Five Poems of Franz Toussaint

Translations © by Grant Hicks

by Odette Gartenlaub (1922 - 2014)

View original-language texts alone: Cinq Poèmes de Franz Toussaint

1. Le Héron blanc  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Ce grand flocon de neige était un héron,
qui vient de se poser sur le lac bleu.
Immobile à l'extrémité d'un banc de sable,
le héron blanc regarde l'Hiver.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1920, pages 52-53.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
1. The White Heron
Language: English 
That great snowflake was a heron, 
which has just alighted on the blue lake. 
Motionless at the end of a sandbank, 
the white heron regards the Winter.

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: 2026-04-13
Line count: 4
Word count: 27

Translation © by Grant Hicks
2. 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)
2. 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
3. Nocturne  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Nonchalante, son luth à la main,
elle roulait le rideau de perles,
afin que l'odeur du printemps inondât sa chambre,
mais elle a vu la lune,
et c'est le chagrin qui est entré.
 
Le visage dans son bras replié,
elle évoque un jardin bleui de lune,
où elle entendit, jadis, des paroles d'amour.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1920, pages 82-83.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
3. Nocturne
Language: English 
Casually, with her lute in her hand,
she rolled up the curtain of pearls
to let the odor of springtime fill her room,
but she saw the moon,
and it was sorrow that entered.

With her face in the crook of her arm,
she recalls a garden blue in the moonlight
where once she heard words of 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:
"Nocturne" = "Nocturne"
"Nocturne " = "Nocturne"



This text was added to the website: 2026-04-13
Line count: 8
Word count: 58

Translation © by Grant Hicks
4. Évocation  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Rapide, ma barque file.
Je contemple le fleuve.
Des nuages errent dans le ciel.
L'eau est aussi de la nuit claire.
Quand un nuage glisse sur la lune,
je le vois [glisser]1 sur le fleuve
et il me semble que je vogue en plein ciel.
Je pense à ma bien-aimée,
qui se mire ainsi dans mon cœur.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1920, pages 129-130.

1 Badings: "glisser aussi"

by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
4. Evocation
Language: English 
Swiftly, my boat sails along.
I contemplate the river.
Clouds are roaming in the sky.
The water like the night glistens.
When a cloud glides across the moon,
I see it [gliding]1 across the river 
and I seem to be sailing in midair.
I think about my beloved,
who is likewise mirrored in my 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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1 Badings: "gliding also"


This text was added to the website: 2026-04-09
Line count: 9
Word count: 56

Translation © by Grant Hicks
5. 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.

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


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
5. 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:

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

Translation © by Grant Hicks