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by Thomas Hood (1799 - 1845)

Our hands have met, but not our hearts
Language: English 
Our hands have met, but not our hearts;
Our hands will never meet again.
Friends if we have ever been,
Friends we cannot now remain:
I only know I loved you once,
I only know I loved in vain;
Our hands have met, but not our hearts;
Our hands will never meet again!

Then farewell to heart and hand!
I would our hands had never met:
Even the outward form of love
Must be resigned with some regret.
Friends we still might seem to be,
If my wrong could e'er forget
Our hands have joined, but not our hearts:
I would our hands had never met!

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Thomas Hood (1799 - 1845), "To a false friend", from Poems, Vol. II, first published 1846 [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 William Vincent Wallace (1812 - 1865), "Our hands have met" [voice and piano] [
     text not verified 
    ]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-01-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 106

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