Five Mélodies

Translations © by Grant Hicks

Song Cycle by Vincenzo Tommasini (1878 - 1950)

View original-language texts alone: Cinq mélodies

1. La victoire  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Elle m'a dit : « Qu'as-tu fait pour mériter de me posséder ? »
Sa chevelure s'était répandue sur ses épaules, 
et ses mains me repoussaient.
Elle me dit encore : « Ignores-tu que l'amour est un combat ? 
O toi, le plus valeureux des hommes, 
accepterais-tu de triompher sans avoir livré bataille ? » 
Elle sourit avec dédain, puis elle recula dans l'ombre. 
Ses yeux rencontrèrent mes yeux,
et mon cœur eut un frisson. 
Elle continua : « Qu'as-tu fait pour mériter
que je m'abandonne dans tes bras ? 
Ignores-tu qu'un porteur d'étendard
est toujours un guerrier courageux ? 
O toi, qui as reçu plus de blessures que Dhâl, 
la panthère enchantée,
craindrais-tu la souffrance d'amour ? » 
J'ai pris doucement ses mains, et j'ai murmuré : 
« Peut-être... »
Le crépuscule commençait. 
Jaloux, le soleil s'était-il caché
parce qu'elle avait consenti à m'apparaître nue ? 
Elle laissa ses mains dans les miennes, et elle répéta : 
« Qu'as-tu fait pour mériter de me posséder ? » 
Que pouvais-je répondre ?
Ne savait-elle pas que j'allais être victorieux ? 
Au loin, dans la plaine, un pasteur attardé
chantait une chanson joyeuse. 
Je lui ai dit : 
« Ecoute ! »

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin de caresses, 73rd Edition, Paris: H. Piazza, 1921, pages 14-15.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
1. Victory
Language: English 
She said to me: "What have you done to be worthy of possessing me?" 
Her hair was spread out over her shoulders,
and her hands pushed me away.
She said to me again: "Don't you know that love is combat?
O you, the bravest of men,
would you accept victory with having given battle?" 
She smiled with disdain, then retreated into the shadows.
Her eyes met my eyes,
and my heart gave a shiver.
She continued: "What have you done to be worthy
that I deliver myself into your arms?
Don't you know that a standard-bearer
is always a valiant warrior?
O you, who have received more wounds than Dhâl,
the enchanted panther,
would you fear the suffering of love?"
I took her hands gently, and I murmured to her:
"Perhaps ..." 
Twilight began to fall.
Had the sun hidden itself, jealous 
that she had consented to bare herself to me?
She left her hands in mine, and she repeated:
"What have you done to be worthy of possessing me?" 
What could I say in response?
Didn't she know that I was going to win?
Far off, on the plain, a tarrying shepherd 
sang a joyful song.
I said to her:
"Listen!"

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: 2026-03-07
Line count: 29
Word count: 202

Translation © by Grant Hicks
2. Le voile peint  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Pour dormir, elle s'était roulée dans ce voile 
où un artiste a peint les présents de l'été.
Des fruits multicolores la drapaient toute, 
et je pensais aux barques 
qui emportent sur le fleuve les trésors de nos vergers.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le Jardin des Caresses; Quatrième serie, in: La Revue de Paris, Bureaux De La Revue De Paris, 1911-05-01


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
2. The Painted Veil
Language: English 
To sleep, she'd  wrapped herself up in that veil
on which an artist has painted the gifts of summer. 
Fruits of many colors covered her all over, 
and I was reminded of the boats 
that carry on the river the treasures of our orchards.

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: 2026-03-06
Line count: 5
Word count: 44

Translation © by Grant Hicks
3. Le destin  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
L'amour de la femme est l'ombre d'une palme sur le sable.
L'amour de l'homme est le seul simoûn
qui puisse briser cette palme et fixer ainsi son ombre.
Messaouda ! dans la nuit de ton sépulcre
souviens-toi du jardin solitaire
où je t'ai conduite,, un jour.
C'était un jardin entre des murailles si hautes,
que les cimes de ses arbres ne les depassaient point.
C'était un jardin serti dans des murailles blanches,
comme une émeraude cachée dans une fleur de magnolia.
Messaouda ! souviens-toi du matin paisible
où tu t'es courbée sous mon amour,
comme une palme sous le simoûn.
Mais, à force de souffler,
le simoûn recouvre de sable le rameau qu'il a brisé.
Ô ma longue palme, 
que le sable du cimetière soit léger sur ton sépulcre.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, Paris, H. Piazza, 1921, pages 18-19.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
3. Destiny
Language: English 
A woman's love is the shadow of a palm tree on the sand.
A man's love is the only simoom
that can snap that palm and so pin down its shadow.
Messaouda! in the night of your tomb 
remember the solitary garden 
where I led you, one day!
It was a garden between walls so high
that the crowns of its trees did not overtop them.
It was a garden set within white walls,
like an emerald hidden within a magnolia blossom.
Messaouda! remember the peaceful morning 
when you were bent beneath my love,
like a palm tree beneath the simoom.
But, by dint of blowing,
The simoom covers with sand the branch it has broken.
O my tall palm tree,
May the sand of the cemetery lie light upon your tomb.

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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Note for line 2, "simoom": a hot, dry, sometimes deadly wind that blows in the Sahara and desert areas of the Near East. Its name comes from an Arabic root meaning "poison."

This text was added to the website: 2026-03-16
Line count: 17
Word count: 132

Translation © by Grant Hicks
4. La fontaine des gazelles  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Elles ne viennent y boire qu'au crépuscule. 
Une à une et inquiètes, elles surgissent de l'ombre 
et elles cherchent le lambeau de ciel que sa conque réfléchit. 

Ainsi, attends-tu la nuit pour pénétrer dans ma demeure, 
et, avant de baiser mes lèvres, 
cherches-tu à voir dans mes yeux l'enchantement de mon âme.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, Paris : H. Piazza, 1919, p.109


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
4. The Spring of the Gazelles
Language: English 
They come there to drink only at dusk. 
One by one, nervously, they rise from the shadows 
and seek the scrap of sky reflected in its gorge.

Thus, wait for night to enter my house, 
and, before kissing my lips, 
look into my eyes to find my soul's enchantment.

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: 2026-02-27
Line count: 6
Word count: 49

Translation © by Grant Hicks
5. L'absente  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Afin d'oublier ma folie, je m'en suis allé dans la montagne. 
Mais, le silence des plateaux me rappelait d'autres silences. 

Afin d'oublier ma folie, je m'en suis allé sur la mer. 
Mais, son immensité me rappelait mon amour. 

Afin de mourir de ma folie, 
je suis revenu dans la demeure qu'elle habita.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, Paris : H. Piazza, 1919, p.136


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
5. She Is Gone
Language: English 
To forget my madness, I betook myself to the mountains. 
But the silence of the plateau reminded me of other silences. 

To forget my madness, I betook myself to the sea. 
But its vastness reminded me of my love. 

To die of my madness ,
I went back to the place where she lived.

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: 2026-02-23
Line count: 6
Word count: 54

Translation © by Grant Hicks