Paradise of cool shade and of extreme heat

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by Paul Jean Toulet (1867 - 1920)

Translation © by Feiyue (Queenie) Dai

Paradis d'ombre fraîche et de chaleur...

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Paradis d'ombre fraîche et de chaleur extrême,
Où mûrit la grenade, et, non loin du jasmin,
Cette double pastèque agréable à la main :
Badoure, il n'est jardin que des fleurs où l'on aime.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Paul Jean Toulet (1867 - 1920), no title, appears in Les Contrerimes, in Coples, no. 29, Paris, Éd. Le Divan, first published 1921 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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

by Jean Apothéloz (1900 - 1965), "Paradis d'ombre fraîche", 1930-31 [ high voice and piano ], from Neuf Quatrains de P. J. Toulet, no. 7, MS [sung text not yet checked]
by Pierre-Octave Ferroud (1900 - 1936), "Le jardin", 1927, published 1929 [ high voice and piano or orchestra ], from Cinq poèmes de P. J. Toulet, no. 4, Éd. Durand [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Feiyue (Queenie) Dai) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2013-10-18
Line count: 4
Word count: 33

Paradise of cool shade and of extreme...

Language: English after the French (Français)

Paradise of cool shade and of extreme heat,
Where the pomegranate matures, and, not far from the jasmine
The double melon, pleasant in the hand,
Badoure, there is no true garden but the one that flowers from love

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles
"Paradis d'ombre fraîche" = ""
"Le jardin" = "The Garden"

Notes provided by Laura Prichard:
Line 2 ("jasmine"): Jasmine plants flower fragrantly, and sometimes (rarely) produce a fruit that hangs from the vine.
Line 3 ("double melon"): “pastèque” usually refers to a watermelon, which can rarely grow into a “double” form; this same word is slang for a female breast (“boob” in English), so a “double” form also evokes a pair of breasts
Line 4: Badoure is a recurring female character in Touret’s poetry. In his “Princes de Chine” she is married Prince Pou.
Line 4 ("no true garden"): a metaphorical garden, in the sense of a place filled with beauty and happiness
Line 4 ("but the one that flowers from love"): in other words, for a place of beauty to truly exist, it must be filled with love. Without love, a place (even though it may be beautiful) is not a true garden.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 by Feiyue (Queenie) Dai, (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 Paul Jean Toulet (1867 - 1920), no title, appears in Les Contrerimes, in Coples, no. 29, Paris, Éd. Le Divan, first published 1921
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-10-17
Line count: 4
Word count: 38