The Bloody Heart | You laughed at my tears!

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Le Cœur sanglant

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Tu as ri de mes larmes !
Sache que tu es la première devant qui j'ai pleuré.

Jouis de ton triomphe, ne perds pas un instant,
car, cette nuit, je pénétrerai dans ta chambre, 
éclairé par mon poignard, 
et, à l'aube, je jetterai ton cœur aux corbeaux. 

Il aura palpité dans ma main :
l'eau de ma fontaine la purifiera.
Il aura pollué le sable : 
le vent effacera son empreinte.

Corbeaux noirs, 
arrivez de l'horizon pour la curée d'un cœur de femme !
Je vous le lancerai, après y avoir enfermé mon âme.

Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, Paris: H. Piazza, 1921, p.98.

Text Authorship:

by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Le cœur sanglant", appears in Le jardin des caresses, no. 18 [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 Jean Artiguères , "Le Cœur sanglant", published 1927 [ voice and piano ], from Daoulah, no. 4, Paris : H. Maquaire [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Francesco Santoliquido (1883 - 1971) , "Il cuore sanguinante" ; composed by Francesco Santoliquido.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "The Bloody Heart", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2024-12-21
Line count: 13
Word count: 90

The Bloody Heart

Language: English after the French (Français)

You laughed at my tears!
Know that you are the first in front of whom I've cried.

Enjoy your triumph, don't lose a moment,
for tonight I will break into your bedroom,
illuminated by my dagger,
and at dawn I will toss your heart to the crows.

It will have beaten in my hand;
the water of my spring will purify it.
It will have polluted the sand;
the wind will wipe away its traces.

Black crows, 
come from the horizon to feed on a woman's heart! 
I will toss it to you, after I've sealed up my soul inside it.

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 Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Le cœur sanglant", appears in Le jardin des caresses, no. 18
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-02-24
Line count: 13
Word count: 101