Brown Penny

William Butler Yeats

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.

O 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.