four literary devices:
symbolism, metaphors, foreshadowing, and tone; Housman effectively unveils the
misleading expectations of growing up.