Responsibilities, and other poems

by W. B. Yeats

THE YOUNG MAN'S SONG

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.