Five Eastern Mélodies

Translations © by Grant Hicks

Song Cycle by Fernand Quinet (1898 - 1971)

View original-language texts alone: Cinq mélodies orientales

1. Notre banc  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Elle m'avait dit qu'Elle m'attendrait dans cette demeure 
où nous nous sommes tant aimés.
Je ne suis pas revenu.
Quand tu passeras sur la route de Dar-Ould-Zidah, 
arrête-toi devant un jardin que gardent deux cypres, 
et crie Son nom.
Si personne ne répond, pousse la porte, entre, et donne
un peu d'eau à des rosiers qui entourent un banc de marbre.

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Confirmed with Le jardin des caresses, in: Le revue de Paris, Paris : Bureau de la Revue de Paris, 1910, p.567


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
1. Our Bench
Language: English 
She had told me that She would wait for me in that dwelling 
where we had so loved each other. 
I have not gone back.
When you pass by on the way to Dar-Ould-Zidah, 
stop in front of a garden where two cypresses stand guard, 
and call out Her name. 
If no one answers, open the door, go in, and give
a little water to roses growing around a marble bench.

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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This text was added to the website: 2026-02-20
Line count: 8
Word count: 71

Translation © by Grant Hicks
2. L'heure tranquille  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Voici l'heure tranquille où les troupeaux s'acheminent vers le puits.
Le jour décroît.
J'attends ma bien-aimée, étendu sur les coussins qui gardaient 
l'empreinte de son corps.
En signal, j'ai posé sur la fenêtre un vase 
dans lequel trempe la tige d'une rose. 
Cette rose se détache au sommet d'une colline bleue.

Text Authorship:

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, Paris: H. Piazza, 1919.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
2. The Peaceful Hour
Language: English 
This is the peaceful hour when the flocks make their way towards the well.
The day wanes. 
I await my beloved, stretched out on the pillows that used to hold
the imprint of her body. 
As a sign I have set a vase in the window 
in which is immersed the stem of a rose. 
This rose is plucked at the top of a blue hill.

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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This text was added to the website: 2026-02-22
Line count: 7
Word count: 66

Translation © by Grant Hicks
3. Inscription  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Celle qui fut Daoulah repose ici. 
Elle est morte, la troisième nuit de Djemazi-el-Akhir, 
qui est le mois funeste aux fleurs.
Nous l'aimions. Sa bouche était savoureuse.
Si son nom te rappelle que tu l'as caressée, un soir, 
évoque aussi pour elle ce bonheur ancien, 
car le sommeil des morts est sans rêves.

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


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
3. Inscription
Language: English 
She who was Daoulah rests here. 
She died on the third night of Jumada al-Akhir, 
which is the month of death for flowers. 
We loved her. Her mouth was delicious. 
If her name reminds you that one evening you caressed her,
recall for her as well this ancient pleasure, 
for the sleep of the dead is dreamless.

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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This text was added to the website: 2026-02-22
Line count: 7
Word count: 57

Translation © by Grant Hicks
4. L'Astronome  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Brahim, l’astronome, est fort savant.
Il sait vers quel point du ciel une comète se dirige,
mais il ignore où sa femme retrouve, chaque soir,
son amant.

Text Authorship:

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, Paris: L'édition D'art H. Piazza, 1921, p. 94


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
4. The Astronomer
Language: English 
Brahim the astronomer is very knowledgeable. 
He knows towards which point in the sky a comet is heading, 
but he has no idea where his wife, every evening,
meets her lover.

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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This text was added to the website: 2026-02-22
Line count: 4
Word count: 31

Translation © by Grant Hicks
5. Résignation  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Pendant que je te parlais, 
l'ombre d'une fleur de magnolia s'est posée sur tes genoux.
Elle était si lourde, que tu ne m'écoutais plus !
Tu la berçais comme tu aurais bercé l'enfant 
qui serait né de notre amour, 
si nous avions pu nous aimer.

Et je te regardais bercer l'ombre de cette fleur immense.

Text Authorship:

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le Jardin des Caresses, 73e édition, Paris : L'édition d'art H. Piazza, 1921, p.80

Note: the final sentence in the source text duplicates the word de, which appears at both the end of one line and the beginning of the next. There is no grammatical or apparent poetic reason for this duplication; rather, it is an instance of a copyist's or typesetter's error known as dittography, which is particularly common at line breaks.

by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
5. Resignation
Language: English 
While I was talking to you,
the shadow of a magnolia blossom settled on your lap.
It was so heavy that you no longer listened to me!
You cradled it as you'd have cradled the child 
who would have been born of our love,
if we'd been able to love each other.

And I watched you rock the shadow of that enormous flower.

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: 

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This text was added to the website: 2026-02-17
Line count: 7
Word count: 63

Translation © by Grant Hicks