by Philip Sidney, Sir (1554 - 1586)

Language: English 
My true love hath my heart, and I have his,
  By just exchange one for another given:
I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss,
  There never was a better bargain driven:
      My true love hath my heart, and I have his.
 
His heart in me keeps him and me 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:
      My true love hath my heart, and I have his.

Note: parodied in Archibald Stodart-Walker's My true friend hath my hat.

Note: Somervell's setting has several changes to the punctuation (as supplied by Mike Pearson):
Line One: No first comma
Line Three: No first comma
Line Five: No first comma
Line Seven: Full stop not colon
Line Eight: Full stop not colon
Line Ten: No first comma

Composition:

    Set to music by Hans Gál (1890 - 1987), "True love", op. 51 no. 2 (1939), published 1949 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Four Madrigals, no. 2, Novello, London

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.


Researcher for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2011-04-26
Line count: 10
Word count: 90