Seven Arabian Poems from "Le Jardin des Caresses"

Translations © by Grant Hicks

by Claude Guillon (1879 - 1956), as Claude Guillon-Verne

View original-language texts alone: Sept Poèmes arabes tirés du "Jardin des Caresses"

1. 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)
1. 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
2. Le printemps sur la mer  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Un matin, j'ai vu le printemps sur la mer. 
Les flots étaient un tapis de lilas 
où se posaient de grands oiseaux blancs, 
pareils à des pétales de fleurs d'amandier.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, Paris : H. Piazza, 1919, p.95


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
2. Springtime at Sea
Language: English 
One morning, I saw Springtime at sea.
The waves were a carpet of lilacs
where great white birds were settling,
like flower petals from an almond tree.

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 mer" = "The Sea"
"Le printemps sur la mer" = "Springtime at Sea"



This text was added to the website: 2026-02-26
Line count: 4
Word count: 27

Translation © by Grant Hicks
3. Les Persanes  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Dans cette région,
les lits des torrents sont tapissés de tant de fleurs violettes,
que l'on croit voir couler toujours l’eau bleue de la montagne, 
et les yeux clairs des femmes sont tellement chargés d’énigmes, 
que l’on ne sait jamais si leur cœur vous a répondu.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, Paris: H. Piazza, 1921, pages 98-99.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
3. Persian Women
Language: English 
In this region, 
the streambeds are carpeted with so many violet flowers
that you seem to see blue mountain water always flowing, 
and the women's bright eyes are so laden with riddles 
that you never know whether their heart has responded to 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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This text was added to the website: 2026-03-02
Line count: 5
Word count: 43

Translation © by Grant Hicks
4. Prière du matin  [sung text not yet checked]

Subtitle: Dour

Language: French (Français) 
Ta main fraîche sur mon front,
ta chevelure sur ma poitrine,
et ta chanson qui parle des cascades du Liban...

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le Jardin des Caresses, 73e édition, Paris : L'édition d'art H. Piazza, 1921, p.113


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
4. Morning Prayer
Language: English 
Your cool hand on my brow, 
your tresses on my chest, 
and your song that tells of the waterfalls of Lebanon ...

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:
"Prière de midi" = "Noonday Prayer"
"Prière du matin" = "Morning Prayer"
"Prière du midi (Dour)" = "Noonday Prayer (Dour)"



This text was added to the website: 2026-03-01
Line count: 3
Word count: 21

Translation © by Grant Hicks
5. Prière de trois heures  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
J’épiais ce sourire et ce regard étonné que tu as 
quand tu émerges du sommeil, ô ma secrète bien-aimée ! 
Comme j’ai attendu ! Le vent disperse la brume de chaleur 
qui noyait le ciel et le désert... 
C’est l’heure où les caravanes repartent. 
Ton corps a la courbe d’une oasis.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le Jardin des caresses, H. Piazza, Paris : 1921, p.113


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
5. Midafternoon Prayer
Language: English 
I watched for that smile and that surprised look that you have 
when you emerge from sleep, O my secret beloved! 
How I have waited! The wind disperses the haze of heat
that was flooding the sky and the desert ... 
It is the hour when the caravans set off again. 
Your body has the contour of an oasis.

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: 2026-03-01
Line count: 6
Word count: 58

Translation © by Grant Hicks
6. Prière du coucher du soleil  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Fatigué, le soleil va dormir derrière les dunes. 
Le simoun de l’amour fait bondir mon sang 
en tourbillons de flammes qui ne s’éteindront jamais, 
car Dieu a voulu qu’elles éclairent le chemin des amants. 
Et la nuit ne souillera pas nos rêves.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le Jardin des caresses, H. Piazza, Paris : 1921, p.114


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
6. Sunset Prayer
Language: English 
Exhausted, the sun goes to sleep behind the dunes. 
The simoom of love makes my blood leap
in swirls of flame that will never be extinguished, 
for God has decreed that they light the path of lovers. 
And the night will not sully our dreams.

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:
"Prière du coucher du soleil" = "Sunset Prayer"
"Prière du coucher du soleil (Maghreb)" = "Sunset Prayer (Maghreb)"

Note for line 2, "simoom": a hot, dry, sometimes deadly wind that blows in the Sahara and desert areas of the Near East. Its name comes from an Arabic root meaning "poison."

This text was added to the website: 2026-03-01
Line count: 5
Word count: 45

Translation © by Grant Hicks
7. Autrefois, j’ai vu la mer  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Autrefois, j’ai vu la mer. 
Elle montait jusqu’à l’horizon 
comme une pelouse fleurie de tulipes blanches, 
qui étaient des voiles.
Un grand vent avait effeuillé ces tulipes, 
et leurs pétales glissaient, rapides,
gonflés comme tes seins. 
Autrefois, j’ai vu la mer.
Elle était fougueuse comme ton amour, 
et elle engloutissait les pêcheurs de rêves.
Sur la mer de ton amour, 
je me suis embarqué autrefois,
et si j’ai pu revenir au port, 
c’est parce que je ne t’ai pas aimée.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, Paris: H. Piazza, 1921, p.73.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
7. Once I Saw the Sea
Language: English 
Once I saw the sea. 
It rose to the horizon
like a lawn abloom with white tulips,
which were sails.
A great wind had stripped these tulips
of their petals, which glided swiftly,
swollen like your breasts. 
Once I saw the sea. 
It was tempestuous like your love,
and it swallowed up the fishers of dreams. 
On the sea of your love
I once set sail, 
and if I've managed to return to port, 
it is because I didn't 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.
    Contact: 

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Translations of titles:
"Autrefois, j’ai vu la mer" = "Once I Saw the Sea"
"Chanson" = "Song"



This text was added to the website: 2026-02-28
Line count: 14
Word count: 81

Translation © by Grant Hicks