When I was one‑and‑twenty

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.

by Alfred Edward Housman (1859-1936) , no title, from A Shropshire Lad, no. 13, published 1896

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Stephen Adams (1844-1913) [pseudonym] , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1904. [voice and piano]
by Edwin Frank Avril (1920-) , "When I was one-and-twenty" [tenor and piano], from A Shropshire Lad, no. ?
by Robert F. Baksa (1938-) , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1967 [medium voice and piano], from Housman Songs, no. 1.
by Sir Arnold Bax (1883-1953) , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1919 [medium voice and piano], from Three Songs, no. ?
by H. L. Bilger , "When I was one-and-twenty", published <<1940. [voice and piano]
by Allan Blank (1925-) , "When I was one-and-twenty" [medium voice and piano]
by Sir Arthur Bliss (1891-1975) , "When I was one-and-twenty", published <<1940. [voice and piano]
by Lorraine J. Burns , "When I was one-and-twenty", 1962. [SATB chorus and piano]
by George Butterworth (1885-1916) , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1911 [medium-high voice and piano], from Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad, no. 2.
by Louis Crerar , "When I was one-and-twenty", 1956 [high voice and piano], from Housman Songs, no. ?
by Alfred Redgrave Cripps (1882-1950) , "When I was one-and-twenty", published <<1944 [voice and piano], from Five "Shropshire Lad" Songs, no. ?
by Alan DeBeer , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1936. [voice and piano]
by Tom Dobson (1890-1918) , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1916. [voice and piano]
by John Duke (1899-1984) , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1972. [voice and piano]
by Willard Samuel Fast , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1972. [SATB chorus a cappella]
by Robin Field (1935-) , "When I was one-and-twenty", 1960 [medium voice and piano], from When I was one and twenty, no. ?
by Isadore Freed (1900-1960) , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1960. [voice and piano]
by Henry Balfour Gardiner (1877-1950) , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1908 [voice and piano], from Two Lyrics, no. ?
by C. Armstrong Gibbs (1889-1960) , "When I was one-and-twenty", 1921, published 1924. [voice and piano or strings]
by Joscelyn Godwin (1945-) , "When I was one-and-twenty" [cantata for SSAA chorus and instruments], from Carmina Amoris, no. ?
by William Parks Grant (1910-) , "When I was one-and-twenty", op. 7 (A Shropshire Lad) no. ? [tenor and piano]
by Ivor Gurney (1890-1937) , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1923 [tenor, string quartet, and piano], from Ludlow and Teme, no. 6.
by Mervyn, Lord Horder, the Second Baron of Ashford (1910-1998) , "When I was one-and-twenty"
by John Jeffreys (1927-) , "When I was one-and-twenty"
by Ora Agatha Johnson , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1915.
by Martin Kalmanoff (1920-) , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1959. [SATB chorus and piano or string quartet]
by Alan Leichtling , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1971 [baritone and orchestra], from Eleven Songs from "A Shropshire Lad", no. ?, note: incorporates lines from "When I was in love with you"
by Charles Fonteyn Manney (1872-1951) , "Heart wounds", published 1914, from A Shropshire Lad, no. ?
by Benjamin Moore (1960-) , "When I was one-and-twenty"
by Charles Wilfred Orr (1893-1976) , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1925. [tenor and piano]
by Nick Peros , "When I was one-and-twenty"
by Jason Rico (1978-) , "When I was one-and-twenty" [voice, viola]
by Clarence Robinson , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1950. [voice and piano]
by Sir Arthur Somervell (1863-1937) , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1904 [voice and piano], from A Shropshire Lad, no. 2.
by Douglas Steele (1910-) , "When I was one-and-twenty"
by Corbett C. Sumsion , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1936. [TTBB chorus a cappella]
by David Van Vactor (1906-) , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1968. [SATB chorus a cappella]
by Conrad F. Wedberg , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1946.
by Mervin Whitcomb , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1953 [SATB chorus and piano], from Two Housman Poems, no. ?
by Stanley Wilson , "When I was one-and-twenty", published <<1967. [SAB chorus]
by C. Woolley , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1938. [voice and piano]

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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