Winds, loose my long tresses

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by Émile Verhaeren (1855 - 1916)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Vents, dénouez mes longs cheveux

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

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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

Language: English after the French (Français)

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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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

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
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-08-19
Line count: 16
Word count: 101