The Jade Flute, Chinese Mélodies

Translations © by Grant Hicks

by Marguerite Canal (1890 - 1978)

View original-language texts alone: La flûte de jade, mélodies chinoises

1. Narcisses  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Narcisses fanés qui flottez sur la rivière, si vous voyez, à Tien-ouan,
une jeune fille rêveuse sous un cannelier 
qui a fleuri deux fois depuis notre premier baiser,
dites-lui que je respire un œillet pour me rappeler son parfum...

Text Authorship:

Based on:

See other settings of this text.

Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade ; poésies chinoises, Paris : Piazza, 1926, p.84


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
1. Narcissi
Language: English 
Faded narcissi floating on the river, if you see at Tien-ouan
a maiden daydreaming under a cinnamon tree
that has flowered twice since our first kiss,
tell her that I am smelling a carnation to remind myself of her scent ...

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:

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2026-04-24
Line count: 4
Word count: 40

Translation © by Grant Hicks
2. Pluie de printemps  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
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.

Text Authorship:

Based on:

See other settings of this text.

Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade ; poésies chinoises, Paris : Piazza, 1926, p.107


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
2. Spring Rain
Language: English 
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.
    Contact: 

Based on:

Based on:

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2026-04-13
Line count: 8
Word count: 81

Translation © by Grant Hicks
3. Vœu  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Nuit tiède, clair de lune, parfum des pruniers, 
donnez à ma bien-aimée un rêve délicieux ! 
Faites qu'elle soit impatiente de me revoir, et, 
qu'à l'aurore, elle vienne frapper à ma porte !

Parfum des pruniers, clair de lune, nuit tiède,
je saurai, par ses baisers, si vous m’avez entendu...

Text Authorship:

Based on:

See other settings of this text.

Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade ; poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1922, page 129.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
3. Wish
Language: English 
Warm night, light of the moon, scent of the plum trees, 
give my beloved a delightful dream! 
Make her eager to see me again, so that, 
at dawn, she comes to knock at my door! 

Scent of the plum trees, light of the moon, warm night, 
I will know by her kisses whether you have heard me...

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:

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2026-04-16
Line count: 6
Word count: 57

Translation © by Grant Hicks
4. Les trois princesses  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Au pays de Sim, trois princesses, 
jeunes et belles, 
sont assises sur une plage blanche.
Elles cherchent, du regard, une nef
qui les emmènerait, très loin,
au delà de l'horizon, 
vers une île qui doit exister,
où les femmes sont heureuses.
La mer est bleue.

Au pays de Sim, trois princesses,
qui ne sont plus jeunes et belles,
pleurent, debout, sur une plage blanche.
La mer est bleue.

Au pays de Sim, trois princesses,
vieilles et sans voix,
sont accroupies sur une plage blanche.
Elles jouent avec le sable et s’en inondent les cheveux,
croyant que les grains de sable sont des fleurs.
La mer est bleue.

Text Authorship:

Based on:

See other settings of this text.

Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade ; poésies chinoises, Paris : H. Piazza, 1926, page 113.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
4. The Three Princesses
Language: English 
In the land of Sim, three princesses, 
young and beautiful, 
sit on a white beach. 
They are looking for a boat
that will take them far away, 
beyond the horizon, 
to an island that must exist, 
where women are happy. 
The sea is blue. 

In the land of Sim, three princesses, 
who are no longer young and beautiful, 
are standing on a white beach, crying. 
The sea is blue. 

In the land of Sim, three princesses, 
old and voiceless, 
crouch on a white beach. 
They play with the sand and drench their hair, 
believing that the grains of sand are flowers. 
The sea is blue.

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:

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2026-04-25
Line count: 19
Word count: 105

Translation © by Grant Hicks
5. La femme au miroir  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Dans le clair de lune, elle est debout, immobile, devant son miroir.
Comme un long coquillage recouvert d'algues,
elle n'est vêtue que de sa chevelure éparse.

Elle vient de tourner la tête.
Elle sourit à une branche de cerisier en fleurs,
dont se détachent des pétales qui tournoient lentement.

Text Authorship:

Based on:

Go to the general single-text view

Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade ; poésies chinoises, Paris : Piazza, 1926, p.117


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
5. The Woman at the Mirror
Language: English 
In the moonlight, she is standing, motionless, in front of her mirror.
Like a long seashell covered in seaweed,
she is clad only in her untidy tresses.

She has just turned her head.
She smiles at a flowering cherry branch,
from which petals are falling in slow spirals.

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:

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2026-04-26
Line count: 6
Word count: 48

Translation © by Grant Hicks
6. Inscription sur un tombeau de la montagne Fou‑Kiou  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Prosternée devant la vierge bouddhiste,
si pitoyable aux malheureux,
je ne lui demande pas de me faire renaître
ou de me garder dans le Paradis,
mais je la supplie de laisser tomber sur ma tête
une des gouttes de rosée
qui tremblent au bout de sa branche de saule,
afin que je devienne un lotus,
qu’il cueillera peut-être.

Text Authorship:

  • by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Inscription sur un tombeau", subtitle: "de la montagne Fou-Kiou", appears in La flûte de jade, Paris, Éd. H. Piazza, first published 1920

Based on:

Go to the general single-text view

Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade, poésies chinoises, Paris, L'édition d'art H. Piazza, 1920, page 190.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
6. Inscription on a Tomb on Mount Fou-Kiou
Language: English 
Prostrate before the Buddhist virgin,
so full of pity for the unfortunate,
I do not ask her to grant me rebirth
or to keep me in Paradise,
but I entreat her to let fall on my head
one of the dewdrops
that tremble at the tip of her willow branch,
so that I may turn into a lotus,
which perhaps he will pick.

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:

Go to the general single-text view

Translations of titles:
"Inscription sur un tombeau" = "Inscription on a Tomb"
"Inscription sur un tombeau de la montagne Fou-Kiou" = "Inscription on a Tomb on Mount Fou-Kiou"


This text was added to the website: 2026-04-14
Line count: 9
Word count: 63

Translation © by Grant Hicks
7. La promenade attristée  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Le lac [Nann-hou]1 berce la lune d'automne 
qui se reflète dans l'eau verte. 
Le bruit de mes rames a interrompu l'hymne d'amour 
que les nénuphars chantent à la lune.

Text Authorship:

Based on:

See other settings of this text.

View text without footnotes

Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade ; poésies chinoises, Paris : Piazza, 1926, page 80.

1 Canal: "Nan-hin"; further changes may exist not shown above.

by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
7. The Sorrowful Walk
 (Sung text translation) See original
Language: English 
Lake Nan-hin rocks the Autumn moon 
which is reflected in its green waters.
The sound of my oars has interrupted the hymn of love
that the water lilies sing to the moon.

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:

Go to the general single-text view

Translations of titles:
"Calme" = "Calm"
"La promenade attristée" = "The Sorrowful Walk"
"Promenade attristée" = "Sorrowful Walk"


This text was added to the website: 2026-04-12
Line count: 4
Word count: 33

Translation © by Grant Hicks