Ten Arabian Melodies

Translations © by Grant Hicks

by Maurice Perez

View original-language texts alone: Dix Mélodies Arabes

1. Son nom  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Si vous voulez savoir le nom de celle que j'ai le plus aimée,
cherchez à vous rappeler le nom de celle qui m'a fait le plus souffrir. 

Si votre mémoire vous trahit ou si vous n'avez pas connu cette femme,
disposez vos lèvres comme pour donner un baiser : 
son nom se prononce ainsi.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, L'édition d'Art H. Piazza, p.136


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
1. Her Name
Language: English 
If you want to know the name of the one I've loved the most, 
try to remember the name of the one who has caused me the most pain. 

If your memory fails you or you haven't met this woman, 
shape your lips as if to bestow a kiss:
that's how her name is pronounced.

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: 5
Word count: 55

Translation © by Grant Hicks
2. La Sultane de l'amour  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
J'ai vu ses yeux, et ma vie en est illuminée à jamais.
J'ai entendu sa voix, et je ne peux plus écouter aucune musique.
J'ai respiré son parfum, et je ne peux plus me pencher sur les roses.

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


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
2. The Sultana of Love
Language: English 
I've seen her eyes, and my life is illuminated by them forever. 
I've heard her voice, and I can no longer listen to any music. 
I've breathed her perfume, and I can no longer inspect the roses.

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: 3
Word count: 37

Translation © by Grant Hicks
3. Une jeune fille  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Une jeune fille, qui revenait du fleuve, 
modulait cette chanson que tu chantais si souvent. 

Je l'ai suivie, sans pouvoir retenir mes larmes. 

La voix liquide et pathétique d'un rossignol 
ne suffit-elle pas au prisonnier pour évoquer les délices des jardins 
où il ne se promènera plus ?

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, Paris : H. Piazza, 1919, p.138


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
3. A maiden
Language: English 
A maiden who was coming back from the river 
warbled that song you so often sang.

I followed her, unable to hold back my tears.

Isn't the liquid, poignant voice of a nightingale 
enough to evoke for a prisoner the delights of gardens
where he will never walk again?

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: 2026-02-26
Line count: 6
Word count: 49

Translation © by Grant Hicks
4. Le Baiser dans la nuit  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
A deux mains j'ai pris ta tête, comme une urne, 
et je me suis versé la liqueur d'amour. 

Qui aurait pensé qu'une urne si petite contenait tant de liqueur ? 
L'aurore ruisselait déjà dans le ciel quand nos bouches se séparèrent.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, Paris : H. Piazza, 1919, p.61


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
4. The Kiss in the Night
Language: English 
With both hands I took your head, like an urn, 
and I poured out for myself the liquor of love.

Who'd have thought so small an urn could hold so much liquor? 
Dawn was already streaming down from the sky when our mouths parted.

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: 2026-02-26
Line count: 4
Word count: 44

Translation © by Grant Hicks
5. Le Bain  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Les sourcils remontés, la bouche ouverte, tu regardais fuir,
dans le courant du fleuve, ta robe qui t'avait échappé. 
Je passais sur la berge, et je t'ai crié : 
« Salut, fille de Bakili ! Que le bonheur soit avec toi ! » 
Tu m'as répondu : « Comment serais-je heureuse ? 
Vois ma robe dans le courant... »
Le poète sait user des circonstances, et je t'ai dit : 
« Fille de Bakili,  
ta jeunesse est semblable à ta robe dans le courant : 
elle s'éloigne de toi, chaque jour, et tu ne peux la retenir. 
Ne demeure pas à la regarder s'en aller. 
Viens sous ces ombrages...  Je te ferai une robe de caresses. »

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le Jardin des Caresses, 73e édition, Paris : L'édition d'art H. Piazza, 1921, pages 40-41.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
5. The Bath
Language: English 
With raised eyebrows and open mouth, you watched your robe
rushing away in the river's current, your robe which had gotten away from you.
I was passing on the bank, and I called out:
"Greetings, daughter of Bakili! May fortune be with you!" 
You answered me: "How am I to be fortunate? 
Look at my robe in the current ..." 
The poet knows how to seize an opportunity, and I said:
"Daughter of Bakili,
your youth is like your robe in the current:
every day it drifts farther away from you, and you cannot hold on to it.
Do not waste time watching it go.
Come here, into the shade ... I will make you a robe of caresses."

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: 2026-03-16
Line count: 12
Word count: 118

Translation © by Grant Hicks
6. 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)
6. 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
7. Soudjoud  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Longtemps encore, ô mon œillet flamboyant, 
refuseras-tu de me regarder ?
— Es-tu donc le soleil, 
pour vouloir que je me tourne vers toi ? 
— Et si, las de ta cruauté, j'escaladais, 
pour t'étrangler, le mur de ta demeure ? 
— Je te laisserais baiser mon cou parfumé, 
afin de t'entendre gémir d'amour.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le Jardin des Caresses, 73e édition, Paris : L'édition d'art H. Piazza, 1921, p.84


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
7. Soudjoud
Language: English 
"Will you long continue, O my fiery carnation,
     to refuse to look at me?" 
"Are you then the sun,
     that you should wish me to turn towards you?" 
"And if, weary of your cruelty, I were to scale 
     the wall of your dwelling, in order to strangle you?" 
"I would let you kiss my perfumed neck, 
     so as to hear you moaning with 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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This text was added to the website: 2026-03-18
Line count: 8
Word count: 64

Translation © by Grant Hicks
8. La Solitude  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Comme chaque jour, je l'attends. Reviendra-t-elle ? 
Je pense au soir de l'adieu, 
au bruit de la porte qu'elle referma sans colère,
au silence qu'il y eut dans mon âme. 
Comme chaque jour, je l'attends. Reviendra-t-elle ?
Elle entrerait en disant, pour parler : 
« Je passais devant ta demeure,  
et je viens voir si les roses n'ont pas souffert de l'hiver... » 
Puis, elle sourirait à mon petit jardin, à l'horizon calme,
et je sais bien qu'elle ne repartirait pas.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, Paris: L'édition d'Art H. Piazza, 1921, pages 124-125.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
8. Loneliness
Language: English 
As I do every day, I wait for her. Will she return?
I think of the night of our farewell,
Of the noise of the door that she closed without anger,
Of the silence that filled my soul.
As I do every day, I wait for her. Will she return? 
She would come in and say, just to say something, 
"I was passing by your house, 
and I am coming to see if the roses haven't suffered from the winter ... " 
Then, she would smile at my little garden, at the calm horizon, 
and I am sure that she wouldn't leave again.

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 Solitude" = "Loneliness"
"Solitude" = "Loneliness"



This text was added to the website: 2026-02-26
Line count: 10
Word count: 102

Translation © by Grant Hicks
9. Le Souvenir  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
En courant, mes amis ont emporté ton corps. 
Messaouda ! Messaouda !
puisque ton visage était découvert,
tu as revu, une dernière fois, 
la fontaine près de laquelle je t'ai connue 
et le jardin qui nous accueillit, ce jour-là.
C'était un matin de la jeune année. 
Des colombes, bien lissées, 
venaient se poser sur les guirlandes de pampres 
qui flottaient entre les arbres.
Tes yeux avaient-ils fait déjà fleurir les jasmins ? 
Des papillons chaviraient dans leur feuillage, 
et une odeur de miel nous environnait. 
Sur le minaret de la mosquée voisine, 
un moûeddin' célébrait les bienfaits de Dieu.
En courant, mes amis ont emporté ton corps.
Chaque matin, j'irai m'asseoir sur ta tombe, parmi les pleureuses.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, 73e édition, Paris: L'édition d'art H. Piazza, 1921, pages 16-17.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
9. Memory
Language: English 
As they ran, my friends carried off your body.
Messaouda! Messaouda!
since your face was uncovered,
you saw again, one last time,
the spring by which I met you 
and the garden that welcomed us that day.
It was a morning early in the year.
Doves, with their sleek plumage,
came to alight on the garlands of vines
that swayed among the trees.
Had your eyes already made the jasmines blossom?
Butterflies fluttered in their foliage,
and a scent of honey enveloped us.
On the minaret of the mosque nearby,
a muezzin was praising the blessings of God.
As they ran, my friends carried off your body.
Every morning, I will go and sit by your grave, among the mourners.

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: 2026-03-09
Line count: 17
Word count: 120

Translation © by Grant Hicks
10. Daoulah  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Son nom a le contour d'une volute de parfum. 
Il se déroule et enlace les âmes, 
comme un jasmin enlace un noisetier. 
C'est une danse et un chant. 
Il ondule puis s'éploie, semblable à une chevelure dans le vent, 
à une flamme sur une proue.
On se le rappelle ainsi qu'un visage, 
ainsi qu'un murmure de fontaine. 
Ce nom ?...
Daoulah.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le Jardin des Caresses, 73e édition, Paris : L'édition d'art H. Piazza, 1921, p.104


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
10. Daoulah
Language: English 
Her name has the contour of a wisp of perfume. 
It uncoils and entwines souls, 
as a jasmine entwines a hazel tree. 
It is a dance and a song. 
It billows and spreads, like tresses in the wind, 
like a flame on a prow. 
Its memory is like the memory of a face, 
of the murmur of a fountain. 
That name? ...
Daoulah.

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:
"Daoulah" = "Daoulah"
"Écoute" = "Listen"



This text was added to the website: 2026-03-18
Line count: 10
Word count: 62

Translation © by Grant Hicks