Read the poem by A. E. Housman. XXXV

When first my way to fair I took
Few pence in purse had I,
And long I used to stand and look
At things I could not buy.

Now times are altered: if I care
To buy a thing, I can;
The pence are here and here's the fair,
But where's the lost young man?

--To think that two and two are four
And neither five nor three
The heart of man has long been sore
And long 'tis like to be.

What type of figurative language is best illustrated in this poem?

- understatement
- simile
- symbol
- irony