Back to Index

The Young Man's Song

by W. B. Yeats, 1916

I whispered, 'i am too young,'
And then, 'I am old enough';
Wherefore I threw a penny
To find out if I might love.
'Go and love, go and love, young man,
If the lady be young and fair,'
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
I am looped in the loops of her hair.

Oh, love is the crooked thing,
There is nobody wise enough
To find out all that is in it,
For he would be thinking of love
Till the stars had run away,
And the shadows eaten the moon.
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
One cannot begin it too soon.

Published in Responsibilities, and other poems
Tags: aging, for teens

Any corrections or public domain poems I should have here? Email me at poems (at) this domain.