Arabian Songs

Translations © by Grant Hicks

Song Cycle by Marcel Pollet (1883 - 1961)

View original-language texts alone: Chants arabes

1. La pluie sur les roses  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Une goutte tombe, [ensuite]1 une autre. 
C'est la première pluie sur les premières roses. 

D'abord, elles frissonnent, attristées. 
Mais, bientôt, leurs couleurs s'avivent 
et leur parfum devient plus délicieux. 

Tes premières larmes sur notre amour.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, L'édition d'Art H. Piazza, 1906, p.118

1 Thève: "et puis"

by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
1. Rain on the Roses
Language: English 
One drop falls, [then]1 another. 
It is the first rain on the first roses.

At first they shudder in distress. 
But soon their colors grow brighter
and their scent more delightful. 

Your first tears over our love.

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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Translations of titles:
"La pluie sur les roses" = "Rain on the Roses"
"La pluie sur les roses (A chuva sobre as rosas)" = "Rain on the Roses"

1 Thève: "and then"


This text was added to the website: 2026-02-23
Line count: 6
Word count: 38

Translation © by Grant Hicks
2. 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.

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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)
2. 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
3. Sommeil  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Je me rappelle ce matin de Damas 
et le silence du jardin où tu sommeillais. 
L'ombre de ton cou était bleue. 
Tes seins se soulevaient et s'abaissaient
avec un rythme de source. 
Tes bras, à l'abandon,
étaient deux ruisseaux d'argent sur l'herbe,
et des papillons se posaient sur tes ongles, 
les prenant pour des roses. 
A ce moment, dans les Jardins du Paradis,
mon père contemplait-il des vierges plus splendides ?
Je me suis étendu près de toi, 
comme un mendiant près d'une mosquée.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le Jardin des Caresses, 73e édition, Paris : L'édition d'art H. Piazza, 1921, p.78


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
3. Sleep
Language: English 
I remember that morning in Damascus 
and the silence of the garden where you were sleeping. 
The shadow of your neck was blue. 
Your breasts rose and fell
with the rhythm of a wellspring. 
Your careless arms
were two rivulets of silver on the grass,
and butterflies alit on your nails, 
mistaking them for roses. 
At that moment, in the Gardens of Paradise, 
was my father gazing at virgins any more magnificent? 
I lay down next to you, 
like a beggar next to a mosque.

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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Translations of titles:
"La mosquée" = "The Mosque"
"Sommeil" = "Sleep"



This text was added to the website: 2026-02-24
Line count: 13
Word count: 85

Translation © by Grant Hicks
4. 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.

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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)
4. 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: 

Based on:

Based on:

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

Translation © by Grant Hicks