My true Love hath my heart and I have his.
By just exchange, one for the other given:
I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss;
There never was a bargain better driven.
His heart in me keeps me and him in one;
My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides:
He loves my heart, for once it was his own;
I cherish his because in me it bides.
His heart his wound received from my sight;
My heart was wounded with his wounded heart;
For as from me on him his hurt did light,
So still methought in me his hurt did smart:
Both equal hurt, in this change sought our bliss:
My true Love hath my heart, and I have his.

A. Foote sets lines 1-8
S. Adler sets lines 1-8
C. Gounod sets lines 1-8
D. Carwithen sets lines 1-8

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Confirmed with Love Songs of English Poets, 1500-1800, New York : D. Appleton and Company, 1892, in which it is titled "Sonnet to Stella", which is probably not the author's title.

Parodied in Archibald Stodart-Walker's My true friend hath my hat.

Text Authorship:

• by Philip Sidney, Sir (1554 - 1586), no title, appears in Arcadia [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 Samuel Hans Adler (b. 1928), "A ditto", published 1978, lines 1-8 [ high voice and piano ], from Three songs about love : to texts by early English poets, no. 2, Hinshaw Music, Chapel Hill, N.C. [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Doreen Carwithen (1922 - 2003), "Serenade", lines 1-8 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Madeleine Dring (1923 - 1977), "My true love hath my heart" [ voice and piano ], confirmed with a score [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Arthur Foote (1853 - 1937), "A ditty", op. 26 (Eleven songs for voice and piano) no. 8, published 1892, lines 1-8 [ voice and piano ], Boston : A.P. Schmidt [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893), "My true love hath my heart", lines 1-8 [ voice and piano ], also set in French (Français) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Jake Heggie (b. 1961), "My true love hath my heart", 1996 [ soprano (or vocal duet for soprano and mezzo-soprano), cello and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934), "My true love hath my heart", op. 16 no. 2 (1903) [ soprano and piano ], from Six Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by William Martin Yeates Hurlstone (1876 - 1906), "My true love hath my heart", 1905, published 1907 [ soprano and piano ], from Four Songs [for soprano], no. 3, London, Novello: Avison Edition [sung text not yet checked]
• by John (Nicholson) Ireland (1879 - 1962), "My true love hath my heart", 1920, published 1921 [ voice and piano ], from Two Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Andrzej Panufnik (1914 - 1991), "Love song", 1976, first performed 1977 [ voice and piano or harp ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "My true love hath my heart", op. 80 (1945) [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "My true love hath my heart", op. 159 (1947) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "My true love hath my heart", op. 201 (1948) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "My True Love Hath My Heart", op. 347 (1952) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "My True Love Hath My Heart", op. 514 (1958) [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "My True Love Hath My Heart", op. 521 (1958) [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "My True Love Hath My Heart", op. 563 (1960) [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "My True Love Hath My Heart", op. 581 (1961) [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Milford Rutter, CBE (b. 1945), "My true love hath my heart", from Birthday Madrigals, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "The Bargain", published 1935 [ voice and piano ], from Three Songs with Piano, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

• by Stephen Wilkinson (b. 1919), "Nosegay" [ voice and piano ], from Eternal Summer, no. 12
  • View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]
    

Set in a modified version by Vivian Fine, Hans Gál, Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir, Graham Peel, Arthur Somervell, Sir.

• Go to the text. [ view differences ]
  

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in French (Français), a translation by (Paul) Jules Barbier (1825 - 1901) ; composed by Charles Gounod.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• GER German (Deutsch) (Richard Flatter) , "Der Handel", appears in Die Fähre, Englische Lyrik aus fünf Jahrhunderten, first published 1936

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 125