hold your heart
hold your heart (metaphor)
/hoʊld jʊr hɑːrt/
Meanings
- To keep emotions under control, holding back love, sadness, or fear.
- To remain strong and steady in difficult times.
- To cherish and protect love, treating someone with deep care.
- (Literal) To place hands over the chest as a gesture of emotion or sincerity.
Synonyms: restrain; protect; cherish; guard; preserve.
Variant
- hold your hand on your heart
Example Sentences
- She told him to hold your heart and stay calm during the heartbreaking news.
- You must hold your heart strong when life feels unfair.
- He promised to hold your heart with care and never let you feel unloved.
- She placed her palm on her chest to literally hold your heart in a moment of deep emotion. (literal)
- When he left, I asked him to hold my heart and never break it.
- He swore he would hold her heart as gently as if it were made of glass.
- She tried to hold his heart even though distance kept them apart.
- Parents hold their heart for their children’s safety every day.
- With his hand on his chest, he said, “I hold your hand on your heart and speak the truth.” (Variant)
Origin and History
The phrase “hold your heart” has been used for centuries to express ideas of guarding, controlling, or cherishing emotions. Evidence from historical English print shows that the expression was already in use by the late sixteenth century, particularly in poetry and song.
Heart Imagery in Language
The heart has long been treated as the seat of feelings, affection, and moral attention. Writers in many cultures have used verbs like “hold,” “keep,” or “guard” together with “heart” to describe protecting or cherishing one’s emotions. This widespread metaphor explains how “hold your heart” naturally emerged in English, fitting into this long-standing tradition.
Earliest Printed Example (1598)
The earliest clear printed occurrence of “hold your heart” appears in an Elizabethan canzonet published in London in 1598. In this lyric, the speaker equates possession of the beloved’s hand with possession of the beloved’s heart. The line reads:
“When another holds your hand
You’ll swear I hold your heart;”
This example shows the phrase used in a romantic context, highlighting its association with love and devotion.
Classical Translation Usage
The phrase also appears in English translations of classical Greek poetry, such as Hesiod’s Works and Days. Translators rendered lines about guarding against destructive emotions with wording that included “hold your heart.” For example:
“…do not let that Strife who delights in mischief hold your heart back from work…”
These translations demonstrate that the collocation was reinforced through scholarly and literary channels, independent of its native poetic use.
Devotional and Prose Uses
In later centuries, “hold your heart” appeared in devotional works and moral writings. Authors used the phrase to counsel calmness and inner peace, for example, advising readers to “hold your heart always in peace.” Here, the focus was not on romantic love but on spiritual or emotional steadiness.
Theories of Development
The development of “hold your heart” can be traced through three main channels. First, it reflects the ancient metaphor of the heart as the center of feelings. Second, it appeared in Elizabethan lyrics, where it conveyed possession of affection. Third, it entered English through translations of classical texts. Finally, its use in devotional prose shows how the phrase adapted to contexts of inner discipline. Together, these uses show the phrase was not a single invention but a natural product of metaphorical tradition.
Country of First Appearance
The earliest surviving printed record of “hold your heart” is found in London, England, in 1598. This makes England the most likely place of its first appearance in English print. While similar imagery existed in other cultures, the English print record shows its first attestation there.
Caveats on Evidence
It is important to note that print records represent only a fraction of historical usage. The phrase “hold your heart” may have circulated in oral or manuscript form long before 1598. Variants such as “hold thy heart” or “hold my heart” also likely appeared earlier but are more difficult to trace.
Origin Summary
The phrase “hold your heart” reflects a universal metaphor about emotions, with early evidence in Elizabethan songbooks, later reinforcement in classical translations, and further development in devotional prose. The earliest secure printed example comes from a London publication in late 1500s.
England, therefore, stands as the birthplace of its earliest recorded appearance in English, though the concept itself is much older and deeply rooted in metaphorical traditions about the heart.
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