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Elle est venue ranimer les jardins, la bonne petite pluie qui sait toujours quand la nature a besoin d'elle. Discrète, appliquée, silencieuse, elle a mouillé toutes choses, finement. Hier soir, des nuages avaient envahi le ciel. L'obscurité était effrayante. Comme d’immenses yeux de fauves, les fanals des barques luisaient. Ce matin, dans une pure lumière, éclatent les couleurs du jardin bien lavé. Je contemple ses fleurs, qui me font évoquer le parc impérial où je me promenais, jadis.
Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade ; poésies chinoises, Paris : Piazza, 1926, p.107
Text Authorship:
- by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Pluie de printemps", appears in La flûte de jade, Paris, Éd. H. Piazza, first published 1920 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Tsao Chang Ling (1719 - 1763) [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Marguerite Canal (1890 - 1978), "Pluie de printemps", 1922, published 1924 [ medium voice and piano ], from La flûte de jade, mélodies chinoises, no. 2, Paris, Éditions Musicales d'Art Maxime Jamin [sung text not yet checked]
- by Odette Gartenlaub (1922 - 2014), "Pluie de printemps", 1950 [ high voice and piano ], from Cinq Poèmes de Franz Toussaint, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marie Marjori Hajary (1921 - 2017), "Pluie de printemps", 1950 [ voice, 2 flutes, viola and violoncello ], from Flûte de jade, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "Spring Rain", 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: 2024-11-16
Line count: 8
Word count: 78
It came to revive the gardens, the good little rain that always knows when nature has need of it. Discreet, industrious, silent, it delicately moistened everything. Last night, clouds had invaded the sky. The darkness was frightening. The lamps of the boats shone like the huge eyes of wild animals. This morning, the colors of the well-washed garden are gleaming in the clear light. I contemplate its flowers, which remind me of the imperial park where once I used to walk.
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 Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Pluie de printemps", appears in La flûte de jade, Paris, Éd. H. Piazza, first published 1920
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Tsao Chang Ling (1719 - 1763) [text unavailable]
This text was added to the website: 2026-04-13
Line count: 8
Word count: 81