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Vents, dénouez mes longs cheveux Et brûlez-en mes amoureux. Mouillez mes mains, fraîche rosée, Et qu’aussitôt mille désirs Se rassemblent pour les saisir Quand je les tends de ma croisée. Pluie aimante, lavez mes yeux Pour qu’ils soient clairs comme l’audace Et que les bourgs par où je passe Sentent flamber mon cœur en feu. Et vous, soleil, dorez ma tête, Dorez mes seins, et tout mon corps À l’heure où l’amant le plus fort Courbe ma chair sous sa conquête. Vents, dénouez mes longs cheveux Et brûlez-en mes amoureux.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Les Blés Mouvants par Émile Verhaeren, Paris, Georges Crès et Cie, 1912, pages 137-138.
Text Authorship:
- by Émile Verhaeren (1855 - 1916), "La fille ardente", written 1912?, appears in Les blés mouvants, poèmes, in 2. Quelques chansons de village, no. 5, first published 1912 [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 Pierre (Onfroy) de Bréville (1861 - 1949), "Cœur ardent", 1932, published 1934 [ high voice and piano ], from Quatre Mélodies, no. 3, Éd. “Au Ménestrel” Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2014-09-28
Line count: 16
Word count: 90
Winds, loose my long tresses And with them set my lovers aflame. Moisten my hands, cool dew, And let a thousand desires at once Gather to seize them When I stretch them out my window. Loving rain, wash my eyes So that they are as clear as boldness And that the towns through which I pass Feel the flames of my fiery heart. And you, sun, gild my head, Gild my breasts, and all my body At the moment when the strongest lover Bends my flesh under his conquest. Winds, loose my long tresses And with them set my lovers aflame.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of titles:
"Cœur ardent" = "Ardent Heart"
"La fille ardente" = "The Ardent Girl"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Émile Verhaeren (1855 - 1916), "La fille ardente", written 1912?, appears in Les blés mouvants, poèmes, in 2. Quelques chansons de village, no. 5, first published 1912
This text was added to the website: 2026-08-19
Line count: 16
Word count: 101