The English version presented below is a literal, word-for-word translation. It attempts to preserve the poet's word order as far as possible, for a better appreciation of the composer's musical treatment of individual words and phrases. Download track from iTunes.

Je me poserai sur ton coeur
Comme le printemps sur la mer,
Sur les plaines de la mer stérile
Où nulle fleur ne peut croître,
A ses souffles agiles,
Que des fleurs de lumière.

Je me poserai sur ton coeur
Comme l’oiseau sur la mer,
Dans le repos de ses ailes lasses,
Et que berce le rythme éternel
Des flots et de l’espace.

Je me poserai sur ton coeur
Comme le printemps sur la mer.

Charles Van Lerberghe

I shall rest upon your heart
Like springtime upon the sea,
On the plains of the sterile sea
Where no flower can grow,
In its agile breaths
Except for flowers of light.

I shall rest upon your heart,
Like the bird upon the sea,
Resting its weary wings,
And [letting itself be] rocked by the eternal rhythm
Of waves and of space.

I shall rest upon your heart
Like springtime upon the sea.