The Garden of Caresses

Translations © by Grant Hicks

Song Cycle by Abel Nathan

View original-language texts alone: Le Jardin des caresses

1. Le Regret  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Les ailes de la Nuit se sont refermées sur la Terre. 
Les ailes de tes paupières se sont refermées sur tes yeux. 
Tu dors. Ce n'est pas encore la rosée, qui mouille ta gorge. 
Ce sont mes larmes, car je pense à un bonheur perdu ! 
Sous quelles caresses s'endort-elle, à cette heure ?

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, L'édition d'Art H. Piazza, 63-ième édition, p.137


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
1. Regret
Language: English 
The wings of the Night have closed over the Earth. 
The wings of your eyelids have closed over your eyes. 
You are asleep. It is not yet the dew that moistens your throat. 
It is my tears, for I am thinking of a lost joy!
Under what caresses is she going to sleep, even now?

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: 2026-02-25
Line count: 5
Word count: 55

Translation © by Grant Hicks
2. Le Mirage  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Je m'étais endormi, et je rêvais qu'une caravane exténuée 
traversait un désert, où je la guidais. 
Et qu'un fabuleux mirage surgissait devant nous, 
et que ce mirage était toi-même,
avec les lacs de tes yeux et les vergers de ton corps. 
Et que tu t'élançais vers moi, et que mes compagnons, 
désespérés, se couchaient pour mourir. 
Je viens de prononcer ton nom, afin de recommencer ce rêve... 
Hélas ! on ne voit jamais deux fois le même mirage.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, Paris: L'édition d'Art H. Piazza, 1921, pages 19-20.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
2.
Language: English 
I went to sleep, and I dreamed that a weary caravan 
was crossing a desert, where I was leading it. 
And that a fabulous mirage appeared before us, 
and that this mirage was you yourself, 
with lakes of your eyes and orchards of your body. 
And that you rushed towards me, and that my companions, 
in desperation, lay down to die. 
I have just spoken your name, so as to begin this dream again ... 
Alas! No one sees the same mirage twice.

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:
"Le mirage" = "The Mirage"
"Mirage" = "Mirage"



This text was added to the website: 2026-03-04
Line count: 9
Word count: 82

Translation © by Grant Hicks
3. Le Jardin dans l'oasis  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Par une matinée semblable à celle-ci,
je t'aurais attendue dans mon jardin de Djem'yat. 
Les rayons du soleil ne percent jamais
sa voûte de rosiers et de géraniums.
Aucun oiseau ne peut se glisser
entre les palmes qui l'entourent.
Il est le calice inviolable de l'oasis.
Il est son cœur silencieux. 
Pour toi, j'aurais mis à rafraîchir,
entre les narcisses du ruisseau, 
les dernières grenades et les premiers raisins... 
Et j'aurais jonché le gazon de toutes mes glycines.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, Paris: L'édition d'art H. Piazza, 1921, page 99.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
3. The Garden in the Oasis
Language: English 
On a morning like this one,
I would have waited for you in my garden at Djem'yat. 
The rays of the sun never pierce
its vault of roses and geraniums.
No bird can slip
between the palms that encircle it. 
It is the inviolable chalice of the oasis.
It is its silent heart. 
For you, I would have put to cool,
among the narcissi of the stream, 
the last pomegranates and the first grapes ... 
And I would have strewn the lawn with all my wisterias.

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: 2026-03-06
Line count: 12
Word count: 85

Translation © by Grant Hicks
4. Le Retour  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
A l'aube, pour cueillir les premières fleurs, 
j'avais pénétré dans le jardin assoupi. 
Et le Printemps entra dans ma demeure. 
Comme des lèvres, les corolles s'ouvrirent. 
Elles chantèrent : 
« Elle revient, ta bien-aimée !
Quand nous n'étions, dans les nuits claires, 
que des bourgeons cinglés de bise,
nous le savions, déjà. 
Les larmes d'or des étoiles ont fléchi le Destin. 
« Elle revient, ta bien-aimée ! 
A nous souvenir de sa grâce,
nous ne nous aperçûmes pas de l'hiver. 
« Pour elle, nos tiges saignent dans les vases,
et, joyeusement, nous nous fermerons pour mourir, 
lorsqu'elle nous aura reconnues et respirées.
« Nous ne regrettons pas le soleil,
car nous recevrons l'ardente caresse de ses yeux. 
Nous ne regrettons pas les vents chargés d'arômes, 
car son haleine nous effleurera. » 
Si pâle, elle entra dans ma demeure !
Nous nous taisions.
Pourtant, nos âmes s'interrogeaient et se répondaient. 
Accoudés sur la fenêtre, 
au crépuscule de ce jour désiré,
nous pensâmes à ce que nous devions souffrir encore.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, Paris: L'édition d'art H. Piazza, 1921, pages 126-127.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
4. The Return
Language: English 
At dawn, to gather the first flowers,
I had gone into the drowsing garden.
And Spring entered into my dwelling.
Like lips, the petals opened.
They sang:
"She is coming back, your beloved!
When we were, on clear nights,
no more than buds lashed by the north wind,
we knew it already.
The golden tears of the stars have swayed Destiny.
She is coming back, your beloved!
Remembering her grace, 
we didn't notice the Winter.
For her, our stems bleed in their vases,
and, joyfully, we will close up and die,
once she has recognized and inhaled us.
We do not miss the sun, 
for we will receive the warm caress of her eyes. 
We do not miss the winds laden with scents, 
for her breath will brush against us." 
So pale, she entered into my dwelling!
We remained silent.
Even so, our souls questioned and answered each other.
Leaning on the windowsill,
at the twilight of that longed-for day,
we thought of what we had yet to suffer.

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: 2026-03-06
Line count: 26
Word count: 169

Translation © by Grant Hicks
5. Après  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Elle s’était endormie dans mes bras.
Pour la protéger contre la fraicheur de la nuit,
j’avais doucement étalé ses cheveux sur ses [seins]1.
Dans l'herbe, autour de nous, les insectes reprenaient un à un leur musique. 
[A cette heure, des mères berçaient aussi]2 leur petite fille...

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le Jardin des caresses, Paris: L'Édition d'Art H. Piazza, 1921, Page 35.

1 Bonhomme: "épaules"
2 Bonhomme: "C'est l'heure où les mères bercent"

by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
5. After
Language: English 
She had fallen asleep in my arms.
To protect her from the chill of the night,
I had gently spread her hair over her [breasts]1.
In the grass around us, the insects one by one resumed their music.
[At that hour, mothers were also rocking]2 their little daughter...

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 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 Bonhomme: "shoulders"
2 Bonhomme: "It is the hour when mothers rock"


This text was added to the website: 2025-09-13
Line count: 5
Word count: 51

Translation © by Grant Hicks
6. 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)
6. The 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
7. Inscription  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Celle qui fut Daoulah repose ici. 
Elle est morte, la troisième nuit de Djemazi-el-Akhir, 
qui est le mois funeste aux fleurs.
Nous l'aimions. Sa bouche était savoureuse.
Si son nom te rappelle que tu l'as caressée, un soir, 
évoque aussi pour elle ce bonheur ancien, 
car le sommeil des morts est sans rêves.

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


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
7. Inscription
Language: English 
She who was Daoulah rests here. 
She died on the third night of Jumada al-Akhir, 
which is the month of death for flowers. 
We loved her. Her mouth was delicious. 
If her name reminds you that one evening you caressed her,
recall for her as well this ancient pleasure, 
for the sleep of the dead is dreamless.

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: 57

Translation © by Grant Hicks