The Dancing Girl | The breeze makes the water lilies sway

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by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

La danseuse

Language: French (Français) after the Chinese (中文)

Our translations: ENG

La brise fait onduler les lotus
Dont le parfum vient embaumer le palais
qui s’élève au milieu du lac
Un peu ivre, Lisi danse.
Tout à coup chancelante,
elle s’appuie contre le lit de jade blanc.
Elle sourit.

Text Authorship:

by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "La danseuse" [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Chinese (中文) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [text unavailable]
- Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Therèse Brenet (b. 1935), "La danseuse", copyright © 2008 [ baritone, flute and piano ], from Poème de Jade, no. 6, Editions de la Fabrique Musique [sung text not yet checked]
by Karel Goeyvaerts , "La danseuse", 1949 [ voice and piano ], from La flûte de Jade, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "The Dancing Girl", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2026-02-07
Line count: 7
Word count: 38

The Dancing Girl

Language: English after the French (Français)

The breeze makes the [water lilies]¹ sway
and their scent comes to perfume the palace
that rises in the middle of the lake.
A bit tipsy, Li-Si dances.
Staggering suddenly,
she leans against the bed of white [jade,
and she]² smiles.

View text without footnotes
¹ Goeyvaerts: "lotuses"
² Goeyvaerts: "jade./ She"

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: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "La danseuse"
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Chinese (中文) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [text unavailable]
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-04-15
Line count: 7
Word count: 43