by
Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
L'ombre d'une feuille d'oranger
Language: French (Français) after the Chinese (中文)
Seule, dans sa chambre,
une jeune fille brode des fleurs de soie.
Tout à coup, elle entend une flûte lointaine…
Elle tressaille.
Elle croit qu'un jeune homme lui parle d’amour.
À travers le papier de la fenêtre,
l’ombre d’une feuille d’oranger
vient se poser sur ses genoux…
Elle ferme les yeux.
Et croit qu’une main déchire sa robe.
Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1922, pages 92-93.
Text Authorship:
Based on:
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), "L'ombre d'une feuille d'oranger", copyright © 2008 [ baritone, flute and piano ], from Poème de Jade, no. 3, Editions de la Fabrique Musique [sung text not yet checked]
- by Miloje Milojević (1884 - 1946), "L'ombre d'une feuille d'oranger", op. 39a no. 2, published 1985 [ soprano, flute, viola and piano ], from Dve pesme na tekst Franza Toussainta, no. 2, Belgrade : Udruženje kompozitora Srbije [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "The Shadow of a Leaf of an Orange Tree", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Grant Hicks
[Guest Editor] , Joost van der Linden
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2025-02-12
Line count: 10
Word count: 58
The Shadow of a Leaf of an Orange Tree
Language: English after the French (Français)
Alone in her room,
a maiden is embroidering silk flowers.
Suddenly she hears a distant flute...
She trembles.
She believes a young man is speaking to her of love.
Through the paper of the window,
the shadow of a leaf of an orange tree
comes to rest on her lap...
She shuts her eyes.
She believes a hand is tearing off her robe.
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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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "L'ombre d'une feuille d'oranger"
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2026-04-15
Line count: 10
Word count: 63
