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by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936)
Translation © by Patricia Dillard Eguchi
When I was one‑and‑twenty
Language: English
When I was one-and-twenty I heard [a wise man]1 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.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Steele: "an old man"
Text Authorship:
- by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936), no title, appears in A Shropshire Lad, no. 13, first published 1896 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
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), "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1904 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Edwin Frank Avril (b. 1920), "When I was one-and-twenty" [ tenor and piano ], from A Shropshire Lad [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert F. Baksa (b. 1938), "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1967 [ medium voice and piano ], from Housman Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, Sir (1883 - 1953), "When I was one-and-twenty", 1918, published 1920 [ medium voice and piano ], from Three Songs, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by H. L. Bilger , "When I was one-and-twenty", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Allan Blank (b. 1925), "When I was one-and-twenty" [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss, Sir (1891 - 1975), "When I was one-and-twenty", 1923, published 1924 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Lorraine J. Burns , "When I was one-and-twenty", 1962 [ SATB chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by George Sainton Kaye 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 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis Crerar , "When I was one-and-twenty", 1956 [ high voice and piano ], from Housman Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alfred Redgrave Cripps (1882 - 1950), "When I was one-and-twenty", published <<1944 [ voice and piano ], from Five "Shropshire Lad" Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alan DeBeer , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1936 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Tom Dobson (1890 - 1918), "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1916 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Woods Duke (1899 - 1984), "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1972 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Blair Fairchild (1877 - 1933), "When I was one-and-twenty ", op. 9 no. 3 [ medium voice and piano ], confirmed with a 1989 edition, Recital Publications, Huntsville, TX [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Willard Samuel Fast (b. 1922), "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1972 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robin Field (b. 1935), "When I was one-and-twenty", 1960 [ medium voice and piano ], from When I was one and twenty [sung text not yet checked]
- by Isadore Freed (1900 - 1960), "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1960 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Henry Balfour Gardiner (1877 - 1950), "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1908 [ voice and piano ], from Two Lyrics, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "When I was one-and-twenty", 1921, published 1924 [ voice and piano or strings ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Joscelyn Godwin (b. 1945), "When I was one-and-twenty" [ SSAA chorus and instrumental ensemble ], from cantata Carmina Amoris [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Parks Grant (b. 1910), "When I was one-and-twenty", op. 7 (A Shropshire Lad) no. ? [ tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "When I was one-and-twenty", 1919, published 1923 [ tenor, string quartet, and piano ], from Ludlow and Teme, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Timothy Hoekman , "When I was one-and-twenty", 1980, published 1988 [ voice and piano ], from Seven Housman Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mervyn, Lord Horder, the Second Baron of Ashford (1910 - 1998), "When I was one-and-twenty", from A Shropshire Lad, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Jeffreys (1927 - 2010), "When I was one-and-twenty" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ora Agatha Johnson , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1915 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Martin Kalmanoff (1920 - 2007), "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1959 [ SATB chorus and piano or string quartet ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alan Leichtling , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1971 [ baritone and orchestra ], from Eleven Songs from "A Shropshire Lad", note: incorporates lines from "When I was in love with you" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Fonteyn Manney (1872 - 1951), "Heart wounds", published 1914, from A Shropshire Lad [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ben Moore (b. 1960), "When I was one-and-twenty" [ voice and piano ], from 14 Songs, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Wilfred Orr (1893 - 1976), "When I was one-and-twenty", 1924, published 1925 [ tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Nick Peros (b. 1963), "When I was one-and-twenty" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jason Rico (b. 1978), "When I was one-and-twenty" [ voice, viola ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Clarence Robinson , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1950 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "When I was one-and-twenty", 1904, published 1904 [ voice and piano ], from A Shropshire Lad, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Douglas Steele (1910 - 1999), "When I was one and twenty" [ voice and piano ], Manchester, Forsyth Publications [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Corbett C. Sumsion , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1936 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Van Vactor (b. 1906), "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1968 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Conrad F. Wedberg , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1946 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mervin Whitcomb , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1953 [ SATB chorus and piano ], from Two Housman Poems [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Ramsden Williamson (1929 - 2015), "When I was one-and-twenty" [ SATB chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Stanley Wilson , "When I was one-and-twenty", published <<1967 [ SAB chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by C. Woolley , "When I was one-and-twenty", published 1938 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Patricia Dillard Eguchi) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , "Als ich war einundzwanzig", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- HEB Hebrew (עברית) (Max Mader) , "כאשר הייתי בן עשרים ואחת", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 82
Quand j’avais vingt‑et‑un an
Language: French (Français) after the English
Quand j’avais vingt-et-un an, J’entendis un vieil homme dire : « Donne des couronnes, tes livres et tes guinées,1 Mais pas ton cœur, Donne perles et rubis, Mais garde ta volonté libre » Mais j’avais vingt-et-un ans, Inutile de me parler. Quand j’avais vingt-et-un ans, Je l’entendis ajouter, « Le cœur une fois donné, N’est jamais donné en vain. Il est payé avec bien des soupirs, Et vendu avec des regrets infinis. » Et j’ai vingt-deux ans, Et comme c’est vrai, trop vrai.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Translations of title(s):
"Heart wounds" = "Plaies du cœur"
"When I was one and twenty" = "Quand j’avais vingt-et-un ans"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2018 by Patricia Dillard Eguchi, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in English by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936), no title, appears in A Shropshire Lad, no. 13, first published 1896
This text was added to the website: 2018-08-21
Line count: 16
Word count: 82