As pants the hart (HWV 251) is an anthem composed by George Frideric Handel for the Chapel Royal of Queen Anne and subsequently revised. There are five versions of the work (indicated by the letters a to e), the first being completed in 1713, and the final in 1738. HWV 251a was the first anthem Handel composed for the Chapel Royal. In Handel’s day, all parts were sung by male voices—typically twelve boys and twelve men.