The Jade Flute: seven Chinese poems translated by Franz Toussaint

Translations © by Grant Hicks

by Pierre, Baron de Maurice (1868 - 1936)

View original-language texts alone: La flûte de jade: Sept Poésies chinoises traduites par Franz Toussaint, op. 36

1. Je me promenais  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
En files noirs, 
des oies sauvages traversent le ciel. 
On voit, dans les arbres, 
des nids abandonnés. 
Les montagnes semblent plus lourdes. 

J'ai trouvé près de ma fontaine, 
la flûte de jade 
que tu avais perdue, cet été. 
L'herbe haute l'avait soustraite à nos recherches. 

Mais l'herbe est morte, 
et la flûte brillait au soleil, ce soir. 
J'ai pensé à notre amour, 
qui est resté si longtemps 
enseveli sous nos scrupules.

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by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
1. I was walking
Language: English 
In black columns, 
the wild geese cross the sky. 
In the trees, one sees
abandoned nests. 
The mountains seem heavier. 

Next to my fountain I found 
the jade flute 
that you'd lost this summer. 
The high grass had hidden it from our searching. 

But the grass is dead, 
and this morning the flute was gleaming in the sun. 
I thought of our love, 
which has remained so long
buried beneath our misgivings.

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:
"Je me promenais" = "I was walking"
"La flûte de jade" = "The Jade Flute"


This text was added to the website: 2026-04-13
Line count: 14
Word count: 72

Translation © by Grant Hicks
2. Notre bateau glisse  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Notre bateau glisse sur le fleuve calme.
Au delà du verger qui borde la rive,
je regarde les montagnes bleues et les nuages blancs.

Mon amie sommeille, la main dans l'eau.
Un papillon s'est posé sur son épaule,
a battu des ailes puis s'est envolé.

Je l'ai suivi des yeux, longtemps.
Il se dirigeait vers les montagnes de Tchang-nân.

Etait-ce un papillon, ou le rêve que venait de faire mon amie ?

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1922, pages 29-30.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
2. Our boat glides ..
Language: English 
Our boat glides on the placid river. 
Beyond the orchard that runs along the bank, 
I gaze at the blue mountains and the white clouds. 

My love dozes, her hand in the water.
A butterfly has landed on her shoulder,
flapped its wings then flown off.

I followed it with my eyes for a long time.
It was headed towards the Tchang-nân mountains.

Was it a butterfly, or the dream my love had just dreamed?

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: 2026-04-15
Line count: 9
Word count: 75

Translation © by Grant Hicks
3. La dernière promenade  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Tu as laissé tomber dans la poussière
la tulipe rouge que je t'avais donnée.
Je l'ai ramassée.
Elle était devenue blanche.
En ce bref instant, il avait neigé sur notre amour.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1920, page 23.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
3. The Last Stroll
Language: English 
You dropped in the dust
the red tulip I'd given you. 
I picked it back up. 
It had become white. 
In that brief instant, it had snowed on 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:
"Dernière promenade" = "Last Stroll"
"La dernière promenade" = "The Last Stroll"


This text was added to the website: 2026-04-07
Line count: 5
Word count: 30

Translation © by Grant Hicks
4. Ki‑Fong  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
La brise vient d'accourir.
Cet arbre a des frissons de jeune fille amoureuse.
Des poissons luisants sautent à la surface du lac.
Des pétales de lotus vont à la dérive,
avec des équipages de papillons.
Je me demande si ma femme
se doute que je ne suis pas à mes affaires. . .

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1920, page 96.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
4. Ki Fong
Language: English 
The breeze has just come up.
This tree trembles like a maiden in love.
Gleaming fish leap to the surface of the lake.
Lotus petals drift about,
with companies of butterflies.
I wonder if my wife
suspects I am not about my business...

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: 2026-04-15
Line count: 7
Word count: 43

Translation © by Grant Hicks
5. Indifférente  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Sur ma flûte d'ébène, j'ai joué, pour toi,
l'air le plus passionné que je connaissais,
mais tu regardais les pivoines, sans m'écouter.
[Je]1 t'ai donné une poésie
où j'avais célébré ta beauté,
mais tu l'as déchirée
et tu en as jeté les morceaux dans le lac,
parce qu'il n'avait pas de nénuphars, m'as-tu dit.
Je voulais te donner un merveilleux saphir,
limpide et froid comme une nuit d'hiver,
mais je l'ai gardé pour qu'il me rapelle ton cœur.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1920, pages 97-98.

1 Badings: "Puis je"

by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
5. Indifference
Language: English 
On my ebony flute, I played for you 
the most passionate tune I knew, 
but you looked at the peonies without listening to me. 
I gave you a poem
in which I'd praised your beauty, 
but you tore it up
and tossed the scraps into the lake, 
because, you said, it had no lily pads. 
I wanted to give you a marvelous sapphire, 
clear and cold as a winter's night, 
but I kept it because it reminds me of your heart.

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:
"Indifférente" = "Indifference"
"L'indifférente" = "Indifference"


This text was added to the website: 2026-04-07
Line count: 11
Word count: 82

Translation © by Grant Hicks
6. Ngo Gay Ngy  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Comme la lune dans le ciel bleu,
je suis seule dans ma chambre.
J'ai éteint la lampe, je pleure.
Je pleure parce que vous êtes loin de moi
et que vous ne saurez jamais
combien je vous aime.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1920, page 88.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
6. Ngo Gay Ngy
Language: English 
Like the moon in the blue sky, 
I am alone in my room. 
I've put out the lamp; I am crying. 
I am crying because you are far away
and because you will never know 
how much I love you.

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:
"Combien je vous aime" = "How Much I Love You"
"Ngo Gay Ngy" = "Ngo Gay Ngy"


This text was added to the website: 2026-04-12
Line count: 6
Word count: 40

Translation © by Grant Hicks
7. Petite fête  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Je prends un flacon de vin,
et je vais le boire parmi les fleurs.
Nous sommes toujours trois,
en comptant mon ombre et mon amie la lune brillante.
Heureusement que la lune ne sait pas boire
et que mon ombre n'a jamais soif !
Quand je chante, la lune m'écoute en silence.
Quand je danse, mon ombre danse aussi.
Après tout festin, les convives se séparent.
Je ne connais pas cette tristesse.
Lorsque je regagne ma demeure,
la lune m'accompagne et mon ombre me suit.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1920, pages 40-41.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
7. A Little Party
Language: English 
I take a flask of wine, 
and I go to drink it among the flowers. 
There are always three of us,
counting my shadow and my friend the bright moon. 
Happily the moon cannot drink
and my shadow is never thirsty. 
When I sing, the moon listens in silence. 
When I dance, my shadow dances too. 
After any banquet, the guests go their separate ways.
I do not know this sadness. 
When I return home, 
the moon comes with me and my shadow follows 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.
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This text was added to the website: 2026-04-16
Line count: 12
Word count: 85

Translation © by Grant Hicks