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by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
Translation © by Grant Hicks

Réveille‑toi !
Language: French (Français)  after the Arabic (العربية) 
Our translations:  ENG
Réveille-toi ! 
L'Aurore a incendié la Nuit, 
dont il ne reste qu'un peu de cendre bleue. 
Le sable est frais comme un tapis de jasmins, 
et l'air est plus limpide qu'une goutte d'eau de neige. 
Là-bas, est-ce une gazelle qui bondit
ou une grande fleur qui cherche à se rapprocher du soleil ? 
Il va transpercer de ses flèches le calice de la source 
et le cœur de l'amant infortuné... 
Je suis debout dans la lumière ! 
Je défie le soleil de m'éblouir, 
puisque je ne baisse pas les yeux quand tu me regardes. 

Réveille-toi !
Ce parfum, que le vent balance, 
n'est pas celui des orangers, 
mais l'haleine de l'adolescent radieux 
qui brandit son bouclier dans le ciel.
Viens !
Les aurores que nous avons à voir sont comptées, 
et la nuit du tombeau est éternelle. 
Je veux te contempler, frissonnante et nue, 
dans cette lumière où ton corps, 
strié de veinules azurées, 
étincellera comme un sabre damasquiné. 
Je respirerai, sur ta gorge, l'odeur de la rosée 
qui l'humectait durant nos luttes amoureuses, 
et cet arôme embaumera tellement la brise, 
que les pasteurs se demanderont 
si elle n'a pas traversé les Jardins du Paradis.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, 73e édition, Paris: L'édition d'art H. Piazza, 1921, pages 111-113.


Text Authorship:

  • by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Prière de l'aurore", subtitle: "(S'Bah)", appears in Le jardin des caresses, no. 115 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Arabic (العربية) 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 J. Boutnikoff , "Prière de l'aurore (S'Bah)", op. 21 no. 4, published 1930 [ voice and piano ], from Le Jardin des caresses - Quatre prières, no. 4, Paris : Editions Maurice Sénart [sung text not yet checked]

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

  • ENG English (Grant Hicks) , 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: 2025-02-14
Line count: 29
Word count: 190

Awake!/ Dawn has set fire to the Night
Language: English  after the French (Français) 
Awake!
Dawn has set fire to the Night,
of which but a few blue ashes remain.
The sand is as cool as a carpet of jasmine,
and the air more limpid than a drop of melted snow.
Over there, is it a leaping gazelle
or a great flower seeking to draw nearer to the sun?
He is going to transfix with his arrows the chalice of the spring 
and the heart of the unfortunate lover ...
I am standing in the light!  
I challenge the sun to dazzle me,
since I do not lower my eyes when you look my way. 

Awake!
This fragrance tossed about by the wind
is not that of the orange trees, 
but the breath of the radiant youth 
who brandishes his shield in the sky. 
Come!
The dawns that are ours to see are numbered, 
and the night of the tomb is eternal. 
I wish to gaze upon you, naked and trembling, 
in this light where your body, 
streaked with bluish veinlets, 
will sparkle like a damascened sword. 
I will breathe, on your throat, the scent of the dew
that moistened it during our amorous struggles,
and this aroma will so perfume the breeze
that shepherds will wonder
if it hasn't passed through the Gardens of Paradise.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles:
"Prière de l'aurore" = "Dawn Prayer"
"Prière de l'aurore (S'Bah)" = "Dawn Prayer (S'Bah)"


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), "Prière de l'aurore", subtitle: "(S'Bah)", appears in Le jardin des caresses, no. 115
    • Go to the text page.

Based on:

  • a text in Arabic (العربية) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist  [text unavailable]
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2026-03-01
Line count: 29
Word count: 211

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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