by
Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
Prière de l'avant matin (Jadja)
Language: French (Français)
A la clarté de la lune qui décline, je te contemple.
Tu dors, en souriant à ton bonheur.
Un vent léger ruisselle sur les oliviers.
On dirait le frisson de la grande attente
qui rend la nuit solennelle.
Voici l'heure où une force mystérieuse me réveillait,
quand j'étais loin de toi.
Alors, je sortais de ma demeure,
j'allais m'asseoir sous les étoiles,
et je cherchais la constellation
qui brille au-dessus de ton jardin.
Je la contemplais.
Il me semblait que je n'avais
qu'à parler pour que tu m'entendes.
Voici l'heure où, chaque nuit,
je contemple les deux étoiles Fergad.
Je leur ai donné ton nom et le mien.
Fasse Dieu que nous nous versions
toujours les mêmes feux qu'elles jettent !
Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, 73e édition, Paris : L'édition d'art H. Piazza, 1921, pages 110-111.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Research team for this page: Grant Hicks
[Guest Editor] , Joost van der Linden
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2025-02-14
Line count: 19
Word count: 120
Predawn Prayer (Jadja)
Language: English after the French (Français)
In the light of the setting moon, I gaze at you.
You are asleep, smiling at your good fortune.
A light breeze runs over the olive trees.
It feels like the thrill of great anticipation
that makes the night solemn.
This is the hour when a mysterious force awakened me,
when I was far from you.
Then, I went out of my dwelling,
I seated myself beneath the stars,
and I looked for the constellation
that shines above your garden.
I gazed at it.
It seemed to me that I had only to speak
and you would hear me.
This is the hour when, every night,
I gaze at the two Calf stars.
I have given them your name and mine.
May God grant that we pour out for ourselves
forever the same fires that they send forth!
Translator's note: Line 16 in the French text refers to
les deux étoiles Fergad, literally "the two Fergad stars." I believe this refers to Pherkad and Kochab, the two stars farthest from Polaris in the constellation Ursa Minor (the Little Dipper). According to
Wikipedia, the name is from Arabic
farqad, “calf,” these two stars being known to the Arabs as "the two calves."
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:
This text was added to the website: 2026-03-01
Line count: 19
Word count: 138
