Three Arabian Poems

Translations © by Grant Hicks

Song Cycle by Constantin Brăiloiu (1893 - 1958)

View original-language texts alone: Trois poèmes arabes

1. 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.

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


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
1. 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
2. Le sommeil des colombes  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Dans le cèdre, des colombes 
se sont posées pour la nuit. 
Longtemps hésitantes, 
elles avaient tournoyé au-dessus 
de l'arbre solitaire. 
Maintenant elles vont s'endormir. 
Comme chaque nuit, au sommet 
de la plus haute branche, 
un rossignol chantera. 
Ainsi je berce souvent ton sommeil 
de paroles d'amour. 
Je crois que le même instinct 
guide les colombes et les jeunes filles 
vers les jardins où chantent les rossignols.

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by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
2. The Sleep of Doves
Language: English 
In the cedar, doves
have settled for the night. 
Hesitating for a long while, 
they had circled above
the solitary tree. 
Now they are about to go to sleep. 
As on all nights, at the top 
of the highest branch
a nightingale will sing. 
So do I often beguile your sleep 
with words of love. 
I believe the same instinct 
guides doves and young girls 
towards gardens where nightingales sing.

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: 14
Word count: 70

Translation © by Grant Hicks
3. 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)
3. 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