Five Songs from Le jardin des caresses

Translations © by Grant Hicks

Song Cycle by Alberto di Pierlas

View original-language texts alone: Cinq Chants extraits du Jardin des caresses

1. 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)
1. 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
2. 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)
2. 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
3. Le Désespoir  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Tu veux mon cœur ? Je ne l'ai plus. 
Tu sais qui me l'a volé.
Tu veux mon âme ? Je ne l'ai plus. 
Demande-la donc à l'Ange noir. 
Je te donnerai mes quatre poignards
pour que tu me cloues sur ta porte,
mais laisse-moi te dire mon amour !
— Puisque tu veux mourir, que ferai-je de ton amour ? 
— Une chanson que tu chanteras sur ma tombe.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le Jardin des Caresses, 73e édition, Paris : L'édition d'art H. Piazza, 1921, p.78


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
3. Despair
Language: English 
You want my heart? I no longer have it.
You know who stole it from me.
You want my soul? I no longer have it.
Go ask the black Angel for it.
I will give you my four daggers 
so that you can nail me to the door,
but let me tell you of my love!
"Since you want to die, what shall I make of your love?" 
"A song that you will sing over my grave."

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: 9
Word count: 77

Translation © by Grant Hicks
4. 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)
4. 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
5. L'Astronome  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Brahim, l’astronome, est fort savant.
Il sait vers quel point du ciel une comète se dirige,
mais il ignore où sa femme retrouve, chaque soir,
son amant.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, Paris: L'édition D'art H. Piazza, 1921, p. 94


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
5. The Astronomer
Language: English 
Brahim the astronomer is very knowledgeable. 
He knows towards which point in the sky a comet is heading, 
but he has no idea where his wife, every evening,
meets her lover.

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: 4
Word count: 31

Translation © by Grant Hicks